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Eerie, Indiana fic for the prompt fest: Pay Attention, part 5
"He said that if anything happened to him, I should go to Marshall, and that if he wasn't around, I should come to you," said Harley, when Dash had finished reading. "But Marshall went away when he did, and by the time I found this and came looking, you were gone too."
Dash's hands were freshly wrapped in thick white bandages, and spots of blood had already begun to show through. Still, they were steady as he held a plastic cup of instant hot chocolate to his mouth, taking slow, careful sips.
They were in the Unkind One's clubhouse, a low wooden building that existed in the lost time between Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening, when people would go from relaxing on their much-longed-for weekend to suddenly scrambling to iron their clothes ready for Monday morning. They sat in a booth upholstered in soft black leather; Harley directly across from Dash, Sara Sue at his side, and Scribbles neatly folded away in her back pocket. At the tables around them, Billy Millions and his men sat, and watched, and listened.
"It was a long time ago," said Dash. "There were rumours about something living in the lake. The pirates had gone away, and the mermaids were terrified. But when we got there, the mermaids were already dead. Just... pieces of them, really, floating in the water like chum." He took a deep breath, released it slowly. "I was for bailing, right there and then, but your brother said we should check for survivors and Tell- Marshall, I mean - he could never leave off poking at things he didn't understand."
"Simon saved a lizard from me, once," said Harley, smiling at the memory. "He never liked to see an animal hurt."
Dash snorted. "He wanted to get a vet for a werewolf who tried to eat him," he said.
"He said putting my family in a fishbowl was unfair to my fish," said Sara Sue. "He was right."
"He was a good kid," said Dash. "Really, I mean that. I liked him, in a weird 'what are you doing?' kind of way."
There was a murmur of agreement from the assembled Unkind Ones, then Dash went on with his story.
"Anyway, all of a sudden, there's this bright light in the water, sort of... dancing, I guess? Under the surface. And it was like we couldn't look away from it, even as it got closer and bigger and brighter. By the time it made landfall, we couldn't even move, and it just," Dash paused, opening and closing his fists reflexively, though Harley couldn't even imagine how much the gesture was hurting him. "It enveloped us. I don't know how else to say it. It was like dissolving into a thousand pieces of light and being scattered across the universe while being compressed into the smallest, purest core of yourself that could ever exist, all at the same time." He swallowed and looked away. "Then it screamed and trashed and spat me out. I landed in a copse of gorse bushes at the edge of the water, and when I came to, the light was gone, and so were they." He stared at his hands, his grey fringe falling across his face and hiding his eyes. "I looked for them, I did. But they were gone, and all I could think was, 'It happened again. I didn't get invited again.'" He laughed bitterly. "Pretty pathetic, right?"
"No," said Harley, and Sara Sue shook her head.
Dash pretended to be interested in the view from the window, avoiding their gaze. His fingernails plucked at the padding and gauze covering the palms of his hands, as if he'd like to gouge holes in them to match the wounds on the other side.
"After that, I went back to the mill. I thought maybe I'd go find the Tellers, let them know what happened." He looked at Harley. "I didn't know Simon had a little brother. If I had, I would have tried to tell you."
"It's okay," said Harley, but Dash shook his head.
"No, it isn't. I ran around with those kids for nearly two years, and I didn't let Teller's mom know what happened to her kid because Mayor fucking Chisel found me first and promised to help me find my own parents if I kept quiet about it. He offered me a deal, and I took it." He started to cry in earnest then, ugly rasping sobs that tore at his throat and made his whole body shake.
Sara Sue looks like she wants to cry too, and her grip on Harley's hand becomes almost painful beneath the table. Harley raises their joined hands up into the light, and places his free hand gently on Dash's forearm. Paper napkins fold themselves into tiny origami animals and gather around the three of them.
"You did the best you remembered how to," he says. "If any of it was ever even a tiny bit your fault, you paid for it a million times over in that cell."
They sit there in silence, and Billy Millions brings them burgers and fries, and ushers his men out of the room as the sun begins to rise.
Dash's hands were freshly wrapped in thick white bandages, and spots of blood had already begun to show through. Still, they were steady as he held a plastic cup of instant hot chocolate to his mouth, taking slow, careful sips.
They were in the Unkind One's clubhouse, a low wooden building that existed in the lost time between Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening, when people would go from relaxing on their much-longed-for weekend to suddenly scrambling to iron their clothes ready for Monday morning. They sat in a booth upholstered in soft black leather; Harley directly across from Dash, Sara Sue at his side, and Scribbles neatly folded away in her back pocket. At the tables around them, Billy Millions and his men sat, and watched, and listened.
"It was a long time ago," said Dash. "There were rumours about something living in the lake. The pirates had gone away, and the mermaids were terrified. But when we got there, the mermaids were already dead. Just... pieces of them, really, floating in the water like chum." He took a deep breath, released it slowly. "I was for bailing, right there and then, but your brother said we should check for survivors and Tell- Marshall, I mean - he could never leave off poking at things he didn't understand."
"Simon saved a lizard from me, once," said Harley, smiling at the memory. "He never liked to see an animal hurt."
Dash snorted. "He wanted to get a vet for a werewolf who tried to eat him," he said.
"He said putting my family in a fishbowl was unfair to my fish," said Sara Sue. "He was right."
"He was a good kid," said Dash. "Really, I mean that. I liked him, in a weird 'what are you doing?' kind of way."
There was a murmur of agreement from the assembled Unkind Ones, then Dash went on with his story.
"Anyway, all of a sudden, there's this bright light in the water, sort of... dancing, I guess? Under the surface. And it was like we couldn't look away from it, even as it got closer and bigger and brighter. By the time it made landfall, we couldn't even move, and it just," Dash paused, opening and closing his fists reflexively, though Harley couldn't even imagine how much the gesture was hurting him. "It enveloped us. I don't know how else to say it. It was like dissolving into a thousand pieces of light and being scattered across the universe while being compressed into the smallest, purest core of yourself that could ever exist, all at the same time." He swallowed and looked away. "Then it screamed and trashed and spat me out. I landed in a copse of gorse bushes at the edge of the water, and when I came to, the light was gone, and so were they." He stared at his hands, his grey fringe falling across his face and hiding his eyes. "I looked for them, I did. But they were gone, and all I could think was, 'It happened again. I didn't get invited again.'" He laughed bitterly. "Pretty pathetic, right?"
"No," said Harley, and Sara Sue shook her head.
Dash pretended to be interested in the view from the window, avoiding their gaze. His fingernails plucked at the padding and gauze covering the palms of his hands, as if he'd like to gouge holes in them to match the wounds on the other side.
"After that, I went back to the mill. I thought maybe I'd go find the Tellers, let them know what happened." He looked at Harley. "I didn't know Simon had a little brother. If I had, I would have tried to tell you."
"It's okay," said Harley, but Dash shook his head.
"No, it isn't. I ran around with those kids for nearly two years, and I didn't let Teller's mom know what happened to her kid because Mayor fucking Chisel found me first and promised to help me find my own parents if I kept quiet about it. He offered me a deal, and I took it." He started to cry in earnest then, ugly rasping sobs that tore at his throat and made his whole body shake.
Sara Sue looks like she wants to cry too, and her grip on Harley's hand becomes almost painful beneath the table. Harley raises their joined hands up into the light, and places his free hand gently on Dash's forearm. Paper napkins fold themselves into tiny origami animals and gather around the three of them.
"You did the best you remembered how to," he says. "If any of it was ever even a tiny bit your fault, you paid for it a million times over in that cell."
They sit there in silence, and Billy Millions brings them burgers and fries, and ushers his men out of the room as the sun begins to rise.
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<3
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And, aw, Simon. Now I miss him, too.
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maybe eerie is scared of himno subject
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Awesome that they have allies in the Unkind Ones.
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and yes, no way the unkind ones are just going to let garbage men amd meat palaces parade through their town beating up kids unchecked
tho, realistically, sara sue delivered most of the beating on them...