Chapter Text
This chapter may contain: mild abuse, coerced cannibalism, depictions of blood/gore, intense violence and strong language.
Chapter 1: Afterglow
The afternoon sun blazed overhead as Abby pulled off her jumper and tied it around her waist, securing the cotton blue sleeves to prevent it from falling. It was a hot afternoon, with droplets of sweat trickling down her face and her breaths becoming laboured as she felt the sun's heat searing through her fur. Such warm weather was unusual for the city in February, a typically characterized by bleak and foggy conditions, and no one was used to this. Abby placed her hand on her soft yet burning fur, her eyes nearly closing and putting her to sleep, but she shot them open as she heard a bright, chirpy voice blaring through her ears.
"Abby! Abby, hey, why don't you come with us and hang out like we used to?" her good friend Tac asked. Abby barely heard him due to the high-pitched ringing in her ear, but she answered anyway, so as not to be rude, "Sorry, but not today. The sun is killing me, and I want to go to the library, so, sorry." Tac understood and skipped back to the bleachers where he and Lucian sat, having lunch together. Abby decided to get up on her feet and to the library, where she usually went instead of hanging out with her friends. It wasn't always like this, but once Laura and Skye started to taunt and torment her in her early years, it became worse and nearly went to be a daily routine for Abby.
Upon her arrival, she touched the doorknob and turned it, hearing a 'click' as she swung it open. Few students entered the library, as they preferred to spend their time outside playing rather than reading or studying. Abby exhaled sharply and wandered to her usual spot, but to her surprise, another student was there. He always annoyed her for a reason that she could not identify. It was a burning question within her that she could not. She sauntered around an and rummaged for a book, but found nothing. Out of the corner of her eye, Abby noticed that the boy was glaring directly her. She gave him a deep snarl and threatened him with a death glare.
What is he looking at... Me? What does he want? She pondered, clutching a certain book in a silent rage, her blood starting to boil as she continued to glare at him... A part of her wanted to just grab the book she was clutching and throw it at him, but she didn't, instead, she let go of the hardcover and scanned the title. "A Dead Case", something inside peaked her interest in the novel, she read the blurb and decided to choose it. When she sat down diagonally opposite the boy and began to read when she felt the boy staring at her again, "I can feel you watching me," she hushed softly through gritted teeth, the boy flinched a little and looked down at his homework, "I'm not mad at you," she noticed him flinching before he went back to study, but heard no reply coming from him.
"Listen, if this was about me almost attacking you the other day, I didn't mean to scare you if I did." The Boy still said nothing, obviously focusing on his homework, "I didn't mean to.." He started to mutter, Abby perked her head up to his level, confused, "To make you uncomfortable, I just thought I made you a bit angry since you would normally sit here... The truth is," He paused again, trying to find the right words, "I... Wanted to... I'm just so shy all of the time and I really want to make you a friend!" Abby's eyes widened, her head now directly gazing at him, "You... Want to be... My friend?" She asked, a finger pointing at herself. "That's... Actually something I didn't expect coming from you..."
Soon later, the bell rang for everyone's fifth lesson, Abby got up from her seat and returned to the shelf where she once found the book she was reading and placed it back, she pushed her hands in her pockets and turned to leave the library, "What do you have next?" She asked him, the Boy answered back, "Art..." Abby glanced down at him and huffed, "Huh, I have that class next? It's in 2-18, right?" The Boy nodded, Abby then extended her hand so he could grab it and pull himself up, The Boy got the gesture and did so, Abby sighed and let go of his hand suddenly, "You want to walk to class together?" She asked, The Boy nodded and followed after her as they left the library...
"Oh... I didn't get your name last time we met?"
he replied.
"D-Dexter... You're Abby, r-right?"
Abby nodded, and left the library to head to their Art lesson...