The End Is Near

This photo does something to me oh my

Also look at the tattoos on his feet

Season 2 episode 7 spoilers

I need to talk about this because no one else has. When we see Maddie and Wally have done the deed and we see his butt, the song that’s playing it’s called damn, look at that view as the camera pans over them. And I’m like damn that’s a really fitting song to play right now 😂🤭😏 thank you writers and the creators for that, forever blessed 😂😏

I don’t care how I just need it to happen

Please, won't somebody say I'll get outta here? Someone gimme my shot or I'll rot here!

Milo Manheim as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors

October Moon

summary: the day after Dawn's ascension, things had picked up speed. research had uncovered more of the school's secrets. meanwhile, Maddie's memories had been triggered, and Simon had made a connection that'd dragged your family further into the mystery.

pairing: Wally Clark x fem!reader

warnings: smutty smut smut. mad spoilers. and obvious Canon divergence. very involved, very dense plot.

bon reading, frens

___________________________💀

OCTOBER MOON pt.11

Monitors beeped—long intervals, pitched notes—and, below that, your great-aunt's rattled breathing. Everything stank of disinfectant.

Visiting Ginny in the hospital never got easier.

"She was such a quiet girl, you know..." Nanna said softly, holding Ginny's hand as she spoke. Her eyes were distant as she fell into the past, reliving memories of their childhood.

Ginny was much older than Nanna. Nanna had been a surprise after their mother, your great-grandmother, had been told she wouldn't have been able to create—never mind carry—another baby. Ginny adored Nanna. Had adored her the moment Nanna came into the world.

After a fire had killed their parents, Ginny took on multiple roles (sister, mother, guardian, friend) and did her best to raise Nanna. Though she'd still been young herself, it hadn't stopped her from doing what needed to be done. There'd been some relative outside of Split River who could've taken Nanna, but Ginny had insisted they not be separated.

Ginny and Nanna had been two peas in a pod since. Where one went, the other followed.

"What changed?" You finally asked, gazing at Ginny as she slept, oxygen tube down her throat. That was the worst you'd ever seen her.

Your eyes pricked and your stomach clenched, and you so badly yearned for her to wake up. To hug you, pet your hair, and tell you that you were being ridiculous to worry over her.

Nanna chuckled, her thumb stroking the back of Ginny's hand, "The reason her lungs are so weak." She said, quiet, tired, "The fire."

"The fire made her more—" Blunt, dramatic, stubborn, batshit insane with a warm heart and a warmer smile. You settled for, "Loud?"

"It scared her. You come face to face with death like that, sweetpea, and it changes you. Either for good or for bad." Nanna cast you an amused smile, "I like to believe that's why you and Aiden were so mischievous. Obnoxious little munchkins, the both of you."

"What do you mean?" You asked around the lump in your throat, pictured Aiden at that farmhouse as he clutched Limon and asked strangers to play.

Nanna gave you a surprised look, one that indicated you should've known what she meant.

She told you anyway, "Aurora was an easy birth. Out in minutes. Squalling like a banshee." She chuckled, shaking her head with a fond smile. "But you...you were impatient. Wanted to be in the world as soon as possible." She paused, patted your knee, "You came early. Such a wee thing." Nanna's smile fell, "You weren't breathing. But," Her smile returned, "They saved you. You recovered quickly and I have a feeling my wily sister had something to do with it..." Nanna cast Ginny's unconscious form a playful look of bemusement, "You didn't have to suffer years of treatments like most unlucky infants."

Amelia's words rung in your head like the knell of a church bell: Death ushered them into the world and left a piece of himself within them.

So...you'd been delivered with Death at your heels. Amelia had mentioned that that was how you could interact with the metaphysical world and those who inhabited it. Holy shit.

"And Aiden?"

Nanna sighed, "Poor little bug." She made the sign of the cross, something she only ever did when Aiden was mentioned. "I always wondered if he knew..." She shook her head as if to dispel the very thought and diverted, "He was blue as a violet. The cord had...had wrapped itself around his neck. He was dead for almost a minute before they revived him..." Nanna's eyes glistened. She gazed over her sister again, lips pinched in despair.

Death had had its arms open for Aiden since the day he was born, you mourned. You weren't surprised that Nanna thought it possible that Aiden knew, somehow, someway, that he hadn't been destined for a long life. If anyone in the house would've known, it would've been her. She'd examined his palms the same as she'd done everyone else's...

"Did you know?" You had to ask, uncomfortable that you hadn't remembered until now exactly what your grandmother's connectedness was capable of. "That he wouldn't live long?"

Her face was grim as the reaper, eyes haunted, "I hoped against it. Reading the Awen isn't precise, sweetpea. And I prayed, in that instance, I was wrong."

But she hadn't been.

You almost wanted to confess to her about Aiden and the farmhouse and the other ghosts. You didn't, of course, but you suddenly realized how ill-equipped you were to face everything alone. The responsibility of stopping Amelia, retrieving Maddie's body, and freeing the ghosts. Freeing Wally. It was a vise that strangled your heart without remorse.

Nanna brought the conversation back to Ginny, faraway eyes and compassionate smile, "That fire might've weakened her body, but it strengthened her spirit." She ended wistfully, "Few realize that Death is also capable of giving gifts. It can be kind as it can be cruel."

Minutes later, Nanna excused herself to fetch a cup of hot water to steep the dry ingredients Aurora had delivered from the flower shop. She left with a kiss on your head and a squeeze of your shoulder. You took her place in the chair beside Ginny. Held Ginny's hand in yours, and tried to tamp down the slurry of emotions that rose within you.

After a long moment of silence, you choked, "Everything's fucked up." A plea to someone who couldn't hear you.

She couldn't Travel, you imagined because her body and mind were too weak, but you desperately needed her right now. Or you needed to finally unload the burden of truth on someone you could trust because it had become too much.

"There weren't any stupid storms or squalls or whatever you and mom said there would be. But it feels worse. Like everything is out of control—" A thick sniffle, a hiccup, "Maddie's a ghost and her body is missing. I think there's someone out there who wants to use it for themselves," Your voice broke when you continued, "I--I don't know what to do... I-I don't even know where to look. Or how to look. I need help, Ginny. Xavier and Simon are great and they want to help, they do, but they don't know this stuff and now I'm expected to be a walking encyclopedia and—" A self-deprecating snort, "Fuck. I barely know anything..."

The heart monitor beeped a steady rhythm. The ventilator whirred. Ginny remained a gaunt statue in repose.

You leaned over and pressed your forehead to the back of her hand, hot tears falling onto her cold skin, "Please wake up..."

‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗

Simon ran his thumb over the pendant, his other hand in Maddie's as she urged him to lure her mother to the school. Get her here, he heard Maddie plead, I always know when she's lying.

But Simon's mind was elsewhere, his eyes flicking over the pendant's design, teeth clenched as he berated himself. He should've asked more questions when he'd—God dammit, the answers might've been right fucking there and he'd been too busy minding his pleases and thank yous.

He couldn't believe he hadn't recognized the pendant the night of the dance, strung around someone else's neck. One of a pair, your great-aunt had told him. Maddie had worn the necklace every day since he'd known her. A gift from her father she rarely, if ever, removed.

Without acknowledging Maddie's insistence to get Sandra in a room with her, Simon asked, "You said your dad gave this to you?"

Maddie's teeth clicked when she abruptly closed her mouth, visibly stunned that Simon would ask that now. A brief moment of contemplation and then, "Yeah. Right before he died."

"And you're sure about that?" Simon's eyes never left the pendant, but his grip on Maddie's hand tightened marginally, a gesture expressing that it was important, that he needed her to be precise.

"Yeah." One beat. Two. "I mean, not really. I got it in the mail. Mom said he sent it when he was still in Texas. That it took longer to get there than he did. He was back for a couple of weeks before..." Maddie trailed off. Simon could fill in the blanks.

Christopher had been home for a couple of weeks before he'd killed himself while wearing your body like a meat puppet.

"In the mail?" Simon prompted as he released her hand to cup her jaw, gaze boring into hers. "And you're sure your dad was the one who sent it?"

Maddie swallowed. "Yeah. It was definitely him."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, Simon, I'm sure." Prickly, fierce. "My dad sent it. I know he sent it. There was a note with it in his handwriting."

Simon dropped his hand back to hers, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like you don't know what you're talking about, Maddie. I just want to make sure that we have all the facts."

"Why?" Maddie asked and leaned back to examine him since he wasn't making sense.

Simon hesitated for a moment, unsure how to put into words the weird coincidence he was beginning to think wasn't a coincidence at all.

"When I went to pick her up for the Homecoming dance... Maddie, her great-aunt had exactly the same pendant. Ginny said that it was one of a pair, earrings or something, but she lost the other one a while ago."

Maddie frowned and then her face went slack in shock, "You think her great-aunt might've been the one to give it to me?"

Simon shook his head, frustrated, confused, steadily more defeated as he realized he was so far out of his depth that he couldn't hold his head above water anymore.

"I don't know." He slumped, rubbed his eyes, and gave Maddie an apologetic look. "But we have to find out. Someone has to know."

"Si, I know my dad gave me that necklace."

"I don't doubt it, I'm just saying: We know one of the two earrings isn't in Ginny's possession anymore. We know Amelia has been in her house. We also know that Amelia stole your dad's body," He stopped, his tone shifting when he realized how indelicate that'd sounded. Simon regrouped, squeezed Maddie's hand, then continued, "We know that your dad asked her to give you something."

"And you think it was my necklace," Maddie murmured, staring at it as Simon laid it carefully on the table between them, bits and pieces of information scattered in her mind like shattered glass.

"It makes sense. She doesn't remember what your dad asked her to take you. But what if it's this? If it's the same as Ginny's..." Simon leaned in to draw Maddie's attention from the necklace to him, his hand on her knee, "If it's like Ginny's, it probably works and keeps the bad spirits away from you."

Maddie snorted, a weak, light huff of air, "Didn't stop someone from knocking my spirit out."

Simon let that sit in the air for a moment as he devised a plan.

Taking Maddie's request to bring her mother to heart, "Your mom might know something. Like you said, you can tell when she's lying."

"Get her here." Maddie reiterated. "And we can figure out if—if my mom..." Had anything to do with Amelia and golems and hurting Maddie, she didn't need to elaborate.

Cutting her off, "Okay," Simon put the necklace back in the manila envelope, folded it, and shoved it into his back pocket before promising, "Okay, I'll figure something out."

Maddie sat silently for a long moment, gazing into the middle distance, so worn and small that Simon nearly choked on his heart looking at her.

Sandra might not have been the best mom, but she was Maddie's, and Maddie loved her. Simon couldn't imagine Sandra hurting Maddie. However, in light of all Simon had learned about in the last few weeks, it was easier to assume someone had used Sandra to do the work on their behalf.

Amelia, Anabelle, a secret third other, it didn't matter. Someone had the kind of power that could be used to control minds, bodies, the very fabric of the universe. His gut rolled.

As he stood, Maddie stopped him with a touch to his hip, "Simon?" She rose to her feet and shuffled into his space, looped her arms around his neck and held him, "Yesterday, what you said about whether or not us figuring it out means me moving on—"

"Don't worry about that right now," Simon murmured into her hair. It was jarring, how she didn't smell like anything. Just clean air. He stammered, "I was being selfish."

Maddie tilted back a fraction and said firmly, "You're never selfish," which made Simon's heart skip a beat and break at the same time.

"Maddie...if it was her," He started, nervous to voice his concern, his fear, but he wanted to understand, "Are you sure you wanna know?"

She didn't answer. Simply tucked her head into the crook of his neck and held him close.

‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗

Everett sat in disbelief as he listened to his students. Things were far worse than he'd been led to believe. He picked at a thread on his suit jacket, fidgeted to maintain his composure under the onslaught of questions his students asked.

For someone who'd prided himself on having all the answers, he wasn't sure how to address what his students were demanding he address.

Had Amelia left him be, had she stopped interfering and dragging him away to help her on a quest he couldn't actually help with—trapped behind a barrier as he was—none of this would've happened.

It'd been her fault, anyway, that Janet had done what she'd done. Everett didn't know everything, the hows and whys, but he knew enough to understand that Janet had been pushed to the edge by something Amelia had done or planned to do...

If only Amelia had let them be.

Dawn's ascension had happened while he'd been in the fallout shelter. He'd felt it. Felt that peace. That warmth. That omniscient truth that he'd never felt before because crossing over was supposed to be impossible inside the barrier.

Wally and Charley and Rhonda spoke over each other, a cacophony of questions with no answers. None that he was at liberty to give. He finally snapped the thread from his blazer, hands shaking because of what it signified that his clothes were deteriorating instead of resetting as they'd done since 1958.

"—the light at the same time as the goosebumps. Simultaneous goosebumps." Wally ranted between Charley's retelling of what they'd experienced.

Everett's collar felt too tight.

Bernie and Katelynn agreed and confirmed and Everett wanted the ground to open and swallow him whole. The noise of their curiosity caused his mouth to dry, his heartbeat to quicken, his palms to get clammy.

His students' eyes were on him, pinning him in place. He strung together the right words in the wrong context, anything to supplicate them, but they continued to press like walls closing in. And then Mina's face, sad and scared, seared behind his eyes, and he couldn't manage the pressure.

"After all these years, how can you still be so clueless?" Charley demanded, and Everett absorbed it like he'd absorbed Amelia's outrage when Janet had vandalized a plan that had been decades in the making.

It had been such a struggle to attain the right pieces and set them on the board. Amelia had been righteous in her anger. A glorious, beautiful blaze of fury that had left Everett wounded and weak. All because of Janet, who'd argued with him and accused him of being naïve. Who'd rearranged the board under his nose to steal what didn't belong to her.

"What if looking back isn't a bad thing?" Charley hounded, "What if it's actually the key to get out of here!? Why shouldn't we at least try that?"

They weren't allowed. They weren't allowed to look back. Amelia had warned him that everything he'd worked for, everything he'd done for them, everything he'd ever wanted would be snatched away if they looked back. And he couldn't have that. They needed him. To put them back on the right path, to guide them and teach them and be the person they relied on.

He refused to lose them like this.

"Because it's painful to constantly be thinking about it!" Everett's tone hit his ear belatedly and he deflated in his chair, eyes imploring, begging his students to listen to him like they used to. "Right!?"

His students went still, their eyes on him, willing to receive what wisdom he imparted. He gave them his impassioned speech, voice pleading, hoping his vulnerability would get them to see sense.

Subdued and seeming remorseful, they listened. Eyes down, features contorted in regret. For now, at least, Everett had won.

‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗

Wally kissed you like it was the last time. Slow, deep, explorative; memorizing every shape and taste of your mouth as he held you by the hips in his lap.

The school was empty aside from the teachers involved in the awards ceremony. Ajay had snuck you in and escorted you to Wally before he'd accompanied Maddie to the teacher's lounge for a coffee and a heart-to-heart.

Wally had stumbled upon Maddie in the hallway after Group. She'd been in bad shape. He was grateful that Ajay had stepped in to be there for her while she waited for Simon to arrive with her mom so that Wally could soak in your presence privately.

Needless to say, Group had left him rattled, and he needed the comfort.

"Wally?" You asked, likely having noticed his mind had wandered. "You okay?"

Wally's grip tightened on your hips, then smoothed down to your thighs, back up under your skirt to drag you closer by the ass. He gave you a weary smile, about as much as he could muster.

Between Mr. Martin's behavior in Group and Maddie's comment—"What would you do if the one person who was supposed to protect you was the one who hurt you?"—unleashing a repressed sense of betrayal toward his mama, Wally's strength of will had rapidly declined.

He didn't think he could do this anymore.

Call him selfish, but he missed the simpler times. The times before Maddie and the mystery and the cloak and dagger he and the others were forced to come to grips with. There was peace in ignorance and he wanted to find it again, just for a second, just to regroup and start fresh and—

"Hey," Your hands on his jaw, angling his face toward yours, "You still with me, big guy?"

"Sorry baby," Wally said, low and solemn, "Too many thoughts."

You nodded, "Yeah. Me too. I can't believe I never noticed Maddie's necklace. I see it every day, you'd think I would've put two and two together as soon as I met her, yanno?"

Not exactly where Wally's mind was, but that was odd.

"You said you and Maddie weren't that close before now," Wally tried to reason so you wouldn't drive yourself crazy thinking about it. "Who really pays attention to that kind of thing?"

You raised a brow, "I noticed Nicole had the same spider ring as Maddie as soon as she started wearing it."

"Okay. Fair. But that spider ring didn't ward off evil spirits, right? Maybe it's a magic necklace thing." And then he put on an all-powerful, godly voice, "All who look upon this necklace shall forget its importance lest they be cursed!"

You giggled, a sound as beautiful as a summer breeze, and beamed at him. Jesus, he wanted to see that smile every day for the rest of his existence. He lifted one hand to tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear, dipped in to brush his lips against yours, a smile of his own forming.

"Very impressive use of the word 'lest'," You teased, "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Hey, I was practically a straight A student, thanks."

"What I'm hearing is that you bullied nerds into giving you test answers."

Wally scoffed, "I didn't bully anyone! I used my popularity to charm certain academically gifted individuals into helping me along. It was give-give, baby, I swear." He grinned, both hands back on your ass, massaging your flesh.

"You may be onto something though, Wally." You said after a moment, "I wouldn't be surprised if Amelia glamoured the necklace so that no one would recognize it." A cheeky grin, "Lest her whole plan go up in flames before she could finish it." You raised your hands and made a poof gesture.

Wally drew you closer by the back of your head, his gaze flickering over your face as his eyes went heavy and heated, "Have I ever told you how sexy your brain is, baby?"

"Once or twice," You smirked and brushed your lips against his, "But you're welcome to tell me again."

A slow, thorough kiss before Wally said, "You have a very," kiss "very," kiss as his large hand pushed your closer so you were planted flush against him, "sexy brain."

‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗

Xavier was insubordinate on a good day, but the little nuisance had been more so in recent weeks. Austin didn't like it. By then, Xavier didn't need to be cagey or deflective for Austin to recognize when Xavier was hiding something.

In fact, Xavier had been combative, had shown up of his own volition to once again challenge Mr. South's innocence. And hadn't that been the cherry on top of a taxing day...

It was hard enough keeping the deputies' instincts from firing on all cylinders, pumping them with enough tea to fill an ocean. But Austin was at a pivotal point in tracking down and locating Madison Nears' runaway body and getting the plan back on the rails. He couldn't afford any more disruptions or screw-ups.

It rankled to think that perhaps, as had happened to Amelia's little pet who'd stopped drinking the tea under Amelia's nose, Xavier might've done the same thing. Austin was not one to be trifled with, and refused to acknowledge that that could possibly be right. He had a far stronger influence than Amelia.

But, he supposed, it needed to be looked into. After all, things had shifted since Madison Nears had been unceremoniously (prematurely) separated from her body. Xavier's manipulated subconscious could be another thing affected by it.

Pausing at reception, Austin noted the address he'd scribbled down earlier. Another possible lead.

At his hip, out of sight of those milling about the station, he typed a text to Dave's phone. The address and a blunt reminder that Amelia had better not let her former student slip through her fingers again or Anabelle would snatch her precious vessel right from her clutches without remorse.

'Find her.' Austin texted and hoped it was simple enough to get through to Amelia.

He didn't want to have to do it, but Austin was willing to discard Amelia to this lifetime to rot. Age had not given Amelia wisdom, that was clear, and Austin—Anabelle—wasn't sure he cared to coddle an idiot for the rest of time.

Dave's response came through.

'I will. I promise.'

Austin should've known better than to trust Amelia after everything she'd already failed to do...

‗‗‗‗•‗‗‗‗

"Are you finding anything?"

"Dude, this thing was old when I went here," Wally told Charley from his place at the microfilm reader.

The file room was dark, claustrophobic, filled with a lot of information yet very few answers. So far, anyway. You sat at the single tiny table, flipping through transcripts from 1960 while, at your feet, back against your leg, Ajay perused the stack of yearbook printouts from around the same era.

Your mind was torn between doing the research in front of you and what you'd been slowly translating in the books you and Xavier had found at the farmhouse. Unfortunately, you'd done a very poor job in the early hours of that morning, your eyes crossing as the Old English script bled together on the page. Flipping through the first book was a chore, the pages so fragile that you'd lost margins and corners that might've been important.

The second wasn't as cumbersome to flip through, but it made about as much sense as the first. Tonight, you'd decided, you'd lock yourself away in your room, roll your sleeves up, and get stuck in for as long as it took to find something about the barrier around the school.

"Dawn found something yesterday when she looked into her past." Charley said, determined, "I mean, Janet must've done the same. So...maybe if we look into their pasts, too, we could find something that could explain all of this."

Ajay sighed, "Don't we already know?" When Charley snapped a pointed side-eye at him, Ajay flapped a hand, "I get why we're doing this. What, against all odds, made Janet and then Dawn special enough to clock out of this place. But do we really think it's going to be written on paper?"

"Or microfilm." Wally inserted, peeking out from behind the machine.

"I think Charley's onto something, actually." You said as you scanned another transcript from 1960: Maria Volkov. "Maybe there was something special about their pasts that allowed them to move on easier." You glanced up, eyes finding Wally's, "I mean, you've all looked back before, right?"

"More or less," Ajay said, flipping through another yearbook. "Yet, here we still are."

Wally corrected, "We've thought about our deaths, bro, we haven't looked back the way Dawn did at the séance."

Ajay seesawed his head and made a noise of acceptance, but didn't add anything.

"Really?" You glanced at Wally. "You think it's the lobotomy thing?"

Wally nodded, chewed his lip in thought before disappearing behind the microfilm reader again.

A few minutes later, "What year are you on?" Charley asked Wally as he carded through the accordion folder containing Dawn's student files.

Wally responded, "1959. I'm trying to move backwards, but I am not seeing Janet's name anywhere." He glanced between you and Charley. "She died in 1960, right?"

"Yeah," Charley confirmed though he was distracted.

"That's what we have in our files, too." You added and then sat up straight to stretch out the kinks that had settled between your vertebrae. "Apparently she fell down the stairs and broke her neck?"

Wally cringed, "Sounds shitty." He looked at Charley again, "Did you know that? Because I didn't know that."

"As we've established, we've been discouraged from asking each other personal questions," Ajay muttered so only you could hear.

"Especially related to your deaths..." You murmured, a frown on your face. "Huh."

From his perch on the picture files cabinet, Charley rummaged through more of Dawn's files, engrossed though managing to reply to Wally, "And things just get creepier..." He exhaled sharply through his nose and finally looked up, "Nothing of much interest in Dawn's student file, either..." Awkwardly, tinged with a thread of guilt, he admitted, "I know we weren't super close, but I feel kinda awful that we didn't get to say goodbye to her."

You listened as Wally answered, heart twinging, "I don't want it to happen that way for me." He caught your eye, let his gaze hold yours softly, "I didn't get a goodbye last time..." You stood, shuffled around Ajay, and went to Wally, settling in his lap when he shifted to accommodate you. "I do not wanna just disappear..."

You nestled into his body, kissed his temple before pressing your brow against it.

"Me either." Charley said quietly.

Though it was obvious he felt the same, Ajay didn't say anything. Simply allowed Wally and Charley's grief to be heard and sat with it.

Wally turned his head, his lips pressed to your neck, his hand squeezing your hip before he tucked his face into your shoulder for a minute.

You felt him breathe in and out deeply, absorbing your presence, your scent a balm for his soul, and then he returned to the slide he'd just inserted under the lens of the microfilm machine. Beneath you, he tensed.

"Whoa. Whoa, wait. This is weird." You peeked up at the screen, adjusted as Wally leaned in to read the small print. At Charley's prompting, Wally read, "Split River High School has been chosen for a national pilot program to protect students and teachers from the threat of a nuclear strike."

Oh. Shit. Had you not told Wally about the fallout shelter below the school?

"A fallout shelter will be built below the east wing of the school," No. No you had not. You'd been too busy dry humping him and then throwing Xavier under the bus about the kiss he'd stolen from you. "The same location where a fire destroyed the former chemistry lab on January 14th, 1958." You were a terrible girlfr—wait.

"Wait...1958?" Charley voiced so you didn't have to. "That must be Mr. Martin's fire. Does it mention him?" Charley moved closer, half-sat on the side of the desk, and watched Wally scan the rest of the old article.

"I don't see..."

You pointed to the screen where you saw Mr. Martin's name, "There."

"Oh, yes," His hand snuck under your shirt, thumb stroked your skin in thanks as he began to read again, "Authorities determined the fire was accidental. Four people were killed in the fire that overtook the lab during a routine chemistry lesson. Beloved Chemistry teacher Mr. Everett Martin was one of the deceased—"

"Wait." Charley interrupted, confused, "Four people? He said he was the only casualty."

Ajay was on his feet now, positioned himself behind Wally, a hand on Wally's shoulder as he curved forward and reread what Wally had already dictated. "Four people..."

Wally's attention returned to the screen to pick up where he left off, "Uh, two other staff, secretary Melinda Fontaine and school nurse Karla-Anne Mayfair, who had tried to help contain the fire while students evacuated were killed in the blaze as well as one student, sophomore..." He stopped, causing you, Ajay, and Charley to squint at the screen.

"What? What's wrong?" Charley asked.

Wally picked his gaze from the screen and skirted it to Charley, "Janet Hamilton." A moment of tense silence, and then Wally, pinning you closer to his body to quell his anger, wanted to know, "Why did they both lie to us?"

You stared at the name Wally had pointed to. It didn't make sense. Even in your family's files, Janet was cited as dying in 1960... Only... She hadn't had a death date until Ginny had remembered something and had Nanna write it down. You slipped out of Wally's lap and went to the stack of yearbooks Ajay had been scouring through to find the right one. Bingo. 1958.

You opened it, flipped through the pages until, "My great-aunt was in that class." That was the fire that'd weakened her. You'd assumed it'd been the same fire that had killed your great-grandparents, but no. There was Ginny's young face, smiling shyly from the page between your neighbor, Darcy Behr, and Mr. Anderson's father, Douglas.

"What does that have to do with Janet and Mr. Martin?" Ajay wondered as he, Wally, and Charley crowded around you.

You scrutinized every other student's face for clues, because stealing bodies was the work of expert connectedness. And though they became new people in new bodies, their connectedness had always and would always remain. If you were right...

"There were only two ghosts." You uttered, and you felt Wally's hand on your hip, a steadying force, as he pressed himself against your back. "If the symbols were already around the school to trap Mr. Martin and Janet—"

Somber, Wally asked the question on everyone's mind, "Then where did the other two go?"

💀___________________________

PART TEN - PART TWELVE

also available on AO3!

MASTERLIST

You Belong with Me 💙🏈📖

Wally Clark x fem reader Y/N slow burn story

Part 23

Summary:

The living kids tell You and the others what happened after their failed attempt to get Janet back to school and you find Mr Martin’s watch leading Maddie to go into his scar. And you also found out another secret about Mr Martin and Janet.

It’s the next morning and everyone is in the library well everyone expect you and Wally who were still asleep naked on the couch in the storage room. “Where the hell are they?” Charley asks as he sits at the table joining Maddie with cups of coffee. “I know they just admitted their feelings but, they need to be a part of this plan.” Tommy sighs as he grabs a nearby book of the shelf flicking through the pages nonchalantly. “Charley, you and I will go look for them, they literary can’t go that far.” Rhonda says placing one of Mr Martin’s notebooks on the table. 

They leave the library leaving Maddie and Tommy to start brainstorming ideas of how the living kids can bring Janet and Mr Martin back. Thirty minutes of searching and Rhonda and Charley have looked everywhere for you and Wally. They approach the last area of the school that they haven’t looked yet, the theatre. “You go back to the others I’ll bring back the lovebirds.” Rhonda exclaims as she opens the door to the theatre, maybe you can debrief those two quickly.” She says pointing to Yuri the pottery looper who isn’t Russian or looping, he just wanted to get out of Mr Martin’s therapy group. And Quinn who was in the marching band who was a looper but ‘woke up’ when Rhonda screamed at them. 

Clothes still thrown about all over the room as you wake up happily in Wally’s arms. You look over at him as he slowly opens his eyes and smiles the biggest smile you’d ever seen. “Morning Walls.” You whisper softly. “Hey baby, gosh I love waking up next to you- well we always did since we always slept in the same area- but is different this time.” He says softly planting a kiss on your lips. Suddenly you hear the hatch open and footsteps coming down the stairs. There isn’t enough time for you or Wally to quickly change before whoever it was, turned on the light. “Oh god.” Rhonda blurts out quickly covering up her eyes. “I need you guys to change at meet us in the library, now!” she adds before running up the stairs. You can’t help but laugh as she caught you and Wally naked. “Ah, damn it she saw my butt.” Wally said sheepishly trying to cover up with the blanket. “It’s ok babe, it’s a very good butt.” You sassed back giving his butt a little slap. Wally laughs as he kisses you once more. “We should get dressed and see what they want before I change my mind.” He says breaking a part the kiss. 

Five minutes later you and Wally are in the library to meet the others and you notice everyone stops what they are doing and looks at you. “Finally, the lovebirds have left their sex room to join the rest of us.” Rhonda snaps trying to hold back a laugh. You take a seat next to Charley as he nudges his elbow into your side as he whispers. “I so need details- not that much- but enough.” You roll your eyes at him and then say, “Wait how are the two looper ghosts here?” “A lot happened when you guys were… y’know” Tommy replies. “Turns out Quinn can understand the weird writing in Mr Martins journal and Yuri found Janet’s notebook in something she had made.” Charley explains. “Wow, we did miss a lot.” Wally says trying to process everything. Suddenly you hear over the P.A system Simon talking. “Maddie and other ghosts, come to the cafeteria we have something we need to tell you.” “How did he even get into school on a Saturday?” Tommy asks. “Mr South always forgets to lock the door from the old garage, that’s how he got in.” Maddie says as she gets up and leaves. You all follow her in tow to the cafeteria where you are greeted by Simon and Lily.

“Uh, something happened after we failed to get Janet back here.” Lily says not knowing where to look. Silence falls between them, you can tell that something has happened by the way Lily is playing with her hair, a sign that she is nervous that she clearly picked up from your sister. “Simon, just tell me already.” Maddie says with a look of concern on her face as she sits down at one of the tables. The others join while you and Wally stand at the back. “After we left your house, we saw Mr Anderson- Martin at your door talking with your mom. We were worried that he would try to convince your mom to let him in and talk to Janet. And one thing led to another and well we may have kidnapped her.” Simon admits. “You did what?” You all say in unison. “Simon, what the hell? You kidnapped her.” Maddie retorts. “What is she saying Si?” Lily asks. “We had no choice Mads, we took her to the cabin your mom brought, we just needed more time with her.” “And kidnapping her was the way to do it?” You snap knowing they can’t hear you. “This is so fucked, please tell me you have a plan Simon, I kind of what my body back in one piece.” Maddie says anger fuelling in her. “We kinda have a plan, but I will keep you updated.” He replies as he leaves to head out of the cafeteria. “Wait Si, can you ask Maddie to tell my aunt that our family is, ok? If she’s anything like my mom she would be worried about her family.” Lily asks. Simon looks over to Maddie who is turned around. “Tell him I said thank you and that I’m ok, I’m with Wally and I have a great group of friends now. Her mom and grandparents will know what I mean.” You tell Maddie as she repeats what you said back to them. Wally pulls you in and whispers, “Everyone really did know about us before we did.” “Yeah, they did, Mary kept calling me a wuss for not telling you, she would have gotten along with Rhonda.” You whisper back laughing. 

Lily and Simon leave as you and Wally join the others at the table. “Now what?” Charley says. “We keep looking into the notebooks for anything we missed, and maybe back into the fallout shelter too.” You reply since there wasn’t anything much else to do. You, Wally, Tommy, and Maddie head for the fallout shelter while Rhonda, Charley, Quinn, and Yuri head to the library to work on the notebooks. In the fallout shelter you don’t know what find. “Is there anything we are meant to be looking for?” you ask. “I don’t know, just make sure we didn’t miss anything.” Maddie replies as she scans the shelfs. Finding nothing you head back to the others but once again the door slammed shut, remembering the only way out is through a trap door that leads to tunnels that lead outside of the school meaning you will get hurled back to the spot where you died. 

Wally opens the door as you climb through and then you are in the parking lot alone. As you get off the ground, you are blinded by something shining on something. You walk to the bus stop, making sure you don’t cross the barrier, you find a watch. You pick it up and study it then you realise its Mr Martins. You turn around and you see Wally running up to you. “Babe, I found Mr Martin’s watch, he must have dropped it when he took over Mr Anderson’s body.” You exclaim giving the watch to Wally. “Holy shit. This could be his object or key whatever.” He says. You and Wally head back in the school and head to the library. 

“Guys, I found Mr Martin’s watch, Walls and I think it’s his key and he dropped it when he took over Mr Anderson’s body.” You say putting the watch in the centre of the table. “Fuck what if he’s hiding stuff in his scar or something, but how would we even look?” Tommy asks picking up the watch. “I could try. I mean all the scars are connected or something.” Maddie ponders. “Mads that’s crazy.” You say as you cross your arms across your chest. “I got to at least try; he could have hidden something in there about anything.” She replies. “Fine, but you aren’t going alone, we will wait outside for you, right Walls?” you ask. “Yeah of course.” Wally says. “While you were gone, we discovered that Mr Martin and Janet are way more connected than we first thought.” Rhonda announces. “Janet and Mr Martin died the same day; Janet was a student in his class.” Charley adds. “Wait so for all these years they lied about how they knew each other and how Janet died for what?” you snap as anger fills your whole body. Wally senses you’re getting angry and puts his arm around your waist and plants a kiss on your head. “No fucking idea. This whole time they lied to us and kept things on us for some experiment or some shit.” Rhonda says in annoyance. “More of a reason for me to try to get into his scar.” Maddie says walking out the room not giving you or Wally a chance to catch up with her. 

You and Wally catch up to her just as she is about to enter the fallout shelter. “Wait, Mads. Whatever you see in there, you can’t get hurt. We will be waiting here for you, ok?” you say trying to reassure her. “Thanks Y/N” she replies as she opens the door. You imminently notice the red glow; she can go through his scar. All there was left to do was wait for her, you hope she can find some answers because you can’t seem to wrap your head around the fact that Janet has been lying to you, to everyone for decades. You turn your attention to Wally “Babe, I still can’t wrap my head around this. All this time, they were lying. I thought Janet was my friend. I told her about my feelings for you before anyone else did.” You ramble letting emotions get the better of you, tears falling from your eyes. Wally sighs as he wipes away the tears from your face, “I know Darling, we will get answers from them, I’m sure of it.” Suddenly Maddie appears coughing as tears well in her eyes. “Mads you’re ok, we got you.” You say as you run over to her as she crumbles to the floor. “I didn’t find anything. There was fire everywhere and there was this whole display of awards to Janet.” she mutters out. “I don’t remember her getting any awards.” Wally said. “What if Mr Martin caused the fire that killed them both and he is haunted by the fact that he took away Janet’s future.” You reply helping Maddie to her feet. “We should tell the others.” Maddie says as she whispers as soft thank you to you. 

Part 22 Part 24

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Why is he so sexy? I can’t handle thisss

"Some people are destined to do big things. That's great. But the rest of us, we carry the small gifts. That's just as important to the people whose lives we touch."

-Wally Clark

School Spirits (2023-25) 2.05 Ghost Who's Coming to Dinner

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the things these photos do to me..