It was getting dark once again, with the autumn breeze becoming much colder towards the end of the day. Winter was right on the doorstep, so sunlight was being delivered in a much shorter supply, shrouding the entirety of Hometown in a dreary, grey gloom.
With cold wind rushing through their hair, Kris made their way across the small forest patch surrounding their home. Their destination;
The 'Overlook'.
It was a small, rock like peak sticking out of the hillside. Kris decided to call it 'The Overlook' since you can see the entirety of Hometown when standing on top of it.
More importantly to Kris, however, is that it's the only place they know of where Susie hangs out. Therefore, it's the place where she most likely is.
And if not, there may be some clues about her whereabouts in there.
As Kris neared their destination, they kept thinking about that particular fact: that the Overlook is the only place Susie might be. If not there, then where? They searched the town prior, and came up with nothing. Well, they didn't try...
...
Oh god.
Kris suddenly had an epiphany.
...what if she's at her home?
Kris had to stop to let that thought sink in.
...she might be at her home, which is...
...
..Kris doesn't know where Susie lives. No one knows that.
Even though Kris basically remembers the entire town by memory, there's not a single house where she might live. And the next closest town is, like, MILES away. Does that mean...
Does she live in the WOODS? Is she...homeless?
Oh boy...
Surely not, right?
Kris began to feel more and more like an idiot. Idiot for not figuring it out sooner.
No one ever saw Susie's parents. No one knows where she lives. The roughed up, dirty clothes she always wears. The fact that she basically eats EVERYTHING that's edible; even chalk. Not to mention how she always complained about being hungry in the Dark World.
It all makes sense now.
...
...wow. Kris really IS the worst friend a person might have. Susie was struggling with her everyday life, right in front of Kris's eyes, and they just turned away. They just thought she was a bit of a weirdo, but that's it. They could have helped her, all this time...
...like a true friend would.
Except they didn't.
Because they weren't her friend
After all, a friend wouldn't attack her, would they?
Wait...what?
Kris dropped to their knees.
...
...
...
They suddenly got a really bad headache.
...
As they rubbed their forehead, they forgot what they were thinking about just now.
...
After a few seconds, the pain seemed to subside, and Kris got up.
Scowling, they shrugged the fogged memory off.
Eh, it probably wasn't that important. Right now, Susie is at the Overlook, so they need to find her.
That's why they are out here, right?
So once again, Kris started walking toward their destination, through the gloomy orange forest.
*phew*
What a climb. Kris never realized how actually high up this peak was. Even though it was just a big hill, it was quite large when you got close to it.
Maybe talking on with Susie while walking made them forget about the exhausting path, compared to walking alone.
Looking around, Kris realized that, frankly, there was nothing much to look around at.
It was almost dark, so the only thing that was visible where the tiny shining lights of Hometown, far below. That and and the single, run down bench hidden just off to the side, in the shadow of the tree-tops.
Kris never noticed it before, so they made their way over.
As they walked over, they noticed some sort of big, slouched down object lying down on the bench.
...and as they got even closer, they realized the object was moving.
Breathing, in fact.
Slowly, Kris tip-toed toward the sleeping person, to get a good look at their face.
Aaand bingo.
Kris smiled softly as they stood over the sleeping Susie.
They crouched down beside her, and raised their hand to shake her awake, only...
...sitting down beside Susie, Kris found themselves staring involuntarily at her.
They never got a chance to get a PROPER look at Susie, from up close anyway. Well, they DID, but it was only for a couple of seconds when she slammed Kris against the school lockers and threatened them.
And in that moment Kris was too busy realizing how screwed they were.
So, with slight embarrassment, Kris started eyeing Susie up closely.
She was laying on the side, with one hand under her head for support. The other was wrapped around her stomach, presumably for warmth. Looking to the side, Kris saw that her legs were sticking out from the edge of the bench, as Susie was way too big for it. She was huge; a fact even more evident when she was standing upright. The top of Kris's head could barely reach the base of her neck.
Kris looked at her hands once more. With sharp claws at the end of each finger, her one palm was bigger than Kris's entire face. They could also see through her jacket how muscular her arms were; they weren't over-the-top muscles you could see in body-building magazines, but she could definitely lift Kris up with just one arm.
A fact Kris found out the hard way.
Looking at her sheer size, and her bigger-than-usual muscles, Kris wandered what would it feel like to get hugged by her.
...to get embraced in those big, loving lizard arms...to feel her body against Kris's own...
Kris shook their head quickly to get rid of those thoughts before they could de-rail any further.
Not going down THAT road.
After Kris was done with their *ahem* 'scientific evaluation' of Susie's lower abdomen, they moved on to her face.
Like always, her face covered most of it, allowing only her mouth to be seen. Right now, it was closed, with a neutral expression. It looked innocent enough, but Kris knew all-too-well about the rows of extremely sharp set of teeth she had. Kris did get a VERY personal close-up look on them, after all. A sight that's going to haunt Kris's dreams for a long time.
Now if those dreams will be nightmares or something else, that's up to debate.
Moving closer, Kris could barely hear her soft breathing. For a behemoth like Susie, you would expect her to snore louder than a jet taking off, but she wasn't. In-fact, Kris admired how quiet she actually was. It was rather comforting, as a matter-of-fact. They wanted to hear it a bit better.
...so Kris moved just a tad bit closer...
...and closer...
Kris could feel her breath on their face at this point.
Maybe...if they...
Kris's face was now about an inch away from Susie's.
...
What the hell am I doing?
...
Kris blinked a few times, and realized where they were and just what they were almost about to do. They practically jumped away in an instant.
What...just happened?
Kris was sitting on the ground, utterly dumbfounded. Susie was still sleeping on the bench, none the wiser to what just took place.
Kris started to compose their thoughts.
Did they just try to...
No, better question; What were they doing in the past few minutes? Eyeing up Susie like some kind of weirdo?
Kris considered Susie their friend, but that was it. They wanted to know her better, sure, but this?!
They never thought about the two of them being more than friends, as Kris was finding trouble doing just that. Besides, Kris wasn't really sure they could even HAVE a thing for their former bully.
But, that being said, why did they just try to...
...
...well, Kris wasn't sure what they wanted to do just then. It's a bit foggy, for some reason.
Almost as if...they just...
...became someone else for a moment...
Weird.
"Uh...huh?"
Kris looked up, and saw Susie shifting. It looks like she was about to wake up.
Suddenly, Kris didn't really feel like talking to her, ESPECIALLY after what just happened. Mystery or no, Police or no Police, Questions or no questions, Kris became very weary in the presence of Susie for some reason.
This was not good.
( Now, I know what you're thinking: "Where the HELL have you been?"
And I apologize for not writing, but there was A LOT going on in my life. Let me explain:
Without going into unnecessary details, just let me tell you that it's been a VERY hard couple of months for me, and that creativity was just the last thing on my mind. But, that being said, it's looking a bit better now, and I do hope to continue this story.
So, no, Soulless isn't dead, and it won't be unless I specifically say so, even if they may be more unannounced hiatuses from me. That's just how I work; keeping a schedule and a plan REALLY isn't my style. Therefore don't be hopeless if I'm not uploading for a long time; i'm just not in the mood, and I apologize for that.
Lastly, I wanted to thank EVERYONE who commented, liked or just read my story. You guys rock.)