Chapter 3.20 - Shock Value

Jenny frowned as she paced the length of her small bedroom. “I can’t believe we’re only a few weeks out from graduation and I still don’t know what I want to do with my life.”

Jonah spoke softly. “Calm down. You don’t have to know yet.”

“That’s easy for you to say! You’ve wanted to be a doctor since you were in diapers!”

“That’s an extreme exaggeration.”

She sighed. “Of course, you’re right. It’s just really stressful, this uncertainty.”

“Well, we’re definitely going off to college together, right? You still have four more years to figure out a career path.”

“Of course we’re going to college together! I couldn’t let you go alone. You might meet some glamorous pre-med girl and forget all about me.”

“That would never happen, not least because I could never leave you alone for that long. What if some man moved in and swept you off your feet?”

“That wouldn’t happen.” Jenny moved in to embrace her boyfriend. “You know you’re it for me.”

He smiled down at her. “Care to prove it?”

She stepped away from him. “What do you mean?”

To her shock, he got down on one knee. “Jennifer Doe, you are everything I’ve ever wanted and more. I think I’ve known you were the one ever since you started rambling about vampires when we were in elementary school. We’ve had our rough patches, but we’ve always gotten through them because we love and understand each other more than anyone else ever could. You soothe my worries, and I calm you during your freak-outs. You are my past, present, and future, and I love you more than anything in the world. So, Jennifer Doe… will you marry me?”

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Amanda stood in her room, feeling simultaneously scared and determined. She knew what she needed to do.

“Maxwell?”

He appeared instantly. “Have you made your decision?”

“I have.”

“I know I can’t do anything more to persuade you, but…”

“You don’t have to.”

She closed her eyes and felt his true name rise to her tongue. 

Then she spoke it, and said, “I free you.”

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Willow wasn’t usually a nervous sort of person, but there was something strange in the air tonight. Something that made her want to spend as little time taking out the trash as possible.

Maybe it was the moon. It was very full, and hung low in the sky. A harvest moon, Willow recalled. Her mother always liked to recount that she’d been born on a night much like this one. There was something unsettling about that moon. Something that made her come out in goosebumps all over.

And that was before she heard the howl. At that point, Willow froze. It was a close howl, and even with the moon, it was dark enough that she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her face. Nighttime in Midnight Hollow was pitch black.

Then she saw something glowing in the darkness. It was a pair of eyes - a shockingly familiar pair of eyes.

Hesitantly, Willow called out. "Conor? Is that you?" She didn't know why his eyes would be glowing, but there was no denying that they were his.

"Willow, don't… don't come any closer." His voice was hoarse, and he almost sounded pained.

She stopped. "Are you alright?”

“Not really. It’s hard when the moon’s like this.”

She stepped a little closer. “What’s hard?”

“I keep forgetting you don’t know… I can’t really seem to remember much of anything at the moment. Right now, it’s hard to stay away from you.” He was almost growling, but Willow wasn’t scared. This was Conor, and even on a night like this one, she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.

She kept walking. “What do I not know?”

He stepped into the light and she stopped in her tracks.

“Conor? Are you…”

“I’m trying so hard to keep myself from shifting fully right now, I just can’t… and you smell so good, Willow, why do you always have to smell so good?”

She was frozen, staring at the boy she wasn’t sure she really knew anymore. Then he lunged at her, and for a moment she was almost scared…

But when he kissed her, she just embraced him back, reassured. This was definitely still Conor. He was just a little… hairier.

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Serena was swinging in the park when someone came up behind her.

“Serena?”

“Alphonse? You scared the life out of me!”

“Serena, I know you’re mad at me, and you have every right to be, but please hear me out.”

She blinked. She hadn’t expected it to be this easy. “I -”

He cut her off. “Please believe me when I say that I’ve wanted to tell you everything for ages. Maybe not since I first met you, but pretty close. But you have to understand, I’ve been hiding this for my entire life.”

“What -”

“I didn’t realize how much it hurt you. That sounds so stupid, but it’s true. I guess I didn’t realize you cared enough for it to hurt you, but you really had to yell at me for me to be able to wrap my head around it. I know I can’t offer you enough excuses. What I did was wrong, and you would be completely in the right not to forgive me for it. I should have trusted you. You’re my best friend, and I should have known that you would never tell -”

Serena couldn’t stand it anymore. “Alphonse, can you please just tell me this deep dark secret and get it over with?”

His face became serious. “Serena, I’m a witch.”

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Felix was having a pretty good day. As usual, his siblings were wrapped up in their own personal drama, but he had spent the morning hanging out with Jasmin, so that had been good.

The only dark spot on his day so far was the fact that he hadn’t seen Marissa. She’d been sick for the past week, so she hadn’t been at school, and now she was ignoring his texts. He was starting to have a bad feeling. They were already a few weeks past the usual expiration date of her relationships, but he had thought things were going well.

So when he came home that afternoon and found her waiting on the porch, he was thrilled.

“Marissa! I’m so glad to see you, did you get my texts?”

“Yeah, I did… I just didn’t really know how to respond.”

The sinking feeling was back. He now knew that she had just wanted to break up with him in person. “Oh? Why?”

“I tried to respond, I really did, but eventually… I knew I just needed to tell you in person.”

Felix braced himself. “Tell me what?”

She winced. “Felix… I’m pregnant.”

Author's Note: And there you go! One last chapter, in birth order. I hope I surprised you at least once. I put in that picture of wolf Conor just to show off the time I spent in Create-A-Pet making him, in case he doesn't make another appearance. I'm proud of how he turned out.

Anyway, on to the important part! The heir poll is right here: Generation 3 Heir Poll. Please go and vote! The five epistolary stories will be out over the course of the next week, and the poll will close on July 31.