Teenage Mania ✸ Original Applyfic.

I. Songbird sing for me,

✸ Warnings; repeated mentions of blood, harm to animals, nightmares, brief mentions of drugs and alcohol, mentions of cravings to harm and slight self harm in reference to snapping a hair tie around her wrist repeatedly, references to neglectful/deadbeat mother, and more.

A great force is asleep in you,
curled up inside of you like a snake.
You pretend to be asleep — absolutely
asleep — lazy and dreamy and nonchalant.
But I feel the dynamite in you.

The Diary of Anaïs Nin, 1934-1939

I: Songbird sing me a song, a sweet lullaby while you drain me of my blood. (The rabbit's last plea to Sonomi.)

The rabbit hearted girl. The rabbit's heart and the girl. The blood on her fingertips, the adrenaline rushing through her veins, the smile on her face.

"Just put your hand right there, there you go, see you're doing it!" Snap. The head has been torn off the beast. Slaughtered in its sleep. Oh what will we do. "Remember to wash your hands my child after you touch an animal, don't want you getting sick." She scrubbed her hands raw, no traces left except the ones from the coarse sponge now incriminated with the blood of the beast. "He's not so scary now is he my love?" No. Not scary at all. You'd be proud of me daddy, I'm not afraid anymore. No but they aren't the only ones who cower in fear when they feel you coming, when they sense your eyes on them? They aren't the monsters in the stories you hear about, the wild beasts everyone's set to hunt. You are.

Sonomi sprang awake, her body covered in a layer of sweat, clothes sticking to her. A nightmare. Her nightmare. She is the nightmare. The clock shows 03:33, figures since it's still dark out. A half sigh, half groan escapes her lips as she stretches her body. A satisfied smile on her face as her joints pop and crack to the sound of her humming as she walks to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

It's Monday morning and she's overslept. The cool water of the shower prevents the stained mirror from fogging up. She double checks every crevice of her body for marks, scratches, blood. Not hers, she's too skilled for that. Her father cannot know.

She stuffs everything she'd need for the week into a bag and leaves the house making sure to slam the front door as loud as she can. Not like her mother would ever hear her anyways, she's practically dead drowning in drugs, alcohol and Swedish Fish. Oh how badly Sonomi wishes she would drown.

Breakfast is overrated and time consuming. So much hassle for the least important meal of the day. Her father will make sure she has some for when she arrives anyways. Sonomi pulls her hair into a ponytail as she treks through the woods opting to take the shortcut to the only bus stop for miles. She isn't afraid.

The bus arrives on time and so does she. They know each other, the driver and her but no words are spoken. She is the girl they speak about to scare their children. The ones everyone warns you about but he doesn't know it. He should be happy she's managed to maintain any semblance of control for not smashing his face into the steering wheel for his judging stare for her messy attire. He doesn't know, but she does.

The bus stops and she steps off it rather unceremoniously. Who cares? Another bus and she'll be in her father's arms, in her safe space.

It's nearly six now. Surprising how long it takes to get from one end of Murdock to the other, she bets she could do it faster than that. But buses have rules and regulations. They have times to obey, speed limits to follow. She doesn't. One day she'll do it, they'll hear her coming then.

The second bus journey takes equally long and it's turning to almost half last seven when she steps off. Stupid how long she had to wait between the two buses. The fifteen minute walk from the bus station to his house feels almost heavenly and she takes her time. It's cold outside but she can't feel it, she's too busy memorising the feeling of her footsteps hitting the pavement, the way her ankle rolls off the ground, the slight fog and mist in the air that adds a mysterious element to the small town. Her fingers itch to grab something and twist it, but she settles for the snap of her hair tie against her wrist.

She sniffs the air and she could have sworn that she smelt something burning but it disappears just as quick. Sonomi rings the doorbell and smiles hearing the sound of footsteps echoing through the house. He wraps her in a hug and it feels like home. She clings onto the feeling, onto him, feeling lighter already even though the weight on her shoulders presses down threatening to drag her into the depths of hell. Hell is a teenage girl and she slaughters animals for fun.

✸ Here's a glimpse at Sonomi! It was probably worth taking a glimpse at her application a bit more to get better hints at her personality which I definitely will do for the later chapters when we get more in depth but it's not too bad for a start.

✸ This book will be dark and will contain a lot of warnings throughout. There will be no effort to romanticise their actions and neither of us approve of anything they do so please do let us know if we do accidentally do so or forget a warning, etc.