Passing Notes

Chapter 8: TimeBomb

A/N The sillies are in my head. Beauty and the beast soundtrack kinda fits them since they start off enemies

Nightmare was moping. Dream knew perfectly well that the teachers were all too wimpy to actually get him in trouble. To make it worse, Killer was talking about bets, and it turns out both Dust and Horror had bet on the new girl winning the fight. His own gang had bet against him. She was going to pay somehow, he just wasn't sure how yet.

Dragging a brooding octopus behind him and being trailed by his brother's friends, Dream was also lost in thought. He couldn't believe his brother was so naive to be caught up in anger like this. That fight could have gone one of two ways.

His brother could have beaten the new girl, tormenting her about his win everyday until she quit. Dream thought she was really sweet, and deserved a chance at a life here. She seemed like she was running from something. Dream had known enough people to point that out, and the fact that she was so tense reminded him of Cross. If Dawn was anything like Cross, whatever she was trying to hide from must be pretty bad.

Given the fact that she wasn't afraid of Nightmare, Dream could assume that she had known things far more awful in her past. There was always a chance that he was wrong, but she also hadn't shown up to the lunch line or brought a lunchbox. That was setting him on high alert. She was clearly not taking care of herself in one way or the other.

The other case was if she had actually won. Nightmare would be moping around the house for days. He was sure his brother would torment the girl for wounding his prize. Dream did not want to share a house with his brother in that type of mood.

Either way, whatever scenario took place it wouldn't end well for Dawn. This way Nightmare would just have to wish his brother had never interfered. Plus, this was in character for him and he was sure that everyone had believed his excuse. Glancing back to the gang, he remembered that once the school year started they tended to hang out at the house.

Reaching the driveway, Dream looked up at their house. It was a huge two story mansion, and often felt really empty. He was always glad for there to be guests over, regardless of how much of a pain they could be. He glanced to the side. Their house was by a lake, and they didn't have any neighbors. There was a forest to the side, with a dirt path to a little cottage in the trees. It was beautiful; a nice cottage at the bottom that led up to a large treehouse. He'd always wanted to buy it, but he didn't have a use for it.

It was then that he noticed the sign had changed to sold. That house had been on the market forever; it was pricey and impractical. Beautiful, sure, but it was a few minutes walk into the forest and no motorized vehicles were permitted in the woods. Someone had to want to stay out of the public eye and have funds, and rich people usually liked to flaunt their wealth.

Dream shook his brother's shoulder aggressively. Nightmare groaned and made eye contact, Dream gestured toward the sign.

"Looks like we'll be having a new neighbor to talk to!"

Nightmare rolled his eye(s?)

"They better not talk to me. If you want a new friend, knock yourself out. Just know that if they're bright and cheery like you I won't be having them over."

Dream grinned and let go of Nightmare, running off toward the path. Nightmare was sure that Dream had gotten all of the cheerful genes. It was pretty insane that two people born at the same time and place could be such polar opposites. He gestured to his gang and headed into the house. They all followed him, Cross lingering behind to glance in Dream's direction before heading in.

The boys quickly dumped their bags at the door, and began to crowd toward the living room. Nightmare clicked his tongue and glared.The boys all walked back to the door and took off their shoes. (Not the socks though. No homo dude.) Killer rolled his eyes and ran to flop on one of the many huge couches. The others all sat like absolutely normal people.

"Soooooo.... You were gonna fight a girl?"

Killer turned to face Nightmare, now sitting upside down on the couch, tossing one of his knives up and down in the air. Nightmare flushed slightly; he hadn't been thinking about that. He probably looked like the biggest jerk ever. Still, he was totally justified.

"Whatever. She may be a girl, but she was the one who decided to duel. I was originally intending to just intimidate her. She was practically asking to be beat."
"Whatever. I still think that she would have absolutely beaten you to oblivion."

Dust was casually scrolling his phone, not even glancing up to see the absolute death glare Nightmare was sending his way. Horror nodded in response; he'd talk but he knew his friends understood him without needing words.

It was kinda a comfortable atmosphere. Every other night during the school year the boys would stay over at Nightmare's mansion. Horror really enjoyed those nights; it was much better than staying alone in an apartment every night. Still, he had a feeling today the topic would be about the new girl, and he pitied her for that.

"Yeah, whatever. Did you see the way she acted before using her magic during the test? You may not have been going all out, but it almost feels like she was holding back."
Killer scoffed. He was always on Nightmare's side.

"Yeah right. With that amount of magic, if that was holding back then using all magic available would rip the user to shreds. She'd probably be long dead by now."
"Exactly."
Horror's statement was met with an empty silence. It was true, having that much magic would be absolutely deadly. Even surviving on a high amount was a risk. Those who sought after magic would flock to the source like vultures over roadkill. Let emotions choose for you just once and you would be swept away into the afterlife. It was something fundamental that made it so all of the strongest people were either short-lived or never lived up to their full potential.

The silence was broken by Nightmare, who scoffed. Honestly, he knew that people of that caliber existed. That was the reason he was so feared. He was powerful, but not to the point where going all out would have any effect on him. It made him one of the most formidable people living.

"Suppose she did have that kind of magic. This is all superstition, we have no proof and no lead. If she did somehow possess that much magic, there would be magic hunters swarming the area. Our school is wary enough of me, why would they admit a ticking time bomb into our class? Someone with that level of power would have died at a much younger age."
Dust sighed and waved his hand. He had accepted that his idea was very flawed, but he still believed she must at least be at Nightmare's level. A mysterious new transfer student with the guts to face the King of the school? That person was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Horror reached up to rub the rough chips of his cracked skull. He wasn't entirely convinced. He may not be the most clever of the group, but he had a gut feeling that this girl was different. Horror's gut feelings were almost never wrong.

Cross awkwardly cleared his throat.

"How about we play some Uno?"
Just like that, the mood shifted into a much brighter, energetic tone. He was glad that pressure was over with, but he couldn't help but compare him and Chara. He had a lot of magic, and was able to sustain it because each of their souls took part of the burden. If Dawn had a ghost of her own, was it possible that she had figured out a way to control her excess magic with another soul? Or was she a victim like Cross? He was left wondering about this late until the night. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that he would be getting an answer any time soon.