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the nightmares struck them at the worst times. no, not nightmares- daymares. dreaming while they were still awake, things that were almost there but not quite.if they had someone to wake them up, it wasn’t a problem. the glassy look in their eyes, shaking, and terrified whimpers barely emitting from their mouth was enough to let anyone try and pull them back to reality. what was bad was when there was no one around.it happened in a church. they were alone there, sitting in a pew and trying to ignore the creeping on the back of their neck. their dress hung loosely off of their body, bones weary from months of restless nights and high anxiety. their stomach twisted.then they were on the stairs of the church. it was as if an entire chunk of their memory had been lost. the church doors slammed shut behind them, the lights went out. they could only see about two feet in front of them with the help of street lamps. they looked at their hands to find fresh blood. a shaking finger tapped at their cupids bow to find that their nose was bleeding. they hunched over and threw up. it was black. ————————a desk burst into flames on crona’s birthday. the entire school had to be shut down due to rumor that a witch did it. something told them that no witch would do that.they walked home with maka, who seemed less than happy that school was let out early.“i studied all week for that test, and now i have to wait until monday to take it!” she exclaimed. crona nodded but said nothing, hoping that their silence wasn’t suspicious.no one wished them a happy birthday, but that was to be expected. even they were barely aware of it. the only thing that reminded them of it was a cake that showed up on their doorstep later that day. “EAT UP” said the note taped to the box. crona took it inside and proceeded to shovel fistfuls of cake into their mouth with their bare hands. they had been sick recently, you see. some sort of stomach virus. they were starving.after they left a considerable dent in the cake, they collapsed on the floor of their kitchen and fell asleep. when they woke up, black goop was pouring out of their nose. they cupped their chin to prevent it from spilling on to the floor, ran to the bathroom, and threw up the cake into the toilet. frosting mixed with ink and bile. they began to cry. ————————by the time monday rolled around, crona already knew that there was no way they were going to school. they had spent all night next to the bathtub, reading a book and puking black gunk whenever their body decided it was time. they were too weak to clean it, and it wasn’t normal vomit. it didn’t seem to have the acidity or smell that regular throw up did, only a distinct caramel taste. they let the bathtub fill with it, more puke than they had ever seen.they were reading a book about witches-famous ones, evil ones, good ones. you see, they had always been afraid of witches, but fear was a common thing for them now, so they might as well indulge in something educational. “all witches are female, destructive-prone beings in which are capable of manipulating magic. some witches have an appearance based on distinct animal-like qualities that-“ something wriggled on their ankle. they looked down to see a snake had somehow made it’s way into the bathroom. too scared to push it off, they stayed frozen as it made its way up their body, past their stomach and chest, finally stopping to drape itself around their neck. ————————“other witches use magic to look like different people, although this is an advanced type of magic and can only be performed by extremely powerful witches,” crona finished reciting. “very good,” ms. mjolnir praised them. “do we have a taker to read the next paragraph?” maka’s hand shot up. “very well, ms. albarn. proceed.” after class, ms. mjolnir stopped crona on their way out. “i’m very proud of you for participating today, crona. you did a good job.” she said. they smiled.“oh. thank you,” they said, and started to walk away. “i was wondering,” mjolnir began again. “if witches really can manipulate themselves to look like other people, how can we tell if the people you see every day aren’t just witches?” she smiled greedily.“i... guess you can’t,” crona said. mjolnir continued to grin at him. “i have to go,” they said, and pushed past their teacher. they could have sworn her eyes flashed into something more reptilian as they walked by. ————————crona didn’t like their hair. it was messy. they needed a constant in their life, but looking in the mirror only proved that their hair was a bad constant. it didn’t grow out right, sticking up in all different directions. all the WRONG directions.they hacked away at it with a kitchen knife until it was uneven and uglier than before. they cried when they looked in the mirror. ————————“you’re hungry,” said the voice.“i know,” said crona.“so eat,” said the voice.“no,” said crona. “you don’t want me to eat food.” “that’s right,” said the voice. “go eat.” crona shook their head.“i don’t want to,” they insisted. “you have to,” said the voice, growing more angry with each word. “you have to eat, crona.” ————————on june 15tg, a week before school is let out, a student with choppy pink hair goes missing. they didn’t mention it to any of their friends, and none of the teachers knew more than what was required about their home life.the same day that this student goes missing, a teacher does not show up to her first, second, or third class, without calling in to take a sick day. marie mjolnir was reportedly at school every day for a week with multiple witnesses. she is later found in the basement with a week’s worth of starvation-related damage, tied up and gagged. once she is put into immediate care, she is hysterical and begins to rave about “snake eyes.”upon breaking into crona’s house, authorities find three birthday cakes that seem to have been eaten by an animal. all possessions that their friends reported would be there are still there. there is a distinctively sweet smell, almost like caramel. thick, inky goop is splattered on the walls and floor. the toilet and bathtub are filled with the same substance. lab tests indicate that it is a mix of blood and bile.there is no leads as to where crona is now. evidence suggests a potential virus or violent animal as a cause of death, assuming that crona is dead.none of them see the snake slither it’s way out of the bathtub, untouched by the ink.