Gabriel and William on Valentine’s Day!

*This story is underneath my folder titled “Town of Richardson”. Valoween is coming up, sooo…I made this! Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33”. Enjoy!*

Gabriel watched from behind the wrought-iron gates of the circus as people young and old walked past him, chattering on about how much they loved one another, their eyes alight with a saccharine sweetness that Gabriel couldn’t believe was in his own eyes at one point, all of them giving each other chocolates and balloons and teddy bears and…he swore that he saw Denise walk past him, holding a heart-shaped box of chocolates while a boy walked next to her, a star-sprinkled look in his eyes whenever he looked at her.

It was a year after Gabriel and the others were murdered by Mr. Ladouceur. A year after Denise left him to die. Gabriel had met Denise in April, the murders happened in June. She was his crush ever since he was little. He planned for them to have Valentine’s Day together the following year, but that wouldn’t happen. Why would it? Why would he be allowed to be in love? Why would Denise love someone like him, realistically?

Gabriel shouldn’t have been shocked that Denise appeared to have a new boyfriend, that everybody walking past the old circus didn’t even glance behind the gates. Why would they? Everybody was done mourning the “mysterious disappearances”. They couldn’t dwell on what was negative forever, on what they could not fix, because there were more positive things to think about, like Valentine’s Day. After all, Gabriel out of all people preached to be positive no matter what.

But that was when he was alive and believed that life would get better, that no matter what, there were always good things to come. That was when he thought that he was genuinely doing something meaningful for the people in the town of Richardson, that Denise actually liked him and didn’t take him as a joke.

Yet as he stood there on his one leg, holding onto the railings with fingertips that had peeling, bloodied skin smeared with greasepaint and wounds, he could taste the sour, curdled aftertaste of vomit in the back of his throat, the disconnection that was always there for Gabriel making itself more vividly known and apparent in death, the realization never becoming easier to bare, just louder in his mind, like nails scratching on chalkboard, an alarm blaring in the distance, a scream that nobody would be awake to hear, like the scream that spilled from Gabriel’s mouth in the circus tent when Mr. Ladouceur-

“What’s wrong? Why are you…oh.” William said, his smile fading when he joined Gabriel at the gate, for he noticed that his friend was staring at Denise and the boy who were walking away, his pink eyes wide with sparking panic, his hands tightening around the railings.

William told him to be careful with her years ago, but he didn’t listen, his heart so full of love and optimism. A year after his own death and he still felt hurt that she betrayed him. William may have never fallen in love before, but he knew what it felt like to be betrayed, for his own father was the one to descend to evil and commit the murders. His father, the man he was supposed to trust and look up to, the man he was supposed to aspire to be…the man who killed them all because…demons? Something to do with demons? He didn’t know much, only that one of the victims, Samuel, said that he after he died he had become a demon and that he thinks his human form may have been taken from him. In short, William’s father had done something evil for evil and for that, he wouldn’t forgive him.

Gabriel was too sweet for his own good and to see him dwell on someone who wasn’t worth his time and let it consume his mind broke William’s heart. Gabriel was so much more, he deserved so much better. Everybody who fell victim to his father did, but Gabriel especially, for the whole town had been so awful, so immature towards him…and for what? Because he was different? Because it was more amusing to listen to his father tell them to throw things at Gabriel even though it overwhelmed him, nearly made him cry?

Absolutely deplorable how the townspeople were.

“I know it’s easier said than done, believe me, I know, but try your best not to let the pain of the past take over everything in your mind. You didn’t get to have the Valentine’s Day that you wanted with Denise and that’s okay. She didn’t deserve you anyway.” William said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Gabriel let go of the iron railings (thank goodness, because William was starting to get anxious for him), but he still had that look in his eyes, the look that said he would be hyperventilating if he were alive. If his eyes weren’t ringed by blood and smeared makeup, then William would have no doubt seen eye bags, for Gabriel rarely ever slept through the night.

William swallowed hard, trying to think of the right words to say without bursting into tears. It was only a year after their deaths, but he didn’t imagine it would get any easier to bear.

He didn’t want to cry, though. He already cried enough after his father killed him and on the nights in his room when he thought of how Gabriel was treated, of how nothing really changed in the circus, of how Denise didn’t really love him like she should have, of how William could try his hardest to make Gabriel happy and yet still, there would always be people around to hurt him, to break him down, to-

“You have people who care about you. The other ghosts care about you. I care about you. One day, we’re going to get out of here. We’ll find our freedom one day. But for now, we’ve just got to stick together and be there for one another. That’s the best way we’ll get through this.” William said, wrapping Gabriel up in an embrace.

Gabriel hugged William back, lifting him up high from the ground. Gabriel was quite tall for his age, standing at 6’8, so he could carry people high up from the ground. Nobody knew why he was so insanely tall, but William imagined that his love was so boundless that it made him grow, that it trickled from his head to his toes.

But William knew something else that would make him happy. When he was alive, he was the “apprentice” of his father. He dressed up in a ringmaster uniform just like his Dad, he was trained to be another ringmaster, but William practiced magician tricks on his own, all because he wanted to do amazing things like…

“Look behind you to see what I’ve pulled out from your wig, Gabriel.” William said with a smile.

Gabriel furrowed his brows as though he didn’t quite understand, then he turned around and made a wheezing, breathy sound that resembled an exclamation of excitement if it weren’t for the stitches on his mouth. The delighted look in his eyes was priceless, all the silent horror from before vanished.

When they were hugging, William did a magic trick that involved putting a seven of spades card behind Gabriel’s head, knowing that he’d appreciate little whimsical things such as commonplace magician magic.

“You can keep the card if you want.” William said, not wanting to force Gabriel to accept it. He did want Gabriel to keep the card because he thought that it might bring him some joy when he felt terribly miserable, but if Gabriel didn’t want it, then that was fine too. They could always “talk” as best as they could with Gabriel’s stitches and his telepathy that took mounds of energy from him.

But Gabriel, with one arm still around William, gently plucked the card from William’s fingertips and put it in his pocket, where it would be safe from being crushed or crinkled.

He then placed William on the ground and from the same pocket where he put the card in, he produced a glitter beaded bracelet, the beads in the color order of the rainbow. Back when Gabriel was alive, one of the things he used to give out to people were beaded bracelets that he made as well as the more common things for clowns to give out, like balloon animals. Gabriel couldn’t make balloon animals anymore since his mouth was all stitched up, but he still had some leftover bracelets.

He handed the bracelet to William with eyes that sparkled with joy, William slipped it on his wrist, accepting it graciously. Most people who got the bracelets from him threw it out in the trash outside the circus, William saw, but they didn’t understand the value behind them. The hard work and meaning behind them.

William did. William understood.

With that, Gabriel wrapped his arm around William and the two of them walked back into the circus, letting the woes of the past fade from their minds and the pearlescent promise of the present cheer them up.

Maybe things would get better if they had one another.