Felicity’s story-The adventures of Poppy McLain

*This story is underneath my folder titled “Adventures of Poppy and others”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs <33”. Enjoy!*

She had to escape. She couldn't let the person catch her.

Twelve year old Felicity Drake was escaping from a murder scene. Her parents were murdered by a person in a hoodie. She didn't want to look at the person’s face and didn't want to take in the details of a monster.

She had an idea of why the person came for her parents, too. They were witches.

Her Mom always said that people feared witches because of their powers. Dad only said that they were envious and took out their anger in violence.

Either way, it was the reason they were more cut off from the rest of the world.

But Felicity ran on, no more how sore her knees were, no matter how much her mind screamed at her to Go back!

Whatever the reason, the aversion of witches had so unfairly taken the lives of her parents.

One day, Felicity would find them and make them pay.

But in the moment, she was a tired, frightened girl whose only thought was:

Run.

……………………………………………..

"Janet, do you think she's dead? She hasn't moved an inch.”

Felicity opened her eyes. The sun shone overwhelmingly bright, so much so that she had to put a hand over her eyes to see clearer.

It appeared that she had fallen asleep in a meadow, tall flowers entangling their way around her like the vines that once grew at the side of her home…

Home.

No, home was gone. She just had to keep running until she found the person who ruined her life in the first place.

Standing above her was a rather skinny and tall boy about her age. His eyes were a sparkling dark brown, his curly black hair caressed his face lovingly, his skin was a soft light brown. He wore a white cotton shirt that looked too big for his feeble, frail body, baggy brown pants and no shoes.

He was the person who spoke about someone named Janet, Felicity presumed. Only, there was just him. No one else.

The boy’s large eyes brightened when he saw that she was awake. Goodness, why was he so gaunt? His body made his muddy brown eyes look so…so unearthly.

“Oh, goodness! You're not dead! Sorry, my friend Janet said you were dead. She’s not usually like this.” The boy said, fidgeting a string on his shirt uneasily.

There he was, talking about the invisible person named Janet! The boy who looked as though a mere flick of a hand would harm him, as though the slightest touch could break him.

Felicity felt her skin crawl at the thought of what Janet might be, but still, she asked:

"Janet? Who is she?"

"Oh, you don't see her. I should have known. I'm the only one who can see Janet. Everyone else thinks she's imaginary, but she still deserves love." He said, still fidgeting with the loose string.

Her parents had warned about creatures that were only seen by a select few, creatures that could only thrive off the energy of others, their intentions never good.

Could it be that the boy with the deep scars and the purple-colored bruises was…haunted by something?

"I'm Edward, by the way. Edward Malcolms if you want to be fancy. You are?" Edward asked.

Despite how he fidgeted, he seemed like he really wanted to talk to her, like he wanted to make her feel comfortable.

Felicity felt warmth blooming in her heart. At least he cared.

"Felicity. Felicity Drake, since we are getting fancy and using last names." Felicity said, feeling a smile twitch on her face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Felicity. What are you doing out here?" Edward asked.

The twitch of a smile faded away. It was an innocent question, but still, it brought back memories of running, of blood, of screams.

He was waiting for an answer. All she had to do was say what happened, just so it wouldn’t linger in her mind.

"Somebody murdered my parents. I’m running away.” Felicity said, surprised at how flat her own voice sounded.

Well, he wanted to know, didn’t he? Maybe then he’d stop asking questions.

"Did you see their face?" Edward asked.

Why was he still asking? Why did he want to know so bad?

Somehow, the scent of blood was stronger than when it was the other night, as though it had followed her like a vengeful ghost.

"I didn't have time to look at their face. Why do you ask?" Felicity asked.

Perhaps he was only curious, but still, it was rather strange that he would keep asking about what happened.

"Nothing. Are you a witch?" Edward asked, flinching as though she had stabbed him.

Felicity didn’t reply. He wanted to know if she was a witch? He knew that witches existed? Her parents were murdered for being witches, witches weren’t well liked.

So how did he know about witches?

"Don't be scared. I like witches. They're cool. My brother…not so much. But you don't have to worry about him." Edward said, slouching his back, as though he wanted to fold into himself.

Felicity righted herself up on the grass. Every inch of him looked as though he wanted to run, yet he stayed. He was a closed-off person, from how he spoke, from how his eyes had the look of an animal caught in a trap.

"Um...yes. I'm a witch." Felicity said. He may not have been a threat, but it wasn’t like she would see him again. She had to be careful not to reveal too much information.

"You are? That's so amazing! I wish I was one." Edward said, a grin forming on his face.

There it was. That twitch of a smile on Felicity’s face.

In his corpse-like state, Felicity found that a smile made him look much more alive than before.

But she couldn’t stay for long. She had a journey of her own to make.

She got up from the ground and was about to leave, when-

"Hey, do you want to sleep in the barn my family has? You could live there and we could talk to each other." Edward called out.

Felicity turned around. He was asking for her to stay. Like a lost lamb in need of companionship, he wanted her to keep him company. She could see it in his face, in how he kept on fidgeting.

He needed someone. Especially if he was talking to a being like Janet.

But she couldn’t stay. He’d have to learn how to get rid of Janet himself.

"Thanks, but I'll be on my way." Felicity said, turning to leave.

"But you don't know where to go-"

"I'll find a way." Felicity said, cutting him off.

She may not have had a particular destination in mind, but she’d find what she was looking for eventually.

"Please?" Edward asked.

Felicity turned around yet again. There he was, asking as though she was his lifeline, as though she was going to leave him to get swallowed by a great, unforgivable void.

"Alright, fine. But tomorrow, I’m leaving.” She said firmly.

Again came that beautiful smile on Edward’s face. It broke her heart that she would never see it again, but there were more important things in life than making other people happy.

"Yes! You're going to stay! I promise you, you won't regret this!" Edward exclaimed. His demeanor changed from wanting to shrink away to bouncing up and down like a child on their birthday.

"Sure, Edward. " Felicity giggled.

Though she wouldn’t see him again, she couldn’t deny that he was the cutest person she’d ever met.

....................................................................

One night had turned to one week and one week turned to one month and then one month turned to one year...

And then Felicity had to write calendars on the barn wall with a sharp stick to keep track of the years, months, and days.

No longer were Felicity and Edward twelve, for the years had made them both fifteen.

She promised herself that she would leave, that she would catch the killer.

But seeing his sweet face made her want to stay even longer, to make his smile grow. He had such a loving, gentle energy about him.

Something Felicity lost that horrible night her parents were taken away.

Edward would visit her every day to teach her school lessons out in the forest, to give her food and water, to give her gorgeous dresses he bought with his Mom’s stolen money, and to simply talk. He wanted to treat her like a Queen, which Felicity didn’t need, but appreciated all the same. He was only trying to show how much he cared.

Like her, he didn’t have anyone left in the world who cared about him.

Edward had told her all about his parents and his older brother, Todd, who have hated Edward since he could talk. They didn't like that he was friends with Janet, that he was "too skinny" and "too tall", that he liked witches, that he was too sensitive, that he wasn’t born a girl, and so on…

In fact, all of his clothes were hand-me-downs from Todd.

He only talked to Felicity and Janet. That's what he told her.

This troubled Felicity greatly, for if he was talking to a creature like Janet, then how far off was he from the world? How was he so closed off that he still spoke to a monster like her, who would feed off his pure energy?

What if Edward turned out like…Felicity?

Every night, at the barn, she'd hear his parents yell at him for something he did. She could hear them, loud and clear, insulting his appearance, his character, and his feelings. Most commonly, she heard them call him a “Sickly runt of a child who should have died years ago”.

Then Edward would come running to her, crying and telling her what happened. All of his tears flooding out like a waterfall, his body shaking as though it had taken a beating.

Perhaps it had. Felicity would hear violent smacking noises followed by strangled shrieks, so maybe they were beating him.

And Janet was lurking in the shadows, feeding off of his sorrow. How would she ever tell him?

After the tears, he’d apologize for crying and ask her how she was, to which she replied: “I’m alright”. Then, she’d heal his open wounds, just so he’d feel safe.

He had shown such kindness to her, she often wondered why his family hated him so much, why they would want to hurt a soul like him.

But her parents were very generous, and yet they were still murdered.

People didn’t always have valid reasons to be hateful. Sometimes, they just were.

But she could do something. She could save him.

........................................................................

Felicity treaded carefully on the wooden floorboards, so that Edward wouldn’t wake up. It was late into the night. He and his entire family were asleep, she was the only person in the house who was awake.

She still wanted to catch the person who killed her parents, but ever since she met Edward, her purpose had become bigger. She couldn’t go on to bring justice to herself and leave him with an unjust life. He was too gentle, too caring…

And perhaps he was more than a friend to her, with how her heart swelled with every word he said, how she almost forgot about the cruelty of humans.

But that was for another time. The important thing was saving his life.

Down the hall, she could sense a man and a woman sleeping soundly in one room, without a care in the world, without a piece of remorse in their hearts.

Felicity’s fingers curled into claws.

They were his parents. They were supposed to make him feel as though he could be his fullest self, as though he could be free, and yet, they only wanted to tear him down. They weren’t real parents, no, they just wanted to break him into nothingness.

Felicity burst the door open, letting all of the rage, the fury, flood out of her.

His parents woke up, shocked from the sound. Her smile grew as she saw how they trembled, how they were in awe and fear of her true power.

“Witch!” The woman cried out feebly with a shaking finger.

Felicity could feel herself rising off the ground, the thought of Edward’s broken body and spirit, his infinite tears, swarming her mind. Her heart raced with adrenaline as a crimson, blood-colored blast shot from her claws.

Their blood splattered on her dress, but it was alright. She’d get rid of it with her magic.

With a twisted grin on her face, Felicity used her senses to find Todd.

They dared to lay their awful hands on Edward! Well, they would certainly pay. They would bathe in their own blood. Let Felicity be an omen of death to them, a sight of great, deep monstrosity.

She stopped. She sensed Todd’s room, but also…

The very same evil that had come the night her parents were taken. The very same evil that had so selfishly wiped away their lives, their light.

Felicity creaked the door open. She didn’t need to see the hoodie on the armchair to know that Todd was the very same ghoulish, malevolent person who had killed her parents.

No, she wouldn’t kill him instantly. He was special.

With a claw-like finger, she slashed one of his eyelids.

Todd woke up, shocked from the impact.

Felicity grinned even wider. She could feel her teeth begin to grow into sharpened points, blades that were sharper than pieces of glass. Her parents warned her that the teeth of a witch only grew when she was deep in their own Hellfire of emotions, but she wasn’t evil.

She was simply going to teach him a lesson.

“Remember me? The girl whose parents you killed? The witch girl?” Felicity seethed. She noticed how much of a snake her voice sounded like, how much of a hiss there was to it.

Todd blanched, his face going completely pale. He knew that he was doomed, that there was nowhere for him to run.

Felicity let herself rise from the ground. She thought of her parents, screaming at her to “RUN!”, their witch powers doing nothing against someone with knives specifically designed to kill witches.

He seemed to remember the knives on his nightstand and reached out for them, but Felicity raised the knives high into the ceiling, so that they stabbed through the ceiling, and not her.

Her parents were good people, using their powers to heal. They never liked using them to kill, and she suspected that it was the reason they couldn’t remove the knives from Todd’s hands.

But Felicity was going to let herself drown in utmost revenge until all she could see was Todd’s twitching, bleeding body.

He almost screamed, but in a swift motion, she pulled his throat out of his neck, blood decorating the dull room with splashes of color.

She wouldn’t want to wake Edward.

.........................................................................

"What happened?! Where are we going?!" Edward asked frantically.

"I don't know, Edward! But you have to trust me!" Felicity cried out.

They were running on the highway, towards what she believed would be freedom. The bodies of his parents were completely obliterated, but Todd was left twitching on his bed. He’d die. Eventually.

She woke up Edward earlier and didn’t tell him about what she did. She never would, for as long as they lived.

Some secrets were best kept under lock and key.

"Where is my family?! What happened?!" Edward asked, holding tight to Felicity’s hand.

After everything they did, he still cared about his family. Felicity didn’t know if it was remarkable or concerning. It was probably both.

"They're gone, Edward. I don't know what happened. We're going to stick together, okay?" Felicity said.

She was grateful that the sharp teeth and claws went away, or else Edward would be terrified of her.

He wouldn’t act so kind if he knew how far she would go, she was certain of it.

Felicity put her thumb up and gestured for him to do the same. Edward panted nervously, his hands shaking like they would fall off. In a faltering voice, he said:

"Felicity…I have to tell you something..."

"What?" She asked impatiently.

She didn’t mean to sound rude, but whatever he had to say couldn’t have been as big of a secret as what Felicity did.

"The night your parents were killed, Todd was out hunting witches. My family doesn't like witches, they're scared of them. I think that Todd killed your parents. I’m sorry that he’s my brother, but I promise, I’m nothing like him.”

Felicity brought him into a tight hug. Rain was pouring down furiously on them, but she didn’t mind the cold drops of water on her head. It was welcome to clear the blood in her body.

For she absorbed the blood within her, and the water would flow inside and wash it away, as it did with all witches who used their full force.

Edward didn’t deserve to worry so much.

"Y-you're not mad?" Edward asked, no doubt confused.

"No. It has nothing to do with you. Stop always being scared. Smile for me." Felicity said.

A smile did wonders on his sallow face.

Right then, a man pulled up in his car...

"Are you lost?” The man asked with concerned eyes.

They both nodded and later got into his car.

In the backseat of the car, Felicity cradled Edward in her arms.

As long as she was around, nothing would harm him ever again.

...................................................................

Felicity and Edward were taken care of by the man, who was known to them as Mr. Hallwell, for the rest of their lives, right until they married each other at seventeen.

Later on, they had two children together. Two four year old twins named Damien and Ivy.

Edward loved his family dearly with every fiber of his being, but still, Felicity saw his body deplete away, and that, that was how she knew he still spoke to Janet.

Her worst nightmare had come true. Janet had fed off Edward’s sorrow and became real. She was hurting him. She wasn’t invisible anymore, she was clear as day.

Felicity and Edward lied to the kids about Janet being their Aunt and Felicity letting her stay with them. They couldn't tell them the whole truth, they could never tell them the whole truth!

Only Edward could make Janet go away. He brought her into the world, and he could take her out of it, if he only unlocked the power within.

No matter. Felicity would help him find his strength, just as he helped her find her kindness.

........................................................................

Felicity walked up the stairs, to her and Edward’s room. It was another late night. The children were fast asleep, Felicity was going to check on him. Hopefully his wounds had gotten better. There was only so much her healing could do.

When she made it to the door, she opened it softly, her heart beading with dread.

There he was. Her beloved Edward, sitting on the edge of their bed. There were bleeding bald patches on his head. His entire face was marred and scarred, gashes and wounds running deep with blood. One of his eyes was covered in a bandage. In fact, she wasn’t sure if he still had an eye underneath the bandage.

Her fingers almost curled into claws at the thought of Janet tearing him apart, breaking his spirit just for her own sick joy, but then she took a few deep breaths.

She had to be calm. For Edward.

She snapped her fingers in front of his face.

Nothing.

She clapped her hands.

Still nothing.

Suddenly, in her loudest voice (She made sure it wasn't loud enough to bother the children) she cried out:

"EDWARD!"

Felicity watched as Edward flinched, as he blinked into reality. He looked like a rabbit caught in a trap, just as he always did.

Oh, how she wanted him so badly to rise up to Janet, to no longer be the trapped rabbit.

Her eyes became clogged with tears.

"What happened? Why'd you scream my name?" Edward asked, as though he had woken up from a dream.

"You were just staring at the wall, off into space. I tried getting your attention and it didn't work. I had to scream your name." Felicity said. It hurt her to say that she had to scream his name, but it was true.

Her husband was a living corpse.

"Oh." Edward said dumbly, as though he were caught off guard from her words.

Janet had such a grasping, Unholy hold on him that it made Felicity want to throw up. Janet didn’t deserve to be around him, to be a friend of his.

"Why are you still talking to Janet? Remember what I said about imaginary friends?" Felicity asked.

She told him the truth about imaginary friends long ago. He knew what they would do, but he still trusted Janet with his life, as though she could do nothing bad in his eyes.

"Yeah, I know. You said an individual could make imaginary friends real if they imagined hard enough. If they ever became real, they'd have to hurt the person continuously, because their weakness made them stronger." Edward said.

The way he said the words didn’t sound like he fully believed them. His voice had a monotone quality to it, just like when he was teaching her a school lesson that he didn’t really care about.

He couldn’t learn on his own. She had to keep telling him until he completely got it through that Janet had to go.

She didn’t care how long it took, she just wanted him to let go.

"But that's not what's happening. Janet was never a bad imaginary friend! Look, I know she's imaginary, but she's real to me. I can't just let her go." Edward said.

Edward, always clinging onto what he believed was good. He cared about his family the night they ran away, and he cared about Janet even after all that she did.

"You have to, honey. It's for your own good. For me. For the kids." Felicity said softly.

Because if Edward wasn’t going to care about himself, then maybe he’d do it for his family.

"But Janet…”

"Is not real. Don’t think about her, and she’ll disappear.”

"Exactly! I don’t want her to go.” Edward cried out.

Maybe he wasn’t keeping her because he liked her. Maybe he just didn’t want to be alone.

"Look at yourself, Edward. You make me want to cry.” Felicity said sadly. The tears in her eyes were becoming more prominent, more ready to flood down, but she blinked them away.

She couldn’t cry. Not in front of him.

Instead, Felicity joined him on the bed and wrapped her arms around him, kissing the top of his head gently.

“Rest, my dear. Don’t talk to Janet, just rest.” Felicity said.

"But-"

"No buts. Rest. I told the kids to go to bed, so you will, too. I'll be getting healing plants outside."

"You want me to rest?”

“Yes, I do.”

"Okay.”

With a heavy heart, Felicity got up and left him to rest. She usually used only her powers to heal him, but maybe a healing potion would stop the wounds.

For a while, least. Not forever.

.........................................................................

Felicity opened the door, a basket of plants looped around her wrist. Her heart beat with dread at the thought of what waited behind the front door. She was only gone for a few minutes, but Edward was left alone with a monster. Did she make a mistake? Was Edward alright?

Of course he was. He made a promise to rest.

But how much did he really value rest over Janet?

Felicity opened the door, taking a deep, nervous breath.

The house was quiet, just like the night she killed Edward’s family. Except…

Except for the faint sound of Ivy’s tears, and…and…the scent of blood coming from the basement.

Felicity ran down the stairs, a lingering possibility of what could have happened haunting a corner of her mind. It couldn’t be possible, it couldn’t be true, and yet-

Edward lay dead on the basement floor, his body mangled and gored beyond recognition, his blood faded off to a rusted brown.

Janet did it…she did it…she took Edward’s life…

Ivy’s cries got louder, Felicity ran up the stairs to check on her.

After much running, she found Ivy curled up on the ground, her skin skin to the scales of a snake.

Felicity scooped the sobbing child in her arm, caressing her closely. She didn’t see Damien anywhere. She didn’t even hear his voice.

Did Janet take him away? Did Janet snatch him out?

Edward was dead. Ivy was cursed. Damien was gone. Janet had destroyed her family in the blink of an eye.

Felicity felt her fingers curl into claws yet again, but she took a deep breath, forcing them to go away. She couldn’t hurt Ivy.

She was going to bring back Edward. She was going to help Ivy with her curse. She was going to find Damien.

And if Edward couldn’t get rid of Janet himself, then Felicity would find a way for her to do it.

Janet was going to go away, by Edward’s hand or by Felicity’s. There was no in-between.

Janet was going to pay.