Work Text:
The Bee-utiful Mystery
"I wanna go to another house!” Anisa exclaims, red hair bouncing behind her. Tyler rolls his eyes. She’s his younger sister. By two years. They’re both in high school though, so shouldn’t she be more mature? And why is no one else affected by this?
"We’ve already been to all of them” Joenas points out. Lexia scans the area, craving to prove him wrong. It’s fun for her! She spots a house a few blocks down. It’s scary looking, but that isn’t a bad thing!
“We haven’t gone into that one yet! Let’s go there!” Lexia exclaims, pointing at the dark and gloomy place. There’s vines growing from it, and the paint is peeling off, but she has no fear. Or she’s just really dumb. And nothing can get in between Anisa and candy.
Joenas, on the other hand…
“W-What!? No!” He exclaims in fear. Tyler snickers, wrapping an arm around the other in comfort. They all love to scare the younger.
“C’mon. I’ll protect you. And it’ll get Anisa off my back” Tyler says. Joenas glares at the teasing, but no longer voices his opposition once they start walking in the other direction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Ring the bell!” Anisa chants. Tyler hits her on the arm for her annoying voice. Lexia ignores it and rings the bell.
They wait for a few seconds, but nobody answers. Lexia rings it again.
Still no answer. Lexia becomes a little nervous and wary, but not enough to rid her of her determination and blind stupidity.
"There’s nobody home” Joenas points out, noticeably less tense than before. Lexia huffs, embarrassed that she was nervous for no reason. Anisa’s face turns red from anger. She really wanted more candy!
“Dumb stupid idiot! Why aren’t you home!? Someone who lives in a dump like this has no friends to meet up with, much less a job! WHY!?”
“You do know that nobody is listening, right?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monday
Tyler and Joenas were talking when it happened. While conversing about the latest episode of Rangers [It was terrible, that’s why], Joenas opens his locker to get his binder.
And a flood of red comes rushing out, spilling all over the floor. Heads turn, Joenas screams and jumps back fast. Even Tyler flinches a little. But the two are too confused to pay attention to the crowd forming.
Tyler bends down to get a better look, and reaches out to touch the substance. It’s thick, definitely not water, and it almost sticks to his fingers. He brings his fingers to his nose and catches the scent of metal.
“Ty, get up! You don’t know-"
“It’s blood”
Joenas gasps, biting on his nails. He looks nervous, but then his face suddenly hardens, and he groans in an annoyed way.
“Okay, this is definitely Lexi’s doing.”
"What’s my doing?” She asks, followed by Anisa. Joenas glares at her, pointing at the red mess on the floor. Even Tyler gives her a dirty look.
“That’s not nice Lexia” Tyler says. She looks at him in confusion, then at the blood on the floor. The pieces come together and she almost jumps in joy. But….
"That….wasn’t me…” She says, looking more freaked out than ever. Anisa squeals in disgust once the smell hits her.
“If it wasn’t you…...ugh…..then who was it? Is…….ewww…...Jo getting threatened?” Anisa asks, stopping to make noises of disgust. The smell is seriously strong. Joenas looks at her in fear, and Tyler rolls his eyes. Now is not the time to scare the poor child.
"Don’t worry Jo, you’re not getting threatened. Nobody would want to do that.” Tyler insists, trying to comfort him. Once Jo isn’t looking at him the blond glares at Anisa, pulling her by the hair.
“I told you not to scare him, brat”
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday
“Don’t you ever get worried about Joenas?” Lexia asks. She’s walking home with Tyler [Who just so happens to be the authors’ fav]. Well, technically she’s not going to her own house. She’s sleeping over at Tyler’s and Anisa’s, along with Joenas. But Jo is already there, since he lives nearby. Tyler had volunteered to pick her up from the bus stop.
“Sometimes. But as long as he has us he’ll be fine, right?” Tyler says, smile on his face. He’s the closest to Joenas, since they were friends back in 6th grade. Lexia nods her head in understanding.
“I guess.” They walk for a while in comfortable silence. Tyler checks his watch to see the time. 8:56. Wait, shouldn’t they have gotten home already?
While distracted by that thought, he doesn’t notice another person walking past him. Not until he knocks them down, that is. Lexia looks on in concern as Tyler curses.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that.” Tyler apologizes, holding his hand out. He feels really bad! This person looks very young, no older than 12, with his black hair sprawled out around him. The boy smiles, taking Tyler’s hand gratefully.
“It’s fine thank….” The boy trails off, smile turning into a frown, and frown changing into a scowl. The boy pushes his hand away, jumping up. Tyler moves back in confusion, while Lexia looks on cautiously.
“Watch where you’re going! How stupid can you be!? No apology is gonna make up for that!” The boy starts screaming, and as he walks up to him Tyler realizes that he’s grown in a matter of seconds. And wasn’t he scrawnier a minute ago? Is this normal? The boy’s almost taller than him now, and doesn’t give Tyler a chance to react as he grabs him by the collar.
Lexia watches in frozen horror as the boy throws him down. And can’t move even when he starts to throw punches. Literally, she can’t move. She’s trying, but her feet won’t work like they’re supposed to. All she can do is scream while watching her best friend get pulverized by a junior high student.
It’s far scarier than it sounds.
“Do you wanna go to a hospital!? We should go to one!” Lexia says, rushing over to Tyler once the damage is over, and the the boy has left. He shakes his head no. She rolls her eyes. Of course he doesn’t want to go to one. He hates being outside.
“We should j-just get home. ‘Ts a few minu-utes away n’ I have a kit there” He stutters, struggling to keep his eyes open. Lexia sighs, pulling him up and attaching his arm to her shoulder.
“Just make sure you don’t pass out.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“And there!” Joenas says once he’s done wrapping up Tyler’s last cut. The blond smiles, thankful that the pain is over. Lexia is just happy that someone knows how to use bandages, cause she sure doesn’t. And Anisa obviously wouldn’t.
“Ty! You should get some rest! You shouldn't be up with these many bandages!” Anisa exclaims. Lexia rolls her eyes at her. She does know that sleep only helps when you’re sick, right? Doesn’t it?
“Anisa’s right…” Joenas begins, but stops when Tyler glares at him. The boy swallows his words, looking away. Lexia glances at Anisa, who doesn’t looks too good herself.
“Annie, sure you shouldn’t go to sleep? It looks like you got into a fight” Lexia states, pointing at the girl’s arm. Anisa looks down to see her arm covered in huge red welts, looking like an allergic reaction. But she has no allergies…
“Ew! Yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck! I’m going to bed now too! Goodnight!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wednesday
Tyler comes to school laughing, and by himself. He sees Lexia and Joenas by the bleachers and strolls up to them, still shaking from laughter. Both give him a perplexed look.
“Why are you laughing so hard? And where’s Anisa?” Lexia asks. Tyler looks at her serious for a second, but breaks into laughter soon after.
“Sh-she’s taking the long route. Y-you’ll see w-why…” He trails off, overcome by laughter. Joenas ignores him, wondering why Anise would take the long way. She only does so when she has something to hide. What’s she hiding now?
“Tyler! You jerk! This isn’t funny!” They hear a high pitched voice scream. They turn around to see Anisa behind them.
Completely covered in bumps, blemishes and welts.
She looks so ugly it’s funny. And the fact that this is the makeup crazed girl who’s always calling people with acne “cursed with ugliness” is the current victim makes it even funnier.
“Didn’t you put on makeup?” Joenas asks, being the first to temporarily stop laughing.
“It made me look worse” Anisa explains, pouting as Joenas goes back to laughing. After a while everyone’s done.
“Does it hurt?” Lexia asks, curiously poking the younger girl. Anisa swats her hand away, and crosses her arms.
“No, it’s just ugly. And I have no idea how I got them!”
“What do you mean?” Joenas asks, suddenly nervous. Lexia and Tyler stop smiling and mull over the question. It’s not some allergic reaction, or it’d kill her. And if it was a bad one it would hurt.
“I just woke up with them. They don’t hurt at all, and I barely notice them unless I’m looking at myself. And I have no other symptoms. Plus, I got a note about them in my locker, so I think it’s someone else’s doing!” Anisa says. What’s with her tendency to jump from one topic to another? Alas, she pulls out a note from her pocket and opens it up.
To Anisa,
~~I’ve been watching you for days now. You and your friends. And I’ve decided that you’re the best choice. I shall pursue you for a number of reasons. For starters, you are the most bee-utiful one. Whenever I see you my heart flutters, and I turn red all over. Well, technically I can’t, but whatever. Even when stung you look beautiful, and that’s hard to do. You’re the most fit to live in my world. I expect to see you very soon!~~
"Who in their right mind likes you?” Lexia asks, completely surprised. Anisa scowls and hits her in the arm. She’s genuinely surprised!
“The better question is, what’s with the bee pun!?” Joenas asks, looking thoroughly disgusted. Tyler rolls his eyes, but silently agrees with him.
"Okay, so this creep knows about the bumps?”
“Yeah! And I got this note the minute I walked into school so nobody had seen me yet!” Anisa adds, being surprisingly helpful for once. Joenas’ face lights up, but he isn’t smiling. Not at all.
"Wait, do you guys think that whoever is pursuing her might have pulled the blood stunt? He said he was watching all of us.” Joenas asks. Tyler’s eyes widen at that thought, and Lexia clasps her hands.
“Probably!”
“But then why’d he target me?” Joenas asks, pondering the answer. Anisa blushes and Tyler goes into another laughing fit. Lexia just shrugs at Jo’s obliviousness.
“Right now we need to figure out who it is, not the reasoning.” Tyler says, saving his sister’s cover. Anisa nods her head in agreement before the bell rings, signaling the beginning of homeroom. Hopefully they won’t be late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thursday
Today, Lexia wore a hood to school.
And only took it off after Tyler chased her around the school.
“There! Happy now!?” She asks once it’s off. She looks angry, and annoyed at how she gets confused looks from Joenas, Anisa and Tyler. The problem?
Well, yesterday her hair was a turquoise blue color with violet highlights. She’s had it in for more than 3 months, and dies her hair every 5 months. Last year she had a mix of grey, pink and purple. But today her hair color is totally different.
It’s a striped pattern of black and yellow. Almost like a bumblebee. Which Anisa hates, and Lexia finds ugly. Which explains why she had her hood on. But why did she dye her hair that color if she hates it?
“And before you get the idea, no I didn’t die it this color. You know how much I hate it! And it couldn’t be my brother since we both hate yellow. We have no yellow dye at home.”
“So you just woke up with it?” Tyler asks, getting even more suspicious. Lexia nods her head. Okay, so Anisa’s secret admirer not only put blood in Joenas’ locker, but may have dyed Lexia’s hair. The reason for Joenas is obvious [He’s the only person Anisa has never insulted], but why is Lexia a victim?
He can’t think about that now, because the bell rings. Why does it always do that?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Joenas, wanna trade lunches?” Tyler hears Anisa snicker. He hears it before he sits down at their table. Once he’s there he looks at Lexia for some sort of sign as to why Anisa said that. But the brunette just shrugs.
“Why is there so much honey? Did I pick up the wrong lunch?” Joenas says. Tyler looks at the boys lunch and sees a bottle of honey, accompanied by ham covered in honey, honey-flavored candy, and a card with a bee on the front.
“Don’t you hate bees?” Tyler asks him. Joenas rolls his eyes. Just because he’s scared of a lot of things doesn't mean he’s scared of bees!
“No! I just hate honey”.
“Lemme see that note” Lexia says, grabbing the bee-themed note.
To Lexia and Joenas,
~~ You, Joenas, should mind your own bees-ness. Don’t insult the way I speak! And show this to Lexia too! How dare she call Anisa ugly! Anisa is the most bee-utiful girl I have ever met. Even if she doesn’t love me back now she will soon. To get you both in the bee spirit I have taken pleasure in preparing this lunch and changing Lexia’s hair. Hope you both love it!~~
“We better find this brat before my diet becomes honey” Lexia says, shuddering at the thought. Tyler makes a grab for Jo’s lunch, who gives it up happily. Seems that the blond is the only one who likes honey.
“How do we find him if we have no idea what he looks like!?” Anisa complains. She must really hate the bee puns. And the fact that this guy is totally unoriginal. Didn’t he use “bee-utiful” in the first note?
“Better yet, why is this only happening now?” Lexia asks. Unfortunately they both look at Tyler for answers. He blushes, but doesn’t waver.
“Well, Anisa, we can maybe put some sort of recording device at your locker. Then we’d be able to see him, and maybe do something”
"That’d work. We should do it after school” Joenas suggests. Anisa looks at him nervously.
“Um, maybe we can do it tomorrow afternoon? I’m going to a friend’s place today.”
“Since when do-nevermind. I don’t want a black and yellow wardrobe” Lexia relents, shutting her mouth. And with that, lunch ends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday
“Tyler! Come q-quick! I-I’m at the school l-lot and it’s here! T-the stalker-” is what Anisa had told him, over the phone, at 2am in the morning. Needless to say, he ran out of the house, followed by Joenas and Lexia [they had slept over again]. He’s never heard his sister sound that scared.
It’s scary.
And the way it ended so abruptly. She always hangs up with an “Talk to you soon. Probably” but nothing. It’s not important. What they need to do is get there and see what’s happening.
Joenas gets there first, and gasps at the sight. He bites his hand, not sure if he should call the police or run. His skin pales once he gets a closer look, and he suddenly feels faint.
“Tyler, L-Lexi…..TYLER! HURRY!” Joenas screams, loud enough for them to hear. The other two finally catch up to him, out of breath.
“W-what happened…” Tyler trails off, looking at where Joenas points up at. And his face goes cold. Lexia whimpers, covering her mouth. They definitely found Anisa.
Hanging from a wire tied around her neck is Anisa. Completely covered in bumps and welts. There’s blood trailing from both her eyes and her mouth, and a string tied around her waist so tight that it bleeds there too. Attached to the string is two long shards of glass, cut to look almost like wings. On her head lies another, darker string, connected to two yellow pom poms by another wire. Again, tied around her head so tight that blood flows freely from it.
She’s dressed in a black and yellow suit, which makes it all seem even more sick.
For the first time in a while, tears flow from Tyler’s eyes.
Joenas runs to his side as the elder collapses into a crying mess, wrapping his arms around him. Lexia does the same.
“Wh-why!? Who w-would-d do this?” Tyler cries out, unable to stop shuddering. Suddenly, all three of them hear a noise.
It’s soft at first. Only a small buzz. But it gets louder and louder, until it becomes unbearable. Lexia looks behind her and screams at the sight. Tyler and Joenas turn to see what made her react that way, and almost do the same.
A huge, almost transparent, bee faces them. One with bloody, red eyes and horns coming from it’s head. It’s smiling down at them, like it’s happy, then looks at Anisa and frowns.
“Oh, she was bee-utiful. The prettiest one yet. Too bad she hates bees.” it says, tsking. The three look on in fear, unable to move or speak. He turns his attention back to them and rolls his eyes. It looks like someone’s insides were churned out. All three scream again.
“Oh, don’t worry. It was purely accidental. And you’re all safe, since you’re not pretty enough. I’ve had an infatuation with her for so long that I couldn’t help myself.”
“W-What are y-you?” Lexia stutters out, trying to summon some form of bravery. The bee rolls his eyes again.
“A bee of course! I’ve been watching you lot since a week back. You guys are very strange.”
“H-how…” Joenas trails off, answering the question himself. That house. It must have been the home of this thing. When they rung the bell he must’ve known. That’s why everything’s been happening.
The bloodied locker. The sudden attack. The bumps the notes. Everything! That was…
“I’ve followed you around because you’re an interesting bunch. Especially you three. The world needs people like you. That’s why I chose Anisa. She was the most generic, most fit to be the queen. You three would’ve caused complications.”
“Why did you kill her!?” Tyler screams, hatred and fear in his voice. The bee looks at him in an almost pitiful way.
“I didn’t mean to. She just resisted too much. She even ran here. I managed to knock her out and put everything on, but she wouldn’t let me do the ritual. She moved so much that the cord got stuck on her neck and, well, this happened.”
“She was m-my sister” Tyler murmurs to himself, in shock that this happened.
“D-don’t worry! She’s a spirit now. You might bee able to see her since you guys were so-”
“Ty!” A high pitched voice screams. Tyler looks up to see a red-haired girl, no, it’s Anisa. But transparent. He cries even more once she reaches him.
“A-Annie!”
“D-don’t cry! I’ll follow you around forever. You a-and Jo and Lexi! Y-yeah!” Anisa insists, smiling. She hasn’t smiled that wide for years. Ever since….
“I-I’m happy now! No more stress, drama, or all of those human problems. And I can still see all of you guys! I-It’s good, right?”
“Yes, I-It’s good!” Tyler says, hugging her. Jo and Lexi do the same. And no one notices when the bee leaves.
~~~~~~~~~~~Fin~~~~~~~~~~