I'm tempted to blame the Witch for the low upvotes this story has at the moment.

But... The Witch. At first, she was weeping, and she even silently apologized for what she was going to do to you. It sounds as though perhaps she was stuck in a role in all this that she didn't fully desire as well. I know it's impossible to say now, because, whatever hell the wizard sent her to, we don't even know what that world is.

I'm just wondering whether one day, after the rest of your life is lived out here, you might end up meeting her again, and understanding and forgiving her like you were able to understand and forgive Zack. And if she appreciated it for what it meant, maybe that would make the world(s) a much better place too.

(You know, until you die from natural causes. But maybe you'll be fine after that too!)

Hmmmm. I hope it's a nice house, because it's your Forever Home now! If you just live there until you die of natural causes, you'll probably be fine!

Only the first one that got to a hospital and convinced them that he was the original dad would have health insurance, though. It's probably better for them if they languish in their cells for a little while longer and actually have access to medical care. Because we live in a particularly stupid dystopia.

Right? I was thinking that I would charge WAY more than a hundred dollars to dye my hair brown.

I've just realized that I would be a very bad 911 operator. When the young lady said that the bear dude was going to kill her, my immediate response was "no, you'll be fine, he's just going to turn you into a little bear! That will take a while, and I'm sure we'll find you before then."

Ripping off your jaw is going to make it a little difficult for you to tell anybody anything. This guy is clearly not so good at planning ahead.

Yeah... You might in fact not have been ready to go out there on your own. You never walk through the faerie portals! Never climb the stairs! And never follow the lights!

Wtf, Morgan and Sarah? You guys are really still up for this?

Man. I'm glad those terrible people are gone. I worked at a hotel myself for a while, and as soon as you mentioned girls with sashes and someone drinking champagne straight out of the bottle at the desk I knew... Well okay obviously I didn't know EXACTLY where this was going, but I knew it wasn't gonna be fun.

I have no advice about the stabbed student. But what you should do if someone grabs you? You should let that anger out right at the beginning, and scream at them not to do that. Grabbing someone is never appropriate. (Unless you're about to fall off a cliff or something, in which case it's only polite, but you will know these instances.)

As to counseling, I'm pretty sure the primary things which are troubling you couldn't be helped too much by that. And... Where better for Them, whoever They are, to monitor students who might have suspicions than the counselor's office?

But yeah. Astonishingly, Katana Boy was NOT OKAY just there. It's not you. It's very much a him problem.

Well, Mabel gave OP the perfect alibi. OP can't get caught. Any physical evidence suggesting she was there is explained by the fact that, well, she was, earlier. And Mabel said she was gone before she killed herself when she made that phone call.

I just hope OP made sure to break the china set before she left.

I can't help but picture this place as my old hotel. It wasn't quite as dramatic as yours, but it had its moments, and it was Home.

Very interested in this one, however. I'm really hoping you post more.

How many people are you planning on eating, here? I feel like your "addiction" would become a problem for you in other ways before you drained your town's population to the point where you were worrying about the mortality of killing a guy who glares at his aunt's sweet elderly kitty.

This is how I feel about people hunting crows. I sympathize with you hanging up.

But at least crows are more common than your friends. No less awesome, but mostly not endangered. You made the right decision. Humans are the worst.

I feel like you guys jumped to "human sacrifice is our only option" a little quicker than I would have.

But maybe this is why I don't get to go to the forest orgies and you do.

Well, you hit my nightmare. Not the knocking. The being trapped in a submarine at the bottom of the ocean for days. Though I think it would be SO MUCH WORSE to be trapped in that space WITH ANOTHER PERSON. Shudder

On the other hand, depending on how this plays out, you could wind up being canonized for truly forgiving the Enemy. The Lord works, as we know, in mysterious ways.

Melissa had no doubt observed OP being horrible to a whole lot of other people as well. It might not all have been personal revenge. And if OP had become emblematic to her of abusive bullshit in her career, it makes sense that this might be her last stand. It sounds like she just finally broke.

Yeah, he's a dumb teenager, but so is she. And heartbreak is a hell of a drug, especially before you get used to it.

And then suddenly you're 35 and pretty much entirely composed of baggage.

I think Hilda might have had the right idea here.