2 and a half years before chapter 1 – Taylor PoV
I smiled widely as I bounced in my car seat while happily continuing to tell my mom everything that had happened at sumr camp.
Gasp I gasped audibly "I forgot! I have new bugs!!" I exclaid happily as I pulled a couple of nicely wrapped jars out of my backpack and showed her my new finds, my mom smiled and glanced at them out of the corner of her eye while keeping her gaze mostly on the lane, even so my mom whistled in impression.
"More bugs? Do you need more shed space?" my mom asked with a smile, I smiled widely and shook my head.
"No! I think I have enough room!" I said happily before stopping "maybe a new terrarium, I don't want these little ones to be bullied by my old colonies" she said with a goofy grin as she looked at the bug in the jar, I felt the car co to a stop.
"Of course little owl, I'll deal with it later" my mom ruffled my hair happily, I stepped away suddenly "mooooooom, I'm not a little girl anymore!" I said embarrassedly, my mom had the audacity to laugh.
"Of course not, in a few weeks you'll be starting high school, you're practically an adult." my mom scoffed and I growled in her direction causing my mom to burst out laughing "alright little owl, you're too old for your mom's cuddles, but for his?" mom points out of the car, my eyes widened as I saw our house, especially my dad at the door.
I practically unbuckled my seatbelt, opened the door and ran towards my dad, who opened his arms to welco .
"Dad!" I shouted excitedly.
"Ugh Little Owl, you've grown bigger since I last saw you, I missed you so much" my dad laughed happily as he began kissing on the head before pulling away.
"I missed you too, Dad," I said happily with a huge smile.
"And who am I?" I looked back at Dad.
"Hey Aunt Zoe, I missed you too" I said with a smile, she chuckled before ruffling my hair just like mom, I pulled away with a growl, I heard my mom snort behind .
"Don't even try it Zoe, Taylor is practically an adult now, she doesn't like affectionate gestures," my mom mocked and I snorted while Aunt Zoe burst out laughing.
"I rember seeing her run into her daddy's arms almost two minutes ago," Aunt Zoe teased and I could feel my cheeks heat up.
"Aaww, she's a daddy's girl." My dad took the opportunity to join in on the teasing as he hugged tightly.
"Daddyyyy." I moaned embarrassedly but didn't try to pull away, Dad just laughed one more ti before pulling away.
"Well, enough, how did it go little owl?" Dad asked with a soft smile, I smiled widely and was about to open my mouth-
"Wait a minute." my mom interrupted . "Let's go inside. Once she starts talking, nothing will stop her." my mom said playfully. I glared at her, but my dad laughed and nodded.
"Should we call Emma too?" Aunt Zoe asked with a strange look on her face, she seed worried but I ignored it, smiling widely.
"Is Emma ho?!" I asked excitedly, almost bouncing in my seat. The three adults exchanged glances for a few seconds before Dad nodded.
"Yeah, bu-" I ignored Dad as I ran into the house, up the stairs, and knocked on Emma's bedroom door.
"Emma! It's ! I'm back!" I shouted happily from behind the door, I could hear a loud noise from behind the door before it opened. I smiled widely at the sight of Emma, she had a new haircut, but she was still Emma, my dear sister. "Emma!" I shouted in happiness and almost rushed to hug her when she took a step back, and I froze. Emma had never dodged before, I clumsily retracted my arms and stood in place, but I still smiled happily at her.
"Taylor, go away, I don't have ti for you." Emma said coldly, I shuddered slightly and my smile lost several degrees of happiness.
"I-I, uh, what?" I asked stupidly, Emma had never rejected like that, what... what's going on?
"So this is your... younger sister, isn't it Emma?" a voice asked from behind Emma, leaning her head over Emma's shoulder and seeing her, a girl about our age, with a sullen expression and a look of contempt, I shuddered once again.
"o-oh, you have a visitor Emma, why didn't you say so?" I laughed nervously, I could feel my smile trembling, "h-hi, I-I'm Taylor! Emma's sister!" I greeted the new girl, but Emma stepped aside, cutting the line between her and .
"Go away Taylor, we're busy," Emma said again dryly.
"Yo... did you get a cut? It suits you!" I tried once more with a smile, but apparently it wasn't a nice thing to say, Emma's expression went through a dozen expressions before ending in one of fury and anger, before I knew it Emma had pushed and I fell on my butt.
W-what? Emma pushed , Emma had never attacked , she had never pushed , we were sisters, we were united since we were born, it was Emma and , and Emma, … what's going on? I don't understand, I don't understand anything, I don't like it, I ignored the urge to cry.
"I told you to go away Taylor, I don't want or need your company, you're weak, useless, always following around like a really pathetic duckling, stay away from ." I could hear sothing break inside at her words, Emma looked at with an angry grimace before slamming the door in my face, I shuddered once again and lay on the floor stupidly not knowing what to do for several minutes.
"Taylor? Where do I put your bugs?!" Mom's scream from under the stairs brought out of my emptiness, I quickly wiped away the tears I didn't know had ford on my cheeks and tried to smile.
It had been a mistake, I'm sure, Emma must have had a bad day, or a bad week, that's it, that's probably it... Emma had a bad day, in a couple of hours, maybe tomorrow she'll be the sa as always, my Emma, my best friend... my sister...
"Leave them there! I'll be right down to take them to the shed!" I shouted over the stairs.
…I'm sure… Emma will be her usual self again.
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1 and a half years before chapter 1 – Taylor PoV
She hadn't, Emma had completely changed that horrible day, she had stayed away from and my attempts to talk for the rest of the break and everything had gotten worse once we started high school.
She had had a scholarship to study at Arcadia High, the best school in Brockton Bay, but she had rejected it in order to go to Winslow High, where Emma had been accepted; she did not have the grades necessary to attend Arcadia.
Winslow… was passable, or at least it seed that way before you realized that it's packed with cliques representing actual criminal gangs led by dangerous villains, like the ABB, Azn Bad Boys, the Asian gang, E88 who was led by Lung, an S-rank hunter/villain capable of turning into a rage dragon capable of fighting the entire local hero group by himself. Empire Eighty-Eight, the white supremacist, Nazi gang, had plenty of A- and B-rank hunters/villains and one or two S-ranks, and the rchants, the drug addicts, were a joke but still dangerous with at least three B-rank villains.
But for ? it was my personal hell.
Emma and the one I now knew as Sophia beca my torntors, along with Madison who was added later.
Sophia was the most physical of the three, she loved to push down the halls, hitting when she knew she could get away with it without anyone noticing. Madison would ruin my assignnts, steal my notes or completely destroy them, thanks to her my grades began to drop due to howork and incomplete work.
And Emma, my sister, the one who knew all my secrets, absolutely everything about … used that information against , made fun of my secrets with her friends, spread rumors, and basically turned the entire student population, if not against , then to stay away from .
Winslow High was an all-girls school, most of the boys attended Arcadia, the best public school available, and the other half attended Immaculata High, the Christian school south of town, so she couldn't find any shred of sympathy for the rest of the girls at the school, just looks of disdain.
I tried to complain to the teachers and the school administration, but it didn't result in anything other than Sophia getting angry and hitting even more.
Today had been another shitty day, I could only be thankful that the school year was almost over.
"Taylor, we need to talk." Mom said to with a serious expression as soon as I walked through the door of the house, I frowned but nodded, it was strange that she was ho at the ti I arrived, but I didn't argue and followed her to the living room where I saw Dad and Aunt Zoe sitting on the couch, Mom sat on the other side of Dad.
"What... is going on?" I asked carefully, Dad had a worried look, but he signaled to sit in front of them, still worried she did what he asked while leaving my backpack aside.
"Taylor… is everything okay at school?" Dad asked first and I frowned.
"...yes..." I bit my tongue so I would have to lie, apparently it was the wrong answer, mom quickly moved and grabbed my backpack "what?! Mom! Give back my backpack!" I exclaid in panic as she quickly opened the backpack and took out my report card.
"...Emma was right." My body froze, a horrible chill ran through my body.
"...Emma?" I muttered, Mom gave a furious look.
"I didn't believe her when she said that your grades were falling, that you were getting into fights, that... that you were bullying your classmates... but she was right." No, no, no, no, no, no, no, what is this?!
"I didn't do anything!" I scread in panic, almost with tears in my eyes. "Emma is the one who is stalking ! Her and Sophia, along with Madison!" I exclaid loudly. "She's different, she's not Emma, she changed after the accident, she's stalking -".
"That's enough Taylor!" Mom exclaid interrupting , I clenched my teeth together "That's enough." she said firmly "This proves I was right-" she held up the report cards "-We've also noticed your bruises that you're trying to hide, we thought it was because you were always clumsy, no... no that you were fighting! And Madison! I t the Taylor girl, she's a sweetheart! But I heard her crying in Emma's room because you were constantly bullying her! What happened to you Taylor!" No, no, no, no, they planned all of this, this... this is not happening, tears ford on my eyelids.
"I-it's a lie, that's all a lie, i-it's their fault." I tried once more but both mom and Aunt Zoe were glaring at , "dad?" I asked shakily as my voice broke and I looked at dad, he looked at for a few seconds before looking away.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
"You're grounded Taylor, for the entire sumr, you're not going to go to camp this year." I didn't hear her, her voice sounded distant, this wasn't real, it couldn't be possible, I looked towards the door when I saw a red beam of light, Emma's hair and I saw her, Emma standing at the edge of the door, with a huge smile, she planned it all... she turned our parents against ... I couldn't do anything...
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4 months before chapter 1 – Taylor Pov.
It was winter break, today was Christmas Eve and I was sitting in my shed surrounded by my insects, terrariums filled all the walls and floors, I had a small comfy chair while I had a book with .
This shed had beco my escape place since the house was practically a second hell for , I couldn't stand the looks my parents gave , the looks Emma manipulated them to put in my direction, so I hid as long as I could in my shed.
Any free ti I had was spent in my shed, surrounded by my insects, the huge terrariums I used to be able to dosticate and bond with my insects, my quirk took ti to take effect, I needed a long, prolonged interaction with the colonies for them to accept into their swarm.
It was fascinating to watch them create an entire nest from scratch, to see them build their ho piece by piece and to be a part of that was strangely satisfying to .
There was no Emma, no Sophia, no Madison, no Winslow, no mother, no father, no Zoe, no one to judge falsely, to look at as if I were a complete disappointnt, as if I were just a nuisance.
I felt a little chill when I felt the link with the last swarm I had built, a smile of satisfaction and pleasure ran through when I felt the insects with my quirk, now I was their queen, I could order them to do whatever I wanted or take full control of them, we were one, we were a swarm.
I was fascinated looking at my new and younger nest with pleasure until I heard my phone alarm, my happiness disappeared instantly, ti to go back inside.
I let out a tired sigh, I had a Christmas Eve dinner to endure, as soon as I entered the room, I ignored everyone and quickly went up the stairs and into the shower to save ti, the less I passed by the rest, the better.
I couldn't do anything, I had already given up.
As I expected, family dinner was completely awkward for , for so reason Sophia was present so the adults focused on her and Emma. As for , I remained silent throughout dinner, barely mumbling answers, retreating to my room as soon as I had the chance.
I wasn't expecting anything for Christmas morning, but I went to bed early, the faster the days go by, the better, just a little bit more.
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I woke up in a cold sweat and a feeling of panic that invaded , I grabbed my chest tightly, there was sothing wrong, sothing horribly wrong, I looked at the ti, it was early, almost dawn, I looked out the window to see what was wrong.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Please no, please no.
I quickly got out of my bed, opened the door and slamd it hard, with heavy steps I went down the stairs, skipping steps, with difficulty I opened the back door of the house and ran across the yard to my shed, once I got there I stopped in front of it.
I was completely destroyed, completely unrecognizable, tears began to form in my eyes when I slled the odor, I recognized it imdiately, insecticides, in large quantities.
No, goddess, no, please no.
I ran to the shed, ignoring the strong sll of insect poison, ripped open the battered door, and my heart fell out and broke into pieces.
All the terrariums destroyed, all the insects dead, I tried to use my quirk to sense if any were alive, no, none, all the connections dead, all the nests dead, my entire swarm gone in one night.
I scread.
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A few days later – Taylor PoV
It had been Emma, of course it was Emma, everyone in the house had heard my screams and ran out, my parents seed worried, they were comforting , but it only took a few words from Emma to make them believe that it was sothing I had done to get attention, even though I denied it.
They believed her, as always.
I was made to clean the shed completely by myself, not that I would have done it any other way, it was my insects, my swarm that had been massacred.
I was grounded for the rest of winter break, but I didn't care, I felt like a shell of my forr self.
Almost catatonic, I returned to school, ignoring the looks from the other girls, I shouldn't have done it, but I couldn't care less, I was already used to it.
The surprise ca when I got to my locker, it seed like a crowd of people looking at , or maybe it was my anxiety talking to , I ignored it and approached it, I slled insecticide, I wanted to vomit, I couldn't stand that sll, not now, not anymore.
I fearfully opened my locker and the sll of rotting garbage filled my nose and eyes, I suppressed the bile that had risen in my throat as I looked at the garbage pit that my locker had beco, garbage, feminine hygiene products that looked like they had been left to rot for weeks, it was disgusting.
I was about to vomit when I felt a strong hand push into the locker before it was closed with inside, I hit my head against the back of my locker making a cut on my forehead.
I shuddered as the sll began to penetrate all my senses, as I felt all the garbage around while I was locked in this tal box, I tried to open the locker door quickly as I felt my bile rise in my throat.
"LET OUT!! PLEASE!!" I begged through tears "E-EMMA, PLEASE, GET OUT OF HERE!!" it was pathetic, begging Emma after everything she did, but I couldn't do anything else, this was horrible, I froze when I felt sothing crawl up my legs.
Bugs, there were bugs in here, and I wasn't controlling them, I knew how dangerous bugs could be if left uncontrolled and they were definitely not under my control.
I knocked harder on the door, trying to get out.
"Have a nice day Hebert!" I heard Sophia shout, I could practically hear the winning smile she had on.
"NO, SOPHIA, GET OUT OF HERE, PLEASE, SOONE!!!" obviously, no one responded to my plea, I was the school reject, no clique, no group wanted , so it was not surprising that no one responded, I could only hear laughter.
This was not fun, this was a nightmare, another hell within my hell, I started crying loudly as I banged on the door while pleading through my tears.
….
No one ca to for hours… until I finally… broke… sothing gave… though… I didn't care… I felt it… I felt my swarm again… I could feel my bugs… more… so much more than before… thousands… hundreds of thousands of them… all mine to control… part of …
With that… I gave myself over to unconsciousness as the presence of my swarm comforted , just… it would be nice if they attacked the 3 bitches responsible for this… just once… yes… just once…
…and everything went black.
Author's Notes: Well, first group of different points of view, I hope you like it, also, they are the first part of each one, later I will be releasing the continuation of each of these POV. Thanks for reading and the support!
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