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Chapter 5: (Sh)It Follows
Rachel folded her arms, "I know it must be comforting, Audrey, after all this time..."
She smirked, "But I come and go for you."
"...Audrey?"
Brooke put a hand on her shoulder, "...you still here?"
***
"Something asinine, no doubt," said Eli shortly, "Credit where it's due, Ma's always been good at putting rich guys down."
-Brooke, Eli, Ghost of Rachel Signing Up
"Yeah, just..." Audrey swallowed, "Just dealing with a ghost."
"Oh really?"
"Good heavens!" cried Dave Evans as Fitz went flailing in pain as if some horrible demon rose from the inferno and took possession of his body.
"Oh," Nicodemus said, mildly shocked. "Guess he's allergic or something." He caught up to Fitz where that Tina was with an empty bucket. "Whoa! Nice save!" He turned to face her. "Depends on the pain you got. Of the head? Of the back? Of the soul?" He turned to Fitz, still writhing in pain. "Definitely not of the eye, though."
-Dave and Nicodemus
"What is it, like bennies?" asked Tina.
"Aren't there enough people running around here on substances?" asked Phyllis, going over to the prone Smith.
"Ooh, nice high talk coming from a shrink."
Phyllis glared at her, bending down over Fitz, "Mr. Smith? Mr. Smith, are you alright?"
He made a strange, drawn out moaning noise and left it at that.
"A damn shame," said Tina, "I want his watch."
"He's not dead, you vulture!" Phyllis brushed her hair from her eyes, "He's passed out. And...presumably in serious need of an optomitrist."
"Mine's pretty good," said Tina, "I mean, he gets a little touchy sometimes, but he ain't rough..."
"Optometrist, not gynecologist! The two words don't even sound the same!"
"I meant optometrist! The hell kinda idiot do you think I am?"
Phyllis decided not to answer that, "Dr. Langley, since you got him into this mess, I can only assume you can get him out. What's that...stuff made of?"
"Harder shit than Senor over here ever got his hands in, I bet," remarked Tina, nodding to Sanchez.
***
"Several very long and unpleasant stories," said Eli, turning back to Ted, "The point being that, no matter how badly you think you're doing tonight, you are the very least, not a member of my family, and therefore can consider yourself lucky."
***
"We just keep collecting those around here, don't we?" prompted Brooke before realizing that was the very definition of 'too soon', even for her, "Sorry."
They went on in silence for a short time.
"At least you told him," Brooke turned to her, "You...you did, right? Back when you and he went off together during the ol' gun show? At least you got to come clean with him."
She bit her lip, "It's not a lot, but it's worth something."
-Phyllis, Tina, Eli and Brooke
"May I have a sniff?" asked Pedro.
***
"That's...probably true," Ted nodded, "No offense."
***
"Yeah, I told him," replied Audrey, looking at the ground.
"He was a good man."
Noah
Slowly getting up he looked at Zach, no he didn't get me." He said as he stared at the bus.
"I got me." He said.
________
Sawyer
"What happened to that fancy man?" She asked.
__________
Drew
Drew followed the man carrying his father a frown on his face, "What happened to my dad!?" He asked worriedly
"Oh," Zach nodded, "Yeah, I know what that's like."
He let that hang there for a while before turning to him, "So how hard was it? When...uh...you hit yourself?"
***
"By far the least offensive of our parents," Brooke mused, "Not that Noah's Mom's green juice things are that bad, but still."
It occurred to her with an ugly start that Noah was now the only one of them with a full set of parents, and even then he was from what the social workers datedly referred to as a 'broken home'.
"Jesus," she said without realizing she was saying it.
-Zach and Brooke
Noah
"Nowhere near as hard as I deserved." He said. He looked down, then back at Zach and nodded. "Let's get back to the holding center."
"Oh, you mean like metaphorically hitting yourself," Zach chuckled, abashed, "I'm sorry. I'm an idiot."
He slowed his pace down somewhat, "I know what that's like to," he sighed, "You...uh...wanna talk about it?"
Audrey didn't know why she said it, but it came out, "Even after what he did, he didn't deserve this. We made our peace...he apologized..."
Now the tears were coming back.
Noah
Noah turned his head looking at Zach as they walked, damn..Did he remind him of Jake sometimes. "I really thought I was on to something when I suspected Pastor Jensen. I thought it made sense." He said as he shook his head.
"I was sure that personal relationship or not, I had our guy."
"Audrey..." Brooke found herself at a loss. Did one pat somebody's shoulder at times like this? That would probably be insensitive.
"Look, we all know my Dad was no saint. I've got my share of regrets where he's concerned. But I..."
She paused, "What...uh...what did he do?"
***
"Oh," Zach considered, "Ooooh..."
He nodded, "You told Audrey her Dad was the killer. And now he's dead. That's..." he shrugged, "That's rough. Not gonna lie."
-Brooke and Zach
"He hit me. Once," Audrey emphasized, "It was when I was being blackmailed, and we got into a big fight...I brought up Mom."
Noah
"Worse than that, He died and then Brooke accidentally spilled that little tid-bit." He said. He was glad that his mouth had stopped bleeding, when he got back he would wash up.
"Oh, well..." Brooke began automatically, "Once."
She cleared her throat, "My dad never hit me, but clearly things weren't rosy with us anyway. I mean, if I had kids, I'd probably hire somebody to hit them..."
She stopped herself, "Sorry. That was my nerves. And...well, he wouldn't have been the only one who wanted to hit you for that," she smiled bitterly, "You made good with him, Audrey. It's..." she sighed, "It's more than some people get."
***
"I'm sorry, man," Zach considered, "Is there...uh...anything I can do? I mean, you know Brooke and me are kinda..." he paused, reddening, "Cool. And stuff."
-Brooke and Zach
Noah
Noah gave him a strange glance, and shook his head. The last thing he needed was to have other people talk for him...Again.
"I don't really think there's any coming back from this one for me."
"He didn't deserve this," Audrey's fists shook with rage, "He's going to pay. He will pay..."
"Oh, you know," Nicodemus began to explain. "Some strawberries, peppermint, incense and wine blended together." He paused. "Oh, and some watered down opium. That really numbs the pain." He laughed nonchalantly, as if there weren't a man writhing in pain on the floor. "Sure thing, compadre, if it helps what ails ya."
***
Dave glanced back to find Sawyer not too far from him. "The horrors of war." They were at war, he supposed, even if it were with on charlatan in a Halloween costume. He had a candy bomb, for heaven's sake. And with what happened to Fitz, that was as succinct a description as ever.
Realizing the girl was much too young (same as all of them, really) to see anything so horrid, he put his hand on her shoulder and moved away from the scene. "A war we'll win, in time." Sitting down, bracing himself for the back pain carrying Fitz provided him, he said, wincing, "Hopefully sooner rather than later." He sighed. "We won't be leaving here anytime soon, Sawyer. I'm sorry."
-Nicodemus and Dave
Pedro took the container and gave it a sniff.
"Vietnamese?"
Sawyer
Sitting down with Mr. Evans she nodded softly, not really grasping the war metaphor, but she knew for sure this was a scary chain of events. When he told her they wouldn't be leaving for awhile she immediately leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Life really has a way of giving you the finger huh?"
"Hey, that's not true!" Zach said, too quickly.
He hesitated, "It...it's always possible to make good with people. At least with your friends."
Inexplicably, he found himself thinking of Jake. He'd tried, hadn't he, to make everything right? It may not have been the right way, but...
And then, before Jake...
"I remember when you helped us find Will," Zach told him, "I...I know I've brought it up before, but it meant a lot. You didn't have any reason to do anything for him, but you still helped us. I dunno, I guess..." he paused, "You might think you've gone off the edge, man, but I don't buy it. You're a good guy."
He shrugged again, the common hall looming up ahead of them, "At least I think so."
***
"Audrey," said Brooke, "The insatiable thirst for revenge is a drought I've drunk from very often and while it's entirely justified please..." she paused, "Don't do anything too stupid. Or, if you do..." she managed a smile, "Don't do it alone?""
***
"Opium?" asked Phyllis.
"You heard 'opium', I'm more interested in the wine," said Tina.
"That's the base ingredient in heroin!"
"What, honey, are you surprised?" Tina shrugged.
Fitz made some strange harrumphing noise from the floor.
Phyllis sighed, "We can't leave him here."
"Sure. Let's put him in the back with the stiffs."
Phyllis turned to Tina as though scalded. Tina shrugged, "Sorry, babe."
"Forget it," Phyllis turned back to Nicodemus, "There's a medical room not far from the mess hall. I can't imagined it's well-supplied, but we might be able to do some first aid," she turned to Drew, managing a smile, "You can...come with us."
It occurred to her as she spoke that he was the one who'd gotten in Micah's face earlier, dressed as his brother's ghost. Her expression faltered.
"If you want," she added with a little less conviction.
***
Theodora passed through the doors to the common hall, quietly wondering if they might be able to sneak Howard's remains in through the window, spare everybody the ugliness.
But these kids had seen two corpses carted past them already tonight and most of them had seen their fair share before.
And the girl who wouldn't have been most shaken at the sight had already seen it anyway.
"Good Lord," she muttered to herself, though whether she meant it as a prayer, an expletive, or a futile hope even she was not sure.
-Zach, Brooke, Phyllis, Tina, Fitz and Theodora
"Are you offering, Brooke?" Audrey asked, looking back to Brooke.
"I'm going to make this bastard pay, and make sure he can never hurt anyone ever again."
***
"What is it?" asked Teague.
Dave laughed weakly. "That's a crude way of saying it but...yes. It does, doesn't it? It's the one thing everybody in this room can wholeheartedly agree on. 'Life is cruel.'" He shook his head, looking to the floor. "Yet we're so anxious to hold onto it, to suffer further."
There was a reason, though. That's what he told himself. There was always a reason. A reason for Betty, a reason for Kathy, a reason for his descent to alcoholism--at the end of it all, there was a reason his life went the way it did. Fate had something in store.
What a bunch of piffle.
"There's a reason," he lied, looking back up. "Tough love. I suppose we can learn something from this after tonight."
***
"Nah, friend," Nicodemus corrected. "I picked it up from some wise men while I was on a spirit journey in the Himalayas. It heals burns and clears your chakras towards enlightenment." He glanced at Fitz. "That fella's chakras must be pretty clogged, though." He turned to Phyllis. "I feel ya." Then he put Fitz's arm over his shoulder and helped him to his feet. "Let's go, man. Unclog the badness so we can put an end to this madness."
-Dave and Nicodemus
Pedro nodded and asked, "Can I keep it?"
Aleks had found herself lost amidst the commotion of everything, and she was standing there staring as everything went down. She hadn't realized she had ran after Zach and the others, hadn't realized that she was clinging onto Zach's arm.
"Zach....are we..." She finally found her voice, amidst the chaos of everything.
She realized someone else was dead, something horrid was going on, and she wanted to run as quickly as she could, but she couldn't tear herself away from her friends.
***
Deanna found herself pounding on the mens restroom door, frantic almost as she tried to get her brother to open it, if he was even still in there. "Kieran!" She called out, shaking her head as she looked around at the chaos that had gone on around them.
She wanted to be done, wanted to be home, wanted to be out of the way of everything and everyone.
***
Tracy was startled as she found herself running after Drew, looking at Mr. Smith and shaking her head. "Mr. Smith...oh my god..." She looked around, noticing that things were far more chaotic than anything else right now.
"Drew...is he alright?" She asked him, reaching out to touch hold of Drew's arm.
***
Emma found herself next to Brooke, latching onto her friends arm.
"When the hell is this going to be over?" She practically yelled, hating that her friends were going through this all over again. They were losing their parents now, not just their friends, their parents. How much more could everyone take right now?
-Aleks, Deanna, Tracy, Emma
"Sure thing, man," Nicodemus threw him a pouch of spirit dust. "It's like the wise-men say in the Himalayas: 'Spread the dust, spread the love.' Or some such verbiage." And so he was on his way with Fitz and Phyllis in tow, taking their patient towards the exit.
***
Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do.
I'm half crazy all for the love of you.
Emma Duval found herself in a meadow laden with the flower. She stood alone in a white sundress, the sun shining, sky clear, not a sound to be heard. Walking barefoot among the daises, crushing one after the other, the summer wind came blowing in, kissing her gently. For the first time in years, she felt at home.
The sound of sobbing echoed from over the hill. Emma turned, thinking to herself, Not again. Not here. It's over. It was supposed to be over. She ran up the slope, near stumbling onto her stomach, when she finally reached the top.
Audrey knelt there, cradling her dead father, sobbing. Emma couldn't say anything. She couldn't do anything.
Eyes red, Audrey looked up at Emma and Emma looked down at Audrey. They didn't look away, until it was Emma looking up and Audrey looking down.
Another summer wind, but cold, rough. Not hearkening the start of something new but the end of what was once good. Emma felt something in her arms. She looked down. Her mother, dead, eyes wide upon. Emma's lip trembled. She felt something leak onto her lap. Blood from her mother's severed arm, staining her white sundress with a sickly red shade.
Emma looked up, unable to muster the words, tears in her eyes. That last wind blew all the petals into the air. Summer had ended, autumn begun. The clouds massed overhead, the winds gathered, lightning cracked. A storm was brewing.
She had to get to safety. Emma got to her feet and ran down the hill faster than she could manage, tripping and tumbling down the hill.
It was raining now. Dirtied with mud, blood and tears, her knees scraped, Emma stood up. A building in the distance, a barn. She could stay there! Fighting against the wind, Emma sprinted towards shelter.
Emma had made it! She pushed the grand doors behind her, taking all her strength. It was over. She was safe.
She turned. A man was sitting in a chair, hood over his head.
Emma didn't want to look. She wanted to leave it alone. She wanted it to be over. She wanted to be safe.
Betraying her best instincts, Emma approached the man, slowly, the splinters of the wood pricking her feet. Her footsteps were heavy. The man looked up. Emma stopped.
Unable to speak. Was it fear? Was it exhaustion? Excitement, even? Breathlessly, she mouthed, "Brandon?"
No answer. She lifted the hood.
It was Will. He looked up at her with those puppy dog eyes, bloodied and beaten. She was silent.
He spoke. "It will burn. All of it."
Emma furrowed her brow, tears dry on her cheeks, begging to know what is happening anymore.
The crack of lightning outside. Emma turned. The smell of burning. It came from above. The rafters, they were on fire. She turned to the chair. Her sister was waiting.
"Hey, sis." A lunge, a knife in the chest. Emma screams, falls back.
Into the arms of Kieran. "Shhhh. It'll be over soon. It'll be fine."
Emma shook her head, sobbing. No, it won't.
Her friends stood in the fire. Audrey, Brooke, Noah, Ted--they were near silhouetted in the flames, but they were unharmed. Emma wanted to be with them. She wanted to burn with her friends.
Her voice was hoarse. Still, she couldn't speak. She mouthed, "I did this."
Kieran brushed her hair. "Oh, sweet Daisy. When will you learn?"
Emma broke free from his clutches and clawed him in the face, sending Kieran reeling into the fire. She was done with him.
Her friends. Still. they stood in fire. She would walk with them. She'd be safe.
Emma held her breath, bracing herself.
Into the flames she ran. The pain was immense, the feel of skin melting off her bones. Where were her friends? They were here. They were safe. She was tricked again. Emma Duval, always the fool.
The smoke was thick and dark. Emma ran her way through it, feeling the worst pain imaginable. Suddenly, she was outside. Wren Lake.
The water. She'd douse herself there. She would die there.
But she didn't have the strength to run. On her knees, she crawled, moaning.
Her first words. She cried, "When the hell is this going to be over?!" She shrieked, sobbing hysterically.
Last moments, coming soon. At the shore. Emma looked at her reflection, marred, scarred and burned.
One. Final. Scream.
Her face became malformed permanently, as she opened her mouth, fixed in twisted fashion, etched in eternal agony. The whites of her eyes melted out of her sockets, becoming black, empty holes. Her face was following suit, until all she saw was the mask.
Emma caught her breath. She looked around frantically. She was back in the common hall. Audrey had just come in, crying. Another man dead. Her other friends, they were still alive. She was still alive. She was awake now. Yet she didn't feel alive.
A banging from behind her caught Emma's attention.
"Kieran!"
Emma turned curiously. It was Deanna, banging furiously at the men's room door.
Her breath was shaky, but her resolve strong. She approached her, "So he's in there."
***
Lakewood's Last Supper. Or so it seemed.
Eli stands to the left, disgusted, followed by Smoke, dazed out of his mind. Brooke cocks her eyebrow disdainfully, in disbelief. Kieran sits next to her, his elbows on the table, leaning forward. The other traitor, Audrey, is beside him, knife in hand. Sawyer, the youngest disciple, is swooning, leaning on Audrey's shoulder. Emma stands in the middle, the center of attention yet again. The doubting Thomas Noah plays the skeptic, finger raised. Carl and Ted sit with him, two rednecks who got more than they bargained for tonight. Leslie, born and bred in the establishment and looking to take it down, takes the role of Matthew the tax collector. Deanna is next to her, not all there, mindlessly pursuing a lost cause as St. Jude did. And finally, there was Simon the Zealot, portrayed by Stavo, judging all of his friends from a distance.
No...that didn't make sense.
Stavo was Jesus, not Emma. He was telling his story. And Sawyer as young John, the youngest disciple, head-over-heels for him...that made more sense. But who was Judas? Brooke? He can't think of a time when Judas flirted with Thomas but then again, Sunday school wasn't his strong spot, as Stavo was quickly finding out. Where would Kieran fit, then? Was he even part of the canvas anymore?
What if...Brooke was Jesus and Stavo Judas? Because...he betrayed her tonight?
Stavo crumpled up the sketchpad paper and threw it aside, frustrated. He hated allegorical art, anyway. It made sense, at first, to riff off a foundation well-known and apply it to his own life so it would make more sense but The Last Supper was senseless to begin with.
He looked at Brooke from across the room. He was putting it off at this point. Stavo would rather set things right with her than go through another draft of a picture he cared less and less for.
Stavo put aside his sketchpad and approached Brooke and Audrey. Looking between the two of them, he asked thinly, "Hey." He locked eyes with Brooke. "Don't suppose you got a minute."
-Nicodemus, Emma and Stavo
Deanna turned to look at Emma Duval, her eyes narrowed slightly as she shook her head. "And if he is? Its for everyone's safety....you should leave him alone in there." She told her, folding her arms across her chest as she held her duffel against her chest a bit more.
She wanted to talk to her brother, but right now Emma was standing there and wanting to know about Kieran as well.
"I wouldn't bother him...he's already told me how he's going to end my pain for me. So maybe he'll make it easier for all of us if he ends yours too?"
Idle threat, but right now she didn't want to be bothered by Emma or her rantings.
-Deanna
Brooke had a ready response for that, but it was curtailed by the (merciful?) arrival of Stavo.
"You noticed I was gone?" she prompted, "How considerate of you," she looked around, "As much as I've grown to love your famous explanations, Stavo, I'm not sure now is the best time."
As if to underscore the point, the principal entered on her heels, bearing Audrey's father's fresh, one-eyed corpse.
***
"Everything," replied Theodora immediately, steeling herself.
"They must be told something," she said, "But damn it all, I'm worried I've run out of things to tell them."
***
Phyllis spared only the tiniest side-long look for Howard Jensen's remains as they were borne past. It was important, she told herself, to focus on her task.
Protecting the swooning one-percenter with what little practical medical knowledge you possess?
"He tried to shoot me tonight," she told Nicodemus, almost conversationally, as they started out of the common hall, supporting Fitz between them, "Not without good reason. But even so."
She felt her steps grow heavy, "His daughter is a patient of mine. Her...her voice was on the recording."
***
Zach turned from Noah to regard Aleks, "Oh. You're talking."
He paused.
"I mean, you're okay," he smiled, "And we're..." he paused, "Well, not okay, but..." he paused, "It's gonna be...better."
He turned to watch them bring Mr. Jensen's body past, "Oh. Audrey's Dad died."
-Theodora, Brooke, Phyllis and Zach
Aleks found herself still clinging onto Zach as she watched.
"Zach...I want to go home..." She whispered, looking up at him. She was pretty sure that none of them would be making it home, but she didn't say that out loud, hell she hadn't gotten a single text since she started talking to Zach.
Could she tell him? Should she? Would he hate her?
"I don't..." She shook her head, looking down as she clung onto his arm.
-Aleks