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Chapter 5: (Sh)It Follows
Noah
"Sorry Notepad, but I've already got my old theories locked in, you're here for new ones." He told Zaxh before sitting on the edge of the building.
"False accusations leading to an arrest do not count, as no charges have ever been formerly filed. I need fresh ideas, give me your suspect list and why."
"Well, you've gotta fix that," said Tina, "And you don't do that by picking some silly-damn name and talking like it's 1999."
***
"Okay," Zach thought about it...
"I..."
It was weird thinking about his friends this way. He supposed, in a way, he should be used to it, but standing here and going over them all in his head was...
Well, giving him a headache.
"It can't be Audrey. I mean, she was with us at the window, and even if she wasn't...it's her Dad. The window thing clears you too, and Brooke and I guess Ted too, but I forgot about Ted."
He thought about it.
"Carl's too torn up about what happened to Micah. Like you said, Tracy's suspicious, but she's also kinda obvious, and you'd think the real killer wouldn't be...well, obvious."
Further thought, "Aleks is nice."
Left it at that.
"Drew is kinda weird, but he and Tracy are always glued to each other, so that's not happening. Stavo's creepy, but he's cool, sorry, but...he is. Ryan's dodgy, but he's my friend, there's no way and..."
He sighed.
"I'm not good at this, am I?"
-Tina and Zach
"And how do I do that?"
Noah
Noah side and got up, walking over to Zach and putting an arm around his shoulder, walking him around as he began to speak.
"Zach you're looking at this through a personal and emotional lense, you can't let you're feelings or what you would do cloud your judgement. Kieran killed his dad, Emma thought Kieran was nice, Audrey originally thought that Piper was nice. It's all about motive and opportunity. It's not about feelings." He said. He was walking Zach back to the edge Noah was at before.
"See you think these people are your friends, but what if thats only a part they're playing? What if they want to hurt people? Hurt you?" He asked and grabbed te collar of Zach's shirt and swiftly pushed Zach to where he was the only thing keeping Zach from falling off the roof. He swiftly pulled him back up onto his feet, and looked Zach in the eyes.
"Everyone is a suspect. Everyone could have a motive. Anyone could want you dead." He told him.
"Well, fuck, kid, I can't just tell ya."
Tina shrugged, "Some things we gotta figure out ourselves. Take me, for example, I know it's hard to believe, but I wasn't always a take-charge bitch like as I am now."
***
Zach teetered on the edge, one foot moving back and forth in empty space.
He cleared his throat, which had gone very dry, "Y-yeah. Right. ...anyone."
He met Noah's eyes, "Like...thus would be a great opportunity for you to kill me. Like, hypothetically."
-Tina and Zach
"What changed?"
Noah
"Actually no, seeing as how you said hey to someone and it would be difficult to get down and away fast enough not to look suspicious." He said thinking about it.
"I was merely proving the point that you never know when a friend or someone you think you know will strike."
"In a world as cynical and cruel as this one, we need more optimists," Dave replied, recollecting Kathy's warm words to him after Betty left. He thought it naivete then, and maybe it was. But nevertheless, it was a comfort.
"Enough of this existential nonsense about life and death," he decided to change the topic. "Shakespeare wrote it best. 'Tonight, we eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.' Which we may or may not. Regardless, we shall be merry indeed. Right now is what counts, I say. Whether that's reading poetry or waxing philosophical, the present is what matters."
***
"Oh, it's no problem, man," Nicodemus waved him off, with a smile, seemingly missing the word 'butchery.' "Healin's my game, whether it's of the mind or the body. It's no deal, friend."
***
"If you're serious about doing this, Miss Intersectional might have given us a window to slip out," Stavo replied. "Let's do it."
***
Emma slapped Ted's hand away, disgusted. "Ugh! The hell, Ted?! Did I ask for your condescension?! I put this on my face for a reason, something your caveman brain can't understand!" She got to her feet and scoffed. "You're a James? I guess that makes sense if what my mom said is true. All of you, gentle imbeciles." Pointing to her face, she spoke slowly. "This is my mask, and I'll take it off when I'm done. Do...you...under...stand...me?"
***
"I dunno. Maybe it's my charming personality and my refusal to conform to society's harmful grooming standards," Leslie answered sarcastically, before continuing honestly, "Or maybe it's because I'm one of the few people trying to figure out who killed my best friend?!"
-Dave, Nicodemus, Stavo, Emma, and Leslie
"I understand. I get it," Ted held his hand up. He hadn't touched her, "Do you want help finding this guy?"
Sawyer
"In these times of utter sorrow, we shouldn't look to the past for comfort. The past has nothing left to offer us. We should be mindful of the present because the greatest goft is what lies tomorrow." She said as she held Mr. Evans hand briefly. She let go of his hand and got up, hopping away and in search of the man of her dreams
"What changed is I didn't have time to be scared of shit anymore," said Tina, "When you've got bills to pay and a kid to raise and creeps to beat off, you've gotta think of yourself, and to hell with everything else. It's scary as hell in the beginning, but it's the most worthwhile damn thing you can ever do for yourself."
***
"Oh, that's just Ryan, he's down there having a smoke, he probably wouldn't even notice you pushing me off."
Zach stopped.
"Not that...that makes it a good idea. Obviously."
He sighed, "I get it. I get that it's...bad to trust people. But...I dunno, I feel like, when you get to the end of it...isn't that all we really have? I mean, if we run around always wondering which of our friends is gonna be the next to stab us in the back...literally...kinda defeats the purpose of having friends, right?"
***
Fitz narrowed his eyes at Langley, "Should've pegged you for those of those 'free surgery' socialists. You don't think I'm good for it?"
"Mr. Smith, I don't think that's what he meant..."
"Never mind!" Fitz lifted himself to his feet, almost immediately collapsing into Drew, "I will be returned to the unwashed masses, so they can see the torture I've been put through on their behalf."
"...torture," Phyllis looked toward the pickled eye on the counter, "I can't even call it hyperbolic."
***
Brooke nodded in approval, slipping out past the dead-on-her-feet (though who could blame her at this point?) V.P. Kellerman.
"Now, he said something about living in a shack somewhere. It's can't be too close to this place or any of the cabins because...well, that's stupid. But it's got to be close enough to where Micah got axed that he could've come across it."
She paused.
Looking back on it, this wasn't very much to go on.
But she'd waded through worse muck to decent results.
-Tina, Zach, Fitz, Phyllis and Brooke
Noah
"The search for truth is a lonely life Zach, one that I have been well versed in."
Drew
As his father collapsed Drew was quick to catch him and put one of his father's arms around his shoulder.
"Holy fuck you're heavy." he said.
Sawyer
Sawyer hopped over to Brooke and Stavo after finally layong eyes on them.
"Hi Stavo." She did a small cute wave.
"Brooke..." She said with a frown.
"It doesn't have to be lonely," said Zach, "I mean...sure some people could be killers and kidnappers and all that other stuff, but...Noah, you can't think everybody's like that. There must be someone, somebody you feel perfectly okay trusting."
***
"Knavish boy, I've a trimmer waist than you," Fitz righted himself with a bird-like ruffle, "This will be a damn thing to explain to the boys at the club. Imagine, Fairy Fitzroy diffuing a bomb!"
"I'm still not sure how you defused the..."
"Silence, woman!" he lowered his voice, "They'll eat their hats, every one of them."
***
Brooke bit back another scream, whirling around to face...
"Oh. Sawyer," she blinked, "Hello."
She'd almost forgotten about the little pest, though she didn't look very pesky right about now.
-Zach, Fitz, Phyllis and Brooke
Lance nodded, "You've given me a lot to think about, Tina."
"I've given a lot of men a lot of things, but stuff to think on ain't ever been one of 'em," Tina cackled, "You're not half bad, you know that?"
"I try," Lance nodded to the place, "We're here."
Noah
"Trust has levels. It's like sexuality, its a spectrum." He said.
Drew
"You're nickname is Fairy? And you didn't think people knew you were gay?" Drew laughed.
Sawyer
"So Stavo, you're looking rather dapper tonight, I must say darkness very much intensifies what you've got going on." She said.
"Hmph," Tina looked around, "Whole lotta nothing."
She leaned against a tree, "Well, it was fun to try."
***
"Oh," Zach considered, "So...is trust, like, the gay side or the straight side? And...well, this might be weird, but from your point of view, how...gay am I? Or straight? Or whatever? I mean...I can tell you what I think too."
***
"The cursed name's haunted me since St. George's Prep. The sots tarred me with it from day one. It is not funny. What, with hair like that, nobody ever called you anything?"
***
"Oh sweet Jesus," Brooke said under her breath.
-Tina, Zach, Fitz and Brooke
Noah
Noah chuckled and placed a hand on Zach's shoulder.
"Zachary, you are the gayest man alive. Do with that what you wish."
Drew
"When you're secure in yourself, names don't really effect you." Drew told his father.
"Also, if anything people tend to think Im Asexual."
Sawyer
"Brooklyn, you seemed to have gained a smidge of weight since we last crossed paths, stress eating?"
Lance shook his head, "She's got to be around here somewhere."
"Oh," said Zach, "thanks. You...uh... you're pretty gay too."
He threw a grin in there for good measure.
***
"What, like a protist?" asked Fitz, "Do your parts not work?"
***
"Oh, yeah, totally gorging myself," said Brooke at once, "Pulling two friends from their dead parents really gets you in the mood for tiramisu."
-Zach, Fitz, Brooke
Emma rolled her eyes. "What can you do to help? Hit a ball with a stick? You're a nice guy, Ted, but being nice does jack and shit with these psychopaths. Trust me, I know." She shook her head, reiterating, "No. You're too soft."
***
"Oh, those bullies are fools insecure about their own foolery," Nicodemus comforted Fitz. "'Sides, fairies can fly! You'd make a great fairy, man!"
***
Dave smiled as he watched Sawyer prance away. If only he had her resilience. Amazing what one loses with age, how experience weathers the soul. Perhaps Sawyer was lucky she would never have to face that.
The girl had given him a lot to ponder about life and happiness, the implications of mortality. Naturally, Dave would overthink it, as he likely did with that godforsaken tree.
But for Dave Evans, overthinking was a comfort in these trying times.
***
Stavo turned with a jump, caught off-guard by the under-sized menace, his own most adoring disciple. "Oh. Um...hey." He looked over his clothes. "What, this? These are my post-murder threads. Sad thing is, I wear them too often."
And the shots were fired. Holding up his hands, he attempted to make the peace, however un-enthusiastically. "Please, girls. You're both pretty." Now that that was out of the way, he turned to leave.
-Emma, Nicodemus, Dave and Stavo
Noah
Noah just la
Drew
"Asexual is a broad term, but frankly it means to have no self interest in sex." He told his father and looked at Tracy, "Though personally I very much enjoy it."
Sawyer
Sawyer immediately turned to Stavo,
"You think I'm pretty?" She asked him batting her eyes.
She turned to Brooke, "He thinks I'm pretty."
Ted wanted to say something more. So he asked, "Are you going to ask Audrey and Brooke to help?"
"You're not the only one, Miss...Leslie," Teague bit back the yell he wanted to give her. It wouldn't be anything new. They'd fought plenty of times before over everything, "You're not the only one trying to figure this out. And you are not the only one hurting."
Stavo buried his face in his hand, depressed by the can of worms he unintentionally opened.
***
Emma let out a dry, humorless laugh. "Brooke? She's probably busy venturing on another quest of 'self-discovery' with her interchangeable arm candy. And Audrey is so stuck in her emotions, poor thing's probably damaged goods now. Permanently." She pointed to herself for emphasis. "This is my problem, Ted. I don't need people's help. Every time this happens," Emma put on her on-the-spot dumb-guy voice. "'Durr, are you OK, Emma? Durr, do you need some help, Emma?' I'm sick of charity and pity. If those did any good, we wouldn't be doing this a third time around." Shaking her head, Emma said with finality, "This is about me. So I'm gonna fix it. Myself." She leaned forward. "Is that clear, Mr. James?"
***
"Wow," Leslie replied flatly, sarcastically adding, "That is a correct if not obvious sentiment. I will shut up now and change for the better." She promptly exploded, "You don't think I know that?! I know other people are dying and other people are suffering! Which is why it angers me that the people in power can't do their jobs to prevent more suffering in the first place, leaving people like me to pick up the slack!" Leslie stepped closer Teague, looking up at him. "How many more people have to die before you get your act together and do your job? Because I lost my best friend tonight, and all that's happened since then is a blackout, fighting, me running for my fucking life and another man dead!"
-Stavo, Emma and Leslie
Tracy rolled her eyes, "I'm gonna go sit down and wait for whoever ends up dead next."
She wasn't sure, but right now she just wanted to be alone and think everything through. When she departed from Drew, she made her way to the farthest table and sat down so that she could look over her phone. She sent a single message, What's next? Because I'm bored of sitting with these idiots...
When it was done, she erased her entire history, ensuring that she didn't have anything on her phone that was incriminating.
***
Deanna was still sitting there, gun pressed against her temple as she stared blankly around her. The world was over for her, at least that's how she felt right now. She hadn't meant to hurt Lance, hell she had actually cared for him, but of course she wasn't meant to be close with anyone.
Coral had turned out to be gay, and they had split so he didn't lie to her anymore. Everything in her life was a lie, even down to the biggest lie she ever told, her own happiness.
"One thing, I don't know why, It doesn't even matter how hard you try, Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme, To remind myself of a time when I tried so hard, In spite of the way you were mockin' me, Actin' like I was part of your property, Remembering all the times you fought with me, I'm surprised it got so far, Things aren't the way they were before, You wouldn't even recognize me anymore, Not that you knew me back then, But it all comes back to me in the end, You kept everything inside, And even though I tried, it all fell apart, What it meant to me will eventually, Be a memory of a time when I, I tried so hard and got so far, But in the end, it doesn't even matter, I had to fall to lose it all, But in the end, it doesn't even matter…."
The words came out of her mouth, the song that would end her suffering flowed freely from her lips in a soft tune.
"I'm sorry..." She murmured, pulling the trigger some, but not all the way, her hand was shaking and she slowly steadied herself and closed her eyes as she prepared for her moment, the moment it would all be over. "I love you Kieran...I love you Eli...goodbye..."
-Tracy, Deanna
"Probably tripped and fell into the mud," Tina started back, "All told, I dunno why I bother. Can't imagine her thanking me. And I know how that sounds, but it's a nice thing, being thanked."
***
Zach couldn't deny being taken aback by the sudden switch to hysterical peals of laughter.
So he started to laugh to, "Ha. Yeah, that's...that's funny. Heh."
***
"Listen, honey," Brooke turned to Sawyer, "I wish we had time to chat, but the gentleman and I have things to do and places to be, and there's something of a time crunch, so..."
***
It's a while before Tracy gets anything resembling an answer.
'In a while, crocodile.'
'Don't go around tipping your hand.'
-Tina, Zach and Brooke
"Speaking of that...I wanted to thank you," Lance said, looking back to her, "Not a lot of people would put up with me."
***
Ted nodded and replied, "Crystal, Emma. Good luck."
"Yeah, well, you don't make it easy," said Tina at once, "but there are worse whoooooa!"
For at this very moment, Tina found herself being launched up from the ground, rapidly encased in a sizable net of thick, coarse rope lifted up, snare-like, to suspend her, in a tangle of limbs, from the treetops above...
With Smoke right beside her.
Upon catching her breath, Tina peered out through the gaps in the netting, "This better as hell be a contact high."