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Chapter 6: Child's Slay
Deanna followed after her brother, silent and solemn as she looked around. She knew that her brother could see a purpose in this, in what she wanted to do right now. Against her ex boyfriend and even their aunt, hell she had a purpose that would drive her to the breaking point.
If she wasn't already broken that was, as she followed him to the hall, she tilted her head.
"I have something you might enjoy having on you...since there is a killer on the loose. Nobody knows I have these...well you should remember that I had them at least."
-Deanna
"No way Ted did this," Carl said, "Guy can't stand blood."
He clicked his tongue a few times and asked, "I know we need to get more...but can I tell you something? And not get judged?"
"Well, yeah, a car would help, but..." Zach sighed, "I...uh...I don't think we've got one. I mean, the bus is totaled. I think the hippie guy walked," he considered, "If he could do it, why can't..."
He eyed her bandaged feet, wincing.
"Well, eventually, I mean, we'd get to the real highway, and then we could, like...hitchhike, or something," he paused, "I mean, what's gonna stop us? The rain?"
So, not as convincing as it had been two minutes ago, but he was determined to see this through.
***
"The...the phoenix, it's...it's this thing Stavo says a lot, and at first I thought it was just because he was from Phoenix, but it turned out he called Micah his Phoenix, and I never understood, and God knows, he never explained, so I learned not to ask, but..."
She threw the notebook down, "If this...if this guy, this Ignacio, whoever he was, this...this kid he had a suicide pact with. Noah, at least, thought...and...and, you know, it...it makes sense, I just...I never wanted to say what I thought, because I just felt it was wrong, how do you say a thing like that, and what if I was wrong, how would that look..."
She broke off, breathing raggedly.
"It makes too much sense. It was staring me in the fact the whole time, and I didn't see it," she paused, "I didn't want to see it. I chose not to see it."
***
"...dig," Phyllis nodded, watching him go.
Standing back, she turned to Stavo, "I...I wonder if you'd like to wear my coat? You'll...you'll catch cold otherwise."
-Zach, Brooke and Phyllis
Noah
Noah found himself back at the common hall woth the rest, or more like the majority of his peers.
where's Emma? He thought to himself as he looked around. He wondered if she was safe, if she had to leve because of how fucked up the situation was. He hoped she was handling herself. He had noticed how broken she was becoming, honestly he understood it. He just hoped she wasn't broken beyond repair.
He spotted Brooke, and she was with Audrey, so he just decided to leave that situation alone. Ausrey had been his best friend, but even if her father hadn't of died after he accused him...This fallout was a long time coming. People drift apart...And Noah as before she came into hi life would face the storm alone.
"What was?" asked Audrey, reading more into the report, "That he was involved with this kid's death?"
"That he was in love with him, Audrey!" Brooke threw the notebook across the room, getting abruptly to her feet, shaken by the force of her words, "Dammit, Audrey, he loved him, and they agreed to kill each other, and..and..."
She seized the police report, reading through her tears, "Witness attests the pact was entered into voluntarily, though he backed out at the last moment. The last moment, Audrey..." she broke off, shaking brief, brittle breaths, "He was in love with him..." she shook her head, "And I should have known...I think, maybe I did..."
Audrey was quiet for a long time, before she asked, "Why do you think he backed out?"
"I don't know, Audrey, I've never tried to kill myself!" she pressed her head in her hand, struggling to recollect herself, "How is that even your first question? Death is...is scary, isn't it, and..."
She paused, thinking of herself and Stavo, standing across from each other above Jake's hospital bed.
"He thought it was beautiful," she said at last, "He thinks it's beautiful. But maybe...maybe he didn't then," she turned to Audrey, "Wouldn't you be scared to die?"
"Before or after what happened?" asked Audrey, "Before? Hell yeah, I'd be scared to die."
Aleks nodded towards him, "I'll be alright Zach, I can make it." she said, having noticed him looking at her feet. Sure that was a stupid thing to have happened, but she would push through it to get to safety, if it meant they could.
"We'll make it, no matter what. I believe in us." She said, smiling as she squeezed his hand gently before looking around.
She wasn't sure if the others would be as intrigued about the idea as the two of them were, but she would give it a shot. "Should we tell the others?"
-Aleks
"Before..." Brooke sighed, "Well, I guess after miraculously surviving a four story fall, mortality seems pretty basic."
She picked up the notebook, looking around the room and feeling completely lost.
"After," she said softly, "What...uh...what after?"
***
"Well, not...not all the others," Zach relented, "Noah thinks I'm stupid, but I do know at least one of them's a killer. Probably. Unless it's somebody outside, but Noah doesn't think..."
He cleared his throat, "We should tell some people, like...like Ryan! We can trust Ryan, he and I go way back. And he knows...stuff, like about how to do...hardcore things. You know, when...when things get bad."
-Brooke and Zach
"After waking up," Audrey explained, sighing. So Stavo had been in love with the kid he made a suicide pact with..., "Does it say why they made the pact to begin with?"
"No, Audrey, that's not what I..."
But she decided not to press it. Part of her was afraid to know.
"No...no, it doesn't. I don't know, why...why does anybody plan to kill themselves?"
***
"I don't know, Audrey," Rachel cocked her head at her side, "Why does anybody?"
"Some...some see it as the only way out. The only way to end their pain. Others...I don't know," Audrey replied, trying her best to ignore the ghost sitting next to Brooke.
"Astute," Rachel sighed, "So much easier to throw the pain on others, right?"
***
Brooke shook her head, "I guess, in the end, that's not the important question, is it?"
She turned to Audrey, "We've always had secrets from each other. And we've kept secrets for each other too. Every man I've ever been with...secrets. With Seth, it was to protect him. With Jake, he was trying to protect me. I don't know what Stavo's protecting. But I can't say I wish for honesty, because...I never gave them any myself, and why add hypocrite to my list of offenses?"
"If I've learned nothing else...honesty is the key to everything," Audrey answered, "Maybe...maybe after this is over, you and Stavo, if he's cleared, can start over."
"Maybe..." Brooke slammed the notebook shut, "Maybe the sun will burn out, or Kellerman will start foxtrotting, or winter will turn to spring and the breeze will taste like honeysuckle and raindrops."
She bit her lip, "Noah was so sure he had him. Time after time, he told me... And time after time, I told him he was wrong," she turned to Audrey, "I want him to be wrong...so, so much. Is it weird that I think he wants to be wrong too? Just this time?"
"I'm the wrong person to ask about Noah," Audrey admitted, "Maybe he hopes he's wrong. Maybe he hopes he's right. I can't tell anymore with him."
"Why? Because he accused your Dad?" she sighed, "I never meant to blurt out like that, by the way, I thought... Well, I wasn't really thinking, the whole thing happened so fast."
She looked Audrey over, "Emma's gone Tarzan on us and Stavo stands accused of murder. Honey, short of Noah...it's just you and me. You can tell me what's up. What am I gonna say, at this point, anyway?"
Audrey tapped her fingers across the table, thinking. Honesty was always the best policy..., "I... I think he wants Stavo to be guilty."
"And yet, here he is...giving me everything he thinks I need to help clear Stavo's name," Brooke shrugged, "Or else to poison the idea of him in my mind to the point that I get sick even hearing his name."
She sighed, "Guy loves him some 5D chess," she paused, "Well, you've got this far Audrey, why don't we just...address the elephant in the room, hm? Why does Noah want so badly for Stavo to be gone? I think we both know the answer but...God help me, I wanna hear it from the third party first."
"Brooke...I think he wants Stavo gone...because he's in love with you."
Brooke nodded very slowly.
"Hm...funny, isn't it? We must've been on the same brainwave."
She was quiet for a very long time, looking off into the distance.
"I think a shower's in order," she said at last, "I'm filthy."
And with that, she took her leave, and vanished into the rain.
"Well, then..." Fitz nodded curtly, "Wait only a short while yet, and then we may both be free of this farce," he got to his feet, "Never fear. I can be very persuasive, when I've my...eye,"
He froze in petrification for a good long while.
"...on something."
Stavo nodded, avoiding eye contact. "Sure. Thank you." He got to his feet and took her coat, head lowered to the ground.
***
Leslie furrowed her brow, her face scrunched up in inconceivable confusion. "You know saying that is going to make it impossible for me not to judge you, right? Whatever. At this rate, it can't piss me off that much." She paused. "Right?"
***
As they walked outside, Kieran explained, "You're a murderer, Dee. I don't know if it's a crazy gene in the family or you're just especially fucked up. But you're a murderer." Safely away from the crowd, he turned to face her. "And you're killing the wrong people. Few thugs in Atlanta no one cares about? What's the point of that? Where's the passion? The feeling? The motivation? That does nothing for you. Definitely does nothing for them. It's a lose-lose. But you kill someone you've invested your heart and soul in..." Kieran tilted his head, thinking back to just earlier in the night. "...you'll feel the weirdest mix of shame and ecstasy. Either way, it's death with a purpose. The only death worth having."
He took the gun from her and looked it over. "Hm." Kieran shoved it in his back-pocket. "Alright. Now hand over the other one."
-Stavo, Leslie and Kieran
Aleks nodded as she looked at him, "Your right, we should keep this to ourselves and only those we can trust right now." she commented, shaking her head as she looked around a bit at everyone in the room.
She was scared, but right now she needed to be as strong as possible so that they could make it out of there in one piece. "If we make it home...I'll buy us all food and enough weapons to ensure that this psycho can't get to us again."
***
Tracy looked over at him, "Alright, the drive will be destroyed as soon as the pills are back in my possession Mr. Smith." sure it was blackmailing, but right now he wanted something and she wanted something.
Even trade in her eyes, "And don't let that vice principle scare you, your far more crafty than she is."
***
Deanna looked at him, "I'm not giving up my other weapon, sorry but with a psycho out there trying to off us....I'd rather have one on me." she commented, looking at her brother as she listened to what he was saying. She knew he was right, and she knew that he had the right motives of everything. She felt the weight of the gun in her waistband, and the weight of the injuries on her body, she wouldn't be caught off guard again.
"Let me keep mine, in case anything were to happen...I don't want to get caught without a weapon." She told him, looking at her brother.
-Aleks, Tracy and Deanna
Carl sighed, "After this is over...I'm probably going to be moving to Virginia."
Zach got the sudden image of himself and Aleks running around with huge guns and bandannas and stuff. This ended up being an oddly stirring thought for a lot of reasons he didn't much like to fix on, so he spoke up...
"Well, let's...us...let's keep more on 'now', for now. Don't wanna get ahead of yourselves."
He shoved his hands in his pockets, "I'm gonna talk to Zach do you...uh..." he paused, "Is there anybody you wanna tell."
He thought, quickly, of Brooke, but she seemed to have left just as soon as she'd arrived.
Later, he told himself, You'll find her later, and you'll tell her, because she doesn't deserve to be left behind...she doesn't deserve any of this, she...
He stopped himself.
"But...yeah, if there is anyone else you wanna..." he cleared his throat, "Yanno. Ask."
***
"Oh, never you mind," Fitz got to his feet, smoothing out the pleats in his blazer, "I've tangled with the woman before this miserable weekend. I've no fear of her."
He looked Tracy over, "You behave yourself for the nonce. If you're able."
***
Phyllis handed over the coat, stepping out into the rain, "Stavo, if...if you want to clean up..."
He was filthy. Muddy and bloody and soaked to the skin.
"I can escort you to the showers. I can't imagine anyone would...would question that," she paused, "I'll...I'll see to that."
-Zach, Fitz and Phyllis
"With what I'm about to teach you, you won't need a gun," Kieran explained. "This isn't Atlanta, where you fire a shot and you can't fell which no-name died on which block. This a small campsite with a bunch of people who know who you and everybody else are. Guns are loud and obnoxious, and attract unwanted attention. And the thing with guns is only a few people know how to really use one, so you only have a few suspects to look for. But a knife...anyone can use a knife. Ghostface 3.0 uses a knife." He stepped forward, looking down at her. "That's why they call us slashers, not boomers. Equally heinous people but still."
Kieran smirked, asking, "Besides...shooting someone is quick, painless. If you're gonna shoot Smoke, it's not different from a cop catching him on weed possession. Where's the fire in that? If you really, really wanna get anything out of it, you stab him. A lot." He extended his hand again, repeating, "Now. The gun."
***
Leslie blinked. "Well, you're a step closer to the Union. Do you want a medal?" She threw her hands in the air. "Why did you think I would judge you? Do you honestly think random words set me off?"
***
Stavo nodded, hunched over and arms crossed. "I'd...I'd like that. Thanks." He walked with her, eager to cleanse himself of tonight's mistakes.
-Kieran, Leslie and Stavo
Considering the last 3 years, not counting this night...frankly, yes, Carl did think that.
"By that...I meant I'm not going to be living my parents anymore."
He looked away from her and continued, "I talked with Ms. Kellerman. I...I'm reporting them...for child abuse."