"N-not really," Stephanie stammered. "Mm." Daria looked out the window again. The sober light of the afternoon left her feeling cold and hollow: she no longer had the mania, the certainty, the determination that had driven her in frantic sleepless hours to try and do... something...

Daria tried to smile at the other girl, but wasn't sure she managed it. She still felt awfully hungry, and the cold against her bones was getting worse. Thinking of Blaise, and her promises of peaceful death. Thinking how lucky she'd been. Thinking how many had been less lucky than her. And when's m...

"Uh," Daria manged again, at the explosion of noise by the doorway. Asleep in the open. Could have died. Blaise could have walked right in. Or Erika. Or too many too many haven't changed a thing "Okay bye!" "What?" Daria said, and then squinted at the other girl in the ...

"Hey!" Daria blinked up at the whale in the depths of the ocean, its gentle crooning turning to harsh yelling. Why was the whale yelling at her? "You come the fuck in peace or what?" Daria blinked again, and in that blink became aware of where she was; not swimming mermaid-like b...

(Dhairyalakshmi Bhatia continued from All Eyes On We ) She returned to the house where'd spent the night, drank a little of the rainwater she'd collected in an empty bottle, ignored the grumbling in her stomach and the grim weight of her thoughts. Tried to play brave with Blaise, but walked away. Ha...

Daria listened, though the listening had changed. Daria listened the way she imagined horror movie characters listen in the taut silence that presages a killer's attack. Daria listened the way she listened to an empty house after one too many scary movies. Daria listened like a woman whose life depe...

"My name is Blaise." Daria smiled, and placed her forehead against the wall. "Hey, Blaise." In and out, but this time it was relief, full-body relief, full- soul relief. She didn't have to pretend to be brave anymore, like visions of her splattered, broken corpse (Tony the garden...

"Would it have been my fault if I did?" Daria did not speak for a moment. Her eyes flickered to the closed door. She felt a cold chill on her back, and the urge to run- like she can't shoot you while you're running -or to burst through the door first like James fucking Bond she can shoot y...

Grinning, and waving, and acting like your soul wasn't filled with mortal terror. Still playing pretend, Dhairyalakshmi Bhatia. Thought we were done with that. Not done. Changing the role. Changing the script. How is this any different? It is. How? Maybe this conversation can wait? There's a murdere...

Scared. Alive. Scared. Alive. Thoughts beating at her in time with her pounding heart. The shaky grin on her face. The crackling of lightning on her skin. Taut with adrenaline. Alive. ( For now ) For now, yes. Just for now. For now, until... Tap tap Daria frowned, cocking her head. That sound...what...

“Good morning all! I hope you are all enjoying yourselves now that you know you are all on the path that leads to the end of our game." As Danya's voice breaks across the warm morning, Daria sits cross-legged in front of the house she woke up in, her hands braced upon her knees, her sleep-puff...

I'm going to die. It's dumb. Daria knows it's dumb. She's been reminder herself of that fact, day in and day out. Playing careless in the face of Carrie's crazy and Quinn's murderous madness, swaggering in to standoffs as though she has no fear of bullets. She's been flirting with death, teasing it...

Alone again. (Dhairyalakshmi Bhatia continued from Code of Honor ) Alone again, but different this time. A choice was made in good faith ( faith, ha! You're still funny !) when you and Aliya parted ways with Tony's corpse behind you and the rising dawn to light your way, separated by space and bound...

"Thanks," Aliya said, and Daria didn't know how to reply to that. Thanks for what? For saying sorry? For being here? Or were they just reciting an empty script? Sorry, because Aliya clearly knew Tony better than she did, and was grieving in a way that Daria couldn't. And Aliya said "T...

And for the first time since the fire, Daria felt safe. None of the hiding, none of the searching, nothing precarious. In good and helpful company, Daria helped make camp, and joked and talked and argued with Aliya and Tony, and watched the dark gathering across the island and the sea. Tony kept try...