Anthem for Doomed Youth

[decoy73]

Joe whoever flinched as the light danced around his body and he took a look at the three of them.

"Actually, never mind, I think I'll be leaving you girls alone." Joe turned around and left. Charlie wasn't too bothered by the fact as she kept her light trained on his retreating form.

"Guess I should eat some of these horrible carbs too. What I wouldn't give for some proteins or some veggies."

"I know, right? I never thought I'd crave a carrot quite so much. Especially here, night vision would be awesome! ..." It was at that point that Acacia took an interest in the lights and then leaned over and pointed her flashlight at Charlene, causing her to momentarily turn away as her eyes were forced to adjust to the light.

"Hey, Charlie!" Acacia paused for a second, while trying to do something that Charlene really didn't care about. "Why're you hiding in the shadows? Hair dye gone wrong?" Charlie laughed. Not because the joke was funny, but because of all the things that had happened to her, a small part of her was wondering if the game was starting to make her go a little psychopathic.

"Well, hey Acacia. You wouldn't believe who I met today." Charlene pointed her flashlight so that it was centered on Acacia's body. "That's right. Hayley fucking Kelly. Nothing much happened, though. She threw a knife into my arm, and I shot back. So, yeah, I'm just peachy. How are you doing?" Naturally, the sarcasm was dripping from her voice as she rattled off what had happened to her, a smirk decorating her face.

Yep. This game was making a psychopath out of her.

[Arscapi†]

"Well, hey Acacia. You wouldn't believe the day I've had." Charlene pointed her flashlight so that it was centered on Acacia's body.

Thea stiffened as she heard Charlie's voice. She was torn now, while she was happy that her best friend was still alive. She hadn't forgiven Charlie for not siding with her, especially after she found out Alex's reason for not wanting Hayley harmed. That somehow because he loved Hayley in secret somehow made her more valuable than James.

"That's right. Hayley fucking Kelly. Nothing much happened, though. She threw a knife into my arm, and I shot back. So, yeah, I'm just peachy. How are you doing?"

Thea snorted at Charlene's statement and crossed her arms over her chest. "Did you kill her," Thea asked. It wasn't the most tactful, but she figured it was better than I told you so.

[xylophonefairy†]

((Yay for posts with no speech!))

Acacia's eyes widened at Charlie's sarcastic tone, partly out of surprise, partly out of, well, something else. She was confused, torn between happiness to see her friend alive, and disappointment at finding her in a bad way, and thinking that she might well make a good ally, except for the fact that she had apparently been stabbed by none other than the person that Thea was so upset with. It was a complicated feeling to have, hence why she remained still, and stared at her beam of light, which had fallen to the floor. Thankfully, Thea put in a response.

"Did you kill her?"

Looking up, Acacia leaned fowards to look at Charlene, trying to read the expression on her face as Thea asked the question that she hadn't even thought of. People dying had become so commonplace, twenty or so a day. Back at school one death would have reverberated throughout the community for weeks, there would have been funerals held in the school gym, memorial services, flowers, people crying in the corridors. It would have been the worst thing to happen to them all ever, even if it was a nobody that she'd never heard of, Acacia was pretty sure she would have cried. And now all that happened was that she remembered their names and didn't think about it. This wasn't the real world. If this was the real world, she would have spent all her time crying.

Or perhaps there was a time and a place for crying, and this simply wasn't it.

She might have judged Charlene for shooting at someone, but in the circumstances, she couldn't do it. After all, which of their names had been read out on the morning announcements a few hours previously? Specifically, read out on the list of the killers, next to the person she had been travelling with for several days. Lots of people had seen them together, how many of them would have thought that she was heartless for killing her friend? Did she have enemies now in people she'd never spoken to? She could have just left Roman to die on his own accord and then John Smith would have gotten the blame and the hatred and the guilt, but it wouldn't have mattered because he was dead too.

Well, Acacia mused to herself, her fingers drumming lightly on the handle of the gun stowed in her jeans, if you're going to be a killer now...

There was a time and a place for thoughts like that, and this wasn't it. Acacia awaited Charlene's response.

[D/N]

(Ricky Fortino continued from A Day at the Beach)

[Note - in between threads Ricky did a bunch of stuff]

Ricky Fortino was drunk off his ass.

What?

Man, fuck all y'all. Sure he was fuckin' drunk. Sambuca man. Stuff'll fuck you up.

He had vague memories of a bunch of shit going down way back at the beach the other day, but that stuff wasn't holding too well. He'd been looking for a fuckin' gun, he'd met Jamie Li, Logan Reynolds had gone off someplace like a fuckwit, and then that whatshername chick had had a gun and... ah hell, he didn't fuckin' know. He'd tried to get rid of that goddamn girl, and he must've succeeded, because the next thing he'd known he was heading off to the big fuckin' mansion that had been there. And nothing bad must've happened, because Jamie had been right there with him, and she'd actually been a pretty cool chick, right?

"Sure she fuckin' had been! And she'll be waiting for me back there once I pick up the rest of the class, ain't that right?"

Damn right.

Sure, the party had been rocking pretty hard. That must've been where Logan Reynolds had taken his ass to, cause he was there. Buncha people were there, even guys he didn't think had gone on the trip like Aaron Hicks and Brad the shitty junior quarterback were there. Brock'd been there, he'd still been trying to mack on Hilary Strand. Corrigan had been there, well of fuckin' course Corrigan had been there.

Ah, who the fuck else? Jason Clarke was there, but he must've done a pretty shitty job of getting the booze because Ricky had to rummage around a hell of a lot downstairs until he found some decent liquor. Most of the hockey team. Janet Claymont. That Rizzo kid. Tony Russo. Hermione Miller, fuckin' super-hottie. Fuck, even Everett had shown up. Good for him.

Feo'd been there, but for whatever fuckin' reason she'd been more interested in that Ethan jackoff, so Ricky'd finally said fuck that shit and gone off to hook up with Jamie instead.

He'd ended up crashing on the couch for a couple hours, and when he woke up in the morning for whatever goddamn reason his collar had started beeping at him. He'd blinked a couple times, and then came to the entirely sensible solution that that meant he needed to go out for a bit, find the rest of the kids that DIDN'T know about this awesome party just yet. That was totally it. Kids like Thea Kairos, he'd seen James Mulzet wandering around at some point and she totally needed to know that her boy toy was back at the house waiting for her.

So he'd grabbed a bottle of the booze, happy that he was still feeling buzzed but wasn't hungover in the least, and taken off, trusting in his good judgment that he'd go in the right direction.

"Fucking DARK in here!"

How in the fucking hell had he gotten his ass in these tunnels anyways? Whatever. He was bound to find someone if he just kept this goddamn flashlight in one hand and the Sambuca in the other and--

Ricky turned a corner and illuminated the three girls there. A smile bloomed on his face.

"Fuckin' HELL!"

Oh yeah, here was the fuckin' jackpot.

"If it ain't my favourite chickadees. How you girls doing? And like, what the fuck are you doing way the fuck under here?"

He shook his head, good-naturedly.

"Ah, whatever. Look, you, uh, you all totally need to get back to the big fuckin' house down by the beach, I can, I can totally take you there. Heeey, Charlene, like uh, Aaron Hicks is totally waiting on you, I think he might start fucking Clio or something if you don't get there soon. Same with James, Thea, uh... except for the fucking Clio part."

Ricky brayed laughter at that thought. Oh yeah, James Mulzet fucking Clio Gabriella, that was fucking RICH. Where was he, again?

"Oh yeah, and you're ALWAYS welcome, Acacia girl. So come on, whatcha say?"

He held up the bottle of vinegar in his other hand, and took a swig, still smiling.

"We got booooooze down there, girls."

[decoy73]

Thea didn't seem pleased. Maybe because she had been the one who wanted to kill Hayley in the first place (well, maybe not get that extreme, but Thea had been quite affected by Hayley killing James, and any meeting between Thea and Hayley wasn't going to be good). At the very least, her body language said it all as she crossed her arms.

"Did you kill her?" Charlene just shrugged, genuinely stumped.

"Don't know. I just shot and ran. If she's dead, no skin off my chest. If not, I'm probably not going to miss again." Charlie paused, momentarily looking down, noting that maybe using the word "chest" hadn't been the best terminology.

"Oh, but, let me guess, you told me ..."

"If it ain't my favourite chickadees. How you girls doing? And like, what the fuck are you doing way the fuck under here?" Charlie turned around, her flashlight swinging towards the other male voice. She thought that Joe whoever had come back, but realized that something like that was just dumb, considering that he just left, and the new guy looked and sounded weirdly like ...

"Ah, whatever. Look, you, uh, you all totally need to get back to the big fuckin' house down by the beach, I can, I can totally take you there ...

Ricky Fortino. He was a part of the football team, and a common sight at the parties. It sounded like the guy was simply drunk off his ass.

"Heeey, Charlene, like uh, Aaron Hicks is totally waiting on you, I think he might start fucking Clio or something if you don't get there soon. Same with James, Thea, uh ... except for the fucking Clio part."

Now Charlie was getting a little confused. First of all, because Aaron Hicks wasn't in the game, and second, because according to the previous announcements, Clio was dead (and had been dating some wrestler anyways), as was James.

"Oh yeah, and you're ALWAYS welcome, Acacia girl. So come on, whatcha say?" Ricky held up a bottle of something that clearly wasn't any alcoholic drink Charlie had ever seen and drank heartily. For Charlene's part, she just momentarily looked at Thea and Acacia, completely flabbergasted, and then looked at Ricky, her left hand still pointing the flashlight at Ricky, her right hand slowly picking up her gun as she stood up - not like she was planning on shooting Ricky or anything. Stupidity wasn't exactly a crime punishable by death - and even if it was, Charlene wasn't exacly one to talk about that, although she did have one sentence for Ricky:

"Ricky, are you high, or have you just completely lost your mind?"

[Arscapi†]

"Don't know. I just shot and run. If she's dead, no skin of my chest. If not, I'm probably not going to miss again." Charlie paused, momentarily looking down. "Oh, but, let me guess, you told me ..."

Thea rolled her eyes at Charlie's description of things. Seriously, you point a weapon at a target you aim to hit it. Of course when her grandfather had drilled that into her head he was talking about archery targets and not people. Had Charlene always been this much of a drama queen. Why is everything about you?

Thea turned towards Ricky as he staggered into the tunnel. At first she was glad to see him, but then the rambling started. Thea stiffened as he mentioned James.

"Ricky, are you high, or have you just completely lost your mind," Charlene asked, beating Thea to the punch.

Thea stepped over Charlie, deliberately invading Ricky's space. "Get out of here," she said her voice low.

[xylophonefairy†]

((Sorry for holding things up, I did give the offer to skip me! I've finally managed to get on though))

As Ricky entered with his drunken gestures, Acacia looked nervously at Charlie and Thea. It hadn't been very long since James' death, and even though Ricky, whom she'd always gotten on well with, probably wasn't intending to cause Thea any upset, the fact was that in this situation, he needed to be stopped. And fast. Irritation boiled inside her, there was nothing she hated more than a drunk jock. They were never aware of what asses they could be once alcohol got into their system. The thing she hated most was the assumption that, because she was a cheerleader, she would sleep with them, which was only occasionally true. Acacia prided herself on (usually) abstaining from one night stands.

Adrenaline pumped through her system as she realised how easy killing him would be. Her thoughts were starting to run away with her. This was what happened with Roman, and she was regretting that one already. Still, it couldn't hurt to provide an... incentive to leave them the hell alone. Her fingers drummed harder on the handle of the gun that was still stowed away in the waistband of her jeans. After a momentary pause, her fingers closed around it and almost in slow motion she drew it out to point squarely at Ricky's chest. There were barely two metres between them, Acacia was pretty sure that even at this short range she couldn't miss. Not that that was important because she didn't need to kill people. They were doing a pretty good job of doing that to themselves.

You know that's not enough...

"You... you need to leave us alone now." Acacia said, trying to keep her voice as steady as she could. Her eyes were drawn to the end of the barrel, and she followed the line of sight towards the boy she'd talked to on numerous occasions, would probably even consider a friend. They would chat in class and at football games and parties and stuff. They got on well provided they were at the same level of sobriety. She hated drunk jocks even more if she wasn't drunk herself. But she felt nothing. This didn't seem real, ever since she had killed Roman, nothing had felt real. It was only a game. "We might have put up with your shit in high school, but this is a different kind of world. You're gonna have to die some time, and I don't want to be the one behind it," she added.

Perhaps she would wake up soon?

Acacia looked to Thea and Charlie for backup, somewhere in the back of her mind having a feeling that they were armed, they had that vague air of power about them that Acacia knew she carried with her as well.

[decoy73]

((Inactivity avoidance post))

Charlene rolled her eyes at Ricky and grasped her gun.

[Arscapi†]

((ditto for me))

Thea glanced at Acacia and noticed that she had her weapon drawn. Not that she didn't appreciate the effort and the threat. It was nice to know that she was finally on the same page with somebody. However, she wasn't sure how good a shot Acacia was. And it was possible with her standing so close to Ricky she'd be hit. With a sigh, she took a step back, her hand dropping into her bag, to support Acacia's statement.

[SOTF_Help]

They were trying to get Ricky to leave, to just, like, fuckin' roll over and shit, and for no good reason. They didn't seem to get what was goin' on here. They were acting like everything was dangerous or something. That wasn't right, though. They just had to come on back to the party, before all the booze ran out and their boyfriends ran off with other girls or something.

"Nah, hey, just come on," Ricky said, taking a couple steps towards them. "I tell you, you gals don't know what'cher missing. We've got all this alcohol and shit, makes everything good."

He was still walking forwards, getting a bit closer to them. Being close to people helped 'em trust you, yeah? Helped 'em loosen up and realize everything was fine.

[xylophonefairy†]

Acacia jumped as Ricky started walking towards them, her heart racing. She felt unnaturally nervous, perhaps it was the fact that Charlene and Thea had both drawn weapons as well, it wasn't just her overreacting, they thought there was something to point a gun about as well. For a second, as she stole a glance as the other two, she allowed herself a smile. They looked pretty good, the three of them, weapons pointed. This was the kind of action shot that might end up on a DVD cover or something. What the HELL are you thinking about?! DVD covers... There is a time and a place for thinking about that, and it exists in hell. Though, if there ever was a description of hell... Ricky kept walking forwards, Acacia took a step backwards, trying to keep the barrel of her gun away from his chest. There was close range and then there was ridiculously close range. This was the second.

She remembered the tme in the Sawmill, when Roman- she immediately blocked the memory, trying to allow the thought to continue around it. Trying to desensitise herself. The point she was trying to remember was that that space had been bigger than this, and there had only been one gun fired from across the room, and it had still been the loudest thing she'd ever heard. Enough to disorient her for a good few minutes. They wouldn't even need to kill him! Just firing at the wall behind him, or something, that would be enough. Enough to confuse him, and let them get away. Yeah... that would work. Feeling excited by her new plan, she turned to whisper to Charlene and Thea.

"I think we should fire," Acacia said in a low voice. backing still further away from Ricky. As the only one technically single (especially since he seemed to think that the significant other's of Thea and Charlene were just around the corner or something), she felt distinctly threatened by his advances. "That should give him enough of a warning to stay away from us!" She shot the boy a disapproving look, and tightened the grip on her gun, without actually firing. He seemed to be everywhere, Acacia wasn't sure that she was capable of missing on purpose. It was as though this was what she was supposed to do. Acacia looked to her two friends and cocked her head to one side, waiting for one of them to take the lead or tell her she was insane or something.

Acacia was beginning to come to the conclusion that insanity was the way to go. It was hard to tell who was crazy and who wasn't. If she was the crazy person, then it took that uncertainty away. It also took the responsibility away, which in the small chance that she might actually win would perhaps cast her in a slightly better light when it came to dealing with parents and siblings and residents and everyone. But she had to win first. Acacia shook her gun nervously at Ricky, vaguely considering giving him one last chance to leave of his own accord. She pulled as threatening an expression onto her features as she was capable of. It made her usually comely features come off quite ugly.

"We're not joking, Ricky," Acacia said irritably. She didn't want to shoot her gun. Not really. "Get out, or we'll have to move on to more... forceful... encouragement.

[decoy73]

"Nah, hey, just come on. I tell you, you gals don't know what'cher missing. We've got all this alcohol and shit, makes everything good." Ricky stepped towards the trio. He was just not getting it. In fact, he didn't even seem to realize that he was on SOTF. In spite of that, Charlene wasn't seeing Ricky as being dangerous. He was, however, getting to be extremely annoying right now.

"I think we should fire." Charlene glanced incredulously at Acacia. Was Acacia seriously suggesting that they kill RIcky for being drunk and annoying? It was true that Charlie was feeling a little cranky due to being attacked and stabbed by Hayley, but this was Ricky (she'd heard that he'd killed somebody), not Maxwell Lombardi or Reiko Ishida or anything.

"We're not joking, Ricky. Get out, or we'll have to move on to more... forceful... encouragement." Charlie redirected her attention to Ricky as she pointed her gun at Ricky, grasping it with both hands.

"Ricky, seriously. This isn't a party and you're starting to get on my nerves right now. Go away."

She looked to Acacia and said, as quietly as she could, "No way. I'm not shooting a guy just for being annoying."

[Arscapi†]

"I agree with Charlie," Thea said then turned her attention back to Ricky. "For the time being. Why don't you just continue on your way. Just because I'm not firing now, doesn't mean I won't change my mind. Especially if you try to disrespect James' memory or more importantly us."

Thea pulled her weapon clear of her bag for the first time. "I'm giving you fair warning, I'm a pretty good shot. Clear out."

[SOTF_Help]

These chicks kept it up, just insisting that Ricky should split, like he wasn't trying to do them a favor and shit. They kept on saying that, like, they just wanted him to leave them alone. They were saying this wasn't a party, saying something about disrespecting James' memory. Ricky didn't have the slightest clue what they were going on about. They were taking everything so damn seriously, for no real reason at all. He wasn't even paying attention to what they were holding, just like he wasn't paying too much attention to the fact that his booze burned more than it was supposed to and didn't make him feel quite like booze usually did.

"Hey, girls, I don't know what you're talkin' about. You wanna talk to James about disrespect or whatever, come tell him, y'know? But, I don't get why you've gotta be so fuckin' rude to a... a buddy just tryin' to let you know what's up, you know?"

He took a couple stumbling steps closer. It was fuckin' hard to see down here.

"I mean, come on, Charlene. Don't you wanna see Aaron?"

[Arscapi†]

((Skipping post order because I probably won't have access to a computer tomorrow until after the deadline.))

Thea shook her head at Ricky's behavior, how did he not get the message. Well, Thea had definitely had enough. I had no idea what Ricky was thinking, but she was thinking that it was time to get out of here. She debated for a moment whether she should just shot him to get him out of the way, then had a much better idea. Shoving the gun back into her bag, she offered him her most flirtatious smile.

"You know what Ricky, you're right," she said playing into his delusion. "What was I thinking? Of course I want to see James."

She moved past him trying her best not to make contact. Once she was clear of him, she turned back to face the other girls. "C'mon ladies aren't you in a hurry to see them," she said and nodded towards the entrance of the tunnels. She hoped the other girls would pick up on her idea.

"Thanks for the message Ricky, but you understand how it would look if we showed up with a boy in our midst. We'll take it from here," she said then spun on her heel and exited the tunnels.

((Thea Kairos continued in The Use of Common Sense is Authorized))