I'll Follow You Into The Dark

[Theseus†]

Lenny Priestly, Male Student Number 31, opened his eyes to darkness. He was in a cloudy state of mind, and he just lied there on the cold ground staring into darkness. It was no a pitch blackness though, for he could see some light, light the darkness was lit up. He just lied there, not moving, his mind in a different place. His open eyes stared forward, his pupils dilating to see in the darkness. Then, like waking up from a nightmare, his pupils grew large and he bolted up, still staring into the dark abyss that lay in front of him. Unlike waking up from a nightmare though, Lenny was waking up to a nightmare.

He slowly turned his head, and saw the source of the light. The outdoors. For Lenny Priestly was sitting in the opening of a cave on the island that his nightmare consisted of. Everything came flooding back to him, memories, images, smells, everything flooded through his mind and it all jammed into his memory spelling out 4 simple words. Four words that were spelled out in his mind through every single sense available.

Survival Of The Fittest.

How could this be? No. It was a joke. Was it? Lenny looked down, a black duffel bag sat next to him. Slowly, he reached to it, and unzipped it. He looked at the contents, before he reached in. Everything was in there. Then he felt it. Wood. His hand wrapped around it. He pulled out a hatchet, and he saw the light from the entrance shimmer off the cold sharp blade.

No joke.

Lenny brushed his long curly blond hair from his face, and continued to search through the pack. He pulled out a map and studied where he was. After a minute of staring at the map, he realized it was useless. Where was he going to go? Who was he going to find?

Elizabeth.

Fear quickly shrouded Lenny's mind as he thought about his sister, his twin sister, Elizabeth. She was there. She was in the room. Lenny remembered it all. The man. Danya. His speech. This was as real as the hatchet he was holding. Lenny reached up with his free hand and felt the cold collar around his neck.

I'm no dog.

Lenny stood up quickly. Where was he going to go? There was a flashlight in his pack, he could go into the cave, or he could leave the cave. He had to find his sister. He had to find Elizabeth. She would be looking for him though. He had to stay put.

Lenny saw a flash in the corner of his eye. He froze. His grip tightened on his hatchet. He slowly turned. Another red flash. What was it? It was at the wall of the cave. High up. Lenny slowly walked towards the red flashing light, leaving his pack behind him, hatchet in his hand.

By this time Lenny's eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and when he approached the wall he saw something that shocked him, yet at the same time, he understood immediately. It was a camera. Watching him. Recording him.

He was a dog.

He was expected to do tricks.

Lenny stared at the camera intently, thousands of thoughts flooding through his mind. Everything seemed to change. It was as if this one seemingly insignificant camera had changed everything. He continued to look at the camera, and everything became clear.

Lenny smiled, a slow, wicked smile, directly to the camera. For America. For the world.

Woof Woof.

[supermom†]

Enter female student number 21. Elizabeth Priestly. Spending most of her time running through the jungle, she had no idea where she was going. Her first moments on the island consisted of confusion, terror, then an acceptance. Then the running began. She had heard shots, or something, or voices? She doesn't know, but she ran.

While she ran she contemplated her weapon. A coping saw. It definitely could have been better. It also could have been worse she guessed. One name kept screamin in her mind.

Lenny.

She had to find her brother. Her twin brother, and she had to find him soon. She knew he would have a plan, he would have something. He was the only one she could trust, the only one she could count on now. So she kept running.

Until she reached the cave. She immediately stopped and crouched, staring at the entrance, the darkness inside of it. She hated the dark. She hated being trapped. It was all Tabatha's fault.

She continued to stare at it, not sure why she was, until she saw a shape. Fear shot through her body, and she reached into her bag and pulled out her coping saw. The fear subsided and she continued to look at the shape.

Lenny.

She stood up and sprinted towards the cave, and when she reached the figure she dropped her saw and through her arms around her brothers neck.

"Lenny! I can't believe it's you!"

She stopped and picked up her saw, placing it in her bag. She looked at him and said, "What's wrong?" She could tell he was thinking something. He had a plan. Elizabeth smiled too, a smile not all unlike her brothers smile, and she said, "Len, what are we going to do?"

[Ciel†]

Owen Fontaine (Boy no. 17) had actually forgotten what he was doing in a cave. In fact, if it wasn't such a traumatic thing to suffer, Owen would have probably forgotten that he was being force to play a dog-eat-dog game, were he'd have to kill almost all the kids he had to go to school with. For hours on end, Owen had been wandering the island in search of others, although he had also forgotten what his objective was exactly and just ran in circles. He was a strange kid like that.

Why a cave? Because he had seen a girl enter through there, and figured it was better than sitting on the ground (which was exactly what he was doing at the time). He would have tried to sweet talk the kids at the other end of the cavern, to join up with them for a common good... but then he saw a camera. And he flashed a toothy grin. Heh... maybe this might work to my advantage. I need a better... weapon anyway... Owen looked down at his BB gun (which actually looked similar to an actual pistol) and then raised it up.

"Alright you two," he said, trying his best not to giggle. "I want you two to drop all of your stuff on the ground. Cuz this is, like, a stickup. And not listening to me is just asking for me to fire it, because that's what I'm going to do if you guys don't cooperate with me and, like, drop all your weapons and give them to me. Cuz I'm going to kill you if you don't. And that would make me a sad Owen.

"Y'see.... this is a gun. A real actual, factual gun that's going to, like, hurt if you get hit by it. Especially if you get hit in the head, cuz you'd die. Not like any of those fake pieces of shit. No. This shit be' real. And, like, I have it pointing right at you guys. And like...." he cocked the BB gun. "I'm loading it right now. And don't go pretending that you can't talk your way out of this, cuz that ain't possible. Cuz, like, I'm a crazy guy. Wanna know how many people I've killed today?" he raised his right hand outwards. "...four."

"So, like, just drop all of that stuff you've got, or I'm gonna have to shoot you with this BB gun." Owen finished his nonsensical rambling, not even noticing that he let it slip that his gun wasn't real at all.

[Theseus†]

Lenny was surprised to see his sister. After their embrace, he knew she saw something in him, something that changed, or maybe was there all along that was pushed forward because of this game. Lenny was only thinking about his sister now. Elizabeth was here, with him, safe. He wouldn't let anything happen to her.

She had asked him what they were going to do. He looked at her and said, "Sister, we're going to win." He smiled at her. Lenny had no intention of winning actually, he didn't care about getting off this island. What did he have to go back to? However, by seeing that every move they made was being recorded, he realized that this was his shot. He could be famous, known throughout all of America. How could he do that though? He remembered the other Survival of the Fittest contests on TV.

The people who believed it wasn't real, he forced themselves to believe it, rooted for the killers. The ones who were unique, who killed in interesting ways. Lenny would be famous. This was his big break. He and Elizabeth would be lead roles in this game.

Elizabeth.

He knew he would die for her, and he would do anything in his power to make sure she went home. He was her brother, her twin brother, and he was going to stop at nothing to make sure his sister was safe. He knew her, he knew what she was capable of, and after Tabatha, he knew that she would be willing to go along with his plan.

That was when Owen Fontaine came rather suddenly, pointing a handgun at them. Lenny didn't know much about the boy, except he was on the soccer team right? It didn't matter, the boy spoke funny, and while fear paralyzed Lenny at first, it slowly started to go away. Was he serious? A BB gun?

Lenny stepped in front of his sister and gripped his hatchet.

"Listen you little scrawny neck punk. I don't know what you think you're going to accomplish here, but you won't. You can either put your gun down, and come here and we can talk in a civilized manner. Or you'll have to make me come and do it for you. Oh, and if you even think of pulling that trigger, you'll have my sister to deal with. Trust me, she's a lot more dangerous than me."

Lenny stared at the kid, a strand of his blond hair in front of his eye.

[Ciel†]

Owen grimaced, as though he had completely forgotten why he was holding up his weapon in the first place. He pouted like a small child who wasn't getting his way. "What the hell are you talking about?" he barked, looking down at his BB gun for a moment. "This isn't a gun! This is just a-"

Owen stared, hesitating for a minute. Did I just say, he thought to himself, What I THINK I just said... "Uhhh.... Shit... I wasn't supposed to say that."

Suddenly, the blond haired boy seemed more terrifying than Owen had first thought. His weapon was a dinner fork going up against a katana in comparison. Owen shifted in his place for a moment, looking around at the camera that was placed not too far away from him. With a loud squeal, Owen shot the BB gun in the air, as though to fake the other boy out and ran as fast as he could out of the cave. Now he was completely terrified of what was going on. Now he was afraid of dying. Now was the time where he actually thought that there was a chance that, yes, he could die.

((Continued in Pomme de Terre))

[Theseus†]

Lenny was surprised by the kids sudden exit. It was as sudden as his entrance had been, but Lenny didn't really mind at all. The small kid had showed up, blabbered on a little, then ended up shooting his gun into the air, which even sounded less threatening than a real gun.

Lenny knew that there would be others though. There always were others, people with better weapons who were more of a threat. He could handle them right? Maybe.

Lenny turned around and looked at his sister and said, "Liz, I won't let anyone hurt you ok? You're going to go home, you're going to beat this, I swear to you."

Lenny looked farther down the cave, where the tunnels were, and wondered if they would have to go in there at some point. He knew his sister was terrified of small spaces and the dark. That would be a tough time.

He continued to look at his sister than turned to the camera.

He looked at it, and knew now for sure what he had to do. He nodded at the camera and said, "Hello America."

He turned around to his sister and winked. He turned back to the camera and said, "I'm Lenny Priestly, and behind me is my sister Elizabeth. Twin sister if you couldn't tell."

He paused, thinking how he was going to word was he going to say next. Then he said it. "I plan on giving you guys the best show you've ever seen. Plain and simple, I will be the leading role in this show." He smiled and said, "and my sister, she's going to be the winner."

He turned around to look at her again, then he faced the camera and said, "Cheer for me America. What I do, I'll be doing for you."

[baby_g†]

"I'll cheer for you." Elizabeth said as she waved at the camera one last time. "Come on, We need to figure out what we're going to do. We're both going to win this thing."

Elizabeth turned around and tired to get a setting for where they were and where they needed to go. Pulling out her map and taking a sip of her water bottle, she tried to make it seem like she wasn't scared. She had to be strong for her brother, just like he was probably trying to be strong for her.

"We can't stay here long, we need to move..."

[Theseus†]

Lenny nodded at his sisters suggestion that they move. They couldn't stay in the cave, which they spent the entire first day. He saw the sun set, and spent the entire night here huddled in the cave. The temperature dropped quickly, and Lenny wished he had worn something a little warmer, that was until dawn hit. Then the announcements.

He heard the names of the other kids playing. Though he really didn't care about any of them, or those who died. He knew that just meant more competition for him and his sister, and more competition from the limelight.

Elizabeth was right though, they had to get out of here and fast. Where would they go though? Lenny watched as Elizabeth took out her map and he peered over her shoulder, looking at the different spots.

There best bet wasn't to go in guns a blazing. Especially since they didn't have guns. They were twins, and he felt confident he and his sister could pull of the part of two twins needing a group to comfort them.

He looked at his sister and said, "Ok, wherever we go though, we got to play it smart. We have to act like we're not playing, get accepted into these groups or whoever we meet. Then when they least suspect it, we get them from behind."

He smiled as he gripped his hatchet, looking at the wood. He could already see the fresh blood on the sharp edge.

woof woof.

[Xaldien†]

((Continued from: Not Fade Away))

After a great walk (and by walk, I mean RUN LIKE THE WIND), Clive made his way to the caves that he was aiming for, and was giving off a faint sense of relief and gratitude because of the fact that the damn collar stopped beeping.

He noticed that there were other people in the area. At least one person, to be sure, but he aimed for a remote area near the caves that could hide him pretty well with all the rocks that were around.

He sat down next to a rock, a very big one at that, and decided to take a look to see if there was anything besides the stapler in his bag. And there was... some staples. Hoorah. Overall though, it isn't the WORST weapon someone could have been given. It's not like he got a pacifier or something, now THAT would have been pathetic.

He also thought of the announcements that were recently made. He had been out for quite some time and felt lucky that no one had wandered by and slaughtered him in his sleep. A closer listen to the announcements and he quickly thought up a plan to win this.

Unlike Siouxsie's friend, Andi, Clive knew from the moment he woke up that he would participate. It is, after all, the only way to win... and to have lots of fun. However there appear to be people on this island who would deny him of his fun and joy... they should be eliminated first.

Clive checked to see if he had a marker, or a pen, or something on him. There was a marker in the bag to help make note of the dangerzones on the map. On the back of the map, he listed three names.

The two people who will most likely be the people to outshine his murder mania:

Adam Dodd
Blood Boy

More people would be added to the list with each announcement. But he knew that if Blood Boy were here, he'd present a threat. And he had heard Dodd's name before. A name that was not unfamiliar to him in the slightest.

"All those people died so he could win, only for him to die."

But for now, Clive was going to take a look and see who it was at the cave... and see whether he could hurt them.

A lot.

[baby_g†]

Elizabeth smiled at her brothers comment. They were both conning, and they've done this before.. almost. As long as they stuck together they could win, and that's all that counted.

"Pull out your map, we have to decide where we're going right now."

[Xaldien†]

Clive took a closer look in, but not too close a look as to give away his position. He saw two people that he saw every once in a while at school, but never really remembered their names or had any affiliation with them.

Either way, they weren't Dodd or Blood Boy... there's no need to waste time here by killing them, especially with the possibility of the two being armed, and two against one (and that one only has a stapler to defend himself with) would not be good odds even with Clive's good fighting abilities.

However... no one has ever really seen Clive's bad side other than two people who, as far as he could tell, were not here. He could easily play off being the nice, charming young fellow that the school recognized him as being. His best weapon is the fact that people think he's harmless, nice, and trustworthy.

Maybe it would serve his best interest to lull them into a false sense of security by the big, strong giant Clive Maxwell... protecting them from the dangers of this game.

Oh, what fun...

But, until he managed to get some better equipment, he decided to err on the side of caution, and left them alone for now. He opted instead to rest in an area they couldn't see until he could decide where to go to next.

[Theseus†]

Lenny, unaware of Clive Maxwell's presence, continued to look at the map with Elizabeth. Where would they go? What seemed like a good place? The northern coast. It wasn't a danger zone, and they could see the ocean. Water attracted people, there was sure to be other people there.

Lenny pointed at it on the map and said to his sister, "There. That's where were going. Come on, we better get a move on." Lenny stood up, throwing his duffel bag over his shoulder, waiting for his sister to join suit.

His hatchet rested in his right hand, his eyes glanced to the entrance of the cave, and he saw no one. As far as Lenny knew, he and his sister were completely alone as of now.

Lenny then looked towards the back of the cave. It went deeper.

Something inside of him, maybe him just being a male, or some older, primal instinct, made him wonder where the cave led. It made him wonder what happened in there. What he would find. It would be a perfect place to hide, if you found a nice cavern to hide out in.

Though Lenny wasn't running or hiding.

He was searching.

[Xaldien†]

Who ever is in there, they're making a plan.

Clive thought about the fact that he might be seen when he heard the two people in the cave talking about getting a move on. But what should he do now? If he tries to move away too quickly, then he'll probably be seen and attacked out of fear of hostility... but if he stays, the same reaction may be given. Hiding and eavesdropping certainly isn't a good way to gain someone's trust.

But then again, there's no reason why they can't trust the big, strong giant Clive Maxwell. Clive was always intoxicated by the fact that he could betray people so easily with the fact that he was a good manipulator, and it helped that anyone who went to his school trusted him as the school's good boy.

So...

"So, Lenny... thinking of seeing how far the rabbit hole goes?"

He got up and out of his hiding spot and walked towards the area where Lenny and the other person were. He had recognized Lenny's voice, plus he got a good glimpse earlier.

"I know it's the cheesiest thing to quote, but what else can be referenced in a cave like this?"

[Theseus†]

Lenny quickly spun around at the voice.

He saw Clive Maxwell standing before him. Lenny looked at the tall boy and wondered what his intentions were. He was known in school as a pretty good guy. A solid reputation that didn't cause Lenny to necessarily panic at his sight.

Lenny looked at his sister to see what she thought about his presence here.

Thoughts swarmed through his mind. Different scenarios. Lenny was trying to be as calm and collected as he could be during the circumstances. It was his outward defiance and cool head that earlier saved him and his sister from a fight with that Owen kid.

What could he do though now? Lenny didn't see a gun on the kid, but he could have one hidden. If he and his sister made a run for it, they had a good chance of getting away. Though that would show weakness, and why run? As of now, Clive wasn't a threat, he wasn't even known as a bad kid.

Lenny managed to say, "You could have said something worse. Personally I don't want to see how far the cave goes. I'm happy staying up here in the light."

[Xaldien†]

Clive got the feeling that Lenny was uncomfortable with his sudden appearance, and by all means he had every reason to be just a little bit edgy... after all, although Clive has a reputation of being the good boy at school, this is SOTF... your best friend could turn on you if he really wanted to survive, or someone could secretly wish to inflict massive amounts of pain and harm upon some poor soul...

"I'm not offended that you seem uncomfortable with me being here."

He raised his hands up high, and stayed where he was.

"If you'd rather I left, I'll do so right now, if you like. I don't really want to be around people who don't trust me."