Hiding

[NyteDarkness*]

River definately wasn't happy to see so many new arrivals. Had he gotten a better weapon, he would have ran off on his own a long time ago. As much as he had hated to admit it, he had a hard time trusting people. He went with Adam willingly, Adam was his friend and even though River didn't know Hawley, he trusted Adam to make a good choice of ally.

And then they came.

The one who couldn't talk, for whatever reason, came in and took the door with him. He was okay, River felt some sympathy for him, he was hurt and despite the way he looked he didn't seem to be dangerous at all. It was the other ones that drew the line here, this was going a little too far. In such a big group like this they might as well scream at the top of their lungs, they'd attract the same amount of attention. What's more, some of these people were ones that no one seemed to know at all. Alright, it was nice to let other people into the group. But what was more important, being nice or making an escape? If even one of these people was a loose cannon, there goes everybody.

Surprisingly, it wasn't even these new people who worried him the most. It was...that girl. The one that Adam seemed to like so much. Amanda. They were just friends as of now, but River knew Adam had a crush. He also knew how people got around their crushes. If it all came down to it, and there was no way off the island, would Adam take the initiative to make sure that this girl walked out alive, even if it meant killing everyone else? River wouldn't doubt it, love can make people crazy like that.

Surprisingly, despite his high kill total, Hawley was the one he trusted the most at the moment. No crushes to get in the way, and at least he knew Hawley better than whoever these new people were. Had they been in his class? He couldn't remember, he was focused on too many things at the moment. Did anyone here with a decent weapon know how to say no? Go away? You can't join us? Any of those things? Just for the sake of safety, did nobody here know a thing about safety? Why didn't anyone seem to realize their lives were on the line here?!

That's it, he decided, if anyone else tries to join up, he was standing up for himself and sending them away. Why should River have to be surrounded by all these people who could be out to get him at any moment? It wasn't fair, just because he didn't have the gun, he had no say in who was in and who was out. Well, time to grow a backbone.

After all, a little paranoia never hurt anyone, right?

[Slayer†]

David was leaning against the house wall, P99 in hand, during these events. After taking fourteen bullets from his ammo box and refilling the clip with them, he had so far resigned himself to silent observation.

[OnceForgotten†]

It seemed the large groups had taken on two easily definable cliques. The silent onlookers, and the talkers. Marcus was a member of the former, and sat silently as he listened to the conversation between the obviously infatuated boy and girl and the other girl. He did not know any of them, but that was natural, since he was from a different school. He did not yet know if he trusted any of the new comers, but the most unsettling to him was the baseball player. He looked uncannily like Danny Henson, his longtime tormentor from Dalimbert. Marcus had noticed that everyone seemed to consider him some kind of menacing freak, and he wanted to assure him that he was normal, just like everyone else. He could think of no way to do that, other than speak though...
He finally decided to just say something, They couldn't say anything any worse than what others have already said.
"If your g-g-gonna keep th-th-thtaring at m-m-m-m..." He gritted his teeth with concentration and shut his eyes to block out all the staring faces "At luh-luh-leatht ask m-m-my name."

[Slayer†]

"Why are you stuttering? Do you fear me? There is no reason to." David said without looking at Marcus. "Anyway, as long as we're on the same side, we should know each other by name. I'm David Jackson, your name is?"

[riserugu†]

Waiting to see if she would answer him, Hawley found his eyes casting toward the sky when he took not of the fact the area seemed to have grown somewhat darker he finding the answer in the clouds. The dark clouds had overcasted the sun, treating to start pouring on them at any minute…

Turning his attention down he begun pushing himself back onto his feet as the light drizzle began. He, not fond of the fact of getting wet, moved back into the house, as the rain couldn’t to grow in force. He watching the events outside till he glanced back downward at the girl, Madelaine begun talking.

“You picked a great time to transfer here…” Hawley mused, smiling some as he ran a hand through his hair as he light shook his head trying to rid of the water droplets there. “Oh, My name’s Hawley. Hawley Faust.”

Blinking lightly, he took a glance off to David as he questioned Marcus. So that's what Marcus had meant that he had wrote to them telling them they wouldn't understand him, though he found himself lightly chuckling at David's question on Marcus fearing him... "That's doubtful," He muttered.

Though when the familiar voice of Mr. Danya came on over the intercom system, still loud even in the pounding rain the smile lightly dissapered… Standing there in the doorway, he found himself biting down on his thumb as he listened on to the announcements when he began telling them of the deaths that had happened since the last announcements some hours before.

Venka? That was the girl’s name… that was the girl he shot back in the coppice. Alan’s name soon following as he made mentioned of his attack against Jacob with his brass knuckles, only to have a bullet popped into his forehead and his body burned within the fire in the coppice. Though the rain should be casting that fire out by now…

He allowed himself to listen on, but when he heard Edward’s name read off he allowed his free clenched hand to slam against the wall near the door entrance, regretting it almost soon after as the pain shot through his hand. “Damn it.” He muttered lightly, shaking his hand forcing himself to listen on. A total of nine people had died, making the total of people now dead at seventeen.

Sliding down the wall he leaned against, he pressed a hand to the wound on his head – all this, every single thing that was happening was starting to bother him. Edward, someone who he figured would last longer than the second day had died because of gun-wounds he saw given to him by that bastard Jacob. Engrossed in his thoughts he hardly took note of when he begun talking of the growing popularity they each where receiving…

[LadyMakaze†]

Smiling in turn, Madelaine replied to Hawley, inclining her head politely. "Nice to meet you." Her attention turned away for a moment, caught in surprise when she heard Marcus addressing David with a painfully distinct stutter in his voice. She blinked, not knowing what to make of it. Perhaps it was a bit shameful, and perhaps even cruel, but somehow Marcus now seemed less intimidating, now that he had spoken, revealing his speech impediment. Immediately, Madelaine was ashamed of herself, though she hid it behind a well composed fascade.

She smiled kindly to Marcus and remarked in a voice that reflected sincerity, "I'd like to know your name as well." She nodded towards River politely. "And yours too, if that's alright."

Though she had calmed significantly since entering the house, she sensed an ominously tense atmosphere that clung to the air with the grip of a mangle. It was a cold, hard feeling that crept about like a spider in the dark, and it came to Madelaine's mind in the form of a lone, solitary word: Mistrust.

Madelaine felt a chill run down her spine. She knew that this 'alliance they' Madelaine presumed they shared was held together by a delicate, fragile thread of trust and confidence in one another. Should the thread break....who knows what in the world may happen. If they did not watch their tread...blood may as well be inevitable.

The slow chant, mocking her of her fate, pulsed within her mind again, but Madelaine mentally fought against it, pursing her lips slightly.

Her attention turned upwards, where clouds were circling overhead, casting a shadow over the field that she, Amanda, and David had crossed only several minutes ago. As her ears caught the delicate pitter-patter of raindrops ending their descent, she stood up slowly, lifting a hand to the air and gazing up at the sky. Cold raindrops descended as tiny glints to tickle her palm and fingers.

"Raining..." she murmured, finding no embarrassment in stating the plain and obvious. She stepped outside, lifting the blazer from her shoulders to shield her head, looking around for David, Adam, and Amanda.

She called out gently, loud enough only for those nearby to hear her. "Perhaps we should stay inside for a while, before we catch cold." Bemusedly, she realized that she reminded herself of a parent or an older sister calling for the young ones, except that she was addressing those around her age, or possibly older. Her thoughts relayed back to her younger sister Miriam, happily bouncing up and down on one of those miniature see-saws on springs that were a common sight on the playground. Her expression sank slightly into a wistful look, before she regained her usual composure, startled by the sudden announcement. She lowered the blazer from her head.

She recognized that atrocious voice. No matter how many times she would end up hearing it, she knew for certain that the sound of his snide, sarcastic tone will always leave a sickening feeling.

Too absorbed by the announcement to notice the rapid dampening effect the rain was inflicting on her hair, she listened as the names were read off, one by one, with flourishes describing the manner in which they were killed. She felt her face run cold. These were people that she had only barely heard of, or heard nothing of at all. And now, they were people that she would never meet...fallen, never to rise again.

She was momentarily startled by the sound of Hawley's fist against the wall, but only for a split-second. In truth, she had felt like doing the same. So many dead... Her shock gradually turned to one of anger and contempt as she heard Mr. Danya comment on their growing popularity. She stood straight, tilting her chin upwards in defiance towards where the sound was coming from.

Under her breath, she muttered darkly in her native tongue, "Chikushou..."

Those bastards...

[OnceForgotten†]

"I'm M-m-m-marcus"

Marcus cocked an ear when the announcement started blaring over the speakers. Just a whole bunch of people that I will never know He slowly paced around the small house, trying to decide what to do next. Our group is too large for this house, we should find a bigger hideout His eyes brightened as he thought of the perfect place. He ran over to the table and grabbed his peice of paper. He then began furiously writing. After he was done, he gestured for everyone to take a look.

We should go to the Lighthouse. I saw it from a distance on the way in, and it seems big enough to hold a large group. Plus, it was just a danger zone, so by rule of thumb it probobly wont be one again soon. We can plan our next move there.

[Slayer†]

After looking at the paper Marcus wrote on, David nodded his head in agreement. "Marcus has a point, the lighthouse is a good place to make plans, the fact it overlooks most of the island also makes it a strategic position."

[LadyMakaze†]

Taking a few deep breaths, Madelaine waited for her vexation to subside. The nerve of it all, she thought grimly. Back in the world known as home, there are those who watch us, not only laughing and finding enjoyment in our pain and misery, but also incorporating what they see into their own dark fantasies.

She tilted her head back, lifting her face towards the oncoming rain that ran along the sides of her face. Though her composure remained, there was a contortion, one ever so slight, along the outlines of her eyes, which shone brightly with something that might have been either pain or rage. She tightened her grip on the blazer, which hung limply from her hand.

Her anguish finally subsided, and wordlessly, she stepped back into the house. Her hair, which she had worked so hard to keep orderly and presentable, now hung in limp, soaked strands over her eyes and face. Droplets ran along the side of her cheek. These she brushed aside irritably.

She sank to the floor again, shivering slightly. A draft crept through the open doorway, sending chills down her back. Wearily, she blinked the raindrops (though actually, they might have been tears) away from her lashes and peered over to what Marcus had wrote.

"The lighthouse...." she murmured. Somehow her voice sounded slightly congested. "It'll probably safer there, but it seems like a long way to travel. But I guess if everyone sticks together-"

She paused for a moment, letting out a sneeze. She let out a congested grumble and took out her handkerchief from her breast pocket, wiping her nose with it.

[riserugu†]

Hawley blinked listening lightly to the words from those around him from where his head rested in his arms, which rested on his uninjured leg.

The Lighthouse? He thought the place over in light thought, it hadn't been that long since Adam and himself had left the place, after having molotovs thrown at them then having to deal with both August and Terry who's corpse where still resting outside the building, rainwater mixing with blood.

Shuddering somewhat, he lifted his head damp strands of red hair at the sound of a rather large sneeze. He blinking as he looked over toward Madelaine, hardly having noted that she had been standing outside in the rain for as long as she had.

"You're going to catch a cold like that..."

[LadyMakaze†]

Madelaine looked up from her handkerchief with unfocused, bleary eyes. Hawley's commented had irritated her, though only slightly. She felt as though she was being treated like a child, different from the treatment she was normally used to. Back at Seiwa Junior High, she was an older sister figure among her peers, always mature, always the one looking after others...always the one treating others like children.

In her irritable state, her composure nearly cracked, hinting at her pain and frustration. She opened her mouth to utter a retort....but all that came out was a half-hearted sigh, with a withering look on her face.

She immediately lifted her proud chin, though she seemed childish now, with her flushed cheeks, matted hair, red nose and congested breathing. She tried to smile cheerfully.

"Relax. I'm not going to die out here from the common cold."

[riserugu†]

"Didn't say you where, was just commenting...It isn't the best thing to get sick on this island. Usually always being on the move, makes resting when you need to kind of hard. Which just makes you feel all the worse." He muttered lightly, smiling as he rubbed a spot on his forehead, noting the absence of the warmth from the fever as he tilted his head back to glance out the doorway.

Sighing lightly, he continued watching lightly wondering to where the other two members of their growing group had wondered off too, he figured they'd be back by now with the rain and all.

Lifting himself off the ground he removed his map from his pocket, unfolding it out before him looking over all the markings. Now that the danger zone had lifted how many others had figured to go to the lighthouse? Had Jacob and Uriel decided to return to the place they had been forced out of?

He had figured that going to the school building had been a good idea when the danger zone had been lifted from there, but a load of good that did. More bullets fried their way, as well as a couple of molotovs.

Nothing good...

So there was a chance that this could happen with the lighthouse as well. Flipping the map onto his back, he went about adding to the death list of those names he could remember, and who had been the cause of their deaths.

[Slayer†]

"The bad thing about the lighthouse is that it's likely people who are playing will be waiting for those who try to use it for shelter. We'd walk rigfht into a trap." David said after a considering silence, getting up and looking around. "Adam and Amanda have been gone too long, something isn't right." he muttered, walking off to look for the other two.

[LadyMakaze†]

As the group fell silent once again, Madelaine watched as David stood up and walked off in his own to look for Amanda and Adam. Indeed, it seemed as though the two should have returned by now, given the current weather. She wondered what the two might be doing at the moment....together, on their own. She smiled wryly as she remembered the overjoyed expression on Amanda's face as the two embraced, the uncertainties of the two ever meeting finally resolved. It seemed almost too ideal, as though the concept had been pulled from a movie, or a novel. She should know, after all, she herself was an aspiring writer.

She rested her back against the wall adjacent to an unoccupied corner, away from the oncoming drafts that crept through the doorway. Madelaine's mind relayed back to Amanda's overjoyed smile, and she gave a small, lilting chuckle followed by another sneeze. Feeling slightly disgruntled, she draped the blazer over her shoulders like a cape, and wrapped it around tightly to warm herself.

She occupied herself by quietly observing her company once more, and realized that there was one who had not spoken up at all since she had arrived. Gazing at him silently, she noticed the look of worry and trouble on his face, as though he was unsettled about something, or perhaps deliberating to himself. Madelaine supposed it was due to the tension of the game. If that was the case, she could not blame him. After all, she herself had been deliberating on her own for a while.

Delicately, she removed the red ribbon with which she tied her hair into a low pony tail. Feeling slightly disgusted, she ran her fingers through her damp, unkempt hair that now fell over her shoulders in thick, dark locks. How wonderful. Now she really was going to get sick, sitting in a cold, dark space with wet hair, while it was raining outside.

As though on cue, she sneezed again, followed by a slight cough. This troubled her...surely a slight cold could not possibly worsen that quickly, could it? Then again, after all that had happened to her that day, she was under obvious stress and fatigue. Further more, uncertainty plagued her with its mournful voice. What will happen to us now, oh what will happen to us now....

She needed something to settle her nerves. As though responding to her thoughts, her hands reflexively slid into her pocket, where her diary was. She pulled it out, gazing at the cardboard cover. Written in inked calligraphy, in both Japanese and English, was a proverb framing a monochrome water colour painting: Naite kurasu mo issho, waratte kurasu mo issho. It is the same life whether we spend it crying or laughing.

Rather than flipping to the nearest blank page, she only turned aside the cover. On the inside of the cardboard cover was the photograph she had placed inside her diary as soon at had been taken, which happened to be only a week before she and her family left Japan. It was attached to the inner cover by a strip of adhesive film on its back, but now she removed it, holding it up in front of her face to gaze at it.

It had been the first week of April. She had gone with her family to visit a botanical garden in Kyoto, and a stranger had agreed to take a picture of the four of them standing together under a cluster of cherry blossom trees. She immediately recognized the tallest figure as her father. Though he was currently undergoing his mid-thirties, he still had the humourous grin and look of a child on his face. It was this grin that he wore while the picture had been taken. He was like a child himself, hardly ever serious, always cracking jokes and making fun of others, though it was all in good humour. He was leaning close to her mother, with his arm around her. It was she that Madelaine seemed to take after more, except for the height, which probably came from her father. Mother always had that dreamy, faraway look on her face, yet she was always smiling cheerfully. Come to think about it, even when she was tired, she smiled. Even if something bothered her, she smiled. Even while scolding Madelaine or Miriam, or even Father, she smiled. Madelaine supposed that even when she cried, she still smiled.

And then there was Miriam, that tiny little figure standing near the bottom of the photograph, smiling whole heartedly. Though naturally curious and amiable to everyone around her, she preferred to remain close to her parents Oto-chan and Oka-chan, and of course Onee-chan, whom she affectionately named Maddie. No matter how much fun she was having, she always seemed to want her family to be a part of it.

And then there was Madelaine herself, nestled close with her family, crouching slightly with her arms over Miriam's shoulders. Unlike the excited, happy-go-lucky expressions on the faces of her parents and sister, Madelaine only showed a calm, good-natured smile. But somehow, perhaps judging from the relaxed nature of her smile, or from the slightly narrowing shape of her eyes, it seemed as though she was truly content to be amongst the ones she loved most.

"If I knew this was going to happen, I might've smiled more..." she mused quietly to herself, feeling a wave of nostalgia flooding her. She leaned back and gazed out the doorway silently, watching the rain's descent. Her hand leaned limply on a knee, still holding the photograph.

[Cactus]

As the opening bars of Rage Against the Machine's 'Calm Like a Bomb' thundered through the shed, and Adam Dodd seperated his mouth from the girl he was currently kissing, he couldn't help but wonder how the HELL did this happen?

Of course, the fact that his cell phone was going off was just another string in a series of odd, yet seemingly fortunate events to happen to him today, and considering his current predicament, he could use all the good news he could get.

It had really started when he had met up with Amanda and her group. Expanding their current group made him feel good, as with more brains around, the more that they might be able to figure out a way off of the island. Adam and Amanda had wandered around the house talking about all kinds of different things. They were nowhere close to the door to the house when it had started to POUR rain and both ran to a nearby shed to avoid getting completely drenched. Of course, sitting in the shed, they had been huddling together for warmth, as it WAS pretty cold to start with, and...he supposed, odd as it was, one thing had led to another and well...he was sure it would be an awkward conversation later on, for certain.

As he picked up his cell-phone, which was going off, much to his shock and surprise, he saw with a great smile on his face that the name on the display was that of his good friend, Andrew Lipson. A guy who WAS NOT on the trip.

"Thank fucking GOD!" He grinned as he looked at Amanda though the faint darkness. She too, had an awkward look on her face, but she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

Adam smiled widely. "It's LIPSON!" With that, he picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

The other person on the other end said something, and Adam's grin got even wider.

"Holy shit, Andrew...you don't understand how happy I am to hear your voice. Dude, I'm in a fucked-up situation here, you've got to help me! We..."

Adam trailed off as the person on the other end interrupted him, and a few words into their conversation, Adam's face fell, and fell hard.

"...dude, how did you know...?"

Adam shook his head and swore as the person on the other end recounted some story.

"The middle of the night!? What the hell? These fuckers...my god..."

Adam's hopes dashed, his smile was temporarily restored as he listened on the other end. Amanda couldn't help but look at him and notice that he was like a lightbulb, on again, and then off...

"You do!? Hell man, I'll take any plan over none at all. Who're you with?"

He listened carefully, nodding as the person on the other end of the phone listed off some names. Adam then went about doing the same.

"Well...I'm with Amanda right now. I've got Hawley Faust, River Garraty, Dave Jackson, um, Madelaine...something-or-other, and a guy named Marcus from another school."

Adam listened on the other end and nodded, but then the voice stopped suddenly. Adam looked at his phone, and tried speaking back into it.

"Andrew...? ANDREW? SHIT!"

He looked at Amanda and smiled weakly.

"Well, it looks like they got to the phones, but Andrew said he was with people who had a plan. Let's get to the house and tell everyone."

Silently, she nodded, and watched as Adam ran out into the rain. She sighed as he vanished into the front door of the house, and then covered her head and did the same.

Boy, do we need to talk after that.