これでいい。

[CondorTalon]

((Nancy Kyle continued from 人生の曲.))

Maybe it wasn't the best idea to come back inside. But it was quiet, and no one was here.

And Nancy was just fine with that.

Well... nobody was here except the camera in the room... the one that watched her pace around the room for a bit before finally sitting on the bed.

But Nancy was just fine with that.

She carefully looked at the hatchet, as she was unable to do so until now. The blade was caked with blood... blood that was now dry, but blood all the same. Clarice's blood.

She'd grabbed her. There was no choice. She'd dismissed her worries, became aggressive with her, and then physically assaulted her.

There was no choice.

She wanted to say something. Maybe to the camera. She didn't know.

"Nancy-chan is..." she started, but she let the phrase die. She didn't even know what she could follow it up with.

Nancy tipped the side, lying down on the bed. She let the axe fall to the floor, and it hit the ground, clattering noisily as it did so.

Other than that, there was no noise. No presence of anybody here other than herself.

And Nancy was just fine with that.

[Primrosette]

((Scarlett McAfee continued from Needles And Pins))

Lost. Lost again.

Scarlett was sure that she had taken a wrong turn somewhere. The hallway wasn't familiar to her at all. Why had she ran off from the others? Away from Aiden. She shouldn't have left him behind. Maybe she should go back. If only she remembered the right direction to go.

She sighed softly. "Why did I do that?" She muttered quietly. "I shouldn't have acted so impulsively like that. I should have stayed and did something to comfort Aiden."

Scarlett felt more calm talking to herself. Even though she wished that Aiden was there. But he wasn't and that was her own fault. She slowed down her walking as she looked around cautiously. She wanted to make sure that no one else was-

Scarlett froze on the spot as she heard a noise from one of the rooms that was around the corner of her. Was that something falling? Did someone just get attacked? Should she go and check it out?

She wasn't sure of what to do. So she just stood there. Feeling more uncomfortable.

[CondorTalon]

No.... Nancy was just imagining things.

Here? Again? Why? No, no no no. It wasn't someone else. She was alone, that was right. There was no one here but her. That was right. She was by herself.

Nancy nodded. It was just her nerves acting up. Why wouldn't they, after what happened at the bell tower.

...

Denial wasn't working.

...She'd go and check, yeah. Just to confirm that she really was alone. That's all it was.

She picked up the axe, before leaving the room. See? No one in this hallway. She turned and walked a few steps and

There was someone here. There was someone right in front of her.

Nancy screamed, before swinging the hatchet in a wide arc.

[Primrosette]

Scarlett could hear footsteps approaching towards her direction and all she could do was just stand there. What if the person was armed? What if she was in danger? She had to stop thinking like that. She couldn't be suspicious of everyone. She didn't want to think of anyone being bad here. Not even her friends. Not Lizzie. Not Jerry. Not Aiden. Heck, not even Danny.

Scarlett blinked as a girl came around the corner. Scarlett was about to say something friendly to her. But she held her breath for a moment. As she saw what the girl's weapon was....

....A hatchet.

Scarlett was startled as the girl screamed at her. Then the girl swung the weapon at her. Scarlett tried to dodge out of the way. But she was too slow as she didn't have that much time to react to the girl's sudden attack. She cried out in agony as the hatchet connected with her left arm and she stumbled backwards a little. The pain was unbearable.

Blood was dripping down her arm and her blazer and shirt had been torn around her arm. Scarlett couldn't believe what had just happened. This girl just attacked her out of the blue! She glanced down as droplets of her blood dripped onto the floor. Scarlett was breathing more heavily as she could feel herself starting to panick. Was she going to die here?!

"W-Wha.... What the hell is wrong with you?!!" Scarlett shrieked at the girl, trying to cover her bloody arm with her hand. She was shaken by what just happened to her.

[Rorick Skyve†]

((Aiden Slattery continued from Needles and Pins))

Goddammit, goddammit, goddammit, where the everlovin' hell had she ran off to? Felt to him like he was runnin' in circles, like he was part of some huge fuckin' joke that sent him round and round and round without him ever getting anywhere. Like, fuck.

Who'd have known Scarls was a speedy one like that? Had maybe twenty seconds or so on him back when he went after her, to be sure. Should have been no problem for him to catch up to her, but he didn't and everything was just totally sucking and - god, if only those fuckin' bells hadn't started to ring, all could have been fine! Yeah, not totally fine, far from it, but -

Aiden heard a scream.

No fuckin' mistake about it, that was definitely a fuckin' scream, close by, scary and terrible enough to make him stop dead in his tracks for a second.

He came to a slithering halt, his heart having skipped a beat. It took him no more than that, he was scared, he was so fuckin' scared, because, why the fuck would-
Another scream. A shriek. From a girl, again.

No, fuck no, no way in hell was any of that happening.

Why was he hearing that? That had to be wrong. It wasn't right, so it had to be wrong. Just had to be.

An image of Scarlett appeared in his mind, followed by more flashes of her, just random pictures flickering in his head like a movie reel had started dying - no, no fuckin' dying, why the fuck was he even thinking about that?

He started running again, took a turn, towards where the voices came from. This was so familiar. Same thing as earlier. Voices in the distance, him running through hallways, running and running until he found the origin of the voices. That had been how he found Scarlett earlier. That was how he was gonna find her again. And then all would be fine.

[CondorTalon]

Time slowed to a crawl as the hatchet impacted with the girl's arm. As Nancy pulled away, it caught up with her.

The other girl screamed, and Nancy stumbled back, staring wide-eyed at the axe blade.

Nancy stared back up as noise began to ring in her ears. She began to hyperventilate as it intensified. The girl was yelling something at her, but Nancy wasn't really paying attention to that. There were faint footsteps approaching but Nancy wasn't really paying attention to that, either.

Nancy stepped back. Shook her head. Blinked her eyes several times. The noise wouldn't abate, and colors dotted her vision. Her head pounded.

"Shut up!" Nancy cried, dropping to her knees. She gripped the axe tightly, her knuckles going white.

"Just shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

[Primrosette]

Scarlett was terrified as the girl fell to her knees and starting yelling at her to shut up. She didn't want to be near this girl anymore. She had harmed Scarlett badly. And she hated how much it was hurting. Scarlett wanted to cry. But she couldn't yet. First she had to leave.

Scarlett didn't move as she could hear footsteps. What if it was Aiden? She couldn't go running off again. What if this psycho attacked Aiden instead? Scarlett couldn't risk it. So she stayed where she was. Staring down at her attacker.

"....You're...." Scarlett's voice was trembling and she didn't have the courage to say what she wanted to say to the girl. She didn't want the girl to lash out at her.

Scarlett's arm was killing her. She might have something in her bag. But she didn't want this girl to hit her again. So she just stayed still and waited to see if the person coming was Aiden. She would make a promise to him that she would never run away from him again if it was him.

[Rorick Skyve†]

More yelling. Oh for fuck's sake, what was going on, why did it have to be that way? Had it been only one scream, then maybe, just maybe he coulda bought she just hurt her foot or something. But it was more than that. But it didn't matter. He was gonna make sure Scarlett was alright, he couldn't fuckin' break his promise. She had to be okay.

The voices were so close now. More than just Scarls, someone else was there, some other girl, that's what it sounded like. His heart was beating so fast it was killin' him, not just because of the running, he was fuckin' scared out of his goddamn mind. Just, just-

He turned the final corner and he immediately spotted two girls. One was Scarlett.

The other was holding an axe.

It was the first thing he noticed about her, only thing that even mattered at all other than her being on her knees or her goddamn hair being all blue. She had an axe, a fucking axe or hatchet, whatever, but-

His brain was still processing that bit when he saw Scarlett, really saw Scarlett. Saw her holding her arm, with red leaking out- Oh god, oh nonononono, what the fuck, no. This wasn't happening. Jesus fuck, this wasn't happening.

"Shit, what the fuck?

It was all that was in his mind, all that he could say. Or yell.

Aiden recoiled at the sight, instinctively took a step backwards and put his hands up. This couldn't be real. He had to be dreaming, fuckin' nightmare messing with his head;  had to finally wake up from this crap, this was too real to be fucking true!

"Goddammit Scarls, what the shit is going on?" He was practically screeching.

[CondorTalon]

But they wouldn't shut up, the screaming kept happening. The noise kept happening. Her head was pounding heavily, and she swore she could smell the blood coming from Scarlett's wound.

And now someone else was here, and the chaos was compounded. She shakily stood up, stumbling back into the wall. She put her hand to the wall for support. Everything that was wrong with this day came crashing down on her, and her emotions reached a boiling point.

"I said... I said...!" she started.

Shut up.

But Nancy didn't say that. She simply roared, and ran at Aiden, raising her axe.

[Primrosette]

Scarlett saw that Aiden was now there and she wanted to let out a sigh of relief. But her arm was still getting to her. She had to get it sorted out. Stop the bleeding somehow. It felt like it was going numb. She couldn't even move it. Aiden was now shouting as well. She didn't even get a chance to respond to him.

She could only watch as Nancy was rushing forward with the hatchet. Towards Aiden. No, no, no! She couldn't let Nancy hurt him. She had to do something! She couldn't let Aiden die because of her. Scarlett would never forgive herself. Never.

"Don't.... Don't you dare hurt him!!" She screamed as she ran forward and she got in front of Aiden. She was facing him as she didn't want to look at the girl and she was now blocking the girl from getting Aiden.

Good. She was glad-

But then she felt something bury into her back. The girl's weapon. All Scarlett could let out was a pained gasp.

It felt unbearable.

[Rorick Skyve†]

He saw the girl with the axe getting up. Nancy.

Her name just came to, but it didn't matter, he felt like he had already been kicked into the gut so many times at once that this little detail didn't fuckin' matter one bit.

She stammered something. He didn't pay attention to her words. It was hard enough to get his eyes off Scarlett. Her arm bleeding like that - she had gotten hurt, she had gotten hurt and it was all his fuckin' fault. He had let her go.

The other girl raised her axe. He didn't know why. He didn't know and he didn't want to know and he didn't want to be there anymore, he didn't want anything except time freezing or stopping or starting over or something he didn't even know - he couldn't think straight anymore.

Aiden put up his hands in front of his face, like a shield, like he could just make everything go away by puttin' his fucking hands in front of it. He tried to say something but whatever shit he tried to say was cut off immediately, all he uttered was a whimper.

He heard Nancy scream. Then heard her coming towards him, loud footsteps.

Scarlett. She was yelling things too, he couldn't hear it, he was too scared to focus on anything but his own fuckin' hands in front of his eyes.

Something moved in front of him. He had to look now. At least see what was coming.

Aiden removed his hands from his face and was now staring at Scarlett's. His instincts told him to go in for a hug or tell her that everything was going to be fine. But again, he couldn't utter a single fuckin' thing, his lungs were too busy struggling to get air into him.

And then he heard a weird noise.

Saw Scarlett's expression changing.

Saw her gasping. Eyes going wide.

"Wh-"

He opened his mouth again, felt his eyes burnin' up and his throat tightening like he was about to choke.

"You - h..hey...c'mon, no. Please."

[CondorTalon]

More noise. Nancy pulled the axe from out of Scarlett's back, recoiling as blood poured out of the wound.

She lurched forward, suddenly feeling very dizzy. It wasn't stopping. Please, god, just make it stop. They wouldn't leave, so the only option left was...

The only option left was...

She sprinted down the hall. God, the noise was still following her. Maybe...

Maybe if she ran far enough it would leave her alone.

With blood on her clothes, her face... everywhere, she hurried away. From one nightmare into the next.

((Nancy Kyle continued in 逃げろ.))

[Primrosette]

Scarlett let out a small whimper as Nancy pulled the axe out of her back and she heard Nancy rush pass her and Aiden. Running away from what she did. Scarlett was feeling dizzy, weak and she was struggling to breath properly. She started to hack and wheeze as she tried to move closer to Aiden. She had just saved his life. But she got severely wounded in the process.

"A....Aiden.... T-Thank god.... You're.... o....okay...."

She managed to say quietly before collapsing onto the ground in front of him and she was laying on her side. She could feel her body going numb, her vision was getting blurry, her breathing was getting slower.

She was really going to die. And she felt scared.

[Rorick Skyve†]

Aiden still held his hand out for Scarlett. He wasn't moving, not one bit. All he did was stand there and breathe and stare. Breathing with his mouth wide open, jaw trembling.

He heard another noise from behind Scarlett. Wet somehow, fucking wet, oh god - there was a fuckin' knot in his stomach and he felt like he had to throw up.

He got a glimpse of Nancy running away, a blurry blue flash. He didn't care. All he wanted to was just-

Scarlett was speaking. Her voice, her fucking voice, like she was hurtin' so damn much, like she was gonna- just, no, god no, why was this happening to them? To her? It was just Scarlett. Just sweet old Scarlett. Why her?

"Scarls, god, I-"

His voice broke and he tried to grab her arm, do something, do something to help her - but his fingers reached only the air and Scarlett collapsed right in front of him.

"No-" It hurt so much. His throat, his eyes, his fucking heart, it felt like he was going to die, like everything was fuckin' slipping away. He looked down at Scarlett and saw only a blur, his eyes coated by a curtain of tears. He hadn't even noticed he started crying.

He blinked, and when he opened his eyes again he was already on his knees. There was red leaking from her back. Everywhere on the ground. So much red, more than he ever saw before, so much he felt like he was drowning in it.

He looked at Scarlett's face. Her expression, her eyes, it just hurt; he had to help her, but fucking how, how was he supposed to -

"No, no, no, this isn't - hey, Scarls, hey!" His voice broke. "Listen to me, you can't-"

Aiden bit down on his lip, he was shakin' everywhere, head felt like it was spinning, like he was about to pass out - but he had to do something, stay focused, try and help Scarls, he had to help her, he had to help, he couldn't let her - Couldn't let her fucking die.

He reached out again, his hand shakin' so much he couldn't even describe it - he was so scared, scared she was going to just fall apart the second he touched her. He hesitated. One second, another, tears were running down his cheeks now.

"Please don't die, please!"

He took hold of her shoulder with one hand, his other hand reaching around her waist. He tried to pull her up. But there was just - so much sticky, red - so much blood.

[Primrosette]

Scarlett was bleeding out and she knew that she didn't have that long to live. Even though, she was fading into darkness. She could just make out that Aiden was crying. Over her. Scarlett could feel herself choking up a little. She never wanted to make him sad. She never wanted this to happen. She just wanted to be back at home. She could even deal with Aiden trying to flirt with her. She wanted to go back.

Scarlett smiled weakly as Aiden tried to lift her up. Telling her not to die. Pleading with her. But she knew that it was her time to go.

"A-Aiden..... I'm.... scared of d-dying.... But it was w-worth it to s.....save you.... I always liked you, y-you know...?"

Scarlett let out a weak giggle as she closed her tired eyes and her body was going limp. Her heart was fading away too. She let out one last breath.

Then she felt no more pain in Aiden's arms.

                                                    G014 - Scarlett McAfee - Deceased
                                                                                              104 Students Remaining