The Afterlife

[asano*]

[dude, you all put my posts to utter shame...whoa...]

And I don't even know these people...why am I here with this lot? An Aetheist (or Agnostic? he never decided) at heart, he had always thought being dead meant you're DEAD. Well, apparently not. Strange.
"This is an interesting afterlife, though...typical American bar." He chuckled.

Sighing, he picked up his drink. "Being dead, does this mean there's no drinking age?" Toby'd had but a taste of alcohol, so he never really was able to find out what it was really like. Such a trivial thing to ask, too. Whatever...might as well enjoy death, no?

"Well, regardless, I'll bet for Adam. He sounds good...I'll review how he's been doing." He walked over to a table, sipping a bit on his soda. He looked at the table, and with his free right hand, shuffled some papers about.
After a minute or so of sifting through paper after paper, he grabbed Dodd's profile. He shook his head at this; insanity.
With his new reading material, he walked back to his table. Considering his being dead, he skipped normal ettiquite [spelling right on that?]. Toby sat down on the edge, and swung his right leg up on the table. He reclined into a nice, comfy position, and began to read about Dodd's progress.

"Heh...this isn't half bad reading..." Taking the occasional sip on his soda, he read the profile packet that could easily make a small book.

[Swoosh*]

((I'm choosing to ignore the Hawley posts, if I read them then he's really dead *sobs violently* And come on, someone do SOMETHING with Elise, acknowledge her presence, or something... I'm so bored here...))

They really were dropping like flies... Elise raised her eyes as more people came into the room. She didn't know what she was waiting for... it wasn't like she knew any of the other participants from this game... but then the door opened for what seemed like the upteenth time, and in he walked, the 'doctor'. One of the gang who had tried to help her back... back when she was alive.

Back when I was alive? Man, that sounds weird to think....

Elise didn't know what to say. Everyone else seemed to have a tradition of greeeing their dead classmates and friends, but Elise had just stayed quiet, and no one had noticed her. Should she greet this boy? Thank him for what he was going to do to her? Before... before they got a welcoming party. Elise shuddered as she remembered the events unfolding... the arrival of her would be killers... Surely things like this were supposed to go when you were dead. You weren't supposed to care. Death and fear was just a mortal worry... surely? The big man gave you a pat on the back, showed you a video montage of your life, and that was it. Everything was OK then...it's OK. I don't care about it anymore. I don't care. They can't hurt me here...

She glanced over at where Hawley was now stood. What would happen if Peri or Stevan walked through the door right now? One of them had to, this game only had one winner. What would she say to them? Would she still feel angered at the brutal way they murdered her?

But thinking about it, Elise didn't feel anger for the boys... more pity.

She turned back to face the television on the sofa where she had been watching the game's progress so far. Let Hawley get accustomed first, then I might go say howdoo.

[asano*]

Toby failed to notice the new entrances, so entranced he was in the reading. And he wasn't even that far in. Just past Dodd's start.
My god...I'm happy I didn't get to take part in this game. He'd quickly read over all the introduction stuff, including what was in the handbook. Scary shit.

"Dodd shot someone that quickly? Either he's crazy, snapped, or seriously mad...there's more reasons, but I can't think of any." He grunted.
So, Dodd shot this kid...in the arm, though. Bad shot. He continued his reading, much like an older man sucked into a good book.
Hell, this could be a good book. This could easily be adapted into a book, too...just a few alterations, some additions and subtractions here and there...

[XD Funny how convenient that thought is]

He looked up over the thick packet of papers, scanning the crowd. One person caught his eyes specifically, mainly because they were alone.
Alone AND dead? Shit, that's not called for, I don't care who you are...not as a student. For a teen, he could make some rather wise decisions. Sometimes.

He swung his leg off the table, standing, and set the packet down on the table.
Just before he walked away, he thought better of his choice. He picked up the packet, and put it in one of his cavernous pockets. Then, grabbing his near-empty soda, he walked towards the girl.
"Miss...noticed you're alone, and since we're dead, I don't think any of us should be alone." He spoke frankly.
I really hope she doesn't think I'm hitting on her...not when we both died...
"Would you mind if I sit?" He motioned to the seat just next to them.

"By the way, I'm Toby." He grinned a bit. Make the best of your...dead-ness.

[Cactus]

Pretty much out of the blue, Art strode up to where Hawley was standing and looked the boy up and down. Finally looking at Hawley's face, he smirked and shook his head slightly. "Well, well, well...Hawley Faust...damnit, man, you lost a whole bunch of people up here money, you know that? Lot of people had you pegged to win. But then again, what can you really do when you took as much abuse as you did, huh?"

He stuck out his hand.

"Name's Art. I think I saw you around school a few times, but I guess that's neither here, nor there, is it. Man, I've gotta say, I was cheering for you myself, but as soon as you started to slow down, I kind of figured you might be gone for good. Then again, I had Dodd pegged at the beginning to be your next victim after Alan died, but we all know that it just wasn't to be. Shows what I know. I watched a couple replays, including my own death. You can see them on the screens in there. Me...what an idiot, I tried to attack the ACTUAL psychopath that they unleashed on the island. Smart, huh?"

[riserugu†]

Hawley had once again glanced off when he went another presence near him, he blinking behind his glasses and looking at the person currently standing knew him and looking him over. Making mention that his death caused a lot of people to lose some money up here.

They had been betting on them, well… isn’t that a bit morbid? Then again it probably got boring up here after a while… what else did they have to do after all.

Seeing that Art had stuck out his hand, he followed suit shaking it lightly before dropping his arm back to his side once again. “Sorry dying on all of you who did have money on me, And yeah. I guess I did take enough abuse, and I really didn’t have many thoughts to kill Adam after our talk on the dirt path. Now when he shot me at the start that was a completely different story… but I changed a lot while I was down there I’ve noticed.” He muttered, smirking a little when Art mentioned his death.

“Not really the smart thing to do… some Cillian guy, right?”

[Cactus]

Art rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's the one. Cillian. I admit, in life I was actually a bit of a sociopath, so I didn't really have much problem with killing anyone, but...I guess starting with him was a bad fucking move. Oh well. And oh, as for the whole dying part? Don't worry. I have it in good faith that the majority of people in this game are going to die. We don't know who's going to survive, but I don't think that anyone's going to escape. I have it on pretty good authority that there'll be one winner, unfortunately."

Art sighed as he looked at the ground.

"And let me tell you, bro...I wish I was wrong."

[Slayer†]

“If I’ve learned anything down there, I’ve learned. Whatever is going to happen, happens. Be it for the better or for the worse, and though we all what a number of people to get off the island and give Danya what he has coming to him. But sadly enough… it might not happen…” He muttered, popping his neck a little in place.

“Though we say other things, I think we all know what could and is probably going to happen. And I think we all wish we where wrong…”

[Cactus]

Art nodded.

"Yeah, say what you want, and as much as I want Danya to get his just deserts, and as much as, and I'll be honest, the majority of the betting populace up here seems to think that Dodd's going to be able to pull it off, I have my doubts. You should see the numbers. Next closest for winning is Jacob Starr, only because he's killed so many people already. But dude, I don't know what's going to happen, I do think that the winner's going to be someone quiet, someone who hasn't stuck their nose out yet."

[Swoosh*]

Elise blinked. She had been so busy watching Hawley, she hadn't even noticed this guy walk over. Looking up at him, she felt a little taken back as he asked to sit by her.

"S-sure..." she nodded quickly.

Sure, she felt a little uncomfortable at the boy's presence, but it was also true what he had said though. She really had no reason to be alone now. In life, she had been miserable, she'd kept herself to herself, she'd always considered herself above everyone else and as a result she'd had very few friends.

But life was over now. It was time for the next chapter in her story. And why let any character flaws from before ruin the big finish?

She smiled. It was an effort, but she managed to smile anyway.

Well, it's a start.

"Hi Toby. I'm Elise," she said. Seeing as her initial shock of his presence had now worn off, she took the time to get a look at him closer. Although she didn't happen to know many people, due to the fact that she had lived in a different country to them all, she still vaguely knew the 'players' in the game. This boy's face alluded her slightly. Maybe he had played before her?

"So what's your story with all of this?" she asked, pointing to the television screen in front of them. "How did you bite it?"

[asano*]

Toby grinned a bit, sitting down on the seat. He stretched his back a bit, and then leaned forwards a bit. His usual sitting posture, especially when talking to someone.

Getting used to the whole idea of being able to talk about his own death, he took the question easily.
His head dropped a bit, and he scratched the base of his skull. Toby's head came back up, and he looked at Elise. How do I put this...? Gotta watch my language, though...
Heh, some things about Toby never fail. He's always polite...er, nevermind, he's NORMALLY polite.

"Well...some exchange student..." He thought for a second. He didn't really know how he died; however, he could assume. Now that he thought about it, the whole neck cracking thing was odd. So, he could assume his neck had been completely crushed...shit, that would hurt. Good thing he couldn't remember it...come to think of it, that probably meant he was a bit out of it during death. Blood loss? He thought back to his books...yeah, losing enough blood could screw your mind over, couldn't it? Or lack of air...
Choked? By some uber-strong guy?

Wait, there was that nasty paper-cut looking slit on his neck. Yes, that's it.
I guess some bastard slit my neck...and chucked me off a building onto my head? Or stomped on my neck...hm...
Had he been conscious of the fact, he would have laughed hysterically at his mental investigation of his OWN death.

"I think I got my neck slit...." He stretched his neck out in the way one could stare at the ceiling, and pointed to the long, absurdly thin cut along his throat.
Returning his head to normal, he looked back at her. "I think I either got thrown off a building then, or got my neck stomped on. Cause, when I got here, I tried popping my neck...you shoulda heard the noise." He grimaced; it had just been sick.

"So, Elise, I didn't get to play this 'game' here. Died at a school...sucks." Normally, his language would be far stronger, but he was not comfortable speaking like that around a woman. It just felt...wrong.

"There's more, but I don't quite want to go into it yet...so, if you don't mind, could you tell me your own story? ...you don't have to if you don't want, I can see how this can be a pretty sensitive topic." Again with the polite Toby.

[w00t, sorta-long post...heheh...>>;]

[Swoosh*]

((Haha, so very much a continuity, seeing as Elise was present at your death... but to hell with it, this is only for fun ^_^))

So he wasn't a part of the game. Well, that would explain why she had never seen him before. She listened to his story curiously with her eyebrows raised.

What a horrible way to die. She wondered if there was any reason in particular for his death- was he perhaps unpopular at school? Or maybe he was too popular and got what was coming to him... all ideas started to circulate in Elise's head, before she quickly stopped them.

Who cares why he died? Who cares what he was like when he was alive? (she still hadn't gotten used to thinking that way.) Surely all that matters is that he's here, and he's willing to talk to me...

At Toby's question, Elise automatically reached for her stomach, her mind instantly flashing back to the scene of her death. Her eyes clouded over as she remembered back to the small makeshift hosptial. How she had cried and screamed, but no one had helped her. How Stevan... how Stevan had tortured her and relished it... how Peri had just stood and watched. She shuddered slightly.

Turning to face Toby again, she smiled slightly. "Well. To put it bluntly, it was a tag team combination of these two guys, Peri and Stevan... one of them shot me in the thighs here," she pointed to the spots on her legs where the bullets had impacted. It was so surreal... there was something almost academic about her explaination, like she was pointing out places on a map or something.

She continued. "So I ran, right? I mean, you'd run if you had a psycho guy who'd come to hunt you down to kill you..." she decided to leave out the whole backstory, that would just lead to even more explaination. She felt herself smiling as she remembered the next part of her tale.

"And I reached the makeshift hospital. I was really scared, and I had no weapons. But, you know, I figured I'd be safe there, I mean, there was already two dead bodies in there, I just assumed people would stay away. And I'd been there what, 10 minutes when..." she jerked her head in the direction of Hawley, who was busy talking to some other guys. "That's when that guy and his friends turned up, and they were gonna help me... but yeah, Stevan and Peri gave them a welcoming commitee, and they kinda ran. Which sucked. I mean, there I was, on the floor, without a weapon and basically paralyzed, Peri had seen to that..."

Man, if she'd known she was going to talk for this long, she'd have probably brought some water or something...

"And yeah. Stevan stood on my hand, he stuck his fingers in my bulletholes..." she found herself unable to describe it for much longer. "And yeah, he finished me off by shooting me here," she pointed to her stomach.

She glanced at Toby, who to her surprise, was still very much listening. "So yeah," she said, shrugging her shoulders in a slightly embarrassed manner, "that's pretty much my story."

She looked back at the television. The current scene being shown was that of the makeshift hospital. Smiling to herself for what seemed like the upteenth time, she wondered whether her body was still there. Whether anyone had noticed it, or anything of the sort. She realised she didn't care much.

Turning back to face Toby once again, she asked him "So if you weren't on the island, how come you're here? I mean, did you go to the same school as these guys?" She gestured at the rest of the room with her hand.

((I see your sorta long post and raise you a LONG post))

[asano*]

[lol, good point...still...*shrug*]


Toby listened intently, the whole way through.
Two on one? And a girl, no less... Toby wasn't one to think very chauvanistically [spelling right?] much, but he did think in terms of...I imagine it would be called chivalry, or just honor.
A two-on-one was never good to him, no matter the circumstances. Sure, there were some times when he approved of it -- such as against drug lords or child molestors -- but against a normal high schooler...no way.
He almost commented on it, but realized she wasn't done yet, and shut up. Politely, of course. >>;

As she continued, he grimaced a bit. He had always found torture a disgusting and cowardly thing. If you're gonna kill someone, why the fuck do you have to drag it out? Death was bad enough, but torturing...

And he gagged once she mentioned the fingers-in-wounds thing. Literally gagged as he had been drinking. He clapped his hand over his mouth, a bit of soda leaking out. I must look like a total slob right now... He clamped down harder, forcing the horrid image from his mind. Quickly, he swallowed the remainder of the drink in his mouth, and used his hand (and sleeve) to wipe away the drink from around his face.
Nice. Smooth. Smart.

When she finished, he looked at her with a 'no shit?' expression.
"That's...horrible. It takes a sick little f--....ah, I mean, sick person to do that." He caught himself last second on that one, censoring himself in front of her.

When she asked him the questions, he mulled them over in his head.
Why AM I here? I don't even go to school out here...um, out in NY, at least. He shrugged to himself, thinking hard. His brow furrowed.
In a uniquely Toby expression, the center of his eyebrows rose up. Like cocking in eyebrow, except, only the inner edge of either brow, and BOTH at once. He was the only one he knew who could do that kind of thing, aside from his father...his father'd showed him and his mom that, back in Michigan, before his dad had been shitcanned.
Those days back in Michigan...he would almost kill to get those back. Almost. And his thoughts wandered back to her [I love how I've not named HER yet >>;;], and the fact that...was the last thing she'd heard from him just 'see ya later?' Something so pathetically normal. Hell. Now, did she even KNOW he was dead, or had that failed to get to her yet? She cared...I think.

A sharp crack snapped him back to reality, away from his digression of digressions. He realized it was from the TV, and mentally tuned it out. He went back to thinking about her questions.

Is it just cause I died at school? Something about school dragged me here? Getting killed at school had never crossed his mind. He'd never thought it would happen to him.
Heh, that sucks. He was getting used to joking a bit about his current predicament. Wonder if I'm stuck with these guys for eternity... That would seriously suck. Sooner or later the killers would come in; for all he knew, they were already here. Being stuck with psychos for ever wasn't something he wanted to experience. He'd probably try to kill himself or one of them...I wonder what'd happen... He blinked. Hm, that was an interesting thought. What would happen if he broke one of the glass bottles and stabbed himself? Or told one of the beefier guys to have at him all he wanted? Would he ...stay dead? Or just come back here? He didn't know, and it annoyed him. His inquisitive nature poked through, but he couldn't really check the truth behind that bit of mystery...he didn't want to try to die again. Or for real.

Wait, could that mean that, that fucking game up there ...is a GAME? Like...VR or something? And this is reality? Maybe we just don't know this is real, so we think we're dead...when we're alive...this could be some sick test to see what teens do in situations like this... He shook his head at his own insane thoughts. 'Thinking like that'll drive ya insane', someone had told him long ago. And now they were gone...for him, at least. And did they know he was dead? Did anyone? Did anyone even give a shit that I'm dead? That I haven't called in ...however long I've been dead? Has she even asked what happened? Surely my parents know...and they probably told her... Once more, he found his thoughts on her. This was getting tiresome. Everything he thought up went back to her somehow. And how I never got to say goodbye... It was a tragic, movie style realization. And it didn't matter, really...in the end, at least. For all he knew, she'd come here sooner or later. Then again, for all he knew, she didn't care at all about him now.
He found himself picturing her in his mind's eye. Imagining her amazing smile, her beautiful face. How she was so hyper in the morning. How they'd play around with so pathetic things...he remembered how they'd, along with her younger sister, had come up with a word by taking 'wisdom' and adding random prefixes and suffixes. He remembered how that word actually sounded like a word, and how surprised they'd all been. It wouldn't stop. His life had failed to flash before his eyes; his life with her did, however. And it was just as powerful. His lips began to quiver lightly, barely enough to notice. This was incredibly uncharacteristic for him, and it was wierd. He was not one to break down quickly. Like sad movies, this was one of those things he couldn't take. A bright future, all squashed like roadkill by faster, more dangerous drivers.
It was only right for all this to hit him now. He'd yet to think of any of this until just now, and so, because of that, it'd hit him like a ton of bricks. Or worse.

No, dammit, think about her questions! He was having an excruciatingly hard time thinking at the moment. Thinking straight, at least.
He fought against his trembling lips. Even so, the corners of his mouth were being dragged down, and he fought against it even harder. "Excuse me..." his voice came through shakily, and he turned a bit. He put his palm on his forehead, taking deep breaths. In, out. In, out. Get control. Stop. You don't want to break down. It took him a couple minutes, but he regained control of his emotions and his face. His eyes were red, and a small tear ran down his right cheek, but he hastily wiped it away.
And, as if nothing had happened, he blinked. His eyes returned to normal, and overall, it was as if the entire episode had never happened. Toby was extraordinarily good at hiding such things. It just came to him.
He looked up to Elise. As if his thoughts were concluded, he grinned a bit.
And all of a sudden, his right hand came up. "Waitress, two drinks here please. Surprise me about the soda, please...and you, Elise?"
[*insert anime style fall* Even I didn't expect that, it just came >>]
You're such a fucking idiot, Toby. He'd not been able to come up with an answer to why he was here, so he had done something else to get his mind off it to help him think.

The waitress came with Toby's soda, placing it next to him, and looked to Elise.


And Toby lapsed back into thought. After another long minute of thought, he snapped out of it. He grabbed his drink, taking a sip, and set it down, now seriously looking like he'd made a revalation as to the existence of God.
"...I can't really answer that. I have no clue why I'm here, but I know I didn't go to your school. Some of them have a bit of a New Yorker accent. Don't...er, didn't go to school there." He shrugged, wondering how she'd react to his ...revalation.


[ah, typical Asano post right here B)
I credit my ability to digress from Catcher in The Rye. Holden, you're hilarious XD
Anyway. I see your long post and raise you with my longest ever post in my life >>]

[oh, and BTW...what do you think? Personally, I find that ^ kind of sadness the most depressing...yeah, shit, I just completely killed my mood with that...>.<]

[Swoosh*]

OK, so that was obviously the wrong thing to ask... Elise watched keenly as her question seemed to be giving Toby a bad case of lack-of-speech. She didn't know what to do or say as he started to show visible signs of having a breakdown... she began to shift uncomfortably at the awkward silence that had sprouted while the boy thought. Seeing as he'd been such a receptive audience while she'd told her tale, she felt obliged to do or say something comforting, but the words just never formed.

Maybe that's my problem...

She jumped at the sound of a gun shot echoing from the television. She briefly glanced at it, only to realise that watching the Program, however gripping it may have been, while Toby was trying to pour his heart out would be incredibly insensitive, even more so seeing as he seemed to be getting a bit down over it all... she turned back to him to give her undivided attention only to see him with his head in his hands, visibly distressed.

Oh, God, what do I do? What do I do now??

She raised her hand uncertainly; she was debating between giving him a consoling pat on the back (it's impersonal yet comforting...) or a hug (which is friendly and caring...)

God, why is this so hard for me to do? To show affection??

Her choices were cut short, however, when Toby looked up at her, grinning, and the confusion remained while he ordered them both drinks. What had just gone on here? Was he really upset? Was this just a way of avoiding the question she'd asked? Either way, she decided not to press it on further.

Glancing up at the waitress (how did she get employeed here? Is she dead as well? Is this how she's gonna spend eternity? she wondered. "I'll have whatever he's having..." she said, and watched as she walked away.

Raising her eyes at Toby, she continued. "'Your' school? I don't know any of these guys either," she said, gesturing around. "My accent kinda indicates that I'm English, does it not? I mean, come on, listen; biscuit, fridge, pavement, trousers...." she finished in a playful tone. "I went to a school in England, so yeah. I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, it's not like I made any friends during the game... I didn't really get a chance to, to be honest." She trailed off, wondering whether she should feel sorry for herself or not.

She eventually decided not to. It was true that she had very few friends in life, and even less on the island, and she had felt lonely... but now she had Toby. It wasn't like they were best friends forever, but it was a start.

If only I could have seen me when I was alive! Making friends with a BOY, of all people... she smiled slightly to herself.

Sipping her drink, she leant back on the sofa.

((is soda just lemonade? Yeah? *so British* And yeah, it's sad, but we can't all be sunshine and rainbows here, now can we?))

[OnceForgotten†]

Garrett had been keeping a low profile in the lounge area so far, sipping on a gin and tonic and listening to the rest of the kids converse. Suddenly, he had an idea. He stood up and attempted to elevate his voice above the rest of the chatter going on in the room.

"So hey, does anyone here play guitar? I was thinking, maybe we cound start a band."

[asano*]

[WHAT?! Soda = lemonade for you? *DIES*
Soda = pop for me. Some idiots call it pop in the East...it's SODA ><
Anyway. You know, coke, pepsi, all those. ^^;;]


First, Toby addressed the easy one. He looked over at Garret, stretching out his neck to see over the booths.
"Some trumpet, but no guitar." He chuckled. It had been ...years since he'd picked up a trumpet.

He looked to Elise, laughing a bit. He'd picked up on the slightly british accent, and silently resigned to himself: Do not call her a 'Brit.' Just don't.

He continued laughing, forcing a few good memories here and there to prolong said laughter. He needed it.

This was typical Toby right here; radical emotional change over something so simple.
He made sure the laugh wasn't TOO long, though, as to make it uncomfortable. He stopped before then. Didn't want to be seen as a hyper, laughs-at-all spaztic idiot. Although his best friends were...shit, his former friends.
Dead. Yeah.

"Sorry for that...er, pause. Some things needed thinking about, but I'm fine." And there was Toby's masterful explanation of his near-breakdown. Great, no?

Time for small talk, I guess...this is remarkably normal. I might as well be in a normal bar of the living...
"You're British?" [HA, I remember my own mistake, Elise! ^^ Now you can respond to that IC this time...]
"Never met someone from ...what is it you say? Across the pond? ...wait, that's American, isn't it?" He scratched the back of his head, not quite sure which nation used that phrase.

He shook his head, honestly not quite remembering. He moved on, though, trying to ...maintain his composure. Like hell, but still.
"If you can't tell, my accent's a slight mix of Western and Mideastern...I think." He shrugged.
To him, he had no accent, but that was natural, as his ears were used to his own speech. It was excruciatingly hard for him to classify accents; Australians and English people were almost identical...stand them next to each other, he'd get it, but not alone.

"By the way, just wondering. Few things, and I'll probably strike you as the most typical American possible now." He chuckled. He knew he would. A normal, unsophisticated American. Ah, don't'cha love those things you can always depend on? Like Americans to be...that.
"Have you ever drank? What's it like?" One of the many things he'd never gotten to experience, booze. He'd always laughed at booze jokes and such, but he'd never had any. Whether or not he's normal for NOT drinking is debatable.
"Come to think of it, is there a drinking age here? I assume, being dead, we'll never age, so that would suck royally."
There were a few other things he could ask about, but for the most part, they weren't your average conversation topic. Go think of what he could want to ask, then. I bet your first thought is wrong. ;P

"Sorry if that seems impolite to you, it's just been something that's killing me...heh, that's ironic."

"And now, just to regain some of my intelligence in your eyes, cause I'm sure my last question made me look pathetically simple...what's England like, anyway? All I know are stereotypes and that you drive on the left side of the road. Oh, and a tourist getting run over by one of your frikkin' awesome double-deckers isn't quite that unusual for that fact." He got that from a book, though >>
He shifted a bit, as the pairing of the two questions was almost uncomfortable for him to say.
Booze and England at once?
Nice, damned idiot.