The Scarlet Garden

[Ciel]

Jasmine stared at Caedyn. She turned and stared at Jae. Caedyn. Jae. Then she turned to look at Caitlyn who had the Cheshire of Cheshire's grins. A trinkle of sweat rolled down the side of her face; that grin contrasted violently with the weight of the situation. Why was she grinning?? This was very serious and far from a joke.

"I was wrong about your girlfriend, Jazzy," Jasmine heard the emphasis on 'girlfriend' and felt a shiver tremor up her spine, "yeah, I was totally wrong."

Wrong how? None of this made any sense. Jasmine's breath came in quick nervous bursts. Her eyes darted between Min-kun and Kay. A hand clutched her heart. Holy shit, now was not the time for her anxiety to overwhelm her.

"It's okay Jazzy. Do what she says, but don't wander off too far. Just stay out of view and watch how things play out. Okay?"

"Okay," Jasmine said out loud. She turned to Caedyn. She forced a smile and kissed her cheek. She started to back away, giving Min-kun a passing glance as she did as Caedyn told her. Go on baby bird, she'll be right behind you. Just get away from him. No. Not him. From them.

"There's a chance Jae might take a potshot. Your girlfriend might die Jazzy. Ohhh, I know that'll make you sad. But, c'mon, he's only got one shot. Even if he manages to hit, he's gotta fumble for another arrow. He has to make that one shot count.

And if that happens... You'll know what to do, Jazzy."

Jasmine wanted to play dumb. Act like she didn't know what Caitlyn was getting at.

But who was she fooling? She totally did.

(Jasmine Reed continued in crushcrushcrush.)

[Emprexx Plush]

I've got my one.

What a fucking moron. Caedyn understood the mindset, but it took everything she had not to smirk at him. In her head, the difference between them couldn't be starker: Jae looked fucked up and unstable with a bulky, uncooperative weapon. Not only had he pissed off probably about as many people as she had, but anyone looking to "get their one" might see him as pretty easy prey. Meanwhile, Caedyn was still fresh and bright...minus all the blood. Yeah, she'd lost some sleep. Yeah, all this walking was exhausting. But that was the case for everybody, wasn't it?

If Jae had any brains left in that tiny little skull of his, he'd shoot her right now and take his chances with Jazzy. If it came down to a time when they had to kill each other and things kept up like they were, he'd be in a way worse position by then. That's how this worked, right? It was all cumulative. Jae would get worse, and as long as she didn't run into any more hiccups like Bridgette, she'd be perfectly fine. If Jae even lasted long enough for them to catch up again, she figured he'd be a real mess by then.

God, was she the only person that had this figured out? Well, that was about usual. She couldn't expect the vermin to keep up with her.

Caedyn watched Jae closely as she backed away through the garden. Even if he was an idiot, she wasn't going to trust him. She waited until she and Jazzy were near a clear way out, then turned around to grab her hand and run for it.

((Caedyn Miller Continued crushcrushcrush))

[backslash]

Caedyn didn't say anything else before getting the hell out of dodge. Good, but that biting, snapping instinct reared its head in him the way it always did.

"Sooner or later, it's going to be you or her, you know!" He called after them. "And I know you, Caedyn, I know how you work! Everyone does!" The whole world did now. Did Caedyn seriously think she could just run around like she did back at school and have any chance? If by some miracle she got home like that, with the entire world watching and realizing exactly what sort of person she was, what the hell would she be going back to?

What would any of them be going back to if they made it?

Jae didn't have an answer. All he had was the empty garden and the echoes of his own spiteful words.

((Min-jae Parker continued in How Easy it Was to Lie to Strangers))