Seediq Bale

[Deamon]

((Kimiko Kao continued from Violence Is Usually The Answer))

The sofa was drenched with her blood.

Kimiko had tightly bandaged her calf around where Isabel had cut it. She had wiped it down and had resorted to using tape to make sure it was as close together as possible. She had nearly thrown up during the process due to being able to see her own muscle in the wound. It felt a little bit better now that it had been wrapped up and after taking a few test walks up and down it appeared that it would hold up.

She looked at the sofa and the dark red blotches that covered it. Like everything else it had been clean before the whole ordeal began. Kimiko slowly rolled her shoulder and winced. It was a shallower cut that the one on her calf but stung just as bad. It was tightly wrapped as well, although it was a much messier job than on her calf. The bandages looped under and around her armpit and she had put her top back over it. She didn't need anyone seeing that she was injured. She had pulled her sock up over the bandage on her leg as much as she could as well. The less obvious it was that she was hurt the better it would be for her in the long.

Kimiko moved into one of the armchairs and placed her pack down in front of her feet, rummaging around inside it until she found some water. Her throat was raw from the effort of making it up the stairs and dealing with her injuries. After taking some grateful gulps she placed it back into her bag and sat back in the chair slowly breathing and considering everything that had happened.

Sleep crept up on her as she did so and without invitation she felt everything fading away.

______________________________

She dreamt of Caleb

______________________________

If Kimiko could scream she would have. Instead she woke with a jolt and wildly looked around the room. He wasn't there. No one was there. She was alone in the darkness. Slowly the terror ebbed away to be replaced by an overwhelming feeling of guilt and regret.

Panting Kimiko pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them.

______________________________

The squeal of the speakers let her know morning had arrived.

She heard Caleb's name followed by hers and continued to listen, taking note of the names of the new killers and their victims. Alessio Rigano had killed twice, while Isabel and Alvaro had both continued. Nancy's name was nowhere to be found. The only name Kimiko didn't recognize was Kaitlyn Greene's who had drugged Mia.

Kimiko's heartbeat slowly increased as the announcer drew closer to revealing who had won the best kill award. She mouthed a prayer, hoping that everything that had happened wasn't for nothing.

It wasn't her.

Caleb had died for nothing.

Kimiko buried her face in her knees again.

Cristo had been panic. Bradley had been anger. Caleb...she hadn't wanted to hurt Caleb. He had given his life for her and now it didn't matter because she hadn't won.

What did she do now?

Kimiko stood up and took two steps forward before putting her foot through the screen of the TV. The release felt good. She stood staring at the shards laying on the floor, it was a good feeling; giving in to her emotions momentarily, taking control back.

Taking a deep breath Kimiko closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down. Getting angry wasn't going to answer her question or change anything.

Gingerly she sat herself down on the floor, her leg ached from the sudden movement, and rested her back on the armchair.

She needed a plan.

[Namira]

((Enzo continued from Shock Me))

By the time Enzo got a name for the not-face of mystery-murderer 2k16, he'd kinda stopped caring.

Okay, that wasn't true. Vinny cared about what had happened with Cameron. He cared a hell of a lot because he wasn't a psychopath. What Vincenzo didn't care about was Alessio Rigano. What was the point? He'd already killed Cameron. There wasn't anything Vinny could do to change that, and heck, maybe it would mend the gaping empty pain in his stomach if he tracked down Alessio and kicked his ass ten times over. But probably not. Almost definitely not. She'd still be... gone. One of his best friends. Enzo had better things to do than chase him down.

He just had to, y'know, come up with them.

He hadn't got very far. What he'd managed today was to pin down the feeling that this was more of a guy day. Enzo wasn't sure yet if it was a guy few days, but at this stage, he'd probably be lucky to make it as long as reassessing that. So, huzzah for when Enzo had 99 problems and gender and sexuality was only like 80 of them, tops.

Something shattered in a room nearby. Enzo jumped.

...

Fuck it.

"Hey, who's in there-shit."

Kimiko.

[Deamon]

The door opened and Kimiko looked up to see Enzo Gatti in the doorway. Instinctively she reached out and took hold of the tantō, making sure to keep it hidden behind her back. Enzo didn't appear armed but she didn't know that for a face. At the same time she shifted around the side of the chair and got to her feet. The chair providing a good barrier in case Enzo decided to launch an attack of any kind. It wasn't that she didn't trust Enzo, it was that she didn't trust anyone at first anymore. There was too much at stake.

Caleb, Lily and Clarice had been exceptions. Kimiko didn't take her eyes off Enzo as she moved, ensuring that they couldn't just rush at her. It didn't look like Enzo was after any violence though.

Still Kimiko stood and waited; keeping her eyes on Enzo in case they tried anything.

She didn't want to fight though, not again. Not right now.

[Namira]

Kimiko looked at him.

She didn't launch herself across the room to visit bloody murderisation upon him, so that was... nice. Enzo supposed. He didn't think anyone could blame him for being worried, given the circumstances. Kimiko had done that before. Done, well, murders.

She'd killed Bradley, for instance. Solid gold pain in the ass, but hardly deserving of dying on a shitty island in the middle of nowhere.

Probably, he would've appreciated shitty jokes being made at his expense. That was very Bradley.

He was also ice-cream husband's cousin. Kimiko had killed Brady's relative, and it was... difficult to know how to feel about that. Kimiko didn't look threatening to Vinny. On the other hand, you didn't need to look threatening if your reputation preceded you. People didn't just go 'whoops dearie me!' and accidentally kill three times.

If asked who amongst his class he thought would become a multi-murderer, Vinny would have retorted by asking what the fuck was wrong with the questioner to even have that in their head.

He also knew that he wouldn't have picked Kimiko.

She still hadn't moved.

"Uh. Hi, Snake."

Vinny took a step inside and shrugged off his bag, slowly and nonthreateningly.

"Just so you know, I'm on a pretty firm 'no-stabbing' platform right now. Key part of my campaign actually. Not doing stabbing."

[Deamon]

Eventually Kimiko nodded. She watched as Enzo moved into the room and dropped their bag to the floor. It didn't look like they meant to attack her in anyway, so she relaxed her grip on the tantō and snuck it back into her pocket.

In the end she stepped out from behind the chair, awkwardly standing facing Enzo. Neither of them moving or doing much of anything until eventually Kimiko gave a response to the unanswered question that seemed to be hanging in the air between them.

It was rudimentary at best. Not even finger-spelling but as if they were playing a game of charades. Kimiko hated charades.

"You can stay." There was a second part to the message but Kimiko left it out due to fear.

Maybe it was because she wanted company rather than be left alone. The knowledge that Caleb had died for nothing was still weighing her down, a reminder that at the end of the game they were being forced to play it would all mean nothing besides pain and loss. Kimiko was sure Andy probably hated her, maybe he hid it or didn't realize but there must have been something in his head telling him that she had killed his twin. That was even if he knew at all, or when he'd find out.

As things were Kimiko just didn't want to be left alone in the cold, choking confines of the asylum. Even if the level of communication she would be able to take part in was non-existent it was better than nothing. She knew eventually that she would have to leave if she wanted to win. If she stayed she would eventually have to see Enzo die or kill them herself to ensure her own survival. That wasn't something she wanted to do. Instead she saw the benefits of having someone else around; the company and the protection. In her most pragmatic thoughts Kimiko also thought about Enzo serving as a distraction should someone with a gun appear.

That was something she needed. A gun. She hated guns, their only purpose was to bring death. But in the situation she was in, they made her chances of survival that much greater. Slowly a plan was starting to form in her mind, but for the time being she needed to rest and recover.

With slow and painful steps Kimiko limped over to her bag and removed a protein bar and a bottle of water. Her eyes moved to the bloodstained couch and then back to Enzo. She motioned to the other chairs in the room and waited for their reaction.

[Namira]

The level of murder in Kimiko's vicinity was remaining at what was apparently an all time low. Enzo wasn't reassured, although realistically if she really wanted to kill him, then she probably would have done it already. She was armed—had to be—and Enzo was not. Vaguely, he remembered something in one of the pockets of his bag. A knife? He'd still never actually got it out other than to move it away from the rest of his stuff, cause he didn't want to reach in for a water bottle and shitty food and get stabbed by his own gear, thanks.

Point was, Vincenzo wouldn't have bet on himself in a fight here.

She backed up a bit, there was a little awkward miming. Vinny did not relax even slightly but vaguely appreciated the gesture, and also felt vaguely bad that Kimiko had a language that he didn't speak.

Enzo went ahead and sat, spinning one of the desk chairs by the chess set and plunking down on it in reverse, leaning their arms on the back.

"I don't know how this would feel, I guess, but if you have things you need to get off your chest, feel free to sign," Vinny sighed, resting his cheek on top of his arms. "Sorry, that's kind of shitty, isn't it? Telling you to speak a language I don't understand. If you want I could talk Italian at you, Snake, make it a two-way fuckup of a conversation."

He tried to smile. Almost.

[Deamon]

Enzo offered to sit and let her vent at them. She considered it for a few moments, wondering how much it would solve. The idea of being able to just let everything out was an enticing one but she didn't want to agree to it for fear that she would break down at a time when she needed to be strong. But maybe she needed to get it off her chest, there was a degree of personal turmoil that Kimiko was trying to keep bottled and locked up until everything was over and she was free. At the same time, she didn't want to show more weakness.

Freedom was the course she had decided on. Nothing else was an acceptable outcome. She had to win and get off the island to make sure Caleb's death had a meaning and for that she needed a gun. That meant she would have to again resort to violence or at the very least put someone else in danger through her own actions. Unfortunately that was what she needed to do though. She didn't intend to visit random acts of violence and cruelty on people like Isabel or Nancy had.

Violence was something she hated or at least she had never thought she would partake in it. When she had been at school she was against everything to do with violence, she was supposed to be a pacifist. Instead she was sitting on an island where she had already killed three people and was formulating a plan that required her to take at least one more life. She felt sick at herself and the desperation she was feeling but she couldn't see another way.

Every person she saw reinforced the idea that she was already marked as a lost soul, someone to be shunned and feared. Even if Enzo hadn't said as much with their voice, their actions and body language had made that much clear. They were uncomfortable sharing a room with her, no matter what she did there was no changing that. The only person that had seen her as the person she was had been Caleb, and he was gone. Clarice had tried but it had been a struggle for her and she had never truly accepted.

So Kimiko sat the corner of her mouth turned up a little at Enzo's comment and signed out a response, again using the inefficient and clunky letters.

"It's fine, don't want to talk about it."

Signing made her shoulder ache where it was cut so Kimiko gently rubbed it where the bandages were, trying to make it as innocuous as possible.

[Namira]

Enzo waited patiently as Kimiko signed. He'd said that she'd listen; the least that he could do was actually follow through on that.

He felt bad for her, and then felt bad for feeling bad. This was something that Kimiko had been forced to deal with pretty much as long as he'd known her; funny about it having to be that stark to actually give a damn about it. That was one hell of a communication barrier to have to handle on a daily basis, and naturally there wasn't anything here to write on either. Vinny had to wonder if it would make things less frustrating to Kimiko to respond in kind, or just come across as kind of condescending. Probably the latter.

"All right, well. Probably not moving for a bit, offer's open."

He really wished he had his phone. It'd have been morbid as all fuck, but making a couple vines of this would have made him feel better. Kinda like he had a bit more control over all this, more agency to actually produce something. There were cameras, Vinny knew, but they could chop and change that footage however they wanted, pick what to show and what not. How much had happened on these islands that never got 'released' by the terrorists?

Fuck. It was probably someone's job in the government to watch this shit. Poor bastard.

Not quite as poor as all of the people actually here and dying, but that had to fuck you up. Vinny wondered if anyone ever really thought about that.

Vincenzo leaned down for his bag, paused, held one hand up, and moved slow. Kimiko had been courteous enough to do that to set him at ease, so he should return the favour. After a second, out came his water bottle, and he took a sip.

"So my best friend died yesterday," he said, absently. "I was there when it happened. Know who did it. Could try find him if I wanted. Just I don't see the point. Like, why waste the energy on hating Alessio? Could have been anyone," he resumed his spot resting on his arms and closed his eyes for a second, reopening them when he remembered he wouldn't be able to tell if Kimiko was talking. "Fun time adventures in deathsmurderton, right?"

[Deamon]

"I'm sorry."

Alessio. Kimiko made a mental note of his name. She wasn't sure why exactly it was something she cared about but it was a name she felt she needed to keep in mind.

A silence hung in the air between them as Kimiko mulled over what Enzo had said, considering things. It felt like forever since she had first woken up on the island. She knew that it had only been three days but they were easily the longest three days of her life. Everything that had happened always felt so dreamlike and surreal; she wished it had been a dream. Instead she was a three-time killer and planning at least one more. Kimiko thought about how her parents would react when they found out what she had done and what they would do. It scared her to think of how ashamed they would be in Kingman. Seeing the parents of the classmates she had killed. They would never be able to make up for it or regain face, she had cursed them with the shared guilt of what she had done.

Hearing and seeing Enzo talk about the death of their best friend showed Kimiko what she had done to others on the island. She had put other people through the pain and loss Enzo was going through and she planned on doing it again to ensure her own freedom.

A question entered her mind that Kimiko left unanswered.

She slowly nodded in response to Enzo's question.

"I think I'm going to hell."

[Namira]

Enzo kind of shrugged.

Yeah.

Not much more than 'sorry' to say, was there? That was the same, regardless of whether it was verbal or awkwardly spelled out. Vinny didn't really have another comment to make either. Cameron was just gone, and every time he thought he'd maybe got to the point it didn't hurt, all the emotion just came flooding right back in, gouged a black hole through him.

This was how it felt for Vanessa too, probably. It didn't bring Vinny any closer to calling what she'd done fair. He hoped she was still okay, though. She was Cameron's friend, and Brady's, and B.B's, and he'd sort of mostly been cool with her up until yesterday where she'd blamed him for all the world's ills.

Vinny looked at Kimiko for a long time as she spoke. The sad expression on her face was one thing, but again and again—she killed Bradley. She killed that jerkass, who was nevertheless now leaving a big jackass shaped hole in the world. That was the choice she'd made.

"I reckon that probably says more about how you feel than god does, Snake," he shook his head. He didn't empathise with how Kimiko had acted, but he understood, at least a little bit. "You don't want to die. So if that means number one means more than every other number, then..." he trailed off, another shrug. "Guess that's your call, isn't it? Nobody can make that decision for you. Not god, not some terrorist, and sure as hell not me."

[Deamon]

Enzo was right, she had made her decision. Now she had to live with it.

Kimiko knew what she needed to do if she wanted to get out alive. She couldn't avoid it anymore, on top of that she was running out of time. If she was going to have any chance of acquiring a gun she would need to be proactive in searching one out. To that end she couldn't stay sitting around the asylum, as much as she needed time to recover she had to be efficient. There was no telling what was around each corner or what the next day would bring.

If Kimiko thought about it the simplest thing to do would have been to kill Enzo before she left. It was another person who had to die out of the way and put her one step closer to her freedom. It didn't look like it would have been difficult either but she felt sick even considering the idea. Enzo hadn't done anything to her, they didn't have anything of value either. There was no reason to kill them but she had still thought about it. She had been changed by the situation she was in and she hated herself for allowing it to happen.

She had made her decision though. To make sure everything that had happened wasn't for nothing she needed to follow through with it.

"Thanks for treating me like a person." She wished she could have stayed but she needed to move on.

She stood up, feeling the pains from her injuries flare with the movement. As she gathered up her things she thought about what would happen to Enzo after she left. They were a good person but that didn't mean much on the island. Kimiko hoped she didn't see them again.

As she left, Kimiko thought about Enzo's nickname for her and how apt it was. She was a snake.

((Kimiko Kao continued in 不安心))

[Namira]

"Yeah, well, you are."

Enzo straightened up and gave Kimiko an intent look.

"They can't take that away from you, Snake. You'll always be a person."

Kimiko left not long afterwards. Enzo just sat there. So that was what it was like being in the same room as a murderer, huh? Not much different from just being in the room with regular ol' Kimiko from back home.

Which was, he supposed, the point.

((Enzo continued in Serenity Prayer))