Whispers in the Dark

[Ruggahissy]

"Please, you know I've got my license. Please let me take the car out"

Mara sat on the couch reading a magazine as her cousin begged for the keys. She couldn't imagine why anyone would want to drive when there were other people who could do that for you.

"Well, you know I can drive."

He caved and handed the jingling keys over.


((Amaranta Montalvo continued from Caught in a Moment))


Mara lay flat on her back, looking up at the glittering sky. Her cousin didn't know how to drive well enough and crashed. She remembered feeling jealous of how much attention she'd gotten with her only price paid being a wrecked car and a broken leg.

What a stupid thing to be jealous of, sympathy given for misfortune. She remembered thinking how it would be nice if some minor misfortune would befall her. She could have a break from all of her many activities and everyone would be very nice to her.

The light of the fire next to her cast a soft glow and harsh shadows over her face.

Now she had all the time off in the world, maybe time off for forever. Maybe the real kicker was that her activities were all wastes of time. If she had known this would happen from the moment she was born, what would she have invested her time in instead?

The fire next to her crackled cheerfully, greedily consuming the things she fed to it. Hundred dollar bills given to her to buy things she'd want at the amusement park were long since ash. A few plastic credit and identification cards were still curling into themselves under the heat of the flames.

Maybe she'd have spent all her time learning a martial art and at gun lessons. If someone told her she'd have to struggle to survive against a violent horde of teens, maybe she would have spent some time making sure she could lift two gallons of milk over her head.

Mara stared blankly up, lost in thought. Her black irises perfectly reflected back the night sky, leaving her dull, wide eyes iridescent.

Even without that training Mara had survived just by sheer force of whatever essential Mara-ness was keeping her alive. All of the other things she had ever done were to live up to someone else's expectations. If she had enough time, this would be where she would find out what things she did like to do, find some things for herself.

Mara hugged a box of corn starch she'd found in one of the homes.

But there was no time. The first thing she had found that she did for herself and had an aptitude for was violence.

She sat up and poured a handful of corn starch into her hand. After dipping a small stick into her fire, she dumped the powder into her mouth.

Her thoughts switched tracks suddenly and she remembered Hansel. Maybe that would be the last person who she would ever kiss. Where was he now? Did he think about her? He was a murderer many times over.

It felt sort of appropriate.

Mara brought the stick up to her face and blew the powder through the blaze, sending an incandescent column of flames into the darkness.

[Ruggahissy]

Mara reached into her bag and began collecting up the grenades that had been given to her in her hands.

Finn's last words to her were calling her a bitch. He didn't understand what she was doing. Well, that really wasn't too surprising. He'd always been kind of an idiot.

She found a small bottle in her bag along with the explosives. It was a small bottle, compliant with TSA liquid restrictions, of her favorite perfume.

There were a lot of idiots around. She thought about the numbers left. It seemed a lot less daunting to have to barrel through maybe 20 or 15 people than 200. It helped that she didn't really care much for any of the remaining people.

Finn.....

she found herself strangely empathetic to Hansel and Zubin, only because they'd already met during the game and left both encounters unharmed.

Mara threw the bottle into the fire. The glass smashed and the perfume burned bright blue in the fire for a moment. The entire area smelled of the sweet scent of flowers, honey dew and grapefruit.

Every time she was engaged in an altercation it cost her supplies, ammunition, and often left her wounded. Why should she try to kill people when Hansel and Kat would just sweep up everyone for her, running through their own supplies, weapons and health? Taking them out would be easy at the end if they used all of their energy and firepower on the last few people left.

Mara laid back down. She began arranging her grenades around her head like a halo. When she closed her eyes it smelled like her room at home.

Maybe if she was very lucky they'd kill each other. However, she had not been lucky at any point on the island. Mara sighed and fell asleep with her grenades and the familiar scent of her perfume all around her.

((Mara Montalvo continued in Belgian Roulette))