Beat the Devil Out of It

What's this? Roxie is finally caught up? (open)

The art exhibition is a designated path cutting all the way through the woods to the lookout where many pieces of art created by the community are presented. These pieces include surrealist sculptures, paintings and drawings hung off trees, and many others. It isn't uncommon for people to become disoriented trying to navigate the exhibition as it is sign-posted with what emotions or concepts the pieces represent rather than any actual directions.
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KamiKaze
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Beat the Devil Out of It

#1

Post by KamiKaze »

((Roxanne Borowski continued from Thriller))

So... the outdoor art exhibit was interesting?

Like, it'd stopped raining a long time ago, which was good. But there were puddles dotted along the art exhibit, which only added to the weird, ethereal feeling to the place. She thought it was close to where she first woke up, right near the shoe tree.

Hm. Again, getting old school fae vibes here.

Most of the artwork here was like, sculptures and paintings and stuff, but it seemed to have a theme. See, it wasn't labeled like “west sculpture place” or “sculptures by this one dude,” but instead by emotion and concepts. So, for example, right now she was in the “sadness” area. There was a wire sculpture vaguely resembling a person sobbing into their hands, right in front of her. It was rusted with orange and black, but if she looked closely she could see dark blue paint just barely dodging being chipped off.

Combined with the puddles, and the flickers of light peeping behind the trees, and... literally everything in this area, it was like Tim Burton did his own take on Pan's Labyrinth. It was just, one of those places without context, and she wouldn't be surprised if she was about to be abducted a second time by the True Fae or something.

She liked it.

The ethereal spooky vibe would have been useful for something. Again, another place to shoot a short film or something. But bah, she didn't have something to record or write out. Roxie still couldn't get over that. She couldn't even like, take a picture of her urban exploration.

She scowled a moment at the thought.

But Roxie decided to pretend.

Her forefingers and thumbs formed a frame around the sculpture. She squinted with one eye as she adjusted the “frame.”

Then, she clicked with her mouth, snapping the “shot.”

She wouldn't forget this place.
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TheLordOfAwesome
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#2

Post by TheLordOfAwesome »

((Sierra Cook continued from The Girls Made of Soot, Blood and Plastic))

Another day had come about, another set of announcements. Perhaps it should worry Sierra that the death announcements weren't affecting her as much as they did, even more worrisome was the death of Katie Agustien who she felt nothing for. Katie, as far as Sierra had experienced was a complete bitch and the only reaction Sierra had towards the news could best be summarized as "at least nothing of value was lost." It disturbed her more to actually think about her lack of empathy towards the death of one of her classmates then the fact that they died.

So she tried to distract herself, focusing on the now and putting the announcements out of mind.

The rain had stopped at least, which she was thankful for at least. She didn't like hiking through the completely wet wilderness of the island. Beautiful as it was, it was just uncomfortable after a while.

So now she and her two compatriots found themselves in some sort of outdoor art exhibit. Looking around at the various piece of art laying about the area, she couldn't help but be impressed. As an artist herself she could appreciate the sculptures and paintings around the area. They held up surprisingly well despite being on this island, abandoned for who knows how long.

As she passed through the trees and the various pieces of art, she turned and stopped as a person appeared in her path, who was looking at some of the art. Sierra stood still, looking at her while being completely silent.

"Hi," she said, after a moment before going quiet again.
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Melusine
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#3

Post by Melusine »

"Ughhhh," Willow had her hands on her thighs, "I fucking hate walking, gosh this fucking sucks asssssssssss-"

((Willow continued here.))

Willow couldn't decide what was the worst part about being on Murder Island Tv: Season Seven up until now. It was really the hygiene. Fear of dying was something she got over with a long time ago so she didn't really mind the whole dying jazz thing. If she had been your local Sierra or Katrina, perhaps she would have that answer. However, the living conditions were driving the thing that really fucked her over.

First of all, she was always hungry. She wanted to eat some takeout but because of her self-instructed set of rules, she couldn't quite kill someone and eat their face to gain a hot meal. Since the food part was out, she had to rely on the tiny bar that tasted either nothing or like dirt. She didn't know what she preferred. If it was dirty, at least it had some flavor. If it tasted like nothing, at least it didn't have worms inside. To make a long story short, both of them sucked.

Then there was the sweating. Willow was a sweaty girl. She was constantly sweating, but at home, it wasn't a big problem. Yes, she took three showers a day. Yes, sometime she sneaked some deodorant on her way to school on the bus. However, even then, that was a tiny problem compared to whatever this was. Willow felt gross, and worse, she was gross. It was undeniable that Willow looked like a swamp witch without a swamp.

Willow knew she should have kept Kelly's stuff. She had so many face masks and all. It would be great to have something to slather on her face and ignore her problems for about three minutes. Instead, Kelly decided to be a little bitch and run off and kill this random girl who bought her clothes at Claire's. That was messed up, but at least Kelly did something of her time.

Unlike, Willow.

Finally they had came to a stop. Honestly, whoever chose to have Sierra to guide them through the island needed to be fired. Sierra had a lot of stamina, Katrina was planning to become Madonna, and Willow? She was the bitch who baked the cookies. It was only made worse by the fact she was going through withdrawal or something. She had been barfing and nauseous. Willow was tired but she couldn't sleep. She had no energy but was always fidgetting. Her mind was running at like 90 miles a hour but was also playing a game of chess in the background. It was a terrible experience.

Anyways, finally, Willow could stop walking.

"This really sucks, holy shit, ugh."

She looked up. There was Roxanne. Sierra seemed as much thrilled about her like a slab of salmon about to be eaten by a grizzly bear. The silence came back. There was no way Willow would let that happen. It was already very awkward. She took up the mantle to make it worse.

"Oh my god, it's Roxanneeeee." She said, slowly. "Real question: were you named after the song about a hooker in Amsterdam? I have to ask."
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Laurels
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#4

Post by Laurels »

((Katrina Lavell continued from The Girls Made of Soot and Plastic))

Katrina walked along with the girls, keeping the nodachi by her side. She continued to glance around the area, trying to see where they were and if there were any signs of people around. It didn't look like it, although she could see why. It looked like they had arrived at some weird art trail. It wasn't really Katrina's sort of thing. She could appreciate art, but since it wasn't her area of expertise, she couldn't judge if it was all good or not.

But that really didn't take up much space in her mind. There was a lot to go over. The announcements came back, and revealed more names to add to the ever-growing list of tragedy. There wasn't anything that stood out too much for Katrina. No one she had seen was on the list, although some familiar people continued to earn kills.

That mostly served to bring Katrina back to Willow's query. She still hadn't found an answer to what Willow asked her. She still didn't know if she was going to kill again or why Willow asked her that. Was it because people like Quinn, Blaise, and Erika were getting numerous kills per day? Was Willow counting on her to step up in case they ran into them? Or was Willow still asking for her to take someone out in particular?

Either way, Katrina stayed silent for most of the day and remained in the rear of their walking group. They were stopping because they ran into someone named Roxanne. Katrina barely noticed, only acknowledging Willow's The Police reference.

Katrina continued to look around, starting to hum the song Roxanne to herself. She wasn't sure if Roxanne was the kind of person Willow wanted to know if Katrina could kill, but she decided to not think about it yet. After all, there was still no indication they were safe in the open.
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KamiKaze
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#5

Post by KamiKaze »

“Um, hey.”

Roxie lowered her “camera.”

Right, so, Sierra. Didn't she get into, like, an argument about deer or something some time ago? She was a little bit of a hothead, definitely, but she wasn't bad. Just someone who you... have to keep that in mind.

Before Roxie can say anything else, Willow was there, kvetching about walking and stuff before asking the world's most random question. Like, your death is imminent, it's essentially the end, and, like...

Okay, Roxie laughed a bit.

“No, not like The Police song.”

In truth, Roxie was named after her grandma, sorta? Her grandma's name was Rosanne, and Roxie was almost named that too. But, in the end, Mom and Dad changed it slightly. Hence, Roxanne. They'd explained it to her some time ago, but she honestly forgot the reason why she'd asked about that.

“What about you, Willow? Are you named after the fantasy movie?”

Roxie realized it a moment later. Oof. Probably not best for the situation. Like, she didn't really know Willow that well, so she had no idea if jokes like that bugged her or something. Which wasn't best for death island. Then again, Willow made a hooker joke, so--

Oh.

Roxie didn't say anything else when she saw Katrina was with them. Her expression changed, and her gaze didn't move.
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Melusine
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#6

Post by Melusine »

"Nah, my mom like had this fling in college with baby daddy and it was under a willow tree so I guess that's how she got her inspiration."
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TheLordOfAwesome
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#7

Post by TheLordOfAwesome »

Sierra remained silent, allowing Willow and Roxanne just talk it out among themselves. The weirdest of the sudden conversation about the origins of their respective names barely phasing her. At least it wasn't more of Willow's complaining which she had been successfully tuning out for the past... few hours? Her ability to keep track of time was severely hampered without her phone on this god forsaken island.

"Your parents porked under a tree and that's how you got your name?" Sierra chimed in, raising an eyebrow at Willow. "At least you got a tree that has a pretty name. Could you imagine if they fucked under a different tree? Silky Dogwood O'Neal." Sierra smirked at her own joke. "At least you have a story for your first name. I'm pretty sure my parents only picked Sierra because they just liked it. I never honestly talked with them about it."

Sierra turned her attention back to Roxanne, who was looking off behind them with a changed expression. Sierra frowned and followed her gaze, which lead to Katrina. She paused, looking at Katrina, then looked back to Roxanne, then back to Katrina, then back again.

"Is there a problem?" Sierra asked, her stance unconciously shifting as if preparing for something.
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Melusine
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#8

Post by Melusine »

"You know, I was almost named Christmas so that would have been worse but-"

Roxie's face had changed. Willow followed Roxie's eyes to what made her face sour as if she had bit into a lemon. Katrina was the target of the stare. Mhm. That would be a problem and a half if Willow did or said nothing.

She didn't have to say something or do anything. She could let it flow. If she was lucky, Katrina might get rid of Roxie for her. Murder by inaction sounded like the kind of thing Willow would get behind to get farther in the game. It was an easy way to get rid of competition.

And yet, she decided to speak. Maybe she liked Roxie or maybe she didn't want to see bloodshed or drama. She wasn't sure.

"Oh Katrina is tots harmless unless you're Tyrell in disguise."

Willow stretched, breathing in the air. She turned her head toward Katrina.

"Right, Katrina? Totally harmless?"
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Laurels
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#9

Post by Laurels »

Katrina finally snapped back to the discussion once the girls acknowledged her. It looked like they were alone for now, and apparently calm enough to discuss how they got their names. Katrina didn't have anything special to say. Her mom said they found the name in a book and thought it sounded elegant and powerful. Of course, one hurricane changed all connotations with it, so it wasn't worth going into too much detail about.

Roxie did seem a bit nervous about Katrina, and Willow tried to assure Roxie that Katrina wasn't harmless, unless it had to do with Tyrell.

That made Katrina's stomach sink a bit, causing her to turn away a bit. Was that what Willow was concerned about? If Katrina would kill Tyrell. Katrina didn't want to kill Tyrell, even though he was dangerous, tried to kill her, and did kill Felix. She wasn't foolish enough to think that it wouldn't possibly happen, especially if he was threatening Sierra and Willow. She figured a neutral answer would be enough.

Katrina finally turned back.

"No, I'm not dangerous," Katrina said. "And I don't want to be. Not unless there's no choice."

She really hoped that was the sort of answer the girls were looking for. Otherwise, she was probably just scaring Roxie even more.
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KamiKaze
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#10

Post by KamiKaze »

Y’know, under any other circumstances Roxie would have made a joke like… would Hotel Room Bed be a good name, under the same logic? What about Mile-High Club, or Makeout Point, or BDSM Orgy? Yeah, she had to agree with Sierra. At least ‘Willow’ sounded nice. She wasn’t sure how she’d know about how her parents conceived her, but it must have been the whole ‘why am I named this’ convo and TMI happened.

It was funny, Roxie was all rearing to accept her death, the end of her existence, but… somehow the start of said existence was its own bag of issues? Then again, imagining her own death didn’t involve her thinking about her parents doing the do. Too gnarly for her, she guessed.

She couldn’t dwell much on that, though. There was still a Katrina, and Sierra and Willow must have picked up on like, a look on her face. They pretty much went and assured her she was ‘harmless, except if you’re that Tyrell dude.’ And Katrina backed them up.

“Well, uh…”

Better get it out of the way quickly. Let them know what’s on your mind, rather than pretend it isn’t an issue. Don’t let it be too awkward and festering.

Roxie looked away, rubbing her jacket sleeve for a bit. The crying wire figure was still there, still sobbing into those hands. She looked back.

“I knew the Hayashibaras. I was friends with Yuka, you know? Roomed with her on the trip, even. And… I just want to know… what happened with Yuko?”

She watched their faces closely.

“Oh, I’m not looking for a fight and I’m not going to do anything bad, I’m just… I’m curious, and… I guess it’s a closure thing?”

Did she think much about Yuko until now? She couldn’t remember. But it was a question, and maybe getting answers would help. It felt like every name she knew was slowly fading away, only to be replaced with memories rather than people.
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TheLordOfAwesome
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#11

Post by TheLordOfAwesome »

"Accident, apparently." Sierra said, answering for Katrina. She pointed to Katrina with her thumb, "At least according to her. I'm inclined to believe her since she went back and did an impromptu funeral service. It is still pretty shitty that it happened, but... from what she has told us, I kinda understand."

That about summed it up for Sierra, whether or not Roxie believed it was up to her. Katrina could weigh in and give more of a clarification if she wanted, but she thought "accident" was good enough of an explanation.
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Melusine
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#12

Post by Melusine »

"Yeah the Hayashibaras are a mess right now. Well, I would be. Yuks lost a member of their tribe and I don't think they're into it."

That.... actually sounded worse than what she meant to say. It was an accomplishment. It was rare that Willow surprised herself. Usually, she found herself boring.

It was repetitive to be stuck inside of her head. She always thought of the same thing and the same people and the same pattern. She was a simple girl with simple thoughts and simple actions. She needed people to make it interesting. Burst her little bubble of normalness so that Willow could find a way through the cracks.

But that? The way she said it? It surprised her. It made her feel good. Something. It made her feel something, and it felt good. It was unlike her in a very like-her type of way. A pleasant surprise, maybe? She wasn't sure, but it did feel good.

"Anyways, hum, about accidents," she pointed a log, "I think the baby's kicking, can I just sit down? I think I'm going to barf."

She made a tiny gagging noise, holding her hand over her belly. Willow was so bored.
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Laurels
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#13

Post by Laurels »

Oh, it was about Yuko. Roxie was apparently friends with her and her sisters. Katrina shouldn't have been surprised that she was forced to revisit this, but considering who Roxie was, she decided it was fine to talk about it. There was a chance Roxie could explain to Yuka and Yuki if they ran into one another. Sierra was already looking like she believed Katrina's story, using the funeral service from the other day as verification.

Then Willow mentioned something about a baby and wanting to sit down. Katrina glanced at her.

"Wait, what? Baby?"

Katrina was going to press that further, but then decided to wait. Roxie needed to hear about her friend, so Katrina needed to fill her in.

"Sorry, Roxie. Let me explain."

Katrina sighed, then spoke.

"Yuko and I were in a house with a few people. Then Tyrell came in, covered in blood, and things went to hell quickly. He killed Felix, and when I thought he was following after me to attack me, I swung my sword to defend myself. But it was Yuko, not Tyrell, who was there, and she died. It was an accident, and it was the biggest mistake of my life. I know her sisters may not forgive me, but I'm going to at least try to atone for it for the rest of my life."

"I'm not going to play, and I'm not going to try to kill people if I don't..."

Katrina paused. She wanted to keep going, but then thought about what she was saying. Then she thought about Willow. Willow.

"Wait..."

She snapped her head back to Willow, pointing at the girl's stomach.

"Is that why you asked me if I was going to kill anyone else?!? Please tell me you're joking."
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KamiKaze
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#14

Post by KamiKaze »

“I… see.”

So that was it, then. It was kind of funny? Well, funny in that way it wasn’t really. But the image that was forming in her mind seemed almost like something out of a movie. Tyrell, the slasher, barging into a room, covered in blood, perhaps with a sharp implement of some kind. Tyrell dispatching Felix within a heartbeat. Katrina running for it, perhaps down an alleyway or dark woods. Then Yuko appearing from the darkness, only to get stabbed, mistaken for the horror.

Honestly, while it might have not gone down like that exactly, Roxie… actually believed Katrina? See, it seemed plausible enough, sure. But also Sierra had backed it up a little by saying she went back and put Yuko to rest.

It was funny in that arbitrary sort of way, the same way that a couple deciding to do it under a willow tree might one day result in a girl named Willow dying on an island.

Speaking of Willow… the baby’s kicking?

Roxie had no idea how to take that. Was it trolling? Was she actually pregnant? Was she joking about the previous convo? No idea, honestly. Roxie gave Willow a look, then back at Katrina.

“Uh…”

She had no idea what Katrina meant by “asking her if she’d killed again.”

Roxie decided to focus on the obvious.

“Right. Is it alright to say I believe you?”
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TheLordOfAwesome
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#15

Post by TheLordOfAwesome »

"...Baby?"

Sierra went quiet as she stared off into the distance, the figurative gears in her head turning as she processed the information she just heard. Slowly she turned to look at Willow, her eyes narrowed in a questioning manner. She looked her up and down before settling her gaze on her belly.

"Wait, hold up," She said as she quickly looked up to make eye contact with Willow. "You're pregnant? Since when?!"

She didn't look pregnant, but maybe it was the early stages? She wasn't sure if a bunch of cells formed into a pile of lifeless goop could kick but that was irrelevant at the moment.

"Bitch, why the fuck did you not say anything?! That seems like some critical need to fucking know information!"

Sierra looked to Katrina and then to Roxie, gesturing to Willow wildly as if trying to non-verbally say "the audacity of this bitch!" Sierra didn't know why it bothered her so much that Willow didn't say anything about this until now, only that it did.
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