I Found a Whistle

#1

[[GLD4: Shawn Morrison and Mae St. Clair Continued From: Pieces of What?]]

[[OOC: GM-ing of Mae St. Clair has been approved by her handler, Peregrineink.]]

It was nearly sunset by the time they had gotten down to the Resort Hotel. Compared to before the whole place seemed eerily quiet and deserted.

Together, Shawn and Mae walked into the front entrance, that Ben and himself had walked through the day before. Light from the fading sun entered through the broken windows of the lobby area, with the broken shards of glass from them, littering the entire floor. With their first few steps, came crunching noises of shattering pieces of glass beneath their feet. Realizing that this could alert anyone of their presence, made them a little more cautious. Shawn lead Mae through the area, practically tip toeing to avoid the razor sharp glass.

Then he froze and took a quick breath of air when he saw a body still laying on the floor from yesterday. He could feel Mae trembling, next to him at the sight of her, of Jaszmine Johnson. Shawn had left her, because he was sure that the Detroit kids would have laid her to rest somewhere not so out in the open, but then again, the gunshots that had happened so soon after didn't exactly leave them enough time to do so.

Being her killer, gave Shawn a sense of guilt and responsibility. He was going to move her to one of the bedrooms like he and Ben were going to do, before Sterling and all the other Detroit kids showed up. But not just yet. They were looking for Ben-o first.

Wandering away from Jaszmine, the two made their way toward the dining room and kitchen area. With only a passing glance, Shawn determined that with the broken door and the blood around both doors, that there was no one alive in there. Only death. They didn't need to see anymore than they needed to. Whatever happened here had been - something.

Again the two golden teens wandered down a different hall, on the other end of the building, leading to the outside pool; the same area in which he had left Ben on his own and the same area he had seen Other Sean's corpse dangling from a rope. He made sure not to go too far down to that area. He didn't want to expose Mae to the disturbing site of one of Zach's kills. The same person who she had threatened earlier for touching her back on day one, now life less and hanging as every minor little breeze caused him to sway. No, that would have just made her feel worse then she already was and she was already visibly tired.

Making a turn down the corridor, gave way to a large puddle of blood near an open doorway. Unlike the last time, the blood didn't make Shawn and Mae turn away. Instead it made Shawn's heart beat rapidly as he jogged down the hall toward it. Right in the center of the bloody hall was a recognizable mass sprawled in the middle of the floor, almost straight out of a horror movie. It was who that laying mass, was, which made Shawn feel ill.

The mass was Ben-o.

Another of his team, another friend was gone. Shawn's head had hurt as he laid his forehead against the dry part of the bloody walls, resting it, while still standing up. He didn't want to see that again; Ben-o, covered in blood with two separate holes of varying size on his torso. It looked like he had been stabbed and shot. Whoever had done it had been well armed, possibly killing before and again Shawn felt guilty for not being around to help him when he absolutely could have, for leaving him there, to literally die as soon as he did.

He took several deep breaths, a hot tear running down his face in the darkness of the hallway. He wiped it off as soon as he could feel the warmth. This tear was less sadness and more of anger. Anger at the monster who had done this and anger at himself for screwing up. Taking in a few more breaths, Shawn managed to collect himself to speak to Mae, who had been mostly silent the entire time.

"I-I shouldn't have left him. I won't make anymore mistakes, I promise I won't."

He had seen the walls... bullet holes lined the surface. Shawn started to wonder now, whether Ben still had the gun they had taken from Jaszmine, as it sure looked like he used it. Bending over to the ground to check Ben's corpse closely, Shawn saw the small revolver, laying right next to Ben's hand, hidden in his blood. Shawn picked it up, popped it open after a bit of examining and confirmed that there were no more bullets in the gun. It was then, that he remembered that the rest of the ammo was still stored in his own bag. At least they had another gun with them, smaller and quicker then the shotgun to protect themselves, if he could actually get the courage to use it.

Shawn again, didn't want to leave Ben there, in this mess. He carefully started to lift the smaller boy in his arms to place him onto a bed of one of the hotel rooms. She didn't have to, but Mae silently volunteered to help him do so.

When they got to one of the rooms, they gently placed him a top the large bed. Ben-o's skin, especially that on his face, untouched by blood, was horribly pallid. Not wanting anyone to see his face like that, whether it was themselves, other contestants or the cameras transmitting the whole thing to his family back home, Shawn determined that it was best to cover Ben with the sheets.

As he pulled up the quilt to Ben's face, Shawn had noticed something shiny sticking out from Ben's pockets. With curiosity getting the better of him, Shawn decided to see what it was. He reached in and grabbed whatever it was by it's loop before pulling it out. Staring at it, Shawn realized what it was he was looking at.

It was a whistle, two gold colored whistles. Shawn had forgotten all about that request he had asked of Ben, when Jaszmine had entered the picture and everything just went into chaos from there. He turned toward Mae.

"I found a whistle" he said. "Well, Ben did - he found them for me, when I asked."

Shawn put one around his neck, approached Mae and softly put the other one around her neck.

"This was for gold team, but I guess we are the gold team now. I'm not even sure if that guy from the hotspot is still alive. I guess, it's just so we can communicate with each other, when using our voices is too risky. You know what I mean?"

Mae's face stared back at him questioningly. It was obvious she was exhausted and needed some sleep.

"Just... if you ever need me, just - use that whistle and I'll be there for you."

Shawn wanted to be realistic and say 'If I hear it, that is' but then the effect of what he was saying would be lost.

"Now get some sleep, you look tired."

Mae had found a different room and Shawn had watched her until she fell asleep. It didn't take very long as he expected. For a while, Shawn stayed at her bedside, holding the Remington 870 in his hand. He didn't know if he could use it, but he would if he had to.

As the sky turned dark, Shawn remembered something. He stood up from the bedside and gave Mae a peck on her cheek as she slept.

"I'll be right back..." He whispered to the sleeping girl, before heading out of the room and closing the door quietly.

When he got to the lobby, Shawn saw Jaszmine there, still laying on the floor. He strapped the pump action shotgun over his shoulder and then carefully lifted the girl. It was difficult to carry her alone, but Shawn was strong enough to do it, with some effort. He went up the stairs and found another bed in a different room, to lay his only victim thus far onto. She had friends, the other Detroit kids, so she must not have been an entirely terrible person. She had threatened Ben-o, but now he realized that maybe she wasn't actually going to shoot him at the time.

Perhaps Shawn had been too preemptive when he strangled her with his snake, Brian Eno. He actually hadn't even meant to do that. He only wanted to subdue her, but his emotions at the time got the better of him, snapping her neck in the process.

Jaszmine almost looked like she was just sleeping, with the lack of blood on her body. Quietly and without saying a thing, Shawn covered her with the sheets of the bed as well, then closed the door, the same as he did with the door to Ben-o's room. When he was finished, Shawn headed back to the room Mae was sleeping in. Fortunately she was still asleep.

It was sometime in the later parts of the night when Mae started to move herself awake.

"Hey Shawn?"
"Yeah? I'm still here."
"I think we should move on. I've always wanted to see how that Ski Resort was like."

Shawn placed the last bullet into Ben's revolver before speaking up again. "Sure, Mae. Let's go."

[[GLD4: Shawn Morrison and Mae St. Clair Continued To: Transitive Bodies.]]