You Remind Me

[Un-Persona*]

((Ashley Namath: RBP2 - TV2 - Last Time In It's Bad. We're Hit, Man, We Are Hit))

Ashley unwrapped the bow that held her ponytail and held her head under the sink, listening to the pumps make the water flow and the tip taps against the porcelain as Caroline's blood was drained out into a pinkish liquid. When it became more white then red, Ashley whipped her head back and shook it violently, like a shaggy dog, splattering the water still in her hair onto the walls and mirror.

Ashley put her glasses back on, slightly loose and constantly slipping down the bridge of her nose. Her gloved hands filed the strands of wet, tangled hair, trying to put into a way that wasn't raggedy. She learned that was impossible after a few minutes, but still decided to play with it and mangle it as she went back to the ice cave arcade.

She took her picked-out stool, laid her gun on her lap, and lit another cigarette. Ashley sat still and silent, staring at a blank black screen through scratched glasses and a puff of smoke.

[Outfoxd]

((Jackson King continued from Cursed, Hexed, Spellbound))

Considering how damned cold it was, Jackson supposed it was odd they would end up heading into the ice rink for reprieve.  It drew the eye, so maybe that was why they were drawn to it over the more inviting buildings.  Even on a vacation resort the join was gaudy.

They hadn't talked much since leaving the casino.  Jackson wasn't the best talker, and he doubted his companion had too much to say anyway considering what they'd just been through.  That or the chill was great at stilling tongues.  When he looked to Ana, he had simply inclined his head and beelined for the building, the folds of his mariachi jacket pulled tight around his shoulders.  As tightly as he could manage with the safety-locked pistol in his hand.

He threw the door open and when he stepped across the threshold, he was grateful for at least the minimal amount of heat that enveloped him.  He stepped aside to allow Ana ingress, chafing his shoulders with his hands to warm them.

"Think they'd pick a more seasonal time to do this..."  He said.  He looked over to Ana, wondering if this was the time to break the silence.  "Kids on a tropical beach somewhere, right?  Shorts, bikinis?"  He shrugged, awkward.  "Be better ratings."

It was then decided Jackson was bad at this whole thing, stylish mariachi costume or not.

[Lord_Shadow]

((Anastasia 'AnArchy' Arcadia continued from Cursed, Hexed, Spellbound))

She trudged along the way in silence. The walk to their destination did not merit words. But when they arrived, then she spoke. Jackson had made his little observation. Now was her turn to reply. "I bet Shawn would have been happy to see me in a bikini. Now he won't get to. Ever." She spoke her words with a mixture of sadness and slight ire to Mr. King for bringing that thought up.

She walked past his view and when she was sure he couldn't see her face she smiled slightly. Mind games were fun. Make him feel like shit for making her feel 'bad' then slowly tear away at his self-confidence and empathy. Fun fun fun.

"Anyway, this place seems chill. I hereby christen it 'Tower DeepFreeze'. I'm just renaming everything aren't I?" She chuckled. "Just a little way at getting back at those guys. Hopefully everyone back home will come to call this place by my names. Ultimate payback."

She spun around to face Jackson. "This is nice right? Little adventure with us two? Jana? Or maybe Anackson? Totally platonic though."

[Un-Persona*]

A slight buzzing was by her ear. She glanced at the little fly, but as annoying as it was, it wasn't touching her or worth the effort of swatting.

If it wasn't gonna bug her, she wouldn't mind it too much. Ashley seemed more aware of the fly then it did itself.

Her eyes returned to the dark screen of the shut down arcade machine, and Ashley continued staring.

She had no reason to do anything otherwise.

[Flare*]

((Colin Pigeon continued from A Matter of Taste))

In some ways, being mostly alone had its benefits. For one, it gave Colin free reign to scope out the area, get a good look at everything it had to offer.

One of those things, apparently, was an ice rink. More than its mere existence, though, the rink got Colin thinking about the background of the whole place. Were there really people that stayed here before they were dumped in? Or was it something built specifically for the spectacle? The thought of families taking a trip out here, enjoying the beach, eating happily at all the restaurants... well, it was a starkly contrasting thought compared to the quite, empty sounds of his steps across the ground.

Without even realizing it, Colin had started quietly humming "Hotel California" as he craned his neck to get the best view of the building. That was certainly a song he hadn't heard in a long time. He only had faint memories of hearing it on the car radio, sitting in the backseat with...

Adjusting his bandanna slightly to fix his hair a little, Colin walked cautiously into the ice rink. It was... well, just as desolate as every other place in the god forsaken area. Except...

He spotted two figures a fair distance away, looking like they were in the middle of a chat. He couldn't make out exactly who they were, but he had a faint idea. Letting out a breath, he started making his way across the venue, worried about how much sound his bag might be making as it jostled with each step. He wasn't going to call out a greeting - he didn't know what these guys had been through or how they'd react. Trigger fingers and all that.

[Outfoxd]

Strike 1.  Hey batter batter, goddamn swing.

Maybe talking was something better left to his peers.  It was clear that Jackson had inadvertently struck a nerve.  He was all too happy when she seemed to flip back to her hyperactive mode.  For reasons he couldn't point to, he was just a little be happier to be mildly unsettled than feel like an asshole.

"Yeah, totally platonic."  He said.  "Far as names...JanArchy sounds kinda cool.  Rolls off the tongue a little..."  He paused.  Someone was coming into his peripheral vision from some side door.

Jackson still wasn't sold on popping caps in whoever new came his way, however bad the last instance went, but he still brought his free hand to cradle his gun in a two-hand grip.  He inclined his head toward the new person for Ana's benefit.

"Yo."  He said, wondering if that was the best way to (heh) break the ice.

[Lord_Shadow]

"Wha– hey." She said as she noticed the other person there. He was a ways off, close enough to see but far enough to be difficult to eliminate easily.

"Looks like we got a live one. Hello!" Ana waved enthusiastically. "Anastasia Arcadia, Empress of Awesometownia sends you greetings!" She said in a singsong voice.

She looked back at Jackson and winked. Time for more fun.

[Un-Persona*]

Ashley's ears twitched as the fly landed on one of them. Her fingers pinched it within a second and she crushed and minced it in between them. Not even then was it quiet. She just wanted everything to go away, to stop coming back to bug her, to just ignore her. But she wasn't allowed that, not even for a second.

She hopped off her stool with a silenced thud, peering beyond and jumping behind the arcade machines, making her way to the entrance of the arcade and finding the voices with her in the Ice palace. Her gun hand still quivered as she peeked at the three people at the entrance of the lobby. Her lips puckered around her cigarette when she recognized one of them.

That guy...that guy. Ashley saw met him when she had met up with Anzu...and then they found Sarah. Then Anzu had told her about him when he had came up at the Casino...and then everything had happened at the parlor. He...he was a fucking jinx.

Her cigarette turned limp when her teeth began to grind on it, ash falling at her feet. She barely managed to turn away to hide in the cave, holding her gun up in front of her. It couldn't be. It couldn't be him. When she turns around again, he won't be there. If he was...if he is...

He had better not be. It was like he was attached to her. Like some kind of pariah, or a stalker. Her eyes were shut tightly now...and when they were opened again, they would be looking at the spot where he was. Then...no more second chances...no more faith in anybody.

[Flare*]

Holy shit he had found other kids from Davison.

This realization almost caused Colin to break out into a jog, even though the duo wasn't that far away. He didn't even really care at this point that one of them was Anastasia, the weird girl who never seemed to shut up. It was something familiar and seemingly welcoming, so he was going to take it.

"Hey guys. Nice to see you're doing alright," Colin greeted, slowing to a stop as he reached close proximity to his classmates. For the first time in what felt like forever, he had a genuine smile on his face.

"Nice to see you're doing alright. I've barely been able to find ANY other Davison kids, it's INSANE," Colin ranted, giving a sigh of exasperation.

It was then, out of the corner of his eye, that he noticed the gun in Jackson's grip. It seemed like EVERYONE had a gun except him. But, for the moment, he figured it wouldn't do any good to bring attention to it. He could keep things calm and friendly.

"So... how have you two been?" he asked.

[Outfoxd]

The kid came closer, and Jackson was able to vaguely recognize.  Jackson himself was always kind of an unknown quantity around the school, save his little performance at the talent show.  Therefore, his lack of intimate knowledge of Colin outside of his name could have been attributed to either his attributes or Jackson's own, minute social foothold.  Still, Davison kid was a Davison kid, and it set him at ease.

The big, inevitable question came, and Jackson cast his eyes at the floor.

"We've been better, I'll say that much."  His free hand went up to the brim of his big mariachi hat, and he adjusted it so it sat more evenly on his head.  He kept silent, figuring Ana could take the lead and tell...whatever else she wanted to.

[Lord_Shadow]

The new boy was from Davison. Cool. More people she knew sorta. More people to have fun with. Jackson responded first to Colin's inquiry. Just as she was about to respond as well,  until she heard a familiar voice speaking through her headset.

Her eyes widened with fury. When she heard Jewel disparagingly recall killing darling and Seb she lashed out in anger. "Their names are Shawn Thornton and Sebastien Bellamy you colossal bitch!" She didn't care if Jewel could hear her or not. She just needed to scream that out.

She turned her attention to Colin. "As you can tell we've lost some comrades. I lost my boyfriend. And all to some fucking bitch who needs to be put in her motherfucking place! So, to sum up, I'm doing fucking great dude! How about you asshole?" She growled her words. Nothing against new guy. He was just speaking to her at a bad time.

[Un-Persona*]

One.

Two.

Three.

Ashley opened her eyes. Her vision was shaky, she was breathing so hard. Her chest tightened up and she felt like air was caught in her throat. Ashley turned her head back where she saw him, and there he still was. He had wasted his opportunity, but even knowing that, Ashley still took her time aiming the gun.

She didn't want to miss. Couldn't, shouldn't, wouldn't. Ashley pulled out of her hiding spot and stood straight away from him in plain view. One eye shut tight, one on him, both hands choking the gun, lips sucked in, icey sweat from her brow, Ashley pulled the trigger three times. The recoil made her stumble, and she ducked back into the cave quickly.

She fell, ears still recovering from the pounding of the gun shots, glasses foggy. She finally gasped and her cigarette fell out of her mouth and on to the ground, rolling right next to the gun, their smokes blending into another.

[Flare*]

It sounded like the two of them had gotten a rough deal. That was harsh... but, he had to admit, a bit reassuring for him. He had been in a few bad places, but ultimately he had gotten out in one piece every time. He just had to keep that up.

Then, out of nowhere, Anastasia just started yelling at someone. Didn't seem to be him or Jackson... but maybe it had something to do with her headset. Headset...

Suddenly, it clicked.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that this 'fucking bitch' you're dealing with is Jewel. In which case... we may have similar goals," Colin stated, purposefully ignoring her insults. He had dealt with enough people calling him an asshole already, and he could totally work this and get them all on the same side.

Before that could happen, though, everything went to hell.

It could have just been a little twitch, or a head bob, or even just plain poor accuracy on the part of the assaulter. No matter why it happened, less than an inch ended up being the difference between Colin's life and death. He felt the bullet whiz so close to the top of his ear he could have sworn it left skid marks. The mixture of the noise and just plain instinct caused Colin to cry out and recoil back.

From there, things seemed to move in slow motion. Colin heard two more bullets being shot - both of them still missing, but being way too close for comfort. Fuck, any bullet being shot within a 100 foot radius of him was too close for comfort.

He was reacting on pure instinct at this point. Fearing more shots, Colin dove out of the way, crawling the last couple of feet towards a nearby table. It wasn't incredible cover, but it was enough on such short notice. He hoped that, at least.

From there, Colin shouted out the first words that came to mind:

"WHAT THE SHIT?!"

[Outfoxd]

Jewel's voice came through the headset, and she seemed so smug she even managed to get to Jackson, considering it was about people that he had come to know, even a little bit.  It went without saying that Ana lost whatever composure it was she had managed to regain.  He also wasn't surprised Colin appeared to have his own run-in with the girl.

Then there wasn't any time to process before gunfire shattered the silence just shortly after Ana had, the muzzle flashes coming from some unseen shooter.

Cursed we're fucking cursed

On reflex, as Jackson scrambled to the front counter, shoulders dipped as he snapped off two entirely unaimed shots in the direction he had seen the flashes.  The weapon jumped, and he was so rattled he almost lost his grip with the kick.

He reached the counter and dropped down propping his shoulders against the counter.

"Ana!"  He called.  In his own fervid dash to cover he had lost track of the girl.  He was sure he wouldn't forgive himself if he had got her killed just saving his own skin.

[Lord_Shadow]

"I'm fine." Ana responded to Jackson's inquiry to her wellbeing. Her voice carried a hint of bloodlust and excitement. "Just fine." She shifted to drop the pack from her back and rustled the rifle into position in her hands.

"I imagine that we have an enemy in our midst good sir." She almost gleefully replied to Colin. Oh this feeling brought back up so many emotions. Hatred and anger and blissful rage alongside putrid terror. Fear mixed with ecstatic fury. And the memory of the two boys lost to a fight like this only increased the magnitude of that slurry of emotions.

"Come on out and I promise not to prolong your exsanguination!" Anastasia yelled. She punctuated the exclamation with a shot from her rifle at the cave entrance. She quickly readied her next shot for when the monumental idiot would poke their stupid head out again.

More. More blood. More chaos. I need more.

Please. Stop. I'm losing my soul.

Split personality takeover immenent. Sits and cries in corner of own mind.