Psycho Beach Party

[Carrion Queen]

((Norma Jean Torkleson continued from Do You Want to Build a Snowman? ))

Norma Jean huffed and puffed upon reaching the beach. It was a good long way away from where they'd started out in a panicked run away from the orchard.With an exhausted sigh she flung herself onto a lounge chair under an umbrella and tried to shake the snow off her shoes.

Norma took a deep breath, clasped her hands together by her chest and closed her eyes.

Dear Jesus,

That was almost bad. Thanks for everything, help me not die and watch over all my siblings. Thanks.

She opened one eye and looked around. Marcus was still there. It didn't really seem like he was the killer type, but that's what people always said when someone snapped and went on a rampage on the show. Especially in the family interviews and stuff, people are always saying they didn't think their kid would be the type.

Still…he seemed to be pretty shaken. Norma was totally at a loss for how to handle the situation. She was used to other people shepherding her around and taking care of her. Having to look after someone else was alien.

"Um….so……you….killed people. Whaaat happened?"

[SansaSaver]

((Marcus Redder continued from Do You Want to Build a Snowman?))

Marcus was grateful beyond belief for the years of soccer he’d practiced back in Whittree; knowing that the intense burning now present within his lungs would’ve been increased insurmountably if not for his athleticism. He and Norma had practically run the entire length of their journey from the Orchard, with nary a chance to rest or catch their bearings. Though his body wasn’t thanking him for the slivers of exhaustion and fatigue that painfully burrowed their way into his legs and chest, his mind certainly was. With only fleeing the Orchard to think about, he’d been spared the chance to linger too much upon the latest toll of the announcements, hadn’t yet been afforded the chance for grief to settle in.

He honestly couldn’t tell what he would’ve done if it’d all hit him at once, and for that he’d be eternally grateful to Norma.

Shards of quartz trimmed with frost crunched beneath his feet as he followed Norma onto the plains of the resort’s beach, a bitter wind nipping at every inch of skin that was exposed to the evening air. He hugged his arms around himself and absently fiddled with his bandaging, reminding himself to change it soon as he did so. The pins and needles of pain in his hand had subsided to a dull throb, one he could almost forget about when his attention was caught by something else.

Norma had seated herself upon one of the several deck chairs that dotted the beach and Marcus followed suit, delicately placing himself upon a chair that sat parallel to hers and casting his gaze over the area around him. He’d only been the beach once, a long time ago when he was barely old enough to remember what it was like. The waters were lightly frosted along the shoreline, and flakes of dried seaweed and broken seashells pockmarked the pale sands beneath a layering of snow. The smell of salt was heavy in the air, and as Marcus wormed his way into the deck chair’s taut fabric in an effort to become more comfortable, he could feel his eyelids grow heavier and his vision begin to pull out of focus, exhaustion bearing down on him once more.

He likely would’ve fallen completely asleep if Norma hadn’t spoken, her soft words cutting through the silence. Marcus rolled onto his side to meet Norma’s eyes as she asked her question and he almost instantly averted his gaze, not wanting to see the look on her face as he gave his response.

“I’m a bad person,” he began, voice already beginning to waver. “I always thought I was a good boy; I always did what papa and mama wanted me to, always tried to be the best I could be. I thought I could do the same here, but Vahka proved me wrong. He showed me that things wouldn’t work like I thought they would - that we couldn’t all be friends and get along. And Eden... She thought the same way, was so similar to me before everything. And I didn’t wanna see her get broken, didn’t want to see her lose hope like I had - so I did the only thing I could.

“I regret it so much... Every time I think about it I can feel my throat close up and my heart beating so loudly. Because if I hadn’t done that, then maybe I’d still have my friends. But I did, and now there’s nobody left. It’s why Jaxon and Angie wanted to leave me, and I-”

He couldn’t do it.

As much as he tried, he couldn’t finish his explanation, couldn’t give Norma the answer she truly deserved. The truth was too painful for him, and he couldn’t stand the thought of lying to her. Instead, his breath hitched in his throat and tears begin to burn their familiar trails down his face. He curled into himself, hugging his knees tightly against his chest as he forced himself to meet Norma’s eyes, his own irises wide and doe-eyed as he struggled to find words.

But instead, all he could do was lay there and silently pray that there was some way he could stop feeling like such a bad person.

[Pippi]

((Lucia del Pirlo continued from The Jellies Experience))

Lucia sat cross-legged on the beach, sandals nestled amongst the tiny grains, right hand aimlessly tracing shapes and images into the sand’s frost coating, and listened to the announcements. She stared out over the ocean towards the horizon as Ritzy gave her patter and made a silent promise that she wouldn’t cry. Part of her wondered why. Part of her wondered who exactly she was staying stoic for. It wasn’t for the audience sitting in their nice comfy armchairs and sofas, who had seen her throw up over herself and break down into tears before. It wasn’t for her mentor, who hadn’t even said a single word to her so far, and probably didn’t care for the terrified murderer who was more of a liability than anything else. It certainly wasn’t for her mother or her father or for Giuseppe, who had all seen her shoot two people, two innocent people.

She wondered what they thought about her and knew that nothing she could do now would change how they felt about her becoming a murderer.

The names started getting called out, but Lucia never altered her gaze from the horizon. There were important names to remember. Names like Jewel, who had killed another couple of people, and Marcus, who had done the same. Gene, the very same Gene who had killed poor Will, had killed another person, but he, too, had been killed shortly afterwards. There had been what sounded like a massacre at the Nature Walk, and Lucia made a mental note not to set foot there for the rest of her time at the resort.

The names of the killers were important to remember, and there were a couple of reasons for this. They could be players, actively aiming to kill other people, or they could have been backed into a corner, given no other choice but to kill, either out of fear or out of self-defence. Lucia wasn’t planning on actively searching for these people, but if she ever did run into them, then now she had the ability to ask them and find out exactly what sort of situation they were in.

But there were other names that were important to remember for a much simpler reason, and it was those names that broke Lucia’s already weak resolve. Laura had somehow managed to wander away from the Aqua-Museum and had been caught up in the massacre at the Nature Walk. Lucia had hardly gotten to know the girl since they’d teamed up, and somehow that made the news even harder to take.

Worse than that was the revelation of who the two people that Jewel had killed were. Shawn and Sebastian. She had only really started to get to know Sebastian at Anastasia’s party, but given that that had been pretty much the last time she’d interacted with everyone, it stood out clearly in her mind. And Shawn... Shawn had never been a friend, but he hadn’t exactly been an enemy, either. From what he’d been saying at the party, he was actively trying to make things better. The news that two people that she knew, two people from her school and active in her life were now dead killed her inside. The knowledge that Anastasia was know on her own, somewhere in the resort hardly helped, either. Part of Lucia wanted to find her friend, but she had no idea what Anastasia thought of her right now, or how she would react.

The final blow was the news that the Aqua-Museum had been labelled a Danger Zone. All she had planned on doing was taking some time away from everyone and everything, a breather of sorts, before she would return to join Aidan and whatever plan he had. Now that idea was completely scuppered. She could only hope that Aidan had escaped in time, and that she’d somehow meet up with him again at some point. It was a total long shot, but then again, so had joining up with him been.

The announcements faded away, and as Lucia wiped away her tears, she realised that, for the first time, her name hadn’t been part of the announcements. Would that change how people saw her? She doubted it. She doubted it almost entirely. But there was always hope, even if it was the tiniest bit of hope she could imagine. She was riding entirely on long shots and hope now, but it was all she had left.

Lucia’s feet and hands were beginning to grow numb from the frost, but she continued to sit there, watching the ebb and flow of the tide, tracing shapes into the sand. She had headed straight to the beach after leaving the museum, almost out of instinct. She’d never had the chance to go to the beach in Sicily, and despite everything going on around her, and everything she was feeling, there was still a part of her that wanted to take this opportunity, the artist in her that wanted to do nothing more than paint the waves and let everything disappear.

But, like everything else in the resort, the location just felt wrong. How odd that nothing more than a coating of frost could do that, but thanks to that, the whole thing just felt... off. Unnatural. And it stopped Lucia from forgetting, kept all the thoughts inside her head.

Eventually, the cold grew too much for Lucia, pressed against her bare hands and feet, and she was forced to move. She stood up, stretched, and wiped the snow off of her track pants. The question that remained now was, of course, where to next? She didn’t have any other destination planned, after all, and the only vague plan she had in mind was to, basically, wander around until she hopefully found Anastasia, or another one of her friends, like Colin.

So wander she did, further along the beach, wishing with every step that she had been wearing something other than sandals when she had been abducted. There were deck chairs and umbrellas littered across the beach, the majority of them frozen shut and coated in snow. A few of them were still in good condition, however, including the cluster closest to Lucia. She carried on walking towards them, but stopped in her tracks a few metres away from them, as she realised that they were occupied. Two people, neither of whom she recognised.

Lucia’s gun had been in her pants pocket, and she slowly, carefully removed it, clutching it in her right hand. She brought her left hand up and gave a short, uncertain wave of greeting. She had to take this slowly, and carefully. She was ready to bring the gun up at any moment. Just in case.

Just in case.

[Carrion Queen]

Norma shifted uncomfortably, pushing around bits of snow with her shoe and not looking quite at Marcus as he was talking.

"Uhhh…"

She didn't really know what to say. This kid with his problems concerning what his parents thought and a bunch of other kids was not something she really knew how to deal with and in all honesty, it was kind of unsettling. She made note that Vahka did something or some such and it sounded like he'd killed the rest of the kids.

None of this was especially comforting. By her estimations she was about two days away from him deciding he needed to preserve her innocence or stop her from leaving or any other number of creepy-person-in-a-basement-with-tons-of-pictures-pinned-to-a-wall reasons for killing someone else.

"Hey, there there," she said while patting him on the shoulder. She was moved somewhat by his tears and confusion, but the likelihood that he was going to kill her arbitrarily was certainly starting to climb. "It'll be okay," she said as soothing as possible.

From a distance another person walked up. A person with a gun. This was perhaps someone who'd kill her a little more immediately than Marcus. She grabbed her spear and crouched behind a lounge chair.

"Whaddya want?"

[SansaSaver]

Marcus sobs gradually gave way to light sniffles, covered by his injured hand as they made themselves known. Having to regurgitate everything he’d done, every regret, every mistake he’d made, everything he missed - it made his stomach do somersaults, made him feel more alone than ever. That was until Norma set the beach chair upon which she was perched and took him into her arms, whispering soothing words and she gently rubbed her hand against his back. All too quickly he was reminded of his mother and sister, and how they’d use to hold him whenever he was upset or stressed.

He missed them, he missed them all so much.

He wanted to stay like this for awhile, wanted to remain in Norma’s grip for as long as he could. He felt protected with her, like all his fears and regret could remain buried and far away so long as she was by his side. He had his mentor too, and while he was so sweet and kind as well, Norma was different; she was someone he’d known, someone who hadn’t cast him aside or thrown him to the wind in spite of what he’d done. He didn’t want her to leave him, and the second that thought entered his mind, Marcus made himself a promise. He wouldn’t do to her what he’d done to Eden or Jaxon or Angie; he’d be a better person.

He’d be a good boy, just like his parents always wanted.

The area was almost silent - eerily so, even - aside from Norma’s hushed murmurs and his own mild crying, but the quiet was quickly broken when Norma abruptly released him and looked off into the distance. He whirled his head around at Norma’s movement and followed suit, crouching behind his chair in a similar fashion as she spoke. Although he couldn’t see well through his misted vision, he could make out another figure on the beach some distance away; a girl, somewhat tall and with her hair dyed in a similar fashion to Angie’s. Memories flooded his mind once more and he diverted his gaze, returning to the more comforting and familiar nature of Norma. He opened his mouth to add to her question, but shut it just as quickly - it’d be better to let Norma take the lead. Any other time he’d tried to take initiative, it’d always gone downhill within the blink of an eye.

[Pippi]

For a moment, Lucia wondered whether the two people came from Davison all along, and were hiding from Lucia due to her very presence. The thought briefly caused her heart to sink like a stone, worried that every encounter with people she once considered friends and classmates would end up this way. She still had the presence of mind to take a closer look at the two, however, and from what she could see, she had no idea who the two people now cowering behind the lounge chair were, and she was certain that they had no idea who she was either.

They had only reacted to their gun and, honestly, that was a good thing. A weapon was only as dangerous as the person who wielded it, and as long as Lucia made the two strangers certain she wasn’t dangerous or planning to purposely harm someone with her gun, then maybe, hopefully, everything would work out okay. The fact that neither of the two had raised a weapon against her also suggested they weren’t inclined to head straight to violence.

Either that or neither of them had a weapon that matched the power of Lucia’s gun.

Or both, in the best case scenario.

Lucia had, unintentionally, been still and silent for a few moments after Norma said anything. She looked at the two behind the lounge chair, tried to focus on where she thought their eyes would be. She raised one arm, whilst pointing the gun straight down at the mix of snow and sand.

“I... I do not want to hurt a-anyone... I... I, um...”

What did Lucia want? She wanted to get out of the resort as soon as possible. She wanted to go home. She wanted to see her family. She wanted her old life back. She wanted everything to be peaceful and simple again.

“I... I just w-want to talk...”

[Carrion Queen]

Norma took a deep breath and let it out. It turned to vapor from the cold in front of her. She rubbed here eyes for a moment and suddenly she felt tired. She was always very careful about getting the correct amount of rest and using the proper night creams, but she'd neglected both things the last few days.

The newcomer, familiar looking, proposed a chat. Norma peaked out from behind her lounge chair and Marcus to stare down the girl.

"Okaayy…" she said cautiously. "What do you want to talk to us about," she asked as her eyes darted nervously around.

"Don't try anything because this guy's totally killed people before and we're really super tight so if you kill me he'll snap again and go all crazy and stuff."

The lie just sort of tumbled out smoothly without her being able to stop it. It might have been helpful if there was some kind of alert system around them.

"Where's a bear trap when you need one?" she mumbled.

[SansaSaver]

Marcus sensed himself shifting slightly behind Norma’s frame as the other girl approached, gently backpedalling against the frosted sand. Even through the warmth provided by his oversized hoodie, his bones rattled against his skin - a reaction that had continued with no signs of ceasing ever since he’d first noticed the other girl. He tried to force words from his mouth but couldn’t even manage the smallest of whispers, let alone a coherent sentence. It was a feeling he was unfamiliar with. He’d never been cursed much in the way of meekness in his lifetime, but as the two girls continued to converse his throat suddenly felt incredibly tight, the hairs on the back of his neck springing to attention.

His hand squeezed Norma’s, who thankfully continued to take the lead, attempting to offer her as much comfort as he could without contributing his voice to their confrontation. He only numbly listened as they talked, eyes failing to make eye contact with either girl and instead fixating firmly on the stretch of shoreline before him.

He could vaguely sense Norma referring to him as she spoke and attempted to will away the clouds that’d overwhelmed his hearing so he could listen to her with more clarity. As as he came to understand what she was saying...

He smiled.

She was appropriating him, using his crimes as buffer against this timid, new girl, was using him for her own means, but he didn’t care. This wasn’t like Jaxon or Angie, who’d pretended to like him before casting him aside like a piece of trash. This was real. She wasn’t covering anything up. And for that he smiled, genuinely, without any pretence or force behind the wide grin that stretched across his dried lips.

It was then that he found his voice, broken and tired though it was.

“Yeah,” he whispered softly, before coughing and speaking once more with further certainty, the words flowing freely from his mouth. “What she says is t-true. Hurt her, and I will hurt you more than you could ever believe.”

It felt wrong and disgusting to say those words - the words that felt so foreign in his mouth - to a girl he barely knew, but the comfort of Norma’s fingers between his drove away the guilt.

[Pippi]

Maybe Lucia had gotten this all wrong. Maybe there was a shotgun being stored behind the lounge chair, out of sight. Maybe the two strangers were going to shoot her instead. Maybe they saw the gun and thought that it carried too much of a threat for Lucia to walk away alive. Maybe they were simply on the hunt for weapons, and wanted to add Lucia’s gun to their collection. Maybe-

The other girl’s head poked out from behind the lounge chair, and Lucia jumped, almost aiming the Jericho straight at the makeshift barricade. But the girl seemed tentatively fine with Lucia talking to them. The gun remained pointing down at the ground.

Lucia was able to take one, cautious step towards the lounge chair before the unfamiliar girl spoke again. It was basically making sure Lucia didn’t try anything suspicious. And that would have been fine. But the girl had to carry on talking, had to tell Lucia that her companion had killed before. The boy piped up too, backing her up.

As soon as he finished talking, Lucia found herself pointing her gun at the two of them. Was this how her life was going to pan out? That wherever she went, she’d find people who had killed, or were willing to do so? She’d just wanted some rest and the chance to talk with people, and instead she’d run into a killer. She wanted out. She wanted out now.

“M-my name is Lucia! Lu... Lucia del Pirlo!”

The words came out of Lucia’s mouth with more force than she knew she possessed. If it was true that this boy had killed before, and he was using it to his advantage... well, two could play at that game. Lucia felt sick at herself for considering it. But the alternative was a night wandering the resort alone, lost, and terrified.

“I... I have been in places like this since I... since I woke up. Where I have had to... to kill so that I can live. And... I did not want to do it. I... I do not want to do it again. B-but... but if I have t-to...”

Lucia realised she was crying again. She removed one, shaking hand from her gun, used the back of it to wipe her eyes, then resumed her previous position.

“S-so... please. I just want peace a-and rest...”

[Spindarene]

((Lily Ashburg continued from Come on Up to the House))

Lily meandered through the resort, trying to figure out her next move. It was so strange being alone, making all her decisions without someone else’s input. She knew she should find somewhere indoors to stay the night, but wasn’t feeling particularly sleepy and wanted to avoid small spaces for as long as she could.

She found herself walking back towards the beach, hoping to maybe sit and watch the waves for a while. There was nothing else to do, and it would probably take her mind off of everything that had happened with Dougie.

She wandered towards the water, so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she didn’t notice the person in front of her until they were only a few feet apart. Her gaze shot upwards and she felt a thrill of fear as she saw that it was the girl who’d murdered the boy back at the restaurant. Her stomach lurched and her heart pounded as she stared at the girl, and she took a couple steps backward, preparing to run.

As she started to move, however, she saw someone’s head peeking out from behind a chair. Shifting her focus to it, she saw that it was Norma-Jean Torkelson. Another lump next to Norma caught Lily’s eye and she saw with another jolt of fright that it was Marcus Redder.

Lily took a couple more steps backward before hesitating. She’d never really liked Norma. They hadn't interacted much as they'd had completely different interests and groups of friends, but Lily remembered a couple of unfriendly exchanges she'd had with Norma and Genesis, who'd seemed to be tied at the hip. On the other hand, Norma wasn’t a murderer.

Lily knew she should run. She was caught between two repeat killers, and her only reason for staying was someone who she didn't even like, and who was eventually going to die anyway.

Lily glanced over them again, observing that Lucia was crying and pointing her gun at the floor and Marcus was huddling behind a chair. The fact that she couldn't see him very well worried her, but he didn't seem immediately aggressive.

Maybe it was because she felt sorry for Norma, or guilty about how she'd left Dougie, Michael, and especially Valerie, who'd ended up dead because of her. Whatever the reason, Lily knew she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she left Norma here to die like this, knowing that she would be indirectly responsible. If things got bad Lily would leave, but she had to at least try to help Norma.

Raising her hands in a sign of surrender, she spoke.

“I’m not here to fight, I promise. I just want to talk.”

[Carrion Queen]

So things here were escalating rather quickly and not in the direction of anything good at all.

Marcus had jumped a little too enthusiastically at her suggestion that he be willing to mow down people to protect her. Here we had someone who was now seriously attached to her and unbalanced. Norma started to have some flashbacks to Misery and was suddenly highly aware of her shins.

Adding to that this new girl was ALSO a killer and to throw more on top of that, also began crying. As previously established, Norma did not have much experience in comforting people or dealing with the emotionally distressed. As a girl among many older brothers, it had never been her job to worry about the emotional fragility of anyone else.

She began to panic.

"Okaaaaay, so you can rest. Rest like….a couple feet away. And try not to move suddenly as you rest," she said slowly.


Then up walked Lily. Not someone she was particularly fond of, but not anyone she had some kind of sworn blood feud against or anything. She was just one of the mass of not-quite-as-cool kids at school. Being not terribly cool was kind of thrown out the window and she shot all the way up to the coolest kids on the beach list by virtue of not appearing to be either an emotional wreck or tearfully recounting her kills like this was death row Dr. Phil or something.

"Hey Lily," she said with as much enthusiasm as she could possibly muster. This turned out to be about half the normal amount present in genuine enthusiasm.

"So how are you…?" she trailed off awkwardly

[SansaSaver]

Marcus blinked and his eyes widened as he recognised the newest arrival on the beach; Lily Ashburg. They’d been fellow art buddies at school and, whilst they weren’t particularly close, it was nice to see a familiar face. It made everything feel just that little more like home, as though they were all just out for a casual day trip at the beach and not hopelessly trapped in a death game. But it was only a little. For no matter what he tried to tell himself or how strong a cocoon he tried to weave around himself, it would do nothing to dissolve the memories of what he’d done, of his sins.

Biting back the sick that threatened to come up as the memories flitted through his mind, Marcus took a deep breath and offered Lily a small wave as way of greeting as Norma spoke to her. While Lucia had given him a feeling of uneasiness, Lily gave him anything but - a sentiment that Norma thankfully shared. Whether it due was her familiar nature or the fact she wasn’t holding a dangerous weapon, he didn’t know. And it didn’t matter, either; all that mattered was that Norma remained safe and that there was no more bloodshed, that nobody else fell by his hand. If Lucia was willing to acquiesce to Norma’s offer that she seat herself down, and if Lily hadn’t changed from the sweet girl she’d been back at Whittree - he prayed she hadn’t changed, willed with every fibre of his being that she hadn’t been betrayed the same way he had - then everything could be fine, even if it was for just a little while.

Letting out the anxious breath that had hitched within his throat within the last few seconds as the reassurances he’d made for himself, Marcus gave a half-smile and relaxed his shoulders before an idea formed within his mind.

“Hey Lily,” he said softly, free hand grappling with the zipper of his backpack as he spoke. “You hungry? We’ve got food if you’d like some. You too, Lucia.”

It wasn’t much of an offering, but it was the least he could do to help them all get along.

[Pippi]

Lucia would never be entirely sure whether her words had as much as an effect as she’d hoped. She wasn’t certain whether Norma’s reaction was preferable or not, after all. She’d been granted respite, but not without clear reservations. Norma definitely didn’t feel too comfortable having Lucia nearby, but on the other hand, what had she expected? Really, part of her was glad she was being offered a place to stay for a while at all.

Before any further developments could occur, a new figure appeared, drawing Norma and Marcus’ attention away from herself. Whether that was for better or worse, again, Lucia would probably never know. She too turned to look at the newcomer, and her eyes widened as she recognised who it was. She couldn’t attach a name, but she could attach a location. One of the girls at the diner, back on the first day.

For some reason, she hadn’t expected to see her again. Not alive, at least.

Diner Girl approached the group with almost the exact same greeting as Lucia had done, and Norma handily gave her a name; Lily. All the while, Lucia stood where she had for the past few minutes, not daring to move despite the offer Norma had given her. She stood and shivered, still keeping the gun in her grip and pointed straight down, no matter how much it threatened to shake out of her hands.

It wasn’t until Marcus offered Lily some food that Lucia finally stirred, taking tentative footsteps towards the group, millimetres at a time. Almost all of her attention was focused on the gun, making sure it wasn’t pointing anywhere near any of the other three.

“C-can I... some food would be... I would be very much grateful for it. I... cannot remember the last time I had something to eat...”

Lucia realised she was probably much closer than Norma would have wanted, but she hoped she could forgive her for that. No matter what she’d said earlier, she had absolutely no intention of harming any of them. Or anyone else if she could help it, for that matter.

“I p-promise... I will not hurt any of you. I promise...”

[Spindarene]

“No um, thanks” Lily replied distractedly to Marcus's question, hastily stepping back as Lucia came forward to get food. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when Lucia spoke.

Lily's brow furrowed as she looked at them, wondering what on earth was going on. Everyone seemed tense, but all three of them were trying to be polite. She should have been relieved that Marcus and Lucia seemed to be friendly, but it actually made her more anxious.

Lucia seemed very emotionally unstable, which meant that no matter how polite she was right now, any minute she could go on a shooting spree.

Lily hadn't been very close with Marcus back home, but when they had interacted he'd seemed nice, so she had no idea why he’d decided to kill three people. Maybe he and Lucia were trying for the ten kills? If that was the case, especially considering how far behind Jewel they both were, there was no reason for them to let her and Norma go.

She needed to leave now, while they were preoccupied with each other and Norma. Lily wasn’t exactly athletic, but she could at least make a run for it and hope that Lucia’s aim wasn’t very good.

As she took another couple steps backward, however, she stopped. Her plan was essentially to use Norma as fodder. If she did that, Lily was no better than Marcus or Lucia, or any of the other killers out here.

Clenching her hands to stop them from shaking, Lily took a deep breath and spoke.

"Um, I really didn't mean to--I was just walking and...I'll go somewhere else, okay? Um, Norma, did you want to come with me?"

((Lily Ashburg continued in Stuck in the Middle with You))

[Carrion Queen]

"Yes," Norma said, bluntly and firmly.

She took up her spear and her bag and slowly, as if doing a hostage exchange, scooted towards Lily. Did she like her at school? Resounding no. However, was she crying and/or a murderer? Also no, so it didn't speak poorly for her. The could hash out their personal problems later.

Once safely near Lily she linked arms with her and trying to remain casual, lest the change spook the other two.

"We'll just go….over there. It's snowy here and my shoes are kind of thin so over there is probably the place for me. It's really great here though I mean, for people with better shoes so you two can hang out and we'll see you a little later probably."

It appeared to be working? She smiled nervously at all three. It was a real shame, she used to love the beach.

((Norma Torkleson continued elsewhere ))