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D/N · #1

(Ricky Fortino continued from Watch Your Step)

[Note - got mod permission to post a one-shot here, so it can be closed at any time]

"What the--- what the fuck, man!"

Ricky Fortino turned back from where he'd vomited into the sand, wiping his mouth, and looked back at the thing on the beach, needing to see it a second time to confirm what was there.

Yup, it was there, all right. James Mulzet had no head.

JAMES MULZET HAD NO FUCKIN' HEAD.

Oh, his head was still THERE, of course, his head wasn't GONE or anything, it just wasn't attached to his body anymore. It was sitting in the sand a foot away from his body, staring up, eyes open. It looked dead. It looked waxy or something, like some dead fucking fish that had washed up on the beach and just happened to be shaped like a human head. It was fuckin' surreal, and it was disgusting, and he probably would have thrown up again if he'd eaten anything more than shitty crackers over the course of the last day.

Ricky tried to piece it all together. He'd been following Thea and whoever else had come along with them from the house of mirrors, they'd been heading south and everything had seemed to be going just fine. Then he'd stopped to catch his breath, and the next thing he knew, he'd seen James off in the distance, moving away. And Ricky had turned and gone after him. It seemed like a good idea at the time. James was Thea's boyfriend, he'd been with them before, and Ricky'd be able to catch up with him easily. And once he did that, then they'd all catch up with Thea and the rest, and it'd all be good.

And, of course, James had a gun. That was another reason. Not that Ricky was trying to GET James' gun for himself or anything (he thought), but having the guy with the gun by your side seemed a hell of a lot smarter than having a trowel or a fan or... whatever the fuck Thea'd been as a weapon.

Unfortunately, things hadn't worked out the way he'd hoped. First he'd lost James' trail, and by the time he figured that out, Thea was way, way, gone. Ricky hadn't TOLD her he was going off or anything, because he'd figured it wouldn't take any time, so he was left alone in the goddamn woods, which was the one thing he absolutely, positively, DID NOT want to be at any time in this goddamn game. Then, instead of just giving up and trying to catch up with Thea, he'd stubbornly and stupidly kept trying to find James, out of some fuckin' macho male thing or something, telling himself that since he sorta knew where to find Thea and the rest of them, he could head that way at any time.

So off to this goddamn side of the island he'd gone, and when he'd finally been ready to give up and try his luck going back in the other direction, he'd seen what might have been James near the ocean. And then... Ricky didn't even fucking know what had gone on. He'd had to make his way through this wooded area before he reached him, and at some point he'd seen some group of students go by, although the only one he saw clearly was some chick he didn't recognize. Emma something? Ah, who gave a fuck.

Then, after all that, he'd finally found James Mulzet, and the kid HAD NO FUCKING HEAD.

Now that he looked at the body again, Ricky realized that he didn't even know what to feel. Well, he knew that it was fucking disgusting, that was obvious. But holy Christ, how in the fuck was he even supposed to be reacting here? What, should he say a prayer for the headless body? He sure as hell wasn't gonna touch it or bury it or anything like that. Oh, and James' bag was still there, but his gone was gone, probably taken by whichever one of those kids had CUTS HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF.

And forget James, what the hell was Ricky supposed to do with himself now? This whole detour had been nothing but one big fuck-up after another. Christ, this whole FUCKING TRIP had been one big fuck-up after another, hadn't it? Just what the fuck was happening here?

Just... he needed to get the hell out of here. Maybe he could find the group he'd left and get back with them. Back to where things might sorta still make sense. Ricky grabbed James' bag, thinking dimly that he should maybe give it to Thea or something, he didn't know, how the fuck was he supposed to tell Thea that someone cut her boyfriend's head off, and took off running, back in the direction he'd came.

(Ricky Fortino continued in Cleanliness and Loneliness)