Imprimatura

[Rorick Skyve†]

Jesus, what were they doing back there? Sounded like he was missin' on hell of a party, the kind where everyone involved smashed up the whole place. Judging from that creaky-creaky sound and the other sounds, they were doing some serious heavy-lifting, like. Was about time he reached them, felt like he was playing hide and seek with a really shitty opponent.

Aiden turned another corner, slowing down his pace a bit so he didn't run into the opposite wall like a raging bull or just a goddamn idiot. There they were, finally, the whole bunch all gathered together, a little down the hallway. First thing he noticed was the place they were standing at. Like, fuck, was that a cell or something? What the hell were they doing standing in front of that dirty old thing? Weird.

Counted three peeps, two in front of that cell thingie and one other standing a bit farther away, all by herself. Was that Scarley Scarls? Yup, sure was, good old Scarlett in the flesh. Sweet.

And that dude standing there with the other chick, didn't recognize him instantly. Was a darkie though, so maybe Danny or Barry? Yeah, had to be one of those jokers. Aiden gave the guy a closer look, analyzed his body structure and stuff - made him feel kinda weird, really, like, no homo. But yeah, that had to be Barry, could tell from him being all tall like that and his build. Not too bad either, like, 'slong as he wasn't running into Darius or Bradman, all was puh-retty peachy.

No idea who that girl next to Barry was though, didn't help that they both had their backs to him and were staring into that cell like someone was breakdancing in there or some shit. Oh well, better be late to a party than..not being there. Damn, thought that'd sound cooler.

Aiden rubbed the back of his neck for a short moment, then started to walk towards the bunch. Like, maybe they were all still thinkin' this was serious or something. Couldn't have been the only smart cookie who figured out it was just a bunch of bull, could he? Like, no way. Those guys had to know what was up too.

"Heya folks!" He waved at them from afar, getting that old grin on his face going. "What's the story here? Whatcha make all that noise for?"

[Primrosette]

Scarlett was only about ten steps away from the boy and the girl. She couldn't see them from behind. But they had managed to get a door open. And the boy fell down onto the ground. That was when Scarlett recognized who the boy was. Barry Banks. She hadn't talked him much. She only briefly said 'his' and 'byes' to him. She still had no idea who the girl was. It didn't help that she was looking at the back of the girl's head. She heard a voice from inside the door. So that was the person who was yelling for help! She should have been there sooner. She could have been an extra helping hand.

Scarlett moved closer to Barry and the girl until she was right behind them and she looked into the room. Oh, it was Jonathan Gulley. The best friend of Michael Crowe. Jonathan was a really nice guy but he was best friends with a bully. Although, none of that really mattered right now as they were in a terrible situation. So she didn't have a right to complain.

"Hey, are you--"

Scarlett stopped talking as she heard a familiar voice calling out to them. It couldn't be him. Could it? Scarlett turned her head in the direction of where she heard the voice. And yes, it was him. Aiden. He even had a big grin on his face. So he had heard all the noise. That wasn't good if he had a dangerous weapon on him. Scarlett tried to stop that thought. She didn't want to think badly of him. She didn't move away from the others as she thought that Aiden would come towards them anyway.

"Hey, Aiden. I'm glad to see that you are alright." Scarlett spoke a bit louder and she was being as honest as she could. She didn't want to imagine seeing Aiden dead or anyone else for that matter. "These guys were just helping out Jonathan by the looks of it."

[Cicada]

The door was vanished and vanquished. Conquered by the boy athlete, when Tina was conquered by it. The floor's riposte to her fall was lean and mean, it struck right into a flat bone on her hip like pestle upon mortar. Made such a sound too, though Tina herself remained silent as her body rocked with dull ache. Something else clattered to the floor, toothed body seeming to reach for the heavens before it's damp squeal collapsed into dust motes and silence.

Silence not for long. They seemed to be congregating. Back twisted into a knot and kink Tina could see the innocent pallor of face she'd seen before, and another face altogether built around the nose. They asked, they spoke. They shared faces. All the heads attached by thin sinews and flesh to bodies did, lips melting into something effervescent as vision briefly became a blur. Eyelids open, shut. Piston action like a machine. Like her legs as she suddenly felt herself clawing, scrambling for the nameless rod of weapon she had purchase to call her own.

Somehow, the air seemed noxious. A breath drawn was a breath short, and Tina had to let it out in a minuscule gasp. There were three groups now.

One of two, one of two, one of one.

[ItzToxie]

Jonathan looked at his rescuers for a few seconds before speaking again.

"Oh, hey Barry."

Jonathan got up and grabbed his bag. Turning back to his rescuers, he thought about how much he owed them. He'd have been screwed with a capital ess.

Jonathan cringed mentally at the thought of being trapped in that room any longer, he wanted to get out as soon as he can. He really didn't want to think about what would've happened if nobody came. He walked forward, unzipping his bag. He made a mental note that if he survived this, he would never, ever get himself arrested. Prisons are fucking scary.

Upon walking outside, he saw two others, Scarlet and 'Beaks'? He remembered him from the party. The good thing was if everyone stuck together, they'd have a good group going on.

His thoughts went back to his rescuers. "Oh, uhh." Jonathan rustled through his bag for a moment. "I owe you guys, big time, whatever my weapon is, you can have it!" Jonathan nervously laughed as he reached through his bag.

His smile quickly turned into a frown once he realized just what his weapon was. A tape recorder? Well... That'll be fucking useless. He put the tape recorder back, and fished out four of his ration bars. He hoped Tina and Barry would be okay with this. It kind of sucked he didn't have anything better to give them.

"These will probably be more help than a tape recorder..."

[Aura]

Barry stood up and dusted himself off. He would have bemoaned the fact that his new shorts had already gotten dirty if there had not been many, many more significant problems in his life at the moment that required greater attention. He readjusted the bag strap on his shoulder and looked to Jonathan, who was pulling something out of his bag.

His eyes widened in surprise once he realized that Jonathan was offering him some of his food. He honestly didn't know how to respond to that. Sure, Barry had just helped him out of a pretty big jam, so he's not surprised that he would want to return the favor but... giving him part of his assuredly limited food supply? That was unexpected. It was also a deal that Barry could not take in good conscience. He held up a hand and shook his head.

"Keep 'em. You're gonna need those just as much as I need mine."

After refusing Jonathan's kind offer, he heard a someone call out and looked over to see a couple of new faces show up. Barry dug into his memories to put names to faces, and came up with Scarlett and Beaks. He waved to them and gave them a friendly greeting.

"Hey there! We just had a little problem with a door, but it's all good now."

[Rorick Skyve†]

Some noises coming from even farther back there. What, were there even more peeps hiding back there? How deep did the rabbit hole go? Aiden stopped walking, froze in place and began rubbing the side of his nose.

Yep, another dude back there, just emerged from the shadows of that holding cell thingie. Oh, that guy, right. Jon...something, John, Johnny - Jonathan, right. Pal of the Crow dude, if he remembered correctly. What, had he managed to lock his own ass up in that cell? Like, that would have been kinda impressive, almost. Had to have happened though, seemed unlikely the orchestrators behind all this crap would purposely lock someone in somewhere. Like, woulda gone too far, even for this level of crazy bullshit that was happening.

Had to love Scarlett though. Girl could only make a man smile, like, just her attitude and stuff, like a little injection of happiness or something, to him at least. He gave her a two fingered salute, then watched Jonathan do his thing. Guy sure seemed a little tense and shit, others two. No way, they weren't really buyin' all this, were they?

Aiden waited until Barry had finished addressing him, then took another step forward, hands on his hip. "So you guys are sayin' he was locked up in there? For real?" He removed a hand from his hip and let it wander through his hair. Damn, stuff was felted, really needed to get himself under a shower as soon as all this was solved.

"Like, wow, that's really crazy and stuff. But anyway, what's all that weapon talk you're having there? Like, you're all looking and actin' like this actually means anything, all this hanky-panky here. I mean, we're just gonna walk our asses out of this place and then some people will pop out of some bushes and go 'Surprise!' or something, right?"

He looked at them, one after the other, a smile on his face, kinda. Still had no idea who that other girl was. Maybe he didn't need to.

"I mean, c'mon guys. Don't tell me I'm the only one not fallin' for this?"

[Primrosette]

Scarlett turned her head back to look at the other three. Jonathan seemed to be offering some of his rations to Barry and the other girl. She really wished that she knew her name. It wasn't clicking at all in her head. She could ask her later on. Barry had declined Jonathan's offer. Which seemed like a good idea to her. She wasn't sure what the girl would do though. Jonathan was possibly being a little too generous and that was worrying Scarlett a bit. She just didn't want Jonathan to be too trusting. Just in case....

Aiden was speaking to them again and Scarlett looked back at him, trying to stay calm. He wanted to know what was going on. And the talk about weapons were making her feel nervous. Jonathan had a tape recorder. She knew that it couldn't help Jonathan. She didn't even know what she had in her own bag. Aiden also seemed to believe that this was all a joke. How she wished that it was. She would hate to disappoint Aiden. But they really were trapped in a horrible place. She couldn't even lie and laugh about it herself.

Scarlett's expression was more uneasy on her face and she just focused on talking to Aiden. "....Aiden, I don't really think that this is a joke. I mean, we saw what they did to Mr. Graham.... They seem to be pretty serious about this...." Scarlett said softly as she raised her free hand to tap her collar lightly. "Also these collars don't seem to be fake. Sorry, Aiden."

[Cicada]

The camera was clearly not pointed her way, though it saw her all the same.

The boy they'd freed was of a soft and round quality, his hair erupting into the higher dimensions. Suddenly in his hands were blocks of cheap plastic in his hand whose crevasses and wrinkles disguised the value within. They could have gone in two directions, but suddenly just one. The one where the horizon would stretch to infinity. Her hands were set into a tremble, knuckles peeling. She felt a tension in her ankle. The one who had freed the boy seemed to have no intent for the bars. The tension fell. Tina stood still, having not budged an inch of limb. Relaxed, her neck could roll. Also regard the other group of two, separately.

But there were questions now. Friendly, mellifluous tones of something irrelevant.

"The bus windows. Too convenient they were all locked." Tones ugly, gritty. Tarry. Her throat seemed to itch.

Those windows hadn't budged under scrutiny and with a liberal smattering of palms. Tina spoke with the floor as her audience, her eyes briefly alighting before perching once more. A glimpse of some expansive gray canvas, flecked blue like egg shells. A structure of lips that didn't seem quite so sturdy. The colors faded into a dust-streaked shadow.

[ItzToxie]

Barry didn't accept his gift, so he held out his hand to Tina, but she seemed preoccupied by something else, like she was in a trance. Aiden spoke up about this whole thing being faked. As much a Jonathan wished it were true, he, and the others, knew it was not faked at all. Nobody would go through the trouble so cruel, not even the most morally bankrupt reality show kick starters would dream of doing this. Not with SOTF existing and all, no the only people morally bankrupt enough to put anyone in a scenario even remotely close to this, were the people who made SOTF themselves.

"Yeah, no way this is faked. No prank goes this far, not even shows like Scare Tactics."

Jonathan felt sorry for Aiden. He knew Aiden was just acting like he didn't know. He wished he had the same feelings about this, but he just couldn't deny it. He couldn't lie to himself like that. There were 100 kids on the island, and if no successful escapes were made, only one could leave. The key word was could. The one would have to kill someone to be allowed to go home, along with the fact that if they were hurt bad enough in the end, there would be a chance it was all for nothing.

"We're screwed..."

Jonathan could feel his eyes welling up, a one out of one hundred chance. He'd never play the guitar again. He'd never see his family again. He'd never amount to anything outside of another statistic. This was it. This was the rest of his life, and he didn't even get to spend it with the one he loved.

No.

No, no, no. If this was the rest of his life, he was going to do it his way. He may not be able to see his family again, and he may never see his guitar again, but he will do something about it. He'd amount to something, and he'd find Michael, he'd spend his last days with him. He knew he was too dumb to make an escape attempt, but he was also too dumb to give up either. He might not escape, but he will be remembered. He didn't know what for, but he wasn't going to go out like he never made it out of that room.

It was selfish of him though. He couldn't get out of an old prison cell himself, how would he do anything else on his own?

He was going to need help if he wanted to make it.

"Actually, no, I-I think, we- you, uhh.."

He rubbed his eyes, hoping it wasn't obvious that he started to tear up. They all had something in common, maybe they could work with it? They had to right? Besides, he owed them for saving him.

"Think we should all group up? We'll all last longer if we stay together than if we split up."

The words blurred together too fast, he hoped he didn't slur too much, but he had to say it. He might not be that bright, but he was smart enough to know one thing, they would be screwed if they didn't stick together.

[Aura]

Barry was caught off guard by Beaks' reaction to their ordeal. He seemed to think that everything was just an elaborate prank, or some kind of act that was supposed to make them all look like fools. The others immediately rounded on him to point out the holes in his theory, from Samuel Graham being killed right in front of them to the collars around their necks. Barry didn't feel like there was much to add to the takedown of Beaks' theories, so he just put his hands on his hips and sadly shook his head. He didn't really need words to express how he felt about the situation.

He looked over to Jonathan, who was trying to say something but seemed to be having some trouble getting the words out. He was about to ask what he was trying to say before Jonathan managed to get it out on his own. He wanted everyone grouped there to join up and work together, like a team.

Barry immediately smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's what we need to be doing. Teamwork." He liked this plan. He liked it a lot. He always felt most confident when he was on the field with the soccer team, so why not form a team on the island? By working together, they had a better shot at finding a way to survive than if they all broke off on their own. This could work. It was going to work. He could feel it.

[Rorick Skyve†]

Aiden still didn't move. He looked from Scarlett to that foreign chick, then to Jonathan, then to Barry as they spoke. He heard what they said, but he wasn't sure he understood them. No, he was pretty fucking sure he didn't want to, didn't want to hear any more of that.

"Yeah, but like..."

That was all he got out. He was still ruffling his hair, the hand in question starting to get all jittery. What, did nobody have his back on this on one? Christ on a stick, this was just total horse hockey, complete fucking nonsense, that's what it was.

"Like..."
He began to feel the itch around his neck again. Right, the collar. Fuck, he had totally forgotten about this thing. Kinda gotten used to it, with it being there all the time and stuff. Musta been kinda like how someone wearing glasses got used to them over time, at least that was how Sharon had described it to him. Oh fuck, Sharon. He had promised to send her a message, tell her that her baby bro was all crispy and fine. Couldn't do that now, even his goddamn phone had been nicked. Like...that really was kind of too much, wasn't it? But maybe-

"I mean, what if this is just some sort of imposters doing work here? The real deal, those old SOTF cripples, aren't they like, all dead already? Wasn't that a thing?"

He wasn't sure, not really. He only remembered the news vaguely, been years since he saw that broadcast. His parents had flipped their shit back then, gone scaredy cat mode, told him to watch that thing about those psychos who kidnapped peeps like him for fun. He could have sworn it said they were all done and dealt with, wiped out good. Just had to be it. This couldn't happen to him, it just couldn't!

He raised a hand to feel at the collar thingie. Solid as heck, no way he could do much about that. Jesus.

And that whole business with Mister Graham? Like, he had to be in on all this too, didn't he? Like, if all this was a prank, then that seriously was too far gone, pretending to be dead and all and - no, fucking damnit, there were no 'ifs', this had to be fake, end of story. Nothing those peeps said would change that. They weren't gonna get his head spinnin' as well. He was better than this, to be sure.

"Not buyin' it, not buyin' any of this." Aiden tried to keep his voice down, but it got increasingly harder. He took a step backwards, then another one.

"I'm gonna get outta here, for serious. Maybe we leave this building and it will all be cleared up. Gotta be it."

He took another step backwards. He had to get out of here. This place was drivin' him crazy.

"Anyone with me?"

[Primrosette]

Scarlett wasn't the only one who seemed to think that all of this was serious business. The girl and Jonathan seemed to be on her side and she only felt more bad for Aiden who was in denial. She couldn't blame him for that. She really wished that she would wake up at home in her comfy, warm bed. But no. She wasn't in some dream. She was in a nightmare with other students and she really didn't want anyone to die. It would be horrid if she saw someone laying in a pool of their blood with a spear impaled through their body.

Scarlett shivered at the thought and she pulled it to the back of her mind. She was trying so hard to not lost hope but she was struggling to do so. How could she not feel so helpless in this situation? What could she do? She didn't have the guts to kill anyone and she also didn't want to die. She really wanted to find Jerry. Was he alright? Was he safe? She hoped Jerry was with someone who could protect him and hopefully not kill him. She had sat next to him and had a quiet conversation with him. Before everything were to hell.....

Scarlett heard Jonathan saying something about sticking in a group. A group? The five of them? Scarlett liked the idea of that and Barry seemed to like the idea himself. She didn't know the girl's opinion yet. But she can wait to hear it. They would be more safer in a group and they could watch their backs together. It sounded like a perfect idea.

However, Scarlett realized that Aiden was backing off and he didn't seem to believe what they were saying. Scarlett couldn't help but feel awful for him. Aiden seemed to be separating from them. But he was up for people to go with him. If none of the others wanted to go with him and they stayed together. Then Scarlett would go with him. She didn't want to let him go alone. She couldn't deal with the guilt of Aiden being alone and possibly being scared. She made up her mind.

Scarlett glanced at Barry and she let out a small sigh. She really was going to go with Aiden. It's strange how she didn't really like him that much but now since she gotten to know him a little before the trip, she felt like she had to be a reliable friend to him. "As much as I would like the five of us to stay in a group, I think I will stick with Aiden for now." She told them as she stepped backwards from them slowly and she was edging closer to where Aiden was. "I'm sure that the three of you can work as a team. Unless you would like to come with us."

Scarlett stopped where she was and she twirled around to face Aiden, giving him a small smile. She hoped that she wasn't going to regret this.

[Cicada]

An arranged bouquet of fingers was pointed in her direction, so that her eyes could look into those of the fleshy piglets. Tension neatly rode on the ball of her ankle, her weight briefly resting on the potential of moving itself elsewhere, at pumping speeds.

They spoke further, Tina spoke nil. Almost like she couldn't breathe, like the air preferred itself in other lungs that weren't her own. Something vised her throat. A spasm. If she coughed she'd have stolen something that didn't belong to her. It took a forceful swallow to sooth the throat. Nothing went down but specks and flakes of dry.

They'd been here an hour of a minute. Tina hadn't been breathing for most of that time, somehow.

Teamwork. An astute observation. One of two, one of two. The one with nose distinctively painted onto his face wore his voice steeled like weapons. Sword and shield, perhaps. His blood and marrow sluiced, surging in a direction that lay beyond a gate. The girl followed him, wearing her own facial features of some sort of tiny form.

Tina felt the unsought idea of her heels grinding into the faded plush of her sneakers. The heavy specters of Cochise flesh shrunk in stature until her back was melted into a wall. Her eyes expanded into the infinite horizon of eroded floor tiling.

One of one.

[ItzToxie]

Aiden still didn't believe them. He had to see for himself if this was true or not. Maybe he was right? If this all was a prank, it was not funny. Not in the least bit. But if he were right, then everyone would be outside, maybe at a last day of school party or something? Maybe this was a police exercise to show what happened if your class was chosen by the SOTF terrorists? It could be a new type of fire drill. Yeah...

Except Jonathan knew that wouldn't be the case. There was the fact that if someone had done this as a prank, they'd be risking getting sued. There were no contracts to sign, No safety protocols, nothing. Who ever did this would face a class action law suit that'd bankrupt anyone.

This was real, and knowing the people in his class, their futures weren't too bright. Aiden and Scarlet were leaving the place on their own. They were all signing their death warrant by splitting up. Jonathan couldn't let that happen.

Jonathan turned to Barry, the only one who seemed to agree with him.

"We should go after them, right?"

[Aura]

Barry was surprised that Beaks was still running with the theory that all of this was just a big prank set up for whatever reason. Personally, Barry had thrown out any idea of their situation not being real once he saw Samuel Graham get his head blasted open, but he doubted that would be enough to change Beaks' mind. Besides, trying to force his own opinions on other people had never really been his thing in the first place. But the fact that Beaks was planning on walking right out the door... that didn't sit too well with him. He wanted to make sure that they had time to fully realize their situation before heading out into whatever was outside.

"Hey Beaks, are you sure that's a good idea?" Barry said to the shorter boy. "I mean, we have no idea what's out there. I think it would probably be better for us to stick together and figure things out here, you know?"

Barry had never been the greatest at speaking aside from giving pep talks in the locker room, but he hoped that Beaks would give him a listening ear. For now, all he wanted was to try to help as many people as he possibly could, and the more people stuck around, the more he could help.