Kismet

[Applesintime]

((Madeleine Molliqaj continued from The World Ended on a Snowy Day))

Madeleine was relieved to hear that Jennifer wasn't on the announcements. She was safe and alive and that meant that her efforts in distracting Salem hadn't been for nothing. But admittedly, hearing that he'd went on to kill another person that day - Colm. He was an ambassador for one of the zoos nearby but she wasn't sure which one. Even still, he'd always seemed like a nice guy, though they'd never interacted much.

What was worse was the announcement that half of their classmates who'd gone on the trip were dead. And that was only halfway through the announcement, so now there were more dead bodies on this island than warm ones.

Sixty, seventy people, gone just like that. Killed by their peers — some who seemed to be taking to their new role as a murderer like a duck to water, but Madeleine wasn't going to name names because even if they were a murderer she felt bad talking about people behind their backs — or succumbing to the environment around them. Kyle Emerson, Colm Forsyth, Chloé Delacroix. Just three names out of the growing pile. People who'd gone on a school trip expecting a winter wonderland and plenty of skiing and snowing and hot chocolate, met with nothing but hatred, malice and oblivion. And here she was, sword in hand, plotting to add another name to that list. Joshua James.

It was a cycle, wasn't it? This whole thing. You killed until someone killed you, and then your killer would find it easier to keep going, even if the next person they kill had done nothing wrong, was innocent. Cassie had been killed for nothing by Joshua, and now she was plotting to take revenge on him. To stop him from killing more people.

It was more than that, though. A little part of her wanted to see him suffer like Cassie had done, to bleed to death in agony and pain knowing that he was alone and that nobody was coming to save him, except Madeleine wasn't so sure if that was a little part of her anymore or if it was a big part and in a way that was comfortingly frightening. She was out for blood in a way that she'd never felt before, and that was frightening, but at the same time maybe that meant she had what it took to bring Josh down and that comforted her a little.

It just kinda... felt like she'd lost control over everything. Like the second that Josh had fired that gun, killed Cassie, he'd taken control of her all over again. It was all about him, and not in the typical way that a girl obssesses over a boy. More so that she wanted, needed to kill him.

Maybe killing him would let her get some of that back. Maybe if she was aware of it that cycle wouldn't repeat with her.

((Madeleine Molliqaj continued in Carve What You Feel Into Me))