Nightcall

[ItzToxie]

((Jonathan Gulley and Michael Crowe continued from Let it Die ))

"Hold still-"

Jonathan winced as he pushed the needle through Michael's flesh, dragging the thread through it. "S-sorry! I'm almost done!"

"Dammit Jon, just gimme the needle and I'll do it myself!"

Jonathan pushed through the last spot of the cut, pulling the wire tight.

"You okay?"

"I've had worse." Michael gave Jon that same stupid fucking smile he did when he was guilty of something. Jonathan was glad he did though, even after what happened to him, that expression wasn't ruined from that slash moving all the way up it. It made it easier to recognize him.

"I can tell, how'd all of this happen. What was Alessio's problem, you know, when you threatened to hang him from the bell tower."

Michael looked to the sky for a moment, before buttoning up his blue aloha shirt. "Well... that wasn't a threat." Jon was taken aback, Michael wasn't seriously considering hunting him was he? "You aren't gonna tr-" Michael interrupted him. "Nah, I mean I already did it."

Jonathan stared blankly at Michael. "What?"

"I put him in a straight jacket and dangled him off a bell tower."

Jonathan just had to ask why, he felt he was about to go on a roller coaster with this one.

"Coz' he killed people. Me and Maria found him and we dangled him from the bell tower because he was a dick. He wasn't even remorseful for it then."

Jonathan had mixed feelings about this. On one hand he could understand why he did it, but at the same time, the reasoning behind why was escaping him.

"What happened next?"

Michael's lips curled together as he tried to think of a decent answer. He guessed putting it bluntly would explain it the easiest. "Audrey walked up and started bitching. Maria left and I just kinda flopped Al back inside the bell tower. Audrey got a little bit angry, so then I got a little bit angry. I figured I should have dropped Al though, to be honest, coz that was Maria's sword he was using in the pub. He prolly killed her. My mistake."

Jonathan had some trouble putting things together, the main thing was how Michael was so calm about it. Earlier he looked like he'd fall apart at the seams, and now he's okay-ish?

"Wait, what do you think happened to Maria? Why'd she leave? Was Audrey waving a gun?"

Michael shook his head, Jon was sure he heard a laugh, there was something sorrowful about it though. "Worse. She used the moral high ground. That shit killed more people than anything here. She walked up and bitched that we should give Al hugs and kisses or some shit and that it'd all be okay. I guess Maria bought it and left. I got fed up and gave her what she wanted. She valued the life of a killer? Fine, he gets to live."

"So wait, you let Alessio live, and he goes after Maria, then goes after you?"

"Yeah."

"You probably should have just dropped him-" Jonathan covered his mouth. Did he say that? It was so fast, he thought it was just a thought, but then he heard it, and felt it slip out. He couldn't believe he just said that. "I-I didn't mean that, it's jus- he almost killed you. I just find you, a-a-and you almos-"

Michael pulled Jonathan close. "Don't worry about it Jon, what happened happened, there's nothing we could've done to change it. Even back then had little choice."

"I'm sorry, it's just, Alvaro killed Barry and... I shouldn't have just stood there and watched. I tried to catch up, but I was frozen, I..."

"You tried your best Jon. That's all you could've done. It's all I've done, but unlike you I can't say I did it for the right reasons. I used this game... I used it to fulfill some shitty fantasies about being some super hero. All I can say I've done was piss off damn near every killer on the island, cept one. One of 'em can't be pissed anymore. He can't be anything."

Jonathan looked towards Michael, what was he saying?

"You remember Tarquin right? Paintball fight? I don't know. I think he made the same mistakes I did. He was the worst case of enforced method acting you'd see. He had the part down. He pretended that he was some big bad motherfucker who'd kill everyone and win. Only one kill versus all the Isabels and Alvaros out there, heh. For what it's worth, he had the part down. He's why I'm so goddamn ugly right now. The only thing that didn't work was the look in his eyes. That gave it away. You wanna know something funny?"

Jonathan looked at Michael wordlessly.

"Neither of us wanted to do it, I think. The only reason I'm here, and he's not, is because he hesitated just a bit longer. I dunno what that says about me. Some dumb kids trying to play pretend. I tried to be the hero, and it just didn't work. I tried though, I tried my hardest, and even that wasn't enough. Once you realize it doesn't matter, well, you can't go back. I saw it a long time ago, but I kept following it, I thought it'd change. It didn't."

It was then Jonathan understood what Michael was talking about. "You're saying we should give up, right?"

"If you want. The option's there, and maybe, maybe we'd feel better if we just stopped trying. I don't mean like, commit suicide but, whatever we do, I don't think we could change anything. Not alone anyways. We have this idea put into our heads that we could do anything, but it's wrong. That you could just give your life for the cause and everything would be okay for everyone else. Why's it gotta be us? Why can't someone else do it? Because it's our 'duty'? Duty to who? They don't give a shit about us, they never did."

Jonathan thought about it. What could he accomplish? All the effort he put in, and nothing changed except his friends died. All the effort Michael put in, and all he got were some scars and dead friends. They were all they had left. Whatever they did, it wouldn't matter, nothing would change.

"Jon, we don't have to keep doing this. We could go somewhere else, avoid everyone. If we're not gonna survive, at least we can live until then right?"

Jonathan thought about what Michael was telling him. He thought about Barry, and all he told him. He thought about everything everyone has died for. He realized that nothing more could've been done for them.

He's right, you know.

"Okay."

((Jonathan Gulley and Michael Crowe continued elsewhere.))