((Ashlee Donovan continued from The Hunt is On))
Time passed.
The announcement came and went twice.
Day turned to night turned to day turned to night turned to day.
And everything was still on their end.
Ashlee felt… bored? No. No, not the right word. Restless. Useless. Depressed. Sad. It made her think of what it was like during quarantine, even more so. Living, but only barely. The loneliness, the isolation, the fear, the inability to go anywhere, do anything, be anything. But this time, she heard about all sorts of things from the announcements, and she wanted to cry again.
But she had to stay strong. For everyone. Keep that hope up.
She’d at one point took the emergency blanket and from her daypack, and, after arranging the tables and chairs into the right position, made it a fort. A very small fort, but a fort. It was something she did a lot back home, right? During quarantine. A few times Ashlee had attended Zoom class while clearly sitting inside her fort, perhaps with a bit of food while her mic was off.
Ashlee giggled at the memory. But then remembered that some of her classmates were already dead. Then she couldn’t laugh.
Her head poked out of the fort. She felt a little dizzy. Being covered helped with hiding tears sometimes.
But she smiled a little bit.
Fort Hunting Lodge
((Victor Grail continued from The Hunt Is On))
Two days.
In all of two days ... nothing had happened. It has just been them hanging around, listening to Danya list off the people who had died. Twice. He'd had some of his Jim to keep himself up. He had a team that he could lead. He'd known a few of them. Hell, he could tolerate a few of them - Mitch had been, well not an active hinderance. Just a passive hinderance. He'd worked out with Spike in Body Improvement. He hadn't been that bad.
He was just leaning his head back on the corner between the wall and a weird thing that Ashlee was sleeping in, trying to get some sleep under his blanket as Day Three of the end of his life started.
He hated it - he had to stay awake to be alert, but he needed sleep to be alert, too. And it had been comin on eighteen or something hours. He didn't know.
Two days.
In all of two days ... nothing had happened. It has just been them hanging around, listening to Danya list off the people who had died. Twice. He'd had some of his Jim to keep himself up. He had a team that he could lead. He'd known a few of them. Hell, he could tolerate a few of them - Mitch had been, well not an active hinderance. Just a passive hinderance. He'd worked out with Spike in Body Improvement. He hadn't been that bad.
He was just leaning his head back on the corner between the wall and a weird thing that Ashlee was sleeping in, trying to get some sleep under his blanket as Day Three of the end of his life started.
He hated it - he had to stay awake to be alert, but he needed sleep to be alert, too. And it had been comin on eighteen or something hours. He didn't know.
Survivor: UCONN - Seriously, it's awesome!
Version 8
S001: KAEDE TSURUMI: "Eeep! I-I'm so sorry! I-I'll try not to get in your w-way next time!" Status: ACTIVE
S024: VICTOR GRAIL: "I didn't give you the lead so that you could lose it! I guess it's up to me to carry us after all." Status: ACTIVE
S103: JOAN LEAVEN Status: ACTIVE
S129: DAVID WORTH: Status: ACTIVE
Version 8
S001: KAEDE TSURUMI: "Eeep! I-I'm so sorry! I-I'll try not to get in your w-way next time!" Status: ACTIVE
S024: VICTOR GRAIL: "I didn't give you the lead so that you could lose it! I guess it's up to me to carry us after all." Status: ACTIVE
S103: JOAN LEAVEN Status: ACTIVE
S129: DAVID WORTH: Status: ACTIVE
(Karen Nguyen, continued from The Hunt is On)
It had been two days since they had held up in the lodge. They had to listen to the announcements twice (one for the first day, and one for the second day). Karen kept a mental list of the victims and their killers. She noticed Beatrice Briggs wasn’t listed as a killer nor a victim. Either she had no intention of using that axe, or she hadn’t used it yet.
Regardless, Karen felt thankful that she’d been able to remain safe place. And she was thankful the lodge hadn’t become a danger zone, otherwise everyone here would have no choice but to vacate. Where would they go next? Would everyone even want to stay together? Perhaps this would be a discussion to have when everyone was awake.
Last night, Karen had a dream. In it, her parents were there, with their backs turned. No matter how loud Karen tried to shout to them, she couldn’t get their attention. Eventually she’d get frustrated and run away from them, towards an unknown destination.
Karen couldn’t help but dwell on her dream. She had always resented the fact that her parents were so controlling. However, she still wanted her parents to approve her own path in life. Now that she was stuck here, did it even matter anymore?
It had been two days since they had held up in the lodge. They had to listen to the announcements twice (one for the first day, and one for the second day). Karen kept a mental list of the victims and their killers. She noticed Beatrice Briggs wasn’t listed as a killer nor a victim. Either she had no intention of using that axe, or she hadn’t used it yet.
Regardless, Karen felt thankful that she’d been able to remain safe place. And she was thankful the lodge hadn’t become a danger zone, otherwise everyone here would have no choice but to vacate. Where would they go next? Would everyone even want to stay together? Perhaps this would be a discussion to have when everyone was awake.
Last night, Karen had a dream. In it, her parents were there, with their backs turned. No matter how loud Karen tried to shout to them, she couldn’t get their attention. Eventually she’d get frustrated and run away from them, towards an unknown destination.
Karen couldn’t help but dwell on her dream. She had always resented the fact that her parents were so controlling. However, she still wanted her parents to approve her own path in life. Now that she was stuck here, did it even matter anymore?
[S119 - Julia Guercio - continued from The Hunt Is On]
They were surviving.
It had been two nights without much sleep. Every single time she had nodded off, she would immediately jerk awake either at the creak of a floorboard or the whistle from the wind outside. Relaxing felt impossible even though the troupe were doing the best they could to comfort each other.
The sharp reality that other people were actually playing this sick game was a bitter pill to swallow. Yes there was the whole Beatrice thing but as the first two reports came and went, each name being read out as a victim to this horror sent shivers down her spine. These were just kids after all; teenagers with their futures ahead of them. During the first report Julia struggled to understand how this was all happening. What could possibly drive somebody to actually kill a classmate? Even if it was just a stranger you passed by at the lockers that was still a person; what had happened to their humanity? However as the time rolled by, the mundaneness of being secured in their fort had given them all endless time to think. To contemplate everything. By the second report the names no longer shocked her in the same way. This was really happening after all.
She had started to see that living in fear could drive you to do unthinkable, crazy things. In the desperation to survive could you really blame them? Everybody wanted to go home. To embrace their family, share memories with their friends. Julia had spent a lot of the second day thinking about her parents, her sister. Those were her rock and she knew the chances of her ever seeing them again was low. She was by no means weak, but she doubted her killer instinct if it actually required it. Flashbacks to how frozen she felt confronted by Beatrice’s axe haunted her whenever she closed her eyes.
The fortitude given by the others at the bar was her only security at this point. Without them she had no idea where she’d be right now. Curled up hidden in a cupboard? By the coast? Dead?
It wasn’t worth worrying over. Not for now at least. They were a band - locked in together with that desire to survive. They had drank together, shared their supplies, talked through life and death. There was safety in numbers. They could do this forever.
They had to keep surviving.
They were surviving.
It had been two nights without much sleep. Every single time she had nodded off, she would immediately jerk awake either at the creak of a floorboard or the whistle from the wind outside. Relaxing felt impossible even though the troupe were doing the best they could to comfort each other.
The sharp reality that other people were actually playing this sick game was a bitter pill to swallow. Yes there was the whole Beatrice thing but as the first two reports came and went, each name being read out as a victim to this horror sent shivers down her spine. These were just kids after all; teenagers with their futures ahead of them. During the first report Julia struggled to understand how this was all happening. What could possibly drive somebody to actually kill a classmate? Even if it was just a stranger you passed by at the lockers that was still a person; what had happened to their humanity? However as the time rolled by, the mundaneness of being secured in their fort had given them all endless time to think. To contemplate everything. By the second report the names no longer shocked her in the same way. This was really happening after all.
She had started to see that living in fear could drive you to do unthinkable, crazy things. In the desperation to survive could you really blame them? Everybody wanted to go home. To embrace their family, share memories with their friends. Julia had spent a lot of the second day thinking about her parents, her sister. Those were her rock and she knew the chances of her ever seeing them again was low. She was by no means weak, but she doubted her killer instinct if it actually required it. Flashbacks to how frozen she felt confronted by Beatrice’s axe haunted her whenever she closed her eyes.
The fortitude given by the others at the bar was her only security at this point. Without them she had no idea where she’d be right now. Curled up hidden in a cupboard? By the coast? Dead?
It wasn’t worth worrying over. Not for now at least. They were a band - locked in together with that desire to survive. They had drank together, shared their supplies, talked through life and death. There was safety in numbers. They could do this forever.
They had to keep surviving.
((Karin Han continued from Drops of Jupiter))
The sun rose, the sun set, the moon emerged and slunk back into the dark, and dawn came again.
Both times, Karin sat quietly and paid attention, filing mental notes based on the happenings. Kitty Graves, surprisingly not who she and Soo-Bin would have named as John Endecott's aspiring serial killer (hi, Alex Avenasian!) was on a tear. Beefatrice Briggs hadn't shown up as a killer or a victim, which just showed that she was as inept at axe murdering as she was at, well, everything else. Aracelis knew which end of a baseball bat to hold, which officially made her the smartest cheerleader in the school. Extreme Steve was dead, and the only thing surprising about it was that it wasn't self-inflicted. She'd seen him eat gum off the bottoms of desks for one of his videos. Mal Valdez had caught a bullet and thoughts and prayers hadn't saved her. Russell Fitzroy scoring a kill was surprising. Ingrid Wilde's suicide wasn't. And apparently there was a student named Joshua James at John Endecott now? News to her. Maybe he was somebody's brother or something.
Lots of names, lots of violence. All of it was potentially relevant, because someone like Janice Cresner bursting in would merit a much different response than, say, Teddie Boyd. But, like... not a lot was happening. Just the six of them existing, waiting for someone or something to come along and screw it all up. And Karin Han, unfortunately, was someone.
On paper, sitting here in the kumbaya circle wasn't a bad survival strategy. Karin was tiny and physically useless, and that meant that she'd be easy prey if she tried to go it alone. Karen+ and Cultural Appropriation Barbie had guns. Victor had muscles. Norbert was easy to outrun if they were chased by foes. All of them had utility value. And Julia was... around.
Point was, it made sense to just sit here and not screw everything up if she didn't have to. But Karin was a long-range thinker. You had to be, in the theater. You had to have the whole show in mind, from lights up to final curtain, before the doors opened. Three days had passed uneventfully, and given the size of their group, it wasn't likely that anybody was going to feel brave enough to go up against them head-on. There were only a handful of days left, and if the group stuck together that whole time, then what? Even if it split down the middle, Victor and Barbie had the upper hand, and Karin didn't like her chances against either of them when death was on the line.
No, the smart thing to do was to plant a few seeds now, let them germinate. Start chipping out a few cracks in advance so that the fractures would work out in her favor when everything started breaking apart.
Karin waited for a lull in activity, then sidled over to Karen+ and nodded in the direction of the back room, away from Barbie and Victor's blanket fort area. "We need to talk alone," she mouthed quietly.
The sun rose, the sun set, the moon emerged and slunk back into the dark, and dawn came again.
Both times, Karin sat quietly and paid attention, filing mental notes based on the happenings. Kitty Graves, surprisingly not who she and Soo-Bin would have named as John Endecott's aspiring serial killer (hi, Alex Avenasian!) was on a tear. Beefatrice Briggs hadn't shown up as a killer or a victim, which just showed that she was as inept at axe murdering as she was at, well, everything else. Aracelis knew which end of a baseball bat to hold, which officially made her the smartest cheerleader in the school. Extreme Steve was dead, and the only thing surprising about it was that it wasn't self-inflicted. She'd seen him eat gum off the bottoms of desks for one of his videos. Mal Valdez had caught a bullet and thoughts and prayers hadn't saved her. Russell Fitzroy scoring a kill was surprising. Ingrid Wilde's suicide wasn't. And apparently there was a student named Joshua James at John Endecott now? News to her. Maybe he was somebody's brother or something.
Lots of names, lots of violence. All of it was potentially relevant, because someone like Janice Cresner bursting in would merit a much different response than, say, Teddie Boyd. But, like... not a lot was happening. Just the six of them existing, waiting for someone or something to come along and screw it all up. And Karin Han, unfortunately, was someone.
On paper, sitting here in the kumbaya circle wasn't a bad survival strategy. Karin was tiny and physically useless, and that meant that she'd be easy prey if she tried to go it alone. Karen+ and Cultural Appropriation Barbie had guns. Victor had muscles. Norbert was easy to outrun if they were chased by foes. All of them had utility value. And Julia was... around.
Point was, it made sense to just sit here and not screw everything up if she didn't have to. But Karin was a long-range thinker. You had to be, in the theater. You had to have the whole show in mind, from lights up to final curtain, before the doors opened. Three days had passed uneventfully, and given the size of their group, it wasn't likely that anybody was going to feel brave enough to go up against them head-on. There were only a handful of days left, and if the group stuck together that whole time, then what? Even if it split down the middle, Victor and Barbie had the upper hand, and Karin didn't like her chances against either of them when death was on the line.
No, the smart thing to do was to plant a few seeds now, let them germinate. Start chipping out a few cracks in advance so that the fractures would work out in her favor when everything started breaking apart.
Karin waited for a lull in activity, then sidled over to Karen+ and nodded in the direction of the back room, away from Barbie and Victor's blanket fort area. "We need to talk alone," she mouthed quietly.
V8 Characters:
Juanita Reid
Rebekah Hayes
Karin Han
EXTREME STEVE Dodds
Juanita Reid
Rebekah Hayes
Karin Han
EXTREME STEVE Dodds
Julia sat in one of the side booths watching the day go by, her stomach rumbling louder with each hour that passed. The group were doing well sharing and being accommodating towards the others but everybody was starting to notice that portions were getting less and hunger levels in the room were rising. The fort offered an indescribable sense of security, shielding them from the barbarity taking place outside but it was definitely not invulnerable to trouble. Ashlee would ask how she was holding up and she would just smile. A depressed attempt at showing she could be strong like her too. Victor had been staying awake for as long as he could too, so he clearly didn't trust the others and Norbert growing more and more hollow with each passing hour. Meanwhile every interaction with Karin felt more forced and shiftier than the previous, and even Karen had started to distance herself too.
She sat there quietly doing what she did best, blending in to the background.
As the names had been read out on the first announcement, that feeling of utter terror was unlike anything else Julia had ever experienced. Disquietude. The grotesque horrors of classmates dying on this snow-covered battlefield was nothing short of stomach churning. She was greeted by comfortless visions of the radiant pearly white ground, plagued with corrupting dribbles of red withering the purity of the untouched snow. The graphic report of brutal death started off nauseating. Julia had to fight off every urge to vomit as the grim details were shared with them all and each victim named. But as the second announcement rang menacingly in their ears, the tears had stopped and she had begun to surrender to the numbness of the inevitability of it all. In many ways it was probably a good thing that Julia did not have close friends in her year at high school.
She just needed to blend in to the background enough to become invisible.
Despite the chaos ensuing outside, not a great deal happened inside their fortress. If there wasn't a relentless feeling of dread to keep them occupied, a viewer could probably describe it as boring. The perfect equilibrium between tranquillity and bedlam protected by the four barren walls surrounding them, each with decaying animal heads watching over the group. Conversations had dried up and instead most of the group remained quiet. It offered endless opportunity to reflect on the past, to dream about the future and perhaps even to delude herself over the trepidation of reality. As she daydreamed she imagined her family sat at home, watching some awful Hallmark Christmas movie. Dad pretending to enjoy it whilst actually baffled by the banality, mum wrapped up in the cheesy storyline and her sister back from college probably glued to her phone making plans for the holidays. She hoped at the very least that they were ignorant to the slaughter that she was having to endure. It was hard not to grin at the idea of them sat cosily at home in blissful ignorance. She thought about the good times she took for granted. The stories she was read as a child, the big family cookouts from the New Jersey days, the unwavering support they'd show at her swim meets. All the concerts she would never get to to go... She hadn't dared to take off her sweater since setting up base at the fort. Thankfully it was cold because the embarrassment of revealing herself as the world's biggest Jonas Brothers fan splattered across her shirt would probably justify the others to banish her alone.
She was probably invisible to most of her classmates anyway.
Being invisible had its benefits. Between her musings it allowed her to keep an eye on all of the others. Of course she trusted them, or as much as you could trust anybody in this situation. She was keeping track of who was spending more time with who, who looked evasive or dishonest and who was pulling who for little side conversations. She needed to be involved because she didn't have a weapon. If things went south then she needed to make sure she was out of the firing line if she wanted any chance at all of surviving. The more the rations dried up the more likely there was going to be trouble. For now it was important to shelter in their bunker but she was ready for every eventuality.
The day continued to pass on by as Julia stayed sat in the booth humming softly to her favourite Jonas Brother songs. With only hope for now that things would remain the same for a little while longer to give her time to formulate a plan.
She sat there quietly doing what she did best, blending in to the background.
As the names had been read out on the first announcement, that feeling of utter terror was unlike anything else Julia had ever experienced. Disquietude. The grotesque horrors of classmates dying on this snow-covered battlefield was nothing short of stomach churning. She was greeted by comfortless visions of the radiant pearly white ground, plagued with corrupting dribbles of red withering the purity of the untouched snow. The graphic report of brutal death started off nauseating. Julia had to fight off every urge to vomit as the grim details were shared with them all and each victim named. But as the second announcement rang menacingly in their ears, the tears had stopped and she had begun to surrender to the numbness of the inevitability of it all. In many ways it was probably a good thing that Julia did not have close friends in her year at high school.
She just needed to blend in to the background enough to become invisible.
Despite the chaos ensuing outside, not a great deal happened inside their fortress. If there wasn't a relentless feeling of dread to keep them occupied, a viewer could probably describe it as boring. The perfect equilibrium between tranquillity and bedlam protected by the four barren walls surrounding them, each with decaying animal heads watching over the group. Conversations had dried up and instead most of the group remained quiet. It offered endless opportunity to reflect on the past, to dream about the future and perhaps even to delude herself over the trepidation of reality. As she daydreamed she imagined her family sat at home, watching some awful Hallmark Christmas movie. Dad pretending to enjoy it whilst actually baffled by the banality, mum wrapped up in the cheesy storyline and her sister back from college probably glued to her phone making plans for the holidays. She hoped at the very least that they were ignorant to the slaughter that she was having to endure. It was hard not to grin at the idea of them sat cosily at home in blissful ignorance. She thought about the good times she took for granted. The stories she was read as a child, the big family cookouts from the New Jersey days, the unwavering support they'd show at her swim meets. All the concerts she would never get to to go... She hadn't dared to take off her sweater since setting up base at the fort. Thankfully it was cold because the embarrassment of revealing herself as the world's biggest Jonas Brothers fan splattered across her shirt would probably justify the others to banish her alone.
She was probably invisible to most of her classmates anyway.
Being invisible had its benefits. Between her musings it allowed her to keep an eye on all of the others. Of course she trusted them, or as much as you could trust anybody in this situation. She was keeping track of who was spending more time with who, who looked evasive or dishonest and who was pulling who for little side conversations. She needed to be involved because she didn't have a weapon. If things went south then she needed to make sure she was out of the firing line if she wanted any chance at all of surviving. The more the rations dried up the more likely there was going to be trouble. For now it was important to shelter in their bunker but she was ready for every eventuality.
The day continued to pass on by as Julia stayed sat in the booth humming softly to her favourite Jonas Brother songs. With only hope for now that things would remain the same for a little while longer to give her time to formulate a plan.
“Hey, uh…"
Ashlee stopped smiling. K hadn’t come back yet. She thought about him for a moment. He might have ditched them.
“I was wondering…”
Her grip on the sheet was tight, she realized.
“... Look. I know everyone is bored. So…”
What was she trying to say?
They were lucky it was just ‘boring.’ No one had hurt them, they just needed to keep hiding.
“Uh, sorry. Um… how about… dunno. Do we need to leave? I mean, we're safe here, right? But maybe you guys... need to find something outside. Like, maybe your friends are still out there, or it turns out we're running low on something, or..."
Club leader voice wasn't working out right now.
"I guess what I'm saying is, what would help? With the boredom. Anything we need to do or look for?"
Ashlee stopped smiling. K hadn’t come back yet. She thought about him for a moment. He might have ditched them.
“I was wondering…”
Her grip on the sheet was tight, she realized.
“... Look. I know everyone is bored. So…”
What was she trying to say?
They were lucky it was just ‘boring.’ No one had hurt them, they just needed to keep hiding.
“Uh, sorry. Um… how about… dunno. Do we need to leave? I mean, we're safe here, right? But maybe you guys... need to find something outside. Like, maybe your friends are still out there, or it turns out we're running low on something, or..."
Club leader voice wasn't working out right now.
"I guess what I'm saying is, what would help? With the boredom. Anything we need to do or look for?"
((Norbert failed to continued from))
The kicker was, in that bubble of insulation that they'd collectively built for themselves, that in spite of it not being all that big of a place, Norbert still at some stage managed to slip his way out.
Yeah. Sorry about that.
He had plans to stick to, and the lodge was picked clean of anything he could use.
Hopefully, they'd thank him later. And if they didn't, it would be because he'd be too dead to care.
((Norbert continued in Recycle))
The kicker was, in that bubble of insulation that they'd collectively built for themselves, that in spite of it not being all that big of a place, Norbert still at some stage managed to slip his way out.
Yeah. Sorry about that.
He had plans to stick to, and the lodge was picked clean of anything he could use.
Hopefully, they'd thank him later. And if they didn't, it would be because he'd be too dead to care.
((Norbert continued in Recycle))
Ashlee was talking to the five, no wait. Norbert decided to bail on them. Four people. Norbert decided to bail. She was wondering if they needed to do something. The weird thing was
"No. I've got my life right now. We're safe. Boring is good."
"No. I've got my life right now. We're safe. Boring is good."
Survivor: UCONN - Seriously, it's awesome!
Version 8
S001: KAEDE TSURUMI: "Eeep! I-I'm so sorry! I-I'll try not to get in your w-way next time!" Status: ACTIVE
S024: VICTOR GRAIL: "I didn't give you the lead so that you could lose it! I guess it's up to me to carry us after all." Status: ACTIVE
S103: JOAN LEAVEN Status: ACTIVE
S129: DAVID WORTH: Status: ACTIVE
Version 8
S001: KAEDE TSURUMI: "Eeep! I-I'm so sorry! I-I'll try not to get in your w-way next time!" Status: ACTIVE
S024: VICTOR GRAIL: "I didn't give you the lead so that you could lose it! I guess it's up to me to carry us after all." Status: ACTIVE
S103: JOAN LEAVEN Status: ACTIVE
S129: DAVID WORTH: Status: ACTIVE
As Karen dwelled about the meaning behind her dream, Han came over and tilted her head towards the back room. She looked like she wanted to talk about something in private.
“What about?,” asked Karen quietly.
“What about?,” asked Karen quietly.
Oh, for the love of... If I could say it out loud I wouldn't be asking you to talk privately, Karen!
Karin made a show of keeping the rest of her head very still, while her eyes pointedly looked in Victor and Barbie's direction, then back at Karen+, then back to Victor and Barbie just to drive it home.
"Something important," she whispered back.
Karin made a show of keeping the rest of her head very still, while her eyes pointedly looked in Victor and Barbie's direction, then back at Karen+, then back to Victor and Barbie just to drive it home.
"Something important," she whispered back.
V8 Characters:
Juanita Reid
Rebekah Hayes
Karin Han
EXTREME STEVE Dodds
Juanita Reid
Rebekah Hayes
Karin Han
EXTREME STEVE Dodds
Julia was still sat peacefully in the corner, watching the others go about their business as she sung to herself the entire tracklist of the Jonas Brothers 'Happiness Begins' album. She knew every song off by heart. Every single lyric. Even the middle eights. She had to skip the second verse of "Happy When I'm Sad" and "Don't Throw It Away" as they suddenly hit harder with the lyrics relating to her current predicament. Skipping to the next track was the only thing she could do to mentally calm herself down and stop any impending meltdown. She could feel the tears brimming to the surface as her bottom lip wobbled uncertainly - and attracting the attention of the others was the last thing she wanted to do.
If there was one thing she was certain of it was that her emotions absolutely needed to be suppressed wherever possible.
A few words were spoken by the others whilst she enjoyed her own company but seemingly nothing too serious. Victor was with Ashlee as they chit chatted, but Ashlee's conviction and seemingly natural leadership seemed to be faltering under the pressures of their situation. There was something in her delivery of when she last spoke to the group. It was less self-assured than usual but maybe it was all improvisation from the start anyway. There was no envy there, Ashlee suited that group leader role perfectly and besides, Julia really did not want to be a leader. There was far too much pressure in being the centre of attention. She was happy managing her own problems not other people's.
As she approached the end of the tracklist, Julia's attention had diverted to Karin who was whispering something to Karen. Sure, there was probably nothing sinister in that at all but Karin was definitely the one she trusted the least within the group and any whispering in smaller groups immediately kicked off the paranoid thoughts she had been trying to squash. After a brief exchange, Karin walked to the smaller back room. Julia peered over to Karen and their eyes crossed for a split second before she hesitatingly followed Karin through to the back room.
Her eyes moved from Karen to Karin, and the two of their eyes locked with each other.
Julia immediately diverted her eyes. Eye contact was never something Julia had been brilliant with and she didn't want them to feel like she was watching them. A few seconds passed and she looked over again, catching Karin's gaze once more. Before there was any time to think of anything, Karin signalled her over with a subtle raise of the eyebrows and wave. For a few moments she sat unsure how to react but decided that it was probably a good enough time to stretch her legs and see what she wanted. Besides... if Karin was scheming away then it was definitely worthwhile being part of it.
Ashlee and Victor were both out of shot, hidden in the den so she sauntered past the den to the back room to find out what Karin wanted.
If there was one thing she was certain of it was that her emotions absolutely needed to be suppressed wherever possible.
A few words were spoken by the others whilst she enjoyed her own company but seemingly nothing too serious. Victor was with Ashlee as they chit chatted, but Ashlee's conviction and seemingly natural leadership seemed to be faltering under the pressures of their situation. There was something in her delivery of when she last spoke to the group. It was less self-assured than usual but maybe it was all improvisation from the start anyway. There was no envy there, Ashlee suited that group leader role perfectly and besides, Julia really did not want to be a leader. There was far too much pressure in being the centre of attention. She was happy managing her own problems not other people's.
As she approached the end of the tracklist, Julia's attention had diverted to Karin who was whispering something to Karen. Sure, there was probably nothing sinister in that at all but Karin was definitely the one she trusted the least within the group and any whispering in smaller groups immediately kicked off the paranoid thoughts she had been trying to squash. After a brief exchange, Karin walked to the smaller back room. Julia peered over to Karen and their eyes crossed for a split second before she hesitatingly followed Karin through to the back room.
Her eyes moved from Karen to Karin, and the two of their eyes locked with each other.
Julia immediately diverted her eyes. Eye contact was never something Julia had been brilliant with and she didn't want them to feel like she was watching them. A few seconds passed and she looked over again, catching Karin's gaze once more. Before there was any time to think of anything, Karin signalled her over with a subtle raise of the eyebrows and wave. For a few moments she sat unsure how to react but decided that it was probably a good enough time to stretch her legs and see what she wanted. Besides... if Karin was scheming away then it was definitely worthwhile being part of it.
Ashlee and Victor were both out of shot, hidden in the den so she sauntered past the den to the back room to find out what Karin wanted.
Ashlee stood up. Frowned.
Norbert had disappeared, just like K. Her head felt dizzy.
“Hey, uh…” she began.
“I’m going to use the restroom.”
It wasn’t much of a restroom. Proper plumbing didn’t exist here. And she didn’t actually want to do restroom things. Instead, she needed some time to herself.
Her legs felt dizzy.
So she slid into a room separate from where Karin and Julia went. Just a moment.
((Ashlee Donovan continued in Top Ten Anime Betrayals))
Norbert had disappeared, just like K. Her head felt dizzy.
“Hey, uh…” she began.
“I’m going to use the restroom.”
It wasn’t much of a restroom. Proper plumbing didn’t exist here. And she didn’t actually want to do restroom things. Instead, she needed some time to herself.
Her legs felt dizzy.
So she slid into a room separate from where Karin and Julia went. Just a moment.
((Ashlee Donovan continued in Top Ten Anime Betrayals))
Karen followed Han’s eyes to Ashlee and Victor. Whatever this important thing was, it had something to do with them. And obviously, it needed to be discussed in private. If something was troubling her, Karen wanted to help. They, along with Julia, walked into the back room.
“Alright,what’s this all about?,” Karen asked, her arms folded.
If Han had any reason to believe that Ashlee and Victor weren’t to be trusted, Karen needed to know.
“Alright,what’s this all about?,” Karen asked, her arms folded.
If Han had any reason to believe that Ashlee and Victor weren’t to be trusted, Karen needed to know.
(Trigger warning: sex-related content, really shitty behavior)
Karin swallowed, and fidgeted with her sleeve cuff. For this bit, at least, she didn't need to employ any acting skills. The nerves were genuine - screw this up, and she'd be out in the cold, alone.
"All right... keep your voices down. I don't want the other two to hear."
The corner of her mouth twitched. She hadn't mentally rehearsed this bit. It needed to be off the cuff, genuine. Believable.
"Okay... for the past two nights, I haven't really been able to sleep. I have really bad insomnia, ever since I was a kid, so, sometimes I went outside for fresh air, but most of the time I just hung out in here, trying to get some rest, and..."
She took a breath. "I saw... Victor. While you guys were sleeping, he was supposed to be on night watch, and... he was skulking around, and watching you while you slept. Both of you and Ashlee. The first night, I thought he was just, like, checking to make sure everybody was okay, but last night... he was, he had his hand in his pants, and..."
She mimed a very distinctive action.
"I pretended to be asleep and I don't think he knows I saw him, but... I'm scared."
Karin awaited their response, remaining silent until then.
((Karin Han continued in Top Ten Anime Betrayals))
Karin swallowed, and fidgeted with her sleeve cuff. For this bit, at least, she didn't need to employ any acting skills. The nerves were genuine - screw this up, and she'd be out in the cold, alone.
"All right... keep your voices down. I don't want the other two to hear."
The corner of her mouth twitched. She hadn't mentally rehearsed this bit. It needed to be off the cuff, genuine. Believable.
"Okay... for the past two nights, I haven't really been able to sleep. I have really bad insomnia, ever since I was a kid, so, sometimes I went outside for fresh air, but most of the time I just hung out in here, trying to get some rest, and..."
She took a breath. "I saw... Victor. While you guys were sleeping, he was supposed to be on night watch, and... he was skulking around, and watching you while you slept. Both of you and Ashlee. The first night, I thought he was just, like, checking to make sure everybody was okay, but last night... he was, he had his hand in his pants, and..."
She mimed a very distinctive action.
"I pretended to be asleep and I don't think he knows I saw him, but... I'm scared."
Karin awaited their response, remaining silent until then.
((Karin Han continued in Top Ten Anime Betrayals))
V8 Characters:
Juanita Reid
Rebekah Hayes
Karin Han
EXTREME STEVE Dodds
Juanita Reid
Rebekah Hayes
Karin Han
EXTREME STEVE Dodds