Nobody Hurts You Like Me

[Dr Adjective]

[Evie McKown made up her mind and laced up her shoes.]

"It'll be dark soon. I'll head for the research station tomorrow, and see you there."

Claire had sounded... less than excited to meet up again. Like it was more of an obligation, or an intervention, than a friendly reunion. She hadn't wanted to talk about the prior day's events, and Evie for her own part had been quite happy for the excuse not to mention the morning's shootout either. At least she had a destination, some sense of direction to give structure to the uncertain future ahead of her. If she was anywhere, it seemed to stand to reason that Kelsey had simply been at the research station the whole time, holed up in one of the buildings Evie had overlooked, keeping her head down and not drawing attention. It was that or the campground on the north shore of the island, but that seemed less plausible; a body as skinny as Kelsey's likely wouldn't do well with just an ancient tent to keep the elements off, assuming any of them were even still inhabitable to begin with.

It only really occurred to her then, after Claire's chilly reception, that Kelsey may not be exactly happy to see her. The morning's announcement had made her sound callous at best, she dreaded to think what Danya would say of her come tomorrow, and how her girlfriend would respond. Assuming she was even still alive by then, too. Would she even still want to see her?

It wasn't worth dwelling on, Evie decided. She turned her attention back to today's destination, only a short way ahead, hewn from the mountainside into something halfway resembling a welcoming spa. Time and neglect had surely played a part, and Evie had perhaps set her expectations a little too high by picturing the photos of Japanese onsen she'd seen before, but it was disappointing. Still, she didn't relish the thought of trekking all the way back down half of a mountain to find better shelter. So run-down hot spring it was. The young killer set down her pack on a rock near the water, and settled down to rest her feet right at its edge, enjoying the warmth radiating from the pool. She had half a mind to strip and dive right in, but between the potential presence of hostiles and certain presence of cameras, not to mention lacking a towel, she ultimately settled for shedding her gloves and finally washing the dried blood from her hands.

Now it was only there euphemistically.

Next she scrubbed some grime from her face with wetted hands, and that was about as much as she felt secure in doing. Washing her hair might've been nice too, but if she was to be sleeping in the open, having water that would rapidly turn cold soaked into her scalp seemed less-than-wise. Instead, she found the closest thing to a sheltered nook there was, wrapped herself up warm in her coat and the emergency blanket from her first-aid kit, and tried her best to get some rest. Evie's body was all too happy to comply, worn out from the climb, but her mind protested. She couldn't switch off. Looking away from Lara during- and post-death had been a smart move, but what remained of Chloé, of DeMarcus, refused to vacate her mind's eye. Making a logical argument for killing was one thing. Living with the consequences, another. She tried to focus her thoughts elsewhere, to imagine otters frolicking in the spring, or better yet, herself and Kelsey - God, it had been over a week since she'd even thought of... no, no that was a stupid idea. Not happening. Otters instead. Not that either succeeded at hiding the corpses floating in the water, or lounging by its side.

Eventually, twilight faded, darkness reigned. Unable to see past her nose, sleep finally took Evie.

When she awoke, the ringleader of their tormentors was already proudly announcing that Kitty had murdered her own sister. Great start to the day. Well, at least it might distract from her own bloodied hands. Like with Alex, it was a little surreal to hear that Ash had died: she'd seen both on her very first day, then never again. Part of Evie wondered if her last memory of Claire would end up being the less-than-friendly way she'd left the group behind. If her last memory of Kelsey would be smiling on the bus, so long ago now it felt like another life.

Josh was the next surprise, a spectre that'd occupied her nervous thoughts even before arriving on the island, since their uncomfortable meeting in the gymnasium all those weeks ago. The rest, at this point, meant little to her. She knew them all, yes, but with as many dead as there were now, it was hard to keep attaching faces and identities to the names. Helpful, even, to stop doing so. It was of passing interest that Iris hadn't survived fleeing the graveyard shootout after all, and that Victor had picked up a kill to join her and Fitz on the scoreboard. Otherwise, the exact details didn't matter all that much to her any more. Kelsey, Claire, and Beatrice were still alive. Her other friends had all died over a week ago. Her situation was more-or-less the same, only two new names to watch out for and nobody she hoped to see again struck from the list of possibilities.

It was a strange feeling really, being so numb to all the deaths so far away, yet so sensitive to the ones she'd had a hand in. Maybe this was the cognitive dissonance other people had around animals? At least Evie could tell herself she didn't have a choice.

How she'd tell Claire that, or Kelsey? That was another question.

No time like the present to start working on an answer, and nothing like a long walk to give her time to think.

[Evie the Killer packs her things, prowls downhill.]