Location: Bedroom-> Kitchen

Interacting with-> Petyr @Saltwater Thief

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As her phone alarm rang out loudly, Nina silently cursed the secondhand piece of technology. It was Monday, which meant school. Goodie. Another day of having information crammed down her throat and being forced to regurgitate it on paper for the sake of a letter. She sighed and rolled her eyes and got out of bed. She ran her fingers through her hair and then tugged it up into a loose bun. She needed a shower, badly, after the day at work yesterday. The smell of coffee clung to her like cheap cologne that wouldn't come off no matter how much she washed. God, she needed a new job. However, it wasn't like jobs for high school teens grew on trees in this town.

She knew she was up earlier than Petyr, like usual. Nina had always gotten up early to make breakfast and lunch for both her and her brother since they were about six. It meant that the bathroom was all hers. Not that she'd take long. Cold showers were never much fun, and she tried to make them quick. Such was the perks of their lovely old house.

Fifteen minutes later, she was out of the shower and wrapped in her holy robe. She padded back to her room barefoot and closed the door. She looked through her closet and then peeked over at her calendar. The 15th was circled with red and had a memo on it. "Memorial Assembly." Right, it was that time of the year again. The annual assembly for the memorial of those who'd lost their lives to that dreaded killer. She knew both Tess and Everett would need a friend, but would it be her? In Tess's case, probably not. Tess had been shoving Nina away for months, and had started hanging out more with Jay and Moon. Nina understood, but it was painful to her too. They had both lost Jan, and now she was losing Tess as well. Her right hand ran over the handmade friendship bracelet on her left wrist, out of habit. She seemed to do that whenever she thought of Tess.

She shook her head and pulled out a simple pair of jeans and a blue shirt. The jeans had holes in the knees, and the shirt was ripped at the bottom hem. "Lovely. I wonder who will make fun of my clothing today. Yay second-hand clothing. Whatever. Rather save my money for college." She got dressed quickly and headed downstairs and started pulling food out of the fridge. She set a container of overnight oatmeal out, and popped it in a pan and put it on the stove to warm it up a bit. While the oatmeal warmed up, she set to work on making lunches for both Petyr and herself. She noticed a little note on the fridge and pulled it off.

"Thanks for lunch sweetheart. Sorry I won't be around till Wednesday. Got a big job that needed me to go up North for a few days. I know you and your brother will be fine. Love - Dad."

Nina sighed and tossed the note in the garbage. It wasn't unusual for Silvester Jelen to be on big lumber jobs for a few days. That was the life of a lumberjack for you. However, she had hoped her father would be around for the memorial. On that train of thought, she thought to stop in to see Mrs. Gray tomorrow. Sure, she and Tess weren't getting along at the moment, but Tess's mom had been a big part of Nina and Petyr life.

She walked over to the stair, and called up. "Petyr! Breakfast is warming up and lunches are made! Hope you will be down soon!" She went back to the kitchen and pulled out bowls for the two of them as well as the brown sugar. It was never really oatmeal to her without brown sugar.

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Gerard had gotten up earlier in the morning than usual, he decided that he wanted to walk around a bit around the forest before heading to school. Taking a nice and warm shower, he wore a white shirt and a dark green jacket alongside black pants. He also decided to take his red scarf and promptly placed it on his neck. He cooked himself an unceremonious breakfast, simple eggs, bacon and bread. His parents were out early again, leaving a note with money on it as per usual. He never really resented his parents for this- he knew they had to make some form of living so they don't starve, so he shrugged and pocketed the money.

Before leaving, he eyed the marked date on the calendar, 15th. Dubbed with "Memorial Day" the unfortunate day where all normalcy fell apart and lives were taken on that day. He tried not to dwell on it too much as it was in the past, but he would still attend in respect to those who died,
"All black, huh..."

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Footsteps that crunched against the fallen leaves resounded throughout the forest. Normally people wouldn't be out in this part of the forest, well, except Gerard maybe. He was looking for something to relieve his boredom in the small, silent town of Verona. It was time to go back soon, and, as per usual nothing happened. Though there was this odd sighting, something that piqued his interest- a Solar Eclipse. It happened during the dead of the night, where the usual calming orange tinge of the Sun being absent, Gerard only managed to notice when he was outside getting ready to just observe the stars.

In his normal walk, everything seemed as it always was. The silent chatter of the forest still remained present, and the soft rustle of the leaves was there too. Then out of the blue- everything was still. The leaves stopped in their path towards the soft ground, small critters stood like deer waiting to be run over by cars. Even the wind wasn't there. Gerard went wide eyed, with a confused expression,
"What the hell?" he asked himself out, tightening the grip of his red scarf.

He touched a falling leaf, and it started on it's normal course again but the everything was still still. Before he could do much elese, a splitting headache took hold. He fell on his knees with a beckoning moan. Then everything moved again, the wind was back, the animals scuttered away and all the leaves started falling once more. Instead of the usual pained expression, a smile formed on his face.
"Interesting." he thought to himself.

After gathering himself, he got up and briskly walked towards the town. His thoughts all being permeated by what just happened. Dusting himself off the dirt on his pants and on his rucksack, then his phone then silently hummed and vibrated in his pants, quickly checking it out, a message appeared;
"Yo, Emergency meeting at the Astronomy club later, I guess."

Short and concise, just as Gerard likes it. This was probably because of the unscheduled solar eclipse that happened yesterday night. Gerard then shrugged and started walking towards the school. It wasn't too long of a walk, Verona is a small town after all. Everyone was also walking normally as always.
"So. whatever happened just there, it seemed I stopped time?" he asked himself rhetorically, a stricken face then followed "Damn, I forgot we had school today."

No one notable could be seen at the front gate, with all his time frolicking in the woods he was surprised he was the first one there. First class of the week- Home Eco, and he was damned early again, with only few students walking about.
"Guess I got time to think." he muttered to himself, walking to the Home Economics. The class only had a few students in it, so he took his usual seat, took a book out and started reading while thinking of the events that unfolded in the woods earlier.

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Tessa had a headache, she blamed it on having stayed up all night looking into the eclipse that had happened. It was driving her mad. There was no scientific reason as to why it should have happened. To burn some of the left over energy she worked in the shop for a bit before going to bed. Her grandmother had come in looking for but somehow Tessa's wish that she would go unnoticed came true. She had gone to bed shortly after that and her mother didn't say anything about it. A dream come true.

"Tessa," Her mother's voice cut through her thoughts. "You have an appointment tonight with the psychiatrist." Tessa resisted groaning. "Also make sure your dress is clean for tomorrow." For one blissful moment Tessa was confused, and then it clicked it was the 14th that meant tomorrow was the 15th, which meant the dreaded yearly memorial.

"I've got to go." Tessa said grabbing her backpack and bolting out the door before she had to hear anything else about it. This sucked. Why did they have to keep having that stupid memorial? It wouldn't change anything.

Tessa didn't want to think about it so she changed gears mentally and started thinking about the eclipse again. She'd have to talk with some others in the club, maybe they could have a meeting. As she neared the school she rubbed her temples trying to disperse the rest of the headache she had.

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_{tap tap tap}

Scout was dreaming. She didn't exactly remember falling asleep, only that there had been a searing pain promptly before her memory cut out, and now here she sat, in an empty golden field. The sky above was bright blue and expansive, gliding out far beyond her eyes. Not a cloud dared to taint the sky's pure color, and though it was quite obviously daytime there was no sun in sight. Instead, just above her head, was a rather familiar eclipse. Ah, that's right. Before blacking out, there was an amazing eclipse in the sky, and here it was again. It almost looked like there were two different moons in the sky, gleaming with their own mysterious light, and as they stayed suspended high above Scout felt oddly energized. Maybe even a bit powerful. However, whenever she tried to stand up, something kept her body still and tied to the ground. Glancing down, Scout drew back slightly at the sight of dead, blackened straw was tied tightly around her ankles and thighs.

Trying the rip the grass away proved to be impossible, as each strand that was ripped apart was replaced with two more, until Scout's entire lower body was tangled with dark treads. The blue sky above was setting, dying from purple to a pure red, and the moons gleamed darkly above. Around her, the golden field began to droop with death, an uneasy darkness overtaking the once flowing grasses. Scout herself felt entirely too aware, too knowing, as if she knew of ever dark shadow around her, and she sucked in breaths quickly trying to calm her beating heart. The straw wrapped around her legs tightened suddenly, and pain burned deep into the core of her stomach. Slow her eyes fell to stare at her legs again, and a scream filled her throat at the sight of shadowy hands clutching her flesh.

_{TAP TAP TAP}

The earth beneath her body was crumbling, creaking, and the hands pulled at her body, attempting to suck her deep into the hell beneath. Scout tried to kick herself free, hands clawing at the hard dirt, but the more she struggled the more the earth seemed to open up beneath her. As the land seemed to chip away and the darkness below came into view, Scout swore she could see faces. Smiling faces, with gleaming purple-white eyes. The sight of them made her chest burn and head ache, and her hands were soon clutching at nothing but air as she was finally dragged down into the depths.

TAP TAP TAP

As Scout's body hit something hard and cold the darkness shattered, and the familiar mess of her room. A loud tapping sounded from just below her ear, and Scout let out a heavy groan, slamming the heel of her hand into the carpeted floor. The tapping stopped after a moment, and the sound of a window opening replaced it. Scout wiggled to the left slightly, gazing at her own window from behind a veil of blonde hair.

"Scout! You better have your ass up! You have school in an hour!"

The familiar voice made Scout smile, and she army-crawled towards the window, opening it up slowly. She peeked her head out into the cool morning, glancing down at a window just below her own. Though the fire escape obscured most of her view, Scout could still see a sliver of a person below the metal rails, and a familiar smile beamed up at her, "up and at'em kiddo! Go get ready for school, 'kay?"

"Alright, Ella. Just for you." Scout said with a raspy voice, hair swirling gently in the wind. The black-haired woman soon vanished back inside, and Scout closed her own window, slowly standing up to inspect her room once. It was a mess, but in a very organized way. Shelves filled with useless, is not slightly pretty junk filled up most of her wall space, and random tapestries covered her floor and hid her bed from view. A pile of clothes sat in one corner, and a pile of shoes in another. The door that lead out of the room was blocked with a tall bookcase, and the doorway that leads to her own bathroom was hidden behind a thin, blue fabric. Scout sighed once, leaning over the pile of clothes for a few moments before vanishing behind curtain, into the slightly grimy washroom.

She was out in under twenty minutes, her blonde hair hanging damply against her back as she pulled on her usual ratty sweatshirt and paint-covered jeans. Old converse covered her mismatched socks, and once she felt properly disheveled she grabbed her backpack and shimmied out onto the fire escape. Wind instantly whipped whatever dampness was in her hair away, and Scout descended the rickety metal staircases like she had been doing it her whole life. Before leaving, she tapped on Ella's window and blew onto the glass until it steamed over, leaving the older woman a small heart before finally touching down in the alley between Ella's shop and the local furniture store. It was a cool morning, and the buzz of life was just filling the streets and Scout wandered noiselessly through them. The high school was a mere two blocks away, but it felt like miles due to Scout dragging her feet. She really hated that place, hated the teachers and the glares they gave, and the awful kids that pulled her hair and gave her odd stares. Perhaps if she stopped staring first they would ignore her, but being ignored seemed a lot worse then being made fun of.

Lincoln Memorial High school was small, just small enough to barely fit the entirety of Verona's teenage population, and kids were streaming in as Scout arrived. She silently entered the crowd, sighing softly at the sight of familiar and annoying people. No friends to mingle with? Oh well... First class, Home Ec. She pulled her way through the halls and entered the class silently, sitting in her usual seat in the corner and instantly zoning out.

There was quite series of uncommon events that occurred in the life of Moon. For one, her mother worked as a fortuneteller at a hotel back in France. And by odd chance, her poor family garnered moderate wealth through the questionably authentic marriage of her mother and her stepfather. But when Moon's mother passed away and they moved to Verona in America, she never expected to witness what she did. Nor did she expect to have done what she did. Or at least, what she thinks she did. Maybe it was a dream.

On the previous night, as the gleam of the Sun was almost snuffed, the most wondrous natural phenomenon occurred. An Eclipse. Its eerie and magical glow melted through her open window and as soon as her eyes laid upon it. And as she rushed over to the vanity in her small wicca themed boudoir, she pulled out her book titled 'The Moon, The Sun, and Everything In Between'. In her rush to scroll through the pages of the book, she knocked over her signed portrait of Harry Potter--though she couldn't have cared less. And when she finally found the page she was looking for, she froze. It spoke of something ominous, something that could very well teeter on the lines of shadow and radiance. Moon shoved the book back into the drawer, dissatisfied, and returned to her room, lighting a mixture of mandrake stems, poppy blossoms, and tortoise shell scales for good luck, hung a newly handcrafted dreamcatcher over her bed for pleasant dreams and went to sleep. Or at least, she tried to. The image of the Eclipse festered and toggled within her mind for at least hour, followed by a relentless pain in her head, before her eyes finally gave way.

And when she woke up, she swore she had the craziest dream. Or at least, what she thought was a dream. A sensation, that for several seconds, she was floating over her bed. It felt so unbelievably real to her that she couldn't stop thinking about it. As she prepared breakfast for her younger brother Marin, who sat cheekily at the kitchen table with his face practically stuffed within the pages of his 'Cliffhanger and the Carnivorous Sheep: Vol 2' comic series, she squealed in pain as she pulled her hand away from the stove. In her thoughts, she hadn't realized that she had placed her hand a little to close to the heated countertop. It only took a second for her to feel the repercussions of her kitchen transgressions(NEVER put your hands on a hot stove).

The pain was immense, but she managed after covering her right hand with aloe vera and sterile gauze. Luckily, she was left-handed. "Dépêchez-vous et finir de manger mon amour . Vous avez pour se rendre à l'école tôt" [Quickly finish eating my love, you have to get to school early], she yelled from the bathroom as she finished wrapping her hand in the last strip of gauze. Her brother clapped his comic shut, grumbled, and stuffed it into his backpack and with his arms crossed, slouched over to the front door. "Je déteste l'école" [I hate school], he detested. Her brother, despite having plenty of friends, complained regularly about how boring it was.

Having gathered her own school books, she walked over to the front door, threw her autumn brown messenger bag over her shoulder, and looked her brother in the eyes. With an affectionately sarcastic smile, she simply replied, "Get over it". With a roll of his eyes, he walked out the door. Moon, who found his reaction quite satisfying, followed closely behind him and closed the door quietly as to not wake up her older brother--he went to sleep early yesterday after having spent the whole day finishing up on his college school work. He most likely didn't witness the eclipse. And it seemed her younger brother hadn't witnessed it either. She made a mental note to bring it up to them later. They'd most likely be jealous.

And that reminded her, tomorrow is the Memorial Ceremony. Though, she didn't have much of a connection to the individuals that were killed, her thoughts wondered to Everett and Tess. Despite how much of an asshole Everett was to her--for whatever reason she never understood--she still found herself able to sympathize and empathize with him. After all, she lost her mother as well. Father, unknown. And Tess, poor thing. After about a 15 minute walk, she had arrived at Verona Middle School. Dropping Marin off with an unwanted peck on the forehead, that he quickly wiped away with his sleeve, she continued on her way to the high school, opting to take a route that ran by several of her classmates homes. As she approached several of her classmates street, she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail(secured by a ornamental quill) that trailed midway down her back. Strands of curly bangs cutely framed her forehead and the sides of her face. Her ex-boyfriend often said she looked exceptionally beautiful when her hair was like this.

On her way to school, Moon had received the text for an in-prompt meeting in Astronomy Club today. Most certainly about the strange solar eclipse that manifested last night. But in all honestly, this was right up her ally. Moon had a second sense for the bizarre and the strange. There was something very peculiar, very mysterious, and very odd about this day....

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Sunday

Everett looked himself over in the mirror. Today was one of the few days he was concerned with what he looked like. He was surprised that he didn't look as worn as down as he felt. He had been working like a mad for the past few days to make he got could take the next couple of days to himself. It was important to him that he could.

He combed his hair and put his nicest dress shirt and tie. His freshly cleaned and polished cowboy boots and his best pants. His boots were made of shark skin. He always thought they were a little fancy for his taste but his mother would have loved then. He bought them for that very reason.

As he walked out of the bathroom, dressed to the nines. He put on his black armoured motorcycle jacket and his cleanest helmet.

"Aunt Lou, I'm going out. I'll be back after while." He never waited for a reply. He just waked out and start his motorcycle and drove away. Leaving was the hard part, the rest of it was a cake walk.

He rode for seemed like hours. Even though it was far from it. When he arrived at his destination he was shaking a litte. Those little butterflies in stomach had somehow turned into gaint pterodactyls. It was fucked up that this was but still he shoved his fears aside and kept on going.

He rode right up to where needed to be. Leaving his bike on the sidewalk Everett unzipped his jacket as if to show off how nicely dressed he was. He used his helmet as a place to sit and took a deep breath. Knowing that if he left right now, they'd understand.

There was a lot of sorrow and fear in his voice when those first trembling words came. "Hey Momma, Daddy how y'all doing? I'm... I'm hanging there. The lodge is doing great so that bag Aunt Lou.. You uh, you... You... Y'all would love to see what we've done with the place. We got Elk and ma... Ma moose now." That's was all Everett could say before falling apart and breaking down in tears. He loved them ever bit as much as he missed.

Even with that said he wanted nothing to do with memorial service that was gonna happen on Monday he could go the rest of his life without hearing about that shit again.

It took a long time for him to recompose himself. He was happy that no one was around to see him break down. He never did that in public, not once. What happened behind closed doors was another thing entirely.

When he calmed down enough he spoke again. "I'm sorry, I lost it there for a good while didn't I?" It was then he noticed that sun was going down. He looked at saw a weird eclipse. He didn't hear anything about that going on today but it's not like he cared about it.

"Tell me everything is gonna be alright. Please just tell me everything is gonna work out. Cause I'm still struggling with all this horse shit. " Everett said as he saw a flock of birds fly across the sky.

He couldn't tell you why he did it but he did it just the same. Everett lifted his and made it into a gun and followed the birds. He softly said a single word.... Bang. As he raised his hand to mock recoil, it happened.

Something bright and almost blinding shot out from his finger and obliterated the flock. His eyes wide with horror. It took a few seconds to figure out what happened. He slowly turned around to look at the Graves of his parents. "I love y'all."

Everett in a state of shock had no idea what to make of it. He did one thing this was cool as hell. He took a few steps and repeated his actions again. This time towards the ground. What happened next scared him to death.

The two foot hole in the left in the ground almost made him shit himself. It's hard to say if it was booming noise or the dirt falling on that sent him into major panic but he grabbed his helmet and rode off on his bike ad fast as he could. He didn't even wave or say good bye.

MONDAY MORNING 4:30AM

Everett woke up feeling like something was wrong. He couldn't place it but he felt... Off. Like something was missing. He was used to waking up early so he could get some work done in the on the land before school. But this... This was something else. Either way he couldn't go back to sleep. Scholarship was on a few hours and he knew most everything was taken care of on the land but he had to do something.

It took a few minutes to get dressed but when he did, he got Dagnasty and took off for the cellar. He left so much better when he stepped into the moon light. It's was like whatever was wrong instantly went away. That feeling came back as soon he was out of it.

The cellar was pretty much a hunters armory. Everett had grown up around guns and spent all of his life around them. He was one that maintained the hunting rifles and shotguns they kept. Aunt Lou could as but she wasn't as good as Everett. Everett had his own personal gun, we'll weapon was more like it.

His was a .458 SOCOM. It was powerful enough to stop anything under 250 yards and as an added bonus, it looked incredible bad ass. Everett never went into the woods without it. It was the last gift his parents gave him before their death. Even after all his weapon had been through. It was still as good as the day he got it.

He and Dags would spend the next three hours out in the woods, checking the feeders and traps. Double checking his work. Three hours on foot wouldn't get him very far but he just felt too damn good not to do it.

When he got back to the house every light was on. With any luck Aunt Lou would already have food ready. True to form she did. When he walked into the kitchen, his gun still slung over his shoulder. She said the first words he had heard from her in a day and half.

"Boy I ought to be your ass. Taken off like that. Lord help me Jesus." Aunt Lou said as she took a plate of food out of the oven and sat it in a counter.

Everett unloaded his rifle and sat it down in a corner by the door. The clip was put on the kitchen table. "You're welcome to try. Might not end for either one of us."

"Go on and say shit like your grown. Where have you been?" She snapped at him.

"Just checking some of feeds and traps. Everything looks great out there." Everett said as he started to eat. "Dags come here buddy." Everett said as he toss some ham on ground for him to eat.

"I said I'd do that Everett and don't go toss food in the ground. Damn dog has bowl."

"I'll do it Aunt Lou. I need to you to get things ready for the memorial party and we still got get ready for those kids coming in. Worry about that I'll take care things out there." Everett said in between bites. When he was done he put the plate in the sink and gave his Aunt a kiss on the check. "Gotta run to to school. Love you Aunt Lou."

"Yeah, yeah. Love you too boy." Lou said brushing him off.

Off in the corner he cold hear Dags growling. Everett couldn't help but laugh. Everett patted his chest and couple times and Dags jumped up and put his paws on Everett shoulders. It was always alarming for people to see just how big Everett's beloved wolf dog Dagnasty was. "I love you too buddy." Everett was hardly able to get out before Dags started licking his face. Everett laughed a little and pushed his companion off him.

Once again out into the light of day. Everett got that great feeling. He hadn't even notice that it went away inside the house. He just felt... Normal.

The drive to school seemed longer than usual. He felt great but he really didn't want to be there. He could think of ten thousand better things to do but he knew his parents would roll over in their Graves if he quite school.

He sat in his truck out in the parking lot for a few moments before heading to his first class of the year.

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The King estate was as quiet as it could be during the mornings. Knight was lounging lazily in the living room, breathing ever so softly as the soft-footed Marie quietly prepared for the day. She would usually be getting Richard up by now, but, of course, she had heard him talking so loudly last night with another that she had no interest in barging in and possibly seeing her brother in a compromising situation. So, instead of waking him up, she silently made breakfast and fed Knight, humming a soft tune as she gazed peacefully out the window. Oh yes, it was going to be an interesting day today.

Sunlight streamed through half-closed blinds, gleaming directly onto the resting face of Richard King. It was a September morning, so of course the burn ball in the sky was still at its peak of warmth and clarity. He had tried to ignore the light, and it had worked for about half an hour before King swore the sun had begun to burn his eyelids off. It was an odd feeling, like his entire upper head was on fire, but that seemed like the usual feeling after a night of drinking and talking. Usual yes, but not something he really wanted to deal with for the time being. Slowly, with a slight groan and heavy sigh, King turned away from the light to something much more pleasing to look at, the sleeping face of Malcolm.

Mal had come over the night before after King’s conflict with Jay. They had both felt pretty lousy, and with nothing left to do in the pitch darkness of King’s bedroom they just fell right into their routine of drinking and talking until they passed out. He was rarely the first awake, but when the occasion presented itself King was usually in good spirits. He would usually grin happily at his friend’s serene face, giggling quietly to himself as small details seem to stand out, but right now King couldn’t help but feel oddly… Sad. Depressed. And tired. God was he so tired, it was like he hadn’t slept a wink last night. Perhaps that weird eclipse was the cause? Could the moon changing make someone more tired? Lost in thought, he continued to stare at Malcolm, blank face stone still, and eventually he shifted again, slowly sitting up in an effort to keep his head from screaming in pain. Carefully, he glanced about his abode, finding comfort in the familiar surroundings.

The room around the two was slightly messy, covered in pillows and blankets and empty beer bottles, and to King it seemed to be flowing with some kind of… Energy. The initial feeling of comfort was replaced almost instantly. Honestly, he felt extremely oppressed in the room, as if some kind of overhanging anxiety or sadness was just crushing him. Where was it coming from? Nothing had changed? Only… King turned slowly to stare at Malcolm, eyebrows furrowing tightly, and then in an instant he was up and wobbling towards the large windows. He moaned in pain as the sudden movement rattled his aching mind, but instead of slowing down he simply threw open the blinds to welcome in the morning.

”Up up up! Mal, we have school today!” He yelled hoarsely, wincing as sunlight suddenly filled the dim room and his own voice seemed to reverberate painfully within his skull.

Somewhat quieter, Mal’s eyes fluttered open and his breathing hitched in alarm but evened out a few seconds later as he became fully alert. And after that, he groaned. “Christ, what were we drinking? I’m a lightweight but I feel like I’ve been hit by an eighteen-wheeler.” He rolled over but was already on the edge of the bed, resulting in him flopping limply to the ground. “I wouldn’t mind staying here all day,” he grumbled.

His phone buzzed. A text from Jay – Jason, he corrected, since they were officially not-friends – about the Astronomy Club meeting. It must have been about the solar eclipse last night. Malcolm barely remembered it, if only because he had the presence of mind to stop before he was blackout drunk, but he was sure it happened just after the first beer was cracked open, and he had exuberantly explained why it was so important to King whilst blaming a budding headache on the crappy alcohol.

Mal peered up at King, at the diffused light surrounding him from the sun, and looked away quickly, rubbing at his bleary eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose instead to avoid the headache. Having a cold hand on the apparent source of the pain seemed to soothe it, which was grand, because Mal wasn’t a fan of popping pills to deal with his problems. ”Yeah…”

At the sight of Malcolm’s open eyes a flurry of colors seemed to fill King’s vision. Purples and yellows, intense swirls of both that just felt so heavy. He teetered slightly, feeling a bit faint from the psychedelic trip he was apparently experiencing, but all at once everything seemed to fall into place. The colors seemed to fill him, and his mind shifted and fell in line with something or someone that felt completely alien. The instinctive lip-chewing came first, and then the hand that played with his own disheveled hair. Lust was a feeling King felt often, but he never really acted on it like he was now. Perhaps it was the intense warmth in the pit of his stomach cheering him on, or the fact that he just knew that Mal was feeling the same way, but all King could fathom was he just felt so guilty and so so very bothered. And that he had to quench this thirst. It was weird, going from one to one hundred in the fraction of a second, but here he was, shivering like a schoolgirl and craving affection.

what the fuck is going on

King stepped back towards his bed slowly, fist clenching and unclenching. Watching Mal, watching him sit so daintily and glance about calmly, for some reason it was so tempting. So… Familiar. King froze above his friend and then all at once he was on top of Malcolm. His hands held him up as not to crush the smaller boy, and his eyes glared down with a mix of yearning and confusion and just a bit of guilt.

For a moment, he wanted to just lean in and kiss the boy’s stupidly cute face, or maybe pull him into a deep embrace, but then reality seemed to set in and instead he let his entire body weight collapse onto Mal. King’s head buried into the bed just to the right of Malcolm’s neck, and with a shuddering breath he let out a quiet and hoarse cry. Something was very wrong.

“King..? Wha–” Malcolm turned beet red and his neck burned hot, but his brows furrowed in determination. Don’t make it weird Mal, he chided himself while looking nervously at his friend. God help him, he couldn’t look away, but anxiety burned low in his chest at the sound. He sounded like he was in distress. “King? Richard?”

Almost instinctively, he reached up to touch the side of Richard’s neck as if checking for a pulse. There was definitely one there, and Mal thanked his lucky stars that he was – or would be – a professional. He wet his chapped lips. Dilated pupils. Maybe it was a migraine? If it was a sign of anything worse than he’d need to call an ambulance, or maybe his Dad, and then things would go from bad to worse…

Of course, dilated pupils could mean other things, but – a small voice on his shoulder or perhaps a niggling one in his ear repeated, ’Don’t make this weird, Mal.’ He didn’t realise he’d pretty much mumbled it aloud until it was too late. He hastily tried to cover it by continuing. “Are you okay?”

The overbearing guilt and lust was replaced with the searing pain of anxiety. That was new, and awful. King winced, burying his head into the crook between Mal’s neck and shoulder. He felt so helpless, so confused, so… Out of control. It was as if he wasn't King anymore, he was someone else, someone with terribly heavy emotions. King slowly rose his head as Mal seemed to tinker with his body, and then all at once he was up and scurrying towards the bathroom door.

”Sorry, sorry, I’m still drunk I think, sorry…!” He yelled over his shoulder meekly before vanishing behind the white-painted door. Once inside, King sucked in a deep breath, and then promptly turned towards the toilet and coughed up whatever was left in his stomach from last night. He was reeling, emotionally and physically, and the fact that he had a hangover wasn’t helping much with either. He leaned into the toilet, breathing heavily, but the intense emotions just didn’t stop. King was aware of something new as well. These emotions that flooded around him were not his, they did not belong to his body. They were foreign and strong and not wanted. King shuddered a few times, hoping to expel the emotions along with the contents of his stomach, but in the end the anxious feeling remained, and King uncomfortably prepared for the day with a quick shower and long stare in the mirror.

Mal was waiting outside the door when he exited, sitting with a glass of water by his side and a little strip of ibuprofen in his hands. He must’ve silently exited the bedroom – like some sort of ninja – to get them. When King opened the door, Mal jumped to his feet and held them out for him. There was still a faint red tinge to his cheeks as if he hadn’t quite gotten over the events of the last hour or so, but he forced a smile. “Are you sure you want to go in today?”

Exiting the bathroom after dousing his face a few times, King was greeted with a new emotion, and as this swirl of purple sadness beat itself into King’s chest he wondered slightly if Malcolm was the source of his mood swings. Moving carefully, he reached for the glass and pills that Mal held out, and he took down both with ease. His brain was whirring now, attempting to block out whatever was causing him to accept these random emotions so easily, and as he did so King gave a shaky smile and said,

”This is the worst hangover I’ve ever had, but hey that's not gonna stop me. You better go get ready, Mally.”

Mal nodded, but not before another flash of worry passed through his eyes. “See you in ten minutes or so, then,” he said, hoping not to make such a big deal of it.

“Man, what a wild night last night!” Jade exclaimed, her body oddly placed on her bed as she looked on the ceiling and was on her black and maroon Samsung Galaxy S5

“You’re telling me. Can’t believe that party. Connor sure knows how to throw a wild one.” The voice on the other end of the call said. It sounded male. And deep.

“You’re damn right he does, Danny,” Jade said, rolling on her stomach and looking at her clothes-filled carpet. “But that eclipse was odd. Like, what the actual fuck was a Solar Eclipse being out at night? Are we in Heroes or something?” Jade said, laughing loudly.

“Heroes? Really Jade? I didn’t know you were into that shit.” Danny said teasingly.

“Oh shut up.” Jade retorted back, “that show is fucking awesome. The whole tagline of ‘Save the cheerleader, Save the world’ was the shit. You’d agree if you weren’t always on about that fucking comic book series Saga.” Jade teased him.

“Don’t bag on the great Saga. You know it’s brilliant. I even recall you saying you want to have as much sex as Alana and Marco do.” Danny laughed.

“Whatever.” Jade said, brushing it off, “I gotta bounce. I at least have to make some effort in getting ready. Plus, there’s that memorial service tomorrow that I got too.” Jade did not seem excited about that. “Anyways, I’ll catch you later.” Jade said.

“Alright girl, take it easy,” Danny said, “oh, say hello to Charlie for me.” Danny said with what sounded like some kind of laugh or some shit like that.

Jade laughed, shook her head, and hung up her call with Danny.

Tossing her phone to her side, Jade propped up sluggishly off her bed. It took her a few tries, but she was able to finally get to her feet; though that was not without falling on her soft carpet. Whatever, at least she was up on her feet. That’s really all that mattered.

Jade came to he closet just a few feet away from her bed. The room as a whole wasn’t all that spacious. She had a bed, a TV, a desk, and her laptop. She had enough room for walking room and that’s what Jade really cared about. She didn’t need a walk-in closet or anything fancy like that. It’s not like Jade spends most of her time in her room, anyways. She’s always around town. If she’s not hanging at the abandoned construction site, then she’s probably over at Alicia’s. If she’s not over at Alicia’s, then she’s probably just roaming around until something interesting happens.

Looking through her closet, Jade just picked out the first thing she could find: a black, low-cut tank, her trademark black leather jacket, a leopard-patterned skirt that stops at her mid-thigh, and boots that stop at lower-thigh. As soon as the outfit that she picked out had manually made its way on her body, Jade grabbed her shit(her phone and school bag), and proceeded to find her way downstairs.

As Jade was walking down the flight of stairs, she pulled out her phone.

To: Alicia:
Hey, Ali! You want to ditch today? My uncle did one of his “go to school so you can get out of Verona” talks. I just really need to escape or something. Maybe we can chill around town or something. You down? — Jade

As soon as Jade touched the ground floor, she looked for a brief second and saw a surprise in the kitchen. “Uncle Charlie! You’re actually home this morning!” She said, surprised.

Jade hardly ever saw her Uncle Charlie in the morning. Sure, she saw him before she would go out at night or perhaps when she got home from school(or skipping it), but never in the morning. So, one could imagine her surprise when she saw him sitting at the kitchen table, sipping his coffee.

“You’re surprised, aren’t you?” Charlie said to his neice.

“Well, yeah. You’re never home when I wake up. Your..work keeps you busy.” She said, stating the obvious.

Charlie chuckled, “I finished early, so I decided to come home and surprise you.” Charlie smiled. “So, you just going to stand there or are you going to give me a hug?” Charlie asked her, smirking slightly.

Jade shook her head and hugged her Uncle Charlie. It felt really tight, but she didn’t care.

The hug lasted about twenty seconds before she let go.

“So, you’re off to school, I take it?” Charlie inquired.

Jade nodded, brushing it off as if it were nothing.

“I know you hate it, but you have to go. If you ever want to leave this small town, you’re going to need something to fall back on.” Charlie told her.

“Can we not do this now? I’m meeting Alicia and I really don’t need this.” Jade annoyingly requested of her uncle.

“Fine,” he said, stopping what he was going to say. “Have a good day and tell Ali I said hi.” Charlie said, smiling.

Jade smiled as she waved goodbye to her uncle. The last thing he would hear would be the door slamming.

As she stepped out of the house and went along her usual path, Jade couldn't get with what her uncle was saying. He has been in Verona all of his life and even though she loves him to death, why does it matter that she has to get out of Verona? Was there something she was missing or could there be something more to what Charlie was alluding to? "AND WHY IS IT SO FUCKING HOT!?" Jade suddenly yelled, complaining in overdrive about how fucking hot she felt.

And then she started to feel the ground to shake slightly. "What the-?" Jade said and suddenly car alarms went off. "Shit." She said, "if I stay here, they'll think I did something. They always blame me."

So, Jade hurried along, running as fast as she could before anyone in the neighborhood could blame her for something she may or many not have caused. Still, it was odd that, when her emotions rose, the ground suddenly shook. I'm sure it's nothing; it has to be.

After dropping off her brother at middle school, the path to Lincoln Memorial was still relatively peaceful. It had been several minutes of twiddling with a dreamcatcher she was working on when she received a peculiar text from her favorite male friend. A particular someone she was romantically fond of, though she wasn't exactly sure if these feelings were reciprocated. Nonetheless, she found herself flutter off the ground for several seconds, before her feet returned softly back onto the concrete. She was so attuned to her phone, that she didn't even realize that she levitated several inches off the ground. With a swift click, she peeped open the message and then let out a deep chuckle. Moon was gently shaking her head from side to side as she responded...

To: Jay
Oh hunny. Just because you have pink hair does not mean you get special treatment to enter the girl's lavatory. lol Stay put love, I'll be there in a few minutes. Almost at school now.

P.S. How do you "accidentally" enter the girl's lavatory?

--Love & Spice, Moon

She then flipped over to a new screen and Alice's name popped up. This was too cute, she couldn't resist telling her.

To: Alice
Boys. I'm guessing you got his text too right? Jay "accidentally" waddled into the girl's lavatory. Should I save him or leave him to suffer a deathly humiliation?

Decisions decisions...lol Oh, btw, are you coming to the Astronomy meeting today? I think something weird is going on. That odd solar eclipse we talked about last night, I think it might have something to do with this strange feeling I've been having today. Do you feel as off as I do?

--Love & Spice, Moon

And with that, she placed her phone back into her messenger bag and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary or particularly interesting. If she had thought about it, she probably would have taken the route to school through the town graveyard. She felt an allure to the place, and found that traversing through it, empowered her with the spirits of the deceased. A bit far-fetched most would agree, but it was the spiritual connection she felt that drew her to such a place, and quite often. Even-though she knew none of the people on the names of the headstones.

Having finally arrived at the front doors of the school, she placed the dream-catcher back into her messenger bag and began searching the last stall of each girl's bathroom that she passed by. The bright lights, were a bit disorienting, cause after all, it was still morning. Unlike Cinderella(Alice), Moon wasn't as much of a sun-riser. In fact, as she her name might of suggested, she was more a night owl. The sound of a midnight rain and howling wolves was more than enough to satisfy her nightly ritual.

A peculiar set of unique shoes glimmered under the last bathroom stall. She had finally found the man she was looking for. Moon pulled her hair back and knocked softly on the stall door, "Emily, it's Moon. I got your text about your sore throat. Let's go ahead and get you to the nurse's office okay?"

Jay was the brainy type. At least clever enough. Surely he'd get that Moon was pretending he was a girl so he wouldn't have to speak and blow his cover. She just hoped no would come in as he came out.

5:45AM rolled by Alicia would groan loudly as she heard her cellphone alarm going off opening her eyes she reached for her phone and quickly shut off the alarm. Buddy Alicia's cat started pawing at her face and mewing loudly, she groaned again as she sat up and shoved the cat off of her bed clearly she was never a morning person Alicia was always the night owl staying up late almost every night either playing video games or studying for tests. However she stayed up late last night seeing the eclipse last night was extremely odd due to it not even being a scheduled celestial event her time with Jay and the astronomy club after school she learned quiet a bit, and she knew that Jay would be messaging the members about it. It felt like as if it was the first episode of the show Heroes way back when it was being played on NBC, a show she did really enjoy back then and she was looking forward to watching the new series coming out next month.

Alicia looked down at her IPhone 6 and looked at the calendar of course she would remember the date tomorrow Tuesday, September 15th 2015. she did feel bad for those who lost loved ones and friends to the murderer, especially for Tessa, Nina, Petyr even Everett those are the only people she knew of personally affected by it. She already had a black dress set up in her closet, she didn't look forward to it but she was going to be there for her friends.

She finally pulled herself out of her bed and headed towards her dresser, there she picked out a black Halo 5: Guardians themed tshirt as well as a pair of blue jeans. Alicia then went into her closet grabbing a leather jacket from the hangar, she looked down at her phone and saw that it was 5:55AM now she was going to be late, luckily Alicia always relied on her mother to take her to school since she worked at the same high school. However it was still slightly embarrassing having your mother teaching in the same school, she even was made fun of but Alicia learned to just shrug it off she never really cared what others thought even being made fun of for being a lesbian.

"C'mon Alicia we are going to be late!" Alicia's mother yelled from downstairs, she rolled her eyes and sighed as she grabbed her backpack and started down the stairs. Alicia smiled and gave her mother a loving hug and grabbed herself three strips of bacon as well as a slice of buttered toast. "I'm ready mom." Alicia said as she went to put on her shoes and started out the door, there was her mother's car a blue Honda Civic in the driveway her father had already left working on a case for a client of his. Alicia got into the back seat and pulled out her phone seeing a text from Jay.

To: Moon; Scout; Princess; Ali
Guess which one of ur friends accidentally walked into the little girls room at Lincoln

To: Moon; Scout; Princess; Ali
Hint: his name starts with j and ends with y and it's me ok i'm stuck can somebody help

To: Moon; Scout; Princess; Ali
I'm in the last stall and theres someone in the toilets with me... I'm scared...

Alicia couldn't help but laugh, she wasn't sure how he wouldn't have known he was in the girl's bathroom in the first place getting a devious smirk on her face and thought it would be the perfect chance to prank his best friend, and maybe get a laugh out of him as well.

To: Jay-Darling
"I'm on my way my mom is driving as usual so i'll be there in like five minutes tops."

The drive was always really short, being in a small town there wasn't any traffic really at this time of day except for the buses driving around town picking up each and every student going to the high school, Alicia pulled out her headphones from her backpack and plugged them into her iPhone and pressed shuffle mode I'll Fight by Daughtry played as they got closer Alicia received another text from her Jade.

To: Alicia:
Hey, Ali! You want to ditch today? My uncle did one of his “go to school so you can get out of Verona” talks. I just really need to escape or something. Maybe we can chill around town or something. You down? — Jade

Alicia smiled slightly she was always down for hanging out and she did occasionally skip class from time to time, however it was difficult with your mother being a teacher and all in the school, and decided on a compromise her mother was the Home Ece teacher and it was her first period as well.

To Jade Taylor
Well you know Home Ec is my first period, however after that I am free and we can ditch the rest of the day, I just don't want to get chewed out by my mom, does that work for you?

Alicia hit send just as her mom stopped the car in the parking lot in front of the school, Alicia grabbed her backpack and stood up. "I'll see you in class in five minutes." Alicia called out to her mother who locked up the car and nodded. "I'll see you then." Alicia was about to move when she felt the car door sticking to her hand, looking at it for a moment Alicia grunted slightly as she yanked her arm free. Alicia took a step forward when she heard the tires of the car moving slightly and noticed the car had moved at least five inches closer towards her. Shaking her head slightly must have been something else and thought that her mother parked slightly out of the line of the parking space.

Alicia quickly made her way towards her locker, inside she kept her assortment of paints she used for art class smirking slightly she grabbed a really dark red bottle of paint setting her backpack inside Alicia quickly made her way towards the girls bathroom. There she saw another girl just leaving the bathroom. "Perfect." Alicia smirked to herself as she quietly walked into the bathroom heading towards the second to last stall, she looked over towards Moon as she entered the bathroom motioning her to be quiet while she got the prank started. Alicia squirted the dark red paint onto her hands and started making groaning zombie noises and got down on the floor of the stall and shot out her red paint covered hand and latched it onto Jay's foot holding onto it tightly and started laughing.

Location: Bedroom-> Kitchen

Interacting with-> Nina @kittyluna45

Petyr's alarm didn't go off. It never went off, mostly because he never set it. In fact, he hadn't set his alarm in close to 3 years; he didn't really need to. Because of how their house was laid out, Petyr's room shared a wall with the upstairs bathroom, specifically the wall that the showerhead hung on. So, when water flowed through the pipes as a result of someone taking a shower, Petyr heard it in his room and his exceptionally light sleeping did the rest. Ever since Nina had gotten into her routine of showering fifteen minutes before he usually got up, he'd figured out he didn't need to wake up to any of the cacophonous alarms he'd used previously. It honestly made mornings just a little more bearable.

Just not this morning. Mostly because he didn't get anywhere NEAR enough sleep the previous night. Part of it had been the Sunset Eclipse, as he'd heard it called somewhere, and the way Verona was all atwitter about it. But mostly it had been because sometime in the night he'd woken up with a start because he was so damn cold. And nothing seemed to warm him up enough. He'd spent the night waking up every couple of hours shivering and then going back to sleep. The inability to take a warm shower did nothing to help his mood.

The smell of freshly made oatmeal wafting upstairs as he toweled off did though.

"Petyr! Breakfast is warming up and lunches are made! Hope you will be down soon!" shouted Nina up the stairwell just as he started to slip his pants on.

"Two minutes!" he called back as he ducked back into his room to grab a shirt. For a moment, he started to reach for his favorite ensemble, a dark grey t-shirt with a black button up, but then he remembered the upcoming Memorial. A shiver that had nothing to do with how cold he was shot up his spine as he remembered those terrible, fear-filled days, but he forced them to the back of his mind. He'd leave those shirts for the actual memorial day; they were, after all, one of the only sets he had that wasn't faded, torn, or slightly too small. Instead he grabbed a fading blue t-shirt by itself, slipped it over his head, grabbed his shoes and jacket, and thumped down to the kitchen.

"Smells like cinnamon and toastiness down here," he said as he swung through the entryway to where the table was, "Morning sis."

The path to Lincoln Memorial High wasn't a real long one, but Jade was walking at a slow pace. It wasn't because she wanted to take in the cold breeze of Verona's September morning. She couldn't care less about that. Jade simply wasn't in any rush to get to school. Even if she was ditching, she didn't want to get caught some good-doer trying to score points with the principal. Yeah, Jade didn't need that in her life. And, after the shitty start to her day, Jade had less than halfway to give-a-crapsville for school. She was just waiting for Ali to hit her back with a text, either accepting or rejecting her plans to ditch with her.

"You better hurry it up." Jade said, walking down a back alley. It was just a dozen yards or so away from the school.

Feeling a buzz in her pocket, Jade stopped in her tracks. Taking the phone out, she saw that she finally got a text from Alicia. "Bout time bitch." Jade smiled, reading the text. She sighed and started typing back.

To: Alicia
I forgot your mommy is a teacher. That's gotta suck.
But yeah, that's fine with me. I'll meet you around the corner after your first period.

As Jade sent the text to Alicia, she sighed again. She had to kill at least an hour. Oh what could she do to kill the time. "I guess I could just idly roam around." Jade sighed again. The only bad part about ditching was the possibility of becoming bored. She would have been bored in class, probably more than she was now. Better be free and bored than caged up in that hell-hole and still bored. She would just have to wait until Alicia was able to get the hell outta dodge.

Location: Jelen Family Kitchen
Interacting/Collabing with: Petyr Jelen @Saltwater Thief Text sent to Everett @AcerRo

---

---

Nina smiled as she saw her brother come into the kitchen and turned away from their crappy gas stove. ”Good to see you awake. Oatmeal is almost ready. Oh… yeah. I guess I should mention that dad’s out of town till Wednesday. Apparently a big job up North came up. He left a note on the fridge. However, not that unusual, huh bratr?” Nina slipped the czech word for brother in as she turned back to the stove, rubbing her temples a bit.

She hadn’t noticed it before but she had a headache. A bad one. Maybe from that eclipse that had happened last night. However, it was starting to get more noticeable as she warmed up the oatmeal. In an effort to change the subject, she looked back at her brother. ”So, how did you sleep?”

”Jako hovno,” her twin replied as he sat down at the table. Like shit. ”I think the heater’s going bad, I was freezing last night. Almost literally, I’m pretty sure. Perfect timing, right as the Washington winter is on its way.”

Nina raised her eyebrow. ”Uh, I hate to break it to you but the heater is working fine.” She walked over and set her hand on Petyr’s forehead and recoiled almost immediately. ”You feel like ice! What the heck? Are you sick?” While Nina’s back was turned to the stove, the flame under the oatmeal started to get larger and hotter. Soon, the smell of burnt oatmeal filled the kitchen. ”Ahh no no no!” She ran over to the stove and clicked off the burner and looked in the pan. All that remained of breakfast was a black charcoal lump. ”Hovno…”

Petyr was behind her in a moment, staring at the stove over her shoulder. ”What just happened? I didn’t smell or hear any extra gas, and I know you had that set to low…” Shaking his head, he made toward the pantry and started looking for something to substitute breakfast. ”Matka Boží, what a way to start the day.”

”I know right? That was so weird… I guess maybe the stove is malfunctioning, like everything else in this house. I’ll tell dad when he gets home. I think we have some cereal in there.” Nina looked in the pantry and sighed. She then pulled away and pulled out her phone to shoot off a quick text to someone. That someone being Everett. After checking something, she sent a simple enough text. "Hey E. Got next 2 days off. Let me know if you need me to hang. N." She then turned back to Petyr. ”Are you sure you’re still feeling alright bratr? The way your forehead feels has me worried.” She leaned against the wall next to the pantry and looked at him.

”Yeah, I feel fine,” he said as he pulled out a box of generic oat cereal and went for a bowl in the cupboard, ”No cough, no sneezing, no runny nose or congestion, just really, really cold. Could you get me a glass of water? Thanks.”

”Sure, want the milk as well?” Nina pulled out a bowl for herself, and got the milk out of the fridge and set it on the table before Petyr could answer. She got two glasses of water and set one down in front of him. ”Here you go.”

”That’s great, thanks,” he said as he reached for a glass to take a drink. As soon as he touched it, however, there was a bristling sound that pulled both of their attentions to the glass, which was now filled with a solid block of ice.

”What-” ”the-” ”Fuck?”

”Do prdele.” Holy shit. ”What the hell!? Why is it suddenly ice!” She reached over to see if it was a trick, but no. The glass was full of a solid block of ice. She pulled her hand back and looked at Petyr. She slumped over in a chair and stared at the glass in amazement.

”Okay, now this is getting ridicu-” Petyr stopped mid-sentence as he pulled his hand away from the glass… and the cold receded quickly. ”Wait…” He put his hand back on the glass. The ice reformed. He took it away. The ice melted, slower this time, but it still melted. ”What.”

Nina just watched as the ice melted, froze, melted, froze and melted again. ”Petyr… this is like something out of one of those shows everyone talks about. But, I guess I guess it is just you.” She looked at her twin, her eyes meeting his. ”So, what do you want to do about it? Keep it secret?”

”Ugh, hold on, let me try and get this under control here…” For a moment, Petyr closed his eyes and seemed to focus on something only he could perceive. Slowly, the ice in the glass started to recede, even with his hand on it, and his face flushed with more color like he was warming. ”Okay,” he said, ”I THINK I have this taken care of. Seems like my stress might’ve been triggering it, but… wait. Stress.” He turned and looked her curiously. ”Nina, do you feel like trying something potentially stupid?”

”Depends on what kind of potentially stupid we’re talking about.”

”Try turning the stove on again, and see if you can make the flame do anything without adjusting the dial. I want to see about something…”

Nina raised her eyebrow, shrugged and got up and turned on the stove. Once it turned on, she looked at the flame and willed it to get bigger. And for a moment… nothing happened. She turned to look at Petyr, her mouth going to open, and then the flame grew large and bright. She turned her head so fast it almost hurt and her jaw dropped. ”Do prdele... “ Nina watched the fire with interest, making it grow larger and smaller. She finally clicked the stove off and sat back down at the table. ”Well... fire and ice… heh like those books you read once huh?” She let out a half chortle at that.

”Kind of, yeah,” Petyr replied as he chuckled along with her. ”You think… you think we should try and see someone about this?”

She frowned a bit at that. ”Who? I mean, what do we tell them? Maybe we should wait a few days and see if it sticks. Or see if we’re the only ones. If so, then maybe we should talk to táta (dad) when he gets home.”

”You may be right. Just ride out the storm and hope we don’t light anything on fire or turn someone into a popsicle, eh?” he said half-jokingly as he turned and looked at the clock. ”Oh hovno, we’re running out of time. Better hurry and finish breakfast!”

“I’ll just eat something later. I do have home ec first and knowing Mrs. Smith we’ll be making something tasty.” Nina got up and grabbed her red leather jacket and pulled it on and snuggled into it happily. ”Lunch is already in your backpack.”

”Alright,” he said as she headed for the door, ”Give me a second to scarf this down, I’ll be right out!”

”Don’t worry. I won’t leave without you.” Nina slung her backpack over her shoulder and smiled. Sure, today had started off weird, but at least she had Petyr with her along for the weirdness. And that was all she needed at that moment.

---

---

The first class wasn't even done and Everett was already done with this day. He remembered that he had at some point gotten a response a text from someone. Everett never checked it, he just cleared it the notification went about his day. As he checked what the text was he smiled when saw it was from Nina. He sent one back saying that he needed her help with something really important. The reply came asking where Nina should meet him, and that she'd be where ever that was soon.

When class let out, Everett walked out if the building and sebt sent another text to Nina. This one was telling her where he was going to be. When get got to his truck, he pulled out his cell phone and made a phone call to someone he knew could help him.

After Jade made the decision to just roam around town(though still staying close to the school so she wasn't late to meet Alicia after her first class), she decided to go to the local cafe about a half of a mile away from the high school. If she's going to be wasting a good forty-five minutes to an hour, might as well get as much caffine as she possible can so she wasn't dead tired by the time she did meet up with that weird best friend of hers.

Once she got to the cafe, she chose a table outside of it. She didn't want to be forced to deal with the idiotic people who worked there. All she needed was coffee and the breeze actually felt somewhat comforting.

Waiting for her coffee, Jade picked up her phone. She was going to just roam the internet while she waited, but she noticed she was receiving a call. [color-e62020]"Why is Everett calling me? Whatever, might as well answer it,"[/color] Jade said, sighing. She touched her phone and slid the screen over. "Hey Rett, what's up?" She said uninterested in what he wanted.

"Charmin as always ain't cha Jade. You mind doing me a soild? I need to get up with Mr. C. You know where I can find him? " Everett said equal enthusiasm. Mr C was his name for her uncle Charlie. Everett was fortunate enough to be on good terms with the man.

Mr. C had taught Everett a very valuable lesson on there short... Friendship. If you're good to me, I'll be better to you, if your bad I'll be worse. Mr.C was a hard man, but he was fair with Everett. Everett appreciated that.

"You want to find my uncle? For what?" Jade asked bluntly.

"I need his help for some stuff with the memorial service. Just some stuff I can't get that I know he can. You coming to the party at the lodge? " Everett asked as he pressed in the clutch and started his truck.

Knowing Jade and Mr. C, where he was, Everett was gonna have to get there quickly. He only hoped Nina would hurry up.

"You do know what he does for a living right?" What was she saying? Of course Everett knew, "actually, scratch that. I know you do." Jade sighed. "Whatever. I don't know if he's still there, but to my recent knowledge, he's at home. Better hurry, though. He doesn't stay there that long in the morning." Jade said, telling Everett about where her Uncle Charlie was.

As Jade paused briefly, she noticed that her coffee had arrived. She set it down and let it cool off. "As for your other question, if there's going to be booze, you bet your ass I'm gonna be there." Jade said with a short chuckle.

"I'm here. So, what is so important that I had to cut class for?" Nina was tapping on the window of Everett's truck, looking in and at him. Her hair was all over the place, like she had run at a fast pace to get there.

"Why do you think I needed Mr. C Jade. Thanks for the help." Everett didn't say goodbye or wait for a response before hanging up. That's when he rolled down the window and spoke to Nina.

"I need some help and your just the person for it. Hop in and I'll tell you about it on the way. " Everett said with a smile. He wasn't gonna say anything he had planned in the parking lot. He was too paranoid for that.

Nina seemed to frown a bit, and moved over to the passanger side of the car and opened the door. She got in the truck, and buckled up. "I do hope this is worth the trouble I'm gonna get into. I know I said I'd be down to hang out, but... I meant after class."

"Oh don't worry, it won't be at all worth the trouble." Everett said as he leaned off the clutch and on the gas. With Nina in the passenger seat Everett drove to Jades home. He didn't tell Nina that he had just hired her to help get everything done. She was good company and one few people Everett actually got hung out with. Plus it was a good excuse to help her and her family out.

When they arrived at Jade's, Everett was happy to see a vehicle in the drive way. With any luck that meant exactly what Everett needed it to mean. That Mr. C was home. "This won't take long." Everett said to Nina as he got out if the truck. The choice to stay or follow was left to her. She seemed to choose to stay in the truck.

Everett walked up slowly to the door make sure he didn't do anything could be seen as a threat or dangerous. Pissing Mr. C off as the last thing Everett wanted to do. Everett knocked out the a few times and waited for an answer.

"Who is it? Charlie yelled from within his house.

"It's Everett Wilcox Mr. C. I'd like to ask a favor if you don't mind. " Everett said just loud enough to be heard on the other side of the door.

"Door's unlocked." Charlie said loud enough for Everett to hear.

"You're getting something from Mr. C? Oh Everett... don't tell me..." Nina had snuck up behind him and was looking at Everett.

"Just Crack and hooker and the like. You know light shopping. Everett said when he heard Nina's voice.

"Yes sir! Coming in and I for a friend with me." Everett said ad he walked in the house. Nina followed, with a simple shrug, seeming a little resigned.

It didn't take Everett long to find Mr. C. He smiled when saw. "Mr. C how are yah?" Everett said with a hand extended.

Charlie cracked a smirk at the sight of Everett and Nina."Nice lady friend you got here" Charlie smiled. "Ya know, my niece is single too." Charlie mentioned to Everett.

He shook Everett's hand and gestured the two to join him in the living room. It housed three different couches: one was a loveseat(or a couch that had two seats on it), another was a regular couch that could seat three people, and the last one was a recliner. Charlie took a seat on the latter one.

Everett couldn't help but laugh. "I like Jade just fine. It's you that gives me pause Mr. C. This is Nina, she's helping me out today." Everett said as he took a seat on the loveseat. Nina silently took the seat next to him and looked between Charlie and Everett.

"I'd ask a favor of you. After the service tomorrow we're having a little shindig at the lodge. I'd love it if you'd be there. But after that, me and a few friend are gonna go camping. Hoping you'd help me out with some drinks." Everett said plainly. Mr. C wasn't stupid and there was no reason to beat around the bush about it.

"So, you me to fund underage drinking?" Charlie asked, looking both Nina and Everett in the eyes with an expressionless gaze. It lasted for almost a minute, no doubt giving them all types of anxiety-filled thoughts.

After nearly forty seconds, Charlie started busting out in a laugh, probably confusing the two teens in front of him. "I'd be more than thrilled to help you and your friends have a good time." Charlie told them.

Everett smiled and laughed. "Thank you Mr. C. You are my hero."

"No need to thank me. I was your age once. I remember how hard it was to get drunk without the cops trying to ruin your good time. I'll handle it. Just make sure to get Jade home in one piece." Charlie said, his tone of voice suddenly changing from that of a friendly business partner to a father.

"I promise." Everett leaned over and pulled out some money and handed it to Mr. C. He didn't want it to be said that he didn't pay his way. "Will you be joining us tomorrow at the lodge? We're having Elk."

Charlie took the money from Everett's hand. He started to count it, making sure there was enough. He wa surprised at how much there was. For a high school kid, that was a lot to spend on drinks. Charlie shrugged and pocketed the money.

"Yeah, I'll try to. I do love me some good elk." Charlie laughed. It was known around town that he has been known to gobble up some good elk from time to time.

" I can't wait to see you there. I'm sorry we can't stay but, I gotta kill that elk and get it to the fire. Thank you again Mr. C" Everett said as he stood and held his hand extended.

If Mr. C was gonna help him, then the least Everett could was get the man some fresh elk.

Charlie stood up and shook Everett's hand. Nina smiled and offered a polite thank you to Charlie for letting her in his house as she stood up to leave with Everett.

"Thanks again Mr. C. I'll see you soon." He turned and headed out the door, thankful this wasn't the south where it takes two hours to say good bye. As he started the truck, he knew the next stop was gonna be the hunting grounds. He just promised a man elk, and Everett intended to do just that.

Nina looked over at Everett as they left Mr. C's house. "So, if anyone asks... I'll lie about where I was. However, did you really need my help for this, or did you just want some company, mine specifically?" Nina looked up at Everett, with a rather curious look.

"Oh you think this was it? Sweetie we're just getting started with the hard part. You scared of getting dirty? " Everett said with a smile as they drove away. It

Nina seemed to blush at the sweetie comment. "I'm not scared of getting dirty at all."

Everett smiled, this was gonna be fun.

---

---

Gerard had time to think about his newfound 'powers' and the repercussions and benefits that come with said power. While he seemed like he was reading the book, his mind was elsewhere, specifically on his Time abilities or rather- Chronokineses. How could he reactive his powers- in times of extreme duress or could he handle it when it was being used, seeing as his vision blurred and his head figuratively split in two from over just eight seconds of use of- what he know dubs Time Stop.

The most prominent thought on his mind was, "How." the most logical thing is cause of that misplaced eclipse last night- most likely but how did IT give him powers.
I highly doubt that I was the only one who got these powers, but who else and who could I tell that wouldn't immidietly be freaked out? My reputation isn't all that founded- well, not like I give a damn. While thinking these thoughts deeply, he noticed students increase and more were pouring in. Amongst them was the rather elusive Scout.
Not even a wave? Who taught her manners? he asked himself sarcastically with a grin while taking a fleeting glance at her.

The Home Economic's class was soon finished and they taught a few new concepts that was slightly interesting, but was based of off some other things. Walking out the classroom, he had decided to just wait in the Astronomy Club room until when they were suppose to meet up, and maybe, ask a few of them if anything weird had happened to them afterwards.
"Maybe Mister Nice guy Jay, or Dutoit?" he asked outloud to no one in particular. "They wouldn't instantly despise me, I think, well they'd be curious and prodding me with questions in the worst case scenario."

Unbeknownst to Gerard, he had timeslipped backwards in time. Right before classes started.

Walking to the Astronomy room, a headache suddenly permeated his mind and he became slightly Groggy because of his accidental slip.
"The hell?" he asked himself in confusion, holding his head.
Before he could think of anything else he was passing by a girl's bathroom. He saw Immanuella look around suspiciously, then promptly enter. Then another female figure, also suspiciously looking around while holding some paint in her hands. Gerard innately debated with himself, and decided that this was [i]interesting[/u] and with a slight smirk, he had decided to investigate- maybe for the thrills or just the sake of finding out, he didn't know. Now you might be wondering- isn't it weird for guy to enter the girls bathroom. Yes it is. Gerard didn't really care though- nothing, nothing would get in the way of satiating his curiosity.

Briskly walking towards the door, he placed his hand on it and it creaked slowly open. The sight that welcomed him was specifically interesting and humorous. Alicia grabbed a person's leg from under the stall, hand dipped with dark red paint and then proceeding to maniacally laugh. The door banged against the wall, Gerard's figure standing against the door.
"So, the dynamic duo of the lesbian gymnast and the french is here." he spoke, with a smirk, leaning against the door frame.
"Should I call the Principal for harassment?" He asked jokingly thought with no hints of so in his voice, "No seriously though, what sort of shenanigans are you two up too?"