Grand Ridge Academy
Tuyen woke in cold sweat, sharp breaths wracking through her body. Another recollection. Because of course, god forbid they have a good night’s sleep. Not that she would’ve gotten it anyway. She’d practically collapsed in her bed when they’d gotten back but, exhausted as she was, sleep wouldn’t come.
Instead she’d ignored the sinister whispers and tried her hardest to shift through the memories that didn’t belong to her. Because if she was going to use a hopefully useful extraction, she had to understand the girl that had once held it. She was surprised how little her death affected her. She only felt a numbness when considering it. There had been to many now to give what little emotion she had left, beyond self hatred and guilt, to someone who was practically a stranger.
Someone who’s memories she now had.
She could understand a little what the other girl felt. Like someone who should’ve died, the ghost of a town, just getting through life. That was what she felt now. Like she hardly existed. She found it hard to even care. But she had to, to survive, she guessed.
(Did she even want to? She wasn’t sure anymore.)
Shaking off the depressing thoughts she forced herself up, merely eyeing her shadow as it slunk around her. She changed into a fresh set of clothes, rummaging deep in her drawers to find something as warm as what she’d had on before (and slept in).
Once done she splashed her face with water and headed out the door.
Grand Ridge Academy
[@Ruler Inc]
Caelea felt like some fucking idiot as she stared at the map that the others had gathered around. Ok, yeah, they’d pointed out where they were going yesterday but she had no clue how to read maps. Honestly she was just pretending to look at it. It was a good thing she didn’t need to but, y’know, still made her feel dumb.
Min, on the other hand, was studying the map intently as if it could give him the answer to the meaning of life. Or, maybe how to understand the abstraction he’d taken. Britney had said something about understanding the person who had it. Sure, he had the mayor’s memories. But he had no clue what the person was like. It had kept him up most of the night as he tried to understand. Not understanding was something that had always frustrated him in his constant pursuit for knowledge. Yet here he was, unable to do the simple thing of understand someone
who’s memories he held. It was infuriating.
So he distracted himself by memorising the map.
“You mean that recollection where John Reid also “killed” all those creatures that chased us yesterday?” Rien air quoted killed, shivering slightly. “Felt like a flashback to me.”
For all they said it was like some terrifying flashback, Rien had actually slept pretty well the night before. Sure, it had been filled with nightmares and dreams of the death of all their friends. But other than that? Been pretty good. Still, now that they were awake they were worried for Kimberly. She’d lost one of her closest friends the night before and they may have lost a lot of people… but that had to have hit hard. So they kept an eye on her and stuck close. Just in case. Cause that’s what friends do, y’know.
“Just say it, Justin,” Tuyen joined the group a bit late, but on time to hear the last of what had been said. She stared him in the eye in a sudden surge of weird confidence (looking people in the eye was never her strong point). After the events of the day before, and all the dreams and memories that weren’t hers she’d seen last night, she found she cared just a little less about what people thought of her. She cared a little less about pretending to be happy (though she lost that a while back). “We’ve heard, and seen, a lot that’s tough to swallow. What’s one more thing to add to it? So just tell us quickly… please?”
She shifted slightly, gaze dropping to the floor and a hand running through her hair. It was better that he told them right away but yeah, maybe she could’ve phrased that a little better.