Well, I finally finished. Here it is. -gestures to entry-

I honestly have no fucking clue how I keep losing the plot.

Oops.

The ship-wide intercom was not used often, so everyone on the TGS Explorer snapped to attention. “We’ve reached the home stretch. Once we clear this asteroid field, we’ll be warping back to Earth. Clean up your stations and be ready within an hour.” He hung up without another word.

Daniel sighed. The Captain was always a cold one, but he cared about his ship and his crew more than anyone. Still, it was painful to just stop working when there was so much left to do.

He remembered the alien planet they encountered last week: Odd and purple and so surreal that stepping foot on its soil felt like he had entered another dimension. He even managed to take some samples, and…

The biologist brought a small container of rocks to view from behind the carefully-sealed glass he worked through. This soil told tales of a civilization thousands of years old that once lived on that planet. Yet somehow, they were nowhere to be found…

From the glass, a reflection caught Daniel’s eye. It was the only warning he got.

An enormous asteroid was flying towards the Explorer with terrifying speed.

The ship’s thrusters fired at once. Daniel was thrown to the ground with his skin crushing into his body as they tried to avoid imminent death. For a second it looked like they would avoid danger, but they were not fast enough. The asteroid grazed them with a spiked projection of rock that cut out from its side, raking into the Explorer with a shower of sparks and flying shrapnel, sending it tumbling off course and out of control.

The lights in the ship went out, but Daniel could hear the thrusters still firing. Even spiraling madly, Captain Sorverg was able to avoid smashing into three more enormous rocks that flew into their path. Death grazed the skin of his teeth again and again and each time was closer than the last.

But then they were clear. The Explorer floated freely in empty space. Sorverg was able to pull the ship out of its spiral. Deep red emergency lights flashed on and illuminated everything with a dark red glow as the ship’s AI sealed the rooms that were connected to the giant hole, raked out of the ship as if by a giant claw. They were all still alive.

The ship’s intercom flickered back on, but the voice was not the Captain’s.

“What the fuck was that?” That was Scott Jackson, the ship’s Engineer. “Is everyone still alive?”

“Still breathing.” Sergeant Harkins was unfazed as always.

“Shut up and wait for the Captain’s orders.” Lando Sorverg was the Captain’s brother. Fear turned him terse and impatient.

“Yeah, I can see you all from here. Everyone’s okay.” Tom Lorentz spoke up anyways, nervous as hell. It was good to know his cameras still worked, though.

“I’m alive…” The shy Dr. Irene Misvrill said. “If anyone’s hurt, please make your way to—”

“Listen up, everyone.” The Captain interrupted. His voice was grim. “The Explorer charted a safe course through that asteroid field. What just happened, should not have happened.”

“What do you mean it shouldn’t have happened? It just did!” Scott shot back.

“Yes. It did. But asteroids don’t move themselves.” Sorverg was deathly serious. “There’s only one reason three of them would suddenly come at us like that. I think we are under attack.”

Another collision that rocked the ship as if on cue, knocking the crew off their feet a second time. The open comms became a mess of screaming and shouting, hurting Daniel’s ears as he himself struggled to figure out what was going on.

Then at last, everything was quiet. The biologist slowly crawled to his feet, deathly afraid of what might come next.

“Warning. I have detected a hostile alien life-form on board.” It was the voice of the ship’s AI. “Please proceed to the panic room now.”

“Everyone, stay the fuck where you are!” The Captain ordered. “AI. Give me their location.”

“I cannot detect them. All I know is that it’s here.” It replied.

Scott exploded on the comms again. “AI, what the hell do you mean by that? You just said you detected—”

“Damn it! It’s like I thought.” The Captain said. “AI, you can still detect that it’s on board, yes?”

“Affirmative. This is only possible by measuring the mass of everything on-board the Explorer. I cannot discern its location.”

“Sorverg, you know something that we don’t.” The Biologist finally spoke up. “You need to tell us what’s going on.”

But the Captain ignored him. “AI. Search the ship for corpses.”

“There is a body in waste disposal.” It replied at once. “I cannot identify it, except that it is human.”

For once, the comms were deathly quiet. No one knew what to say or what to make of the Captain’s orders. They should be running to safety before any more people died! They were just sitting in their rooms, waiting to be killed next.

“AI, please close every door in the ship and lock it tight.” Sorverg said.

“What?!” There were mixed cries of protest as everyone’s stations became prisons. In one moment to the next, their doors slammed shut and held in place by the AI, only opening once the alert was lifted.

“I need you all to listen carefully. This is a matter of life or death” Sorverg said. All comms had been shut off except for his. There was something in his voice that Daniel had never heard before. “We have a dead shipmate. Tom can confirm that their corpse is sealed in Disposals. The reason I need you all to stay locked within your stations, is because one of you is the alien who killed them.”

Daniel’s mouth hung open in astonishment. None of what the Captain was saying made sense to him. But as much as he wanted to shout and plead for answers, all he could do was listen and hope that Sorverg said more.

“There were only seven of us on-board. Me, Lando, Scott, Irene, Daniel, Harkins, and Tom.” He listed the names off easily; this crew had worked together for years. “AI, confirm this for me. How many bodies do you detect on board, in mass?”

“Eight, Captain.”

Another moment of stunned silence. Sorverg allowed this to sink in for everyone.

“One of you is a hostile.” His voice became angry, powerful, like a slowly-approaching storm. “I don’t know who you are, but I assume you’re using some kind of shape-shifting ability to disguise yourself as my former shipmate. But how well can you act as them? How long will you be able to keep up the charade? Because as soon as we find out who you are, you will die. Mark my fucking words.”

The comms turned back on.

No one said anything.

“This is why I have locked you all in your rooms. No one here can be trusted. Not even me. The only way we can find this being is through talking here on comms.” Sorverg said. “Eventually, they will slip up. We will then hold a vote between all seven of us, and if the majority of us are sure that someone isn’t who they say they are, the AI will remove the air from their room and suffocate them to death. Even if it’s me that you’re voting for. Do I make myself clear?”

Silence went on. And on. No one knew how to process what was going on or how they would even begin to find out who was real and who was not.

Finally, it was Irene’s quiet voice that broke the silence. It was plain that she was fighting back tears. “I understand, Captain.” She whispered.

______________________________________________

An hour came and went with little progress. Somehow, everyone recalled their previous missions together perfectly. The alien’s disguise was flawless. They learned that the damage had impaired the Explorer’s power, and in every hour and a half the AI would need to power down and restore its energy for ten minutes at a time. This left the doors unlocked, and the crew in danger.

Unless they found the alien, someone would die with each hour and a half that passed.

It reminded Daniel of an old game he had played back on Earth.

Every member of the ship still had access to their equipment, so to show what they could do to help they gathered the materials they could, presenting them via Tom’s system of cameras. It was here that they spoke now, able to look each other in the proverbial eye.

As a biologist, Daniel was able to use his sample from the alien planet to create a special serum. It could only be used once, but he would be able to use it to confirm a single person’s identity as human. “I’ll use it on myself.” He offered, speaking to his camera. “Then I can prove that I’m really human.”

“But then you’ll be useless.” Scott grumbled over comms. “You should confirm the identity of someone like Sorverg so that he can help us better.”

“You know Sorverg can’t be an alien after he set this whole thing up.” Lando interjected. “I think you want Daniel to waste that thing—”

“Maybe. We’ll figure it out later.” The Captain interrupted, standing diligently before his screen. "I can do my part too. These computers can project a small part of the ship’s shielding systems, and keep someone locked in their room via a force field. If he’s an alien, he won’t be killing anyone. Harkins, what can you do for us?”

“Uh, me?” Sergeant Harkins gestured lamely before his camera, searching around his barren room for something to use. He ended up pulling out his gun. It was a specially-modified blaster cannon he used to take down heavy targets. “I’ve got this baby with me. I won’t be able to recharge it, but you can bet your ass if the alien comes for me, they’re fucking dead.”

“More useful than you might think.” Scott Jackson grinned. He was holding a welding torch in hand, with his screen facing a large array of electronics. “When we power down, I think I’ll be able to disable the systems in someone’s room. Obviously I can only do one of ya at a time without overloading the ship, but maybe I’ll save a life or two.”

“Um,” Dr. Irene stood in the Medic Bay, surrounded by first-aid supplies. “If someone gets hurt I might be able to run out and save them… if I make there in time, at least. And if I can guess who he chooses to attack…”

“You better guess right, then.” Lando snarled. “If someone dies and you could have saved them, consider their blood on your hands.”

“Enough.” Sorverg barked as Irene looked away from the camera, saying nothing. “We can argue later. What can you do for us, Lando?”

“Well—” He bit down the scathing remark he wanted to answer with. “I’ve got the teleporters in here. I’ll use them to switch two people’s locations so that if the aliens want someone important dead, they’ll find someone else instead.”

“What do you mean by that?” Daniel was horrified. “Are you saying some of us aren’t as important as the others?”

“You’re goddamn right, I am.” He snarled. “Tom, that leaves you. You got your cameras, but what can you do without power?”

The security guard spoke up, obviously out of his element. “With a little bit of work, I think I can keep one screen up while we recharge. I’ll watch someone’s room. See if I can catch the bastards in the act.”

“That’s everyone, then.” Sorverg was terse. Time was running out. “Before the AI runs out of power, tell me your suspicions. Tell me if we should vote someone out while we still can.”

It was then that the reality truly hit. One way or another, someone was about to die. Everyone seemed to be at a loss for words.

“We hardly know anything yet.” Daniel said shakily. “We can’t just kill someone with such little information. We’ll just kill an innocent.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Scott was grinning, but his voice was hard as iron. “We know nothing. That’s exactly why we need to vote.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He thought the engineer had gone mad, but Captain Sorverg was listening carefully.

“The alien bastard knows who he is. They want us to vote for the wrong person. If we point a finger at someone innocent, they’re gonna try and make sure it sticks. They’ll slip up when pressure is on them. We need to watch carefully and use this to get information for later. Even if we do end up killing one of our own, we’ll learn enough to catch him later.”

“But Scott,” Tom spoke up. “If we vote the wrong person, another innocent will die when the ship powers down. That would leave us with just 4 humans left. If we don’t find him after that, we can’t make any more mistakes or else we’ll all die. I'd rather have more time to talk.”

“It’s too big of a risk.” Daniel agreed. Lando was nodding on camera, but he said nothing.

“No vote, then? What does everyone think?” Captain Sorverg was a wall of neutrality.

“Scott is right.” Dr. Irene said carefully. “I think we should vote…”

“I can’t believe you’d say that.” Daniel frowned. “Coming from you, I mean. You’d really let someone die because of your choice?”

Irene’s mouth closed shut, staring back guiltily but saying nothing.

“I think she’s the only one who’s not a fucking idiot.” Scott growled. “We need to vote or else we’re in serious trouble. There’s so much information we can get with this.”

“No.” Lando finally said. “We’ll have much more time talk if we don’t vote. More time to figure things out. We’ll find the aliens that way without risking everything like this.”

Sergeant Harkins shrugged, offering his own words. “Scott’s idea is smart. But I ain’t smart. Chances are I’ll miss who votes for who and who defends what. All I know is that I want that alien bugger to try and kill me. Just try, you son of a bitch. I’ll be right here. No vote.”

“That settles it, then. No vote.” Captain Sorverg said. He looked to the AI module next to him, seeing that its power was nearly depleted. “Everyone, do what you can. It’s almost lights out.” He saluted to the camera. “I hope to see you again in ten minutes.”

The lights went dark shortly after, and for ten horrible minutes the crew was left in pitch-black silence, floating in endless space while an alien creature slunk closer to kill them.

The only thing they could do now was hope.

______________________________________________

The lights flicked back on with blessed relief. Daniel was glad to find himself still alive. Turning his comms back on, he hurried to his spot by the camera to see what had happened.

“It killed Scott Jackson.” Tom choked.

The engineer’s room was a bloody mess. His body had been stabbed dozens of times, each impact powerful enough to paint the walls red behind them. The gruesome sight lingered for one last moment before Tom removed it from the feed.

“Damn it. That guy knew what he was doing.” Lando cursed. “Tell me. Who did you protect, Irene? And why the fuck is Jackson dead?”

“I thought it would go after the Captain!” The doctor’s voice was coarse with guilt, trying to stay professional. “Both of us can save liv

I think I'll be skipping this round. Sorry, other person.

I have overestimated my writing and didn't manage to foresee the amount of daily headaches I've been getting recently. If I had another day I could probably do it but as it stands now I feel too ill to finish. I have no right to demand more though so feel free to shame me.

I guess at least you can pair up my opponent, and the one who will remain pairless since Richard skipped this round too.

I might be a bit late on submitting my story... my apologies.

It's a story...
rked frantically from side to side, shoving aside the relentless showers, backed by blistering winds. A hurricane. It had been a while since the town last saw one. Now, the sky’s stretch of silence could be attributed to the theory that it was preoccupied brewing the storm of the decade.

“What if we crash, you die, and I don’t? Do I get off?”

“Shut. Up.” Russ kept his eyes on the road, trying to maintain complete awareness of his surroundings.

Miles Hackman, who sat in the back of the police cruiser, raised his cuffed hands, “What about these? If there’s an accident, handcuffs could keep me from getting to safety.”

“There won’t be any accident if you shut up.” The officer demanded once more.

Miles reclined in his seat, huffed, and looked out the window. The outside was distorted by streams of rainwater rushing down the glass. It wasn’t the first time he’d been arrested, but it was looking to be his last.

“I get it. I have to go to jail and all,” Miles returned his attention to Russ, “I just don’t get why you have to be so quick about it.”

The officer ignored him. A semi-silence passed. The only kind of silence that the world would allow: the rough pitter-patter of rain accompanied by sharp winds.

A pair of lights shined amongst the foggy curtain of precipitation. Russ narrowed his eyes and slowed down. It was another car, parked on the side of the road. As the police cruiser approached, a series of frantic honks emanated from the other vehicle. Russ pulled up beside it and brought his own car to a gradual halt.

“Why’d you stop?” Miles asked, his voice dull.

Russ nodded toward the outside, “There’s someone in that car.”

“So?”

“So, they probably didn’t get stuck out in a hurricane on purpose. Might need help.”

“You’re just gonna pick up some stranger off the side of the road? Fuck that, man.”

“Shut up.”

A woman dashed from the stationary vehicle, sprinting to the passenger side of the police cruiser. Russ unlocked the door, allowing her to enter. The woman slammed the door shut as she hopped into the front seat, drenched.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” She had a thick accent, however, neither one of the men could distinguish it. A grotesque scar ran across her otherwise delicate features. “My car stopped working and I got stuck on the side of the road,” she spoke through chattering teeth.

“Guess you’re lucky we came by then. I’m Officer Russ Callow,” he held out a hand.

She shook it, “Nadia Eckhardt.”

“Nice to meet you, Nadia. Back there is Miles Hackman,” Russ jerked a thumb over his shoulder, “I’m taking him down to the police station.”

Nadia turned in her seat, glancing at the man in the back, who winked.

The woman looked back to Russ curiously, “And why are you doing that, Mr. Callow?”

“He beat his girlfriend to death.”

“Allegedly.” Miles added.

“Shut the fuck up! I don’t hear anyone talking to you!” The officer snarled.

“Well, Mr. Callow,” Nadia started, “I don’t think you should drive to the police station.”

“Why’s that?”

“The roads ahead are closed, and if you cannot take them, you will have to take a much more dangerous path.”

“Dangerous how?”

“The back roads are winding and have a lot of trees. It would be very easy to get into an accident.”

Russ shrugged, “Well, there’s not much else I can do...”

“There is a bar not too far from here. When the rain started, I was driving somewhere else, but I would have had to take the back roads, you see. So, to get off the roads quickly, I was going to stay there until the rain stopped.”

“You mean Happy Jack’s?”

Nadia nodded, “Open 24 hours.”

“What do you think, Miles?” Russ called over his shoulder, “Bet you could use drink.”

Miles looked up, “Fuck yourself.”

“Alright then,” Russ’ foot eased onto the accelerator. The car was in motion once more; the three were on their way to Happy Jack’s.



Russ yanked the door open, his other hand gripping Miles’ arm. He shoved the prisoner inside before entering with Nadia and slamming the door on the storm.

“Christ, am I running a fucking motel over here or what?!” A gravelly voice called. An old man, the bartender, stood behind the counter. He glared at the three new faces, who tracked water along the wooden flooring.

The lights all glowed a dim yellow. The interior was simple, rustic. It was as if the structure was almost entirely made out of wood. It wasn’t particularly large, but big enough that without a full house it felt empty... And there wasn’t a full house.

Aside from Russ, Miles, Nadia, and the bartender, only a few others were scattered around the inside. Two men were seated at a rectangular table in the center of the room. A woman sat at the counter, a drink in hand and a bottle beside her. In the back corner, a man was hunched over in a booth, writing. All of the strangers turned their attention to the trio who had just entered.

Russ looked to the old man, “Who’re you?”

“I’m Happy Jack,” he grumbled; the old man’s expression was fixed into a deep scowl, “Who the fuck’re you?”

“I’m Officer Russ Callow,” he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, “This is Miles Hackman. I arrested him about an hour ago for killing his girlfriend.”

Nadia introduced herself shortly after the policeman, whose eyes scanned the room. He grabbed Miles’ arm, sitting him down in a booth toward the corner of the room, “Stay put.”

“Yessir,” Miles said, a sardonic mumble.

Russ faced the rest of the room, making another announcement, “Well, we’re all gonna be here awhile. Might as well get to know each other.”

A silence passed.

Russ huffed, approaching the woman who sat at the counter. She sipped from her glass of scotch and glanced to the police officer.

“What’s your name, miss?”

“Emily Rhodes,” she took another sip from her glass, “And I’m not in the mood for conversation, sorry.”

Russ nodded, dismissed. He moved on to the two men seated at the table. Upon closer examination, he noticed a series of contusions marking the one man’s features, “Shit, what happened to you?”

The bruised man stared into the officer’s eyes, “Pool game. Called out the wrong guy on cheating.”

“Got a name?” Russ asked, hesitant.

“David Granger.”

The cop looked to the other man, who sat beside David Granger. He wore a stern expression, a confrontational one, as if he were daring the officer to ask his name.

“You look familiar.” Russ remarked, “What’s your name, friend?”

“Charlie Lane.” He raised a gloved hand, “And I’m not your friend.”

Russ walked away from the table and to the booth in the back corner, where the last stranger sat. The man was scribbling onto a notepad, not bothering to look up as Russ approached him.

“It’s Nic Palmer.”

Russ blinked. “Okay then, Nic Palmer… What’re you writing?” The policeman stood beside the booth.

The stranger glanced up, “Ideas.”

“Ideas for what?”

“I write stories.”

“Stories?” Russ glanced down at his writings, “What kind of stories?”

“All kinds,” he closed the notepad and tucked the pen away, “Anything else?”

Russ shook his head, “No… guess not.” He made his way to the opposite corner of the room, where Miles and Nadia remained. The policeman took some comfort in at least knowing the names of each stranger he was trapped with. Some. He took a seat beside the woman, across from Miles. An awkward silence transpired, which Russ broke with: “How about a drink?”

Nadia nodded, “That would be nice. Thank you, Mr. Callow.”

“Don’t mention it.” Russ stood again and wandered over to the counter. Happy Jack, who was wiping down the counter, looked up to the officer as he approached.

Russ slapped some money on the countertop, “Can I have a drink?”

“I don’t give a shit…” The old bastard grumbled.

Russ ordered a bottle. Happy Jack took the money and plucked the alcohol from the shelf behind him. He handed it to the policeman.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Russ saw Nadia storm to the bathroom. He returned to the booth, taking his seat across from Miles. “What’d you do?”

“I just asked her a question.” He replied.

“What kind of question?”

“Well… I asked her what the fuck happened to her face.”

Russ narrowed his eyes, “You little chickenshit. You got some fucking nerve.”

“What?” Miles held up his cuffed hands, “I was curious. I thought someone with a big ass scar across her face would get asked those types of things a lot.”

“You oughta mind your own business and your fucking manners.”

Miles leaned forward, “Or what…? You gonna arrest me?”

Russ responded with a silent glare.

“...Why’d you become a cop, Russ? You get off on giving people parking tickets? Telling teenagers their parties are too loud?”

“I signed up because I get to catch people like you.”

“That doesn’t make much sense to me.”

“How’s that?”

“Well, collectively, the police force has done much worse things than me. Forcing people into sucking them off, killing niggers for being niggers… taking the power that was bestowed upon them and abusing it. That’s kinda fucked up.” Miles tapped his fingertips on the tabletop, “So, people like me, don’t look so bad in comparison.”

“But not all cops are dirty.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t matter. Some are, and they still count as cops. Bad apple shit. If a corrupt cop plants weed in some sorry fuck’s car, and arrests him for no reason… Some people see it as: one bad cop did that. Most people see it as: the police did that.”

“And you think that’s right for people to think?”

“I don’t give a shit what people think.”

Russ shook his head, “Now, you might think you have a point, but I’ll just let it go.”

“Why?”

“I’m tired. Really tired. Too tired for bullshit.”

A heavy silence passed before Miles stood, “I have to take a piss.”

Russ got up as well.

“What’re you doing?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“What? You wanna hold my dick for me?”

Russ grabbed his arm and shoved him forward, “You’re not leaving my sight.”

“For the record,” Miles started toward the bathroom, “This is fucking weird.”

“The record doesn’t give a shit.”

The two walked across the room, toward the bathroom. As they reached the counter, Miles yanked Emily Rhodes’ bottle from the counter and smashed it across Russ’ head. The officer fell onto the floor, allowing for Miles to snatch the cop’s firearm from his hip. He pressed the barrel against Russ’ head.

He cocked the pistol, “I piss alone.”

The strong, unmistakable sound of a shotgun’s forend clicking interrupted the exchange. Miles glanced up, the barrel of a rifle met his gaze. Happy Jack stood behind the bar, wielding a firearm, “Step away from the officer.”

Miles scowled, “Let me shoot him and I’ll just walk out.”

“I don’t stutter.”

“C’mon, old man… you’re really fucking me right now.”

Happy Jack said nothing. Miles slowly put the gun down and stepped away from Russ. The police officer grabbed his gun, slowly stood, and slammed it across his prisoner’s face.

Miles was now on the ground, blood gushing from his broken nose, “Fuck!”

Russ’ eyes wandered around the room, and six pairs stared back at him. All captivated by the scene. Miles had his bloodied face in his hands, cursing. Russ turned his attention to Nadia, who had returned from the bathroom, eye-makeup smeared.

The officer nodded to her, “You okay?”

“Are you?” She gestured to his head.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Let me see it,” Emily Rhodes’ voice came from behind him.

Russ looked to the woman, “You a doctor?”

“Nurse,” she clarified.

“Alright… Yeah… I’ll be right there…” Russ grabbed Miles and dragged him to the side of the bar, cuffing his hand to the foot rail.

After having Emily look at his head, the policeman wandered over to his booth (which was now a reasonable distance away). Nadia had already retaken her seat and made it to her second glass of liquor. Russ chuckled.

“What?” Nadia smiled up at him.

“Nothing…” he took a seat, “You just must’ve been thirsty is all.”

“Do not worry. I will leave some for you, Mr. Callow.”

“I’m fine for now. Thanks, Nadia.”

“Of course.” She finished her second glass, then poured another.

“How long were you stuck out there? In the rain, I mean.”

“Only for like an hour,” she shrugged, “I was very afraid.”

“I bet.” Russ nodded, glancing over to Miles.

Nadia held her head, blinking, “Oh…”

The officer raised an eyebrow, “What’s wrong?”

“My head… I am… dizzy.”

“Well, that makes sense. Maybe slow down a little, yeah?”

“No… my hands too… they are… shaking…”

Russ stood, calling over to Emily, “Hey, she’s not feeling well. She might need--”

Nadia hacked violently, grasping at her throat. The woman frantically took rasping heaves before falling onto the floor, convulsing, trying desperately to breathe.

“Nadia!” The policeman kneeled beside her, watching her with wide eyes. Emily rushed over. Russ looked up at the nurse, “What’s wrong with her?!”

“I-I don’t know.” Emily stared at the woman.

“Do something!”

Emily kneeled down, doing anything she could to try and discern what was wrong with the woman… and how to solve it. Her attempts were futile. Within minutes, Nadia died on the floor.

Every eye on the bar was fixed on the corpse. A tortuous silence lingered for what appeared to be an eternity.

Russ broke it, “You killed her.”

Nothing.

He turned to Miles, “You killed her.”

“The fuck do you mean?!” Miles’ eyes widened.

“You’re too much of a smartass to play stupid,” Russ marched over to his prisoner, looking down at him, “You put something in the drink! You killed her!”

“Hey, hey! We don’t even know if she was poisoned, man! She could’ve had some weird fucking health condition! You saw how fast she was downing that shit!”

“If I were you... I'd think of something more convincing than health conditions.”

“Maybe you should chill the fuck out, Russ. You aren’t even making sense.”

“It makes sense,” David Granger, the bruise-faced man, spoke up, “You seemed pretty quick to try and kill Russ earlier. You could’v

This was so much fun to write. Sorry for the delay. As you know I had eye surgery so I haven't been able to read stuff on my computer screen all week. Not to mention I've been high as hell for most of the week lol. I hope you guys enjoy this. I feel like this is more comedic than mysterious, unfortunately. Some of you are already going to have a good idea of what's going on, but hopefully I'm able to take you guys on a fun adventure nonetheless.

could be heard echoing throughout the flat fields of grain as she careened down a dirt road that separated the field from a forest. Her pursuer was a taller man with long dark hair, armor comprised of leather, and a tail. The man was much faster than the woman, and eventually caught her. Wrapping his hands around her waist, he plucked the squirming woman off of the ground. Her dirty blonde hair covered her assailants face as she broke out in laughter. “Okay, Zayne, you win! You got me!”

Zayne released the short woman and caught his breath. The woman was his angelic guardian and only friend in the foreign land that he found himself in. Annabeth Chase is her name, but Zayne insists on calling her Anna. Her hair was neatly kept by a silver circlet, and was a long dirty blonde color. She wore a royal blue sun dress as well as several silver bracelets to match her silver eyes. After catching his breath, Zayne joked with Anna, “If you get any faster I won’t be able to play Tag with you anymore!” The duo continued their journey down the dirt road at a more leisurely pace, unaware that they were being followed.

Annabeth and Zayne walked for roughly fifteen minutes, unaware of the person following them. The two set up a blanket underneath a tree on the side of the road to eat lunch. Their pursuer watched from a distance as both of them finished their lunches and laid down to rest.

The sound of something rummaging through their belongings woke Zayne with a start. He jumped up to find a small girl going through their belongings with grabby hands. She was no more than nine years old, wore a black dress to compliment her long black hair, and had two tiny horns growing from her head. She looked at Zayne with a widening smile, “Yer awake! You coulda waited for me so I din’t have to eat alone.”
Annabeth was sitting cross legged while Zayne stared at the little girl trying to figure her out. He got straight to the point with her, “Look here, squirt, you can’t just sneak up on people and eat their food!” Zayne’s hands did most of the talking as they emphasized everything that he said.

The little girl held out a map that she had obviously drawn with crayons. “I need yer help, Zayne! I’m trying to get here!” She pointed from a spot that said “You’re here,” and was marked with three red ticks, to the opposite side of the map where a castle sat on top of dead bodies. “I don’t r’membah how to read maps…” The little girl grew impatient as she tugged on Zayne’s sleeve and bounced in place.

Zayne’s annoyance with the little girl grew immensely as he couldn’t even understand anything on the map. When she started tugging on his sleeve, he caved. “Okay! Sheeeeeeessshhh! Just. Stop. Bouncing,” his arms flailed around. He continued after sighing deeply, “Me n’ Anna will help you, but you gotta’ tell me how you know who I am, since I dind’t even know two days ago!”

The small girl nodded in agreement to Zayne’s terms. “Well, since you dunno who you are, you can call me Estrella! I’ll tell you who ya are, but you hav’ta help me first.”

Anna nudged Zayne with her elbow, urging him to take the deal. Zayne confirmed, “Okay, I’ll help you first, but I just want you to know that your name is stupid. I’m calling you Esti.” After their belongings were packed away, Zayne and Anna lead Esti down the road, hopefully heading in the right direction. Zayne tried looking confident with the map in his hands, but he honestly had no clue where the hell he was taking them.

The trio arrived at the first landmark on the map, a massive oak tree devoid of life. The tree was alone in a barren field; three vertical lines were drawn in blood on the trunk. The symbol looked like the Roman numeral for three. As the group got closer, Estrella ran up to a skeleton sitting alone underneath the tree. The skeleton wore a fisherman’s hat and vest, but held a small chalice rather than a fishing pole. Anna looked at the skeleton with curiosity while Zayne held his mouth and stomach, trying not to barf. Esti pulled out a small pouch from her backpack and filled the chalice with a liquid, “Oh no, Fred! What are you doing all alone way out here?” The skeleton did not respond.

Zayne turned away from Fred to consult the map once more. He would look at the tree and back to the map several times before making a correlation between Fred and a crudely drawn fish on the map. After observing the map to deduce the next landmark, Zayne turned back to see Estrella introducing Anna to Fred. “Oh my God, Anna, why are you shaking that things’ hand!?” After the entire group was well acquainted with Fred, Zayne led them back on their adventure to the next landmark. Maybe.

The group continued down the road for thirty minutes before coming over a hill to see a very decrepit barn hardly standing in a field of dead crops. Estrella cheered and ran to the barn. Zayne dragged his hands down his face and spoke without words as if to say, “why me?”, to the sky. Anna smiled at Zayne as she walked by, pulling on his hand to follow Estrella. The two arrived at the barn minutes after Estralla, who was nowhere to be seen. The barn door was locked shut with heavy chains, but there was a hole large enough for a person to crawl through on the wall.

Anna pointed at the whole and gently pushed Zayne’s shoulder, “Hey, I think she crawled in through there, big guy. You should probably go in there and check it out!” Her chipper smile met a face full of regret ad disdain.
“You know, Anna, we could just leave her in there and go back to what we were doing.” Anna laughed, which made Zayne feel worse because he wasn’t joking. She pushed him again and waved her hands towards the hole. Zayne got down on his hands and knees and gave Anna one last look of misery before he crawled through the hole. His tail was forced to follow as Zayne crawled through hay and dirt until he emerged to the empty barn.

The inside was illuminated from spots on the roof that had withered and rotted away enough to let light in. The most intact feature of the barn was a steel beam that ran a few feet under the roof. Four ropes hung from the steel beam, and formed a noose at the hanging end. Only one of the ropes was still occupied, and from the looks of it the skeleton swaying in the air was that of a child. Zayne stared in horror as Estrella stood on a small step stool, tying something around the skeleton. When the small girl got down, it was clear that she tied the skeleton’s arm back on, with a chalice in hand. He approached, questioning the little girl in disgust, “Okay, what the hell are you doing messing around with all of these dead bodies?”

Estrella shot up and stomped her foot on the ground before harshly pointing at the fancy shoes now on the skeleton’s feet. “But Zaynie, Sam’s toes gon’ get cold if I don’t give him his shoes back.” Her eyes were puffy as she looked to Zayne, silently begging him to accept her reasoning. He did not.

“Look here, Esti! I’m not taking you around to play with all of your friends. I’m trying to take you to what I assume is your house so you can tell me who the hell I am!”

Estrella glared at Zayne, “It’s not my fault yer too stupid to remembuh who you are!”

Zayne was losing it as he grabbed Esti and pulled her over to the hole where they had crawled in from. “If you don’t start behaving like a good little girl, I’m going to have to tell your parents how bad you’ve been!”

Esti struggled against Zayne, but could not break his grasp. The thought of him telling her parents that she was being bad frightened the little girl so much that she hit the ground and practically ran through the hole in the wall. When Zayne made it back outside of the barn, he was met with an angry glare from Annabeth who was holding a crying Estrella. Zayne threw his hands up next to his head in disbelief, his tail feeling completely betrayed. “Oh, so you’re on her side now?”

Anna was quiet, and Zayne quickly conceded. “Okaaaaaaaaay, you’re right, jeez. I’m sorry. I might have possibly overreacted because I was just jealous of Sam’s shoes.”

Estrella sniffed and wiped her tears. Still refusing to face Zayne, she replied, “Yer shoes are pretty dumb.” The small girl tightened her arms around Anna’s neck before whispering to Zayne’s angelic guardian, “I like you more than that other girl. Your hair smells pretty.”

Annabeth quickly hushed Estrella, “Please, Lady Estrella, don’t tell him about her! There are some things he’s better off not knowing.” Her gaze fell upon Zayne, who was storming off down the road, map in hand. The angel followed him down the path sheepishly.

The group silently walked down the trail for two hours, relying solely on Zayne’s navigational capabilities. They soon came to a tall mountainous ridge around them. The now scarce trees were dead and decaying, fog blanketed everything in a ghastly shade. Annabeth tapped Zayne’s shoulder and motioned to Estrella, who had recently awoken from her nap in Anna’s arms. “Zayne, she’s scared.”

Zayne huffed, flipping the map over, “What is she afraid of? This is where she wanted to go.” His tail pointed to the map where the crayon drawing of a castle on top of dead bodies was crudely drawn. Zayne smirked at Annabeth, “You know, maybe you’re right. There’s probably a big scary monster that lives in these mountains that’s just waiting to eat the little girl.”

Anna looked at Zayne, dumbfounded by what might possess the man to say such a thing to a frightened eight year old. Estrella spoke up before Anna could, “Don’ be stupid. There’s two of ‘em.” The small child wiggled out of Anna’s grip and onto the ground. She grabbed the bottom of Zayne’s shirt and pleaded to him, “Now that we’re close, you have to protect me from them!”

Zayne leaned back and spoke wildly with a grin, “Oh I don’t know about all that, Esti. We had an official agreement. A business agreement. If you want to change the deal then I’m going to have to charge you more.”
“How much more,” Estrella demanded.

Zayne combed his long hair back with his hand, “You’ve gotta’ tell me everything, starting now.”

Esti caved quickly. “Okay okay okay don’t be crazy. You were, uhh… kidnapped… and, uhh… hit ovuh’ de’ head with a… stick? Ye, a stick! You us’ta be a king-!”

A loud grumbling noise from deep within the fog interrupted the small child’s story-telling. Estrella was overcome with fear, and took off running until she disappeared completely in the fog. Her screams were quickly silenced with a loud slam, but the grumbling intensified shortly after. Zayne was far too busy fantasizing about being a king to even consider what became of the small child. Annabeth brought him out of his false reality with a tug on his tail, “Shouldn’t we go make sure Estrella is okay?”

Zayne snatched his tail from Anna and hugged it against his chest. “Nope, I fulfilled my part of the bargain. I’ve got king stuff to think about.”

Annabeth crossed her arms and reminded Zayne, “You agreed to protect her from whatever it is that’s scaring her out here. Don’t you think we should at least look into it?” Zayne couldn’t argue with Anna, even if he was a king.
The duo stumbled upon a large gate in an area where the fog had cleared up quite a bit. The gate had a medieval architecture, and had a seal on the center of it that had the same symbol on it as the map in Zayne’s hand. There was no doubt that this was the area where the strange little girl was going. The gate protected a large stone keep whose towers were decorated with spikes and gargoyles. The keep was just as decrepit as the land that surrounded it. Zayne and Annabeth ventured through the gate and up to the keep. The front entrance was guarded by armored skeletons who sat lifelessly on the front patio. Dead flowers hung from the ceiling of the weathered awning, a massive ornate door kept intruders out. The glass was busted on the rotten door right above a blood stained mark of three. Zayne felt uneasy as he opened the massive door. He never considered that little Esti could have been the one to kill all of the people that she visited. He swallowed hard before opening the door, “Hey Anna, do you think Esti killed all of those people?”

The angel shook her head, “Of course not, Zayne. She’s just a little girl. Trust me, little girls only really think about playing with dolls, tea parties, and talking about boys.” Annabeth smiled innocently at Zayne, but he wasn’t picking up what she was putting down.

The inside of the keep was extremely unwelcoming. Dust was layered over mostly everything, and cobwebs could be found in every corner. Zayne was beyond freaked out at some of the things in the house, and held Anna’s hand for the extra security. Anna was overly curious and astounded by everything, and they were only in the living room. Knives with fresh blood caked onto them were scattered across the coffee table. Annabeth let go of Zayne’s hand as she sat on the sofa and plucked two voodoo dolls off of the table in front of her. The dolls resembled a man with a tail, and a woman with a fish tail rather than legs. “Look, Zayne! Aren’t these cute?”

Zayne was not impressed whatsoever by the dolls. “They didn’t even get my hair right, and you aren’t a fish!” He left Anna to play with the dolls while he investigated more of the room. A not so dusty bookshelf caught his eye. The bottom shelf had two unorganized stacks of papers. The first paper that he observed was a warning sign with the bloody mark of three drawn on it with words that followed: Beware the mark of the demon priestess. Travel in groups and avoid travel at night. Kill on sight. The second stack of papers were bounty posters with a well-drawn picture of Estrella on them. She looked so mean in the pictures compared to her normal happy attitude. Zayne turned around to rub it in Anna’s face, but the angel wasn’t in the room. He called out for her only to be met with silence.

With his tail sticking to his back, Zayne ignored his instincts and explored the large keep in search of Annabeth. His first destination was at the top of weathered staircase just outside of the living room. The upstairs to the keep was one long hallway with three large bedrooms on each side of the hall. The hallway opened up at each end to reveal spiral staircases that ascended to the top of their respective towers, but there was one much larger spiral staircase at the opposite end of the hall from Zayne. Each of the bedroom doors were shut, making it hard to t

I am waiting on KamirooWolf and _Ai_'s entries. Here are the rest of the participants! Show them some love and CnC them :D

I also reshuffled a bit.

Quote from ErrorBlender

I am waiting on KamirooWolf and _Ai_'s entries. Here are the rest of the participants! Show them some love and CnC them :D

I also reshuffled a bit.

BoG R5: Mystery || SpacePunk VS Tsar Bomba ||
BoG R5: Mystery || Devour VS Boomerang ||
BoG R5: Mystery || Arch-Angel VS EquinoxFox ||
BoG R5: Mystery || TheOrganization VS devi ||

I said I may be dropping out quite some time ago. My bad I should have come back and confirmed.

I'm really, really sorry everyone, but I don't think I can do this. I can't continue my story, I can't do it.

Again, my deepest apologies.