Trigger Warning.

As this is not in all caps, you should predict that it is not that severe.

It's really not.

Just death, ya know, but not like gory death or anything like that. Really the mildest trigger warning ever. But I can't tell you what to read.

Anyway. I am VERY VERY aware (as in I just realized this morning) that I haven't updated this for 3 weeks.

...

I don't have an excuse, except for TAKE A LONG CHAPTER TO THE FACE. AND EAT IT.

Ze POV

I feel my eyes open. I groan with "morning sickness" as the crew calls it, but force myself to get up at the next ring of birdsong.

I drag myself up and open the blinds, being greeted by a filter of bright sunlight that just screams "Good morning. Now get your stuff and get your ass to Editing."

But it feels a little nicer-and I feel myself getting a little further from the morning sickness.

It feels like...

It feels like today will be a good day.

I smile. Now, to wake the rest of the crew up and get them to hate me even more. "Chilled! Galm! Smarty! Get your asses out of bed and I do not have a snooze button!" I hear Galm's and Smarty's groans, but nothing from Chilled's room.

Typical.

"Chilled!" I hammer my fist onto his door. "Fucking get your lazy ass out of bed!" I wait, expecting to hear a reluctant moan as I do every morning.

But there's nothing.

"Anthony!" I yell his real name this time to let him know I'm serious. "Fucking open up!"

Still nothing.

"Anthony, I swear to fucking God, I'm coming in there!" I yell one last time before I barge in through the door and walk over to his bed.

Wait....

"Anthony?!" I throw his covers up and slap the bed around, hoping that I'm hallucinating.

No dice.

Anthony...Anthony is gone.

Krism POV

I smile as I feel my fingers trail lightly over the shoulders of my first victim. I flash him a wicked grin as he wriggles helplessly in his bindings.

"Lonely?" I ask quietly.

He yells a muffled grunt through his gag.

"Well, let me go get you another friend." I clap my hands together, a harsh sound that echoes through the dark, rickety room. "See you soon?" I wave as I give out a singsongy tone.

Then I turn and march away, ready to begin the next part of my work...

Nanners POV

I stagger up. "Shit..." I rub my eyes as I look at the time. I'm already half an hour late to first class. I usually rely on Max to wake me up. I guess I'll just skip it.

That adorable little banana...

"Max?" I call out.

No answer.

Hmm...he's probably at class already.

"Ohm?" I call for my other roomie. Max usually wakes him up too. Still nothing.

"Well, I guess they left me here." I announce to myself, shrugging. I grab my stuff, get ready and all that fun shit, and get ready to get out when I see a note tacked up on the wall.

Little Adam Montoya,

Quite a predicament we have here. Let's just say your friends are not on campus.

-The Eye That Sees All

I drop the note. No, no, nenenenooo.

But I can't just find my little Maxie and Ohmie by myself. So I call the most diabolical, clever, and amazing person I know besides me.

Minx.

No answer.

"God dammit!" I yell as the thing switches me over to voicemail. "Minx, Ohm and Max have been kidnapped, HALP me. Or at least bring me some almonds." I say into the phone.

Two vague yet clear questions burn in my mind.

How?

Why?

Krism POV

I whip out my phone, careful to hide my identity to my victims, checking off the sixth name. "Perfect." I whisper. I haven't gotten Minx, Minx is the one who will end this all.

"You're all here for a reason. You have made at least one feel immense pain, yet you continue to be ignorant." That was all I had told them before I would go off to get them another neighbor.

I repeated the words.

I trail my fingers again, this time on my backup tools. I only have one backup person. And that person is someone that will surprise everyone.

Again, my lips curve upward into a wicked smile. This is what I have been waiting for for so long.

Minx POV

I blink my eyes open. Did I fall asleep during class again?

No.

This is not class.

Suddenly, I'm aware of a gag covering my mouth, ropes binding my arms to my torso. For a second I wriggle around in instinctive panic before remembering myself.

It's just like the alleyways. I force myself to calm down, to let my senses take over. When everything is dark, listen.

As I concentrate, I make out the sounds of muffled grunts and squeals around me, but distanced. So there are others, I muse. This kidnapper is smart. If I weren't listening, I probably would never have noticed.

"Welcome."

I jump-or at least bounce as high as I can in my restraints as a new voice hits my eardrums. "You are all to be punished."

The word punished was said with full bitterness, no fire, just cold, frothing frost, steaming with the sourness that came from only bad experiences. But underneath the thick layer of hissing, crackling ice, I heard something familiar. Something that used to be hot, fiery, and even bubbly.

"Krism?"

Krism POV

"Krism?"

Shit.

I mean, I expected Minx to recognize me, but I hoped that she wouldn't...

I wave my hand, pushing the thought away. I had known all along that she would know, and this just made it all the easier to introduce myself to everyone else.

"Maybe..." I giggled in that creepy Japanese way.

"Mmph!" I heard Chilled's voice somewhere off in the distance.

"Chilled?" I heard Max shout through his thin gag.

"Max!" Ohm yelled.

"Ohm?!" Then there was Cry's voice. Slowly, the voices of all of my victims crowded the room until I grabbed one of my toys, one with a simple black grip and a polished, shimmering blade.

I readied my arm, prepared from all the dart throwing, and let the toy fly. I didn't really care where it went, but I shrugged and flung it towards the one closest to Minx and the wall, Max, and let the knife wobble in the wall inches away from him.

"SHUT UP!" I screamed. The whole chamber fell silent.

I cleared my throat and paced, going on with my whole "speech" and all. "As you now know," I shot a glare at Minx, "my name is Krism. And as I have said before, you are going to be punished. Why?" My scowl became a smile as I thought of the next words I would say. "Because you have inflicted painful ignorance upon another person."

My smile grew wider.

"And for some of you, those people are right here with you."

Ohm squirmed.

Minx whipped her head around.

"Quite right." I told them. "You two have someone here. Actually Minx, you have three-no, four." I pinched my blade and slid two fingers right across it bitterly. I swear my teeth must've sparkled, even in this darkness.

Actually, there's a special guy I got this from.

But that's not the guy I'm calling in right now.

"Oh, sweetiepie!" I call out in a Harley Quinn voice. He nervously steps out.

"Smarty?"

Chilled POV

"Smarty?!" I yell in disbelief. No. No, no, no, why?

Smarty looks at me sadly. "I..." He glances at Krism.

Oh.

Krism POV

I squint as gasps of surprise ring through gags across the room. "SHUT UP!" I yell again, gripping my second knife.

Everyone falls silent again.

"Good!" I yell. Smarty puts a hand on my shoulder. "They've got the message." he murmured softly. I let a few-definitely not all of the muscles in my arms relax. "Of course." I whisper confidently.

Smarty nods.

I know he still cares about his friends, I can see it on his face. He, actually, deserves to be with them, but I'm just too nice. But not nice enough to tell him who it is. He knows that someone likes him, he just doesn't know who it is.

I personally thought it would've been obvious. I mean, who else?

Tom POV

"Where the fuck are Smarty and Chilled?" I yell. "I don't fucking know!" Galm screams back. "Adam said that Ohm and Max were missing, too." Ze murmurs quietly.

Galm and I turn to look at him.

"What?"

Ze nods. "And Marzia and Renee said that Minx was missing. Cheyenne said that Russ and Cry were missing. Ken told me that Pewds was missing. Entoan told me that Dlive was missing."

I put a thoughtful hand to my chin. "They all have to be linked somehow..." I murmured, mostly to myself. Ze grunted agreement. "Ya think?"

Suddenly, my phone blares. I look at it and pull it out of my pocket.

"Hello?"

"I think I know where your friends are."

"Really?" I ask. Ze and Galm look at me. "I'll give you the address. I found in her room." the guy hissed. His voice sounded a bit familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Who are you, then?" I demanded.

There was a short bit of silence as the guy seemed to consider. "My name," he said slowly, "is Andy."

Andy. I thought for a moment, trying to find some familiarity in the name. Then it clicked.

Andy. Old friend of Minx. But who would her be? "Hmm..."

I peered into the depths of my mind-and then Smarty was there. "Not now." I muttered bitterly to myself, pushing the thought away.

Then three other figures appeared in my mind-one with pink hair, one with brown hair with lighter highlights, and one with dark hair and a sparkling red eye. Their names ran through my head.

Lizzie.

Doxy.

Krism.

One of those...I shook my head. That was besides the point. Andy...he was going to give my an address! I could get Smarty, Minx, Chilled, and all the others!

And then, I got a text.

"Let's do this."

Smarty POV

I sigh as Krism brandishes a blade between three fingers. I didn't want this, but...how could I refuse to my adorable little turtle?

I pace restlessly in a circle, glancing ocassionally at the bindings of Chilled, of Minx, of Ohm and Max. My gaze doesn't reach their eyes though.

If it did, I don't think I could handle it.

I feel my fingers curl into fists. It was a choice between love and friendship, two happy things.

So why did the choice have to bring so much pain?

I glance at Krism, her focus still on the thing in her hand. Why can't she just get this over with? Why can't she just end my suffering?

No.

It wouldn't end my suffering.

Their tombstones would be there, requested by me, there to haunt me until the end of my days. We'd both burn in hell, and I'd never see them again.

I bury my face in my hands.

No.

This isn't working. I'm not helping myself by thinking about this. I just want it all to end...

But then Krism donned a wicked smile once again. I felt myself shiver, and she gave me a coy sympathetic look. And then the smile returned, and she found a switch and flicked it.

I squinted at the sudden bright, almost white light that hit my eyes instantaneously. Krism strut into the middle of the room and peered around. "Now, I would love to gut you all right now, but I think you should all see exactly what you're being punished for. And," Krism swiveled her head to look around at everyone- "some of those people are right here with you."

I saw Chilled squirm. Ohm made a muffled grunt. Max's hand curled up into a fist. So many little signs that proved Krism's logic.

But I didn't agree with it.

Krism POV

"And first up is..." I look around, trying to figure out who would be best. Definitely not Minx. I want to surprise her.

"Felix."

I grab at him, and he tries to resist, but I easily curl around his dodge and drag him across the room to the middle. I look around, and then I see him.

"Wondering why you're here?" I smile. "His name is Ryan." Felix whips around as I grab him by the collar and twist him around to look at Cry.

"C-Cry?" Felix stutters, and I smile. I can pratically read his thoughts; I thought you were straight. "That's right. Cry, why don't I tell you who likes you? Those people aren't here though." I smile and the sight of him taking a quick glance at Minx.

"One boy and one girl." I stare at my fingers, taking an interest in my fingernails. "I think you know who they are now? An R and a C, Cry." Cry's eyes widened. He probably knew about Cheyenne, but the surprise on his face tells me he didn't know about Russ.

And then the door burst open.

People I knew-people who were the reasons I was punishing these other people burst through the door, unarmed. But I could hear sirens in the distance and knew they wouldn't be unarmed for long.

So I would have to take advantage of the small window of time I have.

I grab a knife and throw it at the first person I see, Entoan, or Gunner. "Olive!" he yells at the sight of Dlive, and then turns to the knife with wide eyes before dodging at the last second.

Dlive yells, but with his gag it's undicernable. Next Adam, who yells out for Max. Next then, Ze, who yells out for Chilled, and then Cheyenne and Russ, who yell out for Cry at the same time before exchanging surprised glances with each other. Galm comes in, he doesn't like anyone of course, but he comes in ready to help his friends.

And then Tom comes in.

"Smarty?!"

Tom POV

"S-Smarty?!"

I couldn't believe it. John Aprigliano, who I thought was kidnapped, is here of his own free will.

I felt shattered. That was the only way to describe it.

I wanted to just leave right now, to run away and never look back, but Galm's hand found my shoulder. "We have to help them. Forget about Smarty, Tom." Forget? Easy for him to say.

I open my mouth, turning around.

Just in time to see a knife flying towards my face. "Tom!" I hear Smarty's voice as suddenly he's across the room, tugging my leg down so that the knife whizzes above my head.

"Smarty?!" Krism and I both yell at the same time. Smarty looks around the room hopelessly. "I..." He looks around wildly, like he's breaking free of some sort of demonic possession.

"I can't do this anymore!" he screams and suddenly he streaks out of the door, and it slams with a CRASH. All of us stare at the door in silence, as if expecting him to come back.

But I know I'm not.

Because I know who he is.

Sometimes I feel like I do more than him.

Krism lets out a scream of rage as another knife flies towards Russ, who lunges out of the way just barely. Then I realize what he's lunging for.

Cry.

"Cry!" he yells. Krism screams again, a new knife in hand, almost like a dagger, charging straight towards Russ. I yank one out of the wall and fling it at Krism. It sails off course quickly, but Krism stops.

Krism POV

I stop just as the point of the knife is lined up with Russ's eye. The knife clatters to the ground, but I barely here. A jagged smile pops up on my face. "What am I doing?" I mutter. "This plan...why would I leave these people dead? I can make them feel a lot more pain..." I look around.

"With one death." I toss the knife behind me, hearing the satisfying sound of the knife lodging into the wall.

I focus my gaze on the balcony. I focus my gaze on a random person. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

And then I charge.

-Third Person-

Krism looked around, smiling. Everyone else looked on, while Entoan, Russ, Galm, Tom and a few others ran around frantically, untying everyone. No one knew what she was going to do except for her.

Then Krism let out an explosive shriek, charging straight for the balcony. On the way, she swerved.

And caught Max in her arm.

Krism took a short breath and kept screaming.

And together, they went over the edge.

Yeah..see? Very...simplistic. Very...mild.

Very...

WHATEVER SUMMER'S OUT WHOOOO TIME TO LAY BACK AND DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AND ALSO THINGS AND UNICORNS AND STUFF.

YEAH.

COOKEH. :3

murp.

Uh...so...yeah.

EZ out.