weapon

“Well I’m glad at least one of is entertained in this nature hell,” because that’s frankly what it felt like. It’s only day one and he’s ready to call it quits. Gasping Max propped himself up on his elbows so he could look at her properly. “Playing games? Meeting new people? Next you’re going to tell me we’re going to be sitting around camp fires and sharing ghost stories.” Max shuddered at the thought. Now he’s definitely not moving from this spot. The idea of playing 21 questions was a whole lot better than continuing to throw this tantrum. 

“Fine, let’s play,” Max sat up, and crossed his legs while leaning on the tree trunk for support. “Yes, I’m a crybaby 24/7, welcome to my life,” he responded in jest. “I’m just being dramatic to annoy a particular Council Member,” the unfortunate part is she’s very skilled in the art of ignoring him. “Okay, so let’s say that everyone in the world suddenly froze one afternoon, and you’re the only one that can move. No one will see you or remember what you did, so the big question is, what would you do?”

xx

Connor was surprised he agreed to play along after being such a smart ass with him, maybe he was really that bored. “Hmmm..” Connor had to think about this question for a second. She folded her arms to mull over an answer. Naturally she gravitated to raiding an ATM, or the mall, or Sephora, or all three. But if this was a once in a lifetime thing, she considered something a little more in tune with the humanitarian in her. “I would probably hack into, like, the Federal Reserve and distribute the money to people who need it.” She figured this sounded too much like a beauty pageant answer so she added an obligatory “The people in question being myself.” 

“This is an interesting question coming from a vampire.” Connor should have known a vampire would ask such a profound question. He’s probably asked this to so many people over his life and after meeting so many different people the answer was probably always interesting. “I’m sure you can answer this question from experience since you probably have done something no one saw you do.” Sh said. “So what was it?”

Welcome Home!

@darkesthourstarters​ Where: Retreat campground  When: 6:20am Sunday morning 

He quickly padded out of the cabin, still in his boxer shorts and an unzipped hoodie, as he slipped quietly out the door, careful not to wake the other people sleeping in the cabin. The images of a funeral were still fresh in his head, flashes of them coming to his mind each time he closed his eyes. Swiping a still mostly full bottle of alcohol someone had abandoned the night before by the campfire, Lucian made his way to the waters edge where the canoes had been pushed off from a couple of days before. Flopping down to the ground, he could feel the water lap gently at the tips of his toes as he unscrewed the cap and took a long swig of the amber liquid, a welcome burn touching his throat. He could still see it, somber faces, dark suits, flowers. He could feel the tension, the sorrow around him for something that hadn’t happened yet. Objectively he knew the future could change, he had based his whole life around the idea that he could change his own, but this felt close, too close for comfort, and he had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t change. Looking out over the water he was a little unnerved by not seeing a sunrise peeking above the horizon and the fog that settled on the campsite was more than a little ominous. Taking another drink, he heard something behind him, taking the bottle from his lips he turned his head slightly to the side to look back at the intruder to his pity party. “Isn’t it a little early to be up?”

xx

Lucian was clearly buried deep in his thoughts when Connor was passing by. She didn’t speak to him since she got here and although she preferred to tease him, she still wanted to say hi. But this morning he seemed to be in a mood. This came as no surprise to her as Lucian was always brooding in the shadows somewhere, but for some reason she knew not to try to bother him. That all went out the window when he spoke to her. “Isn’t it a little early to be up ... drinking?” She responded. “Is something going on? Aren’t you having a good time here?” 

Location: BBQ Riot With: OPEN STARTER @darkesthourstarters​

One minute Quinn was waving away a hot dog attached to a roasting stick wildly in the air in an attempt to keep it for herself, the next she’d let the stick drop–all but forgotten, freezing from the sound that nearly stopped her heart. It was agonizing, chilling to the bone, that it made Quinn’s thoughts cease in an attempt to process what she’d just heard. Within moment it’d stopped, leaving her completely dumbfounded and a lull in the food riot. “D-did…did you hear that…” Her voice barely above a whisper, as though afraid she’d cue the sound again. “That-that was a scream wasn’t? Shouldn’t we investigate?”

xx

“Investigate? Don’t you watch horror movies?” The last thing Connor needed to see was, a dead person. She heard the distant screams, a sound she knew about all too well. It startled her just the same as it did everyone else. Surly everyone heard it. She wanted to console the woman who was clearly terrified. “I don’t think those screams were a cry for help.” Connor said. “I mean, you know what they were, right?”

Location: Camp/ Tie-Die shirt making 

Date: May 21st

Open

@darkesthourstarters​​

Alden was getting into the spirit of things, as they made tie-die shirts. When he was done, he took off the shirt he was wearing and put that one on. He cocked his head to the side. “I don’t think I’ve ever worn a tie-die shirt. It’s definitely not a fashion statement I plan to make ever again,” he said as he looked down at himself.  “I honestly don’t even think I’ve ever been in a group camp setting. My only impressions of this is horror movies. Do you think they took our cellphones so they could pick us off one by one?” Alden joked. He was hyper aware of his surroundings. As a forensic detective, his observation skills and the way that they were secluded had him slightly worrying that they very well could be in a slasher movie. 

xx

“Really? It suits you well.” Connor said. She looked at the brooding man in his new colorful shirt. She was picking the colors to make her tye-dye shirt pop without using the color pink, she had too mach of it already. “I literally thought the same thing, I actually brought my pepper spray in case some serial killer goes feral.” She lied. If someone came for her, she could handle her own, but she couldn’t tell him that. Connor had been in one group camp setting, it made her hesitant to do this.“Well, group camp settings can go good or absolutely horrid, it depends on who you’re with, to be honest. I once went glamping with some friends in high school and we all fell out at the beginning of the trip, and we were stuck with each other for the rest of the week. Did you come here with friends you actually like?” 

DATE: May 21st, 2021 TIME: 10:36 AM LOCATION: Camp grounds

Leo excuses himself from the group after the breakfast, slipping away without drawing much attention to himself. As much as he is excited for the weekend– for the first time in years, his siblings are all in the city and now he gets to spend the next few days camping and playing games, yay for him– his instinct is to check out the retreat site and learn the lay of the land. Away from the rest of the world, no communication device on them, the whole setting is a big fucking security risk in his head… He wishes Logan hadn’t made him turn in his second phone, but he will have to make do with what he has. At least they didn’t notice the weapons he sneaked in. Nothing crazy, just a little insurance. Hearing a footstep, he shifts the gear from scheming to socialization. “Hiya, looking for a smoke area too?” Leo asks, fishing out a pack of cigarettes. He leaves the lighter in his pocket, however. “I don’t wanna set the whole place on fire, but there’s no sign here. Must mean it’s a free game, right?” He shrugs, “actually, you got a light? I seem to have forgotten mine.”

@darkesthourstarters​

xx

“If there is no sign, then it’s all free game.” Connor did happen to have light on her at the moment, but not for smoking, obviously. It was attached to the lanyard in her pocket. “Oh, I -- Uh, actually don’t smoke. Buuut ...” She pulled out the lanyard. “...I do have this.” She gave the guy her souvenir from California, A keychain lighter with a flag on it. The sight of the Cali flag made her miss the place she called home for that short amount of time. “I actually do set places on fire. I’m an arsonist.” She joked, hoping he would pick up on her sarcasm. “What brings you here to this event?”

LOCATION — HUNTER GAMES/BONFIRE

WHEN — MAY 21ST 

OPEN STARTER 

Cleo had to admit this wasn’t what she’d expected the hunter games to be, but she wasn’t against it. Plus with the mix of people it had made things rather interesting, the normal groups had been divided like crazy into new ones. “Need a marshmallow?” She asked, offered the bag to the person next to her. “It’s a new bag.” Using her other hand to put two marshmallow’s onto the metal stick. “So today was interesting.” Commenting with a slight smile. “Did you at least have fun?”

xx

“It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.” Connor opened the marshmallows and just ate them out the bag. She didn’t like to melt them like normal when it comes to s’mores. She hated the taste of burnt marshmallow. “I don’t think the true fun has started.” She looked around for the Hershey Bars. “What about you? Did you have fun?”

where: camp grounds

who: OPEN @darkesthourstarters​

when: day one: morning hours 

Reality set in when the portals brought them to the camp grounds. It was surely lovely, but Max had his mind consumed with other things at the moment  The loss of his device for the weekend took forefront. “Did they really just take away out phones? Is this high school?” He felt like he had heard rumours of the stringent measures in passing conversation leading up to the event, which obviously went in one ear and came out the other. “I don’t know if I can do this,” Max sighed, for what felt like the hundredth time. “No one said anything about taking away our phones,” he whined. A whole weekend without the device was going to be torture. “Just leave me here let me wither away into nothingness.” In true Max fashion, the vampire collapsed to the ground and laid there just aimlessly staring up at the sky. 

xx

“You know, as much as I want my phone, you whining in melodramatic fashion is pretty entertaining.” Connor wish she had her phone to record the grown man crying over his phone. Truly the perfect Tik Tok video. “Look at the bright side, you get to meet new people, like me, we can talk, laugh, and play games face to face -- A novel idea I know.” She was totally trolling the poor boy, but she couldn’t help it. “Like 21 questions for example. Here, I’ll start.” Connor cleared her throat. “Are you always this much of a crybaby?”

“Fuck.” Ryan muttered catching a glace of someone across the way. Of all people it had to be her manager. She’d called off work “sick” today, wanting to finally enjoy a full day off. Getting caught in a lie would be mortifying so she walked over to the first person she saw. “Hey, do you mind doing me like a huge favor? That guy over there can’t know I’m here, do you mind hiding me until he’s gone by?” She threw her best puppy dog eyes in to sweeten the deal, her hands twitching nervously. “He’s the one over there in the grey jacket.”

xx

“I mean, sure.” Connor glanced over to the guy in the grey jacket she spoke of. “Here.” Connor took off her oversized cardigan and handed it to the girl. “I found it in the big and tall section. Just ...” She looked over at the guy again. “Throw it over your head or something?” Connor was all for sitcom level hi-jinks but she probably should have asked the most important question first. “Are you going to explain to me what this is all about?”

“You haven’t? I’m sure you’re already aware, but its simply lovely.” Arthur smiled at the recollection. Even if the ferry can be considered dated by modern standards, it was always a marvel in Arthur’s eyes, no matter how many times he’s been on and off the boat. “You don’t have to escort me, I-” Arthur cut himself off and bit his tongue with a chuckle. He bit his lip, holding himself back from being a smart ass and just parroting her words back to Connor. “I do live in Staten Island. You only judge because you’re envious that you don’t.” He laughed and offered his hand to shake. “The name’s Arthur. Thank you.”

+

xx

“Envious? If you say so.” She said. “To be fair, I’ve only visited Staten Island a handful of times growing up. Maybe it’s changed since I had last been there. I guess I won’t judge you too hard.” She didn’t know too many people that described the island as “simply lovely”. If Connor had to rate the things she hated about New York, Staten Island made the top ten. Regardless, she knew how to get the man to where he needed to be. “Follow me.” She said walking toward the 1 train. “Well, Arthur, I think we better hurry we might miss the nest train.” She said making a move toward toward the 1 train platform. “So, did you grow up on Staten Island?”

“Not you too,” God, it seemed like everyone saw what he couldn’t when it came to his ex-wife and best friend, Kenneth. Dylan felt as though he wasn’t observant enough, or he gave too much of himself. It wasn’t his fault, but how could he not blame himself in some regard? “And no offence taken, I think it’s one of those if you’re in it, you’re blind to it sort of deals,” he explained with a shrug of his shoulders. “I thank therapy for that actually, because I was not in good shape around when it happened.” A year ago Dylan was ready to fight anyone that even asked about the situation. “Yes there was, and the man of the hour was Kenneth. There’s a baby messed up in all of this too. Annalise ended up pregnant with his kid.” And then there he was like a dumbass playing the role of expectant father only to have his world come crashing down around him at the big reveal. “That’s what it took for her to come clean months into the pregnancy.” While they waited a few orders numbers were called, he checked his receipt only after the third number was called out because it seemed familiar.

xx

“A Baby? Oh my God, I’m so sorry Dylan.” It was all she could say. To say Connor was shocked was an understatement. It’s true, love can make all of us blind to the horrible things right in front of our faces. But who would have thought that someone like Dylan would not only fall victim to a shitty ex wife, but have that ex-wife pull a stunt like this? “Why would someone do something like that? Did she give you an explanation at least? And with your best friend? This some shit you see on, like, Jerry Springer.” This is why Connor swore off dating ever since high school, people can be truly evil. “And what about Kenneth, did you at least kick his ass?”  

+

Dylan’s lips parted in shock, the excitement over free stress relief candles was long forgotten thanks to Connor basically dragging him, as they say. “Well damn Connie, you didn’t have to  expose me like that in front of all these people.” Dylan spoke as if he isn’t already considered a public figure. His reaction was mainly in jest though, they have been friends long enough that ribbing came along with the package. “And yeah, you got it right for once, Call of Duty,” it’s definitely one of the games he plays. Dylan thought about her question as he moved up within the queue. “I’ve been trying to forget what I’ve been up to, if I’m being honest.” Dylan rubbed his forehead trying to figure out where to begin. The decision to start with the major  “You’re probably going to hear about my failed marriage at some point,” so it might as well have come from me, he thought. “It’s been a year since my divorce,” A lot really can happen in a short time. “Annalise and I got married about a year after you left, and things sort of–” Dylan paused his story as he got to the front of the line, ordering his chicken bacon ranch loaded fries, then waited for Connor.

xx

She shouldn’t have asked this question, considering all the bullshit Dylan has, allegedly, been through. Connor felt bad, For a moment she lived in a world where his ex-wife didn’t exist. She ordered her bacon cheeseburger to distract from the awkward tension she created. She should have just asked about Among Us or if he was friends with Corpse Husband, or whatever. “I mean...” She started. “I did hear about you getting married to her, and honestly I’m surprised it’s only ended this year. No offense.” She never knew his ex like that, but she got bad vibes. “I heard rumors of an affair, I just didn’t know if it was as messy as people were making it seem. But since you don’t seem too hurt by it ... I just ... assumed you guys broke up for other reasons. Was there an affair?”

The world was full of familiar faces, and it seemed they popped up more and more in New York, and now that he was no longer hiding out in Statten Island it seemed that there were even more familiar faces in his world. “Yes it is, and if you were my friend you would know that that is what that means in Lucian language.” He teased back, a sly smirk on his lips as he came down the stairs that lead to his new apartment and into the main area of the bar. “I’m from here.” He replied, pretending that that was enough to get him back in the city, though until Leo had died he couldn’t have imagined coming back here. “What about you Tiny?”

Tiny. What a nickname, it could be worse though. She remembered him telling her that he was from New York sometime ago, but Connor did have the memory of a goldfish at times. “Well what are you doing back here? And why didn’t you tell me you were coming back.” The girl was slightly offended, but she was used pretty much used to Lucian doing whatever he pleased. Showing up in New York randomly was no exception. “I’m here to...” She trailed off, she didn’t want to get into that. “I’m here to work. Channel my inner hashtag Girlboss. Next step is gatekeeping and then, of course, gaslighting.” She took the bar in for a second. “Nice place you got here, who did you have to screw to pay for it” She joked. 

“oh a regular around the block then?” Oliver suggested, a brow arched at the brunette. “I love to see it really.” He grinned widely. “No it’s fine - I could use the company truthfully, otherwise I’m afraid I may have started talking to myself, horrid isn’t it?” He joked, a small chuckle escaping his lips. “Oliver, though I admit I prefer Ollie - rolls of off the tongue better, wouldn’t you agree?” 

xx

“Well, I guess you could say that. Since I moved back, I’ve been here  almost everyday. I don’t think this place was here before I left.” She looked around, briefly taking in all the scenery. “Ollie is ... adorable.” Though, it admittedly sounded like the name of an orange tabby cat. “So are you  a regular around the block, Ollie? Have you always lived in New York?” She asked taking another sip of coffee. 

“Yes. Don’t worry about it.” No cuts or anything too damaged besides his pride. “I do. I just prefer using actual maps.” Arthur simply nodded and shrugged, not wanting to admit that a good chunk of their time was spent on finding a paper copy rather than relying on his phone. “What can I say? I’m old fashioned.” He forced a chuckle and tried to keep hold of his composure despite the situation. “I’m just trying to get to the Manhattan Ferry so I can hop a train back to Staten Island.” Before the woman in front of him can say anything else, Arthur shook his head. “N-Now, I insist that you don’t try to escort me there or anything. I can assure you that I’m fine…And I would be just as fine with just a point in the right direction. But fine none the less.” Just fine.

xx

Old Fashioned. Maybe that was a red flag that this dude was a vampire or something. Only someone who grew up in the dark ages still relied on maps. But this was New York City, so maybe this guy was just a hipster, he did have that Brooklynite gentrifier look down. Connor needed to stop being so paranoid. “The Ferry? Oh my God I haven’t been on there in a long time.” She thought to herself for a minute. “If I remember you take the 1 train -- you know what, I’ll just escort, you I actually don’t mind. Just .. please tell me you’re visiting Staten Island and don’t live there, then I won’t judge you.’ She joked (sort of). “I’m Connor by the way.”

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face as his gaze danced around the room, taking in the various faces in his presence - you could never be too careful in being aware of your surroundings, knowing who might be watching. He grinned widely at the barista as he made his way to the front counter, ordering a caramel mocha. “thanks for that - I certainly need the caffeine hit today.” he admitted with a laugh as he turned and found a booth to sit in. He didn’t often wait in for his coffee, often moving a hundred miles an hour and having places to be and see but today he was relaxed, his timeline was less chaotic. Using his index finger and thumb he swirled the gold ring that had found a home on his finger, a soft hum escaping his lips. “I’m not surprised their packed - this place has an incredible menu and a hospitable atmosphere - i’m addicted.” He admitted with a chuckle. “Do you come here often or just passing through?” 

@darkesthourstarters​

“I come here often.” Almost too often. Connor had spent way too much money at The Daily Drip in the past few weeks. She had to get her coffee though. The boy was right, the place was always crowded. “Hope you don’t mind that I’m sitting here. There is no where else to sit.” Connor often woke up early to beat the crowd. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here, though. What’s your name?”