what you lost

closed starter / @hallowghoul​  saint cordelia ferry

gemma cameron does not always have an agenda , but today they do . in fact , their mind had been racing the entirety of their time with viktoria in the white wrangler that got them reliably parked onto the saint cordelia ferry . right before the phone call from gemma’s parents and right before viktoria read the alert , the two had been making dinner in the kitchen , talking about the idea of living together . so what did this sign from the universe mean ? their talk getting interrupted could seem like a reason not to do it … or getting the alert to evacuate and essentially move at the same time they talked about it could be seen as direct confirmation to move forward with their ideations . tossing and turning with the idea in their head during their trip was beginning to make gemma sick . 

now , parked on the ferry and left to see saint cordelia’s view from the inside of their vehicle while traveling across water , gemma’s eyes are fixed on vik . the brunette who had been asking what do you think it will be like on a loop couldn’t so much as be bothered to look and find out . at least not yet . ‘  so , when we get there … what are we going to do ?  ’ it is a vague offering , a vague attempt at starting a conversation from thin air . not long before the leave from centralia , gemma had met the other pierson . he was a bit of a weirdo with a good sense of humor , a positive outlook on life , and cooking skills that showed gemma where vik got it from . all the while he wore a grumpy exterior like he was performing a bit no one else knew about . i like him gemma says at the end of it . because of this , it feels okay to ask about her lover’s current brother roommate : ‘  have you talked to samson ?  ’ 

there was a glimmer of doubt that lingered in vik over their jeep actively making it to the ferry. they had tuned it up a bit before their long journey.. some say the town’s curse lifted and good fortune found them on the ferry.. idle and twiddling their thumbs with stuffed suitcases rocking in the trunk. they aren’t excited about the move.. they’re rather dreading it if they’re to be honest.. even if every part of her had craved release from the corrupt town vik found it near impossible to actually make it out.. now they simply had no choice. 

Everything after the initial chime was a whirlwind of chaos - Benji and Charlie wasted little time getting to safety and making the trek to Florida, with Benji opting to buy a plane ticket and skip staying in Philly all together.  He was shaken up, watching the town he had been exiled to completely fall to shambles, but he already felt happier on the island - even if it felt as desolate as Centralia, in some ways.

Eager to meet up with Charlie again, having barely had any real time to talk since the relocation, he went out of his way to ask them to meet him at the beach so they could catch up, and possibly give Charlie another opportunity to tease him again.

“How’re you guys holding up?”  In reference to Charlie’s dog, Benji idly drew shapes in the sand.  “I know we’ve been itching to get out of Centralia, but that was…. more excitement than I was anticipating.”

charlie would be eternally grateful for their best friend. given the state of their beat up car.. that still lie idle in the gas station parking lot... they had no hope of getting out unscathed.. but benji made sure to help her.. truth be told they don’t even know what they had packed.. it had been a frenzy to get toby from their apartment, find enough clothes to carry and make do with what little time lingered. 

making it to the island was a miracle.. even if they were feeling restless.. they draw themselves back to the present, looking up at him with gentle eyes. toby lay by their feet, a heavy sigh escaping his own lungs. 

it’s no secret sora is bad at literally everything they’ve ever tried. it was a shock they were able to not be fired from this job for as long as they have. even more so when someone as good as charlie worked with them. sora was leaving the back with an armful of cups, only to get distracted by charlie rambling off things they had to do, or were out of. it didn’t take long for him to trip on his own feet, cups scattering around him. “shit-” he mumbled under his breath, and looked up as the customer she’d been talking to had decided enough was enough and turned to go somewhere else…wherever that happened to be. “sorry…i’m…there’s a new incline on this floor i swear.”

why are you even open — chi wants to ask . the question is nagging at their insides , rattling chi’s ribcage and echoing in their mind . anxiety always got worse when sleep deprived . ‘  i don’t usually see this hour of the day ,  ’ chi says about the ass - crack - of - dawn . with the bakery having just opened minutes prior , chi can’t help but see a problem with the infrastructure on this given day . that’s just their hanger talking . ‘  what do you have ? i’ll take anything . well that , a dirty chai , and a matcha . — please .  ’

The excitement for breakfast that had been on Sabrina’s face as she walked into the coffee shop slowly turned into a look of near devastation.  It seemed like Murphy’s Law was in full effect for the redhead, and while Charlie seemed confident that the fact that the special cookie was the best way to end the spiel, Sabrina felt like she could burst into tears at any minute.  “No cinnamon rolls?”  Her heart had been set on one, and she had absolutely no backup plan.  “Um.  Okay well…. I guess if you have a caramel latte that would be great.”

skylar stood there momentarily, wondering when they were going to stop rattling off the list. none of the pastries, however, interested her, but they had a job to do and she wanted to respect it. “damn, boo, it was one of those days, huh?” she inquired with a glance of curiosity, pulling out a card out of her wallet. “my buds sent me to get six coffees. i keep telling ‘em just use the damn coffee machine but… they keep insisting there’s something extra special about the coffee here so… here i am. it’s their money to waste.”

“That’s how I feel!”  Benji pouted.  He was known to be more than a little dramatic, but he supposed that was why he was so good at reality TV.  “God, right?”  He beamed widely at Charlie, after seemingly gained their approval.  “I don’t know!  I’ve heard it before, but it’s not like something I pay attention to!  It’s not like I’m full naming her all the time,”  He went to shift his weigh, and frowned a little as he felt like the rubber on his shoe stuck to the ground.  “Um - well, not quite yet.  I don’t know.  Part of me wants to, but I’m scared that she’ll think I’m dumb or something.”  Pausing to fan himself a little, he sat forward.  “It feels so much hotter than it should.

she had relegated herself to a special corner of denial as she helped willow unpack. her own efforts to unpack had gone as far as shoving the boxes she had carried in into a small corner of her new apartment and pretending they didn’t exist, while some of them remained unceremoniously shoved into the trunk of the lebaron with empty promises to get them out before the week’s end. but one week had given way to two, and two to three, and still, she promised herself. this is the week. 

every time the question had come her way, she’d dodged it with bull in a china shop grace. she was seemingly very occupied with picking an errant bit of packing tape from the edge of the box nearest to her. “i am… holding,” she said, slowly, threat of a smile at the corners of her lips as she looked up. it was the hollow sort of smile – the kind that was all air and intention. whole societies had been built on less, she justified. when the piece of tape that had so demanded her attention came free, her very important task completed, she gave it another run. “are you settling in okay? big, new, sandy world and all?”

there is a talent that willow holds that often ends up being a curse more than a blessing these days. as a kid she observed everything.. everyone.. she couldn’t help herself when it came to her curious mind and how she longed to take everything in. this left willow matthews with an heightened sense of reading people.. coupled with feeling the energy they would emit.. well she could sense apprehension and it was bright in elody. she tucked a strand of her soft brown hair behind her left ear, eyes tracing across the lips that tried so hard to lift. she felt her heart ache a bit at the attempt to sell peace.. but who could blame her?

location: the bottom of the hill near the haunted manor (post plot-drop)

status: open! ( @liminalstart​ )

wren thinks that if she keeps staring at that charred manor, something will miraculously happen. like maybe the grass will turn green again, or maybe everything will go back to normal. but in reality, she can still hear those voices, can feel every tiny emotion that has moved through her body in the last few days. it’s exhausting to say the least, and as much as wren wants to shake it off and live life normally, she can’t. she’s shut herself away from people, scared to be touched or even looked at in fear of seeing and feeling everything they could. wren whitewater is a disaster waiting to happen, and as she looks up at that manor at the top of the hill, she chooses to ignore the footsteps coming up behind her. maybe if she pretends they aren’t there, they’ll do the same for her in return.

OPEN STARTER

who: @liminalstart​ where: literally any beach 

“Is it karmic retribution, you think?” Tallahassee asked. “I mean, I know I said the whole ‘you take the boy out of Florida, but not the Florida out of the boy’ thing – but I was joking. It was a joke. I didn’t mean it in the way that the universe – and I don’t mean to insult her, but if you act like an asshole, it’s only fair that you get called an asshole – took it. I did not mean to put the boy back in Florida. You know what we have here in the goddamn sunshine state? Alligators. You know what we didn’t have in Pennsylvania? Goddamn alligators – apart the whole people flushing them and them living the sewer rumor, but that’s not the point. The point is. Fuckin’ Florida.” The irony in issuing a complaint while he was stretched on the beach was, apparently, entirely lost on him. He sighed, glancing over at the recipient of his diatribe. “You adjusting? How goes it?”

location: the docks status: open @liminalstart​

Since moving to St Cordelia’s, Levi often found himself sitting on the docks, ignoring the two suitcases he needed to unpack in favor of letting the breeze run through his hair.  He had been to the ocean once or twice, but there was a spooky sort of beauty to it, watching a soft mist rise up off the water’s surface.

The docks were by no means private, and Levi barely moved when he heard someone walking up behind him.  “Have you ever attempted to jump into the water from here?  It has to be deep enough, but…”  He tilted his head back to glance at the other.  “I feel like it’s also somehow a trap.”

the only thing that remained vik’s saving grace over the course of the move in process was the peace they could find by the ocean. centralia, whilst not far from the large body of water hadn’t left them craving the salt air on the rocky beaches.. perhaps the weather coupled with the better scenery left them with a new taste.. 

open starter / @liminalstart​ cordelia’s corner coffee

‘  is this a hollister or a cafe ?  ’ samson grumps , eyes scanning for a secret switch that changes the atmosphere to one the pierson could deem more appropriate . while the lights continue to mimic those of a movie theater , samson finds it hard to see the true color of flower petals in front of him . arrangements must be made , and the florist working behind the counter does not like interruptions . so his best bet ? corner coffee . eyes try to focus , but it is too late , samson gets flustered . they pick up one petal , two petal , three , until the bunch of petals are piled into his hands . samson throws them up into the air in defeat , letting out a heaving sigh . he has always been one for the dramatics .