burial ground;

what is your favorite thing about life at the retreat?

i can’t really say there’s a lot like about this place but i suppose it’s not so bad at night when everyone’s asleep. it’s quite peaceful.

most played song this week?

eddie's gun by the kooks. don’t tell lucy i’ll never hear the end of it if she finds out i actually vibe with the music she makes me listen to. 

who is the last person you texted? bonus: what was the text? 

if father d told you that you had to become friends with somebody you can’t stand in order to graduate, who would you become friends with and how would you do it?

Amos had grown accustom long ago to nightmares swallowing him whole while he sleeps, those of waves washing over his body and salt filling his lungs. He’d know what it was like to drown, rocks beating at his back, water like rough hands dragging him deeper. And yet, he’s never stepped foot in the water. He knew it all like it had happened to him, a hundred times over as he slept. But these weren’t things that kept him awake at night, rather he’d let it happen to him each time he closed his eyes. He’d allow himself to wake gasping for air, and clawing at his own throat.

Instead he’d wander these forests in boredom, perhaps searching for something to be real from the tales. Sharp teeth behind trees, eyes darting like reflections of the moon. Ghostly hands brushing against your neck, and chills up your arms. But there was nothing he found, just his brother standing before him with a quick response at his tongue. A faux laugh sharp at his lips at Milo’s words, “Oh how long have you been sitting on that one for? Not all of us have to sleep like a dog in the woods.”

“I know this might come as a shock to you,” The grass underneath him was slightly wet due to the night dew. Milo’s vans were well worn, which was just a polite way to say they were one day away from being thrown into the trash, not that he would though, he had a soft spot for old messy things, but because of it he could feel some of the dew sticking to his shoes like glue. “but some of us don’t have to overthink everything before we actually say it.” He said as he brushed past Amos. Think before you speak. That was his brother, at least whenever they were in the company of his father, outside closed doors he didn’t really knew him, nor did he care to. For him it was the opposite, he didn’t like living in his head, any chance he got to fly out of it was welcomed with open arms

MAXIMO: u talk a big game for some1 who let me eat his stash of weed to avoid getting in trouble.

MAXIMO: where was this bravado when Sister Michael was watching me pretend to eat "old dried kale" ?????

MAXIMO: whoever does it has big cajones, i'll give em that. wish they would have had a bigger imagination tho. y just steal knick knacks? that's small brain shit.

MAXIMO: i had a watch under my mattress that could have easily been sold for a couple thou on ebay.

MILO: what exactly makes you think that wasn't payback for all the times i had to sleep in the hall bc you kept on bringing girls in the middle of the night?

MILO: why the fuck do you have a watch under your mattress? u know what, i don't care

MAXIMO: as ur probably aware, administration is on a hunt for the culprits responsible for the ransacking.

MAXIMO: they r putting pressure on house captains to encourage students involved to step up.

MAXIMO: speak now or forever hold ur peace.

MAXIMO: i'm willing to help any1 who comes to me work out an alibi or reasonable excuse/lie but if u get caught before then, u're on ur own. so choose wisely ig.

MILO: bold of you to assume that if it had been me i wouldn't be parading all over the retreat

MILO: showing everyone how proud i am of my masterpiece

MILO: sadly, it wasn't me

It wasn’t funny. Well, maybe it was a little funny.

At least he thought it was, sure the place was a complete mess, there was truly no other way to describe it. There wasn’t a single room that hadn’t been completely turned upside down, not a single inch of grass that wasn’t now housing a bag or item of clothing. He laughed, he couldn’t help it, the minute he stepped off the bus and laid eyes the Retreat he started laughing. 

His bag had been dropped outside near a tree, he was anything but organized, he hadn’t really bothered in folding his clothes when packing more than he had just shoved a bunch of things together and called it a day — but even among chaos there was order, and this was not what his bag looked like on a regular day. It a mess, a complete mess. He took the time to go through everything, but nothing was seemed to be missing. This was a next level prank, and he wanted to desperately to meet them. 

As he watched the other students around him go through their things, and help put the place back in order he flipped through the pages of one of his books, more out of a habbit than anything else. It was then that he noticed the dedication page was gone. What? Milo had a habit of ripping pages off books to use for decoration but he would’ve never taken out that particular page. He bought that book at a dollar store only for the dedication. It read: ‘to my bruce, who was the best person i ever knew, even though he was a dog.’ It made him laugh so he bought it, without even reading the summary at the back. 

“Who do you think did this?” He asked to no one in particular as he took in what used to be the Retreat but was now just a complete mess. He couldn’t help the smile the grew on the edges of his lips. He wished he had come up with a prank like this himself. “This is some next level shit. I’m impressed.” 

      Sleep and Milo were not friends. Maybe they had been lawful companions at some point through out his life, perhaps when he had been no more than days old, but he doubted it. He couldn’t recall a time where he had been an able to sleep through out an entire night without waking up once. In time, sure, the nightmares started and he had decided long ago to turn his back on sleep if that meant getting rid of them, he could function as a human being just fine with no more than four hours of sleep a night ( if he was lucky ) nevermind the dark shadows under his eyes that stood right out in his pale skin. Yet, even before the nightmares found their way into his life, he had never been one to sleep soundly, and so he had become friends with the night

As much as he loathed the Retreat he couldn’t deny the view. They weren’t that far away from the civilization, despite the fact that it felt like that, and yet somehow the starts seemed brighther here. There were more of them ouf here than there were outside of his room back in the academy. Milo didn’t look away from them as he pulled a hand into his pocket to get a cigarette, when he finally light it up, he took a long drag and closed his eyes as he lost himself to the sounds of the night. 

From where he stood he could hear the lake, the way the wind gently moved its waters. He heard a cricket nearby, and he was possitive there was a frog not too far. His peace however was disturbed when he heard the unmistakably sound of footsteps. Milo sighed, loudly, for the dramatics. “Must you?” He said without bothering to turn around. 

He was so used to wandering the halls of the academy on his own at night, never once was he disturbed, that he never thought the first time he would run into another soul would be out in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t around, but he did turn his head just slightly around to get a look at the intruder. Well, that was a surprise. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?” He said as if he wasn’t well past his bedtime himself.

“Dude, I wish I knew the answer,” she lamented with somewhat of a sigh, “-but do I think we’re gonna be here long?” she repeated, circling back to the question he’d actually asked her, “I think somebody’s going to throw a shit fit or go balls to the wall nutso and get all of our asses hauled out of here eventually. Like, how long can it possibly be before Gwen starts screaming on the roof of the senior cabin about criminal liability or, I don’t know, how long before the juniors TikTok themselves into a brutal accident and need to get airlifted to the nearest hospital?” maybe her examples were a little extreme but she felt like she was onto something there. “I’m just saying, I don’t think it’s gonna be that long before we start seeing cracks in the damn, you feel me?”

“You mean like them dancing themselves into the lake and possibly drowning?” Milo thought about that for a second before a smile formed on his lips. “All we can hope for is we get a front row seat.” That might just be thing to make his day, but she was right. It felt like was only a matter of time before someone did something that got them kicked out of the Retreat. The idea of a bunch of teens in the middle of the woods with no wifi was probably something they should’ve thought about before sending them there. “Yeah, I hear you there. Real question is who do you think will be the first one to break without wifi or signal? My guess is Damian.”

When Milo gestured, Joss followed the line of motion, taking a moment or so to observe their environment in all its dilapidated glory. God, it really was a disaster, wasn’t it? “Everything was new and shiny once,” she noted, maybe that was an optimists view of things but she thought it was a good way to look at the world and perhaps even people as well. She chuckled at the question and shook her head, “It wasn’t like I looked it up or anything, it was just on Facebook or something- you know, like those ‘which condiment are you?’ quizzes or ‘pick a chicken nugget and we’ll tell you how many kids you’re going to have’ they’re all kind of stupid but it’s a good way to waste time,” especially if you didn’t have anything better to do and sometimes Joss simply didn’t.

Everything was new and shiny once. He repeated her words in his head. “Oh god, that’s awfully optimistic.” He said in disgut but there was certain playfulness to his tone. If he was anything he was a pessimist, it grounded him to reality and prepared him for the worst case scenario, which in his experience, was usually the outcome of most things. The corner of his mouth threated to quirk up. He knew exactly what she was talking about. Milo and sleep didn’t get along and he had spent countless hours in the dead of night scrolling on his phone for the most bizarre quizzes he could find, she was right, they were all kind of stupid but... “Yeah, they’re sort of fun.” He said voice barely above a whisper as he looked anywhere but in her direction. “I you tell anyone.” He said looking back, the promise of a threat hanging in the air but there was no malice behind his voice. 

“Yep… haven’t visited it yet… but it’s on the map I think.” He shrugged. “Me bet is… it’s gonna be as creepy as everything else down here. I mean, the academy has a certain aesthetic don’t you think?” He chuckled.

“Yeah, definitely a possibility.” He grinned. “Would have done the same myself.” Yep and he would have probably had already, if had any alternative of course. He wondered why most of the rich kids at school hadn’t already found somewhere else to finish the year. Sure Broadripple was renowned, but many of them could go wherever they wanted right?

“I guess, we can google it or something…” He mused. A bit of history couldn’t hurt. “Or I dunno, check it if they have something at the library.” Was he beginning to sound like those nerds from Unsolved? Yep, maybe… Whatever.

He gave a pat on Milo’s back and another chuckle escaped his lips. “Just if you are stoned out of your mind man.” Which in hindsight, was not exactly impossible. “Ehi, you know what? We can take a look around right? If you’re done unpacking… You know, check the lay of the land or something…” Why not? After all it was not like they have much else to do and he has to find a place to hide his stash, no way he was gonna keep the MJ in his shared dorm. “Come on, take your ass out of the window, you can definitely use a walk.” There was a grin on his lips as his next pat on Milo’s back was almost strong enough to unseat him from his perch.

“Deal.” Domenico smirked. Yep, like if he actually could do that. “Fuck, I wish we could bring our rides… I mean, I guess my baby is safer at the academy, but I wouldn’t feel struck if I know I could catch my bike and go to town whenever right?”

“If you’re talking about its ‘spoiled kids’ aesthetic then yes, I do.” Milo joked. Of course he knew what he meant, the academy had a somewhat morbid feeling to it. It wasn’t just about the stories and rumors he had heard through all three of his years spent there, it was something else he could never quite put his finger on.

Milo eyed him up and down, he stared at him as if he had grown another head. “What part of me says ‘let’s go a hike and have a picnic in the park while we’re at it’?” Milo was not an outdoors person, he liked to spend his fair share of time outdoors when it was night time but only when he decided to, being forced to sleep in the middle of nowhere was not his idea of fun. “Oh, I see.” He smirked. “What? You need a place to hide your stash?” He was already putting out his cigarette and getting out the window. “Fine, but if I get killed by a wild rabbit or something make sure there’s no memorial.” 

Milo hid what was left of the cigarette back in his shoe, he’d save it for later. “Keep on dreaming.” He said bitterly. “I wish we had a way out of here too, man.”

“Oh,” She said, slightly surprised by his offer. “Okay, thanks.” A smile smile quirked up the corners of her mouth, as she looked around the old church, happy to know that she would have a place to come and hide, even if she did have to share it. “No blasting music, I promise.” She bit her lip, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear shyly. “All heavy metal will exclusively be played through my headphones.” She joked awkwardly, shacking her little white buds to emphasize her point, even if she only had one metal song saved to her phone. 

She was relaxing, even if it was ever so slight. Still she kept her eyes glued to Milo as he walked around the ruins, it was if if she blinked he could reach out and startle her again. The logical part of her brain told her that Milo didn’t hold any threat towards her, he had always been nice, but she still couldn’t get rid of that lingering tension and anxiety. 

“It’s a pretty shitty joke.” She mumbled, barely over a whisper, she would be surprised if Milo could even hear her. “The cabins are…hard. I guess I’m not…very good with groups. Thats why I needed a hiding spot.” As usual Astrid struggled to think of the best words to express herself.

She’s got jokes. He thought smilling to himself, he thought of opening his mouth to say something but his attention was pulled to the corner of the church where he heard shuffling. A bird had been alerted of their presence and it flew away from it’s nest to somewhere further deep into the church.

“Yeah, it really fucking it, isn’t it?” Milo tried not to think back to what awaited for him in the cabins but it was hard not to. If he was anything he was a pessimist, as much as he hoped things didn’t turn out that bad in the end and that he might find something worth sticking around in the Retreat for, it just wasn’t in his nature. It was safer if you were already prepared for disappointment, then the fall didn’t hit as hard.

“I know what you mean.” He sighed. He knew that feeling a little too well. Milo was good around people, as long as it involved the use of sarcastic comments or passive agressive remarks. He knew how to make people trust him if he needed something from them, like father like son. But he was always waiting for them to mess up, to do something, that would either break his trust or hurt him in some way, that was why he prefered to keep everyone at at arm's length — with the exception of Lucy, of course. “You know? For a hiding spot,” He said looking around. “I think we hit the jackpot.” In the condition oft he place he seriously doubted someone else might wander off and decide to step inside the old church.