shooting stars

Although the stranger Nadine was slowly unraveling seemed to recognize her instantaneously, the vampire still couldn't quite place her finger on where exactly she'd remembered that face from. Life had been as tumultuous as always; how was she meant to register every person she stumbled across, especially on the job? "... The bad night," she echoed, brows pulled together skeptically as she reeled her memory for what that could've impli— oh. Oh, that's right. Shit, how could she have forgotten? It was a mess, traversing that darkness just to locate Valerie. It'd have been much smoother if she stood somewhere that didn't encase them indoors. Must've made the whole experience incredibly claustrophobic for Rosalind. "At the Art Shack, right? ... Well, shit," she shook her head, an awkwardness presiding in her chest now that she understood their relation to one another. "Listen, I'm real sorry about that, Rosalind," she said as she accepted the flyer tentatively. "It really had nothing to do with you. Just business, y'know? Gotta keep order somehow. But, uh—yeah. Sorry. I didn't know you were even gonna be there, if it helps." Which was true. Her target was Valerie, and no matter who was accompanying her, Nadine was obligated to secure the debt.

rosalind would have been fine to not voice what had happened but the other had already brought it to their attention. that night hadn't made any sense, it had injured her and left her with some very dark images and thoughts carved into her mind. "he was there and i got hurt." that was the first time she had seen what resembled the puppet and she had somehow got physically tangled. her neck was healing but the experience had left her with some deep wounds. "why do you apologise?" nadine was unsettling in that moment - had she known what had happened. "did you have something to do with it?" rosalind's eyes narrowed as their voice got a little higher, it was still gentle but there was an upset inside of it. "valerie's my friend. it all happened so fast." rosalind wished that she'd never stepped foot there, if she hadn't, things might not have escalated the way they had. everything was now a mess and ros couldn't stop any of it.

alizka was all over the place ( in their own unique way ), but they were taken aback by what rosalind mentioned. what was this it they were talking about? “woah, of course, you’re not bad but help me understand.” alizka felt like the shittiest sister ever for not offering ros help of any kind. who knew if the supposed family ‘intervention’ they had ( excluding their parents, of course ) even helped. “yeah... she’s gone.” alizka grew quiet, and honestly, very upset. perplexed. he’s bad and won’t leave me alone. what on earth was ros blabbering on about? she was stunned by how rosalind just backed away from her and didn’t know what to do. “what, what, what?!” her tone was neutral but frustration could be sensed from both ends. “ros, stop, for fucking sake—you need serious help.”

how could it have ended like that? emotions had run high but rosalind felt like she had lost total awareness over everything. the puppet had been there but then it had been eliana - none of it made any sense. over the past couple of years, rosalind had indeed found herself more and then lost herself entirely; it had started when the young woman went missing and then ended up dead. the wool had been pulled back from their eyelids but that made them more susceptible to the bad feelings. grunting in frustration, rosalind rested her head against the wall. "no one can help now." her guilt was only going to get worse. it wasn't like she ever wanted to hurt eliana but who was going to understand that? it wasn't something she could just apologise for and move on - there would be dire consequences.

Remaining oblivious, Nadine listened intently as she surveyed her surroundings. She'd never ventured inside the rink, finding herself extraordinarily disinterested in sports. Suddenly, though, she began experiencing flashes of the art shack, of all places. Something about the person's face had thrust it upon her, and she could remember visiting a few times, once in near total darkness, though she'd long since forgotten that encounter. Or, well, so she thought. The more she listened to the other speak, the more she unlocked the memory of what was a successful job to her and someone else's worst nightmare. "... I know you," she said, eyes thinning as she did her damnedest to comb her brain for any semblance of familiarity. "A New Year package would be sweet, yeah. What's your name?" Her dissociation with the event couldn't go unnoticed; certainly not by the poor individual and the bystander she harassed. Still, the familiar cadence and appearance had snagged the vampire's attention, and she couldn't brush it off so easily once it implanted itself in her subconscious.

rosalind's eyes widened at the other's acknowledgement, the acknowledgement she'd intentionally worked to avoid. the ordeal had upset her greatly and now it was plaguing her ever since - the puppet had not made a physical reappearance but she was pictured holding it in the haunted house photographs when she never did such a thing. uneasy. there was something sinister about it and when she once had a positive 'memory' of her parents calling her back, it had been replaced by the unsettling image of that face and something digging into her neck (there was still a mark where it had gripped her). "yes." rosalind's voice was quiet and cracked slightly as she nodded at the other's statement. "the bad night." that was an understatement. "rosalind." she pointed to her name tag - the other wasn't about to receive the luxury of their pet name - there was a memory of the raven haired woman taunting val in their mind. "i think the instructors will be back in around 10 minutes but i can give you one of these-" she walked over to the desk and picked out a flyer. "-here." handing it out, rosalind waited for the other to take it from her.

before alizka could mutter a word after being called, she noticed ros had started to sob and caressed their back—sadly unsure of how to comfort someone crying but knowing that they were both hurting. liz searched for their sister’s hand and held it as tightly as they could. “ros,” they spoke calmly yet lethargic. more than anything, alizka wanted to let her sister know that everything would be all right, but it was a time of uncertainty. surely, it would, but it was a matter of knowing when. after their mother’s sudden death, it felt quite odd to be optimistic. a piece of alizka was vacant and gone in a blink of an eye. something felt off, but not knowing what was starting to piss her off. eliana was gone, just like that. now it was time to plan a funeral. was an autopsy necessary? they were lost in their mind, thoughts going at a hundred miles per hour, but couldn’t quite make out what ros said. “what was that? he who?”

every time rosalind closed her eyes, it was there. it had made a point to taunt her, particularly in the haunted house when it hadn't even been cutting off her oxygen supply. "liz-" ros continued to sob. she'd thought her parents had been pulling her back initially but now, there was a thought that it was a rather dark entity that had latched onto her and demanded to be seen and to control. "she's gone. i'm not bad. he's bad. he's bad and won't leave me alone." rosalind was tensing their frame, feeling scared that the puppet would make a reappearance. rosalind backed away from alizka to keep themselves away. "stop!" it was hard to shake the feeling. rosalind thought that she was being called back but perhaps they'd been mistaken all along.

the man was someone she had to reference as her mother, along with emmeline, had seen a creature on their camping trip. it was all such a mess. "mark." rosalind whispered, slowly sitting on the bench next to the other as if they had some sort of air to resolve but it was rosalind that automatically put the tension there in the first place. "everything's going to be different now."

Athleticism of any variety was Nadine's kryptonite. She fared much better whenever she was inert, if she were completely honest. It left space for her mind to wander, stretching and curving like limbs on a football pitch; except she was searching for words, not some scuffed up pigskin ball. Digressing — she had tucked herself in the softest corner of her couch and contemplated on a movie to watch before she found one wherein a couple braves a skating rink while on a date. And, well, now that was half the holiday surprise Nadine was preparing to spring unto Ava, along with, of course, plenty of presents that actually reflected her interests and their relationship. However, she was apprehensive about showing up knowing absolutely nothing about the activity, and once realizing she would secure a helluva lot more brownie points if she were able to catch Ava whenever she slipped? It wasn't even a question anymore. Once arriving, she walked through the double doors and approached the first employee she could spot. "Scuse me," she spoke up, a friendly smile on her lips. "I heard you guys have coaches here? How much do they charge? I need to learn how to stay off my ass before the month ends. Nadine, by the way," the brunette stuck a hand out in greeting, not thinking to register in her excitement if they'd met before or not.

rosalind had been distracted by the thoughts of that puppet that seemed to now be haunting her. everything at the art shack had happened so quickly that it was difficult to recall what exactly happened but it had left ros injured and haunted. she shouldn't have gone to the haunted house, she scared easily but needed to get out there - then it had shown her and a doll with the images getting more and more shocking - it wasn't her. rosalind had protested that she would never do such things. it wouldn't leave her alone. rosalind had come to the conclusion that her parents had 'saved' her the first time but their presence seemed to be fading around her. in a daydream at her place of work, the employee was staring into space before her trance was broken by the familiar face. "um-" rosalind frowned. "yes. we have coaches." it was the other from that night in the art shack, the one that appeared to be taunting val whilst rosalind remained confused. "i'm not sure exactly on our prices for the new year but i can check for you. i think they're doing some new year packages which could be beneficial."

“Wait, what?” Nari exclaimed, her voice trembling slightly as she scanned the dimly lit room. The flickering overhead lights cast uneasy shadows on the walls, deepening her unease. “The guide wouldn’t just leave us alone in here, would they?” She felt a chill run down her spine; something about this situation didn’t seem right. Her heart raced, amplifying her nervousness. Turning her gaze to Rosalind, she met her worried expression. “Yeah, if we’re really towards the end of this tour, let’s just get out of here. I don’t like this at all…” Nari’s voice trailed off, her instincts urging her to flee the unsettling atmosphere surrounding them.

all this time, heejin thought there was a guide in front of them. however, the instant the woman noticed that the tour guide was for the group in front of them; well, the woman was annoyed, to say the least. pesor, rosalind, and nari — the kids — had every right to become worrisome about the situation they found themselves in. “so we lost our tour guide is what i’m hearing?” she asked and nodded, slowly taking in the ordeal. “why don’t we go into that one room that way,” heejin gestured down the hallway with her hand, “who knows, we could find a map of a way out of here? or it might be the last room in the tour,” she suggested to the younger persons with her and tried to ease their uneasiness, even if it was just a little. the woman stood behind them, putting them before her. “just in case, i’ll follow from behind if anyone tries to do anything sketchy.” / @b4rredteeth

rosalind wasn't paying much attention to the photographs as they stepped forward towards the other side of the room but one made contact with her face and her hand went to grasp it in a reactionary way. what! eyes widened with horror as her throat suddenly felt dry and breathing shallow. it was her but it wasn't, with that doll - the demon doll from the art shack - it was there that night but she'd never touched it. "that's not, that's not me. i didn't ever touch that thing!" something was taunting her. perhaps it hadn't been her parents at all and it was something a lot more sinister. "i didn't do that! it's not real! let me out!" @sxtmefree

as soon as they had stepped foot in the gallery, rosalind was asking themselves what on earth had made her agree to do such a thing? they were sensitive and the near death experience that they had been subjected to at the art shack had unnerved the young person further. "uh-" they stopped at the announcement that there was no tour guide in front of their group. "i didn't see one go past me." they hastily looked back slowly, determined for their eyes to not play tricks on her - shadows would not move if nothing was there. it was concerning that things weren't as they should have been in this situation. they wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. "we're close to the end, right?" it felt like it was too long to go back the way they came. "we should just just finish up as soon as possible, right?" they turned to the nearest person for reassurance. @sxtmefree

this was a craft that rosalind was more than happy to watch from the side lines; just because she didn't want to do it herself didn't mean she wasn't interested in what others would make. they couldn't help but grimace at the sight of the gunk all over the other's arms - they very much preferred beads over being covered in fruit gloop but admired people who could stomach it. "oh!" their eyes widened at the other and then began to look for something. "well, i wouldn't use paper towels as they'll probably stick to you. i can maybe go get a bowl of water and some soap from over there-" they gestured towards where the apple-bobbers were. "oh-" that was a point. she knew it was meant to be scary because it was halloween but a friendly vibe with lots of fairy lights may have been more comforting. "well, isn't a candle supposed to go in the pumpkin's face?"

Where exactly would safe be for them? Back in the cages? Well, Renata could understand that. Where the fuck would you be without all of your chaotic structure? Day in and day out, something else to keep her preoccupied. She sighed. Already resigning herself to this situation. "Oh, you're probably. Right." Renata did wave a hand, though, because she disliked the concept. "Maybe we'll walk away with new friends that we've made along the way, who knows?" Was she talking of the animals, innocent amidst the turmoil? Or more of the humans, who stared and evaluated each other with unending suspicion? "The only try that's a fail is the time we don't try, something, something, whatever. We could split up since there's two streets here." And who could say where everybody had gone? Some to vanish entirely forever. If only it was that easy.

rosalind believed her life was so much better a year ago, when she didn't have to worry about all of this but it had only been a detriment. she'd never been mentally strong, always the weird kid with so many dreams - like she'd lived in a completely different reality, a safe one. eyes widening at the other's suggestion, ros was quick to shake her head. "absolutely not, no. splitting up is the the absolute worst idea!" had this person ever watched horror movies? even when rosalind was with people, bad things happened - it couldn't happen again. "they move, right? so perhaps if we stroll about a bit and maybe they will find us?"

"Useful?" In the grand scheme of things, that wasn't the strangest claim she had heard. As to how someone could be useful, well, that remained to be seen. In her opinion, it involved not releasing the animals from wherever they had come — or did that mean she had released them? Renata, automatic in being suspicious, for she knew if she was up to no good, she would act casual about it, was tempted to just wave off the asking about how she was doing. She never answered that with any kind of honesty regardless, no matter who asked her, not even her employers. Yeah yeah, I'm fine, was the go-to. She often collapsed later. "I mean, yeah, I just hate. Small animals. They run way too fast. And there's too many of them."

the other repeating it back made rosalind feel anything but- she felt that she sounded silly with her reasoning. it was trying to help eliana, to try to make up her recent behaviour somehow but it was miniscule. "they have so much energy and power in a little body, right? it's impossible for me to run that fast. they have so much life but i'm worried as it's not safe out here." animals, so at one with nature were not safe in the trees of anchorage - there were many stories, sightings and they just wanted them all returned safely. something was telling rosalind that wasn't going to be the case. "it does appear that we're outnumbered but we still need to try, right?"

Dusting off her booth, Astarion took a seat next to Rosalind, reaching for her hand. "Rosie, what aren't you telling? Something else has happened, besides that woman."

rosalind had been out of sorts for some time as her veil quickly fell and she couldn't scramble to put it back up quick enough before she saw what was behind. it had been a method of protection, her family trying to keep her from it because of her fragility and they were right to do so. then she'd become injured by whatever had happened down in the depths of the art shack, something to mark her physically and mentally - that burn whilst being unable to scream because it was so tight. it gave them shudders just thinking about it. "i don't think so, either." they kept a frown on their face as they turned towards astarion. "i'm not sure i understand the question. a lot of things have happened. a lot of things do happen and i'm still just sort of here." it was as if the world was going by and she was stuck. "do you ever think that someone can just get stuck in the universe when they're not meant to? as in..." there was a hesitation as she thought how to address the vision of her parents. "do guardian angels ever try to pull you back to them?"

"Ooh, shit. Not ferrets, please. Not a ferret!" Someone's ferret was still running amok down the asphalt of the, fortunately, vehicle-less roadway. Renata, at a dead standstill on the sidewalk, eyes bleary from a sleepless night and a dream which pricked at the backs of her eyelids even now, bit down a shriek at the tiny white critter skedaddling up a trash can. Rattle, rattle. The lid circled itself around atop the bin. Shrieks from other small animals having still escaped, and not been yet caught, blitzed through her hearing aid, which prompted her to shut it off. Ah. Semi-blessed silence. Until a yowl emitted in her other ear. Black cat crossing your path, you are full of things crawling right out of you. The cat leapt from atop the drainage pipe, and automatic ( can't let something else die, can't let something else die ) drop of her bag in order to catch it. She, and the cat, collapsed in a heap, Renata caught off balance, falling to one knee. She winced, holding the cat tight to her chest, with a glance around her. "Anchorage is turning into a fucking zoo." She hadn't even gotten a pumpkin spice latte this morning. ( Overall? She felt fine about this. Her charges hadn't been injured. That's all that mattered to her. ) "What the hell are you doing out here at ass o'clock?" Sharp question aimed with her usual glower.

anchorage was becoming stranger by the hour. rosalind used to love it - it was where her family was and she'd go about her business completely blind to the horrors around her. the coping strategy only protected her for so long. the town was revealing itself more and more, the uneasy nature, the danger and it felt like no one in their 'right' mind would want to stay. however, where would rosalind go? a dependent by nature, they could never imagine living away from family by themselves. looking over to the other, rosalind was quick to shrug. "i don't know. wanted to be useful or something." was this town cursed? it wasn't something she necessarily believed in but everything only ever felt it was building, never diffusing. "are you alright?"

I'm not the most kind to her anymore. Innate cynicism buzzed overhead, searching for its next prey and Astarion's movements were evanescently robotic as he flipped tracks between his past and present. Rosalind had her fair share of issues, and a long-standing history of difficulty regulating her emotions. His achromatic eyes studied the rhythm of her fingers selecting beads for a new bracelet, his lips taut as he ruminated over her words. "Have you been... hiding something from her? Is there something you're holding back?" he pressed, gingerly, looking to his right where she sat and nodding slowly. From what they had discussed, the Lim's birth parents weren't volatile toward them — rather, the youngest sibling's optimism was failing her and in doing so, the worst colors of herself were bleeding through onto the palette. "Perhaps... you should consider seeing a therapist for these... outbursts."

"it's not like that i'm hiding something from her." was she? rosalind hadn't really thought about it but it was fair to say that her not saying how she truly felt about the incident, that it was some sort of attempt for her parents to pull her back to them, was indeed concealing the truth - a polite way of saying 'not telling the truth'. her eyes look away from the beads as a therapist was mentioned. "do you mean like the crying lady?" the woman would show up in the middle of the night in tears then stay for a couple of days, in turn depleting rosalind's own energy. "of course, i know why she's crying but at night, when it's supposed to be peaceful, that's all i can hear." it upset rosalind, making herself react negatively to things around her. eliana was trying to do right by everyone but wires were being crossed. "it's just a lot."

rosalind hadn't been the same since. all her feelings about the world had intensified and she wasn't able to understand most of it - she had secluded herself into her own thoughts too deeply. bracelet making did make her mind go blank but there were only so many so could make with her current supplies before they felt too similar. it was time for her to get back on her roller skates, not to work but at least it was something to clear her head and make her feel somewhat human after it all. pink sportsbag wrapped around their figure, their hands gripped the strap and eyes transfixed on the entrance; that was untiil someone engaged with them. "sorry?" it took rosalind a while to register that someone was speaking to them. "uh-" they looked at them blankly and then at the sheet of paper. "sure, yeah." rosalind didn't know the context of the ban but was afraid to ask about it - perhaps her family had been right, 'the less you know, the better'. "when did you learn how to skate?"

"Rosie," Atticus' husky timbres were the thunder rolling over cloudy skies and demanding for attentions, a petite hand resting on their shoulder, "I don't think anyone's going to be slipping on beads like one of those... flicks you watched as a child." His mum interest in filmography aside, he had paid mind to her interests growing up as much as was feasible. He paused, setting the crafting supplies he'd utilized to hoist the banner aside, and taking the empty seat next to her. A hand snaked downward to massage his aching calves, and ensure the bandages for his lymphedema weren't yet springing leaks. "What seems to be troubling you? I don't blame you for not being yourself, but... mama worries about you."

rosalind had already been struggling as her eyes started to open towards the town she lived in, the one where bad things would happen constantly. she always wanted to believe in the best of people but at the same time, anonymous figures were showing her that they were capable of the worst. her facial features softened as the nickname was used, a slight sigh escaping as she shuffled in her seat. cutting off another piece of elastic, she taped it to the table and looked towards the beads to select a new colour palette - distracted. "i'm not the most kind to her anymore." by the time rosalind realised her outbursts, it was already too late. "i don't mean it, atti. it's just been a lot." there was also such background noise, the sound of distress that easily got to them.