#xander lopez

There was a soft click of metal on metal as the stall door shut in place behind her, dark eyes turned to the brunette she called her best friend. Who, in this instance looked just as confused as her. The voice was strong, confident as he spoke out loud. His voice carrying more authority than he really ever had before, or at least more than she had  ever heard from the dainty looking Michaels.

Arsen was not a confident man. But the man on the stage? He was. He was confident and proud and was for once standing up for himself. Something she had been saying they all needed to do.

‘Good for him.’

“Lee? Who the fuck is Lee? You don’t just fucking disappear for a fucking week and then come back with a new fucking name. You’re friends are fucking idiots.”

Buster smiled, looking up at Axel through a rim of thick lashes, letting her forearms rest on the cold granite of the sink, brown eyes finding green a little too easily. The brunette only offered her a stoic expression and a eye roll, her lips pulling carefully into a sarcastic smile herself.

They both knew damned well that the small group of misfit loser had become more like family to them. They both knew that the group was like a second home, would either of them admit to the truth? Never. But that didn’t mean it was not true.

No matter how ‘hard’ Buster wanted to pretend she was, her boys would always have a little soft part of her heart.

There was a pause between words though, a shuffle that she couldn’t quite keep up with, instead she turned her attention to the sink she currently had her hands under. The water was warm, refreshing where the air around her seemed frozen. Like it had dropped twenty degrees with no sort of announcement. She knew she was going to get cold. It’s part of the reason why she originally planned on wearing a tux. Before Oberon had said yes to her, that was.

She could feel the sting to her cheeks as she thought about it, a sting of shy that she was nowhere near used to having, crawled its way up her spine. Trickling through her veins until she felt as if her entire body was lite up like a fucking christmas tree.

Oberon fucking Mathers.

Just the thought of him, his name alone, brought a warmth to her chest. One that try as she might she could not squash down.She still hadn’t seen him tonight, though he had left her many instructions. Including taking the damn limo that had got herself and Axel there. To be honest, after a week of no messages or never seeing the familiar faces at the school she had thought they dipped out on her and Axel. She thought they had all decided to take themselves away from the girls.

But she had seen Neket, she had seen Heru and Brahm. Heard Arsen even now. They were here, if the others were. They basically didn’t exist without the little squad.

-----------------------

Axel wasn’t sure who Buster was trying to fool, but it certainly wasn’t her.

 The smirk curled along her lips, pulling like the slow spill of ink over a white canvas as she leaned against the counter. Her Eyes flickering toward Buster as she leaned against the counter, that little blush drifting over her features, almost invisible, hidden so well that if Axel hadn’t known her for years, she might actually think that Buster had no cares about anyone in the squad, had no qualms about them and couldn’t care less about what happened to them, like she did for most of the people who had ever come in contact with her. But as it was, there was no one who knew the bond like Axel did, and she would see it, the light tint of pink over her cheeks as her mind drifted, as it always did, to the one one who had managed to wrap the strong willed Xander around his fingers.

 Oberon Mathers.

 Axel wasn’t sure how the two hadn’t fucked already. It was obvious that the two cared for each other, regardless of the insults that seemed to flow between them like one might give a lover kisses. She had watched her train with him, watched her as she had spoken to him longer than she did most, the soft little motions they gave to one another when they thought no one was looking, how they only continued if nothing was said, the slightest of questions enough to get their guard back up and the curses flying again. There watched each other when the other wasn't paying attention, always seek each other like they had been apart for years rather than hours. The past week had been pretty horrible to watch, watching Xander, her best friend, one of the only girls she could actual claim to love, get her hopes up as doors opened and she waited for a  head of platinum blond hair that would never show. Her heart ached, but she kept her mouth shut, her lips sealed from making any comment on it that might embarrass her or make matters worse.

 Because she was missing a Blond Haired, Storm Eyed Mathers of her own,and Axel knew first hand the hurt that could be accompanied with a name.

 Axel sighed as she looked back to the mirror, running her lips stick along her lips before she pulled back, taking in her whole expression, wholly stoic and free of any emotion besides complete and utter boredom. She watched herself, the vision of a girl with infinitely aching heartbeats and spiraling nerves, a girl she knew too intimately and could hardly guess at. Axel tried to make herself pretty, had learned all the tricks and tips to make her eyes pop, to make her lips look fuller, to make her hair fall in just the right way to bring to mind thoughts of tangled limbs and silken sheets. She had struggled to make herself someone to be seen, someone people wanted to be near… because that was supposed to make him want her, supposed to make him see her. Everyone loved beautiful people. So she became pretty, so that he would love her.

 There was a moment of pause before she pocketed the useless thing, not sure why she was even bothering if the boy she wanted to see her tonight hadn’t bothered to show.

 Axel wasn’t stupid. Despite how he acted, what he said, what he thought, Inness wasn’t completely heartless. He wouldn’t have left her in the dark if it wasn’t something important,a  grain of truth she held onto when night fell and sleep evaded her because her messages had went unanswered, again. He was, at the very least, Her friend, someone she had grown to lean on, to care for, maybe possibly more than she should have. He didn’t usually go this long without answering her, without telling her off for blowing up his phone or for being outside his window, throwing rocks, acorns and climbing his tree so she might just knock on the window to see if he was there. This past week, she hadn’t seen him, hadn’t heard from at all and while this was strange… She knew he had to be here, having seen a few of the members of the Squad, had even caught eyes and waved to Neferox as he slid through the crowd. They didn't go really anywhere without each other, and the squad would not leave the squad behind on prom night. She just hadn’t seen him, and the thought of maybe he was trying to avoid her sprung up, unwanted but possible.  She supposed it wasn't anything she could really be mad at.

 After all, He had never told her to fall for him. He hadn't told her to be attached to him. He hadn’t told her to want to be around him or talk to him nearly every second of the day...

 Axel was just an Idiot.

 She sighed as she tilted her head, listening as Arsen spoke up, his voice clear, strong, distant and muffled in the sort of way that she could not really hear what he was saying, more understanding the tone. She smirked as she listened, turning back to the refection in the mirror as she lifted her hands to her hair.

 “Sounds like Mr. Valedictorian grew a pair.”

  She hummed, before she heard the rumble of confusion and the shriek that followed. There was a sound, something she could not describe before she heard it, the single fire before the screams ripped through the air and footsteps started to roar. Axel’s heart dropped, her lips parting as her eyes widened, her breath catching in her throat as she whipped around to stare at the door.

 “Lock the door Buster.” the words were spoken lowly, whispered as she felt her heart sink and slam into her gut, lungs not getting enough air.

 “Where’s my phone…?”

-----------------------

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

 The words slipped through her lips, barely audible but spoken to Axel nonetheless.There was a mixture of confusion that was swarming, buzzing in her head with enough intensity to throw the blonde completely off. Her eyebrows were narrowed at the door as the screams tore through the gym, shrill and enough to leave a chill up her spine. She could hear Axel’s frantic whisper, eyes wide on the door. Just as much of the confusion that Buster felt was painted over her best friends features.

 “Did he say Neket? He said Neket… Neket’s doing this?”

 It was real. This was really happening at their high school. Someone had really decided to shoot up their school on prom night. Someone had actually showed up, dressed to the nines and looking more than likely the best they ever had in their life and decided that this was the perfect time to get rid of their problems. And from the sounds that swarmed outside of the door, it sounded like every breathing person in the school was a problem.

 It was seconds later and another shot fired through the air, those terrible screams stopping momentarily. All of them coming to halt as she heard the shuffling begin to pick up. She heard the soft click of heels against the wooden floor, the hard clunks of students dragging their feet in defeat. There was a silence again, only the low sobs of distress, and a hollow laugh picked up. Loud and clear through the quiet of the night. Buster’s heart plummeted, dropping until she could no longer feel the organ. A hand pressed into Buster’s shoulder, yanking her attention from the sounds of horror that lay outside the thick door.

 Buster let her eyes fall back to Axel, momentarily before Neket’s voice picked up again. Just the sound of his voice sent a tremor up her neck, setting her hair till it felt like it’s ends. He was unhinged, completely lost in some sort of madness that he had found.

 “Lock the door….”

 There was a hesitation to her moves. They were her friends she thought. Neket, Arsen, all of them. They were supposed to be the boys that had a shit time in highschool but once they were out. You knew they were gonna make it big. She used to say it. All the time. Mabe not in so many words, but they were her boys. They were supposed to be by her and Axel when they graduated. They weren’t supposed to turn on her. They weren’t supposed to turn on Axel. They were supposed to be there when times got too hard for them.

 Though from the looks of it, she was never there during their hard times.

 “Lock the fucking door Buster!”

 Buster moved, launching herself forward until she was against the door, her fingers shook as they turned the gold lock into place, the click louder than she would have liked. But still she pressed her ear to the door, listening to the words that Neket was speaking to the crowd, their cries becoming increasingly louder.

 “Get to the window, see if you can reach it. If it opens.”

 It felt like a black hole was starting in her chest as she skidded to Axel’s side, who was already turned to the bathroom stalls.

 ----------------------

She didn’t hear words, didn’t hear really anything as she watched Buster moved, launching herself at the door to lock it with trembling fingers. She watched her as she pressed her ear against the door, her own heart drowning out the words that spilled past her lips, her body already turning, eyes snapping toward the small square windows that lined the  bathroom wall.   Her hands were shaking, her vision blurring as her breath felt like it was caught in her lungs, shallow pants accompanying the sting in her eyes.

 She had heard his voice, Had Heard Arsen Michael's Voice, then she had heard the noises, the screams that had burst and bloomed along the night, to join the cry of the cicadas outside. She had heard it as his voice disappeared, heard the calls of another familiar voice, once that she had last heard a week ago as it mumbled something about needing space and time, the notes to that voice so melancholy it broke her heart. There was nothing of that sorrow now, as his voice rang out in confidence and pride, resounding victory interlaced in every word as she moved through the stall, her hands pressing against the white wall that held the windows, her only chance it felt, at surviving.

 She didn’t know what to think anymore.

 She thought she knew them. Axel had spent years by these boys side, years spent hanging out with them, getting to know them, growing closer and closer to the boys until she couldn’t imagine a life without them in it, all of them, their differences so vivid and bright, people she proudly, and often proclaimed as her boys. They were supposed to have each others backs, supposed to care about one another, but now, if what she feared was true, they had turned, betrayed them, and Axel was left in the dust now, wondering about whys and what ifs.

 Her mind raced, hearing those shots again, every little sound making her jump slightly as she reached, lifted her hands so she might graze at the bottom of the sill. She reached, not able to get much leverage in the heels she had decided to wear, grunting as she reached for something just beyond her grasp.

 “I can’t reach it.” the words were strained, tight as she left out a frustrated sigh, her heart hammering as a certain kind of anxiety slid along her spine, making her feel heated, hot, like there was a beast breathing on her neck that might finally catch up to her, jaws snapping against soft skin as she jumped, trying to reach it. She heard her moved, the soft click of her shoes as the screams got louder, her hands finding axel in the dark, the lights slowly, methodically, turning off.

 Axel nearly let out a whimper and fear closed around her throat, tightening like solid fingers over her neck as she gasped for air.

 Axel didn’t want to die. Her heart hammered with desire, a lightning hot flash of desire to live, the desire for the life she had always fantasized for herself.

 Axel wanted to see that new horror movie that was coming out next week. It was supposed to be wicked scary, completely and totally out ranking the old ones on gore and scare, and she was hoping to ask Inness to go with her.

 Axel wanted to go to the mall with Buster tomorrow. She had presents she had to shop for, little graduation gifts she wanted to buy her boys and little party favors for the parties she would throw just for them. She wanted to buy Buster those new boots she had been eyeing, wanted to spoil the girl she had come to care so desperately for. She wanted to take her to her favorite places, wanted to hold her hand as she walked down the boardwalk.

 Axel wanted to own her own  auto shop, a place she would love to hate and love to love and work, placing all her love and interest into a single place, a place she could just work on cars and learn new tricks or just relax as she did what she loved, working on a new car for herself or for him because let's face it, she was a sucker for that half smirk that was more malice than joy and a blond with pretty grey eyes.

 She wanted to get her own apartment, realize she hated paying bills and be an adult but still live with it because the house would be hers, the tiny little slice of an apartment would belong to her, and it wouldn’t be much but it would be a place she could make into a home,A Place He could go when life around him seemed to be to hard, a place to call his home away from home, where she could protect him and black out all the hate the world seemed so determined to throw his way.

 She wanted to live. She wanted with everything she had to live.

 Buster pushed her up, axel’s hands catching the sill of the window. Axel was never a  strong girl, fast but weak. Her arms shook as she pulled herself up, trying to fight with the lock on the window as her mind raced and pushed her shaking hands to work faster, her eyes widening as she felt it, the danger creeping up on her and Buster. She shook, but finally shaking fingers had their day, the lock finally releasing as she pushed, the heavy window feeling like it hadn't been moved in centuries.  

 “Push me up!” Axel spoke, her hiss accompanied by her eyes flickering over the moon lit courtyard of her school. She wasn’t that high up, she realized as Buster pushed her farther up, but it would take a minute to jump down without hurting herself.

 “Okay, Come on.”

 Axel held out her hand as she shoved herself halfway through, dragging Buster up with her as her body started to slide down.

 Just a few more minutes…. And they would be free.

--------------------

 It was every where, it was on her hands, across her chest, her neck, splattering across pale cheeks, she could feel the blood dripping off her fingertips as they dangled off the sides of the bench. The droplets hit with a light tap against the floor, barely audible in her ears as she stared out the wide windows of the gym. The world was a haze around her, blurring objects around the edge of her vision, all the while she tried to concentrate on the moon. Tried to take the constellations in but through the slim confines of the tiny windows she could only see the moon and clouds that seemed to be devouring the sky.

Or at least the view. Even the moon dipped, under the cover of the clouds. Almost as if the scene that was unfurling in front of it was too unbearable to watch. Stas peeked from the clouds, dotting the sky in a shining brilliance before receding back into the comfort and safety of the clouds.

“Ursa Major…. Aquila…. Lyra….”

There was a buzzing behind her ears, a dull thump roaring to life just to disappear just as fast as it appeared. There were dull unearthed screams, humming of the tragedy that was her living nightmare. Serving as a dim reminder of what was happening feet away from her.  But blue eyes were unphased by the surrounding. Her lips still moved to mumble each of her memorized constellations, her mind trying with all its seeming might to block out the gathering frenzy around her.

The words came out a little louder than before, trembling around each word as it passed her lips.

She wasn’t ok.

“Orion… Scorpius…. Cygnus….. Draco, Taurus.”

Emmy moved her hands, the shaking digits came up to push against the wood that she rested on. But all she did was lean forward, her eyes shifting to the floor, and back to the window.

She wanted to stop trying, she wanted to stop fighting, she wanted to give up. She wanted it to be done with. She wanted someone to take her out already, she wanted to stop feeling. She didn’t want to feel the terrible tremors running through her veins anymore. She didn’t want to feel this deep rooted dread that thrummed evilly through her body.

There was a moment's breath as she stood from the bench, her eyes turning from the window to the wave of people that seemed to be falling one by one. She could see the blood filling the floors, feel it slick under her heels. There were familiar faces, faces she called friends and some she only knew from a meeting in the hall. Some alive,... some dead. Some of them stretched, reached out with blood splattered hands out to her.

But she couldn’t feel it. Couldn’t feel the sympathy to bend down to any of them. She couldn’t find the drive to tell them it was going to be okay. That they would get out of this. What was the point in lying to people who were already dead? What was the point in lying to them when there was no sort of real hope that anybody was making it out the doors alive unless these people so willed it.

“Ursa minor, Pegasus,.... Cassiopeia, …. Persuess.”

Her eyes glanced over one of the perpetrators, his grin alive and crawling with evil, his multi colored eyes grazed over her. But there was not a single reaction, his eyes quickly going back to the task at hand, back to the malevolent acts, that smile unwavering. Others passed her, never even batting an eyelash  towards the girl.

But Emmy barely noticed, instead her attention was on the soft clicks of her heels, the sound becoming louder as the screams began to die off, the guns unloading less frequently. She could hear the groans of the people on the floor that were still breathing. But her eyes were on the wildcard blonde that she had once called her kryptonite.

The person that she knew ultimately would steal her life away from her one way or the other. The man that had taken her breath away in whispery kisses and late night conversations. The only person she could truly say if she had lost she would not know what to do with herself. He was her… her friend? Lover?... Possibly killer.

But she couldn’t even really concentrate on him, her eyes shifting back to her feet, her hands were shaking, uncontrollably, her eyes shifting over the little group she had grown to love bit by bit. Even if it was rocky at first. Davy. Derek. Dean. And Kasmir.

Each of them sported a gun, each of them sported the same splashes of blood across their clothes as her and about everyone else in the room. They were lethal, she could feel it in her bones. The way they carried themselves now, each of them different. Physically, mentally. They looked professional, like they did this every tuesday and then went home to sip on jack afterwards.

“Volans,... Leo. Pyxis. Uh,... there has to be more.”

Even her words were shaking now, playing through her mouth with a chatter to her teeth. Wet hot streaks spilled down her cheeks, something she hadn’t noticed until tears began to roll down her neck. She let her hands come up to her neck, wiping uselessly at the tears, her bottom lip jutted as the tears began to build up. Burning behind her eyes. But there was no stopping them when they began to fall, there was no ridding her from the threat of her tears overflowing.

“I can’t remember them all. There’s more. There’s more than that… Maybe. I-i I don’t know…. I can’t think…”

 ---------------------

He couldn’t do it anymore.

 There was only so much that he could take, the wave of nausea hitting him, rolling over his spine as little shivers shook his body. His stomach heaved, jolted in his throat as he turned away, his eyes closing as he sucked in a  weary breath... Arsen wished he could be like them, wished he could be like his friends and like Heru, able to reveal in the direct destruction he was able to cause. His body moved, turning away, his lower back resting on the podium as he fixed his eyes on the wall of curtains behind him, his heart pounding out harsh irregular rhythms in his mind as his chest shook with every reverberating beat.

 He almost didn’t notice when the principal moved, shifting as they finally let go of the young student president to bury their face in their hands. The old man’s voice wavering as he sob his prayers, words no one would hear, words that meant nothing more than wishing.

 “Please God…. please god, no…. Make it stop...”

 He could hear the sobs, hear the whispers of running tears and the sniffle of a running nose as the Principal crouched along the floor, huddle in his hands as he shook, blood pooling around him as he tried to gather himself in a ball as small as possible, trying and failing to keep out of the blood. Arsen watched him, and oddly distant look to his gaze as it stilled on him, hardened and cold even as he caught his breath.

 “God?” He heard himself ask, his voice smooth, slow, questioning in the heat of screams that smoldered around them. He heard the music sing, the strangely soft embodies purring over the scene around him, mingling in the momentary bloodshed, the slowly quieting screams as one by one by one, they were all picked off, the laughter of his friend echoing off the walls. His footsteps sounded hollow, cheap wood with cheap labor matched fault for fault, as he closed the distance between them, his gaze never leaving the man’s hands, watching them as they shook, every little twitch and clench memorized as he pointedly ignored the bleeding body next to him. He didn’t look, did not allow his eyes to drift from the man before him, the man who looked up with a shivering gaze and a blubbering sob that disgusted Arsen to look at.

 “Has he answered you?” He continued, expression hazed over, a strange distant look to his eyes as he bored into the older man’s, “He never answered mine…. Maybe I wasn’t important enough to save….” He mused, mummering quietly to himself as he leaned back on his heels. He tilted his head, looking upwards for a moment before allowing his gaze to fall straight back onto his, a dark burn lingering in his eyes as he watched the man sob.

 “I wonder if He’ll save you? Up. Now.”

 Arsen snapped the words, The principal jumping as his tone suddenly changed. There was a growl to his voice, a ripple in the tone as he flicked his hand up and stood, eyes narrowing on the man the refused to move. He looked confused, blinking at him with wide bleary eyes, earning only an eyeroll from the irritated boy. He moved, reaching out with strength he should not have, pulling the man to his feet. The smaller man trembled under his hold, the tall boy scowling as he moved, pulling the man along as he made his way over the stage, hallow footfalls leading him to the stairs, drawing them out of the white hot spotlight that filled the stage.

 “I don’t have all night, Morath. Don’t waste my time.“ the words were double edged, the blades of which found their mark as Arsen heard him whimper, the memories clear as they sprang to the forefront of his mind, flooding his thoughts and Arsen’s as he took them to relive him seeing a fifteen year old Arsen Sobbing in the chair before his desk, brown hair ripped and pulled, nose clearly broken, his eyes nearly swollen shut. He saw his bruises as The principal had that day, and heard him as he spoke, his tone irritated as he shoved the box of tissues toward the hurt boy and sneered.

 “If you're just going to cry about it, then just go home already. Don’t waste my time.”

 He had sent him on his way with a kick, the words of an over worked principal who hadn’t heard many of the other stories stinging along the last hope Arsen Micheals had ever held. He had wanted to believe that his school would save him, that this wouldn’t be like elementary or Middle school, where they used the phrase ‘Kids will be kids’ at him enough that he hated the phrase, that they would hold people accountable for their actions.

 No such thing happened. High School was just like middle and elementary school, but with more social pressure and raging hormones. People didn’t care about you, people didn’t want to deal with you...You had to deal with your own problems.

 Arsen allowed a single quirk of his lips as he pulled the man past Audi, through the hallways that held the rest of the students, the people who had managed to slip by them and the ones who were not to be harmed. He could hear some of them, light panting and hearts that fluttered like a fly in his ear, a low hum, a buzzing in his ear that followed him through the familiar halls, the lockers, the darkened hallways. Up the stair cases he knew so well, along the twist and turns and classrooms before he finally found the front office.

 “Open the door.”

 The principle let out another whine, only moving as Arsen’s hand pushed, shoving him forward to slam against the door. He brushed his hands off on his suit as the man searched his keys, frowning as he shook his head at the feeling of having touched someone like him for so long. Violet eyes narrowed on the figure, little more than a silhouette in the dim orange light of the street lights outside. He pushed open the door, Arsen’s hand coming up to hold the door as he stepped through. He grinned as he shut the door behind them, his hands falling to his pockets as he turned to look at the Principal one more time.

 He was so much more suited for things like this, the parts of the plan that did not involve gallons of blood.

 “Get in your office, and turn on the intercom. I want you to repeat after me….”

 -----------------

 “Attention, all Students! ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS! Congratulations, first, for making it this far. This did not prove to be an easy feat, as the good majority of you now are…. lying dead….. along the gym floor. Oh God Please-”

 There’s the sound of a scuffle, the sharp sound of something heavy hitting wood, the sharp cry of pain followed by the slow cries and sobs of a broken old man.

 “... For those still alive, The game has Changed. You did well to Hide, But now…. It’s time to Seek. We are going to hunt you down. We are going... to get what we want. ... “ Another sob, more scuffling. The sobs changed, are strained more somehow. There’s a whisper, a hum along the waves that can’t quite be picked up.

 “See... if…. you... last any longer than I- PLEASE DON’T-”

 SNAP.

 There’s a low thump, then silence.

 And the intercom shuts off.

 -------------------------------------

 Kasmir was weak.

 This much he knew, without a shadow of a doubt. He was angry before, filled with vivid rage that seemed to consume him wholly, Had spilled from him in the form of a strangle battle cry as he had launched himself at Liam, words flowing from the bastard's mouth that only added fuel to his anger, white hot and painful in his limbs as pain exploded on his knuckles. He knew that it was stupid, that he was already better them him so he didn’t have to prove a thing, but the moment he saw him, Kasmir forgot about the change in his blood, forgot the new legacy he had taken like a crown, forgot everything. He was suddenly nothing more than human, and he was overwhelmed with the hate he could have for the man who held a claim on the woman who had claimed him. He had beaten him, ripped him apart with his own two hands and Kasmir had reveled in it, his grin widening as he laughed, and laugh and laughed, unable to express his fury in any other way.

 He was his first kill, and the memory of it was enough to burn in his body like his blood was made of gold the sounds of violence to loud to drown out, the soundtrack that would be his prom now seared into his veins. The other had only watched him, had pulled him off when Liam was nothing more than a corpse, shot full of holes and bean in bruises that bloomed over paling skin. They had been the ones to direct this new found energy into the revenge before him, though that really came as no surprise, considering these boys were the closest he had to a real family, people who cared and loved him completely unconditionally, accepted him in all the ways the world would not. That anger had not dissipated, had not waver for some singular moment, held fast and steady strong as he watched the bodies pile up as the screams turned to sobs, tears of people he would not touch and those he would love to watch die.

 Until he saw her.

  Kasmir was weak, his will and steel backbone melting as he finally saw her, hands lowering as he turned from Davy to look at that figure he was watching, the silhouette of her fame materializing out of the gloom that had started to settle in with the darkness around him. She moved easily; smoothly, like she wasn't thinking on the blood on the ground or the bodies of the people she knew, but rather was just mildly irritated, a stroll in downtown on a particularly windy day. She moved with a purpose, like there was a mission set in her blood and she would burn from the inside out if she did not see it through to the end. She walked toward him, her eyes flickering from him and his friends to the ground and hands before her, her lips moving but he could not quite make out whats he was saying, the thrum and reverberation of gunshots just too loud to let him hear. As she got closer he could make it out, confusion sliding over his features before he moved, taking a  few steps toward her as she neared his friends. She stepped right into his arms, his arms moving, coming out to drop the metal gun in his hands to pull her to him, her face pressed into his neck, free of any blood, as she started to let those tears fall.

 Arsen’s announcement started, his words drifting over the dying sounds in the room. Kasmir hummed, before moving his hand, trailing it so that it cupped the back of her head to press her into him, not letting her up as he held her to him, one ear over his heart  and his lips near the other whispering soft little words to her so that he might take away some of the fear still lingering in her gaze.

 “Shhh…. Shhh. it’s okay. It’s alright Emmy.” His words fell softly, lowly, a soothing hint along the purr as he pressed her into him. He sighed as he heard her speak, her words something that would make no sense to others, to most normal people, but Kasmir’s mind instantly went to the nights he had spent with her on the roof of his house, night spent with a few pillows under their head as they rested on his thickest blanket, comforter pulled up around them, her hands pulled tight around him, for warmth and pleasure. Her words drifted over him, a song he loved and craved as she carved out the figures in the stars for him, her head resting on his chest, directly over his achingly thumping heart, hand moving to trace messages and figures in the night sky with only her imagination. She traced the patterns again and again for him, night after night after night, and Kasmir could just barely remember them, the names she gave and the smile that graced her lips as she pointed them out. Stars were a mystery, fascinating to be sure, but Emmy was just that much more captivating.

 It was hard to keep his eyes on the stars above when all he wanted was to count galaxies in her eyes.

 He ran his hands through her hair, nails running soothing paths through her brown hair, his heart aching but unable to take away her pain, no matter how much he wished it. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, brushing his lips over the crown of her skull as he played soothing patterns on her back, in her hair. He held her, pressed her too him, trying for all the world to be whatever it was she needed.

 “You don’t need to remember them all…”

 Finally the announcement was done, a furrow to his brow as he pulled slightly away from her, not allowing her to look away from him as he moved his hand to her cheek, fingertips brushing, running over her soft skin as he took her in. Her eyes were wide with fear, lost in her mind as he locked his own blue gaze with hers, a drew in a breath.

 He could remember trying. Trying and trying and training and failing to count the stars in her eyes, the seas that drew him in and begged him to come explore their depths. He could remember the color of her eyes vividly, but in the past week he hadn’t had that, hadn’t had colors or emotions or anything. He had felt as he had before when he would see her with Liam, almost empty, filled with nothing but rage and revenge. But when he looked at her now, he didn’t have to remember, because the color bloomed to life before him, radiat skies that made his knees weak and his breath catch as he struggled to find himself in her eyes.

 She was absolutely the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. H had always thought this, but new eyes took her in, aching, bubbling with all the emotions he had thought she had lost.

 More than beautiful, she was his. Only his now.

 “She okay, Kas?” He heard Derek speak, his voice turned and twisted, concerned mixed with trepidation. He was worried, that much was sure, But he could see it in the eyes of the other, Dean and Davy that were looking over their shoulder to their little honorary member of the group.

 They worried about the Squad. They worried most about their own. Emmy was theirs now, and so their worries over the other bleed straight into their worries about her.

 “I have to get her out of here.” it was his only reply, the only thought that did not circle about Emmy. He saw Davy cast a look to to Derek and Dean, catching their eyes to pass a look between them they thought he couldn’t see. Kasmir ignored them as he shifted slightly, leaning so he could speak to her lowly, her heart hammering in his ears.

 “Emmy. Emmy, baby, My love, I’m gonna pick you up now, okay?”

 ---------------------------------

There it was. That steel she had been waiting for, the anchor in the  turbulent storms that she called her emotions. Braithe’s words hit her, harshly, and she felt herself dig her teeth into the soft flesh of her tongue, trying drawing vivid blood red to the surface, to fill her mouth as she swallowed thickly around the need to tell her how wrong she was.

 Now, really was not the time, and the Purple haired sister cursed as she realized she would have no time to try and dislodge those ideas forming in her mind.

 She sucked in a breath, fighting the urge to speak her mind, knowing that every minute she spent arguing was another minute spent in the growing open. She moved, keeping her sister’s hand locked with hers, the feeling the weight of her hand in hers the only thing striving off that fear from taking over her again. There was a mission now, a goal she had in mind,a living breathing desire that she held tightly with her hand as she moved, pulling the girl in the remembered direction of the school bathrooms. She didn’t bother to look around, trying to hide in the shadows as much as possible, screams drifting into an almost non existent shiver over her hearing as she pulled Braithe along.

 She had to get out of here, she had to get Braithe out. She crept along the floor, crouching low to the shadows as she pulled them back towards the walls. Her free hand moved, other clenching at Braithe’s fingers like they were a lifeline, painted nails lightly grazing over the weirdly thick paint that seemed to cover all public schools. She crouched, forcing her sister into a low crawl as they crept along the walls, slowly but surely making their way to the only bathrooms in the gym.

 She didn’t get to go very far before she heard him, the scuffle of shoes on the wooden floors of their gym stopping her as she heard his laughter spill past his lips. Her heart raced,panic in her blood as she  stood slowly, her body rising without her telling it too, before she felt the heavy weight of something cold and silver on her shoulder. She could feel it as her throat closed, swallowing thickly around the lump that had formed as he let out a low whistle, taking his cane off her shoulder as Neket Snow moved, danced into their line of vision.

 He looked…good. It was a strange thought, but in a sick, twisted, strange sort of way, Neket had never seemed happier. He looked free, a light to his eyes she had not seen before lighting up the mismatched gaze that seemed to drift, constantly, toward her shivering sister, the girl she pulled back behind her, placing her body between them. He moved easily, eyes shifting back to her, ands he was able to see the worry lifted off his expression, his body relaxed, casual, like he was just walking down the boardwalk.

 The smile on his lips practically spread from ear to ear, his shoulders, usually slumped slightly, weighed down by the burdens his life had become, were sight, squared as he moved to swing the showman’s cane until it was resting on his shoulders, other hand moving to catch the other side like one might a baseball bat.

 “Well, well, Well Look who it is…. The guests of honor!”

 His voices slid uneasily along her spine, her body instinctively moving her and Braithe back a step as he moved forward. His arms spread in grand gesture as he spoke, a pause as he watched her move, the smile only growing wider as he carefully shifted his expression, a clearly mocking look of surprise on his face.

 “You’re afraid of me? Oh that’s just fucking HILARIOUS!” His hands moved, cane swinging as he crossed his arms over his torso, laughing heartedly as he bent backwards slightly, black hair falling as he jerked back up. His eyes were wild, untamed as he snapped his eyes back to hers, locking on them as he rolled his shoulders, fingers and hands moving the cane idly, a dangerous ripple of lethal ease sliding under his skin.

 “You should know better by now….. It’s me, Neket! Loveable, droppable, dangerously homicidal! … Neket. Now, you know you never answered my Question Braithe.”

 It was like she wasn’t even there. His eyes slid past her, moved to her more sullen sister, her eyes wide as she clenched harder to Lunthe. The purple haired girl let out a hiss of displeasure as Neket moved forward, eyes only for her twin sister, his hands playing with that cane, tapping it against his hand, his leg, his shoulder as he swung it up once more. Lunthe held up a hand, fingertips pressing lightly into his chest as she pushed back lightly, trying and keep him apart from her pink haired sister.

 “Stop… Neket, please, don’t do this.”

 -----------------------

 It was fun. This was supposed to be a fun night. And it was. All the fun he could have imagined and more.  

Revenge was a foggy haze in his mind as he moved forward, his arm coming up to rest around his brother's shoulders, the other coming up to pull the man closer to him. His lips found Neferox cheek, pressing adoring kisses all over the tanned freckled skin of his big brother, the last one sounded off with an obnoxious pop as his fingers pulled the chin closer to Vaughn cheek. He was happy, what could he say? Something that did not happen very often in Vaughn’s case. But it was a special night. A, to put it into Arsen’s words, ‘night to remember’. Corny bastard.

The smile that broke over Vaughn’s lips was anything but innocent, the sound of Neket’s laughter pulling up the bubbling giddiness that played a twin, running through his veins. He let his cheek rest against Neferox’s, his eyes moving over the screaming students, his fingers unable to keep still, running their lengths over the fabric that was Neferox’s tux.

Honestly, there was not anybody else that he would rather be here with him. No body else that he would have wanted to share these moments with than all of the squad, his brother.

This was what he supposed to be doing. He had always been meant for this. Him and his squad. It suits them well, more than any of them really cared to contemplate over. But he knew, in the bottom of his little black heart that him and his brother. His friends, cousins. All of them, they were born and fated to be kings. It had just taken a little while and a little pain to get to the position they so rightfully deserved. For the world to finally right itself of its past mistakes.

They were happy, truly happy. Beaming, god damn it.  

Not an ounce of pity behind those smiles that they wore tonight, not an ounce of self loathing or any guilt that would have wracked them usually. Instead, there was a genuine happiness running through them, connecting them all to one another. There was nothing and no one that could take them on, not with them finally feeling the most alive they ever had. Not when they knew they were on top of the world, above them all.

But the scene was coming to a swift end, the blood that had been flying across the room was fading, instead there seemed to be a gathering lake of it. People who were crawling across the floor, smeared it, uncaring in their state that they were ruining their nice attire. There were plea’s now, plea’s that bleed through the thick air around them, those who were left begging for their lives, hoping that in some way they could possibly have a hope, some sort of escape from their inevitable death.

He felt nothing for them, no remorse, no guilt, not even the vague tingle of shame as he watched them, his grin only spreading as pain filled eyes turned up to the boys. Really the only emotion he could equate for them was the fact that they had been able to do what only one other person had been able to do. Only one other person seemed to flare the ‘emotion’ to life, much like the students littering the floor. Only one other person brought this sort of warmth in the pit of his stomach, blossoming in its heat as he watched. And it was that one other person that could soothe it, the only person he would allow.

“Rock fucking solid, my man.”

He didn’t have to ask Neferox to know he felt the same, he didn’t have to even look at his brother's expression. He could feel it, thrumming through him, feel his cheeks move as those lips pulled into a sadistic smirk. A twin of the smile on his own lips. He had seen some of the actions he had chosen, seen some of the things that he had done to the few students that he had specifically marked as his.

Neferox was marvelous, at his absolute prime. The glimmer in his eyes alive and well as he huffed out the shook breaths that held him. His heartbeat was singing in his ears, screaming at the enjoyment that he had raised from the occassion.

Vaughn shifted, pulling himself apart from his brother, his fingers came down to run his hand over the confines of his slacks, his hand running over his covered dick for a moment, before restraining, pulling his hand back up to the back of his neck.

Just as the announcements began Vaughn shifted, his eyes moving to Neferox and back to the doorway. That Audi was moving from, his eyes on the purple haired siren that he held eyes for. A clear ‘battle’ bubbling as he pushed his way through the mass of dead bodies, his eyes never shifting from the girl, the one who seemed too ready to lay down her life for the pink haired one.

His head dipped, lulling on his shoulder to catch cognac eyes. Vaughn feigned a frown, his lips pulling down in an exaggerated display, but his arms came back up to cross over his chest. There was no denying the fact that he knew the girls, saw them or heard about them on daily basis, thanks to Audi and NEket. But the interest never seemed to stick, their names and faces easily slipping from his memory.

“I can never remember names. Which ones are those?”

---------------------

“She speaks! A little odd, considering. You’re not really the one I saw begging me for anything.”

 Revenge was going wonderfully. It was more than he had ever dreamed, the screams of the people who had tormented and robbed him of the life he should have had, the dying light fading in their eyes, the disappearance of which made his heart sting with a memory of watching his own burn out, watching his light fade with every passing year. He couldn’t remember when it had died, just waking up one morning to look in the mirror to see the eyes of a corpse, a dead man walking and talking and breathing, but he was no longer there, a part of him detrimental to healthy human life gone. Their pain made his heart warm, made his body feel light and bright, like his veins were filled with fire. He could still smell it, the blood that flooded the floors of his gym, the salty tang of metal that hung like candy in the air. He breathed in, taking in a deep breath to feel it as the scent filled his lungs, his gaze trying, valiantly, to remain in Lunthe as she pressed her tiny little hands into his chest, like that would keep him at bay.

 Courtesy kept him at bay, and only the ties of loyalty saved her from the fate the rest of her classmates shared. Neket didn’t dislike Lunthe, Rather, back when he had still been nothing but a human, he had actually rather liked her. It helped she was Braithe’s twin, easy enough to look at when she looked exactly like the one you desired, save the mismatched colors. They had gotten along, mostly talking over Snapchat or texting when he wasn’t attached to Braithe’s, He didn’t dislike her, But the fact of the matter was, she was becoming a problem, a hurdle between him and his one.  And to him, though he liked her, cared for her…. That made her expendable.

 However, her saving grace was that she belonged to, not only a squad member, But Neket’s very own newly crowned Lee, the one he would give his life for if it came down to it.  She was not his to touch, not his to play with. Lunthe may have looked, a whole awful lot like his, but he knew better than to try and take what was Audi’s.

 Neket moved, his gaze never leaving Braithe for long, as he reached out, felt the strenuous tremor of the bonds that connected him to the rest of his Squad now, bonds that connected him and his thoughts and their minds to his with a simple thought, his words drifting, seemingly into nothing but knowing that Audi would hear them, that all of his Squad would hear them as he thought them into the bond. His head tilted, the heavy wood of the cane laying heavy over his shoulder, taping once, twice, as he flicked his duel colored gaze toward the man already shifting through the bodies.

 Come get your girlfriend, Tovak. I promised I wouldn’t hurt her, but She starting to get in my way.

 There was no malice to the words, only a slight, light warning laced into the tones. He grinned, turning his attention back to the twin girls before him, pink and purple fluffs that hid their crazy colored hair under synthetic wigs, though usually they were far more lively. Neket stepped back, seeming at ease with it all as he cast a wink to Brathie.

 “So tell me, my darling, Did. You. Miss. Me?“ He purred, his hands still moving that cane around, this time his fingers circling over it to bends and twist, playing with the thickness, trying to see how much pressure was too much as his hands shook with anticipation.

  “Really, i’m just Dying to know…. Not as much as everyone else, but i’m pretty damn close to second.” He amended after cast the Gym a look, his face falling as there was  a moment's pause between his words, his gaze narrowing on the sea of bodies next to them as he played with the hem of his pocket, cane on his shoulder again as he turned to face the approaching brunette with a smile and a light filling his eyes. His hands moved, almost like a reflex, his body turning to step forward toward him, his hand moving to reach out and pull the man to him, arms finding their place around his body, hands trailing before finding his cheeks, fingertips on one hand and his palm resting on him as he looked up at the taller boy.

 His expression fell as he took in his gaze, took in the features of the face he had come to know so well.

 My Audi… Tell me you're okay. The words were there, silent but hanging in the thoughts between them. Neket’s expression fell slightly as he pulled him closer, so that he could lightly bump his head against his, forcing him to look him in the eyes. Neket needed Audi to be okay. He needed it if tonight was going to be anything close to perfect, and he could see the worry in Audi’s face, the slight difference in expression. His eyes flickered back to Braithe and lunthe, who stood rock still in their spots…. Which was smart.