Massacre City [PG-16]

[parallelzero]

"Boss, I doubt that we'll luck out and find any players in this run down joint." Voices. Akihito Sato could hear voices for the first time in what seemed forever for him. All he had known for the last little while was darkness. Just what had happened again? The last he could remember was getting home from school, and then... was he hit? He wasn't sure as he moaned in discomfort, his face buried in the pavement. The boy sat up on the cold floor as he glanced around his current location, holding his head. Orange light seemed to radiate into what seemed to be a run-down, old indoor parking lot. There were no cars here anymore, just dust, grime, and several holes in the roof with debris below them demonstrating that the building had taken a heavy hitting for some reason or another. Near his feet, a bag seemed to lay. It was his school bag, for sure, but why had someone gone to the trouble of providing him with his bag was a little more than a mystery.

The boy stood. The most logical conclusion was that he had been abducted, but he doubted there were any reasons for him to suffer such a fate. He had been a killer in the past, yes, but he doubted anyone from the city would want his head that bad for killing two people. Not to mention, there was absolutely no security in the hellhole he had woken up in during this evening. After dusting off his uniform, he bent over to pick up his bag, only to notice that it was strangely heavy. Had he been carrying that many books before?

As Akihito went to open the bag, he felt something whiz by his head, as the displaced air brush up against his face. He didn't have time to react as a second object came, smacking him square in the forehead, and knocking him backwards onto the ground. He quickly lifted himself bag up, his forehead all bruised and bloody from coming into contact with a large rock. "Eheeheehee!" A creepy, high pitched voice came from farther away, redirecting the attention of the dazed boy to look to the source. Only a few feet away, two men stood. They were clad in clothing typical of your stereotypical biker: leather coats, black pants, studs everywhere. One of the men was probably around thirty, with a black beard and a red bandana pulling his hair back. He was pretty tall, maybe around 5'10", Akihito's own height. Where the boy lost, however, was in muscle mass. The one man appeared to be ripped, while the taller, skinnier man - who was clearly the first man's dog of sorts - toyed with a switchblade, clad in the same sort of bandana. Around their necks, a silver collar was tightly attached, as well. "Well I guess you were right, boss, we did find a player in this dump after all!" The goon spoke, as he reached into his pocket, pulling out what appeared to be a palm pilot before pointing it at the boy. Something began to beep on Akihiko, and he panicked, afraid he had been planted with a bomb or something. While he eventually found the source, he could not see it since it was around his neck. He could only figure as much to assume that he had one of those collars on as well, judging by the size and texture. "This one's name is Akihito Sato, a pawn, not yet even a day old! Looks like you'll get to live a little longer, boss!"

"Heh, it seems that way." The muscular looking man grunted as he pulled a small katana from a scabbard at his waist. That weapon certainly... didn't match the appearance, but that didn't change that the man's target seemed to be him. "You'll be my tenth kill, boy. It's unfortunate that you won't get to live long enough to hear why you're being killed though. I always have regretted taking the lived of pawns, too." Before Akihito knew what was happening, the large biker charged at him with the katana in hand. At the last moment, the boy got to his feet, and dashed out of the light into the darkness of the back area of the indoor parking lot. "Tch. They're so annoying when they run. Gilla, cut him off for me, would you?" The skinny man just grinned, and fled into the darkness down a direction different from the school boy. The large man began to run down the same path as Akihito in an attempt to trap him.

Akihito ran and ran. Just why these people wanted him dead was a mystery, but he decided he needed to stay as calm as possible. If he panicked too much, he would probably make a wrong move and get himself killed. It was, however, unfortunate, when he found himself encountering the lanky man in his path as he was near the lot's entrance. He turned to run back the other way, but the large man too blocked his path. "End of the road, kid. Got any last words? You haven't been saying much." The man continued his approach, well aware that the boy had nowhere to go. He raised his sword in the air, and waited for a response.

The boy just smirked. "Sorry, I don't socialize with idiots."

"Heh! Smug little punk! You won't be socializing with anyone where you're going!" He brought her arm down, the blade in tow. Akihito didn't move, but rather closed his eyes. If this was his punishment from above for killing those innocent people, he'd gladly take it. He had decided a long time ago he wouldn't complain. But for some reason, the pain never came.

"WHAT THE HELL!" The biker shouter, forcing Akihito's eyes to shoot open again. What he saw could be nothing more than a miracle, as a girl had taken the stage between himself and the man, holding the sword back with nothing but an exhaust pipe that had been probably been lying on the ground somewhere nearby. The smaller girl pushed forward, knocking the man over onto his back. The girl, the boy noticed, was not dressed like any normal person he knew. A short black dress, black boots, grey-blond hair, the red and black bows - this girl was definitely into Gothic Lolita. But where had she come from? "Gilla! Get the boy! I'll deal with this brat!" The man huffed as he got to his feet, preparing to strike the young woman. The man's goon shouted back in confirmation, and began to close the gap between himself and Akihito.

The girl looked back at Akihito, and for the first time he saw her face. While one eye was covered by a white bandage, the other was a turquoise blue. Her complexion was rather pale, but her skin still shone under the bit of light that was allowed into the darkness. "Use this." She said, kicking the bag from before back to him. She had brought it with her? When did she get it? "I'll take care of this one, you get rid of the one back there." She nodded towards the one the boss called Gilla. It was at this point that he noticed that the girl's eyes seemed to have a lifeless quality to them. Either way, he decided it wasn't the time to bother worrying about the details. So, he proceeded to open the bag, and in the end pulled out a large object covered in cloth. He tore the cloth off, and his eyes grew wide.

What he had in his possession was a cleaver, the very same cleaver he used to murder those victims... It had been taken into custody by the police as evidence, so why was it here? And, this was implying that he had to take another life, which was something he had intended to never do again. He sighed as the man with the knife became close. "Oh well, I can always argue self-defense if it comes to it..." The man charged with the knife, and Akihito was quite to dodge, tripping the man in the process. Gilla tumbled onto the ground, his face hitting the pavement hard. The boy considered leaving him be in hopes that he was unconscious and so that he wouldn't have to take her life, but the man leaped back up, digging the knife a little ways into Akihito's stomach. The boy, not particularly shocked, responded in kind, driving the cleaver into the man's neck, where it got stuck, splattering blood all over the ground, and all over the school boy's white shirt. Death for the man was not instantaneous, but it came shortly after the removal of the cleaver, where at which point blood began to ooze from the wound at an alarming rate. "Remember, you were the one who attacked me..."

"G-Gilla!" The man other man shouted as he witnessed what had happened nearby. He would have taken action against Akihito, but in the end he was too distracted by his own opponent. In a fit of rage, he swung the blade down at the girl, who quickly jumped back and out of her range. He attacked her again, and she jumped away once more, disappearing into the darkness. The next the man knew, he had taken an exhaust pipe to the back of the head, knocking him to the ground, where he flipped himself over so that he could find his opponent once more. "The outfit, your speed and strategy... you're the one they call Alesia, aren't you?" The girl stepped out of the darkness, a smirk animating her face as she looked down at the pathetic man. As she stepped further into the light, the man saw the sunlight catch something in her right hand - a very large, and very sharp piece of glass. "Wha- What! No! Spare me!"

"Normally I would, but unfortunately for you I only have three hours left until my life is up. So, goodbye. Unfortunately you figured out my identity too late..." She walked over to the man, who was too scared to actually get up and fight in his disarmed state, and knelt beside him. She pushed the shard of glass against the man's neck, and in one quick motion she slit his throat, blood splattering up against her face, although she didn't seem to mind. "I always have regretted taking the lives of idiots." She said after, mocking the earlier line spoken by the man.

She finally stood up again, before turning to Akihito. "Akihito Sato, correct?"

"Yes, do you intend to kill me as well?" He responded in a confrontational manner, his bloodstained cleaver raised.

"Quite the opposite." The girl responded quickly as she walked towards the exit of the building, the blood still splattered on her face and clothes. "I'm here to save you. Unfortunately, explanations will need to be saved for later. We need to go find my second student. A pawn named Nicole Sylvia Ferris."

Akihito had no idea what this girl was talking about, but seeing no other choice, he decided to follow her.

OOC: Loooong intro post. XD Basically, just use the first post to introduce your characters. I hope you don't mind, Serene, but since your character is a pawn as well, I figured I'd put her under Alesia's jurisdiction for teaching her how to survive as well.

 

[Loki]

A pleasant faced teenager shifted his guitar case higher up onto his shoulder, brushing a few strands of chocolate brown hair back in place between his eyes. In all actuality, he was mostly past his teenage years though his baby-face certainly helped the fact that he looked as if he'd just graduated from high school. He kept to himself, pulling on a pair of headphones and evaluating 2AM ROCK's latest song, Red Bullet. It was obviously not studio recorded by the quality, but hey, Dublin had only written it a week ago. He mentally noted a few changes he wanted to make in the guitar tabs and perhaps rhythmic switches in the way the lyrics fell onto the music, but he was mostly satisfied with how it was going along. It was a rather upbeat song, ironic since he'd thought it up after disposing of a body in his favorite place: the sewers. But hey, he couldn't let those kinds of things drag him down. If he did, he'd already be waaay down. Like, in SAVE or something- his entire life consumed by some stupid killing game that wasn't worth even the tiniest bit of his time. Hopping onto the subway he didn't even take a glance at the map. He didn't care where he was going- he just had to go somewhere. His new deadline would start in about two hours, and he liked being at least moderately sure of his life at the start of the week, so he wouldn't have to worry about rushing it. He dropped his guitar into a seat and sat down beside it, crossing his arms over his turquoise, yellow, and orange striped knit-vest, the collar of the white dress shirt he wore underneath buttoned up all the way in order to hide the accessory around his neck. Dublin really found the game tedious at times. He could've gone off to practice Red Bullet with Shota, Jin, and Nasai, but no! He had to go and kill someone instead. Skipping past a few random songs by other mediocre artists, Dublin settled into a nice little lull, deciding he would listen to four songs, evaluate them, and decide on a few changes to propose before getting off on whichever stop was next.

Said stop turned out to be a bustling shopping center. Hmm…. He wandered aimlessly, window shopping for a few minutes in order to kill some time before his new deadline. Beep! Dublin pulled out his palm pilot, as if the beep had come from that, rather than his collar. Nobody would be paying enough attention to tell. Flopping down onto a bench, he opened his case and poked the syringe at the bottom of the case into his heel, drawing out the delayed poison that would take it's time running through his victim's system before accumulating in a victim's heart and killing them nice and clean. He poked the needle through the lining of his case, letting it jut out of the side. With just the tip sticking out, it looked mostly like a nail, drilled too far into the lining. It was an easy way to kill people in crowds though- just brush past 'em, scratch 'em a little, apologize, and move on with life. But the disadvantage was making sure that nobody else got hit first, and that the victim wasn't with friends, or something to that extent.

Well, Dublin smiled to himself, that was never really a big issue these days. People tended to avoid those with collars around their necks anyway. He pocketed his palm pilot and replaced it with an mp3 player in his hand.

"Oh- sorry about that." Dublin commented to a girl he'd accidentally run into.

"It's okay." She replied, continuing on her way and looking at the stinging scrape on her arm before dismissing it.

Dublin narrowed an eye. Well with his luck, he must've gotten a pawn on his hands if she hadn't accused him of trying to hurt her. But his female victims tended not to be as suspicious of him thanks to his good looks. Too bad that girl hadn't been too cute. He might've spared her otherwise. The young adult pulled out his palm pilot and aimed it at her retreating figure. As soon as he retained the information, he blended into the rest of the crowd, hiding from her in case she realized that she was goner. Five day old pawn, huh… Booooring. But oh well. He could go home now, and if she didn't die, or was killed by someone else first, there was always next time. Dublin pulled out his headphones and decided that right about now was a good time to get some grub. By the time he was done eating, his collar might beep again to tell him that he was set for the rest of the week. But maybe he might mess around with some drugs later on in the week.

He sat down in a small restaurant, settling against the west wall in a booth and ordering a shrimp-rice bowl. Those things never really tasted all that great once you got past the shrimp on top, but… whatever. He let himself scan the rest of the restaurant for collars. Two. Two other collared people.

'Hopefully they won't notice me.' Dublin thought, sipping on his melon soda.


OOC: I dunno why, but I just fail at this roleplay. D:

 

[Aurafire]

Jessica Cole crouched quietly behind a dumpster in a dark alleyway. It was nighttime, giving her the perfect cover to complete her task. She watched her prey silently, a small girl who didn't seem to grasp the concept of the twisted game both she and Jess were a part of. She was much too careless as she walked slowly down a deserted street. Perhaps she was simply in shock at the hopeless situation she had been thrust into. Maybe she was just plain stupid. Either way, she was definitely a pawn. Any other experienced player would have noticed Jessica stalking her long ago. An experienced player wouldn't be so oblivious to the fact that there were people on the lookout for easy kills. But sadly, as with any game, there were winners and there were losers. Jessica did not intend on becoming a loser. And today was her day to make a kill.

As the girl was lost from sight behind the tall brick wall of the alleyway, Jess abandoned her position from behind the dumpster and crept silently along the wall, poking her head out so she could get a better view of the girl. She now heard her quietly sobbing. A twinge of pity hit Jessica's stomach. This poor girl had probably been living a perfectly happy life before being kidnapped and thrown into the city, just as Jessica had. But the sad truth was that desperate people would be looking for easy targets, and if Jessica did not kill the girl, she wouldn't last much longer. Such was the way of life here in this hellhole called Massacre City. Jessica remembered her first day here, waking up cold, alone and confused. Luckily for her, she was smart enough to figure out what was going on and was able to adapt. Now, weeks into her new life of killing to stay alive and avoiding people trying to accomplish the exact same thing, Jessica had grown accustomed to the pools of blood and the random screams of terror from unfortunate players who's lives were cut short.

Like she had always done, Jessica wouldn't attack outright. She would talk to the girl and try to make her feel comfortable. And just when she got a little too comfortable, Jessica would end her life.

"Hey!" Jessica said in a hushed yell. The girl jumped a foot off the ground in surprise. She turned and looked at Jessica and immediately began to run the other way.

"No no, wait!" yelled Jessica. "Don't run! I want to help you!"

"No, leave me alone!" yelled the girl back, still running hopelessly down the street.

"I know what's going on here. I know why you have a band around your neck, and I can explain everything if you just come with me!"

This made the girl stop and turn. She faced Jessica, but her eyes were directed downward and tears flowing down her cheeks. Her clothes were torn and dirty, and had a very shocked look upon her face. No doubt she had just woken up without any clue as to where she was and why she was here. Finally, she looked at Jessica.

"Where am I...Why is this thing on my neck? I saw someone....murdered...with the same collar that I have on!" she sobbed.

Jessica smiled in spite of herself. This was going to be much too easy. Although she did applaud the girl's ability to figure out that those with collars on were being killed. "I can protect you. I know why you've been kidnapped and why you're here."

"O-Ok..." She sobbed. The girl started jogging over to the alley where Jessica was standing. Jessica kept right on smiling, hoping to calm the girl enough to get her to follow her. Granted, she didn't look very threatening in the first place, so it would likely prove to be an easy task. The dagger she found beside her the day she woke up in Massacre City was carefully strapped to the back of her belt and tucked under her shirt so as not to startle any of her victims. If they did happen to spy it, Jessica was usually able to divert their attention or insist that she didn't intend on using it, all while keeping her pleasant smile intact. Some might say that her methods of staying alive could be considered unfair, but the rules of regular society had long since been tossed out the window. And besides, compared to some of the other things she saw during her time in the city, Jessica's methods could hardly be considered cruel. Everyone had to play to their strengths, and direct combat wasn't her greatest assets.

The girl finally got to Jessica. She was still crying, but Jessica saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes. The hope that she might be able to survive another day. The desire to win had long since wiped out Jessica's ability to feel sorry for any of the people she killed. She certainly couldn't expect any mercy from anyone else in the game, so why should she give any?

"Come on, I'm not going to hurt you." said Jessica, still holding onto her pleasant smile. "You really can't be walking around out in the open like that."

"How do I k-know you w-won't try to h-hurt me? You have a c-collar on t-too!" She stuttered, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Don't you think that if I wanted to kill you, I would have attacked you by now? I just want to help you out. You look a bit lost."

"I just want to go home!" She screamed. "I don't want to be here!"

"You don't have a choice!" Jessica was getting a bit annoyed now. "It's all part of the game, and if you come with me, I can keep you safe."

The girl looked away, seemingly debating her options. Jessica continued to smile. She held out her hand. "Come with me. I know a safe place. I can teach you how to survive."

The girl took a step forward. Then another. She lifted her arm and reached for Jessica's hand and grasped it. Jessica put her other hand on the girls shoulder. "My name is Jessica. I promise, I'll do everything I can to help you."

"I'm...Amy." said the girl quietly. Jessica led her into the alleyway and out of the street. As they walked, Jessica observed her surroundings. She was sure that she wasn't followed, and the walls of the buildings in the alley were tall and windowless. She led the girl named Amy towards the door into the building on the right. "This is one of my hide-outs." she lied. "It's deserted, and none of the other players know about it as far as I know."

Amy nodded slowly. Jessica opened the door and let Amy inside. Jessica calmly closed the door behind her. There was no reason to delay. She had the girl right where she wanted her. As Amy slowly observed the dark room that she had been led into, Jessica quickly withdrew the dagger from her belt, put her hand over Amy's mouth, and inserted the dagger into the back of her neck. Amy's body grew rigid and her mouth gurgled with blood. Her body convulsed weakly in shock, but it would be over soon enough. Jessica held her hand over her mouth and waited like she had many times before. She truly did hate what she was doing, but she understood that this game was to kill or be killed, and to be killed would be to lose. This thought was enough to justify these murders within her mind.

The life quickly disappeared from Amy's body as the blood continued to gush from both the front and back of her neck. Her body grew limp and finally, she died. Jessica pushed her forward and she hit the ground with an unceremonious thud. Amy's blood now covered the front of her shirt. She was rather surprised at herself and how little these brutal killings affected her. Jessica never dreamed that she could harm so many people and still be functioning mentally. She looked down at where Amy's body lay, blood still flowing slowly from the holes in her neck. What was she supposed to feel? Remorse? For trying to stay alive? It could hardly be considered selfish in a climate such as this. Sure, she felt sad...

"What are you doing, you idiot?" She thought to herself. "You can't just be standing idly over a dead body. Get the hell out of here!"

Jessica forced herself to move. She took a step backward and found the door handle. She ripped it open and quickly panned around outside. Still no one in sight. It was a good thing she picked a quiet part of the city. It was still nighttime, however, she didn't feel it was smart to be walking around in blood-stained clothing. She needed a change of clothes and a safe place to rest. As silently as she first came, Jessica disappeared into the shadows of the dark alleyway and out of sight.

OOC: Hopefully I have a good grasp of how things are going to work.

 

[Swift!]

Skylar Davis' mind was racing. Where was he? What was happening? He couldn't make out his surroundings, but he could hear many different noises that he wasn't able to localize in his mind. A groan escaped his throat as he clenched his eyes tightly, his head was throbbing, "He's waking up!" yelled a husky voice.

Skylar was now beginning to come to. He could tell that he was moving, quickly; maybe he was in the back of a van or some other vehicle. It was raining outside and it sounded bad, "The weather man said nothing about rain," he thought. That's when it hit him; he mustn't have been in London anymore.

"Hurry up!" yelled the husky voice again, Skylar filtered out the noise of the vehicle and the sound of the rain pounding down outside. He waited, pretending to still be unconscious enough as to not know what was going on.

Feet shuffled in the van beside Skylar, someone was walking over to him and this was confirmed as a breath of warm air was felt across his face. "Now's my chance," he thought, shooting his eyes open and surprise the man who was staring at him.

As he had learned during his time in the Army, Skylar took in every detail he could in the dim light of the van, before swinging at the looming man. His fist came into contact with the man's chin and sent him onto his back.

"Bastard!" he yelled, jumping back to his feet and spitting blood onto the floor, "This'll have to do!" Skylar was confused now, what did he mean by that? Suddenly, the man pulled out a crowbar and swung it at Skylar, hitting him harshly in the side. "Don't mess with me... Pawn," he grunted, moving around Skylar and opening the back doors of the van. "Good luck," he said with a smirk, before grabbing Skylar by the scruff of his shirt and hurling him out the van.

It all happened too quickly for Skylar to take it in; he bounced and rolled along the road for what seemed like forever, before coming to rest on his back. With a tilt of his head he watched as the van sped off down the street and into the darkness of the night.

"What was that about?" he asked himself, grabbing his aching side and groaning in pain. His eyes suddenly widened as he tried to remember what the man looked like, he brought up the image in his mind and managed to make out a head of scruffy brown hair with a small beard to compliment it.

"Dammit," he whispered to himself, unhappy with the amount of details he could remember, "That bastard." Skylar, sitting in the middle of the road in the pouring rain, reached into his pockets to see what he had with him. He pulled out his dog-tags, which were giving to him when he left the army and something he had never seen before, it looked like a remote control with one button and a small screen on it.

"What the hell is this?" he asked himself, examining the item closely and making sure it wasn't anything dangerous, before pressing the button hesitantly. Something around his neck beeped and he raised a hand to see what it was. His fingers found something metallic around his neck, "What the hell?"

Quickly, he glanced down at the remote in his hand, the screen had lit up and it read "Pawn. 3 hours, 14 minutes, 36 seconds." Skylar blinked slowly, he was confused, but managed to shake off that feeling as he tried to evaluate the situation. "Someone put this thing on me three hours ago," he guessed, before thinking about the "Pawn" part, "That guy in the van, he called me a Pawn. Was it him who put this collar on me?"

All of a sudden, Skylar's whole body lit up, with the light radiating in from the left. He turned quickly and saw headlights blaring at him, it was a car! And he was in the middle of the road! The young man scurried to his feet and managed to get out of the way just as the car sped down the street, he shook off the feeling he had gotten from nearly being killed and ducked into an alley.

It was still raining and everything that was happening was just making Skylar more and more confused. "What the hell is going on?" he questioned, pacing through the alley with his hands to his face. He wasn't usually like this, but all the stress was really starting to get to him.

Skylar's collar beeped like it had done before and caused him to stop dead in his tracks; he turned and looked down into the darkness of the alley. He could barely make out a dark figure stand in the rain about ten metres away from him, "What do you want?" he questioned, starting to get pissed off at everything that was happening.

The unknown figure began walking towards him and Skylar was able to make out an axe-like object in his hands, as well as the same type of collar strapped around his neck. "What do I want?" he replied in a raspy voice that sounded almost maniacal, "I've only got half-an-hour left and so I've got to kill you if I want to live."

Skylar tilted his head to the side, "What the hell are you talking about!?" he screamed, starting to get really annoyed with everything that was going on, "I don't know what is happening!"

The man the axe laughed out loud, "I guess that makes my job all that much easier." Without warning, he grunted and began running towards Skylar, the axe held high over his head and ready to come swinging down.

"Shit!" responded Skylar, jumping out of the way just as the man reached him, missing him by a mere inch. The man didn't stop though; he immediately spun around and spotted Skylar on the ground, getting ready for another attack. He ran at him just as he had done before, his eyes wild with a taste for blood.

Skylar groaned and managed to dive out of the way again, crashing in the wall on the other side of the alley. "Why are you doing this!?" he yelled, quickly, trying to delay the man's actions for as long as he could.

"Why?" asked the man, lowering the axe to his side and smiling, "These are the rules of the game, kill or be killed. If I don't kill you soon, in thirty minutes I'm going to drop dead."

Skylar nodded along and the man explained the reason he was trying to kill him, all the while feeling along the ground for something he could use to defend himself. The man raised the axe high again, and prepared to bring it down on Skylar.

Just in time, Skylar's hand grasped a long, heavy, metal object off the ground and raised it above his head. It was a led pipe and, as the man saw it, he laughed at the fact that Skylar was going to try and use a led pipe to defend himself from an axe.

"You aren't too bright, are you?" he questioned, wiping a tear from his eye, "Time to go." The man swung the axe down at Skylar, but missed as his opponent jumped to his feet and avoided the attack.

"You have no idea who you're up against," replied Skylar, smirking at the man before smashing him the side of the head with his led pipe. The man stumbled to the side and then returned the attack with one of his own, swinging the axe swiftly and having it sink deep into Skylar's upper right arm.

"Got ya!" he yelled, happy that he had finally landed a blow, "Now to finish the job." He swung the axe at Skylar again, but this time he managed to jump back and avoid the attack. The axe kept swinging and smashed in the brick wall, getting stuck almost instantly.

"What now?" questioned Skylar, lunging forward and excessively bash the led pipe at the man's head until he was no longer struggling to get away. Skylar coughed and stood back up, his hands and shirt were covered in blood and the wound on his arm looked bad.

"I need to get out of here," he realised, as the collar around his neck beeped to assure him of the kill he had just made.

OOC: I know, I know. I'm not as great as all you staff members.

 

[Phanima]

Footsteps clapped around him as he stood his ground, his posture skewed, his eyes bored and his chewed fag drenched from the falling rain. There were two—no three collars surrounding him, one standing fixed in place with hands bare, the other two wielding an aluminium bat and a nailed wooden plank. Altogether, that made two collars he had faced and killed during a single day—five after he was done with the three whom were currently ambushing him. It seemed he was getting popular. Granted, he contributed most of his current score to bumming in the city slums, the opposition there were at most, incompetent. But hey, they were easy kills, so why bother breaking a sweat? Of course, there was always the thrill of hunting those stronger than him, but having already spent two weeks beating the brains out of pawn and knight fodder alike, the game had grown stale. Plus, staying put also had its advantages; he knew the terrain but not only that, it made other collars finding him that much easier.

No words were spoken as the first strike was delivered. The shallow thud masked by the falling rain signalling the first collar's broken ribcage. His weapon, now free from his pathetic grasp, drove into his already softened torso, pinning him to the muddy ground. The lack of blood only spurred the following blow but was met with the stubborn bat of the second's. Reeling from the assault, the next collar leapt back, quickly catching his balance before readying his weapon for another clash. Without hesitation, he leapt forward once again, bat raised to strike the defending mace. Yet they never met. The attacking collar had struck the target's chest, a clean blow to his ribcage that could very well crush a normal person's lungs. Then again, his target was anything but.

"Oi," the cigarette fumbled loosely between his lips as he spoke, his eyes narrowing over the third barehanded collar whom had yet to attack, the second holding his ground in scratching his torso, "what kind of pansies do you have working for you?"

With a resonating crack, the target's mace met the second collar's face, snapping neck and crushing skull all at once. And as the body fell, the third then spoke up, but not before unfolding his arms to reveal their bandaged form, "As you can see," he started, raising his gauzed arms, blood stains decorating its surface, "I've lost all feeling from my forearms and down. As such, I've enlisted the help of those—" pausing to watch as his target crushed the skull of the first fallen collar, "two, in which you've just killed."

Smirking, the Hawaiian clad knight sheathed his bloodied mace before turning back to the last collar, "I get it. You can't do squat in your condition so you hired these little shits to help."

Smiling himself, the bandaged collar shook his head, "Not quite. In my condition, why would they even consider helping me? In a game like this, it's kill or be killed. Understand?"

He did. He underestimated the wrong one and it came back to bite him. Hard. The punch was quick and heavy, surprising considering the thrower couldn't even gauge his own strength. Reeling back as his jaw stung from the blow, he hastily raised his own to intercept the next punch.

"You're good." the two paused as their fists collided, the collar brimming with unrestrained adrenaline while the knight merely defended, "But...I'm better."

It was immediate, the same crushing feeling he felt when pinning the first one to the ground. His raised knee forced the bandaged collar to retreat without breath and was immediately followed up with a knuckle sandwich of his own. Now with broken jaw and shallowed breath, his attacker could hardly support himself and soon fell to his knees in defeat.

"Too quick kid." spitting the chewed bud onto the ground after having it completely doused, the knight stood over the last collar, prompting him for any last words, "Well?"

Hunched on all fours the last thing he expected from the youth was a hardened punch to the gut, in which he quickly shrugged off only to then come face to fist with another. He was a stubborn one and dealing with him would take some time. Time he couldn't be bothered wasting. Taking the next blow to the cheek, the knight reeled in its force, allowing him to redraw his weapon before promptly swinging it across the collar's side, throwing him sideways into the shallow mud. Ensuring his opponent's plight, he delivered two additional blows, shattering his already ravaged arms.

"Damn it kid, you can't kick too can you?" he irritably spat, rubbing his bruised cheek before glancing over to his fallen opponent. Mustering the best smile he could with a broken jaw, the bandaged collar shook his head in response, admitting defeat. It was over.

Grinding the head of his mace into the mud to wash away the remnants of the third collar, the knight returned to his usual composure as the lessening rain soothed his bruised body, drawing out another drag as he did so. It was surprising to say the least, but for a couple of pawns, they were much more entertaining than he had first thought. Guess the game still had some surprises in store after all.

OOC: Not much backstory I'm afraid. Just mindless brutality.

 

[anakoni]

______What was life but the gods' cruel game? It was up to those who possessed it to create something wonderful, something that they would be happy to reflect back upon on their death bed. Without said intentions, one's life would be filled with disappointment and regret. The beryl-tressed male kept this in mind and he heard the crunching of his victim's arm. Smiling only slightly, he was disappointed to see how little pressure human bones could take. He glanced over the body before him with a contemplative frown; what was left? The businessman had been drugged and dragged over to a place where he and his tormentor could be left in peace, allowing Masaharu to experiment with human limitations, however... there appeared to be nothing left of the man. The limbs that weren't missing were broken or too bruised to be used without afflicting the results of his experiments -- that, and the drugs were wearing off. The black-haired male's head rolled around as his eyes slowly fluttered open. He only groaned slightly, unaware of the severity of his wounds. Masaharu took this opportunity to untie his victim and hold his neck tightly between one of his arms, using his free hand to cover the screams. In one swift motion, another blood-curdling crack echoed throughout the empty warehouse's stone walls. With a smile, he dropped the body, kicking over the dying male, who had been gurgling and gasping for his last breaths of air. "W... Why me?" He said between breaths. Masaharu simply smiled, turning only for a little bit to reveal blood-rusted knives and scalpels. "You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, buddy." It took only a few more minutes for the man to pass, at which point, Masaharu moved in for his inspection. It took only a few slices and stabs to make the corpse's former identity completely unrecognizable. With the body in scrambles, he grinned, staring down at his masterpiece.

______A yawn escaped his lips as his arms stretched out towards the sky. The weekend would sneak up on him quickly -- it always did... He sighed. Masaharu would need to find an actual player to kill if he was to continue with his experiments... if he wanted to continue living in his twisted fairytale. It wasn't any harder killing a collar-wearer; when it all came down to it, they were still human, despite their cautious actions, weapons and awareness of his intentions. However, because he too was wearing a collar, and he appeared anything but genial, it was a bit harder to lure collared victims. He supposed he could stalk someone and take them in their sleep... but what was the fun in that? He liked the thrill of the chase.

______Left with a blank agenda, he frowned as he entered the mess he called his apartment, staring down at his watch. Finding another victim was the easy part, but after all was said and done, what was he to do for the rest of the week? In between the various experiments, murders he committed and his job at a night club, he had absolutely nothing to consume his time. What a boring town... After cleaning up some, he reemerged from his home once more, figuring he still had a good two or three hours before his shift began. In between that time, he'd get something to eat, and maybe start a little trouble on the outside... He grinned, accidentally brushing past a much, much shorter girl, who nearly toppled over due to her speed. "Oh, I'm sorry." Masaharu excused himself with a sly smile before continuing down his path towards the beat up neighborhood park.

______"Ah, excuse me, do you have any application forms?"

______After tumbling through the crowds of people that walked the streets of Morotsuka, a short girl's figure stood tall (as tall as she could manage, anyway), peeking through a small doorway that led to the restaurant's kitchens. Her abruptness had caused her to receive a few strange looks, but within minutes, a large, white packet had been handed to her by a man with a hair net. Though it was definitely below her prior places of work, she figured that in a new town, she wouldn't have the credentials she had back in Seoul, and so she'd have to start over. Not that she minded all that much -- she saw the entire experience as a new adventure. Glancing down at the paper and skimming through the pages as she clutched onto her small shoulder bag, she absent-mindedly took a seat in an occupied booth. Just as she began to write her name, her soft brown eyes caught sight of the male in front of her, causing her to bolt almost upright. Yunhae laughed, slightly embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that this booth was taken..." Standing, she stopped only slightly as something clicked in her mind. Pretending as if she had dropped something, she held her own palm pilot in the male's direction before stuffing it back in her bag, moving to another booth without another word. As she had expected, he too was collared. A bishop... two ranks above her. She swallowed. Yunhae hadn't killed this week... of course, she had no intentions of even considering taking on the man who sat at the booth. Rather, she worried some... it wasn't as if she made any attempts to hide her collar -- most of the time, she was able to pass it off as a necklace. But... if he was any sort of player, and a player of a high rank at that, he'd pick it out immediately. Shaking her head, Yunhae figured merely that she'd need to stand her guard... she smiled remorsefully. For a little while, she had forgotten that she was caught up in such a deadly game. For a moment, it felt as if she was a normal woman, simply trying to start anew in a new town... After a few minutes had passed, she finished filling out her application form, shuffling back to the kitchen and turning her head from the other male noticeably. "We'll contact you in a few days to let you know if we're interested in hiring you. At that point, you'll be expected to come in for an interview." Yunhae flashed a small smile, her silver braces being revealed. "Alright, thank you!" And as quickly as she had appeared, she stepped outside, her braids bouncing along with her.

______It took her only a few steps to realize that she had nowhere to go but home. Though, the fact that she had nothing to do on a Friday night hadn't bothered her in the slightest. Rather, she was more concerned about the other collar wearer in the restaurant. He had seen her... he was going to kill her... she was sure of it. Without thinking things through logically, Yunhae's mind drifted to it's most cynical corner. If she didn't kill him... he would kill her. It was as simple as that. She was a sitting duck! Her mind spiraled downwards until she clutched the butcher knife she carried with her in one of her bag's pockets, hiding in the darkness of a small alleyway. Though he was overtly stronger and more capable than she was, Yunhae truly believed that this was her only option. Concealing herself behind a small trash can, she awaited the man's exit, entirely unaware that her bag was entirely visible.


OoC: I'm sorry for the crappiness. XD I can't write intros for crap. = x=





​

 

[Sublime]

Thomas fiddled with his soup for a few moments, clanking the spoon to the sides of the ceramic bowl in a fidgety attempt to stir the liquid. Thoughts still managed to push and shove their way to the front of his mind. Flashes of the sight he had witnessed; nay, committed hammered his mind as he held back tears and terrified sobs. He hadn't asked to be apart of this sadistic game. He didn't want to kill that man. He just wanted to return home to his wife. But he knew that if that was ever to be, he would need to resort to nothing more than a heartless killer. The actions that would follow in the next few weeks would plague his mind for all eternity. He clutched the crucifix hanging around his lanky neck.

The Sixth Commandment...Thou shalt not murder... More haunting thoughts entered his subconscious. Thomas' whole life, he had been a devote Christian. Now it's all ruined. But in his eyes, his seeing his family one last time was worth an eternity in Hell. He loosened his grip on the necklace and grabbed the stainless steel spoon once more. After a few more moments of stirring, he took a small sip of the frothy liquid. It was still quite hot, and burned on the journey down his throat. Thomas let out a heavy exhale and took a sip of his iced tea. The lemon had taken over the tea, and it was awfully sour. He pushed his drink aside and asked for a new one. He surveyed the eatery as he waited for his soup to cool and for his replacement beverage. Much to his dismay, he noticed a few collared individuals. One was dining on a soup of his own. The handsome fellow took a sip of a colourful drink and met eyes with Thomas. Thomas quickly turned his head, to avoid any confrontation. He still had six days until his next murder was mandatory, and he didn't plan to commit it until then.

"Sir." A soft voice broke Thomas out of his thoughts. "Sir, here is your iced tea. No lemon this time" The woman had an annoying perk in her voice. Without a second thought, Thomas placed a few bills on the counter and walked out of the diner.

The night air was cool and crisp. A small breeze brushed against Thomas' face. He shoved his hands into his pockets and trudged along the sidewalk. A couple of people stared at him with faces ranging from terror to disgust. Men would stand protectively by their wives, to protect them. Various others would whisper and point. This collar..This DAMNED COLLAR. I've become a social outcast. A target for hatred. His head sunk low as he continued to weave throughout the crowd. He didn't really know where he was going, but he had to find somewhere to buy time away from collar wearers. A cowardly six days hiding in seclusion while fearing for his life. But it must be done if Thomas' is to see his wife again.

After a few minutes of traversing the city streets, Thomas came across one of those shady motels. You know, the ones that just reek of lust and drugs. Nonetheless, Thomas entered the building. The front desk was made out of fake wood paneling that was peeling pretty bad. A few roaches scurried across the floor. "Whut can I do ye fir?" A rather bulky man asked in a deep, southern drawl.

"I'm just here to buy a room for a few days. Anything will do." Thomas replied with no emotion in his voice. The man scratched his stubble and turned around to the key rack. He pulled off a key marked with the number 028. "That'll do ye. Now, I'm re-qui-erd to tell ye that we here aint li-able fer any sickens you make get at yer stay here in this right fine moo-tel." It seems like he's recited this speech a few times. Thomas gave a small nod and headed off to his room.

The room was found with no trouble at all. It was just a few doors down from the main desk. The door let out an awful creak when Thomas forced it open. The room was small, but that was expected. Thomas flicked the light switched; but the lights barely came on at all. After stripping the mattress of the filthy sheets, Thomas lay down on the stiff bed. He wanted so dearly to rest, but this was not possible with his current emotional state. He forced his eyes closed and tried his best to think happy thoughts. After what seemed like an eternity, Thomas could feel his subconscious drifting off into sleep.

OOC: My intro's are always such failures. But my posts will improve. I hope Loki doesn't mind that I started in the same place as her xD

 

[Loki]

A shrimp halfway to his mouth, Dublin was suddenly graced with unexpected company. And thanks to the silver collar around her neck- unwanted company. She wasn't cute enough for him to stand her prescence- and a check on his palm pilot told him that she was either a very stupid player, or had something up her sleeve. He looked back down at his food which had been unstirred, other than the shrimp in the clutches of his chopsticks. Then he looked back up at the girl, who seemed not to notice him yet. Well, Dublin was going to eat what he'd paid for and this girl could kiss his ass for all he cared. He put the morsel of food delicately into his mouth, sitting back and chewing when she finally realized he was sitting there. She apologized for sitting when it had been taken, and Dublin scathingly agreed with her. Mentally. He didn't want to carry a conversation with the girl- it might prove deadly. And so, he merely shrugged in response, saying nothing at all and citing to himself that his mouth was full, therefore, he could not speak. After she left, Dublin felt highly more aware of the other players in the café. He scrutinized the man, while she disappeared into the kitchen and took note that he was clutching something in his hand. The player wasn't a rookie though- or at least, that was Dublin's guest. Rookies never paid any attention to those around them, but higher ranked members did- and the guy wasn't exactly unaware of Dublin's presence. As soon as their eyes met, Dublin felt like laughing. The man averted his eyes at the speed of light, like he was being caught doing something he shouldn't have. Smiling to himself, Dublin swirled a maraschino cherry around in his green drink, taking the time to finish half of his bowl.

"Everything alright sir?" A waitress walked up to his side.

He looked up and wiped the corners of his mouth, smiling a deadly killer one for the lady and speaking gently, "It's fantastic, as always. Thanks." The last word had an edge of 'get-out-of-my-face' to it, but Dublin was almost sure that she hadn't noticed it. The other girl from earlier had just exited the kitchen, and Dublin glanced over at her. His glance tuned him in on her braids, and a few other unimportant details that he hoped wouldn't end up becoming important later. Struggling to finish the last of his meal- as he always did, Dubling ended up leaving a very fine layer of rice on the bowl and decided to call it a day. It wasn't a good idea to stay in one place for too long. After a few relaxed sips of melon soda, he set the glass on the table, searching through his pockets for his wallet. One, two, three bills on the table. They could keep the change. Not that Dublin would need it in the future. He could make all the money he needed for the rest of his life now and be pretty much set. He wasn't expecting his dumb luck to hold out for the rest of his life, against an innumerable amount of other players who were better at this than he. Slinging his guitar onto his shoulder, the foreigner strode out of the restraint, yawning as he stepped onto the pavement. He needed to go home and get some slee-

He looked to his left, recognizing an unimportant detail that had just gotten important. Dublin's eyes narrowed as he recognized the bag the girl had been clutching earlier. Observe, he thought to himself as he scanned the entire area. Nothing. He double checked the area around the bag and scratched the back of his head with the hand that wasn't holding onto his guitar strap. Ah, well- the girl seemed like a dumb luck player anyway. He scoffed to himself at the fact that she hadn't exactly done a very good job of hiding her presence. "Now that's what I call shooting the moon." Dublin spoke with humor in his voice, casually striding over with one finger stuck into the ring of the shobo on his belt. He stood just out of arm's reach as he cocked his head to the side, addressing the trash can without paying much mind to the people staring. "You on the last minute of your time quota or-?" Dublin was interrupted by a beeping sound on his neck, and he again checked his palm pilot, just for show. Oh good, the girl from earlier was dead. But if this girl was looking for a fight, Dublin would be more than happy to run away from it. "Sure are a lucky lass today aren't you?" Dublin laughed, "Unless you weren't waiting for me? The other guy left way before you did, so he's outta the picture. Sorry lassie."

 

[Swift!]

RING

A bell chimed as Skylar pushed through the door of a chemist; he was now wearing a black hoody, which he had taken from the man he had just killed. Blood was running down his arm from the axe wound and he was trying to conceal it as much as possible.

Skylar's finger's fiddled with the led pipe that he was holding, hidden up his sleeve. He kept his head low as he made his way towards the counter, "I need some bandages," he said quietly, his voice raspy and shaking.

The man behind the counter looked at Skylar with a strange look, but wasn't able to see his face through the shadow of the dark hood. "That's $12.95," replied the man as he turned around to grab the bandages off the shelf behind him.

"The thing is," said Skylar, speaking up as he lifted his head, "I don't have any money."

The man turned around, holding the bandages in his hand, "I guess you won't be getting these..." he trailed off as he saw Skylar's face and, more importantly, the collar around his neck. "You're one of them," he said, frozen in fear as he continued to stare at Skylar.

Skylar acted quickly, leaning over the counter and grabbing the man by his collar, "Give me those bandages!" he yelled, revealing the led pipe he had in his hand.

"Ok, ok," began the man, raising his hands in the air, "I don't want any trouble." He quickly handed the bandages to Skylar and stared at the evil look in his eyes as he hoped to be let go.

Skylar grunted as he pocketed the bandages, "I was never in here," he said, pulling the man closer to his face, "Alright?" The man nodded franticly as tears welled up in his eyes, Skylar scoffed and let him go, exiting the store quickly.

-----

Skylar winced in pain as he pulled the bandage tighter around his arm, using his teeth. He mumbled something rude under his breath as he took the bandage out of his mouth and finished tying it around his arm.

The young man sighed as he pulled the hoody back on to conceal the wound on his arm and mass amount of blood on his shirt. He was sitting in a glass bus stop with a roof overhead to protect him from the rain.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked himself quietly, placing his head in his hands and groaning in pain, anger and confusion, "This is crazy..."

All of a sudden, the rain stopped and Skylar raised his head to see the dark clouds moving away to reveal the dark city sky. "I guess I'd better find out where I am, seeing as I'm no longer in London," he whispered, still staring up at the starry sky as his eyes found the full moon.

BEEP

The collar around Skylar's neck suddenly beeped and, from what he had gathered, that only happened when he killed someone or if someone pressed the button on their palm pilot. Two things which he knew he had not done recently...

SMASH

There was an ear splintering noise of shattering glass and Skylar quickly looked up, the cover above his head had been broken and he saw a figure coming down towards him.

It all happened so quickly and Skylar soon enough found himself lying on his back with a face glaring down at him. He looked up to see that it was a woman, a very beautiful woman at that. She had long brunette hair and coffee brown eyes, flawless skin and pretty face.

Skylar blinked, trying to take in what had just happened and then he noticed the hunter's knife in the woman's hand. "Are you a player too?" he asked, looking into the woman's eyes and smirking. The woman didn't reply, she just continued to look down at Skylar's face, as if she was mesmerized by him.

Skylar glanced from left to right to see if there was anyone else around, which there wasn't, "Aren't you going to kill me?" he asked, slightly confused as to why the woman hadn't already plunged the hunter's knife two inches into his neck.

The woman opened her mouth to say something, "I..." she began, blinking a few times to gather herself, "You're cuter than most of the other guys I've killed..." The girl smirked as she got back on her feet, "My name is Kailee."

Skylar lay on the ground for a little while longer, staring up at the woman with a confused look on his face. "Skylar," he finally replied.

 

[parallelzero]

"So, what's your name?" Akihito questioned the girl. She gave him a bored glance through her only available eye, as the one was covered by an eye patch-like bandage. This wasn't good. Her other pupil was nowhere to be found, and they had been standing outside of these abandoned railroad tracks for over an hour. Had SAVE's information been incorrect? The Sato boy's location had been correct, after all, so she didn't see how. "I mean... you seemed to know who I was, so isn't it fair that I get to know yours? I'd like to ask a few other questions as well, if that's all right?"

The girl sighed, before extending a hand to the boy. "My name is Alesia Sinder, a pleasure to meet you!" Akihito was quickly startled by the girl's now more upbeat personality that just seemed to appear out of thin air. Just why exactly was she acting so different. "I don't mind you asking me questions, since I'm sure you're pretty confused by all this, but if you're going to do that, you'll need to do it while we move." She began to walk away, the boy following as he threw his bag over his shoulder once again, the bloodied cleaver nestled deep inside, still wrapped up so that the weapon didn't cut him up by mistake. It was clearly night now, and the only shadows cast were created by the streetlights scattered alongside the sidewalk. "I get the feeling you're curious about my personality first of all, and my only response is: one can't kill with emotions." Akihito supposed the girl, Alesia, made some sense. It would be hard to take someone's life if you had any regrets, or any other emotion holding you down.

"Okay, so what exactly is going on?" The Japanese youth inquired as they rounded a corner onto a main street, lined with shops decorated with neon signs. "From what I gathered, we need to kill other people with these things for some reason?"

"Yeah, that's right." Alesia replied with the utmost certainty. "Basically, we need to take a life every week, or else we'll die ourselves. There are participants all across the city, all marked by that collar. Some form alliances, other join gangs, others roam free. Ultimately, the point of this game remains the same. I, for one, am a member of SAVE. Basically, SAVE helps pawns like you transition into the game so that you aren't picked off by more experienced players right away."

So everything made sense. At least, as much sense as they could based on what he had now been told. Ultimately, though, more questions came from those already asked. He eventually got more answers, like the fact that nobody knew who was in charge of the whole 'game', the meaning of the chess piece ranking system. Basically, up until one week of survival a player was referred to as a pawn, at which point they'd be referred to as a rook, three weeks was a knight, a month was a bishop, three months was a queen, and five months was a king. You could tell one's rank using a scanner - the palm pilot thing the man had used on him later. If someone was scanning you, your collar would beep to warn you of the nearby threat. Beeps also indicated kills. There were rules to this madness, too. If they left the city, they'd die. If they got caught by the authorities, they'd die. If non-players helped them make a kill, they'd die. It was all insane.

The two finally arrived outside what appeared to be a large bar, "MASSACRE" in large, pink neon was mounted on an arrow pointing to the door. The bar was hidden within an alleyway within an alleyway within another alleyway, which would make it hard to find without a map. "This is a safe house. Players come here to rest. Killing other players here is forbidden, and will result in your own death. You're allowed to stay here for up to seven hours a day, but for the other seventeen, you're on your own in the real world. You should get familiar with the people here, maybe you'll even make some allies." She lead Akihito inside. It was loud, it was full of people, and it reeked of sweat and alcohol. As Alesia's entrance became apparent, several large, muscular mean unblocked the way, allowing them full access to the building. As they took a seat at an unoccupied table, a waiter came up to them.

"What ya havin' tonight, Miss Alesia?" An energetic youth with a funny accent inquired as he clicked his pen on his lower lip. "The boss owes ya a great deal fer last night, so everthin' is on tha house tonight."

Akihito glanced at the girl. The boss owes her a great deal for last night? Alesia glanced back at Akihito, noticing his stare, and turned bright red as she clicked in on what he was assuming. "No! No! It wasn't like that, they were just short on staff so I filled in!"

"Indeed ya did! I was pretty 'mpressed wit how ya handled them customers while yer always in such a banged up condition 'n' all!"

"Really, it was nothing! I'm just going to have an orange juice tonight, though, Selfan. Get this kid here a glass of milk or something."

Akihito sighed. "Orange juice and milk, huh? Classy."

 

[Aurafire]

Jessica had long since left the scene of her bloody assault and was standing outside her apartment building. Well, technically, it wasn't really hers. But much to her surprise and pleasure, the man she eliminated for her second kill had somehow obtained an apartment without any money or identification to begin with (not to mention, he was also carrying a few hundred dollars). With a little detective work, she found the building and slipped into the room herself with relatively little trouble. The only problem she had was telling the landlords a convincing lie to let her stay. It was something about being the man;s sister and watching over the apartment for a few weeks...But that didn't matter anymore. What mattered is she now had a safe place to sleep. Although getting money for rent was going to be a difficult proposition, since she didn't have any ID.

I can worry about that later., she said to herself. Jessica took a few steps up the stairs and realized that she was still covered with blood. Well, she couldn't just walk right in without clothes on. She had used the shadows of the alleyways to get her this far. Hopefully, there wouldn't be anyone on the first floor to catch her. Jessica took a deep breath and entered the building.

Silence, and not another soul in sight. Jessica breathed a sigh of relief and made towards the elevator. Just then, a door in the back of the room opened, which froze Jessica in horror. It was one of the landlords.

"Hey now, what are you doing up this late?" said the landlord. He was an old, bald man with thick glasses and suspenders. "It's almost the mornin', I was just about to...Is that blood on your shirt?"

Jessica cringed. She couldn't be caught now. She quickly thought of something to tell the old man. "No. Uh...it's red wine. Some guy at a bar spilled it on me."

"Red wine, eh?" screeched the old man. He had the voice of the stereotypical old guy sitting in his rocking chair, saying some random story about "the old days." "Looks a bit too dark to be wine if ya ask me..."

"Well it's wine, kay?", said Jessica with a twinge of annoyance. She headed towards to elevator door and pressed the up arrow, willing the doors to open as fast as possible.

"I dunno of any bars open this late on a weeknight..." the landlord continued, almost daring Jessica to confess the truth. "Ya sure ya didn' have a big ol' nosebleed or somethin'?"

Nosebleeds! You brilliant old man, why didn't I think of that? "Um, yeah that might have been it." She said quickly. The doors finally opened and Jessica stepped into the elevator.

"Rent is due next week, remember!" Shouted the landlord. "I don' wanna have ta kick ya out!"

Jessica didn't even bother responding. The doors were already closed and she felt the elevator jerk upward as it carrier her to her floor. As much as the stupid old man was pushing her, she was actually surprised she got away with it. Thank god he cared about money more than the conspicuous red liquid covering Jessica's shirt. Hopefully he wouldn't decide to change his mind and investigate the matter any further.

The elevator doors opened. Jessica stepped out and took a brief walk down the hallway to her room. She inserted the key into the lock and entered. It was a very unspectacular apartment: One bedroom, one bathroom, and a small kitchen. There was barely enough room for a sofa and a TV. But to Jessica, it seemed like heaven. As far as she knew, there were no other players living there, or anywhere near it for that matter. Hopefully, it would stay that way.

She ripped off her clothes, which has grown crusty with dry blood, and clambered into the shower. She let the hot water flow over her body, trying to forget that she actually killed a person today. It never ceased to amaze her how little killing affected her. Sure, she felt remorse and guilt, and even sheer horror when she was actually committing the act. No amount of time could make her forget what she had done. But the spirit of competition, the fight to survive...Those are what kept her sane.

After standing in the shower for about a half an hour, she climbed out, toweled off and collapsed on her bed. It was well into the early morning, and the weariness of the day's events finally caught up to her. Although sleep nowadays wasn't an easy proposition. She couldn't imagine that any of the other players could try to sleep without being a little on edge, constantly worrying about the thought of an attack. Jessica had scouted the area before moving to make sure there weren't any other players residing in the area. Sure enough, her search had turned up clean. But the city was still riddled with those without places to stay, and it was still a possibility that someone could stumble upon her building. However, she knew she was much better off than most.

Jessica realized that she had not eaten anything for quite a while, but she was much too exhausted to find any food. Forgetting her troubles, she drifted off to sleep.

 

[Swift!]

"So, what's your story?" asked Kailee, turning to look at Skylar. The two had recovered from their earlier incident and were now walk down the street, the moon being their only source of light as it appeared that every one of the street lights had been smashed. "I mean, Pawn..." she began, giving him a strange look, "3 hours, 46 minutes, 28 seconds. You're just a baby!"

Skylar wasn't listening to Kailee; he was too busy trying to figure out what was going on. His eyes darted around the area, trying to figure out where he was with the little knowledge of geography that he had.

"Skylar!"

The man's head spun so quickly that it looked as if it was about to come flying off, "What?" he questioned, looking at Kailee with confusing in his eyes as he blinked at her.

"Nevermind," replied Kailee, turning away from her new "friend" with a slightly embarrassed, yet seductive, smile on her face.

Skylar turned away without a care and continued to take in every detail of the surrounding area, never having to bring his eyes forward to see where he was going. Kailee watched on in amusement, smiling as she fiddled with something in her pocket, "It's called Morotsuka."

"Huh?" replied Skylar, turning towards Kailee again, "I'm sorry?"

"This place..." she said, swivelling her head slightly, "The city... it's called Morotsuka."

Skylar nodded as he turned away, once again continuing to observe the area, "Where is it?" he asked, looking back at Kailee, "What country?"

Kailee looked away, turning her attention to the full moon that hung in the sky, "I don't know. Haven't figured that out yet. Although..." she returned, bringing her gaze back to Skylar's, "The players of this game call it Massacre City."

Skylar smirked and turned his head to look down at his feet, "That sounds appropriate."

Kailee let out a small, forced laugh as she looked away again; "Anyway," she began, trying to make small talk to figure out as much as she could about Skylar, "Where are you from?"

Skylar didn't bother to look over at Kailee, he just kept his gaze to the ground, "London... England," he replied, "I was in the English Army."

"Impressive," replied Kailee, nodding to herself, "I wondered how you were able to keep your cool in such an intense moment and unknown environment."

"What do you mean?" asked Skylar, glancing over at Kailee with a confused look on his face.

The woman smiled and looked away, "Back at the bus shelter," she began, "At first it looked like you were crying, but then I jumped on you and your expression changed. You looked like you knew that I was about to ambush you and you knew enough about the game to assume that I was another player."

Skylar nodded as he looked away, "Well, that's what the army does to you," he replied, "I was trained to keep my cool in any situation and to take in every possible detail that I could. The man that I killed-" Skylar choked on his own words, this was the first time he'd had to say that since what happened in Ireland.

Kailee lowered her head as she saw Skylar's eyes start to water, "Yes...?"

"Yeah," continued Skylar, wiping the tears from his eyes, "He said something about playing the game, so I simply assumed that that's what this was."

"Well," replied Kailee, slightly lost for words, "You'll be a good addition to the game," she finally managed to cough up, ending with a smile and short laugh to lift Skylar's spirit.

Suddenly, Kailee stopped, right of the corner of two dark streets, which caused Skylar to do the same, "What's going on?" he asked, slightly confused.

"We're here," replied Kailee.

Skylar blinked and then proceeded to follow Kailee's gaze to a large building sitting on the other side of the street, "That's where we're going," she continued, swinging a backpack, which Skylar hadn't even seen before, off her back. "Put this on," she said quickly, pulling a scarf out of her bag and handing in to Skylar as she pulled out a second scarf for herself.

"Why do you have two of them?" he asked, looking down at the woolly scarf that was now lying in his hands.

"Oh, you know..." began Kailee, playfully, "Just in case."

Skylar looked up to see her skipping across the road, the scarf already around her neck. "Hey, wait up!" he called, throwing his scarf around his own neck and following after Kailee.

-----

"Kailee!" boomed a loud and obnoxious, male voice, "Welcome back! How was your day?"

Kailee wasn't even halfway through the revolving door when the man had called out her name, "Hello Frank," she replied, smiling as she approached that man quickly. Although, anyone would be confused as to why...

The man was about 5'9' and probably 250 pounds, most of which was hanging out the sides of this sweaty white tank top. His chin and neck were combined as one large lump of fat and the little hair that he had was unimaginably greasy. Just because he didn't have much hair on his head, didn't mean it wasn't anywhere else. His arms, chest, legs and back were all covered with the same greasy brown hair that was on his head. Behind the counter it could be seen that the man was wearing tiny blue short-shorts, which were sticking to his legs because of how sweaty they were.

Kailee unwillingly hugged Frank from over the counter and then looked down to see if any of the grease had rubbed off on her. "Who's your friend?" asked Frank, staring at Skylar, who was just now catching up to Kailee.

"Oh, this is Skylar. He's going to be staying with me for a while," replied Kailee smiling as she let Frank examine Skylar up and down.

"Alright," he snarled, giving Skylar the death stare of the ages, "But, I expect the rent by tomorrow afternoon."

"No problem," replied Kailee, grabbing Skylar's hand and pulling him towards the elevator.

Frank glared at Skylar as he was being dragged off, pointing towards his own eyes and then to Skylar, as if to say "I've got my eye on you."

-----

DING

The elevator stopped on the third floor and Kailee immediately jumped out, "C'mon, Skylar. My room is at the end of the hallway, left-hand side." She giggled to herself and then began skipping down the hallway, expecting Skylar to follow her, "When we get inside you can have a shower."

"What?" questioned Skylar, jumping out of the elevator at the last second and staring at Kailee as she danced down the hallway, "Why would I need a shower?"

Kailee laughed as she reached her door, turning to face Skylar at the end of the hallway, "You're drenched from the rain and there's a huge bloodstain on your shirt."

Skylar glanced down at his clothes, he had totally forgotten that it had been raining and that he had that stain on his shirt, "Oh... right," he said, looking back over at Kailee, but she wasn't there. Her door was hanging wide open though...

"What's with the sudden mood swing?" thought Skylar as he made his way towards Kailee's room, "I think I'd better be careful around this girl." He entered the room slowly and shut the door behind him, it was just as he had suspected... the room had barely any furniture in it and probably only four rooms, including the kitchen connected to the living area.

"I'm going to bed," exclaimed Kailee, sticking her head out of, what Skylar suspected to be, the only bedroom, "The bathroom is right beside you and you can crash on the couch."

Before Skylar had the chance to acknowledge, let alone thank, Kailee... she was gone. "Ok," thought Skylar, "I'll spend the night here, but in the morning I'm gone." Skylar unzipped his "new" hoody and opened the door to the bathroom, "This is all just too much."

OOC: Just trying to establish a bond between Skylar and Kailee, as well as a bit of personality. Also, this will be my last post for a while.