September 4 2007

Who: Domino and Sasha
Where: Wal Mart
When: midday

Who: Judiel and Herbert
When: around 8:30ish
Where: the apartments

After a nap on the couch that left a crick in his neck, but the rest of him feeling good, Judiel had reluctantly bid goodbye to Olivia. She had plans, she said, but she'd see him soon and everything. Which was fine and everything, he knew she still had her own life, just ... yeah, it didn't matter. He'd stood around his apartment for a while, looking at work he could be doing. He just didn't really feel like it. Nor did he feel like logging on and dealing with guildies, so there needed to be an alternate plan. So he'd ended up ordering a pizza and waiting for it to arrive, then heading down the hall. Olivia wasn't home, but Herbert probably was. And it was long past time that he officially meet and hang out with the kid. If he wasn't busy, that was. If so, Judi could come up with a Plan C. As it was, he knocked on the door and took a step back, pizza balanced on one hand.

Who: Geo and Linn
Where: Seven-Eleven
When: Mid-Evening

Geo had left Fenton's with a sick feeling in his stomach. Something was happening, and whatever it was? It wasn't normal, at all. The tall boy's shoulders were slumped, one hand shoved deep in his now-empty pockets, the other clenched around the grocery sack of old, beat up record covers. He'd still bought those - but the CD had stayed in Fenton's. He hadn't had the guts to pick it back up and take it back out with him, not after dealing with that David guy. Not even with this weird...lying jag he seemed to be stuck in.

He was almost scared to go home; afraid he'd wind up telling Fred or Laverne something as obviously wrong as claiming his name was Sammy...almost equally afraid that he'd tell them something else, and they'd believe it. And so, he was still wandering, despite the chill in the air. The weather kept threatening to rain, but the thick tan wool of his duster was barring the ominous damp from reaching his skin.

Who: Chance and Kaysen
When: After school
Where: Sugarloaf
Warning: Sorta NSFW

It was with strange anxiousness that Chance waited for Kaysen after school. He'd driven purposely that day because they had made plans for her to come over, and he really didn't know if she was going to go home first, or just go straight home with him. He supposed he could have asked her earlier, but, well, he was really sort of caught up in the stupid excitement that they would get to hang out alone. Granted, he had spent some of the day with Sunday, but they'd been at the carnival, around other people. Not to mention there was still the funeral, and death hanging like a rainy black rain cloud over them. That wasn't to say everything was perfect now - that there was sunshine and rainbows. Hell no. But he wanted normalcy. He wanted to just hang out, watch movies, or do something, anything, to get his mind off of things. And he wanted that with her. He shifted from foot to foot, trying not to be too impatient as people filed out of the school, heading off into every possible direction. He barely saw any of them, his gaze focused soley on finding Kaysen.

Kaysen was a little excited too. School today again had been a somber affair mostly, and she was kind of twitchy over it a little. So she was looking forward to seeing Chance, and hanging out and being normal for a while. She was thinking of her flowers again when she spotted him, and she veered in her path to walk up. "Hi." she said. She was a little wary, feeling exposed since, well. Everyone was still around them n stuff, but still. Kaysen was aware that one day, she was going to have to get over that. Maybe. So she'd do it in little bits. Or something. Whatever.

Who: Stacey and Linn
When: Tuesday, just after school
Where: The school grounds, outside

Linn walked out of the school building, feeling just a tad lighter. Two days down, only three to go until the weekend. Couldn't blame a guy for smiling for that reason. He munched on a crisp green apple as he walked against the flow of most of the students, heading for the school weight room. An hour or so lifting weights, then another hour or so prowling about town... it sounded like a good afternoon to him. He turned his head back over his shoulder as he casually walked, thinking he heard someone call him, only to instead bump into someone that he hadn't seen coming his way.

Stacey was beginning to wonder if she picked up a curse along the way, because this habit of running into people began since she moved here. Normally this could be a good thing if it wasn't for the fact that she was -literally- running into people. Stacey let out a grunt as she ran into the big guy and hit the floor with a thud, dropping her bag yet again.

Who: Brian and Olivia
Where: The Wooden Nickel
When: 8PM

Brian was right on time for the hookup with Olivia, looking forward to getting completely trashed-- for the last damn time in a long time. He was kicking this alcohol habit once and for all. After the promised contest where he would prove he could out-drink a twenty-something. Like hell, he could.

He was prepared for it, at least. He'd had a good, long nap to recover from the horrible early morning and long day at work, a big dinner to start the evening off with, and had walked-- cane and all-- rather than drove, because he knew he'd wind up too drunk to drive that evening. Given the cloudy day, it was a little less than comfortable, but hey, at least it wasn't raining.

Who: Olivia and Judiel
Where: Mya's, Judi's car, then his apartment
When: Afternoon
Warning: NSFW

The new hours at Mya's were going to take a bit of getting used too. Sure, it was only an hour earlier than usual, but she much preferred to spend that hour rousing herself enough to get out of bed, or even snuggling against Judiel for awhile longer, as completely cheesy as that sounded. Cheesy was okay, she supposed. It had been a pretty good last couple of days, despite everything going on in town. She'd done a pretty damn good job pushing all of the worries and confusion to the back of her mind to focus on something else for a change, and it seemed to be working. She just hoped she could keep it up for the next...oh, forever or so. Her shift was thankfully coming to a close and she was working on getting her last table paid and out the door. Or at least paid so she could be out the door. Stifling a yawn behind her palm, she carried their check to their table and returned to the counter, focusing on brewing a fresh pot of coffee, replacing the sweeteners and attempting to refill the salt and pepper shakers without spilling them all over the place.

Judiel had purposefully waited to deliver a freshly-fixed laptop to it's rightful owner until the late afternoon. Olivia had told him about the change in hours, and now that he knew when she got off? He wanted to make a point of going around. At least once, and if she didn't want him near her at work, that was okay too. Not like he was going to hover or anything, he just wanted to see her. Surprise her. Because she would be, he felt sure. She tended to get that way about things that he thought were run-of-the-mill ordinary relationship things. Which could've been because she'd never had a good one. Or one at all. Something. Regardless, he'd dropped off the work and swung by a flower shop to buy a single large daisy. He wasn't sure if she'd told him what her favorite flower was, but who didn't like daisies? He pushed in through the front door to Mya's, a faint smile already on his face. Judi spotted her almost immediately, and walked up to the counter right behind her. He leaned an elbow on it and propped his chin up, flower held below where her field of vision would be, and waited for her to turn around.

Who: Dessicant and Geo
Where: Fenton's Music
When: Evening

After a decent end to the carnival affair, Dessicant decided he could stand a treat to make up for dealing with blessings all over town for days now. And since he'd had such a delectable meal so recently, he could afford to spend on music rather than snacks. Music was cheaper, anyway, and lasted longer. He was starting to get quite a collection, which was ironic given he really didn't hear half of it when it was playing.

Who: Marlowe, Brian, and Mya
Where: Mya's Diner
When: 1:30pm

Marlowe parked the impala in the open spot next to the monster white truck that had seen better days, and walked the short path to the entrance of the diner. Her normal work day at the little eatery didn't start til 4:30, but the red head had managed to pick up a couple extra hours in covering part of Steffi's shift. The other girl had a doctor's appointment that couldn't be missed, and Marlowe had been more then willing to help out for the mere fact that she could use the extra cash a couple extra hours of work would bring in, not to mention the cash gained in tip she'd be able to pick up as well.

With one good tug Marlowe had the diner's door open and stepped through into the establishment. Greetings and a smile were dished out to the few regulars Marlowe knew on a first name basis as she found her way toward the back of the diner. There was a time clock punch, and Marlowe needed to get settled in before taking to the main floor of the diner set to work the long stretch of hours ahead of her.

Who: Peyton and Herbert
When: After school
Where: Herbert's Apartment

With Isaac spending time at Thom's after school, Peyton had been a bit too eager to jump at Herbert's offer to hang out. She was finding her mind went off into several unwanted directions lately when she was home alone, so she waited for him after school, watching kids walk out of the building and head home. She chewed on her lower lip, knowing that Herbert would be impossible to miss when he came outside. She just hoped he hadn't forgotten about his invitation. She really didn't know what they would do at his place. Maybe work on homework? Totally dull but she sucked at science, so it wouldn't be the worst thing if he helped her out. What was good was that she'd be out of the house and focusing on something other than weird so she didn't really care what they did.

Who: Shannon and Aiden
Where: Aiden's Hotel Room
When: Around 4ish

"I liked the one on Lost Creek Drive." Shannon said once the Quinlan siblings were in Aiden's room. The pair had taken a look at a couple houses up for rent earlier that day. They had done the same the day prior, and though Shannon took a liking to a couple of the houses they had visited between the past two days, the one on Lost Creek, a nice little brick ranch, seemed to be the dreamwalker's preference of the lot.

Though her brother had said little about any of the residences they had walked into, he had taken the lead and asked those all important questions a possible renter would ask. In fact Aiden had done most of the talking while Shannon just looked around each place while she hovered behind her brother during the walk
throughs.

Who: Thom and Isaac
Where: Isaac's house
When: After school

Thom had headed home straight from school to get organised. He also found the note that his mom had left him on the fridge telling him what little she knew about fades - which really wasn't anything new, other than they were caused by some kind of high level spell, possibly either blood or black magic (she wasn't sure), and that their creation involved murder and that all round she considered them Trouble. Really, Thom wondered whether there was any supernatural being that his mother didn't consider to be bad news. But that wasn't the kind of question you put in a note, now, was it? So he left it and went to prepare for Isaac's house.

He was nervous, actually. He'd warded his house yesterday, he'd done it in the past, he knew he knew what he was doing and that it'd all go fine - it was just a case of going through the motions. But he'd be at someone else's house. And probably with an audience (if only an audience of one) and it wasn't like he could do the spells by heart yet, was it? He was still at the stage where he had to walk himself through each spell step by step, like a recipe book. Which he could do, but this time someone would be watching him. But, there was no avoiding it and he wouldn't want to do so anyhow. This was important - more important than anyone else knew - and so he gathered up his bag of bits and books and headed over, walking in through the back door and wandering through the house looking for his friend.

Who: Alejandro and Jovie
Where: Kalos Jewelry Shop
When: Around lunchtime

Alejandro was surprisingly lonely after a day with no one in his house but himself. He'd gotten used to the little sounds of having another person there, the occasional whispers of conversation when Jezebelle emerged from her basement room and came and went for school and visiting friends. The young fae had gone back to the Dreaming and her mother in the light of all the murders and disappearances and whatever-the-hell else that seemed to be taking over Marquette lately, and Alejandro was a little disturbed with himself to find that he missed her.

So, since he didn't work until the evening-- shitty shifts for the new man, of course; no one went to a bar on a Tuesday evening-- after a lazy morning of sleeping in he kicked himself out of the empty house and went for a walk. It was a dreary sort of day, though not actually raining this time, which suited his mood. He had the stupid block in his pocket, given he kept forgetting to take it out when he tossed his jacket onto the back of a chair or something at the end of the day, so he made extra sure to keep his distance from people.

One store gave him pause as he spotted it, though. It was a jewelry store, and the name rang a bell. It took him a minute to remember Jovie's store, match up the name, and realize he'd forgotten to stop by after Jezebelle's unexpected departure had thrown him off.

Well, it was something to do, and might cheer him up, so the ex-angel headed across the street and pushed the door open.

Who: Billy and Sammy
Where: The Williams' residence
When: About an hour after school let out.

Hey there baby, baby...

You are my voodoo child, my voodoo child...

Who: Sammy
Where: Herbert’s bike
When: Right after school

Sammy left his last class of the day the minute the bell rang for dismissal, his hand curled around a folded up slip of paper as he hurried through the halls and through the front doors. He didn’t have much time since his mama had told him to come straight home after school but he could at least leave his note with Herbert’s bike before he headed off. The wereboy did so, leaving the white slip somewhere where it could be seen but also where it wouldn’t be blown away before he set off at a jog for home.

Who: Chrissy and Sammy
Where: MSHS lunchroom.
When: Lunch hour.

It was the lunch hour at MSHS, and Sammy was in the lunchroom, but he wasn't really eating. He was kind of poking at his food - which he'd bought from the cafeteria - and sitting with his head resting on the table as he stared blankly. Today hadn't been cool - aside from the visit with Herbert earlier on the way to school - and he just wished that he could crawl back in bed. Or! Sit here and pretend to be asleep. It nearly worked, except for the fact that the lunchroom was so loud. People called out to each other like they couldn't actually walk across the room to talk in quieter voices, and occasionally the voice-noises were joined by pot-lid noises from the lunchline or dish-noises from back in the kitchen or somewhere.

Who: Sean and Joshua
When: early evening
Where: the apartment

Joshua hadn't slept well after the funeral. Which was to be expected, but he'd more or less slept himself out over the past couple of days, and he'd done an inordinate amount of staring at the ceiling. And thinking. Because he couldn't avoid that anymore. She was gone. Really really gone, he'd seen her body, seen them put the box she was in in the ground and cover it up with earth. He'd sat by her graveside until Sean had gently prodded him up and moving again, and it hadn't disappeared. Nobody had called to say it was a mistake. Her parents had cried. Lullaby Draven was dead. When morning had come round again, he'd told Sean he was going today to get the tattoo done. He didn't want to wait, because nothing was going to change.

They'd gone, and he'd stood around on the sidewalk in front of the tat place while Sean went in first to bless things, giving him that at least. Which was maybe why it had all gone as smoothly as it had. He'd told the guy what he wanted, using as few words as possible, and going through a couple of sketches until he thought they had it right, then sat in the chair for a few hours while it was done. It hurt a little, but it wasn't unbearable or anything. And in the end he'd shirtless in their full-body mirror and approved the black ink against his skin, a musical-scale pattern that began on the front of his deltoid and wrapped around the curve of his arm to the back, where it spread wider. Only sixteen notes, and the last one had a shattered look to it. No dates, no names, and the tattoo artist didn't ask any questions. Joshua knew exactly what it meant, and that was all that mattered.

Who: Dean and Thia
Where: Journey's house/Thia's house
When: late night/early morning

The cloudy skies seemed to bring dusk on prematurely and Dean knew that he should head for home. Dean didn't need to listen very hard to know that there were no leads on whoever shot Thia, which he knew meant here was still a random gunman out there. He just couldn't really bring himself to care - though he'd made all the right noises at Sophie that morning when she'd brought the subject up. Apparently he wasn't on a formal curfew, but she would like him home earlier. But he was still out. It wasn't that he was intentionally disobeying her, but every time he considered going home, he found himself turning away.

He'd started at the beach - heading there after school, walking down the sand until he hit rocks and then abandoning his bag and climbing up onto the largest one. He'd sat and stared out over the lake, lost in watching the waves roll and break, the birds wheel in the skies about, the clouds gathering on the horizon. There was an emptiness there that he welcomed, could get lost in. And he had. He'd lost hours that way, until the clouds had totally blocked out the sun and he'd realised he was hugging his leather jacket around his chest for warmth and protection against the wind coming off the water. Yet still he'd stayed, until he felt chilled to the bone, gaining an almost masochistic sense of satisfaction from it. Eventually, though, the winds had driven him off the beach and since then he'd just been wandering as it slowly got dark. He'd walked past her house and considered going in. He didn't. He'd detoured past the cemetery, but couldn't face her grave. And now his feet took him to Journey's house. He was almost surprised that he remembered where that was, he'd only been there once. But it felt like nothing would ever surprise him again.

Who: Dexter
Where: His 'new' place
When: Early evening

The Lamplighter really didn't offer much beyond the most basic provisions Dexter needed, and even in those regards it failed on several levels. The television was an old piece of shit, there was no porno channels, the bed was like a slab of granite with springs jutting free at random, and there wasn't a single dealer or hooker within sight beyond the door to his room. He'd had enough, and it was time to seek lodgings elsewhere. Of course, he'd paid for the week, and it'd potentially rouse suspicions if he left before that time was up, so as night settled across the town he opted to leave his few possessions in the room. Locking it tight behind him and moving for his battered old hatchback, Dex couldn't quite win out against the eager grin that was dancing across his lips. He was excited, hungry in an abstract sense, needing a fulfillment that neither food or drink, or even a piece of ass could bring. If he'd believed that psychics existed, he might've done more to contain his eager thoughts; what would someone think to know that an old woman was the source of his anticipation?

The 'friends' he'd once had would've made crude jokes, his grandparents would've been revolted, and the woman herself? Bitch'd be scared if she was smart, Dex told himself as he drove, fingers drumming the steering wheel in time with the raspy sound of his dying car speakers. He watched the city lights swoop by in steady progression, swinging onto the overpass and looking ahead to the residential heart of the city where it sat, removed from the outer stretches of the malls and shopping centers, and Dexter just couldn't fight that grin. He knew that if this went wrong, if he got caught? He'd claim desperation, survival, and that there was no enjoyment in what he had planned. Fuckin' liar, he thought with a wink to his black eyed reflection in the rearview mirror. Dexter was absolutely going to enjoy this.

Who: Regan and Kurt
Where: Regan's Home
When: Late
Warning: more or less NSFW

The events of the last couple of days had stuck with Regan. In fact, they had done so much more than that. They'd infested themselves inside of her mind, spreading through her like a disease, souring her mood, heightening her temper. Men. The root of all evil. The root of every single irritation in her life. Regan absolutely loathed bad moods. She didn't necessarily enjoy being angry, or feeling the need and desire to scratch someone's eyes out. She just wanted to live out her immortality happy and sated, and feeding. Was that so damn much to ask? She had, in her mind, those who had put her in this position. Those who had taken away her fun, and her tiny enjoyments. Matt - whoever the fuck he was - had annoyed her, mishandled her and had pushed her buttons purposely. She would track him down without a problem. But Kurt - he had fucked himself over. She had been nothing but giving and hospitable and he repaid her by shoving her around, disrespecting her. All she wanted was to give him pleasure, and he'd called her poison.

So it seemed only right that he received appropriate punishment. He'd hurt her feelings, dammit, and she couldn't just let that go. It was long after sunset, long past midnight, when she'd picked out the strand of hair she had kept of his. Regan twirled it between her fingers, licking her lips and sighing. She opened her door and moved outside to the porch, leaving the door open behind her. She purposely kept herself simple, her face scrubbed clean, forgoing the red lipstick, the dark eye makeup. Her dark hair fell in pin straight waves over her shoulders. For once she looked like a normal, mortal young woman rather than the exotic seductress, wearing a girlish, short jean skirt and white tank top, her feet bare. She knew she was still beautiful. Her skin pale and flawless. The moon, she noted, was still high, the air cool as autumn drew closer to Marquette. Licking her lips, she held the strand of hair between her fingers, mentally calling to Kurt, luring him to her in the way she had perfected over a span of a hundred years. She didn't sit - instead she stood there, waiting for him. He would come. He would be unable to resist it.

Who: Dessicant and Linn
When: Tuesday, early evening
Where: Just inside the carnival grounds.

Bundled up in his dark blue hoodie, his hands stuffed deep in the pockets, Linn felt pretty cozy. The outside air, after all, was pretty cold. But he could swear he smelled hot chocolate, and that was tempting him something awful, even if sugar was a bad idea because of wrestling. Plus, without his usual entourage of siblings with him, he could get something tasty without having to buy it for the rest of them, too. Definitely a good thing. He wandered to the edge of the carnival grounds, looking for a booth that might be selling something warm and creamy, and most importantly of all, sweet.

The blessing on the carnival grounds-- and high school, and college; who the hell had time and energy for such strong blessings on three damn places?-- was fading. Slowly but surely. Dessicant was prowling around the edges of it, not tempting fate by actually encroaching on it, but testing it, pacing the edges of it like a cat stalking the edges of the water as it slowly receded.

Who: Seph and Doc
Where: The Martens house, basement
When: Dusk

Who: Geo
Where: Sammy's room
When: Shortly after 8am.

Geo sat on the spinning chair, one foot against the desk leg to keep him from spinning the chair out of sheer nerves. He’d come to check his mail. He wished, now, that he hadn’t. That feeling of dread that the weekend hadn’t quite managed to make leave had crashed down on his head like a ton of bricks.

He stared at the email in his inbox, thoughts spinning around in his head at a million rpm; the words right there in black and white.

Who: Caleb and Peyton
Where: Halls at school
When: Morning

After hiding out in the music room before school and scribbling in her journal, Peyton felt a tiny bit better. Not great, but better. Enough that she didn't feel like hiding anymore. Shoving her things into her bag, she stood and left the room, brushing against the side of the hallway wall as it began to crowd with more people arriving and filing past her. She was a tiny bit tired, as the funeral the day before had sort of drained her and really, school was the last thing she wanted to deal with. But seeing how it was more or less mandatory, she was sort of stuck.

Heading toward her locker to grab her morning class textbooks, she was suddenly distracted by a familiar face walking ahead of her. It was one she hadn't seen in awhile, though she knew he had been out of the hospital and at school for several days but she hadn't been able to track him down. She'd heard rumors already...which had sort of just went in one ear and out the other with everything else going on in her head, especially given the rumors that went around school were usually based in pure crap. But he was there now and she lifted a hand in a tiny wave before making her way toward him. "Caleb!" How weird it was, to see him outside of the hospital and in such a 'normal' setting. "Hey," she greeted once she was closer to him. "...how are you?"

When he heard his name being called, it was a little startling. He didn't usually have that happen to him, sort of at all ever, so it was weird. But when he turned and saw Peyton, it made slightly more sense. He stopped, dropping back towards the wall so he wasn't bumped around too much while he waited for her. "Hey." he greeted, giving her a light smile. His mind was already starting to drift towards 'and where's your boyfriend?' but that wouldn't help matters to ask.

Who: Charlotte, works either as a solo or an open scene!
When: Four-thirty-ish.
Where: Lullaby's bedroom.

It still didn't feel over to Charlotte. She'd been to the wake, been to the funeral, managed to get through school the day after... and now what? Was everyone just supposed to find a way to move on? That didn't feel right. Or very likely.

Who: Herbert and Charlotte.
When: Lunchtime.
Where: School.

The nightmares had come back.

They weren't quite as overwhelming as they had been before the dreams that beckoned Charlotte to the mines, but they were back. Before the mines it had been constant, disorienting flashes of the things the cat-that-wasn't-a-cat had shown her. Things like an entire war-ravaged war and oceans of blood, animals ripping an infant apart limb from limb, and a million or so images of humankind at its most gruesome. Last night it had been the rotting corpses of everyone she'd known that had died, and what was happening to them underground. Around the time the corpses started to blink and stir and stare in wide-eyed horror at someone or something or just themselves and their situations Charlotte had woken up screaming.

She returned to school that day, but she felt drained, in every possible definition. Emotionally, mentally, physically... even spiritually. At lunch time she entered the cafeteria, but with all the people and noise surrounding her she realized she wasn't at all hungry. Sighing and shaking her head at herself, Charlotte turned and headed outside.

The day was really quite dreary, which seemed to suit a little bit. Two friends, after all, were very gone-- one dead and the other just farther away than Herbert would get to go anytime soon. It wasn't raining, though it smelled a bit like it. That wasn't enough to keep Herbert inside with the noise and crowd, though, so he was eating his lunch out on the lawn-- alone, which was kind of sad. He wanted people, today, preferably lots of them. Maybe once he'd made some headway on his food-- which was disappearing pretty rapidly into his belly-- he'd go seek someone out.

Except he caught sight of a familiar face-- or, more accurately, a familiar dark head of hair and a familiar, if subdued, walk-- and lifted a hand to wave hopefully in her direction. It would figure that the day after a funeral, the now quite well p.e. teacher would've seen fit to go right back into team sports, so they hadn't seen much of each other during class.

Who: Herbert and Sammy
Where: The walk to school.
When: Morning, before school.

The pleasant weather Marquette had been graced with the past few days seemed to have run out. Today was gray outside and oh-so-dreary, and Sammy - as he reached up to run his hands through non-existent curls - thought that the weather would have been more fitting for the day before. He dropped his hand from the cornrows and gripped the straps of his backpack instead as he trudged along, wondering what time he would see Herbert today. He'd found the note - right where he'd left it on top of his bookshelf - and even remembered to bring it along, so it would be a shame if he didn't see the werebear today. He hitched his broken backpack up further then as he picked up the familiar 'were' scent he picked up his pace.

Who: Sammy
Where: His bedroom
When: Around five a.m.

A dead sun was in the sky above a tall hill that was topped by a row of leafless dying trees. Large and lifeless the sun hung there like a pendulum whose motion had been forever stopped. You could look at it now for it had been dulled and the light that came from it was a clouded yellow that made everything appear hazy and fogged. Grass grew in patches here and there, but it was of a sparse and prickly variety that crunched at each step and turned to dust beneath your foot; dust similar to the ground that it grew up from.

7:00am - I haven't written in awhile, and really there's way too much to explain and my wrist would start cramping if I did. All I know is everything feels so off. I don't know what, or who, to believe anymore and everything is running around in circles in my head and I'm struggling really hard to just get my thoughts to stop and stay in one place so I can work through each one. Lullaby's death didn't really hit home until I walked into the funeral home yesterday. Her body - that's all it was - didn't even look like her she was just pale, and lifeless and laying there, like some kind of wax statue. I've known her forever, and while we weren't good friends, she was always friendly to pretty much everyone. And now she's gone, just like that, for no real reason. I don't know. It's just like Josh and Mary. I'd see them in the halls all the time. Now I don't. I won't see Lullaby in the halls anymore either. Death is a pretty big thing to deal with when you're seventeen and trying to maintain some semblance of sanity.