Disclaimer: I don't own the show or any of the characters. I just love it so much!

Lake Washington Boat Party

Story One: Pearls before Undying

Hunger… She never knew such hunger before in her life. It consumed her whole body and her thoughts were centered on her empty stomach. Sometimes she thought that food was close, that if she could only reach high enough she could grasp it. But though she stretched her hands up as high as she could, she never managed it. Her hands would drop and she felt nothing except the hunger.

There used to be more than this, didn't there? She could barely remember a time before the hunger; it felt like it had always consumed her. Yet there had to be something before this. What was it? She paced her small world and felt a strange beaded weight touching her skin. Her hand lifted and she curled her fingers around the object…

In all honesty, Marcy didn't expect Liv to come. The girl was overachieving to an almost inhuman degree and she had that gorgeous piece of arm candy ready to whisk her off. Yet to her surprise, she heard Liv call out her name. She stopped and waited for Liv to catch up with her.

"Hey," she greeted in pleasant surprise. "What changed your mind?"

"I decided a party on a boat might be fun."

"Glad to hear it." Marcy locked arms with Liv and started leading her to the docks. "You won't regret it."

As they got closer Marcy could hear the music pounding from loudspeakers. Closer still and she caught sight of other partygoers mingling on the boat, some whooping as they jumped off the edge into the water only to scramble back up and do it all over again. She turned to gauge Liv's reaction and saw that the other woman was taking everything in with a polite smile on her lips. Liv noticed Marcy staring and offered a wider smile.

"It looks great."

"Max Rager sure knows how to throw a party," Marcy agreed. The two climbed aboard together and headed for the refreshment table. Again Liv made a surprising move and accepted a cup of beer. Maybe she was taking Marcy's advice about loosening up seriously.

The two mingled with other hospital residents, who were all surprised to see Liv at a party. Marcy felt pretty proud of herself for bringing her out. She thought she would need to stick close to Liv, but the other woman proved herself fully capable of navigating the party on her own. Marcy told Liv she was going to check out the other end of the boat and Liv dismissed her with a friendly wave.

Marcy eventually ran into a group who, by her trained doctor's eye, were clearly riding the high of a drug. She saw them passing it around and drew a little closer to see what they were taking. It was tiny, barely bigger than her fingernail. Marcy dabbled in drugs before but never saw one like this.

"Hey, what is that stuff?" she asked one who was currently snorting it up their nose.

"It's called utopium!" they shouted back. "It's the best stuff in the world! Man, the music here is so good!" And with that they started dancing with another drugged partier. Marcy noticed that all the most active partiers were either taking or passing around utopium. Here she thought that energy was thanks to Max Rager.

"I have got to try this stuff. Where can I get it?" They pointed her to the seller. When Marcy approached and asked for some, he surprised her with how cheap it was. Not like she was going to complain about it. Within minutes she had the drug shooting through her brain.

She lost track of time. She powered through a few Max Ragers and some more utopium. Some guy hit on her and called her a bitch when Marcy turned him down. Anger flared up like she never experienced before, narrowing her world down to this man and the desire to attack. His flesh and muscle tore so easily in her hands and his blood oddly did not repulse her as it hit her tongue.

There was fire and screaming all around her. All Marcy cared about was the people, and more specifically their brains. The desire for them moved her to chase after those who were fleeing. A group got stuck on the ramp and were being grabbed by others like her. Something inside helped her tell the difference. As they fell overboard or were taken down a path opened and she made her way through. One saw her and screamed before taking off; Marcy followed, snarling a threat at her retreating prey.

This one was faster than she expected but she would catch up soon: they would tire out eventually while Marcy felt she had endless reserves of energy. At last she cornered him and made a lunge for his head. He grabbed her and used her momentum to toss her over. She felt herself falling down, down, down, crunch.

"Oh, god. Oh, my god, I killed her." Trembling, he peered over the edge to look at her. Seeing her broken body like that made her look like a normal girl. He took in calming gulps of air and forced his body to stop shaking long enough to grab something to cover the hole. There was no way he was going to report this; no one would believe he was just protecting himself from a weird zombie-like girl. There were no witnesses and even if they found the body, there was no way they could pin it on him. Once he was sure the hole was covered he ran away, hoping to leave the horrors of this night behind him forever.

Marcy woke up in darkness. At first she had no idea where she was or how she got there, but then her mind started playing back what happened. It didn't feel real yet her nails were still bloody from where she ripped that flirty guy's arm off. She shuddered and vomited, though there was little in her stomach. I killed someone. She was a doctor; she was supposed to do no harm. I killed… oh, god, I don't know how many people. That broke her and she wept, snot dripping down her nose.

Eventually there were no more tears. Marcy forced herself together so she could take stock of her surroundings. There was no natural or artificial light yet she could see everything perfectly, not that there was much to see. It looked like the inside of a cistern or something. She placed a hand on the wall and took a walk around, finding it completely smooth. Marcy jumped but it was to far and the opening was blocked.

"Hello?" she called out. "Hello, is anyone up there? Please help me!" She kept shouting until she was hoarse but got no response.

She was trapped with no food or water and… wait, how could she have fallen down here and not gotten hurt? Marcy felt her head, her back, legs and arms, but found no breaks or tears or even much of her own blood. That shouldn't have been possible. Her mind tried grasping for an answer but she was too hungry to think.

Time was hard to gauge in her dark prison. The only way she could mark it was by her hunger, which grew progressively worse and worse. At some point Marcy tried calling for help again. After still getting no answer she gave up entirely and took to pacing around her small prison. Humans could survive longer without food than without water but to her, it felt like food was all she wanted. She didn't feel that thirsty or even tired. It was like her hunger was driving her beyond normal limitations.

Marcy paced back and forth, back and forth searching for food. It was all she cared about anymore.

Her fingers dropped from the pearl necklace. Even as she recalled all of those memories she felt them slipping away again. It felt like too much effort to hold onto them. If only she could eat she would feel like herself again. She decided to call out one last time but the only sound she made was a snarl. Desperately she tried to hold onto something that was her.

Marcy. I am… Marcy. And then that, too, was gone.