Swift Counter (18) D4M

Today's a lovely day for a swim. Every day is a lovely day for a swim, rain or shine, heat or cold, but it really was a particularly good day for swimming. The sun was shining, but the weather wasn't sweltering. There were almost no clouds in the sky. It was a great time to go burn off some steam and get a good workout in, even though most people in Four hardly considered swimming a workout. Workouts were lifting weights or sparring, not goofing off in the water. The effort put into staying afloat was commonly overlooked.

I walked into the water, getting to the point where I could jump up ad dive in, and dove. The water was pretty clear, so I opened my eyes and breathed out, letting myself slowly sink to the bottom. I could only stay there for a couple seconds, but I basked in each one. I got to look up through the water, staring at life from a whole new perspective. The sun made patterns play in the water, and I watched them flicker across my vision until my lungs were screaming for air and I was forced to resurface.

When I hit the surface, I noticed my girlfriend, Audrey, walking onto the beach. She was looking for something, and I knew it was me. She knew which swimming spot was my favorite, and she was walking over to my favorite entry point. I swam over to her, quickly hitting the shore.

"Hello there, lovely lady. What's someone like you doing all alone?" I said, walking up to her. She laughed.

"I'm looking for my boyfriend! Have you seen him anywhere?"

"No! Someone like you must have a completely amazing boyfriend, though."

"Oh, I do. He's amazing, and sweet, and charming," Audrey said, hugging me. I was all wet, so she got wet too, but neither of us minded. Four was for fishes.

"I hear he's a great dancer, too," I said, pulling Audrey into proper waltz position. It was a good way to dry off, basking in the sun but still moving. Audrey let me lead, and I pulled her into a series of spins. Those were her favorite.

After a couple minutes, Audrey stopped me. "I came looking for you because we need to go home. I'm trying to find something at your house," she said, not giving me a hint of what was there. I shrugged and walked with her.

It took us about an hour to reach my house. We walked slowly, and it was a decent distance. When we did, I noticed that all the lights were off, and the door was locked. Odd. Mom should be home. And everyone else. I pulled my key out of my pocket and unlocked the door, walking in ahead of Audrey. If something was off, I wanted to be the one that got hurt.

"Surprise! Congratulations!" a chorus of voices yelled out. I jumped, ready for a fight, before realizing that this was a good thing. All of my friends and family members had been hiding behind furniture, and they jumped out to congratulate me. We had a cake, and the house was decorated. All this in a couple hours? I wasn't gone for that long.

Audrey snapped me out of my thoughts with a kiss. "Congratulations, my hunka hunka burning love."


Rialta Vernell (18) D4F

I sat in the graveyard, completely calmly. It was raining heavily, the wind was blowing, and the ground was covered in mist. It was the perfect day to find yourself haunted after taking a wrong turn, followed home by a zombie or a demon. Most people would have avoided a graveyard on a day like ours, but I had no intentions of doing so. I had been waiting for a day where everything seemed haunted. There was a chance it would hold just the opportunity I needed.

Halona Remus, the tombstone I was sitting at read. She was last year's Four female, just like I would be soon. I wanted to get a couple more bits of knowledge from her than I already had, but it wasn't going well. All I was doing was staring at a rock, hoping for some piece of motion or some sign that the girl was still around. I wanted to know if she had just blipped from existence entirely, or if she was haunting the world, or if she was in a heaven or hell. She wasn't telling me. My research said that she was in some form of other world, since the Ouija boards had said that, but she was not proving anything.

Possibly nothing. Doesn't make sense. Should be around. Not nice? Seemed cool. No signs. No ability? I jotted notes down into my notebook in fragments. I circled the last note a couple of times, trying to remind myself to look over that again later. Maybe the dead were still around, but they just couldn't show us. Or they couldn't show us well. That would explain why we sometimes felt like we were being watched when nothing was there, and why we could sense the dead sometimes. Why entire rooms hushed when they were mentioned.

Soon that'll be you. I was going to be dead soon, and I wanted to know exactly what was coming. Even if I didn't die in the Games, it was coming sometime. Even if I was immortal, I would have wanted to know. Curiosity is a terrible thing, and I wanted mine quenched. I had just chosen one of the worst mysteries in the world to be curious about. No one knew the answer, maybe not even the dead. Maybe people did just blip away. The thought of that shook me, but I wasn't sure if it shook me more than staying around after I died. Would I rather be eternally lurking, or would I rather just be gone?

A strong gust of wind stopped me from answering that question. I was wearing one of my favorite hats, and the wind stole it. Naturally, I took off after my hat, not wanting to lose one of my best possessions. I sprinted, trying to keep my steps quiet despite my hurry. Any situation was a chance to keep the final solution of what death was a little bit father away. Losing a hat was good enough reason for me to need to go quickly, but silence was a trait that was difficult to find a motive to train. I wouldn't lose the hat if my footsteps were loud. Still, you're gonna need it.