I love all of my reviewers! I love them all! Thanks for the best wishes on my puppy, she is doing much better. And thanks to ScribbleDribble's wonderful comments and to everyone's sweet reviews! I'm glad everyone liked the Death, even though it wasn't completely original. The next Death's are so please review!
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Chapter Nineteen
Instincts
No one said anything after Kimberly spoke, everyone was too shocked, frightened or confused to even process the smallest word to speak. Altessa sighed and slid down to the floor, leaning against the wall and sitting Indian-style, averting her eyes from the headless corpse that lay sprawled near the kitchen table. She didn't quite understand what had transpired, with the gun and the safety but she did understand that it was confusing and that Death didn't play by the same rules any longer.
Kimberly set the gun back on the table and sighed as well, walking over to join Thomas, who was still inspecting the wall. "I don't understand; how could the gun have gone off if the safety was still on?" She muttered, causing him to look over at her, with the same confused expression on his face that she wore.
"Maybe it's like what happened with Eugene, when the gun wouldn't go off because it wasn't his turn to die; I guess it's even more obvious now that Death can mess with inanimate objects to...kill." It wasn't the word that Thomas was searching for but it was the only word that came to mind.
"So, what you're saying is that Death, or whatever, can use anything to kill us?" Skye asked, causing everyone to turn and face her, surprised that she had spoken at all. When Kimberly and Thomas nodded, she sighed and dropped back against the couch. "Great. I guess I believe you now."
It was a small victory, but one nonetheless in the scheme of things; if Skye and Scott believed the threat was real, they would take it much more seriously and had a better chance of survival. "Who's going to die next?" Scott asked, looking at Altessa,, who stared at him blankly. "If you knew that we were going to die and you see to know so much about...Death, then who's going to die next?" He wasn't sure he wanted an answer, but that didn't stop him from asking regardless.
Altessa sighed and said, "We don't know, that's the thing. Since everyone died at once in my vision, we have no idea who is going to die next, there's no order." Her gaze moved across the room, scanning all of the anxious survivors and it pained her to think that anyone of them could die at any moment. And her mother, who had refused to come to the meeting, could be dead that very moment for all she knew.
Skye buried her face in her hands, shoulders sagging, hair obscuring her face. "I still can't believe this is happening, I mean, I'm getting married..." She trailed off, deciding it would be best to keep her self-pity to herself. People had already died, at least she still had a fighting chance.
"The only way we have a chance of figuring out who's next is by watching out for the Signs, anything that's overly ironic or just...wrong." Kimberly added, trying to provide Scott, Skye and Shane with as much information as she possibly could. "It can be anything, songs on the radio, anything, so don't ignore it."
"But how are we supposed to know what the Signs mean if we don't know who's next to die?" Scott asked, bringing up a point that Kimberly had thought about a good many times. She had no answer for him, no one did, and the question was left open.
The apartment was silent once again, the silence broken by Kimberly, who sighed when she glanced over at the corpse that had been Richard Louis. "We need to do something with the body." She stated, though she didn't know what. "At least cover it up or something, there are towels in the bathroom." And with that, the brunette headed down the short hallway toward the small bathroom. After a moment's pause, Altessa followed her, disappearing just as Kimberly had done.
Altessa shut the bathroom door behind her, which startled Kimberly and caused her to turn around, looking slightly relieved when she saw that it was only the teenager. "Sorry." Altessa mumbled by way of an apology. "I need to talk to you; I know there's no order but I think I know who's going to be next, it's a feeling but..."
Kimberly pursed her lips, brow knitting. "It's important to trust those 'feelings', who is it Altessa?" She questioned, heart beginning to hammer in her chest. She was certain that the teenager was going to say her name, or Thomas' and she didn't think she was quite ready to hear that.
Altessa took a deep breath and frowned as well. "I think, I think it's Shane; every time I look at him I get this weird feeling, like someone poured cold water down my spine and in my stomach. I don't get it when I look at you, or anyone else, so what else could it be?" She wanted desperately for Kimberly to tell her that she was wrong, that it was just her nerves that caused the feeling. She had already lost her best friend, she couldn't lose her boyfriend too.
Kimberly saw Altessa's pleading look and wanted to reassure the teenager, understood what she was feeling but didn't have to offer her. She had a feeling that the girl's unease was the only Sign they were going to get and that she was hitting it head on about her boyfriend being the next one on the List. Instead she said, "You might be right, Altessa, but we won't let anything happen to him, I promise."
Altessa nodded once, turning away from the brunette and walking over to the towel rack that was bolted next to the shower, pulling down two sets of towels. Her elbow bumped into the glass shower doors and she noticed how rickety they appeared, swaying on their rusty hinges. "Your shower doors are loose." She told Kimberly, a semi-warning to be remembered later, just in case.
Kimberly nodded once, pulling a few towels from the cabinet beneath the sink. "This apartment is a piece of crap, everything is broken or breaking." She remarked as the two women left the tiny bathroom and rejoined everyone in the living room. Silently, they set about covering Richard; Altessa draped a single towel over the man's head, which was laying a few feet away from the body.
"We should call the police so they can come get the body." Altessa mumbled, looking over at Kimberly, who dropped a towel over Richard's torn neck without looking down, nose wrinkled comically.
The brunette turned her gaze over to the teenager, raising an eyebrow. "And tell them what?" She questioned, looking relieved when the corpse was completely covered.
"The truth." Altessa offered, shrugging her shoulders and sighing. "As much fun as this has been, I think I need to go home and check on my mother." She pursed her lips, feeling worried for Amanda's sake but the feelings she felt for her didn't compare to how she felt for Shane.
Kimberly nodded once, stepping away from the body and grabbing the keys to her silver VW Beetle off the desk. "Right, I'll drive you." She offered, turning to face Thomas, who looked slightly concerned at the thought of his girlfriend going off (in a car, no less) but didn't say anything. "Shane, I'll give you a ride too."
Shane nodded gratefully, and followed his girlfriend and the brunette out of the apartment, looking cautiously around him, seeing everything in a new light, everything as a potential death. Kimberly's car was parked beside Thomas' SUV, mostly unused by still good to have. As Shane climbed into the backseat, he couldn't help but say, "Drive the speed limit and check your blind spots."
Kimberly couldn't help but roll her eyes as she backed the car out of the parking lot. "Thanks for the advice but, after the pileup last year, I'm the most cautious driver you can meet." She assured him, though she felt like she was reassuring herself as well.
The ride was silent, no one really knowing what to say; Altessa still felt the icy feeling whenever she looked at Shane but she didn't say anything about it. Shane was already worried enough and she figured it wouldn't do any good to get him worked up about his possible Death, though it was almost inevitable.
The silence was broken suddenly when Kimberly's cell phone rang, causing everyone to jump; the brunette glanced down and pulled the cell phone free from her pocket, fearing that it would be Thomas calling for with warning, looking slightly relieved when the implanted Caller ID reported that it was only her father. She cast an apologetic glance to Altessa, who looked just as worried as she felt and answered the phone. "Hey Dad, what's up?"
Altessa sighed in relief and glanced ahead, seeing that a road block was set up in front of them to protect a road construction site, complete with upraised nails to further deter people from coming through. It was something Kimberly had missed when she had reached down the answer the phone, and she still didn't appear to notice the blockade. "Kimberly! Watch out!" The teenager cried.
Kimberly slammed down on the breaks, though it wasn't in time to keep them from rolling over the nails, all four tires popping; the Beetle swerved, spinning twice in a full circle, tires squealing in resistance. The car finally came to a stop when the right side crashed into the side of a drilling truck, puncturing through the metal of the back area. Altessa cried out in surprise, grateful that she had not been impaled by the curled metal drill, just as grateful that Shane had chosen to sit behind Kimberly.
"Is everyone okay?" Kimberly asked, turning to look behind her, as well as over at Altessa, who nodded slowly. She realized that her father was still on the other line of her cell phone, sounding very concerned for his only daughter and she promised to call him back later. She unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out of the car, sighing deeply at yet another close call.
Shane climbed out behind her and Altessa got out of her respective side, joining her friends. "That was close." Shane mumbled, heart beat finally returning to normal. Kimberly and Altessa nodded their agreement; Altessa sighed as she turned to face the car, brow knitting when she realized that the gas tank had been punctured and was leaking gasoline onto the asphalt.
She looked up, feeling the very familiar sensation of fear coming upon her as she watched the gasoline trickle down the road; it was only until the smell of smoke tickled her nose that she realized what was about to happen. One of the less concerned construction workers was smoking a cigarette and was taking one final drag on the butt before flicking it onto the ground beneath him. To Altessa, the whole scene seemed like something directly out of a movie, the chain of events being set up so clearly that one had to be an idiot to not see what was about to happen. The cigarette would catch the gasoline on fire and the trail would lead back to Kimberly's car, which would catch fire as well and surely kill them all in the following explosion.
Before Altessa could even open her mouth to cry a warning, the worker flicked the cigarette directly into the steam of gasoline, which ignited immediately, the fire snaking backward toward the battered Beetle. The teenager's fumbled warning was smothered by the deafening explosion, the second one Altessa had heard that day; the power of the blast knocked everyone in the vicinity backwards, slamming Kimberly and Altessa into the concrete.
When the smoke cleared some, Kimberly sat up slowly, touching the back of her skull and feeling a bump where her head had hit the asphalt; her drew her fingers away and saw that there was no blood, which was a good sign. Checking herself over, she decided that she was okay for the most part, a little bruised, battered and singed but all right considering how close she had been to the car when it had exploded. She took that as proof that it hadn't been her turn to die.
Kimberly stood up, gingerly testing her feet, brushing dirt and ash off the front of her shirt. It was then that she remembered Altessa and Shane and she turned around, eyes searching through the din and smoke for them.
The sound of Altessa's panicked, frightened scream caused Kimberly to whirl around, finally able to locate the teenager, who was on her palms and knees on the concrete, staring straight ahead, pale face awash with panic. Kimberly followed her line of sight and saw what had caused Altessa's screams.
Shane had been thrown backwards by the blast as well, though he hadn't been as lucky as the girls had been; the teenager had fallen on the row of nails, their metal tips impaling him through the neck. The tips had punctured all the way through, dripping with blood and torn flesh.
Kimberly dropped to her knees as well, looking away from the corpse of Altessa's boyfriend; Altessa had been right after all, her uneasy feelings proving to be the only Sign that they would get. She wanted to go to the teenager and offer her what little comfort she could but Kimberly found herself unable to move, rooted to her spot.
Another 'survivor' was dead and Kimberly couldn't help but feel that she was somewhat responsible; if she had been watching the road instead of messing with her cell phone she might have seen the blockade in time. She bowed her head and listened to Altessa's soft sobs, unable to do anything other then stare at the concrete.
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That chapter was kinda lame, sorry about that; Shane's death was kinda rushed, I just thought of the idea while I was watching this and it kinda comes from the movie "Urban Legend". I couldn't remember the official name for the nails that they lay on the road, sorry; as for the truck with the drill, I pass one every time I go to my dad's house because they're doing road work, so I hope someone knows what I'm talking about. It's a big truck with a curled drill that makes holes in the ground. Anyway, please review!
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Chapter Nineteen
Instincts
No one said anything after Kimberly spoke, everyone was too shocked, frightened or confused to even process the smallest word to speak. Altessa sighed and slid down to the floor, leaning against the wall and sitting Indian-style, averting her eyes from the headless corpse that lay sprawled near the kitchen table. She didn't quite understand what had transpired, with the gun and the safety but she did understand that it was confusing and that Death didn't play by the same rules any longer.
Kimberly set the gun back on the table and sighed as well, walking over to join Thomas, who was still inspecting the wall. "I don't understand; how could the gun have gone off if the safety was still on?" She muttered, causing him to look over at her, with the same confused expression on his face that she wore.
"Maybe it's like what happened with Eugene, when the gun wouldn't go off because it wasn't his turn to die; I guess it's even more obvious now that Death can mess with inanimate objects to...kill." It wasn't the word that Thomas was searching for but it was the only word that came to mind.
"So, what you're saying is that Death, or whatever, can use anything to kill us?" Skye asked, causing everyone to turn and face her, surprised that she had spoken at all. When Kimberly and Thomas nodded, she sighed and dropped back against the couch. "Great. I guess I believe you now."
It was a small victory, but one nonetheless in the scheme of things; if Skye and Scott believed the threat was real, they would take it much more seriously and had a better chance of survival. "Who's going to die next?" Scott asked, looking at Altessa,, who stared at him blankly. "If you knew that we were going to die and you see to know so much about...Death, then who's going to die next?" He wasn't sure he wanted an answer, but that didn't stop him from asking regardless.
Altessa sighed and said, "We don't know, that's the thing. Since everyone died at once in my vision, we have no idea who is going to die next, there's no order." Her gaze moved across the room, scanning all of the anxious survivors and it pained her to think that anyone of them could die at any moment. And her mother, who had refused to come to the meeting, could be dead that very moment for all she knew.
Skye buried her face in her hands, shoulders sagging, hair obscuring her face. "I still can't believe this is happening, I mean, I'm getting married..." She trailed off, deciding it would be best to keep her self-pity to herself. People had already died, at least she still had a fighting chance.
"The only way we have a chance of figuring out who's next is by watching out for the Signs, anything that's overly ironic or just...wrong." Kimberly added, trying to provide Scott, Skye and Shane with as much information as she possibly could. "It can be anything, songs on the radio, anything, so don't ignore it."
"But how are we supposed to know what the Signs mean if we don't know who's next to die?" Scott asked, bringing up a point that Kimberly had thought about a good many times. She had no answer for him, no one did, and the question was left open.
The apartment was silent once again, the silence broken by Kimberly, who sighed when she glanced over at the corpse that had been Richard Louis. "We need to do something with the body." She stated, though she didn't know what. "At least cover it up or something, there are towels in the bathroom." And with that, the brunette headed down the short hallway toward the small bathroom. After a moment's pause, Altessa followed her, disappearing just as Kimberly had done.
Altessa shut the bathroom door behind her, which startled Kimberly and caused her to turn around, looking slightly relieved when she saw that it was only the teenager. "Sorry." Altessa mumbled by way of an apology. "I need to talk to you; I know there's no order but I think I know who's going to be next, it's a feeling but..."
Kimberly pursed her lips, brow knitting. "It's important to trust those 'feelings', who is it Altessa?" She questioned, heart beginning to hammer in her chest. She was certain that the teenager was going to say her name, or Thomas' and she didn't think she was quite ready to hear that.
Altessa took a deep breath and frowned as well. "I think, I think it's Shane; every time I look at him I get this weird feeling, like someone poured cold water down my spine and in my stomach. I don't get it when I look at you, or anyone else, so what else could it be?" She wanted desperately for Kimberly to tell her that she was wrong, that it was just her nerves that caused the feeling. She had already lost her best friend, she couldn't lose her boyfriend too.
Kimberly saw Altessa's pleading look and wanted to reassure the teenager, understood what she was feeling but didn't have to offer her. She had a feeling that the girl's unease was the only Sign they were going to get and that she was hitting it head on about her boyfriend being the next one on the List. Instead she said, "You might be right, Altessa, but we won't let anything happen to him, I promise."
Altessa nodded once, turning away from the brunette and walking over to the towel rack that was bolted next to the shower, pulling down two sets of towels. Her elbow bumped into the glass shower doors and she noticed how rickety they appeared, swaying on their rusty hinges. "Your shower doors are loose." She told Kimberly, a semi-warning to be remembered later, just in case.
Kimberly nodded once, pulling a few towels from the cabinet beneath the sink. "This apartment is a piece of crap, everything is broken or breaking." She remarked as the two women left the tiny bathroom and rejoined everyone in the living room. Silently, they set about covering Richard; Altessa draped a single towel over the man's head, which was laying a few feet away from the body.
"We should call the police so they can come get the body." Altessa mumbled, looking over at Kimberly, who dropped a towel over Richard's torn neck without looking down, nose wrinkled comically.
The brunette turned her gaze over to the teenager, raising an eyebrow. "And tell them what?" She questioned, looking relieved when the corpse was completely covered.
"The truth." Altessa offered, shrugging her shoulders and sighing. "As much fun as this has been, I think I need to go home and check on my mother." She pursed her lips, feeling worried for Amanda's sake but the feelings she felt for her didn't compare to how she felt for Shane.
Kimberly nodded once, stepping away from the body and grabbing the keys to her silver VW Beetle off the desk. "Right, I'll drive you." She offered, turning to face Thomas, who looked slightly concerned at the thought of his girlfriend going off (in a car, no less) but didn't say anything. "Shane, I'll give you a ride too."
Shane nodded gratefully, and followed his girlfriend and the brunette out of the apartment, looking cautiously around him, seeing everything in a new light, everything as a potential death. Kimberly's car was parked beside Thomas' SUV, mostly unused by still good to have. As Shane climbed into the backseat, he couldn't help but say, "Drive the speed limit and check your blind spots."
Kimberly couldn't help but roll her eyes as she backed the car out of the parking lot. "Thanks for the advice but, after the pileup last year, I'm the most cautious driver you can meet." She assured him, though she felt like she was reassuring herself as well.
The ride was silent, no one really knowing what to say; Altessa still felt the icy feeling whenever she looked at Shane but she didn't say anything about it. Shane was already worried enough and she figured it wouldn't do any good to get him worked up about his possible Death, though it was almost inevitable.
The silence was broken suddenly when Kimberly's cell phone rang, causing everyone to jump; the brunette glanced down and pulled the cell phone free from her pocket, fearing that it would be Thomas calling for with warning, looking slightly relieved when the implanted Caller ID reported that it was only her father. She cast an apologetic glance to Altessa, who looked just as worried as she felt and answered the phone. "Hey Dad, what's up?"
Altessa sighed in relief and glanced ahead, seeing that a road block was set up in front of them to protect a road construction site, complete with upraised nails to further deter people from coming through. It was something Kimberly had missed when she had reached down the answer the phone, and she still didn't appear to notice the blockade. "Kimberly! Watch out!" The teenager cried.
Kimberly slammed down on the breaks, though it wasn't in time to keep them from rolling over the nails, all four tires popping; the Beetle swerved, spinning twice in a full circle, tires squealing in resistance. The car finally came to a stop when the right side crashed into the side of a drilling truck, puncturing through the metal of the back area. Altessa cried out in surprise, grateful that she had not been impaled by the curled metal drill, just as grateful that Shane had chosen to sit behind Kimberly.
"Is everyone okay?" Kimberly asked, turning to look behind her, as well as over at Altessa, who nodded slowly. She realized that her father was still on the other line of her cell phone, sounding very concerned for his only daughter and she promised to call him back later. She unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out of the car, sighing deeply at yet another close call.
Shane climbed out behind her and Altessa got out of her respective side, joining her friends. "That was close." Shane mumbled, heart beat finally returning to normal. Kimberly and Altessa nodded their agreement; Altessa sighed as she turned to face the car, brow knitting when she realized that the gas tank had been punctured and was leaking gasoline onto the asphalt.
She looked up, feeling the very familiar sensation of fear coming upon her as she watched the gasoline trickle down the road; it was only until the smell of smoke tickled her nose that she realized what was about to happen. One of the less concerned construction workers was smoking a cigarette and was taking one final drag on the butt before flicking it onto the ground beneath him. To Altessa, the whole scene seemed like something directly out of a movie, the chain of events being set up so clearly that one had to be an idiot to not see what was about to happen. The cigarette would catch the gasoline on fire and the trail would lead back to Kimberly's car, which would catch fire as well and surely kill them all in the following explosion.
Before Altessa could even open her mouth to cry a warning, the worker flicked the cigarette directly into the steam of gasoline, which ignited immediately, the fire snaking backward toward the battered Beetle. The teenager's fumbled warning was smothered by the deafening explosion, the second one Altessa had heard that day; the power of the blast knocked everyone in the vicinity backwards, slamming Kimberly and Altessa into the concrete.
When the smoke cleared some, Kimberly sat up slowly, touching the back of her skull and feeling a bump where her head had hit the asphalt; her drew her fingers away and saw that there was no blood, which was a good sign. Checking herself over, she decided that she was okay for the most part, a little bruised, battered and singed but all right considering how close she had been to the car when it had exploded. She took that as proof that it hadn't been her turn to die.
Kimberly stood up, gingerly testing her feet, brushing dirt and ash off the front of her shirt. It was then that she remembered Altessa and Shane and she turned around, eyes searching through the din and smoke for them.
The sound of Altessa's panicked, frightened scream caused Kimberly to whirl around, finally able to locate the teenager, who was on her palms and knees on the concrete, staring straight ahead, pale face awash with panic. Kimberly followed her line of sight and saw what had caused Altessa's screams.
Shane had been thrown backwards by the blast as well, though he hadn't been as lucky as the girls had been; the teenager had fallen on the row of nails, their metal tips impaling him through the neck. The tips had punctured all the way through, dripping with blood and torn flesh.
Kimberly dropped to her knees as well, looking away from the corpse of Altessa's boyfriend; Altessa had been right after all, her uneasy feelings proving to be the only Sign that they would get. She wanted to go to the teenager and offer her what little comfort she could but Kimberly found herself unable to move, rooted to her spot.
Another 'survivor' was dead and Kimberly couldn't help but feel that she was somewhat responsible; if she had been watching the road instead of messing with her cell phone she might have seen the blockade in time. She bowed her head and listened to Altessa's soft sobs, unable to do anything other then stare at the concrete.
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That chapter was kinda lame, sorry about that; Shane's death was kinda rushed, I just thought of the idea while I was watching this and it kinda comes from the movie "Urban Legend". I couldn't remember the official name for the nails that they lay on the road, sorry; as for the truck with the drill, I pass one every time I go to my dad's house because they're doing road work, so I hope someone knows what I'm talking about. It's a big truck with a curled drill that makes holes in the ground. Anyway, please review!