Day 5: Skeleton (Scott, post-season 1)

Soundtrack: Dead man's party – Oingo Boingo

Scott took a deep breath he didn't need, before he plunged into the crowds of Carnaval. After his re-birth, he'd wandered over to the coast, mostly because Kate wasn't the only Fuller who loved the beach. A darker part of him remembered all the tourists, who would probably make for good eating. Whatever that bastard Carlos had done otherwise, he'd given Scott a good rundown on the culebras basics, at least, including the best ways to choose a meal and body disposal.

But he hadn't mentioned that you could feed without killing... but then, Carlos had an all-you-can-eat buffet every night, where killing everyone in the place was only practical. Scott was actually kind of proud of himself for figuring out that part on his own. It only worked about half the time – which was one of the reasons Scott mostly picked tourists, with no one around to make a fuss – because he needed to feed pretty much every night to be able to control himself that much.

But Carnaval, here in Mazatlan, had huge crowds of revellers every night. Scott would be able to control his feeding, especially on people who were tipsy or tweaking enough that they'd think the whole thing was a dream. (Oddly, drink and drugs didn't cross over with the feeding. Probably just as well.)

Scott had a good stash of money, because one of his first feedings had been on one of Carlos' supply stations, with cash and drugs littered around the place. After he'd glutted himself on the half-dozen workers, Scott had set the place on fire to cover his tracks. Given Jacob Fuller's anti-drugs stance, Scott liked to think that his Dad might have been proud of him for one part of that night's activities, at least.

But the money was enough to keep him going for awhile, especially since Kate had left him the RV. Scott didn't know how she'd gotten away from the Twister, but when he'd emerged from a day of hiding in a nook right under the wreckage of the Twister – he did not want to get press-ganged into Carlos' cartel, thank you very much – it had still been there in the parking lot. His new, ultra-keen sense of smell had followed the remnants of his sister's unique scent around the RV, and centred on the bumper – the same place their Momma had always put the hide-a-key on the family car, because she was notorious for losing the car keys in her purse every time she went shopping.

When he found the keys, with Kate's scent all but imprinted on the warm metal, Scott knew that despite everything, his sister still loved him.

It had been what kick-started his need to control his new state of being; the idea that maybe, he could track down Kate and show up at her door, and not be met by a stake to the heart.

Scott stopped at the edge of the parade, taking a moment to appreciate the floats passing by. Maybe one day he could go up to New Orleans for Carnival there... Kate had always wanted to go, and it seemed to be the biggest part of post-Katrina recovery.

The flashing lights from one of the floats bounced off the windows of the stores lining the street, and something caught Scott's eye. Turning away from the crowd, he headed towards the gift shop, and spent a good five minutes looking over the display. Made up of jewellery, postcards, little framed tableaus and paintings, they all featured little skeletons. Despite the subject, the whole display seemed kind of funny – what was that SAT word? Whimsical?

On impulse, Scott bought a pair of skeleton earrings and a pack of postcards. When he found out where Kate was, he'd send her the earrings. Just to tell her that he was still around...

...and that he still loved her, too.

(NOTE: this was actually inspired by an art gallery near my home; the owners frequently go to Mexico on buying trips. So if you're ever in Adelaide, check out the Jackalope Studio Gallery in Port Adelaide!

I've come across a few dissenting opinions about this, so I thought it worth mentioning: if you pay close attention to Scott's dialogue in the scene where he and Carlos are ransacking the RV, Scott isn't automatically working with Carlos because he's a culebras now. He made a deal with Carlos to get Jacob and Kate out of the labyrinth in exchange for Scott handing over the bearer bonds and spying on Santanico with Richie. Since he didn't know that Carlos had specific plans for Kate of a sacrificial nature, Scott didn't have any reason to think Carlos wouldn't hold up his end.)