Chapter 8: More Chaos, Less Payoffs.
A chapter of surprises, angst and doubts
Playa Des Losers
08:50 AM
"Damien."
No response.
"Damien."
No response.
"Damien!"
"Aah! Wha-what?! What's going on?!" Damien looked around, waking up abruptly due to someone screaming his name. Who could be awake so early in the morning just to prematurely end his sleep?
He took some seconds to calm down, before eventually understanding who was calling his name. It was Axel.
The girl was standing in front of him, with her hands on her hips. She seemed very unimpressed by Damien for some reason.
Then he finally remembered. He was supposed to look over Wayne and Raj for the night. A sense of guilt caught up with Damien.
"Good thing you weren't tired yesterday when you proposed yourself to take care of them." Axel said sarcastically. Then they both turned to take a look at the hockey bros. They were still asleep, completely untouched by Axel's screams.
"Sorry Axel… I guess I wasn't really a good guardian." The boy scratched the back of his head in shame for his poor job and looked down to avoid eye contact.
"Yeah, no shit." She then set down on another chair in front of Damien, next to Raj's gurney.
"Look, I'm sorry! I thought I could do it."
"Clearly you were wrong. You're lucky they didn't wake up."
"I know…" They stayed in silence for some time. Then Damien checked his phone to look at the time, and he immediately started questioning something.
"Why are you awake? It's just 9 in the morning. Who wakes up so early in a resort made to be relaxing?"
"I do. The zombies do not care what time it is, or if you want another 5 minutes before waking up. You have to be ready at any time. That's why I always sleep with a crossbow under my pillow." She said, remaining completely stoic.
"Good to know…" Her obsession with the zombie apocalypse never made sense to anyone, but at the same time, no one really cared enough to ask why she firmly believed in it. As long as she didn't mistake them for zombies, they should all be in the clear. Aside from Ripper maybe.
"So!" Damien started "Do you want to take my place here or…"
"I thought that was obvious. Someone smart like you should have already figured it out." Axel didn't move an inch, like she usually did in every situation. Understanding that his "job" was done (poorly, but still done) Damien stood up from the chair he spent the night on and approached the exit to the tent. But before he could completely leave, something stopped him.
"I also wanted to thank you." Axel said out of nowhere. Damien turned back to the survivalist, and noticed she wasn't looking at him. She was instead looking at the hockey bros, even if the sentence just said was clearly meant only for Damien.
"For yesterday, I mean."
"Yeah, I figured that out. And no need to thank me. It was my pleasure to help you fix things with Nichelle." Axel still didn't turn to look at Damien, focusing instead on everything else in the room except for the boy. Then, when Damien was about to leave again, she spoke once again.
"I guess I just never learned how to apologize or to thank others. Urgh! This is exactly the type of things I don't want to talk about!" She clutched her fist saying this. Clearly, she was having a hard time speaking of her feelings. This sure was a recurring theme these days, huh?
"It's okay. You don't have to force yourself, all I needed to know was that you two are fine now." Damien gave Axel a sympathetic smile, and the girl simply responded with a small nod.
"Thanks." That was the last thing Damien heard before leaving the tent.
Damien made his way back to his room to get a better sleep, but it was to no avail. At this point, he was more than awake due to Axel's screams still ringing in his hears.
Seeing he was not getting any sleep, Damien then decided to go get some breakfast.
While on his way to reach the restaurant area, a door opened just as he was reaching the end of the hallway. He turned his head just to see that Caleb also woke up, and probably had the same idea Damien had.
"Oh! Good morning, Caleb!" Damien greeted the hot smoking ex-player with a wave.
"Morning." Caleb also replied with a wave, though he was definitely looking a lot sleepier than Damien.
"You wanted to get breakfast too?" Damien asked. Caleb simply made a nod with the head and the two were off to get their food.
Restaurant Area (Playa Des Losers)
09:25 AM
Once they reached the area, they immediately went for the buffet that was full of any type of breakfast anyone could desire. Waffles, pancakes, bacon, eggs, brioches, croissants and overall, anything that would fill your stomach before starting your day.
Caleb simply went for some eggs and bacon, while Damien took a couple of waffles. They sat down at one of the tables nearby and started eating their food.
"Man, if only I knew about this place when I signed up, I would have made sure to be the first boot!" Damien said taking a bite of the waffles, just to then look at Caleb who seemed not very pleased with his comment.
"Oh, sorry man! Didn't mean to make you upset. I should have watched my words better." Caleb simply shrugged and ate a bite of bacon before replying to the apology.
"Meh, it's fine really. Just a bit hard to remember that moment. You would think someone as mature as me would get over it quickly. I guess it just makes me upset how no one in my team bothered to know me. Even when I was getting eliminated, the only thing they found remarkable to tell me before I was dragged away was that I looked good… But you're right, this place is really worth it." Caleb looked a bit sad when recalling about the events of just a week before, and Damien put a hand on his shoulder to show him understanding.
"Anyway, you slept well?" Damien asked trying to change topic.
"Decently enough. I had a bit of a hard time finding sleep due to the Wayne and Raj's situation. How have they been by the way?"
"Oh, they are still sleeping. Axel said she was going to look after them for a while, so I decided to eat something. Y'know, can't really get any sleep now that I'm fully awake." Caleb nodded to that and ate another bite of his bacon.
They ate their breakfast in silence until they were done. Then Caleb looked around and focused his gaze on a big screen at the end of the room.
"Hey, remember when we talked about watching what happened to Wayne and Raj when the episode released?" Damien turned his look to the screen and nodded.
"How about we ask the interns when the episode is ready?"
"Sure, I've got nothing better to do."
The two of them sat up from their seats and started looking around for some interns. They decided to check at the reception of Playa, that was situated in the back of the building, and it basically had the function of an Info Point for the residents.
Playa's Reception (Info Point)
09:48 AM
Luckly for them, the intern with freckles was there. She looked like she just got there judging by the moored boat nearby. She then realized the two boys' presence and quickly made her way towards them.
"How can I help you?"
"We were curious to know when yesterday's episode will be available to watch. If you know anything about it, of course." Caleb asked politely.
"Oh! Well, I'm not entirely sure but it should be ready for lunch, I think. At least, that's when all the other episodes were ready for." She replied blushing at Caleb, like she did many times before.
"Do you need anything else? Us interns might not be very present for you guys today due to the doctor coming to visit your friends soon. We have to get everything ready for his arrival." She explained while opening some boxes full of first aid kits.
"Oh! So, is the doctor coming soon?" Damien asked with hope in his eyes.
"Yes, around 10 AM. Now if you excuse me." She walked in between the two of them while holding a pile of boxes, and they moved aside.
"Here, let us help." Caleb took two of the boxes off the pile and brought them himself. Damien took only one due to him not being as strong as the other guy.
Medical Tent (Playa Des Losers)
09:55 AM
The three of them entered the Medical Tent and put the boxes on the floor. Axel was still there, but now she was joined by other two interns.
However, the most notable thing in the room were the hockey bros. They were finally awake!
"Guys! You're awake!" Damien jolted up and got closer to their gurneys. Wayne weakly waved while Raj simply smiled back at Damien.
"They just woke up, so it might take them some time before they can completely understand their surroundings." A tall intern explained.
"Got it."
"Should we bring them something to eat?" Caleb questioned, but the interns shook their heads.
"Not until the doctor comes here and sees them. Then we'll do as he says." Right on que, the doctor in question entered the Medical Tent as soon as he was called, taking everyone off guard.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Cameron Corduroy Wilkins. I was called by your production to come visit two players who got injured." The man politely introduced himself, startling Damien who jumped into Axel's arms for the sudden arrival of the doctor. Axel, of course, let Damien fall to the ground and moved to the side to let the doctor get a better look at Wayne and Raj.
"Yes, these are the two players in question. Do you need any assistance?" A shorter intern asked, holding in his hands one of the first aid kits.
"Yes, I would appreciate if you interns stayed here in case of need." He then turned his focus to the three teenagers in the tent.
"I assume you kids are the contestants that got eliminated." Axel's eye twitched a bit at that. She was probably still mad about her elimination. But for the sake of Wayne and Raj, she contained herself from saying or doing anything she might regret to the doctor. Caleb decided to talk for the entire group as he confirmed the man's assumption.
"Yes, it's us."
"Mh. Unless you really want to stay, I think you kids can go enjoy the resort for the day. If we'll ever need you, we'll let you know." He finally gave his full attention to the two boys on the gurneys, and opened his briefcase filled with a ton of medical tools.
"Okay, now let's take a look at you two."
Playa Des Losers (Pool Area)
10: 05 AM
Seeing as they were no longer needed, Caleb, Axel and Damien exited the tent and let the doctor work. They walked to the pool area since it was now established to be the main hang out area for almost everyone.
They all set down on the kiosk's stools and chatted for a bit.
"Do you think it will take him long?" Damien asked a bit worried by what the results of the examination might be.
"Maybe. They sure do seem to have taken a lot of damage yesterday." Axel responded, placing her hand under her chin as a support. They then looked at Caleb who looked deep in his thoughts.
"You okay man?" Damien asked tilting his head a bit. To that, Caleb snapped out of his thinking and looked at the other two.
"Oh, yeah don't worry. I'm just thinking… Doesn't anyone else find the name of the doctor to be familiar?" Caleb pondered. Axel and Damien shared a look with each other. Damien was simply confused and shrugged, while Axel started thinking about what Caleb asked.
"Cameron Corduroy Wilkins… I heard that name before somewhere." Then both Axel and Caleb straightened up as they came to the same realization. A realization that Damien didn't understand.
"What? What's going on?"
"Could it be that the doctor is that Cameron?" Caleb asked directly to Axel, who seemed to agree with his theory.
"He might." Damien was more confused now.
"Wait! Do you know who this doctor is?"
"Okay, so, it might be a shot in the dark, but I think the doctor might be one of the old contestants." Caleb explained to an even more confused Damien.
"Wait, who?"
"The winner of the fourth season. He was a very weak boy when he competed, but he was very smart and was able to beat his opponent in the finale." Axel joined in the explanation.
"You mean to tell me, that doctor that just entered in the tent to visit Wayne and Raj is the winner of the fourth season of this show?"
"Probably, yes."
"Wow… the coincidences."
The trio continued talking for some minutes before Axel turned her focus somewhere else.
"Good morning, guys!" Nichelle was awake, and she seemed ready for the day. She sat next to Axel, who smiled at her before reverting back to her stoic expression.
"What were you talking about?" Nichelle asked, and Axel took the word.
"About the doctor. It's possible that he is one of the old constants." That surprised Nichelle, who looked over the tent.
"Really? Wow, my mom must have chosen the most ideal doctor then."
"Well, we still need a confirmation from him. I'd say that before he leaves, we might as well ask." Damien talked to the group, who all nodded in agreement.
The conversation lasted for a couple more minutes before they changed the topic, talking instead of who they thought it was going to be the next boot.
"Oh, Ripper for sure." Axel immediately said with firm certainty, causing Nichelle to giggle at the confident response she gave.
"Yeah, there are good chances. I'm honestly surprised he's still in the game. However, I think Chase also has enough enemies to be the next one." Damien thought it wasn't nice to speak behind people's back, but he realized that if Chase and Ripper were in his position, they would have done the same thing, so he threw his two cents on this guessing game.
"I honestly can't say too much, I barely remember anyone still left on the island." Caleb had a slightly upset look in his face, thinking back at his elimination once again. But he quickly shrugged it off.
"Well, from what I can remember of my team, maybe that Julia girl could be next." Nichelle gave her own take, which surprised a bit everyone else.
"Really? Why?"
"Haven't you seen? The video of Julia snapping at that raptor?" They all shared confused looks and so Nichelle immediately took her phone out of the pocket.
"Here, look at this!" She held her phone for the others to see. What they saw was a video of Julia absolutely livid at one of the raptors that Damien faced on the day he was eliminated. The three teenagers looked with wide opened eyes and with their jaws dropping as more the video kept going. When it finally ended, Nichelle put her phone back and looked at the others, who still needed to process everything that happened.
"Wow… guess she wasn't such a nice girl as we all thought." Damien contemplated his thoughts about the video, then looked at what the others had to say about it.
"Well, now we know for sure who's going home next." Axel said, crossing her arms. Caleb only nodded without saying anything. Like he already established many times, he didn't really have a chance to know his teammates, or anyone at all on the island, so he wasn't really shocked by this sudden reveal. Even though he was still surprised.
"I checked her socials, and I have to say that her public reception has been… interesting." Nichelle pulled back her phone to prove what she meant. "She did lose many followers, but she also gathered many of new ones. Seems like people like her real self, while others called her a hypocritical liar and are now actively trying to cancel her."
"Well, I can see why." Damien didn't really look surprised by the people's reactions. He wasn't very active in the socials himself, but he knew how things worked. Mainly due to his friends at home talking about people getting exposed for some bad stuff and having their careers ruined. Damien didn't really like talking about drama, as those conversations usually stressed him out. Probably that's why his friends dared him to make an audition that was literally called "Total Drama".
"Man, they are really some jerks. Did they disklike me that much?"
Their conversation drifted from Julia's public image to all sorts of things. Food, clothes, movies. It then reached the topic of their personal lives. Nichelle talked about how she started her acting career with theater plays at first, and how she got noticed by a movie producer in one of those plays and he asked her to be in one of his movies. Nothing too big at first, only a minor role, but still a role. And from there on her career had been great, aside from her recent performance on the show.
Caleb instead didn't really have anything to say. He had a regular life. He did some quick training in the morning before going to school, then after school he would go to the gym at least 4 times for week. He would often be looked by all the girls in the gym, sometimes also by the boys. But he was used to that.
Axel talked the least, even if her life was probably the most interesting to talk about. She would wake up very early in the morning to train, then she would, unfortunately for her, go to school and once she was done, she would keep training. That's all she limited to say.
Then it was Damien's turn.
"Oh, my life is probably the most boring. Y'know, I'm not really uhhh…." He tried to come up with a word that was not insulting towards the other three teens' lives "that busy like you guys!"
"I'm not that surprised. Someone as coward and nerdy like you never struck me as someone with an interesting life." Axel said with a snarky smile on her face.
"Please, you sound like Ripper right now." Damien replied just as snarky as she had been with him, which made Axel's eye twitch. Just to make sure she didn't snap at him, Nichelle put her hand on Axel's shoulder, which caught the survivalist's attention and effectively calmed her down.
"Also, don't think my life is that boring! I… uhhh…"
"Come on! Come up with something interesting!"
"I still signed up for this after all!"
"Really?"
The others gave each other very unimpressed looks, just for Axel to speak up again.
"Not to destroy your only interesting fact, but you didn't even know what this show was."
"Well! I… well, I didn't simply sign up! I did that on a dare from my friends!" Damien said putting on a fake proud expression, like if he was saying the most unbelievable of things.
"Oh great, we know who to thank for giving you something to talk about in your life then." Axel wasn't letting Damien catch a break.
"To be fair to Damien, accepting a dare like this is still something." Caleb joined in, "Even if I have to question your friends' best interests for you. I mean, if they knew what they were putting you through, then they are kinda evil."
Damien had his suspects for a while, and probably they were right. His "friends" group wasn't really the best. He was mostly hanging around them because no one else would let him, but his bond with them was far from being the best. Every time he tried to join any conversation with them, he would always cause awkward moments of silence for how seemingly uninteresting or bad timed his comments were. This awkwardness in establishing true connections with others was something that followed him since kindergarten, he was now used to that. Even defining his "friends" as such, felt wrong to him. He convinced himself that he was probably overthinking this, but more often than not he would only get further confirmations that he couldn't really call them friends. Calling someone "friend" had a different meaning for Damien. He would define someone like that only when there was a true connection and a mutual respect and care for one another. Something that he never had, not even with his current friends' group. Calling people you hang with as "friends" was now for the sake of simplicity, but if he could, he would call them "acquaintances".
"Yeah, I should probably talk to them when I get back home." Damien said, contemplating how the conversation would go, and what would the outcomes be.
"Why not now? With your phone?" Nichelle questioned raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, well, for this type of stuff it's probably better to talk in person. At least, that's how I prefer it." Nichelle shrugged and the conversation kept going.
It had now been roughly an hour since the doctor started his examination on Wayne and Raj. When he finally got out of the tent, the clock in the tent said 11:11 AM.
He was talking to the inters as he was leaving. The group of teens quickly made their way towards him and waited for him to be done with the conversation.
"Then I guess it's settled. Thank you for letting me stay here for the time being." The doctor was telling the inters. The four ex-contestants stepped in the scene in that moment and looked a mix of confused and surprised.
"Wait, the doctor is staying here?" Damien asked, and the doctor turned towards him with a smile.
"Indeed. Since I've been called to take care of the two injured players for at least a week, I was thinking of ranting a hotel nearby. But since this island is pretty far away from the nearest hotel around, the inters told me that there are extra rooms in which I can stay. So that if there's any emergency, I'd be just a few rooms away." He explained diplomatically.
The four teens all looked rather relived and happy with the news, but they became even happier when they took a look inside of the tent. Wayne and Raj were awake and seemingly conscious! They all rushed inside and walked towards the two hockey players.
"Wayne! Raj! How do you guys feel?" Damien asked with delight, catching the attention of the boys.
"Oh, hi guys! Long time no see! We're doin alright, eh!" Wayne greeted the group with a smile, while Raj simply waved at them.
"We're feeling a lot better! Still some broken bones, missing teeth and black eyes, but at least we are conscious!" Raj added. It was slightly concerning that they were talking so casually about their injuries, but that probably was their way of acting in general.
"They still won't be able to properly stand up for a couple of days." The doctor entered the tent and started giving the group a quick summary of the results of the visit. "Their fractures are minor, but they'll still have to wear casts. I found they have scratches and cuts caused by Cassowary's claws. Nothing too serious, but I had put stitches on the wounds. Be careful on how you move kids."
"You got that coach-ARGH!" Wayne tried to give the man thumbs up, but he was too eager to do so and accidentally caused pain to his arm.
"Good thing I'm staying here…" The doctor then turned to the group of teens "I hope you'll help take care of them even after I'll be gone." They all nodded in agreement, and just in that moment Damien remembered something.
"Excuse me Doctor…"
"Wilkins"
"Excuse me Doctor Wilkins, could I ask you a question?"
"Sure, what do you need?"
"I was wondering- I mean, me and my friends were wondering… were you a contestant on this show?" There was a brief moment of silence, then the doctor sighed before straightening up again.
"I guess this moment would have come as soon as I heard where I was headed to. Yes, I am indeed a former contestant of this show. One of my colleagues got a call from a big celebrity of some sort yesterday. I didn't understand who was at first, I only knew that the job was going to be assigned to someone else. I wasn't the first choice to be sent here, but as soon as I heard the name "Total Drama" I immediately took the phone myself and talked to Chris… it's been so many years now, I thought his time in the spotlight was over. And yet, another season of Total Drama was actually in production, after almost a decade since the last one. He said two players needed to be evacuated from the island and that they just got enough money to call a professional doctor… apparently, they didn't have the budge before?"
"This is my doing! They didn't have the money to send them to a hospital, so I called my mother, and she gave the production enough fundings to send someone here to take a look at them." Nichelle raised her hand proudly, and the doctor looked rather impressed by the girl's action.
"Woah! I didn't know that! Thanks, Nich!" Wayne gave her thumbs up, this time paying attention to not get hurt again. Raj did the same with a big smile on his face. Nichelle simply gave them a wave to show that it was no big deal, after all she was rich.
"Anyway, since I know in first person how things are handled around here, and since I also know how it feels like to be medically evacuated from the competition, I imposed myself to take the job. And here I am."
"So, it's true that you're the winner of Season 4?" Damien asked curiously. The doctor nodded.
"Yes, I am." Wayne and Raj straighten up hearing that.
"No way brah! You're tellin' me we got visited by a millionaire, a professional doctor, AND a winner of the show?!" Wayne excitedly asked his buddy.
"I think so, eh!" Raj joined him with the same excitement. The doctor turned back towards them and fixed his glasses before speaking again.
"Technically I'm only a professional doctor and a winner of the show. I was never completely millionaire. I shared my prize with all the other contestants in equal parts. So, I only got 1/13th of the money."
"Oh right, I remember you did that. May I ask why?" Caleb questioned why someone would be willing to give up basically the entire money they worked so hard to get, giving it instead to his opponents.
"I never found myself to be a worthy winner in comparison to my fellow campers. They deserved it more than me, so I did the only thing I could do after my win." After explaining better his way of thinking, giving up the money resonated more with the ex-contestants in the tent.
"Well, if you don't have any further questions, I'll be heading to my room." The doctor said professionally to everyone present, letting the interns lead the way to the place mentioned.
"And for the two of you..." He continued, now referring only to Wayne and Raj "If you'll ever need me, or if you have any emergencies, click this button." And he gave the both of them two small watches with touch screens.
"What do these do?" Wayne asked, confused as ever alongside Raj.
"These smart watches are connected to mine. If you'll ever need my presence, just click this and I'll receive a signal that you are in need." And he touched the button shaped like a bell on Wayne's watch to prove what he was saying. An alarm from the doctor's smart watch ringed as he pressed the button, just for him to turn it off since he successfully showed the main function of the watches.
"Clear enough?" He asked. The two boys nodded, making sure they necks didn't hurt.
"Yas coach! Thanks for the goodies!" Wayne replied happily. The doctor then gave everyone a wave before leaving the tent.
"Have a good day kids. We'll see each other soon enough, I'm sure." And he left for good.
They were now all by themselves. The six of them stood in silence for a moment, but it didn't last too long.
"Hey! Thanks for coming to see us dudes!" Wayne thanked the ex-teammates and ex-opponents.
"Don't worry! We were incredibly worried for you guys when you were dropped by the drone." Damien talked for the group. Wayne and Raj looked a bit confused.
"Drone? I don't remember brah…" Raj said a bit unsure of what he was even saying. Wayne didn't look like he knew anything more than his buddy, and they both turned to the group.
"You probably don't remember because of how dizzy you two were yesterday, but you were carried here by the drone everyone else used when they got eliminated." Axel explained.
"Oooooooh" The boys realized in unison. "So THAT's what was that green thing that carried Caleb, Nich and MK when they got the bench!" Wayne put a hand on his forehead, like he just realized the biggest secret of the universe. Raj, not being any better, was simply shocked.
The rest of the group limited themselves to roll their eyes, knowing that the two hockey players weren't exactly the brightest minds between them.
After snapping out of the shock, Raj looked around. Wayne looked back at him raising his eyebrow.
"You okay bro?"
"Yeah… I was wondering where's MK?" The room turned silent. They all shared looks with each other, and Damien was starting to sweat badly.
"Don't know. Damien, you're the one that said she was sick, right?" Caleb turned to the science nerd, and so did the others.
"Oh, yes! But I don't know if she's fine now!" He tried to calm himself down, hoping no one would care enough for the girl to go and check on her.
"We should probably check on her." Nichelle proposed the idea.
"GOD DAMMIT!"
"Well, we have doctor now. We might as well ask him if he can check on her!" Damien said hoping no one else would take the initiative to go for themselves to see MK. If someone had to go and talk to her alone, that should have been him. Leaving MK alone with one of the others was too risky, and Damien couldn't let that happen.
"Right call, I'll go ask-" Caleb was heading out of the tent just to be stopped by Damien who ran towards the exit faster than the other guy, leaving him stunned.
"Don't worry, I'll do it!" And Damien left without looking back to watch the confused stares from the others.
Room's Hallway (Playa Des Losers)
11:20 AM
"Crud, crud, crud, crud! That was a TERRIBLE way to walk out of that situation! Great job idiot!" Damien was now running to MK's room, sweat falling from his forehead. No one had to be left alone with MK and sending her a doctor to just prove that she's fine would go against the excuse he made up.
"This situation has to end! I'm gonna take her phone, tell everything to Scary and force MK to stop thi-" His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the presence of a small body pushing against his, causing both of them to fall.
"What now?"
"Ugh?! Just tell me you like to push me around!" Great, now MK was right in front of him.
"MK! We need to talk!" Damien immediately stood up and grabbed MK by the collar of her jacket, dragging her to his room and locking the door.
Damien's Room (Playa Des Losers)
11:22 AM
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" MK was finally able to release from Damien's grip and stood up, fixing the collar of her jacket. She was looking absolutely livid, but she quickly noticed that Damien had the same expression.
"What?! I didn't reveal anything!" But Damien was not changing expression, if anything he was looking even angrier.
"It's not about that! I mean, yes, it's also about that. Urgh! What I'm saying is, this situation has to END!" If the clutched fists weren't enough to show that he was being serious, the rage in his words definitely was. MK, however, simply limited herself to take her phone and swing it in front of his face.
"Oh, wow, I'm really scared by Damien the science nerd! What 'cha gonna do? Lecture me about how many red blood cells I have? Do you need me to remind you that I have the power to destroy your reputation? How would the internet react if they saw this?" And she showed the recording she took of Damien entering in Scary Girl's room.
Damien went pale. His rage immediately vanished and turned into fear, and he started sweating heavily. It didn't last long, however, and the anger took over again.
"You were stalking us?! You know you would commit two crimes if you publish this video? I could legally sue you for violation of privacy and for stalking!" MK didn't really seem scared of the consequences.
"Oh yeah? And how are gonna prove that an anonymous account is truly me?"
"You can still track the ID of the account, and then it will be proven that it's you!" MK didn't really think this through, but she wasn't going to step down and give up on having someone do whatever she desired.
"You're right, I could be legally pursuable, but your reputation will still be in shambles." Damien knew he was in the right, but the fear of being considered the "date of the freak girl" was stronger than him.
"Listen here you-"
Knock Knock
A sudden silence filled the room. MK and Damien both looked at each other with wide open eyes.
Knock Knock
MK immediately rushed into the bathroom to hide herself, closing shut the door. Damien, not really having any other choice, opened the door.
"Oh, good morning! We meet once again." It was the doctor.
"Oh! Hello Dr. Wilkins! What brings you here?" Damien tried his best to cover up the feeling of unease that was flowing through him. That, and the sweating.
"I've been told by one of your peers that a certain "MK" needs my assistance. They told me you were looking for me, but I see we have not crossed our paths on the way." He fixed his glasses while talking. His face didn't show any disappointment or confusion, just a comforting smile. That made Damien feel less anxious about the current situation before he realized what the doctor was asking for.
"Oh! I just stopped by my room for a second to get my phone! I forgot about it this morning, hehe…" And he quickly searched into his pocket to show his phone. The doctor didn't say anything, and seemingly believed his lie. He then took a look at Damien's room and gave a small "hum".
"This place reminds me of the rooms that were given to us in the fifth season, whenever we would win a challenge." Damien then turned to look better at his room. It definitely looked more of a place for the winners to relax to, than a place for the losers.
"I guess… Anyway! You needed anything Dr. Wilkins?" Damien tried to get rid of the doctor as soon as possible. Having more problems than the ones he already had wasn't something he really needed or wanted.
"Yes, I would like to know which one of these is the room of your castmate. If you happen to know, that is. Otherwise, I'll simply limit myself to knock at every door in this hallway until I find the right one."
"Oh! It's that one over there! Half-way through the hallway." And he pointed at MK's door.
"Your help is very much appreciated. Sorry for the brief intrusion, I shall now go and take a look at this "MK". I hope to see you around." And he waved off as he made his way towards MK's room.
"Oh, uhm sure! Goodbye!" And he immediately slammed his door shut. As soon as he did that MK came out of the bathroom.
"Who the hell was that?! Why was he talking about me? Did you actually sell me to the cops?!" MK whispered, using a tone that made it clear that if she could have, she would have screamed at Damien.
"That's the doctor they sent to take care of Wayne and Raj. You would know if you bothered to show up yesterday." Damien crossed his arms and looked disappointed in MK's lack of empathy.
"And why does he want to examinate me?!" She hurried to the door and peeked out slightly to look in the hallway. The doctor was in front of her room, waiting patiently.
"The others asked me where you were, and I came up with the excuse that you were sick because of something you ate. You're welcome by the way!" Damien whispered, also peeking from the door.
"You could have told me first!"
"I would have if you bothered to at least show up since yesterday!" The two closed the door, and angrily stared at each other.
"Well, now what?" MK was very mad at this sudden examination of a doctor, for an illness she didn't even have.
"I tell you what!" And Damien opened the door, pushing MK out of his room.
With the sudden slam of the door, the doctor turned to the source of the noise just to see an awkward MK that was on the verge of falling to the ground. As she noticed the doctor looking at her, MK straightened up and awkwardly gave him a little wave and a fake smile on.
"Hello? I don't think we have met yet. I'm Doctor Cameron Corduroy Wilkins. I was sent in this resort by the producers of the show to take care of two injured players. Pleasure to meet you." He walked towards MK and held out his hand to her.
"Oh! Uhm, I'm MK. Yes, I was warned that you'd be coming here…" She unwillingly shook his hand back, and the doctor fixed his glasses before clearing his throat.
"So, you're this "MK" I was informed about. Your castmates seemed to be worried about your health. They asked me if I could give you a quick visit to check if everything is okay." He explained, and MK tried her best to not cringe at the doctor's formality.
"Oh really? How nice of them…" She was grinning so hard that her teeth were clutching against each other. She wanted to scream all the worst insults she could at them but contained herself.
"I thought that one over there was your room… at least that's what the boy with the yellow hat told me." The doctor pointed to MK's room, questioning why she wasn't there.
"Oh! Well, it is my room yes. I was just uuhh… getting something I forgot in my friend's room!" She then pointed to Scary Girl's door, praying she wouldn't come out.
"I see… well, unless your friend would also like an examination from me, should we head to your room?" The doctor asked while turning his focus to the door he was previously in front of.
"Actually! I'm feeling much better! It was just some quick illness by an expired food, no biggies!" She waved off to empathize how it wasn't necessary, but the doctor had to say otherwise.
"Miss MK, I've seen many youngsters like you shrugging off things like food poisoning or "quick illnesses" like you called it." and he made quotation marks with his fingers as he said the last part "Trust me, more often than not, these types of cases should always be checked. You can never know, maybe you have a fever, and you are simply asymptomatic. I've seen many people brush off little coughs here and there, just to end up with their entire family sick because they thought it wasn't anything big." The more the doctor talked, the more MK wanted to just disappear and be left alone.
"Does this dude ever shut up?!" She thought exasperated, before finally giving up.
"Alright! I'll let you do this examination…" She then led the way to her room while cursing everyone at Playa underneath her breath.
MK's Room (Playa Des Losers)
11:30 AM
"Alright Miss MK! Could you please sit over there?" The doctor pointed to a small wooden chair near a wooden desk. Was everything always made of wood in these places or what? Not important right now.
MK did as she was told, trying to cover up the rage and exasperation she was feeling. The doctor then opened his suitcase an took an empty folder and a notepad out of it.
"Alright! Before we start, I need to know more about you. Just some very basic questions. What's your name, how old are you, when's your birthday and so on and so forth." He took a pen from his white coat and got himself a seat, standing in front of MK.
"Sheesh, is this a session with a therapist? I'm already done with this guy's bullshit." Even if she didn't say those words out loud, it was clear she wasn't really down to have this sudden appointment with the doctor she just learned the existence of.
Dr. Wilkins seemed to notice that, and so he cleared his throat before putting down the pen for a moment.
"Miss MK, I understand your unwillingness to do this examination, but I personally think that you should take this as an opportunity! Tell me, how many times did you have to go to a doctor, and wait for your turn? How annoying is waking up early just for some quick checks? I'm of the idea that we all need to feel safe, and we have the right to know if we have any illness that we might not even know the existence of. Trust me, I grew up with a very protective mother, and I tell you that having a doctor coming over to see me weekly was a huge waste of our money. So, please, see this more as a free gift from me rather than an inconvenience." He then took a look at MK, who seemingly gave up as she sighed deeply.
"Alright…"
"Excellent! Then I say we can start with the basics!" And he took his pen back and clicked the top of it before starting with the questions. "I assume your actual name isn't "MK". Am I right?"
"Yes. It's Mary Kate, I just don't… like people using my full name. That's all." The doctor started writing down the real name of the girl in front of him. He then asked for the surname, and so she told him. Then she asked for her age and birthday.
"If I recall correctly, to sign up for this show you need to be at least 16. Isn't that right?"
"Yes, I'm 16."
"And the date of birth?"
"October 27th, 2006."
"Very well!" And he noted everything down.
He then continued with the questions, like her place of birth, where she currently lives now and the phone number of her mother in case of need. It was too many personal questions for the day in MK's opinion, but since she couldn't really get away now, she let him go on.
"Okay! Last question! What's your favorite color?" MK looked rather confused.
"Really? I thought you were gonna ask me the social security number of my cat next."
"Uhm, why my favorite color?" The doctor simply gave her a smile and shrugged.
"Oh, it's just to help me know better my patients, nothing more!" MK didn't quite understand why of all things the favorite color was a top priority, but she didn't care enough to look deeper into that.
"Red." And the doctor wrote it down. He then put his pen temporarily away and clapped his hands once.
"Very good! Now that we are done with the questions, I think we can start take a look on you."
"Yeeeah…" MK sarcastically cheered raising her fist weakly, but the doctor didn't really seem to mind. He opened his briefcase once again and took a stetho phonendoscope, a tongue depressor, an ophthalmoscope and a sphygmomanometer. MK knew none of those tools were dangerous, but she gulped at the sight. She always felt so uncomfortable whenever she had to go to the doctor, especially when someone called her "Miss". It wasn't the doctor's fault, and she definitely didn't care enough to start complaining, but she still felt uneasy.
"Now, would you mind saying "A", please?" The doctor asked as he brought the tongue depressor near MK's mouth. She did as she was told to. The more she did as he asked the sooner this examination would end.
After the doctor was done with the tongue depressor, he then used the stetho phonendoscope. Then he used the ophthalmoscope and ultimately the sphygmomanometer. MK hated every moment of it, but at least she didn't feel any physical pain. Fortunately for her, once the doctor was done checking her eyes, he simply wrote down a couple of things coming to the conclusion that MK was fine.
"Everything is in check, you're healthy and fine!" He said as he was almost done writing the notes. MK was about to stand up, but the doctor still had something to say.
"However, I did notice some slight problems in your breathing… Miss MK, I know you don't like these personal questions, but it's my job as a doctor at least know the truth." MK dreaded what the question was going to be, because she knew where the doctor was going. He fixed his glasses and MK gulped.
"Did you happen to smoke before, Miss MK?" He asked with a tone that turned out to be more inquisitory than what he would have liked. MK stood there on the chair in silence, not making eye contact with the man. That was enough of an answer for the doctor, who sighed and simply closed his folder.
"I know I won't have any effect on you, but it is part of my job to suggest you stop smoking if you're currently still doing it." He then opened his briefcase in which he put back in everything he took out and grabbed something. "At least for now, have this to entertain yourself with." And he handled MK a small red ball. "It's for stress. If you ask me, it's effective and a better solution than a cigarette."
The doctor then closed his briefcase and made his way to the door before turning around and giving a final look at MK.
"Well, Miss MK, it was nice meeting you! You can tell your friends that everything is fine. If you ever need my medical assistance, I'll be in my room on the other side of this hallway. Have a good day!" And he exited the room closing the door behind him.
MK stood in silence at the center of the room. She squeezed the ball in her grip before throwing it on the floor, making it bounce around. She then ran over her bed and screamed in her pillow.
"Fuck this shit! Fuck that doctor! Fuck those idiots!" She hated when she turned so childish, but she didn't care at the moment. She knew what would have happened as soon as she came back home, and just the thought gave her shivers.
MK didn't leave her room for the rest of the day. Even completely forgetting about what she was even talking about with Damien some moments before. Her mind went totally blank from the intense emotions she was feeling. The only thing still clear in her mind was the thought of the conversation she was going to have once she stepped in her house.
"Fuck everything."
Damien's Room (Playa Des Losers)
12:00 AM
It had been 30 minutes since the doctor and MK entered in her room, and Damien had the time to think of a possible situation for the whole blackmail deal. He was going to tell everything to Scary Girl, she needed to know at this point. What to do next would have come later, but at least he didn't need to lie to her.
Damien opened his door and quickly entered in the hallway. Good thing Scary's room was right in front of his. He knocked once… no response. He knocked again and this time he spoke up.
"Scary, it's me Damien. I need to talk to you." Still no response…
Maybe she was asleep? It didn't really matter, that door was not going to open right now. Damien sighed in defeat and decided to stop by the restaurant area. Lunch was only one hour away, and he and Caleb were going to watch the episode recorded the day before.
When he reached half the way of the hallway, he stopped by MK's door. He looked at it for a moment. Surely the doctor was already done by now, but if that was the case, then why MK was still inside?
No matter now, he didn't really feel like worrying about her. Especially after her latest blackmail.
Restaurant Area (Playa Des Losers)
12:05 AM
Damien entered the Restaurant Area and took a seat at one of the tables. He looked around to see if anyone else was there but saw no one.
Not really having something to do till lunch time, he took his phone and earphones and listened to music for a while, kicking his feet and moving his head to the rhythm of the music.
It had been roughly 30 minutes before he was startled by someone touching his shoulder. Damien jumped out of the seat just to see it was Caleb.
"Oh, it's just you!" Damien said calming down.
"Sorry dude, didn't mean to scare you." Caleb said while taking a seat on the same table. Damien finally calmed down and sit back on his chair.
"Oh, it's fine! I'm kinda used to being scared ever since I joined the show, hehe." He chuckled nervously, which earned some confused looks from Caleb, but he shrugged and didn't ask.
"Anyway, how long have you been waiting for?"
"Oh, something like 30 minutes or so? I wasn't really keeping track of time." As he said that he noticed two figures approaching them. Nichelle and Axel walked over to the two boys and sat next to them.
"So, you guys still don't know what happened to Wayne and Raj I assume?" Nichelle asked them, and they both nodded to that.
"Do you know?" Caleb wondered, but Nichelle shook her head.
"No, I've been waiting to discover that with you guys when the episode would air." She then turned to Axel, who simply shrugged. She also didn't know what happened on the island.
The four of them, in the meantime, ordered their lunch and waited. They talked about their day so far, and Damien made an extra effort to avoid talking about the situation. Eventually their food was ready, and so was the episode.
They turned on the giant TV screen and, to their surprise, there was a catalogue of all the episodes that aired till that point. They immediately clicked on the episode that was airing at the moment.
"Total Drama Island: Episode 07-Severe Eggs and Pains". That didn't seem good. But after all they were expecting the mood to be this judging by Wayne and Raj's state.
As they watched the episode, they discovered a lot of things they were unaware about. Like MK being a thief, Julia acting as her true self, the teams merging so early in the game, the whole Chase and Emma drama, and of course, how Wayne and Raj got injured.
They were thrown off a cliff by a Cassowary.
"That explains the cuts by Cassowary's claws" Damien pointed out.
As they watched the two hockey bros hitting every rock on their way down, they couldn't help but feel bad for them.
However, what came next made all slightly happier.
"Wayne! There's something I need to tell you!" The Raj in the TV said between one groan and another.
"I'm listening! Go ahead!" Wayne replied, while also groaning in between words.
"I kissed Bowie! I'm gay!"
"Oh, buddy!" And then the both of them hit the ground with all the cuts, black eyes, missing teeth and bruises they had now.
"Aww, I'm so happy for them!" Nichelle said getting a bit emotional. Axel simply smirked and Caleb, while not showing any real expression, seemed vaguely happy. Damien also got slightly emotional but contained himself.
The rest of the episode was mainly everyone either failing to bring the eggs to Chris, or succeeding but for nothing, since Millie already had immunity. The everyone headed for the elimination ceremony. Chris and Chef started their usual monologues, before Chef pointed out the state of the two boys. Chris, unwillingly, told them that they were going to a hospital, and that everyone else was safe for the day.
"What a liar!" Axel barked in anger. Nichelle shared the same rage, while Caleb and Damien both crossed their arms looking at Chris straight up lying to two injured teens.
The episode eventually ended, and so was their meal. They all stood up and decided to go check on the hockey bros.
"Do you think Raj will be comfortable to us knowing his sexuality?" Damien questioned as they walked towards the medical tent.
"I don't see why. He did reveal it on international TV after all. As long as he knows none of us judges him, he should be okay, right?" Axel had a good point here. None of them were judgmental of someone's sexuality. That made Damien think back to the conversation he had with Scary Girl. She liked girls, but she never showed any interest in the ones at the island. Maybe they weren't her type? Did she even have a type? She said she liked who screamed the most… Then Damien reached a conclusion.
"I guess she does like me in that way…"
Medical Tent (Playa Des Losers)
02:05 PM
"Hey hockey bros! How are you holding up?" Nichelle waved at the two boys, who waved back.
"Hey guys! We're doin' alrigh'! Thanks for askin'!" Wayne greeted the group.
"We still feel atrocious pain whenever we make an abrupt move, raise our arms for too long, move our necks to look around, and our noses start to bleed randomly, but we are doin' alrigh', eh!" Raj added with a stupid smile on his face, like the thing he just said wasn't concerning at all.
"How about you guys? How's the place like?" Wayne curiously asked them.
"Oh, it's fine! Personally, I had a better treatment in movie sets, but I guess for how cheap this show is, the place could have been worst." Nichelle replied sitting on a wooden chair next to Wayne's gurney. While Wayne started asking questions about the resort excitedly, Damien looked at Caleb and Axel, who shared the same thought.
"We should probably tell them." Damien whispered, and the other two nodded. Caleb cleared his throat and got the attention of the others.
"I think we should let you guys know that we watched the episode that was recorded yesterday." Caleb started explaining with a serious expression on his face. Raj's eyes suddenly widened, and Wayne looked over him worriedly.
"Just so you know, none of us here judges you for your sexuality. We are happy you figured yourself out, and it's fine if you don't want to talk about it. We just felt it was right to let you know." Caleb concluded with the others nodding in unison.
Raj gave them a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head. Wayne instead was very vocal about the situation.
"See Rajie?! I told you they weren't gonna judge!" Wayne put a hand on the other boy's shoulder and gave him a little shake, paying attention to not hurt his buddy. Raj smiled at Wayne's excitement and gave him a little laugh.
"Thanks guys, it means a lot to me…" Raj thanked the group, and they all took a chair to give Wayne and Raj some company.
Medical Tent (Playa Des Losers)
03:30 PM
More than an hour went by. They all chatted and talked about the more and less, with Wayne and Raj also joining in the guessing game for who would get the boot next.
"Uhhh, I don't know… Chase maybe?" Wayne gave his guess a bit doubtful. Raj also tried to come up with the best guess he could.
"Maybe Julia?" Raj looked at Wayne to see what he thought about it. The blonde started to think about it before giving his opinion.
"I'm not sure buddy. Jules is a strong offensive player, eh!"
"Yeah, she sure is strong in the offenses department." Nichelle said giving a good chuckle to everyone in the tent.
"Well, if my quick calculations are correct, there is no way Julia is gonna stay longer than a day without immunity. The percentage of her being gone by today is a good 85%!" Damien said showing some math calculations scribbled on a paper he found in the tent.
There were percentages next to every player left in the game. Priya said 55%, Millie was 30%, Emma was 50%, then Zee had a low 12%, and the left 4 players all had percentages that ranged from 70% to 85%.
Axel gave a dry chuckle at that and took the paper for herself. "Maybe Ripper had all the rights to call you a nerd. This is quite lame honestly." And she ripped the paper in two. Damien rolled his eyes, not caring enough to respond.
"Aww man! I really wanted to learn some percentapentagons!" Raj said disappointed in the loss of the paper, with Wayne sharing the same expression.
"You mean, percentages?" Damien inquired.
"Yeah, that."
The conversation eventually ended, as Wayne and Raj started to feel tired and sleepy. Damien, Caleb, Nichelle and Axel decided to give them their time to rest and left the tent.
For the rest of the day everyone did their separate business. Axel and Nichelle were doing some laps and training around the resort, Caleb went to get some massages in the SPA, while Damien decided to take a nap on one of the deckchairs near the pool.
When he woke up, the Sun was going down. He checked his phone to see what the time was. 09:30 PM.
"Oh shoot! The elimination ceremony!" Damien quickly stood up from his deckchair and made his way to the tent. If the others were not around the pool, they were either in their rooms or in the tent.
Medical Tent (Playa Des Losers)
09:30 PM
Just as he predicted, everyone else was there. What was weird at first, however, were a bunch of money all laying on a table inside the tent.
As Damien entered, everyone turned, noticing his presence.
"Hey, about time!" Axel "greeted" Damien with her usual demeanor.
"What's with the money?" Damien questioned, ignoring Axel's ways of say "hi".
"Those are for the bet." The survivalist explained. Damien tilted his head a bit in confusion, and Axel rolled her eyes with annoyance.
"The bet on who's gonna get the boot next." Damien responded with a big "Ooooooh" in realization. Then he noticed how everyone was still looking at him, probably expecting him to put his money on the table next.
"Wait! Since when have ever talked about money?"
"Well, it was an obvious transition from the guessing game. Come on Damien! We don't have the entire night to wait for you!" Axel pointed to the table with a passive-aggressive tone. Damien didn't have much in his pockets, but he was able to find some cents and two dollars.
He put his money on the table and betted on Ripper being out next.
"And that's three people for Ripper, two for Julia, and just one for Chase." Nichelle said, noting this on a piece of paper.
"Should we ask MK and Scary Girl to join in?" Wayne asked, before everyone else glanced at each other with some unsure looks.
"I think it's better if we don't." Caleb said, shutting down the idea of having them as part of their game.
"MK would steal the money, and Scary Girl is Scary Girl." Axel pointed out to the Hockey Bro, who understood and accepted to be in the wrong.
The rest of the time was spent waiting for the next boot to arrive. Most of the time everyone was silently minding their own business, but sometimes someone would speak up to ask something, leading to small bits of conversation before returning to the silence.
Medical Tent (Playa Des Losers)
10:30 PM
The peace and quiet of the night were suddenly broken by the sounds of someone whining very loudly. Everyone, with the exceptions of Wayne and Raj, left the tent quickly to see who was coming.
"YES!" Axel shouted in excitement as everyone looked at Ripper getting a wedgie by the drone.
"Oh, come on!" Caleb groaned, while Damien and Nichelle joined Axel in the celebration. Even though they were a little more contained, due to Ripper shouting for help from afar.
"HEY! DON'T STAND THERE! HELP ME- AAAH!" The drone dropped him on the ground, ripping his underwear in the process. Damien stopped celebrating to check on Ripper. He was groaning in pain from the fall, but quickly stood up after Damien held his hand out to help him.
"Urgh! What's with all this celebration?! Are you really that happy that I got the boot?" Ripper questioned in anger.
"Honestly, yes. Yes, I am." Axel said with a smirk on her face. Ripper was about to give her a piece of his mind, before the survivor growled at him, making him backtrack.
"Hey dudes! Who won?!" Wayne's distant scream caught the attention of everyone, who directed themselves to the tent once again. Ripper, not knowing any better, followed behind.
As Ripper entered the tent, Wayne and Raj got their response and groaned in disappointment.
"Okay, seriously, what's the deal here?!" Ripper was starting to lose it. After all, he was already in an emotionally unstable mood after he was eliminated, other than being nauseous due to the challenge that took place earlier that day.
"We kindaaa betted on who was going to be the next boot and you were the most picked player left…" Damien explained a bit awkwardly, but not refraining from taking his part of the money alongside Axel and Nichelle.
"Hum, whatever dude! This sucks!" And Ripper stormed off the tent. No one really bothered to check on him, since no one liked him that much, but Damien still felt a bit of guilt in leaving him go off by himself in anger.
"I'm gonna use the bathroom for a moment!" He excused himself and left the tent, in search for Ripper.
Room's Hallway (Playa Des Losers)
10:35 PM
He quickly made his way in the inside of the resort, as he figured Ripper would be there trying to find his room. Just as he thought, Ripper was in the hallway trying to open a door by pulling the handle.
"Dang door! Just open already!" He was clearly struggling, and Damien figured out why. There were no keys to be seen.
"Ripper! Dude, did the inters give you the keys to your room?" Damien approached the boy, who let go of the handle and looked at him with an upset face.
"No? Were they supposed to?!"
"Well, you can't open any door of these until you get your keys. I'll go ask for you!" Damien proposed himself to take the job, but Ripper pushed him aside.
"No matter, I'll do it by myself!" And he quickly walked to the reception, and he was furious. Damien followed him, just to make sure he didn't do anything irrational. Sure, Ripper didn't seem the type to actually start a real fight, especially with an intern, but it was still Ripper. Who knows what they guy was gonna do next.
Playa's Reception (Info Point)
10:40 PM
"Okay! Where are my damn keys?!" Ripper shouted, not realizing the reception was empty. When he did, he growled with gritted teeth. "Whatever! I'm gonna find them myself!".
Damien arrived with some seconds of delay and found Ripper looking through the drawers behind the reception table.
"Ripper, dude! You can't go back there!"
"And who says that?!"
"The sign next to you?" Ripper turned to look, and there was, in fact, a sign that clearly stated in capital letters "NOTICE: DO NOT ENTER. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY".
"Whatever! The rules are made to be broken, what do you expect me to do?" And he continued his quest in finding the keys. There were several drawers. Some of them contained usual stuff like pens, erasers, pencils, useless papers about the show waving all the legal responsibilities for the sudden and gruesome death of their cast or something like that. Others contained top secret files about the show and challenges, that Ripper didn't bother to stop looking at. And then there they were! Two drawers, one in green and one in red. "Frogs of Death" and "Ferocious Trouts".
"Finally!" Ripper cheered as he opened the red drawer and took the keys with his name on it. Happy with his good doing, the boy left the reception… not bothering to fix the mess he did. Damien sighed in annoyance, knowing that he will be the one to clean up.
And so, he did. The papers that were thrown away were put back in what Damien hoped was the right order, all the pens were back in place, and just for the sake of kindness, he cleaned with a nearby broom the dust from the floor.
"Man, this seems like something MK would tell me to do." Then he realized "Wait! Why hasn't MK taken her revenge on me yet?" He quickly took his phone to see if there were any messages. Nothing. He quickly checked on the news bar and searched his name and Scary Girl's name to see if MK posted anything about them. Nothing there too. Weird.
But Damien didn't care. As long as no one knew about the audio and the video, he didn't want anything to do with MK more than he already had to.
He put the broom in place and decided to go back the tent.
Medical Tent (Playa Des Losers)
10:50 PM
When Damien came back, he found there was only Caleb left. Wayne and Raj were asleep, while Axel and Nichelle were not around. The eye candy turned to look at the other boy and waved.
"Hey Damien. Axel and Nichelle went to their rooms, and as you can see Wayne and Raj needed to rest. I offered myself to take care of them for the night. I know we have a doctor in the resort, but someone still needs to be here to call for an emergency in case Wayne and Raj forget about their smart watches." Considering the two boys' conditions, and their overall intelligence, it made sense.
"Oh, alright! I was going to sleep, but I thought I'd check in one last time before going to bed. Do you think you'll be okay all by yourself?"
"Yeah, don't worry. I guess I can sacrifice one night of my beauty sleep." And he sat down on a wooden chair next to Wayne's gurney.
"Okay then. Good night, Caleb."
"Good night."
Room's Hallway (Playa Des Losers)
11:05 PM
Damien made his way to his room, thinking.
"I wonder what's the deal with MK. If she hasn't taken her revenge on me, then what's keeping her from confronting me? I thought she would have been furious after what happened before…"
As he opened the door to his room, he gave a loud sigh. He closed the door, changed into his pajamas, and laid on the bed staring at the ceiling.
"Everything is a bit strange here. Caleb looks like he's still not over his elimination and is pissed by how other people misjudge him. Axel and Nichelle have something going on. Wayne and Raj are currently recovering from injuries that costed them the game, and their doctor is an ex-winner! How weird is that? And who knows what's the deal with MK and Scary Girl… SCARY GIRL!" He immediately stood up from his bed with widen eyes.
"How did I forget?!" Damien rushed to his door and in a matter of seconds he was in front of Scary Girl's room.
He knocked once.
No response.
He knocked twice.
No response.
"Scary Girl? It's me, Damien. I know I haven't checked on you since this morning, I'm sorry. I just wanted to talk for a moment…" He whispered to avoid being heard by anyone who could come out of their rooms.
No response again. Damien tried to open the door by the handle, hoping it was open as the day he met her in Playa for the first time.
Unfortunately, it was closed. Then an idea came to Damien. He returned in his room and walked towards the window.
Scary Girl wasn't new to stay around the pool when it was night, and from Damien's room the pool was more than visible, so if anyone was there, he would have seen them.
"Come on, come on…" He looked around before his gaze locked on some very distinctive purple and pink hair.
"At least she's fine, thank God." Damien sighed in relief at seeing Scary Girl enjoying the pool. She didn't lose her unusually usual habits, despite the more serious and emotional moments she had in the last days.
Damien was about to leave his room to talk to her about the MK situation, until he remembered something.
Caleb was in the tent. If they needed to talk, they needed to be alone. And the tent was close enough to hear if two people were talking in the middle of the completely silent night outside.
He couldn't take the risk, he needed to be alone with Scary Girl.
Biting his nails in frustration, Damien eventually gave up on the idea of talking to the girl that day. It would have been a problem for a future Damien.
Tomorrow. It would have been the day for sure. What can keep him from talking to her tomorrow? Aside from checking by time-to-time Wayne and Raj, anyone needing to vent to him about their problems, the doctor roaming around the place, and MK possibly tasking him with every sort of job… Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?
"Well, at least I don't have to worry about Ripper possibly venting to me about his problems. It's Ripper after all." And with that last thought in mind, Damien laid on the bed and closed his eyes, falling asleep.
Ripper's Room (Playa Des Losers)
11:15 PM
Unknown to anyone at Playa, there was Ripper. Tightly gripped to one of his pillows, laying in his bed in a fetal position, crying all of his tears.
For how long could he keep this mask on?
A.N: It's done! Chapter 8 is FINALLY DONE! I honestly thought these chapters couldn't get longer than what they did already with Chapter 7, but this one is beyond what I expected! Chapter 7 was about 15 pages long, Chapter 8 reached 25 pages! Do I think it's the best chapter so far? No, I think that title still goes to Chapter 7 as of now. I'd say this is also a good moment to announce that THIS FANFICTION HAS AN OFFICIAL TUMBLR BLOG!
On this blog you'll see updates about the fanfiction, you can ask questions about it in the ask box, and you'll get some fun facts behind the art! (I'm workin on the art for all these chapters I swear they'll get done eventually).
Here's the link for the blog if you really want to have more of this fanfic:
I also remind you to check the fanfiction on AO3 too! I will always post the chapters there first, and then here.
So if you wanna see when the newest chapter will release, go on AO3: /works/48272047?view_full_work=true
When will Chapter 9 release? Not sure honestly. School is being an ass for now, so I only have the weekends to write the fanfiction. As you can imagine, writing chapters these long takes some time, and same goes for the actual story of it! I know it's something that is expected, but you also have to plan how things will keep going forward.
I have some very cool ideas for this fic, and I can't wait to show you all what I have in mind!
For now, I just hope you'll have patience with me, and I swear that I'll keep working on this fic everytime I have the opportunity to!
See you when Chapter 9 rolls around, see ya nerds!