This chapter will be the first of a few long scenes I plan to sprinkle throughout the story as it progresses, following the cleanup team as they get to the post-season bonfire party to get their alibis straight. Enjoy, as I now go to write the first challenge, and the beautifully dramatic scenarios that surround it!
The bonfire pit was piled high with logs, sticks, and discarded bottles. Music blasted from a DJ booth, headed by none other than Beardo. Across the area, contestants from every era of Total Drama had been brought back to enjoy the party, to indulge in what they all believed to be the end of an era. Finally, they all thought, Total Drama was over. They weren't celebrating the end of another beautiful season, or the crowning of another million-dollar winner. But instead, they partied for their freedom. The end of their contracts, and finally escaping their collective nightmare.
Melding perfectly into the party as though they had never left, the group that had just returned to the mess hall entered the fray, then went their separate ways. The disposal team members' phones were split amongst them, and they went straight to the plan they had come up with: Give everyone an alibi.
Noah did his best to slide into the center of the dance floor without touching anyone. He was bumped into a couple of times, but hid his startled grimace with ease. Then, the plan fell into place. Taking one of the phones out of his pocket, he started snapping pictures of those around him. He didn't know which he had, but by the simple and sleek case, he could assume it was Duncan's. Mentally noting that, the pictures Noah took were more of the fire and atmosphere than the people themselves.
He then switched out that phone for his own, and did much the same. The way he switched his style of taking photos so quickly from erratic scenery shots to simple pictures of what was going on around him showed that he had fully prepared exactly what he would need to do.
After he had taken enough photos, he tried to make his way out of the dance floor and to the outskirts of the party, where he would be more comfortable. However, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. At this surprise, Noah tensed up and winced as his head shot back to see who had grabbed him.
"What?" he snapped a little too harshly, but the amused and slightly tipsy smile of Anne Maria returned his severity with a chuckle.
"Chill, it's just me," she huffed, pulling him closer. Before he could protest, she whispered to him. She smelled like alcohol, and the hand with her drink in it was way too close to Noah's face. "You think that whole thing about us not bein' able to talk about what Chris made us do is over? I think we did a good job, and I feel like real shit 'bout it all."
Something about the way she worded that put a bad thought in Noah's head. Did she know? Did she do it? His anxieties, hidden as they were, wouldn't stop getting the best of him with every coherent thought he tried to have. So he tried to push these thoughts out with a question of his own.
"What do you mean 'over'? Why would it be over?"
"Well I just figured, because the show's done and stuff. And Chris didn't say nothin' about us doin' a bad job, so I figured maybe our contracts' are done, the six of us."
Noah was able to give a slight exhale of relief.
"I would give it a few days, at least. Let's see if we hear anything from him. As far as we know, he could be planning to screw us over."
"True enough," Anne Maria sighed, finishing off the half-cup of alcohol with two quick gulps. She then tossed her cup into the fire. "I really hope this is it, though. I can't do another season of this. No money's worth what Chris puts us through."
"If I drank, I'd do so to that," Noah replied, raising his hand in a mock-cheer. He was then able to wriggle out of Anne Maria's grasp. "If you see any of the others, tell them the same thing."
"Will do!" she called out as he tried to squeeze away, but he was stopped in his tracks by one more question. "Oh, I was able to catch up with everyone else, get their thoughts on how we did with our little extra job. But I haven't seen Bridgette around the party. You seen her?"
Noah's blood ran cold, and he was lucky he was faced away, so he could have a moment to collect himself. When he did, he turned around, his expression as blank as ever.
"Yeah, I saw her just before I got to the dance floor. Maybe she's at the outhouse," he lied through his teeth, but the drunk Anne Maria was none the wiser. "If I see her again, I'll tell her to find you."
Anne Maria gave him a thankful smile, and wandered back into the thick of the dance floor, while Noah made his escape to the party's outskirts.
Courtney had gone around the outside of the party, and down the dock. A calm breeze mixed with the cool night air, causing a shiver to roll up her spine. There, she took out a phone with a bright blue case, and opened the camera. She took a couple pictures of the lake, then slipped the phone back into her pocket and sat down, her feet dangling above the water.
For the first time all night, she was able to close her eyes and unpack everything that had happened. What she knew, and what she didn't. Seeing the body, and watching as her ex-boyfriend came up with a plan to cover up the entire thing, without even so much as finding out who did it. She should be disgusted. Shouldn't she? She started to mutter to herself, her voice shaking just as violently as the rest of her body.
"Get it together, before someone sees you," she growled incoherently, her hands gripping at the edge of the dock. "Nobody deserved to go down for the death of that piece of shit, right? Wait. No. What am I saying? Someone murdered someone else. I can't just keep that quiet."
Her argument with herself continued for a long few moments. In the end, she didn't even know which side won. All she knew now was that she was exhausted, and she needed this party to end so she could finally go home.
She leaned back on the dock, but as she tried to lay down entirely, she saw a pale, blonde woman standing behind her. She gasped, shot back up, and nearly tumbled right into the lake.
"Dawn!" she shouted, scrambling up to her feet in a daze. "How do you keep doing that? Don't your footsteps make any sound at all?"
"No," Dawn replied simply. She tilted her head, studying Courtney's very mixed expression.
"What, uh..." Courtney started, shifting between her feet. "How much of that did you hear?"
"None of it," came the answer, although Courtney couldn't tell by Dawn's face whether that was the truth or not. "But I do not need to have heard anything to understand that you're hiding something of great importance."
Courtney wanted to say something. To defend herself, or to tell it all. Either would work. But her words fizzled before they had the chance to leave her, allowing Dawn to continue instead.
"I will not press for the details. However, I can see whatever it is is recent, and troubling you greatly. Perhaps it is even a grave matter."
She just had to word it like that, didn't she? The longer this conversation went on, the more Dawn could surmise what exactly was going on. Courtney knew how Dawn could do something like that. However, she felt her conscience lightening under the gaze of the mystical woman.
"The important thing is for you to attempt to center yourself," she advised, holding out her hands, which Courtney took after a moment of skepticism. "While I do not have the details, I sense conviction in your actions. As though you believe that the right thing was done. And therefore, you will need to act with that mindset."
"And what if I can't?" Courtney asked, her voice starting to even out. "What if I always have this doubt?"
"Then you will look suspicious when questions are inevitably asked by those who seek their answers. It would be best to avoid that."
Courtney slowly nodded. She still didn't know if this was the right thing to do, but it's what she decided on. She took a deep breath, squeezed Dawn's hands within her, and nodded.
"Okay. Okay, I think I'm good. For now, at least."
"It would be best if you remained that way. To smile through whatever has gone on. Or else you may end up getting caught for your deed."
The two stood like that, hand-in-hand, for a little while longer, until Courtney was able to walk to the party on her own, leaving an approving Dawn alone on the dock.
On the other side of the party, Cody and Gwen made it to the makeshift bar. They decided it best that not everybody splits up, and they're the most likely to actually stick together. They sat down on the raised logs, Gwen placing her elbows on the counter, while Cody pulled the final extra phone, Justin's, out of his pocket. He kept it low so nobody could see, and captured shots of the party. He then leaned in to Gwen.
"We're going to have to ask him to take a few pictures of himself having fun or holding a drink once he gets here," he whispered, to which she nodded silently.
From behind the bar, none other than Alejandro placed two cups down in front of his new patrons.
"Amigos, I'm so glad to see you haven't just called ride home. I know one of you has the money to grant you both such a luxury," Alejandro chuckled, nudging the glass towards Cody. "The big-shot tech mogul himself."
Cody rubbed the back of his head, a bit embarrassed.
"Well, not technically a mogul, I guess. Not yet, anyway. But I'm making my way there, I think."
It took everything Gwen had to not roll her eyes at their conversation.
"And worry not, Cody. I have not seen Sierra at all tonight. I'm certain she's off trying to convince Chris to not end the show, or something equally nonsensical."
"Out of anyone here, she'd definitely be the one who wouldn't want this torture-fest to end," Gwen noted grimly, her eyes scanning across the bar. "Can you pour me some scotch? Like, a cup full?"
Alejandro nodded, grabbing an unopened, expensive looking bottle from behind him. As he cracked it open and started the long pour into Gwen's cup, he looked to Cody.
"Can I get a Shirley Temple with a splash of vodka?" he asked. Gwen gave him a quick glance, and a small chuckle left her lips, before Cody added to his request. "Maybe a couple splashes."
"Coming right up," Alejandro answered once Gwen's cup was full, and the bottle was down by a quarter.
As he prepared Cody's drink, he looked to the two of them.
"Are you celebrating anything in particular? Or perhaps drinking out of fear of the show getting picked up again, and us being forced into new contracts?"
"I'm not too worried about that," Gwen admitted, taking a couple small sips of her drink. She made a face when it went down, but then gave a satisfied smile. "I'm sure Chris is tired of the same old people, anyway. The most we'd be subjected to are cameo appearances."
"And All-Star seasons," Cody added, happily taking his drink once it was handed to him. "Can't forget about those."
"Let us just hope that none of us blend well with whoever he chooses next," the bartender noted, pouring himself a small drink and raising it for a toast.
The other two lifted their cups in unison.
"So, I'll take this to assume that the little fight you two had during the season is squashed?" Alejandro asked, finishing his drink very quickly, and immediately pouring another.
Cody and Gwen glanced at each other. They would try their best to explain without going into detail on why they were talking again.
"We had a couple of things to go over with each other," Gwen admitted. "Mostly... me, understanding a couple things."
"Like how I haven't owed you anything in years, no matter how many times you say I do," the other answered, a mixture between playful and bitter.
Something in that sentence struck Gwen, and it showed. The only reason she had even gotten him involved in the night's events were because she kept insisting he owed her. But that wasn't the case. And it hadn't been for a long time.
"I guess it's safe to say that I owe him now," she chuckled, but quickly caught herself when she saw an inquisitive look coming from Alejandro. Before he could open his mouth to question it, however, Cody spoke up to save the spiraling moment with information he knew he could freely share.
"She's talking about the reason Gwen and I were pulled back into this. Well, more specifically me. Gwen's contract was still good going into this season, but I bought myself out of mine a couple years back."
Alejandro was now well and truly interested. Gwen gave Cody a nervous glance, but the story continued.
"Gwen had asked me to check into something involving Chris' private computer. Stuff involving everyone's contracts. I found what she was looking for, but I got caught," he explained. By this point, Alejandro had downed his drink, and was pouring himself a third.
"What exactly did you find?" he asked, all-too curiously.
"So, it turns out..." he started, leaning into the bar so he could stay a bit quieter, just in case any crew were around. "Chris has been secretly messing with our contracts for years. Adding new clauses, and covering it up with help from the producers. The only reason the show is ending now is so they could reboot it. Get out before any of us catch on and have a professional investigate."
"But someone did catch on. The two of you," Alejandro mused, impressed. "What happened when you got caught?"
"Chris gave me an ultimatum. He'll pursue legal action, or I'll sign a new contract, which included a clause where I can never personally investigate him, or hire someone to do it. I'm not even allowed to explain what I found out, or why I'm here."
Alejandro gave Cody a worried look, while Gwen's was more guilty than anything. She never knew that she was the reason Cody was stuck here with them. Something about that ate away at her even more than what they'd done tonight.
"What?" Cody asked casually, taking one more long sip of his drink. "It's not like he's here to say anything about it."
Across the party, Courtney grabbed onto Noah's shirt, pulling him aside. He reacted with near-violence, but was able to control himself when he saw that it was only Courtney.
"What? I'm trying to enjoy the party here," he scoffed, to which she gave him a glare.
"A thought just occurred to me. One that's sort've really important to our... current situation."
He quickly hushed her, and moved a bit further away from the crowd.
"If this is more of your manic bullshit, I swear."
"I promise, it's not. It's just a single worry, that none of us have any control over."
It sounded like manic bullshit to Noah, but he took a long breath and conceded. "What?"
"The others. I feel bad that there's only three of them going into the mine," she sighed. At the very least, her expression and tone were calmer than when Noah last talked to her, so he let her continue. "That place can be really dangerous. And how are they even supposed to do what they have to down there?"
Noah cracked a soft smile. He glanced back into the woods, looking out into the darkness where the other have of their group had ventured.
"Don't worry about them. They'll have a friend to help them out."