Author's Note: Okay, when I first planned this fic I hadn't realised how much of it I wanted to do, since originally I was only gonna do like one/two chapters from Ezekiel's perspective. However it seems like I've hit the same thing as 'Not So Scary After All' had where I just wanna keep expanding this story!
This is also part of the reason why chapter releases slowed down, since I'm now trying to plan around the second season with the story beats in mind. But hey, at least this chapter didn't take two months right. *nervously smiles*
Reviews
Guest (1): She took a boat from the resort back to the mainland, then how she got to the funeral home and back to the dock is up to interpretation.
Guest (2): No I got that, and I'm not trying to imply you did, I apologise for the confusion in regards to Lauren's current situation.
Guest (3): It was the Red Light, Green Light challenge from episode one.
MatiasND: Honestly on one hand it was so annoying that Lauren only got the finale after her elimination but on the other hand it saved her from some of the major problems of season two. For her revenge plot, just because the episodes don't show anything doesn't mean she can't mess with things off camera, plus with the others keeping an eye out for her she's bound to run into at least one of them.
RFtheGreat: Glad you could make it XD. But seriously, I was so annoyed when the leaks happened that showed her elimination and the way that it happened in the episode was just the worst part. Suppose Scary Girl and Ezekiel can wear their shared crown of throwing last minute with stupid comments…
If a season three with her happens (no matter what cast they do) I hope they actually try to expand on her character more than just 'I'm scary', because even the small parts of her backstory we do know are so interesting! As for this story, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, and not to spoil the chapter below, but you may be right on your comments about things getting worse!
I love this new cast and every scene they're in is a highlight! And as for Chris, the lawsuit from before doesn't play a factor in this story too much, it's ongoing yes, but I want to save the results of that in case I do end up doing that compfic as a part three to this series.
Chapter Four
Ezekiel stood in front of the closet in Lauren's room, having just opened it upon realising that something had felt off about the room, something had been messed with whilst he wasn't here, he was sure of it. When he'd looked into the closet he'd frozen in shock, most of the items inside were left as normal… however the iconic gothic clothing that she usually wore as her main outfit was gone… the dress… her sleeves… her socks and shoes… all gone.
"W-What…" Ezekiel whispered to himself, his eyes widening in fear, his breath coming out shakily as he processed what was going on…
After a few moments of shocked silence he finally began to move once more, stumbling back from the closet and falling backwards onto the bed with a wide eyed stare, a variety of different emotions flashing across his face all at once, from shock to fear to concern.
Where did the dress go? He knew it was right there… he'd left her outfit right there the day Lauren had left for the new season… Hell he remembered seeing it only yesterday…
But now… "I-It's gone…" Ezekiel muttered quietly, in complete disbelief at what was happening.
He began to get up shakily, opening the door fully to check thoroughly through the whole closet, his thoughts beginning to race with all of the different possibilities that may have happened.
His first thought was that someone must have broken into the funeral home and stolen it… but then Ezekiel quickly realised that it made almost no sense. There had been no evidence to suggest a break in, and even if they'd gotten into the building without breaking anything, why would they only steal Lauren's outfit and not anything else.
The second thought was that perhaps he was wrong… maybe he had moved her outfit without realising. He doubted this one even more than the first one, however in his panic he didn't have the time to try and rationalise it, and began doing a quick sweep of the building, starting with her bedroom and working his way outwards, just in case other items had been stolen or if he'd actually put her outfit somewhere else.
But it was like it had completely vanished from existence from the room… everything else was still there including the decorated skull and her make up bag. It was like it had just vanished…
Or perhaps…
"L-Lauren?" Ezekiel called out into the empty building, the thought beginning to dawn on him that maybe the Scary Girl had come home after her elimination… too distraught after everything had come crashing down in her one episode back.
He began searching the building some more, however this time he wasn't just looking for the dress… he was hoping that his girlfriend was here too.
"Lauren! Are you in here eh! It's me, Ezekiel!" He called out again, hoping that she was still in the building. She'd been long gone at this point, having long since departed for Camp Wawanakwa once more in order to get her revenge for her early elimination. But while he didn't know for sure that she had briefly come back, he had a feeling that this would explain her disappearance from the Playa Des Losers.
Ezekiel sighed to himself, remembering his conversation with Millie and Chase the previous night after Millie's elimination.
"I looked all over for her when I arrived at the resort, but she's nowhere to be found and her room is completely destroyed, heck I even asked Chase if he'd seen her at all and he hasn't…" Millie explained, her tone sounding concerned.
He knew she'd snapped in some form if the destroyed room in the resort was anything to go by… and no one on either the main island or the losers resort hadn't seen or heard anything from the Scary Girl since her elimination…
Maybe she had come home… and that's why her dress was now gone… but then…
Why could he not find her? Did… did she not want to see him…
Ezekiel's heart broke at that last thought as he stepped back into Lauren's bedroom, a million different contrasting thoughts flowing through his mind as he sat on her bed once more, struggling to keep himself composed and failing to stop some of the tears from falling down his face.
"L-Lauren… j-just w-what the h-hell is h-happening t-to you…" Ezekiel whispered, beginning to break down slightly from the stress of everything that's happened since this 'Normal Girl' phase had become known to him.
"I-Is it my fault…" He took a deep breath, his eyes as bloodshot from the crying as they were back when he was a feral freakshow. "O-Or is it s-something else…"
Ezekiel did have one small idea of what it could be, remembering back to the video call he'd shared with Lauren's former teammates…
"Really?" Julia rolled her eyes. "Because the freak clearly seemed to get a kick out of it… besides she was never gonna be normal anyway the way she was acting."
"Julia!" Bowie snapped at her, the Hockey Bros glaring from behind him. "Now is not the time for that!"
"What?" She responded innocently. "There was a reason we kicked her off, I mean, for someone trying to be normal she somehow made herself even scarier."
Could this be because of her elimination… would she… be out for revenge?...
He sighed to himself, he wasn't exactly going to get the answers anytime soon considering no one could hear or answer him… and the one person who could was the girl no one could seem to find.
Ezekiel just didn't know what to do at this point, between Lauren's mental breakdown with the 'Normal Girl' stuff and her subsequent disappearance, the ongoing situation with her abusive parents and now the news that Damien had shared about Chris McLean of all people having found out about her living situation…
It was just an intertwining mess that just seemed to be getting more and more tangled, and Ezekiel was starting to be pushed over the edge of it all, almost wishing for a moment that he was back on Boney Island or the Playa Des Losers all those months ago, where they could just be themselves without fear of any of this getting in the way of their love for the other.
Because ultimately that was why Ezekiel felt so distraught over this entire situation… because it kept feeling like the Scary Girl that he fell in love with last season was beginning to slowly disappear, and he hated it.
He hated that he couldn't do anything to try and alleviate some of the pain that Lauren was clearly going through, all he could seemingly do was just watch from the sidelines as she descended further into madness in a way that even he is uncomfortable with. Because he knows that this isn't the brand of crazy that he loves seeing his Scary Girlfriend express…
This wasn't simply her just trying to scare some of the others, he wouldn't have cared so much with that, because being scary and terrifying to the others is who Lauren was, and he wouldn't change that for the world. He loved seeing her in her element, but this was out of her control… her past trauma was coming back to haunt her and she was struggling to cope with it herself, pushing away everyone who could help her.
Ezekiel sighed quietly, his tears still flowing, he needed to find a way of helping her, but he just didn't know what to do…
Does he try and do what he can from home, keeping contact with the others and hoping that Lauren would reappear on her own? Or does he go back to the Playa… and actively help search for her himself…
He really needed to think about this in the morning, because he didn't want to rush into doing something stupid and accidentally make the whole situation worse. For now… he was drained, not just from crying his eyes out, but from the phone call with Damien before.
He slowly fell asleep, clutching the decorated skull in his arms like it'd disappear the moment he let it go, the tears not stopping until he was fully unconscious…
*The Next Morning*
It had taken a while for her to make her way back to the island, but Lauren was finally beginning to see the familiar sights of 'Camp Wawanakwa'... or at least, the island that they replaced the original with after the original island sank…
It had taken most of the night for her to make her way back from the mainland and across the lake, especially when she was only armed with a paddle to row her way back to said island.
However as Lauren approached the island in order to begin her payback against everyone, she began to notice a couple of things that seemed off about the island and its surroundings…
"Was that huge iceberg there before?" Lauren muttered to herself in confusion, seeing the iceberg sitting quite close to the island, with what looked like two of the interns pushing bobsleds into one of the entrances.
It must have been for the next challenge, and whilst she wanted to relish an opportunity to mess with the others as soon as possible. She just simply felt too exhausted after the amount of time it had taken to make the round trip to retrieve some of her belongings…
However she wasn't going to complain about the trip back to the funeral home in order to retrieve her outfit, it was worth it in the end just to tear apart that horrible outfit she had forced herself to wear in order to appear as a 'Normal Girl'. Even if she hadn't fully restored her scary looking appearance like she initially wanted to, at least now she felt like she could breathe slightly easier, and at least she would be slightly more recognisable in her signature outfit, unlike the other look where some of the others didn't even recognise her until Chris pointed it out.
Lauren cursed angrily under her breath as she kept rowing at the unintended reminder of several of her ex-teammates, even after several days she still felt that rage and humiliation towards everyone and everything for what was happening to her, and it was only getting worse and worse.
Both her abusive parents and adopted father…
Chris McLean and Chef Hatchet…
The other contestants both from her cast and before, even the ones she considered friends…
Even her darling Ezekiel to a small extent…
She just felt nothing but bitterness towards all of them in some form, her anger and sorrow blinding her to the truth, that there wasn't anything that her friends or even her boyfriend could have done to help her.
A small part of Lauren knew she was being slightly unfair to the Rat Faces, seeing as none of them had anything to do with this, and especially Ezekiel who had wanted to help her before she left…
However she had been the one to refuse his help, believing that things would go her way and that people would like her for trying to conform, to be normal…
Lauren shook her head almost as though she were possessed, trying to rid herself of those thoughts, at least for the moment. She wouldn't allow herself to show weakness so early into her revenge against the others.
At the very least her first priority once she dumped the boat somewhere hidden would be to find somewhere where she could sleep, she could barely think without these dark thoughts and she seemed to desperately need the rest after all the time spent travelling home and back for the dress.
And from what Lauren was seeing on the Dock of Shame, she swore that she must have been hallucinating…
Because there was no way in hell that she had just seen Ripper and Axel making out on the Dock. Last time she checked they hated each other?
Lauren first rubbed her eyes in confusion, thinking she was really just hallucinating, same with the giant iceberg still several hundred metres away in the lake, but this strange sight still remained. Lauren then slapped herself in the face, first with her hand and then afterwards whacking herself with the paddle, almost knocking herself out in the process.
But the sight hadn't disappeared, and Lauren's face paled in horror at the realisation…
Lauren had seen a lot of strange or horrible things in her eighteen years alive, from her abusive childhood, to the various strange sights during her time at the circus under her adopted father Mecidi's care, and even going as recent as her time on the show with her boyfriends feral state and the various mutant animals in the Fun Zone.
She was able to handle most things that weren't related to said trauma, but seeing Ripper and Axel kissing, especially in the intimate but disgusting way that they were…
Frankly the sight unnerved her, a feeling that she thought was reserved only for anything related to her childhood trauma. But something about them just looked really uncomfortable to her, she wanted to chalk it up to her dislike of the pair, especially Ripper, although Axel wasn't much better off in her books after everything that happened between herself and the survivalist at the Playa Des Losers last season.
However it didn't take long for her to figure out the real reason why she felt unnerved by the couple, as tears threatened to fall from her eyes…
She missed Ezekiel…
A part of her desperately wanted to turn around, to head back to the funeral home she'd been living in and forget about all of this.
Forget the competition, forget her revenge…
Just go back to the person she loved…
But as much as she wanted to see him again, she couldn't face him at the moment, especially with the whole 'stalking everyone for information' still hanging in the air for them, if the others hadn't already told him.
Lauren remembered the morning after her elimination once more, about all of the missed calls she had gotten from Ezekiel.
She shook her head once more, trying to rid herself of the bad thoughts as she opened the door to leave the room. Just before she did however Lauren began to feel her phone vibrating in her pocket once more, she reached into her pocket, pulling her phone out to see the missed calls from several of the others including Ezekiel. She stared at the notifications for a moment, only to immediately put the device away, not wanting to talk to any of the others in fear of their continued rejection.
Lauren sighed quietly to herself, stopping her rowing in order to pull her phone out for a moment, wanting nothing more than to call him right now and at least pretend that everything was okay.
But after a moment she put the phone away, sighing once more, a single tear falling down her cheek before she began to compose herself, continuing her rowing as she sailed around the island, not wanting to be caught on the campgrounds so soon after making it back. It was bad enough that Ripper and Axel could easily see her if they even took a moment's break from their making out on the dock.
She did giggle slightly at how fortunate she seemed to be at this moment, her thoughts drifting to her boyfriend once more, how was he taking this? If he even knew at all?
Lauren allowed that thought to linger for only a few moments before she focused once more, eventually finding a spot on the island that looked secluded enough to dump the boat, the Scary Girl left the boat tied up to a rock, before stepping off onto the rocky surface.
She sighed once more, allowing her negative thoughts to dissipate for the moment, before her usual expression snapped into place, smiling creepily as she skipped into the forest.
*Later that day*
Despite his fractured state of mind over everything, and having repeatedly told himself to think about everything in the morning, Ezekiel had completely forgotten about it for the moment. He hadn't had much sleep the previous night, and when he woke up he'd drove straight to the farm and practically threw himself further into his farm work in order to alleviate some of the pain that he was experiencing.
It was around midday when Ezekiel found himself falling to his bed in utter exhaustion, wanting to take a small break before attempting to continue with his chores for the day.
Ezekiel looked completely shattered, clear bags now under his eyes as he laid there on the bed, just trying to rest for a couple of minutes. He just needed to get on with it… he couldn't keep worrying about her, the others would find Lauren in time…
Despite trying to distract himself from the pain he was feeling about her current situation, Ezekiel just couldn't stop thinking about what to do about this, effectively contributing to his exhaustion.
"Zeke?" A small voice called from the doorway, snapping him out from his daze.
The prairie boy looked over, seeing his little sister Eliza standing at the door, the now four year old child had changed a little in the six months he'd known her, namely her white dress being swapped out for an outfit similar to his for the winter months, the main difference being her hoodie being a more dark purple instead of green due to outside influence from her new 'older sister' figure in Lauren.
Eliza was smiling at first as she called his name, however her happy expression quickly fell from her face upon seeing the state of her older brother.
"Are you okay?" Eliza asked quietly, unaware of anything that was happening outside of the farm, however even she could tell that Ezekiel wasn't looking too good. "Are you sick?"
Ezekiel blinked at her questions, attempting to process her words before smiling weakly after a moment. "I-It's fine sis… I-I'm just… tired i-is all…"
"Tired?" She responded, looking at Ezekiel, stepping further into his room.
"Y-Yeah… t-tired…" Ezekiel repeated, as if trying to convince himself and not just his little sister.
"You mean it?" Eliza asked again, looking at her older brother with a little concern.
Ezekiel nodded slowly, but sat up. "Did you… need me for something?" He asked in return, dodging the question as he knew he wasn't really okay, he knew what he really wanted to happen but he wasn't about to trauma dump onto his four year old sister.
If Eliza had noticed his reluctance to talk, she didn't say anything, her expression brightening as she remembered the reason why she had come to his room in the first place. "Oh! Um… Mom wanted to talk to you!"
Ezekiel blinked. "Mom wants to see me?"
He slowly got up from the bed, taking a moment to wipe his eyes, practically feeling them burning from a mixture of dried tears and exhaustion, before reluctantly following Eliza to where their mother would be waiting for them.
They left the house, heading back towards the barn, passing by the silo where their father had had his accident whilst Ezekiel was stuck on Boney Island. Eventually the siblings saw their mother sitting on a bench underneath a tree overlooking the fields.
"Ezekiel…" His mother, Elizabeth, called over, waving at him to join her on the bench, unlike Eliza who was now appropriately dressed for the cold, his mother was still wearing that blue dress, seemingly unbothered by the colder temperatures.
"H-Hey Mom…" Ezekiel greeted shyly, sitting down on the bench with her. "Y-You wanted to see me?"
"I did." She confirmed, looking at him with a large amount of concern, before moving her gaze briefly to Eliza. "Eliza sweetie, could you leave us for a few minutes." She asked authoritatively but with care, Ezekiel quickly realising that this conversation was going to be more serious than he thought.
Eliza nodded shyly. "Okay…" She muttered sadly, wanting to be around her family, but ultimately she ran off towards the house, leaving Ezekiel and Elizabeth to talk.
Once they were alone, Elizabeth sighed, turning to her son with worry plastered all over her face. "Ezekiel… what's going on?"
Ezekiel tried to smile weakly, he didn't want to make more people worried about him and by extension Lauren, it was bad enough that the whole of Lauren's cast knew about what was happening.
"I-It's nothing, Mom… I'm just…" Ezekiel tried to explain, but he was quickly cut off.
"Ezekiel." Elizabeth stated bluntly, irritation creeping onto her face. "I'm not stupid. I can see that you're upset about something…"
She sighed and then continued. "In fact… you've been acting a little off for a few days."
The Prairie Boy didn't want to have to talk about this situation right now, however he was getting the impression that he wasn't going to be able to leave anytime soon, at least, not until everything had been spilled about Lauren's whole situation.
His girlfriend was a bit of a mixed bag when it came to his family, and he knew exactly what the problem was. Lauren couldn't trust them, not with her secrets. Despite having known his family for six months at this point, Lauren had yet to come clean about her own past to them, and he had a feeling that her whole 'becoming Normal' issue had something to do with it, just like all of her problems lately…
Not that he blamed Lauren for anything that she was currently going through, he knew it was her parents fault for putting the idea of her 'needing to become normal' in her head…
Just the mere thought of what her abusive family has done pisses him off, and in a way it almost makes Ezekiel wish that he was still completely feral, just so he'd have an excuse to completely tear them apart…
Ezekiel shook his head clear of those dark thoughts almost immediately, even if he hated Lauren's biological parents, he couldn't think of something like that.
"Ezekiel? You've been quiet for a while?" Elizabeth spoke up, the worry and concern still clear in her grey eyes.
He sighed softly. "It's nothing Mom… honest." He felt a little bad for lying to his mother, but he didn't know if he could talk about what he was thinking about doing.
"I know you're lying Ezekiel, I can see it clear as day." She responded sternly. "What happened? Is it about that Lauren girl?"
Ezekiel winced slightly, and that was all the confirmation that Elizabeth needed.
Her face softened slightly, and she started thinking through all of the possibilities that could mean, before eventually biting the bullet with one of them. "You two aren't breaking up… are you?" She asked gently, her worry getting even stronger.
"WHAT!" Ezekiel's eyes widened in horror, his head snapping in Elizabeth's direction, his voice loud enough that she was certain that Eliza had heard him from the other side of the farm. "No! No it's nothing like that!"
"Then what is it?" She pressed him, almost reluctantly, however his response had piqued her interest, even if it was nothing to do with a break up it was almost certainly something to do with the Scary Girl that he'd been dating.
Ezekiel growled slightly, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the way this was going, but ultimately he relented, at least… with where she was, hoping that it would be enough to convince his mother to stop with her concern.
"Y-Yeah… It's about Lauren…" Ezekiel began slowly, his face lowered to avoid looking Elizabeth in the eyes. "She's… on another season of the show eh… a-and I'm just a little worried for her, that's all."
Elizabeth hummed slightly, taking this information in. "I see…"
She sat in silence for a few moments, it sounded plausible, however she couldn't quite help but think that this was barely scratching the surface of her son's issue, that there was a lot more to this then just worrying about his girlfriend being back on Total Drama.
Ezekiel meanwhile tried to keep his composure now that he'd spilled a small part of his worry, sincerely hoping that this would be the last they speak of it.
Elizabeth studied his expression for the moment, then slowly narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "You're hiding something…"
She grabbed Ezekiel's head and forced him to look at her, her concern now having a mild amount of annoyance mixed in. "Spill it Ezekiel, I'm not letting you leave this spot until you do…"
"B-But… w-what about the f-farm work?" Ezekiel asked nervously, hoping to still find a way out of talking to her.
Elizabeth however just scoffed, a small smirk appearing on her face. "Oh please, we can handle some of the crops missing a day. Besides that's what the workers we hired after your fathers accident are for…" Her expression then became serious once more, almost deadly serious. "Now… start talking…"
Ezekiel gulped, beginning to shake under the pressure, he didn't want to talk about this with her. But then, he realised something. Why was he so worried about more people finding out? The entirety of Lauren's cast now knew about her past and the fact that she was currently MIA, and because of Chris everyone would now know about her living situation of living in a funeral home, which was something that Elizabeth knew about anyway.
It was like a switch was flipping in his head, maybe he should spill everything to her, and get a grown up perspective on how to approach the situation. He'd like to say he knew what he was doing, but even after getting accustomed to being fully human again and not a half-feral beast, he still struggled adapting to adult life, especially after he'd spent over four years of his life as said feral freakshow.
He sighed quietly, then began to spill. "It is about Lauren… I-I don't want to say too much, given she should be the person to tell you, but to sum it up… she's… not in a good place mentally right now…"
Elizabeth's eyes raised in concern, and whilst she was relieved that he was finally starting to talk about what was bothering him, she was worried about what exactly he was meaning with this.
"She got a lot of… criticism… after her last season… for being too scary…" Ezekiel continued, and she saw the discomfort flash in his eyes at the mere mention of that comment, as if it was blasphemous to say that about her.
And the worst part is that Elizabeth couldn't entirely disagree with those comments about Lauren… She felt unnerved sometimes by some of the things that Lauren said or did whenever she visited the farm, but that didn't mean that Elizabeth disliked her by any means.
Elizabeth could see that despite Lauren's flaws, Ezekiel loved her, so as long as her son was happy Elizabeth could tolerate the mini heart attacks the Scary Girl could sometimes give her. Of course, it also helped that Lauren did her best to avoid being too scary around Eliza, and that only cemented Lauren's status as part of the family in Elizabeth's eyes seeing this usually creepy girl treat her youngest child so well.
"Lauren got really hurt by all of the negative comments… they really got to her, and… she's hurting herself…" Ezekiel continued once more, and Elizabeth could see the pain in her son's eyes.
She gasped at his last statement in particular. "She… isn't self harming is she?" She looked really concerned at this.
Ezekiel widened his eyes and shook his head frantically, tears almost coming to his eyes from that comment alone. "NO NO! NOTHING LIKE THAT!" He shouted, his worry switching to frantic panic, Lauren may have been taking drastic measures in response to the bad comments however he knew she had never considered something like that.
"No! I-It was something else! S-She just… forced herself to learn to be 'normal'!"
Elizabeth paused after hearing that… "Normal?" She asked, confused.
Ezekiel looked really concerned now, however he pushed onwards, he needed to admit the truth, even if he left some of the worst parts out like the stalking he hoped he could explain enough that she'd actually be able to give him proper advice on what to do about his missing girlfriend.
"Y-Yeah… 'normal'… s-she'd been studying all these different things that people our age did… wanting to blend in more in order to go further and prove the people wrong who said all of those bad things about her…" Ezekiel explained solemnly. "A-And I could tell she hated it…"
He remembered that night before Lauren had left for the new season, that outfit she wore that didn't suit her in the slightest, the reluctance to talk and the pain in her eyes as she desperately looked at him for his approval. And worst of all, hearing her trying to hold back tears when she'd allowed him to hug her that night, as if she regretted every moment of trying to be this 'Normal Girl'.
"A-And the worst part is… I-I heard from some of the others on the island… she got kicked off first…" Ezekiel continued once more, his composure cracking. "And it's broken her… s-she's gone missing a-and she won't r-respond to anyone's calls or m-messages…"
Ezekiel finally cracked himself, the tears beginning to form in his eyes. Elizabeth stared at her son with pity, before gently pulling him into a soft embrace, allowing him to cry onto her shoulder.
"Shhh…" She shushed him gently, rubbing his back as soothingly as she could. "It's okay honey…" She attempted to reassure him, although honestly, she didn't know how effective this was going to be.
At the very least she knew that this wasn't just some little issue between the couple, but something much more serious, something that the Scary Girl wasn't able to cope with alone.
"I j-just d-don't k-know what t-to do Mom…" Ezekiel sobbed. "D-Do I t-try and w-wait for the s-season to end… and let h-her come to m-me… o-or do I h-head to t-the island a-again, a-and help her…"
Elizabeth finally understood where Ezekiel's problem was, he wanted to help his girlfriend with whatever problem she had after those comments, but because she'd gone missing after her 'elimination', he was effectively stuck in limbo with the guilt of being stuck separated from her eating at him.
She sighed. "I'm guessing you're not supposed to be there… and that's why you haven't already left…"
Ezekiel nodded, the tears still falling. "Y-Yeah…" He admitted nervously. "W-We got into a-a lot of t-trouble last time… a-after she r-rescued me."
His mother sighed again, thinking on his words for a minute, weighing up both sides of what was essentially the most important parts of this whole internal debate Ezekiel had been having until now.
"But… what do you want to do Ezekiel…" She eventually asked her son softly.
Ezekiel looked up into her eyes after a moment, his eyes still soaked in tears, although his gaze began to steel up slightly in determination. "I-I want to go h-help her… I… I can't leave L-Lauren to s-suffer t-through this a-alone…"
Elizabeth smiled softly, kissing her son's forehead before standing up. "Then… go be with her…"
"You… You mean that?" Ezekiel asked slowly, his eyes widening.
She smiled softly at her son. "Yes… believe me, she needs you right now… and besides…" Her eyes gained a little mischievous glint. "Didn't you say there was a lawsuit against that Chris McLean guy about his mistreatment of you? I'm sure he won't be able to do anything if you showed up… or else that will just add more evidence into what I'm sure is an already huge amount."
Ezekiel chuckled, wiping the tears from his eyes with his sleeve, before standing up with her. "Y-Yeah… y-you're right…"
Elizabeth smiled, before leading him back towards the house. "I'll help pack you some clothes… since I'd imagine you probably don't want to wear the same outfit the whole time" She smiled knowingly.
Ezekiel laughed. "No… probably not eh." He did feel a little better after talking about this, and at least now he knew what he was gonna do…
He was gonna head back to the Playa Des Losers… find Lauren… and do his best to help her…
He just hoped that wherever Lauren was right now… she was doing okay?
*Later that morning*
Lauren was beginning to really feel the signs of exhaustion now…
She had been slowly making her way through the forest for what felt like hours, and the sun had long since appeared overhead. The Scary Girl had to take her time with finding a suitable place to camp out, where she could finally begin planning out what she was going to do for payback against everyone else still in the game, especially against the people who voted her out.
This movement however was only slowed even more as she had to dodge her way past what felt like dozens of cameras, to be honest she actually wasn't quite sure what Chris would do if she were caught on camera having snuck back onto the island, so she played it safe for a change and used all of her agility and strength from years of practice at the circus in order to avoid detection.
Eventually she found a more secluded part of the forest that didn't seem to be as watched as other parts were, a small clearing surrounded on one half by trees, and the other half by what looked to be the side of a cliff. There was not only a small stream so she'd at least not die of thirst out in the woods, but to Lauren's delight there was even a small cave etched into the side of the cliff where she could hide out in.
Lauren walked in with the same look on her face that she had when she had first stepped foot back onto the island, taking a brief look at her new temporary home whilst the rest of the season was going on.
But honestly, there wasn't much to the cave, not that she was expecting anything spectacular, although she was happy at least to see that it went a little deeper than she first thought. It almost felt nostalgic in a way to her, remembering the couple days she spent cuddling up to Ezekiel in his old cave on Boney Island…
Of course, to her nothing would beat those couple of nights in the cave, spending time sitting in the nest he had called a bed, getting to know each other. How she got to spend the night with her favourite contestant, swapping various stories about their times on the show.
Lauren sighed almost longingly, wanting to go back to that day again as she walked further into the cave. Again the thoughts of turning back and going back to the funeral home surfaced in her mind, just to forget about all of this and stay hidden away with the person she loved.
It wasn't like they would need her for anything, if this season goes anything like her first season then no ones gonna return to the game, they'll probably have the double elimination and stick with only thirteen episodes, and unless they actively made her an obstacle in one of the challenges, most likely the finale, then there would be no reason for her to stick around for said finale.
But then, just as quickly as the thoughts of turning back hit her, they left her mind, replaced by her more darker thoughts of revenge…
Revenge on the others for just casting her aside, even when she put blood, sweat and tears into forcing herself into becoming a 'Normal Girl' for them. And for what… for her parents to ultimately be proven right about her…
Her parents…
Those goddamn abusive bastards…
Lauren growled menacingly, picking up a somewhat large rock and throwing it across the cave, embedding it within the wall with a loud rumbling sound as the wall partially collapsed where she struck it.
She fell to her knees, screaming out in pure rage and despair at her realisation. In her attempts at forcing normality she only proved their point… she couldn't be normal… she was only a psychopath… a freak…
It only served to piss her off even more the longer she thought about it, and not only was the pain, suffering and rage going inwards, it was being aimed at everyone else on the island.
She wouldn't go back on her words in the confessional that night she had been eliminated…
For a moment she breathed deeply, trying to calm herself down slightly before looking back up towards the camera, a look of utter loathing in her eyes as she began to vent.
"This is what you get for trying to conform with societal norms, carried into the sky by a drone!" She began before glaring directly at the camera. "I didn't even try to hurt anyone on my team this time!" She almost growled, trying to hold back tears of frustration as she knew that she didn't have much time.
She smiled, a cold look on her face as she continued to vent, briefly holding a hand to her chest in order to stop the shaking. "I taught myself how to smile forty percent less creepily!"
Eventually however she couldn't hold back the anger anymore, diving towards the camera and clutching it in both hands as a dark look overcame her eyes. "Ohh, this isn't the last of Scary Girl…" She muttered to the camera before a look of pure hatred entered her pale blue eyes, Lauren completely discarding the 'Normal Girl' persona she'd tried to create as she let her emotions completely overtake her. "I'm going to MAKE THEM PAY!" She almost screamed, a manic look entering her eyes before she stood up and kicked the door open.
Her eyes sharpened at the memory, her smile becoming fully psychotic as she began to plot to herself, what exactly could she do to the others in order to get her revenge…
And more importantly… Who does she target first? One of the people who voted her off? Or one of the members of the other team?
Either way she wasn't gonna stop until every person who'd wronged her felt the same pain she had during her elimination…or worse…
And she'd make sure that happened this time…
The doors to the funeral home slammed open, Ezekiel running in with almost reckless abandon in order to get to Lauren's room. He only had the foresight to close the door before he made a mad dash across the interior to his destination, an empty bag in his hands.
Ezekiel didn't want to waste any more time than necessary, only grabbing a few things that he thought would be essential for helping Lauren. Namely things to bring her back to her senses in case she had fully snapped in her self imposed isolation.
There wasn't much point in other stuff, Lauren usually only preferred to wear the one dress, somehow managing to keep it pristine and clean despite wearing it all the time. This seemed to stick even with the normal outfit, as when he did a sweep of the closet there only seemed to be a couple of other outfits, namely a swimsuit, some night wear, and one or two other outfits that he'd never seen her wear before, being a hoodie, shirt and two pairs of tracksuit bottoms, every single one of which was all black.
Ezekiel shrugged as he saw the only options, he was hoping to find Lauren quickly and if they were staying at the Playa Des Losers again she could do with at least a couple variations to her outfit, so he packed every single outfit into the bag reserved for her things, as well as her make up bag and some hair dye, just in case she hadn't fixed up her hair when she'd come back for her 'Scary Girl' outfit.
He tried to ignore the slight dirty feeling upon grabbing the rest of her clothes from her drawers, just taking a couple pairs of everything and shoving them into the bag along with the other items. It was better she was mad at him for this than to not take anything at all in his eyes...
Finally, he looked at the decorated skull that Lauren had taken from the island shortly before she landed on Boney Island and met him. It seemed strange at first, but after a few moments of thinking about it Ezekiel smiled softly, picking it up as well. The skull was like a memento to how they first met, remembering how he'd stolen it when he'd seen her for the first time, curious about the girl he'd found so intriguing. At the very least he'd bring it as a reminder of his girlfriend whilst they searched the islands for her.
"I think that's everything…" He muttered to himself, it wasn't as though food, essentials or any luxuries like movies or the sort. Since the Playa Des Losers already had enough of that where they could just hang out together once he found her.
A small part of him still felt a little uncertain if she was even on one of the islands, but it made the most sense to him, given if she was just trying to get away from the show after her elimination she would have just stayed at home instead of just coming back for the dress. It would have made things a lot easier but he was certain it was just the stress of the overall situation clouding her judgement over her ignoring him out of malice.
At least… he hoped he hadn't given her a reason to be mad at him…
Ezekiel shook his head as he finished packing up Lauren's bag, clearing his head of any bad thoughts… no, there was no way that Lauren was mad at him over this, he remembered that night once more, there was just no way she thought that.
He just wished he did know what was going on inside her head, he sighed longingly, hoping that he'd be able to find Lauren quickly, then began to make his way out of the funeral home.
*Later that evening*
The challenge had once again gone against the Rat Faces, every last one of them feeling disappointed like they'd personally failed after what seemed like a bright start to the game, completely unaware of the Skunk Butts cheating over the last three challenges.
All six of the remaining members made their way to the campfire ceremony, with only one of them looking remotely content with their current situation, not that the others noticed Nichelle's almost smug look, too busy fighting off their own conflicted emotions.
They all sat down at the campfire as Chris picked up the plate with five marshmallows on them, all of them too absorbed in their concerns to bother laughing at the ridiculous looking top hat that Chris had been wearing in order to hide his 'bad hair day'. Although Chef Hatchet stood to the side looking quite pleased with the work he had done to 'salvage' that particular mess.
None of the people sitting at the campfire were aware of the two eavesdroppers looking forward to seeing the events that were about to unfold…
"Team Rat Face…" Chris began, looking at them arrogantly as he held the plate of marshmallows. "You all must have really caught a chill today if you're willing to brave a third consecutive elimination ceremony just to get near the fire…" He taunted the losing team, flashbacks of the Killer Grips, Team Victory, and the Toxic Rats from previous seasons coming to mind as Chris thought of just how bad this team has become so quickly…
"Very funny!" Axel glared as she pointed angrily at the host, her words dripping with a mixture of anger and sarcasm.
Chris grinned, however he didn't respond to the bait that Axel threw out, instead gesturing with a smug look for Chef to walk forward. "Chef? Please recap our worst performances of the day." His grin widening as Chef stood by his side with his own smug look on his face.
"My pleasure…" Chef smiled before his expression turned into the usual angry look he had when addressing the screw ups of the day. "Zee!" He said sternly, pointing towards him, mouth open as he was about to call out his first contestant.
However before anything could happen Nichelle stood up confidently, shouting for Chef to wait as she did so.
"Don't bother Chef." Nichelle began smugly as she pulled out a contract from her pocket. "I just got hired to star in a superhero franchise. Three picture deal. EP credit. All guaranteed!" She held up three fingers at the mention of the picture deals, before pointing at the specific part of the contract saying how it was in fact, all guaranteed.
She put the contract away, however she looked just as confident as she spoke her next words. "And I've got to get back to LA tomorrow to start shooting!" Nichelle looked giddy as she held her arms towards her chest in excitement, beginning to run away from the campfire. "Soooo… Byeeee!" She finished as she began to run towards the Dock of Shame where the Drone of Despair was no doubt waiting to take her to the resort, where she could arrange to be picked up to be taken to LA for the shoot.
Damien however looked a little puzzled even as the other members looked a little shocked at Nichelle's sudden decision to just quit the game. "Hold up, but you told us you… hated Hollywood?"
Nichelle stopped running for a moment, turning back with clear anger appearing on her face. "Maybe you didn't hear me correctly…" She then stormed back up to his face, frightening him as the Action Star held three fingers to his face. "THREE! PICTURE! DEAL!"
Even Chris looked slightly startled as Nichelle continued walking away from the other contestants and towards him. "Hope you all have fun suffering through this for a measly million bucks!" Nichelle continued, picking up a marshmallow from the plate Chris was carrying, laughing to herself arrogantly as she ate it.
"NICHELLE LADONNA IS BACK BABY!" Nichelle cheered once more, pumping her arms in the air as she ran straight for the Dock of Shame, Chris smiling as she ran past him.
"Hold on… doesn't that mean she owes you a million dollars now?" Damien asked in confusion to Chris as he turned to follow Nichelle, remembering how he was forced to stay in the game even when he wanted to quit because of said rule.
"Oh, that?" Chris looked smugly at Damien. "That was just to convince you to stay! Seriously, you weren't the first person who wanted to quit mid-game!" Chris laughed as he turned once more, following Nichelle to the Dock of Shame.
Damien sighed in annoyance. "Of course it was…" He grumbled, accepting that he had been played there, besides there was no point of him getting too mad about it when it was six months ago.
After Chris and Chef had both left, Chris following Nichelle to the Dock and Chef heading back to the campgrounds since he was no longer needed. The five remaining Rat Face members sat there in disbelief for a moment before getting up, beginning to walk back to the campground themselves.
"Wow… I did not see that coming…" Damien muttered to the others as they walked away, only to be stopped by Julia of all people, who was now leaning against the wooden sign observing her nails.
"I did…" She stated smugly, not even bothering to look up to address them with, a smirk on her face.
"Um… how?" Priya asked, looking as confused as everyone else.
"Cause I wrote that big fat fake contract and left it on Nichelle's bed before today's challenge." Julia explained with an evil grin on her face, before turning around with that smug look still on her face. "Sweet dreams… Rat Faces…" She mocked before beginning to walk away.
"Remind me, NEVER, to cross that girl…" Damien stated as Julia walked away, the others just staring in shock as they processed that information.
Julia however dropped the smug look the moment that she had gotten enough of a distance away from the others. She had lied about that whole thing, the only thing she had done was leave the contract on her bed, but not only was that hastily AFTER the challenge when everyone else was in the Mess Hall, but she had to also hastily change any mention of her name to Nichelle's and make it look believable for a movie deal rather than the influencer deal she really wanted…
She had initially thought it was MK having been able to recover some paper after all when doing her usual cheating schemes in the intern outfit, but… then she had seen the contract already written in her name…
Someone wanted her out…
And whoever had tried that was going to pay…
As Julia continued walking away, now more determined to get revenge on whoever had done such a thing, she began trying to figure out who could have done that…
As strange a concept as it was to her, she trusted MK…
The Rat Faces couldn't have since they looked as shocked about the contract as she had been, so unless they were really good at faking shock then it couldn't be them…
And she knew that Wayne, Raj and Ripper all wouldn't be smart enough to pull something like this off…
That just left…
"Bowie…" Julia growled in frustration, clenching her fists tightly at the realisation, it made enough sense in her mind, and it wasn't the first time he had attempted sabotage like this, given what he did to Priya and Millie's friendship the night before the finale last season.
"Oh he is gonna pay for this…" She vowed to herself, storming back to her cabin, already beginning to plot ways to get revenge on her bitter rival for attempting to backstab her like that.
However she couldn't have been further from the truth, watching from the top of the cliff with a pair of binoculars in her hands was Lauren, giggling creepily to herself as she watched the whole elimination ceremony go down.
Lauren's plan hadn't worked out as initially intended, however… she'd heard Julia's words just then and this worked out in her favour…
The Scary Girl may not have accounted for Nichelle being eliminated with the contract she'd written up instead, but ultimately it didn't matter too much to her. Nichelle was gonna be so crushed when she found out that she quit for nothing, however that was Lauren's goal in the first place.
Her one plan of trying to cope with what had happened in between seasons had been crushed because of people refusing to accept her attempting to be a 'Normal Girl'…
So she wanted to do the same to them, she wanted to sabotage their chances at the million and watch as they suffered like she is.
Maybe then her own pain will start to disappear…
End Chapter
Author's Note: Okay first off, I'm not trying to hate on Rixel, I do like the ship, but in universe everyone did have negative reactions to them as a couple, especially regarding their PDA. Plus I'd find it funny if even Scary Girl found them unnerving, although in this case it was for different reasons.
Secondly, the contract. The original explanation was too contrived and out of nowhere, so I wanted to try and give a little bit of an expansion by having it be an attempt of getting rid of Julia, with her essentially using the already made contract and refurbishing it to the contract Nichelle read. It's not a perfect scenario I know, however Scary Girl isn't the smartest person as episode one of season two showed, but I feel like it's something Lauren would attempt, and in the way it worked out for her, someone still quit and Julia suspects Bowie of doing it.
Lastly, I want to give a couple shoutouts, first of all shoutout to every person from the 'TD Writers' discord. I may not talk that much due to a mixture of social anxiety, and fear of being disliked for these fics (mostly because of the Scarekiel ship tbh). But you all are such awesome people and, hopefully I can one day feel comfortable enough to talk with everyone.
But also more specifically since I was mentioned in one of their chapters, I'll shout them out as well. So uh, go check out the 'Dreams Come True' series by Caleb13Frede on AO3, or The Imaginationeers on FF, it's a really good crossover series that I'd highly recommend, with a particular shoutout to 'This Is Your Captain Crashing', their World Tour adaptation that focuses on Izzy, but with a lot of angst thrown into the mix! I'd really consider giving it a look if you haven't already.