lostcarnival | HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 1

Entry tags:

HELL OF A HANGOVER PT. 1

Who: The people who escaped!
When: Very early Day 66 to Day 67
Where: The Carnival
What: The Ringmaster brings everyone she can back to the carnival after getting kicked out the Celebration, a bit worse for wear. Those that have resolved their threads at the Masquerade can start trickling over here as they sort things out.
Warnings: Angst, mostly likely, as well as potentially graphic injuries.

RETURNING HOME↴

About 45 minutes after the conflict with the vampires begins, the Ringmaster will finally show her face at the Masquerade - and immediately be mortified by what she sees. Though initially mostly confused by the fact that there's been problems over the week, and characteristically obtuse about what's going on, as soon as she realizes the severity of the threat she will launch into action. If the Host managed to miss the combat already going on, they won't be able to miss the Ringmaster tearing up the joint and looking for her people. She's quick to scoop up those that have managed to gather in the dining hall - but unfortunately her arrival seems to be the vampire's cue to retreat.

Her attempt to challenge the Host about this will result in the being finally losing their patience and banishing all the vampires and all of the carnival workers from the premises, forcing them back to the portals they arrived from and launching their remaining belongings out with them. The Ringmaster will be pretty fucking pissed off when they return (once again) and will tell everyone to take the time they need to recover, but to stick together and stay safe for the time being. She has a plan to chase down the carnival members that have been stolen, but it will take time.

► BEER PONG: Apparently the Ringmaster spent the entire week playing a nonstop game of beer pong, against several dozen of the Host's bodies. She hadn't quite won yet when the Masquerade began, so she was late. Whether or not she was caught up in the same spell as everyone else is up to interpretation, but the answer "definitely probably." She won, for the record.

► MISSING: Upon doing headcounts, it will turn out that all the supervisors are missing, as well as several regular workers - a few of which will have been spotted as freshly turned vampires during the fighting. Whether that was the point of the attack or not is unclear, but it's pretty clear that the Ringmaster is a little bit devastated about it - particularly about the supervisors. However, she will refuse to talk to anyone long enough to get into too many details.

► THE PLAN: The Ringmaster will announce that she intends to get everyone back - it's just a matter of figuring out their way back to the dimension they've been stolen off to. She guarantees that she will find it, but that it may take some time. In the end, the workers will have a total of two days to recover and plan - during the evening of Day 67, she will be leading a rescue mission to get them all back. You don't have to come, but lives do depend on its success.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The waking is rough. He opens his eyes and he doesn't know where he is immediately. His body aches, his head is sort, his mouth is dry, everything about the experience can be described as awful. He doesn't remember anything at first, and he looks around in confusion. He recognizes where he is though, it's the medical tent, and he remembers where he was before. That's when it all comes flooding back to him, the party, the woman, Susan. Susan, suddenly he panics, sitting up, and that's when he notices them. His brother and someone else, Annabelle he thinks her name was, standing nearby. He looks from one of them to the other, and like that his energy leaves him. He slumps in on himself, and stares at his hands.

What was he going to do now?

After the mess of the party, it was all Susan could do to help get Lauren to the medical tent. He was still upset, but now that things were safe (safer? Maybe it wasn't safe at all, there was that attack before...), he was a bit more relaxed as he sat and waited. He was still mostly caught in his thoughts, though, or at least talking to Fluff, unless Annabelle tried to talk to him - in which case he would talk with her for a bit, only to fall back to quietly waiting (impatiently, too) for Lauren to wake.

He doesn't immediately notice Lauren's eyes opening, but his brother sitting up definitely grabs his attention, and he instantly perks up, a small but hopeful smile on his face as he watches him.

"You're awake!"

Annabelle strangely hasn't been feeling very chatty, though she's spoken with Susan a little bit; the tension is palpable and somewhat compressing, so she's mostly been staring intensely at the patients, perhaps somewhat unnervingly. It's not intentional, anyway...

Annabelle jumps with alarm when Lauren sits up, her eyes widening as she raises a hand. In the same exact instant, her hair lifts in a gentle float somewhat unnaturally—until her posture slackens, and down as well goes her hair and her hand. Her heart races as she watches him very pointedly—almost cautiously. She's not sure what to expect.

"Feeling different?"

The question causes a feeling of rage to well up within him, one he's never quite felt before. A simple innocent question, except he knew why she asked it. She must know what had happened. There's a part of him that recognizes this feeling as one that's not entirely his own as well. There's a strange new arrogant part of his being that insists he not be treated with disrespect, but he does his best to shut it out. He doesn't want to be angry, he doesn't want to be here.

His hands grip at the fabric of his pants as his eyes grow hot with unshed tears. Memories are coming back to him now. He remembers the chaos, and the hunger he'd felt, he remembers drawing someone in, only to attack and feed from them. His skin is cold, his heart is still, he's not alive any longer, or at least he shouldn't be.

"Why did you bring me back here?" he murmurs, gaze flicking to Annabelle and then staying there, because it was easier to focus on her than it was to focus on Susan.

The question surprises Susan, and he frowns as he answers.

"Why wouldn't we bring you here? We live here." For now, at least. Why would Lauren ask that? He moves closer to Lauren, moving to sit next to him on the bed.

Annabelle feels the urge to grasp Susan's arm when he moves closer to Lauren, but she isn't close enough. Her body lurches forward a bit strangely, and then she tensely stuffs her hands into her skirted lap, hands wrenching. What a weird feeling.

She stares at Lauren with a new intensity, stronger than before, because she's very determined to get a read. She knows Susan's answer probably wasn't what Lauren was looking for.

"You were injured, naturally." That's also not a real answer, which she realizes he probably will also figure. But more legitimately, she briskly adds, "Did you think he would leave you behind?"

Edited 2017-03-05 05:49 (UTC)

He'd hoped they would. He hoped Carly would do the right thing and kill him when she had the chance. He looks away, staring at his lap as Susan sits down beside him. He's shaking. He can hear both their heartbeats, he can practically feel their body heat. He can smell the blood running through them both and it's driving him mad. He closes his eyes, taking a slow shuddering breath. There's so much venom he wants to spit Annabelle's way, but not with Susan here. He has to stay in control.

"Susan." he starts, his voice shaking despite his effort to stay calm. "I don't think I can exactly call it living anymore."

He only frowns again, shaking his head.

"You're here and you're awake and you're talking, that's living. I know you don't like it here, but..." He kind of trails off, not sure what else to say. There's no way Lauren is talking about anything else. He knows it. Everyone else was wrong about it, and Lauren is fine.

Annabelle's eyes fall to her hands, and she glances back up at Lauren. He doesn't seem out of control, or wild. That alone is enough to assuage her unease, somewhat. While she doesn't let her guard down completely, she feels considerably more relaxed.

Magicians, where Annabelle's from, have a sensitivity to the energies of other people, and the world around them—in part, it's what they manipulate to use their magic. She can't feel what they're feeling as her own feelings, or know what they're thinking—but she's very sensitive to how they exude. Lauren is furious, or something like it, she thinks; his energy is very nearly overwhelming. Susan, meanwhile, she doesn't get much of a read on at all.

She worries Lauren's aggression may escalate.

"I don't think that's the issue he takes," she says gently, glancing back at Susan. She gets the impression Susan is tough, but he's still just a boy.

"I think it's because he's dead."

...Well, it was going to come out eventually in some manner, wasn't it?

Lauren cringes away from the word, visibly flinching. It was true though, there was no way to deny it. His lower lip trembles. He was furious, in an exaggerated why. His nails are pointed like claws, and he wants to use them to tear someone apart. His simply clenches his fists even tighter.

"There's no reason for you to be here!" Lauren spits out, words pointedly directed at Annabelle though he doesn't look at her so much as even say her name.

He doesn't even have to think about what Annabelle says because then Lauren is yelling at her (nicely letting him once again dodge that thought process and subject).

"She helped me protect you and bring you back, that's why she's here! She wouldn't have had to, either, if you hadn't run away from me...!"

Annabelle doesn't think she can tell Susan that he probably ran away because he was losing his mind. Interesting that it's not all the way gone, it seems.

"Furthermore..."

Again, there's no way this wouldn't be upsetting to Susan. She bites her lip, rolling her eyes up to look at Lauren.

"Are you confident that Susan might not, in some present circumstances, need protection?"

If he was alone with Lauren?

"I'm trying to help." It's such a pain in the ass, she would be happy to throw her hands up and walk away from this. But she feels like Susan understands her; he has the same cursed abundance of a gift, and a fiery soul. And it wasn't as if she disliked Lauren, even if he was being irritating. But who knew; being murdered was probably quite agitating. "I simply know what I see."

The worst part of it was that he couldn't say Susan wouldn't need protection. He remembered to well the feeling of grief and anger he'd felt as Susan destroyed the woman who'd murdered him, and the overwhelming desire he'd felt to tear into his own flesh and blood. He shudders, curling even further in on himself, unshed tears wet the lashes of his closed eyes. The worst part of course is that he remembered what he'd done next. He hadn't resisted the desire to kill, it had simply shifted to someone else. Someone else's sister or mother. He feels sick to his stomach at the very thought.

"Susan..." He murmured, his voice quiet. What could he say? What should he say? "I didn't mean to. I didn't."

He shakes his head, looking up at his brother with an almost scared look in his eye - not scared for himself, though, only for his brother, his lack of understanding (even if he weren't in denial, since he really has no idea what his brother is talking about now) only compounding it.

"I don't understand... You didn't do anything wrong."

Annabelle almost reflexively says "he killed someone—potentially two someones", but blessedly snags that one on the way out. But that's not even the issue he refers to, initially; she has no idea that he's already felt overcome with the desire to kill his own brother.

This is why his response confuses her; she simply assumes that Lauren is shifting gears, wrought with emotions. It makes sense to be that way in this circumstance, after all.

"That...may not be true," Annabelle suggests gently to Susan, then glances at Lauren. "...But whatever he may have done, perhaps he couldn't help it. It may be more accurate to say that it isn't his fault."

She's heard tales of vampires, though the lore back home is a little different from what she's been learning so far. But the bloodlust is a consistent factor.

Neither of them could understand, they didn't know what it felt like, to have someone scared beneath you and irresistibly warm in your grip. A wave of nausea washes over him and he leans over the opposite side of the cot and retches. His stomach turns once, then twice, but nothing comes up. The taste of bile and blood coat the inside of his mouth and it only makes him feel even sicker. He wipes tears from his face with with his sleeve.

He had to run from Susan before, for the same reason he shouldn't be here now, even if it meant leaving his brother all alone. He looks to his brother them, a strong sense of guilt outweighing his feelings from before. He'd failed, all he'd wanted to do was stay with and protect Susan and he'd messed it up. He's too afraid to even embrace his brother, because he doesn't know what will happen if he lets himself get that close.

"Oh, Susan..."

He starts to tear up when Lauren is sick, overwhelmed and confused and scared and just honestly probably needing to cry. He doesn't understand, he doesn't know what's going on (Carly said it, told him about the vampires, but it couldn't be true, everything was fine and Lauren was fine and he was fine and nothing was wrong except Lauren being hurt!), but he wants to be here for Lauren, to be here for his brother who's hurting and upset and Susan doesn't know how to help. After Lauren is done, Susan leans in to hug him, even if Lauren won't do the same; he needs the comfort just as much as Lauren does, at this point.

"Everything's gonna be okay, okay? You'll feel better soon, and, everyone will come back, and we can fly around or, or whatever you want, okay?" His tone is almost pleading, at this point, as he so desperately tries to get Lauren to tell him it's okay. He needs this, now, and he doesn't know what to do without it.

Annabelle jumps again, her eyes widening when he wretches. Interestingly, she hears nothing hit the floor. She supposes the blood must have mostly been absorbed rather quickly.

When Lauren looks at Susan, she feels like her heart stops, a curious, unpleasant emotion welling all through her. She has to avert her eyes.

Shockingly to her, it's hard to see the pain on Lauren's face. It's hard to listen to Susan. She grips perspective, grounds herself, and lifts her head again, watching Susan antsily as he comes in to hug Lauren.

"Nothing is impossible," Annabelle ventures slowly, backing Susan's argument. "Especially here. This place travels to other worlds and realms all of the time, doesn't it? Think of all the amazing things you've seen, and all the terrible things you've seen; all of them, completely fantastic. If it's possible to raise the dead in so many worlds, surely somewhere, it's possible to return life to the undead."

He's surprised when Susan hugs him, not because it's an unexpected reaction from his brother, but because the feeling of hunger doesn't grow any greater when his brother gets close. Perhaps he sated that part of himself enough when he took another's life instead. He's still unbelievably aware of the blood running through Susan and Annabelle both, there's still a strong part of him that looks at them and sees nothing more than the sustenance they could be, like the way a man might look at cattle.

But there's the original part of Lauren there too. It's the part of him that's fought all his life to do right by Susan, that loves his brother and wants to protect him above all else. That's the part of him that wraps his arms around Susan now, holding him close. His body can offer his brother no warmth and his clothes are ragged and torn. He hopes it won't matter to Susan, that there's still some comfort left to be found in a dead man's embrace.

He barely hear's Annabelle, too caught up in Susan's emotions to focus on anyone else. He realizes that she's trying to be hopeful, but Lauren doesn't know what to think of that. Many people asked for the impossible from the Ringmaster, but another year and a day spent her and putting Susan in danger? He didn't know if that was the kind of deal he could make. No matter what though, he did know one thing.

"It will be okay." he murmurs, running a hand through the mess of Susan's hair as he holds him. "I'm sorry I scared you, Susie. I didn't mean to"

Susan presses close to Lauren when he finally hugs him back. Everything's okay. Lauren is okay, he's here with him, he's apologizing for what he did and so that means everything is better, nothing is wrong at all. He doesn't really hear Annabelle, either, over his crying and the way he's wrapped in Lauren's arms, right now just needing his brother. He shakes his head a little against Lauren when he says that, though, even through his tears.

"N-no, it's okay, you couldn't help it... You wouldn't run away, without a reason, and, you're here now." Of course muffled by Lauren's shirt and his tears it's probably hard to understand him but oh well.

Oh, goodness. Susan is crying. She supposes that makes sense. Ordinarily, Annabelle would be staring with intense, wide-eyed fascination at this unveiling of behavior, but it's sort of unbearable. She's probably worn out from the excitement, and also, Lauren is annoying her and she doesn't want to look at him.

As she fusses her hands in her lap, she rolls her eyes away, which could be mistaken for Annabelle being polite. Really, she's thinking about when Lauren was unconscious in the hallway.

This is so unbearably emotional she wants to leave, but she doesn't wholly trust Lauren's change, yet. She simply doesn't know enough. What if it's clever tricks? As if a blood sucking demon would have one over on her like that.

It's true he doesn't understand every word, but the sentiment is clear. He kisses the top of his brother's forehead, careful of his new fangs. Susan was so strong, always was, Lauren knew no matter what the solution to this would end up being that he would be okay. Even if Lauren couldn't stay near him like they both wanted, Susan would be okay. He closes his eyes, sending a short prayer to Eldath for his brother's safety. When he opens them again, his focus is on Anna.

He looks away from his brother and Annabelle, his arms loosening in their embrace.

"Susan... Could you get Stanley for me? I want to make sure she's okay..."

He doesn't want to leave him here, but at the same time he wants Lauren to be happy and get what he wants... After a moment he pulls back, wiping his face with the back of a sleeve before nodding.

"Okay... I'll be right back."

He hugs Lauren one more time before standing and heading out to their trailer - maybe not quite running, but definitely hurrying.

Annabelle watches Susan leave, then glances back at to Lauren, looking both concerned and distrustful. Concerned, because now she has to talk to him, and he was obviously angry at her. That doesn't bother her normally, but he's a vampire now. And she's still hinging on the impression they're a little bit berserk from that unsavory first impression. Hence, then, the distrust.

She doesn't say anything, though. Just stares in mildly anxious anticipation.

Good social skills, Annabelle.

He doesn't look at her, doesn't even say anything until he's sure Susan's gone a bit further away. He takes in a breath, despite the fact that he no longer needs to breath, and lets it out slowly before he speaks.

"You protected him for me." He only assumes that's what happened, why she'd stuck with Susan despite the obvious danger. "Thank you."

Closed

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject