Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-36570662-20190114194829/@comment-34572969-20190204194236

Katina

Why can I never seem to get anything in my life in order? I find out my father's been doing some crimminal crap, Aud's apparently dead (which I absolutely refused to believe- not just out of denial for a lost friend, but because I could just feel like she was still alive), and Nick isn't answering any of my Terror mails. Figures.

Also Devil was getting bigger. That was just about the only good piece of news so far.

I woke up as per usual... because I can't really do anything else to start my day. I had a normal breakfast, as I had promised Flame the day we visited Kate in the hospital. It seemed so long ago now with all the stuff going on recently.

Then... the news of Aud's supposed death arrived. Panic-driven thought flooded my mind as I rushed forward and joined everyone's embrace, eager to offer any comfort that I could.

''She can't... she can't really be dead, can she?''

What if she is?

Oh shut up, what do you know?

That one of your friends, Aud, is dead?

''She's not dead! Whoever captured her couldn't have been that cruel... could they?''

''It's a cruel world, you just have to embrace it. Plus, if they didn't kill her, chances are she escaped and died a slow and painful death...''

"Shut up both of you!" I muttered to myself. Honestly, my mind felt split in half at some times.

I felt bad that I didn't feel... well, bad. Sure, one of my friends and fellow Guardians had supposedly met her untimely demise, but I didn't feel much.

I soon came to terms with the fact that it was just shock. Denial. Anger. Absolute fury at whoever had taken Aud.

I figured a little later that a walk would probably help clear my head. I left without Flame, who was busy resting. I already had about three things going completely south in my life, plus the fact that I was a Guardian now and had barely any time to myself. I let thoughts of the day fill my mind.

"So... Aud's dead," I stated to myself. I guess I was just trying to get the fact into my head. "She's just... gone. Forever..." I trailed off.

I let the thought sink in for a second. It seemed so hard to believe. I put my head in my hands as I allowed the fact to swim around in my head a while longer.

"Oh Thor, this is so surreal... I mean, how do you go from just a revenge party to being six feet under the ground? Ugh, I need a moment to clear my head."

Spoiler alert: I couldn't. Everything was just too much to take in. Aud was dead. Gone. Disappeared, in a way. Practically vanished with barely a trace.

It just seemed too unrealistic. Like this was all some nightmare I could easily wake up from. Memories of any time at all when we were together swarmed my head: joking around, teasing Isla about Michael, training or guarding together. Aud was just... no longer there to be with us. No more unnecessarily violent plans. No more random outbursts. No more hilariously entertaining interactions with Spark.

Unidentifiable emotions were building up inside me as I found myself entering the village. And, just my luck, I was soon to run into Jack. Mostly because he practically rammed himself into me.

"Whoopsy," he said, smirking. The things I wanted to do to smack that ugly smile off his face...

"Waz off, Jack, I'm not in the mood," I snarled.

He seemed barely fazed. "Jeez, what 'appened to you?"

"You did, you koala-brained idiot. Now, there are about- what, eight billion people on this planet? And at least a third of them reside here, in the Hidden World, so shut your ever-flapping gobtalker, turn around and for the love of Thor, annoy someone else. Please. I have absolutely no interest in you or what you're about to do. Got that?" I hissed harshly at him. It was only then when I realized where my hand was- nearing my belt, where my dagger was. I had a lot of anger building up for this guy, and Aud's recent death did not help matters in the slightest.

He blinked. Once. Twice. Opened his mouth to speak. Once. Twice. Then at last, he seemed to find his tongue.

"Jeez, who died and riled you up so much?" he deadpanned.

From then, I saw only red. I turned away and left a fight I didn't recall, but ended with an audible crack in Jack's arm and him leaning against a wall as his friends chuckled at his misfortune. I couldn't care less about either.

It was a little later now. I was still out in the village, wandering around aimlessly. I had checked up on my house to confront Nick about not Tmailing me and ask about my father once more, but he didn't seem to be present. My mother was at work again, too. Of course.

A while afterwards I heard some yelling coming from a house somewhat near my own. The lights were on and the curtains were parted, quite conveniently leaving me able to watch the sillhouettes in the window comminicate with each other.

There were two adults, one a woman and the other a man. They seemed to be yelling at a younger boy, presumably their child. Like any rational person would, I tiptoed forward and pressed my back up against the side of the wall, listening in on the scolding.

"...mean honestly, Jay, she's a girl?"

Wow, rude.

"Are you saying you can't hold your own ground in a fight with that pinprick of a Guardian?" the father yelled. I paused. Were they talking about me?

"Jay?" I whispered under my breath. Who were these guys talking to? Or should I say, who were they yelling at?

"Look, I'm sorry, I just-"

I stiffled a gasp. The voice sounded very familiar...

"'Sorry' doesn't fix the problem, does it?! What on earth were you doing in a fight, anyway? And furthermore, why didn't you win?"

"You're a disgrace, especially when we're so close to unfolding our plan on the Hidden World."

"Plan? On the... Hidden World?" I repeated. The others needed to know about this as soon as possible. I quickly made a move to step away, however stopped once I saw the front door opening. I hid back around the corner of the house, watching the figure walk away solemnly.

It was the boy who was being yelled at, that was for sure. Light chestnut hair was swept back messily by the boy's hand as he approached what looked like a stable, and once his hands reached onto the Skrill's saddle, I knew immediately who it was.

It was Jack.