#{ seraphine fallacia *// 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄 }

[mcckies]

"Hmm... we're about the same size, I think."

Thank god this girl rolled into this place, whoever she was. It took a lot of convincing, some of her most difficult work yet - or at least in a while, since she'd been here - but Valentina managed to coax her into the back entrance of the church, the closest way in to the actual fun part of the building - her makeshift studio.

An old sewing machine that only worked when the moon was full, but as many needles and threads as she could scavenge over the years. She got so lucky a few years ago when that lady got stuck here going to some sort of sewing retreat - or was she a salesperson? - and Valentina gathered all of those old supplies for herself. Of course, the lady died eventually, and that was a bummer, but real needles and threads were godsends.

"Obviously I don't have anything super nice like I wish I did," Valentina explained as she led the girl into her space, pushing aside laundry lines with various fabrics pinned around. "But I can let you borrow some stuff. Some, and I'm strict about it - all it took was one kind gesture and a dead girl and now my favorite pieces are reserved for me." Valentina faced her then, flicked the girl's hair out from her face, and looked over her whole outfit, then. "No, this isn't going to work." Valentina squatted down by the girl's feet then, taking note of the rip in the other's jeans, by the knee. "I have to fix this first. The ripped look has to be out by now, has to be." She shook her head. "I just know you have to be freezing. I guess I can spare an extra jacket." *// @fallacias

[alsfcrds]

“Gasoline?” Emmett was silently thanking the few lucky stars that still remained in his life that he wasn’t as clueless as this woman was. He was sheltered, for certain, but this was on a whole other level. He had so many questions, but little idea on where to begin. “Nobody can get out of here,” he said, his voice taking on a deeper level of exhaustion. It was hard to admit that to himself, let alone out loud. Emmett understood that this was his own unique type of penance - or that’s how he saw it, at least - but then what did that mean for the rest? Some people were doing nothing, stumbling here for no reason other than chance. 

“It’s not that they’re taking it so no one can leave, even if you walked it would just… loop you back around.” That’s how it had been explained to Emmett. He had never tried it himself, but he was scared to. What if the woods went on endlessly and he was stuck out there, running into Them without the protection of the walls of the cinema, or of anyone in the town? It was too frightening to think about a prospect like that. “I have,” he said, his pace not too brisk, but quick enough to hopefully pull the thought of violence at the church from her mind. “Where are you from? Before this, I mean.”

''The gas?'' Sera wondered out loud, shifting into a more curious mindset rather than the bored one. The boredom that made her want to play with her knife. Now she was rather intrigued, curious to know what this boy knew and whatnot. ''What do they need the gas for?'' She hadn't exactly seen any generators so far and not much else came to mind what they'd need the gas for. ''So people can't drive out of here? Is that what it is?'' Surely anyone could leave whenever they wanted, right? Sera clearly had lost the memo somewhere along the way where people were trapped in town and the gas was stored and the cars stashed away for a reason, whereas Sera experienced freedom and didn't feel like leaving. ''Why would they do that? Who here takes the gas?'' An idea popped into her mind that had the blonde gasp and tap his arm in excitement, ''can we go hunt them down after? See what evil they are up to and steal the gas back so people can leave again!''

Rubbing her hands together, a naughty grimace had set on her lips again, reaching her eyes when she eyed him with a chuckle. ''We could be like Robin Hood, you and I. Steal from the rich and give to the poor, in the form of gas.'' But first, she would like to see the cars. ''You know,'' she toned down her excitement for the nonsense thieving plans, making way for a somewhat more serious tone, ''I, uhh, have never driven a car before.'' Sera followed him around like a puppy, with a skip in her step, her previous plans of stabbing a pastor having left her head - for now. ''Have you?''

[grcnts]

That wasn’t what he meant, but he wasn’t quite sure if she was being sincere or facetious in this moment. She seemed a bit scatterbrained in his opinion; then again, he’d been called that himself before, so he felt that he wasn’t the kind of person to be passing judgement on anyone. This was a weird place anyway, so maybe typical social cues were less accepted or cared about in a place like this. It made him wonder how long she’d been in Arcadia - he had a bit of an existential crisis when he discovered that there were children who were born here, people who had been here their entire lives. 

“I don’t know if animals really know the difference,” Ben said, before he could help himself and think of something less blunt to say. It wasn’t even that hard-hitting, but Ben was working on his honesty. “But, uh, no - none of that. It’s probably just going to the diner, or to the ranch so they can do whatever it is they do with the animals for the rest of us.” Surely there was more to the hunting gig than just hunting deer or whatever other animals roamed the woods, but he’d rather deal with this over those creatures that roamed the night. “I’d take my chances with an animal just… being an animal. I can’t fault it for that. I don’t know what the hell those… Things are, so. Better the devil you know, right?”

Sticking out her tongue at him, there was no shame present for her behavior whatsoever. Noticing how he didn't even flinch, she huffed but didn't spend too much time thinking about it. She guessed hunters were just harder to scare. ''Well uh, let me see,'' she turned around in her step to look over at the bunch of trees she'd just appeared from. ''I think I came from behind that tree,'' Sera pointed to one to add to the flair, ''or was it that one?'' Her finger moved to another one, and another, she wasn't quite sure herself anymore. ''Oh well, whichever one it was, I'm sure it doesn't mind too much that I can't recall,'' she exhaled with an added shrug before facing him again.

Briefly she watched his face, then her gaze went over to the wounded animal that laid on the ground past him. ''What a beaut, it was so full of life, now its heart has stopped beating. Do you think its family will miss her?'' She didn't miss her family - not in an emotional way. When she thought of the people who'd raised her, she felt nothing.

''What will you do with it? Skin it? Hang its head as a trophy on the wall?'' She'd kneeled down beside the deer, ran the back of her fingers over its now senseless cheek. ''I heard the strangest thing the other day - something about an elk charging towards one of you hunters... so interesting. The revenge of the wild life.'' Her blue eyes went back up to meet his, ''makes you wonder, doesn't it? If Them at night really are more dangerous.''

[hcnlcys]

Zale smiled, a little snicker exhaling out of him at her words. He loved compliments, he could hear them all day long! It was so much better than someone listing out anything he was doing wrong. It always made him upset and feel guilty for days, but that hadn’t happened in a while now! He missed the circus terribly and hoped to return to it, of course - but that he wouldn’t miss. “Irish is a funny name,” he agreed, a nod of finality to punctuate his point. “I think Zale is a weird name, though.”

It wasn’t his name. It was, but it wasn’t. He didn’t remember what the first one was, and whenever he tried to think too hard about it, it hurt his head.

The questioning had him feeling a little funny and the somewhat blank look on his face had faltered a bit at the words. Oh, he hoped it wasn’t anything on purpose. He was sent out on a little excursion and had done his darndest to find the right place again. The sun couldn’t have been up for that long, but he had found no trace of the others and he was walking for just about forever. “I don’t want to think about that,” he blurted outright. She was right - fuck sadness, and any feeling like that. He wanted to be happy forever, and wished he had more of that oily stuff to put on his tongue. That would help some more, he just knew it. Maybe the lady in the white dress would be generous and give some to him. 

His fingers had stopped braiding her hair and he flopped backwards, practically throwing himself and his shoulders across her lap like a contented housecat. “Do you have any tattoos?” he asked, a finger poking under her chin. “That’s what I used to do.”

She couldn't help but pinch his dimpled cheek, his smile was infectious. ''You're too cute,'' like in a little brother kind of cute, like in a she could eat him up kind of cute. ''His name is Irish, I haven't seen him in a while actually.... maybe something cruel happened to Irish.'' Though she hoped not, somewhere deep within, his presence had captivated her interest. His voice had engraved itself into her skull, those naive eyes that told her he had never inflicted pain upon anybody before. She had...once...twice....and then some more.

''You know...'' she started out when he asked about the settlement, though her head blanking when she wanted to continue and she bursted out into a chuckle, ''I actually don't know.'' The mix of alcohol and joy threw her into a fit of laughter. ''I really don't know!'' She curled up closer to him and rested her head upon his shoulder when her hysterical laughter turned to a mere chuckle again. Realizing what he had said, her gaze softened and she brushed some of his hair back into shape.

''Well fuck ... did they ditch you?'' Sera wondered out loud, her high shifting into some form of sympathy, even when she had a hard time feeling affection for those who once had called themselves her family. Family by blood. It meant nothing to her. At least, that's what she tried to tell herself every single day. ''I think you'll be okay here,'' it was a mere whisper that left her lips, ''anyway - fuck sadness. Fuck people - that's what we get to do here! Fuck and have fun and be free!''

[alsfcrds]

“They are, but it’s like…” It took him a second to remember the actual name of it. “Like a junkyard? Sort of? Anyone who drives through here usually has their car driven over there, and they take all the gas.” He’s not totally sure what they do with them and he rarely drove in his life anyway, so he didn’t often venture out there. He did know there was a graveyard graveyard somewhere around here, but he’d only ever been there once and it was vast, to say the least, so he didn’t want to go back, and probably wouldn’t have been able to find it again quickly.

Emmett nodded along. Sure, he could be weird. He probably was a little, in comparison to others, but he was always the weird shy kid in school, in town, so he could settle into this role with ease. But this was an opportunity to lead this semi-vengeful woman away from the church, the safe spot for many; there were already too many places he’d seen that had random blood stains, he didn’t want the church to be another. “This way, I think,” he said, gesturing to the left, to walk further into town.  “They just kinda sit there. Some are really old.” Sometimes he went there for spare parts, to see if maybe newer, nicer car batteries would be able to somehow jumpstart one of the projectors. There were probably better things he should have been doing with his time, that would help more, but he could afford to be a little selfish.

Playing with the knife in her hand, a skill she got comfortable with given how much time she had had in this place already, she hummed quietly to herself. She'd heard the well... falling from the boy's lips, but it failed to peak her interest enough to look away from the knife she juggled between her fingers. She heavily sighed and stopped playing when she took notice of his body language changing. ''Car.....graveyard?'' The features on Sera's face looked puzzled. Confused, almost. Definitely interested - because how was that a thing? ''Aren't they just two separate things? A car, and a graveyard?'' However Sera's imagination was limited, again due to being held back from exploring and seeing the world, she could visualize the image she said out loud, ''- like... cars being buried? Do they have names or something?''

Coming to a conclusion, ''you're so weird, Irish.'' As if she wasn't. Still, she put her knife back into the pocket she'd picked it from and took a step backwards to give him enough space to get off the flight of stairs. ''Do we like, uh -'' furrowing her brows, she couldn't believe the words she was about to say, ''dig them up or some shit?'' Clearly she hadn't seen the 'car graveyard' yet. ''Well,'' she clacked her tongue to the roof of her mouth, intrigued by what he had to show her, ''show me the way, Irish.''

[alsfcrds]

“Well…” Okay, maybe he could sort of understand the confusion. Everyone he’d met here so far sounded varying degrees of American, from what he gathered from the movies. The woman had been confused about a couple of things so far, it seemed, and Emmett couldn’t completely understand why, but was it worth correcting? Yes, Emmett, that’s your name. 

The knife was brandished before he even knew what happened, and he flinched violently, yanking his hand back into his chest in surprise, studying the way it waggled back and forth from the force of its hit into the wood. Emmett could feel his heartbeat thudding in his chest. Lea was just right inside, but he’d take it as something of a mission to steer Sera far away from the church. Far far away. “I like walking through the car graveyard,” he said, proud of himself for not stammering, for speaking as one would when talking to an animal that was getting a bit out of sorts. “I like looking at all the old cars. They’re unlocked and have cool stuff in them, sometimes.” His hand found the railing again, not close to the knife, not in the slightest, but as if to block Sera from a pathway up the stairs. "Did you see it yet?"

''You're Irish?'' What an interesting name, never heard before - but then again, her world had always been rather small. ''I'm Seraphine, just Sera for short cause ugh, who even has the time to blurt out three syllables, man. I don't.'' The blonde rolled her eyes dramatically, shaking it off with a grin that faded away when her hands found the pockets of her jeans and hooked her thumbs in them. Tracing the back of her pocket knife stashed in one of them, she thought of something - his question completely passing by her.

Taking a hold of the knife in her palm, she clipped the knife from its safety and slammed it into the wooden railing in one swift motion, barely missing the other's hand. ''I'm bored, what else is there to do in this place?'' Anywhere away from the God awful lookalike of a church. Away from the cross she despised with her entire being. ''So, Irish,'' she had a tease to her tone as she wiggled her knife back loose from the railing, ''what do you do for fun around here? I like to stab pastors in the chest. Over and over and over again.''

[alsfcrds]

Alright, now he was just starting to feel like she was making fun of him, more confident now than before. Her big, blue eyes focused so intensely on him made him shift with discomfort, and she was blocking the stairs, sort of. They were wide enough where he could move around her, but she looked more than capable of standing in his tracks. Emmett could always go back inside, but he was a little frustrated at the lack of divine response, so on principle, he didn't want to go back in for awhile.

"Done to-- what?" This was borderline... hold on. "No, I'm not a lost boy, I'm just Irish," he huffed. Why did he have to explain himself in this way? His expression, though still incredibly confused, did manage to soften a bit and his weight comfortably shifted onto one foot, hand leaned on the railing. "Hang on - have you never met an Irish person before?" Where on earth was Arcadia, exactly? How is it possible he's the only one not from here to reach this place? That couldn't be right.

A voice, a thought popped up in her mind that said to shake the boy, shake more words out of him. She was immediately intrigued by his way of talking - like a child discovering something new in the world. All her flawed thoughts of the church washed away, completely caught by this new discovery she stumbled upon. ''Say more... don't stop there,'' Sera had taken enough steps closer for her hand now to reach out to the railing of the steps and rest there. ''Is that so? What have they done to you?'' As she studied him from top to toe, her eyes lingering on his face the longest, she oddly felt drawn to hear more. Church boy or not.

''Did they experiment on you?'' She'd heard of shock therapy before, of all kinds of therapy that existed in the world - but never had she heard one of her ward mates return from therapy with a different kind of voice before. Her fingers absently slid up and down the wooden railing, eyes never leaving the other. Forgetting to blink even, as her lips formed into an amused grin rather than being lost in thoughts like she'd been before running into him. ''How is it no one sounds like you, are you a lost boy? Did Peter Pan leave you behind?''

[mcckies]

Huh. Maybe it wasn’t so weird, then. After all, so many people in parts of the world - parts of the world that were actually real - found comfort and refuge in religion all the time. This place felt like some sort of godless wasteland, and Valentina felt it wasn’t worth wasting time in pews when there was a very real, non biblical threat outside their walls at night.

To each their own, then.

“You do whatever you want,” she said. That’s the beauty of this place - of course, there were some semblance of “laws”, but it really came down to just common courtesy here, an upkeep of community. “Sera.” She tested the name out. She had a friend Sarah in high school, another cheerleader. Friend might have been a loose term, she was really just someone who let Valentina copy chemistry homework. She wondered what she was up to now - but that thought was pushed out of her mind as quickly as it came. Valentina often just imagined erasing an image away, like dry erase, to remove it. If it lingered too much it would take on a mind of its own, and she would start retracing every name and face she could remember, imagining them being crazy successful and happy… it sickened her sometimes. “Pretty.”

Her dark eyes flickered up to Sera’s face, as if a silent warning not to keep going - but why? Valentina didn’t have anything to hide, she didn’t think. “Sewing? Yeah, you’re basically just using a needle to pull the pieces of fabric together and keep them there. Sort of like stitches. And to answer your question, my boyfriend and I were drunk driving once. And maybe a few people over the years wanting shelter that I couldn’t give them. You have to learn how to be okay with not being a hero here.”

''Right... cold,'' her voice wavered off, way more interested in anything else than the weather outside, handing over the pants she'd just taken off. Her eyes staring at everything that went on in this room, however far she could see intrigued the blonde. The urge to touch and feel everything was tingling in her hands, itching her brain, like a kid in a candy store. She couldn't. This wasn't her property, she knew that much. Her attention span was forced back to look the other in the eyes when she spoke. ''Oh,'' Sera took a second to process, ''why's that weird?'' Intrigued to know more, she leaned that bit more forward - as if they were sharing secrets. Whispering her next question. ''Should I not talk to him?''

Stepping over the work Valentine had splayed out on the floor, the back of her fingers smoothed over what she couldn't hold herself back from after all - various clothes that entranced her. ''Seraphine, but you can call me Sera,'' she let the other know, her head turning back to her. ''How does this work? Do you weave them back together?'' It's all she's ever known - as a child she'd seen plenty of clothes woven from wool into sweaters, scarves, and blankets. She'd never learned to sew - not in town, not in the mental asylum, where needles and anything sharp had been strictly forbidden from use.

''So...'' she started out, kneeling down to move closer and see the girl's face better. Drawing in a breath before laying out what was on her mind, a smirk accompanying said thought, ''what did you mean by 'not directly'? Did you push someone into a river so they drowned or tripped someone off a cliff, or...?''

[alsfcrds]

“It’s a church…” No just this time. A holy place, one of significance, not just any building. How trivial he made it sound before, it made him queasy.

The real concern should have been how this mysterious woman didn’t know what a church was. Emmett wasn’t stupid, he was well aware there were other religions in the world, that his wasn’t an end-all, be-all for some. But it was arguably one that had a lot of influence on the world, enough to find this pocket of existence that was Arcadia.

Then he felt a heat rise into his ears, knowing they were reddening with embarrassment and Emmett tried to make it so his cheeks didn’t match. His first instinct was that it was some sort of tease, until he remembered - he hadn’t met anyone else that sounded like him. Emmett would have even taken a British accent if it meant there’s be some sort of familiarity. It was a separate kind of isolation he had been feeling since he got here, that had been difficult in its own right. “I’m not…” he sighed. Not from here? Nobody was. “Nobody else here sounds like me.”

Death crossed her mind. How big of an impact a building so small could have on her. Her butt found the concrete and she crossed her legs as her big blue eyes stared up at the cross up on the roof. That fucker. Be it God, Jesus, or the Holy Father - they were all a lie. A big fat lie that had taken over half her life, bamboozled her mind to believe in such an unholy faith. Fuck faith. She had discarded her faith a long time ago. So why did she feel fear take over her beating heart the longer she eyed this building. That's all it was, just another building that shouldn't have power over her - it really shouldn't she told herself as she nervously fidgeted with her toes and slowly lost all the air she kept in her lungs.

White noise occupied her ears and mind the longer she was unable to break her gaze away from the cross. Mockery. Like she was hypnotized by an invisible force, drawing her in more and more as flashes of stabbing the town Father she once let control her. Mockery. Back when she was still young - younger - and trusted in those who were much older than her. Mocker- what was that voice? Sera's gaze finally tore off the cross and pierced right into the person that had left the unholy building.

Immediately drawn in by something else. Something she wasn't sure she'd heard right.

''Say that again -'' Sera's brows changed from painfully drawn together to puzzled. ''What was that thing?'' How was she even supposed to ask for something if she didn't know exactly what it was she was asking for. She made her way off of the ground, took a few steps towards the building she'd been so entranced about just a moment ago. Now completely distracted by something she hadn't experienced before. Her lungs filling with air, a childlike giggle left her body.

''Your voice.....do it again.''

[grcnts]

There was a brief spike of fear in his heart at seeing a woman's face in the viewfinder, and he quickly aimed it back at the ground. It had been a month now he'd been here, a month since he did do the unthinkable when an arrow was last pointed at another person...

Ben hadn't seen her before. There were lots of faces he didn't quite recognize, and there was a dormant part of him, once social, once seeking the company of others, that was scratching at his insides like a cat longing to be free of its confines. It was just reminding him how much he kept to himself, yet he couldn't bring himself to open that door. Her eyes were striking, and he knew he would have recognized her had they met. Obviously, he wasn't going to raise the bow again, but made no movements away as she stepped closer, so much so that they were practically nose to nose.

He didn't even flinch at the Boo! at his face, didn't move away, but his jaw rippled a bit as he gave a tight smile, as if entertaining a child. "I guess so," he said, exhaling through his nose and taking a brief look around the woods. "And where did you come from?"

''Shoot me, pretty boy,'' her hands were up in the air, as if to show she was completely harmless. One hand moving to point towards a specific spot of her face, before moving back where it lingered first, ''right here. Right between the eyes, these pretty blue eyes, just like you shot the deer.'' Her voice taunting, a mere whisper, still so loud in the silence that surrounded them. She had kept herself quiet from the first moment she'd seen him wander close to the cabins of the settlement - a place Sera still wasn't quite sure to call home. But it was isolation, a promise to be kept safe by the tree, led by someone who entranced her - something the other leaders in town had failed to do.

''Come on,'' she kept on creeping closer, the snow crisping underneath her shoes with each and every step she took. When boredom had taken over, then and only then had she made herself known by making a deliberate sound. She'd always been good at hiding, at staying silent in the woods - with each and every time she snuck out as a young thing to watch the cult-like sacrifice happen in the woods, she'd gotten better and better. After every punishment received, she improved her hiding skills. No single belt could've stopped her child-like curiosity from absorbing every forbidden thing her young eyes weren't supposed to see.

Eventually coming up close enough, the blonde kept her eyes so focused on his - forgetting to blink for a moment even, she couldn't help but break the tension between them and go for a ''Boo!'' That caused her to break into laughter.

''I got you good there, didn't I?''

[mcckies]

Of course, this was all perfectly normal for Valentina, had been for awhile, and she had plenty of time to adjust. It meant that oftentimes, she'd forgotten that this 'normal' was anything but those who came in. It wasn't her job to get them oriented, though.

"Oh, obviously it's nice," she remarked. "I made it. I meant that it would be nice to have real fabric to work with - silks and things, high end, well woven, all of that." In her weekend bag that had been packed long ago were some nicer clothes, but that was ten years ago - she likely didn't fit into them anymore, and didn't want to take them out of their preservation, lest something happen. At the girl's question, an eyebrow raised, and she gave the briefest of pauses as she took out one of her sewing kits. "Not directly," she answered.

"Well, there's snow on the ground, you might get cold," Valentina said, extending a hand for the girl to hand over her pants. The desk was too full of fabrics and fixes for others that it was no longer of any use, and Valentina had preferred to just stay put on the floor while she did any of her alterations. She could spread them out on wood, looking at the big picture a little better. "Here in Arcadia, or here in--" She scoffed, suddenly knowing who she met. "Ugh, don't talk to him, he's so weird. He's in here all the time, he just sits in the pews all day." She glanced up at her. "I'm Valentina."

Like a child running into a white van, she got plucked off of the streets by this total stranger who promised her of yummy treats, and she just fully complied. What was the worst that could happen? But then she saw the worst that could happen. The church. Not the goddamn church - anything but the church - god no, god ... she couldn't -

Aaaand she was inside.

Her struggles stopped when she gazed upon a backroom that was so unlike the church she'd known her entire life. This was... everything she eyed looked colorful and sparkling and... did she dare say gay? ''Uhhhh... I think it looks nice,'' her remark was soft, now fascinated by all the clothing she'd never seen before. There hadn't been like a modern store in her first hometown, everything she'd come to know and see was mostly made from wool from the sheep they herded, re-used fabrics sown into clothing that would be the furthest away from being called fashion. It wasn't until in her second home, she'd come to know about those things. Through magazines. Through her fellow psych mates. Through the limited screentime on the old square box television they all shared in the living room.

Something something, dead girl, something. The nice gesture of the girl touching her face had Sera halt in her actions, making her focus on her instead of the things she was surrounded by. She was so pretty. Like cover girl pretty. ''Have you ever killed someone?'' Sera wondered out loud, reminded of the dead girl she mentioned. She had. Ripped look? Truth be told, she had no idea what this girl was on about. Growing up in a constipated town for half her life, and the other half in a mental institution where fashion didn't exist did that to a person.

''Uhh...'' she caught herself staring for a moment, having a girl down on her knees wasn't her first, yet it still made her swallow in nervosity. ''No, I don't really... I don't get cold easily.'' Without getting into details how or why that was, she focused on something else. Kicking off the shoes she was given, they weren't the right size anyway, and unbuttoning the pants she wore. After spending year after year surrounded by girls of her age, all the shame she once carried had left her system. In fact, there wasn't much shame left when she casually got her pants off and stood there partially in her underwear. ''There's this guy I met the other day here. His voice scratches a weird itch in my brain, have you seen him? It's still there when I close my eyes at night. The way he says things - like... 'not', it goes like naught or nutttt or noawht yeah! Like that almost - ugh it's so weird.''

[hcnlcys]

Zale was in good spirits - he had no reason not to be! The music in here was almost as good as the circus band that ran around with the rest of them, and while he missed them terribly hearing the songs playing here, the sound wrapped him in a comforting hug while he waltzed around the floor with another Settlement occupant - a neighbor, how nice! He was only a good dancer when there was something choreographed, and on his own it was a lot of spinning and stomping, but nobody seemed to notice. 

The two of them twirled each other around and were in fits of laughter all night until they rested on the couch, where they sat while Zale twisted the ends of her hair into tiny braids, so soft under his hands and under the influence of the eye drops. “Was it me?” he asked, smiling. Funny, strange, they meant the same thing, right? Before he started racking his brain to think of the words he said (like he’d be able to remember), Sera explained more.

“Like the Settlement?” he asked. “I haven’t left in my whole two weeks. Everyone’s been very nice to me here. I don’t know where the caravan went, anyway, so I'll stay here for awhile.” He had nowhere else to go, and tried not to think about two weeks ago, when he was roaming around alone and scared of his whereabouts, feeling bad with the crushing weight of being left behind.

who: @hcnlcys where: the settlement main hall

Funny thing about freedom - when there was no one to stop her from the things she usually wasn't allowed to do - life granted her suddenly a whole lot more paths to walk. She was no longer contained by four white walls, a small room cell in a closed ward she wasn't allowed to leave. She couldn't go outside, not without the supervision of someone licensed and those days she'd been granted to go out - like out out, were less than a dozen. In that second half of her life she'd been locked up, Sera hadn't seen much of the world. Only heard about it. In books. In movies. On TV. From other people.

And now she was free. In a sense.

She'd latched herself onto the first person she laid eyes on upon entering the main hall, which happened to be Zale. Sera's presence was off the charts today - vibing with excitement for the party. An actual party. She'd taken his hands in hers and twirled them around to the rhythm of the music until they were both out of breath and ended up on a sofa in the corner of the hall.

''Hey,'' she giggled as she thought of something interesting to share, ''I heard the strangest thing the other day, from a funny boy.'' Turning her head towards Zale, she couldn't help but chuckle at hearing his accent as clear as day when she thought of him, ''he said...'' a dramatic pause, ''...that we cannot actually leave this town. That's crazy, right?''

[alsfcrds]

Four months was a long time to break down. Of course, Emmett wouldn't call it that - calling it a break down meant that he was unwell, that he was crazy, when in reality, he was just doing a lot of thought, a lot of "soul searching" - he'd heard that phrase tossed around a few times.

He was desperately holding on to that feeling of familiarity. The church was the only place that felt relatable to him. It didn't matter that he didn't feel that same holy feeling anymore, or that he felt unworthy even stepping through the doors anymore. This was the first time he was on his own in his life and as angry and upset he was at his mother, he missed her. He missed that comfort so badly and the church was the closest thing he could get to it. Prayers were fewer and far between now, which he wouldn't admit to himself, but even just being in the building helped.

Once he had spent what felt like a reasonable amount of time there, before figuring it was time to get back to working on... anything he could find, honestly, to keep himself busy before the bells rang later. When he stepped out of the doors, mind somehow clearer and cloudier than it was when he entered, he was surprised at the wild eyes piercing into him. Emmett didn't even make it down all the steps before she spoke, and he wasn't sure if she was talking to him, but he found the need to answer anyway, put so eloquently: "Huh?"

"Mockery?" he repeated, once he caught up with what was happening. "It's not, it's just a church." Just a church? Why did that send a little shard through his chest?

who: @alsfcrds where: the church

Was this what freedom felt like? To go wherever she wanted, to be out in the world, to feel the grass and twigs mud and sand between her toes, to walk bare feet on pavement, to touch anything she wanted without cameras following her every move. Without people telling her what to do, what to not do - well... there was this one thing. Just one tiny, tiny, tiny rule. 'Don't go out at night. Return to the huts in the forest before sundown and you'll be safe there.' Or something like that.

But during the day? She was allowed to do anything, to bother anyone, to stalk the town streets and wander around in the forest, along the ravines people spoke of, along the docks that had boats. Actual real boats she didn't just see in outdated magazines. She'd yet to see them for herself. One thing at a time. She had plenty of time to kill, and still it didn't feel like enough. Time went by so fast, yet so slow.

For now she just wandered through town, walked the cold pavement step by step, watched her dirty muddy feet take one step at a time every so slowly. Humming a song she couldn't remember the name of, just some stupid melody she'd heard on the radio not too long ago. A noise that filled the silence inside her head, that made her think she was having a main character moment, even for just a moment. Because that's all it was. A moment. A calm before the storm. She caught a small flight of stairs from the corners of her eyes and gone was her humming, it disrupted her thoughts - or the not thoughts she had, the peace she experienced.

She let out a laugh of ironical almost-disbelief when she gazed upon what looked like a church. One she so unfondly remembered from her childhood hometown. ''Of course,'' she cackled out breathlessly, ''of course this mockery bites me in the ass.''