hecate

Austin knew it would be the smart decision to take back his accusations, but he was into it too far to back out now. He needed to hear it from her, he needed to know that he hadn't hurt his own feelings imagining things all along. "Because I should know if my best friend was fucking my girlfriend at the time. I deserve to know that." This conversation had been a long time coming for them, all this pent-up anger and things they never said to each other. "I left to try to make some of myself. I was nobody in this fucking town! I had nothing and it was depressing, Ela." He had never intended to be gone as long as he had been, he thought that he'd be able to sign a deal and eventually bring her out there with him. But things had gone so different for him and eventually the idea of them didn't exist anymore. "Don't ever say I didn't care. You have no idea how hard it was not to come back home from the first day I left. I missed you every goddamn day, I thought Nico was going to block my number from how many times I called just to see how you were doing."

"You had me!" Finally, her voice rose to meet his own, another piece of her heart-shattering at the idea that he'd thought so little of what they'd had together. "You had me." Ela had never set out to keep him from the life he wanted, never wanted to stop him from achieving everything that he deserved and yet, each time their relationship was brought to the surface, she wondered if perhaps he'd thought the worst of her. "You were never a nobody to me." It cracks, uncharacteristically as it slips from her lips. Verbiage was no longer able to hold the shrill flame of her anger as it became wrought with vines of heartache instead. "The fact that you'd even..." Her stomach turned and she frowned so deeply it might have left a mark, "how lowly do you think of me if you honestly think I'd have just... And with Nico? Of all people?"

Ela had been a lot of things when Austin had left. She'd felt the worst on the brightest days - all of those that she could have shared with him, and even after the nights that Nico had picked Ela up off of her kitchen floor, made sure she ate, and showered and looked up at the sun every now and then - she'd loved Austin. And that was all she'd known. "You're right, I have no idea, Austin." Heat prickled too hot in the corners of her eyes, too much now to blinik away, "Because you just fell off the face of the earth. I asked you for one more year. One more, and I could have come with you. We could have gone anywhere you wanted." How could he not understand that? That even if he'd picked up the phone, and asked her after a year of being gone, to come to him - she would have. "You didn't miss me enough to call me, though, did you? You couldn't pick up the phone and dial my number instead of his." And therein lay the issue at hand, he'd left the only communication between them with his best friend - the only one that kept her from falling too far. "I loved Nico, I will always love him, but I.. we never... You're all I know..-- knew."

ghxstxstxries

location: driving from the station closed: @eladcmir

His calloused hands raked down his face as he sat passenger side. Simply, he was worn. More complexly, Dutch was stuck in those first few moments of opening that hotel room door, then thirty seconds later he'd be stuck in a different memory where he was seventeen years old and his father... "Fuck," he exhaled harshly, dropping his hands down to his lap and staring out the window, watching the landscape go by. Despite asking Ela to pick him up, he didn't want to look at her. He didn't want to look at anyone really, not when he was like this.

It was Ela though, he had to remind himself. With a sigh he titled his head back further on the rest. "Thanks for getting me. Tonight's just been..." he trailed off, his head shaking. "You know."

Looking for Dutch in the aftermath felt like reliving a nightmare, over and over. Nobody had answers - nobody could even tell her when they'd seen him last, so when his text came through she couldn't have moved quicker. Relief not finding her until he opened her passenger door and slumped into the seat. It'd taken a minute or two for her to feel enough of it to trust that he was at least, physically okay. "What did they want? Please don't tell me they think you did this?" Admittedly, she knew that they'd undoubtedly question everyone who attended, but.. something about Dutch being dragged in made her feel sick. "We don't have to talk about it but," she flicked her blinker on, turning in the direction of her home, "are you okay?"

#* dutch

sulkingtemptation

closed: @eladcmirlocation: juliana's home

"They keep calling." She groaned, looking at the Atwood Legal Office number flashing on the caller id, wanting the endless ringing from the phone to stop. “Something about the will and money —” She paused, shaking her head in hopes to keep pushing that conversation off. “His body is barely cold and they want to discuss this now so it’s over and done with…” She sighed. “It’s not right.”

"Hey.. hey, listen to me." She started, dropping down to crouch before Jules, her hands curling around the others tightly, "You don't have to do anything you're not ready for." Already, the consistent string of murders was difficult enough with two children, without having to factor in Remy now being one of the victims. "One step at a time, babe. Whatever you need, I'm here to help, okay?"

#* juliana

There was only a look of annoyance left on Austins face. Not getting a direct answer to his question only seemed to piss him off more than he already was after having thought about the question nonstop all night. "You and Nico. Fucking." He spoke slower, as if she had missed the question rather than got offended by it. "You know, I was going to ask the guy myself a few months ago actually. I've been sitting on the question for a long fucking time, but he's dead now." He looked at her, clenching his jaw slightly as he continued on with his accusations. Feeling like he was back in the first year of leaving home, the nights he stared at his texts with Nico about how Ela was doing. "So, Ela, were you fucking my best friend while I was gone? Because the two of you got really close and I'm not stupid, I know how close Nico liked to get to girls."

In truth, she'd expected Austin to walk back the words that had just befallen his lips but as he followed it up with little more than tiny knives already embedded, twisting between the enunciation of each word, Ela stilled. You and Nico. Fucking. The idea of it made her blood turn cold, and the fact that such a notion was brought to light by Austin of all people... she saw red. "You're actually being serious.." Her spine steeled as she cast a scathing look up at him. "What exactly is it that makes you think you can ask me that, honestly?" Already, she'd suffered enough underneath the plethora of choices her ex chose to make but the accusation on the back end of Ana claiming any part of Ela was jealous weeks prior simply forced something within her to snap. You left, Austin. You left and cut every avenue of contact with me and then had the fucking audacity to ask your best friend to check on me." Like some sick loved one he didn't care enough to face up to. "Don't you dare demonize him for giving a shit about me when you no longer did!"

"The Conrads can suck my dick, honestly." It was a sentence that would have shocked Austin himself if he was sober enough to fully hear the words coming out of his own mouth. "They only care about their daughter, none of this shit is for anyone else." He scoffed, looking around the room with a look of annoyance over his face before he started to follow Ela through the doorway. He kept walking after she had stopped, needing to pace for a minute to make sure that he really had the guts to say what he was about to say. Austin turned and looked at his ex and just continued to do so for longer than he should have, taking steps back to stand in front of her now. "You were fucking him." He stated rather than asking. "You were fucking Nico the whole time I was gone, weren't you?"

#* austin #gonna fight both of u

Although it was enough to make her pause, Ela wasn't entirely new to his demeanor when he'd drink while a little on edge, and all things considered, she couldn't have expected much more out of him right now. As nice as it was, it still felt entirely wrong. "True... but at least they're pretending to care about everyone else. Even if it's not exactly convincing.." Watching him now, set himself into a pace felt strangely nostalgic. No matter what Austin tried to convince everyone of, she knew just as well that he was meticulous in his concerns. Only, what seemed to concern him now wasn't even close to what she'd expected, "I'm... -- what?" Even trying to process what he'd asked caused her brain to malfunction as she cast a look of indignation up at him, "Excuse me? Are you serious right now?"

lisashouse

#* ela

arlomvrshvll

@hidehillstart / mel's diner

"How do three wind up in the hotel rooms and nobody notices? Like, not one single person saw the fucker taking bodies into rooms and setting them up into freaky fuckin' scenes to be found?" Dilara was struggling to wrap her head around the whole situation. The only one of the three she really knew was Carmen, her neighbour who she got along with and often borrowed each others things. She just didn't understand how the shadow had time to set up the bodies like they did.

"Honestly, I'm really trying not to think about it too much." As if that had stopped her - mind whirling since the second someone had raised the alarm in the building. Once again, there was nothing that anyone could do upon finding the bodies. Remy, Luka and Carmen had been gone for a while by the time they'd been stumbled upon, and she wondered if the people who'd found them would carry that weight the same way everyone else had. "I want to say it's almost not shocking anymore." but how could murder not be? had their lives been so awash with tragedy that it was impossible to be shocked now? "They're never going to catch these people, are they?"

#* dilara

Austin didn't know how to answer her question at first. He was having a pretty decent night; he didn't have much to complain about. But, with the drinks he had flowing through his system, a lot of questions had started to pop up in his mind. It had been a minute since he had been properly drunk, and he was beginning to regret choosing tonight to do so. "Yeah, it's been good." He stood there awkwardly for a moment, just looking at her. "Been meaning to ask you something." He looked around the room, eyeing all the people that kept passing them by to get to wherever or whoever they were going to. "Can we talk over there?" He nodded towards an emptier hallway of the place.

Immediately, she felt rather stupid for asking. All things considered - he'd lost so many people lately. They all had, but her heart would always ache like an open wound for Austin. "That was a bit of a stupid question, I just meant that the Conrad's have done a good job with the party." Not that she ever expected them to fall short in any aspect of opulence. Having fun, or a good night, was an anomaly for all of them she suspected. "Oh?" That surprised her, Ela fully expecting that she was the only one between them with questions gone unanswered - all of those she knew she couldn't ask, purely because she didn't know if she wanted to find out the answer. "Yeah, of course," the hall he gestured to wasn't exactly private, but it was certainly out of the way of the crowd. Easily, she slipped through the doorway, the slight chill in the hallway likely only for the lack of body heat from everyone else in the ballroom. "Is everything okay?"

ghxstxstxries

dutch📱ela

ela: i don’t really think many people are ela: or at least, they’re a bit worried ela: oh just the booze huh ela: come on, it’ll be.. maybe fun. dutch: yea just the booze dutch: what dutch: u got another opinion? dutch: maybe fun. likely not. dutch: but hey feel free to say i told u so later

- six hours later - ela: go on ela: say it ela: im crashing with you tonight

#* dutch

@drpaisleyduncan

"I really shouldn't have expected anything less than perfection," Ela was sure there wasn't a single person in attendance that couldn't attest to the grandeur that the Conrads had settled with remembering their daughter and all others lost to the town's recent tragedies. "She'd have loved this," undoubtedly, Tiffany would have sought to cause all kinds of chaos on a night like this - maybe the irony of it would get them through the entirety of it without something going wrong. "You look great, Pais."

#* paisley

stuckoncarew

Location: Dave's Liquors who: @eladcmir

Ben's patience was wearing paper thin as he swiveled on the chair that sat behind the counter. He'd been listening to the same top 20 songs over and over since the owner refused to give him access or controls to the music. As if he couldn't be trusted to play something customer appropriate. Whatever that was supposed to mean. He'd honestly been a little surprised with how slow things had been all things considered. Did sad people not like to wallow in their sorrows at home in Tennessee? Or were the circumstances of this recent attack by the shadow so attrocious it had everone bar stool bound? The store had been so dead, he'd even gone as far as to re-arrange the candy section by his personal favorites to least favorite in their position on the shelf. Which meant the timing couldn't have been worse when the small coil key ring he'd been swinging around on his finger went flying past the front door as soon as it swung open, sailing past his customers face at an alarming speed.

"Shit girl. You were almost taken out via liquor cabinet key." He mused as he jumped up from his seat, to look and see where his key had landed. "Must be your lucky night. How can I hook you up?"

#* ben #moving this to the day of event x

On call. She had to remind herself. The last event she'd attended, they'd found Nico and finding her way back from that was still a daily struggle. That, and everything else forgotten the second she'd stepped foot into the liquor store as an object went flying by - mere inches from her features. She'd stopped, dead still, eyes wide as a deer in headlights - flickering back and forth between the door she'd just come through and Ben, "The heck are you flinging keys about for, Ben?" The heel of her palm pressed into the hollow of her throat, as if somehow it might settle the sudden spike in her heart rate, "You know, it's a sad day when that really is considered lucky around here," and all things considered, it kind of was. "Do you sell those, tiny little bottles of liquor? I'm on call tonight, so technically I can't drink, but I'm also not entirely sure I can actually get there without a little something. Figured they'd be my best bet so I don't.. overdo it."

@eladcmir conrad masquerade ball

A ball to honor the victims. All Austin wanted was one day to forget that everyone around him was dying, but here he was dressed in formal attire to honor his fallen friends. It didn't take long for him to find a drink, feeling like he needed one the second that he entered through the doors. One turning into a few. Working on the latest glass, his eyes wandered around the room. Landing on the familiar face of the ex-girlfriend he left behind all those years ago. "You look good." He stated as he got closer to her, taking a drink as he really studied the way she looked this evening. "Beautiful, actually."

Understandably, Ela could see why the Conrad's would want to celebrate their daughter and the life she'd led before, but along with a great many others, Ela wasn't so certain that this was the best way to do it. Each person that passed her with a mask she couldn't quite see through put her on edge - and it perhaps didn't help that she was technically on call. Drinking wasn't on her card tonight. Luckily, her own reservations eased off somewhat, noting Austin as he crossed towards her. Ela would know him anywhere, "Thank you," she smiled up at him, "I know I don't need to tell you, you always did scrub up well. Are you having a good night?"

ghxstxstxries

dutch📱ela

dutch: rly not looking forward to this masquerade shit dutch: if it werent for the free booze id be out dutch: full on gonna be looking like a discount dollar store zorro

ela: i don't really think many people are ela: or at least, they're a bit worried ela: oh just the booze huh ela: come on, it'll be.. maybe fun.

#* dutch

As they headed around the side of the house, Austin pulled the sliding back door open to let the husky coming running out. "Duke. I got him about two years ago from a shelter." He looked over his shoulder at Ela as he closed it back shut now that the dog was chasing its own tail around the backyard. He settled himself into a one of the porch chairs, staring out at the lake as he thought about what to say next. Things between him and Ela still felt tense, awkward. "What photos you got there?" He nodded towards the envelope.

It almost struck her with a sense of jealousy - not for him, but for the life he'd seemed to built in their little hometown. Somehow, even though she'd never left, nothing ever really felt lived in when it came to the place she owned. Always too busy working to find the same warmth. "Oh, he's adorable.," and he was, she couldn't stop the smile that formed watching the dog chase itself in circles around the yard. Somehow, it put her a little more at ease. Duke was something she could focus on instead of a shred of discomfort. "Oh, right.." she said, slipping into the seat beside him, "Do you remember that trip we all took before senior year? I guess Nico kept all the photos we took with those disposable cameras everyone passed around." She sets the envelope filled with printed photos onto the table set between them, "you'd just gotten' that really terrible hair cut..." Ela added with a smile.

maximoaguilar

@eladcmir / text to 📩 ela demir

max: you and i need to talk. max: now. max: and i'm not doing this bullshit over text either.

Ela: Okay? Ela: I have a half day tomorrow Ela: if that works for you?

#* max

sulkingtemptation

JULIANA📲 ELA

Ela: Rehab? Ela: For why? Ela: has he reached out to you yet? Jules: drugs i think Jules: we have to talk Jules: we’re meeting up for coffee, but i’m not bringing the twins with me