CW: Body Horror. Details at the bottom.

It has been fourteen days and only during one of those days was there no dry lightening storm. No more snow has come. If anything, the plains have been a bit warmer. The air crackles from both the electric air and the teens holding bushers much like the one they threw weeks ago. No one is in the mood for a party, not even with Halloween nearly upon them.

They've already done a marvellous trick, coming back to life, and Eva is in the mood for a treat. So, just after dark, when Este wraps a hand around Eva's shoulder and leans over to whisper, Eva's eyes light up.

"One more heist?" they ask.

What is one more trick for many more treats?

Most people are still around as they are leaving, though Este knows nearly all of them have plans in the evening. It is easier to slip out with everyone gone. Of course, the only people who don't seem to have plans are the points of Este's concern. The law enforcement officers.

Leo has been weird and distant, although trying more. Sometimes, Este catches him holding ice packs to his face and arms, as if the burns still feel fresh. Clare has not spoken. Este has noticed now that Clare has not eaten either. Not once.

Ajay is a different concern.

Of course, Eva wants a snack and a cigarette for the road. Of course they are in Ajay's motel room, and of course it is him that opens the door and looks at Este.

If it were any one else, Este would just be able to turn their nose and it would be so simple. Anyone else would fear them. Este feels their cheeks heat, and then it is burning. It's coming for her, just like Kaylee said it would.

Ajay stands in the doorway looking at Este for a second too long. Then, he shuts it. When the door opens, Este looks at him, shoes on, coat zipped up to the bottom of his chin.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are even more beautiful when you are angry?" Ajay asks, stepping out into the doorway.

They glower at him, "you're not coming."

Ajay chuckles, "I'm coming."

"You're delusional," they roll their eyes.

"And you're going to murder your husband," Ajay counters. "And I'm coming. Unless you'd rather someone else come. I can get Leo, if you-"

"Fine," Este turns their head, mostly to hide the smile on their cheek.

When they smell the smoke as Eva steps out, already a lit cigarette in between her fingers, Este bites the inside of their cheek. The flesh gives way to blood, which Este swallows. It's better than smiling.

~~~

With electricity in the air and fire on their skin, Clare has been quiet. There is no suffering in the aftermath. Only acceptance. Hours later, when most of everyone is gone, it is on the quietest of nights, the first without a dry lighting storm, that Clare stand on the balcony, arms pressed into the cold metal, that thinking of that night.

Only Leo is at the motel, and he takes the opportunity to shower. He has tried not to think about it for days, but when Nico was braiding Fallon's hair that morning, the red strands looked like firelight.

When Leo thinks of burning, he can hear Miko crying. So he stands in the shower that evening, the water so cold it makes him wish for the warmth of a snowstorm. Leo scrubs at his dragon tattoo. The shading is ruined, his skin puckered and rippling over the scales of the dragon. Leo wants it off, and he scrubs and scrubs and scrubs and then his skin tears.

Blood trickles down his arm, hot. Bright red, pink as it hits the shower floor. He stands there, watching the blood draining. After a minute, it is no longer pink but brown. Dried and dripping, viscous and slow running.

Leo turns off the water. He gets out of the shower and exits to the balcony. He sees Clare, just Clare.

"Where is everyone?" he asks.

They glance back at him and shrug, "I don't know."

Leo looks at her before nodding his head, "we're leaving, come on."

~~~

It is not abnormal for Kaia to find the customers at the diner abhorrent. It's only her fifth shift and already she is sick of the place. She hears Rory everywhere, smells her hair when serving fries, and feels flashes of anger and heat whenever she steps out at night. It is to be expected that she would hate the diner where she ate her last meal.

The food there is shit anyway.

Kaia usually keeps her head down, and avoids the spot she last remembers stepping with Rory. Unfortunately, a new customer is there, who might be her least favourite. And he's sitting in the booth where she sat with Rory the night of her death.

"You're not getting the staff discount," Kaia says, looking over at Barry.

He rolls his eyes. He points to the clock on the wall, "you're off the clock in five minutes. Can I get fries?"

"With what money?" she asks.

Barry rolls his eyes. He didn't come to see Kaia, but he knew she was working. Every day over the last two weeks he has thought about returning to the spot, and with clear, cloudless skies above, he did it. He got to the town line.

He crossed it, for the first time knowing what it meant. Lydia had outdone him, of course. So had Eva originally. This time, when his fingers started to disappear, Barry got down on the ground. Lying on his back, he dragged himself to the town line, closer and closer, until he could no longer move his legs to pull him. Until his knees stopped existing.

And he stopped, staring at his translucent thighs. He has no lower legs. He could have kept going. Soon enough, he would slip into nothing, and finally reach death. His old Lydia is there too, in death. He would never be with her, but at least he wouldn't be without her.

Then, he pulled himself back. His finger slipped on the road, sliced open, and he was sure he was going to die, fade into nothing. With ragged breaths, he scurried back, ripping himself away from death. Even when his legs were back, he couldn't breathe.

Even now, sitting across from Kaia, he can't. He holds his breath, and holds it, since he doesn't have money and doesn't have a funny retort. The hands on the clock tick as Kaia begins to clock out. Two minutes pass, and he has not inhaled.

His hand is smeared with something. Either dirt from the road, or brown blood. He cannot tell.

As Kaia grabs an order of fries, complimentary from the line cook, and throws in packages of vinegar, she thinks about Clare. Eating with her, not in this diner but a different one. They haven't spoken more than thirteen words in two weeks. There are as many dry lightning storms as there are interactions between them, and they are supposed to be sleeping in the same bed.

Clare doesn't sleep though. They must think Kaia hasn't noticed, but Kaia has.

Vinegar, sour and puckering, and Clare. Kaia has to remind herself nothing good comes from death. Not even Clare Canosa.

"Come on," Clare says, rounding to the booth. She won't sit next to Barry, but she jingles the fries.

He gets up. From his pocket, he pulls out a folded napkin.

"Wrote the last poem," he holds it open. With his other hand, he grabs the bag with the fries, "trade?"

Kaia rolls her eyes but trades the bag. She opens the last poem Barry has decided to write about Lydia. It has all the verses she has already enjoyed. One final stanza.

You once told me your hair was dirt brown
And I became a gardener
Flowers bloomed from the soil
Bluer than the sky, more golden than the sun, redder than the sweetest of apples
And when visitors would come to see my garden
I would show them the dirt

You once told me your hair was dirt brown
And I became an archeologist
The ancient wonders of the world buried beneath my feet
Glittering jewels and metals worth more than my soul
And when the artifacts would be displayed in museums
I would weep over the dirt that was scrubbed away from history

You once told me your hair was dirt brown
And I buried myself alive

~~~

"Okay, we can bring up morale," Nico offers.

Nico has a habit of walking fans. They were a model, of course, and when Nico is excited they strut. Even now, with six five dollar bills spread out in a blue fan in their hand, Nico walks like the wind is from a machine and there are thousands of people watching.

Fallon is slower. After raking a few lawns, she is surprised it is her hips and legs that hurt. The pair had to walk to the wealthy area and knock on fifty doors to make thirty dollars. Soon there will be snow, and they will make more money. Fallon wishes she could teach guitar, but the group needs a low profile. Only Kaia, who's accent makes her need for under-the-table work seem legitimate, has had any luck.

"So, I think we get drunk and carve some pumpkins," Nico smiles. "I mean, who can really be angry when carving a pumpkin. Also, we can repurpose the guts to make pumpkin seeds. Or... and hear me out, we can get some cheap sheets from the charity shop and go as ghosts to a bar or something. I mean, we don't have ID, but I have a baby face and I'm sure they'd let me in."

"Ghosts?" Fallon laughs.

"I mean, we could get makeup and do zombies," Nico laughs. "We've got to have fun with it."

None of them are having fun, and they all know it. But, it is not good to wallow. Nico hasn't checked on Kye's Instagram in three days, and they only apologize to his ghost every three days, while hearing the soft snores of Leo in the bed next to theirs.

"Everybody likes to dance and play music," Nico points out. "I mean, I wish we could get a guitar. Maybe there are some garage sales, although it is a bit cold for them."

"A garage sale on Halloween?" Fallon asks. "A bit last minute."

"Oh hush," Nico snaps. "And hurry up. We're late."

They barely make it to the grocery store. Lydia stands there, in the parking lot, with the grocery bags in front of her. No one else could come to buy them, but she needed help carrying them home. Of course, Nico helped.

As the pair approach, Lydia steps on her cigarette, putting out the embers. She swears she can feel the burning through her shoe. It's a decent walk back to the motel, so Lydia might light a second when they are part of the way there. It beats coping with the cold.

"Are you smoking, Lydia Darcy?" Nico narrows their eyes. They nudge Fallon with a laugh. "This is why you never meet your heroes."

"You know my music?" Lydia asks.

Nico's face goes red. In all the weeks together, they rarely talk. Mostly because she's a celebrity, and Nico knows celebrities. It is so annoying to be approached, and death is already annoying enough.

"Everyone does," Fallon shakes her head. "My Dad used to say I'd be the second famous person out of Chelster. After you."

Lydia closes her eyes, "nobody ever mentioned that."

The three of them, groceries in arm, start walking. It's cold. Nico continues to pitch their ideas, and to their surprise, Lydia bites a bit.

Fallon doesn't. Usually, she cannot stop thinking about Corrin, but she can avoid thinking about her father. His oil slick hands, wiping his brow and getting on the kitchen counters after a day at work. Her step-mother, the baker, scolding him for messing up her kitchen. The two of them mourning. Still mourning. She's only been dead for a few months.

She feels her gut twist. Fallon drops a bag of groceries. Nico turns to grab her, but she twists her head to the side.

They are at the building where Fallon heard Corrin scream. The place where people go to use, or dissect bodies if you are Audrey.

"Are you alright?" Lydia asks, looking into her grocery bag. "Do you need food or something? You look pale."

"She's a ginger, she's always pale," Nico brushes off Lydia.

It's so fucking stupid, Fallon thinks. It's not possible. She doesn't room with Audrey, and tries not to think about her as much as she can, but Fallon smells death. Maybe it's her own. Hopefully, it's her own.

"Where's Audrey?" she asks.

Nico and Lydia share a glance, but not one filled with knowing.

Fallon looks down and picks up her grocery bag. The breads dented, but at least she wasn't carrying the eggs. Then, she heads into the building. Nico hurries after her, and so does Lydia, although her shoulders hunch.

"What are we doing?" Lydia whispers.

Nico swallows, "hopefully not dying again."

Fallon shushes them. She heads the same way she did last time. This time, when she gets to the door, slightly ajar, she peeks through the crack.

The smell hits her first before the scene. The decay, pure and simple, of the body on the ground. It's been laid out, bones stripped of what flesh remained. The copper hair that was left on Audrey's bodies head is laid out in parallel lines. The flesh is lined up on a garbage bag, each piece discreet, labelled with little torn pages from Audrey's notebook.

In the middle of it all, Audrey sits, scribbling notes and looking at a jar. The liquid inside is black and dark. There are four other jars in a row, samples labelled.

Audrey isn't sure exactly when the idea to bleed herself came about. She made herself puke once, to see if the same black bile came up the rose from the girl she watched die. It didn't of course. But, she kept the puke just in case. And three days later, when she was sorting the body again, it was weird, brown and chunky. And another two days later, she thought it was dirt. She stole a plant from a garden and potted it in her sickness. And the flower seemed to be fine.

The blood from her body is in three jars now. When she bleeds at first, it is red, but only for a while. Then, it seems to turn to soil. Her only concern is that the flower is now dying. What she thought was dirt is now a pile of ash.

~~~

When they get to the factory, partially burnt down, Clare realizes what Leo wants to do. They won't walk further. Leo stops to look back at them.

Clare shakes their head, "don't."

Leo furrows his brow. He looks at the building and back at her. He flinches.

For a second, Clare looked just like Miko.

"Burning, Clare," Leo swallows. He doesn't look away, in case Clare is Miko once more when he looks back. "Burning."

They shake their head. Clare walks closer to the building. The sky is clear above them. There is no dry lightning storm, but Clare wants rain. It hasn't rained in days. The soil is dry, their bodies too. Clare doesn't drink anymore. It is burning. It is burning inside her.

Leo goes to walk in.

Clare jolts forward, grabbing him and dragging him back.

"Don't do it."

Leo sees Clare.

Everyone has been weird for days, but Clare has been exceptionally weirder than normal. Officer Canosa does not want to investigate. Perhaps because she already knows.

"What happened when you went back?" Leo asks.

Clare blinks. Tears are in their eyes. They didn't think they could cry anymore.

"I'll tell you everything if you don't go."

Leo nods.

There is no dry lightning. There is no thunder. The world is so quiet that it is like no one is alive at all.

"Burning, Leo," Clare admits. "It was burning."

~~~

Ambrose does not have the opportunity to hear Clare's warning. Instead, he walks alone to the sign that his high brother drove into ten years ago, bringing about his death.

~~~

As Este had suspected, her husband is not home. Maybe he's fucking a woman. A younger, blonder woman. Somehow, women can always get blonder. Este hopes they cannot always get younger.

The three of them get into the home. This time, they steal all of Kaylee Wood-Roswell's jewellery. In her collection, Este finds some of her things. She doubts Kaylee knew. At least Jayce will not give the next girl both of their jewellery.

Ajay carries the bag with the goods, but when Eva and Este go to explore different corners of the home, he hyperventilates in the bathroom. There are earrings in his bag. They aren't bloodied, but here Ajay is again, lying to the others, protecting murderers.

He splashes water on his face and stares at his reflection.

Another murderer will die tonight. It will make one more, but Este is already dead. Really, they are making two dead murderers in one evening.

When they've taken everything they can from the place, Este waves off Eva and Ajay with the bag of goods. Eva lights a cigarette, ready to leave. She suspects her lungs are nothing but black, if that isn't how they were already. She coughs up blackness now. Maybe she has cancer. The thought makes her giggle.

Ajay ignores Eva, looking at Este. In Este's hand, there is a gun from the safe.

"Quick," Ajay points out. "It's late, so people will take a minute to wake up. The gunshot will be loud though. Don't draw it out."

Este nods. They have no intention of listening. If Este is caught and experimented on by the government, then that is what happens. Jayce's death will be slower than hers. So far, hers has been months. Jayce will suffer.

Beside her, Ajay still doesn't leave. It is not in his army nature to leave a soldier in the field. It is not in his nature as a doctor to do harm. Ajay looks at the flesh of her neck, mapping every inch of her skin. Trapezius, thyroid cartilage, clavicle. Beneath it, the trachea, jugular vein, the vagus nerve. Cervical vertebrae one through seven. And somehow, magically, all of those bones and vessels and nerves make Ester Rodwell.

"I'm staying," he says.

Eva shrugs and heads out the back door. She doesn't give a fuck.

The door slams shut, and it is just the two of them. Ajay doesn't move. Soon enough, they hear a car parking in the driveway. Este shoots him one last look.

"You want me to think you're ugly, Ester?" Ajay asks, peering at her. "Show me."

They says nothing. The automatic porch light turns on. Este tightens their grip on the gun.

The keys jingle in the door.

They swing open, and in steps Jayce Rodwell. His face goes white, staring at her. For months, Este has thought about what she would say to him. The slow torture of leaving scarves, of breaking his property, and all of that energy and hatred. And he steps before her, face white as a ghost, and Kaylee is dead. Jayce wasn't worth a second of her life. Why should he get her death too?

She pulls the gun forward and shoots him in the chest.

At once, all of them scream.

~~~~~

Back, and with a vengeance. I will finish this before the year ends. But before I do, it's been a while. How are we feeling? Any questions, or cool things you liked, or anything? I'm absolutely obsessed with writing this. It's so unsettling, it just takes time so sorry for the slow updates. As always, let me know what you think!

(Also, the body horror is about Audrey doing freaky weird experiments with her corpse and her current body's blood and puke. I think it's unsettling but not like, truly horrific. Just thought it was good to warn people so they aren't like so put off).