Life's no fun without a good scare

[thalassino]

It starts some time around 3am, Tuesday morning. Thin whispers of fog start appearing all throughout Vatheon, creeping through the narrow, winding streets, up the steps, and over the park. It starts in the lower district, but as the night progresses and daylight approaches, it spreads to the other districts as well, growing thicker and thicker as it does. By the morning rolls around, the mist is thick enough that visibility has been compromised greatly, and the temperature seems to have dropped a few degrees, an odd chill filling the air.

And on the walls, there are stains.

They are infrequent at first, just a odd ruddy brown smear and a oddly bright red drop here and there, but the closer to the Plaza, the more numerous they become. There is a large smear across the steps leading up to the Plaza, as if something big was dragged up them. In one place the blood -- for it is blood, there is no deny it at this point -- pools thickly as if whoever was responsible took a casual break there, leaving the poor victim to bleed out on the steps.

On the plaza, the mist is thinner, but that is no relief. Rather, it just functions to make the gruesome scene all the more clearer.

A woman is draped upside down on the coral. Or, well, woman. It was once a woman, certainly, but now it is nothing more than something straight out of a nightmare. The flesh seems to have been torn carelessly from her limbs here and there, showing the white gleam of her bones, her nurse outfit torn as if raked apart by giant claws and her head...

well, it isn't there anymore.

The ground in front of her is smeared with blood as well. But where the previous smears had been accidental, these are deliberate, long lines curving and meeting to spell out



hel pm e


But no help had been forthcoming, clearly. No, it seems that this murder, this brutal murder, was nothing more than a game to whoever did it. The walls of the buildings surrounding the plaza are coated in bloody, spelling out a long string of mocking 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA's and directly in the center, behind the coral.


Who is next?


The notice board seems to have been hit too. The killer did not tear down any of the notices on the board already, but they did cover the entire board with blood-stained sheets of paper, each adorned with the same text over and over and over again.


Chop chop, sweet Charlotte
Chop chop till she's dead
Chop chop, sweet Charlotte
Chop off her hand and head.


For those brave enough to check, no, the poor girl still has both her hands. Was the killer just sloppy, or does this mean this is not Charlotte? So many unanswered questions, more born every passing moment.

Who had done this? Why? Where they going to strike again? And why had nobody heard anything?





[ooc note: Consider this your mingle log. Have fun, go forth, threadjack.

And as a further note, the fog does not seem to be clearing up as the week goes on. ]

Comments

[a_violent_end]

Yeah, I know.

[He's certainly heard that enough. But he's not putting it out - instead taking a nice, deep inhale from it. Maybe they could address his addiction later, when they weren't standing a few feet away from a dead body.]

I met him.

[Another drag.]

She didn't even tell me about him.

[Shizuo has this growing sense that he and Zelda have drifted as a result of everything that had taken place between and around them. It's probably a necessary shift, but Shizuo doesn't like it.

But yeah, he gets that his protection isn't really needed anymore - not that he was good at protecting, considering everything that happened - and that's kind of a difficult thing to face, too.]

[kingwithnocrown]

[Yeah, later. Izaya will whine at Shizuo about it later.]

I sort of met him too. Through video. He does look a lot like Sola. I wonder how he's taking Link being here.

[His mouth twitches a little when Shizuo states that second part and he tries not to feel a selfish feeling of satisfaction but it can't be helped. Not that he's about to tell Shizuo that or let him in on it.

A part of him feels a little bad. But not really. He had tried to let them know that it was dandy and fine to be together again.

Or. Friends. Not together.]

You know, you would make a totally good actor for an mystery film, I just realized.

[His voice is cheerful and he lifts his hands for form a box with his index and thumbs aligned, putting them over Shizuo to see him through the square he's made.]

You've got that cold, stoic handsome demeanor thing going on. All you need now is a babe on your arm with one of those fancy long cigarettes and cue the dramatic jazz music and bam! Cinema gold.

[Yeah. This is Izaya trying to cheer Shizuo up.]

[a_violent_end]

I didn't even think about that.

[That's a good point, though. It's probably rough on him. Maybe Shizuo would send him a text to make sure he's okay.

Then again - should he really get involved? Zelda probably had everything handled.

He'd think about it later.

For now, he'll focus on this weird subject change and give Izaya a look of disbelief.]

I'd be a bad actor. That's Kasuka's thing.

[Shizuo in the limelight? No thanks. He caused enough scenes when not pretending to be someone else.]

[kingwithnocrown]

Kasuka's a bad actor. Maybe it's a family trait kind of thing. At least you'd be way better to look at.

[Yes they are discussing this in front of a dead body. Casual dinner conversation topic right here. No big deal whatsoever. At least it seems to be pulling Shizuo's attention away.]

Hey. You should really get out of here, Shizu-chan. This is disturbing you a bit. And there's really no point in sticking around, is there?

[He shifts around in front of Shizuo and pats his chest again.]

It's just going to upset you.

[a_violent_end]

Stop telling me he's a bad actor.

[That's kind of firm. Izaya knows he hates hearing that, because Shizuo kind of idolizes his brother, and he has watched every movie, thank you very much. And likes them...sort of.]

I don't know, is there? What if something comes up?

[Again, not trying to play hero, but also feeling like leaving would somehow be wrong. He isn't sure what he should do, but he doesn't want to be useless, either.

He finishes his cigarette, dropping it and stepping on it, though in a much more casual way than when demonstrating his usual tic. Maybe if he's not going to kick the habit he should at least learn to smoke slower.]

[kingwithnocrown]

But he is!

[Other than that, Izaya doesn't press the matter. For now.]

Then you'll hear about it. I'm pretty sure that you're not some conclusive, crime scene detective. Besides, what can you do here anyway but stare around in horror~ at what's happened.

[Izaya follows the action before he tsk's at Shizuo.]

That's an even worse habit. But I guess it doesn't matter since Vatheon cleans everything up.

[He slides backward, smearing the blood again before he turns to the body.]

Charlotte's such an odd name. Totally old. The only Charlotte I know is a spider. But whatever. I don't care. This will put a lot of people thinking about what I said the other day though. About law and the societal structure of Vatheon.

[Right. He's rambling. And to Shizuo of all people.]

Did I already say that? I don't remember. I don't know about you but I'm going to get out of here. It's depressing to look at.

[Annnnd he'll be walking past Shizuo now, giving him a quick peck just on his cheek as he does so and saunters right on away towards the side walk.]

[a_violent_end]

Why are you so concerned about my habits all of a sudden?

[So he throws his cigarettes on the ground. That's nothing compared to some of the shit Izaya gets into - why does mothering him seem like a good idea? Excuse him for doing something Izaya does not like. Izaya does plenty of things that Shizuo would rather he didn't. Or at least Shizuo assumes that's the case.

...He's still kind of irritated, but he supposes standing around a horror scene of blood and flesh can do that to a person. Maybe Izaya's right. Maybe he should leave.

But unlike Izaya, he does care, and he thinks that video was pretty bad timing. This could lead to a bunch of people deciding to commit crimes -

Then again, like he said, he's no detective. What good can come from him wondering and worrying about it? None.]

I don't know any Charlottes.

[That's all he says in response to the ramble. Then Izaya is taking off and Shizuo figures he'll follow, because what else is he going to do? He doesn't say anything, just starts walking in that direction. If Izaya decides to take off and do his own thing, then that's fine - Shizuo will just muse about the morning's events to himself.]