Atrophy

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

---

Penny squinted as Odessa insisted that there wasn’t anyone else on the boat as the two entered into a hallway that would lead to the lower deck. Was she trying to comfort her or challenge her? Penny was about to poke a hole in Odessa’s logic by mentioning that if she could detect Extra Normals then she wouldn’t know if there were any Blind aboard the ship but was then knocked off balance by another shockwave. She reached out to steady herself and was bumped into the wall elbow first before hitting it with the back of her head. Pain flared through her body. Penny had taken some bumps before, but she was used to seeing the blows coming. There was no way to defend herself against an entire ship trying to kick her ass. She rubbed her elbow. Just another bruise. Walk it off.

"... Are you okay, Penny?"

“Yeah, I’m fucking great!” she snipped, her words lost under the thunderous cracking of metal. The color drained from her face as the floor began to tilt. She felt her boots start to lose traction as she broke into a dead sprint and booked it down the hall. If she could get through the door, she could grab hold of some railing before the incline became too much to stand on. It was a good thing she had picked up cardio and put down the cigarettes. Her vision focused as she activated her Abstraction. She made it through the doorway and sprung forward as her boots lost their grip on the ground. The railing was right there. She reached out to grab it. Penny smiled. She had made it. Take that. She had—

“No!”

Her outstretched fingertips brushed against the edge of the railing and she began sliding back down the hall. Penny banged her hand against the doorway as she dropped back through it but failed to grip onto the frame. Her head throbbed. She turned over to slide down on her back as Odessa’s vines shot past her. The door they had walked through to get into the hallway was still open. She was picking up momentum. If she hit the door frame and stopped she’d probably break something. If she went through she’d be happy if all she did was break something. She wouldn’t let that happen. If she timed it right she could grab onto Odessa, and it was impossible for her not to have good timing. Penny reached out for Odessa and grabbed air. Shit. Shit! Shit!

She fished one of the Keno cards out of her sleeve and repulsed it towards the doorway. The card flew through the doorway before she could activate the glyph. Her head was pounding. Had it been hit harder than she realized? It was completely throwing off her rhythm. She pulled another card out of her sleeve and missed again. She had one card left. She fired it off, activated her glyph, and her vision shifted back to normal. No, it wasn’t normal. It was far from normal. The world was a total blur of colors and shadows. She couldn’t see a single thing. Her chest seized with panic. Her head howled in pain and she answered with her own terrified scream. The hall filled with the sound of that dreadful harmony as she slipped further towards uncertainty.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

---

Vashti was in. She had squealed with excitement when Kayla had made her decision, and even the former President of the United States coming in armed with reptiles couldn’t quelch her high for so long—especially after Herik had heroically saved them. The new recruits had hardly any time to relax as they were ferried along to a meeting with someone rich guy named Blake Schmidt. She knew him in name only, both from general osmosis and from her father. What a real estate guy like her dad had to do with a whatever-he-did guy like Blake Schmidt was a mystery to Vashti. The wealthy generally liked to keep tabs on one another, golfing together or swooping around in social circles like vultures, just in case one stumbled and there was an opening to pick all of their meaty assets from their corpse.

The meet and greet with the other members when they arrived at the lobby of a luxury resort was quick, rough, and overwhelming. She tried her best to remember names and faces, but when she erroneously assumed she had misheard one of them say her name was “Sin” she was pretty certain she had botched it entirely. Still, Vashti smiled and nodded and tried to ignore the occasional frowns, ritualistic hazing, and running her own mouth. She even kept quiet about how all of this seemed less like a business meeting and more like they were about to attend some kind of slimy party. Rich guy calls on a lot of young women to an invite-only rooftop resort? Yeah, nobody ever came back with any trauma or regrets from something like that.

The elevator dinged and the group crowded into it. Well, most of the group. Vashti gave one skeptical look at it, cracked a smile, and said, “I think I’ll take the next one!”

The doors closed, and she let out a heavy sigh. She had been so happy about becoming part of the Coven that she had completely forgotten to mention the one very frightening aspect of her curse. Rather, she hadn’t forgotten. She had kept it hidden. The longer she kept the Leviathan from the other girls, the worse it would be when it came out. Vashti could feel it inside of her. It was still satiated and likely would be for the day. Still, she couldn’t get the image out of her head of the Leviathan taking control inside the elevator. She saw the doors opening up at the top floor with a wave of blood and limbs rushing out to baptize Mr. Schmidt before his head was separated from his torso. She’d tell them after the meeting...just, Kayla was too intense. Maybe Lyss or Herik could help her find a way to word it.

The elevator opened again and she walked in it with whatever other stragglers were lagging behind. At the top floor, Vashti was greeted with the beautiful sight of an artificial oasis. A private little man-made beach that was pristine and clean, towering above the actual beach where fish and tourists pissed in the water and the sand was full of shells and needles. Business was already being conducted between Kayla and Schmidt. Vashti felt a wave of relief. So, it was an actual meeting. She siddled over to Ashley and Taylor simply because she didn’t know where else to stand as one of the Coven vets (Maya, right?) asked what it was that Schmidt wanted.

“He can have mine,” said Vashti under her breath, a rueful smile on her face. If only she could give the bad parts of her curse away.

Vashti heard a whistle and saw that Kayla was looking at them. How had she heard her? It had been a bad joke, not an actual offering. Vashti was about to offer an apology when she realized that Kayla was discretely motioning to the girl who had shown up drunk to a business meeting. Vashti lifted an eyebrow. Herik was on the job with a bottle of water, why would they need to also—Madison violently chucked the bottle over the rooftop. Oh. Vashti gave an apprehensive look to her fellow freshmen and then trotted over to the girl. She had expected to be asked to do some kind of grunt work, but hadn’t anticipated it to be drunk duty. Why hadn’t they just left the girl behind to sober up?

“So this must be where the party is! Thank god, what they’re talking about is so boring I was about to jump off the roof. Seriously, I’m starting to worry my time in the Coven will be nothing more than meetings and interviews,” said Vashti. In actuality, she wanted to listen to what Kayla and Schmidt had to say. She’d have to be filled in later. “Is this an open bar?”

Vashti pretended to scan the bar for a drink she wasn’t going to order, wrinkled her nose, and gave Madison a disgusted look. “Dude, I’ve been to resorts like these before. Everything’s watered down it’s a total fucking sham. We should go somewhere cooler! Surely there’s a club on the beach that’s better than this tourist trap. Drinking...dancing…” She tried, and failed, not to glance over at Herik. “Hot guys…”

“I was told you were a founder. Well, we’re new and we haven’t even had a welcome party yet. We should have an initiation through inebriation, right?” said Vashti. If Herik's attempt to sober her up had failed, then maybe her attempt to take her somewhere else would work. She glanced towards Ashley and Taylor. Hopefully they’d play along by showing some approval. She snapped a finger at Madison. “C’mon, let’s get out of here and have some real fun. I’m buying.”

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

---

Penny gave Stacey a guilty smile after his correction. She sat silently as he talked, surprised that her attempt to distract him actually worked and even more surprised by how willing he was to open up to her. He even mentioned how his guitar was starting to act weird, but from what Penny knew his weird didn’t sound quite like an Awakening and he definitely wasn’t as much of an oddball as Odessa. She had a few theories but decided to keep them to herself for now. She didn’t want to seem like she was pushing Stacey too hard.

“Well, whatever it is, I wouldn’t worry about it for now. Once we’re off this ship we’ll figure out what it is together, okay?” said Penny. “Oh, and I bet your ex is going to feel like an idiot once you become a world famous musician and she’s going through her second divorce. Trust me, as a former shitty first girlfriend, we definitely aren’t worth the worry.”

“Anyway…” Penny looked up and caught sight of Lilith stepping through the door. She heaved a sigh of relief, smiled, and returned the wave. However, her smile soon faded into a look of confusion as Lilith began signing at them instead of writing on her pad like usual. Judging by her expression and her body language she didn’t appear distressed, but there was a look of expectation in her eye like she’d asked them a question.

“Lilith, I don’t mean to be a dick, but I didn’t get any of that. Do you need one of my markers?” said Penny as she started to get up. She figured it’d be worse to pretend like she understood what the girl meant. Besides, she could spare a few pens. She was armed to the teeth with writing utensils. There was enough ink in her bag to rival a small tattoo parlour.

However, there was never any chance for clarification. Hell, there wasn’t even a chance to stand up all of the way before the sound of a loud thud and grating metal echoed through the bridge as a wave of force rocked the entire ship as if it had been hit by a torpedo from an enemy submarine. Penny lost her balance and got smashed by Stacey tumbling after her. She heard what sounded like a discordant note echoing from his guitar, and her gut twisted as the thought crossed her mind that she might’ve just gotten his guitar smashed. The worry was quickly jostled out of her head as she thudded against the wall and then hit the floor as the ship righted itself. Everything hurt and her mind was scattered.

The first thought to return to her head was if she was alive, which pretty much answered itself. The second was if everyone else was okay, which seemed to be the case from what she could immediately tell until she noticed Odessa’s arm was broken and also wood. Penny grimaced in horror as the woman snapped it back in place and let it become skin again, promising silently to drop the whole “fern” joke from here on out. The third thought was what the hell had just happened, which she still wasn’t certain of but knew the answer was nothing good. The final thought was an echo of Odessa’s words: they needed to leave.

Penny stood up. Nothing seemed broken but there were definitely going to be some bruises. She helped Stacey to his feet, the concern about his guitar lost in all of the confusion, before going over to give Lilith a hand. She turned to Isla but the girl was already walking past her and out the door. The right idea, but the wrong approach.

“Wait, stick together!” The girl was already gone. Penny turned to the others and pointed at the door. “Fuck! Go after her and get to the lifeboats. I’ll be right behind,” she said, trying to regain her cool. She smacked her hands together for emphasis. “ Now!” She moved to the mic and grabbed it, dropping the whole captain schtick as her voice crackled over the speaker system for one final message. “We’re abandoning the bridge. Get those lifeboats ready. We’re done here. Mao, if your creepy ass can hear me, get to the boats pronto. If not...”

Penny let go of the talk button.

She didn’t even know if Mao was on the cruise ship, but everyone else had been. Maybe there was still time to search for her, but maybe she wasn’t even there. Penny bit down on her lower lip. Wasn’t it the captain’s responsibility to make sure that everyone was safe in an emergency, like that whole goes down with the ship thing? She glared down at the seat, and then dropped the mic. “...I’m sorry.”

Penny walked through the hole in the door after the others, leaving the hat behind in the chair for an actual captain. She pulled out a handful of coins as she hurried after the others, her head on a swivel ready for an Apparition to jump out at them. Penny would go through a lot of shit if it meant helping out someone. If someone was scared, she’d be brave for them. If someone needed saving, she’d rescue them. If something came looking for a fight, she’d beat them. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she could do it. But to wait around or go searching for someone who might not even be there? To be a captain and go down with her ship? No way. She’d go through a lot of shit for someone, but she wouldn’t die for one.

Not for a stranger, anyway.

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

---

Penny returned Caelea’s salute and suppressed a chuckle as the tiny girl took on the role of a bouncer and began moving people towards the door. In all of the commotion made as the group began to mosh around the door, Penny didn’t immediately notice Stacey as he crumpled to the ground and hugged his guitar case like a security blanket. As her eyes started to drift downwards to him she caught something suddenly appear behind the group. The world shifted as her eyes began to track all of the motions around her and she pulled a Keno card out of her sleeve, but she stopped when she realized it was another person. A new person. As in, not another one of the survivors from Farmer Hill. Penny relaxed slightly, but she kept the card in hand.

“You must be Captain Penny, yeah? Somethin’ tells me you ain’t a real captain...”

“It’s because I don’t have the jacket with those tassely shoulder pads, isn’t it?” Penny smiled at Isla. The Scotswoman had managed to find herself a beer as if they were actually on some kind of pleasure cruise. Would she be drinking if she knew how dangerous things actually were? “No, it ain’t heaven, that’s for damn sure, but uh...”

Penny trailed off as Odessa walked over to the new girl and booped her on the nose.

“Odessa, see this is why I don’t allow you to speak for yourself,” said Penny with a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes. “Don’t mind her.” She threw Isla a smirk and lifted her hand, holding her finger and her thumb about maybe an inch apart. “She’s like just more than a fern or something.”

It was then that Penny noticed that while the others had already gone and left, Stacey had stayed behind. Her eyes momentarily narrowed in irritation before Penny reminded herself that just because she was used to experiencing the Extra Normal didn’t mean that everyone would consider the strange to be mundane. She still planned on sticking around the bridge for a few more minutes, and between Odessa and Isla one of them had to have enough self-preservation to shout if an Apparition appeared. She excused herself from the girls and slowly made her way over to Stacey. She sat cross legged on the floor a few feet away from the distressed looking dude. Penny never considered herself the calming type, but she’d try and figure it out.

“Hey dude, I’ve been meaning to ask this for sometime,” she said, her voice as soft as she could attempt to make it. She waited for Stacey to look up and then nodded towards his guitar. “You any good with that thing? I tried learning to play back in junior high. Figured I could learn a few notes and start a group, but I couldn’t get down the three chords I needed to even start a punk band.” She smiled. “Now the recorder? That’s a different story.”

“Anyway, tell me about your guitar. It’s a...Led Paulson, right?” asked Penny, accidentally revealing her complete lack of guitar knowledge.

R E D U X .// 2047 //.

Before Maysah’s question could be answered a man quite literally appeared right in front of her. It took every ounce of her will to stop herself from reflexively draining every single neon sign and fluorescent light in the building as she straightened up in preparation to flip the table. Only Peterson relaxing his posture prevented Maysah from causing a scene. Instead, her jumping in her seat had caused only the slightest drop of the drink that had manifested itself in front of her to spill. Maysah eyed the drink that was for the lady with a hint of worry on her brow.

“What?” said Maysah flatly. She looked up at the man that Peterson introduced as Void. Maysah first noticed that he was a handsome man in a nice suit with an agreeable English accent, but the attraction stopped right there. His smile wasn’t bad but his eyes suggested otherwise. Maysah felt her skin crawl. She knew an eyefuck when she saw one. She had dealt with men like this while going to school, while working in the lab, and while fighting crime in spandex. Now she had to deal with one while glamoured up to look like a different woman. She would rather go thirsty the rest of her life than be given a drink because she was the lady. Would he have given her a drink if the glamour had made her ugly? It was doubtful.

She exhaled slowly through her nose as Void began blabbering about his compensation and folded her arms over her chest. Once, she had agreed to take part in a superhero photo shoot for charity. The photographer suggested that she pose topless because her “power was so hot that it melted her shirt” and then called her a heartless bitch when she refused to do it. Once, a man had grabbed her ass while she was at a cocktail party. She slapped him, but she had also been in costume. The man claimed to be assaulted by Stardust, and only when Projector spoke up that he had witnessed the whole thing did the suit get dropped.

There had been plenty of other onces. She was used to the shit. Didn’t make it suck any less. Her hands squeezed against her knees as she sat there and took it again. Maysah had been spoiled with the company of the Tower and Arbiter, who while not without their faults had at least been respectful. Men like Void were one of the many reasons why she never really worked with teams. She closed her eyes and inhaled sharply as Void finished crunching numbers and proceeded to try and….what, exactly? Charm her? Embarrass her? Belittle her in front of her peers to make him look like a strong member of the team? It was always just implications with men like this. Implications, regardless of how obvious they were and this one was an obvious one, gave them a cowardly way out if they got called out for their behavior.

Still, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t call.

“Oh, you’re done talking?” said Maysah. Her eyes were closed and her voice was calm. She exhaled deeply. “Good, because I want you to listen. You don’t know me, but I know you. I know people like you, and I will unfortunately continue to know people like you for a few more years to come. Since we’re going to be stuck working together for the time being, I suggest whatever it is you’re trying here ends now. In fact, I suggest you show off that nifty ability of yours where you remove yourself from my mind so I forget all about you.”

“Because if I open my eyes and still see your fucking face,” she continued with ice in her throat, “you will know who I am. And you’ll know that I don’t need a thing like you to finish this job.”

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

---

Penny shrugged at Odessa insisting she speak for herself and got up from the captain’s chair. If Elron had found some tunes then so could she. She picked through the stack of cds that she was certain hadn’t been there when she had entered the room and found the vile record that would satisfy her dark desires. The awful, solid piss yellow background with the name of the devil himself written in blood red. She turned and walked to the stereo, which thankfully allowed her to miss witnessing Odessa’s freaky demonstration of what was really underneath those robes. She was about to reach for the stereo when Zoey came in and iced the tool of destruction. A mercy killing.

"Now we're safe," Zoey proudly said, "Penny can't make us listen to elevator music."

“If it had been anyone else…” Penny shook her head and tucked the cd into her bag to protect the others from it as Hagan walked through the hole. It was turning into a reunion cruise. The summer camp survivors now had the others outnumbered to the point where it could no longer be a coincidence.

“The fuck are you all doing here?" asked Hagan.

“Mostly trying to figure that out, actually,” said Penny, adjusting her hat. “Welcome aboard. Is this your first time wak—”

Odessa interrupted Penny, rightfully suggesting that now wasn’t the time to be catching up. Caelea agreed with the not-a-fern’s idea that they should get off of the boat and head back to the city, and considering how they had already encountered an Apparition that had collapsed a building by bulldozing through it maybe getting off of the cruise ship was the best idea. Penny had gotten this far in her life without seeing Titanic, and she certainly didn’t want to live it.

Still, there was a slight apprehension in leaving immediately since Lilith and Mao were still missing. Perhaps Paradise had a limit and Hagan and Caelea had taken their places, but Penny doubted it worked like that. What if they were still out in a cabin somewhere? She couldn’t just abandon ship without them, but she didn’t feel right making everyone stay behind if there was danger. She looked at the group. Zoey, Hagan, and Caelea could handle themselves and protect the others. As much as she always hated the idea, they could split up.

“I’m sure we can figure out how to launch a lifeboat, but I don’t feel right leaving without the others,” said Penny as she picked up the mic. Her voice echoed throughout the ship. “Thiiiiis is your captain speaking. Double time it to the bridge. We’re gearing up to go.”

Penny killed the transmission and sighed. Her gaze shifted between Caelea and Zoey as she started giving out orders. Hagan hadn’t been around when she had stepped up, but it felt natural directing the other two. “I’m not asking any of you to stay here. Just the opposite, actually. Take everyone and get those boats ready. If nobody else shows in a few minutes I’ll make another announcement and head over to you. If something weird shows up, fire the gun. I'll be there.”

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

---

As Taylor broke out in hysterics, Vashti shielded the other side of her face so that she now saw the world framed by a handmade scuba mask as she dove down deeper into the ocean of embarrassment. However, a switch was flipped as Taylor continued to howl and knocked her mostly empty drink over and soon Vashti found herself giggling alongside the girl. So she had made herself look like a dickhead, so what? Vashti grabbed a handful of napkins and began cleaning up Taylor’s mess. She doubted she was the first girl who completely spilled spaghetti in front of Herik. She dropped the soiled napkins into the empty cup as Taylor questioned her about Kimberly.

“Oh are you a fan too? Yeah, she’s…” Vashti stopped as the mention of Kimberly and Agatha drew the attention of another girl to their table. Her name was Lyss, and she’d given Vashti the time needed to try and figure out how to go about phrasing her relationship with Kimberly. Vashti imagined saying that Kimberly fought her in a swamp would lead to some begging questions that she didn’t feel comfortable answering in front of strangers. Especially after the Leviathan made more than just a blip on the radar of the authorities. Lyss smiled at them and Vashti smiled back, paling ever so slightly as Lyss said, "Would you mind filling me in on your messages with Agatha and Kimberly as we wait?"

Taylor spoke up first and Vashti let her have the floor. Her gut told her that something felt off, and it wasn’t just the diabetes-inducing blizzard she’d just inhaled. A bell chimed as the door opened and a hard looking girl let her dog inside. It was an open rebellion of the laws decried by Her Royal Majesty, the Dairy Queen, but none of the employees said anything about the pet violation. Perhaps they were true revolutionaries looking to overthrow their queen’s icy rule. More likely the $8.50 an hour wasn’t enough to make the teen behind the counter confront someone, especially if that person was wearing combat boots. Vashti pulled her feet up as the dog padded over to their table. She liked dogs, but they didn’t like her. Rather, they didn’t like what was inside of her, and that feeling was mutual.

"We've elected to switch to more... capable management." Clearly the dog owner meant herself. “I don't particularly care how you found us. Sell yourself to me. Who are you, what can you do, and why do you want in? Thirty words or less, please.”

Vashti’s eyes narrowed. Lyss, from where she was standing, might notice that Vashti’s pupils had also narrowed vertically. Sell themselves? Her gut feeling was growing stronger and stronger. From what she had read online, the Coven was an all-inclusive social club slash support group for weirdos and witches. The implication that she got was that they would be there to help her. It never mentioned anywhere that she’d have to do a little elevator pitch to get in. What could she say? If you don’t let me in I might rampage through all of Florida? Who wanted to hear that? Plus, why didn’t all of the members just arrive together? Were they trying to be intimidating? If so, well done.

Wait…

“You’re fucking with us, right?” said Vashti with a nervous laugh. All of this had to be a put on. She glanced over at Lyss and gestured towards her leader. “She’s joking right? Sell yourself? Is this a bit? This is a bit.”

Her face told Vashti that it clearly wasn’t a bit.

“Okay…” Vashti shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She had been expecting a handshake and a complimentary broomstick, not what felt like an interrogation. “None of that counts as my thirty words, okay? I’m Vashti. Nice to meet you?" Four words wasted. Shit. "Uh, I can tell fortunes and hold my breath good?” I also turn into a monster sometimes and create hurricanes, she thought but decided against including it. She didn't want to use up her word count.

Her nervousness turned towards a frustrated annoyance. “I’m sorry, I don’t really get what it is you want to hear? I got cursed by some asshole and he did this.” She quickly jerked down a sleeve so that the table could see her scaly arm and covered it even faster. “Kimberly said the Coven would help me, and Agatha agreed to meet. I need to get this thing under control. It doesn’t have to be out of the kindness of your hearts. I'm not expecting that and I can pay you all back somehow, but can you?" She countered their leader's burning stare with watery eyes. "Can you even help me?”

More than thirty words. Vashti knew she was blowing it. She sounded desperate. She was desperate. She glanced towards the other two candidates, and silently hoped that one of them would bomb even harder.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

---

"So, what have we been eating all along then, sugar?" asked girl who had already been imbibing in Dairy Queen's lies.

"Yeah, pretty much!" said Vashti over top of the other girls soylent reference, not realizing that she was the sugar in the question. She elaborated as she followed the other girl up to the counter. "There's not enough milk fat for it to be considered ice cream according to the FDA. But who cares what they say?"

According to what she read, the FDA was also suppressing the cure for cancer so they couldn't be trusted. She decided to keep that part to herself as she stood alongside her fellow jacketeer, stepping up to pay for the girl when it was time. "It's actually my first time," she said in response to the other girl reminiscing about the good old days of DQ trips. Vashti hungrily eyed the girl’s blizzard despite having one of her own. "My parents never really took us to chain restaurants."

Names were properly traded as they returned to the table. Vashti happily dug into her blizzard again, seemingly forgetting the pain of the previous bite. She shot a hand up to her temple but it quickly came down and lightly hit Taylor on the shoulder.

“Hottie alert," she said with a wink, nodding her head over to the door at the heartthrob viking in red board shorts. Vashti’s eyes widened as she realized he was making his way over to their table, and they widened even more when she realized how obvious her staring had been. She shielded her face in embarrassment. Of course the nine feet tall, zero percent body fat, beautiful bronze Florida God wouldn’t tarnish the holy temple that was his six pack abs with the empty calories of a neon colored fake ice cream snack. She wiped her lips and stealthily nudged her blizzard away from herself.

"Hello, new friends.” She swooned. “My name's Herik Cletis.” The name of a swamp angel. “Are you the new members of the Coven?” If it got them closer, a thousand times yes.

Time froze. There was a quiet voice in the back of Vashti’s head reminding her that the Coven was almost exclusively women. The last time she had agreed to meet with someone from the Internet expecting a woman and got a man had ended with her being cursed and him being devoured. Perhaps, the quiet, logical part of her brain told her, she should exercise some caution here, and fully think before joining up with the Coven. What if it was some kind of strange cult, for example? Cults always used attractive people to lure new members in. What if he wasn’t with the Coven, but with the feds? She was certain it was the fuzz that had been leaving the casino when the Leviathan striked. What if she stopped listening to her stupid brain and followed her gut which said he was hot and she should trust him?

And she did.

“Guilty! I’m Vashti Nour. Nice to meet you. Come, come, you should have a seat,” said Vashti, gesturing to a chair and begrudging the fact that the open one was next to Ashley. “I take it you’re with them, then?” Awesome. “Are you the leader?” She paused and cocked her head. “Wait, Kimberly said Agatha was the...sorry, I’m rambling. I’m really excited. You’re really big.” Her hand hit her forehead with a ringing slap at what should’ve been inner monologue. “And I’m really embarrassed so I’m really gonna stop...talking...now…”

Vashti blocked her face with her hand so that Herik couldn’t see the mortified look she had shot the other two girls. She was sinking deep. Someone needed to step in and pull her out of the quicksand. She couldn’t decide between mouthing “help” or “kill me”, so she went with both.

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

Did It work?

Ghost Note

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

---

“Oh I know…” Penny quietly sang an off-key ditty to herself as she prepped up a few glyphs on the back of Keno cards. “I should be leaving this climate.” Plenty of metal on the boat; earth glyphs were it. “I got a verse...” she admired the three cards and stuck them into a pocket. “But can’t rhyme it.” She spun around in the captain’s chair again, rolling a quarter between her knuckles. “I gotta go where it’s—shit!”

Penny grabbed her chest as Odessa slinked through the doorway without even so much as a courtesy knock. She’d thrown the quarter when she had seen the figure walk through the door but had stopped herself from repulsing it. The quarter bounced off the floor and rolled harmlessly under a desk as Penny let out a big huff of air. Odessa was a weird one, but not weird enough that she justified having a hole punched through her by George Washington. Although, judging by the way she took that hit from the Apparition earlier, that probably would’ve only tickled the robed woman.

“Odessa,” said Penny with a nod now that she was no longer at risk of a heart attack. “Good to see that you somehow managed to get even a little stranger. Did you rob a Hare Krishna for that getup?” Penny was one to talk with her captain’s hat. “Actually, I’m glad you’re here, I—”

Penny was going to say that she had wanted to talk to Odessa in private, but then the pale ghost from Farmer Hill past walked in. Penny’s felt her mouth hang open. “Oh my god, Caelea? I’d say what are the odds, but I’m starting to feel like they’re being stacked. Welcome to Paradise, glad to have you.” Penny stood from the chair and followed her friend’s eyes to Odessa. “That’s Odessa. She’s a fern or something like—shit!”

A gun entered the hole, followed by an arm, followed by an Elron. Penny let out a groan that was somewhere between the territory of relief and annoyance as she relaxed her stance. “Dude, who’d give you a gun?” said Penny as Elron jacked the radio again and started shimmying to the groove. Penny didn’t feel the vibe and crossed her arms. She was on island time now. Steel drums were a requirement to get her moving.

Stacey found his way to the bridge. Good. Seemed like her announcement had worked wonders. Only a few of them were still missing, but from the scent of cigarettes in the air she could tell that Zoey likely wasn’t far behind the scared dude. Actually, he looked sick more than scared. Penny couldn’t blame him. She gave him a sympathetic smile as Elron warned the crew that they weren’t alone.

"So what's on the ship?" asked Stacey.

“Nothing that we can’t handle,” said Penny, patting him on the shoulder before walking back to her captain’s chair and dropping in. “We’re going to give the others a few more minutes to get here and then we’ll come up with a plan. In the meantime, Footloose,” she motioned to Elron. “How do you know we’re not alone?”