Necropolis

She was even more shaken. Damn, it was loaded, she thought. She slowly passed the money over to him.

"W-well now that you're the one with the gun...Are you going to kill me or something?" she asked, nervously.

It's not like they're telling me why he has blood on his hands.... She started to back up a little, but was still nervous with the gun pointed at her. Even though she had given back the money, she couldn't move. Abby wanted to know why there was blood on his hands, considering herself in danger at this point. She had no idea what to do.

"You know, with that blood on your hands it looks like you killed somebody and...and I could get your license plate number and call the cops just like I said I would!" she shouted, trying to seem tough though she knew she was failing miserably.

She probably looked like a soggy leaf in a hurricane.

Wow. Just read through your story and it's really interesting, hope you don't mind if I join...

Name= Katalyn.
Nickname= Kat.
Age= 19.
Hair= Long, chestnut brown and wavy.
Eyes= Dark green, very intense.
Figure= Perfect. Perfect curves, perfect height and perfect weight.
Complexion= Slightly tanned.
Nationality= Three quarters english, one quarter Italian.
History= Kat grew up in a picturesque village in England with her twin brother Leo but now she seeks a more exciting life as a singer in America, namely in a little city called Ashville. Kat has been here all of two weeks and is already missing her brother and has yet to have time to interact properly with anyone. Kat is good at what she does and as a consequence, her manager keeps her working dawn till dusk, singing her heart out in the clubs with various different bands or sometimes on her own. Kat has learned to be tough, she has learned to be strong and she has learned that the only way to get through life in America is with a cup of coffee in hand and a gun in your back pocket. Sadly, she has yet to learn how to use the gun and wont be removing the safety catch any time soon but for now she has her little dagger. The things you can buy in a weapons store...

Joanna, against her better reasoning, climbed out of the Bronco. "Honey, listen to me," she said slowly.

The other girl, Abby, looked around nervously as if she were trying to decide between fight or flight. Jo didn't want either of those, so she kept her voice calm and even. "You're obviously in a desperate situation. Come with us. I'm sure we can find a place for you..." she trailed off and looked back at Kev. He shot her a dark look, then half-shrugged and looked away.

Abby took a step back, then stumbled on her broken heel. She fell backwards, landing hard on the concrete.

"Shit, are you all right?" Jo said, coming closer to her and bending down. Abby said nothing but just looked up, panicked. "Come with us. We'll take care of you. I promise."

Slowly, Abby nodded. She looked up at the Bronco. "But... But first, you have to explain why he has blood on his hands."

Jo turned to focus on Kevin, noticing the blood for the first time. She looked askance at him, then slowly turned her head back to speak to Abby. By the time she faced the girl, her suspicious glance turned into a reassuring one. "He just came from the club. Some asshole thought Kev was looking at him the wrong way, so he pushed him. Kevin was just acting in self defense. Ended up breaking the guy's nose, but he'll be all right." She shrugged. "You know how much noses can bleed..." She stood up and held out her hand to Abby. "Come on, hon. Let's get you somewhere where you can get cleaned up, okay?"

Abby looked at her for a moment, then nodded, slowly. She accepted Jo's help and stood up, wavering slightly, still not entirely trusting the Bronco and its occupants.

Jo walked over to Kev's window, leaning on it with one elbow. "What do you say, kid?" she asked in a low, slightly edgy voice. "You gonna accept my explanation and help her out?"

Without waiting for a response, she turned back to Abby, smiled, and opened the door for her.

“Boo yeah, you girls can’t catch me now!”

Raya applied her weight into her feet. She began to slide the blades of her skates to the side, tearing the icy surface of the arena. She gained momentum, going faster and faster and the chilly air of the arena brushing past her face. A loud hissing sound was made as she swerved around the corner, sending chunks of ice smashing into the barrier of the arena.

She looked back and saw that they haven’t made the bend yet.
“Oh yeah, try and beat that!” she yelled to them, over the top of “Gwen Stefani- Wind it Up” being played loudly throughout the arena through two speakers. They were suspended on the roof, among the iron beams. Accompanying the pop rock music were the voices of the other skaters.

Various colours of light danced among the crowd, generated by a disco ball.

As the song reached its final chorus, the “wind it ups” slowly faded away and the voice of the DJ boomed on the speakers.

“This is DJ Zane from Ashville Paradise.” Raya could hear a clique of flirty freshman girls screaming out “Oh my God, DJ Zane” and “Oh, he’s so hot.” “It is the end of the day folks.” A series of moans and boos followed but DJ Zane continued,” but before we finish, lets have a race people!!” The arena erupted into cheers.

“The same rules as last time folks, I want groups of ten guys and gals,” the way he said "girls" sounded like if he was a surfer or even a gangster,”….and first to do three laps around the arena wins one of our prizes for the day.”

The disco lights on the floor immediately disappeared and the arena was illuminated by light, signalling the end of the session. The skaters headed for the exits of the arena, squeezing through one another. Some kids were carried in the arms or sitting on the backs of their parents to ensure they won’t get lost. Raya skated for the nearby exit, her ankles aching from shifting her feet too much. The arena was soon cleared but it was still not silenced. Many were busily taking their skates off and returning them to the renting counter while chatting about the ice skating session and about their life. However, some were talking about who is going to ice skate in DJ Zane’s challenge.

Raya headed up the stands, littered in chip packets, spilled drinks, chips and drenched in melted ice. The concrete walls at the sides of the stand were covered in mould, the metal railing rusting from the humidity. Her bag was bunched up with the bags of her friends. She opened her bag and reached for her jumpier. Unfolding it out, she held it by its sleeves and pulled her head through and pulled it down so that it covered her chest. She slid her arms through the sleeves; her arms tingled as the wool brushed with her skin.

“Raya, about time.” Alice shouted from below, holding a bottle of fanta.

“How did you guys get out so quickly,” Raya asked, looking at Alice’s sneakers.

Alice took a sip from her fanta. “You were too slow girl, even though you skate fast.” Raya looked at the arena again and saw that there were some skaters standing on the blue line already. DJ Zane zoomed through the arena, placing small cones around the perimeter.

“So are you going to come with us?”

“We just need one more girl for the race now! Come on girls, don’t be shy,” DJ spoke through the microphone while skating to the audience. The speakers suddenly boomed with the drumming of base drums, followed by an electric guitar being struck twice, and the beat repeated.

“Final Fantasy X, Otherworld?”

Raya looked down at the blades of her skates and tapped it on the stand’s torn padding. Adrenaline rushed through her as the strong dynamics of the song kicked in.

“The tall blonde guy looks like Cloud.” Maybe she should join this race. It would be like playing Final Fantasy but in real life.

“Alice, I guess you guys have to wait for me,” said Raya as she hopped off the stands, “and if I win, you owe me a strawberry milkshake,” she added cheekily and skated to where the others were waiting, especially the guy who looked like one of her favourite characters from Final Fantasy.

“Good luck! I’ll be waiting then!” Alice shouted.

“Alright we are ready then!” DJ began to raise the gun in his hand, and the starting lyrics of Otherworld echoed in Raya's mind:

“GO! Now! If you want it! An otherworld awaits you!” and she stared into the glass ceiling, the night sky blanketed by the clouds.

Katalyn
"I already told you Louis, I'm not wearing that," I sighed as my manager edged into the room I'd got in a small hotel.
"Aw come on kitten," Louis protested, "At least try it on." Louis was the first manager I'd ever had and he'd so far single handedly run my career but that didn't make up for the fact that he was controlling, pushy and taking more than seventy percent of my earnings.

I sighed heavily, put down my mascara and turned away from the mirror. Louis flashed a grin and held up the article in protest. It was deep red, a colour I couldn't stand and looked way too fragmented to cover more than half my body. I turned away again in disgust.

"Okay. Fine. Don't wear it but you have to match their outfits. Have you learnt them lyrics yet?" Louis demanded.
"Yeah but I need to try them out with the band. What did you say they're called again..."
"The Eagles and they're going to need you for several nights until they can find a replacement for the singer they lost. In fact, if they like you, you might have found yourself a permanent position."
"Oh great. Sining in a small time club called the Fury. Just what I always wanted to do," I replied sarcastically.
"Look. With your voice they might just make it big so don't turn it down so soon and besides, they're paying us good money. Now I'll arrange a practise run for you in the morning and then you're playing tomorrow night but you can have the afternoon and tonight off. Hows that sound?" I followed Loui's gaze to the clock on the wall. Almost one am.
"If it means you're going to leave my room right now then that sounds just fine."

"What am I, a fuckin' cabby?" I muttered under my breath. I let the two chicks get settled in the back seat, then examined the pistol for a minute.

It was a standard semi-automatic pistol, nothing fancy. Smith and Wesson model 5906. I ejected the magazine and looked down the ammo indicator on the side of the clip. Nine rounds left. So she'd either fired one and not had it chambered in the first place, or fired two. It was chambered for a standard 9mm Luger cartridge, which would make it easy to buy for, at the store.

"We going somewhere, or are you just going to gawk at my gun?" the newcomer asked, rather bitterly, I thought.

"Darlin', I'll stare at your guns anyday," I said over my shoulder. With that, I gunned the engine and took off.

"You can stay at my place. I warn you though, if you touch ANY of my stuff, I'm callin' the cops straight up."

She muttered a reply, which may have been an insult or a thank you, and frankly I didn't care which.

[I have absolutely no idea where I'm supposed to be, so forgive me if I'm messing up the storyline, lol.]

Anne let herself in to the deserted apartment and flicked on the lights with a sigh. It was late - getting on for one in the morning, she guessed, and she was suddenly very tired. She threw her keys on the countertop trying to choose between a bath or a sandwich before bed. Her stomach growled.

"Okay, okay," she muttered. Note to self: ice cream is not exactly filling. She groped her way to the kitchen in the dark, having forgotten where the light switch was, and opened the fridge. "One peanut-butter-and-jam sandwich coming up."

Stephen had always teased her about calling it jam, as opposed to jelly. Anne refused to accept the colloquialism, believing that the idea of jelly on a sandwich was disgusting, while Stephen had asked the inevitable questions about what was jammed, exactly. Anne smiled to herself.

"Jam, not jelly, eh puss?" she told the cat, who was winding himself around her ankles in greeting. He always appeared, like magic, when the fridge door opened, hoping for food. He mewed in response. "Shuddup cat."

Anne prepared her sandwich, having located the kitchen light at last. Daffy jumped up onto the table and stared at her, his tail twitching slightly.

"Okay, I get the hint!" Anne laughed. She opened the fridge, intending to pour a small bowl of milk for the cat - but there was none. "Shit."

She stared at the empty shelf for a minute. She'd intended to pick up some milk after the lecture, but had completely forgotten. Damn. She glanced at Daffy, who was looking at her accusingly. It was late...but she'd need some milk for her coffee in the morning anyway. Coffee was one American custom Anne had definitely taken to.

She sighed, and picked up her keys again.

"I'll be back in a minute," she told Daffy. "And then you'll get your milk, I promise."

Jamie opened his eyes, looked at his clock, and groaned. It was past one in the morning, and he was still asleep. Pangs of hunger spread through his stomach and he sat up, wiping his eyes.

He reached for the light switch and blinked several times, blinded by the light. His parents watched him from a picture on his bed side table. He sighed, and left the room.

While he walked to the fridge, he noticed that his roommate's door was open, and he himself was conspicously absent. That was unusual for him; he was usually back long before midnight.

Jamie opened the fridge, and couldn't help but snort - the only item in there was two day old Chinese food. Picking up the apartment's keys, he headed out the door, towards the nearby dairy.

It was dark, deathly so, for all but the dim glare of the lamp posts lining the streets. But not quiet. Occasionally Jamie heard a person screaming. Must be a good night for the pubs, he thought.

He turned a corner and quickly came within sight of the dairy. But as he did, he also caught a horrible sight.

His roommate, staggering down the road towards him. His face and shredded clothes were coated in blood, and a long gauge had forced one eye shut. "Kay?" Jamie called, in a quivering voice.

Kay's only response was to lurch faster towards Jamie, grunting as he did. There was only a few metres between Jamie and the shop. But there was probably even less between the shop and... what used to be Kay. He weighed up the chances, and decided, before sprinting for the shop.

The creature howled as Jamie pushed the door open, and grabbed at him. He felt it grab his arm and scream, alarming the occupants of the store. He tugged against the hold, and yelled "Somebody help!"

A girl ran to him, and he recognised her as Anne, the girl from IHOP. She grabbed his arm and yanked. He came tumbling inwards and fell, sprawling on top of her. Behind them, the door slammed shut.

He stood, and offered her hand. "Sorry," he said.

"It's alright," she said, dusting herself off. "What is that thing?" she said, peering out at it.

"Well... it used to be my roommate. Back when he was normal," he said when Anne eyed him suspiciously. "Now, I think he might be osmethign like a... zombie."

Anne looked up at him. "Indeed?"

Jamie gaped at her. "Indeed? Indeed? There's a zombie out there and all you can say is indeed?"

She shrugged. "He's out there, we're in here. What's the problem?"

As if to answer her question, Kay stumbled to the window and smashed his head into it. The glass cracked, and kay drew his head back again. This time shards of glass flew inwards.

"That's the problem! Now how the Hell do we get out of here?"

The two of them looked towards the shopkeeper, who was cowering behind his desk. He stood, and put a hand over his mouth. The man looked as if he was about to vomit. And behind them, Kay made the hole in the glass bigger and bigger...

Yeah, you can write us out of this one Bubbles.

Anne stared in bewilderment at the - the thing that seemed bent on pulverizing the shop window. It seemed mindless, but angry, and it definitely wanted to get inside the shop really badly. Crap.

Her heart pounding, she turned to the shopkeeper, who by now looked like he was about to faint.

"Is there a back door?" She demanded. The man stared at her, uncomprehending. Anne shot a nervy look over her shoulder and repeated her question, this time more slowly and with deliberate emphasis. "Is there a back door?"

Finally the shopkeeper nodded.

"Thank god." She turned to Jamie. "Come on."

Jamie was only too happy to follow. With the terrified shopkeeper leading the way, the trio made their way behind the counter and out to the back of the shop. Behind them, there was an almighty crash and the zombie - well, the whatever-it-was: Anne did not believe in zombies - gave a roar of what sounded like triumph.

"Hurry up," Jamie told the shopkeeper tensely. "I think it's inside."

"I'm going as fast as I can," the man snapped. He stopped suddenly - they had come to the back door. "Oh no."

"What?" Anne demanded. She suddenly found that her hands were shaking. She could hear the - Kay, storming around the shop. Did it know where they'd gone? Was it going to come after them?

"I dont have the key!" The shopkeeper whispered in horror.

"WHAT?!" Anne yelled again.

"I dont have the key!" The man wailed. "I must have dropped it!"

"We're going to die!" Jamie squeaked. He looked very pale.

"Oh shut up. I'm getting married in a few months. I'm not going to die." Anne took a deep breath. "Did you check both your pockets?

"Oh..right..." the shopkeeper fumbled for a second, then drew out a small keyring. "Got it!"

Anne heard Jamie give a sigh of relief. She took the keys from the man, suppressing an impatient roll of her eyes. Yeah, there was some kind of mutant after them, and yeah, she was pretty frightened, but come on. The guy was an idiot.

"Which one?" She asked.

"That - that little one there."

Anne opened the door.

"Come on," she said, hustling the others outside. She made sure to lock the door behind her, although she doubted that the flimsy wood would hold creature for long. "Let's get out of here."

[Over to you, Mat ]

We probably sound like newsreaders, you realise?

Jamie and Anne turned and walked away, but had only gone a few steps before Jamie stopped. "Are you coming?" he called to the man behind them.

He looked doubtful. "I dunno if I can leave the shop. The boss won't be back until seven."

Jamie turned bac to Anne and they shared an exasperated glance. "Idiot," she muttered under her breath. Then she turned to him. "Hey, umm, what was your name?"

"Gavin." The thumping from the other side of the door grew louder.

"Well, Gavin, I think you should come with us. It couldn't be that safe in there right now, but I'm sure you could come back later. Your boss will understand."

The man smiled at her. "Promise?"

Anne flashed a smile back at him, although Jamie could see right through it. "Promise."

"Okay," the man said, and began to step forward. Two arms suddenly broke through the wood and grasped the man from both sides. He drew in his breath to scream, but didn't have time. A head broke through and sunk its teeth into Gavin's throat.

Gavin leaped forwards, leaving half of his throat in the zombie's mouth. Jamie began to scream, but clapped a hand over his own mouth. Gavin fell to his knees, mouth wide in a silent scream, and finally pitched forward.

Kay made a noise that made both Jamie and Anne jump, and which they recognised as a laugh, disguised by the mouthful of meat in his mouth. Jamie turned to Anne. "My apartment's only a block away. Should be safe."

Anne nodded and the two of them began to run down the road, only now beginning to pay attention to the yelling in the street, not so isolated now.

Katalyn

After Louis left, Kat finished applying her make up and turned to the mirror. Perfect. Well near enough anyway. Kat gathered the items she had used and laid them on top of her dressing table, placing the others back inside the drawers and then proceeded to wash the make up from her face. With that done, Katalyn slipped out of her clothes and into a pale green nightie. Switching out the light, she climbed into bed and closed her eyes.

It was about two hours later, at three thirty, that Kat heard the crash downstairs.
"What was that?" Kat moaned. She pulled on her slippers, brushed her hair away from her face and left her room, locking the door behind her. Other guests at the hotel peered out from their rooms and a few brave souls ventured into the hall.
What's going on?" A young woman wondered as she exited a room along with a slightly older man.
"Let's go see," He decided in an accent that sounded very out of place.

I nodded and followed the two downstairs along with a few other stragglers who had nothing better to do at such an unearthly hour.
"What the hell is that?" A woman screamed, staring at a strange figure. What appeared to be a middle aged woman was silouheted by the moon against a smashed window.

"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Someone breaks in and you ask if they're okay?" A man behind me muttered.
"Well that's a lot of glass to go through," I replied defensively before realising that half our group were holding guns. I hadn't even thought about bringing mine and guiltily I shrugged off the brief question of wether I should go fetch it. I wasn't comfortable with people on my side holding guns, never mind holding one myself right now.

Anne stumbled as she ran, letting Jamie take the lead for once. She was trying to control the remnants of her ice cream sundae, which suddenly seemed to be trying to fight their way out of her mouth.

That thing. Had ripped. His throat out. The thoughts ran through her head in time to her pounding feet. Ripped. His. Throat. Out. With it's teeth! What the hell kind of person - thing - did that?

"Come on," Jamie called over his shoulder, turning down a side street. Anne followed doggedly, her breath coming in short gasps. She gritted her teeth. She hated running with a vengeance, but she'd rather run a marathon than stay anywhere near that...the only word for it was monster.

"How far is it now?"

"Not far. Just across this street."

"Great."

Without bothering to check for traffic, the pair started across the road at a dead run. They didnt even see the speeding Bronco until it was almost too late.

"Shit!" Anne flung herself sideways, barely missing being hit. Her knee struck the ground with a jarring thud, and she winced involuntarily as pain shot down her leg. She didnt see what happened to Jamie, but the Bronco skidded to a halt a few yards away.

"What the fuck do you think you're playing at?" The driver demanded furiously. He sounded strangely familiar.

[Sucky post, I know, but it's past 1am and I'm tired, and we had to meet up with you guys again sometime lol]

Dave told Derrick to go ahead, not caring taunts he'd get after. Keri came over, he walked over to her, "Why can't you leave me alone, we both chose that this couldn't work..."

Keri smiled confused, "What are you talkin about? Is that why you didn't want me along?"

Dave groaned, "Please I'm being serious, my feelings for you have gone, innoccent act won't work!"

She folded her arms and rolled her eyes, "I'm not trying to get them back, why should I? Your actin like I'm tryin to trap you or something."

Dave clenched his fist sighing obviously annoyed, "If you've no feeling then why did you even blackmail me to come?"

Keri rolled her eyes once more, "I just wanted somethin to do, sorry if you feel so bad about it, but your stuck. Plus if you didn't care why would you be makin such a big deal about it?"

Dave smiled weakly, "Because, you were always tricky, it's one reason I allowed you to get close to me..."

She frowned confused, "But what does that have to do with me here. uOu keep actin like I'm tryin to get you back."

Dave sighed and stared at the sky through the glass asking, "One thing confuses me, why haven't you forgotten me yet and moved on, after all I fucking nerd who'd never amount to much, those were your words?"

Keri turned away sighing, "I've moved on, just to forget a friend is hard, at least that is what we started out as. You can't stop that. Geez, if you feel so strongly about it then why didn't you just leave me there? You know I wouldn't get you thrown in jail."

Dave put her hand on her shoulder she shivered slightly then relaxed, "I want too leave you I really do, but something stopping me, I'm sorry for reminding you of the past, but it really hurt when you called me that..."

She sighed apologetically, "Called you what, a nerd, i was pissed off and having a terrible day. I didn't mean it."

Dave turned away and Keri could hear him sniffling, "I keep trying to hate you, but my heart still speeds up when you're near..."

Keri smiled warmly, "I got the same problem. But, i think we need to go catch up with Derrik before he makes our lives miserable."

Dave nodded wiping his eyes quickly and ran after Derrick, leaving Keri smiling whispering, "You were always actin so strong and big, but when it came to us, you were so shy, thanks for the second chance"

Keri turned tail and tried to catch up with them smiling.

"SOO, what were you two talkin about?" Derrik asked.

"Does that really matter to you?" Dave demanded heading to the van.

"Oh, come on, Dave, i know you were talkin about something." Derrik said running towards Dave. Keri grabbed his shoulder and frowned.,

"Keep your noise in your own business or you wont have one." She snapped. Derrik's face twisted in horror.

"Dave wont let you cut my noise off, unless..." Derrik walked off grinning. Keri rolled her eyes and followed.

"Great" She moaned to herself.

Dave eyed Derrick dangerously, he took the hint and didn't say anything more, she looked at him, "You're really going to make things more obvious..."

Dave nodded then replied, "Yeh, though he's not talking about it?"
She giggled slightly blushing, "When that happens i'll be rich. He'll bug us, just not as much."

Dave opened the door for her replying, "You forget, I can get us rich like this fast!" Dave snapped his fingers then continued. "Though we would of course have to move away..." She giggled and blushed a bright pink, "Oh, i forgot, you could get all the money in the world if you wanted to."

Derrick made a disgusted noise, "You's two just bloody kiss and quit being so bleedin gross!"

"Shut up," Keri said trying to hide her face.
Dave looked down and Derrick laughed, "I knew there was something with you two!"

"I said shut up, I'll kill you if you don't." Keri replied putting her mean girl act back on.

Dave searched his pockets, "I guess Keri I'm not dropping me and Derrick on to ya, it'd unfair ya know? So I'll check my credit card!"

"I got plenty of room at my place. And my couch is really comfortable. So is the chair i got from my room mate."

Dave turned back, "Don't rush me, I for one know how comfy it really is, but lets just go slow..."

He turned away and accessed the ATM.

She mumbled, "Suit yourself"

Derrick sighed frustrated, "If you've any money lets just go to a hotel, there's one pretty nearby!"

Keri began to walk away saying, "Ok, well i got to go take care of my roomies dog though, so I'll have to meet y'all at the hotel."

Dave grabbed the money it appeared he had gained alot of intrest while in jail. He ran over to Keri grinning, "Look, please stay, or else you'll be responsible for Derrick murder... You sure you want that on your conscience?"

She sighed smiling ever so slightly, "No, but i also don't want to kill the dog, and i have a feeling i wont be getting back there any other time."

Dave reached out for her hand, "Could I walk you home?"

Keri shivered and squeezed his hand back before saying , "If your comin you may as well drive. Plus, with the money you just picked up you don't want to be walkin those streets."

Dave pulled his hand back and smiled sheepishly, "Yeh good idea..."

Derrick looked at them incredulously, "Oh come on, not again please!"

"What, you don't like his driving?" Keri smiled.

Derrick groaned, That plus you's two are so close to being gross!"

Keri rolled her eyes "Shut up pip squeak."

Derrick groaned still annoyed, "No kissing or snuggling then..." Dave helped Keri in before climbing in himself.

Derrick climbed in the back, immediately having Keri add, "Oh when that happens we'll be sure to tell you."