Snow Halation [Closed]

Katsuo sat down in the chair across from her, glancing briefly at his hands to keep from awkwardly staring. It was strange. He was used to being calm, focused, and to absorb himself in his own world where he could focus on his goals and ignore most of the social problems threats that came to most teenage students. He didn't like to socialize and be around many people, preferring to be alone or with his sister or maybe the few friends that he didn't actually have...It was kind of a depressing thought. Yet he always felt inclined to try and say something, to make the moments with one particular girl last. He somehow felt a bit happier when around her, calmer, and perhaps even a little more confident. But at the same time, he would also get worried, nervous, and often found himself caring for her more than he did for anyone else, including himself. There were times in the past where he questioned if his actions were purely out of friendship, that they had things in common. All of the times he had smiled at her without thinking about it much, then at one point asking Aiko if he ever smiled without noticing. She had told him it was kind of rare, yet he did it so often around Lamia.

Here he was, the light blush from before not yet fully faded, but to the point where he could barely feel it and almost forgot it had ever shown up. He had invited her here to escape the cold, to maybe be able to talk. Katsuo glanced up at the other Winter across from him, realizing she had asked a question. Asked...Why he was so kind to her. He blinked, suddenly questioning it himself. Why was he so kind to her, and enjoyed being around her so much? And the answer was obvious. However, he wasn't sure how to say it, and before he had the chance to, she had snatched the question back. In the back of his mind, he heard himself silently say, 'She still wants an answer, doesn't she?' In which he did want to give her the answer, but Lamia didn't seem to be able to keep the question out, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to answer.

So he did something he rarely did. He didn't think. Katsuo simply took a deep breath, and looked the other straight in the eyes.
"Because I like you, Lamia."
Near immediately, his eyes widened slightly at what he said, and he quickly looked down, his cheeks burning and flushing a deep red. "I-I m-mean...W-we're friends, a-aren't w-we?" He stammered out. Why... He thought, wanting to cover his face and hide like a child. Why would I say that...? Even though he knew the reality of it, even though in the back of his mind, a little voice knew and repeatedly told him, You like her. A lot. And you hide it like it's a terrible secret that everyone would hate you for. That she would hate you for. The Winter was terrified that his concerns would turn out to be true, that she'd hate him for it if she found out. He didn't want to lose her as a friend. She made him happier than anyone else, and was probably his only remaining true friend aside from his own sister. Everyone else seemed to have left Beata or simply didn't talk to him anymore. And he had never realized until he had acquired these feelings for Lamia, just how lonely he was all this time.

Ooc: *Throws gigantic reply in to make up for the crappy one I made before*

OOC; Dang it. And here I thought I could've been lazy on this post. ;-;

IC; To her, the silence really seemed so strained and kept going on and on and on... never ceasing. It was dread waiting for an answer that she wasn't sure she wanted to hear. A thought of refusal, rejection lingered at the back of her head, knowing that, for some reason, she desired the answer. Suspicious, yet curiosity nagging her and shoving her ahead, she carefully looked him in the eye, just as he answered her. It took her a few moments to register what he had said as her mind slowly realized the response. Her eyes widened in shock, and her mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out - not even an utter. Her mind wasn't allowing her to move much more than tiny motions and her brain seemed to put a pause on everything. Once she slightly recovered, Lamia heard the rest of his answer. Moving her head down, she didn't try to speak anymore. There wasn't much about it, huh? Absolutely stupid... You're so stupid. Nobody would like you in that way. You pathetic excuse for a living being. She wanted to deny those thoughts in her head. She really wanted to. Yet, a part of her knew it was true. In her heart, it wasn't fake. This feeling was terrible. She hated life - she despised it for everything she's done, all the people she's killed, all the trick it played on her mind. This was all fake. It was just a dream. I'm still in a coma... This is just an illusion. Just... a dream.

Everything she had just felt all of a sudden... It made her sick. There was something rising in her throat and her stomach was intangible, knotted in every corner and surface. Lamia felt dizzy, light-headed and wanted it all to stop. Her heart was ready to burst, the butterflies swarming from where they were within her. She felt her breathing get heavier instead of their normal, soft lightness. The swelling anticipation that she felt was true - all of it was. There wasn't anything right about this pathetic world as it played with her feelings and emotions. A surge of anxiety went through her chest, and her heart skipped a few beats. It never really crossed her mind until now. Her world was crashing around her, slowly and so much. Her body was swaying gracelessly and awkwardly, nothing good about it arose from her. She felt tears ready to pour down her eyes, the pain far greater than she thought it would be. This life was just a crappy game.

If she could, Lamia would've ran straight out the door. Yet, her feet were glued to the ground, her body trembling as she realized the shame she'd receive from her pathetic actions.
"I-i...I h-hate y-you...!"
The words came out so much as a whisper, dead and broken apart. Everything seemed torn apart. What could she do? Despite the resistance she put up, her tears were freely leaving. She couldn't choke back the sobs or reverse her crying as the tears spilled over her cheeks. She was mentally screaming at herself for her weak behavior. What was she thinking? Why was life so cruel? Why did she have to be born with this accursed powers that made her the monster she was? Lamia wanted to blame everything on her parents, her brother, and God for the unfair life she had to deal with. It wasn't her fault - she didn't ask for this stupid 'gift'. She didn't ask to be born. Everyone would be better off without her. Her small frail body was shaking so much, still rattled and powerless as she pulled her arms close to her, holding herself so that she didn't fully break apart. There wasn't anything she wanted to do - she wasn't sure what to do. All she could manage was to keep her head down and not allow Katsuo to see her like this...

This world was awful. Couldn't she just go home, wake up from this terrible dream?

Can this nightmare end...? Please?

OOC; And this did not turn out the way I expected it to. Is she mentally ill by any chance?

Ooc: You know you have a good character when they do something even you, the controller, aren't even expecting x3

Ic: Although it echoed in his head, and was repeatedly argued by another side of his mind, somehow he was caught off-guard by it anyways. The fact that he just screwed up. Badly. Oh, how so terribly, terribly he had screwed up. Once the words reached his ears, he felt his body go numb.
"I hate you."
The Winter didn't tense. He didn't flinch. His usual calm, honey-brown gaze dulled slightly, as if part of the life were leaving them. I...I... He slowly looked up at Lamia, his expression blank aside from his eyes, which had widened somewhat in shock. He couldn't say anything, and just stared. She was trying to hide it, but she was crying. What could he do? He had already messed up so badly...She had just said it herself.
"I hate you."

He had never felt so weak and so helpless in his entire life.

The one person he had grown so attached to, had wanted to protect and help and see smile...Hated him. He had been stupid enough to say those three simple words that ruined everything. His body felt cold, and his gaze slowly traveled to the door, the windows, wondering if they were open at all. They weren't. Under the table, his fingers clenched at his fabric of his pants covering his knees, struggling not to shiver from the growing cold from within him. It wasn't real, yet he could feel every bit of it. Why... His own voice echoed in a silent murmur through his head. Why do people hate me...?

A small, brown-haired boy around the age of 10 or 11 sat alone in the corner of the room, watching as the children around him ran about the room, squealing and shouting happily among each other as they played games like "Tag" and "Hide and Seek". He looked down at his right hand, staring at it with a blank look.
One...Two...Three...
His left hand slowly poked each finger as he counted, the sounds of the other children fading to the back of his mind.
...Four...Five.
He blinked once, then returned to his thumb.
One...Two...
"Hey Katsuo!"
The boy jumped, eyes wide as his gaze shot up to meet that of a young blonde girl the same age as he. His sister.
"What are you doing, silly? Let's go play a game!"
"Go play with someone else. People will make fun of us again."
"What are you talking about? No one makes fun of us!"
"They call us shadowy freaks, Aiko."
"Huh? I've never heard that..."
At that moment, the boy looked up at his sister with wide eyes once more. "...They've never called you that?"
"Nope."
He stared at her a moment, then, just like that, began to cry. The girl crouched by him, tugging at his sleeve. "Wha...Why're you crying Kat--"
"Aiko! Come on! We're gonna play this new game we made up!"
"But I--"
"Go play with them, Aiko." The boy said, not looking up. "I don't want to play today."
The girl stared at him briefly, then hugged him, and ran off to the other girls who had called her.

He never hated Aiko for that. It wasn't her fault that she was likable and he wasn't. She had the same gift, but people never really knew unless she told them, and even then they were okay with it. But he had been a freak, not talking to anyone and always reading or working, and people used his gift as an excuse, saying he was Aiko's "weird, scary brother". And he took it, because he was so afraid of losing his sister, who was the only one who was there for him. The only one who made him happy.

And then he met Lamia. She never called him a freak, and seemed to...Or used to seem to enjoy being around him. They had even gone to the Winter Formal once together. It was probably one of his happiest moments, to see someone he cared so much for on stage preforming and enjoying herself in front of so many people despite her usual shyness. Then, he left Beata for several months, and when he came back, he had realized just how glad he was to see her again. Here they were, sitting in the cafe, where they once came to meet up and talk while eating some of the place's great food. Except today it was cold. And she hated him.
She hated him.

"I...I-I..." Katsuo found himself staring down at his hands, and for a split second, was tempted to start counting the fingers on his right hand. But he didn't. He looked up at Lamia, his usual bright eyes now a dull, dull brown, mostly due to gift activating without him realizing it. On the ground next to his chair, his shadow seemed to blur and fizz every so slightly, like when you switch to a channel that doesn't exist on a TV. A tear rolled down his right cheek, and his mouth hung open as he tried to speak. "I-I'm s-sorry...D-don't cry...P-please..."

Ooc: *Flips laptop because feels*

OOC; I still call BS to that. I call BS to everything.
IC; Her hand reached over to try and comfort him as she realized what she had said. But it halted in midair. It didn't want to move. It trembled, frozen still as a stone, unwilling to do what she wanted it to. Slowly withdrawing it, Lamia forced herself to move, no matter how petrified her body felt, and silently started to retreat. With each step she took outside, her pace quickened. She was so terrified, so ashamed. Aiko would kill her. She just broke her brother's heart by accident. She didn't know what was happening. Everything was still a terrible dream that she hasn't woken up from. She didn't just ruin everything that she knew. Life was still screwing with her, wasn't it?

What a broken place this was. Nothing seemed right in this unjust world. Dreams don't exist, nothing was right. Lamia sobbed, her adrenaline running through as she pushed herself to continue running through the snowstorm, her steps deepening as she slowly began to sink. Don't turn back. Don't look at him. Don't try and do anything. She just said she hated him. What was she supposed to say afterwards? There was no recovery for something like that. Any feelings she had for him... need to be shut out. Concealed. Don't feel. Just let it go. Wtf is this Frozen reference from nowhere?

Ceasing her run in the middle of the nowhere, Lamia didn't know where she was in this bleak, desolate area. Was she still in Rosebury? Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, exhausted and ready to give up. Laying on the ground, fiddling with the snow, her eyes slowly began to close as she remembered from back then. The small flakes, she started continuing as she succumbed to the coldness.

"Lamia, come join us!" a voice called out to her, the one friend she had. Callum, huh? He was so nice...
However, the other people he was with started to scatter the moment she took one single step closer. One step was all it took to scare them off... What about two? Or three?
The other boy, disappointed, ran over to her as she started sprinting off, crying. Her brother was in a different class. It was impossible for them to always be together. Mutters in the hall, she heard it all...
"What a monster!"
"That creep. Is she out to kill someone else?"
"I'm scared I'm her next target. She's such a stupid person."
"She doesn't deserve anyone's attention. Callum should just stop hanging out with her. There isn't anything she needs when she's a cold-blooded murderer."
"My friends are gone thanks to her. What did they do to her, anyway?!"
Her tears continued running, but Callum quickly caught up to her. She refused to look at him, but her eyes widened when she felt him pat her back.
"Don't listen to them - they don't know that you're special."
"Sp-special...? I-i...I killed th-their fr-friends...!"
With a frown on his face, he replied back, "They tried to attack you. They don't know your powers are out of control when you're scared. It's their fault for trying even though this has happened before."
"E-e...Exactly...!"
Another voice joined in, "Callum, come join us! We're going to go play hide and seek!"
He looked at her, concern clear, but, Lamia shook her head. "G-go... go j-join them... I-i...I-i'll go find K-kearn."
He was reluctant, but immediately flinched when her broken voice sounded at the loudest it had ever been at, "J-just... Just go!"

Callum had been there to help her, but... She never told him she hated him. Katsuo wasn't going to find her. He would leave her and abandon her like the rest. There was nothing special about anyone at this school. They were all the same...

I'm such a stupid person... I deserve to die... Stupidstupidstupidstupidstupid.

The Winter stared, suddenly realizing the wetness on his cheek. Oh no. He looked at Lamia as she began to back away, his shadow fidgeting even more. No...Wait! D-don't go! His thoughts would not turn into words. He just stared as the other turned and fled. Into the blistering cold. Alone. What was happening?
Please, don't go...

He lost feeling in his body. He could barely tell what he doing. The sound of the wind ripping viciously through the air, the freezing snow biting at his skin as it whipped against him. He couldn't hear or feel anything. His gaze was unwavering, desperate not to lose sight of Lamia and lose her to the rising blizzard. Come...back...! The voice in his head cried out over and over, begging for her to return to the safety of a building...To return to him. He suddenly didn't care what she said, not at that moment. At that moment, he just wanted her, the one he had fallen in love with, who had said something that nearly shattered his heart into nothing, to be safe.

He couldn't see her anymore. Katsuo, however, didn't stop running. He pressed on, the snow beginning to take an effect on him as he began to tire. But he refused to stop. He couldn't. He...He had to find her!
Mid-step, the Winter's shoe hit a rock hidden beneath the blanket of white. He didn't realize he had fallen face-first into the cold, unforgiving snow until it began to melt against his cheeks, and he slowly struggled onto his knees. With a cough, Katsuo glanced upward, and that's when he saw her; lying in the snow.
"Lamia!"
Finding his voice again, he stumbled over to her side, tears freezing on his cheeks. "L-Lamia?" He gritted his teeth, terrified that perhaps, in the most overdramatic way, he had been too late. "Say s-something...!" The boy gave her a gentle shake, trying to wake her up. He backed off, digging his nails into the snow in front of him.
"P-please...I-I need you...To b-be o-okay..."

OOC;; Assuming this is like... Twenty minutes later.

IC;; Her skin was so pale. Was it so livid that it didn't seem real? Her breath was so faint, it didn't seem like she was still breathing. Snow collected in her hair and her nose and cheeks were a rosy red from the cold. All the air that came from her were soft, frosty billows. Something was shaking her... A warm hand. Who would help her in this cold? Nobody... This isn't right. Just let this dream end. Just make the stupid thing stop. It was so tormenting, so cruel, so harsh. There wasn't a true word to describe it in her head. Torture. Grief. Punishment. Judgement. Persecution. Maltreat. Not a single word could convey the immense pain and sorrow she had within her.

Opening up her eyes, dazed, her vision was a blur. There was no line between what was reality and her imagination seemed to be. It didn't seem like a hallucination, but it wasn't real. The person she saw wasn't Katsuo in front of her, but rather... First, it was Kearn. His kind, protective smile as he comforted her and wanted her with him. Always caring that she was alive, even when she was the one who ruined their lives in the first place with her insecurity, her emotions. Next, it seemed like Callum. A pat to the back was all that comforted her, all that made her comfortable. Her mouth parted to say something, but no words came out - not a sound. Nothing. Finally, it was Katsuo. The person she was really seeing in front of her.

Lamia didn't know why. But being by him made her feel sick. She wanted to vomit, the rising in her throat was dread. She hated this feeling. She couldn't stay calm. She couldn't control herself. She couldn't keep her emotions in check. Her heart was pounding wildly, faster than a drum could beat and her vision couldn't distinguish black from white. The emotions within her. She couldn't see the colors. What the hell's going on? Can someone tell me please...? Her enemy was definitely invisible, she couldn't fight it. This urge. This feeling. Nothing. She couldn't see what to do. Her actions were so hesitant. She couldn't think.

Something isn't right. Why can't I see... the world in color?

And she made the most stupid move she could make. The moment she could get her numb hands moving, unable to grasp the situation, Lamia quickly pushed Katsuo away. She couldn't take this trembling fear anymore. Her mind was split, she didn't know what to do... Her echo, her other self, her conscious... Were all useless. Her voice was shaky, brittle, "G-get away fr-from m-me...!" She couldn't stop shaking, terrified. She felt traumatized. She didn't know what to do. This world was so lonely... No one could ever understand you. Nobody could sympathize with you. You have to fend for yourself. That's it.

Rising up, she backed up slowly, avoiding his eyes, walking away, and never turning back.

I need to run away now... and never look back.

OOC;; WTF AM I DOING? I don't know what I'm writing at this point. My hands have a mind of their own.

Oh look. All the important people have that "kuh" sound at the beginning of their name.
It's official. I totally screwed this up. gj Echo

Ooc: Dang it Echo's hands--
Katsuo is so lost over here xD

Ic: Relief washed over him as Lamia slowly awoken, looking at him. Then, it was replaced by horror as he was shoved away, staring in pure shock as she got up and began to walk away again. Why? Why was this happening? Was he locked into some kind of nightmare? Was it really Lamia in front of him? Was it someone else? Was he hallucinating? Katsuo could no longer move, just stare, gaping slightly, his hands slowly freezing to the snow beneath them, the blizzard blowing ruthlessly against his tiny, helpless form. Oh, how helpless he surely felt. Horrid. Drowning in his own self-disgust. The boy blinked, his head feeling a little dizzy all of the sudden. I...

He was about 12 years old now, walking through the lunch line with his tray. But in reality, there was no one in line besides him. He always waited for everyone else to sit down, so that he didn't have to hear their whispers, see their stares...He knew they were there. They always were. The best he could do was avoid being too close to them, to where he could hear their words, feel their glares burn into him. He turned to look for a spot to sit. He always sat alone, by himself, and on occasion Aiko would sit by him for half of the lunch period, rarely the full. He didn't talk though, and usually told her to go sit with her friends. He didn't want her to suffer like he did, even if she wanted to be there for him.
"I want to be alone..."
But today someone called him over. A...smiling face? It was a boy with black hair and blue eyes, a wide grin on his face. He had a few friends around him at the table, and waved to Katsuo. His friends were smiling too. What was going on? Suddenly dreading the idea of being near them, he stood, frozen in place, hesitating. They must be waving to someone else. Yet there was no one nearby.
"Katsuo! Come sit with us!"
He flinched, realizing they were truly talking to him. Suddenly finding feeling in his feet again, he quickly made his way over to the table, sitting down next to the boy who had waved him over. Looking up at the smiling faces around him, he couldn't hold back a small, happy smile of his own.
And that's when it hit him, quite literally. A hand full of mashed potatoes right into his face. He cringed, his gaze shooting sideways to see the once friendly-faced boy next to him now snickering with a look of evil mockery on his face.
Everyone was laughing.
"Holy crap, you actually thought we wanted to be your friends or something!"
"Dude, did you see his face? I've never seen him smile before!"
"Yeah! He totally fell for it!"
He slowly reached for his napkin and wiped the food from his face, looking at the boys around him. Their laughter, the laughter of the tables of kids around them, echoed mercilessly in his ears.
His eyes dulled, and his vision went hazy. Everything went black.
Then he was crying in his room, hiding under the blankets of his bed, sobbing uncontrollably. The images of screaming children, blood splattering onto his hands and face, the look of horror on his poor twin sister as she watched it all happen. His parents, mortified, talking with the police. They'd have to switch schools. Again. And his parents would have to get him out of such extreme trouble. Again.
He felt a small hand on his shoulder through the blankets, and poked his head out, sniffling, to see Aiko.
"I'm sorry if you want to be alone. I wanted to make sure you were okay, though..."

"I don't w-want to b-be al-lone..." The words tumbled out of the Winter's mouth, barely audible over the wind.  "Please...I'm begging you..." He coughed, sniffling, reaching a hand out fruitlessly towards the one leaving him there. Sitting in the snow, ready to give up. What was this terrible sensation? It made him feel broken, like everything was lost, the images returning to block out the voice of hope now simply echoing in the back of his mind, like a fading memory. He could do nothing but watch. What else was there to do? She hated him. They all hated him. He wasn't welcome here, or anywhere. He thought it would be different. Everyone at Beata has gifts...Everyone has these feeling sometimes, right? But then why...Why did history keep repeating? Wasn't it over? He had been convinced that it was all behind him. That he would be okay. But he wasn't okay. He felt worse than he ever had in his life. Yet there was a tiny, tenacious spark in him that refused to give up, despite getting so small to the point that it was about to simply fade away, just like everyone else. "I don't want to be alone again...!"

OOC;; And watch as everything shatters.

IC; To be honest, Lamia had fantasized and imagined that this would go better than she was hoping. However, she didn't know what to think now, the entire notion so terrifying. She regretted going to the cafe... If she hadn't agreed, none of this would've happened. Holding her head in pain, her vision was blinding, the colors seemed so unreal. It was a mess of flashing colors, clashing together in discord, and the images seemed to split into two in front of her. This was all too much... So much distress. A powerful shock went straight through her fragile body, breaking her apart as her eyes dulled to lifelessness. This was so wrenching, so cruel. Just make it stop.

A faint glow appeared below her, but Lamia didn't know what it was - she couldn't tell. Everything was so distorted, she was paralyzed from absolute shock. No one was breathing on her, yet she felt the warm air of something overcoming her shoulders, sending a shiver down her spine. It seemed as though a knife was stabbed into her neck, and this awful sensation... It was like she was bleeding. Her broken voice let out a pain-splitting cry, and she couldn't take it anymore. All she wanted was for this all to stop. She couldn't stop it anymore. These hallucinations weren't real, she tried to convince herself that this was all a bad nightmare she was having. It wasn't working. She couldn't accept that this was real. It was all fake. "I-i... I-i c-can't...! St-st-stop i-it..."

Her voice was decimated as she felt the clock that controlled her life deplete itself entirely, all the seconds she had - one by one - all of it lost. A small mutter escaped her as her emotions went out of control, to a point where she was on the brink of absolute insanity. "Pl-please... I-i pr-promised s-someone..." Her breathing stopped. Her powers were taking control of her, and she couldn't speak, all the words caught within her, to be trapped. Her mouth would open, but not even a breath came out. All feeling of touch was lost, no longer able to feel the cold. What did linger was the immense pain she felt. This trauma... was so extreme, so crushing, that she couldn't hold onto herself any longer.

The light glow from before strengthened itself, forming a large circle below as it violently burst into an intensifying light. Runes, ancient writing that no one could decipher surrounded the inside lines, and each stroke had a dark orb, filled with darkness, grief, and pain was summoned. They blasted in every direction, searching for a life source to save their host from dying, all of the energy she strained to get this far. A few struck right through Katsuo, feeding on his life while others went far behind him, and it seemed they found a new target... Another girl.

Someone... stop this. Please! Makeitstop, makeitstop, makeitstop... The victims don't deserve this... They're all... She didn't want to even finish her thought. This was too much. Any more, it would be impossible for her to even seem human. In the end... it was all true, right? Lamia was frozen, unable to move, numb. Her ability to steal had become her dominant part as she seemed lifeless, a corpse-like human.

I don't deserve to even live... So why do I continue making these mistakes? I can't control myself. I can't be anyone's friends. I betrayed them all in the end... One... by... One...

A girl quietly tapped her fingers against her phone, finding minimal entertainment in the clicking noise her nails made against the cover. She stood in a rather silent store, the people in there with her focusing on warming up after seeking refuge from the blizzard. Rosebury store...It didn't have a lot she was interested in, but she sometimes came anyways to look around and maybe pick up a candy bar or two. However, tonight she had decided to call her brother, to see if he wanted anything. She called three times, and not a single time got an answer. Becoming admittedly worried, she decided to open her FindFriends* app just to check. A little map pulled up on her phone's screen, as well as three bubbles. Two were a far, far way away: her parents. The third bubble was somewhat nearby.
What...?
What was her brother doing outside, away from safety, in the middle of a blizzard?
Not moving...?
Eyes going wide, the female student swung open the door, causing yells of protest from various other people in the store.

"Hey! Where are you going? You'll freeze!" The cashier called out.

Aiko glanced back at him. "My brother is out there!" She yelled back, then raced out the door into the wind and snow. The cashier blinked and immediately went to grab his phone, dialing one of the school numbers.

--------------------------------------------

The feeling absolute numbness and painfully cold temperatures slowly crept up his arms and legs, but he couldn't get himself to move from where he sat in the snow. You could say he was frozen to the spot, both figuratively and literally. He stared out into the evening air, the snow storm too thick to allow vision to travel very far. It didn't matter to him, however. Right now, he didn't mind freezing to death right then and there. No one would notice his absence. No one would care.
Except maybe Aiko.
It was almost like a trigger, for right then, he heard the shout of a familiar voice. The only real friend he had left at this point. Through the snow came an ungraceful twin, stumbling and trudging through the freezing blanket as fast as she could. As soon as their eyes met, her expression lit up, a look of absolute relief. Katsuo blinked, at lost for words. What was she doing here? How did she find him? Why did she find him? This wasn't right...He was ready to die there, and she was going to stop that, wasn't she?

"You idiot! What are you doing out here?! You'll freeze to death!" Aiko yelped, practically tackling her brother and tightly hugging him. He didn't respond, didn't utter a noise. While his sister was smiling happily, he just sat there, face blank aside from his gaping mouth and pale cheeks. The Summer backed up and stared at him, confused. "Katsuo...?"
He started sobbing, causing Aiko to frown in both confusion and worry. "What's wrong?" She asked, confused. Katsuo shook his head, suddenly gripping at his hair with his hands, which had started to become frostbitten at parts.
"W-why did y-you come f-for m-me?! L-leave me t-to d-die!"
Aiko's eyes went wide. She stared at him, lost for words. Her usually calm and serious brother, quiet and independent, was here crying in the snow, asking for her to leave him to die. She gritted her teeth, her gaze turning into a harsh glare, though it was not directed at the Winter. This wasn't him. Someone caused this. Someone close to him.

Only one person came to mind, and to confirm her assumption, Katsuo had shoved her backwards suddenly. She glanced at him in surprise, just in time to see some sort of...Sphere, energy swirling around it, shoot forward and into the boy's chest. He grabbed at his shirt, an expression of intense pain stuck on his face, and cried out in agony. Aiko stared briefly, in a state of shock, before turning to see another orb heading straight for her. Suddenly, her shadow, faint due to the gathering darkness of the storm and evening, contort and shoot out of the ground, blocking and shattering the orb on impact. It shattered the wall her shadow had made as well. Her gaze shot back to Katsuo, who was staring at her with a weak look to him, but a hand stretched feebly towards her. He had saved her from suffering the same fate he had.
"Pl-please...Aiko...Help her..." Her brother pleaded, slowly pointing in the direction that Lamia had run off in.

Aiko stared at him, dumbfounded. Hep hEr? She echoed in her mind. Her eyes slowly dulled, watching silently as Katsuo finally collapsed in the snow, too weak to move. I'lL hELp HeR AlrIgHt... She stood up, shutting her eyes and patting the snow off her jacket. When she opened her eyes again, they were completely black.

S̕͠o̶̧͝r͠r̴y͠͡,͜ ̸b̴͡ro̕͡ţh̢er͏͢͠,͏̧ b͘͝u̷͟t͘͝ ̴̕s҉͢ơ̸͞m̢͡ę͏̸b͜o̵d̡y'͏҉͝s ͜ǵ͘onn̷a̕͞ ̨͠di̶e ̸̴͟tò̵̀da̶y̵.́

Sinking into the shadows of the ground--it would normally be difficult with the dim shadow of the clouds over the earth, but they were shadows nonetheless--she traveled fast in the direction that Katsuo had pointed out, using the darkness as a sanctuary of protection until she could get there. Until the real fight began.

*actual app

ooc: This is my compensation for not posting sooner =w= A really long post

OOC;; S̕͠o̶̧͝r͠r̴y͠͡,͜ ̸b̴͡ro̕͡ţh̢er͏͢͠,͏̧ b͘͝u̷͟t͘͝ ̴̕s҉͢ơ̸͞m̢͡ę͏̸b͜o̵d̡y'͏҉͝s ͜ǵ͘onn̷a̕͞ ̨͠di̶e ̸̴͟tò̵̀da̶y̵.́ This hurts to read so much. ;-;

IC; I can't do this anymore... There isn't anything I want more than death. Someone, make this stop... Her hands weren't doing something she wanted them to, scrambling over the bitter cold snow as they manipulated her power off-handedly. She couldn't cease her actions, her eyes absolutely dull and she was in such a weakened state - one move would be enough to stop her. From her lifeless eyes, tears were falling slowly, freezing as they dropped to the ground. She couldn't see a thing, her vision blackened as Lamia slowly continued to take the life others. It wasn't something she wanted to have happen. I just want to be normal... I should just die. Just let me die.

Her skin had become so pale and the frost had started turning her fingers into a dark blue. She wanted to close her eyes and let it all stop. If there was one thing she could do to make the world a better place was to give her own life away. The night was as young as it could get, and she still could remember back then. Her promise...

A girl of about twelve years of age was seated in sheets of white, the bed surrounded by delicate flowers. The mask she had regulated her amount of breathing as her eyes stay softly closed, her lips slightly parted. She was simple, and her face was sweet and young. Her cheeks had a faint rose color and her pale lips made her seem as though she was sleeping very lightly rather than losing the mere seconds of her final parts of life.
A young boy sat beside her, clutching her hand, tears rolling down his face. His hair was a messy blue and his eyes showed that he had had little rest, dark circles below his eyes. Biting his lower lips, the boy kept muttering to himself, "You'll be okay... I know you will. Please." His palms slowly began to glow without the boy noticing, and the faint ticking of a clock could be heard.
The girl's eyes began to slowly regain their life and her hand shifted slightly inside her brother's clutches. Bringing her other hand up to her face, touching herself to make sure this was real, she noticed that the other boy had looked at her in shock before it morphed into a tearful smile.
"L-lamia! You're okay."
Her mouth parted to open, to speak, and the words that came from them seemed absolutely foreign to her, "U-uhm... H-hi... K-kearn...?" Looking around briefly, her movements stiff, she muttered, saying, "Wh-where's... Wh-where's C-callum?"
Her twin gaped his mouth, his face contorted into bitter grief. He grabbed beside his chair from where he was sitting, picking up a crushed gift box. Its lid was crushed, and the ribbons were ridiculously wrinkled. "I'm sorry Lamia..."
"S-sorry...? Wh-what a-are y-you t-talking about...?"
"H-he's... gone. He was on his way to visit today and got into a car crash."
"Y-you're l-lying...!"
"I'm not! I wouldn't lie to you..."
"Th-this is j-just a b-bad dream... I-i'm not awake y-yet..."
Shaking his sister gently, Kearn realized that she was crying, unable to control herself. Whispering into her ear, he muttered softly, "Goodbyes aren't forever - you'll see him again one day."
"J-just... J-just l-let me d-die...!"
"No, I can't! I don't think he would want that... Live for both of you, alright? You're precious to him... Don't throw your life away yet."
There was an absolute silence. Just silence.
"F-fine... I-i promise... A-and I-i r-refuse t-to l-like anyone e-else...! I-i... I-i don't w-want fr-friends..."

She couldn't fulfill her promise. A slight smile cracked on her face, but it was so distorted and you couldn't tell if a human was smiling or if something was possessing her. "I-i'm... I-i'm an ab-absolute idiot... S-sorry K-kearn..." Her voice was so faint and void of any emotions, she was like a robot trying to pronounce the words correctly. And now, she might as well be slipping from being sane.

Clutching her sides gently, Lamia prevented another scream to come from her - she didn't anyone to come towards her. A small sound came from her lips, broken with agony and grief. The glow was intensifying below her, the dark particles so corrupt and unpure. There wasn't any happiness that could be seen in her, and she had a feeling that someone would be coming to stop her... And she knew who that was. The only other person who would care about Katsuo more than her... And she didn't care. Aiko would want the revenge, and Lamia deserved it. Her eyes were violently switching from yellow to blue and back, unstable as her powers continued to wildly thrash in any attempts to save her.

Humming a small tune, she didn't know why the sounds escaped from her. Was this really what she had meant to do? All the deaths... Each time, they were her fault. And again, she would be taking lives of innocents for her own selfish needs, to prevent her own demise. She was still, petrified, and unwilling to move. Her senses were shutting down, and she was fine with someone sticking a sword through her heart. Why not bleed to death, after all?

Better to die than live in this unfair world...

OOC;; So tired. Don't know what I wrote. Halfheartedly did it and wasn't really paying attention. lol Good grief, my head hurts.

Ooc: No pain no gain right? ;D

It was quiet, uninterrupted silence aside from the song of the wind whistling away, tossing snow wildly around to decorate the earth in a fluffy, white blanket. Out in this blizzard, two students lay broken, away from each other, slowly dying in opposite ways. A third student wandered towards one of the two, the one suffering mentally overall. Her path connected the this student to the one who was suffering physically overall, walking in between their locations. After watching the first student collapse, she would have to speed up the collapse of the other to even hings out. Then perhaps she would collapse as well, leaving the three to freeze in the night's violent storm.

None of these three were in heir right mind. Was it madness, like the blizzard swirling above, waiting to end their lives? Two Winters lay, awaiting their fates, while a Summer traveled on a path to change them. However, this Summer's mind was also affected by the insanity. She had little control over her actions, driven from anger and sadness, from a sudden, overwhelming feeling of hatred that turned her usually cheerful personality into something far more belligerent. As she traveled, it got worse, and when she reached her destination...

A blonde girl in thick clothing to defend against the cold stood silently in the snow, staring at the other student in front of her. Her hair was no longer in their typical pigtail style, but flowing out freely behind her. Her warm, brown eyes were completely black now, iris, pupil, white and all. An empty, demented pitch black. Shadows swirled around her body, darkening the ground beneath her and the air around her. Her face held no emotion, and in her right hand she held three kunai knives.

Suddenly, she threw the knives fast towards the Winter, shadows forming around them, extending and sharpening on impact of whatever they hit. Being that they went at slightly different angles(as they're are often thrown), at least one should have hit its target, unless this girl who lay before Aiko could move at extreme speeds to either deflect or jump up high enough to dodge.

OOC; That's going too far. I'd rather not take a bullet to earn a million bucks.

IC; It was a barren, desolate frozen land. The delicate zephyrs have become stinging, deceitful storms that continued to brew, decimating any warmth that any living being tried to grasp as they held onto their last breaths in this hateful day. A broken silence resonated the empty, fading town. Not even a shadow of a person could be seen through the blur of the thick, unbreakable rage of the cold. Yet, three dark, broken figures stood in this unforgiving area, where the weather refused to be merciful to their situation no matter how hopeless they already were.

Knives sliced through the bitter winds, striking through, the victim almost like a bird who lost the will to fly, its wings not allowing it to soar through an open, happy sky. The Winter student felt the pierce her shoulder, another skinning past her cheek, leaving a fresh, red cut. The last was seen through, struck square in her back. She didn't show any motivation to move, and seemed perfectly unconcerned about the blades that have ripped through, unwiling to take them out.

The halation around here, the ellipse where the black grew and shone with angst, began to die down, cease in power as the raining light subdued to the neverending hail. Scarlet stained the pure, white snow, clasping a shoulder around the onyx blade. The blood flowed freely, dripping down slowly in a painful manner, almost frozen in time.

Her cuts were so deep, her life drenched in red. The scarcely-ignited flame that held the bits of hope in here were fully extinguished, never wanting to burn again. A deformed smile etched carefully on her, the ends of her lips curving up ever so slightly, as she continued to hum the last melody of the song.

Don't let me wake up from this unfaltering sleep... Please.

Ooc: Depends on where the bullet hits for me //shot

Ic: The blonde female raised a hand, her shadow morphing, shaking, like a single-cell organism trying to evolve and adapt. It suddenly surged forward, a black shadow with jaws and large, sharp fangs where the shadow's head was before it changed. Aiko's blank, pitch-black stare was unwavering, an emotionless state in which the only thought on her mind was to get revenge. Her brother could be dead in the snow now, his body, empty of life, laying in the snow to freeze. And it was all because of Lamia.

Aiko had liked Lamia. She had considered her a good friend, and perhaps the one Katsuo could finally be happy with. They had trusted her, and the Summer had been thrilled to see her twin with a new friend who he even later grew to have a cute little crush on. But it was never real. Perhaps the witch had been faking all along, just like those boys way back then, that lowers Katsuo's remaining trust in others even more. Even as his life was being taken from him, Katsuo still wanted what was best for Lamia. He wanted his sister to somehow fix it. But right now unfortunately or him, Aiko only could see one solution. Lamia would have to be repaid for her manipulative deeds. Right here, right now, Aiko planned to kill the Winter before the Winter could kill her; like a tree in ice.

The jaws suddenly morphed out of the ground, a tangible, creature-like shadow. If this was one of those animes where the characters shout their attacks, "Silent Death" would be a fitting name for this one, for the darkness did not make sound. Without a sane thought or worry, Aiko held her arms out at her sides, black shadows tracing the veins in her face as the shadow lunged forward.

She felt dizzy. The attack used up a lot of energy, especially when her body could usually do no more than move the shadows of trees and animals around, due to lack of practice. Unlike Katsuo, Aiko could not control herself. The creature had bitten into Lamia, causing a burning sensation had blood spattered out, although in reality the fangs hadn't bitten that deep, but could cause tremendous pain with its mysterious qualities. Before the creature could do any real damage to accompany the inflicting of intense pain, it fizzled out, draining back into the ground as her shadow shrunk back down to its normal size and shape. Aiko stumbled forward a few steps, coughing. Her eyes returned to normal briefly before rolling back slightly, a small trickle of blood rolling out of the side of her mouth, and then she collapsed in the snow, unconscious. She would have a fever later due to the deficit of energy.

So the two twins had fallen, unconscious in the snow. Neither were dead yet, however away from the girls, the boy lay with his pupils faded slightly, lids barely open despite being unconscious rather than dead. If someone didn't arrive soon by some miracle and find them immediately, he may as well be dead, for by now, his life was left with little time to spare.

Ooc:
EDIT: For any staff coming in with some random rescue squad thing (I think Echo is pm'ing someone; the clerk at the store had contacted the school so that's how the rescue jumps in) Echo and I have concluded that all three of them-Katsuo, Aiko, and Lamia-are all knocked out now from damage and/or energy-loss. So when they get here, they'll all kind of just be laying there.

ooc;; pardon my late shit-posting. in other news, this topic is quite the roller coaster.
bic;;

"There! I see her!" A voice echoed dimly across the harsh winds of the snowstorm. Barely, just in the distance of where Lamia lay in the bitter winter cold, a few bodies began to appear. Some were shorter, students no doubt, but others were taller - far more foreboding.

One voice rose above the others, rushing over as fast as he possibly could. "Oh my God!" The shadow had shouted in disbelief, scooping up the seemingly fragile girl up into his arms. Where snow covered her body, the bright red stains became more and more evident. Whatever just had happened then, it didn't really matter. The only thing that mattered was getting her out of the blizzard and somewhere safe. As he rattled off more instructions, more shapes of others appearing, he'd heard the familiar voice of the Summer student shout again.

"There's two more!" she said, "Up ahead!"

The man carrying Lamia hadn't stopped to help with the search for the others. He'd pulled off his jacket at once, throwing it over the girl and hugging her close into a cradle, he'd headed straight back up to Beata's campus. It didn't take long for another to help him on the way.

A new voice pierced through the wind, "I found another one!" She, with another, helped to recover the still body of Aiko.

The hardest it seemed to find that night was the young man, although he hadn't gotten as far as the others, he seemed to be the weakest amongst them. "That's all of them!" The final voice was heard, "Hurry back! There's no time to waste!"

The three of them would later be carried into the infirmary, each into their own separate rooms.

ooc;; if that's cool, not entirely sure where i was supposed to go with this.

OOC;; Actually, that should be good enough. Topic end? And then continued in the infirmary~
This topic. I blame the fact that it went awry on my hands. And stuff. idk what I'm talking about tbh