The Repeated History of the Heroes

Taylor Swift wrote a song about this. . .

  It was loud.  Everything was so, so loud.  Nathan could hear the voices around him, see the the veil of death surrounding their hotel.  Two days had passed since Owen and Tyler were killed, since the first real battle.  They had fought every day since and people died everyday.

  Nathan could hear the voices of the dead and see their vacant eyes.  Still, he smiled and laughed as everyone joked around.  They were in Zoe's room pretending the storm outside wasn't concerningly aggressive.  "Are you trying to kill me?" Cassidy demanded Zoe.

  She smiled, "It's the weather."

  Cassidy rolled her eyes and continued to paint Zoe's nails.  They both looked exhausted, the violet nail polish matched the circles under both girls eyes.  "The weather isn't an excuse to attack people."

  She chuckled, "Neither is it an excuse to avoid your problems."

  Her eyes traveled to Nathan, "Help."

  Maddie snorted from the floor where she was braiding her wet hair back.  He shook his head, barely lifting it from the back of the couch.  "I can't save you from the menace that she is."

  "No one can," Paris glanced up from her sketch book, her fingers stained with charcoal.  "But, she is right.  The rain shouldn't stop you from anything."

  "It stopped me from having a decent aim today," Maddie shrugged. 

  Nathan didn't actually know what Cassidy's problem was, but he did know it was their point of discussion.  It was only getting louder in his head.  He didn't know if anyone could tell how little he could hear.  The roar of death made him close his eyes.

  He didn't hear the hotel door open.  He didn't hear anything other than death.

---

  Zoe was really trying not to shock Cassidy, but it was hard.  The storms hadn't stopped raging since late the night before, when she'd woken up to find Andy's hair standing in all different directions from the static of laying next to her.  Cassidy had a lot of problems that Zoe wasn't sure were real, grief still hung heavy on the girl, her 'problems' kept her distracted.  

  Her eyes tracked to Nathan, who had barely moved or spoke in the last twenty minutes.  She didn't know what was wrong with him, but she would find out whenever she got him alone.  That is, if she managed to.  Her life was slowly spiraling into an undiscovered realm of hell, it had been ever since she killed Tyler.  Even now, she could feel his blood on her hands.  That had been part of the reason she allowed Cassidy to paint her nails, she didn't want to see the under bed of her nail coated in blood anymore.  She didn't want to see blood anymore.

  The door was eased open as Andy popped his head in, a half smile on his face.  "Hey," he said to no one in general before crossing the room to her.  "I'll be back in a few hours," he kissed her quickly, before turning to leave.  Nathan followed him out. 

  She blinked, "That was weird."

  Maddie shrugged, "That's Andy."

  "I don't know," Zoe's eyes stayed on the door, "He's lying to me."

  "Woah," Cassidy capped the nail polish, slumping back in her seat.  "How?"

  She shook her head, falling back into the cushions of the couch as well.  "He isn't distant, but he's clearly holding something back."  Stiffening a yawn with the back of her wrist, "It doesn't matter."  It did matter, but she was trying to forget about that at the moment.  

  Paris shook her head, blond hair falling out of the low bun she'd been wearing since after the days fighting.  "Whatever you say," she shut her sketch book, "I'm going to bed."