Kenopsia

Scene Nine: "Scathed"

Scathed (verb.) To hurt, harm, or injure, as by scorching.

It was early morning.

Rem sat on the side of the bed, looking at her father. He was looking down on the floor, eyes not even blinking once. They were empty, the floor reflecting distinctively against them.

Aria was leaning against the doorway, speaking to Aya. The pair glanced at the broken family every once in a while, chatter following as they look back at each other.

Star was sat by the desk, eyes darting from each face to another.

"Star, is it you?" Fell said, not bothering to look at anyone. The room went quiet, and all eyes went on Star, who seemed startled by the question.

It was unthinkable to Star that his father even considered her to be the culprit.

"No, father. Do not fret, for I am most definitely not the killer." Star replied in a formal tone. She loved talking this way, especially because it confuses her father.

The room filled back up with Aria's and Aya's chatter, Rem occasionally piping up to say something. And Fell... well he continued to bore holes into the ground with his dead eyes as per usual.

Star stands up and briskly walks past Aya and Aria. They call out for Star to return but it falls upon deaf ears. Star was going to find the bitch that killed her sister and broke her father. And Star was going to make them pay.

———

It was approximately 12:36 in the morning. Star had not found anyone suspicious besides Arson playing with a couple matches. This killer didn't hesitate to kill anyone alone before, why was Star the exception? Or perhaps maybe Star was simply an exception for she was walking alone in daylight. Whatever the reason was, the point is that Star is still alive after hours of wandering the hotel halls alone.

Star stops dead in her tracks. There were still quite a few who were alive, so why had she only seen Arson and Meg today? Most people walked around the halls aimlessly in groups just to move around. Where was everyone?

Maybe Star was being irrational. There's a killer on the loose after all. People are afraid for their lives. Star shouldn't expect people to be out. It was late too, and the recent pattern of killing was late at night. People might just be being cautious.

Star just hopes she was right and they were simply being careful.

———

Star stumbled into a room blindly. She had seen blood coming from the bottom of the door along with the distinct smell of barbecue. Once inside the room the foul stench of decaying flesh intruded Star's senses. To Star's horror there lied all of her friends that were once alive. Every single one of them.

Star's eyes drifted towards a particular body, which was sat, back leaning against the wall.

Lanie's?

Star walked slowly towards her sister's corpse, and checked her pulse.

"No, this can't be? Lanie's pulse is still there." Star muttered to herself. This can't be real, can it?

"Astute observation." A terrifying voice sounds out, following after with a long sigh, making Star's head swim with confusion and surprise.

Lanie had talked. She was found dead, was she not? This shouldn't be real. This shouldn't be happening. Yet, it is real and it is happening.

"Lanie? How can you be— what is happening?" Laughter fills the room after Star's confused question. Lanie was laughing at her. Mocking her.

Lanie pulls Star with inhuman strength, into a "hug" and begins whispering in her ear.

"Degg was drowned. Lem was poisoned. Cali was shot. Alamo was stabbed. Mc committed suicide. I had a fake death. Quinn's throat was slit. Anna was hit in the head one too much many times. Zo's neck snapped. Shadow got a pillow placed on their face and died of suffocation. Chiara drank rat poison. Xo got hung. Shadow's blood evacuated their body. Ruby was slashed. Sol also died of suffocation. Meg got choked. Aria got buried alive. Cherri burned alive.  Aya died of my musket. " Lanie said, eyes wide yet empty, and neck turned to look at her sister,

"And you, Star, will die of a gunshot."