Now the pieces went floating, reflecting all at dusk.
Author: Tasminalice
Rating: NC-17 (language, in this chapter)
Length: 1400 words, approx.
Summary:
Brick by brick, the night eclipsed.
A Skins-themed apocalyptic story.
A/N: First part of the This, Finality series. Written for apocabigbang, will be long, most likely.
--
It started, for them at least, with screaming.
It was an ungodly sound, it echoed and pierced everywhere, it was the sound of someone - or something - tearing its eyes out
Maybe it was the mushrooms, Effy Stonem thought. Maybe they were all on the same trip. She wanted to believe it, but she didn't for a second.
--
It was Cook. He'd shattered through, into the clearing. The screaming was quieter, and the haze from the drugs was almost thin enough to think through.
"Fuck. Have you - ? Holy fucking christ. That wasn't - " He began.
Cook, the self-proclaimed "party animal", was shaking. When Effy looked deeper, which was almost as easy as it usually was, he was close to tears.
"Cook! Mate, why are you here?" Freddie failed at sounding angry. Effy rolled her eyes.
Everyone had clumped around Cook, still lying swearing on the ground. The screaming had stopped, but it had frightened everyone. It hung in the air, the memory of a bad dream.
" Cook, if this is your idea of some shitty joke, it's not funny, alright?" Katie stood next to Freddie; Emily with Naomi; JJ, Thomas and Panda together. Effy with her back to the fire, comfortably alone, as always.
"I fucking wish it was a joke, Katiekins, but it isn't yeah?" Cook was covering his eyes with his fists, trying to push the image out.
"I came here, right, to crash your little shindig. Halfway into the woods, I see these guys, with guns. Hunters or something. They're just cooking sausages, what have you, and listening to the radio. Then this... man, runs into their camp and fucking, bites one of the hunters. The other ones scarper," Cook's eyes were bright and wide. "There was loads of blood. The man that attacked him is just like, chomping on his neck, and - "
"Hold on," Freddie interrupts. "You're saying you saw a vampire attack these hunters?" He asks, mockingly. "Sorry if I'm a wee bit skeptical."
Cook's face was different though. He wasn't lying, Effy read that much. It was obviously a bad effect of a pill he'd done.
"Freds, you've got to believe me, yeah? I'm totally fucking serious," he protested,
"Come off it, we're not actually going to believe that," Naomi scoffed, the voice of cynicism.
"Way to ruin our party, tosser." Katie huffed.
"Katie, guys, I can prove it," Cook said, getting a brainwave. "Turn on the radio, something came on, just before ..." He visibly blanched, and resumed his shaking.
Something about what Cook said disturbed Effy, the memory of a memory, or something. It was also totally out-of-character for Cook to freak out like this. And he seemed sober, or as sober as she'd seen him.
"Come on, we'll check the radio - prove to Cook that he as hallucinating." Effy lead the way back to the tent, and disappeared inside to retrieve the stereo.
Once out of sight of the others, she took a moment to breathe, properly. This wasn't right, the whole situation was off. Effy didn't like it. She'd always trusted her instinct before, and now it was telling her to - get the fuck out now - and she didn't doubt it would be the best option to take.
Pulling the radio out, and setting it on a camping table, Effy unfolded the aerial and flicked around, looking for a station. Being deep in the forest, the reception was rather shit. A lot of white noise, and disconnected words.
"Panic... - developing story - government warning.. do not.. caution - .. indoors - "
"Back, " JJ said, out of the blue. " Go back two frequencies, Ef."
She did so, was unsurprised to find a clear channel.
" - Again, we advise everyone to stay indoors until further notice, bar doors and windows, and stock up on water and non-perishables, that's all the government are saying right now. This isn't a hoax, we'll give you more updates as they come in. If you've just joined us, there have been reports of widespread mass panic, in certain parts of England.
Early investigations are coming up mostly blank. London, Nottingham, Manchester, Bristol and other major cities have been confirmed as affected. As just mentioned though, the government aren't taking chances with this, as... bizarre as it sounds. Better to listen to listen to what they're saying, so we can hackle - about it... -wards."
The radio cut out, and try as they might to get signal again, they couldn't. They only got more disjointed words and static.
--
"Widespread mass panic. What the fuck? That's a little bit freaky," Emily said, her voice hoarse.
"Ems, its obviously Cook's demented idea of a prank, yeah?" Katie was skeptical, she obviously didn't fall for it.
If there was anything to fall for, Effy thought, darkly.
"Hate to break it to you, princess, but honestly, how was I meant to rig the radio?" Cook spluttered, indignant.
"He's right, Katie. It's highly unlikely that Cook would be able to manipulate the radio, because it's been in my wardrobe for the better part of a year," JJ stammered, slightly at odds at having everyone listening to him. "And anyway, it isn't really technically possible. It said to bar doors, windows, and stock up on supplies. It sounds like something out of a slasher B-movie, if I'm being totally honest."
"So, what? Zombies? Aliens?" Naomi chuckled. "This is ridiculous."
"Zombies would fit with what Cook saw."
There was a mutter of agreement at Emily's statement. Naomi pulled her arm off from around Emily's shoulders.
"Emily. Zombies. Really? This is stupid. What do we have to go on? A garbled radio announcement, and Cook's word? Sound's like a very well planned practical joke. Anyway, zombies aren't real. They're not physically possible." She shot a venomous glare at Cook, and stalked off to sit by the fire, Emily following her.
"This isn't a joke, yeah? I'm not tripping either. I think we should keep trying the radio, get some gear together, and wait 'til the radio clears it all up." Cook was adamant.
There was a short silence, interrupted by Freddie's phone, which beeped.
"It's from Karen," he said, after reading it. "She says there's something weird going on."
"That's it, I'm calling mum." Pandora left the circle to retrieve her phone, Thomas going with her.
"I'd better contact my mum, too. You know, just to check," JJ muttered.
"And me, I'll call them, Katie." Emily stared pointedly at Naomi until she sighed, conceding defeat.
"Alright fine. I'll text her. She probably won't have her phone, though, she's bloody useless with technology."
--
No one got texts back, or had anyone pick up calls, almost.
They sat around the fire for nearly an hour, ringing, re-ringing, leaving voicemails and messages. Freddie didn't get a reply from Karen, even though she's "glued to her phone, honestly."
Panda was the most twitchy, and even Katie and Naomi had become less skeptical, and a bit more worried, as the night wore on.
Effy had left a rather half-hearted voicemail, even though she was fairly sure Anthea didn't know how to check for them, Her gut feeling remained, as with a strange sense of claustrophobia. The forest was too dark, Effy would prefer concrete and 24 hour shops any day.
"Mum? Mum, speak louder, the receptions awful - "
JJ was half-shouting into his cellphone, everyone turned to listen.
"Don't - what? Okay, I promise. Are you - Mum?" He pulled his phone from his ear, staring at the screen.
"Her call cut out." JJ looked deeply troubled, and confused. Effy couldn't get much deeper than that.
He scanned the faces of his friends.
"She told me not to come back."
--
Everyone started talking at once. Eventually it was Naomi who got everyone's attention.
"Alright, alright. So let's look at this. We've had, what, three seperate things telling us something strange is going on in Bristol, or everywhere, really. Cook said he saw something that may or may not have been connected. Either way, we can't decide until tomorrow morning. Maybe by then we'll get messages back. Anyway, we could use this as an excuse to not go back to college on Monday?"
Effy noticed Emily was watching Naomi, how her eyes followed certain things; her neck, the line of her jaw, the curve of her cheek, her mouth. Effy then noticed they were holding hands, tightly. She mentally took all this down, and filed it away.
They all made their way back to the fire and started talking softly, much more quietly than before Cook showed up. The uncertainty had taken the party out of them.
--