The Stewarts (rebooted- accepting new characters)

[Faith Eliza Cord]

"Baby, would I really leave you out of a source of entertainment like that?" Regina whispered back, smiling up into his eyes. Her hand strokes over from his chest around his shoulder and up his neck, and she lets her forehead briefly rest against his again as she nods slightly, agreeing with him. "Yeah, no more of that...I'll just wait the next time. You can judge if they're classy enough for me to risk diseasing myself up for. Or at least if they're hot enough, because that guy failed the litmus test on that."


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She snickered again, sliding her hand into Riley's and letting her lead him out of the cafeteria. She is already feeling considerably better than she had the day before and even earlier this morning, though she still had a minor spell of dizziness when she began to walk and slowed her steps, waiting for it to pass. It would also likely not be a good idea for her to try blood right now, but the entertaining exchange with Tegan was a good distraction and laugh, and if things continue as are, she hopes she'll be back to her full self by tomorrow.


"Hey, who knows?" she says in response to him about the dean. "We could try, right? I mean, we could say something about how our family's gonna sue their ass off if they don't tell us everything they know about how our brother ended up dead in their school, right?"


She looks down at herself, realizing that in her current attire, which is exactly the same scantily clad gear that she had worn before and worn to bed as well, she doesn't exactly look professionally threatening. Still, she has ways to make up for that.


(not the right actors but whatever lol)

 

[pistolmouth]

A smirk tugged at the corner's of Riley's lips as he listened to his twin and planted a kiss on her forehead before continuing down the hall. "There's also the option of playing it up like we want to commiserate with the family or something. You know, shared grief or whatever."


Which, he thought to himself as they walked, matching each others' pace easily, would not be entirely wrong. In their own way, they were grieving for Zane; it was heavily laden with anger at his stupidity for getting himself caught and murdered and also, Riley admitted to himself, an obsession with finding the person that had done it, that had risked their exposure and, even possibly, could go on to blackmail the family should they add up what their brother had been doing with the other guy in the bathroom. And that certainly wouldn't fly. Not with Riley or any other of his siblings.


They had just started out here, after all, and this town, it seemed, was ripe with pickings, as college towns generally were. Riley paused outside of the dean's office and grinned down at his sister, using his knuckle to brush away the lipstick that had smeared over her mouth, "We should get lunch after we finish here."

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

"Commiserate with the family? You mean, like, with the other dead kid's family?" she asks, as a slow smile spreads across her face. With one careless glance around to make sure no one is paying attention, she kisses him briefly on the lips, her hand lingering on Riley's face as she continues to smile up at him. "This is going to be fun..."


She accepts his efforts at "fixing" her and reaches to wipe a smudge of lipstick that had transferred to his mouth as well from her lips, then made some effort to smooth down her skirt as much as it would go over her legs. She runs a hand through her hair, but rather than trying to smooth it, deliberately musses it, and then rubs her fists over her eyes to further mess up the remnants of eyeliner and mascara that remain. She grins at Riley again as she does this, raising an eyebrow to indicate a performance is about to start.


"Yeah, we'll have to. We'll need it."


She lets Riley knock on the dean's door, and when he opens it, looking them over with barely concealed irritation and skepticism as to the importance of their interruption as he opens it, then pastes on a quick, professional smile, Regina half covers her face with her hand, lowering her eyes as the other hand extends out to him. She "tries" to smile at him, but her lips quiver, and she doesn't meet his eyes.


"Hi...I'm sorry to bother you...you don't even know who I am, I'm sure...my, my name is Regina Stewart, I work in the cafeteria here, and this is my brother Riley, he's a student...we...Zane Stewart, he was our brother-"


She deliberately lets her voice break at this, and then bursts into tears, covering her face with both hands. When the dean, Dean Whitney, starts forward, his expression quickly changing into one of awkward concern and anxiety, she puts up one hand, shaking her head and continuing to sob through these induced "tears."


"It's just, I'm so sorry...it's been, it's so hard...we just, we don't even know how this happened, or...that other poor boy too..."


"I'm so sorry for...Miss Stewart?" Whitney murmured, looking past her down the hallway and putting one hand briefly and gingerly to her elbow. "Miss Stewart, why don't you come inside with me? And you as well," he nodded towards Riley.


As he turned, Regina lifted her face just long enough to quickly smirk at Riley before resuming her hunched, tearful demeanor to follow him inside.

 

[pistolmouth]

As Regina put on her performance, Riley brought a hand to her back and shifts his gaze downward, picking up the cue to lay the devastation on thick and managed a slow, hard swallow as though fighting a lump of tears. He had to admit it, they were doing a damn good job, and it was difficult to keep the smile from his face. After Dean Whitney turned his back to them, he returned Regina's smirk and followed them in.


"Thanks so much for seeing us," he said slowly, his voice hoarse - more with the effort of holding back laughter than with any other emotion - "We just... the police, they aren't really giving us any answers, you know? And it's..."


Again, Riley cleared his throat and sat down in one of the chairs across from the dean. "We, you know, we were hoping to contact the family, since we know they're suffering too. Do you... would you have that kind of information? Or be able to give it to us at all?"

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

"Well..." Whitney hedged, glancing between the two of them. As they had sat in the chairs in front of his desk, he had sat as well, though his fingers were clearly tensed around the armrests, his posture uncomfortable and awkward, and he had edged his chair back as far from them as possible even as he leaned slightly towards them. Without quite wanting it to happen, his eyes kept drifting down to Regina's legs, where her skirt had risen halfway up her thigh, and then to her cleavage, as she was hunched over, clearly and deliberately displaying a good portion of it.


Snapping his eyes over to Riley, and gluing them to his face alone, Whitney cleared his throat. Beside Riley Regina continued to sob into her hands for a couple of seconds before lifting a face gleaming with tears and further smeared makeup, as well as reddened eyes; she had jabbed herself in the eyes with her fingers to irritate them and cause genuine tears, and it is easier for her to actually cry now. Once she is producing real tears it is almost easy for her to forget that this is an act, and actual pain grips her heart as she says to him in a choked voice, "Please...please, we need to know. Can't you tell us anything...please?"


After a long pause, Whitney folds. "This is confidential...but...well, the other student, his name was Ryan Carter...I don't know of the details of the deaths, but an autopsy will have to be given, I'm sure, given the nature of-"


"An autopsy?" Regina blurts, bolting upright with genuine horror. For Zane to have an autopsy would mean they would discover nothing but blood in his digestive tract. And who knew what they might find about his genetic makeup, his DNA, even his insides that could betray their difference?


She looks at Riley with dismay and urgency that Whitney misinterprets, clearing his throat again.


"Ah, yes, I know the thought must be upsetting...but...if you would like to know what happened, as we all do...


"We have to go," Regina said abruptly, standing so quickly that her chair almost knocked over, and without another word, she grabbed Riley's hand and dragged him up with her, propelling him out the door and down the hallway even as she hears the startled man calling after her. She waits until they are well out of range of hearing before hissing, "this is a f***ing disaster, now we have to find this Ryan Carter guy and his family AND we have to go steal the body from the morgue!"

 

[pistolmouth]

It was difficult not to drop the act when Riley saw the dean checking out his sister. For a moment, his fingers dug into her back before he continued rubbing it and watching the dean, trying to look as grief-stricken as he possibly could. At the word "autopsy" Riley's stomach nearly dropped to basement level.


"Thank you for your help," he said quickly as Regina pulled him out of the room. He met her pace easily, heart pounding against his chest. An autopsy would mean a whole can of worms opening on top of the family, would mean their needing to pack up and move again, change their names and start over when they had just managed to get settled down here.


Raking his his hands through his hair, he let out a breath, "We should be able to say that we don't want one, right? I've heard of families doing that in movies or whatever. I mean, if Zane was just stabbed, then why would they even need to autopsy him?" Riley cleared his throat and took her hand, "I mean, don't they like, need the approval of the family or whatever?"


It was easy enough for him to get irritated, and he struck out at the wall, letting out a noise of frustration. "Whatever. Let's just go."

 

[Macal Cord]

(Just going to say they ate their dinner)


*After they finished their dinner Lucas wanted to be sure they settled on a plan of action* So what is your plan for getting the sample it won't be easy I'm sure. I know I can't do it, they won't even let me near them, I went by there to say I'm sorry for their lost and his sister went batshit crazy, I'm not sure if they'll treat you any better, however I don't have your beauty to open doors for me. *He signals for the check and when it comes he pays it and stands up putting on his jacket then offering her a hand to get out of the booth.* I'll leave you all my contact information. Now please I excuse me I have to get back to my work, I'll hail you a cab which of course I'll pay for.


(Didn't have much to post on this one sorry)

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

"Like that matters if they need our approval or not?" Regina hissed, her nails unconsciously digging into Riley's arm where she was gripping him as she took in a few shallow breaths, her heart pounding as rapidly as his, her eyes fixed on his as she ignored any activity that might be going on around them, any people who might be passing by. "The movies are full of sh*t, they always are, how do we know what the real law is? Or what if they don't follow it? I mean, look at this place, it's not exactly rich man school of the year or some cosmopolitan city, it's the most rinky dink, average, Joe anonymous town Jeremy could find, they don't follow by the book around those places! And even if they did, they'll figure out soon enough if they start snooping around that Stewart isn't even our original name, there's no birth certificate or social security for Zane or any of us! All the sh*t we gave them to register with was fake!"


She kicked the wall just below where Riley had struck it, letting out a frustrated growl, and with fists bawled at her sides, turned to leave, expecting him to come after her. It isn't until they're outside of the building that she speaks again. "He's at the morgue. We have to get the body....we can pick up a snack too there, kill two birds in one stone."


**


"I am not certain, but I will figure this out as the time comes," Rikarah informs Lucas as he helps her out of the booth. She accepts his hand and his having paid for her, as well as the cab home, but before slipping into it, she stops him with one hand to his wrist, looking up at him.


"Thank you. And yes, I will contact you soon."


Deliberately she lets her fingers slip over his wrist as she removes her hand, allowing him to interpret this however he would like. As she slips into the cab and gives it directions back to her dorm, Rikarah allows the barest hint of a smile to cross her face. Tomorrow will certainly be interesting. She only hopes that Regina is not the type to lay out in mourning for long.

 

[pistolmouth]

Riley let out a breath as Regina vented her frustrations, barely even registering the way her nails dug into his arm. When they were ready to leave, he squeezed his twin's hand briefly and led her outside to his bike. He climbed on and revved it up once Regina was seated behind him, taking off in the direction of the morgue.


Driving always cleared his head. It was almost as if the wind shucked off all of the worry he'd kept stocked inside his body. While it did little to completely aid in the newest crisis out of however many seemed to pop up in the last few days, it did clear him out enough to wonder aimlessly if there was anything that could be done to keep the autopsy from happening.


Of course, there was a normal thrill of excitement at the thought of just killing the coroner and snagging their brother's body before tearing ass out of the morgue. There was no denying that, the thought of doing it, of misbehaving after - for the most part - being a good boy and staying out of trouble, was enough for him to accelerate a little more on the way to the morgue.


They could always make some excuse about wanting to identify the body, or having some sort of last words before they made their brother's corpse up like some sort of f***ing painted whore and stuffed him into a coffin or whatever before the funeral. The pity card had gotten them pretty far as far as that day went, maybe it would get them a little further. One problem that itched at the back of his mind, though, was how they were going to manage getting the body out of there while driving a motorcycle. While they could easily go back and get Jeremy's car, but what if they didn't have that kind of time?


No, they would just have to stash the body somewhere and come back for it. And what if they threw a big enough fit? Maybe said something about how it was against their religion or whatever for autopsies to be done, or that, since their brother was stabbed, was an autopsy really necessary, and did they have to really drag this out any longer when they just wanted to lay their sibling to rest? Haven't they suffered enough?


A small smirk creeps onto his features at that thought. It could work. Of course, that doesn't mean that it would, but it was good to keep one's options open.


As he pulled into the parking lot of the morgue and put the kickstand down, he let out a breath and stretched, shaking out the tingle in his hands from gripping the handlebars of the bike too tightly. "Ready for this?"

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

Regina wrapped her arms around Riley's waist and pressed her face into his back, the swiftness of the ride not provoking nausea as much this time around, but she wasn't taking any chances. Although she supposed that it would certainly get her bonus sympathy points if she were to faint or vomit in front of the morgue workers. She does somewhat enjoy the feel of the engine beneath her legs, her hair whipping behind her, but she is nevertheless relieved when they arrive just outside the morgue. She takes a moment to steady herself, glad that her stomach does not cramp too badly in protest when she steps off, and anchors herself with his hand for a moment before nodding.


"Totally."


She had no concrete plan in mind, nor did she feel she needed one. Regina Stewart wasn't one to work well with planning and scheming, at least not in advance. She operated best by simply going on instinct, and hers were pretty damn dead on most of the time.


She kept her face composed, even determined as she walked through the door with Riley and into the entrance area that was the closest to a lobby that she supposed existed, complete with an information desk and a bored middle-aged lady sitting behind it. As the woman looked up from her computer, asking how she could be of help, Regina gave her a polite, insincere smile.


"We would like someone to take us to one of the bodies we believe is in your morgue area. Maybe readying for an autopsy?"


"We don't generally allow people to see bodies that are about to be autopsied-" the woman started, but she had no time to finish the sentence before Regina shifted to her second nonexistent plan. Her face crumbling, she deliberately locked her muscles so she began to shake all over, one hand clasped over her chest as her face reddened, and she took in shallow breaths to make herself breathe heavier, faster, and to feel more faint. It was easier to induce tears this time, and she almost screamed back at the woman.


"It's my brother in there! My little brother, and you're going to cut him up like a piece of meat! My little brother, he got stabbed, F*CKING STABBED, and you're going to keep stabbing him even after he's dead, HOW CAN YOU DO THIS? I just want to see my brother, I just want to say goodbye to him! He didn't even know I was pregnant, he's never going to know his own little niece...oh god, I can't stand this! I'm going to throw up...no, I'm going to..."


Her legs buckled beneath her, and the woman stood quickly with a gasp of alarm as Regina collapsed to the ground, apparently having fainted.


"Oh no, oh dear-" the woman breathed, and she hurriedly picked up her phone, using it to call over the intercom. "Code 291, hurry!"


Two morgue workers appeared then, both coming forward as the woman came from around the desk, standing near Regina anxiously. "She just- she was upset, and she fainted, or-"


But her words were cut off by her own screaming, for when the men knelt down beside Regina, making motions as though to check her pulse, she bolted up with a snarl, seizing one by his neck and sinking her teeth into his cheek to tear the flesh off his bones.

 

[pistolmouth]

At first, Riley had been surprised when Regina doubled over. As usual, there had been no real plan going into this, so he figured that she would come up with something eventually. What he hadn't expected, though, was for her to pretend to pass out. He hadn't even needed to do anything, either, just sit back and watch.


It really was glorious to watch Regina at work.


When she bit into one of the men rushing to her aid, Riley quickly followed suit and snapped into action. The woman had to be shut up, that much was clear. Vaulting himself over the desk, he clapped a hand over her mouth and dug his teeth into her neck. Her screams were quickly replaced with a watery, strained cry that was cut short when his teeth severed her windpipe.


The other man who had come to help stood, rooted to his spot completely paralyzed by what he was seeing. Gripping the paper weight on the woman's desk, Riley hurled it at him, hitting him square in the temple. Whether or not it killed him mattered very little to Riley. What mattered was that he dropped to the floor like a sack of bricks. Jumping back over the desk, he rushed over and grabbed Regina's hand, pulling her up and down the hall.


"Cmon," He hissed, "Let's be quick about this so we can clean up our mess and get out of here."

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

Regina is rather reluctant to let the man she has bitten go. She had released his cheek from her teeth, beginning to bite him repeatedly in a frenzy of hunger and excitement as the first few drops of blood had settled over her tongue and taste buds. Her sharp teeth had pierced his throat, his shoulder, and bit off most of his ear before clamping down over his jugular. With each bite, with each infusion of blood into her system, she can feel a delicious heated adrenaline flowing through her veins, a renewed strength, energy, and focus, and she feels certain now that this is what she needs to flush out what remnants of tainted blood from her previous victim remained within her. Not frozen blood, but fresh, fresh, hot, and pulsing with vitality.


As Riley pulls her to her feet, she grins up at him savagely, blood streaked over her chin and lips, dripping down her neck, chest, and spattered over her arms as well. She kisses him a quick but rather intense kiss, further smearing blood over both their faces before she passes him in running down the hallway towards a door which was clearly marked "Employees Only." There was only one attendant inside the morgue operating area, and his eyes widened as she advanced towards him, not at first understanding the danger of the situation.


"Oh my- what's happened, was there an accident? Are you hurt-"


The "helpless victim" that Regina most decidedly is not launches herself at him, slamming his head down face first into the steel gurney table he had been standing at. Seizing up the scalpel that had moments before been in his fingers, she held it over him, slicing the length of first one wrist, then the other, with rapid motions, heedless of the arterial spray as she pressed on arm up to her wrist and latched on, sucking and slurping the blood with abandon. When she has had her fill, gasping, she tosses the fast-fading man towards Riley and begins to approach the four bodies laid out beneath the sheets, throwing back the sheets to search for Zane. It occurs to her after the first two have been uncovered that taking care of the camera in the corner might be a good idea, so she pushes one gurney over, stands on top of it, and uses a metal tray to systematically smash at it until the lens finally breaks. Jumping down again, she looks over to check her brothers progress.


**


As Rikarah enters her dorm room hours later that evening, careful to be quiet, in case her roommate is asleep, she undresses, brushes her teeth, and prepares herself for bed, though she is not tired in the least. What she wishes to do is read some more of the files that Lucas has shared with her, to look up information herself, and as she logs into her laptop, she settles onto her bed with it in her lap, intending to do so.


What she sees on her home page, which is set to a local news site, however, causes her to abandon this idea in favor of clicking on the top story- a report of the local morgue having been vandalized, possibly robbed of bodies, and its workers murdered. Scanning through the details, Rikarah's eyes narrow, and she begins to type out careful notes.


This must be discussed with Lucas. And after a few more minutes, she decides to not to wait. Taking the contact information he has given her, she dials his number.


(dawns on me that Rikarah and Lucas were ahead in time of the Stewarts, so undoubtedly all this would be on the news by the time it was the evening they went out to eat)

 

[pistolmouth]

Riley was enjoying himself far too much to really stop. As he waited for Regina to finish up with her victim, he returns to the guy he'd hit with the paper weight and digs his teeth into him, drinking heavily, allowing the relief of his soon-to-be full stomach swoop in and relax his muscles which, he hadn't noticed until he'd started drinking, had been tense and stiff with the stress of the day.


As they walked into the morgue with Regina, he smiled broadly and latched his mouth onto the other wrist, his fingers digging into the face of the man, pushing his head back, more so to give himself purchase on the body than anything. He was disposable, really, and it didn't matter much to Riley what kind of condition his body was left in so long as it couldn't be linked back to him. He wasn't quite finished in time with Regina, but when she pulled away, he managed two more large swallows before throwing back the sheets along side her.


Zane had been the second to last sheet in the row of bodies. When Riley saw him, his hands immediately clenched into fists, the surge of anger that he'd been mostly holding back since the news had been broken to the family came crawling back into his chest. He had mostly been able to contain his rage enough to allow Regina to expend her own, but seeing it this close to him made it that much more real.


For a moment, he nearly flipped the stretcher over, but instead settled for letting out a furious snarl and pounding his fist onto the surface right next to Zane's arm. "You stupid little shit." He growled and grabbed his phone out of his pocket, dialing Jeremy's number. He didn't wait for him to say hello when he answered, just immediately spoke up, giving him barely enough time to even raise the phone to his ears. "So here's the thing, they were going to autopsy Zane's body. Regina and I took care of it, but we need you to pick us up at the morgue asap. Can't very well transport a body on the back of my bike now, can we?"

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

As Regina jumped down from the gurney she had been standing on, her eyes came to rest on Zane's body, having just been uncovered by Riley. He is naked, his body very pale and strangely unreal looking to her, and lying on his back, he looks undamaged, as the knife wound was in his back. Regina goes still, staring at him, her fists slowly clinching at her sides as equally strong feelings of anger, dismay, grief, and shock run through her, all the more intense due to the high levels of adrenaline her recent "snack" has created.


Zane is just one of them now, one of the victims, one of the dead. No different from the man lying on the floor, the three people out in the lobby. No different at all.


A soft sob escapes her, and she is infuriated by this, by the softer feelings warring with her anger. Kicking the gurney as far as it will skid across the floor, she throws the sheet back over him, standing close enough to Riley to hear Jeremy's conversation with him as he finally picked up the phone.


When his cell phone rang, Jeremy gasped, jumping, and fumbled for it, almost dropping it. Seeing Riley's number flash across the screen, he hesitated, knowing he didn't want to answer it, before finally doing so, cringing even before he heard his words....and then cringing a lot more when he did.


"WHAT?! You....what?!"


"Killed four people, pushed the dean of the school around, and got Zane's body waiting. Hurry up, we'll take care of the cameras but you never know about this sh*t," Regina says into the receiver, before adding as a pleasant afterthought, "Oh, I'm not pregnant, by the way, I just have hepatitis. But I'm feeling much better now, nice dinner and all. And that body that freaked you out last night? I did it, and he's the one who sicked me up. Later, Jeremy!"


She hung up for Riley, even as Jeremy sputtered on the other end for several moments, then called out almost incoherently to Maddy and Juliette before stumbling out the door to this car. They could either come or not; either way, he had to try to fix this mess, somehow, before they continued on their quest to send them all straight to hell, jail, or somewhere in between.

 

[amdreams]

Juliette crossed her arms as Jeremy seemed to blow up at her. "Well we're going to have to talk about this eventually. And I'd rather get this over with already. I need to move on from the whole sad thing. We all do. I . . . I just can't go to school without my beauty sleep, okay?" She was of course talking about how red her eyes have gotten from crying last night. She couldn't keep crying like that and if people at school saw her right now, they'd undoubtedly try to poke into the reason why. And she didn't need people going into her business, especially with the whole blood drinking thing going on. That idiot should just turn to ash already so that she could move on with her life, just like how she eventually got over their parents dying.


Thinking about Zane brought a slight tear to her eye. Not wanting Jeremy to see her, she headed toward the front door. "So we're burning him. Whatever. The sooner the better. I'm heading out for a while. Don't worry. I already ate my 'breakfast'." Right before exiting the door, she paused for a bit and muttered something Jeremy may or may not have heard. "It'd be nice if we could afford to give him a decent funeral though." And with that, she left around the same time the eldest Stewart got a phone call from who knows who, so he probably didn't really notice her leave. Whatever. She needed some air, a lot of air.

 

[pistolmouth]

Riley allowed his sister to hang up the phone, not bothering to get it back from her. Instead, he went about the job of taking care of the bodies out front. His plan was not to move them, but instead to just remove any and all evidence that may have been left over from the struggle. Grabbing several kleenex, he wiped the areas around where their teeth had been to get rid of any DNA they may have left and smashed out the cameras.


Jeremy would want to get out of there fairly quickly, so Riley knew that time was of the essence. Sitting down at the seat in front of the computer where the woman had been sitting, he pulled his sleeve over his hands and deleted the security footage once the cameras had been destroyed. At least this way, there would be plenty of loose ends to be tied up.


It wouldn't be hard to seem shocked that their brother's body had gone missing, though. After all, why would a bereaved family steal their own brother's corpse from a morgue anyway? No, it would certainly be left to someone else. Jogging back into the room he'd left Regina in, he kissed her hard and muttered a brief "all clear" before breaking away and trying to find something to wrap Zane's body in.


He would have to be the one to carry him, probably, and he sure as hell wasn't going to carry his brother's naked corpse. Deciding that the sheet that had been used to wrap his body would be good enough after not finding much else to use. Riley let out a sigh and wrapped his brother up in the sheet as tightly as he could and lifted it, noting how the stiffness had already started to leave his body.


"Jeez, Zane." He huffed and adjusted himself. "You're fatter than you look." Looking over at Regina, he raised his eyebrows, "Back exit, you think?"

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

"Move on from this...this whole sad thing?" Jeremy blinked down at Juliette, his mouth open. He had been already at the front door, his hand even resting on the doorknob as she spoke, but now he turns back to her, incredulous. He knew his sister very well by now, and Juliette was not one to think of anything or anyone beyond herself or particularly how she looked. But even he was somewhat taken aback by this declaration from her.


It was true that Jeremy too wanted to move on, to not feel or think about Zane and what his death meant, about their parents and where their loss had left them all. It was true that he felt with every passing day, hell, every passing hour, that his life was digging itself into a deeper and deeper black hole that he would never be able to climb out of. Still, for Juliette to stand there and say that she was worried about her beauty sleep? For Riley and Regina to be out robbing morgues and getting themselves into even greater trouble, causing MORE attention to be brought on themselves, rather than properly mourning at home, keeping on the down low, like any halfway sensible person would? What was wrong with them all? Could they do even one single thing in any way even halfway approaching normal?


He was already in the car before he remembered Maddy, or rather, his lack of knowledge as to where she was or what she was doing. Growling under his breath, he got out of the car, almost running through the house calling her name. It didn't dawn on him for several minutes that she was likely hiding under her bed, as she usually was when she was upset. Sure enough, there she was, curled up under there. Jeremy had neither the time nor the patience to deal with coaxing her out or comforting her, but he did try to speak to her softly and nicely.


"Maddy? I have to go get the twins, they've gotten themselves in trouble....if you stay home, don't move, don't let anyone know you're here until we get back. If you come with me, come now, because as soon as I'm in the car I'm leaving."


He gives her a few seconds to decide before starting back downstairs. It doesn't occur to him until he's in the car and starting the engine that what Juliette had just said about the funeral is true. How the hell could they have a funeral for Zane now? They couldn't just dump the body in a funeral home themselves, and they couldn't exactly start digging up their own back yard either. The twins were such IDIOTS.


**


Regina kisses Riley back as he returns to her, one blood-smeared hand reaching up to tightly grip his chin as she closes her eyes, sighing into his mouth with frustration more than with passion. Moving to help Riley wrap Zane up, she grits her teeth, steeling herself to the task of touching his body with as much dispassion as possible as she takes his feet, nodding tersely in reply to him.


"Yeah, probably. Kill whoever comes by or sees? Shame I'm getting so full already, must be since I haven't kept anything down in two days."


As they begin to carry him out together, her hair is falling in her eyes, and she shakes it back, swearing under her breath. It's so hard to believe that this is her brother, this is Zane she is touching now. She remembers him as a little kid, always with a book in his hand, as a scrawny preteen, how irritated she had been when he grew taller than her in height, and then how smug she had been to discover she could nevertheless still beat him up. This is her brother, and as fun as it had been to go on that rampage, that knowledge is putting a damper on it now.


When she sees Jeremy's car pull up before them, Jeremy already fussing even before he's opened the car door, she lets herself acknowledge the relief she feels to see him to herself if no one else. In a few seconds he'll be off her hands, at least for a little while.

 

[pistolmouth]

Riley hoisted Zane's body up briefly and carried it into the car, taking much more care to put him in the body than he would any other corpse he'd ever handled. It was his little brother, after all, and his body needed to be treated with at least a modicum of respect.


Suddenly remembering his bike, he jogged out front and retrieved it, attaching it to the top of the car with a bungee cord. Swallowing thickly, he stepped around the side of the car and closed the trunk over Zane and climbed in, securing his arm tightly around Regina when she climbed in next to him.


"Thanks for the ride, Jeremy." He said after the car had already started moving. He didn't expect his brother to say much, it had been obvious to him that Jeremy was too close to the tipping point to really form any kind of coherent sentence, but at the very least, he should at least show a little bit of gratitude.


Letting out a breath, Riley kissed the top of Regina's head and rubbed her side, grip tight enough that he nearly had her pinned to him. His stomach rolled, blooming with rage and a healthy mixture of frustration that they had to go to these kind of lengths just to keep their family safe.


Damn Zane. Damn him for his stupidity, and damn whoever planted their knife in his spine. The only thing that kept him from trying to put his fist through the window was the fact that he and Regina would find them and that revenge would come slowly and painfully. Hell, Riley almost felt bad for them. But sitting in the car and thinking about it was doing very little to help with his mood. Glancing over at Regina, he shot her a mischievous grin and then met Jeremy's eyes in the rear view mirror.


"So, was work good?"

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

"Hurry up already...I can't believe this, I can't believe this is happening..." Jeremy muttered in a voice that was higher and even terser than usual as his fingers nervously drummed on the steering wheel, his eyes darting all around him. There was no one coming, as they were around the back of the building, and there was little chance of someone seeing them, but still, the anxiety he felt was intense, and he was waiting with every breath for sirens to start up, for several police cars to pull in and surround them.


And then what would they do? Try to outrun them, try to outdrive them? He, Jeremy, driving like a Nascar stunt double? Kill them all- police officers, with guns? They could never do it.


"I hope you're both very satisfied with yourself, I don't know what the hell you were thinking, but we can't get away with this! What will we do with the body? I had to leave Maddy home, and Juliette is who knows where, and we can't have a BODY in our house, we can't exactly flush it down the drain- oh NO, oh SHIT, the social worker is supposed to be there at four tomorrow!" Jeremy blurted, his eyes bulging with his horror at this realization as he slapped his hand down harshly enough on the steering wheel that the horn sounded. He flinched, gasping then, and his head jerked back and forth as he looked for someone to be coming, but saw no one. "What are we doing with the body before then, and don't you dare say bury it in the backyard! I don't care if we do have a lot of land, we are NOT digging up our yard where anyone might see!"


"You would think that you'd thank us, Jeremy, we just saved our asses, after all," Regina muttered as she nestled into Riley's side, leaning her head into his shoulder as Jeremy nearly screeched out of the back area of the building.


"Saved our asses?!" Jeremy sputtered, shooting an incredulous glance back at her in the rearview mirror. "You just killed an entire building of people and kidnapped our brother's body!"


"They would have figured out what he was if we didn't," Regina shrugged, still lying in apparent unconcern against Riley, and she lifted an eyebrow at Jeremy in the mirror, smirking slightly. "You know, you'd think you'd show some concern for me after my ordeal today. Girl can't even have an abortion crisis without her big brother making over her some?"


"And you!" Jeremy jabbed a finger back at her. "What the hell are you doing, killing people you don't know in some bar where anyone could have walked in, anyone could have seen! That's exactly what Zane did and look what happened to him, is that where you want to wind up! Giving yourself diseases and- god, Regina!"


"It might be the same thing, but obviously I was smarter about it, ironically enough, since I'm here and he isn't," Regina said with no concern as they turned towards their neighborhood. "Well, I guess he is, technically, but I"m the one who's not in the trunk, at any rate."


As they pull into the driveway, she sits up, quirking an eyebrow again. "Broad daylight, how we gonna get him in the house, brother brainiac?"

 

[pistolmouth]

Riley listened to Jeremy ranting with a sick sort of amusement. He couldn't help cringing, however, every time he took a hard turn and heard and felt Zane's body moving in the trunk. His arms tightened around Regina's body and he allowed himself to fall lax in the car.


Jeremy is bound to blow a gasket soon. Riley, however, can't help but feel a gross amount of amusement at his frustration with Regina and him. Even with the social worker coming over tomorrow, it's not like she was going to check the trunk of the car for bodies. It would be a typical cut and paste social worker visit; dinner with the family, talking about school and whatever else.


"Look, we'll find a way to get rid of the body, Jeremy. It's not a huge issue." He said finally, irritated that Jeremy saw fit to harp on Regina just then, when they'd been busting their asses all day trying to resolve their brother's murder.


Or had he just chosen to ignore that completely?


"And the news said the guy had killed himself, so it's not like we're going to flag anyone's attention for that. You're being way too paranoid. We're going to fix this, so just cool your jets."


The car in the driveway, and Regina having asked what they were going to do about the body, Riley ran a hand through his hair, scratching at his scalp lightly. Now that was something that needed to be fixed immediately. He heaved a deep breath, "We can wait until it's dark, right? I mean, it's not like Zane's going anywhere."


It pained him to say it, to even think of it that way. But even Riley and Regina weren't so reckless as to try and move a body in broad daylight just outside of their own houses.

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

Regina feels Riley cringe and turns her head slightly to look at him, still lying against his chest with her head now tilted up to meet his eyes. When she too notices the occasional thud of Zane's body knocking against the trunk sides, she thins her lips, reaching for his hand, and squeezes, narrowing her eyes until they are nearly closed. She doesn't want anyone, even Riley, to see any emotion that might flicker across them.


For now she tunes out Jeremy, sudden disinterested even in harassing him as he continues to stress.


"No big issue?! The dead body of a family member in our car is no big issue?! How the hell will you fix this, like you always did before, forcing us to move out and on and never stay in one place for more than six months because you and your blood lust libidos can't keep it in your pants and your teeth in your mouths?!"


Riley's next suggestion to bury Zane after dark is met with even greater protest as Jeremy shakes his head so vehemently it looks to cause him physical pain. "No! No one is burying him in our yard, it would be traced right back to us! If...the woods...at least go in the woods," he said with some difficulty, before swallowing, lifting his chin, and saying with more determination, "I'll do it. After dark. Both of you...just....just stay out of trouble, we have more than enough."


He slammed both the car door and the front door as he got out, calling out Maddy's name as he walked upstairs, the tone angrier than he intended. Regina sat up slowly, eyes shifting to Riley's again as she too got out.


"Yeah, he's not a very appreciative guy, our brother."

 

[Macal Cord]

*Lucas didn't go home he drove around for a long time before parking on the room at the garage at the university he sat there looking up at the night's sky thinking about the night, every now and then his thoughts would come to Rika and he grin but mostly he's thinking of his research., just as his phone rang* Hello to is Professor Luna. *He didn't notice that it was Rika's number until after he spoke* Rikarah? Is something wrong? Did you get home ok? *He had not been listening to the radio and of course no where near a computer or tv so he has no ideal what's happening with the morgue* 
(sorry kept meaning to come back to this.)

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

"It appears we missed some further excitement from earlier today," Rikarah informs Lucas, sitting on her bed with her back against the wall and curling one arm around her legs as she spoke to him. "I suppose you do not often watch TV or check the news sites online, at least the local ones. There has been an interesting turn of events."


She pauses, then lowers her voice slightly, though her roommate is not present and would likely not be listening if she was. "Earlier today there was an attack in the local mortuary. Four employees who were on schedule were murdered rather viciously. It appears, the reports say, that they were bitten or otherwise attacked, and they have not yet released for certainty the cause of death. But the most interesting part of it is that it appears a body was stolen. They have not yet released the name of which body, and they may not do so, but I would place bets upon it being that of Zane Stewart."


She is stroking a strand of her hair absently between her fingers as she finishes. "I would imagine that his siblings were behind this "liberation."

 

[Ophelia Danvers]

((Faith, where is Jeremy exactly?))

 

[Faith Eliza Cord]

(home currently)