THE DOZEN

LONELY DEATH.

Scarlett wanted to tell Alexa to back away, to put distance between herself and the dying woman- only for her own sake, of course. With every fiber of her being, she only wanted the best for Alexa. However, seeing the teen's soft eyes and virtuous intentions completely swayed her mission.

Scarlett found herself beside the teen - for some reason. She wished she knew. Maybe, then, she could find a way to disrupt the vulnerability that came along with such proximity. For now, however, she'd just have to try her best not to let Alexa get to her. Yet, judging by their closeness, she was already failing.

"Hi," Alexa mumbled in passing, brushing past Scarlett as she placed herself in front of Alicia, plopping down onto the floor. "Did you guys sort everything out?"

"Something like that," Scarlett vaguely replied, sparing her a forced smile, not wanting to burden the teenager with all the depressing details. The truth: no. Little to no progress was made. However, Alexa didn't need to know that.

"That's good," she quietly responded. "I thought about joining the conversation, but... I don't really have anything to say. At least, not anything worth saying. I'd rather just be over here."

"You can go ahead and say it," Scarlett encouraged, in a deadpan tone that sounded extremely discouraging. "None of us know the right thing to say, anyway."

Alexa glanced up, doe-like eyes meeting Scarlett's tired ones, and studied her expression for a moment- trying to figure out if she was being truthful or not. After a while, she slumped her shoulders, brought her gaze back down to Alicia, and mumbled a quiet, "I just think... I feel like this is going to sound stupid, but I just want all of us to be nice to each other and to the people around us. We're the only friends we have, you know? Why risk that by arguing over-"

Blood sliced through the air like the sharpest of blades, splattering onto Alexa's face mid-sentence. Alicia's violent, bloody coughs were the least of Scarlett's concern; once she had a grasp on the situation, Scarlett immediately took hold of Alexa and guided her into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind them.

Still stunned, Alexa stood idly as Scarlett grabbed an arbitrary hand towel: not much cleaner than her face, but something that could wipe away the blood. Thoughts were absent from her mind- they didn't even know where to begin. What should one think after getting blood splattered all over them? She wasn't angry at Alicia, nor was she upset about the mess.

She just... blanked.

It was a harsh awakening. Though her eyes were closed as Scarlett dabbed the blood from under them, she was finally awake and conscious of Alicia's condition.

"You're going to have to stay away from her," Scarlett advised, almost a warning. "It's too dangerous. She's too unpredictable."

Alexa had no response. Her eyes fluttered open, the slightest of tears shining through, so faint that Scarlett hardly took notice. Even Alexa herself was uncertain as to why she was beginning to tear up. Her self-conscious had abandoned her, so whatever thoughts running through her head felt like an utter mystery. Pure apparitions of actual, structured feelings.

But- one present emotion she was certain of? Fear. A fear of the future, of the unknown. She was certain that her own certainty petrified her to her core. And that feeling, the only feeling she could identify, was only because of those two scratches adorning Jasper's jaw.