tainted love [ xavier plympton ]

seven

Laurie began to fall asleep with her head on Xavier's shoulder, until Brooke came stumbling into the cabin, which made her alert.

"He's here! He's after me! He's trying to kill me!" Brooke yelled, and Laurie caught sight of her muddy hair and clothes.

"Who? What are you talking about?" Trevor asked the girl.

"Mr. Jingles!"

"This is a joke, right?" Xavier grinned, which Brooke didn't return.

"I could make out his raincoat. His hood. I kept hearing his keys. It was him." Brooke breathed. Trevor grabbed something sharp to defend himself, and approached the door.

"No, no, no, no! He's right outside!" Brooke yelled, but Trevor swung the door open, revealing no one.

"I don't see anything. There's nobody out here." Trevor confirmed, and Brooke let out a shaky breath.

"Are you sure it was really Mr. Jingles? Hasn't he been locked up since, like, the '70s?" Xavier drawled, folding his arms.

"Chill out, Brooke. You're just paranoid!" Laurie assured her, placing a hand on her muddy shoulder.

"No!" Brooke objected, shrugging Laurie's hand away. "I know what I saw. He murdered the hiker and he cut off his ear."

Reluctantly, the group followed Brooke to the infirmary, where she claimed the hiker's dead body was. They made Rita go first, as she was the bravest. Laurie clutched Xavier's arm as they rounded the corner, and Rita pushed open the door.

"He's right behind that door." Brooke whispered.

"Girl... you trippin'." Rita said, and the group followed her into the room. The door was indeed, lacking a dead body.

"Wha... I... I don't understand. He was... he was right here!" Brooke muttered.

"Well, he's not there anymore. Must have wandered back to wherever he came from." Xavier said, shrugging.

"Not our problem." Laurie said in an amused tone. She was stupid to believe Brooke's hallucinations.

"I think I might've found your raincoat killer." Rita joked, shining her torch on the stack of coats in the corner.

"No, no, no. No, no, no. I am not imagining all of this!" Brooke fretted, placing her hands up to her head.

"Well, yeah, but... you did indulge in the righteous bush." Chet reasoned, "How many hits did you take?"

"Zero!" Brooke exclaimed, sliding to the floor.

"Then you probably just got the mother of all contact highs." Laurie snorted.

"What in heaven's name is going on here?" Margaret's voice made them all turn.

"It's, um... it's-it's my fault. I thought..." Brooke mumbled.

"No, we came to check on that guy they picked up on the road." Trevor interrupted.

"How is he?"

"I guess he was well enough to leave." Xavier shrugged.

"Okay, good. That's one less person for us to look after." Margaret said, "Now, let's go get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow." The group piled out of the infirmary, and trekked back to the cabins.

🔪

Laurie was curled up in Xavier lap, who was sprawled across her bed, falling in and out of sleep. She didn't even bother getting out of his lap when Margaret entered, with a stern expression.