[022] taking over

                                                          They'd hold onto each other afterwards, Courtney resting her head on Suki's chest to hear her heartbeat. She felt connected to Suki now that they had gone all the way, their bond growing even stronger than before. The sun had now set completely, the two bathed in moonlight. Courtney's headache had subsided, leaving behind a faint, almost hypnotic humming. Her eyes had turned completely red by now but Courtney was too lost in the feeling to care. In between the thump, thump, thump of Suki's heartbeat, the humming continued.

                                                           It was faint but Courtney couldn't escape the sound even if she tried. And she wasn't sure she wanted to.

                                                          "Do you feel that?" Suki suddenly asks.

                                                          Courtney glances up at her, brows furrowing for a moment. "I... I think I do."

                                                          "Just let it in. Let it in and then tell me what you feel," Suki ordered.

                                                          Courtney takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as she then began to feel something happening. The air around her began to change and the humming intensified. It was almost as though Courtney was slowly becoming in tune with the wilderness around her.

                                                          "Everything's alive. I can feel a heartbeat but it's not mine. And... it's not yours. It's the wilderness. The wilderness has a heartbeat, it's alive," Courtney says, opening her eyes to look at Suki with a small smile. "Is this real?"

                                                          "Of course it's real. It's real. As long as you do what It wants, it'll reward you. And after everything that's happened, I think it'll reward us now. Something's coming," Suki remarked. "We should go and tell the others."

                                                         Courtney groaned. "I want to stay here and lie with you."

                                                         "We should go," Suki insists, sitting up and beginning to put her clothes back on. "They might be wondering about us."

                                                         "You maybe. Not me," Courtney giggles, feeling as though she was floating on a cloud still.

                                                        Suki looks over at Courtney, chuckling as she pulled Courtney up as well. "Come on. We can't stay here all night."

                                                         Courtney sighs in defeat, kissing Suki on the shoulder before she too got dressed with her. And then the two would walk back to where the party was, hand-in-hand, only to find that the others were also preparing to leave.

                                                        "What's going on here?" Courtney asked.

                                                        "We're looking for Jackie and Travis. Jackie took something that doesn't belong to her," Lottie answered. "Are you joining us?"

                                                         Suki looks over at Courtney who grins. "Sounds like fun."

                                                        The group would run through the woods, howling like wolves. Something primal and animalistic had completely taken over them now and none of them were going to fight it. Courtney was at the very front, giving in to the urges she had kept suppressed for so long. By the time they reached the cabin, there wasn't a lot of them left. The wilderness had taken over and they were playing out Its wicked game.

                                                       Storming inside the cabin, the girls would find the guilty culprits downstairs and still trying to get dressed. Travis was buttoning up his shirt while Jackie stood in front of him, confused.

                                                         "What were you guys doing up there?" Mari interrogated.

                                                         "None of your business," Jackie scoffed.

                                                         Everyone went silent, knowing that that was a lie. Lottie stepped to the forefront, sharing a look with Suki. 

                                                         "What did you tell them, Shauna?" Jackie scowled, beginning to approach her best friend.

                                                         But Taissa stepped in between them just in time.

                                                        "Nothing," Shauna weakly answered.

                                                        "Why would you do this to Natalie?" Taissa questioned, the look in her eyes more than enough to make Jackie falter.

                                                         "We didn't. I, um...," Travis trailed off, unable to come up with a good lie.

                                                         "Of course they did. I know that look anywhere," Courtney remarked, adding more fuel to the fire.

                                                         "Fuck off, Courtney," Jackie shot back, beginning to walk away.

                                                         "Where do you think you're going, little rabbit?" Courtney says, grabbing her arm roughly to keep her in place while Lottie pulled at the back of her dress to reveal a dark red stain there.

                                                          A sign that Jackie had obviously lost her virginity.

                                                         "What - hey, Lottie! Lottie, stop!" Jackie continued to shout, eventually wrestling free from Courtney's grasp and swatting Lottie away from her.

                                                          "What did you do?" Lottie demanded.

                                                          "Tell the truth! Tell them how you've been wanting him for weeks now," Courtney replied. "You know it's true."

                                                         That made the other girls even angrier, under the belief that Jackie had plotted this from the very beginning.

                                                          "Travis, do something!" Jackie pleaded but he was already too far gone.

                                                         "None of us are here, though, are we?" Travis questioned, looking absolutely dazed.

                                                         "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Jackie snapped, pulling her dress back up. Although she tried to act angry, her voice was shaking. She was confused and scared, wondering what the hell had happened with her team.

                                                        Lottie held onto Travis's hand, the boy still completely disoriented as she suddenly kissed him.

                                                       "What, you're just gonna stand there?" Jackie questioned Shauna who, like the others, were all watching the scene with a hunger in their eyes. 

                                                       Shauna grabs Travis by the shoulder, kissing him next.

                                                      Jackie makes her way over to Suki, seeing her as her final hope in trying to get the group to see reason. "Suki? Suki, you can't seriously be -."

                                                     "This is what It wants. We have to do what It wants. It'll reward us," Suki answered, causing Jackie to back away from her. She shakes her head in disbelief, realizing that she had no one on her side.

                                                    She rushes towards Shauna after that, trying to shove her away from Travis. "Shauna. Hey! Stop! Stop it! Stop!"

                                                    Taissa and Courtney both manage to pull Jackie away, shoving her backwards. Suki and Van had also joined in cornering Jackie while Lottie stepped in between them, glaring at Shauna. The other girls were with Travis, grabbing and kissing him at the same time.

                                                    "You took something that doesn't belong to you," Lottie declared.

                                                    "Oh, what, like the fucking spirits give a shit that Nat called dibs on Travis?" Jackie argued, getting right into Lottie's face.

                                                    "This has nothing to do with her," Lottie was quick to prove her wrong.

                                                    Travis didn't belong to Natalie. He belonged to the wilderness, preparing for something greater.

                                                    Jackie began to try and leave to reach Shauna, only for the other girls to continue shoving her back. "Hey, get off! You fucking psychos!"

                                                   "Don't you understand?" Lottie huffed, glaring at Jackie. "You don't matter anymore."

                                                   "What? Hey!" Jackie shouts as Courtney shoves her inside of the pantry. 

                                                   Lottie closed the door and locked it, causing Jackie to start yelling and banging on the door. But none of it fazed the girls as they carried on with what they were doing. The girls would pull off his shirt and start making out with him, with the exception of Van and Taissa who were making out with each other. Suki pulled Courtney close to her, kissing her girlfriend all over again. Hunger and desire (was there even a difference anymore?) lingered in the air, even when Suki could faintly hear Travis asking the girls to stop.

                                                    They wouldn't, of course, pulling and prodding at him. They'd even fumble with the belt of his pants, treating him more like a slab of meat than a person. Travis had managed to snap out of it, only for the other girls to hold him down. Mari even had him in a chokehold. Still, Travis managed to break free and he ran out of the cabin as fast as he could. That made Courtney and Suki pull apart, watching as he fled into the night.

                                                   But they didn't see Travis, they saw a stag. A fat, healthy stag ready to be eaten.

                                                  "The stag. We have to catch it!" Lottie declared.

                                                  "Follow me," Suki declared, rushing out of the cabin first and the other girls instantly followed her lead.

                                                  They shouted and growled as they ran after Travis, chasing him for as far as they could. Eventually, he'd end up tripping on his feet and fell down hard enough to hit his head and lose consciousness.

                                                 "Bring the stag back. We have to finish what we started," Suki declared, looking at the girls who immediately agreed.

                                                  Courtney had never loved her more.

( 🌲🔪🦌 )

                                          Lottie placed a large crown on her head, one with a veil on top of it. Suki had helped her to prepare it, smiling in satisfaction when she was finished. Travis had come to by now, tied up to the tree stump and looking around with fear in his eyes. The other girls then watched in delight as Lottie then approached Travis, her eyes turning dark in an instant.

                                         "Stop fighting," Lottie ordered.

                                         "Lottie?" Travis called out, shock and disbelief written all over his face.

                                          Mari forces Travis to keep his mouth open while Lottie places a pinecone inside, a makeshift gag. He could no longer speak, only looking terrified. Lottie then turned to look at Shauna who was holding onto the same hunting knife as before.

                                          "You know what to do," Lottie nods.

                                          Shauna steps towards him and Courtney watches in fascination, unable to see his face. All she could see was the head of the stag, Shauna bringing the knife closer and closer to his throat. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, turning to look at Lottie and Suki for confirmation.

                                          "It's okay, it wants us to," Lottie encouraged her.

                                          "Just give in. Give in to your hunger. This is what was meant to be," Suki adds.

                                          Shauna turns back around, beginning to cut into his throat. Courtney perks up at the sight of dark blood beginning to rush to the surface. But before Shauna could go any deeper, Natalie rushed towards them with Jackie close behind.

                                          "What the fuck?! Stop!" Natalie exclaimed, yanking Shauna away from Travis. "Move."

                                         Travis managed to spit out the pinecone from his mouth, able to properly breathe again. The other girls backed away, hiding behind Lottie and Suki while Natalie started to free him from the tree stump.

                                        "You have no idea what you're doing! You shouldn't interfere," Suki warned.

                                        "What the fuck is wrong with you?" Nat questioned. She felt betrayed, especially after all she had done to help Suki. To see her being a part of his shocked her more than anything else.

                                        "It's what It wants. All I have to do is carry Its bidding," Suki explained. She just didn't understand why Natalie couldn't get it.

                                        "J -Jackie, I...," Shauna trails off, suddenly dropping the knife onto the ground.

                                        "Nat! The knife!" Jackie called out.

                                        Both she and Lottie went for it, but Natalie ultimately won, gripping onto the knife as tight as she could. Travis managed to stumble forward, holding onto his neck which was now bleeding. Natalie rushed to his side, instantly worried for him.

                                       "Are you okay?" Natalie gasps.

                                       "I'm fine," Travis weakly responds before he rushes away, presumably to go and look for his brother just to make sure that he was okay.

                                       Lottie rushes towards her then, grabbing her wrist with a wicked grin. "It's in all of us, you know. Even him. Even you."

                                      "That's enough of your weird fucking bullshit, Lottie," Natalie snapped, pushing Lottie to the ground. As a result, Lottie just began to laugh. "Haven't you done enough?"

                                       "You shouldn't have done that. It was all supposed to go according to plan," Suki shakes her head. "It'll require someone else soon."

                                      "Stop it, Suki! Just stop it! I tried to be there for you. I wanted to save you! But it's clear now that that was a mistake. You're just as fucked up as Lottie. No, Courtney! You're just as fucked up as Courtney!" Natalie shouted, beginning to storm towards Suki who didn't seem to flinch.

                                      Courtney sneaks up from behind Nat, snatching the knife from her. "Say another word and I'll bleed you out, right here in front of everyone, like the pig that you are."

                                      "Go ahead. But you'll have to look me right in the eye," Natalie doesn't back down, much to Courtney's confusion.

                                      But Courtney didn't back down. She had the blade pressed against Natalie's throat, preparing to drag it across and fulfill her threat, but when she turned to look at Suki who only shook her head, the blonde grit her teeth and reluctantly backed away. Natalie was a little stunned as she looked between the two before she left, presumably to go after Travis and truly make sure that she was okay. Courtney then looked over to see Misty watching the entire thing, completely transfixed by what had just taken place. She locks eyes with Courtney, the most transfixed by her.

                                     All the while, Lottie just couldn't stop laughing. And Suki would soon join her, losing herself to the madness that seemed to be coursing through all of their veins.

( 🌲🔪🦌 )

word count: 2211
notes: well that was absolutely insane, wasn't it??? suki's totally under the wilderness' thumb and courtney's her loyal follower (see how the dynamic between them is beginning to switch? it's going to constantly alternate back and forth so that'll be exciting). and i absolutely hate hate HATE writing the scene where travis gets assaulted, it's so icky to me and that should not have happened to him. travis martinez has suffered more than jesus christ (him and javi).