[024] another death

                                                     "Where the fuck are you going?" Courtney questioned.

                                                      Suki looked at the door a moment longer before she turned to look at Courtney, a sigh escaping her lips. "Outside. I want to see how Jackie's doing."

                                                      "Why? She doesn't give a shit about any of us, especially you," Courtney's quick to remind her.

                                                      "I have to try and get her back inside. Winter is coming very soon. And if she's out there for too long... she'll die," Suki argued.

                                                      "How do you know she's going to die?" Courtney questioned.

                                                      "I just feel it. I couldn't save Laura Lee but I have to try and save her," Suki answered. 

                                                      "Even if it is true, we shouldn't. It's what is supposed to happen, right?" Courtney inquired.

                                                      "Not if I have time to stop it," Suki persisted.

                                                       "Suki -," Courtney starts, grabbing Suki's arm to keep her in place.

                                                      "Let me go," Suki argued. It was the first real time that Suki had ever challenged her before. And while Courtney wasn't too pleased about the blatant disrespect, she couldn't keep Suki hostage.

                                                      Courtney holds on a moment longer before she reluctantly lets go of Suki, allowing her to leave the cabin so she could try and reason with Jackie.

                                                      "Where's Suki going?" Misty asked, now beginning to approach Courtney.

                                                      "Who cares? Why are you even talking to me?" Courtney retorts.

                                                      "Because... I thought we were best friends," Misty faltered.

                                                      "That's before you tried to fucking poison me. With everything we've been though, I'm hurt. And bad things happen when I feel like my feelings are hurt," Courtney folds her arms across her chest. "Really bad. Like a... let's go and tell the others that you sabotaged their chances of going back home kind of bad."

                                                       "It really was an accident, Courtney. I swear. Nothing like that will happen again," Misty quickly pleaded, even holding onto Courtney's hand in a desperate act to win her over.

                                                      Courtney scoffs. "You're fucking right it won't."

                                                      "Can you forgive me?" Misty tried again.

                                                       "Give me one good reason why I should," Courtney remarked. If she was going to let Misty back in, she needed a good reason.

                                                       "I'll do anything you ask me. All I ask is that we're friends again," Misty offered.

                                                       "Anything?" Courtney smiles, her eyes sparkling even in the dim lighting.

                                                       Misty nods. "Anything."

                                                       "Why do you wanna be my best friend so bad? Besides the fact that everyone else here fucking hates you," Courtney rests her hands on her hips.

                                                       "Honestly, I look up to you. You're an inspiration. You're just like me... but you do a better job at hiding it. I wanna learn how to do that," Misty admits.

                                                       "I think you're a little too far gone for that. But... I guess I can forgive you this time," Courtney relents.

                                                       She still needed a minion to boss around after all. And Misty was ripe for the picking. If she couldn't control Suki the way she wanted to, she could try with Misty instead.

                                                        Misty smiles. "Really? I - I won't let you down next time. I'm serious."

                                                        She hugs Courtney, only for Courtney to awkwardly pat her hair in response.

                                                        Suki slowly creeps over to where Jackie sat, wondering if she should talk to her. She was probably the last person that Jackie wanted to talk to. But Suki would only feel guilty if she didn't use her gift for the better. She had to try and save Jackie. Jackie was staring off in the distance, doing her best to keep warm. But the later it got, the lower the temperature came. Suki knew it'd only be a matter of time before it began to snow.

                                                        "Jackie?" Suki calls out the team captain's name.

                                                        Jackie turns around to look, expecting Shauna. But she frowns when she sees that it's Suki. "What do you want?"

                                                        "I was hoping to talk for a moment, if that's alright," Suki replied.

                                                        Jackie thinks about it for a while before her features soften ever so slightly, only nodding in response. Suki sits right next to her, folding her hands in her lap awkwardly.

                                                        "Not much of a conversationalist, are you?" Jackie teased, earning a soft chuckle from Suki.

                                                        "I never was," Suki admits.

                                                        "Why are you here? Do you feel sorry for me or something? Because it's a little too late for that," Jackie remarked, looking over at Suki.

                                                        "No. I mean... I am sorry. I'm sorry for what happened back there. I'm sorry for what happened last night too. I wasn't in control of myself. And yet I was at the same time. It's... hard to explain. But... I'm sorry that you got hurt in the process," Suki apologized.

                                                       Jackie hums in response. "I believe you're sorry, I guess. I just don't think the others are. But I've already made peace with that." 

                                                       Suki looks down at her hands, able to see her breath in a small fog as it left her lips. "Do you... do you think you can come back inside now? It's getting cold and it's not very safe."

                                                       "You really care, don't you?" Jackie questioned.

                                                       "Is that a bad thing?" Suki inquired.

                                                       "No. It's... it's good. You should hold onto that for as long as you can. You're gonna need it," Jackie replied. "I like you a whole lot better when you're not on shrooms."

                                                       That earns another chuckle from Suki. "Do you like me enough for us to be friends?"

                                                      "Yeah. If things were different, maybe we could've been best friends even," Jackie replied.

                                                     "I get why you didn't get close to me. I'm the weirdo with a dead, psycho mom and a dad who has one foot in the grave. I'm not upset about it anymore. I'd probably avoid me too if I were you," Suki shrugged.

                                                      "It was really shitty the way everyone treated you after your mom's suicide. Even me. No one even tried to understand," Jackie frowned.

                                                      "It's okay. I'm over it now, honest," Suki insisted. "Besides, I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up to me when we're back home."

                                                      "Right. Yeah, I'll just add it to the list of shit I have to do when I get back home," Jackie teased.

                                                      Suki softly chuckles with her.

                                                      "Do you... do you think I'm a perfect friend?" Jackie then asked a moment later, looking over at Suki.

                                                      "There's no such thing as a perfect friend. There's no such thing as a perfect person either. Just... people who are trying their best. I think you just tried your best. I think Shauna tried her best to but it just didn't work out," Suki answers honestly. "She was the one you were talking about when you did my makeup yesterday, wasn't it?"

                                                     "Yeah. The cat's out of the bag with that one now," Jackie scoffed.

                                                     "I won't lie and say I understand what you're going through but I'm sure that things will get better," Suki replied.

                                                      "And I thought I was the one good at giving bullshit pep talks," Jackie jokes once more.

                                                       Suki holds out her hand for Jackie to take. "I'm serious. We can go inside together. I'm sure everything will go back to normal by tomorrow. Hey, I bet Shauna will even apologize."

                                                       Jackie looks down at her hand before sending Suki a smile. It's one that doesn't reach her eyes which also began to grow watery with tears. "I'll see you inside, Suki."

                                                       "Do you promise?" Suki asks, reluctantly letting her hand fall back down onto her lap while Jackie looks away from her.

                                                       "I promise," Jackie answered but she's still unable to meet her gaze.

                                                       Suki pursed her lips for a moment. "Maybe I should stay for a while. Just to make sure. You might forget. And it's not like we have a watch to tell time or -."

                                                        "Go back in there. I'll be there soon," Jackie responded. "You'll get sick all over again if you stay out here a moment longer."

                                                        Suki sighed, getting up to her feet. "Alright, alright. I'll see you soon."

                                                        "See you soon," Jackie nods.

                                                        Suki was still feeling reluctant to leave, knowing everything she did. But maybe she had succeeded in making Jackie come around and now she had managed to turn things around. As Suki makes her way up the steps and towards the front door, she feels eyes on her. Suki expects it to be Jackie when she turns around but when she looked at her, Jackie was still facing ahead. There was another figure watching her in the trees, appearing to be a man. She had never seen him before and Suki paused, trying to make out what he looked like.

                                                       But she couldn't see much of anything besides a creepy grin on his face. Suki's lips part open and she wants to warn Jackie. But she wasn't too sure Jackie would even believe her. She was the only one who had vocalized her disdain towards the group's sudden belief in the wilderness. Suki didn't want to freak Jackie out even more when she had just gotten her to come around. Suki stares at the figure for a moment longer before she reluctantly heads inside, leaving Jackie alone out there.

                                                    "Is she alright?" Shauna immediately bombards Suki the moment she walks inside the house.

                                                    Suki huffs, trying to get over the fact that she had nearly been scared to death. "You could just ask her yourself."

                                                   "I can't. Not now," Shauna says, feeling too ashamed and guilty to face Jackie.

                                                   "She says she'll be coming back inside soon. I think everything's going to be okay now," Suki tried to assure Shauna.

                                                   So why couldn't Suki get rid of the dread she felt burrowed deep into her heart? Why was she still convinced that something was wrong?

                                                   Shauna didn't look so convinced either, but she walks off, thinking to herself. Courtney approaches her then, arms folded across her chest. 

                                                   "Did your little attempt work?" Courtney questioned.

                                                   "I think so. I hope so. I - I saw something out there. Maybe it had been with us the whole time, I don't know. All I know was that I didn't get a good feeling," Suki answered with a sigh.

                                                   "What do you think it was?" Courtney asked instead of immediately disbelieving Suki which truly felt good.

                                                   "Death maybe. The Devil, I don't know. I just wish Jackie would come back by now," Suki says, worrying the skin of her lower lip with her teeth.

                                                    "You said that she'd come back soon, right? Now relax and come on. We should be getting ready for bed. The little rabbit will come back in when she's ready," Courtney answered.

                                                   "Why do you keep calling her that?" Suki looks over at her.

                                                   "Because that's what she reminds me of. She isn't a lion, and she definitely isn't a fucking bear. She's a rabbit. She'll always be a rabbit," Courtney shrugged.

                                                    The one made to be hunted rather than the hunter.

                                                   Suki allows Courtney to wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as they walk over to their makeshift bed. Suki had been determined to stay up, wanting to make sure that she was able to catch Jackie come in so she could have peace of mind. But not even she could fight off her sleep for very long and soon enough, she'd fall asleep right next to Courtney.

                                                   But she'd suddenly wake up the next morning to hear footsteps racing right past her. She and Courtney along with the others wake up as Shauna opens the door, pausing as she looked outside. The wind was howling and Courtney could see the snow falling. But Suki looks around, realizing that Jackie wasn't there. Now it made sense as to why Shauna had run outside. Suki begins to run after her, hoping that she wouldn't see what she had been dreading. 

                                                "Jackie!" Shauna cried out. "No, no, no, no, no."

                                               She runs to Jackie, beginning to uncover the snow Jackie was practically buried in. Suki follows after her, falling to her knees when she saw that Jackie wasn't moving. Courtney ran outside with the others, confronted by the sight.

                                              "No, no, no, no, no, no! No! No, Jackie!" Shauna exclaimed, the pain evident in her voice.

                                              Courtney looks over at Suki who also began to cry, realizing that she had predicted yet another death. First Laura Lee and now Jackie. Taissa runs towards Shauna, holding onto her while Shauna continued to try and wake Jackie up. But Jackie was too far gone, even if Shauna was stuck in denial.

                                              "Jackie! Wake up! No! Jackie, wake up! No! No, Jackie, wake up. No! No!" Shauna screams, sobbing right after while Taissa continued to hold onto her.

                                              Suki continued to sob, realizing that she had once again failed to save another life. No matter what, the wilderness would always win.

( 🌲🔪🦌 )

word count: 2197
notes: i'm in the camp that believes that jackie took her own life. she chose to stay out there even when it got cold, basically giving up and dying by the cold. realistically, jackie could've gone in at any time but she didn't want to. she didn't want to keep living anymore after everything that had happened. so that's another reason why suki failed in saving her. jackie didn't want to be saved

but this is the end of season 1 and now we move on to season 2 (with the season 1 adult storyline sprinkled in)!