In a murderous time, the heart breaks and breaks, and lives by breaking.

Preston wants to speak but can't, mouth filled with blood.

Aaron nods. "What should we do? Want me to break her jaw, too?"

Karen smiles. "Yeah. Maybe that will help." She leans closer to Jessie. "Think that could shut you up?"

Jessie continues to fight with the chains, pulling them tight. "Fucking bitch." She continues to mumble a slur of profanity. "Bitch! Fucking chains fucking basement fucking Paris and fucking weird lizard thing.... Fucking chains!" The entire time, she's tugging on the chains.

Aaron laughs cruelly, before kicking Jessie's jaw harder than he kicks Preston.

Preston can't scream, but his fury shows in his eyes and the way they start on fire.

Jessie screams and spits blood, but the pain only encourages her. She rips at the chains once more. A weak link of metal snaps, and the entire ring falls to the ground with an echoing chatter (that's the sound chains make ok). She stands and wipes the blood from her mouth, eyes aflame.

Karen steps back a little, a mix of amazement, fear, and complete rage boiling inside her. "Oh shit."

Aaron steps back with Karen. "Fuck. What do we do? Do I turn? What? Karen??"

Karen looks at Aaron, yelling. "Don't just fucking stand there, idiot!" In this moment, she isn't caring about anyone but herself. And even then, not that much.

Jessie looks at Preston. She still can't talk, but she puts her hands out like 'I'm a fucking bad ass" and raises her eyebrows like 'and you're still all chained up.'

Preston smiles a little, not a happy smile but an affectionate one ((he finds himself more and more fond of Jessie every day)); gathering his strength, meeting Jessie's eyes, he tugs at the chains around his wrists until he's pulled them free.

For a moment, Karen's hostility breaks through the rose-colored lens Aaron has built around her, and he sees her as she is, mean and selfish and indifferent to him. However, by habit and by nature, he quickly rebuilds his romanticization of her back up to what it was before, and turnz in2 lizrd thign

Jessie holds out her hand towards Preston, the same smile tugging at her lips. (I really think this gesture speaks for itself. No fluff needed here. Just a hella Pressie moment.)

Karen nods in approval at Aaron for turning. "Now fucking kill them." She reaches for her knives on the table, and gathers them in her hand.

At this moment of silence, Clair bursts through the basement door and rushes down the stairs. You can hear each foot step echoing off the walls and through the Pressie moment, met with hysterical sobs escaping her lips. "Guys my fish died when I tried to wash him!"

Preston grins, teeth blood-stained and jaw lopsided. He takes Jessie's hand and turns to face Karen and Aaron.

Aaron moves so that he's on all fours now. With his epic lziard skilz he lunges toward Jessie first.

*Before Aaron attacks* Jessie laces her fingers between Preston's, holding his hand tightly. She looks forward at Karen and Aaron and can't help but laugh. Some people go to the movies on a date. *Boom attacked* Shessie barely doges Aaron, ducking to the side and letting go of Preston. His fangs rip her jeans and scratch her leg a little, but it just looks hella cool and probably only hurts a tad.

Karen throws a string of knives at Preston, the blades progressively getting closer with each throw.

Preston dodges the knives with Super Cool Vamp Speed!! Moving to the wall, he pulls out one knife and throws it back, narrowly missing Karen's neck.

Aaron growls and recovers. Again he lunges toward Jessie; this time, he doesn't miss.

Fay bangs Seth.

Jessie falls to the ground, knocked over by a giant lizard. She kicks him I guess this feels odd. She stand up again, and clenches her fists.

Karen hisses "don't fucking touch my fucking knives." She finishes throwing the blades in her hands, missing with each one. She curses and reaches for her crossbow.

Seth stand up. "Nah"

Fay stands up too and nods. "Yeah. That was really underwhelming."

Momentarily Aaron is unable to move.

Preston laughs dryly. "Jesus, you're fucking armed." He grabs another knife and goes straight for Karen this time, attempts to stab it right into her neck.

Seth shrugs. "Whatever yo, my swag makes up for it." He puts on sunglasses and strikes a pose.

Jessie looks around at nearby shelves, picking up a small dagger.

Karen ducks under Preston's arm and stands behind him. She lifts the crossbow up and hits him in the back of the head with it. However, she still refuses to use her vampire strength.

Fay rolls her eyes. "What swag? You just look like an ass."

Aaron, slowly, struggles back to his feet an blah blah fight shit I'm done

Karen and Jessie sick tricks fighting and such.

Clair is outside Joseph's dorm wearing goldfish pajamas and holding her phone in her hand. She knocks on the door once. After two seconds with no answer, she knocks continually. "Joe Joe Joe Joe Joe Joe Joe"

fight

Joseph rolls his eyes and pulls out his headphones; he's been listening to sad, obscure indie music about hating life nonstop for the last month. He looks out through his peephole and, seeing that it's just Claire, smiles a little. He opens the door. "Hey Clair."

Clair is high energy as usual. "Hi friend!" She walks in to his room and opens the closest door, as if someone would be in there. "Have you seen Jessie?" She is oblivious to the knife she just stabbed through his heart.

fight. pressie is winning probably.

Joseph looks at the ground, kicks the edge of his bed. "Um, no. Not since...yeah. I haven't seen her."

Kaaron does some sick move and PRESTON GETS STABBED HA.

Clair frowns. "Not since art, huh?" She wonders around Joeseph's room, picking up different things and look at them, then putting them down in the same spot, but slight shifted to the right. "Yeah after school, Jessie, Preston, and I went to Paris to get some coffee. Except I don't like coffee, so I got hot chocolate. Then I spilled it and the lady thought I was stupid for not knowing French, and I didn't have any more hot chocolate so I asked Preston to poof me home so I could hang out with my fish. Preston went back to Paris to be with Jessie I think, but I haven't seen them yet. And it's like" she looks at her phone "2:30 in the morning. So that's weird."

Joseph shrugs nonchalantly, pretending not to care. A part of him really doesn't; Preston and Jessie hurt him. "So? They're probably doing, like, you know, stuff."

"You know, like" Clair turns to face Joseph "sex." She holds eye contact with him for a second, then laughs loudly and obnoxiously. "HA, I'm just kidding. Ew that's gross to think about. Ew!" She covers her eyes. "No no no." She laughs again. "Anywho. I dunno man, I think maybe we should go find them because Jessie won't respond to any of her texts."

Joseph shrugs again and moves back over to his bed, collapsing onto it facefirst. "Can't this wait until morning?"