Forum Thread

The Killing Game ended when two brave students solved the mystery, saving the lives of hundreds of students at Morshton Academy. The Society of Broken Mirrors has virtually disappeared. But that doesn't mean that there are more secrets, more danger for Nadia, Colt, Dan, and Amaya.

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The original Killing Game rp: (x)



Suitcase rolling along behind him, Colt reached up to adjust the c-shaped pillow slung around his neck as he strode through the airport, away from baggage claim. Christmas break, at last. He loved school, he did, but he was still anxious to get home. The excitement and joy that the addition of Nadia to their family had brought still hadn't died out, and he was excited to see his friend again, despite the fact that she'd probably done something like hide snakes everywhere or rig up a system in his room to play Spanish music that would only turn off when you said a specific Gaelic phrase. You could never know with her.

Due to the 2-hour plane ride, Colt was wearing sweatpants and a comfortable hoodie, an outfit really quite impractical for the southern California environment he'd left behind but one that he was very grateful for as he emerged from the sliding doors into the 33 degree Washington weather. There was snow on the forecast for later that day and he was glad that Cam had been able to take off work; his older brother was surprisingly great at snowball fights. He severely hoped he could get him on his side; Nadia and Cam allied together in combat sounded terrifying. Speaking of Cam, as Colt was just about to sit down on a bench outside the airport, the 20 year-old pulled up in his slate grey sedan and rolled down the window about halfway, calling, "Wow, you look warm and cozy out there! Doesn't even seem like you needed a ride; I'll just be going now." "NO!" Colt begged, standing up hurriedly, grabbing the handle of his suitcase, and sprinting to the car. "Please don't leave me!"

Cam rolled up the window and moved the car forwards a couple inches. Colt pounded on the window, faking a scowl and causing his guffawing brother to brake and unlock the car. "You think you're so funny, don't you?" he muttered, throwing his suitcase into the back before bolting around to the passenger side and slamming the door shut. "I am!" Cam grinned, putting the car back into drive before ruffling Colt's hair and adding, "Good to see you." The college student shook his head with a laugh, then reached over to hug his older brother. "Good to see you, too."

After the two had driven for about 40 minutes of the hour-and-a-half drive, catching up and goofing around, Colt reached around to the suitcase on the seat behind him, unzipped it while Cam berated him about traffic safety, and extracted a large package. Christmas was tomorrow, but he didn't want to wait to show it to his brother. "Do you want to see what I got for Nadia? Other than that other thing I asked you about, of course."

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Ever since Cam had left to pick up his younger brother, Nadia had been quite enthusiastic. Knowing the exhaustion of plane rides well from the time when she was living with her father and moved from Mexico to the United States, she had only hidden a couple of rubber snakes under his pillow, with Angel being the only witness. As winter progressed, she had found a fascination with scarves, the latest one being a fuzzy black one that made it so that her hair appeared to be so long it was wrapping around her neck. She kept pacing back and forth, waiting for the car to pull up. "¿Por qué el viaje en auto tiene que ser tan largo?" she muttered. "Oh, just get here already, Colt!" Her own Christmas presents were stored safely in her closet, though not surprisingly, there was a dark brown snake hidden up the sleeve of her sweater.

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Though the distance from Sanderson Field Airport to the Taylor's house was only about 1 hour and 25 minutes, Cam and Colt had deliberately told the family they'd be arriving at 10:30, about 2 hours after the latter's flight had landed. Surprisingly, they were perfectly on time. Colt unclipped his seatbelt as they pulled into the driveway and jumped out of the car just seconds after Cam put it into park. He had moved his suitcase up front with him and therefore didn't need to open the back door of the car, instead hurrying straight to the doorstep, pulling his luggage behind him. Once Colt had gotten out, though, the car started to move again as Cam pulled off the driveway and drove through the side yard, the sedan disappearing around the back of the modern styled house.

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Nadia looked up, her head shooting up like a dog that's caught the scent of a squirrel. She yelled something incoherent in Spanish, and nearly tripped over herself getting out the door, though she was careful to keep the snake hidden up her arm. She nearly fell into about a hundred different snowbanks trying to get to Colt, but she eventually made it without hurting herself, the entire time both berating him about being two hours earlier, while also full of excitement.

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The tall blond wrapped his short friend in a huge hug, laughing at her usual feisty fury. She was wearing a really thick scarf, which made him wonder if he would be able to tease her about being sensitive to the cold; Cam had always told him that his tendency to go outside in 20 degree weather in a T-shirt was abnormal. Gone were all wary thoughts of ambush by Nadia; he was just glad to be home. He'd missed her. While he normally did a good job of keeping their shared trauma from what seemed like so long ago out of his mind, he found that he still truly hated not being able to know and see that she was safe. That was why, though he never told her, he'd insisted on FaceTiming while he was away whenever they could instead of just calling or texting.

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As they walked back to the house, Nadia chattered on and on, about her new obsession with scarves, the things she was learning at school, and her latest new invention ideas. Of course, in her excitement, she kept slipping back into Spanish, but for the most part, what she was saying was coherent. "But I'm so excited you're home, Potro! I missed you so much, yknow? I'm just so-" Her last words were cut off as she tripped, getting nearly buried in snow as they almost reached the house.

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Colt burst into laughter at the sight of his friend in the snow. He quickly pulled his phone from his backpack to snap a photo before darting to help her, offering his hand with an innocent grin. "That doesn't look very comfortable. Cold at all?" He was struggling to hide his chuckles, knowing a storm may be brewing.

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"Y'know, if it weren't for a lot of..factors, I'd be throwing you right now.." Nadia grumbled. She still took his hand and allowed him to help pull her up. After she was up and attempting to get the snowflakes out of her scarf, she heard a voice from across the yard, and beyond the fence separating their front yard from their neighbors say in a flat voice, "Looks like he's back. You talk about him a lot."

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Colt turned, tilting his head towards the fence in slight confusion. "Oh, hello. Are you the new neighbors? Mom mentioned you, I think." He sent the figure a polite smile, then turned to Nadia with calm consideration. "You didn't say much about them," he added in a tone of curiosity.

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A head popped up over the fence, a girl who appeared to be Colt and Nadia's age, with curly grey hair that covered her eyes. "Yes, we moved in two weeks ago," she said gloomily. Nadia shrugged. "Kinda slipped my mind. Zie's so quiet I forget about her all the time." "I'm neighborly," Zie said in the same tone of voice.

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A muted barking from Angel sounded from inside the house. "Why don't we go say 'hi'?" he nodded towards the grey haired girl and began to lead the way to the fence, weaving through snow piles. Throwing a grin at Nadia, he added, "Careful not to fall again!"

He extended a hand to Zie with a pleasant smile despite being calf-deep in the snow. "Colt Taylor; it's wonderful to meet you."

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Zie also put a hand over the fence, but it was so masked by a long sweater sleeve. Zie pulled the sleeve back so that she could shake Colt's hand, but it was covered in rings made of strange, random objects. Zie shook Colt's hand as Nadia pouted and crossed her arms, grumbling, "Why." "Zie Pelerpson." Her eyes widened behind her hair, but her deadpan look remained the same.

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Resting his arm playfully on Nadia's head, he remained undeterred by the girl's rather unenthusiastic demeanor. "You're welcome to come over sometime! I need to teach Nadia how to make an apple pie, and by that I mean I need to get my older brother to teach Nadia and I to make an apple pie, but I can promise it'll be good!"

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"I like...fruit," Zie said, deadpan. Nadia crossed her arms. "How long will the elbow be on my head. Beacuse I'm cold and there's a snake up my arm."

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"Oh, fruit pies are the best, for sure!" Colt grinned. Then he registered what Nadia had said. He turned his gaze slowly to his friend, going still as the ice in the bird bath, not removing his arm. "A. what."

He knew, oh how well he knew, that Nadia loved scaring him, but his fear of snakes was quite genuine. So far, she'd only used fake snakes, but the girl literally fearless when it came to them and he didn't doubt that she might actually be hiding a real one up her sleeve. He knew it was probably fake, if it were there, but that didn't mean he didn't worry. Dang it, this new neighbor had probably caught his reaction.

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Nadia grinned. "His name is Norbert, and he's my new best friend! And he's not actually a snake." Nadia pulled a quite-real rat out her shirt sleeve, who squeaked and twitched his nose at Colt. Nadia explained that she had met Norbert at the pet store. Nobody had wanted him, and she had immieadiently fallen in love with him. Now he was her quite-literal partner in crime, helping perform lots of tasks, as Nadia had found that he was extremely smart. Zie didn't seem to react, just saying, "I have some snails at home. They're named after famous composers."

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Colt visibly relaxed, shifting his weight to the side and letting his elbow fall from Nadia's head before flicking her on the forehead, scrunching his nose up. "You better watch it." I hope he gets along well with it, he found himself thinking as he made a face at the rat. Cam seemed to have seized the opportunity and entered the house without a word while the two of them spoke to Zie. To the grey haired girl he said, "Please tell me their names are puns. Please. But it is a bit cold and our family's waiting; we should probably head back. It was a pleasure to meet you. You're welcome over any time!"

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Nadia wrinkled her nose back at him, lifting Norbert up and putting him on her head. "Norbert's a lot more trained than you," she muttered, rubbing the spot where he flicked her. Zie nodded gloomily, saying, "Oscar and Helen would like that." She then slowly slid down out of sight, and Nadia shrugged. "She always does that. Now let's go inside before Norbert and I freeze to death!"

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"I can't believe you brought a rat outside in the middle of winter," he chuckled as they headed back. As they approached the front door, Cam opened it to meet them, grinning. "I thought you were headed back to California for a bit there," he teased his younger bother, holding it open for the two of them. Footsteps hurried from the kitchen, distinct to Mrs. Taylor. A grin spread across Colt's face.

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"Hey, Norbert goes where I goes. Plus he buries in my sweater," she declared. Nadia stuck her tounge out at Cam as they came in, and she dramatically threw her arms up. "The long-lost-at-college-son returns!"

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"Prodigal Son, that's me!" Colt laughed. His mom caught him the moment he set foot in the door with a huge grin on her face. "Welcome home!" she beamed, wrapping him in a hug. "Mom, I can't breath!" he gasped with a chuckle, though he hugged her back. "Tell me everything. How is your dorm? Have you made any new friends since we last spoke?" She paused and lowered her voice with a grin. "Do you have a girlfriend yet?" "I called you last week, Mom, no. Where's Dad?" "Upstairs on a business call, but he said to tell you he'll be down in just a few minutes. You must be hungry; dinner won't be for an hour or so, but there are some leftover apple pie donuts in the fridge you three could warm up."

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"Yay, donas!" Nadia said, clapping her hands. Later, after dinner, talking, and lots of catching up, Nadia went to bed like the others. She dreamed about her two-year-old self, walking hand-in-hand with her mother in a field of flowers. They were talking and laughing, and Nadia felt extremely happy. But suddenly, a dark cloud rolled over the horizon, and Nadia's mother screamed, "Nadia, wake up!" Nadia jolted awake and ran downstairs, breathing hard and sweating, hand where she had once been stabbed.

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Cam was awake, for once. His brother had crashed soon after dinner, exhausted by his plane flight, and he had volunteered to look after a project of theirs tonight. He was lounging on the couch in the basement watching a show on famous inventions when the sound of hurried footsteps from upstairs caught his attention. Hitting pause on the remote, he raced up the basement stairs, fearful that something had happened.

In the foyer he found a short Mexican girl who bore a look of pure terror. "Nadia? What's wrong?"

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