_{BLOODLETTERED.}

_{it’s  twisted   ——    &   she  hates  herself  for  it,      but  part  of  her  resents  her  younger  sister  for  this.       people  are  dying  without  a  choice  whether  or  not  they  get  to  live  their  life.      rachel  herself  almost  lost  her  life.     that  was  beyond  anyone’s  control  at  this  point;      so  to  see  her  do  something  so  seemingly  harmless  (    in  comparison    ),     yet  still  so  life-threatening,     by  CHOICE  made  audrey  angry.        she  survived;     why  wasn’t  she  THANKFUL  for  that?     the  worst  part  is  that  she  knows  she’s  still  a  target,      &     by  association,     rachel  will  never  truly  be  safe.      that  kills  her.       a  look  of  shock  is  sent  back  at  her,      &     she  quickly  shakes  her  head.       ❛    i  don’t  have  time  for  fun.    ❜        what  she  means:      she’s  too  busy  trying  to  save  her  friends  after  putting  them  in  this  situation  in  the  first  place.       even  if  piper  would  have  eventually  made  her  way  to  lakewood,      audrey  had  given  her  a  push.      ❛    people  are  DYING!     ❜       a  comeback  to  everything.       ❛   i  don’t  have  time  to  relax  or  to  have  fun  or  to  stop  thinking  about  this  because  it’s  only  going  to  keep  getting  worse,      &     i   almost  lost  YOU!      do  you  get  that?       i’m  not  okay  with  that!    ❜}

_{people are  dying.    she  knows,  and would like to think she has just as much of an  informed opinion  as her  sister,  but here’s the problem:    her friends aren’t the ones being lead like  lambs  to the slaughter.     ❛     you know that ain’t what i meant.     ❜     she’s not expecting audrey to  stop  thinking about other people.    knows her better than that,  even after  three years.    but she also knows the lengths she’ll go to if it means  protecting  the people  close  to her without realising she’s caught right between the crosshairs.    or maybe she  does,  and just doesn’t  care.     ❛     yeah,  but you  didn’t   –––   i’m still here.     ❜     emphasis on  here,  alive and breathing even though she feels a lot less.    a lot less something.    maybe not less of a person but less  deserving  to be when girls like  zoë vaughn,  her polar  opposite,  are buried six feet underground.    can’t imagine how  bitter  survivor’s guilt must taste to  emma duval.    how heavy the blame sits on audrey’s shoulders.     ❛     yo,  audrey,  chill  for a second.    you’re givin’ this  sick  psycho exactly what he freakin’ wants.    ‘n you know what ?    you’re gonna stretch yourself thin if you keep this  shit  up.    then you won’t be able t’ have  anyone’s  back ‘cause you’ll be all  locked up  in a psych ward or some shit ‘n throwin’ yourself against walls in a  straightjacket.    stop worryin’ ‘bout  me  ‘n everyone else ‘n think about you.    when’re you gonna stop fuckin’ blamin’ yourself ?    this ain’t your  fault.     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{‘     oh,   snap !   only  block  i been up ‘n down’s the one i got all my options  linin’ up  on.     ’}

_{it’s an easy routine,   something they fell into the same day they met.    (   it’s a good thing.    means she isn’t  too far gone  yet.   )    he came prepared    —    knew she’d try to work him,   because she always does if given the chance,   and he pulls out an unopened pack of victories that he holds  just  out of reach.}

_{‘     since you  know how the game works,   how ‘bout you start talkin’.    ain’t got all day.     ’}

_{❛     yeah,  bet you  real  popular with them old  hags  in their forties who’re still sellin’ their shit for  crack.     ❜}

_{she  works him  because it’s  easy.    manipulating adults is a  cakewalk.    all you need is a bit of leverage or a good sob story.    she reaches out,  eagerly,  then scowls as the pack is  distanced  from her.    (    speaking of leverage.    )    arms fold across her chest,  chin raised.}

_{❛     dunno nothin’ ‘bout that.    probably not,  ‘cause it’s bad for  business,  yo !    unless that shit was premeditated or whatever.    her pimp could’a made her do it.    these low - rent punks might have  shit for brains,  but they know their girls’ll take the  fall  ‘cause they’re scared of what’ll happen to ‘em if they don’t.     ❜}

_{CRAVESFREEDOM.}

             ^{❛  yeah, i feel you.  ❜  a teasing tone, a wide smile spreads across her lips, accompanied by a throaty chuckle. bullet’s being considerate ( a RARE commodity among the streets. )  ;  she won’t push the idea again, knowing there were other ways to repay her.  ❛ yep, religious nobodies. fridays we had bible study in the evenings from five to ten. — yeah, five hours of mindless praising. ❜  she scoffs, never having been a person of FAITH herself,  ❛  &  we had to pray before we ate their tasteless garbage.  ❜  the families she stayed with weren’t always as bad as the last one, but she’s lost HOPE, convinced she’ll never fit in anywhere ; though, she never gives herself the chance either. years of constantly switching between homes has left her calloused. she doesn’t trust adults  &  refuses to connect with most people. her ( uncontrollable ) anger outbursts are what usually do the most DAMAGE  ;  she’ll be in one of those harrowing group homes next, she can feel it  ;  that’s why she RAN.} 

           ^{she looks to her companion, realizing with fresh eyes how HAPPY she is to be back on the streets and away from it all. once they’re at the seedy diner, seated across from each other  &  out of the public’s eye, she feels it’s SAFE enough to talk seriously,  ❛  so, uh —- what’s been going on around here? —– what’d i miss?  ❜  her gaze falls on bullet’s lips, eyeing the mark she’s brandishing. it’s not unusual to see, but she’s still hit with her typical defensiveness, wishing she could deal it back to whoever laid hands on her friend ( unconsciously, her fists clench tightly at the thought. )}

_{foster care systems  are  flawed,  and nobody sees it but them.    runaways,  teen outcasts,  the troubled youth far more self - sufficient than the  adults  who are tasked with  caring  for them are willing to believe.    what’s a blessing for some is a  curse  for others.    others,  like octavia,  whose  freedom  has been compromised too long and whose  wings  must be aching,  aching to spread out and fly and see the world for  what it is  instead of what she’s told it’s  meant  to be.    religion has never played a role in bullet’s life,  but that’s not to say she doesn’t have her own  brand of faith.    the ink on her wrist,  all weathered and faded,  is a  testament.    (    nobody’s got it in me but me.    )    she snorts,  half - amused at the mental image painted out for her.    bible  discussions and prayer groups,  crucifixes  lining the walls.     ❛     they make you sing hymns,  too ?    recite a fuckin’  bedtime prayer  ‘fore lights out at eight - thirty ?    you got a lot more patience than  me,  yo.    my ass would’a been outta there same day,  best  believe.     ❜     understands what it’s like to feel displaced.    estranged  from the rest of society.    jumped from boarding school to boarding school with no friends,  no one to talk to,  no one to  rely on  but her  goddamn self.    all of that changed when she found the streets.    and she never looked back.}

_{the diner is  quiet  this time of morning.    cold due to the heat being shut down every night before closing,  leaving the air crisp for hours after reopening at dawn.    the leather of these booths is cracked and worn,  too  familiar  and drudging up  memories  she’d like to  forget.    her friend is  looking  at her like she knows something’s wrong and bullet wonders how much she’s heard.    (    about kallie and angie and all those  girls  gone missing over the past several months.    about her,  the  incident  that turned her world inside out and put her on the radar.    )     ❛     been a shit - show out here,  man.    hear ‘bout them  bodies  they found at the bottom of the lake ?    kallie    ––––    she was one of ‘em.     ❜}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{‘     i know you ain’t seen me on my  lunch break  chasin’ tail down skid row.    the fuck i look like ?     ’}

_{don’t answer that.    of course he’s kidding ;   but if nothing else,   you won’t find him paying for  dates  from trick - turning teenage girls.    he’s arrested people for less.}

_{he ashes his cigarette,   leans back against the side of his car.       ‘     so in your,   uh,   infinite wisdom,   you ever hear ‘bout a working girl who offs a john like this ?    ‘cause even if it  was  one of them  escorts,    li’l mama’s gonna need some help movin’ that body.     ’}

_{❛     nah,  ‘cause you been keepin’ it  low key.    think i don’t know how the game  works,  homeboy ?    you ‘n that pedo ‘stache probably been up ‘n down the  block.     ❜}

_{enjoys the banter,  the  back and forth  consisting mostly of  gibing remarks  at his expense.    being free to mock and ridicule.    he knows how to take a joke on a good day and doesn’t even  threaten  her on the bad.}

_{she eyes the cigarette.    pauses,  watching the smoke unfurl and climb to the skies and disappear.     ❛     maybe.    ain’t seein’ what’s in it for me if i tell you though.     ❜     went through the  whole pack  of cigarettes he’d given her just two days prior.    she’s  hurting.    can’t you tell ?}

_{HOW MUCH OF A SINNER IS YOUR MUSE !  TAKE THE TEST HERE.}

_{TAGGED BY:  @adatrox
TAGGING:  anyone,  everyone !}

_{GREED  medium.
GLUTTONY  medium.
WRATH  very high.
SLOTH  medium.
ENVY  medium.
LUST  very low.
PRIDE  high.}

_ENVISAS.

          whoever this is, she knows elliot, and tyrell is trying to make an effort to not immediately get off on the wrong foot with people elliot knows, lest he end up getting punched. it’s happened twice already, which is a fairly upsetting streak. right. be nice! be friendly! be approachable!

     ‘ i live here, you get out. ’  or don’t be any of that!

_{❛     like  hell  you do !    yo’ name on the lease ?    didn’t fuckin’ think so.    probably spent more on them threads than homeboy pays on his  rent.     ❜     she doesn’t know a thing about elliot’s rent and patrick bateman’s  apparel  probably doesn’t scream  versace  to anyone else but  her.}

_DEADHUNGER.

_{because he’s the eighth wonder of the world,   obviously.    it’s so cute when they try to play dumb    —    he could smell her panic that night.    gets off  on it.       ‘     you’re welcome.    so you didn’t tell anybody what you saw,   huh ?    that’s cool.    i probably wouldn’t.    i mean,   who’s gonna believe you ?     ’}

_{no one.    no one’s  believed  her for a long time,  about anything that’s  her word  versus someone else’s    (    the seattle police department thinks they’re all just crying wolf until the bodies are found.    )    heart jumps into her throat but she doesn’t let it show.    skinner  asked her the same question.     ❛     go  fuck  yourself,  limp dick.     ❜}

_{❛     yo,  elliot,  y’ got    ––––     ❜     not elliot.    knows before she even wheels around to face him,  wrist deep  in a mini bag of potato crisps.    (     she’d brought one for him too.    not  him,  as in the douchebag that looked like he just stepped out of  american psycho,  but elliot.    )    she hopes he’ll leave.     ❛     jehovah’s witnesses bustin’ down doors now ?    get the hell out !     ❜}     //  @envisas

_DEADHUNGER.

_{unfazed and  UNSCATHED,   he’s offering up the switchblade grip - first.       ‘     you forgot something.    attempted murder  just ain’t what it used to be.     ’       //  x @junkyardteen !}

_{she doesn’t take it.    doesn’t even  look at it.    stares him down until her eyes strain.    how is it  possible  that he walked away from that ?     ❛     …  dunno what the hell you’re  talkin’  ‘bout,  whacko.    but thanks for givin’ me back my shiv.     ❜     and that’s when she snatches it out of his hand,  just to  examine  the blade.    it’s clean.}

_{ORIGINALGRILLA.}

_{funny she should bring that up ;   his little covert op at the wapi eagle casino had almost gone south in an uncomfortably  LITERAL  sense,   but he’d put the brakes on before anybody got caught with their pants down.    so it wouldn’t be the  first time  he wound up in a compromising position.    he takes a long drag of his cigarette,   amusement flickering briefly across his face.} 

_{‘     —    call that  takin’ one for the team,   li’l man.    you know how we do.     ’}

_{❛     that’s  nasty,  yo !    you know how many diseases these bitches are carryin’ ‘round ?     ❜}

_{she doesn’t know either,  but  assumes  based on the stories on passed from street corner to street corner.    never pulled a date for  scratch  but knows people who have,  and it makes her heart sink like a stone.    fifteen,  sixteen,  and seventeen year old  kids  selling their bodies because they don’t have another choice.    destroying  their bodies.}

_{she knows he’s kidding.    doesn’t temper the harsh reality of living on the  streets  that some of these kids endure.}