The leggy blonde, her bright hair tied up in a pony tail while her teeth worried her bottom lip, stared anxiously at her cell phone. It was not a hard choice - there were only two options. To call or not to call? Surely she would get off easy, it was her first offense! Ever! Not even a parking ticket before that. Certainly nothing...violent. She shuddered, paused and slid down her dark wood cabinetry. She had worked so hard for this place, her home. Her quiet, lovely, sweet, charming, perfect new home. She couldn't lose it now! Not after all that hard work. It would be senseless. And well, the man was obviously not entirely useful...Her thoughts halted suddenly, jarringly, painfully and she let out a mix of a shriek and groan that woke her little grey cat who was sleeping safely on a pillow in the living room.

Persephone was horrified with herself for thinking such cruel things. Well, past horrified and moving on frantic, with a sure fire train to manic and psychotic shortly after passing through breakdownville. The reason for this out of character reaction - the girl was usually airy, perhaps flighty even - was that...well, that...oh dear lord. She killed a man! Another human being's lifeless body was stuffed into the trunk of her car. It would smell awful if she left it there. She glared at the phone, still warring with her thoughts and deciding if calling the police on herself was the best action. There was not a doubt that she was a valued member of society. She volunteered at the soup kitchen twice a month, attended meetings to help the city, and even helped her neighbor by watching his dog on occasion. The man in her car did not look nearly as productive. He was dressed in a ratty suit, all torn and burned there was even holes in it. He himself, well he smelled of alcohol and looked positively disconnected, probably drunk - she thought despondently, angrily. If he had been sober she never would have hit him! He would have moved out of the way!

Her head dropped into her knees and she dialed numbers on her phone. The ringer picked up and then finally she heard a voice. It was not the voice of the police, or even her mother. It was her best friend - after all, all saying had some sort of truth to them.

"Hey, listen..." she began tearily. "No, I'm not fine! There's a dead guy in my car! Would you please come help me! Pleaseeeee?"

_________________
Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me

Avery tucked a piece of dark hair behind her ear as she concentrated on the sketch in front of her. It had taken her nearly three hours to complete the rough outline of the dimly lit street outside her window. Quite frankly, she wasn't satisfied with it at all, though these days she had no one to impress anyway, so she busied her hours with halfhearted drawings and woeful attempts at poetry. She often fancied herself as a type of soul-searching, tragically lost artist. Everyone always told her she was far too dramatic, especially her mother, who had nearly kicked her out of the house when she found out that her only daughter had ruined her beautiful red hair with a pair of scissors and a bottle of "Midnight Essence". Though it didn't matter anyway, because shortly after the hair dying incident, she moved out into a dingy apartment on the rougher side of town. It suited her artistic needs better anyway.

She was wondering whether or not she should just tear up her drawing when her mobile rang. Cursing under her breath, she crumpled up the sketch and reached over to pick it up.

"Hello?" She frowned when she heard Persephone's voice on the other end. Clearly distraught. "Wait... what's wrong? Are you ok?" Instinctively, she reached over for her car keys and abruptly shot to her feet. And froze.

"What do you mean you have a dead guy in your car?!" This had to be a joke. No way. Persephone would be the last person she would expect to have a rotting corpse in her trunk. In fact, Avery had never killed a man before herself, though she had thought about it on many occasions. God, this was bad. But somewhat exciting. No. Stop. Not exciting. She closed her eyes as she rubbed her temples. Her best friend was clearly having a meltdown and here she was, excited by the prospect of finding inspiration in what might be one of the biggest and catastrophic events of her life. Wrong reaction. Quick, act concerned.

"Are you all right? Have you... called the police?" Please say no, please say no.

"Nooo!" She wailed into the receiving end of her cell phone. Poor Avery's eardrums might have burst at the loud noise. After a few more moments (minutes) of pathetic, bawling that involved a runny nose, sniffing and red rimmed eyes Persephone managed to gather her wits again.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," she said sniffling noisily and groping on the counter for a rag. Once found she dragged it to her nose and blew hard, sounding like a trumpet over the phone. She continued to fidget with the rag even after she had used it as a tissue.

"And what do you mean, what do I mean?" She asked incredulously, glaring at the device in her hand like her friend would see her face. "There is a dead man. In. My. Trunk. I need you to help me hide him. I can't call the police!" She exclaimed, balling up and beginning to drag out reasons why. "I am not a murderer, it was an accident. But I am about to start a job and I can't have manslaughter on my record. Can you imagine?! Going into work and having everyone whisper about how you killed someone!" She said in a tone that likened the event to a particularly poor wardrobe choice. "And what if they tried to send me to prison?! I can't go to prison....I'm too pretty," she hissed. "They might...you know. I just am not made for prison. Please Avery, you are the only person who can help me. Lucida's not going to drive her from New Orleans," Lucy was Persephone's sister, and she definitely would have gotten a kick out of her predicament. She did something with law enforcement, considering the odd people she associated with, Persephone shook her head. No, not even Lucy would help her with a plan ride separating them. She returned to her phone call, all nerves and anxiety, "and my parents would tell me to call the police. We can just drop him in the ocean. Doesn't your family have a boat?"

_________________
Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me

Avery was only half-listening to her friend's panicked rambling, but she got the gist of it. It figured that Persephone would be worrying about keeping up her pristine reputation at a moment like this. Avery sighed and blew a chunk of hair out of her face as she hopped into her car and pressed her phone to her ear.

"If by 'boat,' you mean the tiny, fifty-something year-old motor boat in the garage, then yes. My family has a boat. You're lucky that I know where Pop hides the keys." She chewed on her lip. "I'm not even going to ask how you killed this man, Pers. Not until I get there and see the body for myself. Because for all I know, you just inhaled too much of that ridiculous-looking nail polish and now it's poisonous fumes are causing you to hallucinate about dead people." Avery turned sharply around the corner and sped down the narrow road as she talked rapidly into her mobile.

"Look, meet at the dock by AJ's Fish House in a half an hour and I'll have the boat ready. And for god's sake, wear black and keep a low profile. If anyone asks you why you're loitering about, just tell them you're waiting for your date to show up." She switched off her phone before the blonde could answer.

This was going to be a long night.

"B-but..." Persephone spluttered into the receiver of the phone, though the other girl never heard it. There was a loud beeping sounding in her ear, signalling that Avery had abandoned her in favor of getting in her car and driving off towards the intended destination.

Blue eyes glared down at the phone, once again in hopes that her friend could feel the angry intent through the multiple miles between them, with the assistance of the cell phone. She huffed and stormed out of her apartment, locking the door behind her and hurrying down to the garage. It was darker than earlier, but Persephone felt like she needed to creep, although - if she had considered it - that action would have been more suspicious than if she had just scampered through like usual. It still struck her as terrifying, when she reached the door of her black jeep, that there was a body in the back. A very, very, very dead body.

A deep breath to calm herself. The door opened without a sound and she weathered a sniff. Luckily, decomposition had not set in - her car and the garage kept it from the heat of the sun and the elements. So, the only thing she smelled was the heavy scent of her car freshener and the alcohol on the man's coat. She inserted the key into the ignition and then she was off to AJ's.

The actual trip did not take as long as she expected, possibly because she was speeding. That was not entirely suggested given the contents of her backseat, but she just could not help it. Every time she slowed down to the suggested speed limit, she felt anxious, like someone would be peeking in on her car. It was a ridiculous notion, there were hardly any cars out at all! Still, she could not shake it.

Finally, after an imagined eternity, she reached the docks. They were nearly completely dark, all the light posts gone black save for the one near the middle. All in all it felt like a very good place and time to rid herself of a body. She hopped out of the car and held her arms tight across her chest, trying desperately to relieve the tension built up in her stomach.

"Avery?" She hissed out into what looked like an empty lot. "Avery," louder now. "Avery! Please, please, please do not have left me."

_________________
Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me

"B-but..." Persephone spluttered into the receiver of the phone, though the other girl never heard it. There was a loud beeping sounding in her ear, signalling that Avery had abandoned her in favor of getting in her car and driving off towards the intended destination.

Blue eyes glared down at the phone, once again in hopes that her friend could feel the angry intent through the multiple miles between them, with the assistance of the cell phone. She huffed and stormed out of her apartment, locking the door behind her and hurrying down to the garage. It was darker than earlier, but Persephone felt like she needed to creep, although - if she had considered it - that action would have been more suspicious than if she had just scampered through like usual. It still struck her as terrifying, when she reached the door of her black jeep, that there was a body in the back. A very, very, very dead body.

A deep breath to calm herself. The door opened without a sound and she weathered a sniff. Luckily, decomposition had not set in - her car and the garage kept it from the heat of the sun and the elements. So, the only thing she smelled was the heavy scent of her car freshener and the alcohol on the man's coat. She inserted the key into the ignition and then she was off to AJ's.

The actual trip did not take as long as she expected, possibly because she was speeding. That was not entirely suggested given the contents of her backseat, but she just could not help it. Every time she slowed down to the suggested speed limit, she felt anxious, like someone would be peeking in on her car. It was a ridiculous notion, there were hardly any cars out at all! Still, she could not shake it.

Finally, after an imagined eternity, she reached the docks. They were nearly completely dark, all the light posts gone black save for the one near the middle. All in all it felt like a very good place and time to rid herself of a body. She hopped out of the car and held her arms tight across her chest, trying desperately to relieve the tension built up in her stomach.

"Avery?" She hissed out into what looked like an empty lot. "Avery," louder now. "Avery! Please, please, please do not have left me."

_________________
Heavens no. Hell Yeah.


Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me