in the blue hours of morning . . .

[vaska]

𝚒𝚛𝚊 x 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚔
[the average]-[tagged; the gang]-[placed; outside of town]-[feeling; strESSED]

this really was a terrible idea.
he ran 'what-if' scenarios through his mind, trying to decide what he would do or say if he got caught in the middle of stealing his dad's van. he snatched the keys from the mantle and bolted for the door. despite the guilt, there was an instant relief of not getting caught while running out. he didn't have to explain to his parents what he was doing, or that he was leaving just because the ex friend he has a crush on from school was going. maybe this is what happens when the kids finally break under pressure. ira suggested to himself, climbing into the driver's seat. he felt a false sense of security in being off of his property and on the road, as if he wasn't going to get dragged back inside and have some lecture from good 'ol "dave whitlock". but he knew he could still get caught up to by the 'andy griffith of brillmore' sheriff. lots of words, and lots of ideas ran through ira's head, but the main two were: "i need to turn around and go home" or "we're going to get pulled over and i won't have the insurance information on this car, and then i'll get arrested for stealing my dad's creeper van.". he had priorities, they just weren't necessarily the right ones.

after a quick drive out of town, the van rumbled to a halt where the group decided to meet - about one mile out from brillmore. ira climbed out just moments after shutting thr vehicle off, taking acknowledgment to the quickly fading starry sky, with sunlight kissing the horizon to the east. his mom's maternity sweater wasn't doing any good for his body heat, and instead, created a draft of cold air swirling around inside the funky sweater. he chose to ignore the cold feeling on his chest and opened the back door of the ford transit and sat inside, rolling up the cuffs of his denim jeans and watching the sun rise. to make peace with his unruly decision to pack up and leave, ira packed a wallet sized photo of him and his jail bird brother, Ethan, who would have encouraged his kid brother to make a big decision like this.

it took a bit, but people arrived with bags towe just as the sun arrived in full blast. it wasn't chilly anymore, that was for sure. but then, dolley came into vision. ira's heart jumped up to his throat and made a lump impossible to swallow. he reached his thumb up, ready to nibble his digits before retracting his hand at the bitter taste of fresh burgondy nail polish. oh my, dolley held such grace as she walked with poise, and her beachy waves bounced off her shoulders and onto her unsurprisingly colorless wardrobe. it was such a familiar image, that ira almost forgot their estranged friendship beyond repair. reality returned, and so did space cadet ira.

"you guys can throw your bags in the back if you want, or toss them in the seats. There's plenty of room wherever." he offered, patting the side of the "Whitlock Plumbing" branded van.

[stranger danger]

✧ DONNA MADISON ✧

▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁▁
( mood - awkward, anxious - tagged - whoever's around - where - outskirts of town - ooc - none )
she catches the water and nods to viviane in a silent thanks. she collapses into the back of the van and begins to drink. she really needs to work on her cardio. dolley takes this downtime to think, think about what her family may be doing right now. mom's usually the first one up, opens the blinds in their bedroom before moving on to dolley's. donna could imagine the screech of terror her mother would let out when she opened dolley's bedroom door to find a note in the place of her daughter. all it would say is 'goodbye'. her father would rush into the room, asking frantically what happened before noticing his daughter's absence. she could imagine him muttering something along the lines of 'ungrateful wench' into the open air before proceeding downstairs. then comes her brother. dolley had always been good at reading people, their emotions - but not her older brother arthur. would he be upset at her being gone? dolley squints her eyes as she thinks, a normal thing she does when deep in thought. nothing pops to mind. dolley does imagine the police being called, her mother in hysterics, her father more than a little pissed off. maybe the school's canceled for the day too - all because brillmore's sweetheart is missing. your welcome, other kids.

after the water bottle is finished, she crushes it in her hands, and begins to take in the scene around her. she then notes the presence of maddox - (she flushes a little bit) - and ira. she rolls away from him, staring at the van's wall. good lord. an awkward feeling rises in her stomach, but she doesn't attempt to make conversation, just pretends to doze off. she wondered when the rest of the kids would be arriving. would the van fit all of them? how far could they get? what happens when they run out of money? what if - she cuts her anxiety off. 'deep breaths, madison,' she thinks to herself, trying not to shake. her emotions always got the better of her. her exercise calms her down and she acts as if nothing happened. it's much too late to turn back now.

[final girl]

{ ⊰ ➳ ⊱ mavis peregrine borowski, the robin hood }

gender ;; cisfemale // age ;; seventeen // location ;; outside of brillmore //tags ;; ira, group mentioned

...........the borowski family farm was already somewhat off the rest of brillmore so mavis wasn’t too concerned with getting out way before sun rise. it also helped that her father was out do the ambiguous “making ends meet.” which she if that was true he would’ve noticed that mavis has been taking semi-large amounts of money out of their account every day ever since river first proposed the idea. all her things were packed, she's had a go-bag since she was eight. so after getting ready there was really only one thing mavis knew she needed to do.

a creak echoed through the ancient house as the dusty office door opened. Mavis doesn’t actually know when it was last occupied but it could be estimated to about four years. the generations before her fathers had worked hard enough to get the borowski name on the map (at least the cattle selling map) and her father was willing to leech off of that for as long as possible. the sight of a dust covered, unskillfully sculpted bull ceramic turned mavis’ mad, angsty teen mode on, the mode infamous for yelling, fights, and broken arms, hers and others. she grabbed the bull, a horrible art project she’d created in elementary school, walked downstairs, set it centered on the kitchen table, and walked out, she didn't just leave the door unlocked, but open. sure the open door's dramatic, but simply placing the bull on the table may be a little out of of character. mavis considered smashing the ceramic, making a scene, in character, but then she remembered a story her uncle told her. he was a p.i, on her moms side, of course, the borowski's have a thing about only having one child. the story was long but you could sum it up with “that orange juice my wife set on my office desk will mean nothing to investigators, but to me? It will say more than words could ever describe...” let's just say bull was mavis’ orange juice.

by the time covered her uncle's full story she was three quarters to the meeting spot. she could see some people, donna - dolly more like, cube, ira, maddox... he was holding the snake, his love for animals is one of the things that interested mavis in the young man in the first place. she hated him but his smile still almost made her heart race, reminded her why she'd ever like "that total dumbass." mavis scowled to no one in particular. it would be useless if it was to some, she's so far off the most anyone would hear is some incoherent mumbling and then "dumbass." but like, why would he ever bring his snake here. how were they supposed to support that? but then see looked down, she had a recycled shopping bag full of water and sunscreen, as well as a backpack full of clothes and money. mavis breathed and started maddy knows what he's doing, he probably has things for cherry. you need to pick your fights, mavis!! heaven knows they'll drop you at the side of the road if you start any drama. she clenched her fists and took a deep breath. she's wanted to get out of this town forever, she can't lose her one chance at a stable ride. that is, if they don't get arrested for stealing a ten seat plumbing truck.

mavis walked up to hear " - bags in the back if you want, or toss them in the seats. There's plenty of room wherever." it was ira speaking, she didn't know much about him, kind of a bore. but then again, he just stole his dad's plumbing truck. whitlock plumbing , the side of the truck read. "why would you ever need ten seats in a plumbing truck? did your dad send out troops? did he coach the baseball team? was he a youth pastor? a kidnapper? what ever you call a person who did does that thing where you kidnap people, but they hired you to kidnap them so it's legal?" she questioned ira. but lost track of her time and ideas, setting her bag in the back then loading up the car's cupholders with water bottles as if the van was her own. she leaned out of the car, noticed she went into autopilot and on for far too long and turned to ira. "i'm going to stop now,,"

[parker;]

fable chase, the nerd

..........tagged;; no one feeling;; worried location;; outside the van

This was wrong, there was no way they could just leave their parents without a word... and yet that was exactly what was happening. There wasn't really much of a choice now, the few people they knew were leaving (probably a permanent trip) and their social skills had decayed to the point where a conversation descended into a rant about murder in a matter of minutes. It had been a miracle someone hadn't called a counselor. Well no... even if they had it wouldn't have been able to save them from the crushing pressure of sheer loneliness.

Fable finally rolled out of their bed, having pretended to be asleep when their parents had left for work. Not like they'd ever play that much attention to their "sweet little girl." They dawned a tank top with a couple anime characters on the front (their favorite) before covering it up with their usual grey hoodie. It didn't take too long to grab the pre-packed bags, one with books, one with other clothes, and one with food, money, and various other items. One of which just happened to be a thermos filled with green tea, along with a miniature tea-brewing kit. There was no way they'd just let their parents waste the loose leaf... they hardly bothered to boil water for the collage student's staple food-- ramen.

Thankfully the van wasn't too far off, but just enough to allow Fable to break a sweat. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the bags, maybe it was simply the fact that their so called "noodle body" had to walk a mile under these conditions. No, it was the unfortunate fact that if they went there then they'd have to deal with Ira and Dolly, both of them at once in an enclosed area. There was no way that could end well.

Fable ran their hands through their hair, smoothing out the dark strands before moving closer to the group. They did their best to avoid them, slipping off the backpacks as they fell into the back of the van with a dull thud. Their back was officially some mangled mess, twisted out of shape by maybe forty pounds of books.

[valkyrie,]

♔ --- ❝ ＨＥＲＭＩＯＮＥ ＳＴ． ＣＬＡＩＲＥ ❞

--- eighteen, cisfemale, heterosexual, the queen bee, tagg. the gang, mood. calm

the st.claire's, one of the wealthiest families in brillmore for eight years. most of the shops around were bought by her parents, even her oldest brother was a spokesperson for the company. at school, hermione was the queen bee; however, she wasn't like the stereotypical ones you see on tv or in movies. hermione had a heart, but she could become over dramatic. she was born spoiled rotten until her baby sister was born. nowadays, she was sitting in detention with a bunch of teens and her boyfriend. they were all planning to leave. leave their homes in brillmore and never come back. at first, the idea was horrible to hermione. she couldn't bare to leave behind her parents and her siblings, definitely her baby sister. that little girl meant everything to her. however, the girl understood the plan, brillmore was becoming a bore. nothing was as exciting when she first arrived.

today was the day for them to ditch the town. her bags were packed and ready with clothes, ton of money for her, essentials, food and water. even though her two bags were quite heavy, she would be able to walk the mile. before leaving, hermione went to say goodbye to her little sister and grab the locket filled with her family picture. leaving the house, the queen bee began walking. what would the town think when a group of teens went missing at the same time. she knew her parents would become extremely worried and cause a huge scene, like they always do.

puffing out air, the girl tugged on her dark blue jacket. her outfit was simple, which she liked. everything she owned was simple and didn't bring too much attention. her brown eyes looked around the red area and spotted the others. there was a van labed with whitlock plumbing, which meant ira whitlock was around. walking up to the group, she heard mavis rambling off about the truck. hermione knew not to say anything, so she just quickly placed her bags in the van. opening up her bag, she grabbed a bottle of water and glanced around to find river.

[stormi.]

↱R i v e r ⚾ J a m e s↲
________________________________________
--eighteen-the jock-tagged: anyone and everyone--

This was one of the dumbest things River had ever decided to do. He felt
absolutely terrible for convincing everyone to go along with this, but at the same time
he didn't. People could've said no, they could've shut him and his idea down, but they didn't.
The fact that they didn't must mean something, right? At least he hoped it did.

The boy sat quietly on top of his fully packed duffle bag as he waited for everyone to arrive.
He had gotten here about an hour or so before everyone else was suppose to, simply because
he wanted to take some time to himself. He was really starting to regret this decision, knowing
there could be some terrible consequences up ahead. He didn't want to get into any trouble
or be responsible for other people getting into trouble. He knew there was absolutely no way
that this was going to end well for a group of teenagers running away, but he also knew
he was going to go through with it either way. It was too late to back out now. People were on their
way with their fully packed bags and minds set on saying goodbye to this terrible town.
There was no way anyone was going to back out now, as just hiking that one mile out of town
was an indication that everyone, including him, was in this for the long haul.

River took in a deep breath as he turned his head slightly to see Ira pulling up to the meeting
spot with his dad's truck. River didn't stand up though, he continued to sit in the same spot,
his mind still running wild with regrets. He knew this was a bad decision, every part of him
was telling him not to do this. River was normally a person who went with his gut feeling
when it came to making big decisions like this, but not this time. The boy tried so hard to ignore
all of the feelings and thoughts that were telling him no. As much as he wanted to just call it
quits with everyone and tell them to go home, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
He wanted out of this town so badly, even if it meant putting everyone at risk.
He had no clue what was up ahead on their journey, but he was going to find out soon enough.

After a few more people arrived, River let out a quiet sigh and slowly stood up from the
ground, brushing some of the dirt that had gotten on him off of his jeans. He picked up his
duffle and walked over to the van. The boy threw his bag into the back
of the van after Ira told everyone they could, and then he headed back into the quiet corner
he had been standing in just seconds ago. Seeing everyone's bags in the trunk just made him feel
sick to his stomach. He was feeling so conflicted with this decision. Every ounce of him wanted to
leave behind this town, but not if it meant trouble was ahead. Riv took a few more deep
breaths before he turned around and faced the group. Some faces looked familiar, but others he
knew nothing about. This was the group he was about to spend a good amount of time with,
and boy did he hope it all would go smoothly. Almost everyone was here, which meant
it was officially happening. They were actually going to leave this town behind.

[wilde]

𝚓𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚘 𝚓𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜

the heartthrob - he/him - where; outskirts - tags; river, everyone else (mentioned)

Jericho couldn't believe he was actually tagging along with this. The only reason he even joined was that he felt that he had to be with his brother. He was one of the few people in the group he was comfortable with. What were their parents going to think? Sure, they were rarely home and it was probably going to be a while before they even returned home, but they would take action when they find their children gone, right? He really didn't want to think too much about the consequences of running away.

At home, he grabbed the rest of the things needed for the journey while River was already out waiting for everyone to arrive. He decided that he only needed to bring one backpack full of clothing, money, snacks, the usual items needed to survive on your own. Before walking out the door, he debated maybe leaving his parents a note of some sort. To tell them what River and he were doing. He chose against it.

Once, he finally made it to their meeting spot, Jericho instantly spotted the 'Whitlock Plumbing' van. Of course, it had to be Ira's. Just knowing that he was around was enough to make Jericho feel both flustered and frustrated. Thankfully for him, Mavis had been talking to him. He was quick to set down his bag into the trunk of the van. It seemed that he was the last person to arrive. That was probably because he spent a good amount of time beforehand contemplating every decision he's made prior to this moment. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a deep sigh.

Everyone in the group was someone he was familiar in some way. There were already a few people he kept in mind that he'd try to avoid for most of the trip. He was already sure that plan wasn't going to work out. The first person he approached amongst the group was his brother. "Ready for this?" He asked him, trying to give him some kind of comfort. What he also wanted to ask was 'Are you sure about this?' but he kept his mouth shut. It was better not to bother him too much, especially with everything that he has to deal with. Jericho couldn't even imagine the amount of stress that was currently in.

[Pyra Ilver]

❝VIVIANE FROST❞
v ✦ ✧ ✦ female ✦ ✧ ✦ 17 ✦ ✧ ✦ hetero ✦ ✧ ✦ with fable

Viviane put her bag in the van. It was beautifully final. She knew there was no going back now, not now not ever. She could make something of herself, push for perfection outside of a town perfect only in its conformity. Some of the faces around her didn't seem so keen on their choice any more. Still, even if this idea hadn't sprung out of nowhere, Viviane would have been gone next year. The second she turned eighteen she would be out of that house so infused by her mother's presence.

Ever the planner, she was worried about the potential disruption between Mavis and Maddy. She remembered that break up alright- it was downright nasty. In fact, there were very few people who actually got on here. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

She wondered what was going on at home now. Her father would be awake and come and check on her. She wouldn't be there to greet him. Though, this wouldn't throw him. Lately V had been going earlier and earlier to get away, and since she hadn't left a note he wouldn't know she had gone. In fact, until other people started kicking up a fuss about the missing kids he probably wouldn't pay it any mind. It was only when she didn't turn up the next morning it would click, and by then it would be too late and she would be out of this place.

But for now she needed to form some connections. Viviane was always a solitary creature, but she was going to be spending who knew how long with these people in a van. There was no point being lonely like she had been at school. Her only friend had left when she was fifteen, and since then no one had really got her. She looked around,the first person she saw who didn't dislike her she would strike up a conversation with.

She looked around. Dolley hated her, she wasn't entirely sure where she stood with Maddox or Hermione, and Mavis was like a ticking time bomb. But Fable, Fable was sweet enough so that she at least had a chance. She walked over to the girl and stood awkwardly next to her. She didn't really do this much do the entire thing just felt slightly off. "Hi, you ok this morning?"

[imp.]

ＣＵＢＥ
role the clown tags river and jericho

cube could feel his stomach growing emptier with every second. having no one to talk to led him to take out his rubik's cube. fiddling with it carefully, he twisted the sides, switching around the places of the colors until it was jumbled. timing himself in his head, it took him a little less than ten seconds to solve it. puzzles came easy to him. he couldn't do much at home, so he started resorting to messing with brain teasers. but even they would get boring after solving them a hundred times over. cube starting tossing it in the air and catching it, boring himself. he wanted to eat, but managed to hold himself back, in case this was the only food they'd have.

the ringing and vibrating of the phone in his pocket caught his attention, and he put his rubik's cube away. cube let out a sigh, glancing at the caller id. it read the name of his father's lawyer, and his lips almost formed a frown. grabbing it, he paused for a second, before throwing it at the ground. he heard the screen crack and winced, immediately realizing what he had just done. it caught the attention of some of the group members. the break was loud. cube didn't look up, and he managed to keep his face from flushing red. instead, he kicked it, watching it skid. he kicked it again, and this time, it hit something. still trying to cover the impulsive decision up, he quietly approached river and jericho. everyone loved jericho; cube would never admit it, but he did too. river was his older brother, and seemed like a fairly nice guy too. he couldn't help but feel an ounce of pity when he realized the stress he was probably under. "we should all smash our phones." cube spoke, looking at them. "if we're leaving, we better cut off any ties that lead to us." quick thinking had helped him improvise, and the reason didn't sound half bad.

[stormi.]

↱R i v e r ⚾ J a m e s↲
________________________________________
--eighteen-the jock-tagged: Jericho & Cube, Hermione (mentioned)--

River stood alone for a few more minutes, his eyes glued to the ground. He didn't
want to look at the group because when he did all he felt was regret. River wasn't one to make
many bad decisions in his life. Of course he occasionally did,but he always suffered through the
consequences and never made the bad decision again. But none of his decisions were ever on the
same level as this one. He liked to consider himself a good kid, especially with the upbringing he had.
His parents were never involved in his life so he pretty much spent his childhood raising himself.
If his parents were to give their children any attention, it almost always went to Jericho. He was the
favourite brother of the two, and their parents had no problem showing it. It's the reason River
turned to baseball to finally get some recognition from his family and others in this small town.

When he first joined the team he really didn't think he had much of a talent for it. But after a few
practices and winning a few games with his teammates, it was made pretty clear that he had a
special gift when it came to playing the sport. While he would never admit it to anyone besides
maybe his brother and his girlfriend, Hermione, it actually pained him to know he was leaving
baseball behind. River had worked for years to grow his skills and make a future for himself with
baseball, so knowing that he was leaving it all behind when he decided to leave this town upset
him a little. It wasn't specifically the pressures of baseball that were making him want to flee,
it was all the pressure he was getting from his parents and coaches. They were starting to take
the fun and passion out of the game for River, and it was starting to show. As much as River would've
loved to get recruited and signed to a college baseball team, he couldn't stay and do that when he
knew his parents weren't going to rest until he signed to one of the best teams in the country.
River may have started to play the sport to get the attention from his parents, but he stayed
because he loved it. At least he used to love it.

River's eyes slowly looked up when he heard his brother's voice speaking to him. River might have
been having many regrets over persuading everyone to do this, but he wasn't going to show
it. Jericho's question echoed in River's mind for a few seconds before he finally spit out a reply, "Yeah, for
sure," he replied, not as convincingly as he would've liked. The boy shrugged and looked at
his brother with wary eyes. Jericho was the one person who knew him better than anyone else, so
he knew he couldn't lie. River let out a long sigh and changed his response to Jericho's question,
"I mean, I'm as ready as a person can be in this situation," he said, his voice quiet so
the other member's of the group wouldn't be able to hear his regret. When the boy heard another
figure approaching from behind, he straightened up his posture and cleared his throat, hoping no one
heard the truthful response he had just given his brother.

His eyes followed as the other boy approached them, this being one of the few people in the group
who he actually knew the name of. He listened carefully to Cube's suggestion that they smash their
phones. At first River was appalled by the idea, but as he thought more about it he realized it would
probably be a smart move. Riv nodded and spoke in his regular tone as he replied to Cube,"You're
right, we won't get far if we all still have functioning devices." After he spoke he pulled his
phone out of the pocket of his jeans and stared at it for a moment. He knew he needed to destroy it,
but he just couldn't find the strength to do it. As his phone screen lit up in his hand, he watched
as it revealed his wallpaper. It was of him and Hermione, which suddenly made him change his focus
to seeing if his girlfriend had arrived yet. The boy scanned the area in search for Hermione, wanting to
find out how she was feeling about this whole situation.