Camille Juniper
In a dark room, Date Unknown
"That's what counts as okay? How long have I been dead?"

~

    Reggie shook his head before starting his count in the endless abyss. Erica started by looking at her feet before counting her 200 paces. Adam, Erica, Luke, and Reggie each decided to walk 200 steps in every dirction, starting from the place Alex was crying.

One.... Two.... Three

    Erica felt bad about leaving Alex alone in the darkness, but she felt like it was better to try and do something rather than cry on the floor. The floor looekd morriored as well, which just creeped her the hell out. The blackness was just that. Blackness. It was creepy, bottem line.

Four.... five..... six

   The Adair girl pulled her father's sweatshirt tighter to her skin. She looked back for a second watching the boys go their own ways, Alex as their landmark.

Seven... eight.... nine

     Erica thought the thing she could only classify as a floor would make small ticking sounds when she put her foot down on it. As if every step a new second passed.

Ten.... eleven.... twelve

     Uncomfortable was the least dark term Erica could think of when she tried to describe the room. It was what she imagined what it was like inside of Reggie's head. Dark from the pain, a pale blue light showing you the way, and the only think you knew was your best friend. She just hoped Reggie never felt like that.

Thirteen.... fourteen.... fifteen

Erica pointed her head to her feet. At least the scuff marks on her convers were familiar. Every small light and sound in this place wasn't. It was as if this place didn't exist and she was still waiting to flat line. This was her place between life and death, and that's why she had to leave her friends.

Sixteen... seventeen.... eighteen

She just hoped that walking away meant she was walking to her death and they were walking back to life. Maybe that's why Alex was so conflicted, he didn't know weather to live or die. God she hoped she was the only one who got hurt.

Nineteen... twenty... twenty-one

Erica didn't want to be hurt she just wanted her friends to be okay. Man was she glad Nicholas didn't want those dumb hot dogs, she didn't know what she would do if she found him in the room.

Twenty-two... twenty-three.... twenty-four

   Erica looked back, she could still see Alex Adam and Luke. Reggie's all black clothing led him to blend in with the darkness so while Erica tried she could only see a little bit of a red flannel.

Twenty-five... twenty-six... twenty-seven

Erica was trying not to think about anything. She was focused on her feet and her count. Every step was harder as the room around her got darker.

Twenty-eight... twenty-nine... thirty

It was weird. When she first opened her eyes to see Luke before her there was a yellow light in the center of the room. Alex was still there. Erica was hoping the water works had stopped.

Thirty-one... thirty-two... thirty-three...

That yellow light had turned blue. That's why they decided to walk away. To see if the light went anywhere or was just replaced.

Thirty-four.... thirty-five.... thirty-six....

    Erica was still hopeful, because there was some kind of light. She didn't know what was happening but she knew she was at least trying to figure it out. That's always been her life motto. If you don't know what's happening try your damn hardest to find out.

Thirty-seven... thirty-eight.... thirty-nine...

Nothing felt right. Erica shoved her hands into the pockets of her father's sweatshirt. She thought about taking it off. This weird blackness was surprisingly warm. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She still didn't understand this place, and she was scared that if she took it off, it might just vanish.

forty... forty-one... forty-two...

It was all hazy. The farther and farther Erica got from Alex the less and less light she was gifted. She wanted to turn back, but she wasn't even at fifty yet, how could she turn back? But still nothing felt right.

forty-three.... forty-four... forty-five...

Erica allowed herself to look back again. She had only taken forty five steps, but Alex was hardly visible anymore. She wondered if he was still crying. Telling himself he was fine. Claiming nothing was happening. It was all a dream. She knew Alex was smarter than her so if Erica knew it wasn't a dream. So did Alex.

forty-six... forty-seven... forty-eight...

Like was what Erica called a 'soft' word. It showed half of an opinion. It was the word you used when you didn't know but you want to be nice. 'Yeah. I like the shirt' did you like it or did you soften the blow. On the other hand dislike was what you would use when you didn't hate something, you just didn't find it appealing. 'No personally I dislike cats.' However Erica didn't like or dislike the situation she was in. She hated it. She wanted to be back on stage playing and maybe scoring a record deal. Or at the very least see her brother's smiling face again.

forty-nine... fifty... fifty-one...

That pain she felt right before she was standing in the dark. Seeing a glimpse of her brother and father. She wounded if the guys saw that too. Saw something that made them want to crawl back to the living.

fifty-two... fifty-three... fifty-four...

Maybe that's what they mean when they say 'your life flashes before your eyes.' Maybe it was just proving what Erica really knew, her life was her brother, father, friends, and music. And what she saw was Bobby, Nicholas, and her father waiting at the Orphume. Every musicians dream.

fifty-five... fifty-six... fifty-seven....

    Just over a fourth of the way. Erica didn't know how much longer she could take this. She didn't know how much longer she could be left with her thoughts. Just thinking. Thoughts were a deadly thing. How else would a war start. Someone had to think about taking the first shot. If she kept thinking, she might tear herself apart.

fifty-eight.... fifty-nine.... sixty....

     Erica pulled the zipper of her father's jacket up. The farther from Alex she got the colder she got. She thought about counting the seconds, but that would mess up her count for how far she was, so she didn't. Erica closed her eyes, trying not to cry.

   sixty-one... sixty-two.... sixty-three....

   She finally understood why Alex was crying. A single tear rolled down her face. Erica didn't want to be alone. She wasn't her father to run up behind her and hug her, cracking her back as she got lifted off the ground. She wanted Adam to rest his head on top of hers as he joked around with his friends.

sixty-four.... sixty-five... sixty-six...

   Erica never really liked Adam's friends. They were all stuck up little bitches. Claiming it was Luke's fault his parents never supported them. Or that Sunset Curve's music sucked. Or just really degrading shit.

sixty-seven... sixty-eight... sixty-nine...

    Erica was pretty sure Adam only hung around them because they were his team. Being team captain meant you had to be part of the team. He always seemed to have a brighter smile when he was with Luke and Erica. Maybe that's what really set the crush off through the roof. Seeing his smile only around her.

seventy... seventy-one..... seventy-two....

    She wondered if he ever had the same thoughts. If maybe the only thing keeping him around his friends was the fact that he had to be.  Erica stopped walking for a second letting the through sink in.

seventy-three.... seventy-four.... seventy-five....

    Another thought passed her mind when she started walking again. What if Luke wasn't the only one of them who wanted to run. Adam had walked up to her, Alex, Reggie, and Bobby everyday, asking if they knew were Luke was.

seventy-six.... seventy-seven.... seventy-eight...

   Erica had know the Patterson boys her whole life. She knew how much Adam hated his middle name, and why. She was their the day Luke got his first guitar. She was their the day Adam became captain. But as Erica walked she though she missed the most important things.

seventy-nine... eighty.... eighty-one...

   She was so wrapped up in her parents drama. Well mother's drama. She forget to think about the shit happening in her friend's lives. Reggie's parents going head to head. Alex's parents straight out ignoring their son. Bobby's Dad being MIA. Emily and Mitch always seemed like the best option, but Erica forget to think about the fact that everyone struggles with their parents. And now she was dead, so it was far to late to fix it.

eighty-two... eighty-three... eighty-four...

   Erica was dead. That was her final answer. She didn't know if this was heaven, hell, or some where else entirety. But at least know she could say she was dead. She made up her mind. Maybe she walked herself to her own death, and maybe the boy were walking away. She didn't know. But she knew where she stood. Because she still had two feet. And they were going to take here where she said she would go.

eighty-five... eighty-six... eighty-seven....

    Erica started to drummed her fingers on her leg. She hummed the notes to Now or Never matching it to the drumming. Music calmed her down. Always. It was a soother. she didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the fact that she played with her best friends. Or maybe it was the vibrations her strings sent her. But it was some kind of magic.

eighty-eight... eighty-nine... ninety...

    She thought about the words Luke had said as they left the Orphum. The connection it gave people. How he wanted that connection with everyone. She wanted it too, but it was far too late. Maybe Bobby would release their demo and she would touch a few people after death. Full Freddy Mercury style.

ninety-one... ninety-two... ninety-three....

   She hoped Bobby was okay. Maybe his whole flirting tacit of lying to seem cool wasn't what any girl really wanted, but at least it keep the poor son of a bitch alive. If Erica was a bit more religious than just thinking theirs heaven and hell, she would have prayed fro the boy. But she didn't know if she was praying to anyone.

ninety-four... ninety-five.... ninety-six...

     Erica looked up. She was hoping it wasn't the same darkness above her as it was in front of her. That the light started to follow her, but at last it didn't. It was a dark miss. She wondered if she could reach up and feel it. If it was like a dark cloud. Just blacked water, waiting to fall.

ninety-seven... ninety-eight... ninety-nine....

    Maybe that's all this place was. Some kind of holding place for the newly dead. And when the black clouds got too full, they poured down and washed the dead into heaven or hell. Or maybe purified their souls so they would all go to heaven. Or maybe it was just more darkness in this black afterlife.

    "100. 101. 102." Erica started to count out loud, her voice coming back to her in echos but she couldn't hear anyone else. It was just her in a dark room, blackness anyway you looked.

    "I wouldn't bother." Erica nearly jumped six feet in the air when she heard someone's voice. A voice she didn't know, "Don't waste your energy. I've been here for about an hour, it's just darkness. No matter how far you walk."

    Erica's skin was crawling as she turned to face the girl. She had dark curly hair and a pair of blue overall over a nice tie-dyed shirt. She had a pair of converse on, but that was it. She looks like she was taken from a history textbook about Amelia Earhart. There wasn't even anything with her. Just like the members of Sunset Curve. "Who-Who are you?" Erica stuttered the words, biting down on the inside of her lip so she wouldn't scream.

    The girl shrugged, "People called me Camille Juniper."

    "Called? So we are dead? And your age? how old are you?" Erica peppered the girl with questions. She flung her arms around in the air as she asked, fear clouding over the thoughts she just had.

    "Yeah, And I'm 17. Who's we?"

    "Oh, uh. I'm Erica Adair. I dare you not to smile." She said the phase halfheartedly. "and 'we' is me and my band mates." Erica's eyes widened, "Alex! God I should have never left him alone!" She just grabbed the girls wrist running back in the direction she cam. Camille yelled at her as she did but she didn't stop till she saw blond hair. "Alex?"

    The boy let out a sob, "I'm okay." He rubbed his eyes trying to get the water to stop.

    Camille's eyes widened, "that's what counts as okay? How long have I been dead?"

    Erica turned to say that wasn't what counted as 'okay' until Luke's voice cut her off. "Two-hundred." Luke sighed as he finshed his count back to Alex. "Nope. Nothing." Luke kicked at the small amount of blueish light that allowed them all to see in the complete darkness.

    Erica let go of Camille's wrist, "I found a girl." It was the fist time since she entered this room that her voice was chipper. Erica was almost excited by the fact that she had met Camille, that she wasn't sitting in a dark room with the boys forever. That someone else was here. If she found Camille maybe they could find someone else too.

    "Great," Luke rocked back on his heels, "Adam!" He called out ot his twin as Adam took his 200th step back to his friends.

    "200. Absolutely nothing." The younger Patterson boy sighed in defeat, a feeling he had a lot recently.

    "200." Reggie huffed out, taking a seat on the mirrored ground. He took of his leather jacket, beating it out and spraying bits of dust around before putting it back on. "Where even are we?" The Peters boy looked up as the word 'we' bounced around in the darkness.

    Erica sighed, "I have no idea? Cam? Can I call you Cam? I'm gonna call you Cam.You've been here the longest, any thoughts?" She turned to the girl she had just met, sending her a questioning look.

    "Who's that? That one there?" Adam pointed to Camille as her and Erica walked towards Luke and Adam. All of them trying not to get annoyed by Alex crying. Erica loved her friend, she did, but her death was the least unsettling thing she was dealing with right now. So crying over it seemed pointless. Camille seems to be the most affected by it, constantly looking back to the blonde.

    "I'm Camille,"

Adam and Luke looked to each other before speaking at the same time, "Cam what now?"

She rolled her eyes at the twins, "Ca-meal, not that hard to say. But I still don't no where we are. I mean is the war even over?"

    Everyone looked at her like she was insane. "Uh," Erica cleared her throat, "The Vietnam war has been over for almost 14 years. Are you even from America?"

    "Londan. And what Vietnam war?" Camille tipped her head at the words that left Erica's mouth.

    "Okay well- um- I-" Luke didn't know how to ask this without being blunt, "What year did you die?"

    "1940?" Camille questioned her own words, "Why? What-What year is it?" The girl stuttered looking around at the five people she had never met.

    Everyone looked at Erica, even Alex as he started to stop crying, "Why are you are looking at me?" Luke rolled his eyes at his best friend, "Oh screw you Patterson." Erica turned to face Camille. "Uhh, Cam-Cammie.." She gave the girl finger guns, "I don't know how to say this, but-uh- It's 1995."

    Camille laughed, "No it's not. It's-it's can't be..." She trailed off, "No, I haven't been here that long. I couldn't have bene here that long." Camille looked to Alex as he sat on the floor, "right?" Her voice craked. "Right? Erica?"

    Erica sighed, walking oer to the Juniper girl, "Look, Cammie, I have no idea. I mean-" The ground started to shake underneath of them, "What was that?"

    "I don't know!" Alex and Reggie jumped from the floor. Now or Never started to blare around the room, Luke's voice echoing in and out.

    The older Patterson put his arms up in defnce, "I'm not saying anything." Erica didn't intend to grab onto Adam's arm as the room shook for a second time. "Camille, any thoughts?"

    "Never happened before...." The six let out screams as the ground fell from below them. All of them groaned as they hit a new floor. If he wasn't made of air, Erica would have said she broke Adam's arm.

    Erica coughed; nearly taking the fring of the carpet into her mouth. Adam pulled her from the floor and she pulled up Camille up as well. Luke Reggie and Alex used each other to climb up from the floor. "Whoa!" They all turned around from the lader in front of them, "Whoa!" Luke pointed to the celing, "How did we get back here?"

    A girl's eye widened before she screamed. The six ghost took one look at her before screaming as well, jumping up and into each other. It was the definition of chaotic.

~