Killer Lovin: episode 3

Rick smiled at Beverly as she drank her champagne. her beautiful eyes meeting his. Rick couldn't believe it. he won He actually won something didn't feel right though, should he have won, did he really want to get married? it was all moving so fast. Beverly smiled at Rick her sweet voice echoing around him.

"Oh I love you, darling, you love me to don't you." Rick hesitated, backing away from Beverly as her teeth grew sharper, as her face melted like playdoh that had been out in the sun for too long. as laughter and beeps racked their way through his brain. Beverly glared at Rick.

"you love me, darling... DON'T YOU!" Rick jumped up from the blanket running away from the fishlike monster now chasing him. laughter erupting in chorus. Mitch's screams echoing through his head

"RUN FATASS!!" Rick ran towards a field of dalalhs in hopes of escaping the menace, he didn't know why but the field seemed to be calling him, like a beckon of safety. Rick felt something grab him as he barely reached his foot over to the flowers. shaking him violently as it dragged him away.

Rick's eyes snapped open to see Chas clutching onto him screaming at him to wake up. Rick peered over to the field which was now a large mountain with sharp rocks protruding from the sides. Chas let out a sigh of relief as he realized Rick was awake.

"I was dreaming?" Rick said surprised Chas nodded breathing heavily as he inched a little further away from the edge.

"Yeah, was it a good dream?" Chas asked Rick shook his head still in shock.

"not really." He said honestly. Chas chuckled nervously. Brock made his way up followed by Jackson who was still in his pajamas he looked at Rick confused.

"He okay?" Chas nodded allowing Jackson a chance to breathe. Marcus followed behind taking slow steps as his eyes met Rick's.

"it's okay Marcus, he was just sleepwalking!" Marcus looked at Rick worried.

"you're sure, he could be lying!" He said Rick looked at Marcus half offended he'd accuse him of lying.

"yes Marcus, he's fine." Marcus nodded backing his way down the mountain. The group walked down the mountain careful not to fall off the steep sloap the house soon insight.

"Talk about a close call," Jackson said peering over at the ledge.

"Why do they have a mountain right next to the house anyway?" Brock asked

"It's for the horseback riding challenge." Marcus answered before Rick could say anything. Brock looked at the two confused.

"that's right!" Noah Grand yelled his abnoxas smile suddenly appearing in front of the group. Brock backed up in shock almost slipping off the ledge in the process. Jackson looked at Noah angrily.

"you scared the crap out of us!" Noah shrugged looking down from the high mountain.

"well, most of you were here anyways so we just figured we'd meet up to talk about today's challenge." Chas looked at Noah surprised.

"already, look, I think we need some time to breathe Rick almost fell off a cliff a couple of seconds ago." Noah looked between the group trying to remember which one of them was Rick. Brock pointed to Rick in an attempt to jog Noah's memory. An odd look of reluctant agreement made its way to his face.

"Alright, I guess it wouldn't be fair to start now." Marcus stared at Noah slightly shaken up from the whole ordeal.

"what do you mean?" he asked

"Just like you said. Today we're going to be going horseback riding! during which you have to test your courage and talk about your hopes for the future." Rick sighed slightly relieved. If he was good at anything, it was just talking. It was also a good thing he took those horseback riding classes a bit before he got on the show, otherwise, he'd probably be done for. Marcus and Chas looked a bit unsure though.

"We aren't riding up THIS are we?" Marcus asked eyeing the mountain as they walked down. Rick shook his head still recovering from his near-death experience.

"Normally they have us ride through a field on the island. the mountain's just for show." Marcus stared at the mountain relived. Chas looked at rick a concerned smile on his face. Rick felt a touch of happiness come over him. Chas cared about him. He was the first to arrive. not that it was surprising, Chas was a kind man. That's all, kind, he was a straight kind man.

"Are you feeling alright?" Chas asked a comforting tone in his voice. Rick looked down thinking.

"well, my leg hurts a bit." He lied, Chas pulled Rick's arm over his shoulder allowing himself to be closer to Rick. allowing him to see the beauty of Chas' face at a perfect angle. Rick smiled, allowing himself to get swept up in the beautifully rare creature that was Chas. yes, Chas was straight, he had to be. That didn't mean Rick couldn't enjoy a good moment.

"Have you ever rode a horse before?" Rick asked. Chas shook his head a nervous look on his face. Marcus looked over to the two. Slight excitement on his face.

"I could give you some lessons, I've done some horseback riding when was in police school." Rick looked at Marcus slightly surprised.

"you're a policeman?" He asked somewhat confused. Marcus shook his head.

"no, I was kicked out for... reasons I'd rather not talk about." Rick looked Marcus up and down trying to determine why he could have possibly been kicked out. His first thought was alcohol abuse. It was no mystery that Marcus had a problem with the stuff. Out of everyone in the household he had to be the one who asked Rick for drinks the most. There had even been times he'd 'accidentally take' drinks from the house bar when no one was looking. Marcus laughed smacking Rick on the back.

"could you imagine ME as a COP?!? no, no, no, I'm a, well, not a smokejumper, I'm the guy who flies the plane for the smokejumpers."

"Really?" Chas exclaimed Marcus nodded.

"yeah, my little brother Scott, he LOVED smoke jumpers, he was always talking about them, he never really managed to get his license though. god, imagine if he saw me now. He'd be freaking out."

"Does he not like the show?" Brock asked Marcus shook his head sadly. His voice became slightly shakey.

"No, he loved this show, he'd go on and on about getting on it. Hell, he'd even suggest I go on the show so I wouldn't be lonely." Jackson looked at Marcus saddened as he began to piece things together. Rick soon followed he had a feeling, a sad feeling, one he was hoping was wrong.

"he's, not here anymore, we went swimming at a lake outside our house... Scott dove in he wanted to show off to our mom. thing was, he didn't see the rocks. He hurt his head real bad... died in the hospital later that night." Marcus said sadly as he began breaking into tears. The group comforted him best they could as they made their way back down the mountain. Rick peered down the side of the mountain again, unsure what to say. Gordan ran out to the group.

"WILL YOU GUYS KEEP IT DOWN I'M TRYING to-" Gordon stopped himself as he met Marcus' tear-stained eyes.

"Rick almost fell off a cliff." Brock whispered to Gordon doing his best to keep Marcus from crying again. Gordon looked at Rick with a mixture of confusion and concern on his face. The group sat in the courtyard telling stories about themselves as Marcus made the group eggs.

Brock was a college student, he was the only one in his friend group without a significant other. He signed up hoping he could meet a nice person to be with. Jackson was a part of a very important group, he was very quiet about it. As Rick expected his wife divorced him, leaving him with their daughter. Who Jackson went on lengths talking about. she just won the science fair in their home town. He was so proud of her.

Gordon was a lawyer who graduated from Harvard. Something that didn't really surprise anyone. He seemed very entranced by Beverly. Rick talked about his life before, how he had been with a couple of other people but had decided he wanted to find someone to settle down with. He explained he was a huge fan of the show and wanted to get on it for a long time.

The Group looked towards Chas, who sat silently. He shook his head.

"I'm a musician, not much more to say." He said laughing.

"But why did you get on the show?" Rick asked Chas shrugged nervously, an odd look of worry on his face.

"I was lonely, I wanted to be in a relationship so I said, why not." Rick looked at Chas slightly disheartened. he didn't know why, he knew from the start Chas was straight. Why else would he be on the show? Rick nodded pressing his disappointment back into his heart.

"well, I hope you find someone, if this doesn't, work out." Chas nodded a similar look of sadness on his face.

"you too." The group sat silently as they ate their eggs a bit of an understanding in each of their hearts. That's when a rustling came from the bushes. The group backed towards the door a similar thought going through each of their minds.

"Wolves?" Rick asked remembering Noah's warning last week. Jackson grabbed a stray rock slowly making his way towards the shrubbery. An odd sound came from the bushes... it wasn't an animal, not one they ever heard about, at least. It sounded like, moaning, human moaning.

A bad feeling made it into Rick's stomach as two bloody hands grasped the ground in front of the bushes. Jackson opened the bushes for a second a look of fear in his eyes. the group peered to where he was looking catching sight of the source of the pained moans. It was Mitch, his left leg was twisted as he dragged himself towards the group.

"**** **! ** *****!!"

"Holy ****!" Brock managed to say his body shaking. Honestly, there wasn't much more any of them could say as they looked at Mitch's bloody corkscrew that was once his leg. Jackson turned to the camera crew.

"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!!!" Noah rushed towards the group an almost fake look of concern on his face. Mitch's eyes went wide as Noah ran towards him. An odd look of fear on his face as Noah neared him.

"** *** ****** **** **!!! *****! ***'* *** *** **** **!!!"

"Don't worry we have a medical crew on staff" Noah said hurriedly as he put a hand on Mitch's shoulder. Beverly looked down from her bedroom window letting out a scream of shock. The medical crew rushed to Mitch who tried his best to cawl away placing him on the gurney as he screaming in agony.

"***** *** *********!!!!!!!!" One of the medic's grabbed Mitch sticking a needle in his arm bringing the poor man relief from his agonizing pain. the medics put him on the gurney carrying his drugged body away. Rick ran up to Noah.

"is he going to be okay?" Noah shook his head.

"he'll be fine, it's just a broken leg. One of the horses was caught outside the area he's supposed to be in. We think cheater-mc-cheater-pants was trying to get a head start on the challenge."

"Broken? BROKEN?!? His leg wasn't 'broken', his leg was TWISTED!" Jackson screamed in surprise Marcus nodded trying to erase the sight from his head.

"I've dealt with horses in the past. There's NO WAY that was caused by a horse." Noah's face changed to a look of concern all of the cameramen seeming to follow suit. It quickly snapped back to his fake smile though as he stared at Marcus.

"well, we'll look further into the incident, and don't worry about the horse. We're going to be leaving him in the stable for the challenge today. We're also going to be checking the horses to make sure they're all safe to ride." Chas looked towards Rick worried.

"Hey, I don't think w-"

"we're heading down to the hills in 1 minute make sure you've all collected yourselves." Noah interrupted as an irritated look made its way to his face.

"Anyone who DOSN'T COMPETE will be eliminated from the show." Rick's nerves stood on end as the words 'eliminated' left Noah's mouth. he hated those words. they sounded twisted, warped somehow. The same went for Noah, something wasn't right about him. Rick had seen Noah plenty of times on the show. There was something different when interacting with him in person. something fake, unnerving, like a manikin with painted-on eyes. Even how he spoke had an odd jarring feel his perfect tv hoast voice masking a fit of passive-aggressive anger.

Chas took deep breathes as he looked at the area they found Mitch. Rick put a hand on his shoulder, hiding his own fear about the situation.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. Like they said, Mitch wasn't following the rules he probably tried to mess with the horse. They wouldn't just kill us. That's bad for ratings" Rick laughed soon joined by Chas. watching as Noah gave them some time to themselves. it was a limited amount of time but enough to allow the group to collect themselves.

Truth be told, Rick had lied about the tv thing, yes murder was frowned upon but as Rick had thought more about it he realized it didn't matter what type of attention the show got long as it was interesting. much like the villain character, people could hate the show to its core and still watch it.

Each one of them could vanish and the viewers wouldn't know the wiser. if they had they would they care or just continue like normal? No, he was being ridiculous, paranoid even, there was no way one of them would die. this was live, people would know, they had to. there was no way a person would just ignore the death of one of the contestants.

Even Mitch's terrible accident was damaging enough to the show's ratings. He'd be fine though, if it was really that bad he'd get some form of compensation, and be sent home only to be replaced with a new person. The cameramen lead the group to where the horses were located. the cloping of hooves interrupting Rick's thoughts as each pure breed steed approached them. Each one of them stared at the horse's slightly terrified. all except Jackson who hopped onto a black mare spooking her. She thrashed about as Jackson yanked against the horse's reins all too quickly gaining control as the horse calmed down. Rick looked at Jackson somewhat impressed.

Marcus made his way to one of the more passive of the group bringing it to where Chas was before swinging himself onto the back of a tan stallion like the true professional he was. Chas eyed the horse nervously as its tired eyes met his.

"Don't worry bout him" Marcus said riding his horse in circles as a warm-up.

"That's an old guy right there. couldn't hurt you even if he tried." Chas managed to get on the horse before it took off like a bullet towards the fence. Brock quickly grabbed the reins stoping the horse before Chas had to join Mitch in the hospital. Chas took deep breaths as he clutched the saddle tightly. Brock petted the horse gently trying to calm it down.

"looks like something spooked him." Rick looked towards where the horse had been standing. Beverly smiled at the guys today choosing to wear lavender horse riding gear complete with a black helmet and plum vest.

"you look great" Marcus whisper screamed being careful not to spook any of the other horses. Beverly smiled gratefully pulling her Blonde hair back into a ponytail. She looked towards rick slightly surprised.

"somethings different about you." she chimed almost pleased. so she did notice, Rick had been doing his best to lose weight, be it skipping meals and trying to run more. Rick smiled excited that Beverly noticed his hard work.

" Yeah, he's gotten fatter!" A familiar chordal rang through the group. Rick sigh as he turned to see a newly bandaged Mitch in a wheelchair an oddly callous look on his face. As releived as Rick was he was also disappointed. A part of him was praying he wouldn't have to worry about mitch. his leg seemed better now no longer a twisted mess as it sat in a cast. Beverly glared at Mitch who looked away from her as though to avoid eye contact.

"Dude we thought you died!" Brock said as he showed Chas how to properly hold a horse's reins. Mitch looked at Beverly with an unpleasant smile on his face.

"Clearly, lucky me though, I don't have to ride those crazy nightmares." Rick rolled his eyes.

"they only went crazy because you did something to one of them." Mitch opened his mouth to retort only to shut it as Noah's eyes looked towards him. Noah clutched Mitch's wheelchair rolling him away a slight panic coming over him. Noah placed him out of the way of the horses, allowing Mitch's panic to subside. Gordon looked at Mitch slightly concerned as he stepped towards him, one of the cameramen stopping him.

"we're keeping him away from the other contestants for now." the man explained.

"it's just a broken leg but we're taking no chances." Gordon backed away making his way onto his own horse. his eyes momentarily peering at Mitch as he did. Rick found his horse a slight nervousness falling over him as the creature seemed to eye him up and down. Rick grasped the horse's saddle struggling to pull himself up onto the white steed. Beverly chuckled as she watched Rick struggle to get on the horse. Brock helped Rick onto the creature before getting on his own effortlessly, still clutching the reins of Chas' horse to keep it in place.

Noah helped Beverly onto her horse, a light grey stallion with violet eyes. A creature almost as beautiful as Beverly herself. Noah smiled at Beverly an oddly proud expression on his face as he turned to the other contestants.

"Alright, I'm sure most of you know what a fox hunt is, well today we're going on a Bev hunt. Now you don't have to play but Beverly is willing to give immunity to anyone who can catch up to her." Beverly took off her blonde hair flowing in the wind. Chas' horse went wild charging towards the grey stallion. yanking its self out of Brock's hands.

Marcus followed having much more control over his horse. Jackson came next somehow managing to beat the others when it comes to speed. Brock went next keeping an eye on Chas making sure he didn't fall off his noble steed. Mitch watched as each horse left the stable an odd look of concern on his face. He whispered something to Noah and Gordon. Noah smiled wide as he eyed Mitch up and down.

Rick's horse suddenly took off a terrifying screeching from its mouth as it ran. Rick quickly gained control followed by Gordon who had a similar smile on his face as he trailed behind Rick. He watched as Chas lost more and more control over his horse which was soon bolting like a racecar towards the edge of the hill.

"DUDE OTHER WAY!" Brock yelled after him. Chas clutched the reins desperately trying to stop the horse. Rick fallowed after Chas in hopes of stopping the creature a slight pain in his head as he reluctantly ran away from Beverly. He swore he felt her eyes burning into the back of his skull as he followed Chas. Not a look on anger, more a look of a thrill. Beverly's eyes peered at them Rick's confidence in his skills slowly decreasing as the pressure of her eyes watched him.

Rick felt something grasp his shoulder, claw-like hands digging into his skin as a woman's bright teeth appeared in front of the horse's line of vision. the horse lurched back knocking Rick to the ground as the hand pulled on his shirt. Mitch jumped onto the horse from a tree after a seemingly miraculous recovery. Rick struggled as the arm pulled him towards the cliff.

Jackson approached Rick pulling his horse to a stop. The hand vanished allowing Rick to stand up again. Jackson and Rick stared at the cliff that had almost become his tomb.

"you okay? What happened?" Jackson asked Rick nodded feeling stupid as he got up from the ground. Of course, Mitch was faking, it would have been boring if he left just like that. there was NO WAY he got injured by a horse. Though Rick had yet to understand how he did it. Did Noah know, what was he saying, of course, he knew. A stunt like that couldn't have been done by one person. Rick sighed rubbing his back from the pain.

"Mitch stole my horse," Rick said Jackson offered Rick a hand pulling him up onto his horse a mix of anger and worry coming over him.

"I'm gonna have to talk with that man." Jackson charged back onto the path expertly avoiding the bushes and brambles covering the area. His horse passed Mitch effortlessly. Rick was unable to hold back his laughter as he watched Mitch's sorry face disappear into the distance.

Rick soon saw Chas desperately trying to regain control over his horse. Jackson leads his horse over to Chas turning back to Rick.

"THE REINS! GRAB THE REINS!!" Rick reached over to Chas' horse grasping the reins. The horse slowed turning with Jackson's horse as they ran back to the track. Rick watched from the distance as Brock rode next to Beverly. the two stoping. The group soon saw why they stopped as a giant amusement park came into view, Noah Grand standing outside. His smile blinding the reast of the camera crew.

“well, well nice to see you all made it. I saw some of you were having a bit of a problem.” Noah looked at Rick and Chas. Rick rolled his eyes, slightly upset the camera crew didn’t do anything about the random hand that yanked him off.

” But now, it’s time to wind down with a nice trip to the fair. You guys know the drill, one by one each of you will get a chance to chat with Bev, and because he finished first that lucky guy is you, Brock.” Brock gave a victory cry as he and Beverly made their way into the park. An excited smile on her face as she looked at the giant rides. Noah turned to the others peering back and Beverly between talking.

”the rest of you enjoy yourselves, and have fun.” Rick looked at all the rides almost unable to decide which to go on. His eyes eventually settling on a boat-themed ride that slid back and forth on a ramp as it spins around. Rick made his way towards the ride Followed by Chas who made a similar decision. Chas and Rick talked about the past week as they walked through the park. stopping to see the multitude of rigged carnival games. Rick peered at the stuffed bear in a booth with a bunch of pots in the middle of a group of stuffed chickens.

Chas' eyes met the fuzzy creature too as he turned to Rick.

"I bet I can win it!" Chas said his eyes lighting up. Rick shook his head.

"Don't bother things like this are rigged." Chas ignored Rick's complaints pushing a dollar into the Carnie's hands. The carnie explained the rules. There was a seesaw, the chicken would be on one end and Chas would hit the other. All Chas had to do was get one of the chickens into the pot. Rick sighed as the Carine emphasized the ' all you have to do.' Trying to hide the true difficulty of this task. Chas Bashed his hammer into the seesaw sending the chicken flying.

The chicken landed into the pot. The carnie stared at Chas slightly surprised, Rick looked at Chas equally as confused. The carnie handed Chas a tiny bear no bigger than a cell phone. Chas pointed to the Giant bear.

"how many of these do I need to get that." The carnie held up five fingers his anxiety increasing as Chas landed chicken after chicken into the pot. Rick looked at Chas overseeing if he was cheating. surprised to find he wasn't. The carnie reluctantly handed Chas his prize. Chas smiled as he gave the bear to Rick making his way to their destination.

Rick stared at the bear confused.

"I think theirs an area by the front if you don't want to carry it." Chas shook his head his face going slightly red.

"no, it's yours. I saw you looking at it so I wanted to get it for you." Chas admitted looking away from Rick. Rick's face turned red as he looked at the stuffed animal. Chas laughed slightly embarrassed.

"Sorry, now that I think about it that's more of a couples thing. probably weird getting a bear from a guy huh." Rick shook his head clutching the bear tightly as he looked away from Chas.

"I don't mind it. I mean, it's a bear. you probably think it's weird for a grown man to like stuffed animals." Rick chuckled, Chas shook his head.

"not really." Rick looked at Chas who returned the awed stare. For a moment, Rick began to think that Chas wasn't straight. Not that it mattered if he was or not. No, Chas was straight why else would he be here? Rick told himself once more. trying to push away his feelings. this time though, he couldn't shake the feeling that he may actually have a chance.

Noah pushed himself between the two his smile dazzling in the lights of the carnival.

"The ride's about to start, you two should hurry." the two rushed towards the ride managing to fasten themselves on. the ride swung back and forth forcefully as Chas and Rick screamed excitedly. The movements becoming more and more forceful with each swing. Rick clutched the bear trying to keep himself from throwing up.

The ride slowed Chas and Rick Laughing as they unfastened themselves from the ride. Brock sat waiting for the next ride screaming excitedly as Chas and Rick made their way off.

"Man you guys need to try the slingshot! you get strapped into these chairs and it swings you like, I don't know, 50 ft in the air! I'm pretty sure it's illegal!" Rick clutched his still spinning stomach.

"Not for me, I'm probably gonna need to sit down. Take it slow." Rick sat himself down on the bench his eyes catching sight of Jackson as he messed with some sort of wheel. Chas and Brocked looked in his direction waving to Jackson.

"HEY, BRO WHATCHA DOING?" Brock yelled, Jackson, flinched his eyes meeting the three. An annoyed look on his face as he made his way towards them the look changing to a pleasant smile.

" Hey guys, looks like you've been having fun." Chas nodded looking at Rick.

"yeah, hey what were you doing?" Jackson looked at the cameraman a worried look on his face.

"I- I was throwing up!" Jackson said Rick looked at him unconvinced.

"oh, you went on the slingshot too huh," Brock asked Jackson nodded quickly.

"yep, it was crazy, my stomach couldn't quite handle it." Jackson looked at the bear in Rick's hands his faked smile turning into a real one.

"where'd you get that?" Jackson asked Rick pointed to Chas.

"I won it at one of the booths," Chas said an odd look of embarrassment on his face. Jackson looked towards the booths surprised.

"you ACTUALLY WON! no way, which one? I wanted to get my kid a souvenir from the show!" Chas pointed to the chicken booth. Jackson bolted down the carnie terrified by the determined father. Rick looked at the cameraman an odd feeling of guilt slowly came over him. as though he did something wrong.

Marcus made his way to the group of people, a disheartened look on his face as he joined the others. Rick knew that look, that was the look he had last week. The look of someone who fell below Beverly's expectations. Marcus' sorrow-filled face changed to one of anger as he peered at the fairis wheel.

"I don't like her, she's not my type" he murmured an oddly sharp rage in his voice. Marcus looked at Rick. It was his turn? Already? Rick made his way to the fairis wheel an unaware smile on her face as Rick got into the ride. Rick looked at Beverly who eyed the stuffed bear in his hands.

"is that for me?" she asked Rick clutched the bear trying to keep from blushing.

"Oh, no, Chas won it for me he's an expert at that chicken carnival game you should see him." Beverly looked at the bear hate hidden behind her violet eyes.

"aren't you a bit old for stuffed animals?" Rick shook his head, he didn't think there was an age barrier to snuggly creatures.

"well, that's a little hypocritical you like stuffed animals right?" Beverly smiled almost as though to admit she was wrong. Rick was surprised normally Beverly was steadfast when it came to being wrong.

"I suppose you have a point. I guess, I'm just a bit jealous" Beverly said her eyes drifting to the other contestants below them. Rick looked at Marcus who had once again begun crying. against his best interest, Rick decided to ask a question he was fully aware Beverly wouldn't like.

"what did you say to him?" Beverly looked at Rick almost surprised she asked him. Beverly took her riding helmet off looking Rick in the eyes.

"I just told him the truth. I asked him about his life, his accomplishments joys. he kept going on, Scott this, Scott that, Scott, Scott, everything was tied to Scott." Rick nodded trying to understand.

"well yeah, his brother died he misses him." Beverly looked at Rick confused as though the idea of loss didn't exist to her. she continued looking at Marcus as Chas handed him one of the bears he had won.

"you want to know the interesting thing about human beings. they have their own dreams. A passion, a reason to live something they chase after despite everyone involved. Marcus? Doesn't have a passion, or a dream. His dreams are Scott's dreams. He stole them. He's a fake Rick, a thief. He'd be nothing if this Scott was still alive." Rick looked at Beverly shocked. Marcus was a thief? what was she saying what was she talking about.

"He's just grieving, he's sad he's lost something." Rick retorted Beverly looked at her hand, illuminated by the lights of the park.

"I never understood that. how do you become so sad you dedicate your life to someone? It's selfish, that's what it is." Beverly looked at Rick only now realizing his disapproving look. she quickly changed the subject.

"what about you, do you have any dreams?" Rick looked out at the park looking at the thousands of lights the house sitting in the distance.

"Truth be told, this is my dream. I always wanted to be on this show. I guess if you mean outside of this, I'd like to own my own ice cream store." Beverly looked at Rick confused.

"I thought you did." Rick shook his head.

"I'm a manager of an ice cream store, I watch it when no one else can. I'd like to have my own, with a small little corner, to watch tv. It sounds weird, but think about it, the super bowl, right? they're aren't any ice cream places you can watch the super bowl! at least in Boise. I'd have the first one, zero competition. I could even have a special, a super bowl for the super bowl." Beverly's eyes stared at Rick almost mesmerized as he talked about his fictional ice cream store. Rick looked down to see an impatant Gordon waiting his turn. Rick turned to Beverly.

"I think I'm out of time." Beverly came back to conciseness looking down at Gordon. She motioned the universal signal for one minute before turning her attention back to Rick.

"he can wait, I'm surprised, I figured you'd want to be like, a bartender, or something." Rick shook his head.

"Yeah, no, I just learned it from my folks, they owned a bar and grill in Boise. I mean, that's probably not surprising, I'm sure half of the people in Boise own a bar and grill, there EVERYWHERE!" Beverly laughed a smile making its way to her face, this one was different. it was real, genuine. this was probably the first time Rick had ever seen Beverly genuinely smile.

"so what about you what's your dream." Beverly looked out at the fair her eyes drifting from the group. a slight light in them as she looked out.

"The world, I want to see the world," Beverly answered Rick smiled looking at the lush landscape of the island.

"well, this is a pretty good start." Beverly looked down an oddly depressed look on her face as he viewed the island. reaching her hand out. The lights around them went dim losing their color as Beverly smiled sadly. Rick looked around slightly scared.

"actually, I think Boise may be a good start. What's it like there?" Rick searched for his bear in the darkness finally finding it under the faris wheel chair.

"I wouldn't say its very impressive, we have trees, and mountains, bikes, downtown's pretty cool. let's see, the zoo's neat, and the museums, theirs the river-"

"River?" Beverly asked as the lights began to turn on again. Rick nodded

"yeah, the Boise river, it's a pretty cool area, it goes throughout Boise. There's the green belt, the memorial next to the library. People go water rafting and fly fishing. Don't tell anyone I'd used to sneak down there and throw rocks when I was in high school... at the river, not other people." Rick stood up trying to find his way back to Beverly as he felt the side of the cart dangling them in midair.

"You know, even if you send me home, it doesn't mean we can't be friends. Maybe I can show you sometime if you're in Boise." The fair lights grew bright again, lighting the area. Beverly's face was illuminated once more her violet eyes on the verge of tears.

"I'd like that." Noah's voice echoed from below his smile covered by a large megaphone.

"Hey, love birds! It's time for the next person." Rick looked down at Noah he couldn't tell but for some reason, Noah seemed upset. Beverly looked down at Noah slightly annoyed. she motioned to the faris wheel operator who brought him down. Rick waved goodbye to Beverly as he left the ride. Gordon bumped into Rick shoving him to the side as he made his way into the seat slamming the door behind him.

the reast of the day was uneventful. Chas told Beverly about his music career leaving out a few details. Gordon talked about his dreams of going from lawyer to Judge. Brock talked about how he wanted to be an astronaut. Mitch's turn was, once again relatively short as he told Beverly to go to hell. At least that's what Rick thought he said. the censor button was too loud to tell. He exited the ride doing his best to avoid Noah as he limped to the elimination area.

Rick and the others followed suit each finding their way to their seats. Beverly handed Brock his flower as she made her way to the front. She looked at the men set in her decision.

"Today was a nice day I got to get to know you all a little better, which is going to make it hard to send one of you home." The guys looked between each other mentally preparing for Beverly's decision. Beverly glared at Noah as she announced her first choice.

"Mitch," Mitch made his way down avoiding Noah's eyes as he grasped his dalila.

"Rick," Beverly said smiling, Rick walked down holding his flower happily as the feeling of temporary immortality deep in his soul. Beverly looked at Chas her stare, cold and fridged. a very different response from before.

"Brock," Brock took the flower happily. Beverly's eyes stayed stuck on Chas.

"Gordon." She said an almost piercing tone in her voice as she focused on Chas. Gordon took the flower somewhat unsettled by Beverly's stare.

Chas and Marcus sat without a flower. Rick looked at Chas confused.

"Marcus, I want to be with someone who has a dream... of their own. if I fall in love I want it to be with you, not your brother." Marcus shuttered at Beverly's shockingly cold words. Rick sighed as Beverly stood emotionless to Marcus' grief. She turned to Chas.

"Chas, I don't know how to explain it but, I feel like I don't KNOW you like your HIDING something from me. I want to be with someone who's open about themselves." She looked at Rick as she spoke. an odd feeling of guilt came over him as though he was responsible for Beverly's choices. Chas looked at Beverly nervously.

"and the one going home today is..." Beverly looked between the two leaving a long pause as though to torture the two with anticipation. Chas shook as Beverly looked between him and Marcus. She opened her mouth only to close it as she met Noah's eyes.

"Chas, congratulations, you get to stay another round. Marcus, I'm sorry you're going home." Marcus looked at Beverly somewhat defeated as he made his way out the door.

"good luck you guys!" Marcus said as he left the building.

"**! ******! **** ****** *** ****!!! **** *** *** ***!!!" Mitch screamed, Noah glanced at Mitch a smile making its way on his face. Not his normal smile. this one seemed different almost inhuman. like a cat ready to devour a helpless canary.

"Oh dear, it seems like the medication's wearing off isn't it Mitch?" Mitch hesitated before continuing his incoherent screams.

"**** FUCK **** **!! *** **** ***** ** *** DICKHEAD!! ******! **** ** **** ***!!" Noah nodded

"yep, looks like we're gonna have to administer another dose, maybe even up it a bit. don't want you to have to deal with that pain." Mitch's eyes went wide as the nearest cameraman approached him.

"**** ***** *** FUCK!!" Mitch stood up from his seat only to fall over. Marcus looked at Mitch slightly concerned Noah smiled.

"don't worry about him. he just needs some reast I'm sure he'll be better in the morning." Marcus nodded watching Mitch struggle as he left the building. Marcus looked at the driver slightly relieved to be going home.

Beverly was right about one thing. As sad as he was he needed to move on. maybe he could go back to police school, actually become an officer, find a girl, travel the world. Live life outside of what his little brother wanted. honestly, that's probably the one thing he would have wanted most.

Marcus held up a glass of tequila he found in the car.

"to my future!" he said as he swigged the drink. Marcus felt a dizzyness come over him as the driver finally opened the car door. Marcus looked at him.

"um, isn't the plane in the other direction?" the driver shook his head motioning for Marcus to get out. Marcus wobbled out of the car. clearly, he shouldn't have had that last shot of alcohol. in his defense, he wasn't going to drink it ever again. Marcus looked around in awe. this was it, home, not his run-down flat his HOME. well, technically his mom's home. Marcus embraced his mom happily as he told her about how he was on the show.

His mom was proud of him not for winning, but for trying something new. he was soon joined by his sister, his dad, his childhood dog. The group went into the back yard Marcus covered his mouth surprised. His mom smiled.

"he wanted to thank you for keeping him alive." Scott turned to Marcus smiling as he waved to him. Marcus broke down tears falling from his face.

"You're here YOU'RE REALLY HERE!!" Marcus ran towards his bother his arms opened ready to embrace him. that's when something happened, that's when Marcus fell. Off what? The cliff, of course, his body crashing against the spikes and boulders as his body tumbled down his family screaming as his head crashed against a rock.

down

down

down

Marcus went landing on the cold ground.

The world around him went white as Jarvis' and Walker's faces appeared. Marcus wailed as he laid motionless. Of course, it wasn't him. he was gone Scott was gone. Marcus peered to the left a familiar smiling face next to him.

"Scott? is that really you? are you really there?" Scott touched Marcus' face tears falling from his eyes.

"I never left, I'm sorry for scaring you. it's over now." Marcus hugged his brother.

He was right, it was over as Marcus' body sat in the brush under the mountain. The group of purple cloaks searched for it everywhere eventually having to give up. The second cloaked figure leads the first to the car.

"Have you ever felt guilt father?" the leader said her violet eyes looking at the second cloaked figure. The second figure laughed opening the car door.

"guilt? Guilt is for people who have nothing to lose. People who destroy themselves, like Marcus. You didn't like Marcus did you?" The leader shook their head, looking out the car window.

"I don't like Mitch either." The second figure got in the driver's seat.

"well, there are some people we have to deal with, even if we don't like them." The leader looked at the second figure.

"you like me, don't you father?" The second figure nodded.

"and Rick, you like Rick don't you?" The leader asked, the second figure hesitated as they pulled into the house driveway.

"I'll pretend to." He said opening the door to the car. The leader stepped out of the car her purple dress flowing behind her. the two made their way inside. unaware of the two brown eyes watching them from the window.