Lack Thereof (Part 1)

It's Monday morning. The time is 9:15. Emily has a ten o'clock final, and she will be leaving her characters at home for a couple of hours. Will they be able to behave themselves while she is gone...?

"Alright, I'm almost ready to go. Let's go over what I want you to do today, James." Emily said as she was putting on her coat.

"You want me to start lunch, so it'll be ready when you get back, feed the cat, transfer the towels to the dryer, and make sure no one does anything that could cause the end of the world." He recited perfectly and gave a slight smile when he finished.

"Good. You know what to do. That should put my mind at ease till I get back." She walked over to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. It had already been a stressful morning with Vincent trying to escape again; having coffee would her be in a better mood. She didn't need it to wake her up; she needed it to relax. Most of her characters make sure she's awake enough in the morning. "Oh! One more thing James, would you mind,-"

"Walk the dog. I got it." He stood by the front door holding her backpack.

"You know, I shouldn't be surprised by all of this, but you still do things that I don't expect." She smiled as she grabs her backpack from him.

"You'll never get used to it."

"Ha ha! No kidding." She opened the front door, "Considering you are the only one here capable of causing the end of the world, I wouldn't worry too much about the others. Just make sure no one finds out." She grinned and shut the door.

"That's not funny." He said as he continued to stand in front of the door.

Silence swept over the apartment. The others hadn't made their appearance yet. They were sleeping or something. Emily hadn't considered their need to sleep. James was the only one who had been recorded of sleeping, and having nightmares. James, being the one who has premonitions every day of the following day, and knowing exactly what someone is about to do before they do it. Having that ability to know has gotten him use to living with the other characters, but he couldn't say anything about it to any of them.

A head rested on his right shoulder, "You know it's rude to lie to our writer." Jeremy Caplet said. He stood behind James looking at the front door. He had the ability to read and control one's mind. However, by demand of Emily, he wasn't allowed to control anybody against their will. He and Michael Calamere were the only characters who knew of James's ability.

"It's better if she didn't know what's going to happen today." He looked to his right, Jeremy was standing right next to him, "You know it's rude to do things again Emily's will?"

"Aww, come on! I'm just going to have a bit of fun. Don't worry. I won't control your mind." He smirked and gave James a little nudge.

James began to laugh. He shook his head and spoke, "That's just the problem." He made his hand into a fist, and brought it up to Jeremy's face. Jeremy looked at James right as he swung his arm. The moment of impact, Jeremy was out and collapsed to the floor. There was a noise made by his body hitting the floor, but it wasn't loud enough for anyone else to hear. James quickly picked up his unconscious body and placed it on the couch. He covered Jeremy with a blanket and rested his head on a pillow making him look like he was asleep. James walked over to the hallway to feed the cat when he saw Edward walking down the hallway.

"Good morning, James." Ed said as he walked into the dining room, "Did Emily already leave?"

"Yeah, she had to do a couple of things to do before her final." He said casually.

"Bummer, I was hoping to ask her if I could use her computer. Oh well, I'll just hack into it myself." He turned around and started walking towards her room.

"That won't do you any good, since I removed the battery and hid the power cord. You won't be able to access the internet and do any of your 'evil' plans you are plotting." James smiled.

"How did you-?"

"It doesn't matter how I knew. What matters now is your life. Do you have your pacemaker today? I think that was the next thing that Emily had planned for you on her list of ideas. Why don't you sit peacefully on the couch next to Jeremy or else I will end your life right now."

Edward stood in astonishment, "How did you wind up being the bad guy in this situation?" He slowly walked across the room to the couch, "Why is Jeremy sleeping? He usually doesn't sleep."

"Just sit down!" James shouted.

Edward sat. He was completely speechless by James's actions. Who would have thought he had a dark side?

James picked up the remotes and turned on the TV. The Food Network displayed on the screen. Ed made a slight grumble of complaint. James walked away from the living room and headed into Emily bedroom. There he hid the remotes in a box, and went over to her dresser to feed the cat who sat patiently waiting for food. The cat meowed a couple times, and then started purring when there was food in her dish. James petted her for a bit until he heard Dave protesting in the kitchen.

"Where the heck are all the knives?" He shouted.

"Ask James, he might know." Edward distastefully, "He took Emily's laptop battery, he might have taken the knives as well."

"James!" Dave shouted.

"Yes?" James replied as he walked out the room.

"Where are the knives? Tell me!"

He inhaled and shook his head, "Sorry, I can't tell you."

Dave grabbed the collar of James shirt and slammed him against the wall, "You will tell me or else I'll injure you in a way where no one will be able to recognize you."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" James coughed, "Haven't you been trying to get on Emily good side by behaving? You are the only one who has a short temper and physically capable of beating me up, you wouldn't be able to blame anyone else."

Dave growled and let go of James, "I'll get you for this. Someday, you'll pay." He began to walk away.

"Actually, I have a better idea! How about you help me deal with the immortals?"

"What are you talking about?" He said without turning around.

"You've wanted to get revenge on Vincent for taking your toast, right?. I can give you the opportunity to do so."

"I'm listening." He slowly turned around and looked at James.

"There is a bat under Emily's bed, use it to hit him on the head. He may be immortal but you can still knock him unconscious."

"I like this idea." Dave smiled.

"You get the bat and hide behind Emily's door, while I'll distract him."

Dave turned and walked into Emily's room. James stood by the dining table waiting for Vincent to come walking in. There was a long moment of silence. Any minute now, he will come walking in. James thought to himself.

"What's all the commotion going on out here?" Vincent said from the other room. His voice was sounding innocent as usual.

"Vincent!" James exclaimed, "What are you doing alone? Isn't Joshua supposed to be with you at all times?"

"Yeah." He laughed.

"Well where is he?"

"I locked him in the bathroom in the master bedroom." He smiled mischievously, "I decided to cause some trouble and he was the only person to get in my way."

James didn't even want to ask how he locked him up. He ignored the last comment, "Anyway, I wanted to show you something. Mind coming this way?" In his peripheral, he saw Dave slowly walking out of Emily's room with the bat at the ready.

"Sure, what is it?" Vincent said.

With the swift swing of the bat, Dave hit Vincent directly on the head, and Vincent collapsed in a second. Dave smiled with accomplishment and satisfaction. He had finally got his revenge. It was the second unconscious body that day, and James was just getting started executing his plans.

Encouragment Dismissed

It's the morning of the day Emily is supposed to give her senior presentation in order to graduate. Her nerves are going insane and she consults her characters for advice or some comfort. Of course, them being the characters she created, they may not be of much help as she hopes... "James would you mind grabbing my backpack from my room, my note cards are in there." Emily walked out of the bathroom in the middle of straightening her hair. Earlier there was a loud noise coming from the kitchen. She feared something bad was happening.

Sure enough, as she walked into the kitchen she saw Dave Erickson standing with a knife in his hands looking at the ground at Edward Tyson's shaking body.
"Dave what did you do?" Emily shouted.
"I didn't do anything! He just collapsed and started having a seizure."
"Yeah right. You probably threatened him." She knelt down to tend to him, but once he started to foam at the mouth she panicked, "James, come here quickly!"
"What is it?" James was immediately to her side.
"Help him, please." She got up and walked over to Dave, "You come with me." She grabbed his arm and escorted him out of the kitchen. It wasn't the time to be dealing with him, but she had to keep him in check. They walked over to the dining table and shoved him to sit down. It was bad enough that she had to prepare for a presentation, but now she had to deal with a serial killer. She ripped the knife from his hands and walked back to the kitchen to put it back.
James was still on the floor helping Ed who had apparently stopped shaking.
"How's he doing?" Emily asked.
"Better. How are you? Still feeling nervous?" He looked up at her.
"Yeah." She rubbed her hands through her hair, "When you get the chance, mind coming to the dining room?"
He nodded his head.
She walked back to the table and saw that Dave was still obediently sitting. His arms were crossed and he majorly slouched in his seat. Acting like a child, he was pouting. She had grabbed her backpack earlier and pulled out her note cards. She flopped down on her chair and began going over them. There was a long silence exchanged. Neither of them spoke for the longest time, until Dave was about to speak and James came walking in.
"Alright, did you need me for something?" He asked as he sat down next to her.
"I need some advice. I'm giving this presentation at lunch today, and I don't feel like I'm prepared at all."
"Well, do you have an introduction?"
"Yes."
"A conclusion?"
"Yes."
"How about a-"
"Yes!" She interrupted.
"I have enough of this!" Dave stood, "Why do I have to listen to you! You don't like me, and you assume I am the cause of everything that goes wrong!"
"That's not true! I like you. You're one of my favorite bad guys I've created."
"No! You favor Ed and Jeremiah than me. You didn't even bother to hear my side of the story in the kitchen!"
"Fine! What happened in the kitchen?" Emily shouted.
"I walked into the kitchen to make myself some toast. I put the bread in the toaster and grabbed the butter and a knife. Ed walks in. Sees me with the knife the knife and freaks out. I didn't even say anything to him."
"Liar!" A voice came from the kitchen. Edward walks into the room, "You wanted to kill me when I walked in the kitchen. I saw that look in your eyes."
"Oh no, now who do I believe?" Emily closed her eyes and lowered her head.
"And speaking of my life being in danger again, Emily how come I had a seizure this time? I thought I had a weak heart. How come you're always changing my health problem? Why don't you do some actual character development, like personality..." Ed kept going with his rant.
Emily looked away from Ed and saw Vincent walk into the room. He had a smile on his face as usual.
"...I'm serious Emily! What's next? Am I going to be in a wheelchair tomorrow?" Edward finished.
"That's actually not a bad a idea." Dave commented, "That way I don't have to kill you just by looking at you."
Edward glared at him.
"Hey do we got anything to eat?" Vincent asked. He stood in the hallway leading towards the kitchen.
"I-i don't know. Go look for yourself." Emily shooed him away. Her stress level was increasing by the minute with Dave and Edward complaining and James unable to help her in any way.
"Hey look! There's toast in here!" He shouted.
"Don't you dare touch that toast!" Dave was gone in an instant, "that's my toast!"
There was a sound of a struggle between the two, something hitting the ground, and then Vincent walking out of the kitchen with toast in his hands. He sat down where Dave originally sat and eating feeling victorious.
"What did you do?" Emily asked.
He shrugged as he continued to eat.
She rose to her feet and walked to the kitchen. Dave lie on the floor curled up in a ball groaning in pain.
"I hate him. I really do." He barely whispered, "Tell me Emily. Why in the world did you create a character such as him?"
"Actually, I didn't create him. He was my brother's idea."
He grunted, "I hate it."
It felt like an awkward moment. Emily wasn't sure how to respond. She almost thought that she apologized to him for having to go through something painful, and for not treating him fairly like the others. She walked over to him and whispered, "Would you like me to make you some more toast?"
He nodded his head.
"How about a knife you can spin around?"
Nodded again.
She smiled and grabbed the bread from the pantry. Dave didn't move much as she made his toast, but he did talk. He started talking about the good old days and how much he enjoyed killing people. It was a rather disturbing topic for Emily to be engaged in, but he was her character and she had to treat him fairly. Once she finished buttering the toast she handed it to Dave and went looking for a knife for him to play with. By the time she found one Dave was in the dining room with everyone else. Things to have looked like they calmed down, and for the first time today Emily felt like she could relax. She sat down with the others and started to look over her notes again.
Not a minute later did Joshua come running in looking frantic. He looked at the table and when he saw Vincent, he said, "Oh thank goodness! I found you!"
Before anyone spoke James piped up, "Have you practiced your presentation out loud yet?" He sat up in his chair feeling proud of himself.
"No, I haven't." Emily looked away.
"Come on then! Stand up and give it to us." He pulled her up from her seat and stepped back, "Go ahead."
She felt rather stupid. Giving a speech in front of her characters was making her nervous. She really hated speaking in front of anyone.
"I did my internship at...at..." She looked at each one of them. All listening intently to what she was about to say. She continued to speak, going through her notes she said everything she needed to say in her speech. Once she finished she asked the question, "So does anyone have any advice?"
Silence.
"Anyone? Come on. None of you have given a speech before?"
Joshua raised his hand, "Honestly, I'm terrified of giving speeches."
Everyone shook their head in agreement.
"That can't be right! James, you gave a speech at your graduation ceremony. Vincent, you are not even sane enough to be afraid of crowds. Dave...seriously? And Edward, how can you be afraid of crowds if your CEO of your own company? You didn't inherit your position. You work hard to where you are at now, so you must have some skills in giving speeches!"
Edward's face lit up, "Are you saying you are giving me a characteristic?" He said with excitement.
"Yes, it's official. You are good at talking in front of people. It also helps that you are ridiculously smart. Now come help me."
"Yes!" He said with delight.
Finally, things were looking up.

And Chaos Interrupted

James Bookings, Dave Erickson, Vincent Geraldine, Edward Tyson, Jeremy Caplet, Hunter Callis, Joshua Malachi, Michael Calamere, Alrick and their writer Emily Thorne sit at home. Emily struggles with her writer's block and can't figure out what to write next. Meanwhile, it is slowly creeping closer and closer to dinner time, but there isn't food to eat. To top it all off the neighbors outside are building a new deck and making a lot of noise. Everyone is restless. Occasionally, they try to help Emily come up with something to write, but at the same time bored out of their minds...

"Maybe you should try writing a short story." James suggests to Emily as they stare at the computer screen. James was a high school student who graduated with the highest grades in the class, and a person who constantly had premonitions of the next day. He had short sandy hair and light green eyes. With a height of 5' 9" and average looks, he claims he would have gone unnoticed in school if it weren't for his intelligence. He was actually quite popular in school, along his best friend Andrew. Emily hoped that with his brains he could come up with something, but being only a character she wrote herself, he wasn't much help.

"If I were to write a short story, what would the story be about?" Emily looked at him with her eyebrow raised and an expression that said, "You see the problem now?"

"I don't even see the point of writing right now," Edward Tyson sat on the couch across the room watching the TV, "Instead, we should do something a little more productive than sitting in front of a laptop." Edward being the CEO of his company has a physical condition that limits his activity. Too much emotional stress or movement such as running put his life at risk.

"Oh yeah, you're one to talk Ed! Being the one sitting in front of the TV, why don't you do something productive?" Emily shouted at him.

"Great idea! Since I can’t do much, how about you develop my character a little more? I'm tired of being the bad guy with a health problem. Also, I hardly even have a past, much less a life! How about that? Yeah, write about me!"

"Keep your voice down, there are other people living in this complex." Emily tried to lower her voice.

"Ha! Not like that matters!” Dave Erickson stood in the kitchen twirling a knife in his hand, “the people in the building next to us are so noisy making their new deck.” Dave was an infamous serial killer. He killed not only for the enjoyment he received from it, but also watching families suffer through the loss of a loved one. He was not someone to easily trust just because he gave you a reassuring smile. His over confidence has yet to get him into trouble. He has buzzed cut black hair and dark brown eyes.

Bang, bang bang! The nail gun sounds. It wouldn't have been so bad to deal with as long as the noise was consistent, but it wasn't. The gun would go off, stop, and then go again. Emily rubbed her temples as she tried to endure the sound. It was starting to give her a headache. What to write? What to write? Her thoughts were in a big jumbled mess, and she couldn’t think straight. With what's going on, she wouldn't be able to write anything.

Joshua Malachi came running into the room from the hallway panicked with his eyes searching across the room looking for something.

"Josh, what's wrong?" Emily’s concerning voice was sincere. Anytime he was bothered, there was something wrong. Being an immortal, it took a lot to upset him. Most of the time, he was very composed and calm, their voice of reason amongst the group.

"I-I can't find Vincent."

The words caught all of their attention. Vincent Geraldine, an immortal like Josh, was irrational and dangerous. At one point in his life he was placed in an asylum for being criminally insane, but escaped by killing the majority of the people there. In one sentence you could say he was more terrifying than Dave. Joshua was the only one could face him without being in any real danger.

James and Edward both stood from where they sat, "What do you mean you can't find him?" James spoke.

"It's exactly as he said it, James! He is no where to be seen." Edward shouted, "Now, our lives are in dang-" he stopped breathing. He grabbed his chest and had a pained expression on his face.

"Oh come on!" Emily exclaimed, "Why do you have to have an attack now?"

He gasped for breath as he fell to his knees. James ran over to help Edward back onto the couch, and began searching for his medication.

Emily walked over to Joshua to try and calm him down. "Okay, let's think about this clearly. He couldn't have gone far. He must be somewhere in the house, otherwise I would have seen him leave."

"But what if he didn't leave through the front door. It's possible he went out the window." Joshua's breathing quickened. He ran his hands through his blonde hair, "This is entirely my fault."

"It's okay. It's okay. We can fix this. We'll have Jeremy find him. Everything is going to be alright. Just calm down. Breath." Emily soothed.

Joshua took a deep breath in and then let it out. This was not what Emily was expecting. She was already stressed out about not having anything to write; now she had to start searching for Vincent. Where ever he could be.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" A voice came from behind Joshua.

The horror that came from Joshua's eyes confirmed who it was. He quickly spun around and shouted, "Vincent! Where have you been?" By looking at his hand, Emily noticed that he was getting ready to pull out his sword.

Vincent gave a pitiful look, "Is it a crime to go to the bathroom?"

"WHAT?!" Dave screamed at the top of his lungs. He was furious, "You said you looked everywhere, but you didn't bother to check the bathroom! Are you an idiot?"

By the look in his eyes, Emily wasn't so sure which one he would throw the knife at, the killer who mysteriously disappeared or the idiot who didn't even think of checking the bathroom.

"Are you kidding me?" James stood up and walked over to Josh, "You put Edward's life at risk. How could you be so careless?"

The three began to argue back and forth shouting. The stress of it all was tiring Emily out. She thought about going to lay down for a bit, but the three of them were in the way. She let out a sigh as she sat back down in her chair.