Realistic or Modern Nothing Ever Happened (Horror)

[KingofAesir]

Nothing Ever Happened

A Horror roleplay between KingofAesir and Dezz ​

Let the murder BEGIN. ​

​

 

[KingofAesir]

Valerie Averill
​

Valerie Averill had never thought of herself as a very sympathetic person. In her own head, Val was a cold-hearted bitch with no concern for anyone but herself. But the bitch she saw herself as was all a self-made fantasy. Becca Moore’s candlelight vigil was more proof of her softness than anything else. She’d stood at the very back of the crowd, holding a candle in shaking hands as Becca’s closest friends and family spoke of their time with the red-headed cheerleader. Her eyes had stung with barely contained tears and every word out of the speakers’ mouths made it that much harder. Rhett Oliver, Becca’s late boyfriend, had stepped up after her sister. Val had never seen him cry before, in fact she had always thought of him as kind of a jackass. All sentiments she’d had of Rhett had faded away as he stood in front of the rest of the vigil looking akin to a scared child, hunched with eyes lowered to the ground as he spoke softly. Rhett had choked on his words and Val had cried.

The sight she and the rest of her gym class had seen upon entering the gym for PE was something Valerie would never forget. After all, it was hard to forget seeing one of the most popular girls in their school strung up by her feet from a basketball goal, covered in her own blood. More than one person had thrown up that day and the school had forced them into counselling almost immediately. Val never said a word to the counselor for any of the sessions she was required to attend, instead opting to stare blankly out the window to the football field outlined on the horizon. The football field wasn’t what she saw though, it was Becca’s eyes. The cheerleader’s eyes had been open, staring on forever into the gym wall, glassy and dark. Becca’s eyes had been blue, bright and vibrant on any other day, but then they were almost black.

Val hadn’t even screamed like many of her other classmates, no, the shock that hit her system was entirely too potent for anything to come out at all. The basketball in her hands had deflated under the incredible pressure of her grip and fallen to the floor. Then there were the screams. Awful horrid sounds that made her head swim. She remembered wanting to run away, but her feet had been stuck firmly in the laminated gym floor like she was sinking in quicksand. They weren’t able to move until Coach Wilkins physically pushed her away from the scene and back into the locker room.

The vigil was a depressing affair that only served to bring back all those memories rushing back to the forefront of her mind. Rhett had stepped back into the crowd neck to his father, Chief Eddy Oliver, who placed a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. Fucking Chief Oliver. The police force had spent all of a week on their “investigation” while the school was shut down and found a whole lot of jack shit. Everything else at that vigil had made her sad but the sight of the chief attempting to comfort the boyfriend of a dead girl, his own son, while he’d done all of nothing to figure out who killed her just made Val angry. The tears had been replaced by a growing coil of disdain in her stomach. A girl was dead, and their good for nothing, lazy police force was sitting on their asses having fucking Taco Tuesday in the middle of a fucking murder investigation. That was when she’d moved forward through the crowd to place down her candle at the same time as a boy. She’d recognized him as one of her classmates, Gareth Rosaro, a quieter boy who she’d only really seen in passing and barely even spoken five words to before.

“Vigils make me want to tear my eyes out.” Valerie had spoken to him quietly as they placed down their candles, immediately returning the stone even mask she always wore with a forced scowl, “I don’t even know why I came.” Valerie had stepped back from the candle display with various pictures of Becca and other random effects associated with her and swallowed hard.

“I’m getting the fuck out of here, the last thing I need is people whispering about that creepy girl Valerie being at the dead chick’s vigil.” She’d offered Gareth a peace sign and a mock salute and stalked away from the crowd. It wasn’t until she was a good sixty yards away from the light of the candles that she collapsed against a tree and buried her face in her hands. That was the moment she decided she wasn’t just going to let the image of Becca Moore’s cold eyes sit in her head unanswered forever. If Chief Do Nothing and his joke of a police force wasn’t going to do anything then Valerie fucking would.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was their first day back since that day. A week of pacing at home doing nothing. A week of no sleep because all she saw was a dead girl when she closed her eyes. A week of her mother crowding her and praying at the dinner table for God to lift this burden off Val’s shoulders and for Becca to be at peace. God didn’t listen to her mom’s prayers, if he did none of this would have happened in the first place. God was a puppet master, stringing them around and laughing at the outcomes. God didn’t care about a dead girl or Valerie’s nightmares.

“Valerie you’re going to be late, sweetheart. Are you okay to go to school?” Val looked up from the cereal bowl she was staring into to find her mother standing quietly at the other end of the kitchen table, hands folded in front of her and a look of concern drawn on her soft features. Valerie had always found it funny how she looked nothing like Nicole Averill. Where her mothers features were soft and rounded off, Valerie’s were sharp and angular just like the prickly exterior she surrounded herself in. The only features that she and her mother shared were deep green eyes and dark hair as thick as it was curly. Everything else was a near mirror image of her father, Alex Averill. Dad was a lumberjack, he worked for Boulder Creek Lumber like half of the town's residents, and was hardly ever home in the mornings.

“Yeah, I’m fine, mom. It’s been a week.” Val dismissed her mother’s concern, she didn’t need pity. She shot up from her chair and carried the half-eaten bowl of cereal to the sink on quick feet. Nicole followed after her daughter as she rushed around to the living room, pulling dirty converse over her feet and picking up her backpack from beside the couch.

“Baby, if you don’t feel like going, you don’t have to. You’re going through a lot right now and-”

“I didn’t even know Becca, mom.” Valerie cut her mother off with a sharp edge to her voice. Nicole recoiled at the tone and Val sighed, running a hand through curly hair, “Sorry. Sorry. It’s just, I’m fine. I want to go to school.” Her mother seemed to accept the apology and the fact that Valerie was adamant about going to school. Still, she followed Valerie all the way out to her car and reached in to hug her before she could close the door.

“You remember you can come home if you ever feel overwhelmed.” Nicole’s eyes were so soft and sympathetic that Valerie found it impossible to give her any sort of snark.

“I will, mama. Promise.” And then she was driving out of their driveway for the first time in a week, setting down a familiar path and pulling into the school parking lot. Welcome back Knights! was glowing across the digital announcement screen at the entrance to the school and Val scoffed at the all to cheery welcome. It felt like they were welcoming them back from a wonderful spring break and not a week off because a fucking girl was murdered. Cold October wind bit into face and Valerie was forced to continue into the school. The first sight she was greeted with was Becca’s locker, surrounded by tacky balloons and other gifts, sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the other flat purple lockers. Val approached the thing slowly and stood in front of it, backpack hanging off of one shoulder and eyes scanning the notes and pictures sloppily glued all over the locker. This would probably be taken down in like a week and everyone would start to forget, but Val had sworn she wouldn’t. Someone killed her and to hell if she wasn’t going to find out who.

No matter what the consequences.

 

[Dezz]

Gareth Rosaro

​

Gareth Rosaro was weary of his place in life. He had everything he thought he wanted back in his old town just outside of Chicago. His friends were caring, his extended family was near, and he knew what to expect out of every turn. Here in Boulder Creek, everything felt like a different world. People were so involved in each other's lives that it felt like his family didn't even get a chance to settle before people came asking about if Gareth was going to try out for the football team.

His father, Bernardo Rosaro, was the catalyst behind. Times were getting tight around the house and despite their best efforts, Gareth could sense it was about to hit a place of no return. That was until Bernardo was offered a position as foreman of a lumbermill here in Boulder Creek. Gareth's mother, Rosaline Rosaro, was doing her best to paint this as the best move for their future. Gareth unfortunately understood that staying in Illinois was not really a viable option, but resented the forces that moved them here none-the-less. He felt more isolated by the fact that his parents kept trying to look on the bright side of this backwards town.

In his first few days at his new school, Gareth quickly became aware of the social dynamics at play. Everyone was concerned about football and those who weren't "blessed" enough to be on the team seemed to suffer. On his first day one of the lineman tried to intimidate Gareth into giving up his spot in the class so he could be next to his friends. It was then he knew that in order to really get the lay of the land, he'd have to blend into the background.

Over the next week or so the isolation became almost unbearable. That said, he did key in on one thing: the girls at the school seemed to dislike a certain Val character. At first he thought it was one of their TV shows but it turned out that Valerie Averill was a real girl. Based on the frequency of their rumors and the defensiveness of their stances, it seems like this girl is someone who intimidates them. They likely wouldn't want to confront her head on. He hadn't yet had the opportunity to

Then, just as he felt this town's suffocating atmosphere couldn't be enough, the unthinkable happened. A girl - Becca Moore - turned up killed in the gym. Gareth was in class at the time but everyone seemed to react with gut wrenching horror. The screams that echoed in the halls seemed to affect him in a guttural way.

"Gareth, you should take the counseling seriously." pleaded his mother.

"I am, Mom. It's just... they're approaching me as if I knew her. They're asking about my favorite memories and what I liked about her. It's not going to help someone who just moved into the school."

"They're doing their best, honey. Maybe we should go to that vigil. Show the town we're really in this with them." As she said it, Bernardo stood and placed an arm around them both.

"I agree." He murmured, looking from Gareth to Rosaline. "The lumbermill has been affected by this just as much as the school. Let's show our respects."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The vigil was almost alien compared to when they first arrived in town. Everyone stood closer, holding hands and truly letting their emotional walls down. Gareth was shocked that a town this entrenched in their own mindset was capable of this kind of outpour. Given the situation, Gareth did his best to show his sympathy. Even if she was actively taking part in the town, Becca had a future in front of her. Maybe she would have left this town and done something more with her life. Now the world will never know what would have become of her.

The crowd seemed to wallow a bit as Rhett Oliver gave his thoughts. Gareth felt a sting of pity. These football players and cheerleaders have only ever known what was in front of them. Death was never part of that world view. Now strong, conventionally strong kids like Rhett could only surrender to the lumps in their throats as reality came crashing in. Gareth shuddered knowing that he wasn't above any of them - only lucky that his friends back home didn't have a similar fate. He wasn't truly ready to confront that reality with people he knew.

The thought then crossed Gareth's mind: who would want to do this? What does someone gain from this extreme act? Perhaps this was done in vengeance. Right now, the only name that popped into his head was Valerie. She was clearly someone ostracized by this crowd. He silently made sure he'd figure out who this Val was.

When the time came to bring candles forward, Gareth waited a bit to ensure he wasn't around many others. Then a girl with a glare in her eye approached next to him. He didn't remember her name much but her words were only audible to him.

“Vigils make me want to tear my eyes out.” The girl spoke to him quietly as they placed down their candles. He noted that she was coming from the back of the crowd, trying not to draw much attention to herself. Her face showed an almost concentrated effort to be blank. “I don’t even know why I came.” She then stepped back from the candle display. Gareth tried to reply but the words got caught in his throat. He just wasn't sure what the right words to tell someone in mourning.

“I’m getting the fuck out of here, the last thing I need is people whispering about that creepy girl Valerie being at the dead chick’s vigil.” Gareth's eyes went a bit wide as she flashed a peace sign and a mock salute before slipping away. Gareth attempted to watch where she went but to no avail. So this was Valerie. He wondered why she had such an issue with vigils. Perhaps this was guilt leaking out? He did hear that she was part of the group that came into the gym when the body was found. It made sense to him that she would want to see the initial reaction. He wanted to keep a closer eye on this Valerie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming back to school felt a bit surreal. The atmosphere was almost entirely different - almost as if nothing had happened. Maybe the teachers think the best way to get beyond it all was to celebrate their tried and true rallying point: football.

Gareth came into the school and most of the kids were quiet. Not as much chatter in the halls as he walked through the maze of a school. Suddenly his eye caught something he didn't expect.

Valerie was standing in front of Becca's locker. This time he had a little bit of an advantage and he wanted to press Valerie to see if she had any cracks in her façade. If she did retaliate and kill this girl, perhaps he could find justice for her parents.

"Did you know her well?" Gareth calmly stats, keeping a good read on Val's face. He wanted to know exactly what she thought about this girl and if there was any underlying anger.​

 

[KingofAesir]

Valerie​

Val was fixated on one picture of Becca and another one of the cheerleaders grinning brightly against a lake backdrop. It was Wakecroft Lake, Valerie recognized the lake house that belonged to Becca’s family in the corner of the photo. There had been a number of parties held at that house, one of which Val had taken it upon herself to crash. Her brow drew together at the memory, something she’d seen that night flying to the forefront of her mind suddenly.

“No, Rhett. I didn’t fucking sleep with Alex.” Rhett Oliver was pacing the floor of a lake house bedroom in front of his girlfriend. He was red in the face and Val thought he might actually explode. Not wanting to be seen, Valerie turned and pressed her back against the wall, no longer able to see inside but still very much able to hear.

“Then why did she tell me that? Huh? How am I supposed to believe you, Becca?” The sound of his heavy footsteps stopped abruptly but a floorboard creaked lightly, indicating that Becca had probably stepped forward. A brief sound came from the girl but Rhett seemed to be done with the conversation and was soon storming out of the room, banging the cracked door against the other wall. Val flinched and turned away, pretending to just be walking down the hall. She hadn’t given Becca time to follow him out and see her before she was turning around the corner out of sight.

Rhett was so mad for days after that encounter that the whole school thought they had broken up. No one else had seen him that night though, no one else but Val saw Rhett put a hole in the wall from slamming open the door so hard. He left the party after that. It was only four days after that Becca would end up dead. Valerie shivered at the thought but in her head, that was a motive. He thought Becca had cheated on him so he killed her? That seemed impossible, he had literally been at the vigil yesterday crying his eyes out. But, the thought was still there. Valerie reached out to take the picture subconsciously before a voice siding up next to her interrupted her motion.

Gareth was there, his eyes locked on Val’s face. “Did you know her well?” Valerie turned away from him and her eyes found the locker again. Gareth was new. He probably didn’t know the whole comings and goings of Boulder Creek, of course he wouldn’t know about Val’s relationship with people like Becca Moore.

“No.” She answered simply before deciding she didn’t exactly need to be rude to the guy, “I mean, we went to school together since like 4th grade but...no, we were different people. I didn’t know her that well.” She turned to face Gareth again, working her eyebrows together, “Why?”

 

[Dezz]

Gareth​

With the initial response, Gareth could tell he was clearly interrupting her typical train of thought. He quickly wondered if she recognized him from the vigil, but didn't linger too long on that thought.

"No." She replied. He couldn't get a good read on Valerie's face. She's someone that's used to masking her true intensions... and Gareth didn't know her well enough to know what any of her facial expressions mean. She continued, “I mean, we went to school together since like 4th grade but...no, we were different people. I didn’t know her that well.” She then turned toward him and give him a puzzled yet knowing look. “Why?”

"Ah, well it just seems like you're paying close attention to her stuff. I know if one of my friends passed I'd probably do the same thing." He got a bit nervous, not wanting to antagonize someone who could have potentially done... the unthinkable. That said, unless she's overly confident, there was no reason for her to give those details.

"Sorry if I'm overstepping here. Don't mean to pry in this awful time."

Try as he might, he couldn't help but notice something in Valerie's eyes. A subtle difference from the rest of the town. He wasn't sure who this girl was but she didn't seem like someone who was in line with the others in town. She didn't have shame of who she was. HIs social instincts were telling him to find a way to leave this situation... but his desire to know more about Valerie kept him glued in his spot.

 

[KingofAesir]

Valerie
​

"Ah, well it just seems like you're paying close attention to her stuff. I know if one of my friends passed I'd probably do the same thing." Val glanced back over at Gareth as he spoke these words, her eyebrows drawing even closer together. He was right. It was sentimental and odd for someone like Valerie Averill to be standing in front of this locker. Becca and her friends never got along with Val, quite the contrary. They often fought and constantly got in trouble for it. Val was too confrontational for them, too bold, when they were supposed to be the only ones around this school who did anything. She broke their weird little made up rules and they did not like it. So it had to look weird to someone who wasn’t inside Val’s head that she was standing here.

“Sorry if I’m overstepping. Don’t mean to pry in this awful time.” Except he probably did, everyone did. The police pried when someone told them that she and the dead girl hadn’t gotten along. They asked her questions that were usually reserved for those thought to be guilty. Where were you on the night of the 18th? Can anyone corroborate that? What was your relationship like with Miss Moore? Did your altercations ever turn physical? People thought she had a motive, thought she had the means. They thought Valerie fucking killed a girl and this guy, this boy who had barely been here long enough to know anything, he probably thought she did it too. So Val did what she always did when she felt judged, threatened. She put up defenses.

“It’s fine. I just kind of think it’s tacky, I mean, balloons? Come on.” Valerie sneered at the brightly colored, helium filled atrocities, “It makes it look like we’re throwing her a party, not like she’s dead. People like to act like shit doesn’t happen here, they just pretend that it was a mistake or a misunderstanding. That’s what they're doing now.” Val gestured widely to the hall and the rest of the students milling about it. Someone laughed in the distance.

“Pretending it didn’t happen. Pretending like we didn’t find a girl strung up in the gym like a fucking culled pig.” A dark and low chuckle reverberated around Valerie’s chest.

“So, to them, to this town, the time isn’t awful at all.”

 

[Dezz]

Gareth

​

“So, to them, to this town, the time isn’t awful at all.”

Anger. That's what Gareth could feel coming from Valerie right now. Yet he recognized that it wasn't the type of anger he was initially expecting. As far as Gareth had experienced, this kind of anger wasn't easy to fake. She was upset at the town's response... she was infuriated by the idea that Boulder Creek could ever hope to try and look beyond the truly horrific scene that had played out right in front of them. Hell, that's most of the reason that Gareth is even talking to Valerie now. He wanted to know what happened to this girl. He didn't want to forget it like everyone seemed to have.

Normally, Gareth thought a lot about what he was going to say. Yet with this outpouring of emotion, he could only shift his eyes to meet Valerie's and state, "It did strike me as almost surreal that the town would quickly try to reset the status quo. This kind of response is one I'd expect after a suspect was caught." He stepped a little closer, as if to ensure no one was listening.

"I'm going to find out what happened to Becca, Valerie. As some one who hasn't been surrounded by this school or town for his whole life, I can bring a certain... objectivity to the disconnected behavior we're both clearly seeing. Do you want to figure out who did this as much as I do?"

After stating this, Gareth almost held his breath. He wasn't sure how well he was doing at putting on a stoic face, but if he had any suspicion that Valerie was someone capable of killing, he was putting himself in grave danger. Something about her aura made him want to trust her - and that was enough to put him on edge. He hadn't been able to trust anyone, even his parents, since he left Illinois. Yet without a clear understanding of social cliques, town locations, and context around traditions in town he was going to be as ineffective as the police seemed to be. A bead of sweat came down his head as he thought through this gambit he was running, but after what happened to Becca he figured it was worth the risk.

 

[KingofAesir]

Valerie
​

Every breath she took felt forced. It was like her body wanted her to suffocate. You know that feeling like the walls are closing in? That’s what it was like standing on this linoleum floor under fluorescent lighting, staring at a locker that belonged to a ghost. The light above them flickered as Valerie exhaled. A fly buzzed around it and shocked itself where a piece of the light cover was broken. It went unnoticed as it fell to the floor next to Val’s foot. Flies didn’t mourn, they didn’t have the sentient capability to look at another dead fly and be sad. But, flies did hold funerals. When a fly died, it would send signals to other flies within a certain radius that drew them to it and threw them into a frenzy that might look like mourning. But they would quickly move on. A living fly buzzed around the dead one on the floor and soon another would join it. As quickly as they came, they were gone and the dead fly was alone again.

The people in this town were like flies, attending funerals and vigils and then forgetting. They had no time to slow down and be sad, there was too much to do. Too many Friday night football games to play, too many exams to ace, a statue to vandalize, a bake sale to put on. Light some damn candles and forget. This had always been how it was here, but those other deaths had been natural or accidental even. Richard Oliver, Rhett’s grandfather, passing away in his sleep or Evelyn Marriot falling from a cliff face while hiking, they had lit a candle and forgotten. But this was different, this wasn’t peaceful or accidental. Becca Moore had been murdered but the town refused to acknowledge that, at least on the surface.

“I'm going to find out what happened to Becca, Valerie. As some one who hasn't been surrounded by this school or town for his whole life, I can bring a certain... objectivity to the disconnected behavior we're both clearly seeing. Do you want to figure out who did this as much as I do?” Val blinked and looked over at Gareth, tearing her eyes away from the locker. She had tuned out anything else he’d said but the word ‘I’m going to find out what happened to Becca’ pulled her straight out of the hole she had dug herself into. Valerie stared for a long moment, searching the boy's eyes for any hint that he was kidding. When she found none she chuckled a little and turned her eyes away.

“I was unaware I was in the presence of some big shot detective.” Honey toned arms crossed over her chest and Val turned her body to face Gareth completely. Inquisitive green eyes prodded him silently.

“What makes you think that we, a quiet new kid and an enemy of the state of Boulder Creek High School, could ever hope to find out who killed the cheerleader?”

 

[Dezz]

Gareth

​

“What makes you think that we, a quiet new kid and an enemy of the state of Boulder Creek High School, could ever hope to find out who killed the cheerleader?” Valerie replied. Gareth blinked a bit, a bit off put by getting called out as a faux detective. He had heard it a few times due to his inquisitive nature. Yet his own ego couldn't stand in the way. The look that she had on her face was unlike anything he had dealt with before. He started to actually think that they may be able to actually solve this thing.

"It's exactly because we're a quiet new kid and... an enemy that no one would expect to have to hide anything from us." He walked to stand next to her, looking at the locker. "Let me know if I'm a bad detective. I figured you might be somewhat... interested in figuring this out. You may be the only one.."

He glanced over his shoulder and grimaced. Students were trying their best to forget. It was a coping mechanism. They were doing everything they could to forget because to remember caused so much pain. Yet this wasn't over. To pretend it's over before the killer was found is a recipe to allow this person to believe they can keep doing this. To keep enacting whatever will they want.

"Look, I have exactly... zero clues on where to start. All I know is that if they're killing for pleasure they're likely having a field day. If they tried to kill to send a message... well they're probably seething right now that the town is moving on." He gave he a quick glance, seeing how she would take his prompt.