| .. Dinner Will Be §erved Cold .. |

Yucca Ephedra wasn't the most sociable person. It wasn't that she didn't like to talk to people, or didn't like people. It was just that she felt awkward speaking to others. Some people stared. Some people wouldn't even look at her. Many people had weird habits to them while speaking. They might blink a lot, or constantly be moving their hands, or shifting their feet. They may stumble over their words, or spit when they talk. Her habit was constantly touching her hair, as if it might change color or disappear at any moment. It wasn't a particularly good because people were often drawn to her odd hair, making it even worse. No matter who they were, Yucca still felt uncomfortable standing before someone and speaking.

So, walking into the dining hall, Yucca felt particularly awkward. Meeting Nil and Mahi was a trainwreck. Nil wasn't horrible, but Mahi was just plain vicious. Sharing a room with her for the next couple of days would certainly be a challenge. Yucca had changed for dinner, pulling on a nice skirt, and blouse, and raced out of there to avoid more talk. And now, she was alone.

The glorious smell of food wafted towards her, and up until now, she was sure she was going to be sick, but her stomach grumbled noisily, groaning for some of that food. A long table was set out in front of her, various dishes sending that wonderful aroma into the air like a tidal wave, washing over her, and leading her to go sit at the table. A couple of other people were already there, but she stared at her lap, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. That was one of the rules if you didn't want anyone to talk to you: don't look at anyone.

So, she focused on the food. Her stomach growled again, and she knew she would readily scarf down anything here, but she had to be cautious and draw the least amount of attention to herself as she could. So, she reached out and took a roll, and nibbled on it. She sat, rigid, in her chair, legs crossed, her napkin slipping off her lap. More people filed in, and the clammor of noises rose. Yucca remained quiet, trying to make herself as small as possible. Her hair was pulled into a low bun that scratched her neck, and she longed to untie it, but finding a long, white strand of hair in their food would not be particularly appetizing for anyone, so she sat still, that roll clutched in her hand until it was all gone. Then, she reached for another one.

However, as she was reaching out, something caught her eye. Something above her...instinctively, she slowly glanced upward, her hand still outstretched. The room was handsome, lit with several chandeliars, but one was out of place, swinging slightly, held down with the height of something...no, someone...

Yucca gasped, more a squeak then a gasp. Because swinging from the chandeliar was a body. She recognized her immediately. It was a girl from the boat, someone from District 4. Rebecca Drake. They'd never spoken, but Yucca was sure she'd seen her from District 4. Now, her stomach lurched, her roll threatening to make a reappearance. The girl's dirty blonde hair was falling in front of her face, so she couldn't see her expression, but the blood pouring from her neck from underneath a tied noose told all. The girl was dead.

Her breathing came short and quick, and her legs trembled, a shudder passing up and down her spine. She tried to speak, but her words were caught in a lump in her throat. Tears were pooling in her eyes, and she frantically glanced around, then back up at the body. It was still there, it wasn't going away. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

Dead...dead...dead...someone was dead. The mere fact of it failed to make sense in her mind. Why was Rebecca Drake swinging from the chandeliar?! Wasn't this supposed to be a wedding? A nice wedding? Someone was dead...stabbed in the neck, and now hanging from the chandeliar. Stabbed in the neck...now hanging...Suddenly, like a light had gone on in her head, she realized, with a pang of horror, that it was a murder. Murder. The word was sinister, even in her thoughts. Someone couldn't have been murdered on the island. Could they? Was she going crazy? Imagining dead bodies dangling from the ceiling? Her eyes find it again, and this time she sputtered and gagged. Her voice was once more found.

"Look." The word was soft at first, too soft to be heard. She took a deep, shaking breath, and shouted it, her voice ragged, and strained. "Look! There! Up there!" Her finger pointed, desperation in her voice, as she leapt to her feet. "Look! Someone, help!" She knew it was a lost cause. No one could bring someone back from the dead, but she didn't want to see it anymore. She glanced around, wildly, uttering one last, "Look!", before collapsing into her chair, her breathing shallow. Her eyes squeezed themselves shut, as if that would make it go away. That's what she wanted more than anything, for it to go away. For it not to be true. She wanted to be back at home. She wanted her mother to have gotten the invitation instead. She wanted to be under the moon. Anywhere but here. Anywhere but this horrible place.

Dead...dead...dead...someone was dead...something was wrong...something was very wrong, indeed.

Dinner. Caspian was hoping the social event would cheer him up- the meal did not disappoint. There was good food, a nice atmosphere and Caspian was not confined to two strangers he didn't care for. Really, he got the greedy little bastard and the albino. What are the chances of rooming with an albino? Slim. Caspian tried to calm himself, he wasn't exactly proud of how he saw other people but he couldn't help but judge.

Back to dinner- Caspian knew he would enjoy the second he stepped into the hall. It was a rather nice dinner so the girls had dressed up which meant skirts. Yep, skirts and short ones to. Can you really blame him? Caspian is a normal teenage boy who's been through hell in District Four, let him at least enjoy low cut shirts. Grinning, he walked over, sitting at an empty table against the wall. A basket of bread was already waiting for him. Caspian reached over, taking the warm bread and riping a bite out of it. He savored the mouthful, shoving more into his mouth. The District four native was reaching for seconds when a voice caught his attention.

The sound had been louder than the chattering that had been filling the air, it was like a knife piercing through the dinning hall. It was full of desperation. Caspian's breath sped up and he his palms began to sweat, the bread started to slip from his grasp. Screams like those, he heard them every night. Every night a reminder that he didn't have her, that he wasn't like her. Turning around he saw a girl, the source of the sound. She was standing next to the girl he had mistaken for... her on the ship. They both had pale hair, but that wasn't what Caspian was focused on. He followed the girl's arm which was pointing up. His eyes moved up and spotting what the fair haired girl was yelling about made Caspian want to scream too.

A girl, one of the many faces from the boat, was dangling from a chandelier, a large gash in her neck. Caspian's fingers dropped the roll, his appetite lost. The empty gaze the corpse held made Caspian want to puke the little food he had in his stomach.

This was a wedding! This was a god damn vacation! People do not die on vacations! Caspian backed up, knocking into the table then falling to the floor. He wanted to cry. He was not prepared for something like this. Caspian was not ready to see corpses like this up close! He closed his eyes, rubbing his fists against them trying to erase the image. The Mathers boy opened them again thinking that the body might be a hallucination, it wasn't. The girl just hung there, blood painting her neck and her limbs free of life.

Air was sucked into Caspian's lungs only to be pushed out faster than it had entered. He stayed on the floor, his fingers digging into the carpet. Oh god- oh god oh god. His eyes stung and Caspian had lost all control he had exhibited before. This trip was a mistake, all he had done was have a flash back, distaste his roommates, and watch a corpse swing gently from the ceiling of the dinning hall.

I'm not like you! I can't brave this out. I can't do it. I want to go back- I want to go home. Caspian buried his face in his hands. I'm not as strong as you.

"What is it, Yucca? What's wrong?"

Yucca jumped as she felt a hand come down on her shoulder, and before she could answer with something sassy, something along the lines of "Do you not see the dead body?", a shiver went down her spine. She recognized that voice. She glanced up, her fingers that were covered her eyes, parting to reveal Silver. Silver Her hands fell from her face, and she stared. Silver was here? She must be going crazy. But, no, the girl stood there, her hair as silver as ever, looking down at her in concern.

"Silver." She muttered, feeling more sick than ever. Don't look up, don't look up, don't look up... She betrayed herself, and glanced upward. The girl still dangled there, her hair, matted in blood, swinging as she twisted around, facing in Yucca's general direction. She swallowed down the hot bile that was rising in her throat, and glanced at Silver, her eyes wide. "Silver," She said again, breathlessly. She could feel her frost blue eyes filling with tears again, tears of an unknown origin. She hadn't even known Rebecca. They weren't good friends, they'd never even spoken. Perhaps it was the mere shock of discovering a body dangling over their dinner table. The fact that she'd been the one to see it first in the act of innocently glancing upward. She hadn't been doing anything wrong. But still, she was full of fear, which produced the salty tears that fell down her face now, curving under her chin, and sliding over her cheeks.

"Oh gosh..." She whispered, speaking to herself more than Silver. She swallowed hard, her hands shaking in her lap. Her left hand grabbed her right fingers, and twisted them, hoping to calm down, but the horrible images painted themselves on her eyelids whenever she blinked, and lingered on her skull. She wanted it to go away. She wished she could run from the room, but something glued her to her seat. She could feel the unrest in the air, people looking up, blinking in horror, crying out, they, too, seeing the dangling body. They finally understood. Someone had been murdered. It simply didn't make sense. Why would someone murder a girl at a wedding? And more importantly, who was it?

Goosebumps broke out along her arms as she looked around. Anyone in the room could have done it. Slit the girl's throat, and hung her up for public display. Now, they were simply pretending to gasp in terror, but really knowing it was them. It could even be Silver, with her hand on Yucca's shoulder! Despite herself, Yucca batted Silver away, before realizing. Silver was her friend, she came over to comfort her. And she certainly needed comforting.

"Someone...dead..." She faltered, and took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. The room seemed to tip before her, and hastily, Yucca stood and reached for her glass of water. However, before she could raise it to her lips, the water was disturbed, with a plop! Red blood spread through the rippling water, swirling and twisting. She shrieked, in horror, dropping the glass onto the ground, where it burst in a shower of glass, water sloshing over her sandals. Her face was burning from her outburst, but she didn't care anymore. The tears flowed freely now, more than ever, as fear choked her throat, and made her stomach turn over.

"Silver!" She cried, sitting back down, and covering her face once more. "I-I don't know what to do. I'm...this is horrible!" Her shoulders shook as she cried. "How could this have happened?!"