𝗦 𝗧 𝗔 𝗡 𝗟 𝗘 𝗬

𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗜𝗗!

silence.

after james' mini speech, all that could be heard was silence.

'right that should shut him up for a bit, now, everyone up there, and out the fucking window. see the sloped bit? it's the only way out.'

crashes came from below them, the intimidating group breaking through what they had put up to stop them.

'come out!'

'eleanor!'

james swallowed thickly at the shout of her name, hopping out of the window and running, checking that her friends were with her.

she could hear their footsteps, reassuring herself that they would all be safe soon.

as they slowed down and james' heartbeat could no longer be heard in her ears, she glanced around.

'where's elton?'

'he told me to go.'

'he's back there?'

'where the fuck is elton? is he still in there?'

'yeah.'

'what?'

'you guys went through the door, he crawled up on some piece of wood and told me to go.'

'they have to be kids just fucking with us or something.'

'what do we do?'

'we can't leave elton.'

jay volunteered to go, james offering to go with, but corey was against it, and when evan said he'd go to film, that consolidated the decision.

so james stayed, tucked under corey's arm as the protective man breathed heavily.

she reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone.

she flipped it, her fingers going to trace the polaroid of her and her family that she keeps in her clear phone case.

apart from the fact that it wasn't there.

brilliant.

she looked around, not seeing it on the floor anywhere.

she spoke up, cutting through the silence.

'i'm sorry guys.'

'what for?'

corey had barely finished his sentence before james ducked out from under his arm, sprinting back towards the town, jumping a fence and entering the building they were in before.

she turned on her phone, lowering the brightness and quickly recording. 'so jay and evan went back to find elton but i lost my polaroid, so i ran. sorry corey.'

she could still hear distant clanking and screams, not knowing that at that moment elton had made it out and jay and evan weren't anywhere near her, leaving her alone.

she retraced her steps, entering buildings to find the small picture.

the screaming and clanking rang through her mind as she searched, her heart rate rising.

meanwhile

the walkie beeped in jays hand.

'jay, evan, come back bro, eltons here.'

jay cursed under his breath before looping back around, running towards the way they came, soon approaching their friends.

'where's james?' corey grimaced elton's question, not wanting to state the obvious.

'she was here one minute and then she was off, back into the ghost town. and you know what she's like, she runs like a little rabbit or some shit, we couldn't stop her.'

'so she's in there with those psychos?'

'yep.'

james breathed heavily, swallowing before entering the building with the cage.

she let out a shaky breath as she stepped over the rope, her eyes darting around.

she spotted the polaroid, leant up on a piece of wood, her family's faces staring back at her. she filmed it before grabbing it and turning to leave, a 'what the fuck' expression written all over her face.

she ran, accidentally tripping on something before tumbling to the ground, although not taking any notice, getting up almost straight away before breaking back out into a sprint.

she spotted the metal fencing, a smile spreading across her face.

a hoarse, old voice could be heard from behind her, accompanied still by the sound of clanking.

'eleanor!'

'fuck you, old man!'

she prepared, reaching up with one arm and hoisting herself over the fence, seeing evan's camera light not that far ahead, pointed towards the direction of the noise.

she ran towards them, slowing down as she reached them and collapsing on the chalky floor, her head between her knees as her breathing slowed.

' what the fuck?'

'what was that?'

'why would you-'

'i lost.. my polaroid. it was gone. found it though.'

she stuttered her answer between shaky breaths, the group taking turns in hugging her when she got back up.

corey embraced her last, his arms wrapping around her waist.

'i fucking hate you, el james.'

'love you too, care bear.'