𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟎𝟏

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ

𝐍𝐨𝐚𝐡 sits up in bed and rubs her eyes, opening them again to find herself in a place she doesn't recognize at first. She furrows her brows and swings her legs over the bed, putting her feet on the ground. She slowly stands up and looks around, the little details starting to come back to her.

This is the room where she spent some of her childhood. The room that her grandfather handpainted and her grandmother decorated with her own childhood belongings. The antique angel figurines now had dust on them and the pillowcases still smelled like her old shampoo. The pictures on the wall were of her from over ten years ago and the little desk had nothing but crayons in it.

"Port!" a once familiar voice shouts the nickname Noah hasn't heard in years.

The teen walks up to the bedroom door and slowly opens it. She peeks her head into the hallway and cautiously walks to the top of the stairs.

"Port!" the voice repeats, but its speaker appears at the bottom of the railing. "What are you doing just standing there? It's breakfast!"

An older woman with brown eyes like Gia's and a smile like Nick's looks up at her. Noah puts her hands behind her back as she nervously walks down the staircase. By the time she gets there, the woman is gone, so she relies on muscle memory to get to the kitchen.

"Hey, Port," the teen's grandfather says as he flips a blueberry pancake, her childhood favorite.

"What's wrong?" her grandmother asks. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Noah stays quiet as she gazes at them. She hasn't seen them in years, but they haven't changed at all. Their voices sound the same and their wrinkles are all in the same spots.

"Uhm," Noah stutters. "Wh-Where's Emily?"

"Emily?" her grandfather asks.

"Yeah, Emily," Noah repeats herself. "Where's Emily?"

"Are you feeling okay?" her grandmother questions as she walks over to feel her forehead.

"I feel fine," Noah says as she bats her grandmother's hand away. "Where's my mother?"

"Sweetie, if I knew, I would tell you," the older woman says as she walks to the fridge, grabbing the pitcher of orange juice.

"What do you mean?" Noah asks her.

"Well, honey, you know she's always drunk or—"

"No, no, not Gia. Emily."

"Honey, I don't know who Emily is," her grandmother chuckles quietly and points to the set table. "Now sit down and eat breakfast. Your grandfather made it just for you."

Noah looks over at her grandfather and he smiles at her. She looks to her grandmother next and she does the same. Although, their smiles soon become eerie and Noah feels her heart clench in her chest. She slowly backs away, but quickly turns around and heads straight for the front door that's just at the end of the hallway.

Noah swings the door open and waits to feel the fresh air, but finds herself in the living room of Gia's house. She slowly closes the door, not daring to make a noise. She looks around, thinking the house is empty. But her father's recliner turns around to reveal Gia with a bloody knife in her hand. Noah notices blood on her shirt and it's oozing as she speaks.

"There's no Emily here," Gia murmurs as she touches the tip of the knife to her finger, revealing her bloody hand.

Noah's eyes widen at the sight and she makes a sprint to her bedroom, hearing footsteps coming after her. She quickly opens the door and slams it shut behind her. She rests her back on the door with tightly closed eyes. She takes a deep breath, feeling like this is some sort of neverending evil funhouse.