SUNNYVALE

(13) LIKE THOSE STUPID CHARACTERS IN HORROR MOVIES

Abby doesn't know at what point she thought that coming home late from school - per say, from the West to Eastside - when the night had already fallen on the small town of Sunnyvale, and every corner of the menacing streets were lurking toward her, or at least it felt like it to the blonde.

Abby Dahlkemper did not have an easy persona to control: with history of mental illness in her family - which caused the symbolical loss of her mother, who has been put in an institution years ago by her father now - and a very low error margin given by her father Andrew, due to her situation of being the mayor's daughter and part of his 'perfect family', Abby really had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Her voice could be heard only meters away from her, as she was getting pissed off:

"Aaron, I swear to God- No! No, I really couldn't care less! Your jealousy has become out of control, and I am sick of it! ... Aaron, how many times have I told you? I am not gay, women don't interest me, and you should just chill out 'cause- No, well, you know what? Fuck you too! Bye."

She puts her phone on her pocket with a loud sigh, before starting to walk faster, until she feels tears on the verge of her eyes and abruptly stops. After making angry but subtle gestures, she hears a loud CRACK behind her, which makes her jump while turning around. 

The street in front of her was empty, as no noise but distant laughter could be heard. Frowning, Abby keeps on walking, turning around a few times in order to see if someone or something was behind her, but nothing happened. 

At least not until she reaches the small bridge leading to the Eastside - one of the only way to the other side of the town if you're by foot - and right next to the Black Forest, where the bathtub full of Lindsey Horan's blood was found only few days ago. 

CRACK.

Again.

Abby jumps on her heels, and this time she turns around quickly enough to see what seemed to be a shadow dissapear in the night.

"Hello?" she yells, stressed out.

First, the earthquakes and fucking creepy voice, then somebody follows me? This is insane, she thinks to herself, alarmed. As she tries to rationalize and tell herself that it might as well be stupid Westsiders trying to scare her, the thought of what happened at school, and then again in the soccer locker rooms, just makes her shiver.

Setting her jaw, she grabs her phone and puts the light on, looking around, breathing shakily.

Abigail...

The voice again, she could've recognized it among millions: the voice she first heard calling for Sam Mewis' name, and then hers and Tierna Davidson's. A bizarre sensation takes over her body, something that does not feel normal at all. 

Abigail... Join us...

"Who's there?" Abby exclaims, her heartbeat increasing within seconds. She looks everywhere, and ends up stating: "I'm not scared of you, whoever the fuck you are, so show yourself!"

Abigail, you should be scared...

"What-" Abby starts.

But she didn't get to finish her sentence.

Everything happened fast: what seemed to be a couple ghostly-like dark shadows just appeared from nowhere, diving on her, as everything become dark, and the voice keeps on repeating in a scary whisper:

Join us... You are ours... Join us... Come back to where you belong... Abigail...

The next thing Abby sees is a blonde silhouette casting the shadows away, before she looses consciousness this time...

***

Tobin and Megan look at the abandoned warehouse in front of them, located in a remote part of the Eastside, where locals usually never go. The door was half-opened, and a cold wind was now running through the two girls' hair.

"This is the part in horror movies when everybody yells at the characters that they're super dumb to just go in there because they're gonna get killed" Megan states, visibly not reassured. 

"Shut up and let's go" Tobin nonchalantly lets out, pushing her friend toward the entrance.

Rolling her eyes, Megan nonetheless follows her childhood friend into the abandoned warehouse. 

As every abandoned warehouse that respects itself, there truly wasn't anything but old and non-functioning machines remaining, as the ceiling was so high that four floors could've fit in between it and the two girls. Only the wind was making a slow noise, making some of the old infrastructure crack from time to time.

Staring right in front of her with dread, Megan asks:

"Why are we here again?"

"Because" Tobin explains, fed up, "the police files state that Allie's last note on her phone before she died was this address, so there must be something there."

"Cool, cool, cool... And why didn't we bring more people in case a serial killer bursts out of nowhere and tries to kill us?"

Tobin turns her face toward the pink-haired, and her eyes speak plenty. But before she can tell her to shut up in real life, there is movement in front of them, and as they look up they both freeze:

A silhouette was floating in the air, as if it was a cloud and not a human being, although it was clearly a human form. Moreover, the shadow's long dark hair are emerging into the light, as well as a familiar face, with only a difference: the eyes.

Tobin and Megan's jaws drop.

"Christen?" Megan hesitantly calls, as Tobin just remains breathless.

Why is our friend floating in the air? And why are her eyes fucking all white and glowing? she asks herself, completely panicked as she did not understand how this scene was possible.

Indeed, everything about this scene seems unreal: Christen's iris were totally white, as her usually sparkling greenish eyes just seemed to make a possessed woman out of her now. Her arms were wide open, and although her eyes were opened to, it was like she couldn't see anything and was just not really there.

Tobin and Megan exchange a concerned look, before Megan insists, her voice a little bit louder this time:

"What the hell... Chris? Pressy?"

But little did she know that her voice would actually wake Christen from her trance, as she falls harshly on the ground, some of her bone cracking in the process.

When the girls get to her, she is unconscious...

"We need to get her somewhere safe" Tobin immediately says, grabbing the girl's legs. As Megan remains still, she angrily asks: "A little help, please?"

"Bro, Pressy just floated in the air like a freaking witch, I don't know if-"

"She's our friend" Tobin points out, setting her jaw, adding: "She's one of us, a Westsider, so whatever weird shit is going on right now, we must switch our brains off and help her. Okay?"

"Okay... Okay, fine, you're right. We can go to my apartment - my mom and siblings aren't there, and I have very resistant camping rope from my sister's scout group we can tie her with..."

"Whatever, let's go before somebody find us here"

Tobin remains lucid for now, but her mind is exploding: this couldn't be a coincidence, but this also couldn't be real...