SUNNYVALE

(31) A HANGOVER LIKE NO OTHER

After the police interrogated each and every person still present at the cabin - as many had ran away when they knew the police were on their way - a group of girls appointed each other at The Circle (the Westsiders' secret underground bar) as soon as possible. Obviously, the usual girls - aka Crystal, Abby, Tierna, Sam and Tobin - were joined by a surprised guest, aka Becky Sauerbrunn, that had caught up about the whole story.

As the veteran was still in shock, Crystal was the last person to arrive after making sure Shelina would be okay. 

"How is she?" Tierna immediately asks, truly concerned.

"The ambulance took her to Eastside General Hospital, so hopefully she'll be okay" Crystal explains, sighing.

Becky, who was still processing the news, was staring at all the girls in disbelief - especially at Abby, who did not seem well at all. 

After a moment of silence, Sam breaks the silence:

"Alright, I'm gonna say it: what the actual fuck?" 

Everybody just nod, conscious that there was no possible explanations to this.

"What did you see when you touched Pinoe's hand?" Tobin straightforwardly asks, her heart breaking at the mention of Megan's nickname. 

Becky seems even more confused.

"Great" she lets out, ironic, "so y'all even have power? That's... neat, really."

After she is shushed by Sam, the whole group's attention turns to Crystal, who seems quite devastated about those memories.

Sighing, she then says:

"The shadows killed Pinoe and drained her of her blood"

"Wait a second" Becky interrupts them again, frowning, "you're talking about the shadows only you four are able to see, is that it?"

"And Christen, yes" Tierna points out, serious.

"Fabulous, it just gets better and better..." Becky comments, before feeling the urge to shut up as Tobin throws her a deadly look. 

This time, Sam is the one asking:

"But... why? They never attacked anyone before..."

"Except when we went to see Annemarie Press..." Abby whispers, out of her mind.

A heavy silence falls on the room, as all eyes turn toward her. Quite immediately, Sam puts her hand on the blonde's arm, caressing it slowly in order to make her feel supported. Tierna, on the other hand, just frowns at the gesture and focuses back on the present discussion. 

After a moment, Crystal is the one saying:

"Abby, I really don't think you gave out the order for the shadows to attack Shelina; rather, I think you are the only person able to stop them it seems..."

"You saved her life" Tierna adds, suddenly squeezing Abby's hand under Sam's murderous jealous eyes.

"I find it hard to believe: there must be a reason why I'm connected to those shadows... I mean, at least my... abilities seem harder and harder to be kept inside, and I'm afraid I won't be able to control them much longer..." Abby blurts out, nervous.

But Sam wasn't willing to let her believe assumptions just yet.

"I think that, for now, we should just let Pinoe's death sink in, process... and then study the old book Christen's grandmother gave us to find out why 1692 was written in the Black Forest's trees near Allie's body..." the blonde states.

This time, however, Becky is the one talking when she sassily lets out:

"And you need an old book to know what 1692 is?" 

Every pair of eyes turn toward her.

"Do you know what happened in 1692?" Abby asks, highly surprised.

"Well, yes, I have general knowledge, thank you very much" Becky lets out, not impressed. Feeling like the girls were waiting for a response either way, she adds: "1692 is the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials"

"I highly doubt-" Sam immediately starts, but she is deviance.

Tierna is the one saying:

"Wait a second... (she pulls out the old book from her bag - I mean, who takes an old book to a teenage high school party, right? - and gets to a specific page, before her eyes go wide and she says:) Oh my God."

"What is it?" Crystal asks, impatient.

"There it is: Sunnyvale's ancient name before the great fires that destroyed the whole city in 1867 was Melas... That's Salem spelt backwards..."

"Wait, wait, wait" Tobin stammers, her mind blown, "you think all this supernatural weird stuff happening around here is related to... witches?"

Tierna frowns.

"I don't know, but Annemarie Press, and then the voices, mentioned a prophecy... we need to find out more about that before making assumptions."

After those words pronounces by the youngest of them all, the group of girl just falls into silence, knowing that they were uncovering things that weren't supposed to be uncovered in the first place - and that never ends well...

***

Shelina wakes up the next morning in a hospital bed, surrounded by gifts from her friends all over Eastside - somehow, she survived yesterday's traumatic events, that she absolutely couldn't explain. The only thing she knew was that, when Crystal touched her hands the other day, something odd happened, making her relive all of her worse memories, and that the invisible thing that was strangling her must have something to do with that...

In the meantime, the Canadian smiles as her friends come in.

"Hey, warrior" Alanna Kennedy says in a joyful tone, smirking. As Shelina rolls her eyes, she exclaims: "What? It's not often that we get to see someone surviving to The Bathtub Killer!"

"That's a really ridiculous name" Kristie states, coming in as well. While Alanna sits on Shelina's bed, the blonde adds: "How are you feeling, hun?"

"Like I've been rolled over by a hundred trucks" Shelina honestly answers. 

Kristie and Alanna exchange a look, before the latter questions her:

"We were wondering... Did you see anything, uh... abnormal, during the attack? Did you see your attacker?"

As Shelina shakes her head, Krisite sets her jaw.

"I'm not sure... I'm quite traumatised, to be honest."

"Well, good thing you're Mary Zadorsky's daughter: I mean, who other than the town's most brilliant judge's little girl wouldn't even be a suspect on a murder case in which she was making out with the victim only minutes before she died, uh?"

This time, Alanna's comment did not pass smoothly: rather, it quite upset Shelina, who retorts:

"What do you mean?"

Kristie feels the tension, before saying:

"Never mind, don't mind Lani: she's being her usual bitch. Now, get some rest, we'll come back this afternoon to check on you."

As the two blondes leave her room, Shelina couldn't help but think about Crystal: what if she was the one that indirectly attacked her to get revenge on her for kissing Megan in front of her?