SUNNYVALE

(59) THE AUTHOR'S BACK, AND SO IS DRAMA

Abby's whole body shivers.

She and her diabolic sister have travelled to another dimension thanks to Kelley's powers, only to find themselves in a landscape that looked like a mix between a desert during the night and a horror story scene. There was no noise other than a strong wind that would brush the two girls' hair, as the cold silence between them was oppressing. Abby would do everything in her power not to look into her sister's eyes, while Kelley would just ignore her.

Until they reach some kind of cliff that, if you'd jump off of it, would end up in a dark and seemingly bottomless hole, so huge that Abby could not see the end of it. That's it, the blonde thinks to herself, stressed out, this is when she finds a way to kill me even though I have Satan's protection. 

But Kelley never pushed her: instead, she just starts smiling. 

"Welcome home, little sister" she ironically lets out, before taking a dramatic deep breath, looking at the blonde who was traumatised. Smirking with a evil smile, Kelley adds: "Don't worry, you'll be welcomed as a queen down there - besides, we're only just passing by, 'cause we have much bigger business to attend."

"There is no was in Hell I am going down that hole" Abby warns her, dead serious.

Bursting into laughter, Kelley grabs her arm, before she jumps off the cliff, bringing Abby down with her.  

But Abby's body never felt the fall on the ground: instead, she realises she and her sister are floating through the air, as the dark hole started getting clearer and clearer, until she finally distinguishes the different forms. Indeed, quite immediately, Abby spots the huge black castle on the edge of a mountain with no trees, from which lava would descend and reach what seemed to be a medieval town with high-tech locks on the doors. Quite immediately, she would hear the desperate screams from the city, whereas she and Kelley were flying over it straight to the castle. 

The screams stop as soon as they lay foot on what seemed to be a floating ground that would support the dreadful castle, as Abby had flashbacks of that one time in grade school when her teachers forced her and her classmates to watch Dracula even though it was traumatising. 

Feeling her whole body reject this place, Abby turns away from Kelley and throws up in a vacuum, before getting on her knees.

"I-I feel awful..." she breathes out, feeling like her organs were tearing themselves apart from her insides. 

Kelley has yet another smirk:

"Oh, sis', you'll get used to it: be glad you're your daddy's daughter, 'cause otherwise any other living being would've disintegrated already."

Leaving the blonde no time to react to this nonsense she seemed to be saying, Kelley just grabs Abby's arm and makes a huge gesture destined to open the castle's door. 

Turning toward her, Kelley spreads her arms in a dramatic way and settles:

"Abigail, welcome home"

***

The atmosphere was erratic, as Sam walks out of The Circle - or at least the one in that dimension, that was much more happy and festive than the real world's - feeling a violent headache taking off again. Last time this happened was right after she found herself inside Shelina's mind, probably projecting her image inside of it or something, and the headache lasted for hours. 

But this time it was different: something felt off. 

When Christen walks out of the Circle as well, she immediately feels that something is going on inside Sam's mind, and that she was freaking out, as her whole body was trembling, and her eyes were staring around in an abnormal way. Frowning, Christen grabs Sam's arm and forces her to sit on the sidewalk by her side, as the streets were empty. The scenes around them were pointing at a late hour in the night, but they never were sure. 

After a few minutes, Christen finally says:

"Alright, Mewis, what's going on? You look weird."

Sam takes a few breaths, before stammering:

"I-I don't know, I have this w-weird feeling inside my g-g-guts... I just c-c-can't shake it o-off"

"You don't have to" Christen softly says, putting her hand on Sam's shoulder. As the blonde starts crying, she adds: "I know it's been hard since Kristie's gone back to the other dimension, but you can talk to me - even though we aren't from the same part of the city, I consider you my friend."

The blonde looks up at her, giggling: never in her life she would've thought someone from the Westside would tell her that one day.

Nodding her head, she just settles:

"I really feel like something is wrong with this place"

"Well, you mean other than being an alternate dimension...?" Christen inquires, confused.

Sam sighs loudly.

"Something doesn't add up: why is everything so quiet, and everybody so joyful? I mean, they got killed by shadows, and they don't even seem to care about being in the In-Between. If I was the one getting killed, I'd be so pissed I couldn't even crack a smile." she then blurts out, as if her mind was going faster than the rest.

Christen nods.

"You're right: it's weird."

"What is?" a voice asks behind them, as they both jump.

When they turn around and see Megan and Becky, smiling at them joyfully. At that point, everything seemed to become crystal clear to Christen and Sam: what if all that was just a play, a way to trap them here?

Hardly swallowing her saliva, Sam starts:

"U-Um, that, uh..."

"Sam wonders why she can't find her sister anymore" Christen immediately says, trying to save the day. As their former friends both frown, she adds: "Nobody's seen her in the In-Between today."

Frowning deeper, Megan states:

"She must still be asleep - you know Kristie, she's quite the party girl."

"Except she's not" Sam harshly cuts her, frowning. As Megan and Becky exchange a long look, she adds: "My sister may look like a bitchy and fake party girl, but she never drinks - at least not since our mother passed. And the whole town knew it."

Exchanging one last look, Megan and Becky then stare at them - but this time, their eyes had changed. 

Little did Sam and Christen know that they were trapped with fake versions of their former friends and acquaintances...

... and that Shelina had nothing to do with the In-Between.

When Megan and Becky's eyes turn red, Christen turns toward Sam and yells:

"RUN!!!"