The Rapture

Part 2

It had been a while since Thorne's breakdown. She managed to calm herself by thinking about her favourite shows and memories of going to school. She picked herself up and dried her eyes and strolled over to what she presumed to be the kitchen.

It was a mess. There was mould growing around the walls and cooking equipment and cutlery was scattered around the floor as well as The taps being covered in rust. Thorne looked around in disgust and quickly left the room before she could catch an illness. So instead she cautiously walked up the stairs into a bedroom.

It was actually quite decent, there was a singular bed with a ripped duvet lazily thrown over it. The window had a particularly large crack in the top left corner with curtains draped across it. The paint was peeling off the walls and the beige carpet was still quite soft.

A shallow smile painted on Thorne's lips at the more pleasant room however, she knew she couldn't stay cooped up in this room forever and she still needed to get an idea on where she was. She Braced herself and walked back down the stairs and carefully stood outside.

It was still freezing when she stepped outside. She shuddered at the sudden temperature change as the only thing that could keep her arms warm now was her tarot cloth and body temperature. She was just about to take a step into a random direction, when she suddenly heard someone calling her name.

"Thorne!!"

She whirled around on the spot and was about to pull out one of her knives but before she could, she found pale arms wrapped around her in a tight hug. She was frozen in place at the sudden embrace and didn't hug back. She felt a little uncomfortable when rigid nails started to dig into her skin. Thorne was about to push back but was surprised when the other person pulled back instead.

"What are you doing here B-"

"It's Nugget now" she said in a serious tone but still with a smile on her face and a twitch in her eye.

"Right..." Thorne said, a little uneasy at her best friends change of tone. "What's going on? Where even are we?" She asked confused. Nugget's smile faltered lightly but it never left her lips. "None of us know where we are... we all kinda just woke up here" Nugget replied with somewhat of a raspy voice. Thorne looked at Nugget confused at the mention of 'others'. "W-wait what do you mean by others she asked nervously. "Oh, all eight of us are here! Buuut you're the only one I've seen so far." Nugget giggled. Thorne wasn't able to get another word out before her friend continued. "So where are you staying?" She continued with both her hands behind her back, left eye twitching again. "Uuuh... in there..." Thorne trembled slightly as she pointed towards the shambled house. Nugget glanced over at the house and cackled. "Oh you're not going to be able to survive in that... I know a better place where you can stay and be safe!" She exclaimed, excited by the idea. Thorne hesitated for a bit before reluctantly agreeing to the offer, she just knew she had to keep her guard up at all times.

"Sure let's go." She said still uneasy. "GREAT LETS GO!" Nugget screamed unable to contain her excitement. She grabbed ahold of Thorne's hand and began to walk at a brisk pace towards where ever she was going. Thorne was completely taken aback at the sudden touch and for a second opted to pull her hand away but stopped.. she didn't know what could set Nugget off or what she was even capable of and she didn't want the two of them to get hurt.

".. So Nugget.. what did you mean by me not being able to survive on my own?" She meekly asked glancing up at her taller friend. Nugget looked down and held her hand slightly more tighter. "Well you see, everyone here is trying to kill you so that we can go back home buuut only the one who kills you is allowed to go back and everyone else is trapped here forever! But don't worry, I would never.." she replied in her raspy voice sending down that large grin. Thorne was about to question again but was cut short when Nugget let go off her hand and slashed a cut on her right forearm.

Thorne stumbled backwards onto the coarse ground and slowly looked back up at Nugget in complete shock and disbelief. "Wh- what are you doing Nugget?" She trembled, holding her now bloody arm in her hand. Nugget sent her an ear to ear smile. "I would never let anyone else kill you besides me!" She screamed. "We are best friends and I can't let anyone else besides me kill you! I wouldn't be your best friend if I let someone else do the job." She continued still practically screaming at the top of her lungs. Which is probably the reason for her harsh voice and throat. Thorne was frozen, paralysed with fear and couldn't find the courage to speak or even get up. That's when Nugget laughed manically and held the knife up high. Thorne quickly felt around her waist only to realise that her best friend had sneakily taken her knife. As she still couldn't move, she just shut her eyes and waited for the impact of death to hit her... but it never did.

Thorne reopened her eyes when she heard a gunshot and the shrill screams of Nugget echoing in the area. She saw her best friend holding onto her shoulder as deep crimson red pooled onto her hand and puffed sleeve. On the other side, She saw a taller boy with a tail coat and somewhat spiked hair aiming a Flintlock pistol towards her. He then spoke up.

"Nugget, you have three seconds to get the fuck out of here before I blow your brains out." He said in a serious voice. With that, Nugget dropped the knife and took off sprinting into a uncharted area of the world, Nearly crying at the raised voice. Thorne gasped at Nugget's fast reaction and was even debating to run after her but before she could, she felt a pair of hands on her arms lifting her up.

"Are you ok Thorne?" The male voice asked with genuine concern. She finally looked up at who it was. She immediately recognised the face. "Oh yeah I'm fine, thank you.. uhh.." she trailed off as a sign to find out his name. "The names Spindle now." He replied with a kind smile. She smiled back slightly. "Oh you're bleeding! Don't worry, I can patch you up easy see!" Spindle then quickly pulled out a roll of sterile bandages and meticulously wrapped a double layer around the deep cut and kept it in place with a safety pin. "Thank you Spindle" Thorne thanked shyly. Spindle smiled back again. "No worries Thorne, that's what friends are for. Now, you look like you've had a rough first day already. How about I take you to the pub for a drink to get your mind of things." At this, Thorne was very hesitant. She didn't want to trust Spindle that quick and also.. she had no idea where Nugget had ran off to.

"I'd like to but... what about Nugget? I'm worried about her." She asked, even though she did just try to kill her, she was still worried about her as she is her best friend. Spindle just pushed her worries aside. "Nah, she'll be fine. Come on." He replied bluntly, putting his gun away and starting to walk off in the direction to the so called pub. Thorne stood there for a bit then decided to just follow him but quickly went to pick up her knife Nugget had previously stolen. "Let's go Thorne, I know just the place!"