𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙥! 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙤𝙣

SCENE THRITEEN. uh oh, something's wrong

"look guys, it's almost nine. i promised my mum i would make food for when she comes in." piper shouted as they headed towards the doors. the rain practically flooded outside the doors. and now she really wished she had brought a jacket as the thunder clapped outside. and steve ran back over to her. pulling off his jacket, and throwing it over her. 

"what the fuck harrington?" she spat as he laughed, grabbing her hand as he helped himself under. now using it as some kind of umbrella for the two. pulling her to join dustin and robin who were running through the rain outside. 

"look for imperial pandas and kaufman shoes." robin shouted as they hid behind the wall staring at the deliveries coming out and going into the mall. a guy in a yellow raincoat left the mall whistling to himself as he pushed a trolley of parcels out. 

"they're with that whistling guy, ten o'clock.'' dustin shouted to the group as they followed his movements as dustin watched him closer up.

"what do you think is in there?" steve asked the boy who was looking at the men in yellow. trying not to think about the girl under his arm. who was slightly shaking due to the wet weather. 

"guns, bombs?" dustin replied.

"chemical weapons?"

"illegal machinery?" the two girls replied back as the thunder clapped once more. steve brings piper closer to him. his hair wet and sticking to his face. hers the same as they used the jacket to cover their bodies. 

"whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth.'' dustin shouted back now, noticing the men in black who were standing watch every six metres, grasping guns close to them. oddly suspicious for just a mall. 

"great. that's great.” steve shouted as he tried to wipe the hair from his eyes when a cold hand reached out to his face. looking down at piper whose hands were cold and shaking as she brushed his hair backwards and out of his face. making him smile lightly. the men letting the guy in yellow into a room.

"what's in there?" robin shouted as the door swung open as the light flashed green dustin double checking just to make sure they were in fact just more boxes. dustin and steve fighting over the binoculars as robin grabbed the girl's hand. making her look at the other girl who was shaking cold too. the boys dropped the binoculars as it made a loud clang noise. steve dragged the girl to the floor. piper landed on him with a thud still holding robin's hand. his other hand reaching for her hip. touching the skin that looked weird in her reflection and her face twisted in pain. his touch was burning, which it definitely shouldn't be due to the wet rain. meaning whatever was wrong with her hip, was getting worse. and she didn't wanna check. 

"are you okay?" he asked, moving his hand noticing her discomfort, brushing his hand over her cold cheek as she smiled lightly.

"i'm okay." she breathed out, resting her head on his chest as she noticed that her head slightly popped over the fence. she could now hear the thumping of his heart as he heard someone shout in what sounded like russian. 

"well, i think we found your russians."robin smartly remarked as they snuck back inside the mall. 

and two girls pulled up to a house, the house el had seen when trying to find heather in the blank space. the lights were on, a good sign. both girls ran up to the house, not even bothering to knock as el unlocked the doors with her powers. the warmth inside inviting the wet girls in. 

"this is her house, heather's house." max mumbled looking up at the photography hung on the wall. the picture was heatherand what appeared to be her parents. when laughter interrupted them in the other room, slowly the two girls walked in to find three people sitting at a table full of food. heather's parents and billy. who was smiling and laughing, something bily never did. 

"max." billy called as the group caught sight of the dripping girls. 

"we didn't mean to barge in. we tried to knock but maybe you didn't hear us over the storm." max comment straight away, living straight through her teeth. 

"i'm sorry, who is this dripping all over my living room right now?" heather's father asked as he stared at the two girls then to a smiling bully who still sat at the table. 

"oh i'm sorry, janet, tom. this is my sister maxine. what on earth are you doing here? is something wrong?" he asked standing from the table to join the two girls. max knew something was up, bily never called her his sister. instead she was a step sister he never wanted. and he didn't give a shit what she usually wanted. something was very wrong. 

"we just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"okay? why wouldn't it be okay?" he asked, the fake smile plastered on his face finally dropping. 

"where is she?" the girl beside max asked. someone he didn't know but recognized. 

"i'm sorry, where is who?" billy questioned, staring at the girl before dropping his gaze to the girl's neck. she was wearing a necklace. a necklace that definitely belongs to her. because it was a cherry necklace with the letter p. and he grinned. 

"well they're a little burnt. i'm sorry." a girl spoke as she rushed out of the kitchen with a tray of warm cookies on. 

"heather! this is my sister, maxine. and i'm sorry, i didn't quite catch your name."

"el."

"el." he repeated. still wearing that shit eating grin upon his face. but that wasn't his voice, much more monotone and darker then bill's voice.

"now, what is it you were saying, el? you were looking for somebody?"

"i saw you-" el started but max was quick to change it, covering for them.

"your manager.at the pool. he said you guys didn't come in to work today. so we got worried."

"heather wasn't feeling so hot today so we thought we'd take the day off to nurse her back to health. but you're feeling just fine right now, aren't you heather?" he smiled, still not removing his gaze from el, his eyes blank as he did so.  

"i'm feeling so much better."

"do you girls want a cookie? they're fresh out of the oven." and the girls shook their heads heading out of the house straight away.