Nightmare Within - Vance Hopper

chapter five: Comfort

AMANDA spent the next few days living in long sleeved shirts and jackets. Vance was the only person that knew about the giant cut on her arm and she planned to keep it that way. There was still no word on Robin.

Amanda had spent more time than ever at the Grab N' Go, a lot of the time playing pinball with Vance Hopper. Vance had finally started to warm up to the girl, his aggressive persona dropping slightly.

"You know, a couple more days of pinball and I think I could beat your high score," Amanda laughed, leaning against the machine as Vance played.

Vance didn't take his eyes off the game but shook his head nonetheless.

"Yeah, okay," he scoffed. "You fucking wish,"

Amanda laughed at his response but her attention was quickly directed to the police cars driving by the store with their lights on. She furrowed her eyebrows and moved towards the front door of the shop.

"Robin," she mumbled, pushing the door open and breaking into a sprint.

There were at least five cars speeding down the street, towards Amanda's neighbourhood. She hoped and prayed that it was good news. That they had found Robin and he was now home, safe and sound.

But, when Amanda rounded the corner and stepped foot on her street, her stomach dropped. The cop cars were parked along the street in front of the Blake household.

"No, no, no," Amanda cried, slowing down into a fast walk.

She stumbled down the sidewalk and stopped as soon as she saw Gwen curled up against the fence, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"Gwenny!" Amanda exclaimed, crouching so that she was at eye level with the girl. "What happened?"

Gwen shook her head as her eyes filled with tears.

"He's gone," she mumbled, her lip quivering. "The Grabber got him,"

Amanda's eyes filled with tears and she brought herself to sit on the ground before she collapsed. Her eyes were wide and the tears that filled them wouldn't fall. She brought her knees up to her chest and shook her head in denial.

Why was The Grabber doing this? What kind of sadistic game was he playing with Amanda? Did he somehow know the girl and everybody she loved?

***

Later that night, Amanda was laying in her bed, unable to sleep. She hadn't stop crying since she got home. Two of her closest friends had been kidnapped in the span of a week and Amanda wasn't sure if she would ever see them again.

A soft knock on the girl's window almost made her jump out of her skin. She peeked her head above the blanket and could just make out the curly headed silhouette of Vance Hopper.

Amanda got out of bed and moved across the room towards the window. She opened it slowly, trying her best to not make a sound. When the gap was big enough, Vance pulled himself in and rolled onto the ground.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Amanda asked, closing the window.

Vance straightened up and brushed himself off, glancing around at the girl's room. Amanda rolled her eyes and walked back over to the bed, getting under the covers and ignoring Vance's presence.

"Hey, uh- I heard about, uh- your friend," Vance started, walking towards the bed slowly. "I thought maybe you- uh- maybe wanted to talk?"

Amanda turned over in her bed and furrowed her eyebrows. Vance was seriously offering her comfort? She sat up in bed and pulled her knees to her chest before nodding.