Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"I don't trust him, Chrissy!"
Joan hissed out to her friend from the side of looking over the girls shoulder to see Eddie Munson fiddling around next to his van. It was cold outside and her patience was wearing thin already with the boys wanting her to go party, her brother asking to take his friends home, and now Chrissy wanting Joan to cover and pick her up from Munson's trailer?!
"Jo, please! It'll give you time to take home your brother and his friends, go visit Patrick, and then you can use me as an excuse to leave early."
"What makes you think I want to go to the dumb party?"
"...Joan, he's not... he's not bad at all." Chrissy always had this whimsical feel to her and was kinder than anyone she had ever met. She was the time of person that you wanted to wrap in a million blankets with a mug of hot chocolate and some cartoons to keep them from the terror of the world. "He's really... nice."
I know. Joan screamed to herself allowing another glance to the boy who rolled his eyes at her glance. He made a dramatic point to his wrist with his nonexistent watch and Joan had to remember he was not her friend.
"...fine. I'm going to drop the dorks at their houses and then I'm coming straight you." Chrissy went to insist that she could just go to the party but Joan's eyes narrowed. "No, Chris. I'm not going to the party without you, people are lame. Plus I don't trust him."
"You know I can hear you, right?" said freak spoke up with a fake smile on his face and a wave. Chrissy's ears burned red and Joan only flipped the dropout off. "Mmm, that's not very nice miss priss. Now why don't you show us your best feature and go away."
Joan bit her lip and turned her stare to a sheepish Chrissy. "You've got two hours at the most and if your mom asks... I'll tell her you're spending the night with me."
Chrissy through her arms around Joan's neck, squeezing her firmly and whispering out multiple thanks. Joan returned the hug with a pang through her heart, remembering the hugs that Heather and her once shared. The cheerleader captain pranced off into the van of Eddie Munson who bowed like a butler before opening the door for her to enter.
When he went back around to the drivers side he frown at Joan.
"What are you looking at?"
"...not much." She responded with not near as much bite as she had wanted. With a sigh she pushed off the brick building and headed to her own car ignoring the ugly sounding van zooming away. Instead of going to a cute boys she was stuck with a car filled with multiple dorks ranting and raving about their night that involved a guy she had once fell for.
The drive to each freshman's home was exhausting because the talking did not stop until Joan kicked Dustin out of her car, not even regarding the indignant shout as she sped off because Chrissy needed her.
She had dropped everyone off rather quickly and would be at the trailer an hour before she said she'd be there and Joan was more than okay with pushing down the pedal just a little bit further. Trees, trees, fog, and darkness filled her vision and the soft vocals of Ozzy Osborne had Joan on edge. Not having her cell phone meant not having quick and consistent access to fellow humans which meant the only way she would be able to talk to Chrissy was in person.
She went faster as a vehicle sped by her and she paid it no mine.
Pulling up at the trailer felt foreign. She had driven Max home a handful of times, but never had she entered the Munson trailer or truly been to it. Their little meetings had mostly been limited to her house, at practice, or the occasional rare meet up in public.
The absent van should have been her first clue.
The second clue was the way the world tilted when she stepped out of her car and she fell onto her hands in knees, a ringing in her ear gradually increasing like feedback from in amp and she tried to cover her ears to no avail.
Get up, she whispered to herself pathetically before shoving a hand onto the seat of her car, forcing herself up even though the world was spinning.
Suddenly, Joan wanted to vomit.
But she pushed it down, instead focusing on her breathing and trying to find the strength to get to that door, March in, and steal her friend back. They'd go to her house and Joan would let Chrissy do whatever she needed under her care because Joan was not going to fail this friend.
Her hands wobbly grabbed onto the shaker wooden railing, pushing herself up the couple of stairs to get to the door. She might ask Munson for some ibuprofen... drug dealers have normal drugs too, right?
Knock, knock.
No one answered.
Eyes narrowed, ears open, heart increase.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
"...Oi! You two, I'm here so that means it time to pack this shit up and go."
Nothing.
A wave of nausea washed over Joan and a disgusting burp left her. She prayed no one heard her and knocked harsher, a little more frantically, opening her mouth to speak when-
"ₜᵢₘₑ wₐᵢₜₛ fₒᵣ ₙₒ ₒₙₑ."
A hiss left Josephine's mouth and she spun around to see her doppelgänger at the ground by the steps. The girl had tears down her cheeks and an arm raised to grab Joan, words on her lips but no sound spewing out. Panic sent the living Joan's hand flying to the doorknob, scrambling to open the door even with the splitting noise in her ear.
With the door opening, Joan fell back onto her hands and knees scrambling away from the door in fear. Her chest heaved up and down until her hand touched something...
Fleshy and wet.
Joan didn't look down at first because oh god the smell. It was the same smell as that monster but no where near as bad as it, and the smooth skin at her fingertips had no sign of movement on the grunge floor. Eventually, her head slowly turned to her side where the dead eyes of a broken girl stared at her dreamlessly.
A deep breathe, then a second one, then a third before she screamed loudly while scrambling against the kitchen cabinets, as far from the body as possible, followed by her once again emptying out her stomach contents and then screaming again into a harsh sob.
There was a little bit of sanity left in her as forced herself up and carefully grabbed the corded phone with shaky hands, eyes unable to leave the mess her friend was in.
"M-my friend... she's dead!"
And that was all she could get out before falling to her knees and staring horror at the cruel show in front of her. Her doppelgänger was inside now staring at Chrissy's mangled body with a deep sadness, before turning to Joan. She was soaked, but left no mess as she walked towards the hysterical Joan trying to get away but tripping and cornering herself with a sob.
"ₜᵢₘₑ'ₛ ₙₑₐᵣₗy ᵤₚ."
Joan grabbed some random book and threw it at the ghost-like being, screaming loudly while she did it. She flinched at the thud and when she opened her eyes, the twin was gone and she was left with the dead body of her friend and even more trauma.
"Munson, you fucking asshole." She whispered out, puking her knees to her chest and hiding her view with her eyes. "Oh, God. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."
