Plague- Creepypasta OC

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"It's too late now to do anything."

The words seem colder than ice, curdling down her spine. The shocking reality of the situation suddenly rushers to her head. He's right- she couldn't do anything. Though it still felt like her fault.

"I-I know I couldn't do anything to save them, but-." The girl splutters, tears prickling her grey eyes.
"No buts, Riley." The man sighs, adjusting his glasses. "You couldn't do anything, which doesn't make it your fault."
"But why does it feel like it?" She buries her face into her pale hands in despair, trying to hold back her tears.
"Because they're your parents." The therapist reassures, clutching his seat. "It's your natural instinct to want to protect them. They're family."
"But-."
"It was a house fire, Riley." He stares into her eyes, though it felt like he stared into her soul. The girl, with tears down her face, looks down. "You can't jump in and save the day like Iron Man." Riley looks back at the man, and her lip quivers.
"I think I might have something that will cheer you up." He looks at his watch and smiles. "Take a moment to wipe your tears, then come meet me in the lobby." She nods, sniffling. The man chucks his chair into his desk and closes the wooden blue door behind him.

Now all Riley can hear are the white lights humming a static tune. Blue walls embrace everything enclosed inside, including herself. Riley holds her knees, sniffles once more, pulls herself together and stands up shakily. As she does, another chill goes down her spine- what if she gets taken somewhere worse than the hospital? Maybe a mental institution. The thought of her becoming a wannabe Eleven from Stranger Things unsettles her. Slowly gripping the silver handle, she takes one last glance at the dental poster against the wall, exhales, then steps out into the cold corridor.

Bright lights continue to hum away above her as she makes her way to the lobby. Footsteps against the bare tile floor, Riley fiddles with her dark hair, twirling it slowly around her finger. Everywhere around her is silent, the staff either away in a room or not here at all. It's been two weeks since she first came here- she was in hysterics, sobbing and trying to scratch her skin off. After 5 hours of hysterical sobbing until no more tears came out of her dark eyes, she told them everything.

June 14th. It was a very hot day. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for her day- the same old school hallway and the same old people. She was exhausted, and couldn't wait to get out of school. Running home, she could feel something was incredibly off. A feeling in her gut nagged at her to turn back, but she wanted to get home.

If only she knew she wouldn't have a home, or a family, to go home to.

Finally glad to get out of that freezing corridor, Riley reaches out for another silver handle, which is cold to the touch unlike the one back in the office she was in before. Hand shaking, she turns the knob and slowly pulls the door towards her.

"There she is!" The man grins. "Had some time to calm down?" Riley nods, looking around the room in curiosity. The sun is shining outside, it's rays of light spilling onto the blue chairs. There are three people in the room- herself, the therapist and a woman. She has dark skin and braids, fading from black to a light blue. Her eyeshadow matches the colour of her braids, her dark eyes seem confident.

"Riley." The man looks at her, smiling slightly. "This is your new foster mom."

What?

The woman stands up and walks towards Riley swiftly. She smiles, clutching her hands together. Riley looks up at the woman cautiously.

"Hey!!" She smiles. "You must be Riley, right?"
"Mhm..." Riley closes her eyes for a moment. Was she finally getting somewhere in life after two weeks of feeling stuck and alone? I mean, she had her therapist, but other than him she felt alone most of the time.
"Well it's amazing to finally meet you!" The woman clasps her hands together once more. "Name's Alya! I'm gonna be taking care of you from now on!"
"Nice to meet you." Riley looks back at the woman and smiles weakly.
"Well I hope she's okay with you." The man steps closer. "She is genuinely a nice kid."
"Usually I wouldn't adopt 16 year olds, but I feel like if I had a younger one, I would be very stressed out." Alya swerves her head towards the man. "Thank you again sir-."
"Please, call me Dean." Dean smiles, then looks back at Riley. "If you need anything, you know who to call." Riley puts her thumb up shyly.
"We should probably get going." Alya liken outside. "It's already midday."
"Yeah, you probably should." Dean glances at his watch. "Have a nice day girls!"
"Thank you!" Alya struts outside, followed by Riley. The door closes behind them and slams shut.

"So." Alya let's Riley catch up to her, so then they are both walking next to eachother. "Wanna do something before we see your new home?"
"I don't mind." Riley says. "What were you thinking?"
"I can't decide between bowling or the arcade." Alya sighs. "What do you prefer?"
"Bowling, because at least you aren't wasting money on pointless machines." Riley responds, shoving her hands into her jeans.
"That's a good choice!" Alya grins, "I just thought it would be nice to cheer you up a bit before we head home."
"T-thanks." Riley smiles weakly again.
"You know, smiling is good for your mental health." Alya glances at her phone, then looks at Riley. "And it looks good on you."
"Thanks I guess." Riley shrugs. "I've been trying by to, but it's so hard."
"I lost my parents too." Alya sighs, "I know what it's like. But my therapist told me that always find a reason to smile, even if it's something dumb." Riley's eyes start to prickle with tears again- Alya reminds her of her parents so much, especially her mom and how kind she was.
"So if you ever need to talk, vent, or just list there and let it all go, I'm here." Alya puts her hands up. "No judging."
"Okay, okay!" Riley laughs slightly. "Oh, there it is!" Riley points a page finger towards a building with a red pin as a logo.

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Alya giggles, and begins to run towards the brick building.
"Hey! No fair!" Riley smiles and sprints after her.

They both end up touching the metal handle at the same time.
"I win!" They both laugh as Alya pulls it open. Music booms from far inside the establishment; lights flash violently from the ceiling.
"Okay, let's go book a lane, shall we?" Alya grins.
"Yeah!" Riley clasps her hands together.

Nostalgia is her escape, her way of blocking out the real world when music isn't there. Bowling was her favourite thing to do as a kid, so, naturally, she's excited. As the pair make their way towards the front desk, Riley takes a moment to admire the scenery whilst walking. Bright lights and nostalgic carpets make her unironically smile. Random groups of people litter the place- teens, children and adults of all shapes and sizes all huddle in various groups. They are all doing something different- drinking Pepsi, bowling, trying to win an arcade game (to no avail.)

After what seems like longer than it should, the two finally reach the front desk. A person with ginger hair and freckles leans against the desk, a variety of pin badges against their chest- one of them is the non-binary flag, another is the pansexual flag. The third is the company logo.

"Hey there!" Alya greets the stranger.
"Oh, hey there!" The person stumbles a little, then gives a quick smile. "Welcome to Pindy's Bowling Alley! I'm Cal, how can I help you today?"
"Can we have an alley for an hour and two pairs of bowling shoes, please?" Alya asks, that same grin still sticking to her facial expression.
"Of course!" Cal jabs the screen with his finger a few times. "Names?"
"Alya Smith and Riley..." Alya glances at Riley. "What's your second name, kid?"
"Elton." Riley smiles.
"Okay." She puts up a thumb and looks back at Cal. "...Elton!"
"Okay! And what are your shoe sizes?" Cal questions.
"Riley, what's your shoe size?" Alya nudges Riley a little.
"Uh, I think I'm a 7." Riley scratches her head.
"Okay, a 7 and an 8, please." Alya glances at Cal again.
"Give me a moment to grab your shoes and I can send you to the alley!" Cal heads behind the counter, and Alya grips onto Riley's hand. She doesn't do anything about it- she lets her grip it.
"You excited?" Alya asks. "I read your papers and it said that you use nostalgia as a form of escapism, so I thought something like this would cheer you up!"

Wow. She knows what she's doing.