✧˖°. Shadows of the Scarecrow | ᴊᴏɴᴀᴛʜᴀɴ ᴄʀᴀɴᴇ

four.

There's a few people are on the front porch, and they wave at her.

"Hey! Alyssa's out back if you're lookin' for her," Calls out one of them, and Violet nods in response. She pivots and begins to walk towards the backyard, and soon, she sees a crackling bonfire in the backyard, causing shadows to dance along the building. There are people everywhere, laughing and shouting. Alyssa is nowhere to be seen.

As she makes her way towards the back door, she is drawn to a young woman stumbling out of the yard and heading towards the alley. It's clear that the girl is heavily intoxicated, and she quickly disappears around the corner. Strangely, no one else has taken notice of her leaving.

The sun has since gone down, and Violet rounds the corner after her and squints into the dark alleyway. As she watches her make her way down, a tall figure emerges from the shadows. His tall frame moves quickly, pulling the girl aside. Before she can react, the man pulls a device from his pocket and sprays an aerosol spray on the victim's face.

The girl immediately falls to the ground, hysterical. She flails around, brushing off her arms like she's covered in bugs. Violet runs toward them, pulls out her camera, and aims it towards him, stunning him with the flash.

When she puts the camera down, the man has disappeared.

She drops down and frantically speaks to the girl, still screaming on the ground.

"Help! Someone, please!" Violet screams, hoping some of the party-goers will hear her.

"I'll be right back, I promise!" She says, scrambling to get up and run back to the party. She exclaims as she runs into a group of guys lingering in the backyard and gasps, "Please-- there's this girl-- I don't know what happened."

They all rush back to where the girl is shaking on the ground. Her eyes are bloodshot, and her pupils are so dilated her eyes are entirely black.

"Alright, you're okay now," One of the boys comforts her, gently picking her up to bring her back to the house. He glances towards Violet, and in a low voice, he asks, "What the hell happened?"

She shakes her head, still shocked at what she witnessed, "Some guy, I couldn't see his face. Sprayed her with something."

"What the fuck," one of the other boys says under his breath.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Asks Violet, peering over at the crowd that gathered around the girl.

"You can go home, Violet," he says, "We'll take her to the hospital."

She nods, the adrenaline fading away, leaving her suddenly exhausted.

"Violet! Oh my god, are you okay?" She looks up and sees Alyssa running towards her, and immediately envelops her in a big hug.

"I'll walk her home," She says, shooting a look toward the boy.

Her apartment is a short walk away, and she collapses on her bed when she gets home. She assured Alyssa that she was okay and that she just needed to get some sleep. The events of the night run through her mind, and she jumps up when she remembers. She got a picture of the attacker. She rushes to her desk, her hands shaking as she inserts the camera's memory card into her laptop.

The picture is a little blurry, but the man is stark against the dark alleyway. He has a burlap sack covering his head, and Violet narrows her eyebrows, zooming in on the image. Light blue eyes, looking directly at the camera.