Barely Dead

☠ e l e v e n ☠

☠ e l e v e n ☠

"Sir, I already told you, the movie The Wobbles Take Flight is sold out... And is for kids aged three to six," the cashier in the movies theater persisted. Quietus groaned. The man before him was confused.

"But I want to see the Wobbles," the man insisted.

"You're going to have to see it somewhere else, then. Next!" the cashier grunted. The man didn't stop his demanding for the Wobbles as he strutted away fiercely and went to the other cashier.

Quietus moved forward with Jackson and Adriana on his side. Realization struck Adriana over the head like a hammer and a plan quickly formulated in her head. She took a swift glance over at Quietus, and before he could even say anything, she blurted out: "Three tickets for Promises Burn."

"That'll be 16 dollars," the cashier replied monotonously. Adriana took the money from Quietus' hands and handed it to the cashier. With the tickets in hand, she grabbed Quietus and Jackson, lugging them away from sight.

"Adriana, what do you think you're doing? We're supposed to be watching Malicious," Quietus glowered in rage, glancing at the girl who was whipping her head back and forth, almost as if looking for something. As he took a breath, he tried to ignore the overpowering smell of butter, popcorn, and salt. "I'm talking to you, Adriana-"

"Goodness, Quietus, can you not? Just trust me. A lot of people from my school will be over tonight to make fun of the movie. They've been planning it for weeks," Adriana explained. "I'll lure them out. I'm one of them. They're vulnerable when it comes to classmates. After I get them out of the theater, you and Jackson gang up on them and take them away."

She planned to go in and never come out, instead sending three people out to go to Quietus. He'll have a replacement for her, and two extras; he wouldn't mind.

Quietus instructed the duo to split up. Jackson will be left with Quietus outside the theater to lug away the recruits. Adriana will stay inside to get the best recruit she can to walk out to Quietus and Jackson. The plan seemed fool proof.

Well, it would've been.

Quietus was standing beside the entrance to Promises Burn. Jackson was silently still but Quietus knew he would obey his orders. After all, Quietus threatened Jackson's parents. He wouldn't risk it.

Adriana went inside the theater. It was dark, but crowded. A majority of the student body decided to show up to the event, she thought, since she couldn't find an empty seat. She stayed in the shadows, observing the area for prey, until two very familiar faces crossed her vision.

"Noah! Vincent!" Adriana all but screamed as she ran down the aisle and into her best friends' arms. The two boys gasped in shock and hugged her tightly.

"Adriana!" they harmonized. Adriana glanced at their faces. They were still boyishly handsome, but seemed a bit worried, adding a more mature twist on their appearance. Her lips twitched upwards. They could pass as family.

Her family.

"God, guys, I've missed you so much!"

"Adriana, where have you been?" Noah stood there and glanced at Adriana. Something about her looked off, he noticed. She seemed a lot more tired, and almost as if she hadn't been sleeping in a home, or at all for that matter. "You ran away again, didn't you?" Noah sighed when Adriana stared harshly at the floor. "Why?"

"Oh... I was meaning to tell you-"

"You're telling us now," Vincent interrupted. Adriana rolled her eyes. Vincent and Noah acted like her parents. Why was she still friends with them?