After Hours

Chapter 8.

Ember's POV.

   My alarm goes off and I wake up, grumpy. I swing my legs out of m bed and sit on the edge of it. Suddenly, an idea pops into my head. What if I didn't show up to Disney today? Then, I wouldn't be there to get trapped there tonight!

  "I need to tell Grayson," I say and grab my phone.

   I quickly text him and he responds. I'm already on my way. Please come? Just for me today?

   I sigh. Sure.

   I do my regular morning routine and get in my car. I make it to Disney and Grayson meets me by the ticket stand. He actually gives me a hug, holding me close to his chest. I find myself blushing and I let him go.

  "Hey," I say.

  "Hey. Sleep well?" he asks.

  "No," I answer. "I had nightmares of Devan."

   He's about to answer when I stop him. "Are you feeling alright?" I ask.

   He has dark circles under his hazel eyes. He keeps yawning, when I realize it. "You haven't slept at all, have you. The past couple of nights, I mean."

   He yawns. "No, I haven't. I haven't slept since the first night we got there. I mean, I have dozed off when I get back, but since I live so far away I can't sleep long when I get back."

  "Grayson, why didn't you say anything? You can rest in our hiding spot tonight," I say.

  "No, I'm fine. I need to be alert," he says, pushing my hands back from touching his shoulders.

  "Grayson," I say, putting a hand on his chin and moving his face back to mine. "You need to rest. There is a certain place in my ticket stand where you can rest and sleep tonight. I'll tell your boss you're not here."

   He looks reluctant, but nods. I put him in the small spot in the stand and he falls asleep pretty fast. My day goes by pretty slowly, and I find myself dreading tonight more than I normally would. I don't even stop my shift for lunch and when the day is over, I feel horrible. I wake Grayson, who slept all day, and he heads home. I go to bed as soon as I get home which is around 7:30. I wake up around 9:00, expecting to be back at Disney, but I'm not. I end up running to the bathroom and vomiting. My mom brings me tea and crackers, but they do nothing to sooth my hurting stomach. I get texts from Grayson, but I can't bring myself to answer.

   I fall back asleep and wake up having to vomit again at 11:57. I get back in bed, but I feel strange. I start drifting from my room and I groan.

  "No, not now!" I say.

   I find myself in our hiding spot in the Haunted House. I puke all over the ground again and blink my eyes to focus them in the dark.

  "Ew," Vanessa says when she sees me. "Stomach flu?" she asks.

   I nod and hold my stomach. I see Grayson already there and he opens his arms to me. I lay down next to him and snuggle my head down on his chest.

  "Where's Cameron?" I manage to croak.

  "Gone. For now," Eva says. "We don't know where, though. He didn't appear back here like we all did so we're kinda worried."

   I crawl out of Grayson's arms and puke again. I sit up and gag. "I need water," I say.

  "You're out of luck. We don't have any," Vanessa says.

   I cough and my throat literally dies. Well, I'm kidding. But it feels like it. I don't get back in Grayson's arms, though. Evan keeps giving me looks and I don't like them. She's acting like we're in love. Which we aren't. He would never love me.

  "Shh. Something's coming," Eva says, putting a finger to her lips.

  "Chill, it's me," Cameron says, crawling into our spot. "Good to see everyone."

   I snort. "Yeah. Good."

   Cameron sniffs the air and frowns. "Who died in here?" he asks.

   I raise my hand and smirk. "Yours truly," I say.

   We all sit in silence before Eva let out a piercing scream, making me cover my eyes. She shakes all around on the ground, screaming.

  "What's going on?!" I ask, over her screams.

  "I don't know!" Vanessa screams back, trying to pry Eva's hands away from her ears.

   Eva stops screaming and just lies on the floor, eyes shut tight, hands over her ears, legs curled up beneath her small form. She's shaking really hard. Finally, she opens her eyes and looks around. I gasp and grab Grayson's arm.

  "What's wrong with her?" I ask.

   Her normally blue eyes are coal black. She has blood dripping from her eyes and nose. Her skin looks ripped and jagged and then Cameron gasps.

  "I know what's going on," he says, picking her up and cradling her in his arms.

  "What?" Vanessa asks, tears in her eyes.

  "It's happening. She's becoming one of Them. Her time here must be almost up. She's going to be apart of Disneyland if we don't find a way out in less than three days. This happened to-" he stops and his voice breaks.

  "To who?" Grayson asks.

  "To Regan. This happened to her and three days later, she was stuck here," Cameron says.

   I look at Eva, eyes closed again, hands clasped at her chest. Vanessa wipes her eyes, and grabs her gun. "We're going to find the one who rules all of this. And when we do, he's going to wish he was dead."

   Me and Grayson cast worried looks at each other. We follow them out into the darkness and then he nudges me.

  "I'm not tired anymore," he says. "I slept all day and I went to bed as soon as I got home."

   I smile. "I'm glad."

   I then notice that Vanessa is leading us to the Gates and I jog to catch up with her.

  "What are we doing? You know we can't get out of here," I say, putting my hands on my hips.

  "We're going to try. And try until we die if we have to," Vanessa says. "I already lost Devan, a dear friend of mine. I'm not going to loose Eva too."

   She grabs onto the Gate and swings herself up to the top of it. She swings both legs over and scoots to the edge. She then, jumps down. I don't even realize what's happening when she screams. She thrown back on the side of the Gate. She throws off her jacket, which seems to be on fire.

  "What happened?" I ask.

  "There is some kind of force field," she says, in disgust. "I'm going back up."

   She then does the whole thing again. And again until Cameron stops her. "Stop. We can't get out. Stop hurting yourself."

   She lets out a frustrated scream and shoves her gun back in it's holder. She stomps off into the fog and all we can do is follow.

Hope you liked this chapter!

Have a lovely day and the next chapter will be updated soon!