Waking Nightmares|NewScapeSquad Fanfic

Tension

Ashlie glanced behind her with a look of longing. UNi caught sight of her glance, but thought better of speaking out about it. Ashlie noticed his eyes focused on her and turned back to the look at them, the look on her face quickly vanishing. She flashed a smile at the Brit, although it looked more like a grimace.

He returned the smile, moving closer to her, so he could whisper to her without Cory catching the conversation. "Are you alright, Ash?" He spoke under his breath, his curious brown eyes focused on her blue ones. "I feel bad for just shooing Tommy off with Nick... I feel like we should have said something to lift his spirits." She whispered through a tight voice. "I'm sure he understands that we just want to be careful." He spoke, trying to cover up his voice with certainty, although it didn't quite blend as he had hoped.

"I just feel kinda guilty, ya know?" She said, although her blue eyes had brightened with hope. UNi smiled at her reassuringly. "I know how you feel. Everythin' will be okay, though." He spoke confidently. She nodded to herself, as if weighing her friend's words. Cory turned his head to look at the two with their heads bent together.

"Are you having some sort of secret meeting to discuss my fate?" Cory spoke lightly with a tone of mockery. The male and females' heads snapped up at hearing their friends' voice. "No, no! We're just talking about...about..." Ashlie spoke, her voice stalling as he noticed the blond's gaze focused solely on her. "About the group? Or someone specific?" He guessed.

Ashlie's face flushed as her gaze fell to the ground, despite the blond's remaining on her. "Yes, Cory. It was someone from the group." UNi snapped slightly. "Don't make Ashlie feel bad about speaking about it. It was your decision, after all." He added. Cory's eye widened. "My..decision.. You mean Tommy?" He asked. "Of course. Who else would we be speaking about?" Ashlie said, her voice small and uncertain.

He shook his head. "Damn, Ash, I'm so sorry." He stopped walking and moved back towards his friends. Ashlie looked at him, noticing the guilt in his blue eye. "It's not me you should be apologizing to, Cory. It's not me that you made feel unimportant to the group." She spoke, her voice surprisingly calm and certain. Cory blinked and stared at her in surprise, then broke into a chuckle which grew into a laugh.

"This is why you're the leader of this little trio. I can't do shit for understanding others' feelings." He spoke after he had halted his laughter. Ashlie stared at him in confusion and shook her head. "Whatever, Carl." She teased as she pushed past him to start walking again. Cory watched her walk a distance away before he strode off after her, the blue-haired Brit following after him.

The trio walked on in silence now. Ashlie glanced at the two boys. "Should we move away from the wall?" She asked curiously. UNi gazed into the gloom with a fearful expression. "Are you scared, UNi? I can stay close to you if you are." Cory's voice cut into his fearful reverie. UNi glared at the male, but didn't say anything in response. UNi looked over at Ashlie. "I think we should check the rest of the perimeter before we move deeper in." He spoke. Cory nodded. "UNi's right." He agreed.

Ashlie nodded slightly and continued on along the slightly beaten path close to the wall. "I hope Tom's doing alright." UNi spoke up after a dark silence for a few minutes. "I hope so, too." Ashlie agreed. Cory looked at the ground, then back up at the other two. "Me too." He added.

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Tommy glanced around the area almost feverishly. "Nick, we should head towards the house." He spoke. Nick glanced over at his friend with a worried gaze. His eyes were dulled and his fingers moved endlessly, as if he was practicing fingerings for an instrument. "I don't think that's a good idea." He spoke hesitantly. Tommy looked over at him. "But there could be someone else that needs help." He said, straightening suddenly.

He looked towards the manor house for the third time in half a minute. "I need help, I need help.."  He began to chant to himself quickly. Nick glanced over at him. The sudden transformation in his friend worried him more than his moody behavior before. He was certain that something dangerous was causing this change, and he had no plans for going nearer to ascertain that fact.

Nick looked back ahead of him, doing his best to ignore the blond's incoherent ramblings. He noticed with a start that another hook stood in front of them. His eyes widened in horror. Tommy hadn't seemed to take notice of the hook, seemingly preoccupied with his own problems. The two closed in on the hook and Nick examined it with a deep frown.

He moved tentatively closer to the hook and examined the dried blood. "It has to be a cow's or something.." He mumbled, refusing to accept the option he was thinking. "What do you thin-Tommy?" He asked, glancing over at his friend, who had disappeared from his side. He glanced around, but failed to see him through the gloom of the woods.

"Tommy!"