Mind Games

Chapter 31 - Ned

A/N: Hello guys. Apologies for the horribly late update! Thank you all for staying with me so far ♡

Ned grasped the bannister, straining his eyes to watch out for Amy.

This felt like the longest night of his life. Morning seemed like eons away.

He wished he could call his parents, but his phone was out of the house where he'd dropped it. And he was too afraid to use it anymore. Amy had corrupted that one channel that he could have used to call for help.

He wished Cassie's grandparents had an old fashioned landline phone, but they didn't.

He felt a growing sense of foreboding for Ryan. It had been almost half an hour that he'd left to call for help. Surely he would head back to them as soon as he knew help was on the way.

He knew his friend enough to know that he wouldn't stay away; Amy or not.

It couldn't possibly take so long for him to call for help.

He glanced uneasily towards the dim silhouettes of Cassie and her grandmother. They both sat silently next to the body of the old man.

He wondered if he should suggest they leave. Would it be too insensitive to suggest that they leave the old man's body behind?

He shifted restlessly. Waiting was making him anxious. He wondered if it was safe to leave Cassie and her grandmother while he went out to look for Ryan.

"Ned..."

He jumped as he felt a hand on him.

For one crazy moment he thought it was Amy. Manifested in flesh and blood, coldly whispering his name.

His brain quickly registered it was Cassie and he couldn't help grinning to himself sheepishly in the dark. Man, he was totally losing it.

The next few words from Cassie wiped the grin off his face. "I think Ryan is in trouble."

He turned towards her, glad she couldn't see the fear on his face in the darkness.

"What makes you think so?" He tried to keep his tone light, not wanting to show her that this was exactly what was on his mind as well.

"I feel it." She whispered persistently.

Ned hesitated. "Should I go look for him?" He glanced at her grandmother huddled on the floor. "Will you be okay?"

He could sense Cassie's hesitation in her silence. Then he heard her sigh and she said, "Yes. We will be okay. You should go find him. And call for help if you can."

Ned nodded, "Okay."

He squeezed Cassie's hand and turned away, moving cautiously down the stairs in the darkness.

Honestly, he was relieved to be able to do something rather than just stand here and wait.

"Where are you going, little boy?"

The venomous voice hissed right next to him.

Ned's heart leapt in his throat, and in that moment of panic he lost his footing.

He reached out blindly for the bannister but his fingers just felt air.

His ears filled with malevolent laughter as his body hit the stairs.

He tried to break his fall, but the momentum dragged him down, tumbling over the stairs until he felt a sharp pain in his neck.

Then the darkness got darker.