Welcome to the Neighborhood (XPLR)

Chapter 26: 3 A.M

You two get home from the date, you sit in Colby's car for a while, reimaging what happened. Colby is unpacking things out of his car, he notices that you're still sitting there, he puts the stuff down on the ground and gets back in the car and takes your hand.

Colby: Bayley, everything is going to be okay.

He rubbed his thumb against your hand and stared into your eyes. He grins at you.

Colby: You're more than welcome to spend the night at my place if you don't feel safe in your own.

You nod at him and grin, he smiles and gets out of his car, grabs the basket and blanket and heads upstairs. You get out of his car and follow him up the stairs, but something catches your eye. You turn around like someone else is behind you, but nothing is there. You speed up to Colby so you're right behind him and go to his apartment.

You get there, feeling uneasy. You help him put away the stuff from the basket and put the blanket back in the closet. You look at the time, its midnight. Colby and you finish and he sits on the couch. You sit across from him and look through your phone. There are no texts from Brennen, but there's a new voice recording. You listen to it, and its everything that went on in the barn. You show Colby and suggest you make a video about it. He agrees to make the video tomorrow as he's astonished by it. He yawns and walks over to you.

Colby: Common', let's go to bed.

You agree with him and walk into his bedroom to find a t-shirt to steal from him, you end up wearing his Motley Crue shirt. He grabs you by the waist of his shirt you're wearing and deeply kisses you before he falls asleep. You go into his bed and you pull the blankets up to your shoulder. You try falling asleep, but its no use. You lay there, looking up at the ceiling, watching the fan blades go around in circles. You lay there for an hour until you eventually fall asleep and fall into dreamland.

You're back in the barn, but this time, by yourself. You're hiding from the cultists, but behind a hay bale on the ground floor. They're searching everywhere for you, laughing hysterically, saying over and over "we'll find you" and "there is no escape". You look over the hay bale at one person, they had a white mask with a smile black smile on it that goes all the way up to the temples of his face, sinister teeth, white and black eyes, and a red nose, his whole body and mask covered in blood, dragging around a huge axe. He slowly turned his head toward you, snapping his head into a tilt and running at you at the speed of an Olympic track star.

You wake up in a panic, breathing heavily, looking around Colby's room. Colby is fast asleep next to you, almost snoring. You, quietly and slowly, get out of his bed and walk into the kitchen. You get a glass of water from the fridge and lean on the counter while drinking it. In the corner of your eye, you see someone standing in the middle of the living room, twitching. You turn your head, there's no one there. You slowly turn your head to look at the floor and continue drinking your water. After a little bit, you put your glass on the counter and lean on the counter again. Again, in the corner of your eye, you see someone running at you, like an Olympic track star, with a white, sinister smile clown mask. You fall over onto the kitchen floor in complete shock, and of course, Colby is still fast asleep. You look up at the time on the oven, it is three in the morning.