Don't be afraid, darling ✔[COMPLETED]

Chapter 21: Surprise ride

Kiara's POV:
"Damn, Curly! You won't believe what happened at the dance!"
Curly smiled somewhat knowingly. Almost as if she was knew. But... that wasn't possible. So I pushed the thought out of my head.
It was two days after Founder's Day celebration and we were walking to school. Okay, I was stumbling to school because I was way too bleary eyed. *Monday mornings*
"Oh I'm sure I will believe you. Try me." Curly had returned from her aunt's house the previous day. She was way too excited to hear about the dance and how I spent time with Cassian. And I was more than happy to recount the events of the evening.
"I must say, the guy's got moves! He almost gave me a cardiac arrest when he introduced me to 'fluid dancing'. Daniella was glaring at me like Cassian was her boyfriend! Of course, she was dressed like a blonde skeleton with a bad, bad fashion sense."
Curly scoffed, uncharacteristically, which caused me to raise my eyebrows, "She's Daniella, Kiara. What else did you expect?"
"Huh, you've got a point there. Anyway, that night, Cassian.... kissed me."
If I had expected Curly to be shocked or ecstatic or hyperactive, I had the wrong thoughts. Her knowing smile just widened and her eyes glinted slightly.
But no reaction. Almost as if she'd been expecting Cassian to kiss me.
She continued to walk like I had announced that Cassian had only held my hand, "Well, aren't you gonna give me details? Or do I figure out the rest by myself?"
I shook my head thoroughly to clear my thoughts before telling her everything.
As the details progressed, more reactions began to be revealed on her face. Her eyes widened in awe and her mouth gaped a bit as I told her about the evening. Ha! Now I managed to shock her!
When I finished, her face was entirely taken over by her dinner plate-wide eyes.
I smirked, "What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"
She took a deep breath as she regained her composure, "So you and him.... are you a couple now?"
I thought about it. Couple? That was a bit fast, wasn't it? And Cassian hadn't exactly said that he would like to be my boyfriend. Honestly, I don't know the drill. I've never been in a serious relationship before. Cause I'd never met Cassian before.
"KIARA! Look out!" Curly's shocked voice broke my chain of thoughts.
It happened so fast I couldn't even register it. Curly and I were walking in the middle of the road as there was no car in sight. Now, Curly had jumped on a side of the road and I was standing smack in the middle, with a black car hurtling my way.
My body froze and my mind blanked out. Only one emotion took over: fear. I was so freaked out, I couldn't move a muscle. It was as if someone was holding me in place, not letting me move.
I screamed in frustration in my head of not being able to respond to stimuli. The dark car literally flew down the road, getting closer and closer. I did a little prayer in my mind. I was going to die. Goodbye mom and dad. Goodbye Curly. Goodbye Cassian.
I shut my eyes tight, waiting for the impact as the vehicle was just inches from me. The next moment...
Nothing
What the hell....?
I dared not open my eyes. I still couldn't move, but I knew that I was still standing in the same place, on the middle of the road. But instead of getting thrown off my feet when the car hit me, all that hit me was a cold gust of air.
Did the car vanish?
Very gingerly, I opened my eyes just a tiny fraction. To my utter amazement, the car was standing right in front of me, just a few milimeters from me. I could still smell the burning rubber from the tires and see the thin tendrils of smoke curling from them.
After overcoming my shock a tiny bit, I took in the other details of the car. It was a model I couldn't recognize, a Prius, maybe? It was pitch black. Even the windows were blacked out. There was no nameplate on it. It seemed to be in quite a good condition, considering the fact that it had just hurtled down a road at a hundred miles an hour and braked without making a sound.
Wait a second...
Braked without making a sound? But how the hell was that possible? Every car screeched when braked. Then why did this car brake so silently?
"Curly! Come and take a look!" I called out, my voice slightly startled.
No response.
"Curly?" I looked at the spot she had been standing at, a few minutes ago. No one. The road was desolate and empty as ever.
Except me and the creepy car.
Great. Way to go, Curly! Leave a friend in trouble all alone with a crazy driver and a suspicious car. She must've gotten too scared and gone to get help, I told myself, no need to panic.
Taking the deepest breath I could and calming myself as best as possible, I walked around the car to the front passenger's side.
I know, totally suicidal. What if the crazy driver had a gun and put a bullet through my head when I opened the door?
Suddenly, I was very sorry for all the times I had misbehaved and snapped at my mother. I didn't want my final words to her be, I'm gonna be late for school! Gimme my breakfast quick!
I fervently hoped that the door would be locked and the driver would tell me to go about my business and pretend nothing happened.
My shaky fingers closed over the car door handle as a million thoughts zoomed in my head. Maybe he was just drunk driving. Maybe he was half asleep and didn't realise what he was doing. Maybe... maybe...
No freaking need to panic!!!!!!
I screamed at myself to be a brave girl and yanked open the door. And waited for the bullet to pierce my skull.
Yep, I seem to be waiting for quite a few unpleasant things to happen to me this morning. God is that merciful.
When I saw who was sitting on the driver's seat, I yelled in my head, Thanks a lot, God!
A little girl.
Of around seven or eight years of age.
At the steering wheel.
However, what shocked me out of my damn mind was her eyes.
Completely blank. No irises. Like in the horror movies, like a person possessed by an evil spirit.
My mind blanked like her eyes. And she was grinning.
The rest of her face was normal enough. Sandalwood coloured skin. Small, round face, rosebud mouth, plump rosy cheeks, and small, button nose. Only her eyes were a total horror show. Milky white and creepy as hell. Faint black and red veins were visible in the corners of her blank eyes.
Her waistlength wavy brown hair was messy and had bits of... leaves and twigs sticking in it. She was quite skinny. Her attire consisted of a pink My Little Pony Tshirt, a red, sequined skirt and sparkly pink high top sneakers.
All her clothes were dirty and torn at places. Her face,arms and legs were streaked with blood and dirt. But I don't think she was hurt anywhere.
I didn't know what to say or do. I was scared shitless of this iris-less little girl.
But before I could turn back and take off down the road at top speed, she shot out a skinny arm, grabbed hold of my jacket and pulled me inside with strength that should not have been possible for such a small girl.
She pulled me into the front passenger's seat and slammed the door shut. Just like that.
I was completely numbed by what just happened. The girl grinned at me creepily and started the car with unnatural expertise. My heart leapt into my mouth as the car started to move slowly on the still deserted road. It gathered momentum and soon, the girl was literally flying the car down the street.
I dared not breathe. She didn't speak a word as she held the steering wheel like her small fingers were used to gripping it. My brain screamed at me, say something you idiot!
I screamed back, what the ruddy hell do I say? I'm kinda freaking out right now!
My brain must've been feeling extremely unhelpful, ask her who she is!
Thanks a lot, brain. I had never thought about doing that! But I decided to take it's advice anyway.
When I spoke, my voice sounded a few octaves higher, "Uh... who are you?"
I knew what to expect. To be ignored. But I was in for a (pleasant) surprise.
She turned her head ninety degrees and gave me a what would have been a sweet smile, had it not been for her eyes which were still freaking me out.
"I'm Liv. Olivia Wilde." She said in a really eerie voice. It was a mixture of high pitched little girl and deep, masculine adult. I was totally convinced that she was possessed.
But how? How was it possible?
She turned to the road again and continued to drive like a maniac, as though there had been no interruption.
Okay, I'm still in one piece. She didn't hurt me or anything. So I guess it's safe to question her again.
"Where are you t-taking me?" I almost slapped myself for stuttering.
She didn't turn her head this time. Instead, she just spoke in that bone chilling voice of her's, "You'll see for yourself."
She said that in a final sort of way, as if commanding me not to ask any more stupid questions, like what happened to your eyes or are you gonna kill me?
I obeyed her and sat without a word, clutching the edge of my seat, almost tearing the leather. I won't lie that I wasn't scared. I was terrified of what might happen to me. My heart slammed against my ribcage, threatening to burst out of my chest. My fingers had gone ice cold and I was sure I had turned white as a sheet. My breathing was jerky and irregular. I couldn't think. All my senses left me at that time.
I just couldn't look at Liv next to me. So I decided to look out of the blacked out windows. To my surprise, I could see just fine outside. Like the windows had been cleaned just that morning.
Trees, houses and endless wall rushed past. Not a single human being in sight. I don't know how much time had passed, but I fervently prayed that nothing bad happen to me.
Soon, we entered the Oakwood Forest.
I'm not even kidding. She simply veered into the forest from the main road with a lot of screeching of tires and jerking of the car. The vehicle gave an almighty lurch and bam! We were driving on, or rather, jerking on the uneven forest floor, but she did not reduce the speed one bit.
Thankfully the trees were widely spaced, so we were not ploughing down any trees. By some miracle, Liv managed to avoid the ditches and humongous, widespread roots, while going at speed faster than light. I still couldn't get my head around the fact that a little girl was driving like that.
As we drove deeper and deeper into the forest, the sunlight patches on the ground became more and more diminished. Dark shadows enveloped us and the branches of the trees hung lower and lower, as though caging us in.
An oppressive and claustrophobic feeling descended on me as I stared out of the window. We seemed to be getting sucked into darkness and despair more and more by the second. Almost like entering a Labyrinth.
I risked a look at Liv. Big mistake. She had an almost excited, maniacal look on her face. As if excited to be taking me to my death. A smile spread out on her face as she whispered, "We're almost there! Look!" I looked ahead. Strangely, the forest seemed to be fogging up. White tendrils of fog snaked around the trees, making the place look like it was night time.
I shivered. It was getting cold. The air conditioning wasn't on in the car, but a chilling frost settled on my skin like snow on a mountaintop. I rubbed my arms up and down and pulled my thin woollen jacket tighter around myself to keep warm. The cold didn't seem to affect Liv at all.
Through the fog, the dark outline of an enormous building was distinctly visible in a few yards. The trees nearer to it were older, more crooked, branches almost touching the ground.
The smoky fog made it almost impossible to make out the building. As we neared it, the cold began to become unbearable. I could see my breath puff out in front of me in little white clouds. My lungs slowed down from the cold which forced me to take deep gulping breaths. I could hear my teeth chatter.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
I rubbed my palms together and wished that I had put sonething warmer that morning. My fingers were stiff and ice cold by now.
Suddenly, Liv stopped the car. I wearily looked at her for instructions. She grinned at me, "Come on, come on, get off now!"
I thankfully grabbed the car door handle to get out of the cold. My fingers were so stiff that it took me several tries to pry open the door lock. When I finally managed to stumble out, I squinted to take in the huge building before me.
The sprawling, Victorian style mansion loomed in front of us. It was not in good shape. Ivy creepers and vine plants covered most of the damp and dilapidated walls. The once vibrant, gleaming red tiles were faded and cracked. The majestic windows were boarded up with damp, moss covered wooden planks.
However, the enormous, ornately carved double front doors were not locked as expected. The imposing, plaster of paris pillars had a few diminutive cracks here and there. It would have a really beautiful mansion if not for the years of abandonment and unuse.
I wondered why there were no gates. Or maybe we had passed them already; I couldn't tell, owing to Liv's super fast driving.
To my utmost dismay, the cold didn't stop one bit even though I wasn't in the car any more. It was equally freezing outside.
I felt a tug on my embroidered cotton top and looked down to see Liv grinning at me creepily, "Come on! Let's go inside. He's waiting."
Who's waiting? The one who's possessing you?
But I knew better than to ask. So I stumbled along with her tugging, my teeth chattering and my hands rubbing my arms, eager to escape the freezing cold.
She dragged me up the damaged front steps and to the front door. Placing both her small palms on the smooth wooden surface of one double door, Liv pushed it open, again with unnatural strength.
She took hold of my frozen stiff hand and pulled me inside. Into the dark interiors.
When we got inside, the door swung shut on it's own, with a loud thud, leaving us in total darkness.
Inside, the cold vanished and I was instantly warmed up. At least, something happened that made me comfortable.
Now, the question was, where the hell was I? I decided to risk questioning Liv.
"Um.. Liv? Care to tell me where we are?"
Silence.
Huh?
"Liv? Olivia?" My scared voice rang out through the seemingly empty house.
Liv had vanished. Vanished into thin air.
And I was left all alone in a large and filthy rich but old mansion.
Typical.
I took a few steps forward, rather blindly with my arms stretched out in front of me, "Hello?" Again, my voice echoed through the mansion.
I had a gut feeling that someone was watching me. That made me even more fearful. Knowing that someone was witnessing my distress and confusion. And finding enjoyment in it.
It was pitch dark. Not even normal darkness. It was something much more sinister. More evil darkness.
I did the smart thing and felt my way back to the door. I grabbed the cold, metal door handle and pulled. But it wouldn't budge an inch. It stayed tight shut. I pulled with all the strength I had to the point of my arms almost coming out of their sockets, but to no avail.
Suddenly, an all too familiar voice spoke in amused tones from behind,
"Quit trying, sweetheart. It's rude to try to leave your host's place when you've been invited in most graciously. Didn't you know?" All the warmth that had unfrozen me on entering the house left me. I froze.
I slapped my forehead. My eyes widened in shock. My brain only screamed on thing: Screwed.
I turned around slowly, to face the guy. With great difficulty, I found my voice,
"Zorraine?!"
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Olivia Wilde, 8 years old

There's a bit of trouble with my device at the moment, so I'll put in Olivia's pic a little later.
Sorry!😟😔😔