Chapter 10: The Hunt
"I can't believe we're having an assembly today! I have so much homework that I need to catch up on," I whined.
"From what I've heard, Chloe's responsible for it. I don't know about you two but I'm over her," Lulu said. "It felt so good to knock her out though."
"It has to be important since they're calling for an emergency assembly," Carver added.
We and the rest of the school shuffled into the empty gym. The plain metal bleachers had been pulled out completely on both sides as if there was going to be some sort of after school event. As everyone slowly shuffled in, we found a spot at the top of the bleachers and we sat down in a huff, our backs against the eggshell white brick wall and our bags between our legs. Once the bleachers were packed with students, Principal Weathers stepped out into the middle of the gym with a mic in hand.
He's wearing the same suit that he's been wearing ever since he got the job thirty years ago. It was a dark brown almost black suit with a white button up and a striped navy blue tie. I couldn't tell if that was the actual color of the suit or if it just needed a wash. I'm sure if he leaned back, all the buttons would pop off. Like his suit, he's a bit outdated in his morals and beliefs. He doesn't exactly scream fairness. He's crooked.
"Good afternoon everyone! I hope all of you're all having an incredible year so far!" he said into the mic. Crickets, just crickets. He wasn't exactly known for his inspirational speeches. He's more known for taking bribes from Mayor Fox and the Hamptons. "Ms. Fox will take it from here."
Chloe walked over to him and took the mic. "Hi everyone! I'm sure you all know who I am but if for some reason you don't, my name is Chloe Fox and my dad is the mayor of Haven. I hope everyone had an amazing Halloween, I know I did!" she said as she nonchalantly rubbed the left side of her face. Under all that makeup, you can barely notice the giant bruise on her face courtesy of you know who. "I have something fun to announce. My dad and his team actually came up with this idea for Halloween but somehow forgot due to all of his busy work but who says we can't still have some fun? Now what is this event that I'm talking about? Well they call it The Hunt. Groups of up to five people will search for clues around town that will ultimately lead to a treasure chest filled with five thousand dollars cash. The team who finds the chest first will receive the cash prize and will be divided evenly among all members. Now if you look under your seat, there should be a red glossy envelope with the first clue. As of now The Hunt begins, good luck to all of you."
"This screams sketchy," Lulu said holding her unopened envelope. "There's no way her family is just going to give away money for free. That's just not who they are."
"I know what you mean, but that cash prize is very enticing," I said. "I could use that money with Christmas coming up."
"You're not really considering this are you?"
"I mean I know I was just talking about homework but money talks. I'm not exactly rich."
"Well let's just see what the first clue is," Carver said ripping his envelope open. There was a blank card with the words "Smell me" written on it. "Smell me? What does that mean?"
"It means you smell it obviously," Lulu said as she sniffed the card. "Hm Fang can you smell this really fast?"
"What? Why me?"
"I thought you wanted to play?"
"Yeah but you already sniffed it. Why can't we just go off of that?"
"I'll know the answer once you smell it."
"That's really weird but okay I guess," I said as I opened my own envelope, pulled out the card, and smelled it. Immediately I got a tickle throughout my sinuses and blew out the loudest sneeze ever in my whole life. "Oh god! I think I'm allergic to whatever this is."
"Well that proves my theory. The scent's floral. What other place in town can find a ton of flowers?" Lulu asked.
"Fang what was that place we went to months ago with all the flowers?" Carver asked.
"Oh god no! Floralporium. Guys I almost died there last time. I'm not going in there again," I whined.
"Fang you always almost die wherever you go. You're allergic to almost everything. Now do you want the money or not?" Lulu asked.
I sighed and whimpered and then I sighed and whimpered some more until I eventually rested my head against Carver's arm. Lulu immediately pulled me off of him though and held my face in her cold, clammy hands.
"No, you don't get to suck up to him," she said to me sternly. "Do you want to do The Hunt or not? Yes or no?"
I groaned then I rolled my eyes so hard that I'm sure they went to the back of my head. "Fine, but if I die I'm gonna haunt both of you."
"Wait why am I in this?" Carver asked.
"Because you had the opportunity to stop me but you just sat there. Now let's get this bread!" I said punching my left palm with my right fist.
"Did he just--"
"Mhm," Lulu said patting Carver on the back. "That's your boyfriend."
Carver, Lulu, and I walked down the bleachers and out the gym doors only to run into Chloe and Brock.
"Perfect! Just the people we were looking for!" Chloe said enthusiastically.
"Ugh! What do you want Chloe? Want me to punch the other side of your face too?" Lulu groaned.
"No! no," she said with her palms blocking her face. "I-I just wanted to apologize...for the things that I said the other night. I never should have brought it up and I'm sorry if I opened up old wounds. I really am sorry Fang."
"Um thanks. I guess."
"Is that all you wanted?" Lulu asked with her arms crossed. "Cause we have a challenge to start."
"That's exactly why we're here. Brock and I want to work together with you guys as a team."
"You and Brock with the three of us? No, I'm sorry but that's not gonna happen," Lulu scoffed.
"Oh come on, Lulu! You, me, and Fang used to be the best of friends. We thought we could use The Hunt as a way to mend broken bridges."
"Last time I checked, Brock and I never had a bridge to mend. He's always just been an ass to me," I said.
"Well how about we settle on a truce then? I promise to change if we work together as a team. I really want to change. You guys seem pretty cool," Brock said.
"Come on, you know I don't take no for answer," she pleaded.
"If you don't let us go, I'll punch the makeup off of your face."
Suddenly Chloe dropped to her knees and grabbed onto Lulu's right leg.
"Please, I am begging you Lulu!" she cried. "It'll be like when we were kids, I promise!"
"Fang, Carver, a little help here please!" Lulu begged.
"As much as I don't trust either of them, if we stay here any longer we're gonna fall behind everyone," Carver said. "They can tag along for now, but if they do anything shady, they're out."
Chloe unlatched from Lulu's leg, shot up, and pounced onto Carver.
"Oh thank you Carver, thank you! I knew I always liked you," she said then she started to squeeze his arms. "Oh do you work out Carver?"
I tapped Chloe's shoulder and loudly cleared my throat. She turned around and looked at me.
"Oh right, you two are dating. I'm sorry. This nice thing is gonna take a while," she shrugged. "You sure do know how to pick them, Fang. What I would do to him--"
"I don't want to hear it. Walk ahead of us, now."
"Okay someone's touchy, damn," Chloe said as she skipped up ahead.
"Did I see a hint of jealousy there?" Carver sneered.
"Look, if you can get jealous of Brock, I can get jealous of Chloe. I just don't trust either of them okay?" I shot back.
"So the first clue. I was thinking--"
"We already know the answer to the first clue. It's the Floralporium," Lulu said.
"Oh, I forgot how smart you were!" Chloe complimented her. Lulu just rolled her eyes.
"Wait since your dad made this wouldn't you know all the answer to the clues?" Carver asked.
"I'm not a part of his team. I'm not a part of anything my dad does. I'm usually just the messenger. Sorry guys, I wish I knew the answers but at least we can bond over this."
"Right...bond," Lulu said as she walked through the front doors of the school. "Well we better start walking if we want to win this."
It took us about twenty minutes to get to Floralporium and to our surprise we were the first ones to arrive or that's what we thought anyway as there was no one around. Either we're ahead of the curve or we're far behind. The gang walked around the garden and a found a podium carrying the same glossy red envelopes that were under the bleachers.
"Are we the first ones?" Chloe asked. "There's a lot of envelopes here."
"Well we only need one, so grab one and let's get out of here," Lulu said.
As soon as she grabbed an envelope, we all rushed back out. Thank god cause I could feel my face tightening and becoming red hot. Chloe then slowly and carefully peeled the flap back. What was she trying to do? Save the paper? Just rip it open! She took out the card that had a picture of a key on it.
"Where's the clue? It's just a picture of a key," Brock asked.
"Is that the only clue?" Lulu asked.
Chloe took a second look into the envelope and shrugged. "That's all there is."
"Okay well it doesn't look like an ordinary key. It's a golden key with the letter H in the center of it," Carver said as he closely examined the card. "Does that ring a bell to anyone?"
He looked at all of us and we all shook our heads except for Chloe who looked deep in thought.
"Have you seen this key before Chloe?" he asked.
"It looks vaguely familiar but I can't really place it."
"Think Chloe, think!" Lulu said as she grabbed her. "There has to be something in that head that's not all about boys and makeup. Where have you seen this key before?"
Oh no, Lulu has gone into full competitive mode. I haven't seen her get like this since the last time we had game night years ago. She can get a little aggressive when she's like this.
"Uh um I uh--"
"Come on Chloe!" Lulu barked.
"I can't--I can't think with you yelling at me!"
"Let me try something," Carver chimed in.
"Ugh fine," Lulu said as she rolled her eyes.
"Chloe, close your eyes and just think. You're obviously the only one who can figure this out," Carver said in calming voice. "Where have you seen this key before?"
"I-I remember my dad with it," Chloe said with her eyes closed. "But I-I can't remember why."
"Okay if it has to do with your dad then maybe you've seen the key around his office or--"
"I've got it! It's the key to the city!" Chloe said. "I can't believe I forgot about it."
"Town hall. The next clue has to be there then," Lulu said. "That's maybe five minutes south from here."
The five of us marched towards town hall. This time not only were the doors to town hall locked but there also wasn't a podium with envelopes. All five of us scoured the exterior and couldn't find anything. Is it possible we were wrong? After we all met back at the front, frustrated and annoyed we all sat at the stairs. Out of nowhere, Mrs. Fox walked out of the doors of town hall. She stood at the top of the stairs in an all white pant suit in white stilettos. She was just as tall as Chloe but with a platinum blonde pixie cut. Also she had so much botox in her face that she was left basically emotionless. She's a bitch though so maybe it wasn't just the botox.
"Chloe? Are you and Brock here for the third clue?" Mrs. Fox asked.
"Mom? Do you know where the third clue is? We couldn't find it anywhere!"
"That's because I have the third clue right in here," she said pointing to her brain. "Who's on your team? Just Brock I'm assuming?"
"What? No, I mean yes but they're also on the team," Chloe said pointing at the three of us.
Mrs. Fox turned her icy glare at the three of us and rolled her eyes.
"Chloe, can I speak to you alone for a moment?"
"Um sure," Chloe answered hesitantly.
The two of them walked a few feet away from the rest of us and got into a pretty heated argument. I think Mrs. Fox thought we couldn't hear them but we heard everything.
"Honey, is there a reason why you're on a team with those people? Are they threatening you?"
"What? No, I asked to be on their team."
"Chloe, I thought we already discussed this years ago? You are not to be associated with their kind anymore. We can't have you associated with those people anymore."
"But Mom they didn't do anything."
"Oh really? So that bruise on your face is nothing to you now?"
"That was my own fault. I deserved it."
"Oh god, they've poisoned your mind again. This is what happens when you associate yourself with the poor. You need to stick with your real friends."
"You sure it's about being poor Mom? We were poor too before Vegas and you still you hated the fact that I was friends with them. And I don't have real friends anymore. Not like them."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I think we both know exactly what I'm trying to say Mom."
"Well we'll talk about this more later tonight after The Hunt," she said forcing a smile after she saw that both Lulu and I were sharing the same icy glare she gave us earlier. Mrs. Fox brought her daughter back to the rest of the group and took a deep breath before she said, "Well let's get to the next clue shall we? The clue is `To find me, you must remember who burned me.'"
"What's kind of clue is that?" Brock asked.
"So it has to be someone who's been burned? Is there someone in this town who's been shunned recently or maybe it means someone who was actually burned? But that doesn't sound like anyone in town," Chloe said to herself.
"Well if we're just thinking about the town, there's nothing in our history where someone was shunned or burned. But if we include the surrounding area of Haven then there is someone who fits the riddle," Lulu said and then turned to me. "You know exactly what I'm talking about right?"
"Yes, but it can't be there. Why would they have the next clue all the way out there? Why would the next clue even be there?" I said panicking.
"I've got you," Carver said as he wrapped his arms around me. "If that's where the next clue is, we should start walking. It'll get dark soon. We don't want to get lost again."
"What are you guys talking about?" Chloe asked. "Did you guys figure it out already?"
"Mrs. Fox can I ask a question about the clue?" Lulu asked.
"As long as you're not just asking about the answer then yes, I suppose I can answer any questions regarding the clue."
"Is The Hunt exclusive to Haven or does it include areas surrounding it like the woods and the farmlands?"
"It also includes the surrounding area."
"Not again!" I whined.
"What? What am I missing?" Chloe asked.
"Wanna do the honors, Fang?" Lulu asked.
I sighed and then said, "The next clue is at Haven house. In the clue, me is referring to Zachariah and the people who burned him was the town of Haven. So for us to find him, we have to go back to where our town killed him in the first place. We have to go back to the house."
"Oh great, we have to go to that place? I hate that place," Chloe whined as she shook her head.
"Oh before you go, take this," Mrs. Fox said as she handed Chloe a backpack.
"What's this for?"
"There are flashlights in there. They're needed for the next clue."
"Something tells me I'm gonna hate it there," I whined again.
"You have nothing to worry about. This time you'll have me. I'm not letting you out of my sight this time," Carver reassured me.
"Something tells me you just jinxed it."
The five of us started to walk towards Haven house as the sun went down. Somehow along the way we diverged off the beaten path and we ended up in the woods. Why did we have to end up in the woods of all places? This was the place where the clowns came out of. Who knows what else is in here? How's that line go? Lions, tigers, and bears oh my? I mean I know it's irrational of me to think that lions and tigers could be in here, but I can imagine bears. Well maybe wolves would be more believable. I swear if I hear a howl, I'm out of here. Thankfully we have that bag of flashlights, so we could find our way out. However, we tried to find our way out for a few minutes but I'm pretty sure we were just walking in circles. Everything just looked the same.
"Maybe we should split up?" Chloe suggested.
"Split up? Have you ever seen a horror movie? This is how we die," I said.
"Oh you're just being dramatic. Haven is probably one of the safest places to be. There's nothing here."
"You weren't here for the clowns. Sure the clowns ended up just being a bunch of punks, but there could still be things out there out to kill us."
"Chill babe, nothing's gonna happen. Breathe," Carver said.
"I know I know, I'm just worrying too much like always."
"Well we're not going to spilt up. If we do, you and Brock can go off on your own and the three of us will stick together," Lulu said wagging her finger at Chloe and Brock.
"Well how else are we gonna get out of here?" Chloe whined. "Why did we even go in here?"
"Because Brock said he had a shortcut," Carver said as he rolled his eyes.
"Well I thought I did, but everything looks the same in the dark. Maybe if we didn't have to stop all the time cause someone needed to take a break every five seconds--"
"Hey, I stopped complaining after the first two times. Then I just piggybacked on Carver the rest of the time. I just got off of him cause I felt bad."
"Everyone just shut up!" Lulu yelled. "Okay let's all just take a deep breath and let's figure this out. Brock where was this shortcut that you were talking about? Do you remember anything significant? Like maybe a certain set of trees or maybe a stream? Anything that would help us find our way back?"
"Uh well there's this huge rock that points towards the house. I remember it because that's where I uh--"
"We get it that's where you take all your dates," Lulu said as she gagged. "So we just need to look for this rock?"
"If we pass by a cave then we're on the right path."
"What's in the cave?" Chloe asked nervously.
"You know what? I don't know. I've never gone to check it out before. Maybe I should look into it next time for some alone time," Brock said as he nudged me and winked.
"Don't touch my boyfriend," Carver said shooting a glare back at him.
"Oh don't touch my boyfriend," he said in a dumb mocking tone. "He's not your property. I can touch him if I want." Brock then took his left pointer finger and playfully jabbed me in my side.
Carver immediately grabbed Brock's hand and twisted it back against his back. "I'm not kidding. I will break your arm."
"Okay okay, just let go of me!" Brock cried.
"I won't warn you next time. Touch him and I will break you," Carver growled as he walked back to me.
"Fuck dude, what's your problem?" Brock asked rubbing his arm.
"Let's go," Carver said to me as he pulled me away from him.
"Oh uh o-okay," I said. I'm not gonna lie seeing Carver in this light kind of turned me on. I know I told him not to get into any fights but now that I've seen him like this...I don't really mind seeing it in action. While I walked hand in hand with Carver, I looked back and saw Brock walk behind us but he kept his distance. He was probably at least ten feet away from us. "You know you didn't have to do that."
Carver stopped and turned to me. I could hear Brock stop in his tracks right when we stopped. "I know I didn't have to, but I don't want him to get any ideas. After he hit on you at the dance, I'm not taking any chances. I want him to know that you're mine and that I'm yours."
"I think he got the picture."
"And what about you?"
"Me?"
"Are we still good?"
"Of course. Why would you think we'd be in trouble?"
"Well I know you don't like fights and I just lost it when he started touching you and--"
"Carver, we're still good. I'm starting to warm up to the idea of you being protective of me."
"You want me to go back and break his arm?"
"Only if he's hostile."
We eventually caught up to the girls and they were standing right beside the set rocks that Brock had mentioned earlier.
"It's pointing north so I guess we walk that way, right Brock?" Lulu asked.
"Uh yeah, it shouldn't be too long after that and we should be there," Brock answered still rubbing his arm.
"What's with your arm?" Chloe asked.
Carver shot back the same glare from earlier straight at Brock. He flinched. Brock literally flinched standing five feet away from us. I could definitely get used to this.
"Uh nothing, I just pulled a muscle earlier. Let's get moving," Brock said walking past all four of us. Chloe closely followed behind him while Lulu stayed behind with the two of us.
"Anything you guys wanna tell me? The boy literally flinched when you looked at him Carver."
"Just reminding him who he's messing with," Carver said walking ahead.
"Fang?"
"Uh let's just say that Brock won't be messing with me as long as Carver's around. Come on, let's catch up with them."
Carver, Lulu, and I caught up with Brock as we reached the edge of the woods. Right in front of us was the house. Oh right, we still have this scavenger hunt. All five of us walked up to the house and we found Mayor Fox himself with Sheriff Hampton relaxing in front of the house. Oh did I forget to mention that Brock's older brother was the sheriff of our town? I wasn't kidding when I said the Foxes and the Hamptons ruled this town.
Sheriff Hampton was strangely out of uniform tonight. I don't think I've ever seen him out of uniform to be honest. I always thought he just slept in in uniform. He looked just like Brock but with less body hair, cropped short dark brown hair, and a long-lasting five o'clock shadow on a chiseled jawline.
"Brock, Chloe, are you two for The Hunt?" Sheriff Hampton asked.
"Don't forget us," Lulu said as she waved at him.
"All five of you are working together?" Mayor Fox asked confused.
"Unfortunately yes, we're all working together on this."
"I knew Brock and Chloe would be the first ones here, just didn't think he'd be with the likes of you two," he said then turned his attention to Carver. "Who's this?"
"You must be Aggie's grandson. Carver right?" Mayor Fox asked holding out his hand.
"Yeah that's me," Carver said as he shook his hand. "My grandparents speak very highly of you." Carver scoffed which prompted me to gently nudge him with my elbow. There's no need for him to get on anyone else's bad side.
"Well let's get this over with," Sheriff Hampton said. He grabbed a black fleece pouch off of the ground and opened it. "Now in this pouch are tokens. On these tokens will be a symbol, one of the house, another of the graveyard, and last but not least the woods. One by one, you will all reach in and take a token. Whatever your token is, is where you'll search for the treasure. You will all have thirty minutes to find the treasure. Only one of these locations has the treasure. If the time runs out and none of you find the treasure, you will all be eliminated from the competition. Anyone have any questions?"
The sheriff looked at all of us and we all just shook our heads. He then handed us the pouch and one by one we reached in to grab our tokens. Carver and Chloe got the woods, Brock and I got the house, and Lulu got the graveyard.
"Oh hell no! Someone switch with me! I am not going into the graveyard by myself! I didn't even know this place had a graveyard!" Lulu whined.
"There will be no switching of tokens," Sheriff Hampton said as he stood up straight. "If you aren't up to the task, you forfeit for your whole team."
"What? That's not fair!" Chloe cried.
"Those are the rules."
"Well where are these rules? I want to see it," Lulu demanded.
"They're in my head," he said as he crossed his arms. "Do you forfeit?"
Lulu paused as she shared a look of annoyance with the rest of us. She then loudly sighed and said, "No, I'm still in. But I want to let you know that this is bullshit."
The five of us walked up to the house and we all set down our bags on the ground. On the ground were three sets of reflective taped arrows each indicating a different token.
Carver walked up to Brock and said, "Don't forget what I told you back there. You touch him and I will break you."
"Want to say that louder? My brother is right there. I'll have him arrest you for assault."
"What? Can't fight your own battles? You have to have your brother to save you?"
"Whatever man," Brock scoffed as he walked into the house.
"Fang if touches you or if he does anything that makes you uncomfortable, just scream and I will come running."
"Carver everything will be fine. Plus I'm sure I'll be screaming without his influence. This will be the second time this year I will be reliving Hell. If I'm screaming, it's probably because I came face to face with old man Zachariah again or I see a bug."
"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?"
"As long as I don't see a ghost or a bug, yeah I should be fine. Just try to find that treasure as fast as possible, okay? I don't want to be here any longer than I have to."
"Uh Carver, let's go! Treasure's waiting!" Chloe hollered from the edge of the woods.
"Watch yourself with her. I still don't trust her even if her mom is a racist cunt."
"I'll be careful," Carver said kissing me on the forehead. "I promise."
I watched him walk away towards Chloe and through the woods they went. Turning back I could hear Lulu on the opposite end of me yelping at every little sound as she tiptoed around back. Once alone, I smacked my cheeks trying to ready myself.
"You've got twenty five minutes left," Sheriff Hampton calmly said to me. "You better get in there. I would hate for my brother to lose because of you."
"Okay okay, I'm going in jeez," I said rolling my eyes. Taking a deep breath I stepped into the house. Once inside I found Brock just sitting at the foot of the stairs with his legs spread open. "What are you doing? Why aren't you looking for the treasure?"
"Relax, we have plenty of time. Sit with me," Brock said patting his lap.
"I'm good thanks. Um well I'm gonna search the ground level. Since you're on the stairs, why don't you go up and see if you can find anything."
"Weren't you the one that said we shouldn't split up?"
"It's just us and your brother's right outside so I think we'll be fine with splitting up. We'll cover more ground that way," I said as I walked towards the kitchen. Thank god for this flashlight. It's still as dark as ever. I just have to remember to not look into any mirror this time. I just wish I knew what this damn treasure chest looked like. It would make everything much easier.
Just as I was about to turn the corner towards the kitchen I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and I jumped.
"Cool it, it's just me," Brock said.
"Brock what the fuck! I thought I told you to go upstairs!"
"I really think we should stick together. This place is pretty old. You could get hurt."
"I appreciate the concern but I'll be fine. Really," I assured him. Honestly I probably would be better off with someone with me but I don't want to work with him. Like Chloe, I don't trust him. There's no way he'd just wake up one day and turn good.
"Nevertheless I'll watch your back," he said as he eyed me from head to toe.
"Um fine, do whatever you want. Just lookout for the treasure."
As Brock and I traversed the ground level and finding nothing but dust and even more cobwebs, he suggested we should move upstairs. Reluctantly I agreed. Time was running out and we had nothing and since I heard nothing from the rest of the team I figured no one else found anything either. We turned left at the top of the stairs and walked down a creaky hallway. I felt like I could fall through one of the floorboards with how loudly they creaked. At the end of the hallway was a door that was slightly ajar and the closer we got to the door, the more it opened. I mean it's probably just the wind right? Even though I felt no breeze whatsoever. By the time we reached the door, it was already wide open. Okay the fear is back. As I turned around to dip out of there, Brock stood in my way.
"What are you doing? Go in," he said motioned me forward.
Fuck I hate this so much. I sighed and reluctantly stepped into the room. There was a single twin sized bed in the far left corner of the room. There was also a charred dresser and a charred kids toys lying around in a circle. Oh god, was this Margaret's room?
"Okay um I'll search under the bed and why don't you look in the closet?" I said as I walked towards the bed. I got down on all fours and nervously flashed my light under it half expecting to see her face staring back at me.
"So...you and Carver?"
"What about me and Carver?"
"Why are you with him? You can do a lot better."
"I don't know what trying to get at Brock, but I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't talk down about him. You don't even know him like I do."
"Well I was just thinking you know, you could a lot better with someone like me."
I turned my focus back to Brock and found him firmly grasping his meat through his black basketball shorts. It looked thick and long as it swung in his shorts. Wait was Brock coming on to me? I immediately looked at him with disgust and I'm pretty sure I threw up a little in my mouth.
"Brock I'm flattered but I'm with Carver and honestly, I've never felt anything for you, ever."
"Bullshit, you used to eye fuck me all the time before he came into the picture. And besides, ever since I saw you at the dance I-I just can't stop thinking about how hot you looked."
"Again flattered but we are never going to happen and I'm not going to cheat on him."
"What does he have that I don't?" he asked upset.
"For one? A personality. Two, he--he's kind, strong, brave and he loves me even though I'm such a fuck up. An-And even though we haven't had sex yet, he still wants to be with me. He doesn't just want sex with me, he wants me."
"Hold up, you guys haven't fucked yet? How do you even know if you guys actually like each other. That's the first thing I do with a girl to know if I actually like her. You guys aren't real if you haven't fucked. So now's your chance to be with a man," Brock said as he got on top of me. "I can show you a real good time."
"Get off of me!" I yelled. I struggled with Brock as I tried to push him off of me but he pinned my hands together above my head with his left hand while he quickly pushed his shorts off with his right. I could feel his hard cock press up against the front of my jeans. I tried to kick him off but he pinned his knees onto my thighs. "Car--"
Brock quickly shut me up by squeezing my throat with his right hand. He leaned forward and whispered into my ear, "You're cuter when you don't speak."
"P-Please...don't," I cried.
As Brock continued to choke me, he let go of my hands so he could unbuttoned my jeans. I immediately tried to remove his grip on my throat by pulling at his hand but it wouldn't budge. I could feel myself slip in and out of consciousness.
"Fuck why is it so cold in here?" Brock said as he immediately started shivering.
"Maaaaaargaret," a familiar voice echoed.
In the corner of my eye, I could see dark, shadowy figure standing next to me. Brock quickly shot up off of me and his back his the closet door.
"Wh-Who the fuck are you?" he cried.
"My sweet Margaret," the voice cried.
In a daze I tried to catch my breath and when I looked up I knew I heard that voice before. It was him again. "Z-Zachariah?" It had to be him. He really is real. It's not just in my head after all. I quickly scurried back against a wall terrified.
"You hurt my sweet Margaret," he cried out.
"No way! No fucking way!" Brock cried as he quickly pulled his shorts back up and bolted out the door. I watched as he took three steps out the door and then floor gave way and he fell through with a resounding thud.
Zachariah turned back to me and walked towards me.
"Ca-Ca-Ca-Ca," I stuttered.
For some reason I couldn't say his name. His name wouldn't pass my lips and I couldn't scream. Zachariah knelt down and as he inched closer to me, I could feel his ghostly hand graze my cheek.
"You've come back to me Margaret. I've missed you so much," he said as he peered into my eyes but then he frowned. "You're not her. You're not my Margaret. I am so sorry." He stood back up and stepped back. I watched as he kept watch of me with such sorrowful eyes and then he disappeared back into the darkness.
"Fang!" Carver yelled as his voice reverberated throughout the house.
"Holy shit, what the hell happened to Brock?" Lulu asked. I could just barely hear her too.
I could hear a shuffle of footsteps coming up the stairs and then I could see him at the end of the hallway. He ran up to where I was and jumped over the gaping hole in the floor. He found me.
"Fang, are you okay? What happened?" he asked caressing my head.
"Brock he uh--he um--he tried to do something and then--and then Zachariah came back."
"What do you mean? What did he try to do to you?"
"I-I don't want to talk about right now, but Zachariah saved me. But he's gone now. I don't feel anything here anymore."
"Baby you're not making any sense right now."
"Can we just go home? I don't care about the cash anymore. I wanna go home," I cried.
"Okay, we can do that."