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Gigi was crying.
She didn’t know when the tears had started, but she could feel them rolling hot down her cheeks, her face scrunched up and her eyes screwed shut and her fists clenched together as she used all the strength she had to keep her emotions from spilling out of her. This was so stupid. She shouldn’t be crying. It wasn’t real.
Gigi never cried. Never. And especially not in front of anyone.
Which is why she was doing everything in her power to ignore Crystal’s arm wrapped around her shoulders.
This wasn’t right.
It should be her comforting Crystal, not the other way around. But instead, she was the one sitting on the edge of Jan’s bathtub, shivering and sobbing against the cold tiles, feeling shaken and, more than anything, embarrassed.
As much as she’d rather be alone, she felt as though Crystal’s arms were all that was holding her together.
At least she understood.
***
“Shut up!” Crystal whined, throwing a blanket over her head to a chorus of laughter from Jan, Jackie, Heidi and Nicky. Gigi pretended to chuckle along, but she felt a little guilty laughing at Crystal’s expense.
The six girls were sat cross-legged in their pyjamas on Jan’s bedroom floor, atop of the countless mattresses and sleeping bags and pillows they had laid out for their sleepover. Despite all being 17 years old, 18 in a matter of months, the girls still loved getting together for a good old fashioned slumber party, complete with popcorn, so-bad-they’re-good Disney channel original movies, and, crucially, ghost stories.
All the lights had been switched off, the room only being illuminated by the torches the girls held underneath their chins. Since Jan’s parents were on a business trip they had the house to themselves, and were able to stay up until 3am - the witching hour, Jackie had informed them - for the perfect time to share their own spooky stories, which most of them found to be a source of comedy.
Crystal, however, found them less than amusing.
“C’mon Crystal, you’re not scared, are you?” Jan teased, pulling the blanket off of the girl’s head.
Judging from the way Crystal’s widened eyes were darting around the room, it was fairly obvious that she was scared.
“N-no,” she stuttered, getting defensive. “I just hate all this scary-story stuff, isn’t there something better we could do?”
“It’s only for fun, Crystal,” Jackie mused.
“It’s fun for now,” Jan said, lowering her voice. “It won’t be so fun when the killer comes out of the basement to get you!”
Crystal whimpered just slightly too loudly at that, the others erupting into mad laughter. Gigi shot her a sympathetic glance. She felt bad for her, she really did. In any other circumstance she would’ve laughed along with her friends and joined in with their nonsense, but watching Crystal bite her fingernails and pout made her feel like she would be kicking a puppy.
“I- I think I’m going to put some headphones on. Listen to some music,” Crystal said, fumbling around in the dark to find her phone. Gigi noticed the slight tremor in the voice, but decided not to bring it up.
Jan smirked. “A rookie mistake. You won’t be able to hear the killer coming!”
As their cackles rang out through the otherwise empty house, Gigi found herself wanting to do nothing more than offer a hand for Crystal to hold. The girl looked as if she wanted the ground to swallow her whole, and Gigi didn’t blame her.
“Jan’s just kidding, Crystal,” Gigi was saying before she realised she was speaking at all. “There’s no killer hiding in her basement. They’re just messing around.”
Heidi scoffed. “Bold of you to assume, miss Gigi!”
“Do you have any proof there isn’t?” Jackie added, playing along.
Gigi could feel tension rising in her body, but she
heaved a sigh, deciding she wasn’t in the mood to start a screaming match at 3am. “Just - let her listen to her music, okay? She’s not bothering anyone.”
Crystal offered her a thankful smile, Gigi responding with a sympathetic nod of her head.
“Come on, we’re only having some fun,” Heidi replied.
“Yeah, but she’s clearly not having fun. So just leave her alone!” Gigi felt her fists ball together, and she sucked in a sharp breath in an attempt to keep herself from exploding. She wasn’t sure why she was getting so worked up. She knew her friends meant no harm, and that Crystal probably didn’t need her protection, but the moment she felt heat prickling on the back of her neck she knew she had to say something. She wasn’t about to let Crystal feel miserable all on her own.
Nicky raised a single eyebrow, and her signature sly smirk appeared on her face. “Here comes Crystal’s knight in shining armour,” she mocked, making Gigi scowl so hard she could’ve burst a blood vessel. “It’s okay Crystal, they’re just kidding Crystal, marry me Crystal.”
Gigi swiftly thumped her on the shoulder, to the sniggers of the other girls. She knew she shouldn’t have told Nicky about her crush. It was a miracle that Crystal hadn’t found out already - Nicky was a bit of a blabbermouth.
“I was just telling her the truth. There’s no killer in Jan’s basement, and you guys are just messing with her.”
“How can you be so sure, Gigi?” Jan said. “You haven’t heard him knocking on the walls, whispering, seen him coming towards you, coming to get you!” she exclaimed, making Crystal jump and screw her eyes shut.
“Don’t listen to her Crystal, it’s not real.”
“Prove it!” Jan yelled. “If you’re so brave, come down to the basement and you’ll see for yourself.”
Gigi rolled her eyes. “You’re not serious.”
“I’m deadly serious.”
Heaving a sigh, Gigi stood up from the mess of cushions and blankets around her, stretching her legs a little and brushing some stray popcorn crumbs from off of her lap. “Fine. But I’m only doing this to shut you guys up.”
“Let’s go then,” Jackie announced.
Heidi gasped. “Road trip lesbians!”
***
Gigi made her way down the creaky stairs towards the basement, the other girls quickly following suit in a huddle, as if they were part of Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated. Crystal, god love her, looked petrified out of her mind, but she was doing her very best to put on a brave face, and flashed Gigi a supportive smile once they reached the looming door.
The door seemed as normal as any other in the house - mahogany, panelled, brass-handled - so much so that if they had trudged down the stairs, Gigi wouldn’t have realised it was the basement door at all. She knew there would be nothing behind it, she was practically certain - but seeing the way Crystal stared at it made the tiniest bit of nervousness bubble in her stomach.
No, not nervousness. She wasn’t nervous. It was merely… anticipation. Anticipation for proving her friends wrong.
She smiled to herself, grasping the cold brass of the door knob and feeling quietly confident. As soon as she opened the door and stepped inside, this whole ordeal would be over, and Crystal would feel better and they could all go back to watching Disney movies and tossing popcorn into each other’s mouths.
And maybe get some sleep, if they were feeling adventurous.
She pushed the handle and let the door creak open, blocking out the sounds of Jan and Nicky’s hushed chuckles. The basement was nothing but a sea of blackness, but Gigi quickly found the light switch by the door, the room flickering to life.
From what she could see in the doorway, the basement was about as ordinary as one could imagine. The creak of the door echoed against the exposed brickwork and the laminate flooring. There were a number of stray cardboard boxes dotted around, overflowing with old clothes and books and forgotten childhood toys that were too sentimental to throw away. The room was really just a big storage unit - Gigi noticed two kid’s scooters in the corner, as well as an old grandfather clock and a rocking chair and a few old lampshades and an old, beat up vermilion couch that sat in the centre of the room.
She confidently stepped through the doorway, deciding the room was dull and boring and inoffensive, and spun around to face the girls, who were eagerly peeking in through the open door with widened eyes.
“See, Crystal,” she said with a cocky smile. “There’s nothing in here apart from some old antiques. Nothing to be afraid of.”
Before the last sentence had even finished coming out of her mouth, Gigi saw her friends smirk as the door swung shut, locking with a click.
And a split second later, the lights flickered out, too.
Gigi rolled her eyes, even though no one was there to see it, and swore under her breath. “Very funny, guys. Now let me out.”
She only heard a muffled giggle from the other side of the wall. She couldn’t exactly see the door, but she knew that it hadn’t budged in the slightest. Fucking pricks.
“Fine,” she grumbled. “Have it your way.”
She palmed at her hip in search of her phone (inwardly reminding herself to thank her mother for buying pyjamas with pockets), and pulled it out, quickly flicking on the flashlight. The light was cold and harsh in the dark room, but it was something.
She scanned her screen, looking for someone to text or call, to help get her out or just to pass the time until they let her out. They would have to let her out at some point, after all. She quickly realised, though, that she was getting zero bars.
Of course there was no signal. She was in a fucking basement.
Sighing in defeat, Gigi dragged herself over to the old orange couch and flopped down onto it. She could feel a rusty spring digging into her back, but she supposed that sitting was better than standing.
She leaned backwards and stared at the ceiling, letting her mind wander. She had settled on the fact that this was absolutely positively stupid. It was cold and dark down here, and Gigi was already getting bored without her friends to laugh with or her phone to stare at. And, even if she had intended to help Crystal, she was probably more scared than ever right now, with her friend trapped in the room of her nightmares for the foreseeable future.
She thought she heard Crystal saying her name from the other side of the door, but decided that she was just kidding herself. She probably didn’t care, and would be joining in with the jokes by now.
She didn’t know if she’d been in the room for 3 minutes or 30, but to fend off her boredom she had started making shadow puppets with her hands, shining her phone light onto the brick wall. It was when a giant shadow-bunny was hopping across the wall, though, when she heard a knock for the first time.
Knock knock knock.
The sound made her jump, just a little, the rabbit tucking itself into a clenched fist for a second. She relaxed however, when she realised it was probably just her friends messing with her, trying to scare her.
“Is this the start of a really bad knock knock joke?” she called out with an exasperated sigh.
No answer.
She hadn’t expected one anyway.
About ten seconds later, she heard it again.
Knock knock knock.
She couldn’t help but jump again in surprise, immediately turning around to shine her torchlight on the door. She didn’t expect to see anything there, but at least she knew where to direct her yelling.
“You’re not funny!” she groaned.
Again, there was no answer.
There was a thought that sat in the back of her head as she spoke, and she tried to give it no notice, but it was damn hard when there was nothing else to think about. She let herself focus on it for just a moment, and her stomach dropped.
The knock didn’t sound like it was coming from the door.
It sounded like it was coming from the other side of the room completely.
She was halfway towards convincing herself that it wasn’t true, that she was being ridiculous and of course the sound was coming from the door, when it arrived again.
Knock knock knock.
This time, though, it was louder. Harder. It sounded angry.
When the third knock rang out, Gigi wasn’t taken off-guard - instead of jumping in surprise, she felt the panic slowly building in her stomach and chest and throat, when she realised that her suspicions were true.
The knocking wasn’t coming from the door at all.
It was coming from the far corner of the room. Where the grandfather clock stood. She was certain of it.
She slowly turned to face the direction of the noise, too scared to make a sound, and definitely too scared to shine her light in that direction. Her skin was on fire, and she couldn’t escape the feeling that eyes were burning into her soul, watching her. She hadn’t realised she’d been holding her breath, but when she finally exhaled she felt her breathing become rapid very quickly. She tried to blame her shaking hands on the cold, but, really, she had never been more petrified in her life.
She knew it was stupid. She knew it was probably just her friends playing a joke, or that she was imagining things, and she had nothing to be afraid of.
But she had to be sure.
A shaking hand fumbled for her phone, and, with her heart thudding in her ears like fists punching her skull, she shone the light across the ground, not daring to shine it upwards, and moved towards the place the noise was coming from.
The grandfather clock.
And, slowly and then all at once, she lifted the flashlight.
There was a figure behind the clock.
A figure in a bird mask.
A figure who wore a bird mask who was clutching a meat cleaver.
And was covered in blood.
Gigi felt a bloodcurdling scream rip out of her throat, but she couldn’t hear a sound. She bolted in the direction of the door and banged her fists against it with all of her might, shrieking and wailing and begging, desperate to get out, to escape.
When the door eventually fell open she was met by the concerned faces of her friends, and a Crystal who looked near tears. She slammed the door shut, locking it and leaning back against it, unable to stop herself from whimpering, feeling as though her chest was about to burst open.
“What the fuck,” Jan muttered. “Gigi, are you alright? What happened.”
Gigi opened her mouth and tried to speak, to explain that they needed to run, but no words came out, and she felt nothing but a dull ache in her throat.
“Was there something in there?” Jackie asked. She looked genuinely concerned.
Gigi managed to weakly nod, before she felt her limp body being pushed out of the way by Nicky, who wanted access to the door handle. She tried to shout “no”, to warn Nicky, but it came out as no more than a shaky breath.
Nicky unlocked the door with a click and flung it open, flickering on the light. “There’s nothing in here,” she said, confused.
When Gigi peered in through the door frame, she found that Nicky was correct. The place was completely empty. Even by the grandfather clock.
She had just imagined it.
What the hell.
Looking around at the faces that met hers, Gigi felt sick to the stomach. The faces that had been concerned and disturbed were now baffled and judgemental. She wanted to kick herself, punch herself in the face and yell at her brain for making her imagine something that had seemed so real. And now she stood, mortified, in front of all her friends and the girl she liked, wanting nothing more than to wake herself up from this nightmare.
She took one look at Crystal’s traumatised face and her heart dropped.
Without saying a word, she ran up the stairs as fast as she could, making a bee-line for the bathroom and not looking back.
***
The bathroom was cold, but not quite as cold as the basement had been. Not that it mattered anyway - Gigi was shaking regardless. Crystal was trying to hold her steady, trying to stop the both of them from tumbling backwards into Jan’s bathtub, but Gigi paid it no attention. She felt as if she had just been through a battle - a war with her own mind, apparently, and the tears streaming down both cheeks were like her war paint, though she felt anything but brave.
She couldn’t help but feel scared after what she’d been through. And of course she was embarrassed, screaming and crying over nothing. But more than anything, she was confused.
What the fuck happened? What the fuck did she see? Did she see anything at all? And why did it seem so fucking real?
Needless to say, she didn’t speak her thoughts out loud. She didn’t think Crystal would get it, and she definitely didn’t want to make the girl more scared than she already was.
Gigi was comforted, at least, by the fact that Crystal knew how she felt, even if it wasn’t to the same extent. So, she let her hold her and stroke her arm as she sobbed, and listened to her whisper that everything was okay in a futile attempt to make Gigi believe it.
Her arm wrapped around her shoulders was like a seatbelt - not something she had asked for or that was particularly comfortable, but something that made her feel a little more safe nonetheless.
And before long, her breathing slowed and her heart rate relaxed and the tears ran dry and she felt a little bit human again.
She managed to look up at Crystal and offer her a weak smile, before falling to rest her head against her chest. Now that she had calmed down a bit, she was grateful for the company - she supposed the others had gone back to bed, not wanting to anger the beast when it was already running wild.
Crystal ran her fingers through Gigi’s hair as she held her, and Gigi was grateful that she didn’t ask any questions or make her talk, and just let her sit in silence. Crystal was warm, despite the coolness of the bathroom, and as she leaned against her she could smell her perfume (very fruity and very sweet and very Crystal). She could hear her heart beating in her chest, and it comforted her like nothing else - it was gentle and calm in contrast to her own, and was a physical reminder that she wasn’t alone, that another person was here with her and who loved her.
Loved. Maybe not loved. Love was a strong word.
But Gigi sure as hell loved Crystal.
They sat there like that for a while longer, before Crystal finally spoke. “Hey, I know you probably don’t wanna talk about it, but I want you to know that everything is okay, and that I thought you were very brave,” she said, and Gigi could’ve started crying again.
Unable to form the words of her reply, she smiled up at Crystal and gave her a nod of thanks. She wanted to tell her that she appreciated that more than she knew, but the words didn’t leave her mouth, and so she let them swim around her brain, washing away her worries with thoughts of Crystal.
“Do you wanna call your mom to pick you up?” Crystal suggested.
“No, that’s okay,” she replied softly, her voice scratchy from crying. “I don’t wanna go home. I wanna stay here with you,” she said, and it was true. The words rang out for a little more than they should, and held a little more meaning than Gigi wanted to admit, so she quickly followed it by saying that she didn’t think her mom would be awake at 4am, anyway, which made Crystal chuckle.
“Well, we can just stay like this for a bit, if you want?”
Gigi smiled. “I’d like that.”
They sat cuddled together in silence for a little while longer, and for just a moment, Gigi allowed herself to forget everything that had happened as Crystal stroked her dark hair. She started rocking the two of them back and forth against the tiles, and Gigi nuzzled into her curly red hair, no longer overcome with fear but instead overwhelmed by just how caring Crystal was.
Gigi didn’t want to move ever again.
She let her eyes fall closed, and as she did she heard Crystal start to hum a melody, like a lullaby. Crystal wasn’t the best singer in the world, but right now her soft humming sounded like the sweetest song that Gigi had ever heard, and she let herself be carried away by the tune.
“What song is this? It’s nice,” she mumbled gently.
“Little things by One Direction,” Crystal replied, and Gigi had to laugh. Of course she was singing a fucking One Direction song. God she was adorable.
“You’re such a dork,” Gigi chuckled against her chest.
“It’s a good song! You said so yourself.”
“That was before I knew it was by One Direction.”
“Do you want me to keep going or not?” she threatened, knowing that Gigi wouldn’t want her to stop.
Gigi didn’t reply, but cuddled closer into her body, and Crystal took that as her cue to continue, this time singing the words aloud:
I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth
But if I do, it's you, oh it's you, they add up to
I'm in love with you
Crystal let the last line hang in the air, not finishing the phrase, and Gigi felt the weight of the words hit her like a sledgehammer. She knew it was just a song, just a lyric, but it felt so real. As if a secret had just been shared, and it was precious and fragile and Gigi needed to catch it and keep it close to her heart.
Gigi sat up and made eye contact with Crystal, seeing something new in her dark pupils that hadn’t been there before.
“Crystal,” she whispered, as if her name was too delicate on her tongue.
Gigi watched as the corners of her lips curled into a small smile, and then Crystal leaned in, planting a kiss on Gigi’s lips.
It was soft, at first, tender, as if Crystal was afraid of hurting Gigi, of saying too much by not saying anything at all. But Gigi let her eyes flutter closed, deepening the kiss and letting herself melt away, be consumed by nothing but Crystal. She brought her hand up to clutch at Crystal’s cheek, and Crystal’s hands slid into her hair, and they kissed each other like neither of them had ever been kissed before.
Gigi wanted to savour it. She wanted to remember this moment exactly - the feeling of Crystal’s lips on hers and the smell of her fruity perfume and the sweet taste of sugar on her lips. She wanted it to never end.
When they pulled apart, Gigi let a shattered breath escape her mouth. Crystal was grinning, eyes bright and pupils blown wide, and Gigi was sure she had never known cloud nine before this moment.
“Please tell me I didn’t imagine that,” she managed to ask.
Crystal giggled. “Nope! And there’s a whole lot more where that came from,” she said with a wink.
Gigi couldn’t help but beam at her, her fears and worries long forgotten. She reached up and tucked a lock of Crystal’s wild hair behind her ear, tracing her features with her eyes and taking in just how beautiful the girl in front of her was.
“I love you,” she heard herself say, without fully processing what she had said. But it didn’t matter, because it was true.
“I love you too.”
***
Gigi found herself lying beside Crystal, on Crystal’s mattress with Crystal’s arms wrapped around her waist. She presumed she had gotten about two hours sleep before she awoke again, the room pitch black and filled with the sounds of someone’s snores - probably Heidi’s, she deduced.
She felt Crystal’s breath by her ear and Crystal’s hair against her nose and she felt safer than she had in a long time.
Until she heard a noise.
Knock knock knock.