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Bags of empty snacks lay scattered around your body. Crumpled, discarded, and lifeless. Like you.
How many days has it been since those conman scientists locked you in? Days? Months? Weeks? Don’t know. You’ve lost count.
Stomach growling, it demands food. And unlike your sluggish brain that’s alert that you’ve run out of food days ago, the stomach and hunger is a viciously insatiable beast. It delivers a hit of pain but the gnawing hunger usually makes it subside.
Those dumbass guards…they should’ve stopped by to check in. The smug so-called doctors refuse to give any supplies. You tried rationing, but it only delayed the inevitable.
Your vision flickers. Circles of black and shimmering grey. Great. Just great. First it was the limbs. They got so heavy and sluggish, like moving through syrup. Then it was your tongue. Thick and leathery. A fat decaying worm in your mouth.
If you had any energy left to escape, you’d give those stuck-up bastards hell! Better to go out in a blaze of glory than accept death (literally) lying down. Not like you had the strength left to do so.
Calling for help seemed futile too. Your throat is scratchy and your jaw slack from lack of use. And who the hell would come anyway? Certainly not the people turning the entire condo into guinea pigs.
When you had some scraps of energy to burn, you considered scaling down to freedom. That was quickly doused. There’s wasn’t enough cloth to make a rope ladder and one misplaced foothold would end up with you being a dead pancake. Obviously unpleasant. No other good materials either.
It’s hard to focus on anything when starvation slowly eats away at your body and mind. Blinking slowly, you spend time staring at the ceiling. Cloudy memories of past days find their way to the surface of your tired head.
You were a loner. People are always so loud and obnoxious. Pushy and wannabe leaders. Bullies. Your schoolmates excluded you from everything so you went exploring solo often. One day, everything changed when you met Ashley.
She was curled up and sitting on a metal balcony of the school playground. Other classmates were running around screaming, yelling, and having the best days of their lives. The deep shadows of the plastic roof above her made the angry girl look intimidating, but you decided to try and be friends anyway.
Clumsily running up you asked, “You wanna play with me Ashley?”
Her violet eyes narrowed at you. Like you were more worthless that a bug. “No. I don’t want to play with you. I want to play with Andy,” her words are muffled and curt from crying. Her face is puffy and red too. “The only person worth hanging out with is Andy. But,” she buried her head in her arms. “He left me to go play with the boys. People always like Andy more than me.”
You drag a scuffed up sneaker through wood chips. “Oh. I get it. Nobody likes me either.”
Ashley gives another sharp glare. Most people would run away from her at this point but you stayed.
“You wanna make friendship bracelets?”
The dark curdling storm vanishes around her being. Shocked, she looks up at you and asks, “Friendship bracelets?”
“Yeah, it’s fun! I’ll show you how to make one.”
Every kid on the playground has dreamed of the sacred ritual. Ashley had annoyed Andy about making some when she saw other kids wearing them but he only scoffed at the notion. So Ashley sulked day after day, enviously staring at the classmates who had their best friends and colorful bracelets jangling on their wrists.
Ashley and you explored the school yard and found an empty bench. After asking what Ashley liked, you quickly got to work crafting a bracelet. Sparkly purple string is spun and then beads and trinkets are added. Complete with Ashley’s name and cheap metal charms, you tied the ends together and put the bracelet on your wrist. “See? Easy.”
The dark-haired girl mimicked the steps and slowly made one for you. [Color] string, [type] charms, and name. When Ashley put it over her wrist you smiled and said, “There! Now we’re friends!”
“Friends?”
Ashley’s heart sang and the gurgling darkness that holds her heart parted. Finally she had a friend. The two played for the rest of recess and when the bell rang, Ashley sprinted up to her brother to brag.
“Andy! Andy! Looooook,”
The boy groaned and spun around, thinking that Ashley would ask him for something, or show him another dead corpse of an a-
“What’s that? Did you steal that from somebody?” Andrew asked; knowing his twin sister’s sadistic nature and career in stealing from her classmates.
The girl scoffed and crossed her arms. “No. My best friend made it!”
You finally caught up with Ashley and Andrew’s jaw dropped in shock. His twin sister actually made a friend?
It’s the quiet transfer student, Andrew noticed. He always wondered what they were like. He often saw you reading [comic/book/manga] or doodling away in a notebook. Andrew wanted to be friends but he was fearful of Ashley…well, being Ashley. Besides, he hardly had time to make more friends when Nina and Ashley engaged most of his time.
“I didn’t think I’d get replaced so fast,” Andrew joked.
Ashley blew a raspberry.
Y/N laughed and Andrew felt his heart flutter.
“Can I get one too?”
Ashley huffed, grabbed your arm, and clung on for dear life. “Nu-uh! No way, Andy! Y/N’s my best friend, not yours! Besides, you said the friendship bracelets are lame!”
“You’re lame.”
“No, you are!”
The three of you hung out together a lot from then on. Though Ashley hated it whenever you or Andrew’s focus was on Nina. Then one day you got sick for a week, missed class, and when you returned, heard that Nina went missing.
It was chilling news. Strangely, Ashley didn’t show any sadness over losing a friend. And Andrew, distraught by it, decided to never leave you. In fact, he seemed aggressive whenever any other classmates wanted to be friends.
It was a nice day outside and instead of exploring the fringes of wilderness surrounding the school yard for gleaming treasures poking out from the earth, you decided to play at the playground. You climbed up to use the slide, but a group of bullies pushed you over. Your heart squeezed with fear as you toppled over the metal platform, struck the side of the slide with your arm, and fell onto the wooden chips. The bullies cackled at you as stinging tears fell from your face.
Their smiles and eyes gleam mercilessly. One bully kicked you and another yanked the friendship bracelet from your wrist, and a third tossed it to the ground and stomped on it.
Ashley and Andrew ran to your side as the bullies hurled insults. A long wound the length of your arm began to bleed. Panicked at the sight of blood and the burning pain, you could only stare, mouth agape at the injury. Andrew hooked an arm under yours and practically dragged and carried you to the nurse’s office.
Ashley didn’t follow. She instead gave a serrated glare to the bullies as they passed by, shoving her out of the way. When they were gone she searched the ground and found the broken charm bracelet. She clutched it in her tiny hand and felt a scorching rage.
“Thanks for saving me, Andrew.”
God, his heart leaped up into his throat at that –and her sweet smile. Thankfully the wound hadn’t been that deep but the stitches looked horrible. Andrew’s gaze darkened. Those cowardly assholes. I-
His twin sister dashed through the door and looked to see how bad the injury was. Her gaze mirrored Andrew’s. “That looks ugly,”
“Ashley!”
You laughed. “It’s okay. She’s right. The nurse bandaged it up though, so I’ll be okay.”
The dark-haired girl turned to Andrew and gave a big smile. “Andy, can I get some money? Pleeeaaaassse?”
He gave her a bewildered look. “I don’t have much left. We need the money for the bus. Unless you want to walk home?”
“You’re mean Andy! C’mon! All I need is a few dollars!”
Andrew sighed and gave in. He dug in his pockets for the wrinkled bills and gave them to her.
You and Andrew stayed in the office and talked while Ashley went into the halls. Since class started, hardly anybody was in the halls. She found an old creaky ladder and a toolbox left out from the janitor. With nowhere to be seen, she smiled devilishly at the sharp tools sitting oh so neatly in the box.
Ashley hears the bullies coming her way and she quickly grabbed some tools and put them atop the ladder. Then she dropped a few bills on the ground and ran to hide.
The bullies got closer and easily fell for the trap. They gathered around the meager bills like starving animals. None of them noticed Ashley running to the ladder and hitting it with her shoulder. The ladder fell soundlessly and the tools went flying.
You and Andrew looked up, shocked, when you two heard a loud clatter and screams. Did someone get hurt? Or was it classmates fooling around being loud?
Ashley watched with wide-eyed fascination as blood pooled beneath the bullies. Her smile is sinister and deranged. She leaned closer and the bullies shrunk back, terrified out of their minds. How can such a small girl be so demonic?
“Don’t hurt Y/N again. Okay? Unless you want to be inside a coffin for eternity.” Her sickly sweet tone is threaded with serrated hatred. The bullies frantically nod, mouths wide in horror. Ashley grabs the money from the ground, unbothered by the sticky blood dying the paper a muddy red.
“Ashley, where were you?” Andrew narrowed his eyes skeptically at his twin sister who skipped back into the nurse’s office happily. She ignores him and gives you the friendship bracelet. “I fixed it! Aaaand,” she also gave you a swirly lollipop. “I bought this too!”
Her twin sighed. “You spent my money on candy? Seriously, Ashley?”
Ashley pouted and crossed her arms. “I guess you don’t want the one I got you. Too bad. More for me.”
“Okay fine. Sorry.”
She gave him a lollipop before she unwrapped hers and ate it.
You ate yours, happy to have made such caring friends. “Thanks, Ashley. Andrew. I’ll pay you back. I get some allowance next week.”
The twins gave you a shocked look and shook their heads. “You don’t have to, Y/N. How about you make me a friendship bracelet and we’ll call it even?”
“Yeah, that’s what friends are for. They have to be there for each other, for better or worse,” Ashley said.
Man…a swirl lollipop sounds heavenly right now. Your stomach gurgled in agreement. You cursed when a thunder of music dragged you back from sweet memories. It’s the cultish neighbor again. Every day at the same time he plays some garbage music (could you even call it music?) from his apartment. It’d play for two hours and then stop.
But today, the music was abruptly silenced. You blink slowly, wondering if you were starting to hallucinate thanks to hunger.
Then you heard two people, their muffled voices outside your door, in an argument.
What the hell is going on?
The door bursts open with a deafening bang and two figures run to you. It’s Ashley and Andrew. You’re momentarily awake from your dizzying stupor. You try to speak but your voice is hoarse and weak. “How’d you guys break out from quarantine?!”
Andrew crouches next to you and opens your mouth to throw food in. Numbly, your jaw works to chew it. The taste is awful. The texture is like tire rubber. But you eat it anyway because it’s food. Is it stale jerky?
His eyes trace your form worriedly. Andrew grabs your hand and sees bloodied fingers. Her brings your hand to his lips and kisses it.
“You saved me again, Andrew.” With cloudy vision you don’t even notice how bloody they are or that he’s carrying a cleaver.
When they broke in they noticed long scratch marks on the door and dents too. You tried to escape, but ended up capitulating to starvation. Andrew’s eyes get glassy with tears. “I’m sorry. We should’ve gotten here sooner. But we’re here now and I won’t let you die. I don’t care what it takes, you, me, and Ashley will get out of this shitty fucking apartment alive.”
“And what about Julia?” You asked. She’d be happy to be reunited with her boyfriend.
But Andrew’s eyes darken. “She left once we were stuck in quarantine. She doesn’t matter.” Not like you, he thought.
Ashley tackled you, her cries and snot dampening your clothes. “You’re alive! You dummy! If you died I would’ve been mad! I tried to call you but those scientists cut the phone lines.”
“We gotta go,”
“Why?” You asked, because their urgency is lost on you in your weakened state. “And what happened to that cult-worshipping guy? Did he die?”
Ashley lifted you up so you can stand. You couldn’t hold your own weight right now. If not for her, you would’ve fallen back down instantly. Something metal and cold hit your side, something holstered at Ashley’s hip –is that a gun? Where did they get that?
“Andrew!” Ashley’s hiss alerted him to the door. Someone was coming. He jumps to the door to hide when a guard runs in, lifting a gun to shoot-
Blood splatters across your faces. Andrew’s cleaver cuts through flesh and bone and muscle in one swing. A head topples down onto the ground. The body speedily falls next to the beheaded man.
Ashley laughed, her evil smile somehow complementary to the blood on her face. “Another kill. Maybe murder is your calling, Andy.”
“Shut it, Ashley.” His eyes are a strange mix of grave and animated. A crazy light.
He brushes [color] hair out from your face, smearing some blood across as he did so. “I’m going ahead to steal a car so we can get out of here. I won’t be gone long.”
You and Ashley waited anxiously for Andrew to return. “So, what did you guys do in quarantine?”
The dark-haired woman smiled. “We summoned a demon and pledged loyalty in exchange for powers. Oh and we sacrificed a guy.”
“What?!”