Chapter Text
Abigail didn’t know what time it was as she woke up. The bright sun and the sound of birds chirping had woken her up, so she knew it was morning.
She grabbed her phone to check the time, but it wouldn’t turn on.
Great.
„ Great. It’s out of battery.”, she thought to herself. Thankfully, there was a coffee shop just five minutes away from her tent that had charging outlets. She always charged her phone there when it was out of power.
Abigail had been homeless for around three months now. She had gotten used to being homeless, and surprisingly, she actually quite enjoyed her life. She lived in a small yellow tent that she got her grandfather on her 12th birthday. She never used it before as she never went camping before. She was grateful she never decided to get rid of it.
As for food, Abigail would eat cheap food from the supermarket, or would go to a fast food place. She had enough money for food which would last her at least another six months, so she didn’t have to worry too much about it. She was also grateful for the nearby indoor swimming pools as she could use their showers any time she needed to shower.
Abigail used to work at an accounting firm. She was one of the most hardworking people who worked there: She would take over extra hours if one of her coworkers would call in sick, she spent more time than anyone working on important projects, and she always liked helping others. That’s why it shocked Abigail when her boss called her into his office and told her she was fired. She never found out why she was fired, but she always got the impression that despite her hard work, she wasn’t liked by others.
The salary she earned from her job was her only source of income as she lived alone. Abigail knew that if she wouldn’t find a job, she wouldn’t be able to pay the monthly rent for her flat. She tried finding a job, she went to multiple job interviews, but she never was hired anywhere. She tried so hard, but after four months, she couldn’t afford to pay rent anymore. So she took the tent her grandfather gave her and built it up in the woods.
But despite all that, Abigail really enjoyed her life. Being homeless and not having a job meant that Abigail has had the time to do things she’s never had the time to do. It also made Abigail learn some new things about herself. One of those things was her love for exploring abandoned buildings.
Abigail loved going on walks. It was her favourite time of the day. She always went on walks in the evening, as the streets were always way more quiet then. And the walks were even better when there was an abandoned building on the way.
A few hours had passed. It was 8PM, a perfect time for Abigail to go on a walk. She wandered around her city, walking down streets she had never walked before. She was observing the buildings and houses, hoping that one of them would be an abandoned building for her to explore.
After an hour of walking, Abigail came across a street where all the houses looked the same: Tall modern, white houses, all standing right next to each other. All, except one house.
At the end of the street, Abigail spotted a brown house isolated from the other houses. The lights were off, and it looked like no one was living there.
Could this be an abandoned house?
Abigail walked towards the house until she was at the entrance. The front door was wide open, but not a single voice could be heard.
„ Hello?”, Abigail called, just to make sure she wasn’t accidentally breaking into someone’s house.
No answer.
She smiled. Another abandoned building she could explore.
Abigail entered the house. The house was so dark, that Abigail couldn’t see anything properly. She took out her phone and put the torch on.
Most of the abandoned buildings Abigail explored were practically torn apart, with stairs missing and furniture being broken. But that wasn’t the case for this house.
As Abigail entered the house, she saw how tidy the living room looked. There was barely any furniture there, only a small coffee table and an old fashioned television. The dining room was also very neat, and so was the small kitchen next to the dining room.
Maybe someone had just recently moved out of this house.
Abigail walked upstairs and saw six doors that were closed. Only one door was open, which was a small bathroom with a bath and shower. She assumed that maybe the other rooms were bedrooms. She went to open one of the doors to check it out, seeing what was in there.
„ Who are you?”
Abigail’s soul left her body.
Someone was there, right behind her. < p> How strange….
She hadn’t heard anyone. She called in to check that no one was there before she entered the house to make sure she wasn’t accidentally break in. Or maybe…did someone follow Abigail on her walk?
Abigail nervously turned around. She saw a tall guy standing in front of her. He didn’t look impressed at all. He was young, definitley around Abigail’s age. His hair was black and it was covering his eyes. He was wearing a purple hoodie and dark baggy jeans. His lips were pierced. He was quite good looking.
„ How the hell did you get in here?”, the guy asked, raising his voice now.
„ Oh…I….”, Abigail began. She didn’t know what to say. „ The door was wide open. I assumed this was an abandoned building. I’m so sorry.”
Before the guy could answer or yell at her, Abigail quickly ran out of the house at the speed of light.
God, how embarrassing! That house wasn’t abandoned. Of course it wasnt. It was way too tidy to be abandoned.
How could Abigail be so stupid?
As Abigail got back to her tent, she burried her head in the pillow her mom gave her for her 14th birthday. She sobbed loudly into it.
„ Mom, I’m so embarrassing.”, she cried as she held the photo of her mother she kept in her tent, „ I’m never exploring any abandoned building again.”
Suddenly, she heard the loud sound of a thunderstorm.
Oh no.
In the three months she’s been homeless, Abigail had been fortunate enough with the weather. Mostly, it was sunny. Sometimes, it rained, but the rain was never heavy. However, Abigail never had to deal with a thunderstorm before.
„ I’m sure it’ll pass.”, she thought to herself. But oh, was she wrong. The thunder became heavier every minute. It started to rain heavily, making Abigail’s tent soak.
Abigail started grabbing her most prized possessions, such as her phone, her wallet and the photo of her mother.
Her tent was slowly coming apart. The tent poles started falling. Eventually, the storm got so bad, that one of the tent poles hit Abigail hard on the head.
„ Who is that girl in the guest room?”, a voice asked, „ Is she ok?”
„ Jax brought her here.”, a second voice said, „ She’s just unconscious. She’ll be fine once she wakes up.”
Abigail’s eyes opened widely.
„ Ow.”, she said as she felt pain in the left side of her head. She then remebered the tent pole falling on her and hurting her head.
Wait…she wasn’t in her tent.
She was in a bedroom she had never seen before. She was lying in a bed that was decorated with plushies. The walls were blue and red, which reminded her of her childhood bedroom.
But how did she get there?
Was she dreaming?
Suddenly, the bedroom door opened. Abigail quickly hid her face under the covers.
A girl with curly dark blonde hair walked in, carrying a tray with tea and biscuits. She was wearing a long purple dress with a light blue ribbon in her hair. She looked like she was around Abigail’s age.
„ Hey. You’re awake.”, she said smiling, „ How are you feeling?”
Abigail stared at her. Who was this girl? And why was she in her house? The last thing Abigail remembered was being in her tent during the heavy storm. How on earth was she in some random house?
„ Uhm…who are you?”, she asked.
The girl laughed.
„ Right. How rude of me, I always forget to introduce myself to new people..”, she said, „ My name is Ragatha. What’s your name?”
Ragatha. What an unusal name.
„ I’m Abigail.”, Abigail said.
„ Well I’m happy you’re awake, Abigail.”, she said, „ You were unconscious for almost twelve hours. We were so worried about you.”
Abigail was even more confused.
„ I can tell by your facial expression that you don’t remember anything.”, Ragatha said, „ Don’t worry, I can fill you in. Jax, one of my friends, found you passed out in a tent yesterday. It had looked like a tent pole had hit you on the head, knocking you out. He brought you back here. And that’s how you got here.”
That made more sense now.
„ Thank you.”, Abigail thanked.
„ I hope you don’t mind me asking you this, but why were you camping in weather like that?”, Ragatha asked, „ If Jax hadn’t found you, something bad could have happened to you.”
Abigail sighed.
„ That tent is kind of my home.”, she explained, „ I’ve been homeless for some time now, and I built up that tent as my home.”
Ragatha felt bad.
„ Jeez I’m sorry.”, she said.
„ It’s alright.”, Abigail said, „ It was the first time that there was bad weather since I’m living there.”
Suddenly, Ragatha’s phone buzzed.
„ Oh, Gangle needs me.”, she said.
Gangle. Another strange name.
„ Here is a cup of tea and some biscuits if you’re hungry.”, Ragatha said smiling. She closed the door behind her.
Abigail was trying to process everything. She was in a house where more than one person lived. Ragatha, Jax, Gangle. Three very unusual, strange names. As Abigail shifted in the bed she was in, she realised that she really needed to go to the bathroom. She got out of bed and went to open the door.
„ Ouch! Watch where you’re going-!”, a voice yelled.
Abigail realised she had bumped into someone who must have been standing close to the bedroom door.
„ I’m so sorry. I should have looks where I was going!”, she apologised.
As she looked in front of her, no one was there.
Strange…she definitley bumped into someone.
She suddenly felt something against her feet. She noticed a pair of jeans and a purple hoodie lying at her feet. In the purple hoodie, she saw a small bump. Something was moving.
She lifted the hoodie up and saw a small, purple rabbit.
This house was getting weirder every second. Now there was a purple rabbit? Did someone dye that rabbit’s fur purple?
Out of nowhere, the rabbit disappeared into a human.
Abigail’s eyes opened widely. In front of her was that boy from the house she explored the evening before.
He was naked, so he completely quickly covered himself with the hoodie. He was staring at Abigail with his eyes opened widely. He started to panic.
„ Oh no….shit ! Shit! SHIT!”, he yelled, „ Just pretend you NEVER saw any of that. Understood?”
„ Uh…sure.”, Abigail said.
„ Great!”, the guy yelled as he ran off as fast as he could.
Abigail started to think that she was dreaming. First, she wakes up in a house with people who had the weirdest names ever. Secondly, a purple bunny. Thirdly, that bunny turning into a human.
What the heck was going on?