Slater | Nick Goode

6.1

     Ellie bent her entire body inwards, trying to fit into the small and dusty window. Once she succeeded, she took a moment. The room looked exactly as it did ten years ago. The door on the far left, the closet straight in front of her, a bed on the left wall. None of her stuff was left, the room was completely vacant except for furniture. The wallpaper was a horrid stained brown, and the carpet was tan and in desperate need of vacuuming. 
      A long, upright mirror stood in the corner. Ellie was able to see herself clearly in it. Her bra was gray, and the only thing covering her top. Her lanky body was almost completely exposed.
     She walked over to the closet, hoping that not everything was gone, maybe she still had a shirt or two.
      It was freezing in the house, and goosebumps ran up and down Ellie's torso. She rummaged through the hangers, desperately searching for something to cover herself up. Nothing, her room was ripped to shreds, nothing that would trace back to Ellie was left in it.
      She opened the bedroom door, slipping through and into the hallway. Her steps were careful and quiet, trying not to disturb the current peace. There were no signs of anyone else in the house. There was no car out front, no steps, no snores, no movements.
      "He's probably not even here," Ellie thought to herself. She stopped abruptly, looking to her left.
      The door next to her was wide open, and she could see everything inside. She went in without another thought.
      It smelled old, like the wood was rotting. As a shock to Ellie, it felt even colder in here. The walls were brown and the carpet was tan, just like Ellie's. Except, hardly any of the brown walls were showing. There were paintings, polaroids, drawings and decorations covering almost every inch of the dry-wall.
     She walked closer, still keeping an ear out for any other movements in the house. Her fingers traced the collage on the wall above his bed.
     A picture of Cindy and Tommy, that Ellie had taken with his camera. Tommy was dipping Cindy down and laughing. Cindy's arms were sprawled out above her head, almost like they were in a dancing scene from West Side Story.
    The picture next to it, taken by Tommy, was of Ellie and Ziggy. It was taken on the last day of school in 1978, right before camp. Ziggy was laying in Ellie's lap, she was facing the camera. But Ellie was holding up a sheet of paper. She can't remember what the paper said, but it must have been hilarious. Ziggy's mouth was open and her eyes were screwed shut, she had been laughing hysterically.
     The picture on top of that one was a picture of Ellie and Gary. There was a faint outline of an arm sticking out on the side, it was Cindy's. It must have been taken at lunch, you could clearly see the rest of the students in the background. In front of Gary were two plates, one with a half eaten sandwich, and one with fish sticks. In the picture, Ellie's left hand was in front of Gary's eyes, almost as if she was shielding them. Gary's arm was pushing her away, but it looked as if he was also laughing. As Ellie looked closer into the picture, she could see people in the background looking into the camera. They had dark hair and sat side by side. She knew those faces. The guy was wearing a black shirt with some writing that Ellie couldn't quite make out, but he was looking directly into the camera lens. The girl, she was wearing a purple shirt with faded jeans, was looking past the camera. At the photographer. Melissa and Nick, faces Ellie could recognize from light-years away.
      Ellie stepped away from the collage, taking a breath and walking back towards the door. While walking backwards, she almost tripped on a blue shoebox sticking out from underneath his bed. She stood, catching a glimpse of the half-open closet. A blue and black flannel button up stuck out among the rest.
      "You want a psycho?" Ellie thought, "i'll give you a fucking phsyco."

-

     "Christine," Deena called, "do you think Ms. Slater's okay?"
     The group sat in the back of a shoe store, hugging their water guns to their chests. Ziggy held a real one. She was hard at work trying to slow her breathing down.
     "Or what about Sheriff Goode? Or Sam?" Josh stated.
     "I don't know. If i did, i wouldn't be on the verge of passing out," Ziggy hissed.
     "Look, ma'am. I know Ms. Slater. She's a professional, she wouldn't let herself get hurt," Martin confirmed, putting a hand on Ziggy's shoulder.
      "No, you don't know her. I'm not saying that she'd kill herself. I'm saying that if death was knocking at her door, she wouldn't tell him to go away."
     Deena's mouth opened slightly, but she was cut off by a slamming of the door. The group got up quickly, running over to the gate of the shoe store and looking for what had made the noise.
      There seemed to be nothing there, the mall was now quiet. But faint footsteps were heard.
      "What if it's Melissa?" Josh asked, looking around at the empty stores.
      The rest of the group stayed quiet, watching and waiting for anyone to pop up.
      "Ziggy? Deena? Sam? Josh?" Nick's voice rang out, echoing off of the malls walls. Small grunts and yells were heard from his end.
"Nick?" Ziggy called back, looking in the direction his voice came from.
"Ziggy?"
"We're in the shoe shop!"
Nick came from the very back of the mall, rushing over to the gate. He pulled along Sam, who was still possessed and out of her right mind.
Ziggy lifted the gate as he quickly slid Sam and himself under. He finally stood, catching Ziggy's eye. Her face was smeared with worry and anxiety.
"Where's Ellie?"
Deena bent down and neared Sam. She was tied down in handcuffs, and Nick held a blue tank-top.
Nick let a long breath out, "I don't know, Deena don't get to close. She bites."
"What the fuck do you mean 'you don't know'?"
"I mean, she wasn't down there. She's already left."
"Melissa?"
His eye twitched, "dead."
"Did Sam kill her?" Josh asked, glancing down at the vicious teenager.
"Probably not."
"Ms. Slater? No way..."
"Is that Officer Slater's shirt?" Josh asked, acknowledging the fabric in his hands.
     "Looks like she tried to stop the bleeding from somewheres," he answered, examining the blood stained on it.
      Ziggy fidgeted with her belt loops, biting her nails on her left hand.
      "I'm sure she's fine, Ziggy."
      "You checked everywhere's? She's not like... unconscious somewheres, right?"
      "I checked everywhere's. She's not down there," Nick confirmed.
      "Goddamnit, where could she be?"
      "Oh, I know where she's at."
      The flashback reeled in his mind, Logan.