A Lapse in Time (ELLIE WILLIAMS)

Stranger Danger

Short A/N

This story starts at almost the beginning of the game. So, I'm aging Ellie up a year. Ellie and DJ will both be 15, Trina has just turned 16 and recently got her license. Why am I doing that you may ask? Because I want to! Also I feel like Trina and DJ wouldn't be as close as they are if they had an age gap longer than a year, so yeah! Also I was gonna age the OCs up a bit anyway because Trina needed to be driving lol

Back to the story!

DJ's eyes snapped open forcefully as she regained consciousness. She quickly sat up, groaning as she did so, and checked around the car for any obvious damage. She quickly noted the missing door in the back on the driver's side of the car, the rather concerning burning smell, and the shattered glass that littered the seats and floor.

DJ turned herself and faced forward again. She reached over to unbuckle herself, her hand grazed over the buckle and clicked the button. She undid her seatbelt and turned to face Trina. DJ grew pale at the sight.

Trina was gone. Her seatbelt was undone and neatly sitting against the doorframe of the car.

DJ wasted no time in getting out of the car whilst hastily brushing the shards of glass off of her clothes. She didn't even notice as her finger began to bleed as she was too worried about her best friend's well-being. She looked the car over from where it sat in the slight ditch on the side of the road. She could see smoke bellowing out from the car's crumpled hood. Yet Trina was nowhere to be found.

"Trina!" DJ called out in a hoarse voice laced with concern. An unsettling and non-rhythmic clicking noise could be heard from the tree line on the opposite side of the street. DJ whipped her head in the direction of the sound, but she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. She took a few steps towards the road and peered around the backside of the car.

"Trina!" She called again. This time was quieter however, and a slight quiver could be heard in her voice.

DJ jumped as she felt a hand grasp onto her shoulder. She turned around and grabbed the perpetrator by the arm. She pried the arm off of her and sighed when she realized who it was.

"Trina! You scared the shi-" DJ was interrupted by Trina manically shushing her.

Wordlessly, Trina's trembling arm rose as she gestured to the tree line across the street from where they stood. DJ slowly turned her head to where Trina was pointing. She could hear the clicking noise from before once more, yet it sounded closer. DJ froze as her eyes landed on the unsettling sight.

A man with tattered and dirty clothes stood just across the street from them. His head violently jerked from one side to the other, and he seemed to be the one producing the odd noises. What really freaked DJ out however, was the fungal growth throughout the man's body. His eyes and nose were covered in the fungi, as if it had been growing on him for years. He looked like something straight out of one of the horror movies that DJ and Trina frequently watched together.

DJ turned back to Trina, who looked just as terrified as DJ felt.

"Holy shit!" DJ mouthed to Trina who nodded incredulously in response.

"I know." Trina mouthed back.

The two girls stood still for a moment longer, still unsure of what to do.

"I don't think it can see us... maybe we should just run?" Trina whispered. Her voice was so quiet that DJ had to strain her ears to listen, even thought they were standing mere inches apart.

"What if it can hear us? Also what's with the clicking noises? Is it echo-locating us or something?" DJ off-handedly joked, her voice even lower in volume than Trina's.