Aiden x Reader | School Bus Graveyard

>>>< 53 ><<<

>>>< We're in Trouble ><<<

I was abruptly awoken from my half-asleep daze as Ashlynn and her dad burst through the front doors, and I sat up, so no one would notice the way Aiden had been holding me carefully as I slept. Whatever was going on between us didn't need to be ruined by people being too nosy, that's for sure. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I heard them call out to us that we all needed to talk.

Over the next ten minutes, the six of us sat around in a circle, including Ash's parents. It didn't feel right without Tyler. Taylor's eyes were still very red and swollen from crying, and everyone seemed drained as Ashlynn started to explain that her parents had somehow seen the phantoms too.

Logan seemed particularly unsettled by this, burying his head in his hands as he mumbled, "Wait, wait, wait- hold on.. how are they seeing the phantoms when they didn't go to Savannah?"

"We'll figure that out later.. right now we need to focus on what to do about Tyler.." Ashlyn's mom dismissed the issue quickly, not wanting to dwell on that right now. Not when we had a much bigger issue. Everyone was quiet for a good minute, before the silence was broken by her dad.

"...so if I understand right, then if we were to place supplies where you guys were last, you'd be able to use them next time?" Ash confirmed his idea, before he continued speaking. "Emma, do you think you can talk to the others while I take Ashlynn to town?" "..I can try."

Logan, Ben, and Aiden quickly volunteered to join, the moment Aiden tried to, I did as well. I wasn't much in the emotional mindset right now to be too far separated from him. He was my comfort. He shot me a small smile as Ash's dad shook his head no.

"Your parents will panic if you all leave right now, and we don't have time to explain the situation to them. Stay here and help Emma convince your parents of what's going on. We'll be back soon, keep me updated." And with that, he took Ash and left. At least I wouldn't have to do much, my parents were out of the equation. Less work for me. I turned my attention to Logan as he let out a heavy sigh.

"This.. isn't going to be easy." Oh, how right he was. After about twenty minutes of explaining, of which each of us chipped in every so often, we were met with the expected response, "I'm sorry- you're trying to say that all our kids are going to another dimension every night? Full of demons and monsters? Please understand if I'm a little skeptical, without adequate reason, to believe you."

I heard someone inhale sharply at the blunt words, before Emma spoke back up, confrontational today, "..but we did all say we were seeing things lately. It's not completely unbelievable, is it?" It was admirable just how much she was willing to stand up for us, without even having solid proof herself. She was great, and by the way the others looked, I could tell they were grateful too.

"Yes, but stories told by a campfire and reality are two different things."
"I agree that the coincidence was a bit weird, but I'm not sure if it was enough to believe something like that." Our odds of winning this seemed to be getting worse as the adults started agreeing, and by the way Aiden's hand brushed against mine, he seemed to notice too.

That was until Taylor, who'd been silent this whole time, started trembling, and her voice shook as she spoke just above a whisper, "...white eyes... Human build, pitch black, white eyes, a disturbing smile? That's what you guys have been seeing, right? Those things and that place.. are trying to take my brother from me. 'Adequate reason'? Do you know what we've been through? How strong we've had to be?!" The lights flickered above, as Taylor's rising anger silenced the adults, her voice steadily rising.

"We've been on our own for months just because we were scared you wouldn't believe us! While you were laughing around the campfire, I watched my brother take a nosedive off that cliff as that thing tried to kill us! If you don't believe us now.. then what are you gonna do when one day, it's your kid that doesn't wake up?!"

The whole room was silent, the adults looked a mix between touched by her words and concerned for her sanity. You could hear a pin drop. I linked my pinky with Aiden as we all held our breath, worried for the response we would get.

Taylor was half in tears, chest heaving as she caught her breath, hands clenched concerningly tight, and tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.

The tension was painful.

word count: 874

A/N: i know my skill with a quill is undeniable but it's sad just how many people are missing my hamilton references. on another note, i'm avoiding my homework by writing this. :3

on an extremely unrelated note, i've been gone so long mostly in part to the fact that i've been doing spicy writing practice(ahem), and for the 100k special, y'all feeling a special with THE POLE included? lmk :3