WICKED { #Wattys2016 }

Chapter Five: Sleepover

When Cordelia had decided to invite her friends over for a slumber party, this was not how she had envisioned the night would end.

6 hours earlier...

"Mom! Will you leave already so I can invite the strippers?" Cordelia teased, as she attempted to shove her mother out the door. "We'll be fine! We won't even leave the house!" She promised, to which Kendra and Hailey agreed.

Eleanor sighed in defeat, but smiled nonetheless, "Alright! Alright! I get it! I know when i'm not wanted! I can take a hint!" She claimed, though her husband mouthed "She can't" behind her back.

Eleanor caught him and elbowed him none too gently, before embracing her daughter warmly.

"Strippers?" She whispered in Cordelia's ear, "I thought you'd invite your cult." She teased, before pulling away and pecking Cordelia on the cheek.

"Call us if you need anything." Malcom piped up, "The spa is only a few hours away."

Cordelia nodded along, eager to get rid of her parents. Malcom took Eleanor's hand and dragged her out the front door before she could make more of a fuss.

As soon as Cordelia closed the door behind her parents, Kendra had a bottle in hand and squealed, "I brought booze!"

The three magic words.

A few hours later, the bottle of booze was empty and they were all in the living room singing badly along to some Avril Lavigne song.

They were all a bit tipsy, so they had forgotten most of the words but they made up their own. Eventually all the singing, dancing, and jumping wore them out, and so the girls collapsed onto the couch.

Lying on the couch with her limbs stretched out, giggling, the Bishop's grumpy tabby cat, Buffy (named after the iconic blonde vampire slayer and ass kicker); decided to join them, jumping into her lap, and purring as she ran her finger up and down the feline's nose.

Hailey pulled Kendra and Cordelia into a tight drunken embrace, and declared, with the stench of alcohol on her breath, "I love you guys. Sooooo much."

To which Kendra added, "You guys are my best friends."

They all whooped in agreement, too loudly for Buffy's taste apparently, because she scurried off to God knows where.

"I'm going to name my children after you bitches." Cordelia told them, hanging upside down on the couch.

"Even if they're boys." She added with a giggle, before sitting up and booping their noses.

"Awww...Cordie..." Kendra slurred, pulling her into another agressive but affectionate hug, while Hailey just decided to lie down on top of them.

They kinda just lay like that for awhile; till they heard a cat yowl. It got them to get off of their asses pretty quickly, and Cordelia called out, "Buffy?" Rather tentatively.

Curious, she grabbed a pair of red rain boots near the door, and stalked out of the house while the girls grumbled and protested weakly before following her lead, towards where the yelp had come from; the woods.

As a kid, Cordelia had spent hours playing near the woods behind her house, pretending to be the Queen of her own kingdom. But no matter how much Cordelia had begged her parents, they never let her go far, and they always kept an eye on their daughter. They had been too afraid of the uncertainty of the darkness, the supposed wild animals that roamed the woods, and whatever other dangers overprotective parents worried about.

And here she was walking right into the dark dangerous woods.

The wind howled and blew a bitter chill past the dying trees; it danced with the leaves and dragged them away unwillingly from the autumn ground. The ground was damp and stagnant with the odour of decomposing wood. Normally, Cordelia dismissed her parents worry as paranoia, but walking into the dark forest that never seemed to end, with the howling wind that Cordelia could've mistaken for screams, she wasn't so sure anymore.

If Cordelia had been sober she would have brought a flashlight. Or not gone outside at all. So she did her best to see in the dark, while calling for Buffy, with Hailey and Kendra trailing her quite a ways away.

Cordelia stopped dead in her tracks when she heard rustling. "Buffy?" She called out weakly, "Is that you?" No answer. Not that Buffy could talk.

Cordelia swore she heard heavy breathing, and then running. "Hey!" She yelled after the retreating footsteps.

Before she could try to run after the stranger, Cordelia was nearly frightened to death when she felt Buffy rub up against her leg; but upon realisation, she snatched the cat and cradled Buffy to her chest for comfort.

Looking around, Cordelia saw no sign of the stranger or her friends.

"Guys?!" She called out, "Over here!" She heard Hailey yell, which would have relieved her, were it not for the scream that followed.

With Buffy still in her arms, Cordelia did her best to sprint towards them, zig zagging through the foliage till she reached a clearing not too far from her house.

Her eyes immediately found Kendra and Hailey, who stood frozen, with their mouthes hanging open, their eyes wide, and their bodies trembling.

Cordelia's gaze followed Kendra's shaking hand that held a flashlight, to where the flashlight was pointed on the ground.

Cordelia tried to scream when she saw what they were staring at, but she couldn't muster one up.

On the ground was a body. But half of it was missing. All that was left was from the torso down. Cordelia tried to look away from the horrifying picture, but she still managed to see too much, and as a result turned away to heave.

A/N: Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter that gets the ball rolling for the plot! Comment your reactions to the chapter, the stranger in the woods, and the horrifying doscovery the girls make at the end of the chapter!

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-Liz