🅃🅁🄾🅄🄱🄻🄴🄳 // R.T.

six

" The door's locked."

__________________________

The day goes by quickly, and I swore I was gonna snap if another person asked if I was new. I rolled my eyes at the thought as I trudged out of the school.

"Meadow!" A familiar voice calls. I turn around and see Stanley and his friends waving me over to the bike rack. Right. I walk back to meet the boys by their bikes and awkwardly fix my shirt. I climb on the back of his bike as his friends stare, but don't say anything.

"H-Hi," A boy says and I turn my head towards him.

"Hi," I give him a small smile in return. He looks down at the ground before back up at me.

"I-I'm B-Bill, and this is R-Richie a-and Ed-Eddie." He stutters out, introducing himself and the others. Eddie slightly waved, looking a little nauseous and nervous. But Richie didn't say or do anything, he just stared at me with an odd expression on his face.

"Right," Stanley begins, " Well, we're gonna head home. See you guys later." Stanley waves the boys off and I wave as well.

Stanley and I ride home in silence, it was really awkward. When we did finally get back to his place, I didn't know what to do. Go to my room, stay downstairs. That's when he asked something strange.

"Do you miss her?" He questioned me. I looked back at him from my back pack with a quizzical expression.

"Who?" I inquire.

"Your sister?" He looked to me. My eyes went wide, tears stinging at them. A million questions racing my mind, like how he'd known I had a sister. "I'm sorry if that was too persona-"

"I do." I say, returning to rummaging around my bag for a pen. "She meant the world to me. She still does."

"It must've been hard to leave her behind." He sighed, appearing across the table from me.

"Yeah it is," My voice cracked.

"What's her name?" He asked, looking up at me from his book.

"Lydia," I smile, thinking about her. "She's beautiful. She's got long dirty blonde locks and green eyes. She has the wildest imagination, she's so bright." I smile. He looks at me with a small smile as I ramble on about my sister.

"I promised her.. I promised her I'd find her." I told him, his head instantly snapping my way.

"A-Are you going to leave?" He sputtered out. I shrugged.

"I'd do anything for her. To see her again." I say, a tear falling. "And I never break my promises." I look up to him. His eyes are wide, his lips parted in surprise.

"I'll help you." He says.

"What?" I question, making sure I'd heard him right.

"I'll help you, find her.. or see her, or at least contact her." He explains himself. I look at him in shock; bewildered.

"Why?" My voice is soft, almost as a whisper. Why? I'm practically a stranger.

"Because.. I want to help."

*TIME SKIP*

Stanley and I continued talking about my sister and our memories back home in Indiana. We finished our homework and watched tv for a little while before his parents came home. I felt like I could trust Stanley. He was nice and a good listener. He promised me he wouldn't tell anyone what I had told him, or about whatever he knew about why I was here. I felt like we could be close friends. In this house, I felt comfortable and welcomed. Safe.

I climbed into bed after wishing Sara, Andrew, and Stanley a good night. I fell asleep with Lydia on my mind, I knew I would be falling asleep like this often.

The night went on until I heard a noise outside my room, waking me up. I crawled out of bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Opening the door with a loud creak and peeking my head out from the door, I see nothing. I heard a bang, as if a door had opened downstairs. Cautiously, I make my way to the stair case. I see nothing, until I meet the middle of the stair case. There, he stands.

He turns around, seeing me. My feet are glued to the floor as I wonder how the fuck he got here. My head starts spinning as he grows closer. I open my mouth to scream, but nothing comes out. My eyes wonder around with worry as he sets his foot on the first step. Run! A voice in my head shouts, as if it's her again.

I turn around running up the remainder of the steps. I begin pounding on Stanley's door, the first one I see. No answer. I then run to the Mr. and Mrs. room, pounding my fists against it, hoping they hear me as I cry for help. No answer. I turn behind me, seeing his shadowed presence, but I can no longer see his face. I run to my own room, turning behind me and flinging the door closed as I lock it.

I run, tripping over myself, this all seeming too familiar. I turn around, crying, as I face the door. A crazy and psychotic laugh, almost like a clown's, resonates from behind the door. Then a loud POP!

I jolt awake, crying in fear. I look around the room, it's day time. I pull my legs close to me, sobbing into my knees as I realize it was just a dream. Just a nightmare.

I rock back and forth on my bed, when my alarm goes off. I jump at the sudden sound as it blares throughout my room. I shakily hit the off button, hanging my legs off the side of the bed. I get up and move to go to the closet, when something catches my eye.

The door's locked.