A Diverted Fate (Sally Face x Larry)

Demons? Demons.

Sal..
I practically stuck to Larry's side after the whole Megan incident. He didn't seem to mind much as he was more skittish after we left the bathroom.
      We decided that we'd travel up to the floor where the strange dimension jumping homeless person sometimes resides. The elevator ride up felt shaky.
     When the elevator clanked to a stop on the floor, a horrible sound came from the other side of the doors. It sounded like sharp claws scratching down the metal. The horrible squealing noise sent chills down my spine.
     I was hoping that there was nothing on the other side of the doors. As they slowly creaked open, a shadow darted away from the crack formed by the moving doors.
     I squeezed Larry's hand and Ash gasped. The sound of her inhale was loud throughout the now quiet floor.
     Once the doors opened all the way, I squeezed Larry's hand and let go. I stepped out of the elevator, scanning the darkened hallways.
     It looked the same as last time I was here. Dark and unfinished. Todd flicked on the flashlight he had gotten from Lisa and swung the beam around.
     "Nothing," he whispered, thus making Ash and Larry step out of the elevator tentatively.
     I grabbed Larry's hand again and we started off down the hallway. We were all huddled together like sheep, and although none of us wanted to admit it; we were terrified.
     I saw something white on the floor. I let go of Larry and stooped down. "It's a tooth," I whispered up to anyone who was listening.
     I heard a muffled ew and Larry grabbed my shoulder. "Don't touch it dude. That's nasty," he whispered to me.
     I looked up at him. "I mean, we did find that bologna secret. A tooth isn't much wor-" I was cut off by three loud knocks on the apartment door nearest to us. A horrible smell of rotting started to drift out of that door.
     Todd paled. "Maybe we should go," he said, his voice shaking slightly.
     "What about Lisa?" I asked as I stood.
     Todd was already he herding us to the stairwell. "Tell her we couldn't figure it out. Because we can't. Remember that no recklessness pact? Think we gotta do that now. C'mon guys," he whispered urgently.
     For Todd to be speaking in quick, panicky sentences like this, there must be something seriously wrong.
     We all remained silent and huddled close together as we all clomped down the stairs. I understand why Todd didn't want to take the elevator, because I don't think I feel safe riding in that metal death trap right now.
     We reached the lobby, where Lisa was passing through as we entered. She saw us and smiled a little. "Hey guys. Don't worry about everything, we figured it all out. Faulty wire set off a bunch of different stuff. Thank you guys for helping though," she said happily as we all stood, still huddled together.
     Larry cleared his throat and put on a rather convincing smile. "Okay cool. We're gonna head back now, we were all up super late last night and we're all pretty tired," he said, running a hand over his messy hair.
     Lisa nodded. "Alright, I'll see you guys later. Bye," she called as she disappeared down the stairwell.
     We all stood in dumbfounded silence for a couple of seconds before anyone spoke. "Can we go?" Ash chimed in, rubbing her arms and looking a little pale.
     I nodded, grabbing Larry and pulling him along. Ash and Todd followed closely on our heels.
     The ride back was silent. No playful banter as there was when we rode down. No one spoke of what happened in the apartments either. It seemed like bad luck to talk about it in the car. Maybe that seems superstitious of me, but when you've been dealing with ghosts and spirits for as long as we have, you grow to become cautious.
Once we got back, we all sat in the car in silence. Todd eventually cleared his throat. "Kitchen. Ten minutes," he clipped out before climbing out of the Tank and walking into the house.
"Guess I'll see you guys then," Ash said as she got out as well.
I grabbed Larry's arm as he reached for the door handle. "Wait. Larry you scared me with what you said back in the apartments. Are you still thinking that? And don't you lie to me," I said, trying to sound stern but my voice wavered and I cringed internally at the way I sounded.
     Larry looked down at his lap. His hand was still on the door handle, and the knuckles were white from gripping. He let out a shaky breath and let go. He turned to me, his brown eyes brimming with tears.
      "I'm sorry Sal," he whispered, his voice cracking.
     The look in his eyes broke my heart. I opened my mouth, then closed it. I reached up to cup his cheek, and he moved my hand. Instead he held it tightly in his lap.
     "No, I shouldn't have scared you like that. I'm so sorry. I just- I don't even know! I don't even know if it's those fucking apartments anymore," he groaned, tears falling down his cheeks now. He used the hand that was previously on the door handle to wipe away his tears.
     I made a noise in my throat and shuffled over on the bench seat of the Tank. I put my hand on Larry's cheek and he leaned into the touch. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath. "I'm sorry Sal. I don't want to bother you but I promised I would tell you how I was feeling. No more bottling it up and putting on a strong face," he said quietly.
     I let out a breath and pulled Larry into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry that we had to go back. But, I'm here Lar. Don't worry about bothering me because you're never a bother. Just talk to me, okay?" I asked into his hair.
     I felt him nod against my shoulder. "Alright. I promise. No secrets," he said as he pulled back and wiped his eyes with the heels of his hands.
I nodded. "Good. Do you want to talk about this after? Because we're running low on time before the meeting in the kitchen," I said, wiping Larry's tears away.
He took a shaky breath in. "Yeah. We'll talk about this later. Let's go hear what Todd thinks is going on now," he said, smiling a little at me.
I smiled back and nodded. He let go of my hands and we slipped out of the Tank. I grabbed his hand as we walked inside the house that has come to become a place of refuge for us all.
Larry and I wandered into the kitchen. Todd was pacing in front of the sink and Neil was just sitting down at the table. He saw us enter and offered a friendly smile.
I waved and Larry returned the smile as Larry flopped down into a chair and I stood behind him. I put my hands on his shoulders and leaned against the back of the chair.
Ash must have heard us come in as she soon appeared in the kitchen doorway. "Alright, the gangs together. Why'd you call us all here, Todd?" She asked as she came and sat beside Larry.
Todd sighed, facing away from us as he hunched over the sink. He straightened, rubbing his hand through his red hair and turning to us.
He fixed his glasses as he looked down at the floor. "I think we should maybe butt out of what's going on at Addison's," he mumbled, seemingly ashamed of this decision.
I shook my head. "No way. That's where my dad lives, and quite stubbornly, refuses to leave. He hasn't been in a place that he likes so much since before..." I faded off, painful memories choking off my voice.
Thankfully, Larry chimed in. "Yeah, my moms there too. She can't exactly leave either because of her job. And Todd, what about your parents?" Larry asked, putting his hand on top of mine.
Todd let out a breath. "I could maybe get them to move. It's just... I don't know..." he mumbled, looking to Neil with a scared look in his eyes.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Ash asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
Todd looked to her. "I mean I don't know. There's something horrible going on at Addison's and it might not be smart for us to get looped into it," he said, his voice shaking.
Neil stood and went to Todd. He wrapped his arm around Todd and whispered reassuring words to him.
"Todd's right," I said suddenly, earning a startled look from Ash and Larry. "There is something terrible going on at Addison's, but, not as terrible as it could be."
Todd looked suddenly intrigued. "What do you mean?" He asked.
I shook my head. "I dunno, and it sounds stupid, but I think all those nightmares I've been having; I think they're a different timeline in which everything seems to go wrong. Larry's death, the death of everyone in Addison's, what happens to you Todd, and the whole trial for me killing those people," I struggled through recounting the broad happenings of the nightmares.
     The whole kitchen blinked at me in awe as it was the first time any of them had heard me recount anything that happened. Before, it always seemed like bad karma to talk about them, but now I don't think I have a choice.
     Larry turned to face me, his eyebrows furrowed. "What? You-"
     I shook my head, looking away from Larry's brown eyes. "No, it's not important. Like I said, that's a different fate. One none of us has to face," I said, my voice portraying how grim I felt.
     "What do you mean, what happened to Todd?" Neil asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he still held tightly to Todd.
     I shook my head again. "I don't know fully. I just remember red eyes," I said, shivering at the memory.
     "It's not important Neil. What do you suggest we do then?" Todd interrupted Defoe's Neil could press any farther.
     I silently thanked him for that. "I'm not sure. I mean, we should look at this from a logical standpoint I guess. What's all we know about Addison's?" I asked the room.
     "There's been a long history of demonic worshipers and other extremists in the apartments. As well as reports of demonic happenings," Todd said, matter of factly, as if this was a normal topic.
     "And all those ghosts. They're not demonic though, just lost," Ash chimed in.
     "They know what's going on though. Megan showed me what would have happened if I managed to do it that night," Larry mumbled.
     I took in a deep breath. "So, the main issue we're facing in demonic?" I asked to anyone who had an answer.
     Todd nodded. "Yes, I believe so. There has been reports of demons before now, but when we were in Addison's in the abandoned floor, I'm almost certain that was a demon. The foul smell, the three knocks, and the apparition scratching the elevator. Ghosts don't act like that," he said, his voice shaking a little at the end.
     "Ghosts can't, like, scratch walls?" Larry asked, rubbing his arms.
     Todd pressed his lips together. "Well, given the smell and the knocking, I'm left to believe that it was not a regular spirit. It seemed hostile," he said slowly, thinking deliberately about his words.
     I nodded. "I agree. None of the ghosts in Addison's have ever tried to hurt us, or to scare us for that matter. They're people too. But, Todd, what do you suggest we do about our little demon problem?" I asked, leaning back and running a hand through my hair.
     Todd shrugged. "Don't they usually like exorcise demons? Can't we do that?"
     "Not unless you're an ordained priest and have permission from the Vatican," Larry chimed in. He glanced around at all our surprises faces and snorted. "Guys, I lived in Addison's for a while," he said.
     Ash sighed. "Well, we don't exactly know any priests guys," she said, throwing up her arms.
      "That's not exactly true," I interrupted. "We do know one religious man who might be willing to help us," I said. I was hoping that it wouldn't have to come to this but we're kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place here.
     Larry turned to me and shook his head. "Don't tell me you mean..."
     "Travis."

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A/N: hope y'all don't mind that I'm bringing Travis into this now. Uhh, if there's anything you wanna see then feel free to comment.