Winston high stood at the pinnacle of Hazardville town. It had a track record of producing top students which made it one of the best High schools in the country. Facilities and education was top tier. The school had a huge popularity and Amelia Winston was at the center of it. Being the principal's daughter gained her friends and a lot of attention. She was the envy of every girl and all the guys wanted her. The only girl lucky enough to get close to her was Emily Anderson. They had the same interests which made them bond easily. Amelia being the leader of the cheer team only made it natural for her to date the captain of the football club, Jerry Morgan. Although their relationship was just for show, they found each other attractive enough to engage in sexual activities. Her life was perfect and she was enjoying every bit of it
A week to summer vacation, Amelia had invited her friends to spend the holiday at her dad's beach house. "Your dad really let you have the beach house for the holiday?" Emily asked Amelia who was sitting opposite her at the lunch table.
"Of course daddy let me have it." She replied, spinning the straw in her lemonade.
" it'll be fun, as long as you're there babe." Jerry said as he slid his hands over her shoulder.
She gave him a small smile and quickly focused her attention back to her drink.
"Who are you inviting?" Emily asked.
Amelia pondered the question for a while.
"Mm, just some members of the football club and the cheer squad."
Emily looked dissatisfied with her answer.
"But, There's someone else I want to invite."
Amelia stood up and walked over to a blue circular table which was at the right side of the cafeteria. Her hips swayed as she walked, making her short tennis skirt move in the same manner. She approached a short chubby girl, eating her lunch in solidarity. The girl paused when she saw Amelia.
"Hey Nancy, I wanted to invite you over to my dad's beach house during the summer break." Amelia said in a chirpy voice, her amber eyes gleaming.
Nancy adjusted her glasses nervously. She couldn't believe that Amelia was talking to a loser like her. Amelia tucked a strand of her brownish red behind her ears.
"You'll be there right?"
Nancy looked at Amelia who was smiling at her before nodding.
"Great!, we'll see you there then." Amelia said, walking away briskly.
Emily gave Amelia a confusing look.
"Why would you invite that nerd?"
Amelia took a sip of her lemonade.
"Of course I would invite her, we need someone to run errands for us."
Amelia and Emily burst into laughter.
"Here are the documents on Selena Brooklyn and Brandon Lester." Maria said, putting them on Oliver's table.
He was surprised that she was able to get information about them so fast. He looked at the papers, trying the read them. The more he tried reading the words, the more they became jumbled up. He couldn't make sense of it. Every since that night with Kenna, he found it hard to focus, even at work. Maria noticed Oliver's countenance was different from usual.
"Those documents are quite bulky, wouldn't it be better if I gave you a quick summary about it?"
Oliver gave her a thankful look.
"Yeah, that would be great."
Maria began with Selena Brooklyn.
"She worked as a nurse before she was laid off due to their inability to pay the staff. She was also a regular at the briar orphanage. Occasionally, she would come and spend time with the children. A year later, she was appointed as the new director of the orphanage". Oliver nodded. He knew this much after he read her journal.
"What about Brandon?"
"That's where it gets interesting." Maria said as she pulled out a hospital record from the file.
"Apparently, four years ago, Selena had a child. She didn't have the resources to care for it, so she gave it to the orphanage."
Oliver's eyes lit up.
"Brandon." He said in a low tone.
"Correct, Brandon is her child."
Oliver relaxed on his chair. He felt like a load had just been lifted from his shoulders.
"That explains why she told him to hide in the vent." Maria nodded. The final pieces had finally come together. Maria closed the file and set it aside on the table.
"Hey, let's go out for drinks tonight."
It was time for them to get off work and she has been meaning to ask him again ever since she got interrupted the first time. Oliver sighed.
"I'm sorry, but I have to get home early today."
Maria felt her chest tighten and not in the good way. She knew he was getting back home early because of his girlfriend.
" That's okay, we can always reschedule." Maria said as she tried to force a smile.
"thanks for always understand Maria." He said, giving her a light pat on her shoulder.
She watched him pack up his things and leave the office in a haste.
Marygroove bar was the same as always. The atmosphere was calm. Slow jazz music played in the background giving the whole place a relaxing feeling.
" One negroni." Maria said as she took a seat in front of the counter.
The bartender nodded and began to prepare her drink. Maria looked around the bar. Everything was still the same, the atmosphere, the music. There was only one big difference. Oliver wasn't here. They usually frequented Marygroove bar when they wanted to drink. "Your negroni Miss." The bartender said, placing her drink in front of her.
Maria picked it up the reddish drink and gulped it down in seconds.
"Another one." She said to the bartender who was giving her a worried look.
"Right away." He replied.
Maria wanted to get drunk. She wanted to forget about how much her chest hurt.
"You look like you've had a long day. You can talk to me if you want." The bartender said as he gave her the cocktail.
Maria looked like she was think hard about it. She sighed.
"You wouldn't mind listening to me rant?"
"I'm all ears." He replied, giving her a warm smile. Maria took a sip of her drink before telling him exactly how she felt. She told him about Oliver and her unrequited love for him. The bartender listened quietly. "I just wish I could stop feeling like this." She said, finishing her fifth glass of negroni.
"Thanks for listening to me." She said as she gave him his bill.
"Get home safely." The bartender said, his eyes watching her intensely as she staggered out of the bar.
The darkness had engulfed the entire Terrain making it hard for Maria to make out where she was. Her vision was blurry, adding to her inability to see at the moment. She kept walking, her legs wobbly from all the alcohol she drank. It was a struggle trying to maintain her balance as well as see where she was going. All around her were unfamiliar landmarks. The street was different from the one she takes to her apartment everyday. She could feel the panic setting in. She looked around. Evey shop was closed which make her wonder what it time was. She went through her bag, fumbling for her phone when she heard a weird noise. She paused looking at her surroundings. The street lights only illuminated the major parts of the street. Anything beyond there was in total darkness. The noise became louder. It Sounded like a high pitched shriek. The sound was ghastly and utterly terrifying to hear. Maria's heart was racing. Her eyes darted everywhere, in search of the entity producing the strange sound. After a few minutes, the sound came to an abrupt end, accompanied with a new sound. Tap, tap, tap. It sounded like someone was walking with a wet feet. Tap, tap, tap. The sound was getting closer. Maria made a sharp turn to her right. A little bit further from the light was a silhouette. Maria began to back away slowly. The dark figure did the exact opposite of what she did and began walking towards her. That was when it came into the light. Maria's face went pale. It wasn't human. It had a humanoid shape. It's head was large and elongated at the back. It's arms were so long, it was touching the ground. It had no eyes and it's mouth was abnormally wide. It's sharp teeth were visible. By now Maria was sober and her vision was clearer. She didn't need time to think. She bolted away from the creature, running as fast as her legs could carry her. The creature let out the same high pitched shriek that was heard earlier. Maria turned back to see the creature getting down on all fours. It started running towards her, it's speed increasing by the minute.
"Oh God…."
The words escaped her lips, almost like a desperate cry. TAP TAP TAP TAP. The sound was getting louder. She could feel the heat radiating from its body. Deep down Maria knew that no matter how fast she ran, it wouldn't be enough to outrun the creature. Her legs felt hot and heavy. She was reaching her limit. Maria shut her eyes tight, expecting the worst. A loud explosive sound erupted through the air. The creature let out an unusual cry and dashed away into the darkness. Maria fell to the ground. She began to feel weary now that the adrenaline had worn out.
"Miss, are you alright?"
a woman's voice echoed through the darkness. Maria couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or the exhaustion, but her eye lids couldn't stay open any longer.
"Do you think she's okay?"
"I don't know, she's been out for hours."
Maria shifted on the bed, her eyes opening slowly. She blink twice as she stared blankly at the unfamiliar people who were giving her a worried look. It was an old man and a girl. The girl looked like she was in her early twenties. Maria tried to gather thoughts. Everything seemed so perplexing. She sat up slowly, looking around the room.
"How are you feeling?" the girl said.
There was a slight moment of silence. Maria had a lot of questions to ask, but didn't know where to start. "Where am I? "
" This is Hartford street." The old man replied.
Maria felt relieved. She wasn't far from home. She must've taken a wrong turn last night and ended up on this street. That was when all the blood drained from her face. She wished she could forget the horrifying being she saw last night. Everything felt surreal.
"Did you happen to see a weird creature last night?" she asked while she looked around the room.
It felt as if the monster would come out at any moment if she dared to utter a word about it. The girl and the old man looked at each other.
"What are you talking about?" the girl said.
"We found you unconscious on the floor and brought you here."
Maria looked stunned. The noise she heard right before the creature ran away, sounded like that of a gun shot. She had assumed that they were the ones who chased it away. Maria opened her mouth to say something but refrained from it.
"Thank you for everything, but I think I should leave." Maria said.
"You can stay as long as you want." The old man said. "No, it's fine." Maria got out of the bed.
"Here's Your bag." The girl said, handing it over to Maria.
They both escorted her to the front door, where she thanked them again.
"I'm sorry, I never got your names."
The girl blushed, feeling embarrassed at the fact that she forgot to introduce herself.
"My names Stacy and this is my grandpa, Joey."
Maria did the same and introduced herself. She waved them goodbye and headed down the street, towards the bus stop. During the bus ride, Maria thought long and hard about what transpired last night. There was no way a creature like that existed. 'I must've been hallucinating.' she thought. After all, she had been very drunk.