۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗ 𓏲˖ 𑁍 ࣪ ִ ۫ ּ ִ ۫ ˑ ֗
࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ  ✩◿𝓓𝓣𝓐◸ 🂱 ࣪𓏲ּ ֶָ
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX—
our little secret.

"Gwen!" Sarah knocked on her window that morning, getting there early. "Gwen, I need your help!"

Nothing.

She ventured to Finneys window and did the same, just in a less aggressive way because he was a lighter sleeper then Gwen had been. She relentlessly tapped her fist against it. "Finney. It's Sarah, are you awake?"

Nothing. It wasn't necessarily shocking for Gwen to ignore her, especially when she'd rather be sleeping, but Finney? Ignoring Sarah? She took a second to gap, that had never happened before. It worried her, going to the front door and beating on it as hard as she could. "Gwen! Terrence! Hey! Mr.Blake! Are you home? Are-"

"Sarah." Terrance opened the door with a hand on his head. "Do you know what time it is?"

She looked behind his shoulder. "Where's Finney at?"

"A friends, he said. Something about studying early." he held the bridge of his nose, Sarah smelt the alcohol when he spoke. "Would you like to come and investigate?"

He didn't like her much. But, that was okay. Because she really fucking hated him. He was probably the person she hated the most in the world, right behind whoever was taking the most important boys in her life. Sometimes, even though Sarah would never in her life say it out loud, she thought about what it would be like to strangle Terrance Blake. She thought about hitting him a good few times and asking how it made him feel. Sarah wasn't a violent person, but something about that asshole had almost made her blood boil.

Sarah always swore he'd get what he deserved one day. She just wished she could be the one to do it.

"And Gwen?" she crossed her arms.

"School. I'm sure you've forgotten, but she goes early on Mondays." his words had a sense of mockery behind them, but Sarah couldn't put her finger on what he meant by it.

Her jaw clenched. If there was any time to hurt someone and get away with it, it would be now. Her best friend was gone, her boyfriend gone, her future gone, herself gone. They'd understand why she punched someone right in the face, they'd let her off with a warning. It was so tempting, so easy to pull her fist back and hit him just one good time. But, she didn't, she let her clenched fist go. Because while it would feel great for her, Terrence wouldn't punish her for it. He'd punish his kids.

"Guess so." Sarah forced a smile, she made sure he knew it was fake. "Save a few sips for me, would you?"

Then, she was gone. If he wanted to mock her, she'd do it right back.

Another day without an ounce of education in her head, another day where she sat at home and stared at a few walls, broke a few things, and cried a few tears. When night came, she looked over at the clock. Ella should have been home by now, but she wasn't. Bingo should be begging for food right now, but he wasn't. Her neighbors should be getting their mail, but they weren't. One of the Blake's should be calling to ask what she did today, but neither did. Bruce should be dropping her work off, but he never showed. Sarah should be tired, but she was wide awake.

Her bedroom light flipped on. Sarah saw it from the living room as the entire hallway lit up. She stood up, the wood under her feet creaked when she did so. She was very still, watching the light flip off. She sighed in relief before letting out a scream when the phone on the wall rung. She didn't expect it, especially not after her light mysteriously was flipping on and off.

Sarah ran to grasp it, putting it back without an answer. It just rung again, Sarah backed up in fear as she grasped onto the couch. "Go away. Go away."

It scared her, because apart of her knew it would be the buzzing again. It listened though, because the phone stopped ringing. Only this time, her fathers study light came on just across the room. Sarah held her breath as she stared at the light, shaking her head. She rubbed her forehead. "Stop imagining things. Stop imagining things. You haven't been sleeping, you need to stop taking so much cand-"

The lights in the whole house went out. Pitch black, everything was just pitch black. Sarah was frozen, breathing in deeply and irregularly. There was a thump, the same thump she heard the night before in her closet. Her heart rate jumped, she knew something or someone was behind her. She felt their stare. Her voice was shaking when she spoke, back still turned away. "Turn on the lights."

They came back on, the fans began to move again. Sarah sat there, breathing in fear as she slowly started to turn.

"Don't turn around!"

She froze. She didn't recognize the voice right away.

"Just, don't turn around." he warned her again.

"Why not?" Sarah asked, her back turned away.

"I don't want to scare you." the more he spoke, the more she remembered.

"Um, hi. Excuse me?" a young boy walked up to the counter at Grab N Go on one of Sarah's shifts. "Could you tell me where all the medium sized clubs went for the slushees?"

"Oh, i'm sorry. We just ran out of medium." Sarah frowned down at him, watching his little face sink and his eyes to fall. "Okay. Do you think you can keep a secret?"

"Sure." he nodded his head.

"I'm not suppose to put them out yet. Something about...company policy?" Sarah ducked under the counter and came back with a medium sized cup. "Shhh. Our secret, okay?"

"Okay." he smiled, reaching up to take it from her. She was just thirteen then, her third day at Grab N Go.

Sarah swallowed as she blinked, still ever frozen. "Griffin?"

He was quiet.

"Griffin, Is that you?" her voice shook in fear. How could he be here?

"Maybe." he told her in return. "It sounds familiar. But...but i'm starting to forget it."

"You're starting to forget your name?" Sarah swallowed. She was scared. Even turned away like he asked her to be, she was scared. It didn't make sense, and they both knew it. "If I turn around, I can be sure and tell you. Don't you want to know it?"

"I don't think it would matter." he said honestly. "I know you'll be scared."

"I'm always scared." Sarah said honestly. "What's a little more. Right?"

"That isn't true." his words took her off guard. "He said you watch hours of horror movies and don't even jump. He said you love them."

He. He just said he. Sarah sat there. "There's someone else?"

"Not here. We can't visit people at the same time, and we can't be gone long." she was even more lost, but she felt like he'd be able to tell her everything. "I don't have much time."

"I'm gonna turn around. I won't be scared." Sarah spoke as a far warning. She did it slow, her head and body staying in sync as it began to turn. He was right, she was scared. She was terrified at the sight of a tiny boy covered in blood with his throat slashed standing in her kitchen. She tried not to show it though, because that's exactly what he tried to warn her of. Sarah stared. It was Griffin, she recognized those sweet eyes immediately. "See? Not scared."

Some how, even in such a bad state, he managed to smile just a little. Barley. Just a little. "What are you doing here?"

"Don't know. I'm suppose to see you." Griffin said in return, neither of them moved from their side of the kitchen. "I was on the phone first. Then I got here."

"Are you...dead?" of course he was. No one survived what happened to his throat, but she had to ask.

"Yes. A little bit ago, I think." he shook his head. "I don't know, it all runs together."

"What do you mean?" Sarah had her theories about an after life, but maybe Griffin could confirm them for her. "You can't remember anything?"

"Little parts. I know I know you." he explained with a nod. "A medium cup. Our-"

"-little secret." they said it on sync.

Sarah gave a sad smile, her eyes watered when it sunk in that this poor little boy was dead, killed in a horrible way and now she was seeing it right infront of her face. "I remember."

"After...I started to forget stuff." he explained to her. "He said that it happens after we die but can't move on yet. He said the longer we're dead, the more we start to forget. I can't remember my name, he said that's the first we forgot."

"He?" she had a feeling, but she didn't want it to be true.

"You're friend. The orange jacket." Griffin nodded his head, looking at her as if she was the crazy one for not knowing.

"Sar, I broke it again." Billy opened up the store door a few seconds after Griffin walked away from the counter with his secret cup. "It came popping right off."

"Again?" Sarah looked in disbelief. "We just got it fixed. How fast are you peddling?"

"Bingo is a quick runner." he defended his case. "Will you help me? Please? I'll bike you home."

"Mhm." Sarah circled the counter and pulled him by the sleeve of the orange jacket. "You say that every time and then i'm stuck making sure the papers aren't being eating by strays."

"You just do it so much better then me." he put an arm around her as they headed for his bike.

Sarah felt that unshakable feeling in her stomach and heart. "Billy?"

"I don't know." Griffin said back. "It's just the two of us right now."

Dead. Just the two of them were dead.

"Then Vance is still alive?" Sarah blinked fast. It wasn't time to cry, it was time to fight. It was time to stop rolling around in self pity and pain, it was time to get answers and be the tough person Vance was.

"Who's Vance?" Griffin was confused. "You said it on the phone."

"Vance." Sarah blinked. "The boy that was taken not too long ago?"

"We haven't been back to the room in a while." he told her. "It's hard to get there sometimes. He didn't answer the phone, though."

"Hard to get there?" Griffin seemed lost. "I'm sorry, I just don't understand."

"You don't?" his eyebrows were frowned together. "You haven't left your house?"

"I have." she pittied him. He didn't remember how the outside world worked, he only knew how his spirit worked. "How are you here? You said you don't have a lot of time?"

"You're right. Almost forgot about that one." he nodded with an exhale. "We can go to places for little visits, but we can't be gone long before getting pulled back to the basement. That's where we're usually at. It's hard to get here."

"Why are you here?" Sarah repeated the question. "If it's hard to get here, what made you choose my house?"

"I told you. I don't know." he shrugged with a deep inhale, his body started to fade some. "I think he's right."

"Who's right?" Sarah stepped forward as he started to fade even more, she saw straight through his body. "Wait, no. Don't go. Where are you going?"

"I told you. Don't have much time." he tapped a fake watch on his wrist. "You should wake up."

"Griffin!" Sarah begged. "Please don't go. I want to understand. What happened to you? Where is the basement? How do I help?"

"Don't know. Just, wake up." he repeated himself. "It'll be our little secret."

Then, he was gone, and it was just her and the kitchen. Sarah exhaled in agony as she dropped to the floor, sitting there in shock and confusing. What the fuck just happened and why the fuck did it make no sense? Sarah was lost in confusing on so much he just said. But, most of all, she focused on two thing. Billy was dead, Griffin was the second person to confirm it. It was time to let the hope go completely, it was time to accept it and stop running back to a form of comfort that would never return. Her best friend, someome she loved so much, gone.

And secondly, Griffin said it was just the two of them. Vance was alive somewhere and in a basement. That part she knew for sure. Or, at least she thought it was for sure. Running it over in her head, she hadn't been sleeping and had just taken five drugged candies less then twenty-four hours ago. That could have been what caused her to belive she was having a conversation with a dead boy in her kitchen.

Or it could be something else.

•

kylie speaks

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH