"You're not planning on getting a phone anytime soon, are you?"
Connor chuckled. "Aww. You're gonna miss me," he teased. He ruffled her hair, earning a glare. "But no. Sometimes avoiding technology is good for you. You live longer."
She rolled her eyes at his reasoning. That was his response whenever she would bring up the topic. It was a strange concept, never having a cellphone, especially for someone as popular as Connor. (At least, Connor liked to brag that he had a lot of friends. So far, Rhiannon had only seen him hang out with two other people that wasn't her.)
"Sure, you will," she agreed with his reason, though she didn't really. She just couldn't see the connection. "You better not forget me. I'm gonna need at least one friend when I get back."
He grinned widely. "So you will miss me? Ha. But don't worry. I could never forget you." He winked.
She hugged him before she could stop herself. It almost surprised her that he returned the gesture.
Rhiannon pulled away first. "Thanks. For being here for me." She wiped away the stray tears that ran down her cheeks.
"You make it sound like I won't be seeing you again. You are coming back next semester, right?"
"Of course. My parents would have wanted me to continue," she said. That last part, she told herself, was what had kept her going the last few months. It would be a waste to give up now.
Connor pulled her back into his arms, squeezing her tightly before he held her at arms length. "You better come back. Or I'm heading down to your hometown and hauling your ass back here."
She laughed, although there was a part of her that thought that e might go through with that threat. A loud honk came from the taxi cab she had called up and Rhiannon figured she was taking too long now. She made an annoyed expression, which Connor caught and chuckled about. He gestured to the car and she murmured a quick goodbye before getting into the cab.
Now that it was winter break, Rhiannon was going to have a lot of time on her hands. Her parents' families both reached out to her, inviting her over for the holidays. She had refused, opting to spend time alone in their tiny little town. It was familiar there, and she felt she needed that.
Something familiar.
()()()
Should she have come back?
It had been months, and everything still looked relatively the same. The house was still hers, having been left to her when her parents passed.
The cab came to a stop in front of the empty house and, for a moment, Rhiannon hesitated. Something bubbled at the pit of her stomach, climbing up to her chest and leaving a lump in her throat.
Breathe, she told herself, In, and out.
When her breathing had evened, she pushed back whatever thoughts kept her from climbing out of the vehicle. She grabbed her luggage and paid the driver, who drove away as soon she handed him the payment. With the taxi gone, Rhiannon was alone.
"We'll be waiting on the front porch when you get home," her father had told her before. That was months ago, as they were packing her stuff for college. They said they'd be there from the minute she gets off the plane, waiting for her.
Looking back, they never did promise it would be like that. As if they had known . . . But how could they have known?
Her vision blurred, and with a deep breath--in and out--she wiped the tears away and headed for the front door, dragging her luggage behind her. The sooner she made it to the door, she thought, the less likely she would call up another cab and spend the night at the nearest inn.
She was tense as she neared the door, as if she were expecting something to happen. It was ridiculous, so she tried to shake off the feeling. Finally, she came up to the door and pulled out the old key from her backpack. Something held her back from opening the door, but she went on.
The door swung open, welcoming her. The familiar room was inviting and a tear slipped down her cheek as she stepped inside.
It was strange how a place she had called home for so long now looked so unfamiliar. A thin layer of dust coated the furniture, reminding her that it had been a while since someone had set foot in this house. Except, something was wrong.
I'm alone, she reminded herself, but a faint thud from above made her think twice.
"Hello?" she called out before she could stop herself. She knew her horror movies and was aware that letting whatever creeped around know where she was would never be a good idea.
Another thump, from upstairs. Instead of doing the logical thing and run out of the house, Rhiannon crept up the stairs to investigate.
Run, run, run, a voice in her head was telling her. She made it to the top of the stairs without turning back.
"Is anyone in here?" She was shaking now. What if someone had broken in? They could have a gun or something. "Look, if you leave now, I won't call the cops or anything." Other than a few of her mother's jewelry, there was nothing valuable enough in this house that would be missed.
Her legs carried her over, stopping just in front of her parents' bedroom. There's someone here.
Slowly, her hand went to turn the doorknob.
"We were told that this was our home now," said a voice. Rhiannon jumped and spun around. Emerging from her old bedroom were two girls.
One stood tall, shoulders squared as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. She smiled, her thin eyebrow slanted as she looked to be waiting for a response. The other leaned on the door frame, looking almost bored as she checked her nails. Both were beautiful, though. Ethereal might have been the word for it as they did not look merely mortal.
Of course, that impression was further proved as Rhiannon noticed the faint green tint on their skin.
"Who are you?"
"Wouldn't you like to know, sweetie?" She shot a look at her companion, and her lips curled into a mischievous smile. It wasn't like Connor's. No, Connor's lopsided grin meant he was going to get into trouble. This grin was deadly, as if she were trouble.
Rhiannon had enough sense to turn and run down the stairs when the girl lunged. She didn't know why she was being attacked, but nothing else ran through her mind except for the word run.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs should without being caught should have meant an easy escape. She could run out, shout and alert her neighbors. Except, she hadn't counted on the third girl appearing.
Or the fact that this third girl was green, and her legs were not legs.
Snake women are not real, she rationalized. She was frozen, her mind suddenly deciding it needed to catch up with the information she was being given rather than be smart and run.
She was dazed, until the snake woman grabbed her by the arm and threw her onto the dusty sofa. Pain spread through her body as she pushed herself up, and fear replaced the sensation as she came face-to-face with the green woman.
"Leaving so soon, half-blood?" It licked its lips. "My sisters and I haven't even eaten yet."
The snake lunged and Rhiannon finally let out a scream. It grabbed her by the air, a nail slashing across her cheek, and all she could do was scream in defense. The sound never did deter the monster, and all hope was lost.
There was a crush and Rhiannon thought her life was over. Until the monster was pulled from her, taking a chunk of her hair along with it. It crashed onto the furniture, but Rhiannon had no time to worry about them re-decorating her house.
In front of her stood a girl, maybe her age or younger. She held a knife in her hand, but didn't seem keen on attacking Rhiannon like the monsters.
"You know, a thank you would be nice," she said, rolling her eyes before walking over to the creature. It had started to get up but the girl was quick and brought her knife down on it. The thing dissolved into dust.
What was going on?
Before Rhiannon could find her voice, two figures came tumbling down the stairs. She recognized the girl she had initially ran from, but not the boy.
"A little help here, Mal?" he called out as he tried to keep the now snake lady from strangling him.
The girl, Mal, shrugged. She aimed for the monster but it dissolved into dust over the boy in a split second.
"I had that!" Mal complained as the boy shouted, "Gross!"
"Well, I got to it first." The newcomer might have been the icing on the cake.
If Rhiannon had been confused before, nothing made sense now. The last time she had seen the boy was on that date at her workplace. As much as she wouldn't like to admit it, she had been waiting for a second date.
And now, he was here. In her hometown, in her childhood home. Holding some goo stained weapon.
"Seb?"
"Rhia," he greeted, as if this were a normal situation. A smile stretched across his face. Seb took a step forward, towards her.
"What's going on?" She was feeling a little dizzy.
"Hey, no, everything's alright."
The last thing Rhiannon saw was his grin disappear, replaced by a frown.
And the world began to spin.
a/n:
I should have put a warning that I suck at writing fight scenes or scenes where the characters are attacked smh