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Nightmare core

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Chapter 1 - Volume 1

Chapter 1: A New Day 

In Trenton New Jersey there have been found bodies all over the area causing panic as it's clear a killer is on the loose. Cole sat at the bus station, waiting for the bus to come so he could get to his friend's house, they had planned on going for a night out since they were on break from college. The wind was cold and the tree branches shook as a breeze blew by, he pulled a cassette and headphones from his bag and attached the cassette to his jeans before putting on the headphones. Cole kept listening to his music when he saw the silhouette of the bus lights in the distance approaching, he stood up as the bus stopped, stepped up to the driver, and handed him a dollar, Cole walked to the middle of the bus and finds an open seat, he sits down and stares out the window as his song time by Pink Floyd continues to play. He watches as raindrops race each other down the window when his song starts to get interrupted by static. He turns and sees his little sister Josephine sitting across on the opposite seat of him, she had been missing for almost 9 months, her skin was pale and her eyes were discolored, she stared at Cole with a blank expression as he stared back in shock mixed with fear, Cole's heart was racing and he felt his whole body slightly shake from adrenaline and anxiety when the bus suddenly jolts to a stop and the lights start to flicker, he looks and sees an arms bust through the window and snatches Josephine out of her seat, this causes cole to step back and gasp when all the windows on the bus break, Cole instinctively drops down and covers his head and ears. He slowly gets up and looks around to see everything outside is pitch black and the lights on the bus are the only light when he starts to hear footsteps walking outside, the footsteps approach the bus and Cole sees a figure emerge up the stairs and into the bus, cole noticed the size of the bus increasing ever so slightly, standing across from him was an extremely tall thin man wearing a white suit and blue tie with a completely featureless blank face, the things face and hands were pitch black and it's presence brought cole a deep feeling of dread. Cole began to feel nauseous and weak upon staring at the creature when it quickly teleports right in front of cole and grabs him by the throat lifting him up, cole chokes and gasps for air as the creature stares at him completely emotionless, in an instant cole wakes up and quickly sits up in bed covered in sweat, he looks over at his alarm clock, it read 6:22 am, He took a deep breath and layed back down closing his eyes, he shortly after got up and walked down stairs to the kitchen and put 2 pieces of toast in the toaster, he walks into the bathroom and stares in the mirror as he turns on the sink, he had hazel eyes and medium length straight brown hair that was flat from him sleeping, cole splashes some cold water on him and walks back out into the kitchen and towards the refrigerator, he grabs a stick of butter and a butter knife and walks over to the toaster as it finishes, he butters the toast and eats it while he stares out the window when he notices something engraved in the window, some sort of symbol. Cole didn't know what it was but he never remembered it being there so he had a fearful anxious feeling about it, he suddenly jumped getting startled by the house phone ringing, he approached the phone and answered, "hello" Cole said into the phone, cole… help… please cole, it sounded like his little sister, cole stepped back in horror dropping the phone, cole turns and books it to his room where he frantically packs a bunch of his things in a panic and runs out of the house to his car, he gets the car in reverse the second the car started and he flew out of his driveway. Cole drives through his quiet town and decides to go to his friend Toby's, cole heads in the direction of Toby's and looks around nervously as he drives, he's barely paying attention when he suddenly hears a horn and he turns and swerves out of the way of a truck, cole takes a left turn and begins speeding up down the street as he approaches Toby's house, cole quickly stops and parks outside his house and runs to his door and starts knocking fast and hard in a panic. Toby opens the door in a groggy sleepy state, his blonde hair is frizzy, wtf are you doing he asks Cole, he backs up as Cole rushes in and shuts the door, cole frantically checks the windows looking out each of them, what the hell dude what's wrong, Toby asks him, I think someone broke into my apartment I thought it was just a dream but… ok did you call the cops? Toby asks him, no I panicked I just came straight here, did you see someone or hear something break? Toby questions, there was this weird symbol on my window, it looked like it was drawn from the inside, and I got a call on the phone… I I it sounded like Josephine. Toby stood blankly staring at Cole in shock, alright man are you ok, I know this whole situation has been fucked up but are you sure you handling this. I'm your boy man I can help you deal with this you don't have to go through it alone, cole looks at Toby then Looks down, you maybe wanna consider some therapy man Toby says after a brief silence, I can refer you to mine I go to him 3 times a week, cole shakes his head and avoids the question, I need to check my apartment… can you search with me, cole hesitantly asks, yeah sure I'll go look with you just let me grab something I'll be right back, toby disappears around the corner of the kitchen and cole hears him trot up the stairs, cole walks to the edge of the stairs and waits for toby when toby quickly jogs down the stairs holding a baseball bat, ok now we can go. The two walk outside and get in Cole's car, you sure you saw that? Toby asks as he gets in the passenger side, yes bro I'm not crazy, Cole responds as he shuts the door, they back out of the driveway and start heading back to Cole's, Toby notices Cole's hands slightly shaking as he drives, you alright to drive man? you're freaking out, yeah I'm good, I'm all good he responds, Toby picked up on Cole's voice sounding shaky, he didn't seem very confident, 

Toby slowly turned and looked out the window as they continue to drive, after about 10 minutes the two pulled into Cole's driveway, ready Cole says as he shifts the gear into park and turns the car off, yeah let's go, Toby, responds, they both get out and begin walking up to Cole's front door with Toby leading the way, Toby slowly turns the knob and opens the door raising the bat slowly as the two enter, you said you saw something in the kitchen? Toby whispers, yeah some scary ass symbol, it looked satanic Cole answers. The two slowly turn the corner in the kitchen and Cole freezes staring at the window, there is nothing there, dude I don't see anything your window doesn't even look like it was touched, w w what Cole shakily says in a quiet tone, no no it was right there I saw it! Cole exclaims in a panic, ok dude just re… their conversation was interrupted by a phone call, it was Toby's phone, Cole fearfully looked at Toby and then down at his pocket, Toby takes his phone and looks at it, oh shit it's my dad hold on, Toby enters another room while cole continues to stare at the window, he could hear toby have what sounded like an argument with his dad when toby walks back into the kitchen visibly annoyed, I'm sorry bro I gotta go my dads pissed cause I told him I would help my grandma with shopping but I completely forgot, I'll come to visit you later just stay safe alright man, cole nods his head, see ya around bro, alright man I'll catch you later toby says as he walks out of Cole's house, the door shuts and cole turns back to the window to still see nothing, he sighs before scratching his head and walking upstairs. Toby walks into his house to hear his dad yelling upstairs, Toby! Get your ass up here! Toby looks up and closes his eyes before slowly making his way up the stairs, he turns into his parent's room to see his dad standing there staring at him angrily, Toby noticed the empty beer bottles laying around, his father Craig was a somewhat large built man at around 6'1 200 pounds toby prepared for what was coming, dad, I'm so… he was cut off by his dad punching him in the face knocking him over, toby hit the floor and remained down stunned, he slowly made his way back to his feet stumbling into the wall, da.. dad stop… he was cut off again from his dad slapping him, toby stumbled into the wall and felt his nose to see it was dripping blood, suddenly he looked up to see the bottom of his dad's foot colliding with his face, toby fell back completely dazed, un fucking believable Toby! How do you think I felt when I had a son and wanted him to be successful and ended up with you? He screamed slurring his words. His dad stomped on his stomach in anger, toby coughed and rolled over on the floor, dad I'm sorry stop please, toby could feel the tears forming in his eyes, shut the fuck up his dad said taking off his belt, he began to beat toby with belt repeatedly, toby yelled in pain trying to crawl away but his dad grabbed him and aggressively threw him back into the bedroom and slamming the door behind him. 

Chapter 2: Planet Earth 

So are you gonna show me these paintings, Cole? Gina asks smiling, I have to finish them you have to wait so I can make sure it's flawless, Gina laughs while moving around her long black hair, ok well then how long? I don't know when's it done it's done, Cole says with a smile, gina notices a glow in Cole's brown eyes from the sunlight she can't help but look at it for a few seconds. They continued to walk through their college campus when they saw a young man with short black hair wearing a blue hoodie, jeans, and glasses and toby approaching them, what up, the man said as he and Cole fist bump, what's going on Nelson cole responds, me and Toby are gonna get food y'all wanna come, toby stood there and looked like a mixture of tired and sad, cole noticed a small bruise on his face and points it out, hey toby you alright did you get hurt? I'm fine, I fell yesterday Toby responded, cole felt like Toby's response felt hesitant like he made it up on the spot. Everyone went silent for a moment when Nelson broke the silence, alright let's go I'm starving. They walked in a group over to the parking lot getting into two separate cars with Nelson driving Toby and Cole driving Gina. Toby and Nelson sat in silence for a moment as Nelson Subtly noticed more bruises on Toby, Toby's phone ringing broke the silence, he was getting a call from his girlfriend Chloe. Hello? Tony answers, hey babe I'm gonna meet you guys at Smokeys, ok cool I'll see you there, I love you, I love you too Chloe responds before she hangs up. How have things been with you guys? Nelson asks if they've been good, and We figured it out Toby responds, ok ok Nelson says as he slowly turns his head to look out the window, they continue to drive trailing Cole and Gina when they eventually arrive at Smokey to see Chloe's car already waiting parked. Cole and Nelson parked next to each other and they all got out, Chloe approached Toby hugging him tightly, hello she said while smiling at him, Toby smiled back and gazed upon her for a moment, alright Romeo Nelson says let's go eat I haven't eaten all day in a joking way, the group walk inside and approach the waiter, how's it going guys, party booth? The waiter asks, yes please Gina responds, ok the waiter says grabbing menus, follow me this way. The waiter leads them to a booth against the wall, I'll be back in a few moments to get your drinks, ok thank you Cole says as the waiter walks away. I already know what I'm getting Nelson says, they talked but Toby strayed away looking around when he saw the backside of someone, it looked almost suspiciously like his brother… he could just tell, coke broke Toby out of his gaze, hey man you know what you want? Toby stared at Cole for a moment before responding, yeah. The waiter approached them, ok what can I start you guys out with to drink, Cole first ordered a Coke, and Gina went second ordering an iced tea, Toby looked up at the waiter as he was next up, when he looked at the waiter his suit was white but the tie was blue instead of black… and his face was pitch black and completely featureless. Toby stared in shock as he felt a strong wave of fear and panic, he was frozen to the booth… too stunned to scream, he just stared as the waiter stood there not moving a muscle, suddenly Toby came to after being shaken by Chloe, babe? What's wrong are you alright oh my god, Toby noticed himself staring at the waiter with him looking back in a state of confusion and concern. Excuse me, Toby quickly gets up and power walks to the bathroom, Toby leans on the sink and turns on the water splashing it on his face, he wipes his face with the paper towels and just stares in the mirror shaking, the door suddenly opens and Toby quickly turns shocked to but quickly relieved to see its Nelson and Cole. Dude, are you alright? that was wild, Nelson says, toby what's wrong? You've been off man we're just worried, toby stares at them with a look of fear in his eyes, I keep seeing this thing… this tall person, what? Nelson says confused, Cole's eyes widen as he remembers his dream, he always wears this white suit with a blue tie and he has a pitch-black featureless face, no nose, eyes mouth… nothing. Nelson looks over to Cole with a strong look of concern, bro this is crazy, Toby stares at them both, I know how it sounds, I don't know what it is what it wants he says sounding scared, just take me home please, tob… please! Toby says a little louder, ok ok I'll bring you back I got you, Cole assures him then they walk out of the building with everyone watching them as they leave, toby quickly jumps into Nelson's passenger seat as he starts the car, they pull out and begin driving in silence for a few minutes, toby sat with a blank face, he couldn't get that thing out of his head, staring at it gave him a headache and made him feel nauseous. What happened are you alright? Nelson broke the silence, yeah… yeah I had a panic attack haven't had those in a while, Toby replied after he quickly made a conscious decision to not tell Nelson about what he saw. Oh shit… sorry about that dude, Nelson responded briefly looking over at Toby, toby slowly turned and looked out the window as they continued to drive, after about 5 minutes they reached Toby's house and Nelson pulled into the driveway, alright Man, hope you feel better Chloe's gonna call you later, yeah thanks for the ride… I'll see you around toby says getting out of the car and closing the door. He approached his front door and stood there for a moment as he randomly zoned out, he quickly came to and realized he didn't hear Nelson leave and toby turned to see his car gone. Toby turns and opens the front door letting himself in. The house was eerily quiet, toby walked through his living room and kitchen and up the stairs to his room, he opened his door and froze. Written on the wall was "R.I.P Danny graves written and a strange black liquid. 

Chapter 3: butterfly and bees 

Danny was walking at night coming back from a function, and the beam from his flashlight illuminated the road ahead of him as he walked, he wasn't driving because he totaled his car 7 months ago. He felt the chilly November wind on his face and hands making him cover his hands with his sleeves, Danny noticed that no cars had passed by in a while but he thought to himself, I'm on the backroads at night it makes sense. He continues his walk as he puts his headphones on and starts to play Don't Stop Believing by Journey, he nods his head as he listens to the song as approaches a deep slope going down in the road, as he approaches his flashlight starts flickering and at the same time static interrupts his song, when this happens Danny instantly gets a random strong wave of fear and freezes. He breathes shakily as he slowly takes off his headphones, he doesn't know why he was so shaken as the feeling randomly came over him, he turns and looks around shining his light, first, he shines the light directly behind him and sees nothing, then aims the light to the left side of the woods and sees nothing but trees and bushes, he shines it to the right side and looks around but he quickly spots something that makes his heart sink. The light reveals the outline of an arm half hidden behind a tree, in an instant it disappears and Danny's flashlight shuts off, he gasps as he backpedals turning around to run but is roughly grabbed by his collar, Danny looks up terrified as he tries to break free but the things grasp felt like titanium, it was tall and thin Danny quickly noticed it was around the same height as one of his friends from school who was 6'6, it wore a white suit with a blue tie and had a completely featureless pitch black face, its hands were also the same shade as they gripped Danny's shirt collar tightly. Suddenly Danny is thrown around as the creature pulls him forward and half turns throwing him through the air, Danny rolls down the slope a little and falls over again after trying to regain his balance, he turns and runs as fast as he can when he gains to much momentum and stumbles forward and falling face planting at the bottom of the slope. Danny slowly gets up and frantically turns behind him but it's so dark he can barely see 5 feet in front of him, he feels a liquid running down his face and figures it's blood from the fall he took, he's quickly hit the back and gets sent flying again and lands on the pavement, he slowly gets up and feels tears forming in his eyes as he panics even more and starts to feel hopeless, please please I don't wanna die he begs and cries out as he gets up using a tree to pull himself up, Danny stumbles forward when the creature instantly appears right in front of him and punches right through Danny's torso. Danny grabs its forearm and doubles over coughing and breathing frantically, as he loses his legs and they start to give out, Danny looks up at it with a very blurry detoured vision and screams as loud as he can but he's silenced soon after when it yanks its arm out, grabs Danny and effortlessly rips him in half tossing both parts of him through the air and on the road. Cole wakes up to get a phone call, he groggily turns over and grabs it seeing it's toby, he answers and puts the phone up to his ear, what's up Cole says into the phone, dude my brother missing he went to a function last night one of his boys were throwing and he didn't come back, Toby frantically yelled into the phone, ok ok relax do you know what house he was at or anyone he was with? I know he was with his friend Dirtmith for a little while they drove there together, ok I'm gonna call him can you meet me at Dirtmiths? It's 1723 Lake Street. Cole writes it down on a piece of notebook paper, yeah yeah I'll be there in 15 he says going to grab his keys, alright see you there, Toby hangs up and turns to see his dad standing in his living room doorway, your brothers missing… his dad said in a serious slightly angry tone, I know dad is going to talk to people who were supposed with him at that party Toby says as he goes to walk past him, his dad aggressively shoves him back, yeah and where the fuck were you?! Leaving your brother alone at a party, his dad yelled at him, Toby stared at him with shock mixed with some anger, well then where were you, you let your son go unattended to a party?! Toby shouted back, toby was quickly dropped with a punch from his dad. You're supposed to look out for him while I'm at work you ungrateful fucking mistake!! Toby tries to get up but takes another punch to the face causing him to fall over, don't fucking blame this on me! This is your fault! his dad screams as he stomps on Toby, your brothers are gone because of you! His dad picks Toby up and punches him again knocking him back down, toby lies on the ground staring at the bottom of the wall as he feels blood come out of his nose, he had lost all hope of fighting back, he's suddenly picked up again and thrown head first into the fridge. 

Cole arrived at the dirtmith's house and noticed Nelson's car in the driveway, Cole got out of the car and rushed up to the door, and knocked, a few seconds past when the door opened and it was Chloe, Nelson, and Gina. Did Toby call you? Cole asked and they all nodded, Nelson said as they all walked to the living room to see Dirtmith and 2 cops, hello one of the officers said, hello officer do you guys have any idea what could have happened? Chloe asks, well as it stands no… we're asking your friend here if he saw anything, dirtmith sat with an emotionless expression, his eyes looked very red from crying, and he had an empty blank look just staring at the wall, where's toby? Gina asks out cole turns to her, he called me before I got here he said he'd meet me here, I'll see where he is, Cole goes up to the phone on the wall and calls Toby, the phone rings for a few seconds before forwarding to voicemail. Well, he should be here soon Cole says as he shrugs and puts his phone away, I'm gonna go to Toby I haven't heard from him and I need to be there for him right now, Chloe says as she walks out of the house, she waits by Nelson's car and stares at him as the rest walk out onto the porch, Nelson walks over and unlocks the car and they both get in, cole and gina go to Cole's car and he follows Nelson to Toby's house. 

Chapter: 4 darkness from the mist 

Nelson and Cole both pull into Toby's driveway, and they notice his front door is open, the 4 of them get out and enter Toby's house quietly, Nelson leads the way through Toby's house when they start to hear something upstairs, crying… Toby's crying, they walk upstairs and approach the door and Chloe opens it, when she opens the door they see Toby sitting against the wall of the bathroom with cuts on his left wrist and a kitchen knife in his hand, Chloe gasps and cry's out, toby… wha… oh my god toby she says as her voice breaks and tears form, she grabs him and hugs him as Nelson gina and cole watch in shock, Cole looks around the bathroom and his blood runs cold, he sees a similar symbol on Toby's bathroom window that he saw on his kitchen window, it was a tall thin man with lanky long arms, it was like it was fogged into the mirror but the shower was off, toby pulls back from Chloe, I don't remember doing this I just realized I was in the bathroom cutting my arm! He said in a sobbing tone, Chloe noticed the bruises on his face and the dried blood below his nose, I woke up on the floor and saw this tall man in a white suit! He cried out, but he did nothing he just stared at me, and looking at him made me feel nauseous and sick. Chloe helped him up and began walking him out of the house, we need to get him to a hospital these are deep cuts she said as she frantically pulled Toby through the house, Gina Nelson and Cole followed as they burst out of the house toby got into Nelson's car with Chloe and Nelson and cole and gina followed behind. 

Dirtmith sat in his living room eating pizza and watching the Batman animated series on his living room TV, all he could think about was when he told Danny he'd drive him home but got to drunk and forgot, this is my fault I could've prevented this he thinks to himself, dirtmith continues to eat when he hears something from his kitchen, he gets up and walks into his kitchen to see nothing but he notices his knife holder is tipped over, he tips it back up and turns to go back to the living room, he sits on the couch and continues to watch TV when static interrupts it, annoyed he gets up and looks behind the TV and moves the antenna around to get a better signal when a long black hand firmly slides onto his shoulder with an iron grip, dirtmith freezes as he try's to process what he just felt, before he could turn around he's quickly and violently whipped across his living room and into the wall leaving a big hole, he gets up in a panic while groaning in pain and he sees nothing, he looks around frantically before rushing to his kitchen and grabbing his car keys, he sprints out of the house as fast as he can run and heads to his car, about half way their the conductor suddenly appears in front of him, dirtmith freezes and stares in fear but he suddenly feels weak and nauseous and drops to the ground, he starts to feel his stomach turn when he notices a long line of this black liquid separating him from the conductor and his car, the substance began to surround him and dribble closer when he suddenly begins to vomit, he yells out in fear when he sees he puked the same black liquid, he begins to vomit more as he try's to get up and run but the substance makes him slip and fall back down, dirtmith try's to get up but the substance rises around him and covers his arms and legs preventing him from moving, he turns his head while coughing up the substance to see the conductor standing over him looking down at him, dirtmith screams but is quickly silenced when the conductor stomps his foot down destroying his head. 

Chapter 5: hopeless 

Craig stood in the hospital room talking to the doctor, sir we should have this conversation in private outside the room, the doctor walks to the door while Craig glared at Toby before walking out, the things your son has been telling us, are potential signs of schizophrenia… Craig half smiled and laughed, the kids a pussy he's doing it for attention, ok well I'm gonna leave you to talk to him yourself I'll be back later for tests, Craig walks back into the room and closes the door, he glared at Toby as he walks up to the bed, you stupid fuck you're gonna start doing stupid shit for attention now? He said slightly raising his voice, toby looked down in silence, I fucking hate you… you know that right he says as he leans down closer to Toby, you've done nothing but make me regret having to call you my son, you drove your mother away from me! You got your brother killed! Craig looks over to see the hospital door open by a nurse coming to see the commotion, suddenly Toby slaps the metal food Trey was given earlier on the side of Craig's face, his father grunts in pain and falls over onto one knee when Toby jumps down from the bed and slams the Trey on the back of Craig's head dropping him down, toby is pulled off by doctors and nurses before he's restrained by security, Craig gets up holding the back of his head as he tries to charge at toby but is stopped by security, you fucking prick I'll kill you toby! Come here bitch! His father fought to get free from the security guards, get the fuck off me! Craig shouted, fuck you, Craig! Toby suddenly shouted I hope you die and wither away of cancer so I can watch just like how you had watched your childhood friend Ellis! Craig's face turned red from rage, don't you ever fucking think of coming home you worthless motherfucker, I'll kill you myself if I ever see you again Toby! He shouts as he tries his hardest to fight through security, he heads buts a security guard and gets taken down and restrained, call the cops a nurse yells out as the guard moves back holding his forehead, I'll kill the little motherfucker I hate him! Craig shouts on the ground, a few minutes later officers arrive and handcuff Craig before escorting him out of the hospital. Cole sat on his porch smoking a cigarette, have you talked to Toby he asked Gina who was sitting next to him, no I haven't visited him at all since that incident at the hospital, I haven't had time with working 2 jobs, and college. They think he's a schizophrenic, he's gonna be at a Psych ward for at least 5 months, Cole responds. I knew something seemed off but do you think he has schizophrenia? Gina asks, no… I don't think he does, I saw a symbol on his mirror when we found him in the bathroom, it looked very similar to the one I saw in my kitchen window. Gina stared a Cole, this is crazy, I keep imagining that man he was describing, did you see that too? No Cole responded, I just saw that symbol, Gina stands up, this is too much, I'm gonna go home I have work at 7 tomorrow, and I need a break from all of this. Ok, Cole says as he stands up tossing his cigarette out, have a safe drive I'll see you tomorrow, gina walks down colts driveway and gets into her car, gina begins driving, about 5 minutes into her drive she starts to think to herself that something feels off, after about 15 seconds the high beams of her car slowly illuminated a log in the road becoming brighter as she drove closer. Gina stopped and started confused about what to do next, she got out of the car and walked up to the log, it was big… too big to move by herself, she started to feel chills as she felt a sudden rush of fear, she turned and looked around but saw nothing, behind her was a cornfield but as she looked she saw movement, she focused on the movement until eventually she saw the figure of a person emerge. Her headlights illuminated this man wearing what looked like a scarecrow outfit, he was holding an axe, gina looked at his face… she froze in fear realizing what she was looking at, the man's face was lumpy and scarred, he had sets of stitches wear his mouth would be, it was sewn shut, his eyes were as black as coal, the man suddenly started sprinting at gina so she made a b line for the driver's side door, gina opened the door and got into the car very quickly and locked the doors while she started the car. she screamed when the driver's side window shattered loudly, the man had hit the window with his axe and was now next to her car looking at her. Gina put the car in reverse and started driving backward looking behind her as she drove, she quickly turned back to see the man running after her car so she went a little faster. She makes enough space from the man to do a 3-point turn in someone's driveway and drive off the other way. Gina glanced behind her as she drove away but the man was gone, she turned back and swerved the car when the dark suddenly appeared and then disappeared, she kept the car aligned and continued driving now going 85 as she sped to her house. Toby lies in the wardroom looking at the ceiling, he looks over at the door and sits up when his female psychiatrist Cassidy opens the door and enters his room. Hi Toby, how are you feeling? Fine… toby responded in a monotone voice, well I wanted to start today with a walk outside since it's nice out, Toby responded as he followed her out of the room and down the hall, did you eat yet? She turns to ask him, Toby nods his head but doesn't turn to look at her. They open the front doors and walk down the stairs outside and walk by the woods, so what are you interested in? Cassidy asked seeming intrigued, toby was confused in his head as to why she was asking this, I like to produce music, I do DJ gigs at a few college campuses, I was supposed to go Salem State but… you know. Yeah, I'm sorry Tony but I'm sure you'll be getting back to that soon, Cassidy smiled at Toby, you have people in your life who care about you, Toby slightly smiled back, yeah I know. 

Chapter: 6 The quiet 

Nelson takes a sip of his lemonade before putting it down, what was that thing you were telling me about with that store that sells those cassettes? Oh yeah, Cole responds putting down his burger, it's called the Boat Benedict, they sell any cassette you could want, I went there a few days ago with Gina and I got Paradise City by Guns and Roses and a whole def Leppard album. Yo, are you serious which one? Pyromania that rockstar shit, holy shit then they must have Motley Crue and Pink Floyd, yeah they do I already got dark side of the Moon there before Cole says, Nelson leans back, that's crazy I'm going there, would you guys like your check, the waitress stood over them politely smiling, yes please cole says crumpling up a napkin and putting it on the plate, btw I've been meaning to ask, what's going on with you and Gina? Nelson says with a slight smirk, cole stares perplexed for a moment, what do you mean? Bro stop playing you guys are always hanging out and when you're not around she's always talking about you it's obvious, as far as I know, nothing is going on with us Cole says, Nelson leans in, did you crack that? He says in a serious tone but it is obvious he is busting his balls, his straight face slowly turns to a smirk. No, I… dude you're an idiot Cole says smiling before taking out his wallet, he puts 25 down on the table before they both get up and leave. They both walk out into the parking lot and over to their cars, alright dude I'll catch you tomorrow, Cole calls out, yeah have fun catching Gina tonight, nelson says laughing and shutting his door, cole gets into his car with a smirk before turning the car on and driving away. Cole drives down the background as he gets closer to his house, the day is shifting into the late afternoon and it is getting darker out, cole slows down to pull into his driveway where he sees Gina's car in his driveway, cole parks to the side of her and gets out of car confused, he hears Gina's door slam shut and she comes running around her car and jumps into cole hugging him and crying, cole hugs her back but is still confused, hey hey what's going on cole asks her in a concerned tone, gina looks up him with her hands around his neck, last night there was this guy, he was dressed like a scarecrow and he chased me and broke my car window with an axe she said as her voice broke from crying. Why didn't you call me sooner or come see me sooner are you ok? Cole questioned her sounding somewhat scared, she nodded her head as she hugged him closer, I wanna stay with you tonight I don't feel safe at my house she said with her face buried into his shoulder, ok that's fine, let's go inside come. Cole guides Gina inside and locks the front door behind them, gina follows Cole down a short hallway into his living room, he turns his living room light on and turns to her. Um, you can sit down, Do you want a drink or something? Cole asked, gina picked up on his nervous tone when he asked this, I'll have water, she responded. Ok sure, Cole said as he walked out of the living room, he returned moments later with a water bottle and handed it to her, thank you she said grabbing it and putting it next to her, so you said this guy… his mouth had stitched? Yeah, and… his eyes, they were pitch black, maybe because it was nighttime and I only saw him illuminated by my car's headlights… but there were no irises or any color, just pitch black. Cole looked at her as he listened, he sighed while scratching the back of his neck thinking of something to say, what the fuck is happening Gina? The symbols, these attacks and hallucinations, Cole seemed more agitated and afraid now pacing as he spoke, who are they? I don't know she responded quickly, they don't seem human… Cole stared at her after she said this, but what does that even mean? He said quietly. I don't know what it means but they can't be, this tall man you saw, this scarecrow guy hiding in the cornfield, so then what do we do? Gina looks at Cole, We're gonna have to figure it out. Nelson adjusted his mirror as he drove down the highway, amazing by Aerosmith played through his radio as he shifted and took the exit off the highway he began driving through a rotary that led to a parking garage of the mall. Nelson pulled up to the pay station which had a woman inside the box and a small glass window. It's gonna be 35 dollars to park for the whole day 12 to 6:30 the woman said with a bored monotone voice. Ok, Nelson handed her a 20 a 10, and a 5 dollar bill, the women took the money and looked away for a moment putting it into a cash register, Nelson looked forward and saw the boom barrier go up but before he could drive forward he heard the women speak to him. hey! She said in a louder voice, Nelson turned as this startled and confused him, the woman's face looked pale and her eyes were dark, she smiled an evil smile revealing razor-sharp teeth… you should visit Toby, or maybe he'll go visit Toby, the woman said slightly giggling, her voice sounded distorted and low-pitched… it sent chills through Nelson and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand, he looked back to see the barrier still up and turned back to the women to see she was completely normal looking. Come on dude are you gonna go? There's a line, oh.. sorry Nelson said before driving forward, he drove up 2 levels before pulling into a spot close to doors leading into a Sam goody. He sat in his car looking down for a moment, trying to process what just happened, did I just see that? He thought to himself, he got out of his car and put his hands in his pockets as he headed to the side past the entrance towards the flight of stairs, he began walking downstairs and after he got down the second flight he walked into the parking garage and enters a sears store. Nelson walked through the store into the main lobby of the mall, he looked around as people walked past him when a young woman with dirty blonde hair and green eyes approached him, hello… I know I don't know you but… somethings happening and I need help I… I keep trying to leave but I always end up back here and other people are just ignoring me. Nelson stared at her as he felt that same feeling he felt when he spoke with that woman at the boom barrier, he turned and tried to get the attention of a random guy walking past him, hey buddy you… the man walked right by him like he didn't exist, the woman watched this happen and she looked visibly scared. Nelson found another man walking by and he extended his hand out to touch his shoulder, hey man… the man walked right past Nelson ignoring him, his body didn't move at all when Nelson's hand went on his shoulder, he noticed how solid and firm the man felt as he walked past, it felt like metal. He turned and looked at the woman in fear as she looked back visibly shaken, what's your name? He asked her, Kate I was supposed to meet my friend here, ok I'm Nelson I… Nelson froze as he looked behind Kate and around the mall, what? What's wrong? Kate turned feeling the adrenaline rush her and also froze in fear, everyone in the mall had stopped and they were all staring at Kate and Nelson, they were all smiling and their eyes were all completely black. let's get the fuck out of here now, Nelson says motioning the women to follow him. he and the women move through the crowd of people with their heads all turning to watch them but show no reaction to them pushing by, kate and Nelson eventually reach a flight of stairs with a window viewing outside, they can see the parking lot and the roads on the highway. They frantically walked down a few flights of steps before finding themselves in a narrow hallway with a door at the end, Nelson immediately realizes this isn't the layout of the mall, and he turned around to see the entrance where they came from was gone… it was covered up by the wall, he also saw another door directly behind him at the other end of the hall. Kate looked at him as tears formed in her eyes, what's happening? How is this happening? I don't… he was cut off when the door behind them swung open, the scarecrow man with a stitched mouth stood in the doorway, he was holding an axe and had a rope in his other hand. Kate screamed and hid behind Nelson while he stood frozen in fear, the man raised his axe pointing it at Kate while he tilted his head to the side, run! Nelson yelled out as they both turned and booked it down the long hallway to the other door, Kate cried as she ran hearing the man's footsteps chasing after them. Nelson swung the door open and slammed it shut after Kate ran through as they both pushed their bodies up against it, to their surprise the man did not try and push his way through the door, they stepped away from the door after a few moments and turned to see they were in a dark mall lobby with a big carousel set up, they walk around the carousel and see 3 hallways that are too dark to see down, suddenly a rope comes flying out and wraps around Kate's ankle pulling hard and sending her sprawling to the ground, Nelson watches in horror as Kate screams while getting dragged down the far left hallway, he looks to his side to see the conductor staring at him. Nelson feels nauseous as he looks at it so he turns and runs down the middle hallway in the pitch dark, he comes to a hard stop when he runs right into a door knocking him into a sitting position. Nelson holds his forehead while he gets up and quickly turns when he hears footsteps running down the hall, Nelson quickly swings the door open and slams it shut before running as fast as he can, he notices orange lights illuminating this long wide corridor and locked down closed stores as he runs and makes it to a 2 way split in the room. Nelson looks at both hallways realizing no lights are illuminating them and begins to panic while deciding which one to take, he suddenly hears the sound of water flowing and he turns around… this black liquid begins to seep into the room from under the door he came in from, it began to make its way across the room at a rapid pace before a huge amount of the substance comings out of all the caged mall stores, Nelson gasps in fear as he turns and books it down the right hallway, he turns and to his horror he sees that the substance has already made its way to the hallway and its rising taller as it speeds down the hall while he runs, Nelson notices the outline of a door and he picks up his speed while the substance gets closer and closer, he could hear the water like liquid splashing and rushing after him. Nelson slammed into the door and pushed the metal bar to open causing him to go right through it as it opened and onto the ground. Nelson frantically grabbed his glasses off the ground got up in a state of shock and turned back around to look at the door, it was no longer a metallic door but wooden and it was all boarded up, he realized he was at the backside of the mall and looked around to see its windows are all boarded up, Nelson makes his way around to the front to see his car is the only one outside in the parking lot, not in the parking garage where he originally parked it. He ran to his car and looked up at the mall before pulling out and leaving, the big sign on the front that originally said Golden City Mall now said Golden City Mall, going out of business. 

Chapter 7: From Before Time 

Gina and Chloe sat on Gina's living room couch, I saw Toby today, he looked tired I don't think he's been sleeping much, Gina looked at her and then looked down, are they just keeping him in that room all day? I think so… he said he purposely doesn't leave when they offer to bring him outside most of the time because he just wants to lay in bed, that's not good at all Chloe, I don't even know how this happened to him Chloe says in a sad tone while she lowers her head, I miss h… their conversation is interrupted by knocking at the door. Gina and Chloe approach the door and hear Nelson talking from the other side, Gina! Please open up Cole's not home I need help! Gina opens the door and Nelson rushes in and shuts the door locking it almost instantly, I don't know what the fuck just happened! I don't know how to explain it! But I might have just shit myself I'm not sure, ok ok relax Chloe says what are you talking about? What happened? I went to the mall, the Golden City Mall because I was looking for this store that opened there, cole told me it was called Boat Benedict they have all genres of cassettes and vinyl. Anyway, I… started to notice everyone was… different like they weren't there they were just… I don't know. Chloe and Gina stared at him for a moment, then I ended up seeing this girl there who was seeing the same shit I was seeing, and all of a sudden the people were gone and it was dark and this dude who looked like a scarecrow was chasing us with an axe. Gina's eyes widened when she heard this, I saw that same guy too… he had a sewed mouth, and dark eyes Nelson added, he got that girl I was with, she said her name was Kate. Holy shit Gina said as she pulled her hair back with both her hands lightly, I still haven't seen anyone like that Chloe said, why is it only happening to us? Do you think we're being targeted? Nelson responds, yeah but by what we both saw this scarecrow guy and Toby were talking about some tall thin person in a suit. Should we go to the police or maybe try and catch one of them on video, we would have to get it on video cause they would make us roommates with Toby without it Nelson says, we're gonna try and draw that symbol Cole saw, and see if we can get a video or picture of it, Chloe says out confidentiality. Are you insane what if that thing just murders all of us he's shown he has no problem doing that! Nelson says slightly raising his voice sounding concerned, we have to try something it could be our best shot! Chloe says back talking louder, ok ok Gina interrupts, that sounds stupid Chloe, see that's an awful idea that's just making a plan on how we want to die Nelson chimes in, Chloe looks at both of them visibly annoyed, fine then what brilliant plan do you have Nelson, Chloe says with an attitude, nobody has a plan! Nelson says raising his voice, nobody knows what the fuck to do! We! Are! Fucked! He yells now in a slight panic. No, we're not, Gina responds calmly, we're still alive, right? Yeah but for how long? If that thing is targeting us we're all gonna see the devil's dick soon enough Nelson says while looking at Gina. Nelson storms out of the room and opens the front door, where are you going? Gina asks following him outside with Chloe behind her, I'm going to Cole's, I got an idea I want him to hear. Toby and Cass sat across from each other in the food court area of the ward, so how'd you feel this morning? I know that lessened the dosage for your medication, Toby looked up at her and paused for a moment before responding, alright I guess, he said quietly, maybe like 6 hours. Cass noticed the heavy bags he had under his eyes, Toby's eyes wandered away from her and he noticed one of the lunch ladies staring at him, upon a closer look he realized… it was Danny. Toby's eyes slowly widened as he felt his body start to slightly shake he began to have ringing in his ears. Cass reached out at his shoulder with a concerned expression, hey what's wrong? Are you ok? Toby didn't look at her and continued staring, Danny grinned at him as a black liquid started flowing from his mouth and nose. Toby's face contorted into a look of horror as the ringing in his ears intensified when he was suddenly snapped out of it by Cass gently shaking him, Toby what's wrong?! You look terrified she said in a slightly shaky voice, it seemed that seeing Toby so frightened also creeped her out. Toby got up and quickly speed-walked out of the lunch room and down the hall into his room, Toby! Wait Cass said as she sped up her pace following behind him, You can talk to… she was cut off by Toby shutting his door and locking it. Toby quickly walked into the bathroom and began vomiting into the toilet, he shakily wiped his mouth and flushed before leaning on the sink and breathing heavily, he slowly looked up and saw, a symbol on his bathroom window. he suddenly heard a voice, "They've barely visited you" "They don't care Toby" he didn't recognize the voice and began looking around frantically when he stopped and realized it was coming from in his head, "nobody ever loved you toby that's why you got sent here" Toby's vision started to blur and he felt dizzy, he stared in the mirror and noticed how different he suddenly looked, his eyes were bright yellow and his skin was a ghostly white, what caught his attention first though were the black veins on his face and neck. Seconds after this Toby collapses as his vision goes dark. Cole is suddenly awoken from a nap by knocking at his door, he rubs his eyes while he gets up and looks through the peephole on the door, he sees Nelson on the other side who continues to knock, Cole opens the door and steps aside so Nelson can come in, dude ok get this, Nelson says with his hands on his head. He rubs his face quickly before turning to Cole, Chloe thinks of a "brilliant" idea to try and re-draw the symbol you saw and see if he'll appear so we can get proof to take to the police. Cole stares at him wiping some sleep out of his eye before responding, what? What have you guys been discussing what plan are you guys making? A plan to stop all of this he responds, I'm thinking we go get Toby, find a way to sneak him out and we just get the fuck out of Trenton. We can go to Cali, Ohio, and Texas, I have a few cousins in Assonet Massachusetts. Where are we all gonna go through? And what about our families? Listen dude we can come back for them or try and bring them with us but we gotta get out of here soon… before that thing comes back and comes for all of us. Where's Chloe now have you told the rest of them about this? She's with Gina at her place I rushed there because I saw the man Toby described for the first and last time Nelson says as he walks outside to his car with Cole following him. Regardless, phase 1 of the plan is mandatory… bailing Toby out, we're bringing him back home. Cole looks at Nelson with a serious but determined face, I don't know about your whole fleeing Trenton plan, but I know we need help Toby, I'm in. The two get into each other's cars and Cole follows Toby to the Trenton psych ward, after about 20 minutes of driving they pull into the parking lot to see police and an ambulance, Nelson looks around confused and concerned before turning to look at Cole who also had a look of concern, they both get out and quickly make their way up to the entrance door where multiple officers are standing with yellow tape covering the entrance, woah what the hells going on Nelson says as he and cole approach the officers, gentleman this a restricted area you have to step back this is a crime scene. Crime scene? What happened? We're here to see our friend Nelson proclaim, well you boys are gonna have to wait and step back you can't be here right now, 2 officers begin lightly guiding Nelson and Cole back as they look at each other shocked and perplexed. Thank you gentlemen the officers say as they turn and walk back up to their spots. dude, what the fuck, you don't think… this has something to do with Toby? I don't like the feeling I'm getting, shit! Nelson yells out, fuck dude! no, it can't be we just timed it at the worst possible time, right?! Nelson says sounding slightly panicked. Hey excuse me ma'am Nelson says approaching a woman who looks like she works at the ward. We were told there was an incident our friend Toby Graves is a patient here do you know if this involves him at all or if he's ok? The woman looks around before responding. I'm sorry but the incident does involve your friend, Tony, he had another episode today and ended up attacking and seriously injuring one of the staff. Nelson slowly turns to Cole and they look at each other in shock. 

Chapter 8: everything ends in the end

Hey, you got the camera, right? Chloe turns to ask Gina, yeah who is this guy again? His name is Dave, and he used to do a lot of ghost hunting he told me he was thinking of looking into the disappearances after I told him about everything that's been happening. Ok, and you know him enough to just go to his house? Yeah we went to the same church when we were kids, I think he's gonna help a lot. The two approached a small house on the outskirts of the town, it was surrounded by trees and didn't have neighbors close by. They walk up to the front door and Chloe knocks 3 times, a few moments pass before the door opens and a man steps into the doorway, he has short black straight hair with a beard and brown eyes with darker tan skin. He wore a hoodie and sweatpants and Gina noticed he was wearing slides with socks on. What's up I'm Dave come on in he says motioning the two to come inside, Chloe told me about some paranormal stuff you guys have been seeing, I heard it got one of your friends pretty bad so I'm gonna help you guys get to the bottom of it, I had somewhat lost interest in ghost searching but after reading up on all the disappearances and all the weird shit happening around Trenton… it hooked me back in. How many of these ghosts did you catch on tape? Gina asks, well… I've caught nothing yet, but when I heard about this situation I knew for sure that I could catch something. Gina looks at Chloe with a straight unenthusiastic face, Chloe nervously smiles at her before turning to Dave, ok but you know what to look for right like you what you're doing? Uh kinda sorta… this would be my third attempt at going out and trying to catch something. Chloe and Gina look at each other and then back at Dave, excuse me Chloe says, where is your restroom? It's down the hall to the left Dave points out, ok thank you I'll be right back. Chloe walks down the hall and turns out of sight leaving Gina and Dave in the living room, have you had any encounters yourself? Gina asks him breaking the silence, no, I heard reports of strange people in the woods, people's backyards things like that. There's this man, me and my friends have seen two different people so far and we don't know what the hell it means or what they want. Gina and Dave's conversation echoed while Chloe was in the bathroom, she had the mirror fogged up and began tracing the outline of a design on it with her finger trying her best to remember what the symbol looked like that was on Toby's mirror. She finishes it and steps back staring at the mirror, the lights suddenly start flickering and she hears the sound of water pouring, she quickly turns to the tub and sees a black liquid pouring out of the tub head. She steps back with a scared look on her face as her adrenaline spikes up, she turns to the door and tries opening it but it doesn't budge, Chloe frantically turns after trying the door to see the liquid overflowing the tub and spilling onto the floor at a fast pace. She puts her back to the door and try's opening the door but the knob doesn't budge, hey uh can you guys help me out I think the door is jammed! Chloe calls out trying to compress her fear. Gina and Dave hear this walking over to the bathroom, what? The doors jammed I've never had that, Dave grabs the knob and goes to open it but it doesn't budge, yeah uh we can't open the door either the knob won't budge, Chloe's eyes widen when she feels wetness at her feet, she looks down to see the liquid has completely covered Dave's bathroom floor and it begins to rise, Chloe frantically turns the knob over and over again in a panic. Guys, please help Something happening the bathrooms flooding with black water!!! Chloe shouts her voice breaking as she slightly starts crying. Gina and Dave listen to her yell when Dave is suddenly flung back and sent flying into the kitchen, Gina turns to see the conductor looking over Dave on the floor. She sprints at him and screams picking up a vase while she runs and throws it at the conductor, in an instant the creature disappears and the vase is smashed into the wall. Gina turns frantically as she feels fear and adrenaline take over, Chloe bangs the bathroom door and starts hitting her shoulder against it as the substance rises to her knees, she gives up and quickly moves to the bathroom window and tries to open it, the window doesn't budge. Chloe panics more and begins hitting the window as hard as she can as she starts to scream, she feels the black substance rising past her waist and creeping up to her chest. She hears the substance bubbling behind her and she sees the conductor rise from the liquid and stand over her, Chloe notices his white suit stays completely spotless despite being in the black substance. She stared in shock and she began to scream as she tried to back up, the liquid was so thick it was hard for her to move she was almost swimming. Suddenly the knob of the bathroom door breaks off with a hard slamming sound behind it and the door swings open letting out all the black liquid into Dave's house, Gina and Dave both fall back onto the ground upon the substance pouring out everywhere into the other room. Chloe Dave and Gina all get up completely covered in the liquid and look around seeing it everywhere in the bathroom and the hallway leading to the living room. They all stare at each other with the same shocked scared expression when Chloe breaks the silence, where did he go? You saw him right? Gina nods without talking when Dave responds right after, what the fuck just happened? Dave started panicking as he eagerly waited for a response. I don't know I… I tried that idea I told you and Nelson about yesterday, I thought maybe it could work and I could get a picture, what are you talking about? Dave asks when Gina looks at her with a look of rage, you what? You drew that symbol?! Jesus Chloe, it summoned that thing and it almost killed us! Chloe looked at both of them not speaking feeling extremely guilty. did you summon that thing? in my house!? Dave yells, does that mean it's attached to me?! Attached to the house?! He says getting closer to Chloe, she started slowly back peddling getting slightly scared, what the fuck did you do!? He yells at her from a close range. Gina steps in between them ok Right enough, Dave steps back as she pushes Chloe back slightly, both of you need to leave… now Dave says, Gina turns to him, ok but… get out! Dave yells cutting her off, both of you get the fuck out of my house! Gina and Chloe quickly make their way to Dave's front door and hurry outside. 

Chapter 9: ticking time bomb 

Toby sat in a straight jacket up against the wall, he looked around at the white padded room he was locked in. He felt tired but he hadn't slept more than 4 hours in a few days now, he looked to the ceiling, then to the right wall, and when he looked to the left his eyes focused on a person standing in the corner, it was Danny. He turned around and smiled, hey toby, you've been stuck for a while huh? Toby just looked at Danny unable to respond. Friends are gone too? None of them came to visit you? Toby's facial expression saddened as he listened, they just forgot about you Toby, they don't value you as a friend. How are you talking to me right now? Toby quietly responds, because you need to know the truth, they've left you to rot in this room, not even Chloe's come for you… instead, she's been hanging out with Cole. Toby froze in a shocked expression that quickly turned to sadness mixed with anger, he had no idea how to feel about anything in that moment. Danny then held his arm out and smiled while he pointed to the other side of the room, Toby looked to where he was pointing and he saw the conductor standing on the other side, just staring at him. Toby's vision began to blur and ringing began in his ears the longer he stared at the monster causing him to close his eyes and ball up groaning in discomfort on the ground. Linda exited the psyche ward and walked to the end of the empty parking lot, the cool autumn night weather felt comfortable for her as she took her keys out and approached her car. She stopped when she suddenly heard a rustle in the woods behind the lot, she heard more rustling at a quicker faster pace and she heard a sound that instantly made her blood run cold. A deep growling came from the woods, it sounded like a dog growling, Linda backpedaled slowly when her expression became horrified as a large bulky figure emerged from the woods and stepped under a streetlight. The light showed the creature's appearance, it was a large bipedal werewolf-looking monster with large talons and long arms and legs, it looked quite over 6'0 tall but the thing that creeped Linda out the most was the large evil smile on the thing's face, it's growling turned into a deep evil giggling which terrified Linda even more. She suddenly turned and booked it to her car as fast as she could running off pure adrenaline, she heard the things heavy footsteps chasing after her, it was gaining on her at a fast rate. Linda screamed as she got within arm's range of her car door and pulled it open when she was suddenly yanked back and sent flying onto the pavement. Linda screamed in horror as the creature lunged on top of her and began Viciously biting into her eating her alive. Nelson and Cole sat in Nelson's room playing the n64 when his house phone began to ring, he got up to go answer it, hello? Hey, it's Gina, can I and Chloe stop by? Something crazy just happened. Uh sure what happened? I'll explain when we get there, can we also use your shower? Sure? I guess Nelson responds, ok thanks we'll be there in 10. The phone hangs up so Nelson puts it back into the holder, what the fuck happened now? He thought to himself as he went back to his room to play video games, who was it? Cole asks, Gina I guess something happened to her and Chloe they're on their way now. After 15 minutes or so Nelson hears his front door open so he gets up and walks out into his living room, he sees Gina and Chloe standing there covered in the black liquid. Holy shit… what is that tar? We don't know, I don't even know how to explain what we just saw Nelson Gina says, well honestly at this point it's probably believable. We met with this guy who was supposedly a ghost hunter we thought we could use his help Gina explains, then I tried that thing I was telling you guys about Chloe chimes in, and I drew the symbol on the mirror. Nelson's eyes widen, you did that shit! And you didn't stop her?! Nelson turns to Gina, she said she had to use the bathroom what was I supposed to do? Yeah and let me guess that summoned him and all hell broke loose, Chloe! Have you not realized every time we interact with those symbols things get worse? Whatever the fuck this thing is it's obvious it gains power through those symbols. Chloe, you're giving it strength! Well, I'm sorry ok! I just wanted to get proof so I can prove Toby isn't crazy! She yells starting to cry. Ok everyone chill out just relax Cole says moving in between them, both of you guys are completely out of line, me! Nelson proclaims she's the one summoning the fucking menswear demon. Fuck you, Nelson! Chloe yells back, alright enough! Cole yells out, Chloe storms out of the room crying and the 3 of them hear her footsteps go down the stairs. Dude cmon, Cole says turning to Nelson, the menswear demon. Nelson slightly laughs before his response, bro but what is that thing he says turning to a serious tone. I don't know, none of us know, I'm gonna make sure she's ok Gina says as she exits the room. Gina quickly makes her way down the stairs and walks outside, she sees Chloe sitting on the porch with her head in her hands, gina approaches her, hey Chloe? Are you ok? I'm sorry she responds, her voice was muffled due to her face in her palms. It's ok, we can still fix this… and win, I just want him to get released, I miss him so much. I know I know, we all miss him, he's gonna come home soon, we're gonna prove what's happening to us is real. 

Chapter 10: Love Scars 

Cole drives down a backroad turning on his high beams to see better in the darkness. He slowly pulls to a stop on the edge of the road as he sees the psych ward in the distance with woods behind it. Cole gets out of his car and pulls out a Polaroid camera, he begins walking through the woods in the direction of the psych ward. He makes it to the tree line and sees out into the parking lot in front of the entrance, he sees it's empty with nobody around so he starts taking pictures and storing them in his bag, after he takes 3 pictures he hears rustling behind him, he quickly turns around and pulls out a flashlight and shines it revealing a person. Oh shit Cole proclaims as he stumbles back, the person takes a few steps back and puts his hands up, woah woah hey I'm just out here ghost hunting. Cole stares at him confused, the guy has a digital camera and night vision goggles on. What are you doing taking pictures out here so late? The man asks Cole, don't worry about it Cole responds harshly. Alright man whatever, I got a tuxedo man to catch the man says walking away. Cole looks up at him with a serious stare, wait you're catching a what? The man stops and turns around, nobody believes me but these 2 idiot girls summoned something in my house, it's this tall monster that wears a white suit, the thing's face is pitch black and he has no features. Coles's eyes widen, I've seen it too, it's the reason my friends in that psych ward. Those two girls are my friends they were just trying to help but I know Chloe has that stupid idea of drawing a symbol. Yeah, maybe I can still help you guys out, I'm Dave by the way. Cole, responds with one word, nice to meet you, why don't you come back with me and show me some of your evidence, I think it also is good for you and my friends to restart on the right foot. Gina wakes up in the middle of the night, she looks at her alarm clock to see it reads 2:45 in the morning.

She sits up in her bed and rubs her eyes when she jolts from a scraping sound on the window and instantly looks in the direction of it. She slowly gets up and creeps towards the window staying low to the ground, as she approaches the window she hears the scraping sound again and she sees the slight movement of someone's shadow outside which terrifies her. Gina peaks under the blinds slowly and sees the scarecrow man standing close to her window. She quietly gasps and moves away from the window with a look of horror on her face, she gets up and moves to her kitchen grabbing a steak knife before exiting and going into the bathroom locking the door. Gina sat up against the wall in the dark bathroom with the moonlight dimly illuminating the room. She heard nothing except silence, it was so quiet she could hear her heart racing. She suddenly jolted again in fear and felt her heart in her throat as she heard glass shatter, followed by someone entering through the window and stepping on glass as they began walking through her apartment. Gina's entire body was shaking as she began to feel her eyes start to water, she slowly stood up on wobbly legs and shakily held the knife up at the door. She heard footsteps all around her apartment until they stopped right outside the bathroom door, she could see his Silhouette in the doorway. The man stood still for what felt like hours but in reality was about 3 minutes when suddenly she heard screaming and a thud against the door. Cole shoves the quiet back into the door again but the creature quickly slices at him with his scythe, cole ducks to the side and shoves him away into Dave's direction, Dave yells as he smashes a vace into the quiet face briefly stunning it as the monster back peddled holding its face. The black substance began leaking out of its face from where all the glass shards were and it tilted its head to the side at Dave before slicing his thigh and knocking him down, cole grabbed a kitchen knife and charged the quiet swiping at it but it blocks catching Cole's hand and they push each other back, the quiet quickly overpowers cole driving him into the refrigerator and then picking him up and hurling him into the edge of the kitchen counter. Cole slowly gets up stunned as the quiet approaches him and raises his scythe when it turns around hearing fast footsteps behind him, the quiet slices again at Dave's abdomen knocking him down once again when Gina runs up behind it and drives the steak knife into the back of its head. The quiet freezes like a statue and drops the scythe standing still for a few seconds, Dave groans in pain on the ground while trying to get up as Gina checks on Cole. The quiet legs suddenly give out from under and the monster drops to the floor leaking the black substance. Cole gets up disoriented and he and Gina rush over to Dave, hey alright listen dude you're gonna be fine Cole says as he examines the cuts, ok they don't look that deep, just clean them up and throw some butterfly tape. I feel like I'm gonna die man Dave says starting to panic, holy shit! Ok ok relax You gonna be fine Cole says, he silently motions to Gina to get the butterfly tape while he tries to calm down Dave. He periodically looks over at the body when Gina returns with rubbing alcohol and the tape, Cole rubs his cuts with the rag after wetting it, and Dave squirms in pain. Fuck this shit kills dude! Gina rolls her eyes thinking in her head that he's being over dramatic. Cole then wraps the butterfly tape on his leg and abdomen before helping him up, alright let's get the fuck out of here now. The 3 of them hurry outside and Cole and Dave get into his car while Gina gets into hers and she follows them out of her driveway. Nelson shut off his car after leaving it idling for a few minutes by a lake, he and Chloe sat in his car as the moonlight illuminated the surrounding trees and reflected off the water, I always used to think this spot was haunted, Chloe said. Don't say that Nelson says as he short of laughs, I like to think this is the only not haunted spot. Do you remember when we would go swimming here during the summer when we were still in middle school? Chloe points out. Yeah, I remember when Cole started freaking out when he felt a bunch of fish swimming around his legs Nelson says smiling. Chloe laughs at his response for a few seconds, the conversation went quiet for a few moments when Chloe broke it again. I'm sorry for drawing that symbol… it was such a stupid idea. Oh yeah don't worry about it, I don't think it makes all that much of a difference in this situation honestly. Chloe looks down then back up at him slowly and gets a little closer, I just didn't want anyone to stay mad at me she says quietly. Nelson looks at her slightly confused momentarily but then down when he feels her hand moving across his leg. He looks back up at her to see her face just inches away from his. I'm not mad he says as he reaches up and turns off the car light.