Chapter 11 #5
“S-s-s-s-s-s-Sybil.” She sang her name in a low, altered voice.
“I have been waiting such a long time for you.” A low growl vibrated in Crissa’s throat.
“Still begging for your daddy to let you come back home?” Lavender and I both looked at Sybil, her face paler than usual.
Crissa noticed our expressions and tilted her head.
“Oh, it seems your friends don’t know. How intriguing.
” Her blacked-out eyes returned to Sybil.
“I would wager this whole ‘prank’,” she wiggled her sharp claws in the air, mimicking quotation marks— “was your way of using and manipulating everyone into getting exactly what you needed.” She didn’t say a word.
“Mmm, I’m right, aren’t I?” Crissa tossed her head back into a sinister cackle, tugging at the gate.
“Oh, you fools! You have all followed this sneaky little cunt, letting her use you! She is not your friend.” A snarl rippled from Crissa’s mouth. “She never was…were you Sybil?”
“What the hell is she talking about?” Lavender asked. “Sybil?”
“Nothing!” she snapped back. “Isn’t it obvious what’s going on? She’s trying to pit us against each other!” Sybil whipped her head back toward Crissa and her red hair swung around her face. “But it won’t work. And as long as that freak is locked in there, we’re safe out here.”
Crissa smiled and tilted her head. “Oh? Are you sure about that?” We all watched as the empty lock at the base of the metal gate slowly began to turn, squeaking as it rotated.
“Shit—run!” I pushed the women forward and we all bolted away from the pizzeria towards the food court
Crissa’s laughter returned as she flung the gate up with one swift motion. “Marco!”
The three of us watched in horror, looking back as we ran to see Crissa laugh, stepping into the mall as a sea of rats flooded in from behind her. “What the hell? Where the fuck did all those rats come from?” Sybil shouted.
“See! I told you! They’re her friends!” Lavender stated as we turned a corner.
We kept running, hearing the chittering and scampering of the vermin, mixed with Crissa’s demonic laughter as we aimed for the foodcourt. The three of us bobbed and weaved through the vacant mall, eventually losing them all.
“There!” Lavender pointed to the long row of vacant food stalls as we stopped to catch our breaths. “We should hide back in there.”
“What? You want us to just stop and hide, like sitting ducks?” Sybil huffed.
Lavender shot her a look. “No, but if we want to leave, I need to check the keys. Tawny usually kept a master key that unlocks any door in the mall on the key ring.” Her dark curls bounced around her freckled face as her eyes met mine. “Please tell me you still have them.”
I clutched the keys in my palm before tossing them to her. “Yeah.”
The three of us crawled over the counter of the pretzel stand and fell to our knees. Lavender carefully flipped through the key ring as I peeked over the counter, keeping a look out. “What’s the nearest exit from here?”
She paused to think. “Uh, there’s a main exit just down the east side past the sunglasses store.
There’s also a stairwell with an emergency exit around the corner and midway down.
But the easiest way out would be through the large department store there.
” She pointed directly ahead. “If we can unlock the gate without making noise, we can run straight through and use the exterior doors which lead right to the parking lot.”
Sybil groaned loudly, causing us both to stop and look at her. “This is so fucking stupid!” She flung her head back. “We’re all going to die because of that psycho freak and her rats!”
Lavender flashed me a look.
“You know, I’m really getting sick of your attitude.”
Both women looked at me in shock. Lavender scooted the opposite direction, fumbling with the keys as Sybil raised a brow and cocked her head.
“Excuse me? What did you just say to me?”
My eyes rolled as I groaned. “Oh give it up already! All you ever fucking do is bitch, moan, and complain! I’m so goddamn sick and tired of it!
Hell, I’m sick of you!” Sybil gawked at my raised voice.
“Sure, she may be weird, but at least Crissa wasn’t such a raging bitch!
” Lavender made a face. “And as for this whole fucking situation—” I swung my pointer finger around in a circle.
“We’re only here, trying to fucking survive because of you!
You’re the one who was always bullying Crissa.
Always calling her names, kicking her when she’s down, doing everything you can to ruin her life.
I mean that whole seven minutes in heaven shit? Who does that?”
“Hey…guys—”
“Not now, Lavender,” Sybil hissed. Her eyes darted back to me like daggers. “Go ahead, blame me for all of this, but you forget something, Montey.”
“Guys.”
“Not now, Lavender.” I turned to Sybil. “What?”
She glared at me, crossing her arms. “None of this would have ever happened if you didn’t choose me over her.
And not once did you ever stop me from doing what I did.
Even that night in the basement. You let it happen.
All of it. So as far as blame goes, I think it’s fair to say this is really all your fault.
” Thunder erupted outside as we sat in silence, seething at one another.
“Guys—”
“What!” Sybil and I shouted in unison, both staring at Lavender, holding the key ring.
Her nostrils flared as a tear fell from her eyes. “It’s not here,” she whispered, dropping her head in defeat.
Sybil shot forward, pressing her palms against the floor. “What did you just say?”
“It’s not here…the key…it’s gone.” Lavender fought back her emotions.
“Well, where is it? You said Tawny always kept one on that ring. Where is it?” Sybil began to panic.
“I…I don’t know…I’m sorry.” Her head fell forward into her hands as she cried quietly.
Sybil groaned and sat back. “Well, we’re fucked.”
“Not necessarily.” They both slowly looked at me. “If we can find something to pick the lock, I can get the gate open. But then once we get through, we’ll need to break the glass on the exterior doors.”
“Well,” Sybil sighed. “That shouldn’t be too hard. We can grab one of the fire extinguishers on our way out. But as far as picking the lock, I got nothing.” I looked at Lavender and she shook her head.
Fuck.
“Then the only other option... is to return to Big Top.” Both of them looked at me in horror.
“ I know—but think about it. Crissa and her rats are here, in the mall, looking for us. And she hasn’t found us yet, which means she’s not in the pizzeria.
” Their faces remained blank. “Don’t you see?
If she’s not there, we can use the keys we have to escape.
The gate is already unlocked, and once we’re inside, it’s a straight shot. ”
“But,” Lavender whispered, “what about Token and Ryder? We can’t just leave them behind.”
“Like hell we can’t.” We both shot a death glare at Sybil. “I’m just saying, but at this point, it should be every man for themselves. Or woman in this case. Five moving targets is harder than a group of three and two moving together.”
Now that’s a real fucked up thing to say.
My head turned and I looked back to Lavender, offering her a gentle smile.
“I’m sure the twins are fine. They’re probably hiding back in Big Top, which means if we exit that way, we can regroup with them on our way out.
” I gently placed my hand over hers. “No one’s going to die, okay?
” Lavender wiped her eyes and smiled back, nodding her head. “Alright let’s—”
We all froze, hearing a nearby squeak.
“Quick, get down,” I whispered to them both. They ducked down, crawling over to my sides as we clung to the back of the counter. I placed my finger over my lips and silently shooshed them
Shit! If the rat finds us, we’re fucked!
The sounds of tiny feet crawling around the counter filled the air as the rat scampered around. The three of us practically held our breaths, our hearts racing as we waited.
The rat scuttled around the counter, chattering to itself.
Movement caught my gaze as I watched Sybil slowly reach her arm to grab a small box.
Lavender and I both shook our heads, quietly telling her no, but she ignored us, moving it closer while slowly turning around.
She lifted the box and in one quick motion, she slammed it upside down over the rat, closing it inside.
The small creature screamed and made all sorts of noises, clawing at the cardboard box. “Gotcha!”
“Sybil, what the hell?” I whispered loudly.
“What?” She spoke in a normal voice. “If the rat’s inside the box, it can’t help her.” She shook the brown box, whipping the rat around within it. “Yeah that’s right bitch!”
“Sybil, stop!” Lavender whispered. “Crissa’s or not, you shouldn’t do that.”
She rolled her eyes at us both. “Oh please. It’s not like the rat can tell her where we are. We’re perfectly sa—”
“Marco!”
We all hit the floor at the sound of Crissa’s sing-song voice. The rat inside the box screamed and Sybil leaned across it, trying to muffle the sounds. Lavender and I tried to help, piling on top, but it was no use.
“Oh, now that’s just cruel.” Crissa’s voice drew closer.
“Harming one of my sweet, innocent little friends…so inhumane.” She tsked before speaking in a deeper voice.
“Filthy fucking humans.” The sound of her knocking over and throwing the chairs in the food court made us all jump.
“I shall devour all of you…unless...” Her tone shifted again.
“Ah, yes. I’ll make a deal with you. If one of you were to let my little pet go, then I’ll let you live.
” We all stared at one another in disbelief.
“You’re probably thinking I’m lying, now aren’t you?
” She laughed. “Maybe I am! Or, maybe I’m telling the truth.
There’s only one way to find out!” The sound of more chairs being thrown followed her shouts.
Sybil looked down at the box. I shook my head, but she only furrowed her brows.
Don’t you fucking dare.
“I’m waiting!”
Sybil wriggled out from underneath us and stood, throwing the box with the rat out into the food court. “Take it! But I get to live!” Lavender and I shot to our feet, staring out at Crissa as she smiled.
“Oh, poor, stupid Sybil.” She snapped her head to the side as it cracked loudly. “Polo.”
Shit!
“Run!” We all climbed over the counter and quickly ran back the way we came, towards the pizzeria.
Tons of rats suddenly appeared, flooding behind us as they scampered from the stores, chasing us down.
Crissa’s evil laugh boomed through the mall as the storm intensified.
It was like a scene from a horror film, only instead of being staged and fake, it was real. And it was fucking terrifying.
“Montey!” Lavender shouted my name, reaching the gate first. She gripped the base, yanking it down as Sybil slid under it.
“Come on! Hurry up!” More rats swarmed outside Big Top as I sprinted towards it.
A few ran to her leg and began to bite her.
She screamed, trying to kick them away. “Sybil! Help!”
Instead of helping, Sybil just stood there, watching Lavender struggle.
I picked up my pace, quickly bolting to aid her.
My hands yanked the rats from her leg, their teeth ripping her skin as she cried out and fell to her knees.
One of the rats jumped from her shoulder to mine, biting my collarbone.
I bit back my pain, groaning as I peeled it off and tossed it aside.
“Get inside!” Lavender rolled around and crawled under the gate as I held it, and followed behind her, slamming the security gate shut.
She quickly pulled the keys out and locked it, dropping them as the three of us stepped back as the rats slammed into the metal.
“Now what?” Sybil asked, out of breath.
I looked at her and Lavender; the three of us all panting and sweating. “Now,” I huffed. “We leave.”
And never fucking come back.
Lavender stood slowly, her eyes widened in horror. I followed her gaze and saw the cause, feeling the blood drain from my face. Standing on the other side of the gate was Crissa, smiling. And somehow, she was holding the pizzeria keys.
“Looking for these?” She wiggled them around and they jingled.
Sybil and I stood, the three of us watching as she then leaned her head back and extended her tongue, dropping them into her mouth.
She swallowed the keys with little to no effort, gasping before turning back to us with a tilted smile.
“Ahh. Much better. And now, you’re locked in. Just the four of us.”
“Four?” Lavender quivered at the statement as we slowly backed away, keeping our eyes on Crissa.
She tilted her head and purred. “For now.”
The lock on the gate began to slowly turn again.
Not again!
“Run!”