Andy

Elizabeth shakes me awake, to which I groaned and rolled over, burying my face in Andy’s armpit.

“Ash! We’re going to be late for school, get your shit together!”

My eye pops open and I reach out for my phone lying a few feet away, face down on her pastel pink rug. I fumble with it for a moment before hitting the power button to check the time.

“Shit.” I mumble, dragging myself up off her floor, feeling the stiff ache settling in my bones, especially in my shoulders. Digging a grave was certainly not a good idea.

“Your overnight bag is on the desk,” Elizabeth nods towards it while she digs through her schoolbag, her blonde hair already pulled back in a high ponytail and golden glitter adorning her eyelids.

I’m trying to force my body to function and cooperate with me, because not only will my parents be upset that I was late to school, but Eliza’s parents. They won’t be thrilled that we slept in.

I tug on the zipper of the duffle bag and dig through the mystery contents. It occurs to me now that I did not actually pack any clothing for myself. I look around in confusion, Andy and Ashley sleeping on the floor catch my eye. Andy must’ve done it.

I pull out his choice of clothing and press my lips in a hard, thin line to conceal my smile of joy from Elizabeth. I unravel the fabric to reveal a knee-length mint green A-line dress, something I’d certainly never worn in front of him, but am pleased all the same that he liked it enough to pack it. I dig around in the back some more and produce a short pair of heeled black boots. Odd combo, but okay.

We don’t really talk, each of us more focused on getting our stuff together than bringing up the obscene things we’d done last night. Flashes of those scenes came back to life in my mind when I went to stuff my dirty clothes back into the overnight bag.

“You can change in the bathroom,” she nods towards the pink door to the right of her bedroom door that leads to her tiny closet and personal bathroom. “since this time it’s not really ‘just us girls’.”

I punch her playfully in the arm as I make my way towards the door with a small smile on my face. “Thanks.”

Shutting the door behind me, I make my first mission to wash my face. When I look in the mirror, there are obvious traces of dirt clinging to my skin. Just running my fingertips over it feels gritty and uneven.

“Cool.” I murmur under my breath, crouching to open the cupboard under her sink where Elizabeth keeps the washcloths. When I reach for the one on top of the pile, I accidentally knock it over with my hand, sending the extra ones falling behind the larger stack of towels.

“Crap.” I get down low and reach far back into the darkness under the sink, patting around for the lost towels when my hand touches something long, smooth, and cold.

Confusion pinches my brow and I pull out the foreign object, but as soon as it catches the light I drop it onto the pink shower rug, rising to my feet immediately and backing up.

“Ash?” Eliza’s voice comes from just outside the door, shaking me free from my daze.

“Y-Yeah?” I call back, forcing a pleasant, even, and calm tone.

“I’m going to go ahead and head downstairs. Come down when you’re ready to go, I’ll drive us.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

I hear her bedroom door close behind her as she leaves, prompting me to fix my gaze upon the object lying between my feet on the floor. Suddenly this whole thing feels like a scene cut out of a cliche High School movie... I am standing in the bathroom of my friend, staring down at an incredibly private object belonging to her, something that according to the pink plus sign on the little display, is certainly something she wanted to keep secret.

I take a deep breath and inch towards it again, so slowly as though I expected it to bite me. I reach out for it and grab it off the rug, holding it up to get a clear view of it. It’s a little Clear Blue pregnancy test, displaying the sign for positive.

Surely it was just a hit or miss thing, right? I’ve heard of girls taking more than one and the rest coming out negative.

I crouch back down and reach back into the darkness, patting around until I catch another one identical to the first in my hand. When I pull it out and inspect it, it unfortunately displays the same heart-wrenching symbol.

“Oh, Eliza...” I murmur, sinking down onto her floor, holding the key to her future in my hand. Suddenly all her suicidal talk last night makes sense... If she was burdened with something as unexpected as this, there is no telling how she’d deal with it.

I’ve never broached this particular topic with her before... So I don’t know her thoughts. I don’t know if she actually wants to have kids, and if so, when... I can’t imagine her terror right now.

A sudden pounding on the bathroom door causes me to jump.

“Ash!” Eliza calls out cheerfully, “I forgot my phone on the sink, can you hand it to me?”

My eyes flash up to the edge of the sink where it sits unguarded.

“Yeah! Just a minute.”

As quietly as I can manage, I shuffle both tests back into the back of her cupboard and straighten the towels, quickly closing the door and grabbing her phone before she has the chance to knock again.

I open the door and am immediately met by her bright blue eyes, all lit up and cheerful. Staring into them just now, it’s impossible for me to imagine what secrets she is hiding.

“Thanks!”

She skips off, leaving me feeling so confused. How could anyone be that energetic after recieving news like that?

I seal myself away in the bathroom again, except this time I complete what I set out to do. I quickly wash my face and chest, and exchange my night clothes - a large, old white t-shirt with the faded cover of the Titanic movie on the front paired with pink shorts with little cactuses on them - for the clothes Andy picked out. I straighten my dress and comb my fingers through my fading green locks a few times before stepping out to quickly finish getting the rest of my things together.

I spare one last look at the boys passed out on Elizabeth’s bedroom floor before exiting and heading down stairs to the kitchen where I find Eliza seated at the island, her Mother busy making breakfast.

“Ash!” Eliza greets me, “Great news! School is cancelled today.”

“Really? Why?” I wonder as I take a seat beside her. Eliza’s Mother turns around and nods towards the little flatscreen TV on the counter. It’s the local news.

“Apparently there was a gas leak this morning. They don’t think it’ll delay the prom, but there is a possibility.”

I decide not to verbally respond. My eyes flicker back to Eliza who is staring intently at the TV screen, seemingly oblivious to my gawking. I just can’t wrap my head around it... How could someone be so calm about a situation like hers? How long has she known?

I catch myself stealing constant glances, some part of me thinking that I’d already be able to see symptoms of pregnancy littering her body. None were available to be seen. I feel guilty, having accidentally discovered her secret. Now that I bear the weight of it, what do I do? Ask her about it? If I do that and she reacts negatively, it could very easily destroy the remainder of our friendship.

I concentrate harder than necessary on the TV, watching the host talk about the school incident. It destracts me for a while, which I am grateful for. Once I get home, all this normality goes away again and I will be tasked with creating witch jars.

On that note, I still need items for my own jar, which consists of blood... How the hell am I going to get that discreetly?

I stay for breakfast, and right after Eliza’s Mother heads out for work, leaving me and her sitting at her kitchen island. I idly braid the end of a lock of my hair while I mull over some things I can say or bring up, but I am drawing blanks.

My oppertunity disappears when Eliza announces that Reece has texted her and is coming over to pick her up. I put on a smile to appease her despite the stab of sadness I feel knowing she is going back to the abuse willingly. Then again, what do I know about their relationship besides the things I’ve picked up because of eavesdropping and being nosey. Maybe I should just let things run their course and see.

“I should probably go get ready... What are you doing today?”

“I’m going to head home... I’ve got some things to take care of. I’ll keep you updated.” I say as I pull my overnight bag and both my school bag and backpack onto my shoulder with a huff.

“Sounds good.”

“Whenever they wake up, can you send them home? They hardly sleep as it is, I’ll feel like shit if I wake them up and drag them back with me.”

“Of course.”

Elizabeth pulls me into a tight, warm hug that I gladly return. “Stay safe.” She says as I pull away. I smile and nod. “Will do.”

With that, I adjust the strap of my bag on my shoulder, and head for her front door, looking back at her one last time to see her small smile. I shut her door behind me and set off in the direction of home.

We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. Everything from preparing the witch jars to sorting out the right string of lies for the prom, everything needs to go smoothly and perfectly.

Luckily things are seeming to be looking up. Since school was cancelled, I can now go to the grocery store with my Mom this afternoon and attempt a confrontation with the Wiccan reject who gave us the wrong damn book. Her decision to hold out on the right information could end up costing us our lives and I’m not ready for this fight to be over over something as petty as that.

I try the front door of my house and it’s unlocked - a good sign that my Mother has not left yet. I let myself inside and drop my bags onto the floor of the foyer, looking around at the quiet room, the ticking of the clock the only thing I am able to hear.

As I head down the hallway beside the kitchen, a new sound comes into focus, the rattling sound of the sewing machine. I head left and lean in the doorway of her craft room. She’s sitting at her table, her glasses sitting low on the bridge of her nose while she’s focused on getting a seam straight on the minty fabric.

“I’m home.” I announce when she’s finished the stitch and is cutting it free from her sewing machine. She looks up at me, peering through her glasses at me. “I gather that you heard the news about school today?”

I nod, “Eliza’s mom told us this morning.”

“Hopefully they can get everything sorted before prom, hm?”

I nod, pacing idly around her little work room, admiring the half-finished pieces she has on display on the many mannequins around the space.

“When were you planning on heading to the store?”

“Just as soon as I get this basting seam done. You got back just in time.” She nods towards the clump of fabric in front of her that just looks confusing to me.

“I’m going to go unpack really quick before we go.”

I collect my bags from the foyer and begin to pack them up to my room. I have to put my duffle bag on the floor for a moment while I get my bedroom door open. With a light push, it silently drifts inwards, allowing dim light to enter my otherwise dark room.

After dropping my luggage onto the bed I go to the window and part the curtains, taking a moment to peek out over the backyard, some part of me expecting to see something unusual lumbering along the treeline.

The silence is getting to me, it’s dragging out too much and feels too heavy around me. It’s enough to prompt me to plug my phone into my audio dock and put the music on shuffle in the background. Its quiet hum breaks up the quiet somewhat.

I begin opening my bags, trying to figure out what stuff I need to hide, and which things are acceptable to leave in plain sight. Sooner or later my Mom would be doing her weekly invasion of privacy that includes digging around in my closet for every last article of dirty clothing on laundry day.

I set aside my t-shirt and jeans from last night’s digging session on top of the backpack full of nasties that I’d need to stow away until we’re ready to address them. I could hide them under the sink in the bathroom of Ashley’s room, my Mother is inlikely to look there as she doesn’t clean rooms that aren’t in frequent use.

I hum along to my music as it plays quietly in the background, successfully keeping my mind busy and not wandering to dwell on unecessary thoughts.

Not too long later, my Mom knocks on my open bedroom door to announce her presence. “Ready to go?”

I nod. “Yep. I just have to grab my purse.”

I become electrically aware of the fact that I left my dirty clothes lying on the bed where she could easily view them and begin assembling a scenario that she thinks took place. And just like that, I’d have an instant interrogation on my hands.

I snatch my purse from its spot hanging on the corner of my desk chair. I purposefully place myself between her in the bed, watching her eyes carefully to figure out in the brief time I’d stepped away if she’d spotted it or not... To my relief, she seems oblivious.

The ride to the store was easy and quiet. She had the radio on, so I was left to my thoughts while I looked out my window, feeling the warm early morning heat on my face.

Once we arrive, she is telling me about the things she needs to pickup. I nod along, coming off as easy going while I scan the parking lot and exterior of the store for my target.

Once inside, she goes left towards the produce section while I walk slower until I can successfully deviate. Once she is out of sight, I make a beeline for the checkout area where I hope to locate that woman again.

I move discreetly, pretending to have interest in the magazine display nearby while stealing glances at those working the checkout. None of the baby-faced teenage checkers are the woman.

Feeling deflated, I turn and make my way down an adjacent aisle, continuing to keep an eye out in case she is just somewhere else. While I move about, I try to imagine her reaction to seeing me again. Would she realize what she’d done and make a run for it? Would she cause a scene? Or maybe there is a tiny chance that it was a genuine accident and she meant no harm... Unfortunately that seems most unlikely.

Something I learned in all this sneakery business?... There is no way in Hell to be quiet nor stealthy in high heels. They click and clatter and the harder you try to be quiet, the louder they sound.

“Can I help you?”

I turn around and the look on her face changes from the normal, mandatory kindness of every store clerk to one of surprise. She was clearly not expecting to see me again so soon.

“Yes, actually you can. Do you mind telling me why you gave us the wrong damn book?” I hiss, trying to keep my voice low as not to attract the attention and curiosity of nearby shoppers and employees.

Her face turns from surprised to confused. “What on Earth are you on about? I did send you three the right book.”

“Mind explaining to me why it’s a damn cookbook then?” I put my hands on my hips, staring her down until she responds.

Her eyes narrow a bit and a sly smile slinks across her face that immediately makes my heart sink. What could she be up to now?

“Oh Honey, something tells me that none of you kids even opened the book, did you?”

I hesitate a moment, trying to figure out which angle she is going to play to make us all look like fools. “No.” I finally reply coldly.

She laughs, “If you haven’t noticed, the spiritual world is dangerous business. One doesn’t just start messing around with his higgly piggly, alright? I gave you the right book, but your impatience got the best of you, it seems...”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that I disguised the book as a simple cookbook - that book almost got me into way too much trouble when I was your age as it is. Plus if you’re doing dark shit and have a good reason to always have this with you, take it from me; it’s a hell of a lot easier to explain and justify carrying a cookbook everywhere with you than a leatherbound spell book with runes all over it. It spreads bad rumors, you know?”

“So it is the right book?” I repeat her, narrowing my eyes a bit, still trying to figure out if she’s just screwing with me.

“Swear on my life.” She responds when an added crossing of her heart for good measure. “Now don’t you forget my warning, alright? It’s dangerous. Don’t you forget that. Also be careful how you handle your demons - piss them off or impress them too much and they’ll do durastic things in your honor or in your damnation.”

“... Good to know.” I reply slowly, wondering idly in the back of my mind if this woman could possibly be our very own shapeshifter at this moment.

“Anyway, I’m going to leave it in your care and assume you kids know what the Hell you’re doing. This town has seen far more awful things in its history than a couple kids screwing around with dark magic.”

I nod along, thinking about what she’s saying when it strikes me weird. “Wait, what do you mean other awful things?”

“You know, the Apture murders? I can’t remember if they ever caught the guy but the story went that there was this old man luring people into the woods and he’d kill em out there. I don’t know all the details, didn’t live here at the time, but from what I gather, it was terrible.”

She talks about it so calmly and nonchalantly, as though she’s speaking dismissively about something she did last week.

“Who told you about the murders? Was it a local?”

“Sure was,” She says with a nod and an annoyed look in her eye. “That man used to come in here every day like clockwork and buy a coffee and talk my ear off for half an hour. He was all into that weird crap, the dark history... Can’t remember his name these days but it was about seven years back.” She finishes with a shrug.

“Well what happened to him?”

“Died...” she muses thoughtfully, “Awfully, too... Drowned in the river.”

I feel my blood run cold and my heart skips a beat. “Could you possibly describe how he looked?”

Her eyes crinkle at the corners as she thinks hard about it. “Never paid much attention, but to be honest, he looked a damn lot like that kid you had in here with ya the other day. Had the same long hair, rocker-look to him. Anyway, no, I don’t know who he was or much about him... He just liked to shoot the shit and talk to everyone and anyone. To a stranger, you woulda thought the kid had no actual friends.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was lonely, I don’t doubt that. He just seemed starved for attention... Guess that’s whyI never shooed him out the door like everyone else did. The stories he shared didn’t interest me much but it seemed like the kid would burst at the seams if he didn’t ramble about his theories and ghostly tales. Just seemed to me like he had no one else to tell.”

“Ashley...” I murmur to myself, shaking my head. “Thank you for your time, I appreciate your insight and assisstance, but I must get going.”

She smiles at me, surprisingly, all things considered...

In the next moment I am checking around myself to make sure I am alone before pulling out my phone and dialing CC’s number. He picks up on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“CC, I have an important question for you. I need you to think hard.”

“Hello to you, too...” He grumbles, “Okay, what is it?”

“I just made the strangest discovery...” I say, pacing the aisle in my rather noisey shoes. “I had to come look for the lady that gave us the book about the wiccan potions and witch jars... While talking to her she revealed a very important piece of information to me.”

“And what is that?”

“That back before Ashley died, he frequented this store, and talked to her quite a bit on his visits. CC, do you remember what Ashley used to talk about? Did he ever ramble about unusual things?”

“What kind of unusual things?”

“Did he ever tell any ghost stories to you of the others?”

CC is quiet for a moment while he combs through his memories. “Yeah... But only like one time. After that, he didn’t bring it up anymore. Why?”

“Because the lady here says that Ashley would come in and talk her ear off about it.”

“That could be a coincidence, Ash... Are you sure she even meant Ashley?” He says cooly, but I persist.

“She described him loosely, and then summed it up saying he looked a lot like the boy I brought into the store just days prior, which would have been Ashley himself.”

“Okay, so he liked to tell ghost stories... What makes them so special?”

“What until you hear what the conversations were about.”

“Lay it on me.”

“Ashley was always telling ghost stories - and I know I still have a lot to get you caught up on, but hear me out: I believe that our shapeshifter is something that followed us out of the woods when we visited a ritual burial site in the mountains. It belonged to Charlie Apture, a local man responsible for countless deaths in the fifties. According to my new intel, Ashley was animatedly well-phrased in the stories surrounding this guy well before he died.”

“Okay... So why is this a problem now?”

I take a deep breath, feeling my hands shaking with excitement and anticipation. “Because the Ashley we know now hasn’t said a damn thing about it. He plays dumb when asked to contribute his two cents about it. It’s like he’s a completely different person... Or he’s hiding something.”

“Ash, that could be any number of things.” CC sighs on the other end.

“No, CC-” I peek around myself again before continuing. “If you were so knowledgeable on this one thing, wouldn’t you share that information to protect people? Why is he hiding it now?”

“I don’t have a clue... But I do have to admit that it is strange.”

Notes

I just found out yesterday that Channel Zero on SyFy was canceled. It was easily the creepiest thing I'd ever watched and I loved it dearly lol, did any of you watch it? Each season was based on Creepypasta stories, like Candle Cove, No End House, Butcher's Block, etc.

Thank you for your feedback!

Thank you Merelan and Whiny Emo Batman for commenting!