(Set in the Syfy movie "Neverknock" after the last scene at the real haunted house. Grace wakes up in the ambulance. Her sister Jenna is safe and now she has to deal with her feelings for Leah. Femslash.)
(Notes: While not a really that good a film the attraction of Leah (played by Jodelle Ferland) to Grace (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) is obvious as is the latter's hesitant return of those feelings. Of course running for your life and searching for your missing sister doesn't exactly give you time to work on a new relationship. But now that the monster is dead...)
Consciousness returned to Grace and she abruptly sat up, filled with panic. Two strong but gentle hands caught her and pushed her back down. She fought wildly for a moment until the soothing voice accompanying those hands broke through to her.
"It's alright Grace. Grace! You're safe. Calm down. You're in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Lay back down sweetie. It's okay."
For a moment she did as she was told. Her head hurt. In fact her whole body did and the stretcher she was on was really comfortable, at least compared to the hard wood floor she last remembered being on. Then her memory sprang into life.
"My sister!"
"I'm right here Grace.
A warm familiar hand took her left hand and squeezed it. Grace managed to open her eyes. Jenna was beside her, her face lit with concern.
"I'm fine," the younger girl reassured her even before Grace could ask. "You are beat up and bruised and have a couple of cracked ribs maybe and a knot on the back of your head but you're going to be alright." She leaned over and kissed her older sister on the forehead. At that range not even the Para-medic on the other side busy checking Grace's vital signs could hear her when she added in a whisper "It's dead Grace. I killed it."
Dead. Grace felt the tension escape from her body. Dead. It couldn't hurt Jenna any more, couldn't hurt her. But her new friends. All of them gone. All of them? A smiling face topped by a brown cowgirl hat appeared in her mind's eye. She strove to ask about Leah. Nut all her strength was gone and she slipped back asleep.
When she woke up again she was in a hospital room. She was dazed and disoriented at first. She panicked when she couldn't find Jenna but before she could even think about getting up she realized her father was in the room.
"Hey kiddo."
"Dad." Her voice shook and her throat hurt.
"Here." He picked up a glass from the tray beside her and held the straw in it to her lips. The cold water was unbelievably wonderful. She sucked harder and almost choked. Her father hastily pulled it away from her lips. "That's enough for now."
She wanted to protest but she was too tired. It was easier to go back to sleep. The next time she awoke Jenna was back.
"Where's Dad?"
"He went home once we knew you were out of danger." Jenna offered her water again. This time Grace was more careful. She tried to sit up.
"Whoa sis." When Grace continued her attempt Jenna sighed. "Just push the button and let the bed sit you up. That's why it's got all those motors and stuff."
Once she was sitting up Grace studied her little sister. To her surprise although she looked a bit battered and her eyes reflected what the older girl was sure was in her own, the sight of things they should never had to look on, she looked remarkably calm and in good shape. Still, she had to ask.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." At Grace's uncertain look Jenna went on. "No, really. I'm good. All I have are some scrapes and bumps."
"How?" Grace remembered the last time she had seen Jenna before she had passed out, backed against the wall by the creature.
"Leah saved me."
Grace almost jerked up out of the bed. "Leah? How? I thought she was..."
"Dead? Well she wasn't." Jenna was quiet for a moment, reliving what happened. "You were down and I thought you were dead too. The creature had me. I was trying to fight off the fears it was using but it also had me by the throat physically. I thought I was gone. Then something hit the door and the creature jerked. Again and again it hit and the beast let go of me. It was hurting. Then I realized it was Leah and she was chopping at the door with an axe."
"She broke in and the creature turned its attention to her. It was hurt Grace. That's when we realized that its source of power wasn't the house itself but the door. And Leah was mad. She screamed at the creature 'to get the hell off me' and set herself to attack it. That's when it picked me up and threw me at her. We tumbled out of the house together. When we untangled, that's when I saw it."
"Saw what?"
Jenna looked as though she was going to cry. "She, she had landed on her back with me on top of her. The axe was between us. And," Jenna took a deep breath, "and the blade had been rammed into her stomach."
"Oh God."
"Even then she wouldn't give up. She passed me a gun and told me to finish the job so it would never happen again. She wanted her death to count for something. I shot the creature and the bullet went through it. But when it hit the door the creature screamed. I shot until the gun was empty and then ducked under it and threw myself against the door, tearing it down. The creature burned up. I crawled to you and waited until the police and then the EMT's got there.
Hope had sprung up for Grace but then it died again. Tears filled her eyes.
"I wish I had kissed her."
"What? When?" Jenna asked. As upset as she was Grace still noticed that Jenna didn't seem at all freaked out or even that surprised.
"When we were in the haunted house. The one at the fair, not the real one. We had run from the guy with the chain saw and ended up at the foot of the stairs. We were alone and she took both my hands in hers and we looked in each other's eyes and I could tell she wanted to kiss me. And I sort of wanted to kiss her too but there were other people coming and going and I was distracted wondering where you were and I didn't. I said "Let's go" and we did. I wish I hadn't. I knew she had a crush on me and I had feelings for her as well."
"A crush? That's what her friends thought. I heard them talking while we wandered around at first. Grace when she saw you lying on the floor I thought she was going to die from heartbreak. I've never seen such a picture of anguish. She doesn't have a crush on you. She's in love with you. Goodness almost the last word she spoke before passing out was your name."
"Oh God." Grace buried her face in her hands. Then something clicked and she looked up at Jenna. "Wait, you said passed out? Not died?"
"They took her in the first ambulance. She's been in surgery for the last few hours. I checked just a while ago. They told me it was touch-and-go for a while but they think now she's going to make it. She's in Recovery now and when she wakes up they'll be taking her to ICU."
An impish smile came over Jenna's face and Grace rejoiced to see it. Maybe it meant that somehow they could put the horrorific events of the night behind them one day. Her sister spoke with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Maybe when she's awake you can give her that kiss."
As it turned out it was quite some time before Grace had the opportunity to even be alone with Leah. There was the hospital stay and then Leah had a long recovery period and much physical therapy. There were parents around for most of the time. Grace sensed that Leah's mother at least suspected her daughter's sexual orientation and didn't seem to be bothered by it. She wondered a bit as to whether she was measuring her as a friend to her daughter or as a prospective girlfriend. Then she dismissed the idea. Right now she was a friend, a friend who was grateful that Leah had saved her sister's life when she couldn't.
Then there was the police. Detectives and uniformed officers and supervisors right up to the city's police chief himself. The similarities to the previous three murders in 1986 could not be overlooked nor could the discovery of former Officer's Rance's revolver and later on his body. All three of us admitted to knocking on the door but were deliberately vague about what happened other than admitting that someone had pursued them. They had not actually seen anyone's death but agreed that it was one individual whom they couldn't describe very well.
There was some suspicion of drugs particularly in the way Amy had acted when she had run in front of the police car. However we three had all been drug tested at the hospital and Amy, Sydney and Gavin's bodies during the autopsy and nothing was found. In the end the official conclusion was "murder by unknown person", the same verdict that had been announced 40 years before. A strong rumor circulated that it was the work of a copy cat killed since the first murders had taken place so long before. The real events were never brought up as all three knew they would never be believed anyway. Officer Rance hadn't been and they certainly weren't going to listen to three teenagers when they hadn't believed one of their own.
Grace visited Leah often while she was in the hospital and more so after she was discharged. Eventually they both returned to school but still without an opportunity to really talk about what happened, not about with the creature but with each other. Leah was still terribly weak and could only go for a couple hours a day, just enough to keep her from repeating.
But then the right day came along. Dad had taken Jenna to the city one Saturday and Grace had successfully begged off. The wink her younger sister had given her when she climbed into the car had made her roll her eyes but also fired her determination. Tucking her new phone in her back pocket she had set off for Leah's house.
She had arrived to a warm welcome from Leah's mother.
"Grace, how nice to see you. And how fortunate. I was just about at my wits end. I absolutely have to run to work for an hour or two. I know she'll be just fine but if you could stay with her till I get back it would ease my mind a lot."
"Of course I will."
"She's up in her room. She has my cell number if there's any emergency."
The whole thing was so normal it almost seemed weird. But come to think of it she and her sister and their Dad were doing the same thing, making a determined effort to put the past behind them and get on with their lives. In fact they had been trying to do that ever since the accident. So they weren't alone.
Feeling somehow a little better Grace bounded up the stairs and knocked on Leah's door.
"Leah? It's Grace."
"Come on in."
Leah was sitting in her big overstuffed chair by the window. She was wearing a thick robe and fuzzy slippers. She still looked pale but the smile she greeted Grace with was as warm as ever.
"Hey you. Sit down. You know, you don't have to knock. You're always welcome."
Grace smiled back, dragging the nicely cushioned chair from the desk in the corner so she was side by side with her friend. They sat quietly together for a bit. Both of them wanted to talk but neither was sure how to start the conversation that they needed to have. Finally Grace spoke.
"How are you Leah?"
"Getting better. It's been a long road. Fortunately the axe didn't cut into any vital organs. I just bled a lot. I will never think of the phrase 'Like a stuck pig' again."
"Not what I meant. How ARE you?"
"Coping. I have nightmares. Maybe I always will. And sadness over my friends. But it gets a bit better each day. I remember the fun times I had with them and the nightmares don't come as often anymore. You?"
"Pretty much the same. I wake up from that house still but I'm not screaming when that happens anymore. Out loud anyway." She paused. While important this wasn't what she wanted to talk about. Still, "I want to thank you for saving Jenna. She told me the creature had her until you broke in. And managed to hurt it as well."
"Thanks but it was Jenna who saved us both. I was sure that I was dying and I thought," Leah paused to get her voice under control, "I thought you were dead. It was Jenna who faced the creature down, shot it and then ducked under him and tore down the door. I saw the creature catch on fire. That was enough. Jenna was safe and the creature was dead."
"I thought you were dead as well," Grace said softly. "Then Jenna told me about you coming to her rescue and I had hope again. But then she told me what happened and I had to face that you had died all over again. All I could think of was when we were in the fair's haunted house together. It just kept running through my head. I kept thinking 'I wish I had kissed her'."
There was silence again before Leah spoke.
"You did?"
Grace answered with a jerky nod. Some time during their discussion both girls had stood up and found themselves separated only by inches. Irresistibly, bit by bit, their faces closed. After what seemed like an hour their lips met.
The first kiss lasted only seconds. The second one was longer. Slowly they began to explore each other. Lips plucked, tongues traced and finally mouths opened and they tasted the sweetness of each other.
As the kiss deepened Grace found the sash of Leah's robe. The simple overhand knot came apart as though of its own volition and her hand slipped inside. Leah gasped as she felt the other girl's fingers brush over her tummy and then make their way up to cover a warm inviting breast. It seemed to fir perfectly in Grace's hand with the hardening nipple against her palm. Then Leah's hands had slid down the other teen's back and come to rest on the tight roundness of her bottom. She squeezed and Grace gasped in turn.
Somehow they had made it to the bed. Grace pushed the robe off Leah's shoulders and it fell to the floor, revealing the teen had skipped underwear today. She laid the other girl down on the bed. Climbing on it as well she knelt beside Leah. Looking down at the other teen's beautiful slender body she struggled to unbutton her blouse. As she did Leah rolled on her side and reached out. Grace felt the snap of her jeans give way and then the zipper. Nearly frantic now she managed to struggle out of her blouse and bra even as her jeans and panties were worked down over her hips and butt. She fell to the bed, managing to pry off her sneakers and then kick wildly until she was as nude as her friend.
They kissed again. Grace let her hand run down the other girl's side from her shoulder all the way to her thigh and back to her hip. She pushed gently.
"Lie back. I want to look at you."
"Don't," asked Leah. "The scar," she explained, referring to the line that went almost all the way across her tummy.
"It," Grace replied, knowing exactly what the teen referred to, "is a reminder of how you fought that creature and saved my sister. And it is as beautiful as the rest of you." To make her point she lowered her head and showered tiny little gentle kisses along its entire length. Leah sighed, and then giggled.
"That tickles!" Her protests were suddenly stopped as Grace slid her left hand down between Leah's legs. She stroked the smooth skin of the inner thighs, finding them slightly slick with the other girl's arousal. One finger slipped through the sparse fine hair to part the puffy lips and slowly curl inside Leah.
"Grace!"
"I'll be careful," the other teen assured her, knowing just how far she could go. She wiggled her finger back and forth. Leah moaned. Encouraged, Grace added her thumb to her attack, searching and finding Leah's most sensitive spot. This time when Leah cried her friend's name it was not in protest.
Having only done this is some very confused dreams Grace was not completely sure what to do. She had done some reading and watched a couple of videos but decided that whatever felt good to her when the lights were out at night would probably be the best things to do. And that's what she did and apparently it was driving Leah as crazed as Grace hoped. Feeling much more certain of herself she continued her fingers magic work while she kissed up far enough to take one of Leah's perfect little breasts into her mouth. Her tongue danced over the nipple just as her thumb did over the other girl's clit. Leah thrashed and squealed and Grace reveled in all of it even as she marveled that it had really only been weeks ago that she was beginning to realize that Leah was attracted to her and that she was just developing feelings for the other girl.
Somehow in all the tangle of arms and legs Leah managed to wedge her thigh between Grace's legs, plant her foot firmly and thrust up. Almost thrown off Grace found herself riding Leah's slick smooth thigh and fou9nd it was as exciting as what she was doing to the other girl. She reared up and bounced as she slid, her fingers never losing their touch. And both were rewarded as first Leah and the Grace reached their peak.
Grace nearly collapsed onto her friend but managed to roll off lest she land on the scar she was sure was still tender. Therefore she was caught off guard when Leah demonstrated that her imagination was more finely honed at least and pounced. She pushed Grace on to the bed on her back and knelt between her legs. She spread them and buried her face into Grace's mingled wetness.
Now it was Grace's turn to flail on the bed, meanwhile making sure she didn't lose touch with her friend. Looking down she could see that Leah's knees were drawn up under her and that one hand seemed to be under her. From the shaking the other girl's butt was doing it wasn't hard to figure out where that hand was and what it was doing. Then Leah began to lash Grace's clit with her tongue and the teenager lost all sense of anything but that. And if her first orgasm had been amazing the one she had now was the most astounding one she had ever had in her young life.
Then it was time for Leah to crawl up beside her and the pair take each other in their arms. Holding each other after seemed at least as important as what they had just done with and to each other. Snuggled together Grace managed to ask a question preying on her mind.
"Leah?"
"Hmm?"
"Have you ever..." the words trailed off.
Leah rolled to face Grace and touched her face. "No. Never." She smiled. "I've just been dreaming ever since I began to realize that I'm gay and then done a LOT of dreaming about you ever since I; err well, since I..."
"Fell in love with me?"
"Yes," was the simple but heartfelt answer as she searched Grace's face.
"You had it easy," Grace gently teased her. "You only thought I was dead once. I had to go through it twice." She touched back, tracing the line of Leah's face. "Never doubt that I love you as well."
Sometime later the pair managed to struggle back into their clothing before spooning together and falling asleep. At least when Leah's mom returned and peaked in on them she could see her daughter in her robe and her friend in blouse and jeans under the comforter pulled partially over them. If she realized that the hint of white peeking out from under a pillow was Grace's bra and panties she never said a word.
(The End)