A/N: Inspired by another Allison prompt that was floating around on Tumblr: Allison Argent keeping her code even in death; young girls walking home alone and feeling intimidated by the men leering at them from the other side of the street. They are joined by a stranger who offers to walk them home, laughing with them and keeping them close. When they finally get home and turn to thank her, the mysterious stranger is gone.
I dislike thinking about Allison being dead but... the idea seemed like a fun one to write so I tried it :)
Carly frowned to herself as she separated from her friends… maybe she should just stay at Kim's house, it wasn't too late to change her mind. But as she watched her friends keep walking down the street without a second thought, Carly felt like she was being a baby. It was just a few blocks! Plus she had her pepper spray in her purse and a great scream if anyone tried anything. She steeled her nerves and headed off to her house, telling herself over and over that it was going to be fine. As she came to the first alleyway, Carly froze, terrified of walking past, even though it was getting late and she needed to get home. So she took a few steps out into the empty street, giving herself more space from the dark area and sped past, hands clenched tight and heart racing.
"See, nothing to be afraid of," she whispered to herself as soon as it was a few feet behind her. But then she heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps; the only place they could have come from was the alley. If she glanced over her shoulder then surely the person would realize how nervous she was (as if it wasn't obvious already) and that would make the situation worse. Carly decided to just keep walking at a brisk pace, ignoring the person behind her and hoping it was just a coincidence that they were walking in the same direction as her. The person may or may not have gotten closer, it was hard to tell, and Carly was so intent on listening to the footsteps that she nearly had a heart attack when the shop door in front of her suddenly opened. She may or may not have let out an undignified scream.
"Oh hey… sorry, I didn't see you there," the brunette said, giving her a dazzling smile. "Gotta love late night snack runs right?"
"Um, yea…" Carly agreed absentmindedly. She was about to move past the other girl when she noticed the glare she was giving to the mysterious person behind her. The new girl leaned in a little closer, never taking her eyes off the other person.
"Which way are you going? I'll walk with you… I don't like the looks of that guy behind you," she offered, linking their arms together to let Carly know it wasn't up for discussion.
Carly sagged with relief, surely the guy wouldn't try something now that there were two of them, right? "I've got just a few more blocks to go, this way," she answered quietly, carefully gesturing with her hand so the guy couldn't see.
"Let's go then," she smiled. "So what are you doing out at 10 on a school night?"
"I was having a study session with my friends at the library. Went on a little later than we planned and I'm the only one that lives down this way. So I have to walk alone… kinda sucks… but I've never had to do it this late at night," Carly confessed. "Aren't you afraid of being out alone this late?"
The brunette looked at her, "Me? No." With a skilled flick of her wrist, Allison whipped out the ring dagger she had hidden in her wrist sheath. "I know the most painful place to put this, but don't worry, I've never actually had to use it. Most creeps see it and realize I'm not someone to mess with." Might be a bit of a lie but she didn't want to scare the poor girl more than she already was.
Carly felt a shiver pass through her at the sight of the blade, was that even legal to carry? Should she be scared of her? No, as she looked into her companion's eyes, she felt no fear- this other girl just wanted her to get home safe. Well, she didn't want to offend her new friend with a sudden silence so she asked the first question that came to mind, "So um, what school do you go to?"
Allison paused, unsure of how to answer… what if this girl went to Beacon Hills, it would be weird if they'd never seen each other before. No one else had asked this question, but she was still new to the ghost thing. "I'm home schooled actually. My dad didn't really like any of the school in town- he's super picky."
"Oh cool, I remember I had asked to be home schooled when I was little… it sounded exciting but my parents didn't agree. I go to Bear Creek by the way."
Allison asked about her classes, hoping to take her mind off the creep that was still following them; plus that was fewer details that Allison had to provide about her own nonexistent life… she could always just tell her about her time back before she died but… that was still too hard for her to think about. She was just here to protect those that cannot protect themselves, in any situation.
They finally approached the end of the block, the street turning residential now, if that guy continued to follow them, he may find out where Carly lived and that would make Allison's hard work all for naught. "Wait here, I'm going to have a word with this guy, he just isn't getting the hint," Allison told her companion.
Carly sucked in a breath, did that mean she was going to flash her knife at him or what? She wasn't going to end up a witness to a stabbing was she? And what if he got mad and ended up becoming aggressive? Carly wasn't sure she'd be able to help this girl if things got dangerous; she'd be more of a liability than any help.
Allison pulled away from the girl and spun to face their shadow, "Hey Creep, time for you to just go home!" She stepped closer to him, wanting his attention on her.
"I am going home… I happen to live on this block, geez, can't I just happen to be going this way?" he smirked.
An obvious lie. She wouldn't have appeared here if this girl wasn't in danger- that wasn't the way her spirit manifested. "If that's the case, why don't you go first, we'll wait for you to go home and then we'll be on our way."
The guy scowled, the girl knew he was lying. Fine, whatever, he'd try something else. "You two looked lonely, thought I'd offer some company. It's late, girls like yourselves shouldn't be out here alone."
"Yea or else creeps like you will try something," Allison spat out, taking a few more steps towards him. She used her body to block the other girl's view, not wanting her to see what was about to happen. Using the same hand that had her ring dagger, Allison brought her arm up to his chest like she was going to push him away. Instead she phased her hand through his chest, watching as his face paled at the cold, surreal pain he was feeling. "Go back the way you came and leave her alone. If you try this again, I will find you and I won't be so nice next time," she whispered. With that she pulled her hand free and he dropped to the ground, gasping for breath.
Satisfied, Allison spun around, a bright smile on her face. She looped arms with the other girl again, pulling her away from the creep on the ground. "Told you, one look and most people realize they'd rather not get cut open."
Carly just stared at the brunette next to her, amazed that someone her age could be so fearless. Thankfully it looked like she hadn't actually stabbed him, so the cops shouldn't be knocking on her door tomorrow asking questions. But he definitely got the point to leave them alone, his footsteps had sped away as soon as he'd come to his senses. They spent the rest of the walk home talking about a boy that Carly liked. Her new friend walked her all the way to her front down, making sure she got in okay, Carly really appreciated that. As she turned the key and unlocked her door, Carly turned to say goodnight but the space beside her was empty. Startled, Carly looked around, wondering if maybe the girl had taken a few steps back towards the sidewalk but she wasn't on the lawn either. Instead, Carly found her, standing under a streetlight about 4 houses down… How? The brunette waved before turning away and disappearing. Carly blinked a few times, not really sure what she'd just witnessed; a shiver passed through her and she heard a whispered goodnight.
"Goodnight," Carly whispered back, smiling despite being completely unsure if she was losing her mind or not. All that mattered was she got home safe, she was happy for that.
