Charlie's has been trying to move on, but something happens that changes her hope of doing so...

He was on top of her, holding her down. Her lower arms under his large hands. She struggled and tried to scream, but couldn't find her voice. All she could do was grunt in frustration as she fought against his grasp. But he was bigger than her, stronger than her, stronger than anyone. Against his strength, she felt like a child. A scared little child whom wasn't able to fight back and escape.

Her heated cheeks were wet with sticky tears. She, admittedly, was terrified. Her adrenaline was pumping and everything felt hot and cold at the same time. She avoided looking at him. But when she did, her eyes burned. Probably because the chemical reaction between her eye fluids and his terrible smelling gasses. She couldn't see him perfectly through her teary eyes, but could tell a few things about him. She could make out, his matted puke green fur, rotting all over. Intestines that hung out of open gap in the lower torso of the suit, accompanied by the dark red rotting muscles seen through the gaps on his arms and legs. There was an opening at the top of his head. And she saw his chalky white skull, which was cracked open, revealing his brain. The crimson blood that used to be his only a year prior was now crusty, dried, and stained into the suit. And worst of all, as mentioned before, he smelled awful. That was one of the big motivations for her to try her damnedest to get away from him, was his odor. She couldn't stand it. He smelt of gore and intestinal gasses. She reluctantly took shallow breaths pointed away from him, in order to breath fresh air.

Her eyes found themselves meeting his. She saw the same glassy, silver eyes. The only things that seemingly weren't ripped apart. If they weren't dead back then, then they sure were now, she thought to herself. He suddenly groaned hoarsely, to her shock. He could make sound! He might be able to talk! Horrified at the prospect of hearing him speak, she struggled harder, against him. Her muscles burned as she tried to pull away, and she keep takes breaks to breath. Yet even with all her might, it seemed that she still couldn't slip away. Tears were once more running. He was going to kill her, she knew it. And she couldn't escape this time. She was stuck here with him. He would probably wait until she tired and couldn't fight back anymore, then he'll probably take his sweet time torturing her. He could do so many things, to exact his revenge. He rip her hair out, punch and pull all of her teeth out, cut her tongue or eyes out. He'd probably even rip her guts out. She remembered his knife. Gleaming silver metal. He had an affinity for stabbing his victims, she remembered that he had done so with officer Dunn. So she knew, he was definitely going to stab her, probably multiple times. And he was going to enjoy every minute.

She was his now, forever, and he was never going to let her go…

"My little Charlotte, I promise I'll never leave you by yourself again…" Her father's voice, echoed in her head.

If only he had.

Charlie's head flew up. Bright light, was the first thing she saw. Her eyes took a moment adjust, before she made out her surroundings. Brown desks, people, a loud voice. She was at school, more specifically at her College. She was in Physics class, she had recognized her teacher Mr. Schneider standing up front. She looked around at the other students, attentively watching him and writing things down. Then she looked down at her desk to see her composition book was open. It looked as if she began writing in it, but then her words lost shape and she had fallen asleep.

She sighed, and pulled her hair behind her ears and tried to straighten it down. She picked up her pencil and skipped to the next page and wrote down the notes up on the board. They were talking about the properties of metal. Metal alloys. How sodium metals can break down the molecules of water and cause explosions. And how metal expands under heat.

Physics was never her favorite subject, but she found herself good at it none the less. It was luckily her last class of the day. She looked up at the clock on the far left wall. Only 15 minutes left. She couldn't wait to get out of here and get home. Aunt Jen was making fettuccine alfredo for dinner, one of Charlie's favorites.

That was a lie. Not the liking fettuccine part, but, that being the only reason she wanted out of here. As of late, she's been having nightmares constantly. It's made it hard for her to sleep at night. So she'd stay up, only to fall asleep in class and have them. Due to the contents of her nightmares, which she never fully remembered, it's.. having an effect on her. It makes her feel on edge while she's here, especially when she leaves the building. When she's walking across the campus to each class, she feels exposed, naked, and unprotected. So she finds herself checking her surroundings, constantly, and often looking behind herself. As if she might find someone watching her, or trying to attack her. Regardless, it's apparent she's definitely become more paranoid due to these dreams. And the only place she really feels safe, is home, with Aunt Jen.

Aunt Jen is a strong and smart woman. Always knowing when to take charge, always knowing when to put her foot down. She doesn't take anyone's shit. Something that Charlie had always admired and was always afraid of at the same time. So in other words, Aunt Jen definitely made her feel safe. It felt like no one could ever touch her, as long as Aunt Jen was there. So much so, that without her, Charlie often felt alone and vulnerable. She only had so many friends. And they only make it feel somewhat safe. But, her old friends, the friends that been there when "it" had happened. Whenever they were together, it felt like they could accomplish anything. But, they were gone. They all went back to their homes after what happened last year. Back to the different states they lived. She wondered if they were having some problems too.

She was startled when everyone was starting to pack up. Guess it was time to leave. Charlie shut her book and quickly packed her stuff up, she wanted to get out of there as fast as she could. When she was walking out, a part of her expected Mr. Schneider to call her name, and talk to her about her not paying attention in class. But he didn't. She had to remind herself, that this wasn't high school anymore. In College, teachers could care less about your grades. They won't hunt you down if you're missing an assignment like her old teachers did.

She buzzed through the halls, slipping past others who were too slow, and finally had opened the big heavy metal doors to the outside world. Her eyes adjusted to the bright white sunlight as she felt warm air blow at her, causing her hair to swing to her left. She walked down the concrete stairs, into the parking lot, and headed straight to her car. A 1990 gold Lexus LS400. She quickly dug around for her keys in her purse.

Suddenly she heard the clopping of shoes nearby on the black top, a familiar type of clopping. She then saw the figure causing the noise out of the corner of her eye. She looked forward and fastened her pace, wanting to avoid being here any longer.

"Hey Charlie," Faith called. Merde.

Charlie stopped abruptly before turning to the thin, pale skinned, black haired, and green eyed girl.

"Oh, hey Faith," she replied. This isn't the time! I just want to go home. -She's our friend! How could you think that way about her?! She sighed internally. She felt awful for wanting to avoid Faith. Faith was one her few friends that she had made her in College. Yet she didn't want to be here any longer then she had to. And because of that, she felt selfish.

"What's the rush?" Faith asked, obviously noticing her fast pace earlier.

"Oh, well my Aunt wants me home early, because," she almost stuttered. "We're having some guests coming over and she wants me to meet them." She lied, but it sounded convincing. At least to herself.

"Oh, I see. Well, I don't want to keep you any longer then I have to, so I'll get straight to the point. Do you know Jackson Keller?" Faith asked. Charlie slightly furrowed her brows. The name didn't sound familiar. But why was she asking?

"No. Why?" She replied.

"Well a few of my other friends knew him. And supposedly they haven't seen him today. His car is here, but he wasn't in any classes," Faith explained.

"Huh, that's strange. But I'm sorry Faith, I never heard of him. That is really weird though. I hope they find out what happened soon," Charlie replied.

"Yeah, well thanks anyway Charlie. Hope things go well meeting with those guests," she replied walking off.

"Thanks, I will." She called back. That was awkward.

Charlie unlocked her door and opened it. She leaned in and put her purse and book bag in the passenger seat, and then sat down in the driver's seat. She closed the door, fastened her seatbelt and turned on the engine before driving herself home.

She sat quietly on the side of her bed, looking at the landline phone on her small wooden table. She imagined calling Carlton, Marla, Jessica, or even John. She closed her eyes. Man, if she talked to John, she'd feel so much better. He'd definitely understand. He'd listen quietly, as she poured her emotions out, and then he'd comfort her. He tell her it'd be alright, that her feelings were understandable, and she'd feel like she dropped a weight from her chest. If she called him, it would feel as if he were right there, and she'd feel so safe and comfortable. Or she could write him a letter. Like they used to when they were younger. But calling was much quicker and easier. But, she didn't do it. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to do it. All she could do is stare at the phone. Perhaps it was because she didn't want to burden them. After all they gave so much, especially John. But it seemed like she never gave back.

She jolted when the phone began to ring. She stared at it, as it rung a second time. She debated if she should pick it up and answer it. Then it came to sudden stop mid-ring. She looked away from it, closed her eyes, and listened. She heard Aunt Jen downstairs talking. She had picked it up instead. Charlie opened her eyes and looked back over at the phone, before sliding her legs onto the bed, laying down, and turning away from the device. She just wanted some way to escape this purgatory.

It was a good 30 minutes, before Aunt Jen called her down to eat. When she came down, it was what she expected, fettuccine alfredo. She grabbed a plate and they both sat at the dining table, eating in silence. Charlie was trying to think of something to say to her, trying to think of something funny or exciting about her day to talk about. But before she could, Aunt Jen spoke up.

"So, I got a call from the school earlier," she started. Charlie looked up at her. A call from school?

"They're shutting down for tomorrow and possibly the next couple of days," she continued. Charlie nearly choked.

"What?!" Jen almost as if ashamed, stared down at her plate. "Why?" Charlie asked in distress.

"They found a body… multiple bodies," Jen answered, obviously uncomfortable. "Students from the school. They were fresh from they said."

"Who were they?" Charlie pressed.

"No names were given. But they did say, cause of death was knife wounds. No witnesses. So they don't have any idea who did it," Jen replied, picking at her food absently. Charlie stared at her Aunt for a few seconds before looking down at her own plate, she was trying to absorb all this information. Dead students… knife wounds. She felt chills run down her spine. It felt familiar, but she brushed away the thought. It was probably unrelated and she wanted it to be unrelated. She never wanted to think about "it" again. Like her Aunt always said, 'The past is in the past.'

"Charlie, I just want to say, I'm very relieved that one of them wasn't you," Jen said. Charlie looked up at her, there were tears forming in her Aunt's eyes.

"After what happen in Hurricane last year... I've already lost so much, I couldn't bear the thought of losing you too." Charlie wanted to hug her. She had never seen her Aunt so broken up before.

"Oh, Aunt Jen," she said, before getting up, walking around the table and hugging her. Jen took in a raspy breath while tears ran down her face.

"Charlie, if it's not too much to ask, please, please stay home until then ok. It's not safe out there and I'd never want you to get hurt."

"Of course, Aunt Jen, I'll stay home. I'd never want to worry you," Charlie replied. Jen took her niece's hand, held it gently against her chest, and smiled.

"Thank you sweetie," she replied closing her eyes.

"You're welcome," Charlie whispered.

After all of that, Charlie returned to her room and immediately called up Faith. Faith had received the call too, they seemed to have thought of the same thing, and both feared for the worst. Hopefully it wasn't what they thought. But chances were, it was.

He's back.