I used to have this as a story called "The New Girl", but there were somethings I wanted to change that were to late to change. And quite frankly, I wasn't happy with my writing. So if you read my last story, this is the same concept but completely different. Thank you!
*I do not own South Park or any characters besides any OCs*
*This story has been edited by my good friend sapphyre-resonance*
Run. That was the only thing going through my mind. I had lost him a while ago. Disappeared into the forest and the snow which was on the ground and falling heavily. How long had I been running? An hour? No way. I should've found the town already. This was, what, the third town? They always found me and they always ratted me out. Too many questions started going through my mind.
15 more minutes passed and the woods started thinning. I was out of breath, panting and felt on the verge of passing out. But I couldn't stop now. Not until I was somewhat safe among the shadows of buildings. I came to the top of the hill and edge of the woods. Below me in a valley was the town I had been trying to reach for months. South Park, I believe the name was. My face, arms, and legs were cut from the various branches and thorns among the woods. My pale blonde hair was littered with leaves and dirt. It was tangled, matted, frizzy, and refused to stay out of my face despite its usual waviness. My bright blue eyes were dry and I realized I wasn't blinking. My grey hoodie and jeans were torn and filthy. I looked like someone who had disappeared a couple years ago, had been raised by wolves, and was coming back to society. Which wasn't completely wrong...
I looked into the burlap sack that had been previously thrown over my shoulder. Money- Check. Change of clothes- Could be worse. Food- Does a moldy apple count? Water- Half a bottle left. I grabbed the water bottle out and unscrewed the top. After about two weeks of running and having to make three water bottles last to the next town, I have to admit I was a little excited to be able to gulp it down. I brought the bottle to my mouth and threw my head back, gulping the water down in a matter of seconds.
My attention was drawn to the town as the street lamps began to turn on one by one, and it was only then it occurred to me how late it was. The town seemed quiet enough. Tucked in a valley of mountains and hills that were snow covered most of the time. They wouldn't look for me here anytime soon. He wouldn't look for me here. Hopefully I could be safe here, at least for a little while. These somewhat cheerful thoughts filled my head as I slowly walked down the hill to the town, and for the first time in months, a small smile crept across my face.
I stopped half-way down the hill and looked down at my clothes. Could I go into the town looking like /this/? It wasn't like I could change. Sure, I had other clothes, but they were even worse. The shirt had become a little too revealing from rips and one of the pants legs had almost been torn off. I began taking my hoodie off, figuring my t-shirt would be in better condition. But before I could even take it all the way off, the cold nipped at my bare arms and at my back and stomach through the tears in my shirt. I quickly put my hoodie back on. I had no choice. I had to go into town looking like this. Hopefully not too many people would be out at this time since it was getting dark. Oh, but everyone's probably out getting dinner now. I shook my head You have bigger problems than your clothes right now. Now hurry up and get into the town before the hunter finds you. I argued with my self, and pushed myself to keep walking down the hill.
I dragged my feet through the snow, making two lines through it that followed me down the hill. I was now close enough that the people at the edge of the town began to stare at me. I glared at them, warning them with my eyes to back off. Half of them looked away, half of them kept staring. I sighed, blowing the hair out of my eyes and kept walking. It felt so foreign and strange to finally be in a town again. It felt almost warm, despite the negative temperatures.
I made my way through the town, mentally mapping everything. People constantly stared at me, though with different types of stares. There were the warm, sympathetic stares that sent a warm yet disturbing sensation through my spine. There were the cold stares that seemed colder than the air around me, almost as if someone had grabbed the cold air and shoved it in my chest. Then there we the curious stares. The ones that felt of playfulness and imagination, though not always positive.
I stopped in front of the front of the very building I had been looking for. A hotel, AKA my home for the next little while. I took a deep breath, opening the glass double doors. I looked around at the large, fancy lobby. A semi-circle desk sat in the middle of the wall right in front of the doors with a computer and a variety of business cards, books, and pens . Above the desk, a large, metal, red sign hung with the words "South Park Hotel" written in cursive yellow letters. On one side of the lobby, and elevator sat, and I could faintly hear the classical elevator music. On the other side, an open doorway led to a large dining room with an empty breakfast bar and small cafe near the front of the room. Multiple tables of different capacities littered the rest of the dining room. A couple people were sitting at a few tables drinking cups of coffee. Behind the desk, a woman seemingly in her late 40's stared at me, which mixed emotions in her eyes. She had short brown hair that was graying and green eyes. Her formal, sleeveless red dress was adorned with a name tag that read "Martha". Silver bracelets decorated each of her arms and a simple cross necklace hung from her neck.
I managed a smile at the slightly frightened lady at the desk. I walked towards her, fiddling through my burlap sack for some money. Clearing my throat, I spoke for the first time in forever, I was scared my voice would come out scratchy, but it surprisingly smooth. "I need a room." I said simply. My voice sounded strange to me. It had been forever since I'd last heard it. "I don't care what kind just a room." I knew I sounded desperate but I didn't care, because quite frankly I was.
The woman seemed slightly taken aback, but cleared her throat. "Um, for how long, ma'am?" She asked, obviously trying to be polite. She placed her fingers on the keyboard of the computer.
"I don't know." I said, being completely honest. "Could be a day, could be forever."
She paused and turned to me. "Ma'am, we only do rooming for people who called in advance and ordered a room." She took a sip of drink from a mug that sat next to her. "And we also have a two week residency policy."
"Please!" I pleaded, setting $400 down on the desk. "I can pay at the beginning of each week! As you can see it's not like I can just go home!" I looked down at the money I had put down on the desk. "How many days will this pay for?"
The woman shifted her weight. "Four days." She said. "It cost $90 each night. But..."
At this point I was getting both more desperate and angry. "Look." I said, taking a different approach and leaning over the desk. "You will let me stay here. I will not be some homeless freak living on the streets, so unless you want something bad to happen, I suggest you hand me a key."
She chuckled nervously. "Oh, look." She said. "I think room 3-29 is open. Let me just get your registered. Name?"
I stood up straight. "Abigail Ferrin." I said, my tone returning to normal.
"Thanks." She said quickly typing my response. She turned around and grabbed a key off a wall with multiple hanging keys. She turned around and handed it to me. "Up the elevator to the third floor, take the main hall way, then take the second hallway leading off of that. Third door on your left. It has a single queen bed and a balcony along with a variety of other amenities ."
I took the key. "Thanks so much." I said, and began briskly walking to the elevator, relieved that I would get the chance to ride it alone.
I clicked the button with a large, white '3' on it. With a sigh, I walked backwards to the wall and slid against it to the floor as soon as I felt the cool metal against my back. A small jolt signified that the elevator had started moving. The elevator dinged as it went up a floor, a sound that sent another wave of comfort through me, as if with each ding I was getting farther and farther away from my past. Ding! My floor. The elevator doors opened to reveal a hallway with red velvet carpets, pale blueish-gray walls, and doors made from a polished reddish wood.
I followed the instructions of the woman at the desk to find my room. I found it and slid the keycard into the designated slit. A small and quiet beep beep. I opened the door, slightly taken aback at first by the sudden heat of the room. After the initial shock, the heat felt great.
The hotel room was mainly completely open, except for the bathroom and a small half wall that separated the kitchenette and the bed. There was a single queen sized bed that sat in the middle of the main room against the wall, straight across from the small TV which sat on a dresser. The bed was covered in a light brown bed suit with a pillow striped with pink. Not quite a good match if you ask me. A recliner sat in the corner of the room in a good place to watch TV. On either side of the bed was a small end table. The kitchen was simple. A microwave oven, a microwave, a sink, a mini-fridge. Things like that. The bathroom simply had a sink, a toilet, a shower, and a cabinet with a mirror on it.
I threw my burlap sack into the floor. I walked over the the bathroom sink and turned it on, giving the water a few seconds to heat up to luke warm temperatures. I cupped my hands and filled them with water, then splashed it on my face. I opened the cabinet above the sink and grabbed a wash rag. I soaked it in the running water, and without even wringing it drew it across my face. I could almost feel the dirt washing off my face, and I could definitely feel the muscles that had been so tense in my face for weeks relax.
I looked in the mirror. My face didn't seem to match the rest of my still dirty body. My features were soft yet somewhat hardened by the past. Both the things I've been through and the fact I've barely eaten the past few weeks made my cheekbones more noticeable then they were six years ago. What kind of sick bastard would do that to children? What kind of sadist would...
No! I scolded myself. I was here to get away from my past, and thinking about it, dwelling on it, that wasn't going to help anything. I looked into mirror, staring straight into my own eyes. "Normal girl. Normal life. You can do it. You can leave it all behind, Abigail." I told myself out loud, my voice sounding more confident than I actually felt.
It was then that I noticed and remembered my necklace. Despite the filthiness of most of me, the necklace seemed untouched and bright against the brown of my worn clothes. It was a solid piece of amber carved into a rounded diamond. A diamond of silver wrapped around it, a piece of the silver squiggling to the other side of it horizontally on both sides. The silver connected it to a chain that hooked around my neck and hooked together under my pale hair. The piece of amber in general was about an inch vertically and half an inch horizontally. I admit, the thing was pretty, but what it symbolized made it seem like sewage. I wanted to take it off. Take it off and smash it, or burn it, or throw it away, but the pain caused by even trying to take it off was so excruciating, I couldn't stand it. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if I managed to power through and take it off. Hell, just thinking about trying to take it off sent a slight burning sensation up my spine and zaps of electricity like pain through my brain. Not really painful, but there.
I forced myself to stop thinking about the necklace at the first sign of a threatening headache. I was eager to take a shower, but I figured it would be pointless to get clean and then put on filthy clothes that would just get me dirty again. I planned on going shopping tomorrow, as much as I hated shopping, for clothes and food. I also planned to check out the high school here, at least from the outside. If I planned on attempting a normal life here, I needed to go to school.
My stomach growling stopped my thinking of tomorrow. I remembered a vending machine and drink machine I had seen on the way to my room. I had seen them on the way but it didn't register with me that they were there till now. I walked into the main room and out of the bathroom, grabbing my bag from the floor on the way to get some money out of it.
I set it down on the bed and started taking everything out of it. One pile for stuff to throw away, one of things to keep. I tried to take out the things to throw away first. A moldy apple, my other set of clothes, empty water bottles. Most of the bag's contents. Not much was in it that I could keep. It was mainly first aid supplies. Then I got to the bottom of the bag. The first first thing was a half-mask. It was a deep, dark violet color and made out of a thick, soft cloth. It disgusted me. The memories of the things I've done in this mask flooded into my head, almost making me break down crying. I held back a breakdown, though, only letting a few stray tears run down my face. I knew I needed to keep the mask, though. No matter how much I hated it, I would need it again. The next thing was even worse. It was an eight inch long dagger, sheathed in a brown leather scabbard. I picked it up, examining it closely. I had almost forgotten about it because I hadn't used it in so long. The scabbard was brown with "Abigail" carved into it. The leather was smooth and worn but still strong. The handle was black and made out of metal. It to had something carved into it, but it wasn't my name. It said, "Insidiatori". Latin. I refused to unsheathe it and put it in the pile of things to keep.
I grabbed five ones out of the bag and left the room, heading to the drink and vending machines in the hall. I stopped in front of the machines, decided to get a drink first. I put a dollar in and got a Coke. Then I got a pack of M&Ms, some peanut butter crackers, and a bag of potato chips and went back to my room. I ate my food, probably a little too quickly, and drank my drink. I didn't care if I ate to fast. I was somewhat full for the first time in almost a month.
I looked at the clock on one of the end tables. 9:07. I got the stuff off the bed, careful to hide the dagger and mask. With each object I took off the bed, the more tired a grew and the comfier the bed looked. Finally the bed was clear.I I pulled back the covers on the bed, the mattress seeming so welcoming. I took off my torn hoodie. The shirt underneath was ripped but in slightly better condition. laid down, the softness of the bed feeling so amazing and almost foreign. I didn't really care or mind that the shirt I was wearing was scratchy. The comfort of the bad made up for the uncomfortable clothes. I laid my head on the pillow, and was almost instantly enveloped the warm darkness of sleep.
Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think. There's more to come!
