Chapter Two:
"You're all going home."
The white light was welcoming. Fear and anguish washed away. Hope thrived, and footsteps shifted forward. Smiles drifted, cautious to be happy, but death was now nothing but a shadow of a thought. And here lies salvation with a young girl, one thought lost a long time ago, but now one guiding their way.
"Melanie?"
"Yes, Barbie." She smiled and gestured again. "Come. Come with me."
Dale 'Barbie' Barbara edged forward. Every fiber of his being wanted that white light. He wanted to hold his sister again. It was safe. He told himself that, despite a knot in his stomach, but he forced himself to drop his guard. "It's safe," and now he guided the survivors of Chester's Mill into the light.
Joe McAlister, Norrie Calvert-Hill, Sam Verdreaux, and Hunter May hung back. They stared at each other. Then, they turned to watch the others vanish into the white. Norrie's mother, Carolyn Hill lingered between them and the light.
"Melanie." Now, Barbie surprised her. His hand fell on cold flesh. He pulled her toward him. He meant to be soft about it, but he was rough. Now, every fiber of his being was screaming.
Melanie Cross's face twisted. Every soft, warm feature vanished. Her eyes went dark, black. Her skin whitened, thinning underneath Barbie's hand, and his hand snapped back as if bitten. He rubbed his hand before looking back up at his sister. She smiled at him, an unpleasant and bone chilling smile, and he recoiled back even further. Then, her face twisted again into a monstrous being, and they all screamed. But before they could react, the monster vanished into the white light.
"Barbie, what was that?" Carolyn Hill still lingered near him and the white light. "What was that!"
Long, thin arms snapped out of the light. They wrapped around Carolyn's waist. A look of terror filled her face, and a moment later, she was snapped into the light. Barbie moved toward her, but a force threw him back into Sam. They went down hard, and the white light vanished. They were once again trapped.
"Mom," Norrie screamed. "Mom!"
"We're going to die," Hunter cried. "We are all going to die!"
Above ground, Don Barbara noticed that Heather had stopped walking. She seemed like she was listening to something, but he didn't hear anything. The woods were quiet. Too quiet, and that unnerved him. Something was going on, and he bet that she knew exactly what that was. "What is it," he asked her.
"Nothing." She smiled as she resumed walking with them. "Not one thing," but that smile ran chills right through him. "Let's go," and she moved on away from him.