You wake up to Coraline screaming, "no, they're looking for us! They're trying to find us!"
The fuzzy blanket wrapped around you brought your body back into the real world, but you feel as if time is moving slower than it should b
Your body aches; depression is weighing heavy on you today.
"Cora, we're fine. No one is looking for us," Quinn breathes. She sounds as if she's been awake for a while.
"Rachel, did we kill them?" your younger sister asks innocently.
Rachel nods slowly.
You scream.
"What's wrong, Cassie?" your sister asks, as if she's in a hurry all of a sudden.
You try to speak, but you feel trapped by the cage in your mind. The bright light outside is upsetting you. The shadows floating around in your head are taunting you with images of slashed wrists and lifeless bodies. You want so badly to join them, and end this nightmare that you're living in.
But then you realize you haven't showered in a few days, and you feel disgusted.
You begin to cry, because your demons still won't let you communicate.
You look around and see everyone's mouths moving, but you don't hear a thing.
Rachel and Quinn seem concerned about you. You wish they weren't.
You're laying on a nasty motel bed. The bedspread appears as if it hasn't been replaced since the 80's, but you don't care. You're just grateful to be out of that car.
Quinn is sitting at the foot of the bed, watching TV. She is wrapped in a towel, and her hair is wet. She's really into the animal documentary on the screen.
Coraline is playing in the corner of the motel room with her imaginary rats and cats and human friends.
Rachel is blowdrying her hair, and trying to make herself pretty. You're not sure why, because she doesn't have anyone to impress.
Santana is in the shower, and has been for quite some time.
With everyone preoccupied, that leaves you alone to play with your demons.
Cheerleaders are yelling, "Lets go Bulldogs," as they toss girls up in the air. Football players are running across the field, and fans are on their feet cheering. You're sitting next to your best friend, watching everything unfold.
A boy comes up behind you, and slings his arms around you and her.
"Cassie and Kacie; what a great combo," Braden smiles, attempting to flirt with you.
"More like a deadly combo, if you ask me," Eric smirks from behind Braden.
"Don't you have somewhere to be, freshman?" Kacie snaps at the boys.
"Oh, come on! Don't you want me to serenade you?" the brunette boy jokes at Kacie, who promptly glares at him.
"Okay then, I'll just seduce Cassie instead," he smirks before turning to you, and then begins singing, "beauty queen of only fifteen, she had some trouble with herself."
"Stop it," you say with anger. Braden and Eric playfully laugh. They don't understand your frustration.
Braden sighs. "Fine. You two can just sit here looking sad," he teases as he walks away.
You stare blankly at the field. The slight breeze in the air makes the cool weather seem as if it's taunting; you desperately need a cuddle buddy.
You scan the crowd in search of a possible candidate.
Trey is cute, but you think he's seeing someone.
Max would be perfect, except he's on the field.
Bella is pretty, and totally straight.
Braden? No; he's too much of a tease.
Peighton is on the sidelines cheering, along with Callie.
Brandon, Nick, and Corbin are on the field too.
You're feeling lonely when the scoreboard's time runs out, and it becomes half time. Cheerleaders rush up to the stands, and temporarily become spectators.
They all seem so happy among their friends; unlike you and Kacie.
You pick your sister out of the crowd, and you see Quinn making her way to her.
Rachel wraps her arms around the blonde, pulling her tightly into her body. Their embrace is long and full of sweet passion. You wish you could have the relationship they have.
Rachel sits down, and Quinn sits on her brunette wraps a maroon blanket around them, and snuggles her head into Quinn's shoulder.
"Hey cutie," Peighton beams as she plops down next to you. She kisses your cheek, leaving a red lipstick print.
"It's so cold," you say dully. Kacie leaves without saying a word.
"Tell me about it," she sighs, pointing to her skirt. You have on leggings, combat boots, and a sweatshirt.
"At least y'all are down there flipping," you manage to say with a slight smile.
"So I noticed something really weird earlier when I was stunting Quinn," she starts. You look at her with concern.
"She, like, had these weird bruises on her inner thigh. I noticed them when she pulled a needle; they were on her right leg," she tells you.
"Hmm…. that's weird," you purse your lips together. "What do you think they're from?"
"I don't know…" she trails off. "maybe Rachel was too rough in bed?" she jokes.
"That's a disgusting thought," you smile.
"But seriously, what do you think caused it?"
"It kind of makes me think somebody hit her or something" Peighton admits.
"I guess I can ask Rachel about later," you suggest. "Wanna go get a hot chocolate?"
"Duh," she smiles. She stands up, and you jump on her back. She carries you away from the bleachers, and to the snack bar.
"Eighty, Midnight, Twenty Four Hours, Sycamore, and Seven are all playing together!" Cora claps her hands as she observes her imaginary friends playing in the corner. You slide off the bed and walk over there to join her.
Cora begins singing, "ring around the rosy, pocket full of posy. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down."
You know this means her "friends" are taunting her with death, which in turns triggers you too.
She pauses suddenly, and looks up at you.
"They're coming to get you," she says in an eerie tone.
"Who?" you ask.
"Your demons," she replies, "they're coming to play with you."
"Coraline stop saying that," Quinn says without taking her eyes off the TV.
"But why? That's what they told me to say." Her eyes roam, until they fixate on something on the ceiling. You turn to look, but there isn't anything there, at lest not to your observation. You know this means she's hallucinating something evil.
You start to get frightened, but then again, you also wish you could run with those demons. You've been dying to unzip your skin for ages, maybe tonight will be the night.
The ever present sound of the blowdryer mixes in with a dripping bathtub in your mind. You hear razor blades hit the floor and you wish they were falling from your lifeless hand.
Thoughts of death are overwhelming you more than usual. You can't even speak up because the demons won't let you.
Everything in the motel room comes to a pause whenever you hear police sirens outside your door.
"Shit," Santana spits out, startling everyone. She had just gotten out of the shower a few moments ago.
"The ambulance is here to take you away, Cassie," Coraline says lifelessly. She has this look on her face that tells you she's slipping back into psychosis.
"No, Cora. Those are cop cars," you tell her.
"We need to, like, hide!" Santana panics. She's trying to find some clothes, but has no luck.
Rachel turns the blow dryer off, and Quinn shuts off the tv. She walks over to Rachel, and grabs her hands. They rest their foreheads on each other's.
"Sorry I snapped at you earlier... It's just, things are so different now. And when your sisters are with me, I just, feel so protective over them. And who knew we'd get into all this shit?" Quinn sighs, with emotions flooding from her body.
"You know, Quinn, it's fine. Thank you for apologizing. But I think we need to be more concerned about the law enforcement out side of our room," Rachel said in a serious tone.
"Okay, so, Cassie, Cora, and Rachel- you guys go hide in the bathroom. Quinn and I can just sit on the bed, pretending everything's fine," Santana orders.
"This isn't even a big deal," you mutter, although no one hears you. You know that Santana is just overly paranoid because all of the run-ins with the law she's had in the past. Still, you comply with the instructions, because you fear that she would become angry with you if you don't.
After this point, your memory becomes choppy.
You're in the tiny bathroom with your two sisters.
The sirens are becoming louder with each passing second.
There is banging on the door.
You notice blood on your hands, but you don't know how it got there.
You look up, and see a dead body in the bathtub.
You scream. And that's all you remember.