Disclaimer: Will never own Hills Have Eyes, I accepted that nor do I own the novels of William Golding

They went out the door and we followed, I blinked in the bright light and tried to take everything in. Cassie and Pluto were heading far away from the rundown houses that we were surrounded by. There were mannequins here and there, creepy things with poses frozen in time and some body parts missing. It looked to be like some sort of desert ghost town but there were no stores around.

Where's Matty? I searched around but there seemed to be no indication of more people. I planted my feet, there was no way in hell I was going somewhere without my best friend. That didn't seem to deter the man as he started to drag me away, my heels dragging behind me. I struggled more but he tightened his vice grip, it would have been painful if I hadn't been in tighter from a fight I once had with a girl that looked more like a man with breasts.

"Hey, let me go!" I yelled in frustration as we neared a house, it was the first time to him but he ignored me and simply moved over to the porch then into the house after opening a screen door.

I was dropped unceremoniously on the floor again and I groaned at the pain this was adding to my migraine. Damn man had a fucking thing with dropping me! I could hear light footsteps skittering across the floor followed by heavy ones. Right now the pain was seriously outweighing the anger, I needed some aspirin if I wanted to keep what little sanity I had.

Opening my closed eyes I looked up to see the earlier man but this time there was a huge bald woman with a small girl wearing a bright red hood hiding behind her. I groaned again closing my eyes keeping my hands rubbing at my temples. I imagined this is what my sisters felt after a night of partying. Ugh, someone kill me before the migraine does!

"You alrigh'?" I presumed that the woman had spoken and sat myself up with my eyes still closed.

"As much as I could be with a pounding head," I muttered and felt a hand nudging me.

I opened my eyes to see the woman smiling at me if only slightly. She felt my head for a second and I winced when she touched a tender part on the left side.

"Goddammit!" I hissed and chanced a glare at the man that caused this. The woman turned to him too with a questioning glance.

"Who hit 'er, Jupiter? Got a nasty bump on the head." She said and the man looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

"Prob'ly Lizar'," He shrugged as if he couldn't care less and nodded in my direction. "Thought ya migh' wan' 'er for help."

The woman smiled and stood up to hug the man, I felt uncomfortable in my position and instead looked at the girl. Her prominent cheekbones where uneven with large eyes and her long brown hair was unkempt. The dusty red hoodie was what stood out the most, making her small figure stand out like a sore thumb. She was small but looked no older than fourteen at the most with some of her fingers fused together that I noticed as she wrapped the hoodie tighter around herself.

She smiled if a bit shy, showing yellowed teeth that were sharper than any normal ones. I smiled back with apprehension rubbing my temples as I tried to alleviate some of the pain. The man, Jupiter, kneeled down then and cut through the ropes. Before he could leave I grabbed the end of his coat.

The surprise was clear on his face as I leveled my gaze. "What happened to the boy that came with us?"

My voice surprised me, it was calm as if already knowing the worst and the thing about it is, I think I had accepted it when I first saw Matthew was gone. Jupiter scratched at his beard, regarding me with a careful eye, most likely wondering how I would react.

"He dead." There were no tears, no anger...at least not yet. My teeth clamped down not with anger but something else entirely. I let go of his coat and focused on rubbing my ankles to get some feeling back. I didn't know where my hair tie was as brown hair covered my vision, the screen door opened then closed with the sound of boots walking away.

That's when I stood up, pushing back my hair as I regarded the woman and girl, the woman's daughter I presumed.

"I'm Big Mama, this Ruby." The woman said and I let out a long sigh. "You want sumthin' for tha' head?"

I nodded, walking on shaky legs and followed them through the filthy living room. The kitchen was cleaner but with apprehension I noticed the dried bloodstains on a wooden cutting board. It should've been normal enough, my mom had her fair share of them with stains from vegetables and fruits, yet I couldn't help the pounding in my ears.

"You eat them, don't you?" Suddenly it all made sense, all of it was so fucking crystal clear! The tires were no coincidence neither was the old man giving us the directions in the first place! Oh god, oh fucking god, I'm so pissed off but I didn't know what to do other than to keep biting down.

Big Mama wouldn't look at me neither did Ruby who set an old first aid kit in front of me. I took out the aspirin bottle, my hands shaking and dry-swallowed two of them. That's when she looked up at me with eyes so big and wide and I remembered Mattie. I see those big eyes when he thinks I'm going to lash out at him with my words or actions or when he charms someone new. Tears prick at my eyes and I can't believe the state of disbelief I'm in.

"Name?" Ruby asked softly almost in a whisper.

I wipe at my eyes even though no tears were shed yet. "Huh, my name?"

Big Mama is coming close to me and tries to pull me into a hug but I twist away.

"Sorry," I mumble. "My name's Jennifer but Jenn or Jenny's okay."

They both nod and I curse how close I am to tears. Those eyes look up at me again and I give Ruby a small smile. "You remind me of someone I knew."

She returns the smile and I start crying right then, this time I don't twist away from Big Mama. I won't say I cried for the darkness of man's heart, too many people have cried for that. But, in the words of Mr. Golding, I did cry for the fall through the air of a true, wise friend called Matthew.