"Never let me go out with those two again..." Finley's feeble voice echoed through the halls of the Skellington household as she flopped onto a couch in the den, one arm holding onto her crutches while the other lay slung across her face.
The twins had forced Finley to go everywhere. The vampire's place. The potion shop run by the witches. That weird hill that reminded Finley of a pull-out bed, the way it curled out when you stepped on it a certain way. They had even gone to a strange, tiny place settled in a back alley that reeked of something unpleasant and had jars of questionable substances lining the dusty walls. Their adventure had stopped, however, when they had arrived at the city hall, where a very stern Jack and panicked Mayor had kicked them out only a moment after their entrance. "Killjoys," Kai had muttered as the rotting wooden doors slammed shut behind them.
"Dinner!" Finley groaned as she heard Sally call out from the kitchen. If I move again, I'm pretty sure I'll become a pile of jelly, she thought wearily. Still, the teen pushed herself off of the couch and joined the Skellingtons, the rumbling of her stomach overpowering the screaming of her muscles.
Slinking towards the dining room, Finley practically melted into a finely-crafted mahogany chair, her forehead making a loud thud on the table as it met with the cold, hard surface.
"Long day?" Jack asked, earning a muffled grunt in reply.
Feeling the table shake as different dishes were placed on it, Finley raised her head, leaning back in her chair and rubbing ferociously at her eyes. Blinking away the blurriness, she glanced over the miniature feast; pumpkin juice with different specks floating in it, rotting fruits, some sort of undefinable meat, and moldy bread. Delicious, Finley thought sarcastically to herself as she fought back the urge to gag, picking up the pumpkin juice and hoping it would taste better than it looked.
Huh. Spiced juice. Not too bad.
Picking up a knife and fork, Finley's tongue poked out of the side of her mouth in concentration as she sawed at the strange meat on her place, eyeing it suspiciously before sticking it in her mouth and chewing slowly on it. The girl had to resist the urge to vomit as it slid about in her mouth, squishy and juicy - though, from sauce or decomposition, she couldn't tell. The teen became so focused on keeping down her dinner that she barely heard Sally's timid voice floating across the table.
"So, Finley... If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your leg?" The redhead asked, a note of caution in her voice. Finley froze, staring down at her fork with wide eyes. "That is, if you're willing to talk about it. It's okay if you don't, I was just curious." Sally finished hastily, noticing the girl's reaction.
"Whoa-oa, oh-oh!" A loopy, drunken voice sang loudly along with the blaring radio, confident and out of tune. A hand adorned with chipped nail polish reached out and cranked up the volume, overpowering the loud squealing of the tires as the car wove in and out of traffic.
"U-uh, no, it's... um, it's fine," Finley mumbled, forcing herself to swallow another piece of meat as her mouth became dry, feeling Jack and Sally's eyes bore into her as she kept her eyes glued to her plate.
"You're acting kind of weird..." A quiet voice drifted to the front seat, sounding uncertain.
"No way! I'm fine!" The driver insisted as the car sped up, flying past another van as they barreled down the highway. Misty green eyes glanced down at the dashboard, not quite able to read the speed meter. "Hey, 's that say?" She slurred, as a boy's head appeared between the front seats, his eyes widening at the sight.
"I..." Finley was at a loss for words, struggling to come up with an answer as her thoughts raced around inside her head. They can't know, she thought desperately. Even if they are weird-ass monsters, they won't condone something like that.
"Finley...?" Jack sounded concerned as he stared at the girl, eye sockets widening in worry.
"You're going ninety!" He shouted, reaching forward to turn down the music as the car swerved around a truck, an angry beep fading into the distance as they sped away.
"No way, that says seventy!"
"Ninety!"
"Seve-!" The voice cut off as a panic-laced shriek ripped through the air, quickly followed by an agonized scream.
"..." Finley swallowed, before raising her head, giving Jack and Sally a reassuring smile. "Just a stupid accident, really." Very stupid. Unbelievably stupid. The very definition of stupid.
"I think I should go to bed," The teen muttered. "It's been a really long day, and I'm awfully tired. Thank you for dinner." Finley stood up, holding onto her chair for support as she picked up her crutches, tucking one under each arm and swinging towards the guest room with a small smile on her face.
Only when the door clicked shut did she allow her face to crumple, her crutches flung to the floor as she collapsed on the bed, tucking her mouth into her moth-eaten sheets so as not to let any of the once-again jolly family outside hear her stifle a sob.
Now that's an ugly face if I've ever seen one, Finley thought as she examined her reddened skin in the closet's hanging mirror, her eyes swollen and pink. I need to stop doing that. Crying sucks. Stop being so sensitive, she scolded herself.
Quickly picking up her pillow, Finley flipped it to the cool, unused side, pressing it against her face in an attempt to bring down the puffiness. After a few minutes she switched sides, going back and forth for as long as she felt necessary. Placing the pillow back at the headboard, Finley looked towards the mirror again.
"I look like shit now," she muttered, sighing loudly as she flopped back onto the bed unhappily, shutting her eyes and allowing herself a moment's rest.
"I agree," came a small voice from seemingly nowhere.
The teen's eyes shot open, her hair whipping around her as she sat up and looked frantically around the room, panic welling up in her chest. A quiet chuckle rang out in the still, tense air. "Over here," a lyrical voice called, as a line of black mist crept out from behind the crack of the closet door, taking the shape of a shadowy, dark arm as it grasped the doorknob.
"Who the hell...?" Finley yelped, snatching up a crutch from the floor and holding it as if it was a bat. A few strands of pitch-black hair fell to the side as a smoky figure glided out from the closet door, its head cocked at an odd angle. The figure was tall, adorned in a ripped red - or was it just covered in blood? - dress, torn strips of fabric waving gently as the person - shadow? - moved.
"I'm nobody, not really," The figure chuckled, sharp white teeth poking out from underneath black lips. "Just the Creature In Your Closet. Not to be confused with that lug of a Monster Underneath Your Bed." Finley cautiously lowered her crutch, giving a suspicious look to the Monster as it swept towards her bed. "Name's Andromeda, by the way. Guess it was the wrong night to visit, eh?"
"...Kind of," Finley agreed, before her face darkened. "Wait a minute! That was rude as hell!" The teen swung her crutch, watching as it cut cleanly through Andromeda's waist before the shadows linked themselves back together. "You don't just nod and say yes if a girl says she looks shitty! 'I agree,'" She imitated in a low, comically sultry voice, before scowling. "The hell do you think you are?"
Andromeda gave the girl an incredulous look, opening her mouth to retort back but was cut off by a soft knock at the bedroom door. "Finley?" Sally's muffled voice broke through the wood. "Can I come in?"
The shadowy figure's head whipped to the side as she stared at the door for a moment, before leaning forward towards the girl's head. "I'm the one who you'll be thanking, human girl," the woman hissed into the teen's ear, before stepping back and bursting into a shroud of swirling gray smoke.
"Finley?" Sally called again, nearly going unheard as the girl stared in shock at the place where Andromeda had disappeared.
"..." Finley cleared her throat, lowering her crutch to the floor and placing a hand over her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. "Y-yeah. Come in."
Sally peeked through the doorway, hesitantly stepping inside the room before closing the door behind her. The redheaded woman began to wring her stitch-covered hands as she looked to the teen. "I, um... I don't mean to pry, but really, are you alright?" She asked nervously, apprehensively taking an unsteady step forward. "I mean, you left so abruptly at dinner, I wasn't sure if I had upset you or not. I hope I didn't," the ragdoll said sincerely.
Finley gave the woman a weary smile. "I'm sorry if I worried you or Jack," she said. "I just kind of panicked when you asked. Nobody's really asked me that since it happened, so I guess I'm not used to it," the teen laughed quietly. "I really am sorry, though. I kind of made a scene without meaning to," she said truthfully.
There was a tense silence between the two girls for a moment, before a loud crash caught their attention. "Aw, Xander! No!" An exasperated cry from Jack echoed from somewhere in the house, causing the duo to share a quiet giggle.
"I suppose I should go take care of... whatever that was," Sally smiled, shaking her head and looking drained as she turned to leave the room. "No matter how long I leave those two alone, they still get into trouble," she laughed. "You'd think they'd be able to handle themselves for more than two minutes."
"Yeah," Finley nodded her assent, hearing her (temporary) bedroom door squeak as the ragdoll woman opened it, a thought popping into her head. "Oh, and, um, Sally?"
The redhead paused, her hand still resting on the doorknob. "Yes?"
"Thank you for letting me stay here, really. It means a lot." Finley said, biting her lip. "And, um...about my leg... it was a car accident, to answer your question."
Sally smiled slightly, nodding her head in thanks and scurrying off to deal with her husband and toddler.
Even if everybody else in this town acts like they've come straight out of a Silent Hill game, at least Sally isn't so bad, Finley thought, her thoughts drifting back towards Andromeda. "I'm the one who you'll be thanking, human girl." How does she know?
And more importantly, what does that even mean?
And the truth comes out! Finley lost her leg in a car accident. Also, Andromeda's got some dirt on Finley. Does this bode well? Does this bode badly? Is 'bode badly' even a term?
In case anyone was confused about the whole dinner scene, when Sally asked Finley about her leg, the poor girl was thrown into a spin. There are some bad strings tied to that incident (alongside the whole she-lost-her-leg-thing,) and you'll find out what those are in time. I really hope I managed to capture the whole panicky, flash-backy sort of thing well. It's the first time I've really written that sort of reaction.
Also, you met the Creature In Your Closet! I wondered if the Monster Under Your Bed inhabited closets as well, because so many kids seem to be scared of them, and some things just fell into place. And so, Andromeda was introduced a bit earlier than I had planned. Oh well, it works out in the story's favor, I suppose.
Hope you enjoyed!
See you in chapter 5!
