Crazy
Four
Crawl
Within a few weeks, she was back to normal and everyone but her, Rae, and Derek were heading to the pool. Since Chloe was on her period and refused to use tampons, she opted out. Derek, oddly, wasn't allowed out. She wasn't sure about Rae's excuse.
Chloe decided to see her friends off and stood by the door, wearing a loose Kill La Kill sweatshirt she'd stolen from Beth, who was a die hard otaku, and cut offs.
Tori stood by her, dressed in shorts and flip-flops, not bothering with a cover up; her dark sunglasses took up half her face.
"But we get to the pool! I love the water," Liz was babbling, brushing away her long hair with every word.
Chloe smiled at Simon, who was approaching with a tall, red-haired boy she'd never seen.
"Chloe, this is Nate, Nate, this is Chloe."
The redhead grinned, freckles flashing.
"I'm the boyfriend," he mock-whispered, and Simon's face flushed bright red as he smacked the tall boy's shoulder. The sound made Chloe flinch, but Nate simply grinned it off, swept Simon into his arms and paraded around like a strutting peacock.
She laughed until tears streamed from her eyes, and she had to clutch the banister to keep from falling. Simon had gone silent and so had Nate. The banister moved, and she yelped. "The banister moved!" she squeaked.
"I'm not a banister, Chloe," rumbled a familiar voice, and she turned.
Tori snorted a laugh as Simon broke into giggles.
"S-sorry," Chloe apologized as her face warmed at the sight of Derek behind her.
Tori snickered.
"Don't be," Nate interjected, patting Chloe's head in an annoying brotherly way, like he knew all the answers to the problems.
She swatted his hand away. Why was Derek here? To see Simon off? Maybe.
"Oh, Derek."
It dawned on her that was why. To get away from her.
Rae came around the corner, grinning like a idiot but stopped short and the grin fell of her face when she saw Chloe still gripping Derek's arm.
Chloe dropped her hand quickly but not quick enough for Rae's tastes, if the look she shot the blonde was any indication.
Rae then plastered on a fake smile and walked closer.
Derek scooted closer to Chloe, and she couldn't help it-she burst into laughter, making everyone jump.
She laughed and laughed and laughed, until she was on her knees from it, her stomach cramping as she struggled to breathe. Tears streamed from her eyes as she gasped for breath, her lungs aching, stomach throbbing from the laughter.
"I-I-I—" She stopped, glanced up at Derek, who looked, for the most part, horrified at being so close to Rae, and burst into laughter all over again.
It took several calming breaths for her to be able to breath again.
"What the hell was that all about?" snarled Rae, her heel nearly stabbing Chloe in the hand.
The blonde scrabbled back and got to her feet quickly.
"Simon and I were being stupid," Nate said sharply, turning the dark-skinned girl's attention to him. They stared at each other, Simon sandwiched between them, until Nurse Van Dop cleared her throat and stepped between them.
Chloe caught a glimpse of the disapproval on the nurse's face before she ushered the kids out the door and gave the three standing in the foyer a meaningful look. The door closed with a click and silence became evident.
"I'm gonna go shower," Derek muttered and turned away.
Chloe felt a prickle of fear crawl up her spine and squeeze her chest with a vice. Ice pumped through her veins. Why did he leave her alone with—
"I-I-I—"
The look Rae flashed her was sugary and sweet but something dark clouded her eyes, dark enough to make Chloe want to never, ever cross paths with the other girl in a dark alley.
Chloe turned and ran away.
Hair wet and sticking to the back of her sweatshirt, Chloe made her way downstairs, bare feet sticking to the cold, cold floor.
In the TV room sat Derek, sitting at the computer, sleeves rolls to his elbows, showing off his surprisingly muscular forearms; it looked like he was playing a military game.
She stood there, water dripping down her back, watching him, studying him.
His lanky hair was combed back by his fingers and water dripped down his muscular neck, down his broad back. He looked flushed, suggesting he'd taken a shower. "I know you're there," he said, startling her.
She jumped. "How?" she asked softly.
He shrugged off her question and turned, an arm draped over the back of the chair. "Where's the molester?" he asked calmly.
"M-M-molester?" Chloe echoed.
His green eyes met hers. "Rae. You know, the one who hangs on my every word even when I'm telling her point that I have no interest in her, none what so ever."
A smile flitted across her lips. "I'm not sure." She walked closer to Derek and snatched up a pillow, hugging it to her chest as she leaned over his lap, peering at the screen.
Call of Duty: Ghost Protocol.
"I didn't peg you as a Call of Duty fan," she said with a smile.
His lips twitched. "Yeah."
She grabbed a kitchen chair and pulled it up next to him. "So, tell me how to play," she said.
Everything was dark. Cold. Damp. It smelled like musty basement. Her head was aching and she felt groggy. Her mouth tastes fuzzy, like cotton balls.
What the hell? She tried to sit up only to find she couldn't; shock knocked away her drowsiness and she began to frantically try to sit up. Her arms were bound, her legs too; duct tape pulled at the skin around her mouth.
She was breathing heavily when she heard a voice say, "Hey, Rae, have you seen Chloe?" Derek. She tried to scream but nothing came out; panic was tight in her chest as her heart hammered like a mallet in her ribcage. Rustling, like fabric.
"No," Rae replied.
The clicking of her heels echoed in Chloe's ears. She squeezed her eyes shut and struggled to her knees. She smacked her head hard on the low ceiling. Her mind was racing as she began to inch forward. What had happened?
She thought back.
She and Derek had been talking when Rae walked in as Derek showed Chloe the mechanics of his game. Chloe decided to head upstairs to get her phone, her DS maybe? Rae walked in. In her hand she held something, a broken red rectangle. A brick.
Chloe scooted, slipped, and cracked her nose on a column and sat back as blood gushed from her nose. Her stomach cramped.
Hit. Rae had hit her in the back of the head, dragged her down to the crawl space and gagged and bound her. Royce…and another boy helped Rae get the crawl space door open.
She remembered the laughter as the door shut.
Now, she was stuck. Stuck in one of the places she hated the most. Tears dripped down her face as her nose throbbed.
Something moved behind her, a scuttling. She remembered her aunt saying there were tons of rats in crawl spaces.
Chloe scooted faster but froze when something cold slid across her foot as she realized she was barefoot.
A moan rose behind her as cold fingers wrapped around her bare ankle.