Angie stared ahead a few moments before standing.
Nell.
Naked.
Barn.
That stupid, cryptic fucking warning.
A mew slipped through her lips. Why did she have to be the one to deal with the psycho teenager! She wasn't anyone's parent! WHY WAS HER FATHER NOT BACK YET! Angie entered the house just in time to see Iris dragging Nell away from Cotton.
"Angie!" The brunette snapped; her features angry and tired, "Where the hell've you been?"
The girl blinked at her. Her own nerves were frayed enough. She didn't need her boss scolding her like a child. Instead of answering her, the blonde took Nell by the arm. "Come on," Angie smiled softly at the girl. "Let's get you some clothes."
Iris let the farmer's daughter go and went to inspect the (now visibly battered) camera as Cotton followed the girls upstairs.
The air was humid and dank in the dark staircase. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Hey, Angie?"
"Hm?" The blonde glanced back at him.
"Any idea what time it is?"
"Ask Dan," She said with a hint of humor on her lips, "He's the one keeping track of the clocks."
Cotton paused mid-step. He tilted his head at her and asked, "What?"
Angela shook her head, "Never mind."
Nell who was still rather dazed, was anything but resistant as the older girl guided her back to the bed. Her large brown eyes strayed from Angie to Cotton blankly as the man poked around her room.
The young woman carefully pulled the nightshirt down over Nell's head. Frankly, she didn't blame the girl for wanting to strip down every chance she got. It was insanely hot in here. Maybe the kid wasn't possessed, the older girl reasoned, maybe she was just dehydrated?
"Come on," Angie gently cooed, "Back to bed and we'll get you something to drink."
And then I'll have something to drink, she added mentally, her mind going back to
"You'll stay this time?"
A pause. She had to be fucking kidding. Angie stared at her, but there was not so much as a glimmer of humor on her face. After a few seconds, the blonde nodded, "Until you fall asleep, okay?"
"I'll stay, too." Cotton threw in. Angie shot him an appreciative glance.
Nell pursed her lips. The sound of crew coming up the stairs dampened her spirits further. Finally the girl nodded. "Okay."
"Okay." Angie pressed her lips to the girl's brow(much to both her and Nell's surprise) and helped her into bed. "But no more funny business, okay?"
Nell nodded and got under the blankets. Angie sat on the end of her bed. The preacher continued to look around the room with an interested eye.
"Hey, Angie…come look at this."
The blonde rolled her eyes. "Seriously? You want to-"
"Angela." Cotton said firmly.
Confused, the Vegas native approached him just as Iris stepped into the room. He pointed to some new entries to Nell's wall of art. Next to a bloodied cat was a picture of Cotton approaching a fire with his cross raised. But that was not the one that caught Angie's attention. No, it was the one depicting a battered blonde woman chained up and naked from the waist down that had the hair on the back of her neck standing up. She gaped at it a few moments.
"Something's on fire in this one," Cotton said, proposing, "Maybe the house?"
"Is that me?" Iris's eyes widened as she asked with a meek voice.
The preacher nodded, "Yeah that's all of us, all of us dead. I'm in the fire."
"I'm in a million pieces."
"Daniel, you get your head chopped off." Cotton told the camera man with a hint of a smile.
Angie bristled, "At least you guys get to keep your pants on." The younger woman brushed off Iris's comforting touch and went back to the bed. She crawled in next to Nell, who was listening with a pout on her lips to the crew's comments.
"She's more messed up than I thought."
The girl turned her face from them, obviously hurt. Angie sighed. What the hell had she gotten herself into? She looped an arm around Nell's waist and brushed some of the girl's long auburn hair back. She should've been at home in her own bed!
Not comforting Satan's child bride!
The adults took their leave. Daniel making sure to keep the door open in case his sidekick needed to make a quick getaway. Angie nodded her thanks and went back to stroking Nell's hair.
"Miss Angela?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry for scaring you."
The blonde girl paused her movements for a moment. "What makes you think you scare me?"
Nell shrugged. "It's kind of obvious."
"Can I ask you something? And get an honest answer I mean."
The brunette nodded and laced her fingers through the older girl's.
"Why did you draw those pictures?"
"I…I seen it. I mean, I saw it…" Nell muttered, pressing her face deeper into her pillow.
"In a dream?"
"No. Not really a dream… It's gonna happen again, I know it is, just like with-" The girl quieted. Pulling the blonde closer, she sniffed. "I don't want to talk anymore, Miss Angela."
Angie nodded. "Okay. We don't have to talk anymore, sweetie." She nestled in behind the girl and gave her hand a squeeze. "Just try and get some sleep, okay?"
Cotton frowned at the sight of them. "Angie," He tried, but the camera girl waved him off. With a roll of his eyes, the man ushered the other two downstairs.
It took a few minutes, but eventually Nell did fall asleep. Angie slipped out of the bed. Looking at her now, one never would've guessed all the trouble Nell had caused in just a few short hours. Letting out a huff, the blonde wiped some of her oily hair back from her face. A sigh escaped her lips. It had been a long, rough day and frankly, she was ready to bolt…but as she looked down at the troubled girl sleeping before her, Angie knew her stupid conscious wouldn't be able to go home until she knew the brat was gonna be okay.
With pursed lips the tanned girl made her way downstairs. Cotton and Iris sat on a couch, Daniel still filming them for some reason. Angie dropped down next to him on the floor, listening as the three 'adults' discuss the best course of action.
"You're not comfortable with what?" Cotton asked, not bothering to greet the young woman as she slumped against his camera man.
"I'm not comfortable that were in a house with someone who's doing pictures of my head being chopped off. You know?" Daniel looked to Iris for support, but the brunette was too preoccupied with rubbing her temples to notice.
Cotton waved off his concerns. "Relax. It's just a bunch of drawing from a little girl's imagination."
"Yeah, imagination's one thing, but," The man adjusted his camera as Angie curled up in his lap. Uncomfortably, he glanced down at her, but continued on regardless, "She killed those animals and she cut her brother up pretty good."
"You think she's gonna hack you to pieces and cut your head off? Is that what you think?"
"No, but we've seen signs of her being dangerous before."
Iris frowned. "They're just drawings, Daniel. I mean, we just happen to be in the house and we just happen to be in her drawings."
"She's a sixteen year old girl," The preacher reasoned, tucking his hands in close to his body. It was clear the stress of the situation was getting to him as well. "All right? We can overpower her if we need to."
Daniel scoffed, jarring the girl in his lap. He gave her head a frantic pat and she went back to resting. Although her bloodshot eyes stayed open. "Yeah, well sixteen year old girl and sixteen year old psychopath are two different things."
"Not if it's a sixteen year old girl on the rag," Angie reasoned with a weak smirk. Iris shot her a stern look, but it went ignored.
Instead of responding to that, Cotton continued to try and reason with them, "She's psychotic but she's not capable of chopping your head off." With an almost mocking tone, he asked him if he was legitimately worried about that.
Angie raised her hand but stayed quiet as Daniel pressed on. "I'm not worried. I'm just saying we should be concerned…"
"Guys," Iris cut back in. "Just take it easy, alright. We're all tired, and we're here to help her-"
"And scam her family," The blonde added. "Don't forget scam her family."
The brunette licked her lips. "So let's try to keep things in perspective, alright?"
They all agreed to this. Just to be on the safe side though, they decided to lock the sixteen year old girl/psycho in her bedroom.
Just to be safe.