Vertigo
Antares's concern that Darry would interfere with the Creeper again was well-warranted but unnecessary. Darry was asleep again when the Creeper forced the door and came for Antares again. He woke up when they were gone, and stayed awake, waiting for them to come back. Like Antares had asked, he pretended to be asleep when the Creeper came back in with Antares and laid her quivering form on the beanbags she had set up. Somehow Darry could tell he had taken more from her that night than ever before. He pushed himself up a little on his elbows and called to her softly:
"Ana. Hey Ana, wake up. Are you OK? What happened? Ana, can you hear me?"
Antares opened her eyes slowly and looked over at him, her face crumpled in fear and sorrow. She didn't respond to him, just lay gazing at him for a while. Darry couldn't say anything, so he just gazed back at her, wishing he could do something for her. Her soft voice startled him out of his thoughts:
"We gotta get outta here."
'No, let's stay and feed the birds,' said Trish's voice in Darry's mind. Darry half-smiled at the memory of his sister. He could still her screaming his name in his mind as she chased after him and the Creeper. But he didn't say these things. Instead, he said, "I think I tried to tell you that before." Antares forced an uncertain smile.
"I can't do this anymore," she said softly. "I'll lose whatever sanity I've managed to retain if I stay here. I can't. I have to get away, if only for a while. I just want to let my family know I'm alive. If I can do that much, then I'll be OK."
"We'll do more than that," Darry said. "We're going to get out of here. We're going home. I promise." Ana smiled and rose slowly, making her way towards him. Darry stared at her in shock when she came close enough for him to see her well. She had a reddish-purple "shiner" around her left eye and a split lip. Knowing full well what he was staring at, Antares shrugged helplessly.
"I guess the license plate is 'beating you' sometimes, huh?" she joked weakly. Darry didn't answer, just stared at her. "It's not so bad, though I should put some ice on my eye. S'matter of fact, I think I'll go do that now while I'm thinking of it." So saying, she went to her mini-fridge with a washcloth and took some ice out, wrapping it in the cloth. This she placed lightly on her eye, and returned to Darry.
"Are you all right?" asked Darry softly.
"As well as can be expected," replied Antares.
"How much time is left?"
"Tomorrow is the last day."
"Then we have to get out of here soon. What ways out are there?"
Antares hesitated, and Darry could see the uncertainty in her eyes. She was having second thoughts already. "Ana, we have to get out of here. You said so yourself," he said gently.
"I want to talk to them again," she said softly. "If I could just tell them I'm alive, I'm OK, I could be content. I could make it then."
"We're getting out of here," said Darry. "If I have to carry you out of here, I will." Antares laughed.
"I don't think that'll be necessary," she said. "But I appreciate the laugh." Darry grinned. "All right. There's another way out that I don't think Creeper knows about. There's a pipe, larger than the others. It's hollow. It's wide enough for a person to stand inside comfortably, but you couldn't stretch your arms out fully. If we brace ourselves against the inside of the pipe, we should be able to work our way up that way. It won't be easy, but it's the only other way out, the only way he might not know of."
"Good enough for me," said Darry. "We'll leave as soon as he does."
"He's probably going to lock us in here, but I can get us out," said Antares. She held up a hairpin, crudely bent and twisted to resemble a key of sorts. "This'll unlock the door. I made sure of it. When he locks us in, after he leaves I'll get us out again."
"Good," said Darry, smiling. The rest of the day dragged on uneventfully. Antares loaned Darry a solid black oversized shirt to replace the one the Creeper had shredded before. The two friends talked and dozed on and off. Darry woke once to find that the clay had been removed from his back and the residue washed away. Antares sat at a small desk drawing and didn't notice he was awake. He watched her for a time before falling back to dozing after slowly turning on his side. His back was still tender, but not nearly as painful as it had been. When he awoke again, Antares lay on her beanbag bed looking sick. Her skin had taken on an unhealthy-looking grey colour and her eyes were listless. Darry frowned, concerned.
"Hey Ana, you OK?" he asked, more for the sake of comforting her rather than truly asking. He knew she wasn't. She blinked slowly and looked over at him.
"He's gone," she croaked. "He's gone, and I can't move."
"What can I do?" asked Darry softly.
"In the fridge," said Antares, "there's some small black cans on the door. They have red symbols on them. Bring me two, please. Don't move too fast, though. The skin on your back is still healing; moving too quickly may cause it to open again." Darry nodded and did as she requested, rising slowly and bringing her two cans of something labeled "Vamp". When he saw she clearly couldn't sit up and drink them herself, he popped one open and held it to her lips, holding her head up so she wouldn't choke. He did the same with the second can, laying her back down gently when she finished.
"Thanks," she said. "I should be able to function better soon."
"What is this stuff?" asked Darry curiously.
"Energy drink," replied Antares. "A good one, too. It has, and I quote, "the most amount of caffeine allowed by law". Tastes really good, like really, really fizzy cherry soda. It's the first energy drink I've ever had that actually gives me energy. Want one?"
"No thanks," said Darry. After a while, Antares slowly pushed herself up, testing her reaction. Seeming content with whatever she was feeling, she rose to her feet and walked back and forth slowly across the room a couple times. Smiling to herself, she nodded and turned back to Darry. She looked like she was going to speak, but stopped before she did and went to her desk, gathered up a few papers in a folder, and put the folder in a small backpack, along with Benji whom she took from her bed. This she slung over her shoulders and turned back to Darry.
"I'm ready," she said. "Let's do this now before I change my mind." Darry smiled and they went to the door together. As Darry had feared, it was locked, but Antares's lock pick got it open. Almost as soon as they were out, though, Antares froze, staring at the table in abject horror.
"Oh God," she whispered. "Oh gods above." Darry couldn't speak at all when he saw what she did: a dead blond-haired boy lying on the table, his hair matted with blood. Eyes wide, Antares went toward him slowly, smoothing back his hair from his face when she reached him. "Poor little boy," she whispered. "He's so young." Closing her hands over his, she closed her eyes and intoned in a strange voice, "Beautiful Queen of the Underworld, beloved daughter of the seasons, hear the voice of thy childe Starfire. See the horror of this tragic death. O Queen, guide this poor childe to those of his kin. Let him rest evermore in the eternal peace of lost love. Spare his unfettered soul the pain of the material. Take him in your loving embrace forever. So mote it be."
Darry felt something happen when she finished, a strange warmth growing in the centre of his chest and spreading through him. It was strange, but not unpleasant. She leaned down and kissed the dead boy's forehead, and it seemed to Darry that his face was relaxed now, as though he was only sleeping. A sleep from which he would never wake, certainly, but peaceful.
"Be at peace, Billy," Antares whispered. "Be at peace."
"How did you know his name?" asked Darry. "And what the hell was all that?"
"I called on the goddess Persephone to being this poor child's spirit to peace in the Afterlife," replied Antares. "And he told me his name. He stayed to try and warn a bunch of college kids that Creeper is coming after them. Many of them are dead. Those that remain are trying to figure out which ones Creeper wants so they can sacrifice them to stay alive." She sighed and shook her head. "Survival instincts. It's scary, really." She noticed Darry still staring at her and shrugged. "I'm a Wiccan, Darry. Does that clarify anything?"
"Sorta," replied Darry, still dazed. Collecting himself, he said, "C'mon. We gotta get moving." Antares nodded, gazing back on the boy, Billy, one last time before showing Darry to the pipe she told him about. A good part of the front came off when she pulled, revealing the hollow interior.
"You go first," said Darry. "I'll catch you if you slip." Antares nodded and stepped inside. She hesitated for a moment before closing her eyes and standing perfectly still. After a minute or two, she smiled, opened her eyes, and braced herself against the inside of the pipe, slowly making her way upward. Darry followed suit after she had gone up a ways.
"I don't like this," said Antares uncertainly.
"Don't think about it," said Darry. "Just climb. I'll catch you, don't worry. You're safe with me." Antares nodded and kept climbing. She did slip once, but Darry caught her foot and pushed her back up, keeping a hold on her until she was sure she wouldn't slip again.
"Stop," called Antares after a short while. "We've reached the top. There's a hatch or something. I'll see if I can open it."
"You don't know?" cried Darry.
"I've never been up here before!" snapped Antares hotly. "Wouldja just chill?" Darry grizzled to himself, but said nothing as Antares went to work on the hatch. Suddenly they were both bathed in moonlight. "I got it. Let's go." She grabbed the rim of the hatch and pulled herself out, reaching back down to help Darry up. When he was out, Darry turned back and closed the hatch. Then he looked around.
"We're on the roof," he noted. Antares nodded, swallowing hard. Darry noticed and looked at her. "What's wrong?"
"I'm afraid of heights, remember?" she asked. She was rubbing at the red scar on her arm again, as she did often when she was scared (which was also often). "I don't like being up here."
"You didn't like being down there," Darry pointed out. Antares gave a sort of half-shrug. "We're out of there now. All that's left to do is get down. That won't be too hard. Look, there's a, a drainpipe over there we can slide down." He led Antares over to the pipe in question and she looked at it dubiously.
"What if it breaks while we're on it?" she asked. "What if I lost my grip and fall?"
"I'll catch you," answered Darry. "I'll go first and make sure you don't fall. I swear I won't let you fall. OK?" Antares sighed and nodded. Darry squeezed her arm reassuringly and started down the pipe. When he was a few feet down, he called back, "C'mon. It's your turn. You ready?" Antares shook her head, but mounted the pipe anyway. "Don't look down. That's it, you're doing it! I told you you could do it. Yeah, keep going like that. It's not much further."
Antares's grip slipped and she shrieked as she started to fall. Darry stopped her with one hand against the small of her back, pushing her back forward against the pipe.
"Darry, I can't, I can't do it," sobbed Antares, shaking hard.
"Yes, you can. We're so close, Ana. We're almost out. I'm right here. I will not let you fall. There's nothing to be afraid of except the Creeper. You want him to come back and find us like this? You can do this, Ana. I know you can." Antares was still uncertain, but she slowly started sliding herself down again. After a while, she felt Darry's hands on her waist as he lifted her off the pipe and set her on the ground in front of him. She turned to face him and found him smiling at her. "You did it, Ana. We made it." Antares smiled and hugged him tightly around the neck. Darry hugged her back.
"Thank you," she said softly, brushing the smallest kiss against his cheek before stepping back. Darry grinned somewhat foolishly. Antares giggled. "Let's go. There's a road maybe half a mile down the hill there. We can flag someone down for help, hitch a ride to the police station, call our families. I can't wait to talk to my parents again, tell them that I'm OK." Darry nodded.
"Then let's hurry," he said. Hand in hand, the two friends started off down the hill. Little did they know their escape hadn't freed them from the nightmare. It had merely exacerbated it.