Chapter Ten

(Halloween Night, six weeks earlier)

Hell Night is the right name for tonight, Sandi thought, as she slowly strolled along the crowded street. Laughing costumed kids and their glum chaperones moved slowly from house to house.. Another screaming match with mom. I'd almost wish she'd have a heart attack, if it would shut her up! But no, she's a carrier, she gives other people heart attacks, she never gets them herself! Sam and Chris are out terrorizing the neighborhood, and dad's working late again. Knowing mom, she probably has a detective watching him. He wouldn't dare fool around on mom. She'd divorce him in nothing flat.

"You stupid little fool! How could you have let Stacy Rowe, of all people, destroy the only extracurricular activity you had! Don't you realize how much that kind of thing counts in college admissions?" Linda had shouted.

"Mom, that was months ago!" Sandi said, caught off guard by her mother.

"Why didn't you tell me? Do you know how much extra this is going to cost me sending you to a decent college? Not that I know why I should! If Li hadn't told me..."

"It was none of her business to tell you..."

"She should have told me when school started! Two and a half months into your senior year, no extracurricular credits, and your grades are pathetic! I am so tired of getting calls from your teachers, wanting to discuss "Sandi's lack of motivation!" I'm working my fingers to the bone at KSBC, trying to get in more accounts, while you're following that Morgendorffer girl around like a lost puppy! That was your club, and you let her and Stacy Rowe destroy it!"

"But, mom, they're my friends, and..."

"Friends! There's no such thing as friends! I thought you had figured that out these last two years, but no, I'm sweet little Sandi, I want friends! Friends just use you, stab you in the back at school or work, steal your accounts! That Morgendorffer girl has taken your club, your position at school, and the boys you used to date!"

"Mom, Quinn didn't do that! I'm trying to study harder now, I still date..."

"If I were you, young lady, I'd date harder! What kind of job are you going to get with these grades? You'll be lucky if you can get married to anybody decent at all! You're almost as stupid as that Tiffany! Why didn't you try to get that Sloane boy?"

"Mom, he didn't give a damn about me! He was dating Daria!"

"You little idiot! Rich boys like that always slum! It makes them feel like "real people!" But they get married to fashionable beauties, and..."

"Like you and dad?"

"Your father and I have worked hard to give you and your brothers everything, we weren't born rich, like that Barksdale woman was!"

"If the Morgendorffer's are rich, how was Tom dating Daria slumming?"

"You know what I meant by that! Don't you twist my words, young lady!" Linda almost screamed at her.

Sandi shouted back, her own temper on edge. "I am getting better grades, and I can take care of myself! Why do I have to get married? You and dad are such a perfect example of marriage to me..."

"Don't you talk to me about my marriage, you stupid, little..!" Linda screamed, her fist catching Sandi right in the face. Sandi gasped, falling backward, her back painfully hitting the wall, her suddenly weak legs dropping her onto the floor, where she just sat, staring in shock at her mother. Linda's teeth were clenched, while tears streamed down her red face. Her fists formed hard knots at her sides, as if she were ready to hurl herself again at Sandi..

Sandi stared back fearfully at Linda, and for a moment, neither mother or daughter stirred. Sandi's cheek burned from her mother's blow, and tears slowly started to leak down her own face. Linda abruptly turned away from Sandi.

Hoarsely, she said, "Do you enjoy getting me mad like that, Sandi? Does it make you feel important, to know that you can make me lose my temper like this? I have to kiss ass all day long, to make money for KSBC, begging morons for ad money, while they sneer at me, and my so-called fellow managers steal my accounts, and run my work down to the station owners. I interviewed the First Lady of the United States! I should have made it to network TV! But no, I'm in Lawndale, vice president of advertising at a local TV station. And that stuck up Helen Barksdale, with all her money from her parents, runs against me for president of the Lawndale Businesswomen's Association!"

"Well, you know what? She can go crawling back to Texas, with her psycho husband, and those two spoiled brats of hers! And, you, Sandi, I am going to make you see reason if it kills me. You're grounded this weekend, so why don't you catch up on that studying you claim you're doing!"

Linda turned and left, going up the stairs to her bedroom. Sandi just sat on the carpet, still in shock. Sobs started to develop deep inside her chest, but Sandi wasn't about to let her mother see her cry. She ran up to her room, and grabbed her jacket and keys, running down to the garage. She groaned, seeing her mother's car parked directly behind hers. Resolutely, she stuffed her keys in her jacket pocket, and walked down the drive to the sidewalk, where she turned and just started to walk.

Is it my fault Mom hit me? Did I make her do it? Is the TV station that bad of a place to work? Why doesn't she just get another job? I don't know anymore!

How can it be bad to be friends? It's fun now, when we're all together. Stacy is getting so confident, Quinn is just so smart, and even Tiffany is trying to get better. She's even making jokes now! Tiffany, making jokes! Quinn and I aren't fighting all the time, and we all just like being together!

Sandi was unused to the physical exertion, and her legs soon felt the strain. She still enjoyed swimming, but walking used different muscles, and she felt worn out from the confrontation with her mother. She moved away from the crowded residential streets with their trick or treaters. The few people who paid any attention to her always seemed to notice her cheek first.

Great, just great. I must have a really big bruise this time, and I didn't think to put makeup on it before I went out. Why do we always seem to have these fights on Friday nights? I try to avoid mom, or get out of the house, but it never works. Mom always ignored me before, she almost never came out of her office in the den.

The wind gusted, sending leaves swirling across the empty pavement. Shaken out of her inner misery, Sandi realized she didn't know where she was. It seemed to be an older part of town, with a lot of trees, and boarded up buildings. There were a few shops, but the whole area seemed abandoned, run down. Looking at her watch, she found out that several hours had passed since she had left the house.

It's almost midnight! I must have really spaced out! Where am I, anyway? Lawndale isn't that big, and I don't remember ever seeing this part of town before. I left my cell phone in my room, too. Not that I'd call home for help, but now I can't even call Quinn or the police.

Sandi shivered. The dark alleys seemed to be full of cold eyes, glaring silently at her. She gulped, then turned resolutely, and started walking slowly up the street.

What happened then, Sandi?

I...I'm not sure, I was in shock, I think. I remember the city, and the walking, and all those faces, and all the masks. Dead faces, and only their eyes seemed alive. Their eyes would stare at me, and look away, or ask if I were okay, or make horrible suggestions. I don't know which ones were the most cruel, that night.

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Stacy's look of horror and despair had calmed Quinn and Tiffany down, and the three girls sat together, quietly talking to each other, though not about the strange things happening. They talked about the latest issue of Waif magazine, and eyeliner, and how various friends and family members were doing, and dates, and anything else that didn't touch their current situation.

Suddenly, Sandi laughed in her sleep, drawing the shocked attention of the other three. Her thin white hands still cradled her cramping belly, but now there was a wide sweet smile on her still sleeping face, and she murmured what sounded like endearments, though they were very indistinct. Quinn was suddenly struck by the by the thinness of Sandi's face. Glancing out of the corner of her eyes, she noted the same look on Tiffany and Stacy.

Well, this certainly beats liposuction, she thought. The three day freeze your tail off, and just eat snow diet. I wonder if I can patent it?

Quinn shook her head in frustration, trying to focus. She felt so tired and cold. Sleeping on the bare wood of the bed left her feeling bruised and stiff. Her hair felt dirty, her face felt greasy, even after a sponge bath. Her thinking felt foggy, unclear. She knew it was partly their forced fast, and their poor sleeping conditions.

And lets not forget two possible conditions of ..what? Possession? Stacy turning into a catty, creepy version of Vampirella (Brr, I'm sorry I ever went into that comic book store that one time and saw that). And Sandi acting like she's pregnant, but seems to have a block of ice inside her. What's up there? Stacy saw something last night, but she won't tell me what, and I'm afraid to ask her in front of Tiffany. She's almost as freaked out as Stacy was, before Stacy started to freak out the rest of us.

Sandi yawned loudly,and putting her hands to her sides, slowly sat up, her eyes still closed, smile still on her face. The smile dropped when she opened her eyes, and saw Quinn standing next to her. She let out a piercing shriek, and lashed out at her. Quinn gasped at Sandi's attack, weak as it was, and backed away.

Sandi reached out to Tiffany in desperation. Tiffany glanced at Quinn who frantically motioned to her to go to Sandi. Tiffany slowly walked over to her and sat down next to her, putting her arms around her. Sandi huddled in Tiffany's arms, staring in fear at Quinn and Stacy, whispering the same words over and over.

"Gaijin! Oni gaijin!"

Tiffany looked up at Quinn and Stacy in confusion.

"Quinn? What's she saying?"

Both girls looked at Stacy. She sighed, and said, "I don't know how exactly I know this, but I think it means "foreigners, devil foreigners" in Japanese."