Marko was watching Evil Dead.

Again.

Allie rolled her eyes as she flipped a page of her book. Marko's eyes were flicking from the T.V. to his sketch pad, and back again. Allie finally dropped Cujo. It was too hard to read while there was screaming and bright colors a few feet away. She leaned over and peeked at the paper Marko was drawing on. He flipped it away so she couldn't see.

"Watcha drawing?" she asked. Her brother sighed and showed her the drawing. It was horrible. Not in the sense of a lack of skill, but the creatures on the paper made Allie shudder. Three bat-like animals crouched in different corners of a cave, mouths open to reveal sharp rows of teeth dripping with blood.

"What are those?" Allie asked, wrinkling her nose.

"I don't know," Marko said, slowly. "Just an idea that's been floating around, I guess."

Allie had noticed the changes around Marko. He was watching more horror movies, and his drawing had gone from goofy to gory.

"Marko, are you okay?" Allie aske, lowering his head onto the couch cushion.

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"I dunno," he sighed. "It's just… I thought I saw some stuff. I was high, but it was so creepy, and… real."

"What did you see?" Allie asked.

"Flying people," Marko said.

"Oh."

Marko nodded and looked over at the T.V.

Allie got up and started towards the stairs.

"Let's go to the boardwalk tonight. James and Ty can come, and I haven't seen the new comic store, so we can do that and some other stuff."

"Alright," Marko said, turning his attention back to the TV. Ash was speaking on the small screen. "James and Ty are always there, anyway."

"Now, the sun will be up in an hour or so, and we can all get outta here."

Allie smiled to herself a little as she made her way up to her room. There, she got ready for the boardwalk. She got out a black top made of thin material, and a red miniskirt. After putting those on, Allie went back downstairs to find Marko dozing lightly on the couch. The last rays of the sun swam through the window, bathing Allie and her brother in red light. Allie shook Marko for what felt like five minutes before he opened his eyes.

"We're going now," Allie said. Marko sat up and blinked wearily at the grandfather clock that resided in the corner of the living room.

"Allie, it's five o'clock. That's not night."

"I was thinking we could take the path down the street," Allie said, pulling Marko's hands off his face. "It'll be night by the time we get there."

"Fine," Marko said, and he got off the couch with a purposeful sluggishness.

"Mom! Dad!" Allie called up the stairs as they passed. "Marko and I are going to the boardwalk for a bit!"

"Stay safe!" Saige called back to her daughter.

"Of course," Allie replied, then she stepped out into the warmth of the summer evening. Marko was already walking up the street towards the little dirt path that led to the boardwalk. No one really took it, and those who did only walked halfway and then turned around. This was because of the hidden roots and rocks that were easy to trip over, and they were all over the path. Allie jogged to catch up to Marko, and they walked, side by side.

"So, what's his name?" Allie asked after a while of peaceful walking.

"Who?" Marko asked.

" 'Bleach Blonde. What's his name?"

"How did you know I was talking to him?" Marko asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Ty told me," Allie said, simply.

"Of course he did," Marko said, more to himself than her. "Well, his name is David. And his friends are Paul and Dwayne."

"Oh," Allie muttered. She didn't like the name David, mainly because it was the name of a kid who had teased her when she was younger. They fell silent again, Marko fidgeting with the tassels on his jacket, and Allie stumbling multiple times over rocks and roots.

Allie was right, however. Night had fallen by the time they arrived at the quieter end of the boardwalk. They hurried to the more crowded part with the good shops and rides, and dive into the sea of people, looking for Marko's friends. They eventually located James and Ty, and the three ran, laughing, to the wall of stores, leaving Allie to look through comics on her own.

Allie was just about to pursue her brothers when she heard crying behind her. She turned to see a boy around nine or ten standing in the crowd.

"Star! Star, where are you?" the boy sniffed. Allie hurried to his side and kneeled, smiling.

"Here there, bud. You lost?"

The little boy nodded, sniveling.

"Who did you lose?"

"My sister."

"Okay...where did you last see her?" Allie asked.

"Over there," the boy said, pointing at a wall with a set of stairs that led to the beach a little ways below the boardwalk.

"Okay," Allie said, taking his hand, "let's go look for her. What's her name?"

"Star," the boy said, accepting her hand and walking with her.

"And what's yours?"

"Laddie," the boy said.

"Oh! You both have very nice names. I'm Allie."

"Hi, Allie," Laddie said, smiling. They were only walking for a few seconds, when there was a shout behind them.

"Laddie? Laddie!"

A young woman came running up to them and scooped up Laddie. She was very beautiful, and reminded Allie of a Gypsy. There were three boys behind her, including Marko, Ty and James.

"Are you Star?" Allie asked. The girl nodded.

"Sorry about that. Laddie said he lost you, and I was trying to help him."

"It's okay," Star said, quickly.

"Say, you're Allie," David said, pointing at her.

"Yeah, that's me."

"So you're Marko's sister?"

"Yes."

"You wanna come with us, Allie?" Marko asked from behind David.

"Where are we going?" Allie asked, looking from one boy to the other.

David looked around at his friends, then back at Allie.

"We're going for a ride," he said, smiling.