Seeing as this scenario seemed a tad more civilized than antagonizing, I dared to shout; "Who are you!" While the fear still took a front row seat to my emotions, curiosity was becoming a fast close second.

From his seated position on the tv stand, Doll shook his head; "Ah, ah, ah. We're askin' the questions here, dollface." Each reprimanding 'ah' was accentuated by the wag of his knife.

Fine. Play by their rules, Jennifer.

I swallowed nervously while my eyes drifted up to Pinhead. Although he hadn't joined in on his companion's activities in terrorizing me, he seemed gravely important to the group. They could have had a field day ripping me apart upstairs, but instead they had decided to bring me here: Directly to him. He stood tall before me, looking down upon me like some sort of Hellish judge to deliver my fate. Whether I liked it or not, my life could be in his hands.

My eyes sought out the dastardly display of weapons hanging from his hips and he noticed the trepidation brewing on my face. It was a blessing to see that he wasn't overstocked on things with which to commit murder, but honestly he had enough; Four, of what I could see. One of his ivory hands visited an especially fucked looking tool, letting his fingers trail over the serrated edges. All mainly knives of some sort, one long and narrow, another curved like a serrated, handled-fishhook, a third possessing the appearance of an 'S'-shaped boomerang, and the fourth and final one..Had to be by far the oddest of them all: In the formation of a slanted, hollowed out square on a black handle. In the background of my mind I idly wondered which one he was going to use on me..

"Your curiosity shines like a beacon in darkness. Though unfortunately for you, you will not have the pleasure of knowing what purpose my blades serve."

Unfortunately? Didn't he mean 'fortunately'?

Doll leaned forward with both hands latched onto the edge of the stand to say with a conspiratorial scrunch of his face; "Pin here doesn't like to kiss and tell. Ain't that right, Pin?" Pinhead slicked a glance over to the plaything, just as unbothered as he normally seemed to be; "There is a time and a place for business and pleasure," His eyes found mine again. "The time for such matters has yet to come." Yet to come? Why did I not like the sound of that? Doll exhaled a near-soundless laugh through his nose. His eyebrows rose while he quipped to me; "Y'see what I mean?"

I didn't. I didn't at all. And to be perfectly candid, I didn't want to.

And frankly Pinhead didn't seem keen on the idea of letting me figure it out. Unlike the rest of his fearsome friends, he went straight for the heart of the matter; "I sense turmoil in you, child. You writhe with questions unanswered, and so do we. Answer our inquiries first, then I give you my word; We will answer yours." His jet-black eyes shone with an intensity that couldn't be described. My heart rate grew to a subtle pound.

Could I really trust that?

What other choice do you have? None. None at all.

My brows knitted at this and considered my current options. It seemed strange to me that they would have questions. It seemed more likely that I was the one lost to all of the chaos and confusion that their arrival had created. I couldn't think of any potentially damning things they could ask and God knew I had plenty. And just questions? No killing? Questions had to be okay. All I had to do was answer. That couldn't be so hard, could it? This wasn't Jeopardy!. Fuck, I could do questions! I'd take questions for five hundred as long as it didn't involve separating my spine from my body. I politely cleared my throat; "I..I can do that."

Pinhead gave a curt nod, appearing to be satisfied with the answer; "Answer honestly and truthfully. Your lies will go short-lived." He stared into me patiently, and I stupidly realized after a second that he expected a response. I nodded quickly; "I will. I promise."

"Where are we?"

I couldn't help the raise of an eyebrow. I glanced around at the others curiously. Apparently that was a serious question. "Yo-You mean in general?"

"The state, dumbass. What state are we in?" Griped Casper sourly.

A heat rose in my neck at the insult but I chose to ignore it; "We're in Georgia. Augusta, Georgia."

Everyone looked at each other. Surprise seemed to be the majority of their expressions. Doll let out a low whistle while his eyebrows raised, as if to demonstrate just how far that was from wherever they had come from. "Fuck me, that's a long way from Cali." Muttered Casper, crossing his arms. His gloved hand fondled his long chin in thought. "Interesting." Mused Genie, his exotic eyes blazing while he pondered.

I watched as a weird look came over Frederick's face. It appeared as though something were dawning on him. He belted out a crazed laugh, making me jump while slapping his knee. He was happier than I've ever seen him thus far. "I'm not in Springwood anymore! Ya know what this means?" He was turning to those around him in an eager fashion. "I'm free! No longer restricted!" His wild eyes rested on his gloved hand, spreading the knives out as if in fascination. They flexed in time with the raise of his gaze ahead; "Now no one's safe from good ole' Freddy." He chuckled to himself darkly in thought.

A sinking stone of dread began to settle in my stomach at how nefarious that sounded.

Creeper curled his upper lip in a growl. He didn't seem pleased by this revelation. Doll scoffed; "You're just pissed because you're gonna have to fly all the way back for your hunk of junk ride. Doesn't that just sting right in the ass." The look of annoyance on the demon's face only seemed to confirm this bit of information.

Jay's head slumped, his large shoulders following. I noticed this with growing interest. While some of the others celebrated, this seemed to come as unpleasant news to the overgrown hockey player. I wonder why that is. He looked so crestfallen, even behind his mask.

Mike and Pinhead on the other hand remained indifferent, apparently unaffected by this news. Pinhead assumed control over my gaze when all had settled down; "I see. It would seem we are quite a ways away from our intended destination."

"Fuck our intended destination! The way I see it, we got ourselves a bitchin' loophole," Doll smiled, his small legs dangling off the edge of the tv stand in an almost merry swing; "Not to mention, this place ain't half bad. Could be a decent spot to figure out what we wanna do." I stared at him. For how long? Was he suggesting that they fucking stay here? Instead of immediately leaving? The concept made me temporarily forget how to breathe. They wouldn't stay here right? They were all clearly so much more interesting than this ordinary, mundane house. What could the stay possibly offer to 'people' like them? Surely they had much better things to do than be here, making my life miserable!

"But what of the girl?" Insisted Genie, his eyes leading in my direction. Seven heads again swiveled to look at me. The sudden fixation of multiple gazes had an embarrassed blush dusting my cheeks.

"Fuck her. We ditch her body and keep the house. What's there to think about?" Argued Casper, shrugging the matter off with a disturbing casual air. The swath of color that was in my face only a moment ago faded into a stricken white.

Frederick barked out a laugh, elbowing him; "Aww, did she hurt your wittle fweelings?" Casper jerked his shoulder away with an aggravated growl; "Shut up." The other continued to laugh, finding this hilarious. Doll joined in; "I've never seen you so pressed over a bitch before, Ghost. She must have done a number on your ego, huh?"

Ghost? Really? That's his name?

Despite everything, the simplicity of his name had me resisting a snort. Pinhead wasn't much better of a moniker, but come on. I wasn't going to share my thoughts on it though, so I continued to do what I apparently did best: Internally shit myself in fear. Although even Creeper hissed out a jagged laugh while his shoulders shook in humor. Ghost let loose a noise that struggled between being angry and incredulous;

"Am I speaking in a different language or something? You can't tell me it's not a reasonable conclusion. What are we going to do? Let her live? Give her a pat on the back? I don't fucking think so." Ghost seemed to glower at me as the grip on his knife tightened.

I became increasingly uncomfortable as they openly debated the topic of me as if I wasn't there. Again. A rise of indignation burned within me, but I held it back. With my life on the line it was no time to shoot off at the mouth.

"Why not?" Considered Genie aloud, averting the attention in the room. "She could be of use to us."

"Oh really? How do you figure that?" Spat Ghost, crossing his arms stubbornly.

Genie's eyes returned to me as he tilted his head, contemplating an array of hidden choices that I really did not want to think about. The many ways one could use a teenage girl was something I greatly preferred to leave unsaid. "We could use her to maintain our cover over the home, help avoid any suspicious neighbors. Her absence would arouse questions, would it not? Besides, keeping her around could be quite entertaining." OR! Oooor, hear me out...YOU COULD LEAVE!

But even from my perspective he raised a valid point, minus the entertaining part and minus the implication that they would be staying longer than I wanted them to.

"That's a damn good point. Which reminds me," Noticed Doll, motioning at me with a small hand; "Where is everybody?" Again they expectantly looked to me for my reply.

Did I really want to tell them this? Absol-fuckin-lutely not. My eyes briefly visited the serious demeanor of Pinhead.

'Answer honestly and truthfully. Your lies will go short-lived.'

Well gee, when he put it like that…How was I to say no? I chewed my lip and gave in; "M-My parents are on their second honeymoon and my brother and sister are currently at a friend's house."

"For how long?" Asked Doll with his eyebrows raised. I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck, throwing my gaze to the floor. "My parents are, um, meant to be gone for two weeks. My siblings will be back in-in a week or so."

They stared at me, openly puzzled. Doll hunched forward to rest his hands on his knees; "And they left you...Here?" 'Here' as in by myself, or 'here' as in surrounded by a bunch of demons? Though the clarification wouldn't have made my parent's choice seem any wiser anyhow.

"Um...Essentially." Surprisingly enough, a nervous laugh managed to escape.

Doll tossed back his head and laughed, letting free a short and incredibly insane bout of noise. I flinched at the sound. That's quite a fucking laugh. Good Christ. It was singlehandedly one of the most crazed laughs conceivable. "Holy shit!" He held his side, shaking his head to himself as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "You..Haahahaaha, you really got dealt a shit hand, didn't you?"

That's a fucking understatement.

I shrugged half-heartedly, not wanting to instigate anything. The last thing I needed right now was to offend a bunch of murder-happy psychopaths, especially with them being so close. Genie smiled widely and shook his head, tsking false sympathy; "Poor thing. Though rather fortunate for us."

Doll, having overcome his laughing fit, gave Pinhead a broad grin; "Everything happens for a reason, right?"

Before Pinhead could answer, if he was even going to, Genie took a step forward. His hands made curious movements as he eyed me; "Then perhaps the portal took us here to meet you." He flashed a devilish smile my way as the black tentacles on his shoulders squirmed at the thought.

I had to fight my revulsion at the sight. "Lucky me." I muttered.

"When we first arrived, we found a framed photograph of your family. Enlighten us." Pinhead yet again steered the conversation, his gaze settling intensely on my own. My heart thumped a little too hard in my chest. "E-Enlighten you?"

"Inform us."

I blinked. Oh no. I can't possibly… I didn't want to reveal anything more than necessary. I didn't want to tell these monsters about my family members. What did they need to know about that for?! They WERE going to leave right after this, provided that they hadn't killed me, right? RIGHT? Hesitation was clear on my face. Doll seemed to take a shred of pity on me, weirdly enough; "Listen, if we're goin' to be here a while, you might as well keep us in the loop. We've got a lot of time to get to know each other, get what I'm sayin'?" BE HERE FOR A WHILE?! While that might have been reassuring to some tiny degree, I seriously did not feel reassured. Yet what could I do about it? Nothing!

So I shifted the saliva around in my mouth to nod and mentally sigh. Guess they're not going to let this go. Taking a deep breath to steel myself, I began; "Um..I-I'm not totally sure what to tell you...There's Alysson, my little sister. She's six…"

Immediately Doll's face contorted sourly, as if he were offended by this information. It was such a weird reaction, I was too thrown off to continue. Some snickers sailed around the room. I noticed that the majority of the others were amused by this, giving the murderous toy sly looks. Doll however wasn't finding this funny in the least.

"Don't start." He warned.

Ghost inched forward, pointing towards the now grumpy plaything; "That shouldn't be a problem. Chucky's great with kids,"

Frederick let out a husky laugh and pointed at Chucky with a claw; "Oh yeah, he loves kids."

Ghost chimed back in, knocking his hand against the doll's chest; "Isn't that right, buddy?"

Chucky smacked his arm away, snapping out; "Don't call me buddy. I ain't your buddy."

"Aw, but I thought you were my friend 'til the end."

"Hidey-Ho!"

Ghost and Frederick both started to laugh, which inspired even Mike and Creeper to laugh as well. Although Mike's wasn't verbal, rather he did so with the subtle motions of his body. And Creeper still had his hissed, whispery monster chuckles. Either way, Chucky didn't appreciate this.

"Bunch of fuckin' morons." He mumbled while crossing his arms, shifting in his seat.

Pinhead returned his ever watchful gaze to me, saying over the sound of their amusement; "Do continue."

I hesitated, a bit baffled by how they interacted with one another. The group must have had history. They seemed to have their inside jokes, yet their dynamic was borderline hateful at times. Bunch of fuckin' morons? More like bunch of fuckin' weirdos. Obviously the doll's problem with Alysson's age had gone over my head; Which was fine, I didn't need to get it. I just hoped that it wouldn't have any consequences for my siblings.

Once their humored noises died away, I started again; "Well, Max is my little brother, he's uh, he's twelve. Lily and S-Scott are my parents...They're forty-six and forty-nine...um..." It appeared as though none of them had taken the other ages personally. Nonetheless, I felt my face burn in embarrassment, unsure how much they wanted to know.

"What about you?" Questioned Ghost.

Damn it..I really hoped you wouldn't care.. I started to wring my hands shyly. I pitched my voice softer, not really wanting to answer that; "I'm eighteen."

"Ah, legal. Nice." I couldn't refrain from giving Chucky a surprised and creeped out look. He returned it with a sheepish shrug; "Hey, uh, not like that...Like, you can drink and drive and..You know, you get to do all the fun shit.." Those around him gave him knowing looks. "Fuck it, whatever, you know what I mean." He waved a hand to let the subject die.

It was yet again up to Pinhead to keep the conversation in check: "Our curiosity has been sated. I gave you my word we would do so in kind. I trust you have many questions. Ask them now."

Okaay, straight to the point.

How nice of the monster men to answer my questions before they murdered me.

I cleared my throat, shifting to sit a little straighter. "W-Who are you guys?"

Pinhead's dark gaze didn't falter. It seemed he expected me to ask this and it was a fair thing to ask. He raised his chin, a subtle movement but one that conveyed many things. He answered with what appeared to be an air of pride; "I assume introductions are in order. I, am known as Pinhead; An explorer in the further regions of experience. Demon to some, angel to others," Ghost, Chucky, and Frederick in unison lulled their heads to the side, the latter two rolling their eyes as if they've heard Pinhead say this a million times before. Pinhead didn't seem to notice as he continued on; "It is a most curious thing to make your acquaintance. My companions are as such-" He gestured simply with one hand, addressing those that stood to my left of the room:

"Michael Myers," Michael didn't wave. Instead he curled and uncurled his fists, looking absolutely and completely unreadable. That's..Not intimidating at all.. He didn't appear to be very friendly. If anything he seemed like he was the last person that wanted to be here.

"Jason Voorhees," Jason did wave. Although his waving hand was a little awkward seeing as he was missing four fingers. I tried not to stare at the darkened nubs, in hopes of repaying his kindness with consideration of my own. Huh. That's friendlier than I expected. So far Jason was the most likable of the bunch, but it couldn't yet be determined how far his kindness extended. After all, the guy did haul a huge machete with him. And said machete didn't look particularly unused.

"Otherwise known as, Jason 'I Still Have Mommy Wipe My Ass For Me' Voorhees." Snarked Frederick, clacking his gloved hand open and closed as emphasis for every word. Jason only stared at him in return, although he clearly tensed. The only ones that seemed to find that funny other than Frederick himself were Genie and Creeper who were quietly snickering. Michael shook his head, whether it was meant to be a warning or out of irritation, I couldn't tell. However I spied his hand sliding to the inside of Jason's elbow.

"Frederick," Pinhead started disapprovingly. Either way, Frederick took his admonishing as encouragement; "Oh, that's right. Mommy can't wipe your ass for you can she, Jason? She'd have lick it clean like a dog, wouldn't she?" Raising his gloved hand and splaying the index blade and middle into a V shape, he flicked his tongue disgustingly at the hockey player, making me cringe at the sight. That's when Jason broke forward into a surprisingly quick stride, apparently fast enough for Michael to lose the grip on Jason's arm. At the exact same time, Frederick stood abruptly from where he sat as if to welcome a fight. My heart was back to perch on the top of my throat as I threw my arms up to protect myself from the oncoming clash.

But it never came.

While some of the others had reared back a bit anticipating a scuffle, Pinhead didn't at all move from his place. Instead he had Jason coming to an absolute halt by simply raising the palm of his hand. Jason stood directly in front of him, looming over him dangerously, staring down silently at both him and his raised palm. I quickly realized Jason hadn't been stopped by a force, he had merely stopped because the other had wanted him to.

"Cease this foolishness at once." There was no anger, no disappointment to be heard in the tone, only authority. The leather-clad demon was the only one keeping the two from colliding. Jason's large shoulders heaved but he did not retaliate. "Woof, woof." Prompted Frederick, sneering from the other side of Pinhead. Jason stared past Pinhead to Frederick, glowering at him so powerfully I could almost feel the heat of his hatred. Pinhead turned his head to acknowledge the red and green troublemaker;

"Enough," His soulless gaze momentarily shifted to my father's armchair and then back to Frederick; "If the two of you desire to act like children, I will have no part of it. Now return to your seat." Chucky had his eyebrows raised, glancing between the three of them as if it were an episode of a favored show he didn't want to miss. Genie only grinned with a dark enjoyment, his strange eyes also flickering from person to person. The others were additionally quiet.

Frederick's only response was a smirk. Pinhead had his own comeback; "I refuse to repeat myself."

Frederick didn't seem like the kind of guy to be easily intimidated, nor the first to usually back down from anything. However whatever kind of power or importance Pinhead held to the group must have truly been something, because it had Frederick slowly backing away from him. But it wasn't enough to entirely erase the attitude or the haughty look from his face as he mockingly removed the fedora from his head. While I hadn't expected a full head of hair, I wasn't really expecting a bald expanse of more ruined skin either. Bowing deeply, he rasped; "As you wish, your majesty." He shoved the hat back onto his head and fell back onto my father's armchair, allowing himself to get comfortable. Everyone watched as Jason's breathing calmed and he walked himself back over to where he originally stood.

Pinhead let his arm finally come to rest back at his side, nodding quietly in satisfaction. My own arms sought to embrace myself, the faint thumps of my heart quieting down from the excitement. "Moving on," Pinhead started again, presumably on the continuation of introductions. My eyes lingered on Jason and Frederick. What's with those two?

"Creeper," I was immediately brought out of my pondering by the announcement of the awful name. My gut clenched at the sight of him. Having to look at him wasn't an easy task, especially since his gaze was just as creepy as his name promised. I didn't need to ask why his name was what it was. The answer was obvious. Creeper revealed some of his teeth in an eager smile of his mouth, his shock-white eyes burning into me. He waggled his fingers slowly in a wave that didn't move, successfully making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

"Charles Le-," Before Pinhead could move on to the next in line to be introduced, Charles was shaking his head and snapping his fingers at him; "Hey! I don't go by that. Not no more. That name's dead and gone. Name's Chucky. Chucky the Killer Doll, that's my name, get it right and don't wear it out." While it seemed Pinhead wasn't well versed in showing emotion, there was a small squint to his gaze that could be deemed as annoyance. Chucky 'The Killer Doll' wiggled his eyebrows at me, a boyish grin taking shape on his mouth; "But uh, call me whatever you like, toots."

My eyebrows elevated in surprise and uncertainty before I could help it.

"Kiss-ass." Muttered Ghost, earning a hateful gaze from Chucky himself. While Chucky had nothing to come back with verbally, he decided a quick middle finger was the way to go. The other killer snorted, waving a hand carelessly.

Pinhead then let his hand fall surely back by his side, his opposite hand rising to continue introductions-

"Ghostface," Ooooh, GhostFACE. Excuuuse me! Because that was obviously such an improvement. Ghostface crossed his arms as his hip jutted; "We've met." While his attire was dry by now, my eyes briefly flickered down to the darkened fabric. He definitely seemed to have some sort of vendetta with me. Why that was remained a mystery. Unless the earlier theory was true; That he was still wasn't over our struggle in the kitchen. Psycho.

"Wishmaster," A sinister looking smile took place on the introduced's countenance. Wishmaster bowed slightly, his hand making a twirling gathering motion as he did so. In addition his head humbly dipped; "But you may call me by my human name, Nathaniel." His eyes raised though his head was down, slyly adding; "If you so wish." Nathaniel chuckled, his teeth looking more nefarious when he grinned. A weird blush painted itself across my face. His introduction seemed so gentlemanly. One look at him however told a much different story. While he straightened his posture, Pinhead went on down to the last in line.

"Frederi-"

"Ahemm." Frederick cleared his throat loudly, fully interrupting the other. Pinhead ever so slowly turned his head to look at him. Even I could see his patience was being tested. Frederick only smiled an obnoxiously saccharine smile, one of which could both no doubt aggravate anyone in existence and easily curdle milk. Pinhead looked away from him, his head inclining ever so slightly in vexation.

"Freddy Krueger." Pinhead corrected. Freddy it is. Finally the last of them was announced, and to my dismay it was the one that no doubt scared me the most. He sat so comfortably in my father's armchair, you'd think he owned the damned thing. Freddy looked me up and down, knowing full well that I was watching him do this. I had to resist squirming under his gaze. Though it likely didn't matter. He probably knew I wasn't the biggest fan of his by now. Giving me a smug smirk, he waved a single blade at me as a way of greeting. I quickly turned aside my gaze, but not before catching his smirk bleeding into a pleased grin.

"I uh...Thank you. I have another question, if it's not too much to ask." I said, timidly looking to Pinhead for approval on this. Pinhead merely nodded; "Yes?"

My head went into a thoughtful tilt as I chewed my lip again; "Um…H-How is it that you all came to be here?" My brows melded together quizzically, glancing around at the eight of them before me. They all exchanged looks. Jason scratched his head. Michael let his head hang to the side to look away. It was difficult to discern whether he thought answering to my questions were a waste of time or if he was irked by the thought of how he came to be here with them in the first place. Strangely each of them appeared stumped by the inquiry. "That's what we're still tryin' to figure out." Chucky muttered, his arms crossing at the admission.

Pinhead answered; "A miscalculation in trajectory."

"You'd think a portal would be reliable. Apparently it's just as ass as every other way to travel." Snorted Chucky, faintly amused despite their dilemma.

I frowned. A portal? What..Does that mean? So it hadn't been a mistake after all. Turns out I had heard them correctly during my earlier eavesdropping.

"A portal..?" I echoed a little incredulously.

"Yeah, you know...Magic." Explained Ghostface with an attitude, as if he were speaking to a stupid child. Actual fucking magic? I suppose by now considering the events of my night, the possibility shouldn't have seemed so far-fetched.

"It is less magic and more chaos energy harvested by the dimensional gates." Corrected Pinhead.

I blinked slowly and shook my head in disbelief. I think I'm a little too fucking sleep deprived to wrap my head around that one . "Right.." I said as if I had understood. I didn't need a lecture on the intricacies of portals and dimensions at who knows what fucking hour in the morning it was. At this point, anything seemed possible. Christ on a bike. Demons. Portals. Talking dolls. That's it. I'm done.

I kicked out my legs and stood to my feet, earning their rapt attention at the sudden movement. I clapped my hands together, now thoroughly convinced I was fucking insane. "Ohhkaay. Well! It was..Nice? Nice to meet you all," It really wasn't. "Thank you uh, Mister Pinhead, for answering my questions," I gave him a polite nod. "But it's late, I'm tired, and I'm sure you all have better things to do than to be talking to me at five o'clock in the morning. So I'll just...Get out of your hair."

I gingerly turned to leave my spot in front of the couch. Michael stepped a tad closer as if to block my way, only to have Ghostface push me back down onto the cushions.

"Not so fast," He chided. I gave him a wary look, my stomach lurching. Oh God, what now?

"You should be thankful, Jenny. Seeing as you're not going to be carved up like a turkey for the time being, how about some hospitality, huh? You've got guests, remember?" Some leering snickers passed around the room.

Oh no...Where is this going? Goosebumps began rising on my skin. There was an endless list of unpleasant possibilities ready to torture myself with. "Um, w-what did you have in mind?" I stammered as I started to fidget with my hands.

"I sure could use a drink right about now," Offered Freddy. His sharp gaze slid over to mine. "Won't you be a dear and get one for me?" I hesitated. Can I just go back to bed? The sooner I could wake up from this weird ass nightmare the better. There went my brain again, thinking this was a dream. After all, what was the alternative really? That I had gone fucking bonkers and imagined them all here like I was some weirdo little kid with a bunch of unhinged imaginary friends? No thanks!

Chucky grinned; "You better do what he says," He hooked his thumb over to where Freddy sat. "He's got patience shorter than me." I believe that. Glancing anxiously at Freddy and back at Chucky, I brought myself to a slow stand. I took a hesitant step towards Michael. He was still standing uncomfortably close and fully in the way, acting as a human barrier to block my path. After a moment, he slowly retreated a step to make room so I could go past him.

I tried my best to ignore the immensely creepy image of his forever impassive white face, looming above me as I carefully made my way by. I could see his head moving to track my progress from the corner of my eye. Holyyy fuucking shiiit. Ignore him, Jennifer. Ignore hiiiim. You're fine. You're perfectly fiiinee. I didn't doubt that image was going to be burned into my brain for a while, long after this life-changing ordeal. It took every ounce of self-restraint that I had not to flee from the room. Turning away and doing my best to ignore the steady pursuit of their gazes, I took one sure step after the other and exited.

Knowing full well that they were still watching me, I couldn't make a run for it.