Sorry this took a while, but I promised it'd be up!
Clementine sat calmly in her room, the door shut, and the blinds shut. It had been a few days since her parents had left for Savannah, and she couldn't go an hour without calling them. She had felt so trapped since she experienced the bizarre dream the other night, and she didn't go outside like she did every day. She quit having to play with herself every day, and instead kept her door locked and her curtains draped over her window to block out any sunlight. She kept the little lamp on her bedside table lit. Surprisingly, Sandra was too busy talking to her boyfriend, who lived in Stone Mountain, constantly, that she paid little attention to Clementine. She wasn't the best babysitter, but she left Clementine alone and gave her candy, so Clementine rated her ten out of ten, and so Sandra came over whenever Clementine's parents asked, even if she wouldn't be missed if she was replaced. Not by Clementine, anyway. She wasn't very close to the teenager, who was mostly talking to her boyfriend or best friend. She was now quite afraid to approach her, mostly because of the image of Sandra pounding down the stairs with blank eyes and clawing hands, shooting straight for Clementine's flesh...
Clementine shuddered, and glanced at her locked door. She sighed in relief as she heard laughs coming from Sandra downstairs.
"I bet you could. Clementine's parents won't be home for a week! The house is empty except for her and me. Come on!" Sandra pleaded, but Clementine ignored her words. She went back to playing with her dolls, and she was deep into playing with them when she heard a knock come from downstairs. She raised an eyebrow and unlocked her door, looking down at the front door from the foot of the steps. She watched as Sandra opened the door and a shorter boy with shaggy black hair was welcomed inside, a bright blue Letterman jacked with the letters 'SM' stitched into it. Sandra threw her arms around him, and she shut the door behind him. She turned around to have a seat back down on the couch when she noticed Clementine up by the foot of the stairs. "Oh, this is Clementine." She said to the boy as Clementine warily walked down the steps. Sandra crouched down to meet the eyes of Clementine, who was still clutching two of her dolls. "Clementine, this is Travis." Sandra smiled up at him as she straightened back up. Clementine didn't meet his eyes.
"Hi." She whispered.
"Hi, Clementine." He waved, but she looked away. "Uh, nice dolls." He smiled foolishly as Clementine looked down at her dolls. "Do they have names?" He asked, and Clementine immediately nodded without thinking.
"This ones Carley," She held up the female doll, and then switched to the male. "And this is Ben." Clementine answered without hesitation, and Travis quirked an eyebrow.
"Oh, cool. I have a friend named Ben." He said as he went to join Sandra on the couch. Clementine watched them, and was just about to head up to her room when Sandra stopped her.
"Oh, Clementine!" She called, stopping the first grader mid stairwell. "There's a new family moving in across the street, I thought I saw a kid around your age. Thought you would want to know." She continued before returning to Travis. Clementine smiled weakly as she went to return her dolls and get ready to meet the family; there weren't many kids in her neighborhood, and those that were in her neighborhood were usually much older than her. Clementine befriended most kids, whether boy or girl, but most of the older kids didn't want to play with her, as she usually didn't like games that were risky or too complex.
Clementine quickly hurried upstairs and placed her dolls next to the others, checked on her hamster, and she was just about to exit the house when she stopped herself. 'I can't leave the house without a housewarming gift...' Clementine tapped her chin, glancing around. "Hmm..." She cautiously slipped past Sandra and Trevor and got into the dining room, dragging a chair quietly into the kitchen, wincing with every squeak it made. She kept her eyes on her babysitter as she finally made it into the kitchen. She grinned and pushed it against the counter and carefully climbed onto it. Clementine strained to reach the cabinet; she knew what was behind it. She finally had a grip on it and she swung the cabinet door open. Clementine's face split into a large smile as she reached for the glistening cookie jar. "Oh, boy. Mom and Dad never let me touch this, they didn't know I could see them every time they opened it." Clementine giggled as she hopped down from the chair, the heavy jar wrapped in her arms.
Not risking getting caught by Sandra, even if she was wrapped in Travis' arms, Clementine slipped out of the back sliding door. She placed down the jar and turned to shut the door, just so nothing could get in... Clementine shook the thought off and spun back around to grab the jar, looking up at her tree-house as she did. Clementine pouted, exhaling deeply, or letting out as much air as her small lungs could carry. She heaved the jar up and slowly made her way towards the front yard, praying she wouldn't drop the ten pound glass jar. She held her breath as she placed it back down, collapsing to sit on one of the stoops in front of her door. Clementine caught her breath as she squinted at the house across the street, one house to the right. She noticed a large moving truck, and what appeared to be a blonde woman carrying some boxes into the garage, though she didn't see her for more than a few seconds before she was gone.
Clementine stepped onto her new neighbors' yard, looking around. There were many grown men moving furniture inside, and Clementine didn't see a kid anywhere. She pouted, ready to leave when she heard barking and childlike laughs. Clementine's face lit up as she noticed an open fence and a trail leading to a backyard. She fixed her grip on the cookie jar as she followed the trail. Clementine peeked behind the fence, her eyes catching sight of a large dog, but she didn't see a kid anywhere. Clementine huffed, glancing behind her shoulder at the moving men. She frowned, but her expression quickly changed as she turned her head back around to be faced by a very fast dog, running straight towards her. Clementine raised both her eyebrows, shrieking.
"Ahhh! No...Doggy..." She quickly backed up as the dog sprinted for her, her heel hitting a sharp rock, sending the cookie jar flying into the air, and Clementine plummeting to the ground. All heads shot up at the sound of the shriek and the glass breaking. Clementine was soon covered in cookie crumbs and small bits of porcelain. She grunted, trying to sit up as her body was covered in not only crumbs and glass, but a wet, sloppy, slobbery tongue. Clementine scrunched up her face, reaching for a hand that pulled her up. She looked down at herself, wiping crumbs and glass off her dress. "T-thanks..." She blushed, trying to ignore the dog licking at her legs.
"No problem, Clementine!" The child-like voice exclaimed enthusiastically. Clementine furrowed her eyebrows.
"How'd you know my...?" She looked up after she was done, her eyes widening. "Duck?!" Clementine gasped, feeling like she would fall again. Duck waved, grinning foolishly. Clementine rubbed her eyes, blinking rapidly. "I... What are you-"
"What the hell is going on he-" Clementine spun around to see a man and woman dead in their tracks, both with wide eyes. They looked at each other, then back at Clementine. "...C-clementine?" Kenny asked softly, "What are you doing here?"
"My... my house is the one right over there..." Clementine pointed to her house. "I guess I should ask you the same thing." Clementine laughed under her breath, but cut it short when she realized that not even Duck was laughing along. She could feel the tension, especially in Kenny's next words:
"Is... Is Lee with ya'?" He furrowed his brow, and Clementine could see Katjaa glance away. Clementine looked down, shaking her head.
"N-no..." She shot her eyes back up, meeting Kenny's. "I thought that it was all a dream. A bad one." Katjaa nodded as Kenny straightened back up.
"So did we." She reassured Clementine as Kenny put his arm around the older woman. Clementine felt her body begin to shake again, though she felt relieved. Although she really wished this was Lee instead.
A growl was heard from the distant, and a faint gunshot erupted, echoing into their eardrums. Kenny tightened his grip on his wife.
"But I don' think it's as imaginary as we thought."