The Strangers

Next instalment of the story set after the film, The Strangers. Hope you enjoy!

"What are we going to do?" asked Amelia.

"We're…oh!" Shelley couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. "We can call the police on our phones!"

"Yes!" Kathy was so relieved she practically passed out.

"But…mine's downstairs," confessed Chloe. "Matthew-" she trembled a bit when she said his name, "said to hide them in the safe just in case, so that during the party no one would steal them."

"You mean…the cellar?" Shelley stared.

Chloe nodded. The cellar was more of a huge basement. If all of them were down there, they could easily be trapped by the killers. And if one was upstairs, and everyone else in the cellar, they'd be an easy target.

"What about your phone, Shelley? Where's that?" asked Amelia, panicking.

"It broke. My mum and dad were getting me one for my birthday…when we went back home…" Shelley broke off thinking of her mum and dad, and home. If only she was back in their lovely house with their dog, Cookie, and lots more houses nearby. No, if only she could rewind the clocks back to 5 months ago, before her sister started acting strange, staying out late at night, missing college lectures…

"We have to split up then," said Tom.

"Are you crazy?" hissed Amelia. "With those freaks after us? We're too weak apart!"

"We'll end up like Matthew!" said Kathy, hyperventilating again.

"No. No one'll end up like Matthew. We'll all be okay. And if we all go together, there's even more chance of us dying. Yes, Chloe, dying. Any more objections?"

They all kept quiet.

"Okay. We'll split into two groups, then." Tom paused, looking at them all. "I'll go with Kathy and Amelia. Chloe, you and Shelley should double check ALL the doors and windows. But first… we need something to defend ourselves with."

Tom had never looked so serious in his life. Shelley felt as though she was watching all this from behind a screen, as though it was happening to her but she couldn't be hurt or killed like they could. And from the look of the others, they did too.

"We'll go down to the kitchen quietly. We'll get all the knives to defend ourselves with. Then we'll go and get the phones from the safe, call the police. We'll all be okay. Believe me."

But Tom couldn't even convince himself.

As they cautiously walked down to the kitchen, Shelley listened hard, but she couldn't hear anything, and they easily reached the kitchen safely.

"Here," said Kathy, breathing out. "Look, and there's knives here. They've not taken them…"

Each of them grabbed a weapon. Shelley felt a lot safer knowing she wasn't defenceless. She wasn't going to die. At least, not yet.

"We'll be back in a minute. Meet us in the bathroom, Shelley. It's got the safest locks. Don't worry. We'll all be okay." Tom hugged Shelley and Chloe. The girls hugged each other as well. After all, how could they know if they would ever be able to see each other again?

All too soon Shelley and Chloe found themselves alone.

"I guess we should make a start," said Chloe, laughing shakily.

"Yes. I guess so," said Shelley, completely out of it for a couple of seconds. She was remembering years ago, when she was just a little girl and she'd been playing in the garden on her swing with-

"Shelley? Shelley!" Chloe was raising her voice with worry.

"Sorry! I was just day dreaming," said Shelley. "Please try and stay quiet, Chloe, or they might hear us."

They began to check every door, every window, every lock. There was nothing to suggest any one was in here except-

"Sh-Shelly!" stammered Chloe. "Look at the window…"

Shelley stared. Not only was the curtain pulled back, written in red lipstick on the window were lots of 'Hello' and little love hearts.

And then a face appeared at the window.

Both Shelley and Chloe screamed long and loud as though the world was going to end. Chloe grabbed Shelley and they stumbled backwards. The person at the window wore a white mask with pursed lips, and she had brown hair, and was wearing a red top. She banged on the window hard, each time hitting it harder, so the window panes rattled and the glass shook.

"What do you want!!!" screamed Chloe, suddenly rushing forward with her knife. She hit the glass back, so hard the woman on the other side stepped back. She slammed her fists on it, causing cracks, screaming. Shelley was more scared of Chloe now than of the woman in the mask. She scrambled behind the sofa, her hands over her ears, tears streaming down her face as though she was a child hiding from her parents fighting. This had been one of her favourite spots when she was playing hide and seek as a child with her family.

Suddenly, Chloe's screams got louder. Shelley heard her kick and yell, bursting into tears. Daring to peek over the arm of the settee, she saw a horrifying sight- Kathy's man in a mask was dragging Chloe away.

"SHELLEY! HELP!!!" she screeched, and then one of her kicks landed on its mark, right in the man's face. He yelled something, then dived on Chloe, something shining in his hand. Chloe let her breath out in a huge whoosh. Her eyes went dim, as though the life had drained out of her. She was dead.

And Shelley had done nothing to help her.

She didn't dare looking any more. She hid back in her spot behind the sofa, until she heard the man leave. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she let tears pour out of her eyes. But she was crying so hard that she couldn't refrain from wailing out loud.

It was a big mistake.

Someone grabbed her from behind.

"GET AWAY!" screamed Shelley, forcing herself forward.

"Shelley! It's me!"

It was Tom.

"Oh, god…Tom!" cried Shelley, collapsing on the sofa. "They killed her!"

"What? Who?!" said Tom, his eyes wide with fear.

"Chloe. They dragged Chloe away and then he stabbed her hard, and…"

Shelley couldn't explain any more.

"Shelley, I thought it was your blood on the floor…are you…Shelley…"

"What?"

"Chloe shouted down to us saying you'd split up and she was fine. She said to still meet us at the bathroom…"

Anger dried Shelley's tears.

"Are you calling me a liar? I saw one of my best friend's die and you say I'm lying?"

"No! Of course not. But if it wasn't her…"

"It was someone pretending to be her. Which means they were upstairs before. They killed Matthew. They heard our plan."

"And…Amelia and Kathy are still in the cellar…"

In the space of two seconds, they were running as fast as they could through the hallways and the kitchen, down the stairs into the cellar.

But no one was there.

No blood stains, no signs of a struggle.

The safe was open but there were no phones in it. Either Kathy and Amelia had them, or the strangers had got there before them and took them.

It didn't matter which way, they weren't getting any help off the police yet.

They'd have to come up with another plan before the murderers found them, and they became the next victims.

"Should we go up to the main bathroom?" asked Tom.

"No. If the killers are there, then Kathy and Amelia…wait! They might not be there yet! Tom, we can save them!"

Shelley shot off faster than she'd ever thought possible, not caring if the killers heard her footsteps or breathing. Tom followed behind, and caught her shoulder.

"What? Tom!"

"We should turn off all the lights. We know our way round. They don't. And we should be careful near windows and doors."

"But…"

It would slow them down so much! But if they were dead, they couldn't save Kathy and Amelia, could they?

"Alright," said Shelley, a little sheepishly.

They set off, turning out every light, feeling there way past furniture, hardly daring to breathe for fear of being found by the killers. But they made it all through the downstairs rooms safely, out into the hallway, onto the stairs, turning off every light as they went.

"Do you think she's okay?"

Shelley froze, hearing voices from the top of the stairs. She could feel Tom holding his breath behind her.

"Shhh, Kathy! They might find us," whispered Amelia. It sounded like she might have been crying before.

Shelley let all her breath out in one go and felt Tom do the same.

"Kathy! Amelia!"

"Shelley? Tom? Where's Chloe?" asked Amelia, relieved and anxious at the same time.

Tom and Shelley looked at each other. Amelia and Chloe had been best friends since pre school.

Amelia knew what the silence meant. More tears filled her eyes, spilling out over her face.

"We were best friends," she wept. "We'd always been best friends, we were always going to be best friends…"

Kathy put her arm round her. Shelley felt an overwhelming guilt. If only she'd been a little braver, a little stronger…

But now wasn't the time for sympathy or guilt. Glancing at the clock in the dim light, Shelley could see it was 4:10. Just a few more hours and it would be dawn. But they had no phones, no means of communication. The strangers were going to get more than two victims before the night was over, and all of them knew it.

"Two down. How many to go?"

"You're turning into a serial killer. I thought we messed with them first."

"It's easier just to get on with it. When there's only a couple left, then we get mess with their heads."

"Save some for Dollface, she hasn't even hurt one yet."

"It's not like you want to, is it? I don't know why you joined us."

"I will, alright? But I can't find any. And it's weird. I'm sure this house is familiar."

The other two glanced at each other and burst out laughing.

"What?"

"You, you idiot. Come on. I want that boy, Tom, he thinks he's so strong."

"I'd better watch out. You always seem to be after the men."

"Except you, obviously. Quick, it's like 4 am or something. It'll be dawn soon."