Carrie stayed in the back contently washing dishes that come through the door. Doing this chore relaxed her as she ignored the noise in the restaurant. Then a new voice, one she vaguely recognizes from the other night entered establishment. She left the sink and peaked through the two-way window door and saw the guy from the other door say some things loud and obnoxiously. The residents gave him scathing looks as he went on a tangent, believing this place is some kind weird attraction. It got worse when he rudely cuts in line prompting Tian-Chen to hit him with a whisk.
Carrie shook her head then returned to her task, "There's one in every village."
Sometime later with most of the dishes on the drying rack, she goes out and begins cleaning the tables. She glanced up and saw Kenny eating with the man from the blue car, his posture tired while his counterpart seems unaware and oblivious as he made jokes about the chickens. She watched for a few minutes as the newcomer up and left. She glanced outside and watched him leave on the bike.
Carrie walked over to Kenny and pointed out the door, "Does he not realize what's going on?" She asked in worry and exasperation at the man's personality.
"Donna gave him the rundown, but he thinks it's some kind of game his friend Tobey set up." Kenny shook his head, "He is gonna get himself killed."
"Or someone." Carrie frowned, knowing that the longer he stayed ignorant, the greater danger he'll be in. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled, "It's up to me then." She said in resignation, knowing the only way to prove it to him is through a different less than ideal method. Otherwise, he's gonna become a major headache.
"What are you going to do?" Kenny asked curiously as Kristi entered, watching their interaction.
"Give him a reality check." Carrie said as she left the diner.
Carrie turned in the direction she saw him ride away in, taking meditative breaths to calm herself. "God give me strength." She prayed, needing all the patience she can get to handle this man. How she wished the man was awake that night.
She continued her trek, keeping her eyes peeled as she got closer to where she remembered the root cellar to be. She looked up just in time to see him come out, but before he could climb back onto the bike, she appeared in his vision with an even expression.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for clues. Saw something freaky down there. Whatever special affects you guys used, bravo." He applauded, making Carrie glance at the root cellar door for a second then shook her head.
"Right, um, forgive me, but may I please know your name?" Carrie asked, trying to get back on track.
"Jade Herrera."
"Carrie White. Donna and Kenny talked to you, right?" Carrie asked, trying to remain calm so she doesn't hurt him.
Jade laughed, "Oh yeah, monsters coming out at night to attack people, cut off from the outside world, trapped in a literal nightmare. Sure, I got all that, Tobey must've really paid you guys millions to make this act." He said with a smile, looking like a kid who doesn't understand.
Carrie bit her lip and sighed, "Mr. Herrera-"
"Please, call me Jade."
"Jade...I'm not sure what you think this all is, but where you are now is no joke, neither is it an act. This is real." Carrie told him as patiently as possible.
Jade scoffed, "You really are committed to this performance. But, your acting, I'm giving it a six out ten. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find a clue. Ciao." He said as he got on the bike and rode away.
Carrie sighed and looked up at the sky, "No other choice then." She levitated into the air and cut through the trees.
Jade was still smiling as he made it onto the road but became startled as he hastily pulled to a stop when that same girl appeared in front of him with that same even expression.
"What the-" Jade glanced behind him, wondering how she got ahead of him so quickly. "How did you-"
"Jade, please, I'm trying to help you understand, so please listen when I say that this not a game." Carrie told him, looking mildly annoyed and anxious at his ignorance.
Jade let out a breath of exasperation before getting off the bike and laying it on the side of the road. "Okay, you amateur of an actress." He marched up to her and bent his head to her level as he was a head taller than her, "Why don't you prove it?" He slowly said, with a look in his eyes that dared her to do something.
Carrie raised an eyebrow, "Is that what you want? Proof?"
"Yes, show me the big bad monsters that come out at night." Jade smirked, waiting for her to make an excuse.
Carrie sighed, "Unfortunately, that is very dangerous."
Jade breathed out a laugh and took a step back shaking his head.
"But I can show you something else. However," Carrie took a deep breath and sighed, "I need you to stay calm for when I do this."
"Yeah, well take your best shot." Jade raised his hands as though waiting for something to fire at him.
Carrie slowly raised her hands until they were level with her hips, focusing on the air around herself and Jade.
Jade's smile was wiped from his face when he was suddenly lifted off the ground. "Hey, whoa, what's happening?" Jade looked down and saw the ground slowly get further away from him. He began to panic as he turned to Carrie who was coming off the ground with him, her hands still at her sides as she brought them higher until they were several feet off the ground.
"Hey, hey HEY! I'm afraid of heights!" Jade screamed as he glanced down and got dizzy. "Oh God!"
Jade looked up when Carrie grabbed his arm, a stern look on her face, "There's something else you need to see."
Before Jade could demand she let him down, they suddenly took off like a bullet, passing over the diner, Sheriff Station and houses.
Kenny and Kristi stepped outside the diner and saw the residents looking up at something. They heard male screams before Carrie and Jade flew over them.
"I think he finally gets what's going on." Kristi said as they watched them fly away.
Kenny was both amused and impressed by Carrie's method.
Tabitha and Jim looked up from their housing discussion when Carrie flew over them, dragging a screaming Jade behind her down the road.
"What is happening?" Tabitha asked as she watched them fly.
"Say, isn't that the guy from the other car." Jim asked as he squinted at the pair in the sky.
Boyd heard the screams and stepped outside the Station and saw what was happening in the sky. "Huh."
Jade continued to scream as he held Carrie's hand tightly, afraid if he let go, he'll drop to his death.
"Okay fine! I believe you! Put me the fuck down!" Jade yelled over the wind after they passed over the Town a third time.
Carrie slowed their speed and carefully lowered them to the ground right by the church.
Jade fell to his knees the second his feet touched the ground. He was breathing deeply, gagging when he was sure his breakfast was going to make an encore.
Carrie watched and waited patiently for Jade to recompose himself.
When Jade was confident his stomach would not turn inside out, he shakily got to his feet, "What...The actual...Fuck?" He slowly exclaimed as he glared at Carrie who appeared slightly miffed at his use of language.
"You said you needed proof. My power was the first one." Carrie stated as Jade paced furiously, "Secondly, how many times did we pass over Town?"
Jade stopped, his eyes wide, "What?"
Carrie gave him a look.
Jade held his fingers up, "No, no, no. That is not possible." He began pacing back and forth in front of Carrie, "How the fuck did we fly away in a straight line but still came back here?" He exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air and gestured to the Town.
Carrie sighed, "We're all trapped here. We've all been through the same thing, and we don't understand it either."
Jade let out a hysterical laugh as he run his hands through his dark hair, "This is insane. Are you saying none of us get to fucking leave this place!"
"That's what everyone has been trying to tell you." Carrie let out a frustrated sigh, "Every day we live here trying to keep each other alive. Those things in the forest, they don't hunt for food. No, they hunt for sport." She said in disgust, "When they catch us, they torture us slowly by ripping our guts out while we're still alive."
Jade's eyes widened at the description she painted in his head. He then realized something else, one crucial detail that has been in front of him the whole time. "Tobey...what happened to Tobey?" He slowly asked, afraid to know the answer, of the confirmation of his friend's death.
Carrie sighed through her nose and lowered her head, "Come." She said as she turned around and entered the cemetery, they stood before three open graves, one with a body inside. She knelt down to the head and pulled back the cloth, showing the pale mutilated face of Jade's friend.
Jade stumbled back then fell to his knees before the grave, his eyes wide, his mouth fell open at who laid unmoving in the ground. "Tobey..." Jade whispered, voice cracking as he stared at his face.
Carrie kept her face bowed, "Your friend stumbled into Town after he crashed into the tree. He called for help; he wanted to save the family that was veered off the road... he wanted to save you."
Jade gasped as he felt his tears come forth, threatening to spill.
"The night you arrived at Colony House, was the night he and two others were slaughtered at the Clinic." She glanced at the open grave meant for Bing-Qian, "One of them being Bing-Qian Liu. You had breakfast with his son this morning."
Jade looked up, shocked by this sudden information, "That Deputy kid?" He remembered the tired look within the man's face, how serious and in pain he seemed at the booth.
"Yes. We've lost four people in the span of two nights now." Carrie stated, glancing at the fresh grave of Frank Pratt.
Carrie placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic look, "We've all been through this process, we've all lost someone in this nightmare." She rose to her feet, "Take all the time you need. But remember this, you're not alone here." She said before she walked away, leaving Jade to grieve his friend.
By midday, everyone arrived at the Choosing Ceremony. Carrie stood beside Boyd as she listened to Father Khatri make the same speech he made when she chose her home. She glanced at Jade, who stared at the ground with a frown, no longer carrying an air of arrogance after that painful wake-up call he received. She turned her eyes to the Matthews who stood together, their little son with a crutch to keep the weight off his leg. Yet she felt some tension among them that didn't come from the Town.
Julie looked up and saw Carrie staring, causing the blonde to avert her gaze. Looking at her now, she realized she appeared younger than how she carried herself the other night. They look to be the same age, but Carrie holds this hardened exterior combined with vulnerability. Fatima and Ellis told her about Carrie's powers and how it has helped protect them against the monsters of the forest. Recalling how Carrie grabbed her while slaughtering the creature that almost took her, she felt a sense of gratitude towards the meek-looking girl.
When it came time to choose, Jade stepped forward and stared at the flower representing Colony House and the rock for the Town. He glanced at Carrie who gave him an assuring nod. Despite how unorthodox she was when she proved to him their new reality, he felt grateful to her for making him open his eyes before he got himself killed. He picked up the rock and showed it to everyone, "Town."
Khatri nodded then turned to the family, each of them touched a rock, saying their new place of resident. Except Julie.
"Colony House." Julie announced as she chose the flower then broke away from her family.
What followed was a dispute as her mother urged her to come back over to them, but Julie remained resolute as she went to stand with her new friends, Ellis and Fatima who wrapped an arm around her shoulder. After a small argument and Boyd assuring the Matthews how his son can watch over Julie for the duration of her stay, everyone separated.
Kenny walked beside Jade back to Town, "You doing alright Jade?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, as far as being trapped in hell goes, not too bad." Jade let out a small huff and looked down, "I, um, I heard about your father. I'm really sorry." He said, feeling like an ass from earlier for not heeding his warnings.
"I know. I'm sorry about your friend too. He was a really good man." Kenny responded the offered, "You know, if you don't have a place to stay, me and my mom have room for you."
"You sure about that? After what happened with your dad?" Jade asked, knowing what it's like to lose a parental figure and how hard it is to move forward.
"It's fine. Dad, he...he had dementia. It wasn't safe for him in the house." Kenny said as he looked down at the ground they were walking on, "Those things outside, they tried to make him open the door, made him believe his brothers were waiting for him."
"Motherfuckers." Jade cursed as he imagined those Creatures using an old man's condition against him.
"That's why we sent to him to the Clinic instead, we thought it was more secure, that he'll have better monitoring." Kenny swallowed, "He must've wandered and... left the door open at some point." The image of his father's mutilated corpse still fresh in his mind.
"Hey, that is not on you, neither was it your dad's fault." Jade told him, sad and angry for Kenny who was robbed of his father, "It's this place being a total asshole to all of us."
Kenny breathed out a small laugh at how Jade insulted their prison.
"I'm serious, if this place wants to fuck with us, then I say we return the favor." Jade said with newfound determination as he set himself up with a goal, "I'm gonna figure a way out of this shithole."
The Matthews moved their luggage into the Pratts residence as Lauren helped them get set up. Jim settled his son in bed before he went downstairs to get the rest of their stuff.
A knock on the door accompanied by a familiar voice spoke, "Mrs. Pratt, it's Carrie."
Lauren opened the door and smiled when she saw Carrie standing outside with a foam mattress floating on her right while setting the futon couch at her left.
Jim and Tabitha joined Lauren and stared in shock at what Carrie brought them.
"Special delivery for the Matthews." Carrie announced as she levitated the items onto the porch.
"Wait, didn't those come from the RV?" Jim asked as they stepped aside for Carrie to bring the stuff inside.
"Yeah, I figured you'd need extra bedding. I did fight with the futon." Carrie admitted the asked, "Where do you want these?"
"Oh, the futon can go up to the master bedroom. Ethan should be the right size." Lauren said as Carrie leaned the mattress on the wall before going up the stairs to place the extra bed inside the room where Ethan and Megan were on the queen-sized bed talking.
Ethan's eyes widened while Megan smiled at Carrie who gently set the futon. "Whoa, you have magic?" Ethan asked excitedly when he saw Carrie use her power.
Carrie grinned and wiped her forehead, "I guess you could say that. I basically make things float around." She added with a shrug, happy to see Megan with another kid her age.
"She even flies." Megan said with pride as Ethan had an excited look on his face as he turned to Carrie, "Can we fly too?" The aspect of moving through the sky appealed to him greatly.
Carrie giggled, "Maybe some time. But for now, heal up first before we take to the skies."
Ethan pouted and whined, "Awe."
Tabitha stood outside the door watching her son become childish again before she entered, "Don't worry, you'll go flying with her before you even realize it." She said as she sat beside her son on the bed and gave him a deep hug.
Carrie turned to Tabitha, "How are you feeling?"
Tabitha glanced up as Carrie and smiled, "I'm okay." She glanced down for a second, still holding her son then looked back up, "Thank you. You saved Julie the other night." She said, voicing her gratitude to the girl who protected them upon their arrival in Town.
Carrie smiled, "I'm just glad you're all okay." She caught the worried look in her eye and assured her, "Don't worry about Julie. Donna, Fatima, and Ellis will watch over her. They're good people. You can always go up there to visit whenever you want."
Tabitha smiled at her kind words. "Thank you."
Carrie nodded in acknowledgement, "You all have a nice evening." She said before she left the room to move the mattress next. She made it downstairs and saw Jim and Lauren move the heavy mattress to the spare bedroom downstairs below Megan's.
"Here, let me help." Carrie came over and levitated it off the ground, surprising the adults for a second before Lauren opened the door and directed them inside. There was already another bed, but Carrie easily moved it and carefully set the extra mattress on the ground.
Carrie placed her hands on her hips, "Okay, that's everything."
"Thanks Carrie." Lauren said as she went to get more bedding.
Jim watched her leave then turned to Carrie, "You seriously went back to the RV for this?" He asked incredulously as he imagined the girl peeling the RV apart all for extra beds.
"Yeah, even if Julie is staying up at Colony House, it doesn't hurt to have a bed ready just in case. Also, I normally come by here to check in with the Pratts." Carrie glanced up at the bedroom above them, "I don't like leaving them alone during the night."
Jim nodded, "Yeah, we heard about Frank, and how you saved Lauren and her daughter."
Carrie sighed, "It's been a trying time for all of us." She looked up at Jim who seemed hesitant to meet her gaze, "I'm sorry."
This caught Jim by surprise, "What?"
"For scaring you the other day. My powers...they don't always give off the best first impression." Carrie said with an uneasy shrug.
Jim held up a hand, "No, it's not that. It's just..." He sighed, "...It's hard to make sense of it, of any of this." He looked around him as he referred to the Town in general.
Carrie nodded in understanding, "You're not the first to think that. I fear you won't be the last."
Jim stared at the girl then spoke, "I wanted to thank you for helping my family. You really saved us."
Carrie smiled, "It wasn't just me though. Sheriff Stevens and Kristi stayed by your side; they protected you even when you didn't believe them."
Jim paused as he remembered that stressful time trapped in the RV, hearing those things whisper outside, waiting to be let in.
"Those monsters will not take your family as long as you follow the rules." Carrie reminded him softly, "We all protect each other here."
Jim nodded, remembering the rules, especially the Talismans.
"Best get to bed now. I'll come by and check on you sometime." Carrie said as she walked around him to the front door.
"Will Julie be alright up there?" Jim asked, concerned for his only daughter.
Carrie glanced behind her, "Yes. Believe it or not it's one big family up in that house. No harm shall come to her."
Though Jim was reluctant at the thought of his daughter being somewhere else without supervision, he accepted Carrie's reassurance. "Thanks."
"Have a good evening Mr. Matthews." Carrie said as she left through the front door, closing it shut with a wave of her hand.
At the Sheriff's Station, Boyd sat behind his desk staring at the boat key, the last gift from his wife. He sighed through his nose, the regret and pain he feels from that day has never left him. Talismans or not, he should not have left her when she needed him the most. Just then, his hand started to shake, dropping the boat key onto the desk. Boyd's eyes widened as he gripped his wrist, squeezing and massaging the muscle as he fought like hell to keep it from trembling.
"Sheriff, I'm home." Carrie announced as she entered the Station, locking the door behind her, touching the Talisman for good luck on the way in.
Thinking quickly, he shoved his hand beneath his thigh. "Welcome back." Boyd said as he stored the boat key back in the drawer.
Carrie flopped onto the couch by the windows. She raised her hands and drew the blinds for the night.
"Rough day?" Boyd asked as she leaned back into the cushions.
"A little. You?"
"Well, I saw something interesting up in the sky. Two people flying across Town." Boyd said with amusement.
Carrie breathed out a small laugh, "Yeah, Jade wanted proof, and I gave it to him. He hates heights"
Boyd nodded, "I bet."
Carrie then informed him, "He's staying with Kenny and Mrs. Liu for a while. Kenny offered of course. I pulled a mattress and futon from the RV and put them in the Pratts/Matthews' house in case we get more people coming to Town."
"Always prepared." Boyd commended as Carrie stared off into space with a frown. "You okay?"
Carrie shook her head and turned to Boyd, "Things are changing around here, and I'm not talking about the recent deaths." She paused then added, "Two cars appeared in one day. That hasn't happened until now." A sense of foreboding stirred within the pit of her stomach.
Boyd nodded, his face grim, "No, it has not."
Carrie stood up and stared at the covered windows as night descended on the Town. "What if the Creatures from the forest aren't the only monsters we should worry about?"
Boyd stood up and stood beside her. "I'm not gonna lie and say I don't have those kinds of fears. It's either we deal with a monster we're more familiar with, or one we have no clue about." He sighed and turned to her, "But I will say this, we can't let this place break us. Otherwise, they'll win." He pulled the cross from his pocket and held it out to her, "We must draw whatever strength we can get our hands on."
Carrie smiled softly as she took the cross she loaned him back, the cool metal nestled in the palm of her hand. "Thank you."
Boyd returned her smile as he buried his hand deep in his pocket, his hand clenched tightly in a fist, hidden from view.
"Sheriff, is everything okay?" Carrie asked when she caught the weary look on his face.
"Hm? I'm alright, we should go to bed now. We both worked hard the last two days." Boyd assured her, not wanting her to worry about him.
Though Carrie was doubtful, she decided to let it go. "Okay, good night, Sheriff." She said as she walked back to her room.
Boyd's smile faded as he pulled his hand out of his pocket and gripped his wrist, trying to will the tremors to stop. He took a deep breath as he massaged his hand, his worry and fear increased the longer the tremors went on.
Boyd looked up at the ceiling and whispered, "Shit."
Yeah, this had just a little dash of humor in the otherwise dreary Town. You all had different scenarios regarding Jade and Carrie meeting. I apologize if I made Carrie slightly ooc, but given recent events, she's made it her policy to make sure newcomers know what they're dealing with firsthand. Make the process go faster to help them adapt. I like how Jade starts out as an sshole at first then turns into one of the most compelling characters in the series. His friendship with Carrie will be entertaining as he tried to figure out the symbol.
Anyway, I think I'll take a break from this story. I don't know when I'll update again, but I'll try to keep you posted. I have not put out so many chapters for one story in a single month. New record.
Leave a comment down below and stay tuned for future updates.