Chapter 7: Daily Problems
On the cold night of old Brighton, cries could be heard inside the basement of a large house. Down in the darkness, a small boy was sobbing while trying to unlock the door leading to the second exit that would let him right outside after going up a few stairs.
His hands were full of different keys, but he couldn't get any of them right. He wasn't even sure if he actually got the right key for the door, but he was desperate to escape.
''C-Come on, come on, come on, come on!''
His heart was beating fast, and his tears were going down his cheeks. His hands were shaking while trying to unlock the door, but it still wasn't working. He was sure one of them would be the right key. But...
Footsteps were heard, making him freeze in fear. If that wasn't frightening enough, an old CD player in the basement turned on...
Welcome to the Hotel California! Such a lovely place,(such a lovely place). Welcome to the Hotel CA-AAALIFORNIA!
As the song continued to play, the door at the end of the basement, leading to the house's corridor, slowly opened. There was a girl... In dark clothes and a smiling mask, holding a crowbar with blood on it... And with glowing red eyes.
''No... No, no, no, NO!'' The boy cried.
No response. She started walking towards him, lifting the crowbar and preparing a hit.
''G-GET OUT OF MY SISTER'S BODY, YOU EVIL DEMON! BUFFY, PLEASE, THAT'S NOT YOU! YOU'D NEVER HURT US-
She jumped at him, and waved her crowbar, hitting the boy right in the head... And there was now silence...
...
''OH MY G-
Libby fell from her bed down to the floor. She could feel her heart beating fast and she was struggling to take breaths. First thing she looked at was look at the clock. 9:45 Am... Well, she didn't have problem, since it was Saturday, but she definitely would've appreciated starting the morning differntly than juming from a nightmare.
''Libby? Is everything alright?'' Leah asked outside the room.
''Uh, yeah! J-Just woke up, mom, don't worry...''
''If you say so, turtledove. Breakfast is ready, come with us!''
Libby's back started to hurt a little because of the fall, but that wasn't on her mind at all. She was really confused... What was that dream? With the same girl she ''imagined'' yesterday?
No, this can't be just because of stress... There has to be something going on here. Could Scratch be pulling a prank on her? It wouldn't be a surprise, since he does get a kick in scaring her, but that's a whole new level!
But would he really do that? Scratch may not be smart, but he's also not that stupid. To try to win back Libby as his best friend, only to directly start scaring her? No, he wouldn't do such a thing...
...
The morning in New York definitely wasn't great at all. The sky was cloudy, and weather apps showed 90 percent chance of rain at noon. But that wasn't something to ruin Molly's mood.
''Goooooooood MORNING! Finally, I can have TWO peaceful days away from school! And do some work before rain start!'' Molly cheered, as she put her weather jacket on, and grabbed her rabbit for a quick kiss on its nose.
The school week was definitely tough... Oh, who is Molly kidding? It was absolutely terrible. So far, that was the worst start of a school year for her. Oh well, she knew things would get better. Or at least that's what she thought until the bunny sneezed right at her face.
''Eugh! Aw, man, don't tell me you got the flu! But can I blame you... Nights here do get pretty cold, h-heh. But it's okay! A few carrots and you'd be back at your best, Mr. Puffles!'' Molly said, as she put it back in its cage.
If cold was the only problem Molly had... The gallery really wasn't a good place to stay. But she didn't have to pay for a room, which was the biggest plus for Molly.
''Alright, let's start! How many offers do I have?'' Molly asked with a smile and opened her gigs app... But no requests so far. ''Aaaand, still nothing. Meh, I'm not surprised. It's still early, people need to drink their coffee, eat their breakfast, have a walk maybe, and then they'd put in offers! Oh well, looks like I'd wait!'' Molly said, as she sat on her bed and started staring to her phone.
She knew offers would come... On a weekend day, who would wanna work? It's such a luxury just to hire through gigs happy-to-help teens, with the hope of earning some money.
Plus, Molly really needed some. With inflation rising up, she was having trouble with saving enough to buy a proper meal. Just one hot dog and a juice box definitely wasn't something to fill her for the entire day...
...
June was playing on her phone in the living room when Ollie got back with both a sad and grumpy look on his face. She knew what was the reason...
''Let me guess, another failed date?''
''Not even gonna talk about it...'' Ollie said, sitting next to June.
Even though the deal wasn't like that, Ollie went on seven different dates, and they all ended horribly. Either because he messed something up, because the girl wasn't to his taste, or because of a third party ruined the whole thing.
''Okay, a few bad dates... But that's not something that should bother you! It's a small town, you'd find a girl who will love you!'' June tried to cheer him.
''Honestly, I don't even wanna try anymore... I'd like to take a break...''
''Oh... Yeah, I understand...'' June said.
She wasn't gonna push him into saying what happened this time, but she didn't wanna bother him.
In the meantime, Ruben and Rester were discussing something in the kitchen, away from their kids. June saw them and noticed how... Secret they looked. Especially how low they were keeping their voices...
''Do you think any of them could hide still in town?'' Esther asked.
''They may be beasts, but smart ones. They can't hide here because of the O.A.S...'' Ruben said.
''But they do change their form. Even if they hide, it's not like the O.A.S. would know about it...''
''In that case, either we could... Ugh, if we could get over where they're hiding...'' Ruben muttered.
June wasn't able to hear what they were saying, but she knew it could be about the skinwalkers. Why would they speak that quietly anyway? The Chens barely kept any secrets from Ollie and June.
Samantha had a whole plan of fighting them, but she was now gone... Too bad they are now the Chens' problem.
...
A few hours in, and still no offers about job gigs. This was driving Molly insane because she was wasting her weekend without doing ANYTHING!
''Ugh, what's up today?! You wanna tell me that no one in New York needs anything?! NO ONE OUT OF SEVEN MILLION PEOPLE?! Is this a joke?!'' Molly asked, angrily looking at her phone.
This was unbelievable. She could've done so much work until now, but no one put a request for her. And now that a few thunders were heard, her work day has gone to waste...
''Okay, you know what?! Cool! Excellent, brilliant! I guess I'm resting for today and that's totally fine. I'd just relax, watch my favorite show, and chill'' Molly said, laying on her bed.
She was about to play the next episode of her show, but the video wasn't starting... Probably because of the lack of internet connection the gallery had...
''Well, clearly I'm also not watching that today... You know what, fine! Then I'm just gonna sleep today!''
Molly turned off and threw her phone in the corner of the room. She didn't care if it could break or crack, she just... Threw it away from her.
Then she turned around and closed her eyes, ready to doze off... And quickly jumped out of bed when she remembered what would wait for her in her nightmares when she falls asleep.
''NOPE, NOPE, NUH UH, NOT SLEEPING! Okay, okay, I... I could draw? No, I don't have enough money to buy paper... Oh, I could craft someth-
That's when she stopped. Yeah, she could craft something but... She couldn't even dare. Because of what happened yesterday, she didn't have the courage to even look at the scissors...
What was supposed to be a fun weekend, became a day in which Molly wasn't able to do anything. On top of that, she'd also probably have not enough money to get herself breakfast. It was all planned for her to work today so she could have money for groceries tomorrow, but it all went to waste...
If the torture in school wasn't enough... Now she also has to starve? No, she was not gonna be able to take that. All of those bad days were becoming overwhelming for Molly that... She was on the verge of tearing up.
But when she was fighting against her own emotions, a crack was heard. From the ceiling, a few cracks grabbed Molly's attention. A bit weird, but not something a person would mind...
Not until the ceiling's cracks became louder and louder... And suddenly, a part of it fell on top of Molly... With hundreds of rats too.
Right there, many rats fell down at her. From sad, Molly's whole reaction became fear as the whole room was now full of running rats...
People outside were walking fast to get to their homes before the rain started. Other than thunders, it was pretty quiet and peaceful... It was until they all heard a loud, childish, and scared scream from the top floor of the gallery.
''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!''