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Molly stood paralyzed in the scene she found herself in, the dim details of the unlit room fading in far too slowly than what her panic demanded;
She had burst into the last classroom she had heard a shout from, a homeroom she wasn't familiar with. Her best friend Libby stood in the center of the room, her silhouette gazing up at the ceiling,. As Molly's eyes searched around she caught a glimpse of a limp body laying at the feet of the other girl.
"L-Libby..." Molly started, finding it difficult to raise her voice above a whisper, "what happened?" Seconds passed, the room was completely still, then subtlety the girl at the center started to sway in place. Right as Molly was about to repeat herself Libby spoke up, still looking idly at the ceiling with a wistful tone in her voice, "I think I killed Stewart, the night janitor...." she mumbles.
The shorter girl's eyes dart around, "the night.....Screwy Stuey?" she finally retorted.
Libby stopped swaying and slowly brought her gaze down to the corpse at her feet, "secretly he knew the kids called him that, but he kind of liked the nickname...."
Both girls stood in silence for several seconds before Libby stirred again, bringing her arms up to rest on her midsection, "I think I'm still hungry..." she said idly, glowing pinpricks in the center of her eyes growing just a little brighter, slowly tracking across the room to meet Molly's. The small points of deep red making the already darkened room feel even darker around them. Molly couldn't stand the silence any longer, "Libby we need to get out of here! I think we need to get you to a....hospital or something! And Screwy.....uh...the janitor too!" she pleaded in a strained whisper. She was only greeted my another long silence of transfixing eye contact. In the dim light it took her a few seconds to register a smile starting to break out on the taller girl's face. Libby's head started to list to one side as her grin grew wider, she started breathing more heavily.
Molly's growing panic sent her spiraling into a ramble, "Please we have to get out of here I think there's something really wrong with y-", before Libby's voice cut her off in a sharp tone.
"Molly." she said.
"wh-what?"
"Run."
Before the girl could take in a breath to ask what that meant, the other had fallen to a crouch and launched herself across the room, closing the distance in a fraction of a second. By pure reflex Molly fell back into the hallway, pulling the door shut with her as she had never let go of the handle. Right as the door met the frame it was slammed shut by a force behind it hard enough to send Molly sliding across the waxed hallway floor. The panic in the young girl was enough to drive her to her feet and take off down the hallway just as she saw the handle of the door break off from the other side. She sprinted haphazardly through the corridor towards the double-doors at the end lit by the dim glow of an exit sign and a nearby vending machine, glancing back just in time to see those two red dots gaining at the speed of an oncoming car. Desperately trying to dodge out of the way she instead slipped and skidded onto her side as what looked like her friend leapt through the exact space her running body had just occupied, crashing into those double-doors hands first, hard enough to break the small panes of glass inset in them. As Molly frantically searched for another exit she saw that the side door opened into another hallway, scrambling onto her feet she lunged for the crash bar, glimpsing back as she passed through the doorway she barely made out a face turning towards her, gleaming eyes locked onto her and mouth pinned into a wide panting smile, glistening streams of something glinting down the sides.
She had to find somewhere to hide, she could never outrun this...thing down another straight hallway. Trying to serpentine between banks of lockers, after a few doors she managed to find one that was open. Molly slid inside an unfamiliar classroom and, as gingerly as her adrenaline-addled hands could, shut the door behind her. She shakily backed away, along the forward wall to stay out of view of the tiny window built into the door. She was gripping her own arms as an uncontrollable shiver set in. She only barely registered that she had just trapped herself in this room when down the hall came the
BANG
So loud that the young girl jumped, nearly falling over save for bracing herself on the teacher's desk. It sounded like a gunshot. Maybe it was the adrenaline but in the moment it felt like the loudest noise she had ever heard. She continued to back slowly away from the door, only now becoming aware of her own hyperventilating, when she heard the faintest sound of a voice from the hall. It sounded so familiar....it almost sounded like singing.
"Moooooollyyyyyyy~," the voice wafted in, barely audible if not for the intense focus the girl was summoning to try and survive.
"Where'd you goooooooo~," the voice continued.
BANG
This one sounded closer, she jumped in place again. Where had Libby gotten a gun? Why did she need it? Why was any of this happening?? Having a moment to think only deepened the fear and confusion and panic.
BANG
Even closer.
"Molly McGeeeeeeee~,"
This was supposed to be her best friend! She had only come here to try and help her, following a ridiculous nagging suspicion after Ms. Stein-Torres had called to ask if Libby had gone to her house after sneaking out that night. Considering what had happened the night before, the strange things that man had said when he had Libby's unconscious body in his arms, some kind of syringe in hand before disappearing down an alley.
BANG
Molly let out a shriek before clasping her hands over her mouth, eyes wide and unblinking as the classroom door burst open, nearly breaking off its hinges as pieces of its frame fell to the ground. The fist that had forced it still hanging in place for a moment before slowly withdrawing, to be replaced by those two terrifying bright red dots. They looked even larger now, the rest of the details of the other girl's face slowly coming into focus as she stepped into the classroom.
"There you are." the figure said plainly, still grinning. Its eyes- her eyes- glanced around the room briefly before locking back onto her prey. "Good hiding spot. I guess I couldn't smell you over all the formaldehyde," she stated calmly, beginning to approach the terrified girl backing away from her. Molly hadn't even noticed she was in one of the science labs. As the frightened teen felt her back hit a table she whipped around to see she was against an outer wall. There were windows she could try to escape through, but this was the second floor, and she had no way to break them. If she was going to try and jump through she would need to get a running start which would only bring her closer to....
Her head whipped around to see Libby, barely an arms' length away. She had come to a stop and was just staring, wide-eyed. It was her irises that were glowing, Molly noticed now that they were close enough to see in detail. Not the pupils, not the whites, the irises formed a burning red ring, unmoving and unblinking, boring directly into her soul. The Shape started to step closer.
All she could do was break down.
"Libby please! Please, you know me! It's me! Molly, I'm your best friend! Why are you doing this, after everything we've been through! This isn't you! You would nev-" Molly ran out of words as her shaking outstretched hands met the thick fabric of a sweater, feeling the heaving breath on her face. Her tear-filled eyes clenching shut as all reason left her. Then
Nothing happened.
The heavy panting seemed to hitch now and then, falling into a rhythm. "heh.....heh.....heheh....heheheh," it became a laugh, nasal and sharp before growing into earnest jovial laughter like she had heard from her friend so many times before. The creature leaned over her shorter friend until their foreheads met as the laughter got stronger and louder. For Molly's part finally the panic broke; the sheer relief, at least for a moment, flooded her brain with euphoria. She started laughing too. Just two girls in a classroom lit only by distant streetlights, laughing hysterically between each other. Neither really knew how long it lasted, but eventually the gears in Molly's head started turning again, some reason came back to her.
And she was furious.
Mad enough to do something she never thought she would do, and certainly never wanted to. Molly McGee was going to swear .
"YOU bitch !" She barely squeaked out as she shoved the taller girl away, who then stumbled back a few unbalanced steps as her own laughter began to die down. "I thought you were going to kill me!" Molly added as the room fell into another eerie silence. At least this one didn't last as long; as Libby spoke after a long deflating sigh. For the first time in the night she sounded like her old self again,
"Honestly so did I." She said plainly. Slowly bringing her eyes to look at her supposed friend. The red in them seemed to have died down some. "You should go, Molly. I don't think I'm going to be this calm for much longer. You need to go home and I'll go....somewhere else," she said, taking a few steps back as if to give the shorter girl a wide berth to pass and get to the door.
Molly didn't say anything, she was so drained and confused after the night's events that she just wordlessly walked out of the classroom and towards the nearest exit sign. As she exited the building she looked back at the school and even though she didn't see any eyes shining at her through the window, it still filled her with a deep dread. By the time she reached home her legs were burning, she hadn't quite had the energy to run the entire way but the feeling of being followed compelled her into a fast walk as she constantly looked back over her shoulder. At home her parents were already asleep, and she quickly buried herself in her bedsheets and passed out.
* * *
After a nightmare-filled night of sleep Molly awoke to find a string of text messages on her phone. All from Libby, the most recent from 4:39am.
I'm so sorry.
Please tell me you're okay
I don't know what came over me.
I'm so so sorry
Its like I couldn't think of anything else.
It was unforgivable. I know I'll never see you again. If you ever see me at night you should stay away.
Goodbye Molly.
Molly found herself lightly shaking, the last messages difficult to read through the tears welling up in her eyes. Whatever that thing was, it couldn't have been Libby. Not her shy, meek best friend Libby. Something had been done to her, something had changed her. This was the real one here; reaching out, trying to keep her safe. She couldn't just abandon her friend, not to whatever infection had taken her. After a long, wavering breath, Molly began to type back,
Libby I do want to see you again. I want to help you. That's the whole reason I went out looking for you last night. Please don't push me away. Whatever you're going through we can fix it together, I know that you would never want to hurt me. Are you home? We can still text and I can call you until we know how to stop whatever made you go all crazy last night.
She waited about half an hour for a response until the voice of her younger brother Darryl startled her out of her own head,
"Molly hurry up, we can't have breakfast until you're in the kitchen!"
Breakfast was uncomfortable. The whole family could tell something was wrong. Molly's smile was clearly fake and she couldn't even keep that up. She kept checking her phone and sighing. She had seemed so worried about Libby yesterday but wouldn't say why, and after thinking she had gone over to the book store for a sleepover she had appeared God knows when back in her own bed. Her mother was finally about to speak up when a ping came from the girl's phone, when she looked at the screen all the color drained from her face.
She read it to herself over and over,
Mom knows.