Lishawn's family arrived with the cops, parking as they scavenged the factory while her mom and sister headed for her.
After checking Lishawn's health, her mom immediately slapped her, and Lishawn's sister, Maryne, stepped in between. "What the fuck, Mom?" Maryne said, upsettingly. "How dare you go to this factory all alone at this time at your age. I've had it Lishawn, you are a 19-year-old girl who's still in the 12th grade. You're grounded, you will use the break from school studying when you go back for your finals," their mom said, taking custody of Lishawn's phone, Maryne standing a distance from Lishawn.
" You must think I'm crazy, huh?" "Oh, I don't think... I know," they laughed at Maryne's joke. "I get it, lying about a creature so Mom doesn't kill you. Unfortunately, you're still grounded," "But that's the problem, I wish I was lying. What I saw in there is that, that-that wasn't humane," Lishawn stuttered, eyeing the factory with fear. "Urgh, come on, Lishawn. You can cut the crap the now," Maryne shrugged, walking over to their mom's car.
The police investigated the building. There was nothing. No blood, no bodies and definitely no party. They continued to search the place, one of them finding a door semi-closed with a chain holding it to the wall. Taking a peep, a huge hole stood in the middle of the room, the police officer trying to slide through. About to enter, something grabbed him by his hand and dragged him back.
"What the fuck, Don?" he said, Don laughing. "We don't have access to the whole factory, so don't go searching places where we can get sued," "I wonder who can sue us in an abandoned building," he said, the both of them walking away. They didn't see the glimpse of one of the vines being pulled into the mysterious hole
Meeting with Lishawn's mom, the cops told her that she must have seen things as there weren't any dead bodies nor were there party supplies or vines. Lishawn's mom was furious, almost cussing in front of a police officer but because she was an immigrant, she didn't want to draw attention. "Thank you, officer. I'll see the nearest Therapist and try to recommend her to some. Have a wonderful night," she said, angrily walking to the car.
The whole ride back was silent as Maryne worried that maybe Lishawn was telling the truth.
The Next Morning
Grabbing her lunch, Maryne jerked when she heard Lishawn scream in fear. She charged down the stairs, heading for their mom. Soon there was yelling as Maryne opened the front door and went for the bus. While walking, a flyer smacked her in the face, revealing a missing poster for the same people Lishawn said had been killed by the "creature". Maryne just rolled it up, shooting it in the nearest bin.
Now that Lishawn wasn't at school because of the incident, Maryne tried her best to avoid everyone but flopped when she bumped right into Jiminy Arbuckle. Gulping her fear, he punched her to the floor, his red handprint appearing on her face. He then ran away when the two weird girls attempted to throw their pet skunk at them.
Helping Maryne up, they all laughed when they heard them scream after their skunk sprayed them. "T-Thanks," Maryne said. "It's cool. I hate that you're not the only person Jiminy punches, worse that you are a woman," "He doesn't care what I am. His so horrible, he'll even punch an old woman," they said, walking to her locker.
"I'm Tracey, this is Magdalene. Who are you?" "I'm Maryne-" "-Oh, like Lishawn's sister?" "Yeah, how'd you know?" "How could I not know, she's fine as hell and she's the queenpin of our school. Now it makes sense why those guys beat the living life out of you," "Yeah, she usually protects me but she's been admitted to staying at home because she saw a "creature" attack her friends," "What Creature?" Tracey asked, curious. "Uhm, not sure. You'd have to ask her yourself-" "-Cool, we'll see you later then," Tracey told Maryne, the school bell alarmed.
The rain poured down, Magdalene and Tracey made their way into the house. "Oh my, Marie, who did this?" "Bullies, but it's fine, my new friends handled them," Maryne said. Tracy and Magdalene shook hands with Maryne's mom, viewing the house. "I must say, Maryne's mom. This house is beautiful," "Oh, why, you!" she said in shyness, Maryne dragging them to Lishawn's room.
They entered Lishawn without a bra, making their way to her sofa. "Gosh, have you fucking heard of knocking?" "Why, when I live here," "Uh, I don't know... I don't have my fucking bra on, you little cunt," "It's not like we would fantasise over those small peas," "Urgh, what do you want?" Lishawn asked, covering her breast.
"We want you to tell us how the creature looked, that attacked your friends yesterday," "Why, so you can turn me to the government?" "Oh, no. We're really into mythology and creatures and if what you say is true... We might just make history," "20 bucks, now bitches!" demanded Lishawn, the two handing it over.
"Okay, sluts, the creature uses the dark to its advantage. It's legit, but not noticeable at night. It had red eyes, which were two when I was running away but then... Became four. It's teeth, they were hungry. As it prepared to eat me, there was more beneath its mouth. It had vines, so painful it burned my a-skin, "Lishawn stuttered, about to cry. "I don't even know how I survived. It was so close to me, if my mom hadn't called me back, my flashlight wouldn't have flashed and-and it could've...," Lishawn went quiet.
The rook was silent, Lishawn wiping her tears. Maryne wasn't having any of it. "Bullshit! She's just trying to convince us that that's true so she can stay away from school and gain extra bucks," "I'M TELLING THE FUCKING TRUTH, MARIE. WHAT I SAW... IT WASN'T NORMAL. IT WASN'T HUMANE. IT WAS SO SCARY. SO HUNGRY," Lishawn cried. Maryne left the room as her friends followed.
"Well, we don't know if she is lying but we're willing to go to my place and search for whatever she's described. Want to come?" "Uh, yeah, sure. Just let me pack my stuff," Maryne said, over to her room. Passing Lishawn's room, she saw how scared and painful Lishawn was. Sobbing into the pillow she had. She wanted to believe her but Lishawn always lied. Even if she was pregnant, Lishawn would definitely lie. So she believed that Lishawn was lying.
Grabbing a drink while the two girls were investigating Lishawn's depiction, Maryne looked into the sitting room, where two red eyes, like the ones Lishawn described, appeared. She instantly turned on the light switch, the eyes gone. Shaking her head, she walked up the stairs just as a haunting growl caught her attention and she turned around, her phone flashlight waving down the stairs.
She hit her head, stating that she was losing it. But as she turned around, her phone's flashlight burst, the red eyes right in front of her.
Maryne jumped.
She hit the thing with the glass of water, it screeched in pain. Running towards the doors, Tracey and Magdalene heard her yell as they tried to help her but their door shut locked, they tried opening it but failed. Maryne landed in front of it, trying repeatedly to open the door, but couldn't.
The thing mocked the situation, walking slowly to Maryne, more of its eyes appearing.
Maryne glimpsed at the bathroom, pushing herself to it, the thing jumping towards her. Entering the room, the thing managed to scratch her, Magdalene got a look at the scene through the keyhole. Shutting the door, Maryne moaned with the scar mark made on her arm. She tried turning the bathroom light on the light switch but didn't want to.
The doorknob began to twist as she trusted it wouldn't open because she locked it but to her surprise, it opened slowly. She banged it, forcing the door not to open while Tracey and Magdalene tried breaking the door down. Breathing heavily, the doorknob was let go as Maryne tried to catch her breath but heard growling and found herself looking at the creature dead in its eyes, her being helpless.
The vines attached themselves to her leg and arms, the creature opening its mouth. Thousands of people screaming in pain, yearning for freedom escaped its mouth, Maryne yelling for help. Its tongue, so dark and invisible, wrapped around Maryne's neck, the creature ready to pull her in its mouth.
As close as it was, Magdalene barged into the bathroom, stabbing the creature with the mop, all the way in its mouth. It shrieked, moving around, swallowing the mop Tracey dragged Maryne back. After it looked them in the eye, it blinked and the lights were restored, the creature vanishing from the scene.
They held Maryne in their arms, while they tried to grasp what they had just witnessed. Maryne broke the silence
"Lishawn was right."