Tʜᴇ Fᴏʀɢᴏᴛᴛᴇɴ- Bᴀʀʙᴀʀᴀ Hᴏʟʟᴀɴᴅ

ᑭᗩᖇT ᖴOᑌᖇTᗴᗴᑎ

The hallways were packed full, as normal. The distant chatter mixing with closer conversation quite perfectly resembled a swarm of bees, buzzing and colliding all over the place.
Nancy, Steve, Tommy and Carol were stood, leaning against their normal hang out spot. Steve's car sat slightly tilted from the weight of them all on one side, but the frame was used to it by that point.
Barbara walked over with a pace, ignoring the vision which was slightly hazy in the corners.
"Nancy," the girl greeted, tone urgent. "Can we talk?"

The Wheeler girl nodded, but didn't budge. Barbara stood, dumbfounded, before realising that her friend wasn't going to move. The old Nancy would of noticed the severity, left the group immediately... but not new Nancy. New Nancy was different.

"I mean, in private." Holland pushed, tripping over her words slightly.
Tommy H laughed from beside them, standing up from his position against the burgundy metal. "Got some secrets to share with us, Holland?" He teased, tucking a stray ginger hair behind Barb's ear.
Barbara flinched at the interaction and immediately backed off. "You know what?" She muttered, "Never mind."

Nancy didn't need to know anyway, and perhaps after all that had happened, she shouldn't trust her old friend with the information. With Steve outlining her new attitude and thought process, Barbara wondered whether Nancy would even believe her in the first place. Assumably not anymore.

The cold air wrapped around her torso as the girl headed back inside, not wanting to spend a moment longer with any of them. If they didn't need her, she didn't need them. She could figure it out on her own.

Classrooms seemed to be stuffier than usual as Barbara sat in her lessons, blurring her vision in and out as she left and re-joined reality numerous times. The interaction with Brenner replayed in her nervous mind, unable to shake the thought of his eyes staring maliciously into her soul. She was normally safe in dreams, and it was proven that people always are, but that time it felt like the fact was a complete lie.
Holland didn't feel safe in the slightest while standing in the hospital-like room, hovering over the little girl while being hovered over. It sent shivers down her spine.

Time ticked by slowly, arm inching around the clock. It was making a point that it wasn't going to go any faster even if it tried, so Barbara pulled her eyes away from the view of it. As soon as focus was averted back onto the presentation being demonstrated at the front of the class, the girl's head started throbbing.
Pressurising the gaining ache, Barbara looked towards the corner of the room where a sight which was definitely not expected, was seen.

A young girl stood in the corner of the room, gown ripped and dirtier than before. Blood stained in drips down her front, and a sinister glare directed it's way towards the youngest Holland. Barbara gulped as she met eyes with Sydney, and wondered if anyone else could see her, or if she was just going completely insane. The second option seemed more reasonable.

Syd stood still, chest moving up and down slightly in a rhythm as breath blew in and out. Skin tinted a slight shade of grey in the light, and after further inspection, didn't seem opaque at all. The cabinet on the other side was barely visible through the hallucination, but it definitely was. Was Sydney dead? Did they find, and then kill her? Was Barbara next? She hoped not.
With a blink, an arm was raised. The air became colder as her finger extended, pointing straight over to the girl who was sat in the front-row seat. Barbara gulped, and with no evidence that she was even there at all, Sydney vanished.