CURSED; a fear street trilogy

Chapter five: Snake Attack

NICK, ZIGGY AND I RAN INTO THE ACTIVITY SHED FULL OF REPTILES AND BUGS. Ziggy was holding onto my hand, tighter than she probably realised but I wasn't complaining. She dragged me further into the small building whilst Nick locked the door, the two of us ducking behind a table and the boy soon following.

"Are okay?" I panted out, holding either side of Ziggy's face, some of her hair caught under my hand.

She quickly nodded. "Are you?" I nodded back as she placed her hands on my hips.

"Ziggy-" I said, my voice breaking. Nick was now sat the other side of me. My lips trembled and my hands were shaking in my lap as tears began unwillingly falling down my face. "It's Tommy."

Ziggy pulled me closer, wrapping her arms around my body that curled into hers. She gently rocked me and I muffled my cries in her chest, my face leaning into her dirty and smelly top but I didn't care.

"Did we lose him?" She asked Nick.

"Yeah, I think so. Are you okay? You hurt?" He asked her, panicked.

Ziggy looked down at her top as I sat up slightly, the two of us still holding each other. "It's not my blood it's Gary's."

Nick brushed back some of Ziggy's hair, but I decided not to comment on it right now. "Yours?" She looked at Nick's bloody shirt.

"Um-Sean, Jesse, Rod, Stacey."

"Shadysiders." Ziggy whispered under her breath. "It's the curse."

"No, it's uh. It's just some psycho." Nick tried to reassure her, brushing back more of her hair.

I sat up right now, which knocked his arm away from her. I was fuming, staring angrily at the boy. "It's not some psycho, it's Tommy!" I whisper shouted at him.

"She did this." Ziggy told us, looking between the two of us.

"Who?" Nick asked her, his eyebrows upturned.

"The witch."

Nick sighed heavily. "That's not real, Ziggy."

"Exactly what a Sunnyvaler would say. I thought you were different."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed rather loudly. "Sunnyvalers are all the same." My eyes never left Nick. "Can't trust any of them."

"Mitch, I'm sorry. Really I am." Ziggy whispered into my ear, her lips almost touching my ear lobe and her nose brushed against my hair. "I can explain it all, okay? It was just in the moment-" she started to explain, but the bell outside went off and Nick leaned around the table to look outside.

"We can't do this right now, Tommy's trynna kill us all." I turned my head, our noses now touching. Ziggy sighed.

"They're getting on the bus. We have to go!" Nick exclaimed, making us quickly pull away from one another as he turned back around.

"I can't! My sister is still out there!" Ziggy told him, slightly raising her voice.

"Please!" Nick begged. "Ziggy, I know I've let a lot of people die tonight."

"Nick this isn't your fault."

"Not you! I'm not letting you die. Because uh...yeah! I do like the weirdo from Shadyside." Nick told her, how holding Ziggy's face again.

"Nick-" she started, her voice sad as she spared a glance to me. I watched the interaction with the frown on my lips growing as it went on. My heart hurting with each word.

"Now, come on. We gotta get out of here." Nick hurried us, "as soon as we do, we'll call the cops. Your sister's gonna be alright. But first, we gotta get on that bus."

The door suddenly rattled, someone trying to open them to get in. The three of us peered over the top of table right before his hand smashed through a window, unlocking the door from the inside. Ziggy grabbed my arm, pulling me down with her and Nick to hide behind the table again.

My hand kept my mouth shut and blocked off my nose, quieting my breathing. Tears streamed from my eyes, big tears and they dropped onto my shirt. Slowly, I turned my head, looking at the girl beside me who looked back at me, a sympathetic and scared look on her face as Tommy's boots thudded against the wooden floor as he neared us. My brother was breathing loudly, letting out deep exhales.

Nick grabbed the two of us, hurrying us all over to hide behind another table. Ziggy now sat between the two of us.

The glass of the snake enclosure smashed, Tommy's axe hitting through it. The reptile came closer to us, Ziggy's hand placing itself on my leg. She was terrified of snakes.

I laced my fingers with hers, my palm on the top of her hand, as the snake weaved it's way up her from her feet with hisses, moving on to Nick's body.

Ziggy's mouth erupted with screams when she was pulled up and over the table by her hair, Tommy's dirty hands yanking it.

He threw her to the floor, Nick and I hurrying to her aid. As the axe was about to hit her, I wrapped my arms around her and took the axe to my foot with a cry of agony.

Nick intervened as the axe was about to come down again, this time hitting him in the back of his leg. He grunted in pain as Tommy pulled the blade from the boys leg.

"Run!" Nick shouted to us and Ziggy pulled me up, helping me run out of the shed.

As we ran through the camp, Ziggy kept her arm around my waist, helping me limp a run. My foot was dragging behind me as we reached the Camp entrance, just in time to see the bus drive off down the road. Fuck.

Tommy stalked his way down the road towards us and Ziggy took us over to the sign, hiding us behind it. For the short time we had, I dropped my body to floor, gently clutching my injured foot. The pain was unbearable and I could barely walk let alone run.

"Ziggy, go." I said with a shakey voice but I kept it quiet.

Her head snapped to look at me. "What? No. I'm not leaving you." She looked at me with wide, crazy eyes.

I panted. "Zig, i can't run. I'll hold you back, you have to how without me."

Ziggy crouched down, placing a hand on my knee. "I'm not leaving you." She shook her head. "Hell, I'll carry you if I have to. But no way in hell am I leaving you to die."

She peered over the sign to look for Tommy before looking back at me. She held onto my arms again. "Now, let's go!"