Shake on It

Chapter Fourteen

"Shake on It"
Chapter 14

Luz only slowed down once she reached the fence surrounding Blight Manor. She had run the entire way there and was now scaling the large, metal gate in her path. Luckily, the gate was built with an intricate design, giving Luz plenty of footholds to climb over it.

Luz continued running up the – unnecessarily long – driveway and to the front door. She grabbed the golden knocker attached to the dark wood of the front door and slammed it twice. Both doors swung open after a minute, revealing two people Luz assumed were twins.

"Who are you?" They both asked at the same time.

"Luz. And I'm here to see Amity." She explained. The twins glared at each other for a minute, probably communicating in a strange sibling way.

"Are you the reason Mittens is upset?" The boy asked.

"Mittens? Oh Amity? I kinda.. no.. well, yes? Kind of. That doesn't matter, is she here?" Luz stuttered out, her thoughts still scrambled and her tiredness not helping.

"Are you here to check on her?" The girl asked, eyeing Luz suspiciously.

"Yes! I swear." Luz said firmly, nodding.

"Okay." The twins said in unison, stepping to the sides to let Luz walk in.

"She's upstairs." The boy began. "Third door to the right." The girl finished.

Luz thanked them, silently questioning how they were able to do that; was it practiced? She arrived outside the door and knocked. Luz heard ruffling and soft cries through the wooden door. "I'm not in the mood for pranks." Amity said quietly.

Luz knocked again, a little louder this time.

"Ed, Em, leave me alone." Amity said again, sounding more annoyed.

"Oh are those the two that let me in?" Luz asked through the door. More ruffling was heard as Amity shuffled around, a soft click unlocked the door and it slowly opened.

"Why are you here?" Amity asked. She stood in the doorway, barely visible due to the lack of light from the room. She had closed the curtains and turned the lights off, sitting in the dark.

"To check on you." Luz said. "Can I come in?" She asked, gesturing to behind Amity.

"No." Amity said, quickly shutting and locking the door back.

"Fine." Luz said, turning her back to the door. She sat down against it. "I'm going to stay here until you let me in." She declared. A small thud came from the other side of the door as Amity copied Luz's motion, sitting down with her back to it.

Silence filled the air, occasionally broken by a sniffle or a sharp breath. It seemed to physically hurt Luz, seeing her friend this way. The normally strong and cool Amity, reduced to a crying ball of sadness. Luz breathed deeply, collecting her thoughts.

"You know, none of that was your fault." Luz confidently began. "Willow was being a jerk. You didn't make me hang out with you, or bully me or anything." She paused, not hearing anything from Amity. "I really really like hanging out with you." Luz said, adding a second 'really' to show how much she did.

Amity giggled a little at that, causing Luz to smile again . "Did you go talk to Willow?" Her tone dropped again, the smile fading from Luz's face.

"What? No." Luz said sternly. "I ran right after you. Why would I go talk to Willow, there's nothing she has to be upset over." Luz stopped, thinking for a minute. "Other than her actions. She should be upset about those."

"I thought you'd go after her." Amity blankly said. Luz could hear Amity tapping her fingers on the floor, something she'd come to recognize as a nervous habit.