We Are the Dark | Are You Afraid of the Dark? Fanfiction

Beware, the Light

Incessant knocking and the call of her name roused Layla from the warmth and safety of sleep. Golden light was peeking through the faux wood blinds. It was morning.

The door swung open, and Layla's mother barged in and told her that she was going to be late for school.

Memories of last night returned, hitting Layla like a truck. She searched the bed for her phone and grabbed it, rubbing the remaining sleep out of her eyes.

A link had been posted in the Midnight Society group chat. Everyone was wondering whether she was okay, and what the hell she had been doing with the Shadowman at a house party.

Layla groaned.

She was tempted to skip for the day, and maybe even for the rest of her life. Unfortunately, her parents were given to find out about her second absence, and it was bad enough that there were videos of her from last night floating around social media.

Pushing through the school doors was a task more daunting than Layla had imagined, but she took a deep breath and braved the inevitable nightmare.

The bell rang. Just my luck, she thought. Too many eyes were finding her. The stares and whispers among students were making her stomach turn. She tried to ignore them as she headed toward her locker, pretending she wasn't being noticed, and managed to dial in the combination without messing up.

"Layla?" Connor said, approaching. "Hey, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Yep," Layla said, yanking the locker door open. "Just fine."

"We saw the videos. Everyone's wondering who the Shadowman is and how you know him. What were you thinking?"

Layla shot him an annoyed look. "Gee, Connor, I don't know. I just wanted to have some fun at a house party and scare everyone, but the Shadowman had plans of his own."

"Wait, you mean you weren't planning to be carried away like that?"

"No, he did that because I wouldn't dance with him."

"What?"

Layla ignored him, taking out a thick, hardcover biology book for her next class, and she slammed the locker door shut.

"Hey, Stevens!"

Owen's two friends that had attended the party shoved Connor into the lockers.

"What the hell did you do to Owen!" one of them demanded, grasping Connor by the collar of his shirt.

"Hey, let me go!" Connor said. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

The other friend socked Connor in the stomach, making him double over, and the first grabbed his hair and yanked his head up to look at him.

"Don't give me that shit!" he said, in Connor's face. "You were there and you messed him up. He won't come back to school. What did you tell him, huh? What was it?"

"Hey!" Layla said. "Leave him alone."

Owen's friend looked at her, and laughed. "Or what, you gonna hit me with your book?"

Layla gripped the heavy book. "Don't tempt me. I'll make sure you lose your teeth."

He glared at her as the other friend whistled, taunting. Students in the hall had stopped and were watching them, waiting for a fight to break out, phones ready. Layla wasn't afraid to bust open a bully, even on camera.

"Excuse me," came the soft, yet firm voice of Ms. Lightbody. The teacher who stood in her place was not the delicate lady who'd introduced herself on the first day, but a woman of cold and steel, authority. "What is going on here?"