Little Sister

The Nina Project

Max slowly woke up from a deep slumber. She laid curled up on the couch that sat in the Wheelers basement with everyone else surrounding her. She looked down expecting to see her daughter Bailey in her arms, but she was nowhere to be seen. Max gasped and quickly sat up, she looked around the room at all the sleeping people hoping she'd find Bailey but she wasn't there. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit."

She looked down beside her ad Dustin who was fast asleep.

"Dustin." She said smacking his shoulder. He jumped awake and looked up at the redhead, drool running down the side of his chin. "You were supposed to be on Bailey watch with me."

"I am, she's right there..." He trailed looking at the couch. "Shit."

Max and Dustin scrambled to their feet and hurried up the stairs and straight out of the basement. When reaching the main floor they rounded the corner to the kitchen, Max's panicked face relaxing. Up ahead Bailey sat at the kitchen table with Nancy and her younger sister Holly.

"Morning guys." Mrs. Wheeler said. Max didn't respond and walked over to the table, taking a seat next to the little girl.

"Hey." She said, the little girl turned to her, a soft smile on her face.

"Hi." She said.

"Why didn't you tell me you were up here? Scared me half to death."

"I wanted to let you sleep." Max sighed, a small smile on her face. Oddly enough, Max was almost joyful. She was happy to see Bailey was still here.

"You don't need to worry about that, I'll be alright." She said rubbing the top of the little girls head. Baileys expression dropped a little, her lips pursing. Nancy noticed this gesture from the side, her eyes going to Max. The teen quickly darted them away and looked down at the table, multiple drawings sprawled on the surface. "What's this?"

"I tried to draw everything I saw last night." Bailey started. "I...I couldn't explain it, so I tried to draw it instead." Max stared down at it, her mind unable to grasp the fact that everything was red. From the side she saw two mangled figures dressed in terribly familiar clothes.

"Is that?" She leaned forward to look closer, Nancy doing the same.

"He put them on display. He tried to make me like them." Max swallowed hard, her arm wrapping around Bailey and gently rubbing it. The pictures of Fred and Chrissy were scary enough as is, Max getting just a glimpse of Chrissy in Eddies trailer was terrifying too, she couldn't think about what Bailey had seen, just how bad it was. "Everything in there was broken, destroyed. And there was fog everywhere. It felt like a nightmare."

"Do you think he was trying to scare you?" Nancy questioned.

"He was. But it was before I got there. He tried to scared me with Billy and..." She froze, she wasn't sure if she needed to add in the last detail.

"And who?" Nancy asked. For a moment Bailey looked up at Max then back at Nancy realizing there was no use in keeping secrets.

"And Max." The older redhead froze and stared at Bailey, already having to see Billy was distressing enough, but Max was fearful of what else Bailey could've been forced to see. "Then I found this place." She said pointing at the papers. "I don't think I was supposed to be there. He sounded surprised when I was."

"Maybe you infiltrated his mind. He invaded your mind right?" Dustin started. "Is it that big a leap to suggest you somehow wounded up in his? Like Freddie Kruger's boiler room."

"Freddie Kruger?" Holly questioned from across the table.

"He's a super burned up dude with razors for fingers. And he kills you in your dreams-"