When Allison Valentine, a self-proclaimed z-lister, fled suburban England for the shimmering lights of New York City, she didn't expect to find faux fame. But when a text from the best friend she left behind warns her that the very horror she fled f...
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It had all started on a Wednesday night; six friends with legs thrown carelessly across the carpet of a lodge we'd rented in the woods. It was cliche beginning to the reign of horror we were to endure, but the lodge had a wood-burning fire and reeked of home, and didn't have the impression of kickstarting the end of our lives as we knew it.
Seb had been more handsy than usual that night, leaving us flirting shamelessly as my ankles rested on his thighs, teasing him about something or other. Kira threw a heeled shoe at us and ordered us to get a room while Vi just cackled, waggling her eyebrows. We didn't get a room, because we were simply the best of friends entangled in something which may have existed, had hell not descended down upon us that very night.
Whenever I remembered the noises we heard, it was usually involuntary. Now the screeches and chanting filled my nightmares, but at the time, in that lodge, it filled us with curiosity. Michael insisted the girls stay back while the boys check it out, but none of us were the type to sit back and let life pass us by. No, we made the ultimate mistake by yanking our jackets on and heading into the pitch-black woods, illuminating the barren paths with nothing but weak torches.
My memory of the night was hazy because I'd spent so long clutching onto my head and trying to block it out, yet memories still crept into my brain and tattooed themselves on my skull. What we saw amongst those trees waited for me behind my eyelids as I slept every night, teasing me out of every daydream I ever dreamed and luring me straight into a nightmare. And now, in my childhood room, the memories flooded my mind as I tugged a dress over my shoulders, smiling at Violet as she crashed in.
"Jesus, Al'," she gaped, "America made you hot hot."
"Shut up," I batted her away with an incredulous laugh as she pawed at my velvet dress, fixing a glance on Kira who looked decidedly uninterested, "You want this dress? It'd look better on you."
"Yep," she said simply, grinning as she tucked her hair behind her ears, "I'll pick it up off Seb's floor tomorrow-"
"Oh, for god sake," I muttered as the girls behind me cackled, leaving me with the oddest feeling of warmth. I hadn't really made friends in New York but then, I hadn't really tried. As Violet fussed over me and swiped a shade of cherry red onto my lips and Kira collapsed on the floor to paint her toenails, it was hard not to let tears ruin my eyeliner. The fear of what was to come had me pinned to the floor, but it was next to these girls. If we were screwed, then we were screwed together.
We were still together a full hour later as I tentatively followed the girls into Finn and Seb's flat, stomach vibrating nervously. Their shelves were cluttered with things I didn't recognise and it had been so long - I texted Finn every now and again, trading the odd story and update to our lives, but Seb hadn't uttered a word to me since I left South Everwood. It took months till I even began to heal from the rejection, but I supposed I had severed whatever we had first, not him.
"Allison Valentine," Finn cried as I stepped into the living room and three pairs of eyes fixed on us. Finn didn't look even the slightest bit different with his boyish grin and jet black ruffled hair, flattening me into a warm embrace as he shouted his greetings into my hair excitedly. When he let me go and we'd stopped beaming at one another, I felt myself scorch under the gaze of the boy on my right.
Seb Morrison.
It took a few seconds too long for me to brave a look, but when I did, my breath caught in my throat. He had changed. In two years, Seb had traded in his boyish grin for a chiselled jawline and a smouldering stare which left me unsteady on my feet. His dark hair fell into his eyes as he ducked away from my gaze, brown eyes now trained on the hardwood floors. Seb wasn't a boy anymore.
"I can't believe you're here," Finn grinned, clasping onto my hand and pulling me into the living area, "Tell Seb to get his arse out the way so you can sit down. I'm gonna get you a drink, alright? The gang is finally back together!"
I watched him retreat with a chuckle, overwhelmed and then as the silence settled into the room, awkward. Once upon a time, the group wouldn't have descended into a hush when I walked in, but as I stood next to Seb and the blonde who I presumed was his girlfriend, the awkwardness clawed at my throat.
"Seb," I braved it, nodding towards him with a small smile. He looked up at me, gaze hard and unnerving. If his eyes didn't flicker just a bit, I'd have believed he felt nothing at all when he muttered an 'Allison,' turning straight back away. His girlfriend was pretty, eyeing me like I was a wild animal as I awkwardly stepped past her and perched on the sofa, moving to make room for Vi. Kira sprawled on a chair, kicking her legs up.
"Put an olive in mine," she called, laying her head back. I smiled, oddly engulfed in the feeling of being home. We used to have days like this all the time: Seb, Finn, Violet, Kira, me and sometimes Michael would prop ourselves up in somebody's parents' living room and spend the day together, believing we'd never be torn apart. We'd go on day trips to the beach, museums, sometimes just sprawl at the local park and soak in the summer air together. They were the closest friends I'd ever known and moving to New York left a hole in my heart the size of Times Square. They cried when I left, aside from Seb who refused to even say goodbye. Violet told me I broke his heart and in the months which followed, he broke mine. We never belonged to each other, and I had ensured we never would.
"So, Allison," a female voice cut through my thoughts and with some dismay, I realised it was Addie. In the few conversations I'd had with Violet about Seb's girlfriend, I'd realised the girls weren't too fond of her. Still, Kira was an enigma and Violet had a fierce loyalty to me so I supposed they could both be biased.
"You must be Addie," I greeted her, "It's great to meet you."
"You sure?" she gave me a smile which didn't quite reach her eyes, "Sebastian tells me you're famous for like... pushing products on Instagram. Toothpaste, hair gloop, that kind of thing. I'd love to be our age and not have a job!" Her light tone and broad smile couldn't hide the deprecating intent behind her words as she delivered one of a thousand insults I read per week for being a big fat nobody masquerading as a somebody.
"Yeah, it's crazy," I said in mock surprise, "All I did was brush my teeth on camera the other day and made enough to buy a Mercedes! Hopefully I'll get a real job someday, though."
Violet grinned into her hand, but Kira snorted loudly and turned to Addie. "You deserved that," she said gleefully.
"Stop it," Seb muttered, the dark tone of his voice shocking me into silence. Once the most positive force in my life, Seb Morrison looked a shell of his former self. Perhaps I was wrong and I didn't know him anymore, but Violet did, and she seemed worried. As hard as it had been to detach myself, I had to accept it wasn't my problem anymore.
"Just saying," Addie recovered, narrowing her eyes, "It must be nice to be a free agent when the rest of us are busting our asses at Uni for real careers, you know?"
Her distinctive American accent threw me back to beach-washed days in California, and I had to wonder if my stint in the states contributed to her clear hatred for me. "What are you studying?" I asked her, totally ignoring the venom spewing my way. There wasn't enough time in life to bicker with pretty blondes and even less time in ours if hell really was coming to claim us.
"History," she said suspiciously, slowly smiling as she turned to Seb, "That's where I met Sebastian. He was hopeless, needed a bit of help. The rest is... well, history."
"Oh, wow," I murmured, eyes subtly moving over to Seb. He still wasn't looking our way, brushing a stray hair from his dark eyes. He looked older, closer to adulthood than he'd ever seemed on the day I left him. More notably, Seb hated being called Sebastian. At age thirteen, I sat next to him on the PC as we raked through the online book of one-thousand-and-twelve baby names to find him a new, fancier identity. Eventually, he settled on shortening his name, deciding it was actually pretty cool and much better than at least a thousand of the names we'd read that day. Saying Sebastian though used to be punishable by death. Clearly things had changed in my absence.
"Ladies, gentleman, Allison!" Finn cried, practically skipping into the room as he placed a tray of drinks on the table. Somehow hearing my name separated from that of my friends reminded me that I was an outsider and left me with a pang of coldness right inside my rib cage. It was a childish thought, and I was fleetingly glad nobody was looking my way.
"Toast to the girl we've missed so much," Violet beamed, bringing a smile to my face, "And who will not leave again-"
"Vi-" I warned but she just laughed, lifting her drink and plonking herself straight in my lap. I couldn't help it, elation bubbled up in my stomach and left me giggling like a schoolgirl, wrestling with my childhood best friend as she tried not to spill her drink on my dress. When I caught Kira's eye, she looked away quickly.
"C'mere-" I started but was cut off by the curt shake of her head as she stared pointedly into her drink.
"Don't," Violet whispered, "It's a whole thing, I'll explain later."
I was about to ask what she was talking about when Finn dropped to the floor grinning, looking up at Violet and me.
"Allison Valentine, the yin to our yang, the apple of our eye-"
"Really?" Addie wrinkled her nose, rolling her eyes as she took a sip of her drink. I simply sighed, leaning into Violet.
"Don't think she likes me," I muttered, but Violet simply chuckled.
"Yeah, no shit," she replied too loudly, "I don't think I'd like you if my boyfriend still held a torch-"
"Come on," Finn spoke loudly, waving his hands, "We've waited so long for this. Allison, catch us up, nothing has been the same since you left. How's the job going, the apartment? Boyfriend situation?"
At the last part, Seb's eyes finally raised to mine. I'd been staring at him the entire time Finn had been speaking so when he did, we met in a clash of wills which I lost as I hurriedly glanced down, stomach falling to my feet. Did he hate me? Could he?
"Nothing interesting-" I started but Finn scoffed, waving me away.
"Al', you're the cool one here. You've got money, an entourage, fame..."
"We're calling that fame?" Addie interjected with mock surprise and I decided that no, she was irredeemable. She reminded me of one of those barbies I used to enjoy unscrewing the heads off of and launching them through basketball hoops with Finn and Seb.
"I decided not to buy the apartment I told you I was looking at," I ignored her question, "Just seemed a bit... final, I guess? I wanted to keep my options open-"
"To come back to England?" Kira asked interestedly. I shook my head, grazing lazy fingers up my thigh.
"No- well, I mean, maybe, but it's not the intention. It was a nice place but I don't know if I want to stay in New York for long-"
"Shocker," Seb muttered to himself, drawing surprised eyes. When we all looked at him, he raised his eyebrows as if surprised he had spoken.
"Sorry?" I asked, annoyed. Addie was one thing, but I wasn't going to take shit from Seb who wouldn't even look at me anymore. If he wanted to speak, he could speak.
"Nothing," he sighed, finishing his drink in three long gulps and rising to his feet, "Back in a bit."
With that, he left us in silence and Addie sent me a scowl before trotting off after him. Already exhausted, I lay back and closed my eyes, wondering if it was too late to catch a red-eye flight out of here. The awkward silence ended when Kira shrugged, scooting closer to me.
"Ignore him, he doesn't mean any of it," she muttered, "Between you being gone and that devious witch whispering in his ear, the guy has gone off the rails."
"Kira!" I choked on my drink, "Seriously, you don't have to rag on the girl. I'm sure she's nice in her own way-"
"Nah," Finn chortled, kicking back, "She's not nice, but we don't comment. If Seb likes her then great, the guy could use a bit of happiness in his life."
I gave a silent nod, staring at the ground guiltily. Violet caught my expression, sighing and pulling me into an embrace.
"Don't blame yourself, munchkin," she said, using her years-old nickname for me, "You had every right to leave, it was fucked up back here, alright? If he wasn't mature enough to deal with it, that's on him."
"But," Finn said with a mischievous grin, "If you wanted to come home..."
"God, come live with us," Kira rolled her eyes, "Violet is so damn messy-" "Forget them, Al'," Finn said hurriedly, "They're both girls, they'll steal your clothes. Come live here, we have a foosball table and a fridge with an ice machine..."
And just like that, I found myself back in the clasp of South Everwood, enamoured by the best friends I'd left behind and the light dusting of rain welcoming me to the country. We all knew there was a countdown to the horror about to engulf us in its vice-like grip, but for now, we were four friends giggling with cheap alcohol in our bodies, ready to reminisce about what once was. Just in this moment, I was happy.
