HOLLY'S POV:
The sound of the engine dying ends our 4 hour 'short' ride and makes me look up from my phone.
In front of us, I spot large metal gates illuminated by the headlights of the car. I sigh in relief for three reasons.
1. Luke, the serial killer, didn't kill me.
2. My chocolate bar was securely placed in the pocket of my hoodie
3. I didn't end up in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.
'Welcome to my humble abode,' Luke says directing his eyes towards the front of the car.
'You live on a dirt road?' I answer faking curiosity.
He hands me a blank look.
Switching off the headlights he steps out of the car. Before closing the door he states, 'if you think I'm going to walk all the way to your side of the car and open the door for you then let me just tell you, you're delusional.'
'I was really looking forward to catching you off guard and kneeing you in the balls while you did that, but oh well,' I counter shrugging my shoulders.
I get out of the car, leaving the door open on purpose, and walk towards the metal gate.
Luke gives me a teasing glare as he closes the car door and makes his way next to me.
Pushing the heavy gates open, I enter the area and he follows.
The lack of light doesn't allow me to register much but the familiar stench and howls radiating from close by causes me to halt in my tracks.
Is that?...are those?...ANIMALS?!?
Holy crap this serial killer dude probably has some animal fetish and he's going to put me through a slow; painful death while he tortures cute; innocent puppies and cuts off their whiskers and-
'I don't have an animal fetish.'
Oh crap; I said that out loud, didn't I?
'Then why am I in a zoo? Oh wait shoot, do you live in a zoo? I mean I did notice the slight animalistic behavior but-'
'I don't live in a zoo, drool.'
'This is the part where you give an explanation,' I ask indirectly, placing my hands on my hips for emphasis.
'I live there,' he says pointing at the dark outline of a house ahead, 'and the sound is of horses. We have a stable with a couple of them. Riding them is a hobby of ours.'
Oh
'That actually sounds fun,' I express with delight. Horses are my favorite animals, I've always wanted to ride one.
A sudden giddiness takes over and my lips curve up into an enormous smile. I look at Luke and find him with a small smile of his own.
'Well, come on then,' he says leading the way towards the house.
I follow him, my shoes making imprints on the mud underneath.
He pushes open the wooden door of the house which looks quite big from outside.
'I can swear I saw an alligator climbing up the stairs.' An unfamiliar voice greets my ears as I step onto the carpeted floor.
'That's not possible cramps, old age is really starting to catch up to you.' A feminine voice replies to the previous statement.
I look around the enormous house, its walls adorned with beautiful; framed pictures of people standing next to different horses. At the center of the room stands a large brown table flanked with wooden chairs on all sides. Leather sofas litter all corners of the room with different types of plants hanging from the ceiling. A wooden staircase stands at the end, spiraling to the floor above. The hall divides into four separate rooms, three of whose doors are currently closed.
'Oh but this time I'll prove you kids wrong. I've seen that alligator running around the house for the past whole week but no one here wants to believe me. That's why I took a picture,' the thick voice rambles in a delightful tone.
'Oh my god, that is actually an alligator! Oh my god; oh my god; oh my god. This isn't happening. You're telling me it's been there an entire week!?' The feminine voice exclaims in horror.
Wait, are they talking about an alligator in this house? Oh god, I knew it; Luke does have an animal fetish and he is holding a number of people hostage in this house and is planning to have them eaten by alligators AND NOW I AM ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE!
I inch towards the door as slowly as possible, drawing out a plan in my head to escape the horrible fate my life has planned for me.
Before I can run out of the horror house yelling 'bloody murder,' a beautiful brunette walks out of one of the doors looking like someone told her that pineapple pizza tastes good.
She seems focused on climbing up the stairs and doesn't notice Luke and me standing next to the door.
She walks a few steps up the staircase but suddenly her eyes go wide as she spots something.
'The alligator!' She screams running downstairs, towards the front door where I stand.
Oh my god, the alligator is here! I have to run!
'That's a lizard,' Luke states pointing at the tiny creature slithering its way towards one of the rooms.
She stops in her tracks and her mouth forms an 'o' before she wipes the expression off of her face and feigns causality.
'Uh of course I knew th-'
She stops mid-sentence, looking at me through her brown locks.
For a second no one speaks but suddenly she screams and I do the most normal thing anyone would in my place.
I scream too.
'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH'
'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH'
'AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH'
'AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH'
'AAAA- wait why am I even screaming?' she asks to herself.
'Honestly, I don't know but it was kind of fun,' I give my unneeded response.
Before either of us could say anything, an old man with a thin; lean frame stumbles into the room. White strands of hair litter his head and a small white beard engulfs his chin.
His dark eyes scan the area and after a few minutes of observation, he speaks up.
'Wait a second what was it you kids nowadays say? STD? PDF? oh right, it was OMG! OMG Luke brought a girl home? I always thought he was more into guys.'
'Gramps, seriously?' Luke asks, his cheeks turning red. 'Wait, why aren't you asleep yet?'
A guilty look takes over the man. 'Err, well; I couldn't help myself okay! There was this cute Klaroline scene I found on YouTube and one thing led to another so I ended up watching videos on how to become a squirrel..'
The three of us blink at him. Luke opens his mouth to say something but the brunette beats him to it.
'I've always wanted to know how to become a squirrel.'
Handing her a glare, Luke starts, 'Shaley this is Holly. Holly this is Shaley.'
'My name sounds a lot like shampoo so people just call me poo,' she pauses for a second and adds, 'which I just realized sounds so pathetic and sad.'
'Aww,' the old man cooes, 'but I've always called you sham so it's okay.'
'You're the best cramps,' Shaley exclaims with a bright smile; leaving her pearly white teeth on display.
'Sham as in 'fake information' sham?' I question.
Her face immediately drops and she looks at the man accusingly. 'I thought..I thought you were on my side.'
She turns to me. 'Holly sounds a lot like happy. So from this day forth I shall call you pee. OMG we can be poo and pee. This is so exciting!' She claps her hands together with enthusiasm.
'I will wipe myself off of the face of earth if you ever mention that in public,' I respond with a fake smile.
'You'll be doing all of us a favor,' Luke mutters.
'Shut it, moron.'
Luke smirks at me. Pointing towards the old man, he speaks, 'Anyway, this is...wait what was your name again, gramps?'
'Ahh how could you be so cruel. My name is...oh no what was..oh yes! Lucas but everyone calls me gramps. Well, everyone except sham here who calls me...cramps,' the old man croaks.
'It's nice to meet you Luc- uh gramps.' I smile politely.
'Anyway, Holly ended up getting her house on fire and needed a place to stay so I brought her here,' Luke explains.
'Wait, was anyone hurt?' Shaley asks, her voice laced with concern.
'Nope. It was just me at home,' I answer with a grateful smile. It's weird how I've never met these people before but yet they seem so hospitable and sweet like we've been friends for ages.
'The only reason I'm telling you this is because I want to make sure that you inform the perverts to enter the guest ro-'
'Excuse me!?'
'Kidding,' he says, raising his hands in surrender, 'kind of,' he adds earning a punch on the shoulder from me.
A sudden emotion gleams in Shaley's eyes but it's gone before I can think much of it.
Luke grabs my hand, causing bolts of what feels like electricity pass through every nerve of my body. He pulls me towards the staircase muttering something about escorting me to the guest room.
I follow behind him, taking in my surroundings. The house is fairly large compared to what I usually see, but it's not the royal large but rather has a friendly touch to it. It radiates a feeling of what can only be explained by the term 'home.'
We pass a number of rooms on our way to the guest room. One of the doors lies open as voices emit from the inside.
'It was a stormy night as Elizabeth made her way to the old cemetery to meet up with the masked man. As she inched closer towards the gates, screams of agony were heard echoing through the air. She hid behind a bush glancing at the scene at front. Her eyes-'
'Wait man, why the fuck is there a bush in the cemetery?' Another voice cuts the story teller.
'That is not the point doofus,' three voices exclaim in annoyance.
'So where was I? Ah yes. Her eyes shot wide open as she watched a tall man skinning chicken nuggets; a monstrous laugh escaped his lips.'
'OH MY GOD NOOOOOOO.' A few voices chorus together.
'Elizabeth ran for her life; promising to bring justice to the chicken nuggets, but she never made it out of the area. Four weeks later her body was found at the cemetery with fifteen pieces of chicken nuggets around her. The legend of the chicken nugget incident of 2018 still continues to be told from village to village.'
'Just smile and wave, holly. Smile and wave,' Luke whispers in my ear, his minty breath fans my delicate skin distracting me from the voices emitting from inside the rooms.
I notice our close proximity and my cheeks immediately turn red.
I scurry towards the end of the hallway. He stops at the last door which I assume is the guest room. I open the door after confirmation and step inside.
The room is wide with a comfy bed and a warm fireplace placed at the center, opposite to each other. There is a wide sofa flunked at the corner and a huge window, trailing from the top of the room to the floor, spread at the edge of the room.
The mesmerizing light brown painted walls matching with the wooden floor leave me in awe. I turn back towards Luke but before I can thank him I catch a flash of movement. Looking carefully, I spot a green scaled creature creeping from one side to another.
The Lizard!
My fight and flight instincts kick in and I immediately start screaming and run out of the room. I would've laughed at Luke's priceless expression due to his confused state under other circumstances but I am too focused on escaping the wrath of the legendary lizard.
On hearing the commotion, a bunch of people step out of different rooms.
'Help! The brutal lizard is stalking me to formulate its lethal torture!' I say to a person with black bangs extending till one of his eyes who is stood in front of one of the doors.
'Once again the lack of intellect of some of the occupants of the human species has left me speechless,' he replies in a bored tone, retreating into his room and closing the door on my face.
Ouch?
'Ignore him, he's always like that,' a friendly blonde male remarks catching my expression laced with hurt.
All of a sudden, two voices simultaneously exclaim, 'Mr. Hickeys!'
I look up to find two identical twins holding the lizard that struggles and squirms in their hands as they place it inside a jar. The only thing differentiating the two of them is their hair; one dark blue while the other light green.
'So what's up with the stranger?' The green haired one questions. I decide to call him Grassy.
'Not that I'm complaining,' the blue haired one adds. I'm calling him Pervy.
'She's a..uh friend. It's a long story,' Luke tells Pervy and Grassy who nod at him.
'So I'm narrating the legend of the era of the murder of chicken nuggets, you want to hear?' Grassy asks Luke.
'It's pretty interesting especially the part where the spirit of Elizabeth heroically rescues the chicken nuggets from the evil masked man,' Pervy expresses excitedly.
'Did you just...spoil it for me!? You moron!' The blonde boy exclaims punching Pervy on the shoulder while Grassy pulls Luke towards one of rooms despite his protests.
In between the chatter I manage to skip into the room assigned to me.
I plop myself onto the soft mattress. Engulfing myself in the warm duvet, I switch off the side lamp and dwell into the events that had occurred today.
With the adrenaline pumping through me due to the fire, the depth of the situation hadn't sunk in until now.
I'm at a stranger's house in the middle of nowhere while my parents are miles away on the other side of the world.
Okay now I'm freaking out.
However, the people here seem awfully friendly. My social skills had been tossed out of window ever since I started homeschool, which by the way sucks. Online classes are the absolute worst.
I lost touch with most of my friends back in high school after I left. Ever since then, it has always been Lydia, Katy, Jake, Conner, Cindy, and me.
I ponder on the conversation I had with my mum a while back. She suggested I go back to physically attending college. It would be interesting to be able to attend classes in person and communicate with new people. After today, my confidence has been heightened. I think I'll take her up on that offer.
I lose myself in an ocean of thoughts until I eventually fall into a deep slumber.
——————————
My ears pick up on the sound of shuffling. Muffled voices are heard from the outside. I squint my eyes, trying to open them, but immediately shut them close.
Groaning, I cover my ears with a fluffy pillow, attempting to block the noise out. Finally giving up, I open my eyes. Adjusting to the bright light I switch my phone on to look at the time.
1:45pm
Oh I still have 15 more minutes till the usual time I wake up. I smile to myself and drop my head back onto the pillow.
Wait a second, was my door open?
No way. Was Luke serious about the perv-
'And yet again humans have left me with nothing but disappointment.'
I shoot out of bed pointing my finger at the source of noise.
Wait a go, Holly! Your finger is definitely so intimidating.
I realize it's the guy from yesterday; the one with the black hair cut into bangs.
'Luke has to go out for some work so if you want to get home; hurry,' he explains in a bored tone.
'Just a few more minutes,' I mumble, laying myself back on the bed.
'You're such a child.'
'Yeah, yeah. And I burn down houses to the ground for a living; what else?' I reply peeking at him through the pillow in my hand.
Expecting a snarky comment, I'm surprised to find his lips mold itself into a faint smile.
'Whatever. Just come downstairs.' He waves his hand around dismissively on spotting my triumphant smirk.
I stumble out of bed and freshen up. Making my way down the stairs, I walk around until I finally find the kitchen.
My eyes skim through the glass cabinets until I spot a box of cereals in one of them. On my way, an enormous body blocks my view of the cereal box. I look up to find the blue haired boy from the previous night. Pervy.
I attempt to push him off but with no luck.
'Move,' I order grumpily.
'I thought pretty Minnesota girls like you knew how to say "please" and "thank you."'
I immediately catch on to the 'pretty little liars' reference.
'Well, please peel your sweaty body off the cabinets. Thank you,' I throw a Hanna Marin.
'Okay; I wasn't sure before but now I definitely like you,' he responds, moving away to clear my view of the beautiful cereal box.
Grabbing the box, I have my fill of cereals and decide to head out in search of Luke. On finally spotting the main door of the house, I find Grassy standing next to an older man right outside the gate.
'Hey.' He smiles at me sweetly.
'Hey, have you seen Luke? I need to get home soon,' I question, eyeing the older man curiously.
'Way to get rejected,' he mutters to Grassy and shifts to look at me. 'I'm Rudolf Jennings,' he introduces himself.
'I'm Holly Winters.'
'Yeah, everyone in the house has been talking about you,' he informs and I immediately feel a little self conscious.
Before I can say anything, a little boy rushes towards us. He puts his tiny hands on his knees, trying to calm his panting.
'Dad,' he starts, looking up at the man. 'I have a question.'
'Ask away kiddo,' the man, Rudolf, smiles at him politely, patting his head.
'My teacher told me that life is a gift and being alive is a blessing, then why does mom keep telling you to get a life?' He looks up at his father, his huge green orbs shining with curiosity.
'You were saying something about getting rejected?' Grassy teases Rudolf.
'Shut up.'
Grassy strays further away from the house and motions for me to follow.
The cold wind swirls a few strands of my hair as I feel goosebumps all over my arms.
'Luke is at the stables. Just follow this path and you'll get to him,' Grassy explains pointing at the sandy path in front of me.
'Thank you.' I nod at him, ready to leave.
'You seem really nice. It was a pleasure meeting you. I'm Derek Hunter, and that douche twin of mine is Miles Hunter.' His boyish smile covers his face as a few locks of Green hair fall onto his forehead.
'It was nice meeting you too, Mcdreamy.' I smile at his confused expression as I turn around to walk away.
The path snakes it's way through the dead grass with patches of rocks and sand between them. My boots stomp their way through a few trees until my gray eyes find Luke standing in front of one of many stables.
The high pitched neighs of horses along with the stomping of their feet fill the area. I watch as Luke bends down to feed a black furred horse. The horse moves its head from left to right, grunting in satisfaction.
The view in front of me leaves me mesmerized as brown, black, white, grey colored horses are lined in separate stables, each of them munching on a stack of hay.
One horse in particular catches my eye. It's chestnut brown fur glistens in the afternoon sun as it avoids the stack of hay piled next to it. Golden-brown locks of short messy hair spreads along its head till its shoulder.
It folds its long legs and sits at the edge of the stable, facing the stained wooden walls. Its ears pick up on the sound of my footsteps as I approach it.
'She's a girl,' Luke says, watching my movements while making sure that all the horses got their food.
The deep brown orbs of the horse watch me as I bend over the door of her stable.
'What's her name?' I ask out of curiosity.
'She doesn't really have one.' Luke scratches his neck and elaborates further. 'Her mum was a part of our horses. Her name was grace. She passed away a few months ago. We always called this horse Grace junior.'
A sad smile takes over my face as the horse continues watching me. Everyone deserves a name. It's what they're identified with. Without a name, it's like they're nobody.
Not making a sound the horse looks away shifting her focus back at the wall.
'She used to be very lively. One of the liveliest here,' Luke starts as he thinks back to nostalgic moments of the past. 'But after her mother passed away, she stopped interacting with other horses. She doesn't respond to us either anymore. She barely eats and doesn't allow anyone to ride on her any longer.'
'I won't give up on her though,' Luke continues, 'I believe she will learn to be happy again and I will wait for that moment no matter how long it takes.'
A sudden respect for him bubbles inside me. I look at ocean in his blue eyes gazing with overwhelming intensity at the horse. The waves of the ocean shift fiercely, destroying everything that comes their way as determination floods him.
I examine the horse. She was strong. She was powerful. She has been through tough times and she stills keeps going. She signifies strength.
She reminds me of a mountain range. Sharp; strong; nothing in the world could shake it away. A mountain range stays grounded. It survives harsh winters, never-ending rainstorms, the Snow, the water, the wind; no matter how much they try to break it apart it stands tall.
'Sierra,' I whisper. 'Her name; it should be Sierra.'
Her head snaps to look at me, emotions skimming behind her glistening orbs. She stretches her long legs and gets up. Her hooves make imprints on the even ground beneath as she walks towards the door to reach me.
Luke's eyes widen slightly as his lips remold themselves into a smile.
'Sierra. Spanish for mountain range. It's perfect,' he murmurs as the neighs of the horses disappear and they all quiet down.
'Sierra,' I say again, louder this time as I look at the beautiful chestnut horse in front of me. Slowly, she bows her head. Surprised, I extend my hand to touch the white star shaped patch on her forehead. I rub my thumb along the unique pattern, my mouth slightly open in awe.
Unsurely, I bend my forehead down to meet hers as my nose slightly brushes her cushion-like fur. The two of us don't move an inch as brilliant streaks of sunlight enter through the open gates, brightening our encounter.
'That's the most she has interacted with anyone since a long time,' Luke remarks lightly as I take a step back. The horse; Sierra moves back as well and sits down taking a bite out of the hay placed next to her.
I smile at Luke as I see the expression of surprise still lingering on his face.
'Luke, can you get me some tampons when you return,' a feminine voice cuts through the intense spectacle.
———————————
I grab my phone from the side table and stretch the new bedspread of the guest room to rid it of creases. Giving one last glance at the room, I push the door open and hurry towards the exit.
After walking into four wrong rooms and knocking off a broomstick, I finally manage to find the main gates. Just as I'm about to exit the house a cop enters the area.
Before I have time to register the events, the cop grabs my hands and cuffs them together. With his fierce brown eyes and powerful blue uniform he states, 'you are being arrested on the suspicion of murder. You do not have to say anything but in may harm your defense, if you don't mention, when questioned, something you may rely on in court. Anything you say may be given in evidence.'
My eyes widen in horror and I look around to catch the shocked expression on everyone's faces. My hands tremble as I try to take a step back.
I knew they would've found out someday about Goldie the goldfish and the manure incident.
Animal abuse and murder is illegal.
'How did you find out about Goldie?' I whisper.
Everyone looks at me sympathetically. The officer opens his mouth to say something but suddenly chuckles echo through the air.
I look around and catch a glimpse of Pervy laughing. Soon, Grassy joins him and in no time everyone is laughing.
'We were just joking around drool, you should've seen the look on your face,' Luke grins patting my shoulder as the cop unlocks the handcuffs.
I send him a glare but soon my lips turns up into a smile of my own.
These people are wonderful.
'Who's Goldie, by the way?' Rudolf asks, looking at me questioningly as a tiny girl with golden hair rushes next to him and clutches his hand.
Her large blue bell eyes direct towards me for a second before she drops her head, her cheeks turning bright red.
'Sis, I've been searching all over for you!' The little boy from earlier exclaims.
Rudolf catches my confused expression. 'This is Romeo,' he states, pointing at the short boy with black hair and green eyes. He gives me Ben ten vibes.
'And this is Leila,' he continues, directing his hand towards the golden haired girl who looks away shyly.
The women who demanded Luke to buy her tampons earlier walks next to Ruldolf. 'Oh and this is my wife, Garcia Jennings.'
'It's nice to meet-' I'm cut off by the cop who steps in front of me. 'Sorry for the scare. I'm Geraldo. I heard you're Luke's friend?'
'Yeah, you could say that. I'm Holly.'
'Welcome to the family, Holly. We are all glad to have you here!' He says with a humongous smile reaching all the way up to his cheeks.
Everyone quiets down and gives me a smile of their own.
Everyone here, with their welcoming smiles and homey speeches make me look forward to meeting new people, making new friends and getting back out there. They make me want to come out of hiding and face the real world. I'm definitely talking to my mum about going to college.
'You have no idea how much that means to me. I'm glad I met all of you too.' I wave at them as I walk towards the car with Luke.
I sit on the passenger seat and lock the doors, habitually sliding the window down. Grassy and Pervy run up towards my side of the car.
'We're having movie night on Saturday. You should come!' Grassy exclaims, his cheeks slightly reddening.
'It'll be great if you could join us. After all, you do have a great choice in shows,' Pervy remarks, referring to the 'pretty little liars' reference I threw back in the kitchen.
'I'll try. It was great meeting you; Pervy, Grassy,' I say as Luke drives the car away from the house.
Through the sound of the ruffling wind, I hear Pervy question Grassy, 'Man, did she just call you Pervy?'
I chuckle to myself.
'So, how did you like my people?' Luke asks nervously.
'They were wonderful. What's someone like you doing with them?' I tease him.
'Oh, shut it,' he laughs. 'I know there are a lot of them and it's confusing at first, but you'll get used to it if you decide to stick around,' he adds, his blue eyes twinkling with what seems like hope.
He wants me to stick around?
An enormous smile takes over my face as I whisper, 'I'd love to stick around.'
He mirrors my smile, his cheeks turning into a light shade of red.
A notification dings on my phone.
KnUckLeHeADs🤪
Conner_from_the_corner_store, 3:21pm
Ughhh today is sooooo boringggg
Jhonny_ornaldo_is_mine, 3:22pm
I know righttt. I've literally watched 20 interviews of Justin Bieber's mom. I have nothing to do
Katy_cat, 3:22pm
Well, you could always come over. I'm having a sock ceremony.
Jhonny_ornaldo_is_mine, 3:22pm
Yeah, no. I think I'll pass
Garfield_is_bae, 3:23pm
Man no one told me Barbie movies were so cool. I just finished Barbie and the three musketeers. I actually know how to spell musketeer now. I'm going to go watch Barbie rock 'N royals.
butterscotch_is_the_best, 3:24pm
Jake, seriously?
Garfield_is_bae, 3:24pm
Yep🤷🏼♂️
Its_a_holly_jolly_day, 3:25pm
Well if it makes you guys feel better, I set fire to my house yesterday and met a horse today. Oh and I spent my night at that dudes house who stole Katy's sock.
Conner_from_the_corner_store, 3:25pm
WHAT
WHAT
WHAT
WHATTTTT
Katy_cat, 3:26pm
Yeah how dare he
butterscotch_is_the_best, 3:27pm
That bitch
Jhonny_ornaldo_is_mine, 3:27pm
...uhh didn't he like, not steal the sock?
butterscotch_is_the_best, 3:27pm
why else do you think I called him a bitch?
Katy_cat, 3:27pm
Whatever I still don't like him
...
Garfield_is_bae, 3:28pm
OMGGGG BARBIE JUST CAME ON SCREEN AND SHE HAS THIS SUPER COOL WAND THAT INCREASED THE AMOUNT OF SMOOTHIE SHE HAD. HOW COOL IS THAT!?!
Conner_from_the_corner_store, 3:29pm
Smally Holly, can you please elaborate on the getting-your-house-on-fire-and-meeting-a-horse part?
butterscotch_is_the_best, 3:29pm
Oooh yesss I wanna hear this
Jhonny_ornaldo_is_mine, 3:29pm
Tell usss
Katy_cat, 3:29pm
The knuckleheads demand an explanation
Garfield_is_bae, 3:30pm
Butbut- BARBIE
Ugh fine I'll pause it just for this
Its_a_holly_jolly_day, 3:30pm
Okay so here goes...
No matter how many new people I meet or friends I make, at the end of the day these best friends will always be my family.
———————————————
A/N: Heyy my rice grains!!! How are you guys doing? I finally managed to get the time and inspiration to write. I'm so sorry about the late update.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to vote and drop your comments!
-Beth<3