Ben had found a med kit for Ashlyn's scar.
Ben poured rubbing alcohol on the wound which stinged a lot.
"It stings!" Ashlyn groaned.
Everybody else was making weapons and breaking furniture.
SMASH
Aiden smashed a glass bottle on the wall.
The sound shook all of them.
"Aye look, another weapon!" Aiden said with a big smile.
"Hey watch it!" Tyler scolded, "you should've done that in the bathroom, now there's glass everywhere!"
Logan got up, "I-I'll get the broom."
Ashlyn looked over her shoulders and stared at Tyler tearing the legs of a chair apart.
Flashback
"But if you aren't going to make yourself useful, make yourself scarce." Ashlyn harshly said with Tyler's collar in her hand.
Flashback end
"Was that too harsh?" Ashlyn asked herself.
Ben wiped off the remaining blood that was dripping off.
"Ack!" Ashlyn was in pain but she did her best to hold it in.
Aiden noticed the pain that Ashlyn was in and grabbed a shirt.
"Here, wanna squeeze this?" Aiden asked handing her the shirt.
"Thanks.."
"Yep!" Aiden replied, "I never took you for the leader type."
"..I'm not." Ashlyn said, "but my parents are."
"Your parents?" Aiden asked.
"They're both from the military." Ashlyn explained.
"Ah I get it. So you're used to being told what to do in a situation like this." Aiden assumed.
"Well not a situation like this."
"Then do you also know self defense?"
"I've took a few kick-boxing classes."
Ben finished the bandaging and closed the med kit.
Ashlyn then moved her injured arm around.
"Thanks Ben. You're good at this." She complemented.
"lol yeah, he's used to patching me up." Aiden commented.
"From?" Ashlyn asked.
"Mm, various things? Skateboard tricks, rock climbing, hiking, jumping off tall places, stuff like that?" Aiden listed.
While Aiden was listing the things he got injured form, Ben was happy he got a compliment.
"So he likes thrills.." Ashlyn noted, "judging from how he's been acting that's not too surprising."
Ashlyn got off the floor and grabbed a small metal pole.
"How many of these do we have?" Ashlyn asked.
"Uh, 8 including the ones we're taking off right now." Taylor replied.
"So there's enough for all of us." Ashlyn noted.
"It's been quiet for a while now.." Taylor commented, "d-do you think the monsters are gone?"
Ashlyn is the only one that could hear the monsters, "nope. Still there."
"We actually have some items to protect ourselves, so we're in a better position to talk things out..." Ashlyn said.
"They're still outside the door.." Ashlyn warned, "I can hear them but.. not in a normal way."
Taylor and Tyler were working on the chair and pulling poles out.
Logan was standing up.
Ben was looking inside his backpack
While you and Aiden laid next to each other with your feet in the air.
"What do you mean?" Logan asked.
"..Remember how I said I had sensitive ears?"Ashlyn asked.
"Ooh that's right! So you can hear them moving outside or something?" Aiden happily said.
"Sort of. They make a certain... sound u don't think you guys can hear." Ashlyn explained.
"Can you get to the point?" Tyler angrily asked.
"I'm trying you jerk. This ain't easy to explain." Ashlyn snapped back in an annoyed tone.
"The thing is, because of how loud everything is to me, I hear... phantom noises as a side effect. Sounds that aren't really there." She explained.
"In the sorrel weed house I thought I was hearing a phantom noise and when I saw the monster..." Ashlyn explained, "I thought it was just a type of hallucination."
"But then it grabbed me."
"A hallucination that grabbed you, injured you, and that all of us had seen? And you thought it wasn't real?" Tyler scoffed in a snarky way.
"Well you thought it was a prank and-" Ashlyn was about to continue, "-no nevermind. It doesn't matter right now."
"Control yourself"
"Control yourself"
"Control yourself"
"What I'm getting at is that-" Ashlyn continued, "I can hear and locate them when you guys can't."
"So what's the plan then?" Tyler asked, "use your magic hearing to save the day?"
Thinking
"No..well yes, but later." Ashlyn replied, "I think we should stay here for now so we can reset and... prepare ourselves."
"Once we go outside, there's no telling what we'll encounter." Ashlyn carefully explained, "and let's not leave the living room if something happens, I don't want to be split up."
"There isn't much we can do right now, so do some mental exercises."
"Mental exercises?" Aiden asked.
"Imagining yourself in certain situations and seeing how you'll react." Ashlyn answered.
Flashback
"When you do actually encounter a situation like the one you imagined, you're able to react faster." Ashlyn's dad explained, "anything that puts one step ahead is worth doing."
Flashback end
"Anytime you aren't asleep, that's what you should be doing."
"Yeah great plan. Day dream and sleep with monsters outside the door." Tyler scoffed.
"We'll take turns keeping lookout." Ashlyn explained.
"Logan, is the time still twelve?" Ashlyn asked.
"O-oh um- I'll check..." Logan stuttered, "... it hasn't changed."
"Logan noticed the time wasn't changing about an hour ago." Ashlyn noted, "if the time isn't working, then alarms won't work either."
"Alright we'll keep resetting a timer every hour then." Ashlyn stated, "I'll take the first shift, who wants to go after?"
"I'll go." You offered.
Blink
Dizzy
Ashlyn turned her head and stared at you and Taylor.
"Taylor? Y/N?"
"Are we-"
"Back in our room?"
Ache
Ashlyn gained a massive headache.
"No scratches...?" Ashlyn looked at her arm.
"Was all of that... really a nightmare?" Ashlyn asked herself.
"Or am I just dreaming right now?"
Ashlyn started shaking her head in denial, "..I'm starting to lose track of reality."
"Alright, calm down. What was the last thing you remember?"
"We were taking turns keeping watch."
"The clock wasn't working..."
"We used a timer instead."
Ashlyn checked her phone and it read 12:06 AM.
"But now the clock's changed..."
"Ashlyn..?" Taylor asked waking up.
You were awake as well but you didn't say anything.
"Are... we on the bed?" Taylor asked.
Taylor and you both then put your hands on your head.
GASP
"Where's the others? Are the monsters still-" Taylor asked in a panicked tone.
"So it did happen- you remember right?!" Ashlyn quickly said.
"What do you-" Taylor was about to finish her question when all three of your felt dizzy.
BLAARG COUGH
You, Ashlyn, and Taylor were barfing in the bathroom.
Taylor was at the toilet, Ashlyn was at the shower, and you were at the sink.
When the two other girls walk in.
"ARE YOU GUYS OKAY?!"
"Taylor, Ashlyn, y/n! Are you guys in here?!" Aiden yelled.
"Ah! Found em!" Aiden said with a smile.
"What are guys doing in here?!" The girl with brown hair asked, "get out!"
"Wait, aren't you two supposed to be dead or something?" Aiden asked.
"Move!" Tyler said shoving Aiden's face out the way.
He hurriedly looked at the room and saw Taylor.
He felt relieved.
Urp-
"Ah, I feel another wave coming on-" Aiden said covering his mouth.
The group of seven were all nauseous.
Ben and Logan were behind Aiden and Tyler holding their hands against there mouths.
"Just what is.. going on?" Ashlyn asked before closing her eyes.
Present time
(Referring to chapter one)
"I think we should go back to Savannah." Tyler said trying his best to be calm.
"Alright," Ashlyn groaned, while tapping her feet under the table.
"Let's take some time to think on it again and have a group vote later tonight." Ashlyn explained.
"Even though this is the fourth time." Ashlyn mumbled.
"Why not after school?" Tyler asked.
"Because I have ballet class today." Ashlyn explained.
"So what? Skip it." Tyler bluntly said.
"Uh, Ty.. we have stuff to after school too." Taylor said, "you have baseball practice and I have a mechanics meeting."
"...I um, I have to help with the flower shop today.." Logan mumbled.
"See? Logan's busy too." Taylor added.
Tyler was getting even more annoyed and started gritting his teeth.
"Even with what's happening, we can't just neglect school me our future. You need baseball let's just wait till tonight-" Taylor was about to finish her speech before she got interrupted.
"We aren't going to have a 'future' if we're dead!" Tyler snapped.
"It's not just our future." Ashlyn stated, "if we drop everything to focus on fantasy- like events we can't prove, we're going to end up in a psyche ward."
"Do you think that's going to make it easier or harder for all of us to have meetings during the day?"
"She's got a point, Y'know. Generally we're what people would call 'crazy.'" Aiden said pointing his finger to his head while spinning it.
"Whatever." Tyler said in a stoic tone.
Stomp Stomp
Tyler was stomping away with his tray of food.
When he turned.
And grabbed Taylor and glared at two specific people.
He then continued stomping away with his twin.
"It's not like I disagree with him. It Definetly feels stupid to go to ballet when we'll be fighting for our lives later tonight."Ashlyn stated, " but we need some sort of balance..."
"Or we'll end up ruining our lives in both worlds."
You, Ashlyn, Ben, and Aiden were walking off the same stop as Ashlyn.
"What are you doing?" Ashlyn asked.
"Coming over, I figured it's just be faster to get off here." Aiden explained.
"You know I have to leave in an hour, right?" Ashlyn asked.
"I thought I'd tag a long this time. If there's an emergency, I'll know how to get there, right?" Aiden explained.
"He's getting more and more pushy." Ashlyn stared at Aiden with a scowl.
"I'm home." Ashlyn said opening the door.
"This is a pain."
"How was school?" Ashlyn's mom asked, "Aiden, Ben, and Y/n are over? I thought you had ballet today?"
"Yeah about that," Ashlyn said, "they want to see where the studio is located. Do you mind if they come along?"
"Come along?" Ashlyn's mom asked
"Yeah."
Ashlyn's parents looked at each other and noosed before dragging Ashlyn over the couch.
"Ah-!"
"Give us a second." Ashlyn's mom said with a smile.
"Sure." Aiden replied with a thumbs up.
"What is going on?!" Ashlyn mom whispered yelled.
"That's what I'd like to know." Ashlyn whispered, "why'd you yank me over the couch?"
"Listen, I'm glad you're making friends, I really am, but— aren't you guys getting close a little to fast?!" Ashlyn's dad whispered, "I mean two weeks ago, it was like pulling teeth getting you to go on that field trip!"
"Then you come back and all of a sudden you have not just Aiden, Ben, and y/n, but THREE other friends coming over?"
"You?" He said in a strict voice.
"After 15 years of 'yeah dad I like being alone', it's super out of character for you." He explained.
"Well, they aren't wrong." Ashlyn thought, "I can't tell them that though- 'hanging out' is the best excuse we have for day meetings in the graveyard."
"Are they bullying you?" Ashlyn's mom asked.
"WHAT?!" Ashlyn yelled in a shocked tone.
"Y'know, maybe threatening you to be friends with them."Ashlyn's dad explained in a serious tone.
"Or blackmailing you?" Ashlyn's mom added.
"Why would they- No! You guys are just being paranoid!" Ashlyn groaned.
"What are we talking about?" Aiden asked while being crouched down with them.
You and Ben were also there crouching down listening to the conversation.
Ashlyn's family stared at him, "sorry, got bored waiting."
Couple minutes later
"I'm ready mom, can you do my hair?" Ashlyn asked coming down the stairs.
She then looked in the living room and saw her parents playing cards with the three of you.
"Sure!" Ashlyn's mom replied standing up.
"They're worried about them bullying me," Ashlyn commented, "yet here they are playing cards with them."
Ashlyn's parents then drive to the studio where Ashlyn practices her ballet.
"Alright, we're her." Ashlyn's mom said parking the car.
"About time." Ashlyn sighed.
"So, this is the place? Cool." Aiden exclaimed.
The four of you were squished and compact next to each other.
Ashlyn was on the left you were next to her then Aiden and then Ben, who was napping.
"If the gps didn't lead you down the wrong street," Ashlyn said, "I would've just given him the wrong address."
"But it seems luck doesn't like me very much." Ashlyn sighed.
Ashlyn got out of the car grabbing her bag.
"Satisfied?" Ashlyn asked in an annoyed tone.
"Yep!" Aiden exclaimed, "actually, can I come in"
Aiden got his face slammed on by the car door.
"No." Ashlyn strictly said.
Tyler and Taylor
Tyler was pacing around the room, angry and very frustrated.
"Tyler...?" Taylor finally said after a while, she was curled up in a blanket on the bottom bunk.
Tyler stared at her in a menacing way but then he calmed down and took a breather.
"Sorry." Tyler said scratching his head.
He sat down next to Taylor.
"... we can't keep skipping." Taylor commented.
"Yeah yeah, I know." Tyler groaned, "I need baseball to get into college, and your mechanics club has job connections, I get it."
"It's just- does any of that matter if we die?" Tyler mumbled.
"So you wanna throw all of our hard work away?" Taylor asked, "all of our plans?"
"..no, of course not."
"Things just had to become more complicated, didn't it?"
Logan
Logan was watering the flowers his grandparents grew when he started shaking.
THUMP THUMP THUMP
"Five more hours.."
"Logan?" His grandpa asked.
"Um- yes?" Logan quickly turned and smiled.
"You alright, son? You look clammy." His grandpa commented.
"Y-yeah I'm fine!" He exclaimed.
"He's looked clammy for the past couple of weeks." Logan grandma explained, "ever since that field trip. He even quit that astronomy club of his."
"Somethings up."
"If anything's wrong son, you know you can come to us, right?" His grandpa explained.
"Everything alright, I promise!" Logan said with a gleeful smile, "you don't need to worry."
"Woah, these looks like they need to be watered.. haha!" Logan commented trying to change the topic.
Ashlyn
"Class was exhausting." Ashlyn laid on her bed.
She then turned and looked at the clock, 10:41 Pm, "it's almost midnight."
"I wonder how the others are doing."
11:00 Pm
Ben was laying down on his bed trying to sleep while Aiden was rummaging in his mini fridge.
11:26 Pm
Logan was trying to sleep in his bed, but he couldn't.
11:38 Pm
Taylor and Tyler were in the bottom bunk sharing a blanket together.
They held hands and squeezed each other's hand for comfort.
11:45 Pm
You were laying in your bed with a hood on your head, and earbuds in your ears, while staring at the ceiling.
11:58 pm
"No one sent anything in the group chat." Ashlyn commented, "I feel like we're forgetting something."
Ashlyn was sitting up on her bed shuffling around when she paused.
"That's right! Where we left off!"
"That means..."
Flashback
Everybody was screaming and covering their faces.
The monster was charging at them with their sharp claws when they suddenly disappeared.
Recap/explaining
"Since Savannah, what happened has been recurring every night."
"At 12 AM the sky turns red, the world becomes lifeless and mute, and shadow like monsters start to roam around."
"Because I originally thought the sound the sound they made were phantom noises, we decided to call these creature-"
"Phantoms."
"We've figured out a few things during the last couple of weeks of this happening."
"For seven hours we're stuck here."
"Even though time is moving here, time is stopped at 12 AM in our world."
"This place seems to be influenced by our world, but doesn't physically influence ours."
"For example, If you move a box somewhere else In the human dimension it'll move in the phantom dimension."
"If you move something in the phantom dimension it won't move in the human dimension."
"Injuries that happen here can be felt but not shown in our world and vice-versa."
"For example in the shadow dimension if you get scratched on the arm you won't see it in the human dimension but you will feel it."
"And-"
"We always return where we left off in each world."
Phantom dimension
The group is at the school bus graveyard screaming inside one of the buses.
Ashlyn was the first one to open her eyes.
They were all huddled up in the back of the bus screaming.
RINGGG
Ashlyn then felt a ringing in her hear, which signals her that a phantom is close by.
"Duck!" Ashlyn whispered to everybody.
Everybody ducked and went behind the seat.
Taylor, Tyler, Ben were at the left side of the bus while you, Aiden, Logan, and Ashlyn were at the right side.
"Still here?" Tyler asked.
Ashlyn quickly nodded to Tyler's question.
"What do we do?" Taylor asked in a panicked whisper.
"..." Ashlyn was silent for a moment, "we'll have to try and kill it."
"How are we going to do that?" Tyler grumbled.
"We could have Logan shoot it through the window?" Aiden asked while staring at Logan with a smile.
"No, the gun is for emergencies only." Ashlyn explained.
"This is an emergency!" Tyler arrogantly said.
"An emergency is a swarm or one of us is about to die." Ashlyn firmly stated, "we don't have many bullets, so we need to try and kill it with our weapons first and have Logan as our backup."
Step Step
Ashlyn heard the phantoms footsteps and that it was coming soon.
"Shhh..." Ashlyn hushed the others.
"It's getting closer, did it hear us?"
"Hide under the seats." Ashlyn explained.
Everybody went under the seats with another person or alone.
Taylor and Tyler were obviously together under a seat.
Ben was alone.
Ashlyn and you were under one seat together.
While Logan and Aiden were under a seat together.
The monster was climbing the stairs up the stairs and in to the bus.
Step Step
The phantom was passing all of the seats, and luckily for them the phantom didn't see them, for now.
Ashlyn looked around and checked her surroundings when she spotted a weapon.
It was near the drivers seat.
"If we can just quietly crawl towards the box-" Ashlyn then scraped her knee on the floor.
It made a lot of noise and everybody quietly stared at her.
You stayed down and let Ashlyn move up.
"Shoot that was loud." Ashlyn commented, "did the phantom hear?"
Ashlyn then looked back and saw you have a terrified look on your face.
Ashlyn was really confused until she looked straight and saw the phantom on all fours staring at her.
———————————
Word count: 3183
I did not proofread so don't fix my grammar mistakes or I will reply to your comment with a nerd emoji 🤓