CHAPTER SIX.

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"A LITTLE DEATH"

SURVIVING WAS A GAME OF CHANCE. You could die abruptly at any moment in your life. Like while crossing the road, a car could have hit you, or something could have fallen to your head and crush your skull while walking. Death's bare hands would pull her soul to itself, and leave her body to rot. Then, Amy would belong to the darkness. She wouldn't become a star that could watch her mother at night. She would be alone in the pit of hell. The possibilities were infinite.

In Amy's case, an agelong curse that apparently killed her father and uncle could have followed her until she was dead.

Dread was absorbing her soul. It was sneakily melting into ribs, trying to reach her little heart. Amy didn't like being afraid. She felt vulnerable and weak. She was exposed to the sinister wind that wanted to carry her to the poisonous lands. Away from her home, and her family.

She chopped the crimes in her mind mercilessly. (Just like The Nightwing Killer did to her father.) The ambulance was silent as Matthew drove, everyone seemed to be lost in their own minds. But Amy wasn't just lost, she was engulfed and drowning there.

"Do we have a plan?" Crystal's voice pushed the silence from them.

Deena drew a sigh, not even glancing at her. "Whatever made Sam see the witch may be the way to stop everything."

Crystal hummed thoughtfully. "So we don't have a plan."

Deena bit the inside her cheeks, staying quiet. Kate wasn't so patient. "What is your point exactly?" She asked, continuing without waiting for her response. "Except for the persistent negativity and hostility?"

Crystal scoffed, rolling her eyes. The ambulance stopped, indicating they arrived at where the car crash happened. Simon opened the doors, jumping to the ground. Amy knew she seemed down at the mouth, she just couldn't take it anymore. Pretend, pretend, pretend. Her mantra was bullshit and she was fed up with it.

Simon's eyes fell to the brunette, extending a hand to help her out of the ambulance. Amy accepted it, her feet harshly met with the ground. He didn't let go of her hand even when they started following Sam and Deena. Instead, he held it tightly as if he was afraid she could be taken away from him at any moment.

The warmth of his palm spread to her body, her bones, and her veins. The rings were cold as they stuck to her flesh but she didn't care. She felt like a ghost, she knew she was there but her mind was far away.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you." His voice was as quiet as a whisper but had the rigidity of a marble. "I promise."

"I've already told you," Amy responded, her voice also came out as a whisper but only carried her weakness. "You can't stop fate. What is bound to happen always happens."

"You can't just accept it without fighting." He argued, his brows furrowed.

Amy inhaled sharply, stopping abruptly. Crystal glanced at their ways, Amy gave a nod to her friend to keep moving. "Why does it matter?"

Simon scoffed, but his tornado eyes had no place for humor. "Because I care about you."

"Well, stop caring about me then!" Amy's voice came out louder than she intended to, drawing the attention of the group. Luckily, they respected their privacy and kept moving, ignoring them.

Simon's lips curved a little, lowering his shoulders. "I can't."

Amy blinked a few times repeatedly, struggling to come back with a response. Fate seemed to pity her because Deena called out for them. "Guys, look!"

Amy moved quickly, trying to break the tense aura between her and Simon.

"I was crawling, and my nose was bleeding. And then..." Sam swallowed, she was on the ground, crawling and looking for the place she had seen the witch. "I feel something." She reached forward, a chain showing up.

"Chains?" Kate questioned as Sam kept pulling it.

"Oh not just chains!" Simon realized, he flashed on something.

A human skull.

Crystal made a wry face, stepping back. "Eww."

"No way." Matthew mumbled, stepping closer to take a look.

Josh kneeled to the ground, pulling another chain on his side. A lock came to the surface as he observed it. "Fier. It's her." He glanced at Kate, directly. "It is her grave."

"Oh no, no, no." Simon retreated. "This is bad, this is really bad."

"Yeah, we kind of noticed that." Crystal commented between her teeth. Amy could tell she was scared with her harsh attitude. Her free hand reached for hers, offering her friend a little comfort.

"No wonder the witch is pissed at us. I'd be pissed too." Kate stated, her stern gaze turning to the pale Fraser girl. "Sam disturbed her grave."

"She didn't know." Amy defended quickly. "This is not Sam's fault."

Josh sighed heavily. "Now she is sending her henchmen after us."

"Henchmen?" Kate furrowed her brows, looking at everyone as if she didn't hear him right. "As in every one of those sickos on your wall is coming after us?"

"Please say no." Amy mumbled, her wide eyes on Josh.

Josh stayed silent. The sound of twigs snapping echoed in the woods. Amy's caramel irises searched the area to find something. But deep down, she was hoping nothing would be there. "Did you hear that?"

"This is going worse and worse every second." Crystal commented, squeezing her friend's hand.

"Hold up, hold up." Simon whispered, taking the attention. "She's mad because we disturbed her grave, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Deena asked, focused on him.

"So, let's un-disturb it! Just put the bones back, rebury them, and put her to rest!" Simon decided, his voice was as hoarse as crow.

Deena rolled her eyes, brows furrowed. "No, that's so stupid!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Amy snapped, she was starting to understand why Crystal found her so annoying.

"Yeah." Crystal backed up her friend. "Preferrably, before someone comes to chop us."

Before Deena could respond to the girls' sarcasm, her brother spoke."That's genius." Deena sent an 'are you serious' look to her brother.

"Yeah!" Simon nodded swiftly. "In...in Poltergeist!"

"In what?" Matthew asked, confusion written on his face.

"Sam is Carol Anne?" Amy questioned, also confused about how the events were relevant.

"You watched it too?" Simon asked softly, a smile spreading to his face.

Another voice of twigs snapping was heard, everyone shared wary looks. "Whatever. Let's do it quickly so we can go." Kate exclaimed with a gasp.

Josh got up, checking on their surroundings in case of someone was there. Matthew turned to another way, his eyes roaming at the trees. Crystal, Kate, and Simon started digging as Amy touched the skull.

"Uhh, Miss Fier," She spoke cautiously. "Miss Sarah Fier. We are so sorry."

"What are you doing?" Crystal asked looking at her as if she had gone nuts.

Amy shrugged. "Asking for forgiveness from a century old evil witch."

"Deena, Deena! Find something to wrap her bones." Simon yelled at Deena, who ran to the crashed car.

"Please forgive us, and our friend Sam." Amy continued her rambling. "We never meant to disrupt you. We just didn't know."

"Guys." Josh called out, nobody paid attention to him.

Deena came back with a jacket Amy recognized immediately. Peter's jacket. She had completely forgotten that he was in hospital too. Considering he wasn't on Sam's side, Amy knew what happened to him. He too was never going back home.

"I think there is someone in the woods!" Josh stated again.

Amy rose from her kneeling position, getting closer to the Johnson boy. His lighter on his forehead provided them a dim light as their eyes roamed on the area. "I don't see anything." Amy whispered carefully.

"We need to hurry!" Josh yelled to the group. Amy glanced at them.

"There, there." Simon said gently as they covered the jacket with soil. "We're sorry."

"Did it work?" Kate questioned looking at Simon. Then, she repeated loudly. "Did it work?"

Josh looked around as his hand slowly grasped Amy's arm just in case. Their breaths were unsteady as they slowly retreated. "Do you hea-"

The light flickered, a man running straight towards them. It had a burlap sack on his head, ax on his hand. Amy recognized him almost immediately. The Nightwing Killer.

Her father's killer.

Although his head was covered, his gaze burnt her skin. At that moment, Amy was no longer herself. She was her father, Louis Winters. Standing in front of the killer, she waited for the ax's impact with her head. A screaming voice echoed in the forest, and Amy felt relieved. Good, she thought, I'm not the only one who is afraid.

Josh stumbled on his feet, trying to get Amy out of the way. Simon shouted her name, too slow to reach her. Matthew ran, almost as fast as the Nightwing killer, his body clashing with Amy's. Only when his body hit hers, she realized that she was the one who had been screaming.

It all happened so fast.

One minute, Amy was lying on the ground with Matthew on top of her, next, he was dragging and pushing her with all his strength. He pushed the girl towards Simon, who held her in his chest just in time. Matthew reached for Crystal, who seemed frozen in place just like Amy. Simon interlocked their hands, dragging the brunette towards the ambulance.

Amy glanced at her friends, making sure they were following them safely. A crashing sound came, Amy squeezed Simon's hand so harshly that she knew she was hurting him.

Her legs were numb from running or adrenaline or fear (probably, from a combination of all of them). She could distinctively hear Deena's shoutings, telling them to run. She wanted to say 'What do you think we have been doing' but she was a little busy trying not to get killed and run her feet off, so she kept the comment to herself.

Amy practically threw herself to the back of the ambulance, she was praying to whoever was smart enough to have left the doors opened. Kate went to the driver's seat as everyone hopped to the back.

Amy was still holding Simon's hand, his ring stinking to her flesh. Crystal sat across her, still gasping. Matthew's face was a statue, his gaze on the floor. "Start the car! Go! Go!" Deena screamed.

The ambulance started moving, leaving the Nightwing killer behind standing.

"I don't know about all this possessing shit but," Amy spoke slowly once she caught her breath. Her gaze was on Matthew. "I'm sure that was the guy who killed my dad."

The witch was real.

The curse was real. Both witch's and the Winters'.

Her father's killer came back to life to kill her.

💀 🩸 🦴 😈 🔪

𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆:

edited: 23.08.2021

I feel mixed feelings about this chapter...