BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE

CHAPTER FOUR: SCARY SILENCE

WATCHING as they drove off, Scott could begin to feel the panic rising in his throat like bile, he knew he'd be fine on his own, he just wasn't sure for how long.

Meanwhile, Stiles and River were silently riding in the jeep- Stiles obviously at the wheel- they had the shotgun resting in her lap while he drove neither of them making an effort to talk, "will be okay out there?"

Stiles briefly looked in her direction turning onto the road Gen lived on, "yeah, he usually is, plus, your house isn't that far from his." River nodded glancing out the window, even though she hardly knew either boy, she was concerned for the safety of the less sarcastic one.

If Stiles was being completely honest with himself, he wasn't sure if Scott would be okay out there, he had already begun to consider the possibility that Scott would be caught by his father, or he would get hurt- twist his ankle in a whole, have an asthma attack, fall down a steep hill out there- there was no end to how he could get hurt.

Stiles pulled to a rough stop in front of Gen's house shifting the car into park, he glanced over at her, "have a good night." he mumbled watching as River unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door slipping out of the rickety vehicle.

Once her feet were planted on the concrete she reached forward grabbing the gun she'd equipped herself with earlier in the evening, "bye." she mumbled giving Stiles a half-hearted wave as she walked around the length of the car continuing on the pavement leading up to the porch.

It was hardly thirty seconds before Stiles shifted his vehicle into drive and sped off down the road leaving her on the front steps of the porch, she reached for the doorknob twisting it in her warm but slightly chilled hand.

Twisting the knob, she pushed the door inward relieved to feel the low blast of air that hit her as she entered, the house was silent the takeout from earlier still sitting on the coffee table, she returned the gun to its former home before walking across the room to gently touching the containers with the pad of her finger, it was still warm, not as warm as it had been earlier, but it was still something.

River picked up her two containers bringing them with her to the kitchen, she thought about what she was going to do next trying to determine whether or not she was still hungry, looking at the chicken she could feel her stomach becoming uneasy as she thought of what they'd been trying to do in the woods within the last hour.

She crossed the cold tile opening the fridge to hide away her takeout leftovers.

She was mumbling to herself when she heard the door open when her phone buzzed in her pocket slightly jumping at the sensation, she pulled the phone from the confines of her loose pants, there, waiting for her in her notifications, was a text from an unknown number.

She clicked on said notification the conversation quickly filling her screen, it was one basic paragraph with three sentences spilled into the singular message, This is Gen! I know you might not have a lot to wear, in case you get curious there's a box in the upstairs closet with some clothes the kids I fostered before you left. I won't be home till nine or ten tomorrow morning so make sure you get enough sleep and get to school on time.

River sighed sliding her phone back into her pocket, despite not wanting to go look through old clothes she knew she had nothing better to do. The teen made her way from the kitchen and up the staircase gently cracking open each door to try and figure out where the closet was as she'd done earlier to find the bathroom.

She had only opened three doors when she finally located the small storage space, she was looking from shelf to shelf in hopes of finding the box Gen had mentioned when she finally caught sight of it on the second to bottom shelf. She pulled the box from its place setting it on the floor in front of her, right off the bat she could see the top half of a black top waiting for her to move it.

Pulling open the flaps covering the contents of the box she was instantly greeted with the black-top of course, along with several pairs of pants and a few t-shirts, there was a single long-sleeved shirt beside the black-top leaving her to question just how many kids Gen had fostered.

In a single motion, she picked the box up and carried it down the hall to her bedroom. Remembering she had school tomorrow she set the box down at the foot of her bed and snatched her bag up from the floor sorting through her things to find a comfortable shirt and pair of loose shorts.

She glanced to where the box sat quickly averting her eyes as she left, the bathroom was just two doors down the hall on the side opposing of her bedroom, as she walked down the hall she counted the doors trying to make the anxious feeling that was currently residing in her stomach go away.

It slightly helped.

She set her clothes on the counter locking the door behind her before she approached the shower and turned the water on, it took a few seconds to switch from the bathtub faucet to the shower faucet relief flooding her once it had. The tired teen stuck her arm under the water several times trying to figure out whether or not it was warm enough, on the fifth time she realized it was.

Stripping herself of her clothes, she stepped under the water, the piping hot temperature making her smile when as it rained down on her pale skin, her dark locks stuck to the sides of her face as she let the water continue to wash over her, once her hair began to annoy her she tucked it behind her ears as she usually did. The girl could remember always having short hair, from the time she was first sent to the orphanage to right now, she'd always kept it short, long hair annoyed her, and was far easier to pull by children that didn't like her.

She'd cut her hair on her own the first time having Ashley fix it for her once she was done, after that she'd learned most of the girl's tricks knowing they would be extremely helpful in the future, and they were.

Within the last seven years, Ashley and River herself had been the only ones to touch the girl's hair, she knew how long she liked it and didn't need someone else messing it up when she knew she could do it herself with little to no complications.

She reached her hand up to her head grasping one of the ends of her hair, it was still a reasonably short length, despite this, she could tell she would need to cut it again soon.

Outside, past the bathroom window, she could hear a cracking noise, she jumped slightly almost slipping on the water underfoot as she did so, she turned off the water after a few moments grabbing her towel to wrap it around her warm body.

Once she'd secured her towel, she slid open the bathroom window hoping to find the source of the noise, nothing, she knew she was probably overthinking, possibly even hearing things, she was being paranoid, there was nothing outside, nothing to have caused the noise and maybe no noise at all.

River took a deep inhale of the oxygen around her continuing this action for a few minutes to try and calm herself down, she opened her eyes sliding the window closed before she walked over to the counter to grab her clothes and get dressed.

She quickly hung her towel on the hook the bathroom wall offered before opening the door and rushing to her room, she wanted to see what all was in the box.

The young girl could feel her worries finally settling as she grabbed the box and set it down on her bed, she sat down beside it pulling open the flaps once more to see what all was inside, the same black-top that had first drawn her in greeted her as she pulled it out setting it beside her on the bed, beneath the shirt a few pairs of jeans waited, one pair had a few intentional rips in the legs causing a smile to break through on her lips.

Past that, was a random sock, tossing it to the side she continued to look through the contents quickly emptying the small box. At the very bottom, she almost missed it, there was a necklace. She picked up the jewelry letting it fall through her fingers, she examined it for a few moments realizing that it was a locket, she gently pried at the sides giving up on the necklace when it wouldn't open.

It was beautiful though, she couldn't imagine why anyone would ever leave it behind. But, as the saying goes, finders keepers.

She unclasped the chain gently pulling it around her neck where she reclasped it at the back, it fell forward with a small sound from the metal as it dangled now comfortably resting around her neck, she let her fingers curl around the locket running the pads of her fingers get a feel for the design engraved in the metal.

Giving the clothes from the box a final glance she decided she was going to wear the black-top and the ripped pair of jeans she'd discovered, unsure if they'd been washed or not she picked up the articles of clothes exiting her room with them, she hadn't located the laundry room earlier leaving her to discover the rooms on the first floor before going to bed.

She navigated around the rooms she already knew the locations of trying her best to locate the laundry room as quickly as possible, when she did find it- across the hall from the door leading into the garage- she opened the door and slipped inside. She scanned the shelves for laundry detergent locating it beside the washer machine instead of on a shelf where she had thought it would be.

River propped the washer machine open dropping her clothes into the machine while she fumbled to get the lid off of the detergent, almost spilling it on herself in the process, she managed to open the tightened bottle pouring a small bit into the detergent slot.

She watched as it disappeared into the machine before closing the top of it and turning it on, she listened for a few moments as water flooded the inside more than likely already soaking the articles of clothing she'd placed inside, she returned the bottle to where it had been before she'd entered the room and quietly headed off for the staircase.

She felt refreshed after her shower and knowing that her clothes would be done in the morning made her feel better about everything, she'd have to get up early and put them in the dryer though, but that would give her enough time to eat breakfast and grab her things before going to get her clothes from the machine.

The girl- as exhausted as she was- made her way up the stairs to her bedroom shoving the remaining clothes back into the box she'd found them in, she would look through them again tomorrow once she got home from school, once that was done she made sure her door was closed and climbed into bed.

She stared at the ceiling for a few moments just thinking about random things, when she could feel her eyelids growing heavier by the minute she leaned over and turned the lamp off finding comfort in the darkness surrounding her.

BEAUTIFUL NIGHTMARE

CHAPTER FOUR: SCARY SILENCE