2:29am

susannah tried hard to keep a conversation going with glenda when she felt her eyes feel heavy with a desire to sleep. she resorted to everything to keep herself awake, including pinching her arm every now and then. she knew that staying awake was the one thing probably keeping them alive in that moment. she had been talking to glenda about what they would do with their million dollars they were promised by vienna price when she heard the low snoring of her friend. she soon felt the weight of her friend on her, as she leaned back in her sleep.

"glenda..." she called, her own self on the verge of falling into the clutches of sleep. "glenda, are you still awake?" she asked, but she already knew the answer.

she pushed herself back on her feet quickly, trying to keep herself awake. glenda fell sideways on the couch without susannah to keep her upright. she was fast asleep. 

it was dark in the old hospital, with no light illuminating them, except for a couple of dim lamps, and her green eyes darted to a grandfather clock nearby. it was only half past two in the morning, which meant she had to stay awake two and a half more hours. susannah thought to wake glenda, but she then thought that maybe letting her friend sleep for a bit would be beneficial. she could let her sleep for an hour longer, and then glenda could keep watch while she slept.

3:04am

she paced the lobby of the hospital, rubbing her tired eyes every now and then. she was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. but she needed to keep watch for two more hours. the more time passed her, the more she felt like she was going to end up falling asleep during her watch.

susannah heaved a tired sigh and went to sit on the couch next to glenda.

she remained sitting there for a couple of moments until her stomach grumbled loudly, reminding her that she hadn't had anything to eat in several hours. 

when they arrived at the old hospital that afternoon, susannah assumed it would be like any other of vienna's birthday parties. she would only invite three or four other people to be there, and whoever was invited was considered privileged in their group of friends. everyone wanted to be vienna's friend because she was rich, and if vienna liked someone, then everyone liked them as well. 

at her parties everyone would have dinner together, vienna would open her presents, there would be a very expensive cake, which vienna would never eat, they would have a few drinks, dare each other to do some unintelligent things, and then everyone went home that night. susannah had been fortunate enough to have been invited twice in a row by vienna. the previous year's party had been in a haunted ship called queen elizabeth. vienna price was known to like hosting parties in venues that were known to be haunted.

but the queen elizabeth ship was not at all as frightening as what was happening to them now. susannah even remembered that vienna had complained about not being scared at all. they had seen a few strange things happen, but the teens had attributed everything to their state of alcohol intoxication. everyone ended up having a better time at vienna's parties than the birthday girl herself.

susannah got up from her spot on the couch once more and strode over to the bar area, which was a few feet off from the couches where the other girls were sleeping. there was a small fridge under the table, which she opened to find vienna's birthday cake. it was a chocolate cake decorated with louis vuitton designs, garnished with fruit on top, and her name written out in chocolate frosting.

it was the only thing that was available to eat and susannah got it out of the fridge, setting it on the bar table before her. she licked her lips as she saw it on the table before her. people who were friends with vienna had to be thin and popular, which meant that they could not eat a lot of the things they wanted to eat. susannah knew vienna would disapprove, but she was strongly considering eating the entire cake.

susannah turned around to grab a knife she would use to cut the cake. it was a shelf with a few drawers and shelves made of glass where there were wine glasses. the whole back wall of the bar area was like a giant mirror with shelves to put the glasses on and she felt her heart stop at what she saw in the reflection, standing behind her.

the knife she had been holding dropped out of her grip, and she whipped around to see it wasn't just her imagination.

standing behind the bar table, in the hospital lobby, was the girl they had left behind.

there was a pallid tone to her skin and dark circles under her eyes. susannah noticed there was something off about her, but she was her friend and she was going to help her if she could.

"nancy?" susannah gulped.

-

yet another filler, but i updated a bit quickly because i want to post the next one soon as well. so i hope you enjoy reading the chapter. 

thank you so much for reading.

-clary xx