"Crazy old bat."

Blair Jones, in all honesty, was sick of her grandmother's shit. Now before you go off thinking she was an asshole, she knew that she should be grateful that her grandmother took her in when her parents decided they weren't ready for a child, which Blair understood, really she did, her life would be a lot less stressful if she was still an egg in her mother's womb, but you'd have to remember you didn't live with the old woman, and this was the fourth time this week that Blair had found her grandmother's dirty, hole-riddled sock in her goddamn sandwich.

What was worse was the fact it wasn't the only one in there.

Now, there were two options on how they'd managed to contaminate the sanctity of her chicken masterpiece, one, the more realistic option, was that her grandmother, while under the influence of the devils grape-juice, had once again mistaken the fridge for the washing machine. The other option, the one her grandmother swore on her own life was true, was that a faè came in during the night and put them in her food purposely, to cause mischief and arguments in the house, as that's what they fed off.

One of these days, one of these days Blair was just going to pack her shit and leave. She'd read a book on how to survive in the wilderness once, she's sure she could make it, she could totally win a fight with a bear if it came down to it.

"If I find one more fucking piece of your clothing in my food, I'm throwing you into a nursing home." She hissed finally with a low voice, rage coating her every word and making it seem like some vile curse as she continued to rummage through the fridge for something edible so she wouldn't have to eat the disgusting shit at school, she swears up and down that she once saw their meatloaf move and even if it was just her imagination, she wasn't going to take that chance.

"I've already told you, it was the f-"

"-Yes, I know, it was the 'fairies', God, if I have to hear you say that one more time I'm going to hang myself with your sock." Blair said, scoffing under her breath because she was really was going to end up in jail for man-slaughter at this point, how she survived this far she'd never know because she was such a fucking asshole. She huffed a breath through her nose, temper flaring uncomfortably as she drummed her fingers against the table, shoulder twitching every so often, as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Always so dramatic." Adelie Jones mumbled into her cup, just in time it seemed as Blair screamed in frustration as the butter resting on the fridge shelf came tumbling down from seemingly nowhere, hitting the girls unprotected foot and sending her into a cursing rage as she held onto it with trembling hands, hobbling around the kitchen all the while her grams watched, sipping her tea which no doubt had some form of alcohol in.

"This is your fault." She snapped, pulling a seat out from under the oak wooded table and sitting on it, trying to rub away the pain in her foot with a grimace and already able to feel the slight swelling of her toes that promised her that walking around school was going to be a real fun time, even more so than it usually was and once again, had to resist the urge to curse up another storm.

"Oh? And how'd you come to that conclusion?" The old woman hummed at the younger, twirling a greying curl between her weathered fingers, obviously not giving a crap about her granddaughters impending meltdown as she looked down her nose at the trembling child, she really did have to look into some type of anger management for the girl, the potions she was slipping into Blair's drinks obviously weren't working.

"You're kidding right?" But her answer was simply an obnoxious hum from the old bat as she poured herself another cup of coffee that stained the porcelain black, mixing in a few shots of whiskey when she thought Blair wasn't looking. The young girl didn't even try to hide the roll her eyes, rubbing her forehead in frustration before reaching under the table to grab her black boots that she had kicked under there the night before, stuffing her feet inside them with a grunt and slouching back in her chair that creaked under her weight dangerously.

"I suppose Jonathan is coming to pick you up?" Grams questioned carefully, quirking a brow as she glanced over her cup of steaming liquid to give Blair a look, still somewhat displeased with the girls choice of friends it seemed, but just as she opened her mouth to reply, face souring into a snarling frown, she was interrupted by a loud honk that disturbed the peace from outside, causing them both to flinch and her grandmother to swear as she almost dropped her coffee all over herself.

"Did that answer your question?"

The old bat rolled her eyes, before looking over at the clock on the wall by chance and gasping in disbelief, she had a client coming any moment now, and she had to look the part. Blair stood and watched for a few moments as her grandmother began to pile on smoky makeup with a grimace, feeling like she was watching a car crash but unable to tear her eyes away because seriously, that couldn't be healthy for anyone's skin, never mind someone of her grams age. Not that she'd ever say that to her face, she thought with a shudder, and turned around to take step towards the door.

"Have a good day at school! And remember, if you're ever in danger, say this word, scutum."

Blair rolled her eyes as soon as she'd heard the cleared throat coming from behind her, miming mockingly along to the sentence that she had been told everytime she left the house for the past few months, even for something as little as going to the store for a bottle of milk. The woman really was a nightmare, an honest to God, nightmare.

"You better get going. Don't want you to be late to school now, do we?" The older woman seemed to finally have enough of her waiting there, because she didn't even waste a second as she began to push her granddaughter out of the door, ignoring her curses and snarls, wig finally set in place and hands firm even in her old age as Blair protested loudly, trying to fight back only to be shoved out into the chilled air and for the door to be slammed into her face.

"Hey! You old bat, I need my bag!" She yelled after an indignant pause, crouched down, with her red-painted lips peeking through the letter box to make sure the deaf coot could hear her and ignoring Jonathan who was chuckling behind her inside the car at the unusual scene. But only silence answered her, causing her flushed face to twist as she quickly stuck her arm through the letter box aggressively, wiggling it around while screaming profanities as loudly as she could.

Whoosh! Thump!

Blair paused, before slowly turning to look beside her, where her bag and all its contents had been spilled over the floor, thrown out from the window above her. She raised her head and met her grandmothers mirth filled eyes and snarled. She scooped up her things, hands shaking with unbridled rage and marched over to Jonathan's rusty car, who, when seeing her expression, cooled his features, though his upturned lips and tearful eyes showed he'd seen the show. She slumped into the passenger seat before slamming the door, holding out her middle finger to the old bat as they drove off.

"Still going with on with the whole physic thing?" Jonathan asked softly, shoulders up to his ears as he winced slightly in preparation, to which Blair buried her face in her hands, nails digging into her cheeks and let out a muffled scream of absolute primal rage that sounded more like a wounded animal more than anything else.

"That woman needs medicated!" She howled as she heard his laughter, soft and quiet echoing around the empty car as she dragged her hands town her face, pulling at her bottom eyelids as she did so as she spun her face to stare at him in horrified disgust. "Apparantly, now we're witches, y'know the whole broomsticks and warts, stealing children to mix into our cauldron, that shit. I'm hoping that's where I came from, so I'm not related to that crazy old bitch!"

The mousey-haired boy chuckled again, reaching over to pat her knee with a awkward touch that was gone as quickly as it came, but Blair had already found that truly, everything the boy did was done with some form of awkward soft grace, in truth she doubted the boy could hurt a fly, nevermind one of the bullies that seemed to sniff him out constantly, though luckily for him, she had no such qualms. "She's not that bad Blair, she bought us our first drinks, remember?"

"We were fourteen Jonathan, she should of been buying us soda pops, not scotch." She deadpanned with a cruel sounding scoff that burned the back of her throat almost as much as the scotch once had, and god it made her feel like she was going to projectile vomit even just thinking about it, rubbing the heel of her palm into her eyeball and fighting the sleepy feeling that overcame her as stars danced in the corners of her vision, it hasn't even been nice, the only reason they drank it was because they thought it was apple-juice, oh how incredibly naive they once were.

"You love her really."

"I do not. You should of heard what she was saying man, sprouting out nonsense, even more so than usual, oh and 'if ever I'm in danger you shall say these magic words'."

"Abracatabra?" Jonathan guessed, smile blown out wide across his face and amusement shining in his eyes as he continued to drive along the road, keeping his eyes firmly trained ahead of him because he knew if he seen his friends pouty frown he'd loose his concentration and start to laugh, after all it was always funny watching how annoyed Blair got with her grandmothers tall tales that seemed to be getting more and more insane as the years passed...which was really saying something considering.

"Wha-no, scrotum or something. I'm telling you, when she's of age, going straight in a nursing home. They can deal with her shit." She grumbled after clapping her hands, leather clad arms crossing tight over her chest as she looked out the window before frowning, twisting her head to look into the back where nothing greeted her, quickly turning back around to stare at her friend in confusion. "Where's will?"

Jonathan shot her a smirk, he figured it would of taken her longer to notice one of her 'babies' (in which he meant gaggle of children that followed her around like little ducklings) was missing. The group of boys looked up to Blair, ever since Jonathan told Will the story of how she punched a bully for him, who told Lucas, who told Mike, who then told Dustin, and suddenly their demands for a babysitter were high. "He got a lift from Mike's mom, they all tried piling in my car when they heard I was picking you up, though."

Blair didn't even try to hide the way her lips had shifted up into a smirk, obviously finding some amusement at the thought of the little shots trying to cause chaos as she leaned further back into her seat with a happy hum. "If we hurry, we can beat them to the school, they'll be pissed if they find out I got a lift from you and didn't try to see them."

"Aren't you babysitting them tonight?" Jonathan questioned, shooting the girl a strange look though he was filled with a huge swell of relief. Because if she was looking after the boys, it meant that he could take an extra shift to help mom pay the bill's without feeling guilty at leaving Will alone in the house where anything could happen to him...which would be next to impossible with the Blair Bitch of Hawkins around, well, as long as she wasn't distracted by food or something. "Yeah, but still."

And then it was silent for a few long drawn out moments, the two letting the peace settle around them like a blanket of comfort as the scenery seemed just to mass them by, before Jonathan gave her an amused look out of the corner of his eye and smirked to himself. "So...who's your favourite?"

"What?! How can you say that? I don't have a favourite, I hate all four of them, equally." She snapped in mock shock, absolutely scandalized at such an awful question, even going as far as crossing her arms over her chest with a dramatic huff and stubbornly staring off out of the window at the passing green and brown hues of the woods trailing along beside them, refusing to admit to her blatant favouritism of the four children she'd taken under her metaphorical wing as quiet once more took over the car.

"Its Lucas, isn't it?"

"...I can't help it, he's a snarky little bastard and I'd die for him."
________________________________________________

And yet, sure enough, when Blair and Jonathan finally managed to get to the school, which definitely shouldn't of been as difficult as it fucking was, and stepped out of the car, it was to a group of small but aggressive middle-school children, each with various expressions of displeasure, standing with their arms crossed and their feet tapping against the grass below them, giving the two what was known as they 'stink-eye' as they glared at them. The young girl didn't even try to hide it when she sighed...she was going to get yelled at, she could already see it.

"You're late." Dustin snapped, lips pursing into a pout and gesturing towards his watch with a scowl as Jonathan laughed as quietly as he could behind his hand at the way she flinched and curled in on herself at his tone. It was a sight to see, the great and powerful Blair Bitch, being told off by a bunch of pre-schoolers, for God's sake, she even looked guilty as she rubbed the back off her neck anxiously.

"I know, I'm sorry kiddo, traffic was intense."

"You got the goods?" Lucas said, stepping forward and away from the others, obviously knowing his place as the favourite with his favourite bandanna tied tight across his wrist, the one with dark red with specks of black and green stitched across the fabric, always seen on some part of his body after Blair had gifted it to him for his birthday two years ago, and seeing it brought a smile on her face, one that she couldn't even try to hide as she rolled her eyes with an exhausted sigh that spoke of how often she had had that very conversation.

"Don't phrase it like that you little bastard, makes it sound like I'm selling you drugs."

"DRUGS! WHY WOULD YOU BE SELLING DRUGS?!" He yelled as loud as he could with a shit-eating grin curling over his features as the others laughed behind him, giggling like the children they were at his dramatics that he most definitely got from her and sure enough, Blair reacted, reaching forward to flick his ear aggressively, face twisted in a scowl though they could all see the mirth in her eyes as she stared at her boys gently.

"That's it. You're demoted. Will is my new favourite." Said boy grinned, puffing his small chest out as Dustin and Mike shouted their objections at not being chosen. But unfortunately for her, Lucas didn't seem all that threatened, instead choosing to smile up at her sarcastically and call her bluff.

Touche, She thought as she rolled her eyes, running her hand through Will's bowl cut absentmindnessly, ruffling it to try and make it look less neat before twisting her bag to the front of her body and reaching in and pulling out a few bags of candy treats with a sigh. She should really not be giving the preteens sugar at the time in the morning. However, she didn't have to deal with them until 4 o'clock on the dot, so it sounded like a whole lot of 'not her problem'.

Handing them over with a huff, she ruffled Will's hair one last time before sending them on their merry way, ignoring their loud and over dramatic proclaims of thanks for the 'drugs' eben though she wanted to laugh. They were spending way too much time with her, the little assholes, and that probably wasn't a good thing she thought as she turned around and glared at Jonathan, who was leaning against his car and pretending to play with his Camera, even though she could clearly hear his muffled laughter as he hid his lower face in the collar of his jacket.

"You're about as useful as nipples on a man. Y'know that right?" She told him, though not unkindly while rolling her eyes fondly, giving him a light punch on the shoulder, moving closer as he started to openly laugh at his only friend who hadn't left his side for all these years and wondering how he got so lucky to have someone like her in his life.

"Hanging round kids, Byers? Should we be worried?" A voice called out and it was like the whole parking lot suddenly got colder as they recognised it, breaking the small moment nicely as Jonathan clammed up quickly, shoulders hunching in on themselves and the smile wiping off his face quickly as it came as he tried to make himself look as small as possible, tucking his chin to his chest, a defensive mechanism to a threat, quite reminiscent of a mouse.

But Blair only turned around with a dangerous fire scorching across her eyes, hands clenched into tight fists when she caught sight of Steve Harrington, brown hair slicked back, well, as slicked back as that messy mop could get, with his cronies Carol and Tommy standing behind him, smirking as if he had just gave off the worlds biggest burn. God, could the three of them get any more cliché, she thought with a well timed eye-roll, upper lip curling into a snarl.

"Its real sweet that you're so concerned Harrington, but you don't have to worry, he's not your dad." She said simply with a purring undercurrent to her tone, leaning against the side of Jonathan's car and ignoring his mutter of 'please don't start'...She'd been raring for a fight for a while now, it was the only way to get rid of the built up tension inside her body and unfortunately for him, Harrington had just walked right into the ticking time bomb that made her.

"What the hell are you on about Jones? Finally going as coo-coo as your Grams?" Steve mocked, but she could see a quick flash of fear in his deep brown eyes that passed as quickly as it came.

And the grin that curled at her lips was nothing short of feral as she pretended to think about it, drumming her fingers against her chin as she held his eyes, not even trying to look away or spare him as she called his bluff. She had him on the ropes and he knew it. "What? I'm just saying man, how old was his latest conquest again? Eighteen? Just turned right? Flirting a bit with the line I see. Naughty naughty."

Carol gasped at the gossip in excitement, her bright eyes lighting in mirth as she giggled behind her hand openly, only stopping when Tommy elbowed her while Steve glared at Blair as if she was the bane of his existence, and quite frankly, ever since she broke his nose all those years ago, she most definitely has been and still staring at the soles of his shoes, Jonathan allowed himself to smile a small and meek grin.

"How the hell did you know that?" He hissed at the girl, looking around with an anxious gaze as if someone was listening in, listening to the threat to his great and powerful popularity that he had tried so hard to keep. 'King Steve' Blair's ass she thought darkly, because all she seen when she looking at him was a sheep in wolves clothing, and it was only a matter of time before the pack descended and tore him to pieces.

"Oh, you haven't heard? I'm psychic." She said with a laugh, unable to help herself as she lifted her ring-clad hands tauntingly and wiggling her fingers, a grin shifting over her features with mischief shining in her dark eyes that made them practically shine. And what she most definitely wasn't going to tell him was that his mother had been secretly going to her grams for a while now, and a few times Blair had just happened' to be listening in.

"You really think you're Gods gift, don't you Jones?" He scoffed, reaching into his pocket to get out his lighter, already beginning to walk away from the girl with his 'friends' in tow as she looked after him, tongue dancing over the roof of her mouth as she watched his figure get smaller and smaller.

"Nah, more like satan's curse."
_________________________________________________

School had dragged on, boring and uneventful and half the time Blair had struggled to stay awake during her classes, only waking when Joathan aimed a well-timed kick to the back of her chair every once in a while to make sure she was still...well, alive. But as soon as the final bell of the day rang, she quickly collected her things, stuffing them into her bags as quickly as possible and ran for the exist, yelling a quick 'bye' to Jonathan over her shoulder and managing to jump over Carol's attempt at tripping her up.

She ran into the parking lot, panting for breath slightly but relieved to be working the tension out of her body, before she came to a stop in front of Hawkins middle-school, she squatted down, resting her forearms against her knees and trying to catch her breath quickly, before standing up, looking over the crowds of children streaming out for her little gaggle. Luckily, they found her before she found them as Dustin almost pushed her over when her barrelled into her side, causing her to become more winded then she already was, but she wrapped an arm around his shoulders all the same.

"C'mon you little shits, I wanna get you home as quickly as possible so I can order pizza." She said, causing them all the cheer joyfully, talking to each other in excited conversation as she began their walk towards the Wheeler residence, the kids just behind her with Dustin still tucked into her side, trying to convince her to watch star wars with them for the fifth time this month, and knowing he were going to get his own way when she sighed.

The small group had got there in a relatively fast pace, just in time for the Mike's parents to catch them at the door as they were leaving for their date night, saying there 'hellos' and 'goodbye' as Karen Wheeler handed her daughter Holly over to Blair, who began bounching the toddler against her hip the second she was in her arms as she giggled.

"I can't thank you enough for watching them again, you're all they ever talk about." Mrs. Wheeler laughed with a small swell of jealousy, it was always 'when is Blair coming over to babysit?' And 'Blair makes the best pancakes, mum. Even better then yours'. Even Holly had joined in, saying that her mother didn't read the stories the 'right way' like Blair did, something about the voices not being right, whatever that meant.

"It's no trouble at all Mrs. Wheeler, I'm happy to be of service." The young team grinned, all sickly sweet and voice unconsciously forming a higher pitch as she looked up at the woman, fluttering her eyelashes innocently to try and keep the peaceful image of tthe gentle babysitter, even though she was most definitely anything but while behind her, Lucas and Mike caught eyes and simultaneously rolled them, what a load of shit.

"Your money is already on the counter, honey. And you know where everything is by now I hope?" The older woman joked, already begining to be tagged away by a frantic Ted, who was muttering that they were going to be late and that he didn't want to miss the reservations for the chicke- lunch. He meant lunch.

"Of course Mrs. Wheeler, have a nice night!" She called over her shoulder, ushering the children in the house with one arm while holding Holly up with the other, pausing at the door to allow the youngest child to wave at her mother before shutting the door after them, turning to give the boys a mischievous grin as they all spun around to face her, awaiting her orders excitedly.

"Dustin, start grabbing the popcorn. Mike, find the tape y'all want to watch and put it in, Will pass me the phone and Lucas, start grabbing the drinks. We got a long night ahead of us boys." She shouted with a grin as the boys saluted her, trying to keep their faces straight before running off to do their respective orders as Blair turned to look down at Holly seriously, "And you, little miss-" she began, tickling her stomach as the toddler laughed, "go find which book you want me to read to you tonight."

Blair placed the wiggling toddler on the floor and laughed as the girl suddenly ran for the stairs, child-like giggles following her all the while as she sighed with a grin...it really was going to be a long night. Will came up behind her, handing over the phone so she could call their parents and tell them the children were with her at Mike's, and that she'd send them all home at around eight, an usual occurrence it seemed, most of the times, the parents were expecting the call more than having their own actual children home.

She gave the boy a grin, reaching down to ruffle his hair like she always did, but the second she touched him, it was like all the life was suddenly sucked out of the room as flashes of something passed through her mind, hazy and disoriented as she stared unseeing into the corner, face blank and cold. Not hearing the children start to call her name in worry, not seeing their panic, unable to listen to their terrified cries and questions as she watched the events unfold before her very eyes as if they were her own.

There was panting, terrified whimpers falling out of the mouth of whoever was running, they looked to be in some sort of woods, the trees, the ground underneath them, twigs snapping, leaves crunching and all that but it looked wrong. It looked dead, like everything around that space was decaying, painting the scene in greys and dark hues, lifeless and rotting and disgusting.

A screeching of something terrible coming up behind them, terror, fear, horror. Knowing that it was going to get them, that there was nothing they could do to stop it. They continued to run, getting faster, getting desperate as the house finally came into sight, wait, that was Blair's house. Hope, hope swelling the moment they seen it. Blair would protect them, she would always protect them.

But instead, that strange creature finally caught them, wrapping its monstrous claws around their ankle and tugging them down into the shadows below. Finally, Blair could see it more clearly, see it from someone else's eyes but feeling a sickening clench in her gut as who it was became seen. Will's pale and dirty face stared up at her desperately, unseeing that she was actually there and instead staring at her house in front of him, just in reach as he clawed desperately at the ground, tears streaming down as he screamed.

Blair!

Blair!

"Blair!"

She gasped awake, a deep heaving gasp as though she had come back from the dead and feeling very much like she had as the cold feeling swept over her, chest heaving with uneven breaths as she took in her surroundings. She was sitting on the floor, body drenched in a cold sweat and shaking, crowded around by the terrified looking kids who had tears streaming down their faces, while Holly openly bawled into Mike's shirt.

"W-what happened?" Blair asked, her voice creaky and raspy causing her to grab her neck in pain, feeling as though her tongue was sandpaper as well as the inside of her throat and the more they scraped together the more grains they created. And it was Dustin, seeing her struggle, ran over to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, his face pale and hands shaking before handing it to her gently as she gulped it down.

However, she only had a moment of peace before Lucas, Mike and Dustin started talking all at once, retelling their versions of events dramatically as their voices overlapped the others, hands flaring about as they yelled out questions and theories about her unusual episode. Blair tried her hardest to listen to them all, truly, she did, standing on unsteady legs and taking Holly into her arms, begining to rock her until she calmed, trying to answer the boys as best as she could before they were all silenced by Will's quiet voice.

"It was my fault." He mumbled, eyes still blurry with tears that he quickly rubbed away in frustration as he watched Blair sit Holly down on her high chair, moving back over to him and squatting down low until she was eye level with her best friends brother, staring at him with a gentle look in her usually angry dark eyes, wanting to touch him but slightly afraid of the consequences as her hands clenched tightly by her side. What had it meant? What had it meant?

"It was no one's fault, squirt. I just fainted, its probably because I forgot to eat breakfast." She reassured him with a smile, quickly burying those questions in her mind lest she obsess over them, glancing over at the boys with a stern look that screamed for help and feeling relief swell in her bones when they answered it, the three walking over to Will, with Lucas wrapping his arm around the smallest members shoulder and squeezing him.

"Are you sure?"

"Course I'm sure. Now come on, everyone back to your stations, I think we deserve some double pepperoni after all that don't you?" She asked with a wide grin, ordering herself to feel stronger than she felt as her body continued to roll with nausea, even as they dispersed off into their own directions, though she couldn't help but notice they had all moved to where she should still be seen in their vision as they began to talk amongst themselves again, and she didn't even try to hide her chuckle as she stared at the little worry warts for a moment.

"I don't know Blair, maybe you're finally going as crazy as your grams." Lucas teased with a grin, as she pretended to aim a kick towards his back-side, causing him to laugh and run away covering his precious cargo like his life depended on it as she shook her head in mirth, the strange events already forgotten after the talk of food it seemed...but just as Will was about to walk into the living room, the teenager called after him, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the others weren't listening as she did so, swallowing tightly as bile pooled in her mouth like an omen.

"Wait, Will. Can you come back over here a moment?" Blair asked softly, running her palm up and down her arm to ease the goosebumps as he frowned and strolled over worridly, still giving the girl a wide-berth and looking every bit like a kicked puppy, his dark brown eyes filled with sorrow as he winced up at her, bottom lip trembling as if expecting her to start shouting at any moment. "It really was my fault wasn't it?"

"What? No Will, of course not. I was just wondering if you could do be a favour?"

"Yeah, anything." The boy replied, nodding his head eagerly, desperate to clear his guilty conscience even though he was not at fault.

"I don't think you should go through mirkwood anymore, please." Blair whispered and it was like the moment those words had left her lips, the air around them grew cold and still with baited breath, becoming thick with a certain kind of tension that churned over them ominously, drowning out the noises from the messy boys still moving around them, because whatever was happening, involved only the two of them, no one else as they stared down the other.

"Why?" He asked quietly, hardly louder than a whisper, feeling as though the weight of the world had suddenly pressed down on his shoulders and Oh, the weight was aching.

"I don't know, I-I just have a really bad feeling about it." She took a deep breath, trying to resolve her nerves, to gather her wits as she thought back to the strange vision that had plagued her so suddenly. It had taken her a few moments but she had recognised those woods Will had been running in, the once the boys had named 'mirkwood' like the hobbit her mind had supplied. She didn't know what that 'day-dream' was all about, as nothing like that had ever happened to her before, but the panic she felt, the fear, the terror. She doubted she would ever forget it.

"Look, if you're ever going through there, even if you're on your bike and it's the middle of the day, just call me okay? I don't care what time it is or what day, call me and I'll come walk you home." Blair said with her voice borderlining on begging, resisting the urge to shake him by the shoulders to show her seriousness on the matter, trying to compromise and quell her anxiety at the same time but it still didn't feel like it was enough. Why didn't it feel like it was enough?

"You don't have to."

"I know, but I want to."
_________________________________________________

In the end, Blair had called Jonathan to take the kids home, too exhausted to walk but terrified after the strange occurrence that had happened hours prior and not wanting to risk anything. However, that hadn't stopped the kids from having a fun night, she had made sure of it, even if her smile was slightly fake throughout the night and her hands were always shaking. And of course, children had each hugged her goodbye before climbing into Jonathan's car, waving until they were out of sight but still, not out of mind.

She had then picked up an half-dead Mike who was snoring so loudly, she was afraid he'd wake Holly up, and, with alot of difficulty and some awkward fumbling, managed to carry him up the stairs and into bed. Just in time it seemed as Mr and Mrs Wheeler walked in, thanking her profusely before dismissing her from her duties.

Which lead Blair to now, walking home with cash in hand and feet trailing sluggishly behind her, eyelids dropping every once in a while before she tripped and forced them open. Allowing herself a drunken looking smile when she caught sight of her house. She strolled it, swearing when she tripped over one of her grandmother's bottles hanging around by the door before slumping against the wall, fighting with her boots to try and get them off her aching feet and sighing in relief when the cold air finally washed over them.

Blair walked into the living room with a yawn, arms stretching over her head and moaning with satisfaction when her back and shoulders cracked, releasing their tension. She went to turn on the lights, before stopping in her tracks as she caught sight of her grams asleep on the couch, vodka bottle hanging loosely from her fingers causing the young girl to sigh, guess babysitting wasn't quite over yet she thought to herself tiredly, quickly rubbing her eyes as she yawned.

"Grams, c'mon. You have to go to bed." She called over at her sleeping form, and sighing when she got no answer, forcing her to stroll over with a exhausted chuckle, pulling the whiskey bottle from the woman's cold and...strangely weak hand, causing Blair to frown, rolling her eyes a moment later at her lazy grandmother who still didn't even move a muscle, no doubt pretending she couldn't hear her.

"Hey, you old bat. Get up." Blair snapped losing her patience, trying to ignore her sudden anxiety and pushing her shoulder, just to feel herself freeze when the oder woman followed the movement freely, like there was no strength in her pale...cold body. "Grams?" She whispered, voice breaking and swallowing a lump that had risen inside her throat, staring at the woman's strangely pale and stiff face, panic started to rise inside her as she began to shake the woman aggressively, repeating her name over and over until it hurt.

"Grams?' The young girl sobbed, finally realising that her grandmother wasn't moving, wasn't breathing. She started to scream, chest heaving and mouth opening as sobs spilled out of it, tears running down her face and snot out of her nose as she shouted at the woman, shouted at her to get up, to move, to breathe but nothing happened...because Blair Jones was alone in this world once more.