(Woodland's Run)
(1:45 A.M)

The Attwater neighborhood is illuminated by street lights. Silence is the neighborhood's best friend at this hour. Walking home from the police station is an exhausted Allison, bags under her eyes as she enters the Attwater neighborhood. Stopping at the neighborhood entryway, obvious by the entrance sign, her phone begins to vibrate in her left pocket.

*BUZZ BUZZ!*

Reaching for her phone, a notification pops up on the front screen of her device. A text, from an unknown sender. Their identity a mystery, and the message ominous. It reads:

The lies of this town will bury you in a New York Minute. How much longer until you're six feet under?

Not just a text however, an attachment is sent along with it. Curious, she opens the attachment. An image appears on the screen other phone. Allison glances at the photo, staggered by the subject of the image. The photo is of Allison, standing in her current location, right in front of Woodland's Run's entrance. The cryptic message seems to cause a sudden feeling of anxiety in Allison, as she suddenly turns around, swiftly looking to the left and right of her tense shoulders. None of her surroundings seems to strike her as out of the ordinary. She takes a deep breath in.

Allison: "Nobody..."

She continues down the street into the neighborhood, walking more cautiously than before. Continuing down the pavement, Allison begins to notice a light emitting from a source behind her. A strange humming sound begins to increase in volume. Concerned, she whips out her phone, accessing her built in camera. Viewing her phone screen, she examines the view behind her. It appears to be the headlights of a car, slowly creeping behind her. She gulps, thinking of how coincidental this situation may be. A strange gut feeling develops inside of her, knowing the time of night it is and how often a car would pass through the neighborhood. Aware of her situation, Allison's levels of anxiety increase dramatically. Attempting to not raise any suspicions, she continues to walk at a casual rate. However, she does indeed increase her speed. Behind her still follows the car, keeping a fairly close distance with her.

Beginning to pick up her pace, Allison clenches her phone in her hand as she keeps her phone on the
dial pad. The car begins to gain speed, slowly pursuing her. As she approaches a stop sign, she sighs. She turns left at the corner of a street as the vehicle brakes at the sign. Noticing the car has stopped at the sign, Allison gains a burst of speed as her fast paced walk changes into a mile run. Never looking back, she runs in fear, sprinting a length of ten houses before turning pivoting around another corner in Woodland's Run. She stands hunched over as she catches her short breath.

Still recovering from the strange encounter, her phone begins to ring. The "Illuminate" ringtone begins to play. A seemingly positive ringtone in a spooky situation. Waiting a brief five seconds, she decides to answer the phone call, hesitantly pressing the green accept button with her quivering fingers.

______________________________________________

(On the phone)

Allison places her phone to her ear. She hesitates to speak into the phone. She then speaks in a light tone, nervous.

Allison: "Hello?"

A static sound is heard on the other end of the call. Allison looks around herself, carefully examining her surroundings. She gulps as she speaks again.

Allison: "Who is this? Hello?"

Allison quietly waits for a response, paused in suspense.

"Hey, sorry if I've been ignoring your messages."

Allison looks rather confused but at the same time relieved.

Allison: "Cece? I swear I had your contact info in my phone..."

Cece groans, sounding slightly annoyed.

Cece: "You do. My dumb dad took away my phone so I'm using a an even dumber burner cell. Is now a bad time?"

Allison chuckles lightly as she smiles, her face full of relief.

Allison: "Oh my god, no. Not at all."

Cece: "Thank goodness, is everything alright?"

Allison sighs as she continues to walk down the sidewalk, her muscles seem to relax.

Allison: "Considering everything that's happened this week, I don't even know how to feel."

Cece: "I think everybody feels that way right now. What'd the police ask you? Paps won't say a word to me about these things."

Allison chuckles.

Allison: "Well for one, those aren't really the circumstances I wanted to meet your father under."

The conversation suddenly pauses.

Cece: "My dad was questioning you?"

Cece's question seems to spark a curiosity in Allison. She pauses for a second.

Allison: "Yeah, something wrong with that?"

Cece: "Well... I mean... never mind."

Allison: "Hey, I'm sorry you didn't get to sing at the carnival."

Cece chuckles in a disheartening tone.

Cece: "It's no biggie. Like usual, there's more important things to be focused on."

Cece's remark seems to inflict pain on Allison.

Allison: "Well you're important, Cece."

Cece goes back to her lighthearted tone as she giggles.

Cece: "Debatable."

In the background on Cece's end, a garage door is heard opening. Cece seems to curse under her breath before swiftly saying to Allison in a quiet voice:

Cece: "Crap, my dad's home and he can't see me with this phone. Talk to you later kay?"

Allison seems uneasy about Cece's decision as she looks around at the dark and vacant neighborhood.

Allison: "Yeah sure."

The call suddenly ends.
______________________________________________

*RING RING RING!*

Her phone begins to ring again. Without hesitation, Allison answers the call. The cellular device is put up to her ears once more. In a casual tone, Allison asks:

Allison: "Cece?"

On the other line of the phone is nothing but breathing, heavy breathing.

Startled, Allison presses decline on the dial pad.

*SNAP!*

Allison is astonished by the sound, her muscles tensing up. Desperate to find shelter, she notices a pathway through the side of somebody's house leading to the backyard of Emma's house. She glances at the grassy pathway for a second, before dashing through it. Reaching Emma's house, painted a tan color, she runs through the back into the front yard. Finally approaching the front steps, she scrambles to find the house key inside of her pockets. Turning the key, the door is unlocked.

*CLICK!*

Allison quickly rushes inside, almost stumbling on her way in.
______________________________________________

The house is pitch black as Allison enters. The silence seems to follow Allison inside. Shutting the door behind her, she also turns the lock. Allison takes a huge sigh of relief, overwhelmed and tired. The lights on the house suddenly begin to flicker on. Allison gasps as she turns around to see a figure. Standing in the front hallway is Emma, wearing a black set of robes. Her arms are crossed as she glares at Allison.

Emma: "Looks like somebody finally found their way home."

Allison: "God, you scared me Em."

She begins to take off her shoes and place them on the shoe rack as Emma begins to approach her.

Emma: "How long were you out? I never got a call or text from you."

She shrugs at Emma's statement.

Allison: "You don't have my contact info. You never even bothered to ask."

Emma's tone is strict as she continues to interrogate Allison. She watches as Allison begins to wearily approach the set of stairs.

Emma: "Where are you going? This conversation isn't over."

Allison sighs, exhausted as she takes a couple of lethargic steps up the staircase.

Allison: "Look Em, I'm exhausted right now. I've had a pretty whacked up day. So, can I just go upstairs to bed?"

Emma: "Not until you explain where the hell you were."

Allison begins to step down the staircase now, back to the main floor where Emma stands in her nightwear.

Allison: "The police, Emma. They were questioning me about Vanessa. You probably would've seen me if you were at the carnival... I do recall seeing a person your age wearing a black and gold dress. You and her have a peculiar resemblance!"

Emma rolls her eyes at Allison. As the response seems to settle into Emma's brain, her interest suddenly seems to spark as her eyebrows are begin to raise.

Emma: "The police questioned you?"

She begins to approach Allison, wanting to hear more.

Emma: "Do they think you did it? Killed her?"

Allison: "How would I know? I-"
Emma interrupts Allison abruptly, talking very fast paced.

Emma: "You were freaking questioned by them. What do you mean you don't know? What kind of questions did they ask?"

Allison's body begins to tense up, as Emma seemingly hovers over her.

Allison: "I really don't know Em... You're scaring me."

Emma scowls as her tone becomes more interrogating.

Emma: "This is more damaging than you think it is Allison. Do you know how bad this looks right now?"

She clenches her fists, looking irritated at Allison.

Emma: "God, this is not the time to go around and make yourself the new headlines!"

Allison: "I wasn't trying to!"

Emma: "Are you sure about that?"

Emma crosses her arms as she gives Allison an accusatory stare.

Emma: "Clearly, you've done something."

Allison gives her the same look back, showing the resemblance between the two girls.

Allison: "Or maybe our family has."

Emma's tone becomes defensive as Allison's statement seems to have offended Emma.

Emma: "Excuse me? What are you implying?"

Allison: "Cece's father, the sheriff, he mentioned how our family was holding up during this time of crisis."

Emma: "Everybody is being affected by that girl's murder."

Allison: "Not Vanessa, the anniversary. Is there something about this family that I need to know?"

Emma stands silently, trying to not make eye contact with Allison.

Allison: "Are you kidding me? Nothing?"

Allison looks as if she's in pain, her eyes welling with tears.

Allison: "Is this how it's gonna be? You're going to continue to keep these kind of things from me? You're putting up an invisible wall between us."

Emma snaps as she gets in Allison's face. Startled, Allison begins to back away from Emma, almost knocking over a chair behind her.

Emma: "You have no idea what's going, nor do you need to!"

Allison shakes her head in disappointment.

Allison: "You know, mom wouldn't have wanted it to be this way, hiding all of these secrets from each other. What do you know that I don't?"

Emma clears her throat at she glares at Allison.

Emma: "Allison, there are some things that are just best kept a secret, especially in Attwater. So stop snooping around in places you don't belong and just act like the new girl."

Allison stands appalled by Emma's words, the tears running down her face.

Emma: "And just for the record, I don't give a damn about what our mom wanted. I've lived in this town long enough to realize that life isn't easy here. As much as this town promotes unity and harmony, deep down it is survival of the fittest, and I've done a pretty damn good job at surviving in Attwater. I can't have you ruining all that I've worked for. Someday you'll understand."

Allison places her palms in Emma's, looking at her eye to eye. She pleads to Emma, her eyes full of desperation and questions. Her voice trembles.

Allison: "Why can't I understand right now? Emma, please answer me."

She watches as Emma answers her question in a stern voice.

Emma: "Just go to bed Allison."

Allison looks defeated, nodding her head in agreement.

Allison: "Fine."

In tears, Allison trudges back up the stairs. Emma sighs with disappointment as she watches her sister.

Emma: "You know, curiosity killed the cat, Allison."

Allison shakes her head. She glances back at Emma one last time as she stands exhausted at the top flight of stairs. Emma and Allison look at each other eye to eye as the tension rises between the two sisters.

Allison: "Maybe the cat needed some damn answers."

Yay! Finally back on the book and I haven't felt this good in forever! Like always, I hope you enjoyed it. A vote or comment makes my day 100% better! I'll promise to be uploading more now that it's summer. I'll still be writing, but I will be overseas on a cruise for the entirety in two weeks... I promise I'll make it up in some way shape or form. Thanks for reading!