The car came to a screeching halt. Silence. Finally, it dawned on me what just happened.

"Jake."

"Huh?" His hands were still gripping the wheel, knuckles white.

"Jake. This is mom's new car."

"What?" He looked at me.

"This. Is. Mom's. New. Car. And we just smashed it into a building!" He stared at me, horror beginning to come over his face.

"Oh, shit."

That's when we both tried to get out the car with our seatbelts on. We ran to the front, finding the damage. In truth, it probably wasn't that bad compared to the circumstances. The fresh, shiny red paint had been peeled off the front end, scratches and dents surrounding it. Still, it was too much to play off as something Mom did and forgot happened. She would have remembered this.

"We're dead. We're dead. She's gonna kill us. This is the end. Goodbye world!"

Jake just stood there, limp, staring at what he had done.

"I'll see you when we're both in our nineties, Jake. It was fun while it lasted, but I think it's time to bury it. Along with our bodies, if we're lucky."

"No," he said. "No. She can't kill us, if she never had reason to. If she never saw this."

"What are you suggesting we do, push it into the lake? This is pretty obvious, Jake!" He rolled his eyes.

"No. Remember that sander dad has in the shed?" I eyed him. "We could sand it down and repaint it. We have paint in there, too. It might not be the same shade red, but in hindsight, I don't think it could get worse."

"I don't know. What if it does?"

"It's the only option we have, Addie. Would you rather be buried alive?" I shuddered, and looked at the time on my phone.

"It's three o'clock. Mom's shift ends at five." ………..

There was only one other time I had anxiety this bad, and it was when Dad let Jake use the table saw (he was nine.) And to be honest, this experience right now was in the lead of more anxiety. We had found the sander, and Jake had sanded down the edges of the paint where it was rough, and a couple of scratches. By the time he was done, it was past four. At least I could see my reflection in the bare, silver part now.

He put me in charge of paint. By "put me in charge," I mean he left me to fend for myself while he went inside and cleaned the house before Mom got home. That was probably the worst decision he ever made.

All we had besides spray paint, was a bright, neon pink color we used for my room when I was five. So ghetto car number one, with black splotches of spray paint on the front, or ghetto car number two, with hot pink lines instead. In the end, since I was fourteen, I decided to save myself the grief and just paint the whole car pink.

I hoped, against and beyond anything that has ever existed, that Mom would lose her intelligence at least briefly, so I could convince her it had looked like this from the beginning.

I was halfway through when Jake shot out the back door.

"Addie!" He stopped. "What are you doing?! Mom's pulling in the driveway! You were only supposed to do the front!"

"What?!" I looked at my phone. "She's not supposed to be here for another fifteen minutes!" He looked at me.

"Did you really think you could finish the whole thing in an hour?" He asked.

"Well, that was the plan!" Jake shook his head at me.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter, she's here! The keys should be in the driver's seat. Take the car somewhere to hide it."

"First of all, I can't drive. I'm fourteen. Second of all, I didn't know the keys were inside."

"Addie."

"And I may or may not have locked the doors,” I said. He groaned, pushing his hands through his hair.

"Of course you did. Keep her distracted, I'll fix this."

"How?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know, I'll figure something out, just go!"

*(A/N: I ran out of the word count to finish, but hopefully it will be continued later)

The crimson lake shone in the moonlight, flowing from the four bodies splayed around it. They stood above them, Their eyes colder and more lifeless than the corpses on the ground. These were Their friends, and They tried to make it painless. A quick and forceful stab through the heart. The first of them hadn’t resisted for they had no idea of their fate. The others tried, but the drugs in their system prevented a fighting chance. They took no pleasure in the deed, but She had given clear instruction— “To bring back those you love, you must sacrifice those you love.” How could They refuse Her offer? Their family was enjoying an innocent vacation when the boat sank. No survivors. Their father, mother, younger sister and younger brother—all gone. That was one year ago to the day. The last interaction They’d had with Their family was foul. Rather than join the vacation, They’d instead chose to go camping with Their friends, and an argument erupted. Regrettable words were slung around, accusations of “not caring enough”. How could Their family think They didn’t care? They simply wanted to see Their old friends after so much time, nothing more. They already spent so much time with the family as was, but choosing to miss one important activity with them meant a betrayal. Ridiculous. They had used the argument as a chance to stand Their ground. After so many years of being a doormat to others, talked down to, always self-doubting, They decided to finally put the lessons of Their counselor to use. They put Their foot down and resolutely told the family No, They were going with Their friends. A mistake, that was. If only They’d caved, they may have survived the boat crash; They were a good swimmer, after all. As They gazed down at the four still bodies of Their friends, the dagger laying dead center in the pool of blood, They felt no anger towards them. It wasn’t their fault that the camping trip fell on the same weekend as the family vacation, wasn’t their fault that the boat’s steering wheel jammed and smashed them into the cliffside. These four knew Their family and would never do them harm. But still, they had to be sacrificed. When She approached Them with an enticing offer, Her voice as smooth as cream, Her hips wide as an oak tree, Her spaded tail sharp as the whip she held, They surrendered almost immediately. It took only one night of deliberation to commit to the deed. They’d known their friends for years, trusted them, loved them—but They’d known Their family longer, trusted them greater, loved them deeper. Their friends would surely understand that. From their blood She rose, a layer of mist pouring from her heels and obscuring the surrounding area. When she peered at the bodies, she gave a look of satisfaction so twisted that it bordered on lustful. “Nicely done,” She said with a crack of her whip. “This is the campsite from last year, is it not?” “It is,” They replied simply, glancing at the many trees that faded into the darkness. “Today is the anniversary, so my reason for bringing them here wouldn’t arouse their suspicion.” “So cunning,” She said. “I should make you one of my minions. You’d do great.” “Never. This is one and done. Now show me them.” She frowned. “Straight to business? That’s no fun. My charm must be fading.” With a flick of Her wrist, the whip snaked around Their neck, just tightly enough to be discomforting without causing asphyxiation. They could feel Her essence flowing into Them, and Their eyes lost sight as a vision entered Their mind— Their family was at home, enjoying a delicious meal at the dining room table, smiling. Five spots had been set, but one chair was empty, its plate of food untouched. They smiled and conversed, appearing none the wiser of their sudden resurgence. Their dad pulled out his phone… They felt a vibration in Their pocket. They were now back in the forest, but They were alone. She was gone, as were the bodies and blood, the mist dispersed. They reached into Their pocket and pulled out Their phone— “Dad calling” They shed a tear. They didn’t know it would really work. They didn’t know what Their first words to them would be. All They knew was that without the help of Their friends, it would have been a very difficult day.

Best friend? We met in a dark place full of lights and music and a stage. One act showstoppers we ladies are the stars of the night. You were slinging shots and came up to the table that I was standing by. You fraternizing with the patrons with your flame red hair and piercings, wearing a cop hat on your head. A tight black choker on your neck, black booty shorts and laced up boots. Your bra was black and you tattoos looked fly. Oh what fun! Slanging shots was ur game. I was dancing with fame night after night, for that time was mine. I was looking fine drinking shots and wine. To my surprise you were in my view very soon serious in mind we were the best of friends. As you know dancing goes great; hand in hand with shots! Yes all at once, it hit me. My show was about to start. Choreographed pure art. Breaking hearts and smoking darts. My head was rushing from the crush I got crushing. Stemming from the rush of the dance. I walked over where I first met you. The gentleman at the table bought three rounds of shots. we played cat and mouse in this game, our game of shots. Of course soon we were inseparable! So we’d be playing off each other every and each night. What late night delight at work making bank! When the club closed and they turned out the lights that’s when we would then laugh over it all; at the spoils like pirates and our booty! alas soon you decided to move away from the fame dance we once played. So we said goodbyes at your place. A peace out bishes BBQ! C’est la vie, to the girl in La Vie En Rose lingerie. My world turned grey. Life with out my wifey I now was a lost lonely widow. Why! What had happened l, to the beauty in red hair! She moved to an Island that’s what! Call after call we me and you. We sit reminisce all said done you always ask “It’d be great if you just lived here.” Finally after a year of convincing me. I decided to join the girl with the cool tattoos n flaming hair gypsy style rolling in Rv’s. “I’ll get ya set up with my sister!” She says. Well, well a hell of an idea. so ship me things and pack the cat on the airplane. Island bound! Lost my cat on arrival. Don’t worry I found her! This plan worked out great, until the day I went to pay the rent to the psycho Sister who says “no no I’ll get it later.” (I knew it wouldn’t last in time before I got a job.) Surly by the time this bad actor decided collect. As this bish she’d not accept payment but instead she took my stuff and assaulted me with the other crazy girl who helped her thrash with me all about. Interesting enough instead of keeping, say one thing that was worth the rent. This crazy bish steals my life, refuses to talk to me. I call the girl with the flame red hair and asked her where was my “best friend”? Damn straight when it cam down to it. She hadn’t givin one care; not there. She was working. Okay that’s fine but instead of trying to actually help like a wife’s supposed to. She knew that we used to have each other’s back’s. Not anymore she turned her back on me. Left a bish high n dry. Ruthlessly to the core. Ironically in the end she played it all jaded. But I’d still give that girl with the cool tattoos and flaming hair with gypsy style the shirt off my back. If it came down to it ‘cause in my heart she’d always be my wife even with all the sister strife. Years have gone by it’s in the past but I just have one question? Can I still get my stuff back? My last thought on my deranged brain was at the end of the daytime could have been different because the reality was as before “All they knew was that without the help of their friends, it would have been a very difficult day.”

I heard voices, angry voices, downstairs. They woke me up. It was in the dead of night. My parents were fighting again. I pulled my covers over my head covered my ears. I closed my eyes tightly as tears came. I wished I could disappear. I grabbed my phone to send a text to my best friend Melinda, who lived next door. “Are you awake? I want to come over.” I quickly dressed and climbed out the window. Melinda had responded to my text and was waiting below. I jumped out of the tree that was by my roof. “Are you ok,Linda? It’s 3 am!”. “My parents are fighting. I’m scared.” “You can stay with me til morning, but you better go back home. Your parents need you.” “I’m invisible. Heck, I have to look after myself Half the time.” “You can talk to a school counselor tomorrow. In the meantime, let’s get some sleep.” So I woke up about 2 hours later and snuck back in my room to get my backpack. I went downstairs and saw my mom on the couch. She was sleeping deeply, not even aware of me as I passed her. My dad must be in the bedroom, I thought. I quietly fixed a glass of orange juice and ate a cold pop tart. It was like ashes in my mouth. I was miserable. When I got to school, I kept my head down. I went through my 6 hours at school in a trance. It didn’t seem real. Then I got a text from my mom. “Please meet me outside.” Well, it was time to go, so I grabbed my stuff out of my locker and went outside. My mom’s SUV was by the curb. When I got in the car, I didn’t know what to expect. My mom was subdued, but I sensed something odd about her manner. “”Your father and I worked things out last night. We’ve agreed we need counseling. I’m sorry for the drama these past weeks.” “”I heard you last night,” “I’m sorry about that,” “I went next door,” “Melinda?” “”Yeah,” “Well, I don’t blame you. I remember when my parents fought. I would sneak out and find my friends and we would hang out for awhile. Some of my other friends had been going through something similar. All they knew without the help of their friends, it would have been a very difficult day.”

As the party reached the enemy castle, they looked upon the ramparts to see a formidable fortified fortress. Their mission was to extract the relic and those defending it, had done well to deter treasure hunters. However, this party consisting a fighter, an archer, a thief and a magician sought that relic even they were outnumbered greatly.

They would easily be spotted if they would cross the damp fields right now. The moonlit night offered the blanket of fatigue to tired archers but the chances of a regiment to all overlook them would be slim. The magician stood before the group and began incanting with his hands twisting in a complex motion. Blue light encircled his fingers and before them a mist formed. It enshrouded the field and the view for the archer’s was made obscure. They waded through the field unseen.

They reached the portcullis and discovered the the door locked. The thief nodded and approached the lock. He took out his lock-picking tools and twisted the needle into the tumbler. It rattled indecisively. The others stood on-guard. Suddenly, a click sounded a successful unlock. They opened the gate cautiously.

Two guards patrolling stood still in their tracks. Their face alerted, they rose their weapons but as quickly as they reacted, they were dispatched by two swift arrows that stumped them flat onto the ground. Quick dexterity from the archer received approval from the party. They continued on to the house that held the relic.

A lone knight stood guarding the relic. The fighter approached. He charged at him and the knight moved tactically. A swift swipe from the fighter was blocked by the knight’s broad double-handed sword. The fighter was taken aback. He swung several hits that were met with several successful blocks and the knight looked unfazed. In retaliation, the knight swooped low sweeps that with great agility the fighter was able to dodge and jump the deadly weapon. A decapitating strike overshadowed the increasingly fatigued fighter. It looked that his end was near but an arrow hit the blade to cause it to move a few inches away from what would have been a deadly blow. Then two daggers shanked the knight in the sides. He yelled in pain and in anger. A blue mist hovered and danced in front of the knight’s eye and he became enraged. He swung haphazardly, missing his targets but hitting the walls and the floors. The fighter took the opportunity and impaled the knight through the chest. The knight fell slowly to his knees and collapsed.

The magician cast a spell over the relic and it levitated behind them as if in a bubble. They left the house and escaped under the cover of the mists. Their mission was complete. Each of them considered their mission and all they knew was that without the help of their friends, it would have been a very difficult day.

There was a hush in the school corridor. Kids were in class or the library for free period. All was calm, and it was a beautiful day. But then…

CRACK!!! Goes the glass in the front door, as it shatters on the tile floor. The ladies in the front office clamor to the window nearby. They have 911 at the ready but are not prepared for what they see. Grey, clammy men and women. Their skin no longer clear and their eyes a dull yellow. The groans that escape their mouths only further terrorize the women. One of the no longer human males reach through the open window, grabbing the nearest secretary and bite into the pale flesh on her neck. The other ladies’ screams echo through the lobby.

The closest teacher steps into the hall, observing to find out what the commotion is. She freezes when she sees the male tearing deeper into his first victim. Although she couldn’t feel her feet, she went into auto pilot hurrying back to her room, attempting to protect her students.

Elise, Maya and Carlos were murmuring about the yells in the hallway. Their teach rushed in, panicking and locking the door behind her. The three friends sweep each other’s hand tightly as something had to be wrong. “Ladies and gentlemen. We are leaving RIGHT NOW!! Hop out that window to safety. The class pushed and shoved trying to exit the room quickly as possible. All they knew is the without the help of their friends, it would have been a very difficult day

The hedgehog was in trouble.

He knew because he could see the pixies shadow moving on the grass in the hot sun. “Note to self,” he muttered as he dashed across the dirt path, “Never steal from pixies.”

“Stop right there, Nigel.”

He curled into a spiky ball, simpering. He knew that terrible voice. Tinkerbell.

Nigel saw her puffy boots land gently in front of him. “Give us the sugar, or you get hurt.” She said, wings fluttering with impatience.

Nigel looked her up and down with a hidden eye. “You look awful, Tinks. Did Peter cut you off?”

The bedraggled pixie bought out her trusty machine gun. “I think you know the answer to that. Give me the loot.”

“I-I can’t.”

“Why the heck not?”

“It’s for... a baby!”

“A baby hedgehog wants grade A sugar?”

“It helps him with his-“

“I DON’T CARE! GIVE ME IT!” She screamed.

“Give me a minute...”

“Is this a joke to you Nigel? I could pull this trigger right now!” A tiny click.

“What the fairy dust?” Tinkerbell swears, fiddling with the thing. “Never buy from weasels!”

A gentle yet harsh laugh starts up from somewhere in the woods. Another pixie shows up, laughing so hard she somersaults.

“Zarnia.” Tinkerbell hisses. “Just the pixie I want to kill.”

“Stinkerbell. Just the pixie no-one needs.” Zarnia laughs, clapping her heartily on the back.

Nigel unravels from his spiky ball. “H-how did I do?”

“You did brilliantly, in fact, everyone did! Thanks for the help!”

“Everyone? There’s no-one else here!” Splutters Tinkerbell.

“That’s where you’re wrong, stink. I had to have information leaked to you by the moles, then a secret about a new shipment from a little birdie. Then Nigel here beat you to the chase... or did he? Maybe it was just to distract you long enough so that we could set up a little game... ‘catch the tink.’”

“What?”

“Hit it, Nigel.” Zarnia said.

Nigel pulled a secret wire.

A cage fell on top of Tinkerbell, trapping the pixie with a clang. She screamed, rattling the tiny bars.

“I will get you for this!” She cried, glaring.

“You can try and beat me, stink. But... you can’t beat the power of friendship!”

Nigel stood next to Zarnia. “High paw?”

“High paw.”

They gave each other a tiny clap, and all they knew was that without the help of their friends, it would have been a very difficult day.

It began as a day like any other. Margie was getting the kids ready for school and Dan was getting ready. It didn’t occur to anyone that Margie might want some time to get ready too. Heck, it barely occurred to Margie, since it would mean she’d just have to wake up earlier, and that was simply not an option. Then all hell broke loose. They heard a large crash, like a large window exploded. A large window had exploded. Specifically from a basketball going through the front picture window. Their tween son had decided it would be fun to throw it for a split second, then.. ooops. Gaping hole right onto their busy, urban street. Before they could even comprehend what just happened, their new puppy jumped right through the open space. Both parents and the boy jumped through the “open” window, with the tween boy quickly redeeming himself by caching the excited puppy, who had mindlessly paused to pee. They all looked back at the window. There was cleaning up to do, a gaping hole to block, no one could leave just yet. Their neighbor, who had been remodelling his house for the past year, walked by with his dog. “This looks like my front yard,” he said almost gleefully. “I have a great window guy for you, he’ll do clean up as well, and he’s at my house right now.” Was this man sent from heaven? He continued, “My wife or I can hang out here for the morning if you need to get the kids to school. We can be your personal neighborhood watch, if you’d like.” It was official. Definitely from heaven. Margie and Dan looked at each other. Their tween tried to not look at anyone at all. All they knew was that without the help of their friends, it would have been a very difficult day.

Today was perhaps the coldest day of the entire year. Snow fell down heavier than usual, coating every surface in a downy layer that resembled a thick coat of frosting. The air was suffocating, the type of freezing that choked your lungs with each and every breath.

Carmen immediately regretted her decision to go to work today. Though she knew she needed the extra shifts to pay her rent, it felt incredibly risky to drive out in such terrible weather.

Carmen was about halfway to work, the deserted streets and charcoal skies making the journey eerily quiet, when the worse possible thing happened. She had been driving at a fairly reasonable speed and was taking a particularly sharp turn in the road when she felt the wheels of her car slip from under her. Carmen eased off the gas and stumbled for the steering wheel, attempting to gain control. The patch of ice was unforgiving though, and she continued to slide, the car almost doing a full 360 before plowing into the curb. The impact wasn’t too jarring, as she had crashed into a mound of plush snow, but her heart was still racing anxiously.

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod” Carmen let out in a rush. She put the car into park and took a few deep breaths to calm herself before attempting to reverse. Of course, as expected, reversing did nothing to help her in this situation.

Carmen slipped on her thick gloves before getting out of her car. She did everything she could to get unstuck, even pulling out the mini shovel from her trunk to dig out the wheels. But nothing seemed to work.

Carmen slipped back into the car and switched on the ignition, using the heat to defrost her chilly fingers that were starting to turn blue beneath the gloves. She pulled out her phone and was dismayed to find the screen wouldn’t even turn on. As if this day couldn’t get any worse.

Carmen tried not to let the fear get to her as she imagined how slow and painful her death would be in this tiny box. The cold would take her slowly, she imagined, freezing her limbs and making her delirious with hypothermia before finally claiming her life. Chills, from both fear and cold ran down Carmens spine as she tried to dismiss the thought. No, she couldn’t think like that.

Carmen wasn’t particularly religious, but ever since she was a child Carmen had always relied on her imaginary friends to help her out of a tough situation. As silly as it sounds, even as an adult she would close her eyes and silently plea with them to help her. That’s exactly what she did as she sat in the car, skin growing blue from cold. Carmen shut her eyes tightly and clasped her hands together.

“Please, please, please. If you can hear me Big Blue and Raz, I need your help. Please” she whispered silently. Though there was no one around to see her, she felt embarrassed that her first course of action was to plead to imaginary friends from her childhood. With her eyes still shut, she imagined them now. The giant blue bird with wings that spanned 20ft, and, standing beside him, Raz, the young boy with dark green hair and skin the colour of milk.

Carmen felt the vague sensation of the car moving, but it was so slight that she thought she were imagining it. Perhaps the cold had already made her go crazy. She kept her eyes shut regardless, whispering the same words over and over again like a prayer. When she finally decided to face the situation and act more like a grown up, she let out a sigh and opened her eyes. She expected to see the giant snow mound in front of her and was surprised when she was met with a different sight. Her four wheels were back on the road, facing forward. In fact, she could see the daycare where she worked at in the distance, despite the fact that she had been almost 3 miles away from it when her car had skid.

Carmen placed her hands on the steering wheel, a mixture of bewilderment and wonder filling her senses. Carmen wasn’t one to believe in miracles or magic, or any of that stuff, so she dismissed the situation (perhaps only slightly out of fear). All she knew was that without the help of her friends, it would have been a very difficult day.

Suzette almost made it to work. Almost. But almost isn’t actually arriving there on time if at all, and this particular morning she was stressed enough without her car issues. She was so close when the light at Main and Branch turned yellow and she was forced to slam on her brakes.

“Oh no. Oh please God, no.” Not being a person given to asking for help from anyone, not even the Almighty with whom she was barely on speaking terms, she surprised herself when the God begging slipped out. She knew, at that precise moment that she was going to lose it. She needed this job desperately and knew she was on thin ice with her supervisor who had given her the evil eye last week when she scurried in fifteen minutes late because Jamison had been in one of his two year old tantrums and refused to get dressed which meant she had to carry him into daycare kicking and screaming which of course made her late to work. Again.

So here she was, stopped at this light absolutely knowing the motor was going to die in three....two....one...... Yup. Dead. She banged her head on the steering wheel feeling the tears well up and then the cacophony of car horns behind her while she tried desperately to restart her 14 year old Honda Civic. All she got for her trouble was some kind of useless grinding noise and then a wisp of smoke from under her hood.

She was scrabbling around for her phone when someone tapped on the window. Wiping her snotty face with one hand, she cautiously rolled down the window about halfway and was looking into the face of one of the village police who did morning traffic duty. Suzette knew him, of course. Her husband had been a paramedic and when he died two years ago, the guys in the police station and local EMTs had been incredibly kind to her and Jamison.

“You okay, Suzette? It’s me. Judd Patton. Can I help you?”

By now Suzette was practically hysterical, talking great gulps of air as she explained about the car, her god awful morning, and her job issues. She knew she sounded like a crazy woman, dumping all over this guy, but he just stood for a minute, letting her unload.

“Well first, let’s get you out of the way, okay? Can you put it in neutral and I will push you to the shoulder. Okay?”

“Y-y- yes. I think so.”

“Okay then. You take a deep breath, keep your foot on the break and put it in neutral. When i bang on the trunk, ease off the brake and just steer to the side, okay?”

“Okay.”

She saw him signal to his partner in the cop car behind her, and this big guy got out and nodded at whatever Judd had said. A minute later she heard a smack on her trunk and the car began to move and soon she was off the highway and safely on the shoulder.

Judd came back over and leaned in. “Look, Suzette, do you need to be somewhere? This car is not going anywhere any time soon, but my partner John and I can drop you off and I will be glad to arrange for a tow. Here. Take this and wipe your face. It’s all going to be fine.”

He handed Suzette a handkerchief and then helped her out of the car. “My boss is going to be furious,” she said, starting to cry again. “I just can’t seem to get anything right.”

“You are doing remarkably okay, Suzette. We all knew Paul and he was a great guy who was always there to lend a hand or a shoulder to lean on when things got bad sometimes. Let us help here. I’ll go in and talk to Mrs. Stinson. She’s a friend of my mother, and she is a lot more bark than bite. I’ll smooth it over.”

And that’s how it went down. She was escorted into work by the two patrolmen while her boss and fellow workers gaped at her, and then she saw Judd have a long conversation with Mrs. Stinson who came over to her desk, put a hand on her shoulder and said, “Suzette, you could have shared some of your pain with me and I am sorry I did not know what was fling on. We’ll work around your schedule issues as much as we can. “

The day smoothed out and Judd and John took care of the car, finding a friend who fixed it for a nominal fee, and they even took her to daycare to pick up Jamison who was awe struck by the attention of not one but two policeman and got to ride home in their police car. Suzette felt like she could breathe for the first time in six months since Paul’s death.

Was it her desperate plea to God sitting at a red light with a dead car that turned things around? Did it really matter? All she knew was that without the help of these new friends, it could have been a much more difficult day.