Page 8 of Dead End

It’s not real; it can’t be. I saw him… I saw… He was dead! Like…dead, dead!

“Norman?” My voice wobbled. I couldn’t help it. Seeing his emerald green eyes flicker up at me from his crouched position in the middle of two seats brought so many emotions barreling to the surface at once. It was overwhelming. His green eyes were so full of life—unlike the pale shade of vacant green I’d seen last time.

“What are you staring at, goth freak?” His voice, deep yet deadly soft, made my skin break out in goosebumps. I truly thought I’d never hear it again.

Those intense eyes were achingly familiar, even though we’d grown so distant. They used to follow my every movement. If I were to put my hair behind my ear, he would be watching, as if he were filing it away for later. If I laughed, scowled, or sniffed, he was somehow always there, watching, even if he sneered my way.

He still stared, but nowadays, it was more of a disgusted glare. He truly hated me. Maybe I deserved that hatred. After lying so much and pushing them all away, maybe I did deserve it. But I never wanted to cause him pain, especially not the kind of pain I had been living day in and day out for a year now.

"Nothing. I just… You're alive." My hand had a mind of its own as I slowly crowded his space. One more step, and I had my palm on his sharp cheekbone, skimming my thumb under his eye just to feel him. His skin was cold—so freezing that it felt like pins and needles on my fingertips.

His jaw tightened at my touch, and he stared up at me with a look I couldn’t describe. It was dangerous the way he was still holding my stare, but all the more alluring when those deep, jewel-toned eyes flashed with a look of gentle tenderness. Just when I was about to pull away from embarrassment, his hand captured mine and held it a second longer against his cheek without looking away.

"I miss… If only she smiled." What sounded like his voice whispered in my ear, but I was staring at him the whole time, and his mouth never once moved.

"What was that?" I asked, peering down at him in bewilderment, wondering if I was losing my mind and needed to check into an asylum once the paramedics arrived.

Maybe I'll take Maddie with me, because she's still freaking out. And indeed she was—sitting up front, seemingly talking to herself, trying to convince herself she was still dreaming. Today was definitely topping the list of the strangest things 2020 would bring, and that was saying something.

"I said get the fuck away from me.” Icy breath caressed my face. “I don't want your freaky diseases anywhere near me," he hissed through clenched teeth, slapping my hand away at the same time. His once soft eyes were ice cold as he stood up to tower over me. It was like a switch had been flipped or a shroud had been pulled back into place. I’d seen past it for a moment, but it was so brief.

I stumbled back, tripping over my own two feet, and prayed my ass wasn’t going to be black and blue later. Luck, it seemed, was on my side because two arms wrapped around my waist from behind, catching my fall. My lips parted with a thank-you just as I was turning around, but the words died on my lips just as fast.

The man who stood in front of me looked like Michael but didn't at the same time. He was tall, with a muscular body that gave the best hugs in the whole world but could also crush you like a bug when you crossed him. He was still Michael; only minor details were different. Inside, I was freaking the hell out about them. It took a moment to realize why the hell he looked so different. And then I realized...

Why was everyone’s hair changing? Did we take a trip to the salon and forget about it? Maybe carbon monoxide was leaking, or this is just a sick joke. First Maddie with her new black mane, then me with the white streak, and now Michael. Michael loved his hair, and it was usually a dark sandy blond color, but not so much now. His hair had turned a bright silver, which reminded me of moonlight on a lake. The effect was jaw-dropping and made his ocean eyes pop against his skin. What was even stranger, when I took in the rest of him, were his fingertips, currently covered in what looked like black ink, crawling up to his wrists in swirling designs.

“Dude, why are my hands covered in black shit?” Michael stared down at his fingers in disbelief and shock. The blackness was creeping up slowly, and it looked like it was writhing under his skin.

“Probably Carrot Top is playing more of her mind games. Right, little goth? You just love games,” Freddy said with an emotionless laugh. My eyes went wide. Freddy, too? Had I only imagined that bus accident?

I peered over Michael’s shoulder with a forced glare and smacked his hands away from my waist. Freddy sat behind him, his golden hair like a beacon in the dark. He was staring at me with a cruel yet relaxed smirk, and he reached high over the seat to ruffle Michael’s hair. “I gotta say, man, this hair is wild. Absolutely wild.”

Michael shoved him away, scowling. Freddy and Norman started laughing as he bent down to look in the window at his reflection. The girlish scream he let out would forever play on repeat in my mind, and the way he turned to glance at Maddie in shock was even better. They both let out comically loud shrieks, as if they were united in their hair horror. My god, they were divas.

“I swear to god, if you don’t stop with the noise, I’m going to kick both your asses off this fucking bus,” grumbled another husky voice toward the front. My heart dropped to my stomach and fluttered back up again in a matter of a split second.

Jason… Holy shit!

I might have had some lingering loathing for these assholes, but the heart never truly stops loving, even when it’s been kicked and beaten down until it’s on its last dying breath. In this case, my heart was hammering.

We all swung around as one and faced Jason. Our eyes connected first, and I didn’t miss the way his stormy grays swept me from head to toe, as if checking for something. Checking for injuries, maybe? But he was done in a heartbeat, and his concern morphed into a disgusted, dirty look once more.

“Anyone else have a bizarre fucking dream?” Maddie asked, holding the sides of her head. “Shit... maybe this is a dream right now! Oh my god, pinch me!” She made a gimme gesture at Michael, prompting him to reach over and pinch her on the forearm hard.

I think we were all holding our breath, only to sag with utter dread when she yelped and jumped back, smacking his hand away before collapsing against the window with her arm dramatically draped over her eyes. “Not a dream... Oh god, do you have any idea how much it cost to get my hair so perfectly golden?”

Rolling my eyes, I said, “Everyone needs to just calm down. Think critically. There has to be an explanation. Maybe we’re hallucinating, or maybe Maddie’s right and this is just some kind of shared fucked-up dream.” The others look at me dubiously. “Okay, yeah, that sounded a lot better in my head, but what else could it be? Look at our hair!” I gestured around wildly.

Jason stood up, glaring out the side windows, saying, “Forget the hair for a second! Where the hell is everyone else? There were fifty of us plus the driver. I don’t see anyone out there. Maybe it’s a prank, like a Halloween one? Did we even leave that carnival?” He looked straight at me, as if somehow I’d be the one with all the answers.

I shifted nervously under the pressure of everyone’s attention. They all looked pissed, except for Maddie, who moved her arm to glance up at me because my girl had my back no matter what. I rolled my eyes with a long sigh.

“You did this, didn’t you, Cruella?” Freddy sneered. His deep voice was like a rumbling growl that made me shiver. I’d never heard him sound quite so feral. I swore on the holy pumpkin that his eyes flashed yellow and then pitch black before settling back on the familiar emerald green I was used to.

“So you think what, that I somehow convinced fifty people to knock you out and then hide in a cornfield five miles from town for shits and giggles?” I snorted, crossing my arms as I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yeah, Freddy, that’s what happened. It was my diabolical plan all along. Idiot…” I shook my head and rolled my eyes for the millionth time, trying not to look at Norman. He had a thing about eye rolling.

No, stop it, October. You do not get to think about Norman’s kinks at a time like this. Get your shit together.

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