The Killer Con Part 25: A New, Creepy Friend

Streetlights flickered and crickets sang their songs as Abigail hurriedly walked down the street. Besides the occasional father coming home from work, she saw no other person in the surrounding area. A darkening indigo color had washed over the entire city just a few minutes ago, signaling the end of the day. Abby tightly clutched the taser in the right pocket of her light jacket, which she had “burrowed” from her father for protection. After all, it wasn't safe to be venturing outside at night all alone. Especially with those monsters running loose.
Abby pushed her thoughts to another subject to rid herself of the oncoming paranoia. She began to recite the plan she had came up with during the past half-hour. First, Abby was going meet up with her cousin, Stacy. Second, they would go to the cabin to retrieve the piece of cloth and goo that she had found at Becca's house. Third, with the help from Stacy's dog, Baxter, the trio will track down the whereabouts of the monsters. What happens next fully depends on the type of situation they will find themselves in once the girls find the hideout.
‘Sounds simple enough, huh?’ Abby thought to herself, a bit confidently.
“Guess we’ll find out soon...” She couldn't help, but think aloud.

Stacy had already arrived at the forest entrance when Abby had gotten there. A eerie creak rose from the wooden fence that she was leaning on, causing the girl to push herself off of it and shiver. Beside Stacy was Baxter, a 3 year old chocolate Labrador Retriever, bouncing around eagerly with his tail wagging wildly in the air.
Hearing the upcoming footsteps, Stacy froze, while Baxter stopped his jumping and sniffed the air. Releasing a playful bark, Baxter leaped into Abby's arms and attacked her with kisses.
“Ahaha! Okay, okay, boy! Calm it down, Baxter!” She laughed as she tried to gently push the energetic canine off herself.
Stacy walked up to the two with a look of relief on her face. “You scared me, Abby! You could have called out to me instead of just silently creeping up like a weirdo. Being out here at night is already scary enough.”
“After seeing your spooked face—I say that it was worth it.” Abby replied with a grin.
“Whatever,” Stacy rolled her eyes, and turned on the heels on her shoes. “let's hurry up and move this along. We are going to be in so much trouble if our parents find out that we snuck out tonight.”

If you thought that the cabin looked creepy during the day, it was a billion more times creepier at night. The way that the moon glowed on the exterior of the small building, hitting the window pane, gave Abby the fear that a hand was going pressed itself against the glass. A chill ran down her spine at the scary thought. But then, at that moment as the trio stared at the cabin door, they realized something important—The door was locked, and they didn't have the key.
A moment of silence washed over the cousins. Stacy's eye began to twitch as she looked the older girl. “You didn't think this out completely, did you?”
“Er, I guess not.” Abby nervously scratched her cheek.
Stacy released a heavy sigh before throwing her arms up into the air. “Well, looks like this mission is over! Let's go home before mom and dad check inside my room, Baxter.” She tugged on the Labrador's leash.
Abby quickly grabbed Stacy's shoulder and pulled her back. “Just wait a minute! I got this under control. We just need to find a way to pick the lock. Got a hair pin on you?”

“Um...I-I can pick a lock.” An unknown voice said.
Abby and Stacy spun around in alert, facing the trees. Baxter crouched defensively in front of the duo and summoned a low growl in the direction of the voice. A human figure was standing in the middle of the dirt path that the cousins had came from.
“Who's there?” Abby commanded as she pressed the flashlight icon on her phone and pointed it at the silhouette.
“A-Ah, sorry! D-Didn't mean to scare you guys! I just w-want to help.” The meek voice said.
Abby pointed the flashlight at the figure, who flinched at the bright light. It was a girl with chestnut brown hair that framed her pale face, which had an fearful expression on it. Looking closely, Abby noticed that she was trembling.
She exchanged a quick look with Stacy. “Who are you?” Stacy asked.
The girl looked surprised with a bit of relief, as if she had expected the duo to be angry at her sudden appearance. “Anissa...”
“And you're here because...?”
“You two saw that monster too. The one that killed my sister...” Anissa stared at the ground sadly when she mentioned her sister.
Stacy's eyes widened, but as she opened her mouth to ask more questions, Abby interrupted her. “Hold it. Let's get this door open first, okay? If you will do the honors, Anissa.” She gestured towards the cabin.
“S-Sure!” Anissa stumbled forward, pulling out a hair pin from her pocket.

Now bathing in the comfort of the cabin, the girls sat gathered around the coffee table. Baxter laid on his stomach on top of a furry rug, snuggling against its warmth. Abby let out a mental “Aw!” in her mind. Anissa was shifting uncomfortably in her chair, fiddling with the fingers she held in her lap.
Abby smiled at the nervous girl. “Go ahead. We don't bite.” She joked.
Anissa deepened her frown. “I came here because I wanted to avenge my sister, Tori.”
The room went silent as Abby and Stacy stared at Anissa in disbelief. There was another member of Tori's camping group? The girls thought that there were only four! Which meant that Anissa was the only survivor of her group...
“I saw you guys along with those other girls trying to help my sister; I really appreciated that by the way. Now, I want to help you too.” Anissa said with a soft smile upon her face.
“Uh, I'm glad that you want to help us, but that doesn't explain how you found us.” Abby said.
Anissa looked taken back, surprised. “O-Oh! Uh, about that...” She stared at the floor nervously. “You not like what I'm about to tell you next...”
“C’mon, it can't be that bad.” Abby reassured.
Anissa looked back and forth between Abby, Stacy, and the floor. “I followed you....from your house.”

The moment of silence returned, only to be ten times more heavier. The lighthearted expressions on the duo's faces seemed to freeze. The only sound that was left was Baxter's heavy breathing. And then, like a meteor crashing down, words came crushing through the wall of silence.

“You did what now?!" Stacy exclaimed, in disbelief.
“Eek! I-I’m so sorry! I needed to find you guys so I....you know...” Anissa stammered.
“Whoa, whoa, wait. Who’s?” Abby interrupted.
“Yours.”
Abby stared at the girl, words unable to form in her mouth. If this girl had been following her the entire walk here, why didn't Abby notice her? And why didn't she say anything to Abby as she followed her?
“And that's now all...I was waiting outside your house for quite awhile actually.” Anissa said in a quiet voice.
“Okay, I'm very creeped out.” Abby covered her face with her hands.
“Please don't be! It's just that when I heard you talking at the camping site, you seemed to know a lot about that bat-creature that I think killed my sister. I saw you leave with your dad and memorized your faces. When my parents finally brought me home, I snuck out to begin searching for you. It took two hours, but I felt really happy when I saw your dad walking out to his car. I was going to knock on your door, but I felt too afraid to. I'm not very courageous you see...and I get nervous around people I'm not close to. Just when I finally mustered up the courage to walk up to your front door, I noticed you running across the yard from the back of the house. So I followed you....”
Abby blinked, suddenly feeling relaxed. “I see. Well, I feel less creeped out now. With that being done, do you want to join our investigation group?”
“Uh, Abby, are you sure...?” Stacy gave an unsure look to Abby.
“Sure am.”
“I would love to!” Anissa sprang up from her chair in delight.
Abby grinned. “Great! Good of you to join us, Anissa. Just stop lurking in the shadows all the time, okay?”
Anissa nodded fiercely. “I'll try to.”
Abby smiled, and walked over to the desk that rested against the corner. She pulled out the top drawer and reached for a small box. Anissa stared at the girl curiously.
“What's that?”
Abby smirked. “Something that will help us find track down those monsters.” She opened the box and extended the contents to Baxter. “Sniff these items and lead us to their base, boy.”
Baxter jumped to his feet and hurried to the door. Abby twisted the door knob and looked back at the other two girls. “Hope you're ready to uncover a really big mystery.”

They ran in a hurried pace, barely keeping up with the energetic dog. Anissa kept stumbling over the fallen branches that laid on the forest floor many times, but managed to keep her balance. The other girls seemed to moving without any problems though. Anissa frowned as she found herself falling behind.
She sped up as fast as she could, but physical activities was never her strong point. A solid object halted the girl's running feet, causing her the trip and fall. Anissa cried out in pain as she hit the ground. Tearing up, she shakily got to her feet.
Besides the constantly buzzing from the insects, the sound of footsteps had disappeared. Anissa turned her head up to see that Abby and Stacy were out of sight. She began to panic, the darkness around her started to feel like they were closing in. She bolted forward.
“Abby! Stacy! Please, don't leave me behind!” She cried, though no answers came. Anissa squeezed her eyes shut. “Please—!”

The panicked girl crashed into what felt like a hard wall. She fell backwards, rubbing her face in pain. Looking back up, she felt a rain of relief pour down on her. Anissa had crashed into Abby's back. Wait—Why wasn't she saying anything?
Stacy was next to her, frozen like a statue. Even Baxter was quiet. They seemed to be staring at something.
Anissa pushed herself off the ground once again and peeked over Abby's shoulder. And once she saw that what laid ahead of them, she quickly understood why the trio was shocked into silence.

Across a large, simmering lake, was a beautiful manor that shined beneath the full moon.