Devastating news in the riverside today. Parents of the missing student y/n y/l/n were found deceased in their home this morning. Their neighbour had reported her concern after she could hear their car running almost all through the night. Police are saying that the older couple took their own lives last night in their garage. Police came to this conclusion after finding a note. Unable to handle the loss of their missing daughter the couple decided that together they would go. The neighbourhood of Riverside mourns alongside each other in the devasting losses that have shaken our community in the last week. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out or call our mental health hotline. Thank you and goodnight.
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YOUR POV
The night did not pass peacefully. I couldn't remember what time it was but at some point, I woke screaming and in a sweat. I couldn't hear anything over the strange numbness in my ears, almost like there was a sheet of cotton around my mind muffling everything. I remember Toby jumping awake, he said something, but I couldn't hear it... and then I threw up. Before I could really process how or why, I was on the bathroom floor. Heaving into the toilet. I spent the majority of the night throwing up nothing into the cold porcelain. I didn't have much in my stomach to begin with and now I was just throwing up stomach acid and water. Water, that to my surprise Toby kept getting for me. He remained there, in various spots around the bathroom as the night went on. In the doorway. Leaning against the sink. Sitting on the edge of the bathtub. At one point I think he even held my hair back and ran his fingers up my spine. Though it's all very blurry. My mind flashes and focuses on everything terrifying about the last several days. My friend's blood on me. Their faces... I couldn't handle it. I thought about that fucking creature out in the woods, the way its skin clung to the bone, its disgustingly long features. Its screech plays in my mind over and over again. Then... that thing that tall, insidious, thing. Its voice haunts me. That static feeling is so intense that I can still feel it linger throughout my entire body, it feels like a violation to my senses. Like I could run for weeks and still not be far enough away from it.
At some point, I must have finally just pushed myself to exhaustion. The afternoon sun beamed in through the window, and I blinked a few times, my throat burned, and my head pounded. It was the most intense migraine I've ever had. I slowly sat up, my hand running up over my face and into my hair. My brows furrowed as I felt a softness under me, I looked down, seeing my pillow on the floor, but I'm not on the floor with it. I'm in a bed. I'm in Toby's bed. I look around, he's not in here? I slowly kick my legs over the side of the bed, my feet planting softly on the floor. That's weird.... no rattle, no cold metal around my ankle. Did he forget? No that's not right... he never forgets. I stand up slowly, my head throbbing. I take a few steps towards the door and listen for any sounds, but there's nothing. It's all just... silent. I open the door and start moving down the hallway, there isn't a single sound. Have I finally gone deaf? I click my fingers, the noise bounces off the walls of the deathly silent hallway. Nope, not deaf.
After an embarrassing amount of time, I navigate the hallways and end up at the top of the stairs, still nothing. Not a single sound besides my own footsteps and breathing, I walk down the stairs, my brows furrowed, and looking around constantly. Not even any of those servants are here. No one in the dining hall. No one in the large living area. I end up in the kitchen and still.... nothing. What the fuck? Is this some sort of test? Is this the kind of thing where if I run, they'll all jump out and slaughter me? Or... have they all just gone about their lives and I can make an escape? With that thought I don't waste another second, my migraine momentarily forgotten. My feet move quickly but quietly, and I scan almost everything that's in my line of sight. I get a few feet away from the enormous front doors and take a shallow breath. The doors open, but not from my hand. I stand frozen for a moment, my eyes slightly wide. Time feels as though it has slowed and after what feels like an eternity, Toby steps inside. My heart rate quickens. He is definitely going to fucking kill me. But he doesn't... Instead, he almost takes a sharp breath, his brows are furrowed in almost a confusion, but I can tell there's something else there. My eyes flick down to his hand, he's carrying a grocery bag. My heart skips a beat as I read the name on the bag. Pierre's. My towns local grocer, there's a small warmth that fills my chest for a moment before my eyes flick back to his, and that feeling is immediately squashed. Something isn't right...
TOBY'S POV
Shit. Why is she awake? (tic )She got next to no sleep last night, I was sure she would sleep until late afternoon and that I would have enough time to get home and get back up into the room before she woke. I clear my throat and flick my head to gesture upstairs. "Go on." My tone comes out its usual annoyance but it's strained. Aside from getting no sleep myself last night, I know what's happened. That whole fucking town is talking about it. Her parents' deaths. I don't know why, or what but.. something has changed. (tic) Surprisingly she doesn't argue, she gives me a strange look though. Like she knows something is not right. She trots up the stairs and I follow behind her, my footsteps heavy but I keep my posture strong. Looming behind her as she slowly navigates the hallways, I'm a bit taken aback that she isn't fighting me. No bitchy-ness, no tantrums, no.. anything. I can't blame her I suppose, last night was long and tiring, I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel.. bad.. I shrug off my own creeping thoughts as she finally gets to my bedroom door and swings it open.
She steps inside and I follow, closing the door behind me. She stands there for a moment almost as though she's unsure where to sit, I move past her and start pulling items out of the plastic grocery bag and placing them on the desk, the loud ruffling of the plastic almost deafening in the silent room. Vitamin water, Panadol, throat soothers, and one of those packet salads that you mix that comes with those stupid wooden forks. I can see her watching me intently, like she's trying to read me, like if she looked hard enough everything I'm thinking would pour out onto paper. I take a step back from the desk. "I thought these might.. help," I say with a shrug, my tone all over the place. "What is it?" She questions, her voice slightly hoarse from the events of last night. (tic) I roll my eyes and lazily gesture towards the items. "Panadol, Vita-" She cuts me off. "No." She shakes her head. "What's going on? You have a weird... look on your face." She's watching me intently and her words are cautious. I bite down on my tongue, I can't tell her. Something low in my stomach won't let me.
YOUR POV
I stand there, waiting for a response. It's all over his face. I can feel it in my chest. Something isn't right and he knows about it. His face changes, almost like witnessing someone put a mask on. "Just say thank you (tic) and do what you will with this shit." He gestures to the items he'd bought for me. Why would he do that? Before I can respond he pushes past me and is out the door, I stand there for a long moment before carefully picking up the box of painkillers and popping three pills out of the foiled packet. I wash them down with the vitamin water, hopefully, my migraine will dissipate soon. I sit on the floor, my back against the desk, and my mind rolls through a few different thoughts. Yet all of them have one thing in common. Toby. Why did he stay up with me all night? Why did he go out of his way to get me these things? Why did he have that look on his face? And why.. why did it seem like for just a moment... that he.. cared? My brows furrow as I remain lost in thought.
A while later after I've eaten the salad and drank all the vitamin water. As the sun begins its slow descent across the horizon, there's a knock at the door. Before I can say anything it opens and Ej walks in "Hey, how's your ear?" He asks closing the door behind him. "To be honest I hadn't even thought about it.." I say with a light shrug, my voice quiet and slightly hoarse. His brows furrow in what seems to be concern. "Has something happened to your throat?" He sits in front of me and I instinctively turn my head to the side, he watches this movement with a strange look before pulling the drops from his pocket and placing a few in my ear. Surprisingly there's no pain, a little achy, but no pain. He sits there in front of me for a long moment before taking a deep breath. "There's someone who wanted to see how you were doing." He says quietly, I lift a brow. "What. Who?" I ask with a bit of doubt, who in the hell would possibly want to see me? Ej stands and extends a hand out to me, my eyes flick down to his outstretched hand and I take it, slowly standing up. "He's not coming in this room, he and Toby hate each other," Ej states leading me out of Toby's bedroom and up the hall, it doesn't take long before we reach what seems to be some sort of small lounging area, with bookshelves, leather loveseats, and a small fireplace.