Chapter 2

Wake up. Wake up, Lisa.

Had she fallen asleep? What time was it?

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up, Lisa.

Lisa made a note to murder her little brother. She flung her pillow at the door, groaning as she sat up slowly. The ticking clock seemed to laugh at her. It was 4:30 am. Even Tony wouldn't be up at this time. She poked the plastic screen of the clock. The bright green letters a sharp contrast with the darkness.

Her mind was foggy with sleep. What had she done after school last night? Oh yeah. She had taken her brother straight home, actually completed her homework properly for once, and then skipped dinner to go to bed.

She had blown Peggy off, saying she didn't feel well. Peggy had shrugged and let Lisa have her space. Peggy was cool that way. She told Lisa to call or text if Lisa wanted to hang out.

Getoutgetoutgetoutgetoutgetout

"Shut the fuck up!" Lisa snarled. She grabbed her pillow and flung it at the wall. It hit with a satisfying thump and flopped to the ground. Man voice was back again.

Lisa. Get. Out. House. Now.

She sneered at the thin air.

"You're a figment of my imagination." She told it firmly.

The pillow let out a soft huff as if someone had sat down on it. Her clock toppled off the bedside.

Out. Now. Please.

"Will it get you to shut up?!" Lisa groaned.

yespleasethankyou.

Lisa fumbled for her jeans. She pulled up her jeans reluctantly, snagged her hoodie and put it on. She stumbled down the stairs in the darkness and pulled the house keys from the drawer.

The early morning air was cold. It made her shiver a little despite the warmth of her hoodie. First light made everything look a dark grey.

So she was out. Lisa huffed. Now what?

There was no response or words from man voice so she put her hand on the door again.

A spark of electricity seemed to race up her fingers. Lisa jerked her hand back in surprise. She tried again. This time, the jolt was fiercer. Lisa snatched her hand back. The tips of her fingers burned, even in the dim light, she could see them reddening.

Run.

"What?! Where?!" Lisa demanded out loud. She sucked on her fingers.

RUN.

Lisa rolled her eyes.

She wished she hadn't.

Black slime oozed from the top of the door. It left black stains. She took a step back in alarm. It reached out to her, oozed towards her before falling at her feet with a weak splat. A tiny hand rose from the slime, reaching, reaching.

A part of Lisa's mind was cool and calm. It insisted that Lisa was probably having a waking nightmare. However, it wasn't in charge right now. She backed away slowly, unable to believe she was seeing this. She could see hands reaching out. Baby hands, adult hands, reaching for her, trying to drag themselves forward.

Forward towards her.

-girlletmepass-thegate-mamaseemamaseemama-letmeseeheragain-again-diebastard-

Lisa turned and ran.

Her sneakers thudded against the sidewalk as she headed straight for the park.

Park?

His voice was much clearer, as if he was standing right beside her as she ran. It wasn't far from her house but it was large enough. She could hide in it. Hide in a tree or something. Hide until the sun came up and made all these strange nightmares go away.

"You have something better in mind?" Lisa rasped out as she ran. The voice didn't reply but she had the feeling that he had no other better place in mind. If he even had one.

-GIRLLETMEPASS-thegatethegatethegate-keykeykey-mamaseemamaSEEMAMA-

Lisa  reached the hedge that signalled the start of the park area. She vaulted over it only for her leg to get caught. She tumbled onto the grass with a grunt of pain. Something dug into her forearm. She scrambled to get up, looking over her shoulder as she did so.

Lisa swore that she should stop looking.

The slime had congealed. There was no better word for it. It was now a huge oozing mass of things, vague figures of people. She could see eyes, faces, hands, limbs all a mess in the slime.

Get up! Run!

"Fucking trying!" Lisa swore at the man voice. It was the only one that didn't sound crazy. She managed to get her feet under her but her left leg buckled. Lisa managed to keep her balance and hobble forwards as fast as possible but she could hear the thing behind her get closer, a million different voices screaming for her.

Something howled in the distance. Lisa's heart leapt into her throat. There were no wolves in Wellington. Not even wild dogs. The city loved it's orderliness too much to let that happen. Yellow eyes blinked at her from the shadows of the trees.

Lisa backtracked immediately. She darted to the right and made straight for the playground. She wished she had a bat or something to help her. She didn't know what those thing were. She didn't know what owned the yellow eyes. She didn't think she wanted to know.

Her breath was coming in fast gasps. Her left leg still felt funny. She looked down and saw her jeans ripped. A dark red stain spreading near the ankle. The slime was bearing down on her full force, getting larger and faster. Yellow eyes watched her from the trees like wolves waiting to pounce.

Lisa stumbled. She slipped in the mud and landed on one knee.

Take my hand.

"What the fuck?!" Lisa snarled. She suddenly noticed a hand stuck in front of her nose. She grabbed it.

She only managed to notice that she was staring into a pair of hazel eyes before cold lips crashed against her own.

The kiss lasted for a mere second where Lisa froze in surprise. The absurdity of the whole thing hit her. She pushed him away immediately, swearing as she wiped at her mouth. She could taste blood. He had bitten her! She slipped again, landing on her hip this time.

Man voice - or at least whom Lisa assumed to be man voice - was standing over her protectively. The slime creature stopped short when they saw him.

It backed away. It backed away nervously.

Man voice lunged at it, digging his fingers into the nasty blackness. It let out a terrified squeal and just melted away into the shadows. Man voice snarled at the trees.

Pairs of yellow eyes blinked out immediately.

Everything went eeriely quiet.

Lisa could only hear the sound of her own heavy breathing. Man voice turned to her.

Her breath hitched.

It was him. It was him from the hazel eyes to the scar on his brow to the faint blood stains on his shirt and pants. She could see the distorted places where his bones had broken.

"Are you alright?" He asked in concern.

Lisa wasn't one to pass out from shock so she flipped him the bird.

"I'm looking at a man that supposedly died in my arms." She informed him, clutching at her side where it hurt.

He shrugged apologetically and picked up her shoe. Lisa stared at it. She hadn't even realised that it had come off when she was running. He knelt in front of her and gently slid it onto her foot.

"Sorry about that." He apologized again.

"My name is Phillip Blanc." He said as he helped Lisa to get up.

The late Phillip Blanc wrapped one arm around her waist and supported Lisa as she tried to put her weight on her leg. Now that the adrenaline had stopped pumping, she was feeling the sting of a cut.

"You're dead. Right?" Lisa asked quietly. This whole thing was absurd.

"Yes." Phillip replied easily.He gave her a smile that would have been really cute if he wasn't all bloody and dead. Lisa looked around. She could still feel things. There were things lurking around. She was sure of it. They felt wrong. Even Phillip felt wrong but he felt less wrong. Somehow, him being around was keeping the other things away. The slime was downright terrified of him.

"I'm crazy." Lisa said flatly. This was downright absurd. She was having hallucinations. The day was beginning to brighten. She was muddy, bloody, dirty, leaning on a ghost of a person for support and day was dawning.

Phillip looked at her in amusement and helped her walk back home.