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After calling Eddie's name with no response, Chrissy starts to worry. It's taking him a little too long to find the Ketamine he supposedly has. She calls his name one last time before she rushes to the door that he walked through. What she sees when she crosses the threshold into the bedroom is her mother sitting at her sewing table taking in her cheer uniform yet again. The sight has her taking a step back in fear, which heightens once her mother turns to her and she sees that the face staring back at her is disfigured and mangled. Without a second thought, she takes off in a run.
Suddenly, she's not in Eddie's trailer anymore. She's in her own house, running along the sterile corridors with their fancy patterned carpets and old-fashioned paintings lining the walls. It gives an old haunted house vibe, which makes this whole situation ten times worse.
Running into the living room while her mother is calling her name and insulting her, she sees her father sitting in his armchair. When she taps his shoulder to try to get him to make this all stop, he turns to her, eyes and mouth sewed shut. He tries to scream, but no sound comes out. Instead, Chrissy screams, hightailing it out of there as fast as she can. She runs to the nearest door, which leads to their dining room. There in the middle of the long table are plates of rotting food covered in maggots and flies. The smell of rotting food permeates throughout the room and if Chrissy doesn't get out of there soon she might throw up from the assault on her senses.
This time when she's back out in the corridor, she hears an unfamiliar voice. It sounds deep and gravelly and keeps calling out her name. Then something horrible happens. She hits a dead end.
A dead end. In her house. Where a dead end should never be.
She can tell it leads to the outside, but there are planks nailed to the wall, hindering her escape. As she tries clawing her way through the wood, she hears wet, squelching noises on the move. When she turns briefly to see where they're coming from, she sees what looks like a man covered in burnt flesh slowly loping down the grand staircase. He says her name and it sounds almost like a growl, like he's a predator and she's the prey.
No matter how hard she claws the wood, it won't break. Her perfectly manicured fingernails are getting destroyed and she's sure she's probably getting splinters in her skin, but the overwhelming urge to get out trumps everything else.
Before Chrissy realizes it, the monster is right behind her.
"It's time for your suffering to end," the monster growls out. The closeness of his voice sends a shiver down Chrissy's spine. A moment later he's raising his hand above her head and curling it over the entirety of her face. Her eyes close automatically and she feels like the life is being sucked out of her. While her life flashes before her eyes, she registers a familiar voice faintly calling her name.
"Chrissy, wake up!"
It sounds like Eddie.
She tries to fight off the monster by thinking about Eddie and as she fights her hardest, his voice becomes clearer and clearer, almost like he's saying it right into her ear.
"Chrissy, wake up!" Eddie reiterates more forcefully. Suddenly, it feels as though she's being shaken. Then, like magic, everything fades and her eyes shoot open.
Eddie is hovering above her, a worried look in his chocolate eyes. In an instant, Chrissy bursts into tears, not believing what she's seeing is real. Eddie engulfs her into a tight hug as she sobs into the crook of his neck.
"Shh, it's alright," he coos.
"There was a-a monster," she cries through broken sobs, "and he was chasing me through my house a-and he was going to kill me."
"No one is gonna kill you as long as I'm around," Eddie proclaims. "You're safe with me. Always."
Chrissy pulls her face from his neck and lays her head back on the pillow. "I don't think I'll be able to go back to sleep."
Eddie sweetly pecks her lips and gives her a tiny smile. "I'll stay up with you if you're afraid."
"But you have to get up early for work tomorrow," Chrissy protests.
"You're more important. Besides, the boss loves me. I never take a day off, so if I have to call in sick tomorrow, I will. Gotta make sure my girl is okay."
Chrissy snuggles against his chest, his arms wrapping around her to pull her as close as possible. "Thank you, honey."
Eddie leans down to kiss her forehead. "Anything for you, angel."
