Kayla woke up in the parking lot of Wickham Grocery. She remembered the shock of the electricity and was surprised that she didn’t have a raging headache. Gingerly, she climbed to her feet, wondering if this could be real.
“Hello again, Kayla,” came a voice from behind her.
Twirling around, she saw a strange man. He had ebony skin but Caucasian features. He wore simple, dark clothes and a flowing black trench coat.
“I patterned this after Nyarlathotep. Do you like it?”
The girl frowned. “No, I don’t like it. How did I get here?”
“Is it because I’m black?” he wondered, ignoring her question.
Kayla growled, “I am so tired of people assuming that I’m racist! Am I ever going to shake my family’s bad reputation?”
“Probably not,” he replied. “I just picked this form because I like Lovecraft’s character so much. After all, it’s kind of based on me.”
“I don’t give a damn about Lovecraft. I don’t even want to hear his name again. Leave me alone!” she snapped.
The man smirked and cocked his head to one side. “Do you really want me to leave you alone here? Forever?”
“No,” Kayla admitted. “I’m just tired of all this—drama.”
“People these days have no respect for the classics,” the entity sighed. “How about this?”
In the blink of an eye, the alien changed its form into that of Donald Trump.
“Better?”
Kayla gaped. “Dear God, no!”
“Why not?” the Trump clone asked, accordion hands moving back and forth. “I had a lot of fun putting Trump’s words in Emma’s mouth. Where do you think all those ridiculous phrases came from?”
The girl squeezed her eyes shut. This had to be hell. “Please, just pick someone who isn’t so damn creepy.”
“Fine,” it answered. Another blink and it transformed into Emma Morgan, Kayla’s old friend.
“How about this?”
Kayla raised an eyebrow. “You’re torturing me.”
The Emma clone threw up its hands in frustration. “This is the last time. You’re stuck with this form or you are alone for eternity. You choose.”
It snapped its fingers and became Dr. James Baker. “You thought this guy was handsome. Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it,” Kayla whispered.
“Good. Call me Jim,” he offered. “We are here at Wickham Grocery, of course, on the day that Emma and Jazmine died.”
“Why?” the girl asked, tears in her eyes.
Jim smiled. “Because you are going to spend the rest of your life here reliving the events that got them both killed.”
Kayla sank down on the pavement and put her head in her hands. “Please, I can’t—please don’t make me do this.”
“Sorry, doll,” Jim grinned, using Dr. Baker’s pet name for Fannie. “This is what you get for fighting me. It could have been so nice. I could have given you everything you ever wanted. But no, you had to be a bitch.”
The girl looked at him with hate in her eyes. “I know what I did wrong now. I know what to do and what not to do.”
“So?” Jim asked, puzzled.
“So this bitch is going to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Kayla retorted. “I will save my friends!”
Jim laughed at the idea. “Go ahead. It won’t work. No matter how many times you try, all roads lead to the same destination.”
Kayla reached deep inside herself to find the courage she had lacked on that fateful day. The entity was a liar. This time, she would not give Jazmine a gun. This time, she would be the one to shoot Emma. She looked at Jim again, her eyes narrowing hatefully.
“We’ll see.”
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This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Grace smiled in satisfaction as she noticed Kayla was an hour late for her shift. One of the other servers had mentioned that Sam was wondering where Kayla was. That meant she hadn’t called in. Grace was going to make the younger girl pay.
She walked into Sam’s office and struck a worried tone. “Did Kayla call in? I haven’t seen her today.”
“No,” Sam replied. “I’m worried about her. It’s not like her to be a no-call no-show.”
“Have you tried to call her?” Grace wondered aloud, as if she cared.
Sam nodded. “Many times. Nobody’s picking up.”
He got up from his desk and took his car keys from a ring. “I’m going to swing by her apartment and make sure everything’s ok. Can you look after the place for me?”
“Of course,” Grace smiled. That was exactly what she wanted.
“Thanks,” Sam replied. “I’ll be back in a few.”
As Sam left, Grace’s smile turned sinister. No doubt Kayla was at home drunk or high. When Sam saw what Kayla really was, he would fire the witch. McClain’s would be better off without her.
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The thing inside Kayla opened the apartment door on the third knock. Sam was standing there with a worried expression on his face.
“Kayla?” he frowned.
She smiled, “Hi, Sam.”
He was surprised to see her in such a cheerful mood. Kayla rarely missed work—even after the accident that injured her knee, she only missed one day. She must have gotten the schedule mixed up.
“You were supposed to work the morning shift today,” he said. “I thought you might be sick. I tried to call.”
Kayla took him by the arm and led him inside. “Sorry about that, Sam. I had more important things to do today.”
He looked at her closely. She seemed to be healthy, and she obviously wasn’t under the influence. What was going on?
“I was just worried that it had something to do with the…”
“The pregnancy?” she interjected. “Don’t worry about that. I’m not going to sue you for child support.”
Sam blinked. Of all the things he expected her to say, that was not one of them.
“Kayla,” he said softly. “What’s going on?”
She moved over to the loveseat and sat down. Still smiling, she invitingly patted the seat next to her. He sat down and awaited her reply.
“I really want to thank you, Sam,” Kayla murmured.
Sam was confused. “Thank me for what?”
“Your DNA,” she answered. “It’s always good to have new material.”
“I don’t understand.”
Kayla chuckled, “Of course not! You humans are so slow and stupid. I’m referring to your DNA, which is now a part of this baby.”
“What does that mean?” Sam asked, his brow furrowed. “You’re not making any sense.”
The girl continued as if he’d said nothing. “It’s a wonder that your race has achieved as much as it has. I had low expectations.”
Sam nodded, his mind made up. “I’m going to take you to the hospital.”
“No, you’re not,” she said. “I’ve played this little game before: man sees girl, man tries to take girl to the hospital, girl destroys man.”
Sam closed his eyes. He couldn’t figure out what she was saying. Had she just threatened him? “Kayla, I think you’re having some kind of mental breakdown. Please, let’s get you checked out by a doctor. If you don’t want to go to a hospital, I’ll take you to a clinic instead.”
Kayla grinned. “You sound just like Cody.”
“Who’s Cody?” Sam asked.
“It doesn’t matter, Sam,” she shrugged. “It’s just déjà vu. You’re the one who needs a doctor.”
He felt something hit his chest and looked down in shock to see a knife sticking out of his heart. Kayla wasn’t smiling now. Her face contorted in a mix of hatred and humor. He gasped in immense pain as she twisted the knife back and forth.
“Why?” he managed to say between labored breaths.
“Because I can,” the Crawling Chaos sighed. “Will you people never learn?”
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The alien squeezed some Visine into Kayla’s eyes so it would appear that she’d been crying. She walked into McClain’s and went straight to Grace White.
“Grace, can I talk to you?” the girl asked breathlessly.
The older woman looked at Kayla and noted the tears. “What about?”
Kayla sniffled. “Sam fired me. Please, can we talk?”
“Sure,” Grace smiled with great satisfaction. “Let’s go to the office.” She waved over another employee and shouted, “Hey, Julie, take over for me.”
They walked into the office. Grace sat in Sam’s seat while Kayla leaned against the door. Grace didn’t see the girl turn the lock.
“What happened?” Grace asked. She was looking forward to every juicy detail.
Kayla pretended to be upset. “Sam came to my apartment and demanded to know why I didn’t come to work. He didn’t even give me a chance to explain.”
“Why did you skip out?” Grace accused. “Too drunk? Too high?”
The girl shrugged. “I just got the schedule mixed up. That’s all.”
Grace sat back in the chair and smirked at the distraught girl. Finally, Sam realized just how useless Kayla was.
She savored the moment and was surprised when Kayla said, “I know I’ve been a real pain, and I’ve mistreated you. Please, can I hug you before I go? So there will be no hard feelings?”
Kayla didn’t wait for an answer. She sprang forward and took Grace into her arms, hugging her tightly. The older woman had no time to react as Kayla grabbed her by the hair, yanking her head back. The other hand seized Grace’s chin and forced her mouth open. It was time for another Plan B.
Kayla gave Grace a deep, wet kiss.