Five Nights at Freddy's: The Silver Eyes(32)

“Here we are,” she said. “What do you think, gauze?”

“Sure, but don’t call me Gauze.” Charlie leaned into Marla but was ignored. “Antiseptic.” Marla continued, grabbed the items.

“The thing is,” she said, “so, Jason’s dad and our mom have been married since before he was born. I mean, obviously. And they’re probably getting divorced. I know about it, but Jason doesn’t.”

“Oh, no,” Charlie said.

“They’re fighting all the time,” Marla went on, “and it scares him, you know? I mean, my dad left when I was still a little kid, so I grew up with that, I was used to it. Plus I got to have a great stepdad. But for him, it’s gonna feel like the end of the world. And they’re sure not doing anything to make it easier; they’re fighting right in front of us. So, I didn’t want to leave him alone with that for a week.”

“I’m so sorry, Marla,” Charlie said.

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Marla said. “I’m leaving in a year anyway. I’m just worried about the brat out there.”

“He’s really not a brat,” Charlie said, and Marla grinned.

“I know, he’s pretty great, right? I kinda like having him around.”

They paid for the supplies. The clerk, a teenage boy, didn’t bat an eye at Charlie’s moderately blood-spattered appearance. Outside, they sat on the hood of the car. Marla started to open the bottle of antiseptic, but Charlie held out a hand for it.

“I can do it myself,” she said. Marla looked like she was about to argue, but she swallowed whatever she was about to say and handed Charlie the bottle, and a piece of gauze. As Charlie awkwardly cleaned her arm, Marla smiled impishly.

“Speaking of people we like having around, are you having fun with John?”

“Ow! That stings. And I don’t know what you mean,” Charlie said primly, suddenly putting all her attention on her task.

“You do, too. He’s following you around like a little puppy, and you are loving it.” Charlie bit back a smile.

“How about you and Lamar?” She retorted.

“Me and who now?” Marla said. “Here.” She held out a hand for the bloody gauze, and Charlie handed it to her, reaching for a clean strip. “You’re going to have to let me tape it,” Marla said. Charlie nodded and held the gauze in place as Marla reached for the tape.

“Come on,” Charlie went on. “I see the way you look at him.”

“Nope!” Marla smoothed down the last piece of tape and put everything back in the bag.

“Seriously,” Charlie said as they got back into the car. “You’re adorable together. And your names are anagrams of each other. Marla and Lamar! It’s meant to be!” Both laughing, they headed back to the motel.





Chapter 5


When they got to the motel, Jessica was already there—and so was John. He stood up when Charlie walked in.

“I was worried about you. I thought maybe I could sleep on the floor?” He waited nervously for her reaction, as though he had realized only upon seeing her that he might have overstepped her boundaries.

On another day, in another place, Charlie might have been annoyed by his excessive concern. But here, in Hurricane, she was glad to have it. We should all be together, she thought, it’s safer. She wasn’t really afraid, but unease still clung to her like cobwebs, and John’s presence had been a calming one ever since they arrived. He was still looking at her, waiting for a response, and she smiled at him.

“As long as you don’t mind sharing the floor with Jason,” she said.

He grinned. “Just let me have a pillow and I’ll be fine.” Marla tossed him one, and he stretched elaborately, set it on the ground, and lay down.

They all went to bed almost immediately. Charlie was exhausted; now that her injury had been cleaned and bound up, the adrenaline of the night had left her body all at once, leaving her drained and a little shaky. She didn’t even bother changing into pajamas, just collapsed on the bed next to Jessica, and was asleep in seconds.



Charlie woke just after dawn, when the sky was still pale and a little pink. She looked around the room. The others wouldn’t be up for hours, she suspected, but she was too alert to try to fade back into sleep. She grabbed her shoes, and, stepping over Jason and John’s sleeping bodies, she went outside. The motel was set a little way back off the road, trees spread thickly around and behind it. Charlie sat down on the curb to put her shoes on, wondering if she could go for a walk in the woods without getting lost. The air was crisp, and she felt renewed by the brief night’s sleep, energized. Her arm hurt; a dull and pulsing pain that kept drawing her attention, but it had not bled through the bandages, and Charlie usually found it easy to ignore pain, when she knew she was not in danger from it. The woods were inviting, and she decided to risk getting lost.

As she was about to stand, John sat down beside her.

“Morning,” he said. His clothes were rumpled from his night on the motel floor, and his hair was a mess. Charlie held back a laugh. “What?” He said. She shook her head.

“You look a little like your old self today,” she said. He looked down at himself and shrugged.

“Clothes don’t make the man. What are you doing up so early?”