Hell Will Follow Ch . 7 - Supernatural Fic
Summary: Syrena watches Ellie while working her new job at the local bookstore until she encounters a familiar face.
Series Master List
A03
Word Count: 4,194
“Thanks, come again,” I replied with a half smile for probably the tenth time today—the script of customer service phrases was burned into my brain.
I was lucky to have the local bookstore rehire me. It was a side job during high school that allowed me to earn some money to save for college. And that’s what most of my days consist of now: wandering about the aisles and skimming whatever book seemed most popular at the time.
Yet no matter what distractions I could find, I couldn’t stop thinking about meeting the mysterious boy on the side of the road.
Sam.
I didn’t catch his last name. Or what he did, where he came from. I only remembered his soft hazel eyes and the brief connection we had; we both were running from something. And that was practically the only exciting thing to happen since I’ve moved back.
Sam said he would be around only for a couple of days; he would probably be long gone. Now he’s just a distant memory. His jacket, buried in the back of my closet, was the only reminder that he ever existed.
As for my incident of sleepwalking, it didn’t happen again. My dreams went back to their normal programming. There was no more hidden door to the woods, or the monstrous creature I met that night. His face still haunts me.
I still had no idea what any of it meant. I knew dreams could carry some cryptic meaning, but I was at a loss. This “darkness” in me, not having to “hide it anymore.” It sounded like a scene from a horror book. Maybe that’s all it was, a bad dream and nothing more. I couldn’t think about it for long, or my stomach would twist into knots.
Things around town also hadn’t gotten much better. Jody had been slammed with work at the station—apparently, more people were being reported missing by the day. All are somehow connected to the church. And FBI Agent Smith was still conducting work outside of town, leaving Jody to pick up the pieces.
For protective measures, the town set an 8 p.m. curfew on the dot. Jody started working the night patrols, so I had been babysitting Ellie to help lighten her workload. It was nice to have Ellie around again; she was like the little sister I never had.
Before going into work on my first day, my truck wouldn’t start—something with the engine. Embarrassingly, Jody gave me a ride to work, and in return, I watched Ellie at the bookstore. Jody said it would be good for Ellie to do some summer reading.
It was slow most of the time; many of these townies didn’t find excitement in reading, and neither did Ellie.
The last customers left, and Ellie wandered around the aisles, mindlessly pulling books off the shelves and examining them.
“You know, if you actually read the book instead of judging it by the cover, you might like it,” I replied with a playful smile as I watched her yank another book off the shelf.
Meanwhile, I hunched over the counter with a book of my own, which I had picked up during my slow shifts. I hated how intrigued I was by it, but any distraction would do these days.
“How will I know it’s even good if the cover is boring?” Ellie huffed as she hopped up on the counter beside me. She peeked over at my book.
“What are you reading?” she asked, looking over my book with curious eyes.
I tilted the cover over to her hesitantly. “ Twilight . Apparently, it’s been pretty popular the last couple of weeks.” I try to explain myself.
Ellie started laughing. “Ew, isn’t that book about vampires?”
“How do you know about that?” I chuckled, setting the book down.
“My mom likes the movie.”
My eyes widened in disbelief. “No way!” I gasped.
Jody was enjoying a teen romance book about vampires—I was totally going to make fun of her for that later.
“It’s a secret. She won’t even let me watch the movies.” Ellie took the heavy book from my hands and started looking over it. “I heard it’s because there’s a lot of kissing.”
She said it matter-of-factly as she opened it up right down the center.
“Hmm, well, it’s definitely not for kids.”
“Oooo, you like reading books about kissing!” Ellie childishly teased, pointing at me.
I rolled my eyes as I ripped the book from her hands and put it under the register.
“And this conversation is over. And no, I do not.” I stated firmly.
As I walked around her, I collected her small pile of books she deemed unworthy. Ellie sat up on the counter, crossing her legs with a mischievous smile.
“Sisi, can I ask you something?”
“Uh, sure.” I wandered the short aisles as I started placing the books back on the shelves.
“Why don’t you have a boyfriend?”
I nearly dropped a book from my hand. I snapped my eyes back to her. Ellie had never asked me anything so forward.
“Uh, what? Why do you ask?”
Her mouth turned into a mischievous smirk. “Because, aren’t you old enough to have one?”
“Well, just because I’m old enough doesn’t mean I need to have one.” I chuckled nervously.
“But do you want one?”
She kicked her tiny feet off the desk, patiently waiting for me to respond. One of the books fell from the shelf, and I bent over to pick it up. I sighed.
“No, not really, no.”
“Why?” she persisted.
I walked back around to the register. I opened it to count the money, averting her curious gaze. Honestly, the thought of dating, especially around here, wasn’t even a thought in my mind. Even in college, how could I burden someone with all my baggage? Having to explain to them why I didn’t have a home to go back to for Christmas, or why I woke up in sweats most nights. I couldn’t put all of that on someone.
“Because I have other things to think about than boys.” I huffed.
Ellie swung her legs around to face me. She wasn’t going to let up anytime soon.
“I think you should get a boyfriend. That way, you don’t get lonely.”
My brows furrowed, and my heart sank. Did she really think I was lonely? I swept the loose strand that hung over my eyes.
“What do you mean? I’m hanging out with you right now, bug. I like hanging out with you.” I chuckled as I unrolled one of the coin wrappers.
She sighed dramatically and swung her arms up. “Exactly. I’m ten. You’re, like, college age. I never see you with other friends.”
I should have defended myself. Of course, I have other friends! I don’t spend my whole day in an empty bookstore reading about sparkling vampires with a ten-year-old.
But in all honesty, I didn’t have other friends. My only friend right now was Ellie, and occasionally Jody when she was around. And I sure as hell was not going to befriend rookie cop Tyler despite his efforts to try to talk to me during his patrols in town.
I could tell she had sweet intentions, and she was so aware for her young age. But I took care of myself on my own. And a boyfriend was not the answer to my problems.
“You don’t have to worry about me, Ellie.” I smiled hopefully, enough to convince her I was truly alright.
Through the window, a group of teenagers approached the bookstore. I tapped my fingers on the desk.
“Hey, go put these back—we gotta make the place presentable again.”
I slid over her stack of unapproved books to her.
She groaned and hopped off the desk. “Ughhhh, fine.”
Ellie scurried away to the other room.
The bell chimed, and a group of teenagers walked in. They were a couple of years younger than me, probably seniors in high school. The three boys wore button-ups and khaki pants, while the two girls wore modest sundresses. In one of the girls’ hands was a paper pamphlet that read The Path of Deliverance Church.
My stomach sank. Damn it. They must have left the afternoon church service. But I didn’t recognize them, so maybe I wouldn’t have to exchange awkward hellos.
“Hi, welcome in,” I called out as I put the coins away and shut the register.
The group made subtle glances at me. One of the girls, wearing a red and orange floral dress, whispered into the ear of one of the boys. The boy’s eyes were expressionless as they glared at me across the room.
I pretended to be organizing some books on the register display as the group disappeared behind one of the bookshelves. I could hear them snickering and laughing at something.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Maybe they were just taking a peek at the erotica books, like typical annoying teenagers—especially the Sunday school kids.
One of the boys, the one the girl had whispered to, emerged from behind the shelves, holding a book in his hand, and approached me. The rest of the group stood back, and the girl in the dress held her hand over her mouth, concealing a snarky laugh.
I was preparing for whatever stunt they were about to pull. I cleared my throat.
“Did you find everything okay?”
The boy leaned over the desk with a cocky smirk. “Oh yeah, just fine.”
He slammed the book on the desk with a thud. I looked down at the book— Carrie by Stephen King. His audience of friends laughed behind him.
I didn’t even know these kids, yet a cruel joke from high school still stayed strong after all these years.
I rolled my eyes and hesitantly grabbed the book to ring up. I wasn't going to let this stupid joke ruin my day.
“That’ll be—”
His hand came down and locked onto my wrist.
My eyes shot forward to him. The boy leaned in close so only I would hear.
“Syrena Grace,” he growled.
A wave of fear came over me, and also anger. My fingers gripped the book, and my eyes burned like fire.
He snarled, “We heard about your scene at the diner, with Mrs. Conner. You know her son happened to disappear the minute you came back here. Your aunt tried to warn us, just before she disappeared, too. But everyone knows… you’re a witch.”
The diner? When Mrs. Conner freaked out? Witch? When the lights flickered off… no, that couldn’t be what he meant. That was absurd. Is that what he was implying?
I jerked my hand back, and he stepped away.
A loud crash of one of the books displayed spilled onto the floor and made me jump. One of the boy’s friends had knocked it over. The posse of friends cackled in laughter.
“Hey!” I yelled back as I ran out from behind the desk.
They made their way to the entrance as I bent down to pick up the mess. The boy walked past me and chucked the book down at my feet. Carries bloody gown silhouette stared back at me.
“Freak,” he spat—until the group stopped in their tracks.
I shut my eyes as the anger coursed through me; my head was starting to pound. A deep voice ripped me from my thoughts and back to reality.
A man stood before us. The sun cast over his silhouette. The boys practically cowered under the man, and the girls looked away in shame.
“Beat it,” he said sternly.
The teenagers scurried out of the store one by one.
“Are you okay?”
Before I knew it, the man bent down to my level.
It was him.
“Sam?” I asked in disbelief.
And there he was. Long strands of his brown hair fell over his face, and his piercing hazel eyes met mine.
“Hey.” He cracked a friendly smile as he picked up some of the books.
“Here, let me get that,” I mumbled after I caught myself staring for too long.
We both reached for the final book— Carrie —on the floor. I quickly reached for it; our fingers brushed against each other. My face grew hot, and my stomach did a flip.
I swiped the book and withdrew my hand when I saw Ellie’s scuffed-up Converse looking down at us.
“Whoa. What happened?”
I could see the gears turning in Ellie’s head, wondering why all the books fell, and who this random man must be.
We both stood up, holding the books. Sam noticed a piece of paper left on the floor.
“I think they dropped this.” His eyes skimmed over the white pamphlet as he bent down to pick it up. “ The Path of Deliverance Church. Every Sunday and Wednesday. ” He frowned curiously at the details written on the paper.
“You know those kids?” He asked curiously, holding out the paper before me.
I anxiously took it from him. “No. Just pretentious Sunday school kids who have nothing better to do.”
I tried to convince myself that what I said wasn’t entirely a lie. But I think any more strange details about me and my past would surely scare him away this time.
Ellie immediately looked between me and Sam with curiosity. I swallowed, realizing I couldn’t exactly explain the strange circumstances of how we met.
“Ellie, this is, um, Sam. We met the other night….” Another lie. The guilt pooled in my stomach at how fast the words came from my mouth.
By the look on Ellie’s face, I could tell she wasn’t convinced. She eyed Sam up and down.
“I was walking around the neighborhood and got lost. I needed a ride, haha,” I chuckled nervously as I held the books close to my chest.
Surprisingly, Sam nodded in agreement, going along with my story. I could see his cheeks were flushed red, too. Why was he nervous now?
“Hmm, rightttt,” Ellie smirked and crossed her arms.
The books nearly fell from my hand, and Sam caught them.
“Here, let me help.”
He gently took one of the books slipping from my hand, but I held the Carrie one behind my back along with the church pamphlet.
Sam walked ahead of us with his tall, long strides.
Ellie yanked me by the sleeve of my shirt quietly. “He’s cute!” she mouthed silently while pointing to him.
I swatted her hand away when he spoke.
“Is right here okay?”
Ellie and I paused our banter. He hovered the books over the desk of the register.
“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine.”
I shot Ellie a you better behave look before walking behind the counter.
“So, what are you doing here? I thought you would’ve left town already.”
I threw the books down and leaned over the counter, trying to shake off my nerves from earlier.
He ran a hand through his long hair. “Uh, yeah, I was. But I decided to stay back, get some work done.”
I realized I never figured out what he did for work, one that must have required him to travel a lot. But what brought him to such a boring place like this?
“You know, I never got to ask what you did for work.”
I tried to pass it off as casually as I could, not wanting to pressure him. I saw a nervous glint in his eye, but he masked it with a half-smirk.
He hesitated. “I, uh… I’m a writer.”
“Really?”
I found myself fidgeting with the braid of my hair, and Ellie beamed at this interaction as she hopped up onto the desk.
“It’s kinda unconventional. I do a lot of research on lore—history.” He anxiously ran a hand through his hair again. “ I was actually wondering if you could help me.”
Sam reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, holding it out to me.
“I’m looking for this book. I know it’s a little niche—”
“ American Folklore: Demons and Monsters, ” Ellie attempted to read aloud as she leaned across the desk.
“Ellie!” I whispered under my breath to knock off her noisiness.
She shrugged nonchalantly.
“Sorry. Here, may I?” I took the paper from his hands.
I pulled out one of our inventory books and started searching for this particular book. Folklore and monsters. He was right, it was very niche.
Ellie turned to face him and started yapping casually. “So you like to read about monsters?”
“Uh, yeah. Sometimes.” He smiled warmly, entertaining her questions.
“Sisi does too. Especially one about vampires!”
She somehow stole my copy of Twilight from under the desk and displayed it in the air for us all to see.
I shot another glare at Ellie. “What, no!”
My face flushed with embarrassment. Because yes, despite working in a bookstore, instead of reading pretentious classics, I’m reading teen romance books about vampires and werewolves.
I cleared my throat. “It’s, uh—it’s a popular book. I just read it to help pass the time, ya know.”
“Is that why you’re already halfway done?” Ellie quipped, exposing my marked chapter that was split down the middle of the book.
I subtly yanked the book from Ellie’s hand. Sam watched our interaction with endearment, like two siblings bickering.
“Let me check the back for that book.” I held his paper up as I fled to the back room. I walked backwards and nearly tripped over my own feet.
Once I retreated to the back, I rolled my eyes, hearing Ellie laughing at me.
It took me a couple of minutes even to find the book. And when I did, there was only one copy left, probably because many people in this town didn’t find interest in books on folklore about monsters.
I pulled out the thick book from the dusty shelves. It was heavy in my hands. He must be serious about his research.
I returned to the front desk and saw that Sam and Ellie were no longer there.
“Ellie?” I called out. No one answered. I hesitantly walked out to see where they had disappeared to.
I turned the corner to the classic books section and saw Sam holding out a book to Ellie.
“This book seems old,” she quipped in her usual smart-remark attitude as she crossed her arms.
But Sam just smiled at her, endeared by her skepticism.
“Well, it is. That’s what we call a classic. It’s good, I think you’ll like it.”
Ellie gently took the book from Sam and examined the cover. In gold engravings, the book said, A Little Princess. A classic book. No way Ellie would go for that, I thought.
She raised an eyebrow. “A princess book? I’m too old for fairytales.” She side-eyed him just like I imagined she would.
But he took no offense; instead, he bent down to her level.
“Well, actually, it’s not a fairy tale. Get this, it’s about a young girl, just like you-”
I leaned against the bookshelf, watching them. Sam captured her attention like magic. He told her the brief introductions of the little girl who grew up in India, moved to America, and her father passed away in the war. Ellie’s eyes widen with every detail he reveals.
“Then what happened?” she asked, completely captivated as she gripped the book in her tiny hands.
Sam finally caught me lurking in the corner, observing them. He smirked, “Well, you’ll have to read to find out.”
Sam stood back up, meeting my now-mesmerized gaze. I walked over to join them, his heavy lore book under my arm.
“Finally found something, bug?” I asked, looking down at Ellie, who had already started cracking open her new book.
“Yeah, your friend said it’s good.”
Friend. The strange boy I met on the side of the road. He was no longer a fragment of my imagination; he was real.
“It is, he’s got good taste.” I beamed at him, and he proudly smiled.
“I found your book—our only one, actually. So you’re lucky.” I handed over the book, and he gently took it from me.
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
While I was ringing up his book, I couldn’t help but eye Ellie, who sat on one of the benches by the front of the store, nose deep in the pages of her discovery.
“You know, I’ve been trying to help her find a book for days. Now you come in here, and you got her reading a classic. You deserve an award.”
“Nah, after years of reading, I know a good one or two,” he replied humbly.
“Were you a book nerd as a kid?” I teased cheekily.
“Yeah, something like that. You? Assuming you work in a bookstore, that is.”
“Yeah, I used to read a lot as a kid. I’m trying to get back into it.”
“With books about vampires vs. werewolves?” he joked.
And he got me with that one. I laughed. “You know, that kinda seems like your specialty. Monsters.” I nodded down to his book. “What’d you say you write for again?” I asked.
“Uh, yeah, it’s a research project. I write about folklore, unexplained phenomena, things of that sort.”
I glanced down at his book again before I carefully placed it in a paper bag for him. I glanced at Ellie again from a distance.
I lowered my tone to Sam. “Hey, thanks for not mentioning the whole sleepwalking thing.” I laughed anxiously. “I just don’t want her to worry.”
Sam shook his head. “Yeah, don’t mention it. She’s a smart kid.”
He cleared his throat, “Have you been doing ok? Since then?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve been good. Must have been a one-time thing.’ I shrugged it off.
Ellie was now walking over to us, book in hand.
“Sisi, Jeanie’s mom is outside,” she announced.
“What, why?” I perked up and looked over at the calendar. I didn’t remember anything about plans with her friends.
“For our sleepover, duh!”
I shook my head. “Wait, I thought that was tomorrow.”
“No, it’s today.” Ellie scolded back.
Crap, she was right. I had completely forgotten. All my days had blurred together.
“Oh darn, you’re right. Alright, I’ll see if I can catch a ride with your mom later.”
Ellie had a familiar glint in her eye, the one she made when she was scheming. “Well, Mom said she’s working late tonight. I don’t know when she’ll be off.” She replied nonchalantly.
I furrowed my brows—she was getting at something. I just wasn’t sure what. “Alright then, I’ll just walk—”
“You can’t walk all alone by yourself! And in the dark!” she said dramatically.
I chuckled. “El, it’s fine. I can—”
Ellie glanced up at Sam, who towered over her. Without any hesitation, she asked in her innocent tone, “Hey Sam, do you think you can give Sisi a ride. Her car is broken and she can't–”
My eyes shot open, and my jaw dropped. “Ellie!” I murmured to her, trying to mask my embarrassment. “Don’t be rude,” I say through a forced, cracked smile.
Ellie completely ignored my protest as she unapologetically smiled at him.
“Of course. I don’t mind.” Sam looked back at me with that boyish smile I could now clearly see in the daylight.
Ellie nodded proudly at her master plan. Before she scurried away after dropping that bomb on me, she tugged Sam’s sleeve so he could hear her little whisper.
“She gets off at 5.”
Ellie smirked at me one last time before feeling the scene with the book in hand.
I stuttered as I yelled back at her, “Um, your book!”
Ellie stopped in her tracks at the entrance and turned away. She frowned at the thought of having to give back her unpaid-for book.
But Sam held his hand up to her. “Don’t worry ‘bout it. You tell me if it’s good,” he gave her a thumbs up as her cue to go.
Sam shyly turned back to me and pulled out some dollar bills. I found myself wanting to argue again, but I couldn’t get a word in.
“So your car is broken?” he asked casually as he dug in his wallet.
I was left speechless for a moment, “Yeah uh, something with the engine. It’s old as hell.” I sputter out.
He leaned across the counter as he held out the money to me, “Really? I can take a look at it if you like.”
I slowly took the money from his hand. “You're good with cars?”
“Yeah, my broth-”
Sam cut himself off, and his hands retracted to his pocket. He was gone for a moment, just like when we passed by Bobby’s house. Like an old memory replayed in his mind. He loudly cleared his throat, “Yeah, I know a thing or two about cars.”
And just like we did in the car, we sat in the comfortable silence. Slowly, I felt like I was chipping away at the cracks of him, just like he was with me. He was a mystery I wanted to figure out. Maybe this was the push I needed.
“Alright…I get off at 5.”