Disclaimer: I do not own the Happy Tree Friends. Mondo Media does.

Author's note: Hello after more than a year. I know, I'm annoying for updating this so slowly. Still, I have too many ideas in my goddamn brain, so I have to write them down eventually.

Thanks a lot for the attention, I can't believe so many people liked this story.

And yeah. You have the right to hate me.

Warning: You know…it's Flippy. And mental screwing.

…

Children laughter resonated on every street, teenagers listened to loud music in cars on wheels that screeched on the road's pavement, from too much speed. Costumes, masks, creepy sounds everywhere, in every house- especially the houses from her own, weird neighborhood-, various kids scared the hell out of her and then laughed at her for being such a coward…

Well, that was Halloween to her. A nightmare come true.

She tapped her foot impatiently in front of her house's main door, as she waited for her friends to arrive and take her to whatever irritating party they had planned to attend in that night.

She was aware that she had probably checked her watch at least eight times until then and that she had jumped at least five times and, in most cases, the cause of her scare had been her own, tricky mind. There were a few kids from her school who passed by, dressed in horrendous suits, and she was about to make a few heart attacks, although nothing serious happened.

All she wanted was that terrifying night to be over already, so that she could calm herself down. She put her palm on her chest and she felt her heart drumming like crazy, hoping with all her might that she would pass through that night without dying.

She didn't want to die yet. She was too young.

Someone suddenly shoved a black and white photo into her face, as his hand clutched her shoulder tightly and Flaker covered her face with her hands and screamed so hard that he gave a yelp and fell into the bush next to the front stairs.

She uncovered her eyes cautiously and peeked through her fingers at the mess that was lying there, in front of her.

The guy who had touched her had some sort of dog ears that were sticking out in the air and a messy, green hair. She whimpered a little, before she descended the stairs in a hurry and bent over the poor guy. He mumbled something, but it was muffled by the leaves and the branches his face landed into, so her body inclined further as her ear approached his head, trying to understand what he was saying.

"What?" She timidly inquired, feeling drops of sweat trickling down her temples.

"I said...you should have screamed louder!"

She backed away really fast, yelping, and she almost stumbled and fell on her back, although she managed to regain her balance.

The person in front of her scrambled through the bush as he tried to stand up. Flaker bit her nails in nervousness, having no idea what she was supposed to do. She decided to help him get out of there, after she noticed that his head was apparently stuck between the branches. She stepped forward, grabbed his ankles and pulled with all her strength, before they both yelled as he untangled and fell over her.

Flaker closed her eyes tightly and shielded herself with her arms when she ended up on her back, covered in dirt, leaves and especially when she realized that a guy costumed in what appeared to be a dog hovered above her.

"N-nathan!" She huffed as she pushed him off her. She stood up, shook the dust off her black skirt and arranged her witch hat, while he was barely moving to stand on his own legs. "I'm sorry." She mumbled, wringing her hands anxiously and biting her lip. He raised his head and stared at her blankly for a moment, before he burst into laughs, apparently amused by the whole situation.

"Jesus, you're still a scaredy cat as always." He spoke through his snickering. She smiled shyly, but her smile was abruptly wiped off her face when she observed the black and white photo from his hand, the one that he had shoved into her face earlier.

Nathan observed her distracted attention and looked down at the picture, which was seemingly a reason to be enthusiastic about because he grinned widely and got into her face, making her cringe from the lack of personal space.

"Check this out." He lifted it and Flaker widened her eyes when she realized what Nathan had in mind. The boy from the black and white photo was Mike, one of their classmates and Petunia's ex boyfriend. What actually terrorized her was the title that was written above him with enormous letters: MISSING.

"He's dead, I tell you." Nathan told her fascinated, his eyes large and sparkly. "The freak murdered him." Flaker's lower lip trembled a little as she shook her head and hugged herself, shivering due to the sudden coldness that crept up on her. Her eyebrows knitted into a frown and her mouth turned into a straight line. She felt her mind starting to spin from all the horrible emotions that jabbed at it.

She raised her hand, grabbed the photo from his hands and crumpled it, throwing it at the bottom of her empty, pumpkin-shaped bag.

"Leave me alone, Nathan." Flaker muttered, passing near him and heading towards the end of the sidewalk, at the edge of the main street. He ran after her.

"I don't care about the photo." He ranted behind her as he followed her. "The lamp posts and the walls are covered in pictures with Mike. I'm really eager about his disappearance, cause it'll finally prove Flippy is a murderer. I can't wait for it."

She went to a halt as she put a stop in her tracks and made him bump into her, before she turned around frustrated.

"Why are you here anyway?" She asked. "Aren't you supposed to be with the Smuggler twins?" All the enthusiasm snapped away from him as he shrugged in indifference.

"They've said they want to steal some kids' candies. I don't really do this kind of stuff, so I've decided to come here and wait for the guys with you."

Flaker looked at him doubtfully.

"I don't think they'll just welcome you with open arms like that and let you hang out with them after-" She stopped and blinked at him, somewhat embarrassed, when she remembered she was actually the reason he had left their group.

She saw some sort of regret in his eyes for a moment, although it was barely noticeable- or maybe it was just her imagination, since she was quite naïve and believed everyone was good-, and he also appeared to be planning something because he grinned too suddenly for her liking.

"That's why I've come to you first." He sneakily winged an arm around her shoulders. "You have quite the influence on them, trust me, so you'll convince them to accept me back." Flaker stared blankly at him, quite stupefied by his attitude. He really was more of a jerkass than she thought.

She didn't manage to retort, because a blue car suddenly stopped in front of them as two heads appeared on the back window, two large grins being thrown at her.

One of the grins was instantly wiped off as the other gradually faded away when the two boys spotted Nathan next to her.

"What the hell are you doing here, Nutty?" Cody yelled at him through all the commotion.

She noticed an uneasy smile making its way on Nathan's face, before she felt his elbow slightly bumping into her upper arm. Flaker sighed. Sometimes she had the sensation that people took advantage of her way too often.

"Nathan is sorry. He wants back in our group." She mumbled half-heartedly.

None of them said anything for a few moments and a heavy tension seemed to fill the air, as other costumed children ran and laughed around them, enjoying the dark celebration of Halloween.

Then the front window suddenly opened as pink and blue hair covered her vision. Ginger appeared quite unconvinced by Flaker's mumbling, while Petunia's frown clearly suggested she wasn't keen on letting their classmate back in their group.

"Well, we don't believe you, asshole!" Petunia snapped, narrowing her blue eyes.

Nathan threw his arms up in the air exasperated.

"Come on, guys! I'm really sorry, I mean it!"

Her friends continued to stare at him for a few seconds, before one of them broke the silence.

"Then apologize to Flaky." Ginger told him in a grave tone. "If you apologize to Flaky, then we'll let you back."

Flaker saw Petunia open her mouth to protest, but Ginger raised her hand and stopped her before she escaped a word. The blue haired girl crossed her arms and frowned, still annoyed with the situation.

Suddenly, Nathan threw himself at her feet, landing on his knees and grabbing the edge of her skirt, making her cringe.

"Oh, my dear maiden," He started off dramatically, "How can I repent myself in front of-"

"A-alright!" Flaker squeaked, trying to back away from him. She couldn't distance herself because he was tightly holding the fabric of her skirt, so she put her palm on the top of his head, pushing him away. Nathan fell on his back on purpose, before he rolled around on the pavement, scrunching his features.

"You're so violent, Flaky!" He told her, trying to appear hurt. Cody and Thomas burst into loud laughs as Ginger giggled. Petunia just rolled her eyes.

The next thing Flaker knew was that she was being squeezed between Thomas and Nathan in the backseat of Petunia's car.

The boys talked loudly and Flaker almost covered her ears with her hands, since their voices almost deafened her. She flinched uncomfortable as she tried to push them away so that they wouldn't suffocate her right then and there, but they were apparently too absorbed into a heated debate to notice that they were squashing her like a bug.

A debate over whether Nathan's costume was a dog or a werewolf.

"I'm a werewolf, alright?" He mumbled as he filled his mouth with some sort of colorful, weird shaped jellies.

"You still look like a dog, Nutty." Thomas smirked, before he turned around, accidentally digging his elbow into Flaker's ribs in the process, making her twist her face into a pained grimace.

"Were-wolf." Nathan repeated threateningly. He then brightened as he shoved a green jelly worm into his mouth. "And what are you supposed to be? The butcher?" He snickered.

"I'm a ghost, you idiot." Thomas retorted. "And Cody here is a bunny rabbit." He chuckled lightly when the blonde boy furrowed his brow offended.

"Not any rabbit. The White Rabbit." He grumbled deadpan. "I have the suit jacket and the old clock, in case you haven't noticed."

The other two boys pursed their lips, barely retaining their laughter, which made Cody stretch his arm to punch them. Which ended in a small fight session that almost buried Flaker under her friends' weight.

"Cut it out, back there!" Ginger turned and randomly hit them, only managing in slapping Cody and Thomas. They reluctantly calmed down and Flaker quickly took a breath in, relieved by the sudden increase of air.

"Sorry, Ariel." Thomas grinned. Ginger shook her head.

"You guys just like to annoy everyone with your ridiculous guesses." She sighed mockingly. "I'm Rapunzel. Petunia is a skunk. Flaky is a witch. End. Of. The. Story." She promptly articulated, before she turned her back to them.

There was a slight pause, in which none of them said anything. Then Ginger turned again, shattering the silence.

"And really? Ariel? That's the mermaid for christ's sake." She spoke peeved.

She swiveled for the second time. Flaker noticed the boys looking at each other with obvious hilarity.

The peace didn't last long because Nathan suddenly stuck his face to the window, pointing at some fences they had just passed by. Flaker looked out the corner of the eye and barely caught sight of the same black and white photos that showed Mike.

"Told you!" He attracted their attention enthusiastically. "Told you the freak would kill again sooner or later!" Flaker froze as his words sent a chill right up her spine. She blankly stared ahead, her mind being emptied of her thoughts. Her nails dug into her palm as she sensed paranoia coming back to her.

It was as if the nightmare suddenly amplified.

"Oh god, not again." Cody mumbled irritated.

"We shouldn't have let this dumbass here!" Petunia snarled in the front.

"But it's true!" Nathan defended himself. "I swear I'm not trying to scare you, guys. Luke and Shane told me they saw Mike talking to Flippy a few days ago on the school's halls. I'm almost sure he did it this time!"

They heard Petunia scoff, but she didn't say anything anymore. They all remained quiet as an emotional strain overcame all of them. The sheer likelihood of the fact that Nathan might be right was absolutely terrifying.

Flaker didn't want to let Nathan convince her that those horrendous possibilities were actually true, but she couldn't deny it anymore. No matter how much she tried not to think about it, she couldn't help it.

She knew he had committed murders. The fact that she had found out he had a mental instability after their last encounters convinced her Phillip was capable of doing those things.

He was insane. He was truly, madly, criminally insane.

And she had to put up with him in the next few days because of their assignment.

She whimpered lowly as she slowly sunk into her seat. Fortunately, none of them heard her whimpers because Petunia brusquely stomped on the brakes, making the car go to a halt.

The blue haired girl stood like that for a few moments, before she opened the door and went out, slamming it. The others exchanged confused looks, then followed her lead, which made Flaker exhale in ease when she was suddenly released from her friends' suffocating backseat trap.

"I just a need a break from all this." Petunia grumbled, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder. "I've had it with this crap."

There was a complete stillness. Flaker realized there weren't many children who tricked or treated around that area. She put her arms around herself downcast, trembling a little.

Nathan suddenly perked up as his mouth curled up into a large grin.

"At least we stopped in front of a store. Can we go in and buy some Skittles?"

After that, Flaker was really glad death glares didn't actually kill.

…

She walked down the store's aisle, searching for the candies' section. She didn't even realize how they had ended up there, because she was sure Petunia almost strangled Nathan after he had mentioned the word Skittles.

That was when Ginger interfered to convince her they really needed more sweets if they wanted a real Halloween party, even though Flaker knew that she had done that just to avoid another tiring fight.

"Do you know why she's so easily angered?" Flaker whispered to Ginger, who threw Petunia a quick look before she retorted.

"She's upset about Mike's disappearance. He was her boyfriend once so…you get it."

Flaker nodded in understanding. Ginger silently pointed to another aisle, before she disappeared around the corner. Flaker scanned the shelves, but didn't find anything that her interests concerned, so she bounded off towards the other aisle. She walked around for a while, until she noticed that none of her friends was in her sight anymore.

Feeling her pulse speed up when the panic welled up in her chest, she turned around and quickly stood up on the tip of her shoes, throwing a look over the shelves, but she couldn't see any of them. Then she observed that the store was quite large. She stood on her feet again and gazed around her, trying to discover where she had come from, so that she could follow the same way.

The thing was, she didn't really remember where she came from. She just walked in a total frenzy, being preoccupied with her usual, nightmarish thoughts.

A red, small bag suddenly caught her attention, along with the colorful Skittles title written on it, which made her smile a little and stretch her arm to grab it.

The red haired girl didn't even manage to make a move because a loud yell brusquely brought her to earth, snapping her out of her temporary good mood. She jerked in shock and stuck herself to the shelf, her chest going up and down in large breaths.

Her heart was drumming like crazy and her head was spinning from the terror that took over her mind. Biting her fingers, she slowly turned around and threw a peek over the shelf, searching for the source of the noise.

She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't.

It was like a curse that was following her everywhere.

A curse in the form of Phillip Phren.

Flaker whimpered when she noticed him there, in front of the cashier. He was apparently really infuriated and she was sure he was flipped out, because the man behind the counter was cowering in fear.

Phillip suddenly bent over the counter and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, staring as if he wanted to murder him.

"No tacos? No tacos! ARGH. What kind of store is this if you don't even have any tacos? I mean, it's a staple, a staple!" Like a tiger, he leapt forward and grabbed the cashier's head. "Explain this, you useless ape brain." He growled in his face. Flaker believed for a moment the cashier was going to burst into cries, but he just weakly shook his head, gazing desperately at Phillip.

"I-I c-can't." He mumbled in terror. He looked as if he was going to throw up from the anxiety.

Was he for real? Was he really freaking out over some tacos? Flaker blinked a few times, her eyes wide and watery. She almost feared for the poor guy that Phillip was abusing in that moment.

Then Phillip stopped for a moment and narrowed his eyes threateningly.

"What about burritos?"

The man's mouth curled in, probably afraid to give an answer. Flaker bit her nails, almost to the flesh. She expected the man to say no, she expected Phillip to throw a fit, to go absolutely ballistic, perhaps even murder him.

"Y-yes, it's at the-"

The cashier didn't even have time to finish it because Phillip abruptly released him and threw him into the shelf behind him, before he turned around and went flying past the shelves of foods with an inhuman speed.

Flaker hurriedly backed away and, in her absolute panic attack, she hit an entire pyramid of cans, which instantly crashed, most of them rolling around on the floor in all directions.

She gave a yelp when she realized she had made an infernal noise and she quickly looked around, searching for an escape, intending to get out of there before he noticed her. She carefully jumped over some cans, trying with all her might not to stumble over them, as she trembled hard.

Then she suddenly bumped into something that definitely hadn't been there moments ago.

Something immovable and considerably bigger.

She slowly lifted her red face, stricken with horror, to see an army shirt. Then a vile smirk. Then those mad, green eyes.

Flaker gasped and turned away in a hurry, but he caught her wrist and spun her around, making her give a cry in fear.

"Well, if it's not my favorite, little pumpkin pie." He grinned mockingly as he pierced her with his hypnotizing stare.

Her lower lip quivered before she struggled and tried to pull her hand away with all her strength, but his hold was like a trap. He didn't flinch at all as he continued to stare amused at her useless attempts to free herself.

"Say, my little muffin," He carried on ironically, "Have you ever eaten a burrito?"

She couldn't think of what to say. The gears in her mind stopped turning. What was up with him and those foods? "…No…" She mumbled. WRONG ANSWER.

His smirk faltered as he enlarged those eyes that drowned in insanity.

"No… burritos?" He repeated, probably on the edge of having a fit again. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He tightened his clutch on her wrist and suddenly darted towards the end of the aisle, dragging her after him and making her squeak along the way. Then he suddenly decided to come to a screeching halt, causing her to ram right into him and fall over.

"Argh! Jesus!" She screamed, in shock at what had happened in the past minute.

"You're truly bizarre." He sounded quite frazzled as he tilted his head to the side.

Yeah…she was the one bizarre there.

"W-what do y-you w-want from me?" She murmured, desperate and teary-eyed.

"I can't believe you've never had a burrito." He responded, as if that would answer her question. "Everyone should have a burrito." He said darkly.

Then he 'helped' her get up in that twisted way of his. He suddenly grabbed a fistful of her hair and wrenched her up, slowly, while she screamed like a banshee. Flaker used her legs to scramble upwards so he wouldn't tear it all out. All the while he seemed to be enjoying himself, laughing wildly and tossing his head back in delight.

Even when she was up on her feet, he wouldn't let go. He just dragged her all the way to the very back of the store, and then pressed her face into the glass door of the shelf with one hand on the back of her neck.

"See!" He pushed himself up to the door. "There!" He pointed to a box.

"W-what!" She matched his tone and volume. At that point, she was so dizzy and whirled in fright and distress that she couldn't even think straight. It was an instinct to give him answers, to do what he said, just so he wouldn't murder her.

"There…" He suddenly got really quiet, really whisper-y. "The red one," He was wide-eyed, as if it was something awe-inspiring. Then he stood up straight, still pressing her into the glass, and said, "That's a box of burritos."

He still didn't release her as he got his burritos. Then he rolled her around, so that she would face him, and grinned widely again, while Flaker's mouth turned into a tight line, her eyes gawking up at him, awestruck and horrified.

"I'm kinda pissed off tonight so we should hang out. You're fun." He revealed his sharp teeth in a grin.

NO. No. That was…it was horrifying. He couldn't. He couldn't make her. Not after what Nathan had told her. Not after she had found about his insanity. Not after she was almost sure that he had committed murders.

He was going to kill her too. If she went with him, she was sure he was going kill her.

She was going to end up just another victim on his list. Even if she escaped alive, she would be forever traumatized.

Not that she wasn't already.

"P-please. I-I can't. I'm with m-my f-friends, they'll w-worry, oh god, please." She tripped over her own tongue trying to get that out. He looked at her. Just looked. He appeared tremendously pleased with the fact that she was begging him.

Then he abruptly tugged her towards him as he approached his face to hers.

"And you'll give those twits an excuse later." He dangerously lowered his voice. "Now you're coming with me."

He didn't even let her blink, because he sprang back, carrying her after her him, ignoring her pleas. The cashier was still struggling to recover after the shock he'd received. His eyes became like dinner plates when he saw Phillip coming closer and he lowered his head down in terror as they passed near the counter again.

She didn't think he'd actually do it, but to her surprise, Phillip threw money at him before they exited the store.

Flaker looked back in despair, still hoping that one of her friends had at least seen her leaving the place with Phillip, but it was no use. She fought his clutch with tears in her eyes as she tried to release herself from his tight grip.

The worst scenarios passed through her head; scenarios in which Phillip was going to maul her, stab her with whatever he'd find, even a straw or a fork. He would probably then leave and get away with it. She was almost sure he was able to do it. Or maybe he was going to bury her alive. The possibilities were limitless.

She whimpered as she tried to unclench his fingers with her other hand, but she just managed to strain herself.

"Stop struggling." He snarled at her. Flaker let a heavy breath out as her head almost imploded.

She looked down, at the pavement, conforming with the fact that she was as good as dead. Her fate was ending there. She almost burst into cries, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her like that again.

She didn't know how much they walked at a quick pace, but she noticed they eventually entered a park that was quite crowded, to her relief.

She seriously thought about screaming for help, but she decided against it. He would probably kill her on the spot, without even caring that there were people around.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks and released her and Flaker gave a short yelp when he pushed her on an empty bench. She quickly scrambled, trying to get up and run, but he just snorted and pushed her again, more forceful the second time.

When he sat too, she shuffled as far away as she could from him, but he just came onto her and shoved the burrito in front of her, almost making her gag.

"Eat." He growled at her.

If she had thought he couldn't get weirder than he already was, then she had been wrong.

Flaker instinctively swiped the thing out of his hand as she pursed her lips and gaped petrified at him. What if he poisoned it? She didn't want to die poisoned. She knew that thought was absurd, because she had been with him the whole time he had that food and he didn't do anything to it, but she couldn't help it. Her paranoia was stronger than her logic at that moment.

"P-please, I don't w-want to die poisoned." She mumbled quietly. He didn't share her muted attitude. He just gawked at her, before he started laughing wildly like some mad scientist or something.

"I can't believe you just said that! I mean, yeah, sure, stupid things have come out of your mouth before, it's to be expected, but nothing like that!"

She didn't say anything, just sat there and looked at him blankly. His amusement stopped abruptly. He leaned forward and hissed, "Eat the goddamn burrito." And really, she thought it was becoming a habit, because he dug his fingers into her hair again and pulled her head back as he shoved the food into her mouth.

She choked and flailed her arms and legs around as she tried to get that thing away from her mouth, with tears in her eyes.

"Gah- She gurgled, "I can't-"

"What was that?" He inquired loudly, looking at her with a fixed, mad stare. "I can't hear you well!" He continued mockingly as the disturbing grin on his face became even larger. Flaker tried to turn her head away from him, but he forcefully tugged at her hair, making her escape a loud cry in pain.

"Argh! I'll d-do it! I'll eat it!" She yelled in despair. Phillip smirked and released her as he pushed the food in her face again.

As soon as he set her free, Flaker grabbed her own hair with her hands, as if she tried to assure herself that it was still there. She looked up at him teary-eyed, trembling and quivering wildly, before she weakly drew her hand out and fearfully grasped the strange food. All she wanted to do right then was cry and wail, but she knew that would be ridiculously pathetic, even for her.

She stared at the food for a moment as if it was a dead, rotten animal. Then she gulped and closed her eyes tightly, before she took a small bite. She waited a few moments for the poison to spread through her blood and put an end to her life, but, to her perplexity, nothing happened.

She carefully opened her eyes and looked up at Phillip who was still smirking down at her, his weird green eyes following her reactions like a predator.

"See. That wasn't so bad, you dumb marshmallow." He talked to her again as if she was a small kid.

Butterflies did backflips in her stomach, reminding her of her insignificant infatuation. She couldn't believe that she still had an infatuation with him after all the things he had been constantly doing to her. She wanted to beat herself up for being such a dimwit.

She turned her gaze towards the pavement in frustration and embarrassment.

"Please stop calling me names." She muttered.

She should've seen it coming, but it happened so fast that she didn't even have time to consider it. Phillip instantly bent over her, covering her entirely. She gave a loud squeak and widened her eyes at him, putting her palms on his chest and trying to push him away. He didn't budge at all.

"I'll call you what I fucking want to, got that?" He sneered in her face menacingly, face twisted into a feral expression. She felt her eyes moisten up as she nodded shaking. He stared hard for a few moments. "Now eat that burrito." Before he drew back, dark and threatening.

Flaker greedily gulped air as she tried to come to her senses. "G-god." She tremulously breathed. 'Don't cry. Just don't cry, dammit.' She had to hang on to that thought.

He calmly waited for her as she took small, careful bites from that enormous sandwich. Flaker had to admit that it tasted quite good, but she was so overwhelmed by fear, that she felt she was eating rubber. Her mind was swirling into a maddening vortex of negative emotions, particularly desperation, terror and dread.

Phillip just watched her with a kind of focus she hadn't yet experienced. It was pretty intense and it made her feel as if he was a kidnapper that supervised her, so that she wouldn't escape.

If she thought better, they weren't far from that.

"It must be nice to have someone to hang out with all the time." He suddenly spoke, voice void of any feeling. She stopped and raised her eyes, blinking at him.

She believed for a second he returned to his normal self; she believed he wasn't flipped out anymore, but his eyes told the contrary. She was so stricken by his words, that she remained frozen. She couldn't believe that he had said such a thing.

A heavy feeling settled in her stomach and she looked down. She couldn't realize what it was, maybe it was her conscience, but it was something painful that gnawed at her gut.

And then she realized she was actually feeling sorry for him. Which frustrated her, because he treated her in such a despicable way most of the time. And then other reasons to feel sorry for him came to her in a wave. Like the fact that he had a mental illness, he was a complete lunatic and he was always taking those pills.

She shifted uncomfortably. "Um…" She began. "I'm, uh, I'm…I'm sorry." She finally managed to get it out. It felt weird. She didn't even know what she was apologizing for.

Maybe for the fact that he didn't have any friends. That he didn't have anyone to spend time with. That he was insane. Maybe for all of them.

Phillip burst out into hysterical laughter. And she meant it, hysterical. His whole body was shaking and he was practically crying. "That's the best thing I've heard all week!" He cackled. "Come on, say it again, just for fun!"

Flaker blushed furiously as she huffed offended.

"W-wha- what?" She stuttered defensively. "I-I actually m-meant it."

"Well now, I'm positively thrilled." He retorted sarcastically.

She moved back a little. "No, really," She lowered her tone, in a way that a severely humiliated person might.

His mouth curled down in disgust. "Yeah, whatever. I don't need your goddamn pity." He grumbled. When he noticed that she couldn't eat the burrito anymore, he snatched it from her hands and started chewing it, still staring at her in his twisted, 'special' way.

When he finished it- which he did, pretty quickly-, he brusquely stood up and stretched his arm towards her, probably waiting for her to grab his hand. Flaker gaped at it tense and panicky. They stood like that in silence for a few uncomfortable seconds.

"Stop being such a prick and take my hand." He snapped, all of a sudden hostile. Flaker stood up in a hurry and reluctantly took it as she started shaking uncontrollably, for the umpteenth time in that night.

"W-where a-are we g-going?" She inquired fretting. She tried not to think about it, she tried to make her mind just be quiet. But of course it wouldn't shut up. It kept saying all those horrendous things and, well, it's not like she had any other choice but to listen.

She waited for him to give her the bad news, to tell her that was her end. That he was going to murder her.

He actually said something else entirely.

"To your place." He answered shortly.

Was he going to murder her family too? Her heart was thudding in her head, louder than ever. Every fiber in her body was clenched tightly, as another row of possible methods of torture and murders passed through her mind. They walked in silence for a while.

It was unusually cold that night so she was glad she had taken her thick, red sweater. Phillip was still in his usual army clothes and black boots. Except that he had some sort of green military hat too, in that night, one that matched his clothes.

She watched him. It was so surreal; he really looked like a ghostly mental patient, with dark circles under his eyes and pallid, almost translucent skin- as cliché as that sounded- drifting in and out of the glow of the streetlights. She wondered what his mother looked like. She wondered if he had killed her, if she had killed herself, if maybe that was what made Phillip such a psycho. She sort of wanted to ask him, partially because she wanted to know and partially because she was curious of his reaction.

He would probably kill her, so she didn't do it.

"What are you staring at?" He asked, shattering the hush of nighttime. He kept looking intently forward.

"Nothing." She quickly replied, feeling speckles of goosebumps down her arms. He really was like an animal, capable of sensing her fear.

Of course, the way back hadn't been peaceful. By far. He had numerous psychotic fits, complete with the whole insane laughing and angry yelling.

Flaker realized that it was probably the most terrifying night she had ever had.

He constantly scared the kids that passed near them by yelling "trick or treat, I eat human meat!" and he enjoyed it too, because he laughed like a maniac every time the poor beings ran away in total panic attacks.

Sooner or later, she saw the small, white house that she recognized as her own. She didn't know if she was supposed to be relieved, enthusiastic or horrified.

Because she didn't know what his demented plan actually was. She didn't even know how he had found out where she lived and she didn't want to think about it either. It would just make things worse than they already were.

When they reached the front stairs, she frenziedly thought about screaming, warning her parents. He released her hand and grabbed her shoulders before he turned her around, making her face him.

"That was fun! We should do it some other time too!" He grinned, still bright and entertained after the last scare he gave to a group of middle schoolers.

Flaker looked up at him, rigid and immobile. If he was going to forcefully take her to random walks like that again, then she didn't want to imagine the hell her life was going to turn into.

"Please, d-don't ever d-do this to m-me again, ever." She murmured.

His grin turned into a smug-yet-satisfied smirk. He tipped his head to the side and stared for a moment at her with some sort of…of homicidal look in his eyes. It was chilling.

Then his hand went up her skirt as his other one wrapped around her waist and brought her really close to him, pressing their bodies together.

Flaker yelped and put her hands between them, on his chest. She wasn't sure whether to push him off and risk being apart, or stay in that awkwardly close position. Something inside her gut was quivering and she couldn't tell if it was from the apprehension or the…the other thing.

"Oh, but I'm going to do this to you." His eyes glazed over with a lunacy that she could only attribute to a certain character from a certain movie about lambs. His hand slowly slid lower and lower until it reached her rear, which made her whimper.

"And much more."

His hand tightened on her rear as his other one traced her jaw line, before he grabbed her jaw and lifted it towards him. Flaky closed her eyes tightly and gave a short wail in fright, as she tried to turn her head away from him, but he just kept holding it in place with a strength that almost hurt her.

She felt his breath on her face. That was how close he was. She could feel her heart beating insanely against him. That was how scared she was.

She waited for what seemed like an infinity, she waited for something...for anything. But he did nothing.

Flaker opened her eyes only to see that he had again that smug smile that made him look like he knew everything. She bit her lip nervously and quickly averted her eyes in embarrassment because she was almost sure he had figured out that she had an infatuation with him. Her burning face was more than enough to prove it.

She sensed a slight pang of disappointment when he suddenly released her. She shouldn't feel that disappointment, but she couldn't help it. She didn't even know for sure what she had expected from him anyway. She had a vague supposition, but she didn't want to think about it.

Flaker peered at him. It was piercingly quiet between them. Unsettling, but she did nothing to break it. Her heart was pounding intensely, while Phillip just smiled shrewdly.

Then she abruptly turned and opened the door, bolting inside and slamming it behind her. She rested on it, trying to calm herself.

Her life wasn't going to turn into a living hell.

It was already one.