Ominous Feeling

The rain didn't let up after school as Hannah and I are walking to her house. Rainfall fills the awkward silence as we share an umbrella. Hannah was quiet the whole journey. It was fine at first, but after passing the murmuring of our schoolmates, the silence became deafening. Man, I really messed up. We approach Hannah's house, A gothic house was wearing a fresh coat of black paint, when a large shriek radiated from it. Hannah gave me a quick look. Her eyebrow rising as she whispers the words:

Monster Attack?

I shrug my shoulders. Handing the umbrella back to Hannah, I frisk the ground for a rock for a fast weapon while Hannah rushes to the door. She readies the closed umbrella like a javelin. She holds her hand on the knob until she sees a sizable rock in my hand. With a quick click, the door swings violently as Hannah readies the umbrella. I trail behind her, ready to hurl the rock at the first sign of a monster. Hannah stops as she set the umbrella next to the door.

“TCH. False alarm.”

There in the living room, a large TV was showing a woman being viciously attack by a group of people. The camera pans to a young man whaling her name as his arms, strung up to two trees, were ablaze from the wire holding him up. He fell to his knees while a woman sultry approaches him. The camera focus on a symbol on the man's back. Three squares overlapping each other with a tear in the center. The woman's scarlet eyes shone while her face remains as stone as she brings her hand to his rib cage. In one elegant motion, she rips it out of the man. Greenish blood gushes from the man's chest as his shrieks of pain and sorrow ripples out from the TV, making Hannah, I and the girl watching the movie play out on the sofa in front of us jump.

I crept up on the girl, making sure the sloshing of my wet shoes were silent as possible. Getting within ear shot of her, I let out as causal as possible.

“You reached Cosmic Blood 3? Such a classic scene.”

The girl spins around fast, making her long blonde and black hair hit me in the face. The girl in a school uniform wore a glowing smile that didn't suit her face. This is Hannah's younger sister Samantha, who looks like she could be Hannah's twin but shorter.

“Max!!”

She yells as she latches on to me with a tight hug.

“You want to watch the rest with me. I don't mind restart.”

As if she was a ghost, Hannah appears behind me and pulls my ear with an astounding force. She proceeds to drag me away from her sister, heading toward the nearby staircase.

“Sorry Kid, your boyfriend is too busy today. And turn the damn TV down! We don't need the neighborhood thinking the house is under attack.”

My shoes slip around as I try to steady myself up the stairs to no avail. The fast and repetitive squeaking caught Hannah's attention. She lets go of my ear, giving me a chance to steady myself while she goes on ahead of me. I look back to see Sam. Her glowing smile vanished, and her eyes matched the sky outside. She sunk back into the couch to resume the film.

Hannah throws me a towel to dry myself before I hop into my usual spot in the beanbag chair near her bed. I do a quick job drying myself, then rest the towel on the beanbag, so I could crash into heavenly bliss. I open my bag to take out my laptop. Seeing the case of Succubus Blood there, I tear open the box to free 2 cans. What better way to sweeten an apology than with a can of beer.

“I am sorry.”

“Nah, you don't need to apologize. I'm sorry. I did get pretty mad earlier.”

The rainfall brings miracles, it seems. Hannah takes off her damp shirt, flinging it across the room to her door. She rummages through a clothes stack next to her computer. From it, she pulls out a blue shirt that she throws on before slumping in a chair in front of her computer. Her eyes fixate on the multiple art works on her walls. Different creatures from both movies I've shown her and adventures we went on.

“I feel bad. Didn't know you didn't want Duncan watching that stuff.”

I let out a sharp whistle, a quick heads up letting her know I'm tossing a beer at her. She catches it smoothly and sets it on her lap as sits there for a bit before spinning around to face me.

“It's not that… Look, it's nice that you're bonding with my boyfriend, but I don't want him falling to your corruption. Need at least some freedom from all the horror and sleaze.”

“Doubt you're going to be free from the sleaze.”

Her lip curls a bit to reveal a small smile as she flings a dirty shirt at my face. I lob the shirt over my head, so it lands on her bed, before continuing.

“Although, it is enjoyable to have a movie buddy to watch the sleazy horror flicks with. Can't with Ben since he rather hunts monsters. And you're not an option anymore.”

Two more shirts connect with my face, prompting me to sink further in to the bean bag chair.

“Oh Now I'm not a sleaze option!”

The small smile from bloom in full as Hannah starts to reach for another shirt to throw at me. The miracles continue, it seems. I hold my hands up as a guard to prevent a further barrage of dirty laundry.

“I get it. I get it! I'll let you have my shirt to make it up to you.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. She stays still for a bit before she cracks open the beer. I follow suit, making sure none of the erupting foam lands on the beanbag. We both raise the cans up in a silent agreement before taking a big swig of it. Hannah stops short to recoil in disgust.

“Ugh! This taste likes piss!”

I took a much longer swig and let the beer slosh around my mouth to get a better feel of the flavor. The cool liquid carries a harsh chocolate flavor that almost made my teeth ace. As I swallowed, the taste mellowed out with a berry after-taste.

“It's not that bad, but it's too heavy on the chocolate for my taste.”

Hannah scoffs at my review. She lean back into the clothes pile to fetch her drawing tablet and starts working on the rat sketch. Following her lead, I take out my laptop to finish the current issue. I see Ben already sent me the new pages, so I begin to format the layout of the issue. The field report should go before my lost movie article, then the review of Skull Servant would be the ending of the zine. After that was done, it was back to writing the rest of the article. We work in silence, with only the sounds of us sipping away at beer chiming in once every few seconds. Suddenly, two soft hums disrupt the productive atmosphere. Hannah then starts to speak.

“If you're looking for a new movie buddy, instead of Duncan, try out Kat.”

I thought we were done with the topic. That could…

“Or maybe Mia”

Hannah adds another suggestion, breaking up my train of thought. Kat would be an obvious no-brainer, but I don't have enough elevated horror movies to watch with her. While I did enjoy watching the double feature with Mia, it would probably butt in with her maintaining her blog. Still, it seems suspicious for Hannah to bring them up now.

“I volunteer to be your new movie buddy”

Hannah and I turn to find the source of the new voice. It was Sam who was sitting next to the bean bag chair. She sits with a smile on her face as she waits for my reply. How long has she been there? Hannah ignores her to resume working, but I take this chance to ask her a question.

“So Sam, you figured out what gift you want from Darius' shop for your birthday?”

Hannah looks at me, her expression one of bewilderment.

“April didn't even start yet!”

“Yes, but I'll place the order over the weekend, so Darius can have it ready by then. A man his age works on a selective schedule.”

“I want that!”

Sam interrupts our conversation, gesturing towards a ring next to the computer monitor. The silver ring has multiple black gems that form multiple upside-down triangles, making the shape of a circle. In the center of the circle is a star the connects to multiple lines that bisect the triangles. I'm taken aback by her choice.

“Really? You want gorilla strength like your sister?”

An empty beer can slug me upside my head. I turn to see Hannah flipping me off. The ring was a gift Ben gave Hannah in his many attempts to woo her. It's a magical item that enhances a person's strength. I was skeptically about it until Hannah punched a dude who tried to grope her unconscious with one blow. Seeing the dude asleep in a pool of his own vomit made Ben and I regular customers at Darius' shop.

“Yes!”

“HMM. I'll get something similar to that then!”

“You baby her too much!”

Hannah scoffs as an email notification pops up on my laptop showing a message from her.

“Here's a rough mock up of the rat. Sign off on it, and I'll have it done for Saturday.”

“Lifesaver once again, thanks! And I'll take that as my cue to leave.”

I leap up to hug her, but she holds her hand out to stop me. After handing over 25 dollars, half of the usual payment, I begin to put my laptop away. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sam move something behind her back. Turning to look at her, She put her finger up as her eyes lock on to Hannah starting up a new sketch. I do a quick check in my bag. There's a can of Succubus Blood missing from the pack. I lean down next to Sam and whisper a small piece of advice.

“Lilith's Ambrosia is a way better beer than that. I always drink it to calm my nerves.”

Sam nods her head as she uses the blind spot I created to hide the beer in her uniform shirt. I wait until she's finished to say goodbye to Hannah. She looks back at me as slides the ring on her middle finger and forms a fist to make the light reflect off to hit my eyes. In an instant, a strong chill travels up my spine. The chill grips my shoulder as if it's someone desperate to get my attention. A soft voice tinge with panic brush past my ears, only saying one word. Max! My head shoots around to see what said my name. There's nothing but the empty hallway that's behind me. No signs of any movement at all.

“Are you okay, Max?”

Hannah and Sam both look at me with concern. Hannah stretches to see if there was anything behind me. She sees nothing, then brings her attention back to me. I notice her lean forward, as if waiting for the signal that it's something related to a monster. I wave my hand at both of, trying to wipe the concern off their faces.

“It's nothing, I just thought I heard someone say my name.”

“Oh, that was me. I was saying goodbye.”

Sam sheepish word relaxed Hannah as she resumes drawing. I wave goodbye to Sam and I head out the room. I wait until I'm back in the rain to process what Sam said. The sounds of the light drizzle helps when I replay the scene in my head.

“That wasn't Sam's voice, but it was familiar.”

After arriving home and eating dinner, I stare at my laptop as it rests on my bed. My palms become slick while my eyes focus on the laptop. I mean, is it so wrong to check out the movie beforehand? Do you want to show your friends a shitty film? The thoughts cloud my head as I try to find something to lure my attention away from the device. Movie posters and scatter Blu rays, my room is full of things that made the thoughts become louder. Louder and Louder until there was only one thing I could do.

“Oh, what the hell!”

I dive onto my bed to get the laptop on asap. The torrent download is going to take 20 minutes. Enough time for me to take a quick shower, then fall asleep to the magnificent art of Adien Perry.

The movie starts with the Main Character, Father Leo, an exiled priest working at a bar in Central America. He is approached by a woman asking him to return to the states to save a small town from being scarfed to the devil. This plot is a lot more fast-paced than I am used to for an Aiden Perry film. The 2 characters reach the town to see a naked woman pinned to a giant wooden X, when a small, light touch ripples across my back. I pause the movie and turn around.

Hmm, nothing there. Odd.

I look back at the laptop screen. The touching intensives growing stronger and stronger up my back. It comes to my chest with a firm grip, not letting go. I lift my pillow to see my evil repellent still there. Its feathers are still white, signaling that nothing supernatural attacking the bed right now.

“What is going on?”

“After all, it's rare to watch a horror movie with Max that he's never seen before!”Mia's words play in my head.

“Oh, Maybe it's guilt I'm feeling.”

I let out a sigh of relief. I'm still on edge as to what happened at Hannah's today. The laptop screen dims as it falls asleep, waiting for my touch to wake up. I take this as a sign to stop watching the film and do the same. Quickly sending the magnet link to the gang, I let sleep take me as the firm grip on my chest weaken which each second my eyes are shut until it let go, finally allowing me to drift away to sleep. Still I wonder, guilt doesn't work like this. Something strange is going on.