Melancholic Echo

 Monday:

I take out my phone during homeroom and login to Dreadstiary to check on the downloads for the latest issue. Thankfully, the numbers have been steadily rising ever since yesterday, and it hasn’t slowed down yet! A sigh of relief escapes as I pat myself on the back for a job well done. I take a screenshot of the numbers to send to Ben when suddenly, a balding man shambles his way into the classroom. He wipes his head clean of sweat as he straightens his back, giving a more commanding presence than he had moments before. He pulls on his suit jacket before taking a large breath.

“Listen up. Listen up.”

His voice booms throughout the classroom, bringing the other student's attention to him. I set my phone on my lap when all asudden it starts vibrating like crazy. Lifting it a bit, I see multiple Sunii notifications showing on the screen. I silence my phone, deciding to wait until the teacher finish up here before checking what's going on.

“I regret to inform you all that over the weekend a student of ours passed away. Her name was Mia Viloa.”

The air sucks right out of me when he says her name. The thumping of my heart drowns out the reaction of my classmates. It couldn't be true. There's no way it could be. I look down at my phone while wondering if that what the Sunii messages were about. My heart beat grew thunderous as I couldn't hear what that man was saying. He is raising and lowering his hands as if he's trying to fan flames away. I shook my head to focus on what the man was going to say next.

“And before any of you ask. No, this isn't an April Fools' Day prank. We'll meet in the auditorium in 2 hours for a moment of silence, so you all can pay respects. That is all.”

The man shambles his way out the classroom just like he entered. Before the man even reaches the door, I rip my phone off my lap to check the messages. As I suspect, it's all from the guys discussing the news.

Hannah:

The fuck is this about Mia being dead?

Duncan:

Don't know, but it has to be an April fools' prank, right?

Kat:

Ms Lang specifically mentioned it wasn't.

Besides, I just finished checking out her blog, look.

A picture of a webpage that had a picture of a twilight horizon edited to give off a deep shade of purple as a header. There are multiples stars that sprinkle down the sides of the webpage that guides your eyes to a photo of Mia in the center. She was wearing a blouse decorated in foxgloves, and her face wore a serious expression like a statue. Next to her are 2 volumes of Lament of Navies and Bosoms that rested cover side up on the bookshelf. Under the photo was a post date of March 30th.

Last post was Saturday.

Duncan:

Still, it has to be some kind of prank, there's no way like some crazed stalker got her got yesterday or something. Got to be a joke!

This goes on for sometime as I catch up on the rest of the messages, but I didn't bother replying. Something isn't adding up, like Mia wouldn't pull a prank like this. Could Mia be a victim of some craze stalker? Don't think a person like that would be around in South Anthame. Then it obviously has to be monster related, right? Only plausible answer, but I need details on how Mia's body was found. If she was killed yesterday, it might be rude to prod around for information like that. I exit the chat and see the message I sent Mia. Clicking on it brings up an image of Mia followed by her message:

Mia:

Um Hey!

I was wondering if you would want to go to the Nabromeki theater on Wednesday!

There's a double feature on rare Indonesian Horror films for $7, so it would be great for the next issue of Dreadstiary.

If you don't want to go, that's fine! Look, I took a great pic from earlier!

The picture is atop down selfie of her with the tracksuit jacket open and camisole fully visible. The blue light of the computer monitor turns the soft smile she wore into something much more somber. I hear a creak as I found myself gripping my phone too tight. If a monster did kill Mia, I would do everything I can to catch it. I slide my phone into my pocket and begin the long 2-hour wait until I can get some clues.

The sound of sobbing fills the auditorium as the ceremony comes to a close. Kat's muffled cries echo deeply as she cries on Hannah's chest. The sound of shoes on the floor cuts through the somber symphony as students begin to leave and head back to class. Duncan taps my shoulder and makes a stubble motion with his head to the front of the auditorium. We wade through the mass of students until we reach the front of the auditorium. There was a woman wearing all black staring up at the ceiling. The woman was a spitting image of Mia, but with much shorter hair. She rotates a ring on her finger as she mutters something I couldn't make out due to all the noise. As we got closer, her hollow green eyes move to us. She puts on a quick, forced smile and approaches Duncan.

“Hey Mrs. Viloa.”

“Oh, hello Duncan.”

She quickly wraps her arms around Duncan's waist in a hug. She then turns to me, instead of embracing me, she takes hold of my hands and looks at me with a genuine smile.

“Max, I'm so sorry. I'm sure Mia would have love to go on your date Wednesday.”

I pull my hands free and give her a hug. From the corner of my eye, I see Duncan mouth the words date as he nods his head in approval. I take advantage of the moment to gather the courage to inquire about Mia's body. I release her, placing my hands softly on her shoulders. Taking a deep breath, I look directly into her eyes and ask.

“I don't mean to be rude, but how did you find Mia's body?”

She pushes my hands away and steps back from me. I notice her right-hand move and prepare myself for a hit. It's understandable, the pain of loss is still fresh. So, I shut my eyes and wait for the slap.

“Why would…”

Time goes by, and no strike comes. I foolishly open my eyes, only to see Mrs. Viloa paused in the middle of her slap. Her hand gradually returns to her side. She mutters to herself, processing her thoughts before saying something I could comprehend.

“Mia did mention you were a monster hunter before.”

She quickly steps closer to me. She looks up and gazes into my eyes. I can see a small sparkle starting to grow in her eyes.

"Do you think a monster killed my daughter?"

I attempt to step back to create some distance from her actions, but Duncan grabs my shoulder, preventing me from moving. He looks at me with a look similar to Mia's mom's, filled with growing hope.

"Do you?"

“Well, it's just a hunch. You know an unexplainable event happens, tends to be monster related. Just speaking from experience.”

Duncan gives her a thumbs up. Mia's mom nods, takes a couple of steps back, composes herself before telling us the information.

“Mia was found in her room laid face down --”

She pauses to catch herself. After wiping the accumulating her tears away, she continues on.

“In a pool of dried blood, completely unclothed. There was a large stab wound in the middle of her back. The police said there were no signs of forced entry at her windows. No extra footprints. No signs of …”

Duncan and I both hug her as tears stream down her face. We stood there in an embrace until we hear her sobs stop.

"Does that help?"

"Yes. Yes it does."

Duncan and I both give her one final hug together before returning to Hannah and Kat. The auditorium is now almost empty, compared to earlier, with only a few groups lingering and not wanting to rush back to class. Taking advantage of the extra space, we decide not to rush back to the girls and instead take a leisurely stroll, giving us more time to process the new information. After a while, Duncan nudges me. A sly grin appears on his face.

“So, a date huh?”

Right, I should have expected him to bring that up.

“Just a double feature at the Nabromeki for rare horror films for $7. It was her idea.”

"OOO. Economic!"

He keeps nudging me, which begins to lift the mood a bit, but it doesn't last long when we come across a group of 5 guys.

"Can't believe we lost a god tier rack today."

The guy who speaks is standing a bit ahead of the group of guys. He has slicked back black hair, and he collapses dramatically into a chair next to him. He puts his hand on his forehead, as if he's experiencing a sudden bout of fatigue. The group of guys laughs at his actions. Another guy with deep auburn hair styled in a man bun walks up to him and playfully smacks him on the head.

“Life is life, get over it already”

“How can I get over it? Her chest was the only thing that got me through this shit rag of a school!”

The group of guys laughs while pulling the slicked-back haired guy off of the chair. Their actions made my blood boil. Before I could say anything, I notice that Duncan had already stepped in. One of the guys, this one with blonde quiff hair and a face full of freckles, notices Duncan. He jumps in surprise, which makes the entire group aware of Duncan's presence. I move closer to see Duncan giving them an intense glare and muttering something in a low grow.

“Have some respect for the dead.”

Seems like Hannah is rubbing off on him. I tap him on the shoulder, breaking his glare,and gesture towards the girls. I make my way towards them, with Duncan quickly beating me to them. I can see a look of interest on Hannah's face. She must have seen the whole thing, but without missing a beat, Duncan flashes a charming smile, attempting to diffuse any question she was about to ask.

“Well, I could go for a milkshake! Coming Hannah?”

It's my turn to look at him in confusion, since the school isn't over yet.

“Going to the Saloon now?”

Duncan puts his arm around me, while still flashing his smile.

“Beats staying here and moping around! And Behenii's not the saloon. I also want to get a burger and some fries.”

Ah, I get it. He needs to go cool off. Makes sense to ditch for the rest of the day. The mood is kinda weird now, but I could just watch movies during class as a pick me up. Kat tugs on Hannah's skirt as she gets up to leave with Duncan.

“Hey if you see a teacher ask if it's okay to leave early and tell me. I agree with Duncan. I rather sulk at home than in here.”

“No prob.”

Hannah gives Kat a goodbye hug before walking towards the exit.

“We're stopping by the saloon first, so I can get a shake there.”

“Elite!”

And they were off, leaving me alone with Kat. Kat sits up right as she fixes herself. She uses the sleeves of the oversize jacket she wore to dry her eyes before she flashes me a frail smile. Ok, Ok, she looks like she could use some comforting. I wipe my hands on the sides of my pants as they started to become sweaty. All I have to do is embrace her and show her I'm here for her. Okay, let's --

“Um hey Max?”

Kat and I turn our heads to see the freckle faced boy from earlier.

“If I'm interrupting something, I can come back later.”

Before I could say something, Kat's phone buzzes. She looks at it and quickly starts gathering her things.

“No it's fine. I was just heading out. So you can chat with Max.”

After she gets her things, she moves close to my ear and in a soft whisper.

“Hannah says it's okay to leave, so I'm going home. Chat with the guy, you never know he could be a fan! It would be a great pick me up!”

She gives me a quick hug, then she heads to the exit. Well, this day just got worse. I try to hide my annoyance when I turn to face the freckle boy. He stands there with a shy smile as he eagerly held his hand out in front of me.

“Sorry about Nelson! He was being a real jagoff. I'm a big fan of Dreadstiary! Just wanted to say I love the newest issue.”

Wow, Kat was right. I shake his hand while feeling my face burn with embarrassment. I'm lost on what to do in a situation like this. Not really use to dealing with fans, especially since I use a pen name when writing articles…wait a minute.

“How did you know I make Dreadstiary, um?”

He lets go of my hand and dives it his pocket to take out his phone. He begins scrolling through some site that happens to look familiar.

“Oh, The name is Bart and, well, I found out from Mia's blog.”

Bart shows me a post that has a picture of me looking intensely at my movie collection. I didn't realize she took a photo of me then. Scrolling down a little bit brings up another picture, this time of me focused on watching the movie and Mia smiling behind me. There's a caption that goes along with the two photos.

Today was a fun day!

My friend Max invited me over to watch horrors films. I don't know much about horror films, but I gladly took his invitation as you see he runs a zine to where he writes reviews for horror films he watches. I don't get to help him out often with the crazier articles in the zine so I do what I can if he asks. You see he is one of the people who help me feel welcome in Anthame when I was very depressed. So,I would love it if you guys check out his Zine! To see the films we watched, wait for the newest issue of Dreadstiary!

The post ends with a link to the website for the zine. So that's where the boost in downloads came from. I just stand there looking at Bart's phone. No words would come to me at the moment. Some time pass and Bart turns his phone around to look at the screen. His eyes almost pop out of his head at what he sees.

“Shit, I'm going to be late for class.”

Bart shoves his phone in his pocket then runs off. He turns back to look at me to yell something.

“Sorry again! Hope you can find the other 6 movies! See you around.”

Now I'm all alone in the auditorium. The deafening silence doesn’t help with the wave of emotions I'm feeling now. My vision becomes blur, but a sharp pain travels up my leg that helps to clear my vision. I look at the exit where all my friends left and wonder if I should leave too. After a bit more time passes I limp my way up the stairs to head to class, trying my best to not cry along the way.

Bart sits down in the back of the classroom and takes out his laptop. As he starts to flip it open, he is stopped by his friend with auburn hair. He shakes Bart while pointing to the student in front of him.

“Bart! Look at this man. He's SICK!”

He points to Nelson, who is staring at his phone. Bart leans closer to see on the phone is a photo of Mia in a pirate wench outfit. Nelson zooms in on her chest that is being held up and accentuated by a corset. He hugs his phone and proceeds to fake cry, curling up on his desk. Bart moves his friend's hand off of him, getting annoyed with their comedy routine.

“Woods, you just gotta show him another hottie, and he'll get over it.”

He leans in and gives a smug smile to Woods.

“How about showing him a picture of your sis?”

Woods covers his mouth while giving an exaggerated gasp and sulks back into his chair, saying.

“Too far. Too Far.”

Bart laughs and opens his laptop. His laughter is cut short as he sees his laptop screen is on the login page. Didn't I have my laptop off? He wonders as he begins to type in his password. He stops himself before hitting enter when another thought pops int his head. If it was on, there's a chance I was watching porn last night. Bart holds down on the power button, deciding to be safe and have it just start up fresh. He looks up from his screen to see Ms. Lang scolding Nelson on his behavior. He chuckles to himself as he tries to turn on his laptop, but mysteriously it's already on and on the login screen again. Bart once again holds down the power and close the laptop.

Woods notice Bart closing his laptop. He leans back, double-checking to see if Ms. Lang notices him.

“You good?”

Bart brushes off his friend's concern.

“Yeah just my laptop is acting up.”

Woods begins to laugh.

“Looks like all the clown-wolf fetish porn finally gave you a virus.”

Before Bart could respond, a voice from the front of the class interrupts him.

“Gentlemen, enough talk about fetishes and focus on work, please.”

The class erupts in a roar of laughter at Ms Lang's remarks. Bart and Woods sink into their seats, faces flush with embarrassment. Bart flings open his laptop and his embarrassment switches to unease as the laptop is on and once again on the login screen. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He decides to muscle through and proceeds to type in his password, not wanting to get embarrassed twice in one class. Halfway into typing his password, his screen begins to glitch out. His heart sinks as he desperately tries to finish typing in his password.

His typing becomes frantic. So much so that he draws Woods' attention again. Bart gives up at the sight of his screen full of noise and tearing, that it was impossible to make out the home screen anymore. His heart beat howls in his ears as he decides to cut his loses and just ask Ms. Lang to borrow a computer. As he moves towards the power button, he is stopped midway by a sharp pain in his throat. Bart moves his eyes back towards the screen to see a brown object protruding from the now black screen. The object resembles a tree branch that is braided together with multiple other branches. Bart begins to feel blood pools in his mouth as he tries to make a sound to alert someone.

Woods stares at Bart in bewilderment as he is frantically coughing at his computer screen.

“Bart, you need some water?”

Bart's eyes lock onto Woods'. The fear and desperation in his eyes sent a chill down Woods' spine. Woods notices something that resembles blood coming from Bart's mouth. Woods moves to get the attention of Ms. Lang when Bart flies out of his seat. His body moves in a frenzied manner as he claws at his neck. The class stares at Bart suspended in the air, moving like a wild animal. Suddenly he stops, and his arms go limp as he just stays floating in the air.

“Bart?”

The words whimper out of Nelson's mouth as he just stares at his friend in the air. Bart jerks forward and violently crashes onto his laptop. The class jumps at the sound of the body's impact against the desk. No makes a sound nor move until Ms. Lang approaches Bart. As soon as her eyes lay on Bart's body, she let out a huge gasp.