Melancholic Echo

I open the door to my class and peering into it for a while. The classroom is only half as full as it normally is. It seems like a lot of students have ditched. A few students are laughing at me as I stand at the door, exhausted and hollow. I wonder if I should even bother stepping inside when the teacher, Mr. Cheney, notices me after taking time to clean his glasses. His sits there in his green poncho while he leans on his desk to crack a welcoming smirk that makes his brown middle age face crease.

“You know, Maximilian, you can take the rest of the day off. It won't impact your grade.”

At this point, I just cave. I could pick myself up at home with an Aiden Perry marathon, then trying to finish the school day.

“Yeah, maybe I shou--”

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling shriek echoes through the halls of the school. The sound jolts me out of my hollow state and into overdrive. I jog to the corner of the hall to lean around it and listen for any other signs of danger. Mr. Cheney appears in the door frame, looking just as concerned as I am.

“Maximilian, get inside quick!”

The fire alarm goes off, mixing with sounds of multiple sneakers squeaking against the glossy floor. I take off as fast as I could to get to the source of the problem before all the students leave. I could faintly make out Mr. Cheney yelling in all the uproar.

“Wait, get back here. Maximilian!”

Just as I'm about to turn a corner, a stampede of students floods the hallway, leaving little room to cross. I plow through them, trying my best to not let the torrent take me with them. I make it through, but I end up at a crossroads. Three pathways for me to go down, one directly in front of me and two on opposite sides of me, both left and right. There are no other students fleeing from the scene for me to follow.

“Fuck! I waited too long.”

I quickly scan my surroundings for any clues to find out where to go. My breath becomes ragged as I desperately try to find any sign, but there was nothing else that seems out of place that could lead me anywhere. The pounding of my heart battles with the blaring alarm as my desperation becomes palatable.

“Come on. Which way?”

Suddenly, a student standing behind a door catches my attention. She stands there staring out of the windowed glass, her expression hard to read as her platinum hair hides most of her face. The only reason I could tell she was staring at me is that piercing from her hair was two violet lights focusing on me. Was she there a few seconds ago? Forgoing the question, I go to the door and ask her:

“Which way did the students come from?”

She moves her slender finger towards the direction of the right hallway.

“Thanks!”

I take off running in that direction until I reach a dead end. A wall that stops the hall prematurely, but in the center is the activated fire alarm. I must be close. I turn my head to my left and there in the center of the hall there were two guys just staring into a classroom. As I approach them, I recognize the two as the same guys from earlier. The one with the slicked-back hair, Nelson, is now disheveled, muttering to himself.

“Not you too. Not you too. Not you too.”

The other one with a man bun is pale as a ghost. The only tinge of color coming from the red on his hair and red stains on his hands.

“Hey. What happen here?”

No response. I repeat it two more times before the man bun points his blood stained hands into the classroom. He then mumbles some that i only barely manage to make out.

“… Bart.”

Wait, the same Bart as before? I look inside the classroom to see a mess of decks and chairs everywhere. Must have been the students trying to escape. I look at the back to discover a pool of blood slowly expanding outwards to the other desks. I make my way to the left side of the classroom. Clinging to the wall, I make my way towards the back of the class. The stench of iron builds the closer I get to the epicenter of the blood pool.

The source of the blood was indeed Bart. His head cracked open as it sits in the laptop screen, which is crack and warp around it. An almost endless flow of blood streams out of a hole in his neck. I feel a wave of nausea wash over me as I notice the tear marks streak from his glassy eyes as they just stare in my direction.

“Come on, pick up.”

I walk outside of school, trying my best to get Ben on the phone. A sea of vans both police and ambulances surround the entryways trying to only let authorize people in. I squeeze through after telling the officers about Nelson and Man bun probably needing medical attention.

“Hey, this is Ben. Leave a message.”

Crap, voicemail again. This is odd. Ben would normally pick up now. Especially during this time, as it's school hours. Maybe he went to school today? As much as I would like to believe that there's no way he is. The temperature suddenly drops as a wave of cold air passes by me. I put my phone away and rub my arms to warm up. Perhaps he's home? Ben does live pretty far from South Anthame High, which is why he doesn't go here with us.

“I just got my energy back, too.”

No other choice but to make my way to Ben's house.

I stop to catch my breath outside of Ben's house. It's a Victorian style house painted in warm brown colors with intricate white trim all around. I walk up the extended front porch to ring the doorbell. His house was a lot more visually striking than my lifeless modern style house. The white door opens after a bit, revealing a middle age woman behind it. Her dark curly hair had streaks of sliver, and her skin was a rich, warm brown, bearing the marks of a life well-lived. Those sharp brown eyes of hers pierce into me as she tries to remember where she knows me from.

“Max? Is that you?”

Having full recovered from running here, I shoot an energetic smile. It has been some time since I have been over to Ben's house. He normally meets me in the fields, or he comes over to my house.

“Hello Mrs. Culver. I was wondering if Ben was home?”

Her demeanor changes to one of annoyance as she let out a frustrating sigh.

“That boy's father can do anything right.”

Crap, is Ben out with his dad? This is some horrible timing.

“I'm sorry you have to hear it like this. Ben died on Thursday.”

It was almost as if time came to a crashing halt when I hear the words. Impossible. Unthinkable. Ben was gone. All the recouped energy was gone, and it took everything I had just to keep standing. There's no way Ben could be dead. He had so many weapons around him that a monster couldn't have gotten him. Wait, has it been a monster? I'm still under the assumption that these recent deaths are all monster related. Well, it couldn't be a person, could it? That seems more unlikely to me. Shit, how much time has passed since she told me this. I have to say something.

“I'm sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.”

Wow, all I could muster was I'm sorry for your loss? It better to just the cliché, but I feel like I should say more. Then it dawns on me.

If I think Ben was killed by a monster.

My palms become slick with sweat at what I have to do. Crap, I have to ask about Ben's body. Better be careful with how I ask her. I've seen his mom when she gets angry at Ben, and it's pretty terrifying. The longer I wait, the worse it's going to be when I ask. I should just rip the band-aid off quick.

“What did Ben look like when they found him?”

Before I could explain myself, the anger that flairs up in Mrs. Culver's eyes freezes me in place. The expression on her face was a mix of fury and disbelief.

“Why on earth would you ask me some foolishness like that? TCH!”

Mrs. Culver slams the door in my face. I could have worded that better. My feet take me off the porch, slowly making their way to the end of Ben's lawn, where my legs finally give out. I sat there on my ass watching the cars pass one by one. Slowly they were becoming blurs in my eyes no matter how slow they're driving to see what was wrong with me. I curl up into a ball, digging my nails in my arms, desperately trying to hold back the tears.

“I can't. I can't break now.”

The words whimper out of me as I sat there. I'll let myself grieve when all this is over. I can't stop now, but I need some help to figure this all out.

“Oh Max, is everything ok?”

Kat stands in the doorway, donned in tight shorts and a striped sleeves shirt. She didn't bother to hide her surprise that I'm at her house right now. I was in such a daze that I forgot to tell her I was coming over beforehand.

“Can I come in? I need some help with something?”

“Sure.”

I step in, closing the door behind me, as Kat scurries off so fast that I almost didn't catch where she went. Entering her living room, a warm melodic sound comes blaring from the flat screen TV, luring my attention towards it.

When I’m driving home late at night
I start thinking
Of how it used to be

What looks to be a humanized dragon girl was singing on the screen. She had long flowing pink hair that cascades over her ruffle frill blouse of the same color. Massive dragon wings emerge from her back, matching the black bow that sits on the front of her blouse. Her gray Chain Tiered Skirt flirts as she dances to the hypnotizing melody.

When you were around
All the fun we used to have
Playing like children in the sand
But now, you’re far away

She takes her long black nail and cuts her lip. The imagery of the blood falling with the lyrics cause the flood of emotions I've been suppressing floods back with an astounding force. I could feel my eyes beginning to well up as a memory of me and Ben laughing at the Sigil Saloon materializes in my head. We went there that day to get milkshakes to celebrate the massive boost in downloads. A boost that was caused by…

And all I have
Is dreams of yesterday.

Suddenly, the TV goes dark, snapping me back to the present before I break. I bring my attention to the couch where Kat was standing there holding a plate that had a slice of white frosted cake on it. Another slice was already on the coffee table in front of her. She dons a flustered smile as she places the second plate on the table.

“Oh Sorry about that. I had the video on repeat.”

I make my way to the couch to sit beside her. That mystical video that played on the TV was still in my head, so I ask Kat about it.

“Who was that?”

“Aldora Libitina! I love her voice, it's so hypnotic.”

Kat hands me a fork, a signal to dig in, but I didn't want to get swept up in a welcoming fantasy. I have to put the pieces together fast before anyone else dies. Setting the fork down, I turn to look Kat in her eyes.

“Actually, I need your help with something monster related.”

Her amber eyes gleam like stars at my request. She quickly bends over on the side of the couch and pulls out a really thin tablet with a stylus attached to its side. Stylus in hand, she eagerly waits for me to continue talking. I catch her up with Bart's and Ben's death. My bottom lip is sore after telling recounting the events of today. I couldn't bare to start crying in front of Kat. But I had to continue, including telling her what we learn from Mia's mom.

The stylus starts to tremble in her hand as she stiffens upon hearing the state Mia was found. Tears starts to appear in her eyes while writing. I try to move to give her a hug, but I am so emotionally drain that I just slump into the couch as I finish catching her up. A few moments pass as she wipes her tears away before giving her opinion on the information.

“Obviously, you think these deaths are connected?”

“Yeah, but I'm trying to figure out the connection.”

“Right, but Ben's death happened too early for it to seem like it to seem connected.”

She states the main problem with me lumping in Ben with Mia and Bart's death. I just have a feeling in my gut that he is a part of this. Also, it feels like I'm forgetting something important.

“And you don't even know if he was killed in the same way.”

“Yeah, My fault on that. Was a little bit too blunt with my probing for information.”

I try to sit up on the couch, but it takes me longer than expected. Guess I didn't realize how tired my body has become. I feel a small warmth on my back to see Kat patting me on my back.

“Don't beat yourself over it. I would be a blubbering mess if I was in your shoes.”

Now I feel worse for not doing anything when she was crying earlier. She removes her hand, returning it to write some more notes.

“Then what is the connection between Bart and Mia?”

“He is friends with a Mia stan.”

I see her raise her eyebrow in intrigue. I did make sure to skip all the Nelson stuff in my recap. She writes for a while in silence. The scratching of the stylus is making anxious. I have faith Kat could figure out what I'm not putting together. She is the smartest out of all of us. Kat lets out a sigh as she rests the tablet on the table.

“Well, you know what helps the ideas flow?”

She grabs her fork wearing a huge smile on her face.

“Some cake!Dig in! I was working on it before you arrived.”

Kat made this? Now that I think about it, she does bring a lot o baked goods when we hang out. I thought she just bought those. With the new information, I make sure to eat a good piece of it. It was so soft and moist as the white frosting turns out to be white chocolate. The bite of cake light up my taste buds. I see Kat looking at me with a face full of pride, to my reaction. The living room fills with moans of satisfaction as we both devour the cake. I really need this, as with every bite I could feel my spirits left up from the pits of despair it was at previously.

"Am I interrupting something?"

The new voice made us jump. Standing in the entrance of the living room was an older lady. She is wearing jeans and a zipped up leather jacket. She resembles a much older Kat expect with long hair tied in a side plait. Her presence alone exuded such a powerful aura of intimidation that it made Kat stand rigid. Kat's voice was serious as she introduced me to this enigmatic individual.

"Ma. This is Max."

I sheepishly wave ate her before returning to finish the cake. It is delicious, after all. Kat's mom points to a pile of clothes that laid in front of the TV. With swiftness, she places down her slice of cake, grabs the clothes to head to the stairs behind her mother. She halts for a second, returning to the living room.

“I'll be just a second.”

Then she climbs the stairs until she's out of view. Kat's mom glares at me for a bit before saying something.

“That's an interesting shirt.”

The statement came out unenthusiastically as he keeps staring at me. The shirt I am wearing had a ghost pirate on it. The Wench of the Leviathan sea is scantly clad as her blouse and pants were ripped apart, revealing her green tinted skin. She was levitating over the sea as multiple skeletons reach up out of it, each skeleton desperately grabbing for life. Or maybe reaching for her.

“It's from a movie, Dead Grog”

I say this while sucking the frosting off the fork. Kat's mom just repospnes with a simple hmm and continues her learing. Looking down, I see my slice of cake is done. Now I need to find something to distract myself from the awkward atmosphere.

I bring my attention to Kat's tablet, making sure to not reach out and grab it. The best thing to do is not make any sudden movements that would start up a conversation with Kat's mom. The notes were visible from where I am sitting, so it doesn't matter anyway. The notes were very detailed, and she wrote little bits of commentary under each chuck. Maybe I should ask her to help out with Dreadstiary. I quickly dismiss the idea. I wouldn't want to willingly bring Kat into life-threatening danger. Resuming my reading of her notes, I see she puts Mia, Bart, and Ben's name in a group, each with a label. Mia's is friend, Ben's is friend, and Bart's is fan.

Huh, I guess she heard me wrong when I said his friend was the fan of Mia, not Bart… Wait when she meet Bart, correctly she did guess that he was a fan of Dread… That's it! That's a connection between all three of them. The zine! Right, because Bart did say he hopes I find the rest of the lost films. My excitement from finding the connection vanishes. Ben did get curse of the skull servant randomly from somebody. My eyes look on to the word laptop that Kat makes sure to draw multiple circles around. Since it was a magnet link, you would have to watch it on a computer. My heartbeat starts to pick up speed. No way could the film be the reason for all of this? But that would mean?

Kat enters her room, throwing her clothes on her bed to deal with later. She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She didn't realize how much skin she was showing off.

“Maybe I should cover up.”

She digs around for clothes just to throw on. After sometime, she just gives up. Max isn't acting weird, and her mother didn't say anything about how she was dressed. So she figures it's a non issue.

“Besides, I can finally help out on a new monster case after so long.”

She tries to calm down her excitement. This has been something she was waiting for as she was growing tired of the mundanity of her life. Studying in and out, her only break of enjoyment is baking when she has time too. Kat hated this with a passion. Max doesn't invite her many monster adventures, which ticks her off. She remembers the jealousy she would feel when Hannah or Mia would recount the monster they end up running into. Kat softly jumps two times and goes on her way to return to her mother and Max. Suddenly, she sees a blue light in the reflection of the mirror. She turns around to see her PC was on.

“Did I have on my computer on this whole time?”

Kat dashes to turn it off as if she left it on, her mother might cause a scene which would be embarrassing. After hearing the tower power off, she tries to leave her room again. Before one foot gets out of her room, she hears her PC fans start up. She stares at the pc, confuse that it turns on right after she powered it down. She makes her way back to it, but stops half way when a thought comes to mind.

“Max said there were no signs of forced entry at the windows. And no extra footprints visible. Well, the only other thing in Mia's room would be her PC. Which would mean.”

Kat looks at her PC to see the monitor has become a mess of noise. She inches closer, attempting to turn it off. Something starts to protrude out of the noise. It looks like the fingertips slowly coming out faster than Kat can reach her PC. Kat heart starts racing as she zigzags her way out of her room, fearing that if she ran in a straight line, she would be dead.

“MAX, I figured it out!”

I hop off the couch when a wave of dread comes over me. That did not sound like a triumphant yell from Kat. Her mom walks to the stairs to see why Kat was yelling. Kat bleats it down the stairs at an incredible speed. Her honey skin has become paler than before. Kat's mom stands in front of her trying to get her to slow down. Kat tries to push off her mom as a speed boost, attempting to dash straight at me. Her mother holds Kat in place, not letting her go. That's when I notice it. A large shadow crashes into the wall by the stairs.

“What the hell is that?”

The huge dent the creature makes shocks Kat's mom that she lets go of Kat. I stretch my hand out to grab Kat and pull her to me. She has become almost translucent as he also reaches for me. Our fingers almost touch when my sight is blinded my the color red. I wipe my hand across my to see what sprayed me was blood. Looking up, I see the massive beast standing directly in front me. My heart practically stops at the sheer size of it. It looms over me with skin the resembles branded branches that splinter out into roots at its shoulders. The color of the skin was a sickly gray, which causes its black and purple eyes to pop. The haunting glare that radiates from its sunken eyes freezes me in place. It's head creaks as it turns to the side, almost as if it recognizes me.

“KAT!”

The wail coming from Kat's mom snaps me back to reality. She is holding Kat's bleeding body in hand. I lift my hand slowly, pointing at the creature ascending the stairs to go back to where I assume is Kat's room.

“You didn't see that?”

“SEE WHAT MAX? MY DAUGHTER SPONTANEOUSLY START BLEEDING CAUSE YES I DID SEE THAT!”

She didn't see that massive beast? Shit, this is worse that I could imagine. Kat's last word basically confirm my hunch. I stare at her blood in my hands. In it, I could see Mia and Ben's smiling faces staring at me. I let my vision wander to Kat. It was a horrible decision as her lifeless body just stares up at the ceiling. No signs of that sparkle and joy I saw earlier, just her face frozen in a state of terror.

I take off from the house. I'm sprinting at full speed away as I could hear Kat's mom scream my name at the top of her lungs. My face is hot as the tears I fought all day to hold come out. My breath comes in short gasps as I ran, not caring that my vision is blurred. Not caring that I could get hit by a car. Not caring where I end up. I am full on sobbing as I finally figure out what cause all this to happen.

Me.