Wings of Wax

Sunlight streamed through the cracked window on the other end of the room, warming Cris’ cheek as he stirred awake, his blue eyes slowly opening. He’d had somewhat of a restless sleep. Not as bad as his roommate and best friend, David, who had recently been suffering from nightmares, but uncomfortable nonetheless. Frustration with school was likely the reason. Nosey people butting into his life when he was perfectly content without them.

“What’s with the scowl, Parker? Rough night?”

Cris sat up, stretching to ease the stiffness in his back from sleeping on his lumpy mattress. He glanced to the dark corner of the room where the voice had come from, noticing David squinting at him, heavy bags under his eyes, made worse by the matted hair draped over his face.

“Not as rough as yours, I bet,” Cris said, grimacing at his friend’s appearance. “You’ve gotta do something, man. You look like shit.”

David waved off Cris’ concern. Cris couldn’t really blame him. It was David’s business after all. Cris was bothered by people saying the same crap to him, so who was he to say something like that?

“Don’t mind me. What’re you scowling about?” David asked again,

“Just school stuff, I guess,” Cris said. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Not sure why you’re going,” David muttered bitterly. “What’s it doing for you anyway?”

Cris didn’t really have an answer for that. Lately, he’d been going to school a lot more than he had for the last few years. A part of him just felt like he needed to. David was convinced it was a girl, Heidi, who’d been fairly friendly with Cris since they’d become classmates. Cris wasn’t really interested in that kind of thing, though. If anything, Heidi’s interest in him had become offputting.

David seemed to take Cris’ silence the wrong way, sighing and looking away uneasily. “Eh, if it’s something you wanna do, you should do it. Just don’t get me involved. And make sure they don’t go after you about your foster family.”

Cris laughed at that. “Haven’t seen ‘em in weeks. Pretty sure the school doesn’t really care as long as I don’t end up dead.”

He looked around their little beat up apartment. It was better than any home the government had stuck him in over the course of his life. By now, Cris had lost count of the foster families he’d been placed with. Ever since his parents had abandoned him as a newborn baby, he’d bounced around different places. The only person who’d treated Cris as more than a monthly stipend was David. He’d welcomed Cris into his “home” with no questions asked.

“Guess that’s better than your foster family,” David pointed out. “Wonder what mine’s up to. Now if I ended up dead, those assholes would probably be upset, only because it would cut into their bank account.”

“Maybe you should get those nightmares checked out just to make ‘em pay for something,” Cris quipped.

David rubbed his eyes, looking as though he was actually considering the idea. “Now that’s an idea, Parker. Too bad I’m not gonna use it.”

Cris laughed as he slipped on his jeans and pulled on his red shirt, getting ready to leave. “Didn’t think you would.” He paused a moment later as he noticed David appearing somewhat uneasy, though. Those nightmares really had been bothering him. “You are gonna be okay, right, man?”

David forced a smile. “I’m the toughest sonofabitch you know, Parker. It’d take something real messed up to take me down.”

“Yeah…” Cris frowned, slipping his black coat on and shouldering his backpack. He noticed David staring at the backpack with distrust.

“That girl gave that to you, didn’t she?” he asked, pointing to the one thing Cris owned that was in good condition.

“Heidi? Yeah.” Cris glanced at it. Heidi had seen the old, tattered bag Cris had been using before and had brought this to school the very next day. Even Cris couldn’t help but be grateful at the time and he’d thanked her profusely.

“Weird.” David looked up, his exhausted eyes meeting Cris’. “Introduce me sometime, kay?”

This may have been one of their most uncomfortable interactions since they’d known each other, but Cris managed a smile. “Y-Yeah,” he said. “Sometime.” He turned towards the door. “See ya later.”

David gave Cris a silent wave, and a moment later, he was out on the street, sidling past the piled up garbage cans overflowing with trash to make it to the main road. It was a pretty grimey area, and fairly dangerous at night, but their abandoned apartment was out of the way enough that they avoided authorities and it was close enough to a main road to make moving around convenient. For Cris, they were right on the main road to school, so it was just a few blocks straight to his destination.

The street was a bit crowded, a little more traffic on the road and people moving a little slower on the sidewalks. Supposedly there’d been some kind of accident in the night, so there was a big slow down further up the road. Fortunately for Cris, he was going the opposite direction, so he wasn’t slowed down too much. People moved out of his way anyway, his sullen, dirty appearance causing them to give him a wide berth.

It wasn’t a particularly long walk down the few blocks to the school, and before long, Cris could see his destination up ahead. The closer he got, the more students appeared on the sidewalk, crowding the area. There was a great deal of discussion about the accident, with one student claiming that a person had been hit by a car in the middle of the night. Cris wasn’t particularly surprised, having seen the way many people drove in this city. He’d had a few close calls himself.

“Hey! Cris!”

Sighing, he turned at the familiar voice of Heidi, noticing her pink shirt in the crowd behind him as she hurried towards him. Her smile was as bright as ever, her brown eyes shining as she fell into step beside Cris. She adjusted the brown beret atop her head as she studied Cris.

“How’re you today?” she asked, unbothered by Cris greeting her with a simple grunt and nod.

“Same as always,” Cris muttered. He looked at her suspiciously. “You seem different, though.”

“Huh?” Heidi blinked in surprise, her smile fading.

It was true. Cris had a healthy distrust of people, and could often pick up on changes in a person’s expression. Heidi’s smile wasn’t so natural today. It seemed forced. For someone who liked to get into his business, she was trying to hide her own. Not that he particularly cared.

“Whatever,” Cris said, rolling his eyes. “Not my problem.”

“S-Sorry,” Heidi murmured uneasily. “Just heard about that accident, that’s all. Just kind of upsetting.”

“Doesn’t have anything to do with us,” Cris said. “Just ignore it.”

“You don’t need to be like that,” Heidi argued, pouting slightly. “Imagine if it was someone you cared about.”

Cris stopped walking, turning to her, a dark expression crossing over his face. “I don’t think I need to worry about something like that.” Heidi swallowed nervously, but he continued nonetheless. “What do you know about people I might care about anyway?”

“Everyone has someone…” Heidi hesitated a moment. “A-Anyway, I just hope that person can recover. Their family must be worried sick.”

Cris sighed, shaking his head as he continued walking. “You’re always so concerned about others. Always getting into their business.”

Heidi followed after him, making a noise of frustration of her own. “Is this about me talking to Mr. Rainier? I just thought it would be good for you to talk to him.”

“I don’t need to talk to anyone,” Cris snapped. “Just butt out.”

Cris picked up his pace, leaving Heidi behind him. She didn’t try to keep up, and he continued on his way towards the school entrance by himself. He wasn’t sure why he’d done that. Heidi was nice. Cris just couldn’t bring himself to trust it, especially when she’d done things like get the guidance counselor interested in him. The last thing he needed while David was dealing with his nightmare problem was to get Mr. Rainier on his case.

Maybe it was his own fault. Since he’d recently been coming to school more often, all these people had been noticing him more. First it was Heidi, but others had joined in, too. Now the guidance counselor was checking in on him, and even asking questions about David, almost as if knowing about their living situation. Cris wasn’t sure if Heidi had told people about him or not, but all he knew was that since talking to her more, people had been in his business more often than not, and few things bothered him more than that.

Shaking his head in an attempt to clear his head, Cris entered the school, stepping around a group of little kids that were visiting for the day for some kind of program. Things were already crowded enough, so Cris could barely hide his frustration as he barely avoided a little girl seemingly appearing in front of him out of nowhere from the crowd. Why they couldn’t have these little kids programs after school hours he didn’t know, but hopefully they wouldn’t be in his way too much the rest of the day.

Feeling his stomach rumbling and realizing he’d forgotten to grab something to eat, Cris headed for his locker, remembering he had some leftover food in there. It had likely gone bad, but with the way he ate, that meant very little. He quickly maneuvered through the halls, reaching his locker fairly quickly. As he opened it up and began rifling through it, though, he felt a light tap on his shoulder, followed by warm breath on his ear.

“Back again, Cris?” the soft voice whispered, sending a shiver down Cris’ spine. “You’ve been coming to school an awful lot lately.”

Cris pulled what he needed from his locker, including his spoiled sandwich from the day before, and turned to face the girl that had snuck up behind him. Her name was Mara, and she smiled radiantly as she swished her glossy brown hair back and blinked at him with her bright green eyes. She was likely the most popular girl at school, although it seemed she’d risen to the peak of her popularity only recently.

“What do you want?” Cris asked her, narrowing his eyes as Mara continued to smile. He noticed the group of little kids making their way down the hall, and hoped she wasn’t going to hold him back and get him stuck behind them. Her gaze briefly slid towards his sandwich for a moment, giving Cris the satisfaction of seeing her mouth twitch in disgust, but otherwise she kept her confident smirk.

“Just checking in. You know how I care about my fellow students.” She leaned in, the movement causing Cris to take a step back. “You can trust me, Cris. Just tell me how you are.”

Cris wasn’t one to let girls get in his head like many other high school boys, but Mara did have her ways. Although for him, it was merely a discomfort with how close she got, and the way her voice seemed to creep into the back of his mind. He wanted to punch himself as he began to stammer out an answer. “I’m-”

“Oh!” Mara staggered in surprise as a little boy bumped into her from the group of kids. He didn’t apologize, immediately jumping back towards his group, seemingly mad about being pushed. “Little brats…” Mara muttered.

“Not such a lovely queen after all, huh?” Cris noted, unable to hide his grin as Mara looked back at him in surprise. He couldn’t blame her for the reaction, though. He wasn’t much of a fan of little kids either.

“I just appreciate manners,” Mara said, gathering her composure once more. She narrowed her eyes as she studied Cris. “Something you could do with improving.”

Cris raised an eyebrow, beginning to walk away. “I don’t think I want to be appreciated by you.”

“You may need me on your side one day, Cris. Don’t forget that.”

Cris merely rolled his eyes, ignoring her bizarre threat. Why he’d need some pompous high school girl on his side was beyond him. He just needed to get through his days and keep the authorities off of his back. As long as he kept things simple, he would be perfectly fine.

Unfortunately, thanks to Mara, Cris did get stuck behind a crowd of people on his way to his first class. He managed to push his way through eventually, but he was very nearly late as he scrambled into his class. The teacher eyed him as he shuffled over to his desk, but didn’t say anything, with the bell ringing as he sat down.

“Late night?”

Cris glanced to the seat next to him, the girl who had asked the question not even looking at him as she absentmindedly turned the page of her textbook. She had a pencil in her hand, twirling it around lightly as she played with her black hair. Despite the appearance of being uninterested, however, she eventually turned her sharp, blue eyes on Cris when he didn’t answer.

“Just got slowed down by Mara Keres,” Cris finally answered, grabbing his own textbook out of his bag.

“Didn’t think she was your type.”

Cris rolled his eyes. “Apparently I’m hers, the way she follows me around.”

That earned a surprising laugh, and Cris couldn’t help but smirk slightly. Elsa Hale was a bit rough around the edges at times, but Cris could respect that. They’d had some amusing banter since they’d recently been placed in seats next to one another in this class. Someone like Mara and her fake charm was a lot harder to take than Elsa’s more genuine snark.

“Maybe you should just humor her,” Elsa suggested after a moment, the teacher at the front of the room still getting things prepared.

“As if,” Cris snorted, leaning back in his seat. “Pretty sure everyone would know my life story by then. Not interested in being hauled down to Rainier’s office.”

“It’s not the worst thing to talk to someone,” Elsa said quietly.

Cris eyed her suspiciously. “Not you, too.”

She merely shrugged. “Didn’t say anything. Just…you do look a bit tired.”

“Restless night,” Cris said, giving the issue a dismissive wave. “Got too many people on my case. It’s my friend, David who can’t sleep with his…” Cris shook his head, cursing himself for saying too much. “Never mind.”

Elsa didn’t say anything, but Cris couldn’t help but notice the flash of interest in her eyes as he’d spoken. Fortunately, at that moment the teacher began speaking, the class finally beginning. It was as boring as usual, but Cris was glad for the distraction, and when the period finally came to an end, he exited the class quickly, avoiding Elsa’s gaze as he made his way to the next one.

It wasn’t really much better the rest of the day and Cris felt somewhat miserable as the final period approached. He was contemplating just skipping the class and leaving, but the more he thought about doing so, the more uncomfortable he felt. Something in the back of his mind made him want to tough it out. Maybe he was just stubborn about not letting these nosey people keep him away, or maybe he really did want to make an effort and work at school. Whatever it was, he found himself sitting down in his usual spot for history class, Heidi plopping down next to him moments later.

“H-Hi, Cris,” she greeted awkwardly. He’d barely looked her way when she’d arrived, and she seemed nervous about speaking to him.

“What’s up?” Cris muttered, not particularly bothered about Heidi’s anxieties regarding their earlier interaction.

“Er…nothing,” she said. “How has your day been?”

Cris sighed, but decided it was a harmless enough question. “Boring. I shouldn’t even be bothering with this class.”

Heidi smiled slightly at that response, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, it’s a slow day.” She hesitated, glancing towards the front of the room. Noticing that the teacher hadn’t arrived yet, however, she continued. “Maybe we can do something fun after school?”

Cris was a little caught off guard by that suggestion, glancing at Heidi in confusion. She’d been friendly enough with him since they’d met, but he wouldn’t consider them friends. Obviously David had wondered if there was something deeper in their relationship based on some things Cris had mentioned, but there wasn’t really anything to it. To have her suggest hanging out after school was bizarre.

“Do what, exactly?” he asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

“I don’t know,” she said, looking away awkwardly. “Anything, I guess. J-Just an idea.”

Cris was silent a moment, ignoring the sound of the door to the class opening behind him. “Well, I guess I owe you for the backpack you gave me.” Even he wasn’t immune to the smile Heidi gave him when he said that, rubbing his nose in discomfort and looking away.

The moment didn’t last very long, however, a tap on Cris’ shoulder getting his attention. He looked behind him and immediately felt a sense of dread, looking into the gray eyes of Mr. Rainier.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Parker,” the guidance counselor greeted, scratching lightly at his gray beard. “I was hoping we could have a word?”

Cris sighed in frustration, casting a glare Heidi’s way. She looked uneasy, watching Rainier carefully, although he didn’t seem to notice, his gaze remaining on Cris. “What do you need to see me again for?” Cris asked.

“Please come with me,” Rainier murmured, ignoring the question and turning around. Apparently the invitation wasn’t optional.

“Thanks a lot,” Cris muttered to Heidi, who opened her mouth in protest, but couldn’t get the words out. “You can forget about hanging out later.”

Not bothering to look back, Cris made his way out of the class, following after Rainier. Maybe it wasn’t fair to blame Heidi for the guidance counselor showing up out of the blue like this, but Cris was on the man’s radar thanks to her in the first place. Besides, maybe her little idea about hanging out after school was because she was feeling guilty about this very thing.

It wasn’t too long to Rainier’s office, and when they reached the door, he opened it quickly and the two headed inside. Once they were seated, though, it was at least a minute before the man spoke, Cris merely stewing in silence while Rainier observed him with undisguised interest.

“Doing all right, today, Mr. Parker?” Rainier finally asked, just as Cris was considering turning around and walking out.

“I seem to be getting asked that a lot,” Cris muttered angrily. “The answer is the same. I’m fine.”

“Are you?”

Cris gaped at him, baffled as to why he was dealing with this. “Yeah, pretty sure I know how I’m feeling.”

Rainier nodded slowly, smiling and closing his eyes. “And your friend? Mr. Frater?”

Cris shook his head. “Why are you so bothered about us? We’re fine. We don’t need you up our asses.”

Rainier opened his eyes at that, giving Cris a stern look for his choice of words. “It is my job to be concerned about my students, Mr. Parker.”

“Focus on some others that need your help then,” Cris said. “We don’t need it. I don’t care what Heidi’s said to you-”

“Miss Engel is not the only classmate of yours who is concerned for you,” Rainier interrupted. “And that is a good thing, Mr. Parker. Friends who want the best for you is something everyone should desire.”

Cris sighed, leaning back in his chair. He ignored Rainier’s second statement, focusing on the first. “So who was it? Elsa?” Rainier didn’t answer, but kept his gaze on Cris. Frustration creeping in, Cris continued. “What the hell is this, man? People have been really damn nosey about my life lately. You heard about my foster family or something?”

Rainier smiled kindly, taking a deep breath before speaking. “I am well aware of your situation, Mr. Parker. I’m not here to judge you or Mr. Frater on that.” He leaned forward, a serious tone creeping into his voice. “That does not mean I won’t interfere if necessary. Your health, and that of your friend’s, matters a great deal to me. I need to know if there’s anything troubling either of you.”

Cris hesitated, sensing something different in the way Rainier was speaking. It wasn’t like most authority figures who would talk down to him like he was some stupid kid. It was almost as though Rainier was begging for something. Of course, Cris wasn’t just going to hand over information about him or his best friend.

“Like I said, we’re fine.”

Rainier narrowed his eyes. “Are you certain?”

For a moment, Cris almost felt as though the room had gone a few degrees colder. He looked around for a moment, wondering if a window was open, before glancing directly into Rainier’s eyes. They seemed…darker. For some reason, he felt like Rainier was seeing him more clearly. He didn’t like that feeling, and he narrowed his own eyes, his frustration bubbling up within him as he glared right back at the man. A warmth entered his body in that moment, and he felt satisfied as Rainier blinked and turned away for a moment.

“Can I go now?” Cris asked, standing up.

Rainier sighed, rubbing his eyes slightly. “Very well, Mr. Parker.” He seemed a little more distant, as if his mind was wandering elsewhere. “I’ll see you…another time.” He drummed his fingers on the table, turning towards some papers on his desk.

Cris nodded, satisfied and feeling as though he’d gotten the better of their exchange. As he exited the office, he wondered if perhaps Rainier would understand that he should leave Cris and David alone from now on. Hopefully all these busybodies would understand.

Not seeing the point in returning to class, Cris made his way back to his locker to get his things. He didn’t want to see Heidi again, and he figured he could avoid seeing anyone else who seemed to be so interested in him, whether it was Elsa or Mara or whoever. He was beginning to get really sick of this place, and he wondered if this was the last day he’d come to school for the foreseeable future.

Once he’d collected his things and made his way to the front entrance, he rolled his eyes as he realized one last annoying encounter was in his way. He tried to avoid it, but the boy hanging around the front zeroed in on him as though he’d heard Cris coming from a mile away.

“Cris, my man! How’s it going, brother?”

Cris didn’t react, simply staring at the boy with disinterest. “What do you want, Finn? Are you always lurking around here at the end of the day?”

“Just need to keep my eyes and ears open for any trouble, buddy,” Finn answered, grinning as he ran a hand through his ginger hair. “I’m your friendly neighborhood Batman after all.”

“I think you’re getting your heroes mixed up,” Cris noted.

“It works well enough.” Finn smirked and leaned against a wall. “So, heading anywhere in particular?”

“I’m not,” Cris said. “I wouldn’t be telling you if I was, though.”

Finn held a hand to his chest. “Oof, that one hurt, buddy. Shouldn’t say stuff like that to your good pal.”

Cris rolled his eyes. “See you around, Finn.”

Fortunately, Finn didn’t continue to pester him, leaving Cris be as he continued on out the door. It wasn’t really that Cris didn’t like Finn. He was just an oddball, and he seemed to run into Cris at weird times. With Rainier and Heidi being overly concerned about him, Cris just didn’t want a weirdo like Finn around. Really anyone for that matter.

Once he was out of the school and on the street, Cris did begin to feel better. Something about today had felt stifling, and he was glad to be rid of those who seemed to be causing it. It helped that the traffic from the previous night’s accident seemed to have settled down as well. Had he kept his plans with Heidi, it would’ve been a nice walk downtown.

Thinking of that, and feeling like he had some steam to burn off, Cris decided he’d spend some time out rather than head home right away. He figured David would’ve stayed home until the afternoon and then gone out himself, so he wouldn’t be back till later anyway. Besides, Cris’ mind was buzzing somewhat, and he felt he needed to roam a bit. If David was home, he didn’t really feel like talking about Rainier and Heidi.

Having stopped at the edge of the school’s property, Cris began to walk again, only briefly turning back when he noticed the kids from the group he’d seen in the morning emerging from the school. They all looked much more subdued after the day and Cris couldn’t blame them. He remembered school outings like that from when he was younger and they’d been miserable experiences.

With the traffic from earlier having let up, Cris’ walk down the street was fairly laid back. As usual, passerby gave him a wide berth, but he was glad for that, enjoying the additional space. The only time the public’s suspicion of him was a problem was when he briefly went into a bookstore and the clerk inside followed him around, although they also kept a fair distance.

For almost two hours, Cris’ meandering through the streets was fairly relaxing. Irritation still bubbled up within him when he thought of Rainier’s meeting, but he managed to push that out of his mind for the most part, simply wandering where his feet took him. It only became a little frustrating when students from his school were finished with their last classes and began filling the streets.

At one point Cris even noticed Heidi, seeing that she had apparently decided to head out despite his rejecting her proposal to hang out when Rainier had showed up. She wasn’t with any of her friends, simply walking along silently and peering into the windows of a few shops or cafes. It almost made Cris feel guilty. Almost.

To avoid Heidi, Cris was quick to cut across the street and make his way further along. Once she was out of sight, he relaxed a little. As he walked, he realized he was nearing one of his preferred fast food restaurants and decided he might as well pick up a snack with the little money he had on him. Unfortunately, as he approached the front of it, he realized it was closed.

“What the hell?” he muttered, stopping in front of the door and looking around. It didn’t make much sense for it to be closed. It was just his luck, this being one of the few places he could afford.

Turning, Cris stuffed his money back in his pocket and continued on his way, noticing a police car up ahead. He was surprised to see the familiar face of one of the employees at the fast food place speaking to a cop just next to the car. He decided to slow down as he walked by, catching just a brief snippet of what they were saying.

“...walked home this way every day. Terrible accident.”

“The time of the accident doesn’t seem to match your account of when she left. Any idea why that may be?”

“Probably got distracted by something. Maybe…”

Cris raised an eyebrow in surprise as he walked out of earshot. So that’s it, he realized, glancing around and seeing a few pylons around one part of the street near where the police car was parked, just in front of a grimey looking alley. This is where that accident was.

This kind of thing didn’t usually bother Cris. Living on the streets, he’d seen a lot of nasty things. He had to admit, though, that as he stared at the spot that had been cordoned off, he felt an ominous chill run down his spine. It was as though death itself was whispering from that alley.

Feeling much less hungry now, Cris continued to wander aimlessly as the afternoon wore on and evening approached. As the sun began to dip, however, he decided it was finally time to head home. As tough as Cris might’ve considered himself after his time on the streets, he wasn’t stupid enough to stay out after dark. There were a couple of gangs that hung around this area, and there were a lot of dark alleys one could be trapped in.

It was dangerous enough at night where he and David lived. Their abandoned little apartment was under a building on Shell Street, which was safe enough during the day, but still in a fairly dangerous area. It was very poorly lit, leading to quite a few nighttime muggings. David had taken to calling it “Hell Street”, and had even gone to the trouble of scratching out the “S” on a couple of street signs.

With these thoughts in his head, and the ominous view of the location of the accident still on his mind, Cris couldn’t help but pick up his pace as he headed home. The sun almost seemed to dip faster as he walked, and he cursed himself for wandering around so carelessly earlier. He hadn’t needed to go so far downtown. Fortunately, though, it wasn’t too long before he rounded a corner and saw one of David’s scratched out signs for “Hell Street”.

Cris noticed the building up ahead and picked up his pace as he walked through a particularly dark stretch of the street. It was a difficult balance walking out there at night. One needed to look confident enough to ward off would-be attackers, but also needed to move quick enough to avoid them.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he finally reached the door to the apartment, though, glancing around and noticing that no one was around. It was important not to be seen heading in, since he and David were just squatting there. He was a little surprised, though, as usually he had to wait for at least a couple of people nearby to leave the area before heading in. This time, the dark street remained quiet, other than an odd clicking sound near some bushes which were probably just some animals.

Cris was glad to head inside quickly, though, and knocked before turning the handle and opening the door. He stepped inside, still glancing behind him to make sure no one was watching. When he turned, he tossed his backpack inside, adjusting to the increased darkness. There was a soft grunt from the opposite end of the room, and Cris supposed David was already sleeping.

“Hey man, I’m back!” Cris called out, beginning to close the door, but pausing as he nearly slipped on something. “What the hell, did you spill something here?”

Tck tck tck tck tck.

Cris felt a shiver pass down his spine as a sound unlike any he’d ever heard was emitted from…everywhere. He blinked slowly, his eyes drifting down to the ground. Just then, a car passed by, its light illuminating the doorway just for a moment, revealing the red liquid pooling around it.

“D-David?” Cris croaked, staring at the ground, even as it was once again hidden in the dark. “What…”

Grrr tck tck tck.

Cris couldn’t explain it. He felt a terror welling up within him at that sound. It was everywhere. In the room, in his head, in his body…in his mind. He slowly looked up, his eyes trying their best to adjust to the darkness. Someone was at the other end of the room. A large, hulking shape, hunched over something else.

There was a heavy breathing, and Cris wasn’t sure if it was his own, or whoever was in the room with him. But slowly, he was starting to see something. The smallest details taking shape. The matted hair. The outstretched, bloody arms. The tired, baggy eyes, now completely lifeless.

“David…”

Another growl was emitted, and Cris looked up from the dead body of his one and only friend. What he saw, he couldn’t explain. All he knew was that it was a monster. No human looked like that. No animal.

And it had killed David.

Skreee!

The creature from Hell leapt at Cris.