"I don’t wanna go to school today, mommy.." I muttered, squirming beneath my sheets.
"I am most certainly not your mother," Sean’s deep voice penetrated my sleep-hazed mind, causing my eyes to pop open.
"Ah…" I said, sitting up wearily and rubbing sleep from my eyes.
"Heh." Sean grinned, stepping back from me. "Rise and shine, sweetheart."
"Errh…" I reddened, pushing back my thick comforter and sliding out of bed. I glanced at the clock radio on the bureau next to my bed, which flashed a red six 'o clock back to me.
"A-another day.." I mumbled. "D-damn."
"Bright and cheery as usual, I see," Sean’s grin showed no signs of fading as he crossed his arms over his bare chest and leaned against my closed door. I sighed, wandering into my frighteningly unkempt closet and poking through the pile of clothes that lay within, hoping that whatever was living in there wouldn’t reach out and grab me. I managed to pull a relatively decent t-shirt and a pair of mostly clean shorts from the mass of clothes. Tossing them onto my bed, I started to slide out of my shirt when I realized that Sean was still there, and I stopped, with a blush rising to my cheeks.
"Se-sean," I said, looking at him. He smirked, holding his hands out in front of him.
"Okay, okay, I’m going, I’m going," he said, opening the door and walking out. "Can’t blame a guy for trying."
I rolled my eyes, closed the door behind him and returned to getting dressed. As if I were anything anyone would want to look at.
*
"Come on, Claris!" My twin brother Brandon’s angry voice yelled from downstairs. "We’re going to be late!"
"C-coming!" I called back, scrambling for my shoes and my backpack. I shouldered my bag as fast as I could, and grabbed my white sandals from off the coffee table, then proceeding to race downstairs, coming very close to stumbling and breaking every bone in my body. Sean watched all of this with a great deal of amusement, an act that I found to be particularly infuriating.
"Ackk," I groaned, as I saw Brandon and my mother already walking out the door.
"Honestly, Claris, you’re hopeless," Brandon said as he stepped out. I narrowed my eyes, but said nothing to him, instead turning to Sean, who, being homeless, was not and had never been enrolled in school. I always thought this was a good thing, since, for one, he didn't need it—he was the best mathematics tutor I had ever had—and second, he probably would have either blown up the place or at least been expelled within a week of attendance.
"G-goodbye, Se-sean…I-I’ll s-see y-you a-after s-school, okay?" I said, shifting the weight of my bag from one shoulder to the other. He nodded.
"Yes… hurry back, hurry back…" he said. "It's so lonely without you near me…"
That would have induced another blush, had he not been laughing at my pain only moments earlier. Instead I made a face at him, and he grinned.
"Claris!" Brandon yelled, now outside. "We’re going to leave without you!"
"Ergh," I said, turning around quickly and running outside. "B-bye!" I called back to Sean, who stood on the threshold, waving and smirking.
*
Thick, humid air hung around me as I walked towards Vinton High with my brother, hunched over with the weight of my backpack. I clutched the cold metal knob of the cafeteria’s double doors, struggling to pull one of them open. Brandon shook his head and opened the other door, not waiting for me to follow. I frowned a little, letting go of the knob and managing to scuttle in before the second door closed.
I let my head rest on the wooden surface of one of the long, rectangular tables that lined my cafeteria’s floor, sighing to myself as I tried to tune out the chatter that surrounded me. The television set that was attached to the cinderblock walls clicked on, and a couple of upperclassmen delivered morning announcements. The set loomed high above the drink machines and water fountains against the walls. The sophomores that invaded the cafeteria in the few minutes before the bell rang would often reach up and change the channel to MTV, until my homeroom teacher came in and shooed them away. They usually settled at the table in front of the one occupied by my classmates and myself. A couple of times they had deigned to speak to me, but only when they wanted some little trifle of mine; a pencil, an eraser, a sheet of paper, things that they couldn’t be bothered to remember to bring. In the mornings, the cafeteria was occupied by two homerooms. Mine was one, of course, and it was located on one half of the room, whereas the other was subsequently located on the other half. The room was divided by two straight rows of tables, which each had small circular plastic seats surrounding them, attached to the table with thick pieces of curved, rusting metal.
I heard the sound of a boot hitting fabric, and I turned around in my small blue seat to see one of my classmates kicking my heavy backpack. Adjusting my glasses, I made a little coughing sound in my throat, looking up at him. He was taller than me, stocky, with a lightly freckled face and close together eyes. I swallowed a little.
"It’s in the way," he said, his deep voice annoyed.
"S.. s-s-sorry," I stammered nervously, grabbing the bag by its straps and pulling it closer to me. I had to be careful around him—he was of a higher social rank than me and could easily incite a taunting mob if he so desired.
"Yeah, that’s right," he said, muttering curses beneath his breath as he lumbered to another table. The soft tones of the bell sounded just then, causing a scuffle of feet and bookbags as everyone raced for the doors that opened into the rest of the school. I waited until the room emptied before I pulled myself off my seat. I slung my bag over my shoulder, and was about to step into the crowding hallways when I noticed one other person left in the cafeteria. Tiny spectacles sat on the bridge of his nose, and his messy red hair faded to yellow at the tips of his spiky bangs, like a gradient (I wondered what dye could achieve that effect). From his height, he looked as though he were a freshman, like me. But he carried no bag, and he was gazing earnestly about the room as if he had never seen anything quite like it before. Probably he was new. If I’d had a spine, I might have introduced myself. Instead, I steeled myself as I walked out into the hallway, struggling up the stairs amidst a thick crowd of teenagers. My body hit cinderblock as a random person shoved me out of the way and walked on, not bothering to look back.
"Owww.." I said, frowning at the girl’s figure as she disappeared into the crowd. I re-adjusted my backpack and continued on my way. "I feel like a rat," I thought to myself, scuttling through the packed corridors. Scurrying this way and that, trying not to be stepped on by the giants that surrounded me.
"Scurry, scurry, scurry," I thought, pushing my glasses up onto the bridge of my nose. I felt a shove behind me, and I fell to my knees, the heavy black binder I always carried slipping from my fingers. My eyes squeezed shut as I made a little noise of pain.
"You’re too slow," a large boy wearing a yellow jersey said, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"S-sorry," I mumbled, my fingers scrambling for my binder. My knees were both bright red, burned by the slick tile floor. I seethed a little as I walked to first period, trying to ignore the little jolts of pain that shot up my legs with each step.
Kids were clustered outside the door to my Physical Science class, and I carefully moved past them, mumbling apologies as I went. The rest of the day passed in a similar fashion: I kept quiet in most of my classes, and struggled my way through the small corridors in between bells, not saying much and keeping my head down. Social interaction happened only in English, where I saw Kai, one of my few friends. She and Sean hated one another (as Sean hated most anyone or anything that associated with me), or at least, it seemed that way. Following English was lunch, which also passed normally. The day broke from routine as I was walking outside after lunch, taking a shortcut to my fifth period class. Last night's dream was creeping into my mind, which is why I thought maybe I was hallucinating when I saw something shimmering in the trees, like the way air quivered when it was hot. It was brief, unnerving, and the thought of it was strangely heavy in my stomach as I hastened into the school.
When the day ended, I walked by that same cluster of trees, and the bespectacled boy from that morning stood beneath him. His inquisitive expression had not left his face, and I could almost feel his eyes on me as I headed for my bus.
I looked out the window for
him as the bus rolled away from school, but he had disappeared.
The sky had darkened to a light purple by the time I got home, and I could hear thunder rumbling in the distance as I stepped onto my driveway. Brandon walked ahead as Sean (who was always at the mailbox, waiting for me after school) held out the day’s mail. He rubbed his hands together after I had taken the letters from him, his wild grin reaching from cheek to scarred cheek.
"Looks like a stooorrm tonight…" he said, as the sound of rolling thunder drew closer.
"Yes," I said, shifting the weight of my backpack from one foot to the other. The sky flashed white, and Sean’s eyes widened.
"Ummm… I th-think we sh-should go inside now…" I said, starting to walk towards my house.
"Whatever you say, my mistress," Sean bowed and then linked my arm with his, pulling me along until we reached my door. Sean released me and opened the door, gesturing for me to enter.
"And they said chivalry was dead." I thought, shaking my head a little as I stepped onto the tile floor of my laundry room. I lugged everything upstairs (with Sean close on my heels), then dropped my bag on the carpeted floor of the rec room. In that time the sky’s color had deepened from lavender to deep violet. The trees were swaying back and forth, their leaves trembling as rain pelted their branches and thunder shook the earth. Sean pressed his face against the window pane, his eyes shining as he watched nature wreak its fury upon the world.
"Beautiful…" he whispered as another bolt of lightning cracked through the sky, running his tongue across his lips as its glow reflected in his pupils. Brandon was sitting at his computer, wrapped up in the fantasy of being an elite member of a foreign military. Sounds of guns firing and people screaming issued forth in a loud, rapid succession from the computer’s relatively tiny speakers. I fetched myself a glass of soda and settled on the couch, my mind half devoted to the insipid sitcom reruns that played on my television screen and half devoted to listening to the majesty of the storm outside. I had drained most of my drink when Sean suddenly turned away from the window and began walking downstairs.
"Se-sean? Where are you g-going?" I asked, setting my glass on the coffee table.
"Out…" he said, a slight hiss in his voice.
"He’s got to be kidding." I thought, standing and following him. He strode through my laundry room and outside, not even bothering to close the door behind him. I snatched an umbrella and went after him, shutting the door as I stepped off the metal threshold. I ran towards him, holding the umbrella over his already soaked body.
"Wh-what are you doing?" I asked, watching as he paused to brush a lock of his sodden purple hair from his face.
"There is something out here," he muttered.
"Where?"
He didn’t answer, but moved away from me and the umbrella’s protection, climbing over the rotting white fence that separated my house from the one next door. I bit my lip, glancing from my door to the fence.
"I can’t just let him go off alone…" I thought, nibbling on the skin of my lip. He had never understood the dangers of walking around (and shirtless, too) in a violent storm. I grasped the slick wood of the ancient fence with one hand, carefully climbing over and jumping. The umbrella slipped from my hand as I stumbled and fell, landing hard on the wet grass. I pulled myself to my feet, muttering various four letter words as I took the umbrella again and went after Sean, into the rainy darkness.
*
The weather was unusually warm, a stark contrast to last night’s chill. The rain followed suit of the air, spattering my generally cool hands with drops of liquid heat. Mud sucked at my boots as I tromped through my neighbor’s backyard, calling for Sean every few minutes. I had called his name for about the fifth time when I noticed a bit of red-blue disappear into the shed Sean occupied in the summer. Blinking, I turned my head and saw the same flash of color, this time entering the small storage room beneath my neighbor’s pool. My breath caught in my throat as last night’s dream played back in my mind.
"Deja vu," I thought, watching as Sean approached the rotting door.
"S-sean!" I cried. "D-don’t go in there."
His fingers curled as he pulled his hand away from the rusted doorknob.
"Why?"
"B… b-because there’s s-snakes in there… a-and i-it’s dangerous." I said lamely, biting my lip.
"I rather like snakes…and I laugh in danger’s general direction." He grasped the knob again and pulled it open, muttering "ha ha ha ha" as he stepped inside.
"S-sean!" I broke into a run again. God, I hated running. He closed the door behind him, and I stood in front of it, shaking. Lightning flashed angrily in the sky, and I looked down at myself. My clothes and hair clung to my soaking body, and rivulets of rain streamed down my face and arms. Drenched.
The door started to open then, and I took a step back, holding my breath. Sean stood on the threshold, clutching the arm of a tall man with red-blue hair. His left eye was red, and the right was blue, and he held in his hand a long bladed, wicked looking sword.
"Look what I found, Claris," Sean said, pushing the man forward. "Say hello."
"Umm… hi." I said, taking another step back.
"Greetings," the man said grimly. "I am Necavi. Do you know, perchance, where I am? I was in the middle of killing someone and I really would like to get back to it."
"K-killing s-someone?" I echoed. I glanced at Sean, who was standing behind Necavi with a look on his face that said "This guy’s even more nuts than I am."
"Indeed."
Another whip of lightning cracked across the sky.
"Ummm… h-how about we go inside and t-talk about it…" I said. Part of me was telling me that this guy was just another random nut, but another part could not dismiss the strange familiarity I felt when I looked at his face. I turned and started walking back to the house, gesturing for them to follow.
"Best do what the lady says," I heard Sean’s voice and smiled. Apparently he was in one of his more rational moods.
Sean draped himself over one of the chairs in my kitchen, watching as I gestured for Necavi to sit while I got some towels. Once we were all relatively dry, I asked him if he would explain his situation again.
"I told you—I’m in the middle of killing someone and I would very much like to get back to it."
"U-um, ki-killing who, exactly?" I said.
"A rather annoying young upstart by the name of Alistair. Himself and his friends have been trying—in vain, of course—to halt my plans for total world domination, and we were right in the middle of the decisive battle when—“
"A-Alistair?" I said. That name was so familiar.
"Yes, that’s his name," Necavi said, sounding a little annoyed. "Now if I may continue—"
"J-just a se-second," I said, holding my hand up and then dashing upstairs. I returned a few moments later, clutching a black CD case that had the words ‘The Legend of Septerra’ printed across it in white.
"You… y-you’re from this g-game." I said, holding it out.
"Beg your pardon?" Necavi said, blinking at me as if I had suddenly become a rare species of tropical insect. Sean glanced over at me also, raising an eyebrow.
"L-look.." I said, opening the case and fumbling with the instruction booklet. I opened it up to the front page, on which was drawn an illustration of his character.
"Is that supposed to be me? I’m far better looking than that," Necavi sniffed, taking the booklet from my trembling fingers. He pursed his lips as he flipped through it, knitting his eyebrows in annoyance.
"Why are there more pictures of Alistair than of me? Heroes always get more attention," he grumbled. Sean blinked.
"Allow me to get this straight—you are from my dear Claris’s video game?"
"Well, I prefer the term ‘alternate dimension’ but obviously yes," Necavi said. "No doubt about it, this is our story… although obviously biased towards that brat Alistair…"
I rubbed my head, wondering briefly if I was still asleep and this was all really a very vivid dream. I mean, come on. Characters from video games don’t just spring to life and walk into your house. That only happens in poorly conceived fanfiction.
"Th-this is too weird," I said, adjusting my glasses.
"Hmph.. well, weird or not, I am here…" he stood up, pointing the tip of his sword’s blade at my throat, "…and I expect you to return me home."
"Wh-what?!" I said, as Sean jumped up from his chair and moved in front of me, narrowing his eyes.
"Wh-what makes you th-think I know how to get you back?" I gasped, peering out from behind Sean.
"You summoned me here, did you not?" Necavi said, not lowering the sword.
"N-no!" I said, frowning. "we didn’t su-summon you."
"Hmm… oh well… You are going to find a way to get me back anyway, for I am the villain, and thus am allowed to freely persecute the innocent and uninvolved."
"D-damn." I said.
"You shall not harm my dearest, o foul ruffian!" Sean said dramatically, putting a hand on the blade and moving it away from us. "I am allowing you one chance to continue on your way to the nearest mental hospital before I am forced to become medieval on your backside."
"Hah! Please," Necavi said. "I refuse to fight with a half-clothed brute such as yourself."
"Half-clothed brute?! Why you son of a—“
"S-stop it," I said, pulling Sean away. "If you g-guys fight, I’m going to be the one cleaning up the mess, s-so stop."
Sean hissed.
"I shall fall back, but know that it is only because I am obeying your wishes, my lady fair!"
"Eheh…" I smiled nervously. "L-let’s tr-try to get along, o-okay? I m-mean, I know you’re a vi-villain and all, but…"
"Yes, yes." Necavi said, sheathing the sword. "I shall refrain from removing this brute from the mortal coil—for now."
"Gee, thanks," Sean said, rolling his eyes. I turned at the sound of the door opening, freezing in place when I heard my mother’s voice call out.
"Hellooo!" Mom said, trotting into the kitchen. "Claris, did you track in all this mud?"
"Y-yes…" I answered, looking at my feet.
"Then stop goofing off with all your little friends and clean it up. I’m not the damn maid, you know," Mom grumbled, brushing past Necavi and Sean. "And brush your hair!"
"Your mother does not seem to be wary of my presence." Necavi observed. I ran a dry dishrag under the faucet, shrugging as I squeezed the excess water from the fabric.
"Sh-she’s not fazed b-by much," I said, walking back to the laundry room and kneeling on the cold tile floor. Necavi and Sean followed me, watching as I mopped up the sticky tracks of dark mud our shoes and feet had left.
"Y’know, you guys could g-give me a hand," I said, making a face when I heard the sound of Sean clapping softly.
"Very f-funny," I said, taking the rag back to the sink and washing it out. "Mmm.." I glanced at the digital clock on the wall. "It’s almost ten… kind of l-late…" I yawned for punctuation.
"Where’s this guy gonna sleep?" Sean said, jerking his thumb towards Necavi.
"U-umm… you could sl-sleep in the guest bedroom if you want to," I said nervously, gesturing in the room’s general direction.
"Hm. I suppose that will do." He said, looking towards where my fingers pointed.
"J-just, um.. try not to b-bother my parents, okay? Th-their room’s right across from that one.." I said, nibbling my lip.
"Certainly." Necavi said, bowing a little and wandering off. "Goodnight. I shall see you in the morning, when my situation will be discussed further."
"Freak," Sean muttered.
"I c-can’t believe th-this is h-happening," I said, rubbing my head.
"I can.." Sean said, his voice lowering into a hiss. His demeanor changed from semi-normal to cryptic sociopath in ten seconds. This was a record.
"Don’t you see, Claris?" he grasped my shoulders, turning me around so that I was looking into his intense blue-green eyes.
"N..n-no," I said, adjusting my glasses and swallowing thickly. His rational mood had definitely disappeared.
"This is the beginning of everything," he said, grinning madly and moving forward, backing me up against the nearest wall. I breathed in quickly, trying to keep still. I hated it when he was like this. My fingers trembled as he leaned in close to me, still smiling wildly, his dagger sharp teeth almost glinting in the dimly lit kitchen.
"Wh.. what?" I whispered. I could feel his breath on my neck.
"The beginning, my dear, to use a cliched phrase…" he raised his head, widening his insane, glittering eyes. "The beginning of the end."
END DAY II