Chapter Text
Rachel looked outside of her dorm window. It had been a couple of years since she had decided to sign up for college. It was a community college, that offered some good courses. It had been years since she finished grade school, and graduated from high school. She had tried to get jobs involving writing, but no one really seemed to be hiring scary story tellers. Rachel had attempted to write other kinds of stories, but it didn’t feel right. She kept getting turned down by publishers that she sent her manuscripts to, while working different jobs after she graduated. She was so hopeful that she would get her work fully published and become a real life selling author, her books lining shelves in book stores, that she didn’t put too much thought into whatever else she could do in life. The small part time jobs she had taken while writing her stories and trying to get them accepted were mostly just paychecks so she could have at least some money for herself, and some to give to her mother for groceries and to help a little with other bills since Rachel lived with her, until she became a successful author.
But after a few years Rachel’s mother started to talk her into other options for her life. That maybe some more schooling would be good for her, in case the “whole writing thing” didn’t turn out. So Rachel started to go to classes in her community college classrooms. After a year of going to classes at the school, Rachel decided to move into a dorm, her mother helping her with the payments. Rachel told her mother that it would be easier to think about her classes, but Rachel mainly wanted to just be away from home for once, she wanted to feel that sense of being out in the world. She also needed more self-reliability, and hoped to find more of herself while on her own. She called her mother every night after her day was over, but only visited every now and than on the weekends. Rachel was twenty-four now, and was good at taking care of herself.
Looking outside her window, Rachel thought back to past days when she was still in grade school, and when it was easier to speak to her friends. Everyone had mostly split apart due to different life and career choices after graduation. Akiko went off to film school to do more things in film, and Graham decided to go to the same school as well, but for lessons in, ‘Historic Film Accuracy In Horror’. It was going to help him absolutely perfect criticism in his favorite genre in film, and make him more of a professional about it. Louise went into fashion design, Adam to veterinary school, and Gavin..
Gavin had gone to stay with his mom for awhile, after a big argument with his dad. Gavin had felt as if he was constantly getting lectured to by his dad about what to do after graduation, and not being listened to about wanting to possibly do something other than college. Gavin’s mom lived a county away from his dad’s and his home, so when there wasn’t anywhere for Gavin to stay for awhile till him and his dad had some time away from each other, so things could cool down, he told Rachel he was going to stay with his mom for awhile, and that he would call Rachel everyday and also do some FaceTime with her till he got back.
It was fine, but when he got back both he and Rachel only saw each other a couple of times per week, as Gavin was now doing intern work at a successful local bookstore. His dad had wanted him to apply to college but like Rachel, Gavin wanted to stay involved in storytelling, convincing the head manager of the bookstore to give him a chance to be an apprentice, and eventually run the store. And Gavin had the motive to eventually be able to manage what kind of genre of books that could be spolighted in the store, like anything involving scary stories. Everyone seemed to be happy. Every MS Member had found what they wanted to do in life. Everyone seemed headed for success. Everyone except Rachel. She looked outside her dorm room window at the people walking on the cement paths below, that ran through parts of the grass areas at the college, hoping that soon she would find something for the next step in her life.
When she lifted her head to look up at the sky, Rachel’s eyes immediately looked over at a dark grey cloud gathering, hanging in the sky. It made no sense for them to be there, it had been a sunny day, with no hint of gloomy weather coming. These clouds were different too, they seemed to move on their own, with their own type of conscious. The clouds around them which stayed white and still, showed no sign of movement at all. The dark clouds drifted off into the distance and slowly disappeared. Rachel felt a sense of curious dread as she realized the clouds had drifted down to a familiar place. She moved back from the window and closed the curtains. She laid down on her bed and looked at the ceiling thinking about the dark clouds, that seemed to move towards the area of her former hometown. She saw no reason to be afraid, it was stupid to even think she had anything at all to be concerned about. But that weird feeling of dread still felt too real, coming from nowhere. A sudden thought came to Rachel as her mind recalled the last time she felt fear, as she looked up at a ceiling of hers. She got up quickly and unlocked the door to her room, and hurried out into the hall. She needed to clear her mind, and had the urge to go grab a glass, or bottle of cold water..
Back at Rachel’s hometown where the dark clouds had reached down to the Earth’s soil, the clouds moved and swirled around trees, bushes, and plants, seeming to search for something. Night was now approaching, as the clouds settled near one particular small plant, and formed into a dark figure resembling a man. “Marcus..” A dark voice said. A black scorpion that had once been part of a man but was now the lone survivor of the destruction that had befallen him, and had crawled under a near by cotton candy stand till all was still to try and survive the night of the incident, crawled out of a small hole in the ground. It had enough of the man still within it that it had fallen off of, that it had the sense enough to go and pick up a chunk of the stone that had broken off of the cane, that had been almost all but completely destroyed in the flames, it had been broken over. The scorpion than went off into the woods with the chunk of stone in it’s claws, and had made itself a new home in the woods. Years passed, but the scorpion didn’t die. It used all of it’s instincts for food and shelter to survive, and kept the stone chunk close by it, even as it ventured for food outside of any shelter it made for itself. Now it was completely still as the dark figure stood over it, remembering the sight of that figure and his low and sinister voice.
“Did you manage to cheat death again?” The dark figure said. “It’s quite a feat for something so much smaller now. Do you still have the stone shard?”
The scorpion hesitantly turned and went back into it’s small lair, and than slowly came out, pushing the last remaining chunk of stone that was left over from the cane. The dark figure bent down and picked up the shard and stood back up. He took a moment to examine the shard, and than looked back down at the scorpion near it’s foot.
“Oh poor Marcus. At such a small place again, because of a lost dream, and a young girl. I have a good enough reason to just take the last remaining part of you and your soul to Hell, and have you join your partner, Bartholomew there.“
The dark figure moved it’s foot over the small dark scorpion, ready to crush it. The scorpion in turn moved back a bit and than froze, waiting for the worst. But the dark figure’s foot stayed still over the scorpion for a few seconds, than moved away.
“I wonder though.. What would you do, with one more chance..”
The dark figure finding more amusement in his use of Marcus’s existence on Earth, than taking him to Hell at the moment, closed his fist over the shard of stone in his hand and squeezed hard. A cane grew out of his hand, with a pointed gold tip at the end of the smooth black cane, and at the top of it was the remaining shard of stone held in place, clutched by gold claws, once again. The dark figure opened his hand and let the cane fall to the ground.
“Another chance, just for the fun of it. Let’s see what kind of harm you can cause this time, all alone...”
The dark voice faded, along with the dark figure it had been connected to. Now once again in cloud formation, the presence moved back out through the forest, off to wait and see what was to happen with the outcome of this deal.. It was also amusing seeing the young girl’s face, which was now a young woman’s, in the window of that building he went over purposely on his way to the woods. Yes fun seeing her confused and worried face as he passed over. And now she will see what she needs to worry about again, soon..
The black scorpion moved carefully over to the dropped cane laying on the ground, and touched it with one claw. The claw started to turn slowly into a hand as it grew, the rest of the scorpion’s body following along with the transformation. Soon a man’s body was hovering over the cane, head down, as he breathed in the air around him heavily. His nude figure now in full form, the man quickly lifted his head continuing to breath in heavily, his curly hair slightly bouncing as he did. His light green eyes were wide open, a look of re-energized life awakened in them, with also the look of rage. One word, a name, came from his mouth, with a hiss.
“RACHEL!” Marcus said out loud to one. His left hand closed around the black cane on the ground and it was quickly lifted up, let go for a second than caught again, as Marcus stood up from the ground, strengthening his grasp over the cane. The shard of stone at the top of it gleamed in the light moonlight, matching the gleam in Marcus’s eyes, as night had completely fallen.. And a big grin spread across his face...