Chapter Text
(Book cover credits to @/1Coc0Nut on DeviantArt)
Sal rested on his bed, staring blankly at the dark roof of his un-lit room. It was all a surprisingly normal week, somehow. The Devourers of God had been awfully quiet, and it was all but suspicious, especially with their plans.
Still, as the sun set, Sal felt completely safe. There was always a long quiet before the unexpected, a calm before the storm. It was definitely an assurance that the red-eyed demon was trapped as of now, too. Yet somehow, he couldn't bring himself to go to sleep just yet. Something bugged him, keeping him awake at night.
No matter how tired he was, how far on the brink of absolute exhaustion, there was something absolutely wrong. He had never had insomnia before. Even with all of his nightmares in the past, and even the present, he never stayed awake past eleven at night.
Wishing he still had his walkie intact, he stood up from his bed with a sigh.
"Everyone's probably asleep..." He mumbled, wandering to the kitchen and grabbing a couple cookies from the pantry. He popped one in his mouth before walking back to his room.
"I guess I might as well, since there's nothing else to do..." He began, pulling out a sketch pad and art supplies, the gifts from Larry for his birthday. It was a nice gesture considering how much Larry himself loves art, though Sal hadn't really bothered to use it much with how busy he always was. That only meant to him that nights like these were the perfect ones to use them.
He thought for a moment, softly tapping the eraser of his sketching pencil against the thick paper. "What was it that Larry had said again? Draw what you feel? Or was it to let your mind carry you..." He muttered, as he began to draw.
It's no secret that he was an absolutely horrible artist at first, and yet somehow within a matter of weeks, Sal had drastically improved beyond recognition. He had settled on drawing a young woman, who seemed to remind him an awful lot of his mother in likeness when he was finally finished. Her eyes looked gentle and full of kindness, and she had a smile like spring. She was really quite beautiful, honestly.
He stared at the finished product for a minute, tucking it away with his other artworks and drawing someone else.
Soon enough, after another couple of hours doodling random people he saw at school (as well as his friends,) it was morning.
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Something was different today. Ash was generally more distraught and less talkative, Larry seemed to be zoned out more often than usual, and Todd daydreamed in class. By lunch, most of the students had called home and gotten their parents to agree to pick them up, including Ashley, who would be picked up during the lunch hour.
"Larry, do you know anything about all the missing kids? I swear man, it's like everyone caught some sort of stomach bug or something. What's going on?" Sal asked, curiously poking at his french fries as if he was testing them for radioactivity.
"Dude, it's that weird vibe from Packerton. She's been offbeat ever since they stopped bologna sandwich day. You should remember like it was yesterday, since y’know, BS day was cancelled like, right after you moved here. They said that too many complaints were filed, kinda like when they ended meatloaf day... Anyway, her vibe's just been more in-the-dumps deadbeat sicko this past week. It's almost unbearable at this point… I've just been doodling in my books to keep me distracted," he sighed, as he proceeded to draw Sal out of sheer boredom.
"You gonna eat those?" Chug interjected, pointing to the - now mashed - fries Sal was messing with.
Sal shook his head in a no, and pushed his tray away. "Nah, I think I lost my apetite this morning. I couldn't sleep, and I had a few too many cookies..."
Larry chuckled, looking at Sal. "Dude, you realize that sugar just keeps you up for longer? Don't do that next time. Take some Melatonin."
"The only sleep medication we have in my house are my dad's pills. And I don't wanna steal them, Larry." Sal sighed, and Larry nodded in understanding.
"Yeah man, I get that. I wouldn't wanna take my mom's medications either, especially since she gets sick a lot... And I wouldn't want her to run out and then feel worse..." Larry trailed on, turning his eyes back to the little doodle of Sal that he was making. "Anyway, there's been a bunch of rumors of another new kid. Remember the house that old man, I think his name was Harry, died in?"
Sal nodded. "Yeah. You mean that victorian-fashioned one by the forest, right? It's more like a mansion than a house."
"Yeah, the house that's big as fuck. They're sellin' it, and they said a big family's gonna move in. A rich couple with three kids is gonna live there. That's what the rumors are, at least," Larry said, as he finally finished his drawing and began to sketch out a new one of what he thought the newcomers would look like.
"Larry, stop doodling in your math notebook! Miss Packerton's gonna yell at you again. She already told you to stop doing that in class today!" Ashley whined at Larry, causing him to lose focus and mess up some of his pencil strokes.
"Jeez, Ash. It'll be fine. She doesn't scare me anyway, so I can handle it…" Larry mumbled, and Sal had gotten bored and resorted to playing some games on his Super Gear Boy.
Ashley had retorted something back, before finally leaving the table and heading out so her parents could pick her up.
The rest of the day proved to be just as uneventful, the events if the day being nothing but more boring classes. Some of which had even entailed a few menial, and sometimes even tedious, projects. But then again, the routine he had built up over the week was very welcoming for Sal. He had taken to it similarly to how a full-timer would take to a free vacation with full pay.
And he found that lying in bed afted a long and exhausting day was always rewarding, no matter how stale or bland the tasks and events of the day were. And so just relaxing at home became somewhat of a pastime, the warmth of his room was so inviting now that he was back. And maybe, hopefully, he would be able to finally get some sleep tonight… But of course, this was all just some wishful thinking.
~°·{end chapter one}·°~