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One normal day. That’s all Kenny wants. One goddamn normal day.
The deaths are infrequent nowadays, that much he can still be grateful for, but still. It’s always some bullshit, you know? And, unfortunately, today is no different. He’s been stopped outside of school by a kid he’s never seen before.
A girl, smiling with too many teeth. Her eyes are as yellow as her dress, which was once far too formal for the setting, now dirty and tattered. Her hair, tied into two neat braids with equally distressed yellow ribbons, is a dull pale brown, like tarnished gold. She seems almost skeletal, with sallow skin.
“My name is Sunny,” she says in a slightly stilted voice. “Sunny Aldritch. You are Kenneth McCormick, right?”
“Just . . . just call me Kenny,” he says, uneasy.
She somehow smiles wider. “Well, Kenny, it is lovely to finally meet you.”
Finally?
The more he looks at her, the more . . . wrong she seems. Her eyes don’t have any pupils. It looks like something is shifting under her skin. She hasn’t blinked once, and when she tilts her head, he can hear something crack.
“Is something the matter?”
Yeah, all of it, actually. But he doesn’t say that. “No . . . nah, it’s fine. Um, are you new?”
“Indeed I am! Would you be so kind as to show me around?”
He sucks in a breath through his teeth. “Y’know, I would. But, uh, I’m about to be late for class, so . . .”
She frowns. “Oh. I understand.” Unfortunately, her creepy smile then returns. “Fare thee well, Kenny!” As she walks away, her movements seem odd, as though she’s just learning how to walk.
He lets out that breath, heading inside.
~
She’s in his class. Because of course she is.
By the time Mr. Garrison could even introduce her, she’s already individually greeted each and every one of her new classmates.
And of course, of course her assigned seat is directly next to his. Which she scoots even closer. God damn it.
“This is so exciting!” she whispers, beaming.
“I mean, no, not really,” he whispers back. “Just school.”
“Oh, I have never been to school before!”
“. . . Never?” Even with his parents’ substantial problems, they at least made sure their kids made it to school every day. “Jeez, who raised you?”
Her smile falters. “I am . . . not supposed to tell you.”
“Huh. Why?”
“I am not supposed to tell you that, either.” Sunny giggles. “It is a secret!”
“What are you two fucking talking about?” demands Mr. Garrison, so Kenny faces away from her and towards him.
She kicks her feet cheerfully. “Secrets.”
“Well, it’s not much of a secret if you’re sharing it with someone you barely know. Might as well share it with the rest of us.”
“I would rather not.”
“I wasn’t asking.”
Sunny looks at the floor, fiddling with the hem of her dress. “I see.” She stands up, walking to the front of the room completely unprompted. “Well, something I can tell you . . . is that I am a princess!” She punctuates her sentence with a little twirl.
The class just sort of stares at her. Kenny can feel a twinge of second-hand embarrassment. Then he hears high-pitched laughter from his right, because Damien actually decided to show up today, of all days.
“Fool! You call yourself nobility?” He stands up, pointing at her. “Flammis pere!”
. . . Nothing happens. Sunny tilts her head, looking sad.
“‘Perish in flames?’ Do you not like me?”
Damien looks at his hand in shock. Kenny can hear him repeating the spell under his breath, each time just as ineffectual as the last. He seems almost . . . scared. And as a regular in Hell, Kenny knows that very few things scare Damien.
But then, of course, he regains his composure, scowling. “Know this, princess: as the prince of Hell, I can assure you that your kingdom will fall by my hand, just like every other!”
She seems confused. “The Kingdom of Hell . . . that sounds familiar, but I cannot quite recall. Hell, Hell, Hell . . .” Her eyes suddenly brighten. “Oh! Are you the son of King Satan?”
He smirks, sitting back down and leaning back, arms crossed behind his head. “Indeed I am. Finally, some recognition around here.”
She jumps up and down in excitement, and as he hears wet squelching and sickening crunching, Kenny immediately prays she never does that again. “Wow! I knew you were on Earth, but I had no idea you would be here, of all places! How exciting! Can we be friends?”
“No.”
“Aw.”
“Well, children, I think that’s enough of that. Sunny, thank you for getting in front of the class and lying really badly, now get back to your seat.”
“Yes, sir!” She scurries back to her seat. As in, actually scurries. On all fours. Like an animal. Jesus Christ.
Luckily, the rest of the day passes by uneventfully, and with a far-too-tight hug that he never asked for and an ominous farewell, Sunny finally leaves Kenny to walk home alone.
~
In the dim, dreary kingdom of Carcosa, a towering, shadowy figure in a yellow cloak stands in wait by a grim castle.
The pitter-patter of small footsteps alerts him, and he turns to see the girl, Sunny, running towards him. “Father! Father!” With the horrific sound of flesh tearing, she breaks free of her skin, revealing a similar shadowy figure covered in glowing, pupil-less, yellow eyes. “Oh, Father, I had such a wonderful day!” Tiny wings flutter in excitement as she waves her sharp-tipped tentacles, ranting about her first day on Earth.
Her father picks up the shell called Sunny Aldritch like it’s nothing but dirty laundry. “Dear, please be more careful with your disguise.” He speaks in a language unknowable to all but her and his followers.
“Oh! Right. Sorry.”
“Did you learn anything today?”
“Yes! I learned about human wars, and the teacher spoke of these runes called ‘algebra’ which I do not understand much. I suppose I must continue my studies!”
He pats her head, a gesture that would tear open the average human’s skull and siphon out their brain. “I meant the target, silly.”
“Ohhh. I am afraid I did not learn much about Cthulhu’s child. He seems slightly wary of me.”
“That is alright. It is only your first day.”
“But guess what I did learn?”
“Is it more algebra?”
She giggles. “No, Father. The prince of Hell is in my class.”
“Satan’s child? That is an interesting development,” he muses. “We are both planning the end of days, so perhaps we could form an alliance. Maybe you two could get married. Wouldn’t you like that? It would be like those human movies you enjoy so much.”
All one-hundred of her eyes squint in disgust. “I do not think I would like that. He was a little mean to me today, though I hope we can be friends eventually. Can people get married as friends?”
“I suppose you technically could . . .”
“Besides, he ages on a human timeframe. By the time I am old enough to marry, he will be withered and frail, if not dead!”
“It was just an idea. We can brainstorm a bit more later, alright?”
“Alright. And . . . Father?”
“Yes, little one?”
“. . . I think I quite like Earth. Do I really have to ruin it when I grow up?”
He places a tentacle on her shoulder. “I am afraid you do, dear.”
“Oh . . . well, I suppose I should get ready for bed.” She walks into the castle, slightly dejected. “Goodnight, Father.”
“Goodnight, my sunlight.”