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I never necessarily enjoyed high school. It was all boring. Had been, at least for me, since freshman year. Though, I could always appreciate the predictability of things, the routine. Nothing much changed, except for the lesson plan, as always. Exhaling with content, I stepped onto my porch, lighter and cigarette in hand, which I’d stashed in my jacket around a week ago. I know what you might be thinking. All I’ll say? I never said I was one of those “goody-two-shoes.” Jeez, I always feel like a pope when I do shit like this. Sit outside, having a smoke, try to find at least some decent aspect of my life. Chuckling, I lit my cigarette and put the lighter back in my jacket. I’ll manage a couple smokes later. The irony of doing this so calmly is hilarious to me. Especially at dusk, just when the sun sets. About 6 months ago, it was supposed to be a normal day. Which would be the last for me. I wasn’t really planning on going to college, anyhow. I’d likely just work as a tattoo artist, or something along the lines. More smoke fills my lungs as I take another drag of my cig. Nights like these can be nice sometimes.
Ah. I never told you my name, did I? My apologies, I ain’t one for small talk. Names’ Dorian.
Honestly, I usually don’t remember much about first school days. Frankly, they’re always boring. More than the rest. However, this one was different. I remember slugging through the day. It was all repetitive, slideshow after slideshow. Full day schedule, only to have time for the teachers to all run their spiel. I filled out a couple surveys, which I’ve always hated doing. I never really know for sure what to write on ‘em. I know my hobbies, which happen to be skateboarding, and tattoos. Of course, there’s other stuff, but those are the main two. Anyway, I’d made the executive decision to skip out on a couple of classes. The last two, after all, why not? It was all mindless.
Not that I don’t like the occasional day where I don’t really have to think, but I enjoy engaging my brain in something. Usually, it’s more than one thing I’m doing at a time. If I’m putting new tape on my board, I’m usually also working on a new tattoo design. To put it bluntly, I’m the kind of guy to always be doing something.
I was “going to the bathroom”. I’d just slipped through my leather jacket, the one I wear either A. To just look cool, or B. For nicer occasions. In this case, it was both. I faked taking the pass from the table, not even giving an effort to sign out, and headed to “the bathroom”. I was actually headed to one of the exits I’d previously scoped out. Despite my wearing wired earbuds and keeping my head down, I was stupidly aware of my surroundings. I took out my earbuds before hopping my school’s fence into the forest. I wasn’t stupid. I meandered a bit, listening to the soft noises the grass made under the soles of my boots. My boots’ cleanliness was poor, but they were sturdy. I’d done this more times than not, after all, it was expected they’d be a bit muddy.
You know what would be funny right about now? Someone catching me out here. I laughed softly, exhaling the smoke from my cigarette. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t thought about what I’d do if someone found me. Nobody has, after all. Well, except this one boy. I’ll talk about him later.
Eventually, I started to hear odd noises. Now, before you call me crazy, being all like “Oh but Dorian you’re in the forest of course you’re going to hear noises.” That’s not the point. It wasn’t the sound of some creature, at least, not one you and I are used to. The best way I can describe it is some pained middle ground between a cry and a growl. The sound sent a shiver down my spine. I froze in my tracks. It didn’t sound that far off. I turned in a different direction quickly. Once again, I started meandering, but I kept thinking about that noise. It was... weird. Creepy, even, and hell, it doesn’t tend to take so little to creep me out. Eventually, I put my earbuds back in to distract myself. Though, it didn’t do much to tune out my own head.
I’d made the executive decision to return to school. Why not? As I turned back in the direction I’d trailed from, the grass began to move in odd ways. Looking through my dark curls, I hadn’t seen much around me, I paid no mind to it and kept walking back. Though, that noise I’d heard earlier kept on creeping up on me. What was it? What did it want? I shoved my hands into my pockets. Wasn’t difficult, considering how sweaty they were from what was going on. I could feel thudding under my feet, it was rhythmic, purposeful. I took an earbud out to hear more. I tried to act normal. But who could when you’re in a situation like this?
Suddenly, a flash passes me. It looked like it was blue, but honestly, I couldn’t really make out its color. I whipped around so fast I almost gave myself whiplash or something. I froze. My eyes darted around, quickly surveying for where this…thing had gone. I start to run. Just run. Faster than ever before. I’m no track star, but I was going at least above average for any human. But it wasn’t enough. That same flash of blue light caught up. I turned to the side, breathing matching the rhythm of any horror game. It lunged toward me. Tumbling to the ground, I threw my hand up in guard, thinking I was going to die. I smelled something like its breath... I think? In a few seconds, all I felt was pain. I screamed. I looked at my arm; blood was dripping down the limb as if I’d replaced it with a faucet of crimson. I scrambled to my feet and started running. Tears ran down my face. Whether it was from pain or fear, I never knew. I was just running. All my brain could think was “Get the hell out.” You know, fight or flight type deal. I kept running until, eventually, I was home. To this day I dunno if the damned thing was chasing me, but when I slid my back against my door to the ground I heard nothing. Not even a scratch or howl. From what I saw, it was some kind of wolf, dog? Bear? Something of the canine family? Whatever the hell that thing was---it was deranged… mutated… After catching my breath, I realized nobody was home, which was typical. I sighed, shaking. I took a good look at my arm, slowly coming to the realization that this jacket needed a shit-ton of hydrogen peroxide now.
I got up, almost falling at first due to fatigue, and cleaned and bandaged my arm. It was nothing perfect, but it was honestly the best I could do alone. Having tattoo equipment sure comes in handy. I laughed a bit, though I couldn’t tell if it was out of happiness. I started to think about whether to tell my parents about this encounter, but then they’d figure out I was skipping. Which, I don’t why they would care anyway, it isn’t like they’re ever even home in the first place. I sat down on my bed after I cleaned up. My desk was still a mess with all the design and tattoo stuff, along with the bolts from my board, but I’ll figure that out later. I don’t feel like cleaning it. I lied down, but I hear my phone go off. I pick it up. Message from one of my buddies that I spend time with on occasion. He was basically asking me if I was or did skip. I confirmed his question and threw my phone to the foot of my bed. I needed a nap.
When I woke up, I checked the time from my earlier placed phone. 3 o’clock in the morning. Jeez, you’d think I wouldn’t be waking up at this time, but I guess I did. But everything was… off. I had a slight pain in my jaws, but I figured it was nothing. I grabbed my headphones, put them on, and pushed play. Seconds later, I was throwing them back onto my bed with no second thought. What the hell? Why was that so loud… that was the normal volume…
I shook my head. Probably nothing. Only, the pain in my jaw was getting worse by the second. I grabbed my water bottle to take a swig of it, only to be attacked by a coughing fit seconds later. I ran to the bathroom, coughed into the sink. Crimson colored the sink as if it was a watercolor piece. What the? What the hell is happening?? My thoughts quickly get interrupted by a distinct clicking noise from the sink. I look down. It’s my tooth. I force my mouth open and look in the mirror, eyes widening. I cough again, followed by a second clinking noise. I force my mouth open again. Fangs. My body starts trembling, meanwhile I’m busy trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Then, my body is overwhelmed by one thing.
Pain. I fall to the floor, having no idea where this is coming from, since I was fine literally 5 minutes ago, sound asleep. God, at this point I wished I never woke up. I start to scream in pain, not even caring about the neighbors right now, while also attempting to crawl back to my phone to try and google these symptoms, or whatever. Eventually, my vision goes black as I pass out. The sound of bones cracking and skin moving filled the room. Scratching and a bang sharply follow, leaving no delay. Sound finally stops, just for a moment. A pained wolf howl echoed amidst the darkness of the night. The sun was set.
I was free from the shackles of the daylight.