Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A Chapter by YoshiPiccollo

 

            “What are you thinking?” Asked Elric. “Huh?” Was my intelligent reply. He asked the question again and the only thing that I could say was, “Oh, just thinking about how I am going to save lives- you know- with my awesome superpowers.” He smiled. The sad thing was that he thought that I was joking. My “gift” may not fall under the superpower category, but I thought that it was pretty close. I had to develop a plan. I had to stop this zombie from taking any more lives, and the first step was to get out of Elric’s house. Standing up, I found that I still had a small case of wobbly legs, but nothing that I couldn’t handle. Once I was able to gain some balance, I turned to him and said, “Elric, it is time for me to go.”

“What? Why?”

“I have been on your couch for days, I think that I have worn out my welcome here.” I cleared my throat and then continued, “Um, thanks for all of your help, and please tell your mom that I appreciate her stitching me up.” With that I headed toward the door. It was time for me to handle this on my own. It was time for me to be a big girl. Right as I was about to leave, Elric’s voice stopped me. “Oh! Hey Stephanie! Can you please not tell anyone at school about you staying here? Um- I really don’t want to deal with any of their crap.” I knew that I should have expected something like this, but it still hurt to hear him say it. Turning to face him I replied, “I will be sure to make sure that your reign at school stays divine, My Lord.” Adding on even more sarcasm I said, “Your pupils will never hear a peep about the misfortune that you had to endure. I am sorry that my staying here has been such a burden.” With that, I left the house, slamming the door behind me.

 

The nighttime air was eerily chilled. I was walking alone- and I was in a sleeveless top without a jacket. To top it all off, my cell phone was in my jacket pocket. Back at Elric’s house.

Well forget it. I am not going back there. Nope. No-sir-y. Wait- do my arms actually have goose bumps? That hasn’t happened to me since, like, three months ago. Well that is just great. I probably look like a homeless person now.

 

            Hours passed by, I still was nowhere near any friendly faces or their homes, and the worst part was that I had school the next day. It was getting late and I was dreading the moment that the sun would disappear into the shadows of the night. I kept on my path, though, trying to find sanctuary. About thirty minutes later I crawled into the neighborhood where Winston lived. I couldn’t walk anymore; I was so hungry and parched. Who knew that He Who Shall Not Be Named’s house was that far away from where I normally dwelled. I managed to pull myself up onto his doorstep and I rang the doorbell. No answer.

Oh you have got to be kidding me. Out of all the times I go to see Winston, he chooses this time not to answer his freaking door.

I decided to just sit there and wait. I mean he had to come home sometime. Little did I know that he would be gone for hours.

 

            “Stephanie?”

I opened my eyes and looked up. Winston was staring at me with disbelief written all over his face. I smiled weakly, “Hey Winston. How have you been?”

“Who cares how I have been, where the hell have you been?” He nearly shouted at me. I winced at his yelling at me. My mind immediately snapped back to the dream that I had had about him yelling at me and then telling me that he married my mom.

Hello? Stephanie? Answer me!” My reverie ended quickly. I looked up at him and sighed, “Now that is a very long and painful story.”

“What do you mean?” All I did in response was lift up my shirt, take off the bandage and show him my stitches. His quick intake of breath was all I needed for him to do. He knew exactly what had happened. Now the only thing that he needed to know was the how, where, and when. He told me to get into his apartment. I was so stiff it was amazing. I could barely move. Then he decided to surprise me by picking me up, bringing me into the apartment and setting me gently onto his bed where he told me to sleep and that we would talk in the morning. I of course said maybe, but that was before he gave the most evil looking expression and said, “We will.” Wow he was really mad at me. This bugged me for a while, but I finally blacked out and rushed into a dreamless sleep.

 

The sun was shining brightly when I woke up the next morn- day. It was shining so brightly, in fact, that I decided to turn over onto my stomach, put the pillow on top of my head, and go back to sleep. That was until, of course, the pillow was wrenched from my hands. “No,” I grumbled. “Oh, yes.” Winston simply stated from above me. I started to retreat underneath the covers, there was no way that I was going to let him win without a fight.  Just when I had started to think that he would let me sleep some more, all of the covers were torn from the bed; leaving me shivering from the unexpected flow of air-conditioning. “Really dude? You just couldn’t let me sleep, could ya’?” Now facing him, I saw that he had blood shot eyes with purple bags descending from his lower lids with an unnatural grace, he had worry lines around the edges of his mouth, and I swear- if he were like thirty years older, there would be little sprouts of white hair on his head. Something had been clearly bothering him. The worst about this was I thought that I was the one who had caused all of the worry. Even though I hadn’t been around to do too much damage to our paranormal society. Then it occurred to me that maybe that it wasn’t about me disturbing the paranormal society- it was just about me. Had he really been that worried about me? My snarky attitude quickly diminished.

“Winston what is bothering you?”

“What do you think Stephanie?” No matter how much I inwardly shouted at them, I couldn’t get my lips to move. All I could do was stare at him with guilt rushing into my system, ready to consume me yet again, but only this time for a completely different reason. I looked away from him, not being able to look at a person whom I had obviously hurt so much. The really sad thing was that I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why he was so pissed off at me. I mean I knew that he was hurt that I didn’t tell him where I was, but why was he mad?

 

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something seemed very off about- well everything. His apartment was a mess, there were stacks upon stacks of towering pizza boxes, dirty clothes were strewn all over the place, and his books were no longer organized. I knew that something was wrong because that kind of life style was not the way my Winston lived. He was always my neat little freak. This was definitely not normal. “Winston, talk to me!” I begged. “What is bothering you? Really?” He wouldn’t answer me, he just went to his desk, sat down and started reading a book. I took that action as a cue for me to leave, so I got up and headed toward the door. I looked at him, but didn’t say anything except, “So that is how it is.” He looked up at me and sighed, “Go to school Stephanie, there should be about three hours left. Then we will talk.” I stormed to the door, with more than one part of my body aching beyond belief, so I only made it to the half-way point. I couldn’t believe that he would wake me up just to get me to go to school.

“Alright. Fine. I’m leaving now.” I looked at him, waiting to be stopped before I reached the door.

“Almost there.” Still waiting for a response.

“I am turning the knob now-”

“Stephanie will you please just leave!”

I was so shocked. Where had that come from? Why wasn’t he telling me anything?

 

I didn’t stick around to find out.

 

 I sprinted back to my ally, ditching school. It took me a while but I finally made it. I had to take a few breaks to clutch my stomach; it hurt like no other. I definitely should have jacked some painkillers before I left Winston’s. Once I got there, I took the scene in with an intake of breath. My backpack was still there, but it was in shreds, something was looking for something. There were tire skid marks left from Elric’s car, there was the littlest amount of blood spatter from where I had hit the ground, and there was a note with a flower on top of it- held down by a rock. Numbly, I bent down to retrieve it. The flower was a rose- and the rose was blood red. I unfolded the note and I nearly collapsed in utter shock. It read:

 

You’re next Stephanie. Just wait.

 

In Lilly’s elegant hand.

 

            I scanned the slip of paper over and over again, trying to figure out how all of this was even possible. How was she still undead? I clearly remembered beheading her and then feeling like a total piece of trash that somehow had betrayed her best friend afterwards. It was impossible. I had never seen a zombie come back from a beheading; it just wasn’t normal- if you could call an impending apocalypse normal.

 

            My head was reeling with incomplete thoughts. I could barely cling on to one; everything was such a blur. What the hell was going on?

 

            Call me stupid, but I decided to go back to the castle- but just for investigating. It wasn’t like I was asking for an early death sentence or anything- the chances of Lilly being back there were slim-to-none. Before I could stand up, though, I heard footsteps behind me. For a second I thought that the zombie had returned, but boy was I in for a shock.

“Elric, what the hell are you doing here? Ditching school are we?”

“Oh, like you aren’t doing the same, Stephanie. Your poor mother, what would she think about this?”

 I was more shocked than anything that he was threatening to tattle. Especially since we were in high school, not elementary. My response was gratified, though, with his face going completely pale. I said, “I don’t know, she is right behind you- why don’t you ask her yourself?” He turned around and there she was. Believe me I was a little taken aback as well, seeing her there. I mean how many people knew about my damned special alley? I mean, I never shared the location with anyone. I never said, “Hey Winston, I am not going to school like you just told me to do, I am going to my special alley.” Nope. Nothing.

“M-Miss Reaper! I am so sorry I had no idea that you were there! I-I-“

My mom didn’t even give him the chance to finish. “Where the hell have you been Stephanie Alaria Reaper! I haven’t seen you for weeks, and when I called Winston, he told me that he thought that you were with me! Explain yourself this instant!”

“Not now, Elaine.”

“What did you just call me? Did you just call me Elaine!”

“Well that is your name.”

“Yes, but-“

“Anyway, we have company in our midst, would you care to please be polite?”

“I could care less who is around us! I demand to know where you have been!”

That was when I snapped. “Why the hell do you care! You are the one who kicked me out in the first place!”

“Yes, but-“

“And you are the one who blames me for Lilly’s death!”

“That’s not true, I-“

“Just leave me alone mother, I will come home when I actually feel welcome again.”

I had never in my life seen my mother close to tears, but just then she did. She ran out of the alley, I heard her car door slam shut, and I heard the tires skid against the pavement as she sped away. I sighed, with a whole renewed grief of my own. I knew that Elric was watching me, so I quickly put my mask back on, hoping that it still gave off the I-don’t-take-s**t-from-anyone vibe. I looked at him and said, “Not a word.”

“Sorry-“

“Not a wor- wait what?”

“I said that I am sorry.”

I looked at him, trying to figure out what he was apologizing for. After a while, I decided that I wouldn’t say anything. What was the point? I mean, I already hurt one person today, why not another? Especially since he deserved it.

“What are you holding? Is that a rose?”

I clenched my fist, crushing the rose’s stem and note into my palm. A thorn pricked the delicate skin on my hand, freeing a little drop of blood. “Nothing,” I said quietly. “Other than a measly red rose that I stole from someone’s front yard.”

“You’re shaking.”

“I am just a little more than pissed off right now, Elric.”

“I don’t think that is what is bothering you.”

“Oh? Then what is bothering me, Swami?”

That was when he decided to go all- goofy I guess people would call it. He sat down on the ground doing a yoga pose, you know the one where you cross your legs and make two of your fingers form a loop. Yeah that one. Then he started humming. I had the sudden urge to kick him in a spot where he wouldn’t be able to recover easily. “I am sensing,” he said in a ridiculous know-it-all tone. “I am sensing that you are- ok I give up.”

 

The look on his face was so innocent and juvenile that I burst out in laughter.



© 2017 YoshiPiccollo


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Featured Review

And onto the next one.
Separate the dialogues at the beginning. I can follow it fine, but as rule of thumb, always use separate indented paragraph when a new person speaks.
Again, a nice switch between thought and dialogue is made near the beginning of this piece - once again, it was flawlessly pulled off. The first 4 paragraphs flowed so well, and i really felt myself becoming so involved in you word craft becuase of how well you have written it.
'You're next stephanie. Just wait.' - AWESOME.
The end sentence of the seconds paragraph which followed 'You're next' was an excellent manipulation of words - I can tell you, that end sentence had me grinning form ear to ear- it was so f*****g cool. But like i say, it's always the little things which count for so much.

Change this..... I heard her car door slam shut, and I heard the tires skid against the pavement as she sped away.
To this............. I heard her car door slam shut, and the tires skid against the pavement as she sped away.

The reason for the change is simply becuase you don't need the 'I heard' bit in twice. If flows so much better without the second 'I heard' being in the sentence.

Great work again - keep this up, I feel really involved in this piece, like I am actually there. The only thing which I would say is to add in some details about the car - smoke rubber, the smell of the burning tyres - that type of thing. But you don't need me to gon - You know what you are doing.
Keep writing this story and I will keep reading.

Mark.



Posted 7 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.




Reviews

And onto the next one.
Separate the dialogues at the beginning. I can follow it fine, but as rule of thumb, always use separate indented paragraph when a new person speaks.
Again, a nice switch between thought and dialogue is made near the beginning of this piece - once again, it was flawlessly pulled off. The first 4 paragraphs flowed so well, and i really felt myself becoming so involved in you word craft becuase of how well you have written it.
'You're next stephanie. Just wait.' - AWESOME.
The end sentence of the seconds paragraph which followed 'You're next' was an excellent manipulation of words - I can tell you, that end sentence had me grinning form ear to ear- it was so f*****g cool. But like i say, it's always the little things which count for so much.

Change this..... I heard her car door slam shut, and I heard the tires skid against the pavement as she sped away.
To this............. I heard her car door slam shut, and the tires skid against the pavement as she sped away.

The reason for the change is simply becuase you don't need the 'I heard' bit in twice. If flows so much better without the second 'I heard' being in the sentence.

Great work again - keep this up, I feel really involved in this piece, like I am actually there. The only thing which I would say is to add in some details about the car - smoke rubber, the smell of the burning tyres - that type of thing. But you don't need me to gon - You know what you are doing.
Keep writing this story and I will keep reading.

Mark.



Posted 7 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.


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Added on March 22, 2017
Last Updated on March 22, 2017


Author

YoshiPiccollo
YoshiPiccollo

TX



About
I am a college student and am currently working on earning my Bachelor's in Communications and a Minor in Creative Writing. I hope to get to know other writers and friends while furthering my creative.. more..

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A Chapter by YoshiPiccollo


Chapter 1 Chapter 1

A Chapter by YoshiPiccollo