Superstition {On hold}

Chapter 3

Chapter III

...

So there the hooded shadow was, hovering just out of site, as the duo made it out of the building. With its dark hood casting a heavy shadow across its face and its dark coloured cloak, it looked like Death.

It was the dark brown haired boy, it noted, the one it was instructed to observe—Reece Nevermore, and his dark haired female companion, who came out less bloody than she was when she went inside the building. She had some sort of bag pressed against her nose. The figure let out a low croaking sound that came from deep in its chest. The girl did smell quite delicious with the blood covering her arms, palms, nose and mouth. It was such a shame she had to wash it off... “...swear to God,” the girl was saying as she walked, “I’ll end Ty’s life. I’ll nail his skin to his bedroom door...and then toss his corpse down a well, where he can rot. Alone, bloody and wet.” The boy simply looked at his feet while the hooded figure followed them, drifting ever so silently through the air like a speck of dust in a light breeze. The shadow sensed an aura of uncertainty emitting out of Nevermore and fed on the negativity. At that instant, the boy wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. A pair of decayed, scab filled hands under the cloak clenched with joy. “Is it me, or did it just get colder?” he asked the girl. Pity. If he only knew what was really happening. The girl looked at the boy and then at the cloudy sky. The drizzle had stopped. “It’s you, Reece...You know, I was so mad, I didn’t even realized that the rain had stopped.”

“Drizzle.”

“Whatever.”

 Reece Nevermore chuckled.

He won’t be chuckling in the days to come. Another throaty croak escaped the figure. Although this time, it sounded more like a rattle. They were now getting closer to the school block. “Thanks for escorting me to the nurse,” the girl said passively, even though she meant what she said. The boy smiled. “You’d do the same for me, Beth.” The girl, Beth, rolled her eyes, but with a smile and said, “I wonder what happened to Damon...”

Nevermore furrowed his brows. “Who?”

“The guy I hit with the tray.”

“Oh. Him,” he retorted. “Think he thought it wouldn’t be macho to have Mrs. Swan dress his wound for him?” he suggested. Beth shook her head as a cold breeze ruffled her dark hair while her brows pulled down in disgust. “He’s probably gonna go tell someone that he got it wrestling a rabid dog, or something...Wish I hit Ty, though.” She said the last bit with an edge. They were close to the front entrance of the school block when the girl stopped. Slightly confused, Nevermore stopped too. “Why’d you stop? The school block’s right in front of us.”

“I just need to get one thing straight—dang it! Having this ice pack pressed against my nose is giving me a headache and the cold is making my hand numb!” she complained as she switched the ice pack onto her other hand. The wind picked up, causing the shadow’s cloak to flap violently. This conversation was boring it deeply.

Humans couldn’t be duller.

“Alright, listen,” she continued, her hair flying wildly against the wind. “Are you coming over? Yes or no?” Nevermore, whose hair also flopped against the wind, gave her a nod. “I’ll send a text to my mum telling her that I’ll be at your place after school,” he said. The shadow watched him pull out some sort of device out of his pocket. The girl seemed happy enough with what he said. The bellowing sound of the electric bell filled the air. Seconds later a tidal wave of adolescents made their way out of the open doors and into the parking lot, entering either their cars or buses. Both an aura of shock and amazement emitted from the duo before it flooded their faces. “I—we’ve”—Beth quickly gestured to the both of them—“just missed an entire lesson!” she let out a wry laugh. Nevermore had his hands in his hair, clutching a fistful of it. “This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening,” he said in amusement. The shadow detected a pinch of worry. “Dude, relax, you’ll get a stroke.” Reece shook his head and chuckled with disbelief. “Beth, I’ve actually just missed a whole lesson. One entire lesson, Beth. That’s—I’ve never done that before.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Let’s get going. The parking lot’s turning into a graveyard, and for God’s sake, Reece, don’t be so melodramatic.” And with that, both Nevermore and the Beth turned their backs on the school block and made their way down the nearly deserted parking lot with the black ghostly figure, floating ever so quietly above them.

*

Nevermore got out off the house almost as fast as he got in. The lady that he lived with wasn’t home when he got back so when he was leaving the house, Nevermore locked the front door. He then walked away from the porch and onto the sidewalk, heading north. A blank empty socket under the cloak—where an eye should’ve been—watched him go in silence. Follow the boy. Keep him in sight. Follow the boy. Keep him in sight. Those where its master’s orders. Follow the boy. Keep him in sight. The boy’s shoes squeaked and squawked on the damp road with every step. A cool gust of wind blew. The tall trees on the west side of the road rustled in response while the cloaked figure weaved through them, like a snake meandering through grass, completely hidden under their tall shadows. Small droplets fell off from the leaves high above and landed lightly onto the ground. The boy shivered slightly and slid his hands into his pockets. He really was feeling cold, as far as the hooded shadow could tell.

Sigh.

If he’d only knew what was about to happen in the days to come and his role in all of it. It was the reason why its master sent it on this mission in the first place; to watch and keep an eye on the boy and report to him anything that seemed odd. Silently, the cloaked figure followed until the boy came to a stop in front of a house, one quite similar to the one he lived in; except this one had a huge metal door on the house’s right.

A garage door.

 Reece pulled out the weird, rectangular device he used back at the school out of his pocket, tapped the screen, held it close to his ear and spoke after a moment’s pause. “Hey, Beth?” a pause, “Yeah, I’m outside your door.” Once he was done, he slid the alien device back into his pocket and silently waited, his hands in his pockets. The sky darkened a shade and the hooded figure couldn’t help but let out another throaty rattle. The grim atmosphere, the grey evening and the cool frequent breeze. The weather was really in its favour.

Suddenly the garage doors opened. The sudden loud sound, like a huge metal sheet being dragged down a road, made Nevermore flinch. On the other side was the girl he was with earlier today holding something that looked like a huge black mace with metal strings. A cool haunting voice rang through the head of the hooded figure. Corpse...Tell me. How is Reece? It asked. The voice was male, soft, smooth, soothing but cold, dark and profound. The sort of voice that reminded the figure, Corpse, of silent screams in the dark. Corpse responded in a dead man’s voice, raspy and thick. Nevermore...is in...sight. He is...still oblivious...of my...presence.

Good... said his master. Make sure it stays that way...

Nevermore and the girl were now talking to each other. He was awed with the thing that she held in her hand and couldn’t stop raving about how ‘cool’ and ‘sick’ it was.

Do it tonight, Corpse, and then return... We’ll start tomorrow. The beginning of the end is near. And with his master’s final cool words, Corpse’s cracked and bony lips spread into a wide twisted smile; causing thin sheets of dead skin to peel off its cheek and gently fall onto the leafy ground. The peelings were toxic, turning the leaves below black under their touch.

It’s time...