No rest for trouble

Chapter 7

"We have to get out of here." Grace said in a gentle tone of voice. The stench of rotting food was getting closer. "We can't go out the window. I do not trust the sharp edges." Marxes pointed out. The undead creature peeked into the doorway and let out a snarled. It started to swipe its claws at the two friends. Marxes and Grace backed away towards the window. The creature went to pin them near the broken window. The smelly creature stared into each of the youths eyes. Marxes and Grace tried not to whimper. They also found the smell of rotting food to be unbearable. "What do you want?" Marxes demanded out of frustration. The creature growled next to the youths' ears. Grace and Marxes thought that they were going to lose their hearing over the loud noise. The undead creature also looked at the broken window. He leaped out of the window and went onto the next roof. Marxes and Grace left the room. "What just happened?" Grace asked. "What does that monster wants anyway?" Marxes questioned Grace.

Marxes took his scooter into the hallway. "All I know is that we won't find any clues here. We should go back to my house to get my scooter." Grace suggested. Marxes looked down the stairwell. The horrid stench was slowly dying off. Marxes brought along his empty backpack. He left all of his homework and schoolwork behind. The only item he brought in his bag was the book he had about the story of the unique monster. Marxes carried the backpack and the scooter downstairs. His parents secretly went to look at the homework he has to do. Grace and Marxes went to the front door. Only one part of the front door frame was damaged from the creature slamming it shut. Marxes went outside. It was 10 PM. There was no sign of the monster. Grace and Marxes both went to Grace's house. They could smell the scent of rotting food coming from the top of the roofs. Grace held onto her nose. Marxes simply rolled on the sidewalk using his scooter. "So how do we stop that smelly monster?" Grace asked as she and Marxes stopped at the front door to Grace's house. "Let's just get your scooter first, before talking about that." Marxes replied. They both went into Grace's house. The monster's foul odor is coming from the Grace's bedroom. Marxes and Grace both held their noses as they climbed the steps up to Grace's room. The scent of rotting food is strong inside Grace's room. Her parents were on the wooden floor. They all had pale faces. They couldn't get up off the floor. Grace's parents look as if they had seen a ghost. "Help us." Her father pleaded in a hoarse yet weak tone of voice. Marxes and Grace put both of her parents on her bed. They sat looking at the two youths. "We thought..." Grace's mother began. "No mom. That wasn't me." Grace assured. The parents were shivering from the encounter with the undead monster. Grace went to get her scooter. She also brought along her backpack. Marxes looked at her window. He then covered his mouth. Grace quickly brought along her backpack. "We better leave, now." Marxes said.

A gray hand could be seen holding onto the top part of the window frame. A gray head popped up in view of the window. It gave off a nasty growl. The friends screamed out of surprised. The creature climbed from the roof and into the bedroom. The stench made the air hard to breath in. The smelly monster tried to grab the two friends at the collars. They both backed away. Marxes and Grace ran away. Grace even put her scooter on the house floor and rolled it all the way to the staircase. The undead monster growled in disappointment. Grace did a trick with the scooter. She slid it on the railing down the stairs. Grace fell off the railing and landed feet first on the stairs. "That was a bad idea Grace." Marxes remarked as he reached the front door first. Grace tumbled down the few stairs. She landed with her stomach facing the floor. The creature jumped onto the railing and slid on it. Marxes and Grace soon ran out of the house. They flung the front door opened and ran. They both set down their scooters and pushed them with all their might. The undead monster jump out of the front door and landed on the sidewalk outside. It was very dark outside. A flashlight would be needed to get around in the dark. Grace and Marxes used the flashlight apps on their phones. They focused on getting far away from the monster as fast as possible. Marxes didn't know where he and Grace were going to be heading. "Where are we going?" Marxes asked. "Let's stay away with the long way between here and the school." Grace and Marxes soon were rolling down the one route they always take to go to school. A few cars went down the road in the middle of the night. "I know where we could go." Grace said. Marxes let her lead the way. The two youths arrived at the middle school soon enough. It was a smooth ride to get to the middle school. The undead monster was following them from a distance. He jumped from the roofs of the cars and the rooftops of houses. Although he didn't made much noise, the drivers of the cars that the smelly creature had landed slowed down a little. There was a stench coming from on top of the cars. The horrible smell came from the outside and seeped into the inside of the vehicles. "Yowie, what is that horrible smell?" A driver exclaimed after the monster rode on the top of the car for about five seconds. The undead creature also jumped on the side of a fence. Marxes and Grace rode through intersections without stopping.

The two friends soon arrived at the middle school. They struggled to find a way inside. The doors were locked. Marxes and Grace looked all around the middle school. There was no opening in one of the doors at the back. However, one of the classroom windows wasn't closed all the way. Marxes slowly opened the window. The smelly monster watched the two youths from across the street. He felt amused as they entered the school threw the window. They also closed the window behind them. Marxes quickly spat on the alarm system. The security system in that classroom was short circuited. Grace had the scooters put next to the window that they entered. "Well, at least we could get some peace and quiet." Grace said. "Yeah, I'm going to sleep too. At least nobody would bother us while we're in here." Marxes declared. Grace and Marxes went to one of the desks and slept. The undead creature jumped from the house of a nearby house to the top of the fence that covered most of the school property. The creature then pushed itself on from the top of the fence. The smelly monster landed on the school roof. The undead creature was careful to stay out of sight. Marxes and Grace slept away. They had their arms crossed on the desk in front of them. They slept for a short while. The creature snarled and wanted to get inside the school. He then heard a bicycle as it pulled up next to the school. A youth wearing a cloak got of the bicycle and chained it up next to the school entrance. The figure went next to the school entrance. It tried to open the door from the outside, but it was no good. The figure tried to look for another way in. It carried a gym bag on his or her back. The stranger then went to look around for an opening of some kind. The figure stopped when it saw Marxes and Grace sleeping in a classroom.

Grace was starting to snore. So was Marxes. They didn't hear the parts of the window getting smashed. The stranger knocked the parts of the window in with a rock that was in the backpack. The upper half on the window got carefully smashed from the outside. The piece of window that got smashed on top broke off from the smaller pieces of glass holding it in. It crashed and shattered on the floor nearby. The noise woke Marxes and Grace up. They both looked at the window. The stranger cleared away the glass near the bottom. The creature didn't move. The smell of rotten food was coming from the broken window. The smelly monster went to the other side of the school roof. The stranger got inside the classroom. Marxes and Grace both jumped out of their chairs. The stranger dropped the rock and ran towards Grace. She was knocked to the floor. The stranger started to punch Grace. "Stop it!" Grace said, nearly shouting. The stranger ignored her. Marxes rushed in and pulled the stranger away from her. Grace backed away. The stranger's hood was pulled down. It was Holly. She was scowling at Grace. "You put me in detention." Holly mentioned. "You did it to yourself." Marxes commented. "Get off me." Holly pushed Marxes arms away from her neck and shoulders. "Why are you troublemakers here?" She asked. "I would ask you the same thing Holly. You might get into trouble again." Grace spoke with a smirk. "Well same with you. I could tell the principal that you guys were breaking into a school at night." Holly uttered as she took two steps towards Grace. "We could tell the principal that you also broke into the school. Then we would all get suspended." Grace said, making a stand. "Or expelled." Marxes added. "Did you guys leave that rotten smell behind? Or do you guys stink?" Holly queried. Marxes and Grace were worried. "Are you scared that I would tell you guys over to the principal?" Holly pumped, thinking that the two friends were not giving her any attention. "So what? We could get you expelled from school if we told the principal that you broke one of the windows." Marxes told Holly aggressively. The smell of rotting food only began to spread throughout the room. Holly hold her shirt up against her nose. "So why are you here? Trying to get back at the principal for getting you in detention?" Grace grilled her. Holly's face became redder than a tomato. She shook her head furiously. "I wanted to get back at you!" Holly yelled as she pointed at Grace. "I was going to vandalize the school and say that you two have done it." She blurted out. Suddenly, the smelly creature landed on the grass outside of the window.