Fernweh {Discontinued}

[Chapter 3]

"I should have won an Oscar for that performance," you groaned, staring up at the clouded night sky. Two days had passed since you were caught and driven home. Two days out of your two week sentence of being grounded. 

Parental control dominated your phone. Your friends were sending their condolences but you couldn't answer them. Your computer was under a password you spent an hour trying to figure out. You tried everything, everything! Birthday. Special dates. Even some random nonsense in the last five minutes before you gave up.

Your parents took away all the game disks, only leaving your game consoles empty and collecting even more dust. You had finished all of your homework out of boredom. You even made a castle out of the textbooks. For the moment, you were now Queen [Name] of Pre-Calculus Kingdom.

To add insult to injury, your family went out to watch the new movie you had waited weeks to see.

Now you were home. Alone. With nothing to do. You remembered the shock on your parents' face and the scolding after the officers explained your situations. 

'You shouldn't be hanging around a bad crowd. You're lucky that you only got a warning.'

'Think about your future.'

"The future," you sighed. You were a senior but still didn't know what you were going to be in a few years. What you were going to study. Where you were going to study. There's also how you were going to pay for college. If you should start working. What scholarships to sign up for. If you should volunteer somewhere.

Another heavy sigh. You missed the good old days of just playing around without a care in the world.

"Snack time!" you announced and headed towards the kitchen, swatting away the anxiety of life. You turned on every light because of paranoia and all the horror movies you watched throughout your life. Inside the kitchen, you searched for your favorite snack. Munching on it, you thought back to the group at the factory. 

'I wonder if they've done anything.'

Your ears perked at the sound of raindrops hitting the windowsill. Walking towards the nearest window, you silently watched the grayish purple clouds hiding away the night sky and stars. The rain had become a nuisance now. It flooded the streets and had caused many accidents. A kid had almost been swept away by a flash flood. 

'If the accidents weren't caused by the Heartless.'

The only thought that kept you entertained were the Heartless. They were a dangerous lot and mysterious. You had spotted more on your walks to the school bus and they seem to be multiplying. They also seemed to be taking notice of your ability to see them. You finished your snack with a sigh and returned to the kitchen for a drink. 

The lights randomly began to flicker throughout the house. At first, just a simple twitch but then they rapidly began to blind you. You gulped and edged towards a corner of the kitchen. The sound of scratching accompanied a flash of lightning. Another flash and the lights blacked out, leaving you to the dark and your imagination on what lurked in it. The only sound in the eerie silence was your heavy breathing and the booming thunder sending waves of panic through you. 

"Great," you drawled sarcastically.

You felt for a weapon and your hand landed on a handle of a frying pan. Bringing it to your chest, the scratching began again. This time it came from the window behind you. You turned to see a black claw slowly grate the window. 

Yellow eyes blinked at you before slamming itself against the window, starting the barrage. You ran to your room but as you turned you saw nothing but smooth, black liquid surround you. A pair of yellow eyes leaped towards you. You prepared a swing and swatted the creature away. It only left behind a puff of dark smoke. Your swings became more frequent as the creatures continued their attack.