To Be Feared

03. || morning

Ace rolled over to his side and groaned. The sunlight peaking through the cracks of his blinds demanded him to wake up. He made an effort to open his eyes without them drooping. Using all of his energy to emerge himself off of his bed, he realized that he was still in his clothes from earlier. Stretching his sore body from tensed muscles, the rocks from his pocket had poured out.

"Oh," he muttered. Too exhausted to clean the mess, Ace carried on with his morning routine.

The morning began normally. As usual, his father must have already left for work. The memory of bloodied bodies never entered Ace's mind. His thought process was blurred with daze. He was so drained that he couldn't think properly.

"Ace!" called out a muffled voice behind the front door. He immediately recognized it, even if he was dead tired. With sluggish movements, Ace opened the door to a worried friend.

"Hey, Lyra," he beamed through weary eyes. He used the door frame to help him stand.

She returned a weak smile. "Did you get any sleep at all?"

Ace noticed her backpack resting on one shoulder. He furrowed his eyebrows until his moment of awareness. "School!" he suddenly yelled out. "Oh my God, I forgot we had school today!" Leaving the door wide open, Ace rushed upstairs to obtain his backpack. He stumbled a few times on his way down. "Okay," he panted. "Ready."

—

Every morning before school, either Lyra or Ace, would show up on each other's doorstep so they could walk to school together. And because their parents did not trust them walking alone, it has been a daily tradition ever since they met in kindergarten.

The sun was out and the breeze cooled them off. The day was particularly pleasant, despite their little adventure they had just experienced. Lyra, in that moment, decided to bring it up. "So, about the bodies..."

After regaining his thought function, Ace had not forgotten about their discovery. It was traumatic for the both of them. Once they had found the corpses, the two ran off to his car and drove home. They were too shocked to say a word during the car ride back. He was surprised that neither of them were screaming while running in circles. He assumed that since they've never encountered something so horrific, their reactions were delayed because they wouldn't know how to handle it.

"I couldn't sleep well last night," Lyra exhaled. She pictured the bodies in her head. They kept reappearing all throughout the morning, and they wouldn't stop reappearing. She squirmed every time the memory replayed.

"I don't think I slept well either," Ace replied with sympathy. He couldn't remember anything later than dropping off Lyra at her house. All he knew was that he barely had any sleep. "Did your parents hear you sneak out?"

"My aunt likely did. She hears everything. She knows I'm a smart kid, so she won't snitch. Otherwise, no. If they did, I wouldn't be able to walk right now." She let out a quiet chuckle to lighten the mood. "Why are we even going to school?"

Ace perked his lips. "It's probably best if we don't speak about this in public. The police are gonna find those bodies soon, and if we don't show up to school, they'll grow suspicious of us."

"Wouldn't it be better if we told them?" she protested.

"You know how the cops are here. They're very..." Ace trailed off, trying to find an accurate description."...shady."

Lyra nodded in agreement. Almost every authority figure in Valkrist Point was questionable. She couldn't put her finger on why that was so.

But Ace could. During his worthwhile researches on monsters, there were some information on Valkrist Point that raised his eyebrows. He wasn't quite comfortable mentioning it to anyone though. He wasn't really sure if the information was reliable or not. "They're going to interrogate the hell out of us. They'll never stop, too. Trust me, it's better if we kept our mouths shut for now. I'll do some more digging in the meantime."

During most of their walk to school, they remained silent in their own thoughts. Lyra continued trying to absorb the previous events. She couldn't believe that monsters existed. Those claw marks weren't from a bear. Bears don't have the capability to suck up all the life in a human and then stack the body on top of another one. Ace thought the same. Except, he kept on contemplating those white eyes he saw. They were amongst the shrubs near them. He traced those eyes back to the drawing. They were identical. The witness wasn't lying at all. Something was out there that night, and the two were fortunate enough to make it out alive.
The sound of chatter from students broke their thoughts. Lyra and Ace observed their oblivious peers.

"Man," Lyra sighed. "They're so lucky. They probably don't know what happened. None of them look scared."

Ace turned to Lyra and frowned. "Ignorance is bliss. The cops would know. They never share any details. Everything that comes out is vague and biased." Suddenly, his tone became defensive. Confusion built up inside him. The news may have released the witness' claim and conformation of investigation, but the fact that it was posted on the Valkrist Point website instead of television, was sketchy. It was rare for anyone to check that website. Most teenagers aren't even aware of it. He concluded that they'd only put it on the site so the public wouldn't blame them for hiding secrets. Still, he knew the cops were keeping them in the dark.

The bell rang and class were starting their sessions. Lyra tilted her head, perplexed. She noticed how intense Ace was. "Are you alright?"

He dipped his head. "Are you?"

"Not really."

"Then no."

——

2-26-17
a/n: i'm really sorry this chapter was so short!! i'm trying to update more frequently now. for some reason every time i finish up a chapter, it's pretty much midnight. idk i write better when i'm tired/when it's night. so yeah, if you made it this far thank you so so much!! stay tune for the next chapter ;)
— nat
ps,,, i really do appreciate feedback!!