Through the Lungs and Back

Chapter Two

A dead body is a horrifying sight in itself, but the gore makes it much worse. There are endless pools of blood spilling out of the halfway decomposed body. There's some vomit on the wall, and the whole thing smells horrible. I grab the hand of the person closest to me, and I pull them down the stairs. Before I can get up to the attic pull the other people down, they make it down the stairs. Ilaria hugs me and rests her head on my shoulder. She must have seen the body. All the blood, bones, muscles, and everything. I told her to keep the light off, but she didn't listen. Her ignorance took away her innocence. I can't take it all in. She's my younger sister, and I let her see that. I let her go through the experience of seeing a dead body. I can't believe I did this to her. I try to protect her as well as I can, because she's my sensitive little sis. I can tell she hasn't completely processed it yet, because she would be crying if she did. "Let's get out of here." Quarantine whispers, rubbing Ilaria's back. She knows how sensitive Ilaria is. Her mom is a pathologist, and her dad is an anesthesiologist, so she knows what death is like. She read medical dictionaries as bedtime stories, and that's how she got her nickname. On the other hand, Ilaria and I don't have any experience with death. Neither of us have even been to a funeral. I don't know if I'll ever be able to clear that sight from my head, but I'll have to pretend like I did for Ilaria's sake. "Should we call the police?" Enigma asks, his voice quivering. "Let's just pretend it never happened. We can all sleep in the clubhouse tonight, okay?" Quarantine says, seeming panicked. She's trying not to, but I can see through her.

Ilaria's knees go weak, so I pick her up. I carry her down the stairs, and outside of the building. "Flashlights, out." I demand. Everyone instantly takes out their flashlights and shines them in different parts of the area in front of us. We walk through the wet grass, and I trust that the others know where they're going. We reach the gates of the cemetery quickly. No cars pass through the streets, and there are no trick or treaters still out. I'll say it's past eleven at night. Enigma unlocks his truck, and its headlights light up. Quarantine jumps over the hood to get in the passenger's side, while Enigma gets in the driver's seat. Killer and I get in the back seat, none of us really caring to take down the decorations in the back. Ilaria is way more important than some cheap plastic toys, anyways. When Enigma powers up his truck, the air conditioning kicks in, and we're all relieved. Quiet rock music plays through the speakers. "To the clubhouse." Quarantine says, pointing forward. Her voice lacks a certain spark that it normally has. She sounds worn out, tired. Since we aren't too far from Quarantine's house, we aren't too far from the clubhouse. After a few minutes in the car, Enigma pulls into Quarantine's driveway, past the first turn, then into the clubhouse driveway.

It's pretty high-profile for a clubhouse. It belongs to Quarantine, so that's no surprise. Everything she owns is expensive, even though she's always outside, ruining something. She grabs her set of keys again, then opens the door. We all pile inside. The clubhouse is much more welcoming than the house near the cemetery. All of our stuff is here. Enigma's band posters, Killer's books, Ilaria's video games, and Quarantine's everything else. I don't have anything special of my own in the clubhouse yet, so something of mine will probably turn up there soon. Quarantine turns on the T.V. and sits down on the couch. Killer sits on a chair, and the rest of us pile on the couch. "Are you okay?" I ask Ilaria. She seems more alert now, so maybe she could answer my questions. "Yep. I just didn't feel so good for a minute there." Ilaria says. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief. "So you feel okay?" I ask again. "Yeah." She says, smiling. So Quarantine turns on a movie, and pretty soon, people start falling asleep.

. . .

I wake up to the feeling of my phone vibrating in my pocket. It's the alarm I set for the weekends. I pull my phone out of my pocket, and I turn off the alarm. That means it's almost eleven. Quarantine and Enigma were awake before I was. I can tell because they're not here. They're probably picking up food. Killer looks like he's trying to fall back asleep. I'm surprised at how well I slept for seeing the body. It was in really bad shape, and it had probably been there for awhile. So that means someone probably found it before I did. But if that actually happened, it wouldn't be lying there, unattended.