Birthmarks and Bruises

The Scream

Felix rapped his fingers against his desk, in time to the music blaring through his earphones. He figured he'd try and calm himself down a little, since panicking wasn't going to do anything but freeze him up. Every so often, he'd hear something beneath the strums of ukulele- a few footsteps, maybe- and tug the earbuds out. By the third false alarm he'd put it down to paranoia and nerves. Nevertheless, Felix turned down the volume a little, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.

There's probably a perfectly normal explanation to this all, just- don't freak out.

And he wouldn't have batted an eye if a certain sound hadn't caught his attention. A high- pitched scream, probably from a young child. Definitely not part of the song. It was so distant at first that Felix thought it could've been a fox, or the shrill of a bird, and he was overthinking it. But no, it came again a few minutes later, the music no longer playing. Not playful. Not followed by laughter. Shrill and throaty.

It was definitely a cry for help.

Felix fidgeted a little, uncomfortable. Sure, he couldn't assume things, yet-
It was late in the afternoon, now, and still his parents had failed to return. Felix' breathing had quickened.

It's probably okay. Someone will hear them and help them out. It's probably okay.

Felix inhaled deeply, snatching his phone up from his bed and rushing to contact someone. Sure, it was nothing- but talking would help calm his nerves a little.

Felicia         14:47
Uh, hey. Wanna call me or something? I'm stressing out for no reason again lol.

Daniel was his number one meme dealer- he knew what to do when the redhead was nervous about something.

Message to Danny failed to send

Oh.

Sure enough, the wifi was down, and so was the signal.

Felix pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning. Everything was going wrong and it really wasn't his god damn day. Besides calligraphy, he really did have a talent for overthinking everything and creating worst possible scenarios in his head.

He was 99% sure that the sounds he heard from outside weren't his imagination.
The more he listened the more he picked up.

Alone is good, right? Maybe?

A closer sound send a jolt of fear through his gut.
The door had been opened, definitely. But there was no usual greeting to follow it.

He needed to find out who it was.
Glancing out his front window to try and see if his parents car was there, or any for that matter, he tried to determine who it was before they came up the stairs.

The sound of a bag being thrown to the ground could be heard.

The car was there, but had it been there this morning?
Come on Felix. Think. Use that shitty memory of yours.
He recalled a thought he'd had that morning, the confusion at where his parents could've gone. He remembered seeing the car. So, it likely wasnt them.

Heavy footsteps dragged themselves up the stairs.
In a blind panic, Felix grabbed the toy gun from his desk, not having time to process the thought that it would probably be useless as he swung it as hard as he could at the opening door.

The screech that followed was a recognisable one.
"What the fuck, man?? You usually greet your visitors like this ??" Daniel yelled, rubbing his temple where the hard plastic had struck. Felix sighed in relief, muttering a few apologies. Daniel grabbed the toy gun and fired a rubber bullet at his friend as a half-assed 'payback', eventually giving up and laughing alongside him.

"On edge?"
"Yeah. I couldn't find my parents this morning."
"Ok, mummy's boy." Daniel jeered, jokingly.
Felix rolled his eyes. "I'm serious. It's not like then to be gone. I've been up since 5 and I haven't heard a thing."
Daniel was silent. And then:
"Yeah. Mine are gone too. I figured you'd know why?"
"No. I was gonna ask you, but I couldn't contact you."
"Oh. I partly came here for the wifi."
"Well you ain't getting it, asshole. It's down."

The two boys sat on Felix' bed, quiet, thinking things over in their own heads.

"So... what? Is this a coincidence, murder, or surprise party?" Daniel questioned half jokingly.
"Dude... don't say that." Felix mumbled, gritting his teeth. "I heard a scream or something this morning, so don't joke about that stuff."
Daniel didn't react.
"A scream?" He sighed.
"Yeah. A kids one."
"Felix, they were probably just playing. Or they fell over or something."
Felix lowered his eyes, his thick lashes covering them and making his expression unreadable.
"No. They were definitely scared."
Daniel grunted, standing to stretch out his back.
"Damn, my back hurts... must've slept funny."
He seemed completely indifferent.
"That's your main worry right now?!" Felix exclaimed. "The fact that your fucking back hurts? Dude! A kid was screaming bloody murder and everyone has disappeared, and.." Felix was spluttering. Finally, his panic and confusion got the better of him.
"And the signal has cut off for everywhere, a-and I couldn't get hold of you, and I didn't know what to do!! My head hurts too you know!!! I thought someone was breaking into my house!!!" He stopped, panting. Then, lowering his voice, he whispered.
"I'm scared."
Daniel sat back down beside him, guilty. He guessed they just both had different ways of handling their paranoia.
"I know. I'm scared too."