The Hooded Figure

TWENTY ONE

This is the song the anchors are talking about!^^

As I sat on the couch, my eyes drifting closed, I started to roll into my side. Suddenly, the channel changed and I jolted upright as the alerting news intro blared loudly. I covered my ears and searched for the remote, only to find it under the couch cushion.

I was about to shut it off when the announcer read: "Today, Alexander Marauder released a new song. His producer managed to give the song to a nearby radio station and the song has been playing on repeat since. It seems to reveal a bit about how he is feeling. We still don't know where he is, but #youngleofound is trending all over."

Then, they showed several pictures that looked like Alexander Marauder, but clearly weren't him.

"We encourage people to keep looking, Alexander's father is very worried. Now, here is a clip of the song that has everyone changing their favourite song."

All of a sudden, a song started to play while the anchors looked at the screen stoically. The screen changed to a video of Alexander Marauder wearing headphones, recording in an empty room. He sang into the microphone and poured his heart out to the song. Almost immediately, I recognized it as Leave Me Alone by Michael Jackson. His voice was lower than Michael Jackson's was, but if it was possible, it sounded better coming from his lips.

I sat there, listening as they played the entire song, hypnotized by the sound of his voice. He sounded a lot angrier than Michael Jackson did, that was for sure. It took me a moment to realize the song was over until Alexander Marauder looked at the camera intently.

"Enjoy," he said with a small smile before the camera shut off. The news anchors returned and Alexander was gone. I reached for the remote and my fingers numbly shut off the TV. I stood up, but then quickly grabbed the arm of the couch to steady myself as a wave of dizziness came over me. I shut my eyes for a moment before opening them again and balancing myself. I must've gotten up too fast.

I shook my head and realized that my head hadn't hurt in a day or two. I smiled to myself as I walked up the stairs. Suddenly, a cough made its way out of my throat and I covered my mouth. I frowned and wiped my hands on my shirt.

I got ready for bed sluggishly and crawled into bed. I was ready for another day of school.

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I woke up with a groggy smile, thinking back to the time Asher and I had spent together. I was about to roll over and hit snooze, but I paused as something foreign rose up my throat. I covered my mouth as it threatened to escape and I drew my eyebrows together confusedly.

As the thing went back down my throat, and removed my hand. Then I wondered aloud, "what the hell was-" I cut myself off with my hand as I scrambled out of bed and across the hall to the bathroom. Thankfully, the lid was up when I threw myself over it and expelled everything that was in my stomach. I grimaced as I grabbed a piece of toilet paper and wiped my mouth. I stood up wearily before dropping back down to my knees and releasing more vomit.

Then, the door was nudged open as I heaved the rest. I rested my head on my arm once I'd finished and looked up at the door. My dad stood there with a hand on the doorknob and a newspaper in his hand. "I'll call the school," was all he said before shutting the door and hurrying downstairs. I huffed, not wanting to miss school. I know it sounds ridiculous, but missing a day in high school is like missing a month in junior high.

I groaned as I stood up, sniffling. I opened the door and went straight to my bed. It was 7:00AM but I supposed I wasn't going anywhere so I just laid down and let my eyes drift shut.

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At 9:00AM, I dialled Marco's Pizza.

"Hello, Marco's pizza, what would you like?" I recognized Asher's voice though the phone and smiled faintly.

"A box of tissues and some aspirin," I told him, holding my head as I sat up in my bed.

"Amy?" He guessed, sounding confused.

"You got it." Then, I started to laugh out of nowhere. I'm going to blame the DayQuil. I sniffles and sighed. "One sec," I excused myself before putting my phone down and grabbing a piece of toilet paper from the roll I'd taken form the bathroom. I blew with all the force I could muster, leaving part of my soul in that tissue as I threw it out.

"Sorry," I said as I picked up the phone and brought it back to my ear.

"Um, it's okay," he replied, his end sounding busy and loud even though they'd just opened an hour ago.

"I was just calling to say that I won't be into work today, and maybe tomorrow," I explained, looking down at my dirty fingernails.

"Oh, alright, I hope you get better!" He told me. I smiled even though he couldn't see me. There's something about a hot guy being sweet that just makes everyone giddy. Especially a hormonal teenager on nose drugs.

Wait, what?

I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts before realizing that I should probably reply. "Thanks, see ya," I said, sounding oddly manly. I coughed as I hung up, covering my mouth. I grimaced and stood up slowly. Then, I put on the hottest clothes I owned, ready to sweat out this virus. Once I was wearing a fuzzy pyjama top and soft pants, I slid into my fluffiest housecoat.

Feeling appropriately sweaty and gross, I smiled to myself as I got under the covers. "Dad!" I called, immediately regretting it as a trail of fire ran from my mouth down my throat while I started coughing uncontrollably.

My dad came into my room a few moments later and my coughing subsided. "Yeah?" He asked from the door.

"Can you get me that soft blanket from the couch, please?" I asked him with an innocent smile on my face. My dad huffed before turning around and going downstairs.

Soon enough, he returned with the blanket in hand. He came into my room and stood beside my bed. He laid the blanket over my body and leaned down towards me to make sure I was all tucked in. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and I smiled.

"Thanks, Dad," I said with a big grin on my face.

"No problem, kiddo," he replied, leaving me to suffer.