Tarellin

Chapter 1: Shakes and Seizures

My days are almost always boring. Same old, same old. That rings in my mind as I groggily walk into the classroom for LA class. I place my stuff on my desk, retrieve a Chromebook from behind the teacher's desk and sit down, shoving my earphones in my ear to drown everyone out.

The class slowly begins to fill up, my classmates filing in and taking their seats. One boy comes in later than all the rest, stumbling and staggering, sinking into his seat in the row in front of me. I'm too tired to remember his name, my mind racing through options of what it could be. I settle on not referring to him by name.

"Oi, red shirt," I say, pulling out an earphone, "You alright?"

He turns wearily to look at me, dark rings under his half-lidded eyes.

"I guess I'm fine, just tired." He says. His words are slurred, and combined with his accent, it's a bit hard to understand. But I managed to get the picture.

My friend, Jeya, walks in, and we begin to chat. Our LA teacher walks in just as a loud thunk reverberates across the classroom.

I look up to see the boy, who I've successfully identified as James, has totally conked, forehead resting on the edge of his desk. His friend, Eleizer who is sitting to his right, is staring at him, a worried look on his face.

"Has James given himself a concussion?" Someone calls from behind me. I chuckle under my breath, until a realization hits me. If, in theory, James had simply fallen asleep, his head hitting the desk would have woken him up, wouldn't it?

"Uh guys? I've got a hunch, and I don't think I like it..." I stand up, and walk around my desk, stopping at the unconscious boy's desk.

I reach out to shake James awake when he begins shaking. Not shivering, mind you, but shaking. It's almost like he's having a seizure.

I grab his jaw and turn his head to face me. His eyes are barely open, and totally rolled back into his head, irises and pupils totally out of view. Kharl, the boy to his far right, realizes what's happening, rising from his seat to help me.

We pull James from his seat, and lay him on the floor. His seizure has gotten worse. It's to the point where his entire upper body is arching off the floor, his nails leaving marks in the tile underneath him. He's began making small, wheezing noises, coughing and spluttering softly.

Suddenly, the young man goes limp, body dropping to the floor and falling still. I sigh. Finally. I place my head in my hands, my head suddenly pounding. All of a sudden, Kharl screams, launching me from my daze.

James isn't writhing or shaking anymore, but a black, tar-like substance is leaking from his eyes and mouth. The room fills with a rancid smell, becoming stuffy and humid.

I stand from my spot on the floor, backing up in absolute terror. I had just watched my classmate die. Right in front of me.

Kharl backs up, before launching at the garbage can and vomiting. The class is, one by one, filed out of the classroom. I hear our teacher on the phone with the police, asking for an urgent ambulance. It's no use though. There's no saving him. Not now.

Suddenly, whispers. Urgent whispering. In a voice I recognize. Someone elbows me. I look to Kharl, who looks shaken beyond belief.

"Do you hear them, too?" He asks. I nod. I place a hand on his shoulder, trying to comprehend the pain he's going through. A close friend, someone he knew he could fall back on, had just died before his very eyes.

I close my eyes, the image of the young man's corpse fading into view. I knew so little about him, yet I'm filled with so much guilt. If I feel this much guilt, how must Kharl, a close friend of his, feel?

My eyes still closed, I focus on the whispers. I hear my name, repeated over and over again. 'Madonna. Madonna. Madonna. Madonna.' It's like a chant, a verse of a twisted song. I hear the voice, like it's almost speaking to me.

The demon Tarellin has you.

But I won't succumb to the words of this wicked force.

The demon Tarellin has you.

I can't.

It got me, Madonna.

I have to fight it.

It will get you too.

I will fight it.

Stop fighting it.

I won't surrender to it.

Just surrender to it.

It's your only fate.