As Above So Below

Chapter 5

The news the next day was news Kcalb didn’t want to hear for a long time: School. Lord Yahweh was telling everyone what grade they were going into (did they not keep track?), what classes they had and what teacher and classroom, and giving them everything they needed for the first day of school. Kcalb and Etihw were going into sixth grade, and that counted as the first year of middle school. A lot of Etihw’s siblings were in middle school, but more of them were in high school and college; some have even graduated and vouched to stay at home. Kcalb told this to Ater and Arbus, who were sad to here that he had to go for hours every day, but Lord Yahweh guaranteed him that he would take care of them while Kcalb was away. As they arrived at the school, Etihw went off to her first class, science, while Kcalb went to his first class, which was English.

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Upon sitting down nervously while wearing a black buttoned shirt and black pants, he put his books on the table and waited, until he noticed that he was sitting next to another demon who looked to be highlighting and underlining a thick sheet of papers. He had green hair with some bits of what looked like melon pink, and glasses with a red frame. He looked to be wearing very sophisticated apparel, which draped him like a prince. More people began walking in, such as some angels and demons, and one demon that stuck out. He was complaining to a girl with pink hair and what looked like a dress from an older age, but her hair, god, her hair. It looked like it had claws of its own.

“Look, I actually said to him that I didn’t want any! I don’t know why he didn’t listen! Grrr…”

The girl, who seemed to make a hum, pointed to the two extra seats beside Kcalb, and, the male demon taking note of this, dragged her on over.  Asking if the seats were taking and hearing that they weren’t, the red haired demon sat down and plopped his heavy books on the table, while the girl on the other hand seemed to be eating something that sent a downpour of crimson down her chin.

“You new?”

The demon asked. Kcalb nodded hesitantly, before the other grinned. He wore a black sweater with red stripes and what looked like black jeans. His horns were also red, but didn’t blend in with his red hair. Folding his arms and trying to situate himself in the chair, he grinned once more.

“Well, the name’s Lost. That’s Cranber next to me. She, uh… well, you’ll see.”

Kcalb nodded another time and tried looking them in the eye to seem polite, but simply ended up looking off.

“I’m Kcalb. Kcalb Noir.”

Lost nodded, and the demon with the green hair and the glasses shushed them. With his black pen and green highlighter, it looked as if his hands were melting through the plastic coverings.

“Shush! Can’t you see I’m busy? I’m doing something for my history class, and I need to have it done before hand.”

He didn’t seem to have any time to introduce himself, so Lost saw this as his opportunity to do it for him. With a sigh and a glance back at Cranber, he began by saying,

“That’s Yosaflame. He’s probably the most serious dude you’ll ever meet. He’s really good at stuff, y’know? Education is his main priority. I heard from someone that if you get in his way, he’ll burn your head to a crisp with just a single breath of flame.”

That was… reassuring. Didn’t they bother him just now? Were they burnt to a crisp and didn’t realize it? The bell rang and broke Kcalb’s trail of thought, and the teacher walked in shortly after. This was it. School. The place where horrid memories began, as he liked to call it.

“Welcome, students, for another year! My name is Ms. Wonders, and I will be your English teacher!”

Ms. Wonders was an angel, and upon looking eyes with Kcalb (having him look away rapidly), she stopped the class and approached him. The demon looked up at her nervously, and Lost seemed to be concerned for a moment, before assuming he was in trouble. Yosaflame didn’t look up from his work, and Cranber continued eating whatever it was that stained her clothes with a blood-like color.

“Who are you? Are you new to the school?”

She asked. Everyone in the class had their attention on him, and his iris began blotching up with black to blend in with the sclera. The teacher took note of this, and tried not to freak out; as the process was usually momentarily, but not in all cases. Sweat dripped from his forehead like a broken faucet, and he gave a shaky nod, in which the teacher giggled.

“Would you mind introducing yourself?”

By this point, Kcalb was done with school. He had introduced himself at his old school and had things thrown at him. One time, he actually had a football thrown straight at his stomach, and he had to sit out for weeks. The teachers took advantage of this and gave him hours upon hours of work, which was the ice cream with the cherry on top of laughing children. Putting those thoughts aside, he cleared his throat, and tried to speak for himself.

“I’m Kcalb…. Kcalb… Noir…”

There were brief gasps from everyone. Did they all know his name? He only remembered introducing himself to one person. Did Etihw get word around that he was staying with her family so fast? Ms. Wonders was wide eyed for a moment, before backing away to her stool and glaring, before beginning the lesson with no further words. Lost patted him on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it. Ms. Wonders is really lame. It’s all good.”

Kcalb was brought to silence, and was silent for the rest of the class until Lost offered to be friends with him, which he responded with a positive note. A smile from the demon, and he wasn’t seen in any other classes except for lunch or dismissal, which really didn’t count. Lost talked to him at dismissal, and came to figure out that Kcalb sure was the quiet time. Etihw came over and spoke with them for a while, before Lost went on about someone who Kcalb thought sounded vaguely familiar…

“There’s this kid who’s said to go here, but no one really knows for sure. They say he ‘haunts’ the classes he takes, so you either see him or you don’t. His names… Satanick. I got the chance to talk to him once; it was wild, but he’s a pretty chill dude. Unless he likes teasing you, which is like, everyone, you better watch your back. He’s a crazy trickster.”

Etihw laughed at the description of this ‘Satanick’ kid, and Kcalb thought for a minute that Satanick might have been the one who ‘attacked’ him the other night. He didn’t see him the first time, but then he saw him when they were talking to Lord Yahweh. How peculiar…

Upon heading home, Kcalb went straight to his room to find Ater and Arbus, and went to the banquet room with them for dinner. Days like these would go on for thousands of years, until one day, that all changed.