The school bell rang loudly, echoing throughout the mostly empty halls. Students quickly stood from their seats and started to leave their classrooms. "Pete, wake up." A young girl was crouched beside a boy's desk, where the boy had his head resting on his desk, his eyes shut. His dark hair in his eyes, his eyes fluttered open and was immediately met with his friend's face smiling back at him. "Class is over. Come on, let's go." Peter slowly nodded and lifted his head. By this time, the classroom was already empty, besides Peter, the girl, and their teacher.
Peter got out of his seat and grabbed his backpack, that he had placed on the floor next to his feet. "Alright, let's go." The girl nodded, and they both made their way out of the classroom. They walked into the hallway, which was still crowded with students. Some were running around, some were chatting with their friends in their own groups, and others were simply grabbing their stuff so they could leave for home for the day. Peter walked to the other side of the hall to the lockers that were lined up against the wall and unlocked his locker. He set a few books inside and closed it again.
"Robin, what're you doing after school today?" He asked, and looked back to his friend, that had woken him up. She simply shrugged and opened her locker as well, which was only a few away from Peter's. She placed a book inside and looked back to him.
"How about you? Anything going on today?"
"Nope, nothing. I'm just going to head home, so I'll see you tomorrow." Peter softly smiled at her, and then made his way down the hallway. He put his hands in his pockets and tried to make his way through the hall without bumping into anybody. He went out the front door of the building and started walking home.
Peter continued on his way home, quietly humming to himself. After a few minutes of walking, he had noticed the numerous missing person posters that had been stapled and taped to fences and poles, but he didn't stop to examine any of them. He was already fully aware that people had been going missing, and then returning a few days later, acting very strangely and different. One of those people had been his own mother, and she had been gone for two weeks. She still hadn't returned.
Peter didn't live very far from his school. It was about a fifteen-minute walk from the school back to his apartment. But today, he decided he would take a different route back home. Peter ventured into a back alley, knowing that walking through would save him some time. He passed by the trash cans and dumpsters, pinching his nose to avoid the smell that would make his stomach churn each time he smelled it.
Crash! A trashcan toppled over, the sound of it doing so echoing throughout the alley. Peter quickly turned, only met with the awful stench of the garbage littering the alley. He turned back around, greeted with the sight of a face staring back at him, just close enough so that if either of them moved ever so slightly, their noses would touch. The man was crouched down to be eye to eye with Peter, staring at him with a blank expression on his face. His skin was slightly purple, almost grey. His veins ran along his face, similar to vines clinging to a wall.
Peter quickly backed up, only to have the man extend an arm towards him. Peter quickly turned and sprinted as fast as he could, driven to run faster by the sound of footsteps right behind him.
