The Devil's Blade

𝟸 || 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜: 𝙰𝚗 𝚄𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙲𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚎

It's painfully awkward at the dinner table the next morning. My uncle reads the newspaper while eating some toast. All that is heard is the sound of my uncle chewing and the pages being turned over. He hasn't looked over to me. Not even once. Although I'd rather have the silent treatment.

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard a soft tap coming from the window— It's Liam. He gestures for me to come outside. I considered looking at my uncle; half-expecting him to comment, but nothing happened as I thought. I leave my unfinished breakfast and take my bag before I leave the house.

"Should I tell you good morning?" Liam asks after I close the door behind me.

"It's fine. I rather he not talk to me." I answer.

"If you say so. You can always come to my house if you need to." Liam tells me.

"Thanks—" I was about to say something more when my attention shifts to my neighbour.

He is sitting on a chair with his head faced to the ground, mumbling to himself. I can't hear what he is saying but he doesn't seem okay. I suddenly remember the man I saw yesterday. Their behaviour is similar almost identical.

"What the fuck. You do have the weirdest neighbours you know that?" Liam says, abruptly interrupting my concerns.

"Let's just go." I responded as we started walking away.

I glance back at the man from a distance. He is facing towards us, and I notice that he is profusely bleeding from his nose. I quickly avert my eyes; that sight had sent a chill down my spine.

The unsettling feeling persists throughout the entire morning, haunting me until lunch.

"Yo. I just had a good idea." Noé says, joining next to me in line for lunch.

"What is it?" I ask him, curiously. 

"Why don't we hold a surprise party for Liam next week?" 

"Are you crazy?" I scoff, skeptical of the idea.

"Isn't it a good idea?"

I leaned closer to him, my tone a little bit more serious. "Do you even know him? He will actually kill you.." I warn.

"No way.." Noé says, confidently.

At that time Liam cuts in and hands his plate to me.

"Get some for me too, okay?" He asks, nonchalantly.

I try to take the opportunity to change the conversation but Noé is one step ahead of me. "Hey, Liam, do you have any plans for your birthday?" Noé inquired, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Liam raises an eyebrow, curiosity piqued. "No?" he responds, clearly suspicious of us.

"Okay, good to know, Alex and I will take care of it." Noé says putting words into my mouth.

"Hey." I whispered to Noé. 

"Do you want to die?" I barely whisper the words to him.

Noé shakes his head, eyes wide with apprehension.

Liam; totally oblivious to our quiet exchange just now, asks "What's going on?"

Thankfully, it was my turn to move forward in the lunch line, providing me with an excuse to ignore Liam for the moment.

Liam; persistent, asks again, "What's up?"

"Nothing." I answer.

"Are you surprising me?" he asks.

I hand him his food filled plate back, masking my intensions. "No." I tell him before walking towards our lunch table.

"This has to be the best lunch they've had here in years." Jude says as I put my plate down on the table.

"You act as if you're old, you're only sixteen, fool." Noé says.

"sixteen and a half." Jude says.

"Speaking of sixteen, what are we gonna do for your sixteenth birthday?" Tyler asks.

"We were just talking about that." Noé exclaims.

"I have no plans." Liam answers.

"Not yet!" Noé continues.

Amidst the lively chatter at our table, the clock struck 12:30, signaling the decreasing minutes of our lunch break to a mere 30. With plates stacked high, signaling the aftermath of our feast, we decided to settle the responsibility of cleanup with a spirited game of rock-paper-scissors.

My scissor formation found itself frozen in an epic clash against Noé's formidable rock. "You're cheating!" I accused, sparking a playful dispute.

"What!? Cheating? Never!" Noé protested with theatrical flair.

"I totally caught that pause before you revealed your move," I insisted.

"No sore losers allowed at this table," Noé declared with a shake of his head.

I rolled my eyes and reluctantly began gathering the plates. Just as I was about to leave for the cleanup mission, Liam chimed in, "I'll lend a hand."

A grateful smile spread across my face as he took half the burden of plates. From across the table, Jude protested, "Boo! You're ruining it!"

Liam and I dispose of the remaining food and then settle to return to the table. However, as we neared our table, a bloody hand slaps against the small glass window on the cafeteria doors. I freeze, my eyes trembling as I watch the hand slide down the window only to be followed by a haunting drop. Shortly after, the door swings open, revealing a panicked student stumbling over the collapsed body in her haste to enter. The body on the floor starts to twitch and move to the sides resembling to someone having a stroke.

The overhead lights in the room start to erratically flicker, the entire room starts to tremble making glasses and plates fall off the tables and shatter onto the floor. A wave of panic washes over me as I watch the fallen body rise from the ground.

My heart races as I scan the room, desperately trying to make sense of the situation. But to my surprise, it's not just me. I'm not the only one witnessing this moment, everyone is. Gradually the voices in the background emerge. What were once muffled sounds is now clear screaming from the everyone in the school. There is barely room to breathe. Hordes of people run in different directions almost trampling over others. There are cracks in every window and even in the glass doors caused by other students trying to break in.

Liam grabs me by my wrists and pulls me under the table together with my friends.

He grabs my head so forcefully as if someone just slapped me awake.

"Are you okay!?" he asks again but this time with so much panic in his voice it's almost unfamiliar to me.

"Get a hold of yourself okay? we're going to be okay!" Liam says.

I nod, assuring him that I'm okay.

Not much later the first window breaks, causing more people to scream and hide under the tables.

The chaos in the cafeteria continued to escalate as more windows shattered, sending shards of glass flying in every direction. The deafening sound of the windows breaking combined with the panic of the students created a echoing wave of complete chaos. Our little group huddled under the table, trying to stay as far away from the broken windows as possible.

Then, the tremors gradually subsided together with the flickering lights. For a brief moment, it felt like time had frozen in its tracks. Amidst the sudden silence, a piercing scream echoes throught the walls. Noé, Jude, and Tyler were equally frightened, their faces pale as they clung to each other for support. We exchanged terrified glances but didn't dare to say a word. It was as if any sound might attract even more chaos.

In what felt like an eternity but transpired in mere seconds, the sound of footsteps on the shattered glass began to betray the presence of someone approaching us.