Moving to Hell

Worse than your nightmares

By the time I got home, my tears had dried up already. I sigh deeply and walk into the house. No one was there. However that didn't surprise me, it did make me feel worse. I flop on the couch and another sigh escapes from my mouth. I try to think what Johnny would do in this situation. He's had a lot of girlfriends in the past, before we moved to this town, but it never worked out. How did he overcome a heartbreak, and what would he suggest me to do? Probably something like: "Jackie, don't be so dramatic. You're overreacting to the situation, little sister. And besides- there's no one to blame but yourself; you were the one telling him about everything and it doesn't really sound believable, does it? He probably thinks you made it up. I suggest you make it up to him tomorrow at school- tell him you were kidding and that you're sorry, I'm sure it'll be fine then." I lean backwards and close my eyes. I try to overthink everything that happened on school today. Should I call Valentino? What should I tell him? Would he ever forgive me? I wasn't mad at him, but I was hurt by the things he said to me. I'm sure the things I told him, offended him as well. We both had done something wrong. I bite my lip. I was lost in my thoughts even when Johnny had arrived from school. He looks at me with a frown in his forehead. I didn't hear him come into the house and I don't see him staring at me. He somehow feels compassion for me and joins me on the couch. I don't react to it, something I'd normally do. That's one sign that Johnny knows something's bothering me. He doesn't want to get soaked up into one of my dramas, and he doesn't feel like listening to what's bothering me this time, but he's my brother and he feels a certain responsibility that he needs to make sure I'm okay. He sighs deeply and already regrets his action before he had done it. 'Something's bothering you, little sister.' It was not a question, but rather a statement my brother made there. 'Not really hard to notice when something's off about me, really,' I reply with no emotion. My brother turns his head to me. 'Look, I can not look into your mind and magically know what's bothering you so quit the act already and just tell me so I can help you.' Help? Since when did my brother want to help me? Since when was he so nice to me? And why? Because I still didn't answer, Johnny gently pushed me. Again I feel tears coming up. Johnny sees it. 'What, are you crying?' He was surprised but also irritated, considered the fact he hates it when someone cries, especially when that someone is me. Then he did someone neither of us would've expected. He gently placed his hand on my shoulder and softly rubbed it, to comfort me. I finally look up to my brother, with glassy, wet eyes from the tears that were streaming down my face. 'I...' My voice sounds hoarse as I try to explain what happened. I look Johnny in the eye. 'I got into a fight with my friend at school, Valentino's his name,' I exclaimed. Johnny still had a frown in his forehead, but this was a worried one rather than a confused one. 'Hey...' he softly said, 'I'm sure that whatever it is that happened between you two, you'll figure it out together. If he really is your friend, you guys will make it up.' Those were probably the wisest words my brother had ever spoken to me. I smile at him and he softly smiles back. 'Alright, enough being cosy for one day,' he says and he stands up from the couch. He rubs my hair. 'And enough crying for one day as well, it ruins your beautiful face, Jackie.' I don't know how to react. I'm perplexed. 'You think... You think I'm pretty?' I ask like I didn't hear him well. Johnny chuckles. 'You heard me well sister and don't get anything in your head- I'm not going to say it again.' I stand up from the couch as well and give my brother a hug. 'Uh- what are you doing?' 'I'm hugging you.' 'Yeah...' Johnny pushes me away. 'I never agreed to that. Next time ask before you touch me, but don't expect me to say yes. I don't like that kind of intimacy.' With that being said, he walked upstairs to his room, the steps still cracking as he set foot on them.

The next day at school I decided to talk to Valentino to clear air between the two of us. 'Val...' I insinuated. Valentino doesn't respond. He's probably still mad at me for what happened yesterday. 'Hey, Valentino,' I try again. This time Mrs. Benson hears me and she's not amused. 'Lady Greenie,' she sharply says. 'Have you forgotten the rules?' I swallow and shake my head. 'Eh.. no, sir- I mean miss. No miss, I did not forget the rules.' I'm sweating, and I hear Valentino chuckling beside me. Mrs. Benson clacks with her tongue and keeps her eyes focussed on me. 'You disappoint me, Greenie,' she says. I wonder what she means, but I'm too afraid to say anything to her. Valentino notices how scared I am, and grabs my hand from under our tables. It raises my mind a little. 'You and Mr. Weasel are always interrupting my lesson, and I can no longer accept it,' Mrs. Benson continues. The whole class has fallen silent. No one dares to move or even to breath. Mrs. Benson slowly walks over to my table and places her hands with her long, dirty nails on it, pointing to me. She moves her head closer to mine. My heart's pounding in my throat. I don't dare to look away from the big, staring eyes of my teacher but looking into them isn't pleasant either. 'One last misstep,' she whispers in my ear. 'One last misstep and you'll be my next meal.' I'm not sure if I heard it right. Was she implying to eat me? Was she a cannibal? It was hard to believe that she was even human, but apart from the extremely long nails and her creepy face, she looked just like everyone else; as a human. From the corners of her eyes, Mrs. Benson saw someone raise his finger at the back of the class. She slowly stepped away from my table and walked back to the front of the class, her eyes now fixated at the boy in the back with the raised finger. Never did someone raise their finger before and I had the feeling it was for the best. Mrs. Benson looked amused at the somewhat nervous boy. 'I eh... had a question, Miss...' he says. I don't know his name. Mrs. Benson tilts her head. 'And what may that be, Giggle?' I don't know why the boy had that nickname, so I decided to ask Valentino. 'Because when he's nervous he always giggles,' Valentino whispered back, 'and as long as Mrs. Benson's around, he's always nervous.' I felt sorry for the boy, but not as sorry as I would later on. The boy nervously moves back and forth in his chair. Mrs. Benson licks her lips and leans with one hand on her desk, near to my table. 'You know, Giggle, interrupting me is one thing, but raising your hand-' She shakes her head. She acted like Giggle had done something horrible, while in fact raising a finger was a harmless and normal thing to do. 'You're lucky this time, because you can make it up to me. Do you want that, Giggle?' Everyone stared at him. He nods. He nods so long and heavily that you can hear the bones in his neck cracking and breaking. The sound is horrible and makes me have goosebumps. I see Valentino doesn't like it either. We're still holding hands. A kind of green slime is dripping from the boy's mouth, and his eyes are shooting backwards in his sockets. He shakes his head heavier and heavier, further and further, until it suddenly falls off his body, onto the ground. There it keeps laying still. I had barely processed the events that had just happened, when something even more horrifying happened. Mrs. Benson suddenly started to change. Her bones cracked and her limps bowed in impossible positions, which looked incredibly painful. Her teeth began to grow as well as her already long finger nails, and her eyes were almost popping out of her head. Her skin was white, almost transparent. Her knees bent in the opposite direction, with a load crack. Blood dripped from her eye sockets over her face. Her forked, blue tongue licked her lips. Slowly she started walking over to Giggle's fallen head. I thought he'd be dead by now, but the eyes were standing desperate and a scream came out of his mouth. It was the loudest scream I'd ever heard and I had to cover my ears, to not end up deaf. Mrs. Benson grabs the head between her hands and starts eating it. I can't look at it anymore. With tears in my eyes, I bury my face in Valentino's shoulder. Protective he lays his arm over my head. He's in shock as well, but doesn't look away. He's fixated on the scene. 'You believe me now?' I hoarsely say.

Valentino and I had run to my house as soon as we heard the school bell ring. We'd never been so scared in our lives. We were still shaking by the time we arrived at my house, and we were also very pale. With shaking hands, I open the door and we go inside. I lock the door behind us. It's quiet. Valentino puts on the light as we walk into the living room. The house looks deserted. I swallow. 'Eh...' I scrap my throat. 'My brother's probably still at school and eh... my parents are at work.' I don't really sound convincing. My breath makes clouds into the room. It's cold. 'What do we do now?' Valentino softly asks. Neither of us is moving. I don't respond. Simply because I don't know the answer. Valentino walks over to me. I can hear his soft footsteps. I feel his hand in mine. I look beside me, right into Valentino's eyes. 'I don't think we should ever go back to that school again.' I chuckle. Then I look serious again. 'I'm afraid we have no choice...' I whisper. 'We need to find a way to survive that horror we call school without ending up dead.'

Valentino and I were still planning what to do next, after the events of today, when Johnny came home. I scared of him and so I let go of Valentino's hand. 'Johnny,' I say surprised, 'hi.' Johnny looks frowning at the both of us. 'Hi, little sister. Care to explain?'