The Feast of the Ancestors | The Adventures of Holly Diaz

Part 1 ii | The First Omen

BLOOD WAS EVERYWHERE, IT HAD STAINED THE CARPET AND WAS DRIPPING DOWN THE STAIRCASE...

The echoes of ripping flesh and the cracking sound of bone sent Holly tumbling off the chair. The bashing of her head against the marble floor flooded her head with concussions. The quiet chuckles and giggles from the other students ringed like a siren, whirring through her head. She opened her eyes. Only to see a blurry image of the flat floor, with table and chair legs and the shoes of the students. She could feel the eyes of her classmates burned into her skin like their eyes pointed lasers at her.

One thing that was clear and vivid to her vision was blood. Red blood. Staining on floor. It was everywhere. Trickling off the walls. Stained on her clothes, and dripping from her hands. The classroom floor was flooding with blood, cascading down the table and chairs, pouring down the student's legs, and circling around her. Holly's attention in the classroom had gone out of the window. Her mind was immersed in what happened earlier that morning.

"Holly Diaz," The teacher's alarming voice reverberates through the classroom. Another sound that burst its way through Holly's ears.

It took a while for Holly to reply, the dryness in her voice made it hard for her to speak. Her cracked and sticky lips had been glued together. She grappled with ripping them open, eventually gasping for air.

"Sorry, Mr Alberto," Holly's raspy voice croaked.

"Stop daydreaming in class," he snarled back at her.

He returned to the black chair in front of all the students, and they returned to their work. Holly gripped on the edge of her desk, slowly pulling herself up. Quietly grunting in agony.

A long beard and moustache grew off his face, ending mid-way at his chest. That was enough for Holly to dislike him, she could see the small crumbs of food on the tips of the hair from his last meal, she could almost feel the feeling of her gag pushing up her throat. She pushed it back down, flinching at the bitter and sour aftertaste left in her mouth. The teacher had a tall build, if the ceiling was one or two centimetres lower, his head would be stuck in the roof, and his body hanging helplessly in the classroom. His belt was pulled down to hide the fact that his pants didn't fit his length and his shirt was ruffled at the back, making him look constipated. He had midnight black curly hair, and his dark lime eyes were lined with small wrinkles and freckles. His lips were sucked all the way into his mouth, making him look angry, frustrated and unapproachable. He lay back in his chair, with a smirk wiped across his face. Watching Holly struggle to sit on her seat.

After a long lesson of hallucinating blood. Holly was glad to be in the hallway Fogfall high with the rest of the students gathering for recess. The wind howled and whistled through the halls that were filled with friends greeting each other with hugs or friendly punches. The seniors of the school walked tall and proud through the rooms, and the newcomers hid shyly behind their bags and timetables. She wondered the halls in, pushing through the walls of kids in search for her friend, Joanne. Once she glimpsed a familiar sweater through the door frame, Holly jumped with excitement.

"Hey, Joanne!" Holly said she gasped for air when she saw who Joanne was talking to.

Aiden Hunter, Holly thought. She had never been so close to him before.

On a plastic classroom chair, Aiden Hunter was slumped holding three science books. His hair was the colour of dark coffee beans and skin like a light, frothy latte. His eyes were a deep blue with small sparkling specks of gold that made him look angelic. The way his oversized shirt hung among his body, gave away the muscle's underneath. Holly could feel her blush,

"Holly?" Joanne snapped Holly out of her daydream.

"You must be Holly," Aiden smirked holding out his hand.