Sing Me A Lullaby

Coffee Shot

After countless hours of me staying up, I needed atleast 3 cups of coffee to keep me functioning. The sun from my window was glaring in my eye. I needed to eat, my stomach already growling with anticipation of what mom had made. Emily was already at the kitchen counter and based on the bags underneath her eyes, I can tell she too hasn't slept a wink.

"You good?"

She looks at me and just shrugs, after last night, who could blame her. I pat my pockets and worry that I may have lost my phone but Em just points towards the couch. My obnoxious ringtone started playing, I rush over and see that Ally was calling me. My heart flutters and soon enough I'm on a call with her.

"Oh my god, Scott, what in the actual hell?! I've been trying to call you for like..." She pauses to look at a watch or clock or something before continuing, "5 hours you asshat. Anyway I still love and am still willing to forgive you if you say you love me." She jokes

I look at my own clock and see that it's 9 o' clock.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, she did not just stay up to call me. "Hey Ally, you do realise it's 9 right?" I just couldn't believe but then the most surprising thing comes out of her mouth. "It's 6 here Scotty Boy and yes, I did stay up just to call you."

"How did you know I was gonna ask you that? More importantly, why did you stay up?"

"I'm your soul partner and besides I love you too much to not call when I'm worried." Her playfulness tone shifts to that of a caring one.

I grab my bag off the floor and rummage between my belongings, finally I reach the pack of cigarattes that I keep for special occassions. Stuffing it into my pocket, the bag was already slung around my shoulder.

"You know thats gonna kill you." Emily says bluntly

I twist around to look at her and I see that she isn't even facing me. "What? A stick can't kill me." I answer back before hearing a screech come from my phone.

"Scott are you smoking?! You filthy little-" Ally starts but I cut her off with a 'Love you' and hang up.

I look at my sister and she just smirks before returning to her phone. "Thanks for charging my phone." I say as I leave the house but I heard a faint answer from Emily that sent a chill down my spine, "None of us did."

The cold hit my face like a brick, something was up. Eveything felt wrong and the air was still, soon enough I saw it. The lights from the sirens illuminated the house and I could smell the burnt flesh from a mile away. The only problem is that nothing was burnt except the body, no scorch marks or signs of struggle. Almost like she just burst into flames in the middle of the night queitly, without a single person knowing. I walked up and saw the gruesome sight, the smell was putrid, giving a nasty taste in my mouth. What is going on in this town?

Taking a few steps back, I headed for the library. Surely they had a record of each case there. I passed the mom and pop shops opened all around me, school wasn't gonna start until a few days so they were filled to the brim with students. Currently, people were putting up decorations for the upcoming festival dedicated to the 7 lost founders of the town. Day of the Damned according to what dad ssid the previous day on our trip here. The library too had a makeover, the walls painted a multitude of colours that popped out of the dull town. The entrance was grand, the double doors a certain level of classy. I'm greeted by a boy the same age as me, his attire proper but has a casual look to it. His skin shone a dark almond.

"You must be Scott Veil. Pleasure to meet you, the names Jarad." He extends his hands and I grasp it. His grip was firm and inviting but the look on his face never changed, amused. "Likewise."

After the handshake he guides me towards a row of shelves before stopping in the furthest row. His fingers glided over the spines of the book and with not so much as a glance, he pulls out the thick book that occuppied most of the space. The title reads 'Ripbrook: City of The Lost', a brief history of the town.

"The book you're looking for I presume?" He hands me the book and his smile falters. "Actually yes. Do you happen to have any record of past newspapers?"

He gestures me to follow and leads me to the backroom. The storage was filled with boxes, boxes filled with the knowledge I needed. "Turn off the lights before you leave." I hear Jarad say before he softly closes the door. I look towards the box and internally sigh, this going to take a long time for me to finish.

I sit cross legged on the floor skimming past documents dated from the 1800's, nothing made any sense, nothing at all. Talk about a curse, voodoo and even ghost all was written in the big book. This is dumb but the more I read the more plausible my situation is. My breath caught in my throat whrn I read about a 1920's case, a woman was found dead with all her bones broken in the house we lived in. Her hair was the darkest black, she loved old antique furniture and she had a wicked smile. The memory of the ghost last night replays in my mind and I can feel my throat constrict. I drop the document back into the box and pulled a copy of the police report regarding the case. If this mornings burnt victim made me lightheaded, this photo made me want to die. Her skin was inverted, her bones were bent in ways that I've never seen, her organs lying in a pile and worst of all, and whats worst is that she was found in the closet in my room. I dropped the report and looked through all of them they all were killed in bizzare ways. The one that surprised me is a boy who's body decomposed while he was still alive, I couldn't imagine the pain. The door behind me swings open with a loud bang, the shadows getting longer and soon enough engulf me. The air holds still, it goes quiet, not even I can I hear the sound of my own breath and thats when I see them.

"We don't like you looking at our pictures."