Moving to Hell

A hungry cannibal

I couldn't bare myself to go back to school the following days. In fact, I couldn't bare myself to do anything at all. I was horrified, sad and at the same time I felt nothing at all. Johnny, on the other hand, tried to return to his normal life. We both know that isn't possible, but he tries it anyways. 'Can you at least do one thing for me?' Johnny asks me on an early Sunday morning. I sigh deeply. Johnny rolls his eyes and acts like he didn't hear it. 'You have to pick up some groceries at the store today, okay?' I moan. 'Why can't you do it?' Mom and Dad always used to take care of things like that, but now they're gone, we have to take care of ourselves. 'Because I have a certain responsibility at school. Maybe you aren't missed at yours, but I am at mine. We can't afford any more trouble and problems. We already have enough of them.' I don't understand how he could possibly be worried about school with everything happening to us, but I've never understood Johnny's reasons for anything. Maybe it's the age gap between the two of us, or maybe it's the differences in our personalities. It's most likely a combination of both. Over the years we just used to get irritated because we didn't agree with one another and because we didn't understand each other, but recently that has changed; we now at least try  to make sense of the things the other's saying and we try to be supportive of the different opinions. After Johnny had said that, the conversation was closed. Due to the way he said it, I immediately knew and that's why I didn't go against it. So later that day I went to the store to buy some groceries.

I sauntered to the store, head down. No one paid attention to me and I didn't pay attention to them. The store was the only building that looked normal and didn't freak me out. It actually looks a lot like the store in my old neighbourhood. It upsets me thinking of it. How I miss it. I'm sure Johnny misses it too, only he won't show it as much as I do. Probably all boys try covering up their feelings, especially for their younger sisters. It's a universal thing that all boys agreed to do, at least that's the way I see it. I go inside. It's calm and quiet. I collect the supplies Johnny ordered me to buy and buy a little extra for myself. I walk over to the pay desk. The atmosphere around there's different; ominous. I swallow. The cashier's a very old man with a lot of wrinkles. He doesn't say anything as he scans my groceries. I force a smile at him. He smiles back. At the place his teeth are supposed to be, was nothing and his tongue was a tick, red-looking substance. The look at the inside of his mouth horrifies me, and I have to do my best not the throw up. Some flies fly out of his mouth. Even when I've already paid for my groceries, I can't take my eyes of the man. He follows me with his eyes and his horrible smile. I move backwards to the door. Sweat rolls down my back, I see pale. My heart's beating wildly and I'm breathing heavily. I'm feeling hot from under my clothes. I don't let the man out of my sight. Just when I thought this was the only normal place in the city, this man shows up. It occurs to me; nothing about and in this town is normal. It's haunted and cursed. Doomed.

It's chilly outside and it cools me down. I can't quite wrap my head around what happened in the store. I can still see his head clearly in front of me. I don't think I can ever forget that image. Sometimes I wish I could delete memories. Some are too horrifying and painful, that I don't want to remember it. On my way back home, I come past the graveyard. The same man as always is standing there in the shadows. Hat on his head. Lurking. When I look closely, I see his lips moving. I've never noticed that before. I frown. What would he be saying and to who? Out of a sudden he turns to me, an angry expression on his face. Furious, actually. I'm frozen. At this graveyard my parents are buried. Johnny and I never went to take a look, mostly because we're too afraid to do so. The man slowly starts shaking his head, as if he's disappointed in me. He raises his finger and shakes that as well, as if I'd done something bad. I don't understand why he's doing it and what I've done wrong, but it doesn't matter. I hear a deep voice whispering in my ear. 'Don't!' I look around me, but there's no one nearby. It takes me a while before I realize the voice belonged to the man at the graveyard. My heart's beating faster. I don't wait another second and fastly run back to the house. I wished, now more than ever, that Valentino was here. And Johnny. But, of course, they both weren't here and I was all alone.