Chapter 22.

Settle.

Damien Reyes.

Time/Area: NYC, 2013 July 13th,

So that’s how it went.

Selina tried to convince her father to look into the situation...and much to everyone’s surprise, he said no. He was probably more inclined to not believe the whole idea of ‘monsters’.

Melissa brought up the subject to her dad, and as it turns out, he’s an avid apocalyptic novel reader. She said he couldn’t really do anything until something bigger happened, but he’d keep his guard up.

If the military did get involved, Ember would try to do everything they could to help.

Jason called his parents, which resulted in them both freaking out and immediately booking plane tickets back. But they weren’t going to be back for a couple of days, so he would be staying with me and my parents. Right now Jason was home alone, packing up the rest of his things before I came to pick him up. I expected him to be way less excited by all this, but he apparently thought that an apocalypse was the coolest thing that had ever happened to him.

Lastly, I told my parents about the phone call I had with Sarah, which was probably one of the hardest things I had to do.

Right now they were in their rooms, the door locked. Mom had cried while I was going over the details while dad’s eyes had remained embedded into our carpet. I didn’t know how they were taking the reveal of the monsters being real, but it obviously wasn’t good. I didn’t even know what to make of it. What did they look like? What did they sound like? How...how does a person turn into one?

It was dark outside.

I was in my room, checking my phone constantly in case anything else blew up; both figuratively and literally. I was also on the lookout for any texts in the new group chat Jason had made with me, Selina, and Melissa. I couldn’t just do nothing, because then I would start to think about Sarah.

I had to be ready.

Sarah said the virus would be all over soon, so it was only a matter of time before some guy turned into...whatever Doc and Sarah were trying to describe. I wanted to handle things as they came, but never had inevitability seemed so...real. So solid.

The rain had more or less stopped now.

“Maybe I should call Jason.” I thought, knowing he’d probably be ready to come over soon. I maneuvered through the few apps I had downloaded onto my phone until I got to my contacts, about to click the name ‘Jason’ when I felt my bones shake,

“AHHHHHRAWAHRG! RINGERRR!! ”

I yelped and jumped out of my bed, my heart pounding and sweat dripping from my forehead as I dropped my phone onto the floor. My vision tightened as I peeked behind the blinds of my bedroom window, desperately scanning the darkened sidewalks of Bronze street in an equally desperate effort to put my immediate thought at rest. The thought that I couldn’t control coming into my brain, and the thought that seemed the most obvious to me.

Monster.

That was it, wasn’t it?

Was that really one of them?

But I didn’t see anything.

Only flickering street lamps illuminating empty sidewalks. Only a cloudy night sky over dozens of skyscrapers. Just me. No monsters.

My parents didn’t seem to have heard the noise either, which scared me more in a way. I needed someone to talk to.

My hands still shook as I bent down and grasped the phone I had dropped, willing my quivering finger to still in order to finish calling Jason.

…

“H-hey, I’m almost ready now.” He answered.

I stuttered, "O-okay good," I paused, not able to stop my eyes from wandering to the window, “You haven’t....heard anything strange, have you-?”

"OH thank goodness I’m not crazy!" He interrupted, causing me to flinch, “I- I heard this scream a couple hours ago. I thought it might be a bunch of pranksters or something, but now...m-maybe it really is the monsters.”

I shook my head, "Let's not jump to any conclusions J."

Although that was a very hypocritical statement, it was the only thing that could keep my mind at ease.

I heard him sigh,

“Are you still coming? It’s dark, so I can just walk by myself. I'm bringing my axe anyways so-"

I quickly stopped him, “What? No!” I coughed, standing up while rushing over to my closet. I kept the phone pressed between my ear and shoulder as I found a jacket to wear, “I-I’m coming right now!”

“Really?” Jason said, “Well that’s a relief. On the chance that those noises were actually...monsters; backup is appreciated.”

I forced a laugh as I tugged on my shoes, hearing an audible beep through the phone receiver as Jason hung up the call.

I stayed quiet for a moment, trying to anticipate when another roar would occur, but nothing came.

I expected to be relieved by this, but instead I was even more afraid. If that was a monster, where was it?

“Can’t think about that now,” I thought to myself, “Just go...everything will be fine.”

I kept telling myself that as I walked out of my room and into the common area.

My parents were still in their bedroom.

They definitely hadn’t heard the noise, and I thought it best to keep it that way. I also didn’t bother to tell them that I was leaving. They didn’t need to worry about me on top of everything else they were going through.

As soon as I stepped out onto the sidewalk and shut the door, something very peculiar started to happen. My back started to burn...and it hurt. It was an extremely heavy sensation, and it wouldn't let up.

“Ah!” I groaned as I fell on my knees, the pain slowly and brutally subsiding after a couple of minutes,

“What the heck?”

I stood up when it was over, feeling my back,

“Maybe I really should go see a doctor.” I thought. My back was completely cool, and there was no hole in my shirt. Now I would have to worry about this, and the threat of an apocalypse.

WOOSH!

I spun around, swearing to have seen something move out of the corner of my eye, but only finding my apartment door.

There was no question that something had just been next to me. I refused to call myself crazy or take another step forward. My hands were shaking again, everything seemed to go by too fast and too slow at the same time. I didn’t think they’d be here within days! But at the same time, if they really were here, when would I actually...see one?

I’ll admit, I was about three seconds away from calling Jason and making up some reason that allowed me to go back inside, but what would I do after that?

I’d probably do exactly what I was doing now; Think.

That settled it.

I kept walking.

It was scary how empty New York was. Only a couple dozen cars seemed to be on the road, and virtually no one was walking. Everyone must’ve seen the monster reports and decided to stay in. Plus, just because that noise I heard earlier may not have been a prankster, that didn’t mean people weren’t causing havoc. While on my phone, I had seen hundreds of obviously fake ‘monster sightings’ reported across New York. Even still, it didn’t help the city’s stress. I wondered how other places in the world were doing. They were probably going through a similar panic. Could really no one see what was going on in Paris? That seemed impossible, but there was no point in arguing that, since it clearly was.

I broke into a sprint when the eeriness started to sink in, not wanting to be outside for another second.

Once I arrived at Jason’s house, I rapidly pressed the Doorbell, constantly checking over my shoulder.

Jason opened the door, wearing only his PJ’s and a backpack. Behind the backpack, once again strapped to his person through the use of pant belts, was his father’s axe. It was actually quite sharp.

Jason looked extremely nervous, and it didn’t help when he saw my expression.

“D-dude you okay?” He asked, closing the door as he walked down the steps.

I shook my head, “Nope.”

Jason’s eyes narrowed, “Makes sense. Do you wanna come inside for a sec?”

I glanced back at the silent street, not even the slightest chirp of a cricket present in the night air. I sighed and walked inside with Jason.

He shut the door, but we still just stayed at the front, not expecting a long conversation.

I cleared my throat, “This...really sucks.”

“I-I know, but-”

“No, no you don’t!” I yelled, causing Jason to freeze.

I tried to calm myself down, shocked at how much anger I had building in me,

“Sorry…” I started over again, “It’s just that...yesterday was so normal...and now an apocalypse is coming? ”

Jason laughed a little to try and shape the mood, “I’d hardly call both of us getting to kiss our crushes normal, but-”

I shook my head, “No, Jason,” I stopped him, “It’s just...Sarah’s in Paris, my back is getting worse, my parents are...not talking, and I k-keep feeling like something is following me.”

“That’s probably just nerves, a-and Sarah will be fine.” Jason said, his tone not very convincing, “But your back is getting worse?”

I just took a deep breath, “Yeah.” I turned back towards the door, “L-let’s just talk on the way.”

As we exited the mansion and made our way across the front yard, Jason cleared his throat, “So, about your back, should we consult the superhero books again?”

Once we got on the sidewalk, we both subconsciously agreed to pick up the pace.

I rolled my eyes, “Please no.”

Jason grinned, “Anything else weird happen?”

I stopped, causing Jason to stop too. We were right in front of my apartment building now, “Well,” I said, “Right about here was where I felt my back basically implode.”

He nodded, “Why do you think...uh, the place matters.”

I scratched my head, “Well,” I repeated, “It’s just that- this was the exact place where I felt that something was also like...behind me.”

Jason gulped, “Oh.”

-

Once we were inside and I locked the door, I took Jason straight to my room.

“Are you sure your parents don’t want me to at least say hi?” Jason asked, sitting on my bed while glancing out the window.

I nodded, sitting next to him before laying back into the mattress, “They...They’re still processing Sarah.” I said, staring into the roof, “Just give them a minute.”

Jason’s eyes widened, “Oh.” He said, “Sorry..”

“Don’t worry about it, It’s not your fault.” I replied, “A lot of people will probably be calling them anyways, since a lot of family friends know about Sarah’s position at Energis.”

After staying there for a bit, Jason stood up,

“Don’t you want to do something?” He asked, stretching his legs as he dropped his backpack and leanded the axe against my desk.

“No, not really..” I huffed, sitting up, “I’m actually kind of tired.”

Obviously that was a lie.

I just hate the feeling that anything fun we do will probably be temporary.

I mean, how likely was it that I would actually survive a monster apocalypse?

Much less have fun in one.

I let out a sigh, encumbered by the weight of the future once more,

“We can do stuff tomorrow,” I pointed out, “Your parents don’t get back until a week from now.”

Jason nodded, “Well okay-”

WOOSH

Suddenly, the whole room darkened for less than a second.

I stood up with Jason, once again on edge, “There it was again!” I shouted, pointing at the window.

T-that had to be it again.

ZZtz

We both looked up, frowning as my room light flickered on and off endlessly.

Jason hesitantly reclaimed his axe from my desk, holding it in front of him like a shield.

The light bulb continued to do this for a couple of minutes until it stopped abruptly, maintaining its flow of illumination as if it hadn’t just scared the crap out of us.

Me and Jason didn’t move for the next couple of minutes.

Once we were sure that nothing was going to happen to us, I fell on my bed again,

“I hate this,” I stated simply, covering my eyes with my hands.

Jason held onto the axe this time, his voice shaking, “W-what do you think that was?”

I removed one of my hands, “Umm, do you have to ask?”

He shook his head, “Th-they can’t be here already!”

I could hear the fear in his voice. I was also terrified, but I tried to find solace in the fact that my mom and dad were in the other room. I was nearly 100 percent sure they could kill whatever these things were by themselves. Or, at least, that was what I was going to tell myself.

“I’m going to go get a blanket from the hallway closet.” Jason announced.

I gave him a thumbs up, but he didn’t move.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, getting up.

“N-nothing,” He scratched his head, “It’s just..splitting up during horror movies nev-”

“The sheets closet is literally two feet away.” I interrupted, motioning at the closet door outside my room.

“Fine, fine.” He conceded, leaving my room and returning promptly after, blanket in hand.

I laughed as he set it up next to my bed, “Roarrr.”

He hit me with the blanket, “That’s not even funny,” He said, not able to keep a straight face.

A couple of hours passed.

We had turned off the light and decided to go to bed, but I couldn’t fall asleep. Every now and then I’d hear phone calls between my parents and some family friends about how they were doing. I thought I heard Mr.D call, Mrs.Garcia and her family call, and some of Dad’s coworkers as well.

But even after they had gone asleep, I could not. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to, it was just that whenever I did manage to drift off I’d fall into some terrible nightmare.

I sighed and rolled over, staring at the roof as I asked, “You still up?”

I heard Jason stir from across the room on his cot,

“O-oh hey,” He said, “What’s up?”

“I can’t fall asleep.” I admitted.

I heard him laugh, “Yeah, I can’t either.”

“Do you think we’ll have school tomorrow?” I asked into the silence.

“Probably..” Jason predicted, “They might try to keep kids feeling comfortable.”

“School’s anything but comforting,” I groaned, “But at least Selina will be there.”

Jason’s voice got more excited, “Yea, and Melissa. Did you know that the four of us all have one class together?”

I squinted at the apartment roof in thought, “Which one?”

“Workshop...after lunch. Melissa was always there, she just sat in the front of the class.”

I slowly nodded, “That would explain why we never saw her.”

“Maybe after school the four of us can hang out at the Science club room.” Jason suggested.

I coughed, “Are you sure Melissa is uh...into that stuff?”

Jason paused, “Stop crushing my dreams.”

I laughed, “Okay okay, sorry.”

We continued talking longer than we probably should have, but inevitably our bodies gave out and we ended up asleep.