I was the weird one in the homeschool group, because I was “normal”. I don’t mean that to put down the rest of my class, I was friends with just about everyone, it was just an observation, one made by my classmates. While exceptions such as myself exist, there is a lot of truth in the “weird unsocialized homeschooler” stereotype. To be honest I don’t know how I got this reputation, maybe everyone else is just so weird by comparison that I come off as plain. Most of them were from uber religious families that sheltered them from dangers of the world like Harry Potter, but there were exceptions. Like Grayson and Kish Blackwell, orphans obsessed with the occult, or Hayden, my brother who was… very trying, and not in the normal annoying brother way brothers are. Put it like this, his behavior towards other kids at only 9 got him kicked out of school.

That was why my parents started homeschooling us, out of necessity, not choice. At first I resented homeschooling because it was such a sudden change, but going to the group made it better. It gave me an outlet to experience the things I was missing, albeit in a different way. I joined the nerdy kids (which was everyone) for Dungeons & Dragons, I designed the yearbooks, and I helped organize and perform in Drama. The latter was my favorite thing to do, which made me unique in that I was the only one willingly participating.

My best friend Kish also made it better. We’d met the same year I left Public school. We were nothing alike, yet we were almost inseparable. She only participated in drama because I was into it, even though she hated it. We texted each other every day, practically all day.

Which was why it was strange that she hadn’t answered my text. Normally she replied at latest after about five minutes. It had been over thirty since her last message. I was starting to get concerned. I looked at my phone again to reread the most recent texts.

Kish: I’m going out for a walk with Grayson for a bit. I’ll get back to you soon. – Sent 2:34 PM

Me: Okay – Sent 2:34 PM

Me: Is everything alright there? – Sent 3:10 PM

It had been ten minutes since I’d sent that. Still nothing. Her initial message was confusing to me, she was never this vague. Or maybe I was overthinking it. That’s probably what it was, but I still couldn’t help but worry. I paced back and forth in my room, I’d been pacing since I’d sent that last text. I looked back at my phone again, still nothing. I knew there would be nothing, but it was almost compulsive.

I needed something to distract myself for a second. I plugged my phone into the charger and put it on the nightstand, then walked out of my room. I didn’t even know where I wanted to go yet, I just needed to give myself something to do.

Maybe I’ll go to the kitchen, find something to snack on. It was as good a plan as any. My brother was in the kitchen. He’d been acting… stranger than usual lately. He’d been spending more time out of the house, he never said where he went, he’d stopped hanging out with his friends, which was a good thing considering what a bad influence they were, but it was undeniably odd.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Nothing right now.” He said, leaning on the counter. “Just waiting.”

“Waiting for what?” I asked.

“None of your business.” He said. “Just man things.”

“Whatever.” I didn’t need this right now. I didn’t care that he was acting like a lizardman or something. I grabbed a bowl of fruit and went back to my room. Apparently the distraction had worked miracles. 1 new unread text. I picked up my phone.

Kish: You’re not going to believe this. – Sent 3:22 PM

Me: What? – Sent 3:25 PM

Kish: There were demons across the street, like ACTUAL demons, they chased me and my brother, and some woman claiming to be an angel killed them, and now Graysons in some kind of induced sleep oh god. – Sent 3:27 PM

Me: WTF, are you for real? – Sent 3:27 PM

Kish: YES. I don’t know what to do. I haven’t told my Aunt yet, idk how. – Sent 3:28

Me: I’m coming over. – Sent 3:28 PM

I felt my phone buzz as I put it in my pocket but I didn’t bother checking. I grabbed my purse and got in my car, a used 2015 model my parents got after I got my license. Their house was only a short drive away, I could have walked it but this was faster.

I backed out of the driveway and started down the street. Most of the way I would pass the many houses in the neighborhood but there was also a small park for jogging and dog walking. Nobody was there today, except a couple of people. As I got closer I immediately recognized my brother, what the hell was he doing here. Beside him were these strange cloaked individuals. One of which turned towards me, and it… was… its face. I didn’t know what it was but it was obviously not human.

Were those what Kish was talking about? What the hell had my brother gotten into?