Today's word count: 1,663 words
Running total: 21,687 words
Summary: The club confronts evil hungry demon Kenneth.
Also Scarlett is apparently stronger than Dean. Let's all laugh at Dean for being blond.
“…Yeah, I’m one of Kenneth’s friends. Is he all right?”
“…He’s not feeling well.”
“Not feeling well… how?” Chase pauses. “I’m just concerned because his phone line’s disconnected.”
“It is?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Oh.” The voice takes this new information with surprise. “I didn’t think he’d…”
“Is he by himself?”
“Yes.”
“…What’s going on?” Chase sits down and prepares himself for bad news.
The voice on the other end hesitates for a moment but eventually begins tearfully pouring her heart out. “I’m Ms. White—Kenneth’s mother. He came home from school today and started telling me all these… stories… scary, horrible stories he claimed were true. Then he told me to get out of the house for my own safety… I didn’t believe him at first, and I tried to resist, but—“
“It’s all right, Ms. White,” Chase says in a voice more reassuring then I thought it possible for Chase to be. “I was calling because I think I’ve found a way to help Kenneth.”
“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—“
“Hey, like I said, it’s all right.”
“It’s like he’s a different person… he was such a good kid!”
“He still is. He’s just… well, he needs a little help. I think I can do that. Can you trust me?”
She is silent. I don’t really blame her. I’m not sure if I would trust a kid who just calls up in the middle of the night and claims to know what’s wrong with your suddenly homicidal progeny, but at the same time, I’m worried. We need her trust to go through with this.
“Um, did Kenneth tell you about the ghosts?”
“…Yes.”
“Okay, trust me when I say that this has something to do with the ghosts. Can you do that much?”
Thoughtful consideration. Then, “Well, I could see it…”
“Great! Now, as it deals with the supernatural, the police or doctors couldn’t really help Kenneth right now. So can you please not call any authorites on Kenneth?”
“…I wasn’t even considering it.”
“Great! Really, that’s great, Ms. White. Thank you so much. I’ll try and help Kenneth as soon as possible. Believe me when I say that I want him to get better as much as you do.”
“Thank you… your name is Chase, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Kenny’s talked about you before. He really likes you and your friends.”
Chase seems a little bit moved by that, but he doesn’t really say anything.
“I’ll trust you for now. Please don’t betray that…”
“I won’t. Thank you. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
Chase hangs up. We sit in silence for a while.
So I guess we can’t take Kenneth to the school?
It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to if he’s locked himself up. He tries to relax himself, but I can tell he’s really frustrated right now. He really managed himself well during that phone call with Kenneth’s mother. So what do we do now?
We go back to the drawing board. If we came up with that plan, I’m sure that it won’t be too hard to come up with something else. Maybe you can ask your friends?
Maybe…
Neither of us communicate with the other.
Hey, Alistair?
Yes? He called me by my name. He hasn’t done that before; it was either “Voice in My Head” or nothing at all. It makes me happy.
I hate to admit it, but you’ve been a huge help with this… thing. So thanks and stuff.
You’re welcome.
-----------------------
Scene VIII
Kenneth
I’m so hungry right now. It’s time I stop starving myself. I need to eat right now.
First I’ve got to undo all these restraints. Seriously, what was I thinking? And how did I manage to put myself in such an uncomfortable, tight position like this? That’s a feat in and of itself. Maybe I had some help for this? I can’t remember. My memories are all vague. I remember going outside and I remember being with other people, but I can’t remember their names or what any of them meant to me. Some of their faces are blurry. The don’t matter anymore. I’m not one of them; they are my enemy and my prey.
Most of the restraints turn out to be pretty easy to undo. They might have been difficult for a particularly weak human, but that I am not. What I can’t break through sheer force I cut apart with my claws. I’m out. Now to find a way around this building. It’s dark. There aren’t any lights on here. I have good night vision but I’m not quite used to it yet. Oh well, it won’t be too long before I have a perfect grasp of these new abilities. I have to be patient with this sort of thing. Focus on the task at hand. Feed.
I don’t realize how utterly silent everything is until I hear a banging. Loud banging on one of the door’s houses. Silly me, must’ve locked it to discourage people from entering or myself from escaping. Why was I so bent on restraining myself, anyway? Who was I trying to protect, and why was I willing to go as far as to nearly kill myself to protect them?
Stop asking all these questions, self. None of that matters anymore. Stop thinking it does; you’ll only hinder yourself. Today you begin a brand new life.
I stop and wait for the sounds at the door to subside. Eventually whoever must have come must have left; now would be the perfect time to break out of this house and catch them unsuspecting.
I make my way out of the room I had restrained myself and into an upstairs foyer of sorts. It seems like I’m having difficulty keeping my balance right now; I don’t quite understand how that works or why it is so. Regardless, I drop down to the floor and find that I seem to be able to move perfectly well on all fours. It’s a little bit difficult to make it like this on the staircase, but I manage. Okay, I trip about halfway down, but I managed perfectly fine before that. Now I’m on the bottom floor. Now to find a way out and into a world where I can eat.
God, I’m so hungry right now. Why did I starve myself so long?
I hear footsteps. I freeze.
It suddenly occurs to me that I’m not entirely alone in this household. I listen carefully for more sounds.
They’re coming from my right, it seems. I throw myself in that direction, only to find that I did so too hastily and ended up smacking into a door. Embarrassing. It’s a good thing that no one saw it—or at least, no one saw it who is going to make it out of this house alive tonight. I find that opening doors is much harder with clawed hands than it is with ordinary fingers but I manage to force the door open by both throwing all my weight against it and sort of jiggling the knob.
Suddenly I smell them. People, in this building with me, probably standing in the same room. I turn my head and scan the place. Yes, they’re definitely in the same room. I see them, all four of them. My body goes tense, ready to strike.
I hesitate. They look familiar. I know I’ve seen them before, in my previous life. They might have meant something to me then, even. Maybe they were really special to me. And then I don’t want to attack them at all. I want to tell them to go away, fast, just in case I change my mind. I seem to do that a lot nowadays.
One of them, I think it’s a young woman with long hair, though it’s a bit hard to tell in this light, steps forward. She calls out, “Kenneth?” Her tone of voice is nothing short of heartbreaking. It sounds like she’s about to break out in tears.
Kenneth.
Is that what they called me? When I ponder it carefully, I’m pretty sure that was my name. I remember hearing it a lot throughout my life.
But maybe I just had a lifelong friend with that name? I don’t know anymore.
The girl repeats the name, not so much as a question this time but as an assurance. She’s saying “Your name is Kenneth, and you mean so much to us. Come back to us, Kenneth.”
No, I can’t go back.
But I want to…
I pull myself up, standing on two legs. My balance still feels entirely out of whack, but perhaps that is a small price to pay?
I take two steps forward. I stumble but pull myself up.
She takes two steps forward, reaches out to me. I take her hand in one of mine. She winces a bit as I accidentally hold her hand too tightly and draw blood, but she’s pretty good about it.
She looks into my eyes, looking like she’s in pain but smiling all the same.
I look at her face. Try to place where I’ve seen her before. I can’t place it at all. And yet something keeps me from tightening my grip on her hand, from killing her right there, removing her soul and eating it. Something really must be wrong with me, for my survival instincts to be this weak.
One of the other kids behind her, another face that I barely recognize, seems antsy. He whispers something to a girl next to him that I missed before. She’s holding an enormous, ornate box; at his whisper she drops the thing to the floor with a loud thud and begins fidgeting with a locking mechanism.
That snaps me out of it. Thanks, box!
I pull the girl close to me and use my power to force her to the ground. But alas, I am hungry and my powers haven’t come to a complete fruition yet. Before I can pin her, she pries herself away and scampers out of there. I attempt
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