The Forgotten Day

 As I wake up this morning I feel different, but I shake it off. I look into the mirror while picking out an outfit but something is weird with my mirror every time I put an outfit up to it the mirror makes it darker. As I walk closer to the mirror I can feel it pulling me in and suddenly I am sucked through to the other side. This is strange I thought this was my room but darker and more punk. I try to go back through the mirror but I can’t. I must be stuck this is my worst nightmare. Everything in this room is nothing like me but then this woman that looks like my mom comes upstairs. “Addy it's time for school you better hurry up before you are late,” she says. So I quickly put on these random clothes that I found neatly packed in drawers and hustled out the door only to find that my car wasn’t there. “Mom where’s my car?” “You don’t have a car silly you ride the bus. Are you feeling okay? Do you wanna skip?” I look at this woman with a confused look on my face, there is no way she just offered to let me skip school. “No I’m fine mom I’ll just get on the bus.” 

    When I get to the school everyone looks different than usual. I walk up to Myah but she seems different too. Instead of being her fun self and being friends with everyone she is like this emo kid who hates everyone vocally. When I walk up to her she just stares at me confused “What are you looking at creep!” She yells. I just turn around frightened. I decided that to get through the school day I would just leave everyone alone and keep to myself. Going through each class the teachers are different when I got to Ms. Olson’s class she wasn’t the kind lovable teacher that everyone knew. She seems to be more aggressive and nothing gets past her. “Is your homework done? She yells in people’s faces. I check my homework quickly, shuffling through papers when I see that the homework is not done. “Ms. Olson, I don’t have my homework done.” “Well, guess who’s getting a zero then and will probably fail the class. Everyone look at me! Addyson happened to not get her homework done so you will all get zero’s on the homework. Have fun trying to get your grades back up.” After she was done yelling I felt absolutely terrible and couldn’t believe that she just did that. 

After the most horrible day at school, I arrive back at the house after getting off the bus. When I get home I notice that my whole family is home and the mirror from this morning is in the living room. “Addy what was this doing in your room. We know it isn’t for getting ready in the morning because you don’t care about your appearance. Also, we got a call from the school that you were different today like you tried talking to people that is not like you.” As I was trying to explain everything about getting sucked into the mirror and that I don’t belong here they all looked at me like they knew exactly what happened. “We know what happened all you need to do is wish that you want to go back to your normal life and walk through the mirror.” the woman explained. So that is what I did and as I was getting closer to the mirror I could feel the pull again and when I opened my eyes I was back to the morning that I woke up. It was like nothing even happened at all.

-Marae

Sestina Poem

 There’s something on the horizon, a storm

is coming. It’s late in the day, a long shadow
is cast. I watch from inside a bird fly.
On the TV there are warnings of a tornado.
Outside it starts to blow. Wind
shakes the leaves from trees. I pull a blanket close.

Danger grows close.
News of the storm
is drowned out by the wind.
Something approaches silently like a shadow.
It formed too quickly to have prepared for the tornado.
Trash is thrown, it seems to fly.

All the animals have ran, birds no longer fly
Danger comes close,
I move downstairs away from the tornado.
I can hear the storm
passing overhead, hiding in the basement’s shadow.
A sound like screaming comes from the wind.

I can feel the house being shaken by the wind.
It’s wet down here, pools of water form and a fly
buzzes by. The dim light bulb cast a yellow shadow.
I huddle in a corner, bringing arms and legs close.
Over the radio the storm
rages on, news is broadcasted about the tornado.

Time passes and the tornado
starts to let up, wind
dies down. I’m in the eye of the storm.
Upstairs, I can see debris fly
in the distance. I close
an opened door, and my home is filled with shadow.

It’s night now, and a single street lamp casts a shadow.
I can no longer see the wall of the tornado.
I go back to the basement, and close
The door behind me. I can hear wind
start to pick back up. The fly
rejoins my company. Hours pass until the end of the storm.

The storm is gone. Shadow
seems to envelope the world. The fly has left with the tornado.
Wind pushes my door, again, close.

Remembrance

 The first song lyrics I had ever memorized was the song Last Dollar by Tim McGraw. I really dislike country music but this song stuck with me. My dad would play this song whenever we were in the car. I have this treasured memory of me and my brother playing on our swingset, singing the words to this song. My feelings about my dad are very mixed, but there are some good moments. Some days I hate him and some days I miss him more than words can describe. I’m still getting over what he did, it’s something I’ll live with for the rest of my life, but it’s refreshing to keep the small, happy memories. 

-Allitini

Evil Twin Story Chapter 1

 Chapter 1 

I stare absently at our lantern illuminating the abandoned shack we usually hang out in right after school. It’s become a sort of second home for the three of us, and no one seems to care if we stay here. We’re all generally three outcasts, anyway, it’s not like anyone’s expecting better of us. The shack has a moody, pleasant atmosphere, the lighting barely illuminating our faces.

 Julie was rattling off a story about her date with her girlfriend Ruby. I’m currently sipping on a cream soda and staring at a bug on the wall. Although it’s dimly lit by the lantern, I know immediately what kind of insect it must be from its shape and size.  A common housefly. One of the most common insects in America, and the most annoying. I love the sound they make, unlike most people. It’s strange, I know, but I like it. I’m pulled out of my daze as my other friend, Oliver, asks me a question.

“Hey Moth, are you going to ask Red to prom?” He asks, “It’s only two days away, the clock's ticking.” He smugly smiles. He knows exactly what he’s doing as I feel my face get red hot. 

Two things… Yes, my name is Moth, but it’s only a nickname. My actual name is Henri Taylor, Henri of course being spelt with an i. I guess my parents wanted to be unique, so they chose the most normal name ever but gave it a different than usual spelling. The second? My god how I am crushing hard on Red, a guy in my ceramics class. I’m not very open about it, but I like guys. ...Really only Julie and Oliver know. I just sat there, dumbfounded by his question before nervously laughing, closing my soda and brushing his question off.

“What? What makes you think I’m into Red-”

“You shut down whenever he so much as looks at you. You’re like a nervous pile of mush around him,” Julie chimed in, snickering as he covered her mouth with her other hand, the other hand gesturing  at me as a bottle of orange soda clutched within it.

She has me there, and I remain silent, curling inwards as I hide my scarlet face.

“Rumor has it, he’s bisexual and has an ex-boyfriend from his previous school,” Oliver shrugged, “Of course, that’s just a rumor.”

“... Okay, maybe I wanna ask him…” I murmur quietly as my friends then seem to realize they’re pushing too hard into my boundaries, backing off. Julie even comes over to me and pats my shoulder.

“Hey, it’s okay. Remember, we’re not judging you-” Julie starts but I cut her off.

“No… It’s not that. It’s how I’d explain it to my parents. They’re expecting me to go with Ruby-” I notice Julie’s glare and I quickly add, “I’m not asking Ruby, she’s your girlfriend, I know-!”

“Hm… Maybe we can discuss this tomorrow. It’s getting late and my moms are expecting me to be home at 10:00,” Oliver sighed, “At latest, 10:10.”

Julie and I both nod and we take our backpacks. We shut off the lantern and leave.

Julie and Oliver live on one side of town, while I live on the opposite side. I walk home alone, which I’m used to.  I start walking, hands in my pockets as I think about everything. My dad is bound to chastise me once I get home, he always does. He insists I should come home, but do I really want to when I feel so unwanted? My mom doesn’t really voice her opinions, but it’s safe to assume she agrees with my dad. As I ponder to myself, the wind starts to pick up.

That’s strange, usually the wind isn’t this strong around here. What’s going on? I think to myself, but before I think of possible reasons, my beanie flies off from my head. I immediately began running after it. No no no, that was a gift from Julie! It’s rainbow-colored and the only hint toward my sexuality I’m giving to my parents. I love it dearly!

I chase the beanie down the street before it lands in an alley. As I am about to grab it, a grey and black creature steals it: a raccoon, which appears to be quite fast, and I am seriously unamused. I sincerely hope no one is watching this go down, as I do not want to end up on social media as the newest viral video. I can already picture a potential title: “Lanky, awkward teenager can’t catch raccoon who stole his gay little hat.”

As I chase the raccoon, it darts through a hole in a fence and into a junkyard. I’m clearly not able to get inside through the hole, and there’s a sign that says in red, bolded text:

No Trespassing

Well…I really didn't want to wait until morning, and I wasn’t really thinking about logistics or the consequences of my actions… So I found myself jumping the fence. I did something only Oliver would think of doing, and I started running quickly after the raccoon, seeing it’s ring-tail sticking out amongst the trash. As I get closer, it finally stops and sets the beanie on a pile. I wait until it is completely gone before I pick it up. It definitely got dirty as I gave chase, and I sigh, just shoving the beanie into my pocket..

Before I leave, however, I look at what the beanie was placed upon. It’s a rectangular object covered in dust and dirt with a strange engraving on the cover. I can’t help but be intrigued, wiping the cover off  with my hoodie sleeve. I read the title out loud and quietly to myself.

“Madam Minerva’s Invocations, Spells, and Potion Recipes.”

What’s a book like this doing in a junkyard? Really, what even is this book? I doubt it’s real witchcraft, there’s no such thing. I flip through the pages, blowing off the dust lining the pages as I settle on one page. It reads as such:

“Tired of walking? Wish to go home after a long day? Then I have the spell for you! Just recite this incantation and your home address three times in your head, close your eyes, and snap as you say the address out loud a fourth time!”

After that, it outlines the incantation, the risks, the side effects, and the other details about it. You know what, okay, I’ll bite. I’ll try it. I’ll trust Minerva and her Glinda-like magic and attitude. I can’t help but break as I do the spell, laughing to myself before I snap, “235 South Bend.”

Suddenly, I feel the ground beneath my feet change. The ground goes from soft dirt and junk to a firm concrete sidewalk. I stare in disbelief, feeling now the cold air of an open area as opposed to the enclosed yard. I then feel extremely nauseous as my world seems to spin. I quickly flip back to the book, looking at side effects.

Oh, great. Vertigo is a side effect of teleportation, usually for beginners.

It then hits me that I just used genuine magic to teleport back to my house. I want to scream, but hold it in as I- Oh god no. 

Once I get inside, my mom and dad are sitting on the couch. My dad has his arms crossed, as my mom rests her hands on her lap. Dad looks annoyed, maybe even angry. Mom looks worried but I know that she probably won’t say much to me. I feel my body freeze as I stand in the doorway, fear filling my mind and body as I stare at the both of them. I feel my heart beat faster as my chest tightens. Anxiety has taken its hold on me again. The vertigo is pushed to the side in favor of a potential panic attack.

“Henri…Where have you been?” My dad asks in a stern, firm tone. I’ve been told I look a lot like him. We have the same blue eyes, and almost the same shade of brunette hair. Mine is a little lighter thanks to my mom’s caramel-colored hair, but other than that we’re far from similar-looking, and far from similar in personality. He’s an excellent speaker… I am not. 

“Uhm…” I managed to choke out, my hand was still on the doorknob as the other clutched the spellbook. I nervously chuckled as I made an odd movement and now stood hugging the book to my chest, “... Hanging out with Juliet and Oliver again.”

Dad gives a disapproving expression. Mom gives a disappointed sigh. I feel their gazes almost as though a weight is being slammed onto my chest. Their judging eyes pierce into my very soul. I can’t handle this, I fight back tears.

“You can’t be doing this every night, especially on school nights. Your grades have been slipping and you’ve been falling asleep in class more. … Is something wrong? Just speak to us, Henri! If there’s something going on, we need to know...” My mom pleads with me but I can’t bring myself to give an answer. It’s not that I don’t want to respond, it’s just I can’t find it in myself to answer it in a way that would be satisfactory to him or my mom. How do I even begin to describe my feelings?

“I… Uh…” I stare down at the floor, struggling to word everything and anything. My brain feels like it’s shut off, the pressure on me growing stronger. I feel like collapsing to the floor and crying, like I’m some kid again. I can’t tell them everything that’s on my mind. No no, not now. I can’t.

“Well?”

I remain silent, lowering my head in shame.

“Henri, we hate to have to do this but… You’re grounded.”
“... What?” The tears have broken free from my tear ducts.

My dad sighs, “If you can’t focus more on your schoolwork or your classes, I’m afraid your mother and I have no choice but to ground you. From now on, you can no longer hang out with Juliet and Oliver after school. You are to come straight home. Don’t even think about prom either.”

Then something in me snaps. I don’t know what or how it happened, something in my brain just clicked. I clutch the spellbook tighter in my arms, clenching my teeth as I let out a harsh tone I never expected to hear from myself, “Shouldn’t you be glad I actually have friends?! I’ve never had as close of friends in any other grade before! So what if we stay out a little late?! At least I have people who care about me! I’m 17, I can make my own choices, and I’m allowed to make mistakes! I’m not some perfect, flawless child! I’m trying my best here!”

My parents stare in stunned silence. I stare back, equally as stunned. I don’t even hear what they try to say next before I run up the stairs to my room. Oh my god, I can’t believe I did that. Oh no. Oh no no no no no- I’m full-on panicking as I shut the door of my room behind me, locking it. I hear my parents yell for me but I cover my ears, sobbing through clenched teeth. Dammit, Henri, calm!

I take a few deep breaths.

I go over to my bed. My room is filled with diagrams and posters of bugs. There’s one in particular of a rosy maple moth, one of my favorite moths, hanging over my bed. It’s aged and worn but I love it so much. There’s also my terrarium with my pet beetle, Harlequin. I call him that because of his pincers for some reason having made me think of a jester’s hat. Why? No idea. But I think it’s a cute name regardless. I then look at the book I’m clutching as my brain gets a terrible idea. Maybe…just maybe... 

I flip through the various pages, skimming through and looking at titles to see if there’s anything along the lines of what I’m after. I stop, reaching near the very end of the book. I see it, in its usual large text.

“Want to have a peek at your opposite side? Want to see what your most differential counterpart would act like? Try this simple incantation in front of your nearest mirror!”

PERFECT.

If I’m so flawed, and not the best kid for my parents, maybe whatever this clone is would work as a child who my parents actually might want. Maybe. I sneak out of my room quietly, going to the bathroom. I open the book back up to the page with the incantation. I read it in my head and then recite it quietly under my breath. I waited for about 2 minutes.

Nothing happens.

Wait, did my reflection just blink-

As soon as I seem to register my reflection blinking, he reaches a hand out, the hand touching the mirror before passing through. I touch the hand, which is cold but clearly alive and feels like another human being. My reflection’s hand tightly grips my own, using it to help pull himself out of the mirror, which almost reacts like water but without the dampness. Once he is out, he stares at me. He looks exactly like me… But he has blue eyes which are less of the oceanic grey-blue I have and more of a light, crystalline blue. I look behind him. The mirror no longer shows any reflection, even as I wave my hand.

Mirror Me stares at me and then tilts his head, “Yes? What have you summoned me for?” he calmly asks.

I stammer awkwardly and just simply point at the door, “I- Uh- Apologize to parents, please?- Are you able to-” I pause, putting my hands together and inhaling sharply, “... I still can’t believe magic is real… just… I yelled at my parents after they scolded me for spending time with my friends… I… regret it but I can’t find it in me. Please-”

Mirror Me just nods, “… I suppose I may be able to do that.” His voice is still eerily calm. He must certainly be the exact opposite of me… He’s poised, confident, calm. I could never be that graceful in my social interactions. He exits the room as I follow and watch from the top of the staircase as he descends. He maintains his air of poise and confidence as he walks downstairs. My parents are still on the couch, and my mom notices Mirror Me first. My dad looks over at him as well. His posture is all off, though… He’s standing straight as I usually wouldn’t. I… admittedly slouch a lot.

“... I’m sorry for my outburst earlier… I’ve just been so stressed with trying to get things done and be the best son I could be…” His demeanor seemed to shift entirely! He was now somewhat portraying me? … I don’t… know where this “best son” talk came from, though... 

“Aw… son…” My mom comfortingly hugs the Mirror Me, and my dad looks at least somewhat sympathetic.

“I just… I’m so sorry…” He cries, his tears, however, instead of being clear are an opaque black. He doesn’t seem to notice, however, and thankfully neither do my parents, it seems. I’m amazed at how that worked out.

After he’s done, I quickly rush him up the stairs and call out to my parents: “I’m going to bed!” and I drag Mirror Me into the room. He sits down on the bed and I put my hands together excitedly.

“You did great, that was fantastic! Thank you so much-”

“Am I done now?” He asks, his voice now a more monotone and emotionless version of my own. The voice he had prior to mimicking me.

“I… I mean yeah, I guess… but I uh…” I think to myself. Maybe it’s alright if I keep this version of myself around a while longer? It couldn’t hurt, right? “... Do you have a name?”

“Rolyat.”

“... Yeah no, I’m calling you uh…. Henry! With a Y!” I excitedly state.

“Okay.”

I then frown slightly, “.... You don’t have very much emotion, huh…”

“I’m a reflection. We don’t have the capability to feel emotions unless we’re mimicking the person we’re assigned to. I’m your reflection, and therefore, I can only use the emotions you have inside of you. Even then, we don’t understand emotions, and can only use the provided emotions given to us by our person.” Henry calmly explains.

“And you just so happened to be assigned to one of the most emotional teens in the state…” I murmur to myself before shrugging, “Well, if you want, I can let you stay here for a while longer.”

“... I suppose it won’t mess with anything.” Henry shrugs, almost a perfectly parallel of my own actions.

“I can also learn about you! Like what hand are you dominant with, what your life is like, and other things-”

“Left. I don’t have a traditional life. What other things?”

This is going to be one long night.

- The Friendly Ghost

The Cellar (Remastered)

 “Hazel, why are we going into the cellar?” seventeen-year-old Jared Lohst asked tentatively, looking down into the old, murky cellar and then back at the dark-haired girl in front of him. Hazel turned around, a wide smile stretched across her face. Her silvery gray eyes seemed to shine with excitement. “I need to show you what I’ve been working on! You’re gonna love it!” she squealed, pushing the smaller boy down the cracked stone steps. Jared placed his hands on the icy walls, trying to regain his balance. He watched Hazel step in front of him, patiently waiting. “I swear to God Hazel if you show me more dead animals you stitched together I’m going to kill you,” Jared mumbled, following Hazel deeper into the sunless cellar. Hazel looked back at him, making sure he was following. “I can assure you it isn’t another stitched-up animal,” Hazel replied, humming a familiar tune. Jared had heard that tune so many times, for almost 12 years now, but still didn’t know what song his friend was humming. Hazel would always hum that same tune, mostly while she worked on whatever new horrific experiment she would consider her newest masterpiece. 

Jared had gotten used to all the disturbing things Hazel has done and created. It didn’t scare him anymore- in fact, it never did, and he had no idea why. He guessed it was because Hazel was his first-ever friend and the first person he’s ever interacted with besides his family. Being 2 years older than him, Jared just assumed that Hazel knew what she was doing. For so many years, he thought that the unsettling things Hazel did were normal. It wasn’t until almost 10 years later, when he met Noah, that he realized that was far from true. She constantly tortured anything that moved, performing “experiments” on them. These experiments mainly consisted of removing limbs, tearing out organs, locking them in freezers or trash bags, burning them, feeding them poisonous objects, and stitching up two or even more creatures together, sometimes even alive, and seeing how long the forced fusion could live for. Jared never took part in doing the twisted experiments, but he did watch them, sometimes even forced to be Hazel’s assistant. 

The brunette continued walking, trying to focus on better memories. He smiled to himself, remembering that in a couple of months, he’d get to see Noah again. Noah was the complete opposite of Hazel. Jared considered him as a “normal” human being. Unlike Hazel, Noah had lots of friends, almost perfect grades, and had a huge soft spot for animals. He knew a little bit about almost everything and was highly curious as well, as he would come up with questions and topics that Jared had never thought of, and those were only some of the things that Jared admired about him. It had been almost 5 months since they’d seen each other since Noah had just recently graduated and was now busy with college. They did, however, stay in touch and would write emails to each other every so often. 

Eventually, the two teens reached the bottom of the stairs and were now in the large underground room. A musty, old smell floated around them. Jared coughed, reaching into the pocket of his jeans, and pulled out his inhaler, using it quickly. Hazel turned around once again. “You ok?” she questioned, a hint of worry in her voice. Jared nodded, clearing his throat. Hazel smiled and gestured to him to keep following. They kept walking, stopping once they reached a rusted metal door. Hazel paused in front of it and turned to Jared. “I want to show you something, Jared. I’ve been working on it for quite a long time, and I wanted you to be the first one to see it!” she smiled at Jared again and he awkwardly smiled back, wondering what kind of horror would be behind the door. A present? He watched Hazel push open the door, allowing him to walk inside. Jared looked around, staring down the dark tunnels. He didn’t hear Hazel lock the door behind them.

“Wow,” Jared whispered, squinting his eyes. “It’s really dark down here.” Hazel stepped beside him. “Well, of course! It has to be! It’s so we don’t disturb them.” Hazel grabbed Jared’s arm, leading him down one of the tunnels. “Now let’s go!” Jared hesitantly followed, letting Hazel lead the way. “Disturb.. who?” he asked, staring at the girl in front of him. Hazel didn’t answer, continuing to drag him down into the dusky underpass. The musty smell in the air slowly faded, being replaced by something smelling even more unpleasant. The further and further they walked, the stronger the putrid smell became. Jared gagged, covering his nose. The smell was almost unbearable. “Hey!” Jared snapped. “You told me you weren’t going to show me a dead ani-” a fit of coughs cut him off and he reached for his inhaler again, desperately trying not to breathe in the pungent odor. He shoved his inhaler back into his pocket, feeling Hazel let go of his arm. She had stopped.

Hazel turned around, her deep silver eyes glowed in the darkness. Jared tried closing his eyes, not wanting to look at the other pair, but felt unable to escape their command. Hazel looked away, her eyes now focusing on an object at the end of the tunnel. Jared walked closer to her, trying not to look at the object, but curiosity got the best of him and he slowly lifted his eyes off the ground, feeling as if his head was being titled up by a nonexistent force. Once his eyes focused on the object in front of him, he froze, falling to his knees in disbelief. Hazel sat down beside him, putting an arm around him comfortingly. “I know you two were very close. That’s why I wanted you to be the first to see it!” Jared felt his heart break into a million little pieces. “No..” he trembled, his whole body paralyzed with fear. “N-Noah..?”

The blonde-haired boy didn’t answer as he stared lifelessly at Jared, his left eye being nothing but an empty socket. There was a look of terror and indescribable agony written across his once lively face. Noah was so pale that his skin was almost see-through, little worms and other tiny insects visible underneath the skin. His back was bent at an impossible angle, his ribs tearing out from his sides. Burn marks were scattered all over his body, worms, and maggots crawling out of the charred patches of skin. His mouth was opened slightly, hundreds of blisters lining his cheeks, throat, and tongue. Streaks of blood and pus were leaking from his nose and mouth, leaving trails of red and yellow. Hazel clapped her hands in excitement. “Isn’t this wonderful! The little ones have hatched!” She then focused her eyes on Noah, pouting. “He sadly didn’t make it throughout college after all, but hey, it was a perfect explanation for his disappearance, and it made it easier for me to send those emails to you!” 

Jared’s breath grew heavier as he remembered the emails. He remembered everything, how excited Noah was to start college, how he remembered being so proud of him, how Noah told him that Hazel invited him over the day before he left, and the promise that they’d see each other again- it was all too much. Jared felt the hot tears fall down the sides of his face and he looked back at Noah, whose arm now seemed to twitch. Jared stared at it for a second and reached for it. As he did, parts of the skin tore open, unspecified bugs flying out and onto the ceiling, burying themselves deep in the alcoves above. 

Jared let out a small scream, his breath quickening. He stumbled back, frantically trying to wipe his eyes. Despite his vision being blurred with tears, he stood up and ran, knowing if he could just escape the cellar he’d be free, and able to tell everyone what had happened, he’d save Noah, he’d at least do.. something. He continued running, having no idea where he was going. He briefly considered hiding, looking around for any spots Hazel might overlook. He suddenly yelped, feeling a sharp pain in his lower back. He turned around, seeing a shadowy figure with a long, emptied syringe in its hands. Adrenaline filled his body as he flung himself at the figure, pushing it down. He turned around, running as fast as his legs could carry him. His vision blurred once again, and every footstep felt heavy, like he was sinking into the ground. Jared reached the rusted door once again. Everything was spinning. He felt around for the door handle, for his vision was nearly gone by now. He could feel the figure behind him, looming closer and closer by every second. The last thing Jared remembered was falling hard, face-first, right onto the cold, damp cellar floor. 

Jared awoke, his eyes fluttering as he tried to focus on his surroundings, allowing them to adjust to the dim light. He gasped for air, struggling to breathe. There was a sharp pain that started in his head, before splitting throughout his entire body. A large cut lined the middle of his forehead, stretching all the way down to his brow. Warm blood leaked down his face at an alarming rate. He shut his eyes, groaning. His head felt like it was slowly being torn open. Jared felt nothing but pain at this point. He felt something being placed on his forehead, eventually hearing Hazel’s voice from the side of him. The cool cloth soothed his head pain for a couple of seconds but the intolerable aching soon returned. Hazel then came into view, a small scalpel and an unidentifiable object in her hands. 

A wave of panic rushed over Jared as he struggled, realizing he couldn’t feel anything below his ribcage. He looked at his legs, trying to sit up, but there was absolutely no response. No feeling. Hazel gave him an apologetic look. “This isn’t normally how I perform this, but I couldn’t have you running away again. But hey, at least you can still feel your upper body.” She paused, gently placing her hand on his forehead. “The whole cracking your head open thing wasn’t supposed to happen either, but I think I can make it work. I think it’s for the better. Now I can see how long they can live in a human head! I was originally only gonna put them in your intestines and lungs, but now I have a third option! Isn’t this exciting!” her smile grew even wider, eyes practically shining through the darkness. 

Jared’s voice broke, more tears streaming down his face. “Now..” Hazel spoke, setting down the scalpel and placing the object down on the middle of Jared’s stomach. The object was now within Jared’s field of vision and he could see that the item was some sort of metal cube. He moved his eyes towards Hazel as she continued speaking. “This procedure seems to work the best when the ribs are broken.” And just as those words escaped her lips, the metallic cube twitched slightly. Three metal rods began poking out of each side, each of them having a sharp chain at the end. Before Jared could process what was happening, the rods hummed with life, spinning around in opposite directions, twisting themselves tightly around their victim. He let out a blood-curdling scream that was followed by a sickening crunching noise. The chains untwisted, the rods retreating into their block-shaped home. His screams faded into a quiet, slow rattle of breaths. Jared’s eyes glazed over once more, the tears now falling freely, mixing with the crimson blood that now almost covered the entirety of his face. 

Hazel slowly placed the scalpel down on his stomach. She looked up at him, taking his staring as a question. “Alright, on to step two! I’m now going to be placing some of the eggs in your intestines,” she answered, frowning at the look on Jared’s face. “Hey, chill out, okay? It’s not like you’re gonna be able to feel anything. When I did this to Noah, he was fully awake! Sure, I had to break his spine for him to stay still, but he didn’t completely give up like you are! It’s kind of pathetic.” She smiled again, grabbing a small bucket filled with an unknown substance and setting it beside her. “..Hazel..?” Jared croaked, trying his best to look up. “Yes?” She answered, not looking at Jared, for her eyes were fixed on the scalpel, as she was carefully checking the blade. “I wanna... I wanna go home..” Hazel returned the sharp object back to Jared’s stomach once again, and nodded. “I get that. Sometimes I feel that way too. Sometimes I just want to forget about my responsibilities and go home.’’ She made eye contact with the boy once again. “But we can’t always get what we want. Can we?” Jared squirmed, watching as Hazel slowly pressed the blade down, seeing it effortlessly cut through his skin and flesh. He couldn’t feel a thing. He tried looking away, but it was like the invisible force was back, holding his head in place, making him watch as Hazel successfully opened his stomach, his bloody organs fully visible now. Hazel continued cutting. She had done this an innumerable amount of times, she knew exactly how and where to cut. Jared felt himself passing out, his vision growing foggy. Hazel reached into his stomach, feeling the warm bloody innards, finding the perfect spot to place the eggs. The last thing Jared heard before completely blacking out was that same tune he had listened to countless times. Hazel continued humming, smiling to herself as she stitched the green-eyed boy back up, getting ready to continue to step three.

Deadweight. That’s what Jared’s body felt like as his mind fell back into consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, desperately hoping he had just woken up from a nightmare. Every inch of his body rived in agony. He took a breath, immediately wincing as intense pain radiated through his left side. His lungs felt as if they had been ripped apart, the pain worsening with every breath. His throat stung horribly from all the screaming and crying. He coughed, striving to get rid of the feeling of bugs crawling up and around his throat. The familiar suffocating smell hit his nostrils once again. He felt his stomach turn, and he violently threw up all over himself, seeing small black dots crawling through the vomit. His back laid against the stone wall, he stared at his legs as they sat helplessly on the dark stone floor. There was, once again, no response.

 He felt the insects crawling in and out of the cut on his forehead, for his head was now the only part of his body that wasn’t completely numb. The throbbing pain in his forehead started once again, but this time, he kept his eyes open. It was dark, but across the tunnel from him, he could make out Noah’s rotting body. The body was nothing but a living colony of crawling larvae now. He couldn’t watch. Jared coughed again, looking down at the lines of messy stitches covering his stomach and chest. He could feel them crawling inside of him, burying themselves deeper into his gut. Jared returned his gaze back to the decaying body of Noah and sniffled, crying silently in the dark, trying to cling to the hope of them seeing each other again. “I’m sorry,” he sobbed, voice breaking. ‘I’m so sorry that I didn’t… that I never had the chance to warn you..” 

-Allitini

A Road-trip with Whack-jobs

 Welp, I've returned once more, but alas I am late. Why do I keep being late? I despise being late. Ugh, it feels terrible. I still don't know what to write about, I honestly just plan on starting and word vomiting anything out of my system. That sounds nice, disgusting but nice. Anywho welcome back dear readers of the crazy and sane I have come back to amuse you for the next 5- 15 minutes. So without further ado let us begin...

Okay so... 

Sorry, want to pause to try a test. I'm happy, very happy exceedingly happy! Oh so overjoyed and brimming with dopamine and rainbow glitter! Well darn, my Grammarly still thinks this sounds sad and disapproving, and it hasn't even started yet! Ha! Oh well.

Okay so...

CJ was stuck in a car, not just any car though, his car. Trapped inside with the three other whackjobs he called his friends. Starting off in the nuthouse line-up they had Sajirianna AKA Saji, AKA the sassiest in all the land. She was sitting in the front passenger seat, scrolling through her phone and arguing over what would happen in a hailstorm on the sun planet. All of which was getting various remarks from their co-passengers. Beside her in the driver's seat was Jackson, Saji's boyfriend since freshman year. Who had somehow from close correspondence to Saji also become CJ's friend. Why was Jackson driving Cj's car you ask? Because CJ hated to drive, and Jackson loved CJ's car compared to his thirty-year-old "granny mobile". Jackson was also the oldest of the seventeen-year-olds, so there they had it designated driver. Even though there would be absolutely no alcohol on this trip. At all. Jackson was another part of the hail storm argument asking how could it hail on a planet that's never cold? 

To which Saji responded, "Duh, lava hail." In the most diva voice known to all beings of the universe. 

The third and final escaped convict of the car was the newest addition to their odd little gang.  Preston, or Pres, was the president of their junior class and was perched in the back passenger seat. He was quietly listening to the conversation, throwing in little tidbits to the fire of words when it started to calm down. CJ was the vice president of their class he laughed when he realized this was anything but a professional trip, oh well not like he had known anything about it. 

Three hours ago he had gotten home with the hope of face-planting onto his bead and sleeping through his seventeenth birthday. The problem was when he got there he was greeted by his parents holding a half-packed suitcase as Saji and the other two pulled into his driveway. CJ was then tugged upstairs to finish packing as Sajirianna explained the amazing trip they were kidnapping him for, without actually explaining where they were going. She did promise they wouldn't kill him. That fact wasn't very helpful though, he grumbled as he stared out the window watching car after car drive by them on the interstate. At one point he was shoved in the side by Preston and brought back to their conversation. 

"You know we took you on this trip so you'd have fun on your birthday, instead of just sleeping through it! You just keep moping out the window. That's no fun at all!" Saji commented as she turned to glare him down.  

CJ stared back, unamused by her antics, and simply said, "I'd stop moping if someone would actualloy explain to me where we're going! For all I know we'll get there and you'll kill me!"

We promised your parents we wouldn't murder you, that should all the information you need!" Preston said from beside him. 

"Yeah, okay, great, I totally believe you. You three definitely won't kill me while my guards down. No, you'd never do that!" CJ sassed back. 

"Stop bickering, or I'll turn this car around!" Jackson joked from the front seat. 

"It's my car!!!" CJ retorted tiredly. 

"Don't sass my boyfriend or we're not buying you a toy from McDonald's CJ!" Saji added while laughing. 

"Oh great, the fake parent jokes have returned, and I'm not seven I don't want a toy." 

"Sorry, the what?" Preston asked with a small snicker. 

"Just forget about it, you'll figure it out soon enough on this trip," CJ said grumpily as he realized that had in fact just pulled into a McDonald's. 

"I want that toy..." CJ mumbled quietly. 

"Anything you want, hun. Saji joked from the front. 

They each ordered at the drive-through, attained their food, and continued their journey in a much more tolerable mood. Once their trip ended the friends made true of their promise. CJ, in fact, was still alive. 

Well, that took me way longer than what it should have, but it's okay. I hope you enjoyed it and that it makes enough sense. I'm gonna head out now, but as always have a magical rest of your day!

~ Ms. Magic ~

An Oddly Familiar Day

 I have returned!!!! I know you missed me so much! But anywho this is like half a day behind, which is the longest I feel like I've ever done something past due. Weird. I don't like it but I thought of something. I was like hmmm..... what do I want to do???? Then it came to me! I want to story! (Oof I LOVE stories) So I didn't want to use my OC's because then you'd know too much, but let's make a story about a new random person. So I pulled up a random word generator and I got distant, grudge, classroom, and explanation, so without further ado let us begin!

Okay so(how I start all stories)...

As Asher sat at his desk doing homework he thought back on the prior events of the day. He knew he should work on his explanation of cause and effect events in chapter eight but his mind was having a relay race of events in his mind. He thought of each class of that day and how each one progressively became odder and odder. Thinking back on it he did have a feeling of sheer dread when he woke up that morning, but he chalked that up to hunger as he scarfed down his breakfast. He sat quietly trying to concentrate as he listened to his mom hum downstairs in the kitchen as she made supper. The sun was becoming more and more distant on the horizon and he wished he could be out exploring.

He begrudgingly finished his homework and checked outside once more. The sun had finally set leaving the thousands of stars around his planet to make themselves known. He saw a burst to the left of their yard and realized the fire beings next door were once again making fire signals. He watched as he saw a bright spiral of petals from the yard on the other side of his house. Beings were weird, always trying to show off what new tricks they were learning. At least they could show their improvements, he was stuck shifting his minute details to altar himself in the smallest of ways. Once again, classroom events were brought back to the front of his mind. 

His mom had told him when he left this morning today was gonna be a weird day, he didn't understand what she meant, he still didn't know how she knew, but she was right. The day started normal enough. He showed up to school found his friends and had talked with them about the regular stuff, he honestly didn't even remember what by this point. First period was fine and then they got to language arts/English. That's when the day got weird. Everyone started talking about how the mage was coming to their school for this weird unknown reason. He didn't pay much attention to this until one of the Morphix beings in his class popped up behind him and asked if he thought the mage was coming to pick new Legion member recruits. that idea seemed logical except generally they picked new recruits at the end or beginning of each school year and it was currently the middle. After their teacher had gotten their chatter under control he then started to work on whatever mundane homework task they had been given of the three options. Sadly though, now he was curious why the mage was coming, so that thought would stick to him for the day. They got to third period and repeated this process doing whatever. Continuously guessing, and failing, at figuring out what was going to happen. None of them knew, but the prospect of figuring it out first was exhilarating. 

Eventually the rest of his classes passed by and it was time for their assembly. Everyone was abuzz with curiosity, impatiently waiting to see the man arrive with his team. they each watched excitedly as the man in his mid-twenties strolled into their gym. He introduced himself for no reason other than professionalism, for all of them knew who he was. They soon found out that the reason for the assembly was just this school field trip to some government buildings to see the inner workings of mission and assignments task forces were sent on. Still sounded cool, but why did they send the mage to tell them this instead of some random ambassador? Asher continued to wonder this as the students were allowed to get up and question the mage. He had met the mage before, many times actually, but that's a story for another time. He started to slowly slink out of the gym but could feel eyes on him as he slipped out. He walked down the halls toward his locker so he could leave soon. He was tired and ready to leave this building until tomorrow. Once he got there though he was met with the sight of two of the mages Legion guards. He paused for a moment and continued on, purposefully ignoring them both. They made no sounds; they were there to watch him for some reason, but hey, this had happened before too. 

"So," one of them said "we're supposed to escort you home, some minor-ish threats were picked up around the area this morning. We don't want a repeat of what almost happened last year." He stopped and smiled at Asher, Asher decided to acknowledge the two men now. 

"Yeah, okay, I don't care. So was the assembly an actual thing and you guys were sent because you were closest, or was this just a cover to scope out the area?" 

"Both," responded the other, "it just kinda worked out in this funny little way. But anyways we haven't seen anything else since this morning so we should be fine, we just have to make sure." 

So, he quickly called his mom making sure she knew about this, she said yes it was fine, see him soon. then they slipped away the mage met them in the fancy car, and they drove Asher home. The Mage and his team stayed for a little while, casually chatting with his parents then they all left. So Asher went to his room to inflect upon today's proceedings. His parents hadn't let him watch the news once they left, they didn't want him to see the "minor" threats the one Legion member had talked about. That was fine though, he didn't need to know for the moment. 

Back to the current time, he realized he'd been spacing out for a while when his mom appeared in his doorway talking about how supper was done. He quickly shook himself out of his trance and headed downstairs. He was swiftly swallowed by conversations of his dad's workday and all that his mom had done while she was off the day. He happily ate supper, thinking of the oddities of their world. 

The End

Okay so, to anyone who is still here, hello, welcome! Okay, a few things one, I lied, I did use Oc's. Two is that sorry about some of this being happy or odd I just kinda was like oh words, words are nice, and then proceeded to word vomit a whole mini-story out in half an hour. Also, I know there are plotholes, fill them in if you want, add something, change something, I mean not literally since you can't edit the doc, but change it in your headspace! Anywho thank you for sticking around, I hope that wasn't too cringy or confusing. So I must go now, but I wish you a lovely, lovely (insert time of day here) and as always I hope you stay magical!

~Ms. Magic~

Friday Night Fun

    Friday night was a blast, probably the most fun I had ever had, Not because of the game, but because of the people I hung out with, Namely Jessica Bauld, Tanner Bauld, their two cousins, Emery Nelson, Jake Daniels, and a few others. I gave advice and I earned advice, We listened to music and talked about life. It was one if not, the best night of my life.

-Memento Mori

Prologue

 June 3rd, 2017 

Everything was spinning. 

Jared coughed, struggling to keep his breathing steady. 

A cool breeze blew gently through the grass below the hills. The sun had begun to rise, filling the sky with bright yellow and orange.  It would have been a peaceful sight for anyone, unless you happened to be Jared Patsin.   

He knew he was overdosing, and unless he threw up the pills and received medical attention, he’d soon die. The hill wasn’t that far from home, and he knew almost every inch of the area. 

Jared stumbled as he walked, making his way towards his destination entirely by feel.

His hand shakily brushed the rotting tree that made its home on the cliff. 

Step by step, he climbed up the decaying tree, higher and higher. He felt the newly formed sunlight shine on his face. 

His stomach burned, feeling as if the handful of pills he had recently downed had been replaced with burning hot coils. It was pure agony, but he knew all of this would be over soon.

Eyes unfocused and barely seeing, Jared began to hyperventilate, his eyes glazing over as he struggled to breathe. 

He sat upon the one branch that could hold the stress of his weight, desperately trying to get his eyes to focus on the sunrise. Jared wanted the last thing he would ever see to be something calm and relaxing. 

His eyes went in and out of focus, he could barely register what was going on. Jared clutched his stomach tightly, the pain becoming too much. He regretted everything, wishing he could make it back to the house in time. 

His legs buckled as he attempted to stand, resulting in a snapping sound that echoed throughout the cliffs. Jared watched as his shadow got closer and closer to the rocks and decaying trees below. There was a sickening crunch that lingered in his ears as he felt himself hit the ground. He had fallen headfirst. 

There was a bright light. Jared looked around, seeing absolutely nothing but whiteness. He couldn't feel, he couldn't think, he couldn’t do anything. 

Invisible hands latched onto his legs, pulling him down, the white fading into complete and total darkness. His back fell against something indistinguishable. An invisible floor perhaps? Four  amorphous figures looked up at him. 

From what he could see, the middle one had been the tallest, the two on the left and right had been roughly the same height, and the fourth and final one was the smallest, standing just up to the middle’s one kneecap. 

Each member of the quartet were white blurs, their faces glowing with different emotions. Rage, terror, and misery on the smallest of the three, but the tallest one was the hardest to register. Acceptance? Trust? Boredom? It looked blank, being the only one out of the four who kept eye contact with Jared. 

Blood-curdling noises erupted from the group, making Jared cover his ears instinctively. The ghostly figures just stood there, although the sounds coming from them were anything but normal. 

Ear piercing screams and sobs circled the small space that Jared was unknowingly in. With great difficulty, Jared could make out three different voices that continued to plead to some unspecified source. 

There were two sets of screams that sounded nearly identical, although one scream was out of fear and the other, out of fury. The sobbing continued to get louder and louder, banging repeatedly into Jared’s skull. 

Jared couldn’t focus on their faces any longer as another flash of light blinded his eyes.

When he opened his eyes once again, there was a voice. A man hung directly above him, being held up by a safety rope. He shined the flashlight back onto Jared’s face, which Jared did not appreciate. “We found him.” There was one thought racing through Jared’s aching head as he was lifted to safety. What the hell just happened. 

-Allitini