All Returns To Dusk - Chapter 6 Beginning Of Dusk 5

Beep! Beep! Boop!

“Five more minutes,” I murmur in a daze.

Beep! Beep! Boop!

“Shut. Up!”

Chucking that noisy object across the room, I awaken to find myself in a peculiar sleeping position as usual. Even though I did lay down on my bed in a straight position, I am currently twisted sideways like a pretzel while my upper body is slipping down the edges of the bed.

Closing my eyes for a few seconds, I suddenly open them again. I kick the sheets off and scramble out of bed. As my head clears up, I realize that I tossed my phone across the room.

Scanning my room, I use up a minute to find the location my smartphone landed in. Coincidentally, it flew into my trashcan and now I need to waste another minute cleaning it.

I click the on-button to check the time as its screen lights up.

Eight-seventeen A.M.

“Sh*t! I’m going to be late!”

Class starts at nine A.M. and I normally take fifteen minutes to prepare and thirty to walk to school.

But, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Without brushing my teeth or hair, I slip on a coat over my sweats. Though, I do have an extra toothbrush and other toiletries in my backpack to use in the school’s bathroom. This isn’t exactly the first time I have woken up late.

One of the pros of my school includes how there is no dress code nor any required uniforms. The worst that can happen from attending school in pajamas is people staring at you all day while every single passerby inquires why the hell did you come in pajamas when it’s not PJ day.

Dashing down the stairs with my backpack, I stop by the kitchen to grab my breakfast, which is the leftover sandwich from the dinner I missed yesterday. While my mom cannot cook, she can at most put two slices of bread together with some condiments and slices of ham inside.

On the dining table, I notice a paper note my mom left behind for me.

“Roxanne. I won’t be home tonight. Go make your own food and eat without me. Mommy loves you. Be careful of serial killers and rapists on your way to and from school. Danger is always lurking where you least expect it.”

Lowing the note, I realize that my mom forgot to turn the television off.

“News report: There have been fifteen murders of unknown causes all-around NeverDusk City. All the victims were killed by some sharp weapon similar to a bear’s claw. Experts say that the victims have been killed by the same serial killer”

Switching the TV off, I feel relieved that I did not end up as yet another victim in the mass killings.

A chilling sensation of dread passes through my mind. If it was not for Leon’s gun, then I would have a ninety-nine percent chance of dying.

Choosing to not think about yesterday’s events anymore, I leave my house for school.

Running pass the encirclement of neighborhoods, I ponder on why there is a crowd of people blocking the streets in front of me.

“Um, could you please let me through?” I squeeze through the mob and reach the front.

Filthy and mangled flesh wraps around far too few bones than what a human should have. Flies joyfully feast upon the rotten meat, which is filled with white maggots. No matter in what way I view the pile of red and brown, it merely looks like a pulverized human or other large creature.

I gag at the stench and sight of the corpse. When I clocked my head to look away from the spectacle and avoid vomiting, I hear police sirens from the distance.

Wee-woo! Wee-woo!

When the police arrive, they hurriedly disperse the crowd and secure the area.

As I start to resume my sprint to school, I discern the police officer from the last night. However, since he is busy speaking with his colleagues, he does not notice my gaze.

“Hey, you,” a someone calls out to me, with a tone that sounds like a pubescent boy’s voice.

As a finger pokes me, I tremble from static electricity shock.

Reflexively, I slap the hand before scrutinizing the culprit.

“Anthony?” My eyes widen when I discover one of my classmates right here.

“Oh, you really were Roxanne. Fancy seeing you here near my place,” Anthony mentions while adjusting his glasses. “Your bed hair and strangely patterned sweats caused me to think twice on whether or not you are my classmate. But, your height and hazel eye-color pretty much confirmed my suspicions.”

If I remember correctly, then his full name is Anthony Drew. Other than a single group assignment, I do not recall ever talking to him afterward. My only impression of him is that he likes dreaming up fictional situations and likes to talk about his make-believe stories.

“Hi. Uh, Anthony. I actually live several blocks away,” I respond.

“Really? How come I never really see you around?”

“Dunno. It’s probably because we pass by each other or use different paths. This neighborhood does have some complex pathways for some odd reason.”

One can most likely find an alien or another world if they wander through them enough. When I first tried to tread through the roads without my mom, I became lost within a few minutes.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Anthony nods while glimpsing at the crime scene.

“Hey, have you seen anything strange lately?” Anthony asks while incessantly flashing occasional glances at the yellow tape and group of policemen.

“No, why?”

“You might not believe me. However, I think I saw a monster with a body similar to a hulk, but with the head of a frog head at school. Uh, I think it appeared a couple of days ago. The reason why Jessica from the class next door disappeared last Thursday was because she was swallowed by the frog monster.”

“Huh? Do you mean the girl with more pimples than freckles?”

“Yeah.”

“Anthony, I literally just ran into her just yesterday.”

“Yeah, because the frog monster spat her out after a day,” he says in a matter-of-fact tone.

“I see…but how the hell does the fact Jessica’s unfortunate incident have anything to do with anything?”

“Don’t you understand, Roxanne?” He crosses his arms.

“No, I don’t.”

“There are bizarre things that humans cannot comprehend in this world. Whether it is my incident or the crime right here, there is no way that science can explain these unusual matters,” he pushes his glasses.

Observing my excited classmate, I tell him straight, drowning his enthusiasm, “Listen, Anthony. There are no such things as the monsters that appear in fiction, I’m sure that there is a reason for these incidents that could be answered with logic and science.”

“Hey! If you don’t believe me, you should have just told me to begin with,” he snaps, “Since we’re running late, I’m going to leave first. Bye, Roxanne.”

As I watch the boy rush to class, I follow after I can no longer see his shadow.

While departing from my neighborhoods, I check the time.

Eight-thirty A.M.

—–

With the fastest speeds that I can muster, I manage to reach my classroom a couple of minutes before class begins. I catch sight of Anthony sitting near the front of the classroom before I navigate to the back of the class, where my seat is.

“Hey, Roxanne. Did anything happen to you last night? I called you and texted you a couple of messages, but you didn’t pick up nor reply,” Leon Cross probes as he arrives next to my desk.

Settling my head onto my arms, I reply, “Nothing important really happened.”

“You’re lying,” Leon instantaneously counters. “Whenever you lie, you tend to look to your left and blink three times.”

“I just ran into a bit of trouble on the way home, but it was no big deal. After that, I had some problems with my mom for coming home late. Guess what? She confiscated both my internet and laptop for the rest of the month. What am I going to do now without cat videos and online memes?”

“What trouble?” Leon does not let that verbal slip go by easily.

“More importantly,” changing the subject, I lean in close to his face. “What the hell is with that gun?”

“You used it already?” Leon blinks. “I was hoping that you would tell me the truth right away, but it seems you don’t think I’m trustworthy enough.”

Before I can inquire on what Leon means by those words, the classroom door opens.

“Please quiet down,” the school’s principal, Mr. Anderson, enters the classroom and starts to write on the board. After testing and throwing away three dried up whiteboard markers, he finally writes a single name: Grey Everlasting.

“Before I let your new teacher in, I need you all to be on your best behaviors. Since you all will be the first class that he will ever teach, I want you all to make the best out of your and his school year.”

At that moment, a mass of whispers reverberates within the classroom. My classmates are all eager to meet the new teacher. Apparently, Leon and the rest of the student body had seen the new teacher briefly during the school’s assembly.

“You can come in now, Mr. Everlasting,” Mr. Anderson signals to the classroom door.

When the door creaks open, a scholarly gentleman with an average appearance enters the room. With a head of auburn hair and a warm smile, he strolls to the front of the class. As he sets a pile of documents and his bag down, he introduces himself.

“Greetings, my name is Grey Everlasting. You can call me Mr. Everlasting or Mr. E for short. I will be your homeroom teacher until you all graduate from this school. My specialties are math and physics, but I will also be teaching you guys language arts aside from those two subjects. Are there any questions before I begin from where Mrs. Helens had left off?”

Although he speaks with a clear and pleasant timbre, his words simply go through one of my ears and out the other.

After all, there is something far more significant than his introduction.

The man’s grey irises.