"Should’ve Stayed Home and Studied" by Ty K

            “Shit.”

            She knew this was it. It was towering over her, its blade-like limb speeding toward her neck. Everything began to move in slow motion, and the events of the evening played over one last time in her mind.

            It wasn’t totally Lena’s fault that it would end like this. She recalled how her mother had pressed her to spend her Saturday like a “normal” teenager.

            “Sweetie, I understand that your finals are coming up, but don’t you think you’ve spent enough time studying?” her mother inquired.

            “There isn’t really an ‘enough’ point with studying.” replied Lena, her head buried in a chemistry textbook.

            “Sure, but I really feel like you need a break. You’ve been working too hard for the past couple of weeks, and it never hurts to de-stress a bit. You know you need a break when your mother is telling you to stop studying.”

            “I mean, I guess, mom.”

            “Isn’t there some kind of party you could go to? Or, what do you guys call them now… a kickback?”

            “I’ll just see what Jax is up to.”

            Jax was one of Lena’s only friends. They met at the beginning of their freshman year of high school. He was taller and skinnier than Lena, and had much fairer skin compared to Lena’s reddish-brown coloration. Unfortunately for him, he decided to pick up the phone that Saturday night that Lena called.

            “Hey Lena, what’s up? Need help with homework?” he asked.

            “Actually, I was calling to see if you wanted to do something tonight?”

            “Wh- What?” Jax’s voice broke. “Um, sure, what did you have in mind?”

            “Just something to get me out of the house, my mom is forcing me to do stuff.” said Lena, seemingly bored.

            “Oh, alright.” replied a disheartened Jax.

            The two met up at a park near Jax’s house, telling their parents that they would walk to another friend’s house from there.

            “So, you think of something to do on the car ride over here?” questioned Jax through chattering teeth.

            It was a cool December night in Ehrenberg, Arizona. Jax tried to dress warmly, but the cold air sliced through his extra jackets like they were nothing.

            “How ‘bout we check out that old high school? The one by the firehouse?” Lena suggested, showing no signs that the weather bothered her.

            “You mean the one that’s all boarded up? With ‘KEEP OUT’ signs on them? Why would we do that?”

            “Because. Why not? What’re you scared or something?” Lena shoved Jax.

            “No. Man, you suck.”

            Lena couldn’t tell if he was blushing or if the cold was turning his face red.

---

            Within B. Dahlia High School, a figure hunched over a small animal, what looked like a dog, mutilated, but still living. This figure was imperceivable, appearing to the dog as its previous, abusive owner. It ripped and tore at the poor animal’s insides, consuming every last morsel. Suddenly, it froze, turning what could be its head away from its food. It heard noises outside of its home, two humans.

---

            “Why did this school ever close?” Jax whispered to Lena.

“Some liability issue, too many kids coming home sick or something.”

“And why do you want to be here again?”

“To figure out more about this stupid place. Don’t the rumors make you curious?”

The two teenagers clambered over nailed boards, through a broken spot in what used to be the door. Lena flicked on her flashlight, and wandered into an old classroom.

“How old is this place? It was only recently closed down right? These desks don’t look too old.”

“Yeah, I think it was only a few years ago when they actually closed this area off.”

Jax was set on finding whatever it was Lena wanted to find and getting the hell out of there. He didn’t like school in the first place, and did not picture himself back in class on a Saturday night.

“Let’s go check out the main offices. I bet they’ll have the information you’re looking for, or whatever.”

---

The creature followed the sound of the two humans. It quickly made its way from room to room, moving through walls as though they were nothing. Finally, it saw its prey. Two humans. One smaller. One larger. It had been a long time since it got to eat such a glorious meal.

---

“Hey I think I got something.” said Lena.

“It says in this record that there was some kind of experimentation done here prior to the school being built. Some kind of chemical residue was left behind and it ended up getting most of the kids sick. It says that the chemicals had some ‘undesirable effects’ like making students more aggressive, and changing their appearances.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not really sure, it said something about subtle differences in students depending on who you asked. Like the mother of this one student said she saw her son with more freckles than usual, while the same students brother said that his eyes became darker. I don’t get it.”

Jax didn’t say anything.

“And in this report, it says something did happen to a certain student. Not that they died, but that they went missing. I really don’t understand this Jax. Jax?”

She turned around. What she saw was completely different than what Jax saw.

He saw a clown stabbing him through his back, and the knife coming out of his chest. His last thought was fear, he always hated clowns.

Lena watched the blood run out of her friend’s mouth, as he slid off the creature’s arm and onto the floor. Lena saw a dark, lanky figure, with sharp ends for each of its limbs. She began to run, to no avail. The creature moved from Jax’s lifeless body almost as a shadow, cutting off her only exit from the office room.

“Shit.”

Before Lena’s decapitated head had hit the floor, the creature began to feed on Jax’s insides.