Death Is Only the Beginning - The Midnight Club

1

She ran along the dark and empty street, the cool air cutting into her cheeks, but she wasn't feeling the chill they caused. It was her own mind that gave her warmth, her thirst for justice, that after all this time had the ability to conquer someone else's thirst for blood. The file in her hand increasingly heavy, she upped her pace, as if afraid one of the elongated grotesque shadows of the trees adorning the road could just as easily be of the secret killer's. She felt the stare of animalistic eyes piercing the back of her neck, without empathy or simply any kind of emotion. The girl continued on her way. The police station wasn't far away anymore, even if that monster, escaping her paranoid and tired mind, were to somehow chase after her in real life too.

Even despite all the dangers, she wouldn't have done any other way, she thought as she began seeing the lights of redemption at the end of the street. From the moment she looked out that window on that early Monday morning and saw her friend being pushed into her death, falling for the first and last time like an angel, as if the school's ugly roof marked the entrance to heaven, from the moment the police determined it couldn't have been suicide, that someone was at fault, from all the moments of hope and despair, she had been taking every breath for this damning but truthful light to be shed.

At last, she arrived, barging into the safety of the police station, with such force that she almost took the door with herself. Each pair of eyes turned towards her, and she, dropping all the files on the floor, shining in the spotlight opened her mouth. But didn't even have time to close it. The gunshot that forced her to the floor was sudden and loud, even the officers around didn't have time to react. As they rushed to get the only possible person who would've liked to take revenge on this girl, the girl herself lay motionless, with her sensations fading away and liquid life leaving her body. The last thing left in her mind, that no bullet could take away, was the burning anger of contempt, of injustice. Finally, her physical being numb, even her soul drenched in her own menacingly crimson blood, she saw the world close in on her, and, with the sinister promise of the cold tiles below, her eyes shut.

Darkness lingered, lingered, and lingered on.

She woke up with a small gasp, her head like a carelessly thrown ball, almost bouncing up from the desk. She was at school. Had it all been just a dream? She looked around. Everything seemed normal. But her friend... Her friend wasn't there. And this lesson, the teacher's monotone, drowsy words, she had all heard this before, as if in another life. The thought darted into her mind like the dreamworld bullet into her back just a moment before. But this time it hurt. She quickly got on her feet, with the desire to run up to the roof as fast as she could, to save herself as much as her friend now. She would've just taken the first step, the whole class staring, but she looked out. Oh, she had to look out! The body fell with the same soft, ugly thud she remembered so well, each of her classmates running to the window. And then, just then she knew that it would all begin again.

***

"...all begin again." Ivy slapped down hard on the firm wooden table with both hands as her story concluded, making the nearby-sitting Natsuki and Sara slightly jump. She felt a rush of satisfaction.

"Ah nah, the it was all a dream trope?" Amesh sighed. "Seriously?"

"What, I liked it! It was a bit cliché, but the loop thing saved it." Cheri joined in.

Ivy pointed towards the girl. "Thank you. You guys really need to learn to be nicer."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, we're dying anyways." Anya grunted.

Sara chuckled awkwardly. "Anya's especially not feeling the vibe today, does she?"

"Yeah, like fuck I don't!" She replied. "Would you, if you woke up and that girl immediately started showing you some exclusive fucking magic tea in a bag?! 'Cause that's what happened!"