Not A Scaredy-Cat

The Huge Black Thing

Well, everyone fell asleep at the same time.

There were several thumps as people collapsed to the ground around us. Shirane stared at me, wide eyed, for one second before her eyes closed and her body went limp, falling to the ground in the same manner.

I gaped, my eyes nearly popping out. "What the fu-"

"I should be saying that," smiled a voice. I whipped around to see Keiji leaning casually against a wall, his hands in his pockets (why was he so hot). A pleasant smile rested on his thin lips, but his eyes showed a different story.

He was annoyed.

"Um-" I began.

"I didn't know you were paranormal," he mused, fixating me with a piercing stare. "You must've concealed it pretty well."

"And you, um, you dropped the accent."

He raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? This happens"- he gestured to the fallen people- "and your main concern is that I don't actually speak like that?"

"I'm sorry, but it was terrible as fuck," I managed to find the courage to snap. "Like, super bad. I don't even know how you thought you pulled it off."

He pursed his lips. "Uh-huh."

I bit my lip, coming back to the fact that this guy was apparently, very dangerous. "I realize that was not the best thing to say right now...."

He laughed loudly, the sound echoing all across the giant hall. "Oh, you're funny, you know. I had a feeling you would be, when I met you."

I didn't say anything.

"You're awkward, but I like that," he continued, taking a step forward. I took a step back. "It's cute. Very cute. Not to mention entertaining."

I hated the fact that I was blushing furiously.

"Which is a shame, you know..." he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "A real shame."

"What?"

"You didn't fall asleep," he smiled impishly, which was more terrifying. "What are you?"

"Huh?"

"What are you?" he repeated, walking towards me. "What species?"

I took several steps back, which was hard considering everyone was all over the place. I nearly stumbled over some poor red head, who was snoring a bit too loudly. "Listen, I don't know what you did here but this is getting really creepy."

He gave me a confused look. "You don't know what I am?"

I blinked as an answer.

He stopped. "There's no way."

"Uh..."

"You can't be human," he wasn't smiling anymore. "If you were, my magic would've worked on you. But you don't know a single thing of what I'm talking about."

"This is fun and all, but I really think you should get yourself checked." I said, pretending I hadn't heard 'magic'.

"I'm not joking around."

"I'm pretty sure you are," my eyes widened. "Oh my god, this is one of those YouTube pranks, isn't it?"

"What?"

"This is why Shirane was acting so weird," I grinned. "She was part of this! I knew it! Okay, listen, I don't know how she managed to get you in the loop, but the jig is up, so no more being creepy. It really doesn't suit you"- I bent down to poke Shirane- "Alright, you're a terrible actor, you know? You're literally itching to smile, I can see it."

She didn't respond.

"Shirane, wake up," I poked her even more. "This is starting to get less funny." I stood up and yelled, "Everyone, I don't know how much this girl paid you, but I'll give you double, if you wake up!"

Not a single peep. Jerks.

I turned back to Keiji, who was looking at me like I was the one who had gone mad. "Hey, this really isn't funny anymore."

"That's because it's a not a joke. This is real. I made them fall asleep."

"I- okay, no."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes."

"Hell no."

"Heaven yes."

"That wasn't funny."

"Clearly, you don't have a sense of humor."

"Well, do you care to explain what the fuck is actually going on?" I snorted with exasperation.

"I just told you."

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that?" I shook my head and laughed. "Like, A+ for creativity but let's be more practical here."

He grinned. "I'm flattered but it's the truth."

I did not grin back. "Stop fooling around."

"You're right, I gotta do something." he sighed, and then out of nowhere, pulled out a katana. A whole fucking sword.

I put my arms in the air. This was as good as him pulling out a gun. "Um, okay, when I asked you to stop fooling around-"

He inspected the blade idly, running his fingers over the sharp edge, and hummed.

"Are you... going to kill me?" I was awfully calm for this.

"Oh, no," he chuckled, as if I had asked something pretty silly. "Killing you would be a waste of time... but then again, you're a problem so..." He trailed off, eyebrows furrowing.

"Then, we can both agree that letting me go and waking up all these poor people," I cleared my throat tentatively. "You know, you'll be free too then."

He ignored my suggestion. "I came here for the ghost, or whatever it is. You've been on this tour several times, if I'm correct?"

"Yeah, but like, it doesn't exi- oh, who am I kidding? You want me to help you find it?"

"Smart girl," he beamed. "Yeah, I do. You don't mind, do you?"

I sucked in a breath. "Do I have a choice?"

"Not really," he replied cheerfully. "Anyhoo, if I find what I'm looking for, I'll be out of your hair for good. You can forget I even exist. Deal?"

It's a trap, screamed my brain. Don't you fucking fall for it.

"Deal." I confirmed. "Although, I can't think of how I could possibly help you-"

There were three things that happened at that moment.

Someone let out a high pitched, terrifying scream.A window shattered, the glass spraying all over the floor.Something huge and black whizzed past my ear, screaming "DIE YOU PATHETIC PIECES OF SHITS- NO, SHIT, NOT SHITS. UGH, STUPID GRAMMAR." (I made that up, sorry.)

Dumbfounded, I watched with horror as Keiji dived out of the way, the huge black thing missing him by inches. It stopped with a cartoonish screech and just stood there, floating around like any huge black thing would.

It's hard to describe a huge black thing but this huge black thing was dark and wispy, almost like a giant storm cloud that had dropped from the sky, and I kind of expected it to shoot lightning bolts from its rear.

Instead, it went for me.

I thought I heard Keiji shouting at me to get out of its way; I wasn't sure, it could've been just my brain screaming at me. The cloud thing was now something charging towards me in slow motion, looking incredibly comical and amusing. There was only thing I registered as it collided with me - I was going to die.