Viscera and Other Tales

Fear//Sum

Ms. Hayward's math class was always my favorite. She knew how to explain things in the simplest of ways and she was patient with even the dullest of students.

I used to be a bit of a trouble maker back then but she never treated me worse than any of the other kids and, though I was never open about it, I really appreciated that understanding.

Always looking to challenge us in new ways she'd try and find interesting new teaching methods.

Games, puzzles, projects, anything was fair play as long as we learned something from it. She made 7th grade tolerable and that's more than I could say for most teachers.

There was, however, one student she couldn't quite reach.

Her name was Maritza Soto and she was an exchange student from Mexico. She had joined our class midway through the school year and had remained a bit of an enigma for most of the students.

Her hair was unkempt and ratty, her clothes wrinkled and stained, and she didn't exactly smell the best. Though these things would in most cases lead to lots of cruelty and bullying, nobody messed with her. She had a bad energy about her and there were bad vibes anywhere she went.

Ms. Hayward was one of the only people in the school to really try and connect with her, but she could never get much out of her. Maritza wasn't a mute but when she did talk it was always in a dull, monotone voice. Raspy and breathy, she came off cold, distant. Her presence made the student body and even most of the teachers uncomfortable.

Always determined, Ms. Hayward never gave up on trying to include her and get her to open up and share with us all. It didn't often work, but it's the thought that counts I suppose.

For the most part the class settled into a routine of learning a lesson, followed by a couple minutes of Maritza's attempted inclusion, before Ms. Hayward would give up and go back to the lesson at hand. The next day, it'd start again.

Things began to change one day when Maritza raised her hand.

I could tell Ms. Hayward had been taken aback by this as Maritza had never attempted to talk of her own volition.

"Uh, yes, Maritza do you have a question?"

Maritza nodded. "Can I write something on the board?"

The entire class was sitting in silence, looking back and forth from Ms. Hayward and Maritza. Stunned that the strange girl had finally spoken up. We waited, eager to see how Ms. Hayward would handle this.

"Of course you can!" She finally responded. "Here."

She handed Maritza a dry erase marker and the girl made her way up to the board. She slowly began writing out a series of numbers, her handwriting no better than chicken scratch but not completely illegible.

41 25 87 68 133 90

The class stared, unsure of what to make of the random assortment of numbers.

Ms. Hayward looked puzzled as well. "Maritza, what do those numbers mean?"

Maritza's eyes rolled back and she collapsed. It felt like a nightmare happening in slow motion. Ms. Hayward leaped over her desk and over to the fallen girl.

"Jessica! Go get the nurse, someone call an ambulance!"

Jessica ran out of the room as the rest of us scrambled to take our phones out and call for help. Ms. Hayward cradled Maritza, a fearful look glazed over her face.

Then, everybody stopped.

Ms. Hayward let out a horrific wail as a single moth crawled out of Maritza's mouth and flew into the air. The class was sent into a panic as everybody ran for the exit.

Maritza's body began to shake as she sat up and sunk her teeth into Ms. Hayward's neck. She ripped the teacher's jugular out as blood sprayed across the walls of the room.

We banged and pushed against the door but it wouldn't budge. People were crying, screaming, it was pure panic as Maritza began chomping at Ms. Hayward's throat.

She looked towards us with a smile, meat clenched tight between her teeth. A sickening look spread across her face.

"Summa omnium timoribus! Summa omnium timoribus!"

Her voice grew deeper and ugly as a bone chilling laugh escaped her. She lowered her head to continue her feast as the door finally flew open and everyone ran out of the classroom.

Just as we escaped, Jessica and the nurse were returning.

"Don't fucking go in there!" One boy shouted, pushing Jessica back and turning her towards the exit.

The nurse continued forward despite everybody's panicked protests. A beat passed before there was a scream as she ran from the room.

We made it outside and told the arriving EMTs what happened. They, of course, didn't our story and proceeded ahead inside. It wasn't long before they came out, stunned.

Apparently, they found Ms. Hayward on the floor, head detached, throat missing and disemboweled. Her intestines were strung across the room like sick party decorations. Her organs littered the floor, surrounding her in a circular pattern.

Maritza was no where to be seen.

Investigators couldn't make heads or tails of what happened or who Maritza even was apparently.

She was registered to the school but the supposed exchange family she was staying with didn't exist. Nobody had any idea what her past entailed or what she was even doing here.

The numbers she left behind were pretty much ruled out as nonsense. They didn't lead to anything of note other than totaling 444 when added together but there wasn't anything really drawn from that.

The phrase she had said was later determined to be Latin for The Sum of All Fears, but again, nobody was really sure what it meant.

Months passed and nobody could figure out why this all happened. The class, other than Jessica, was traumatized. I've been in therapy for the last 5 years and I still can't get that day out of my head.

At night, my dreams are haunted by Maritza's image. I see her, eyes white and blank, teeth bloody and clenched, a smile unnaturally wide across her face.

Every once in a while in my peripheral vision I swear she's there. I'm haunted by her and I'm not the only one.

Everyone from my class that laid eyes on her sees her too. I don't know why she chose our school or us but our lives will never be the same.

Even now, sitting here and typing this out, a moth has landed on my arm...