"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Lorde
***
"Rachel, what's wrong?" said Tiffany softly. Erica crawled on her knees to reach her friend before gently tapping her shoulder. Rachel did not move or speak as she stared into open space where Adam's body had previously been. My eyes locked on the Pentagram that still held the large puddle where a grand majority of Adam's blood was. No one could be walking around alive after losing all that blood. It was impossible. Adam's body was gone, but there was something strange regarding how it was gone...
There were no drag marks on the floor indicating someone pulled or pushed the body in the blood. Further inspection proved what I already felt to be true; Adam helped himself up off the floor to walk away. My breath lodged in my throat as I began to break out in a cold sweat.
"WHO moved the body?" Jake complained loudly as everyone started to notice at once that Adam was gone. Tiffany yelped out of fear and someone else sounded fearful, but I was using the candle to analyze the large pool of blood on the ground where the body used to be. Considering my father was a doctor, I knew from previous lessons -and Evelyn's nerdish tendencies to always tell me fun facts- that the human body has four to five liters of blood inside of it. I was no stellar student, but it was plenty obvious to me at least three liters of Adam's blood was currently splashed out on the floor after his throat was slit. The reality was simple; Adam was either brought back to life, or, he was never actually dead.
"I can't believe I bought into this!" I laughed openly, shaking my head at my own stupidity. Here I had believed they had all murdered our classmate for a 'ritual'.
Again, it wouldn't be until years later that I regretted not running from the basement as fast as I could and not looking back. "Ha ha, you guys really had me going!" I snickered. "Fuck, I thought you guys actually murdered the guy. Well played!"
"Oliver, shut up," Jake suddenly whispered, his brown eyes wide and frightful. A low whimper was sounding from Rachel under the table. Erica encouragingly patted her back, trying to soothe her.
"Shh, it's okay Rachel, it's okay..."
Rachel shook her head adamantly, tears and snot running down her face as she continued staring at the Pentagram.
"What's wrong...?" I asked, suddenly feeling my stomach drop once more. My fear that had taken residence in my gut since finding out what these guys were doing returned. Rachel said nothing, not to me or anyone. She seemed a shell of her sexy and confident self. All the girl could do was gape wildly into space, unblinking and not moving.
As people started to reassure her and coo approval or kindness, I heard it. A weird, suctioning sound and a gargled slurping noise. I slowly moved my flashlight around, ignoring my classmates as they started to surround Rachel trying to see what was wrong. No one paid attention to the noise as they spoke encouraging words to her. I saw Sally, Tyson, John, Tiffany, Storm, and Rachel. Jake stood beside me, but I suddenly remembered this wasn't everyone.
There was one quieter girl attached to this group: Alyssa Thomkins.
I suspected I hadn't heard her speak tonight because she seemed the most fearful of everyone. She had been the only one trembling and hesitant to do anything. I ignored Jake asking me what was wrong as I clicked the flashlight on and directed it towards the dark corner that candlelight did not reach.
That was where I found her. Alyssa's pale face stared back at me, but it didn't seem she was inside her own body any longer. Her bright eyes were dim, dead looking. They saw without seeing. Her body was lifeless on its own. It gave involuntary shudders as I spotted what was right beside her. A head of jet-black was right beside Alyssa's neck, doing a combination of sucking the blood and eating the flesh from it.
The sudden screams of Jake and I seemed to be the only thing that suddenly alerted the others to what it was that had Rachel so very paralyzed with fear over.
The mystery of what happened to Adam was discovered; he was chewing and biting the flesh from -the now quite dead- Alyssa Thomkins neck.
Our shouts and screams alerted Adam that we saw what he was doing, and that caused him to slowly tilt his head up to address our terrified sounds.
What I saw next was not the familiar Adam Jones I had come to know and loath during my years at Salem Prep. The thing that stared up to look at our screaming group was not Adam. Its face was Adam's as well as its body, but that was where the similarities ended. The thing that looked back at us had frightening red lines protruding from its black eyes. There was nothing that looked to be eyeballs on the thing staring back at us. Objects that were pitch black -even blacker than Adam's hair- were where the blue of Adam's eyes used to be. There was no white of his eyeballs. It was as though you could stare into the thing completely, seeing there was nothing but a monstrous beast where the previous Adam used to be.
That was when I realized this was no Halloween prank or anyone's idea of a joke. With everything in me, I knew this was real. Seeing the thing eating the raw flesh from the throat of Alyssa made me realize that whatever it was that I was looking at was not human.
The monstrous moment became worse when the thing spoke to our screaming, terrified group. It spoke in a calm manner. Worse; it spoke with Adam's tongue and in Adam's voice, but even though I didn't ask the others, I knew myself and my classmates all knew that this was not the Adam Jones we used to know. Whatever it was eating Alyssa's throat was not Adam.
"Hello, children," the thing spoke, the blood and flesh of our dead classmate dribbling down its chin. It threw the lifeless body of Alyssa away from it, her skull sounding like it cracked as it hit the cement ground of the basement with force.
No one spoke. The flashlight facing the thing shook and rattled, my hand holding the light unable to remain balanced as it trembled.
Tiffany had started to cry and maybe even John and Jake as well. No one else spoke; everyone seemingly too transfixed that the thing had already spoken once to us.
"I believe a thank-you is required, but I do not feel tis I you were attempting to resurrect." The thing smiled wickedly, showing off its blood-stained teeth.
"W-what are you?" I wasn't the only one surprised that I spoke a question. Everyone -including the thing- looked to me.
The thing that was in clear possession of Adam's body grinned again before using a clawed finger to swipe the blood from under its chin. He popped the finger into his mouth to suck on as normally as one would copy this motion when having an ice-cream.
"Hungry," the thing answered, its pitch-black eyes glinting with the light cast upon it. As it slowly approached our group, Tyson placed his hand up in front of its face.
"We are the ancestors of the witches of Salem!" he said, his voice sounding as though he was trying not to stutter. "You are under our control; we resurrected you!"
"Yessss master," the thing said, staring at Tyson. No one spoke as the thing inhabiting Adam's body smiled wickedly. He released a dark, mocking chuckle. "Is this the part where I pepper your feet with kisses and worship the ground you walk on?"
Tyson was unblinking. Fear seemed to prevent him from responding. He looked about to piss his pants and I wouldn't have judged him if he did right then and there. The thing that looked like Adam smiled cruelly. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news sunny boy, but that is not going to happen."
Tyson's chin wobbled as he struggled to find the courage to speak again. "W-we are the ancestors of the witches of Salem. We-"
"Resurrected me, I heard you well enough before," the thing interrupted, sounding quite bored, "Your words being told to me a second time do not impress me anymore than the first time did, child."
"W-we...We control you," tried Tyson again weakly.
Whatever it was inside of Adam smiled another smile that did not look genuine. The flashlight on it continued to tremble as I struggled to hold my hand still. "Is that so?" It challenged, slowly starting to circle Tyson. The way our group was positioned made it so Tyson was separated from the rest of us as the thing walked around him.
"Y-y-yeah," Tyson stuttered.
"And what exactly are you and your idiotic coven going to do if I do not follow your command, hmm?"
No one said a word. I doubted anyone dared to breathe too loudly. The only sounds that could be heard were Rachel and Erica crying softly.
Tyson -brawny, brave, but beyond stupid- continued speaking. His next words stopped the creature from circling. "W-we'll send you b-back to hell."
The monster nodded its head casually as if considering such a deal. Be controlled by teenagers or go back to hell. I wasn't the smarted guy at Salem Prep by any means, but even I knew that Tyson's threat was a dumb thing to say to a thing that just murdered your classmate by ripping her throat out before eating it.
"Here is the problem with your ultimatum, child," the monster drawled." Tyson looked confused as if he couldn't possibly fathom why the creature wasn't afraid of his threat. "I am hell." He smiled wickedly, right before decapitating Tyson with one mighty swipe of his clawed hand.
Blood and tissue sprayed from Tyson's stump of a neck. A few people were soon saturated by the warm blood, but only a small squirt splattered my forehead given how far away I was from him.
Tyson's body clattered to the floor. He wore the same stupid look that was on him back when he was alive just seconds earlier. I knew this because Tyson's severed head flopped after his body half a second later. My stomach curdled as I resisted vomiting. "Who is next?" the thing possessing Adam smiled wickedly.
That was when the realchaos began.
***