"ιf уσυ нανє α ℓσт σf ѕωєєтиєѕѕ αи∂ qυιякιиєѕѕ, ѕσмєσиє'ѕ gσт тσ нανє α вιт σf вιтє αgαιиѕт тнαт," -Lamorne Morris
•∞•
(2021 kami here to ask why was i so angsty in my writing lmfao)
• L U N A R •
To me, it was weird to think about how screams could represent so many things.
Sometimes we would scream because we were angry. Sometimes our anger was so powerful we didn't know how to convey what we felt into words. Because let's face it, when we're mad, it's hard to listen. You're hurt but it hasn't upset you in a weakening way. It's the opposite. It fuels you, blocking the ability to comprehend the appropriate and mature ways to solve things. We're fuming. It's the emotion that drives us to madness, the moments where we're screaming because we can't express just how pressed we are in the thoughts of wanting the other person to understand how we feel. The expression that brings the screams to intimidate and beat the opposing side down in hopes of dominating them to force your viewpoint on them. The influential sense of defense in which you act in frustration and incomprehensible rage to express and stretch your point across the playing board. Apathy.
Then there's the screams that we would let out when we're crying. Those screams, the ones that burned as they traveled up our throats and out our mouths. They stung as our voices strained in a way that showed we were at the mercy of the extraordinary emotions. The screams would echo so loudly because our sobs were covering up the outside stimuli. These screams would be released when we were tired of our sobs, when our cries turned into coughs and gags, when our bodies shook because we felt as if we had no more strength to create tears. The delusion of our mentalities telling us, "If you can't cry, if you can't get people to hear your pleads, make yourself so loud they can see your pain," that kindles our vocals to release sounds we only create when in the midst of a crisis both internally and externally. The trembling howls quivering on your lips as your rivers of Sympathy.
Onwards from those, there's those screams you let out when you don't understand. The screams you release when you're lost on a path down roads and highways with endless possibilities and the sky growing closer and closer inevitably. Like the walls of a world you once thought to be filled with endless hours of obscurities suddenly started to close in, confining you into the limited sights and views of what you've explored just so you could get there. Those screams you let out because you think no one is listening, because you want to scream to the heavens that you haven't a clue about what's next. And when you're screaming, the power radiating in your body that sends signals of distress and unease, you're just praying that someone else will hear your distant frustrations and understand on the same level. The hopes in that someone with the capacity of knowledge and experience to relate on your unsettled fields of emotions, the longing to be heard and to be rescued to a far off land where you can explore the uncharted waters knowing you cannot drown. Empathy.
And then you have Evan who screamed like a bird.
You would think a bite from a spider would call for, yes, maybe a small shriek or a gasp of pain. But no, a scream calling for bloody murder is announced. How do you even do that? How do you go and get yourself bitten by a spider in a cold place like Canada, where might I add, was not home to many venomous spiders at all?
When Evan has screamed earlier, we thought something bad happened. But no, it was just a spider bite. Though, I guess in his defense, spider bites hurt. We had found him a little ways farther from the campsite in a patch of bushes and a log lying on the grass next to him.
"What spider was it?" Rainbow asked, inspecting the bite mark before shuddering and turning away with a squeamish expression.
"I don't know but I haven't felt this bad of pain since I broke the original Fiona," Evan pouted, sitting down as I tended to the wound, "man, I loved that guitar more than my own phone."
Funneh, Draco, and Aly hushed a laugh, smiling with wide grins just like any little kid would at the sight of candy or toys while I tended to the spider bite located on Evan's arm.
"Ew, it's right there!" Gold squealed, having looked over and spotted the dead spider carcass lying on the ground after Alec killed it.
"It might be a Wolf Spider. It looks like one, at least," Draco said, gagging at the dead spider before shuddering just like Rainbow and turning away, "I seriously hate spiders."
"I would scream if I saw a spider like, ten times bigger than me," Funneh laughed, crossing her arms.
"Ten times bigger than me? I scream when spiders are smaller than me!" Draco exclaimed, "I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that freakin' spider!"
"Imagine how I felt when that thing jumped off of the log I grabbed and bit me!" Evan added, flinching as I quickly spread a healing remedy on the bite.
"I think I'd rather die," Gold exaggerated as Rainbow giggled at her comment before Gold added, "correction: I'd die because that thing would've killed me."
"Calm down, Drama Queen. Wolf Spiders are hardly dangerous unless you're old or sick. Besides, this potion would heal you up just fine.... I think," I assured.
"Man, this bite hurts so bad," Evan groaned, looking over at the dead spider, "sorry I never saw you, dude."
"They hardly bite. It probably just thought you were attacking it. I guess that log was its home, weird but maybe," I shrugged, "there, you'll be fine soon."
"I cannot trust Lunar's potions for the life of me," Draco shook his head as I pretended to throw one at him, causing him to flinch, "don't even!"
"You mess up a potion one time and then you never hear the end of it!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands into the air.
"Probably because you turned both yourself and him into garden gnomes," Gold added, raising an eyebrow with a smile.
"I'm sorry, she did what now?" Kyran inquired, chuckling afterwards as I mocked Gold in a high-pitched voice.
"It was an accident! And besides, Draco said himself I never turned him into a gnome!" I defended, giggling nervously.
"I refuse to accept that. We did not break into the house of that crazy old man and barely avoided being werewolf food to his pet for no reason," Funneh denied.
"Did you actually do that?" Evan asked, raising both of his eyebrows in disbelief and impression.
"Sadly, yes," Gold sighed before glaring at me, "because someone dropped a potion and turned everything within the vicinity into gnomes."
I giggled deviously before standing up and starting to walk back with the others. "And I regret absolutely nothing," I smiled cheekily.
"How exactly did that even happen?" Alec asked, raising an eyebrow with the same expression as Evan.
"Ask Lunar," Rainbow pointed over to me, as I was walking ahead of us and scanning through my journal.
"It was like two or three years ago during the summertime...." I started to explain.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER....
"Oh, my God, really? Every time it gets to level one-hundred-seventy, the same monster drops down and—" our conversation about an unbeatable level on a video game is interrupted by a loud crash in the distance.
The sound of a glass object shattering against the ground caught all of us by surprise, our heads whizzing around to find the cause of the noise.
"So, who has a death wish and wants to come with me to see what that was?" Funneh asked, staring off into the distance before nervously laughing.
"Maybe it was just a raccoon or something?" Aly suggested, shrugging nervously.
"Hopefully. I'm gonna go check it out. If I scream, I'm probably dead. And none of you guys get my stash of potato chips if I do die," Funneh joked, standing up and warily hurrying away to investigate and away from the campsite.
"Funneh, I don't think that's a good idea," Kyran and Alec said in unison, standing up.
"This is literally how every person in horror movies die. For once, listen to warnings...." Draco advised, but Funneh had already wandered off.
"Guys, come on! We can't just let her go alone!" Aly debated, standing up and marching away as well.
"Guys, come back! Aly, be careful!" Alec called out, hurrying after both of them before being followed suite by Kyran and I.
The remainder of the others followed behind us, hurrying in the direction of the shattering glass noise. Funneh's short scream is what caused us to hurry past the tents.
"Funneh! Are you okay?" Gold inquired loudly, cupping her mouth before Funneh emerged from behind one of the tents giggling.
"Relax, I'm fine. Did I get you?" Funneh grinned widely as she laughed before half of us gasped, the other laughed, and the remaining sighed.
"Oh, my God, Funneh! You gave us all heart attacks! We thought something happened to you!" Gold scolded as more of us started to chuckle.
"Ignoring the major scare I gave y'all, I found these. Look, it's our stuff," Funneh said, picking up a bunch of items from the ground that were surrounded by shards of glass.
"That's the stuff we used for the teleportation pearl, though," Draco pointed out, "why are they all here?"
"The only way for our stuff to return to a physical form is for the pearl to no longer exist," I explained, crouching down to inspect the glass shards carefully using my gloves, "I'm guessing it broke."
"But how? It was stored safely in my...." Funneh paused, looking over at the tents before hurrying into one of them and then returning with an empty small sack, "....in my bag."
"How'd it end up from your bag to out here?" Alec questioned, inspecting the glass shards with me, "did you see anyone else leaving the scene when you came over here?"
Funneh shook her head and picked up a shiny object from the ground. She grasped it firmly in her gloved palm, "Maybe someone wanted our stuff."
"But why? What's so special about our stuff?" Rainbow inquired, picking up her cake hat and swiftly swapping it with her cake beanie before anyone could see her without either.
"This is super weird," Kyran mumbled, picking up Gold's necklace from the ground and handing it over to her, "like, weirder than normal."
"Things tend to get weird around us," I shrugged, looking for my winged crown but to no avail, "this is... relatively normal."
"Well, whatever broke the pearl, let's hope it doesn't return. Come on, let's head back to the campfire," Draco advised, loosely putting his dog tag back on.
"Yeah. That's probably best," Funneh agreed before turning to Rainbow and elbowing her, "at least they didn't leave any Peeps for you."
Rainbow gagged and threw her hands in the air, "I cannot stand Peeps, don't even! They're too sweet!"
"Says the girl with a cake on her head," Evan chuckled as Rainbow crossed her arms.
"Peeps are too sweet. Cakes are just the right amount of sweet. Peeps make me... sick," Rainbow gagged, pouting.
"When we meet, we'll yeet and eat Peeps!" Draco and Funneh chanted, earning laughs from everyone as Rainbow groaned in disapproval.
We all watched, laughing as Funneh and Draco chased Rainbow, chanting the same thing over and over much to Rainbow's dismay.
I looked back at the shards on the ground, lying still as the sunset reflected off of them gracefully. My eyes shifted to the sack Funneh had left on the floor.
Hopefully whatever broke it wouldn't come back.
FOUR HOURS LATER....
"....And then when we realized it wasn't any of us who made the noises in the beginning, we took off and out of that house," Evan explained.
"Did you ever find out what made the noise actually?" Draco inquired, tossing a small stick into the fire.
"Nope. Thinking back, we never did find out what was in that wardrobe either. The knob stayed broken and it wouldn't budge," Alec speculated.
"Maya was really scared actually. But maybe it was just her imagination," Funneh shrugged.
"Or maybe it was the Umbrella Lady," I teased, wiggling my fingers around and chanting, "ooooo."
(DUDE THAT VIDEO IS FROM SO LONG AGO I CAN'T BELIEVE I REMEMBER IT SKSK)
"Oh, my God. I forgot about that story. Lunar used to scare us all the time when we were younger because she had all these horror stories in her journal," Rainbow explained, sticking her tongue out at me.
I laughed and asked if they had heard the story, to which Funneh and Rainbow covered my mouth with their hands and screamed, "NO, AND THEY DON'T NEED TO."
"It's not that bad," I mumble jokingly as they continue to cover my mouth whilst debating with me.
"Before Lunar can give us nightmares, let's just go to sleep. It's late anyway and it's creepy when it's dark." Rainbow clasped her hands together. "Or at least, it is to me. So, goodnight."
"Think I'm gonna sleep too. All this talking makes me tired," Funneh pretended to yawn, before smiling and saying goodnight.
As Funneh and Rainbow disappeared into the darkness towards the tents, we all went to bed one by one over time. The only people left were Draco, Alec and I.
"If I stay up any longer, I'll seriously go insane. Trust me, you do not wanna see me sleep deprived. So to save all of us, I'm gonna hit the sack. G'night," I waved goodbye to the two as they did the same, then continued their conversation.
I walked past the campfire and stepped over the log, heading into the darkness and away from the flickering light. But a snap of a stick from afar caught my attention.
Standing alone in the dark, I looked to my right and into the thickets of the forest. The looming shadows casted shapes and imaginative characters in the moonlight, settling in an eerie silence around me. I stood still and quietly, not moving a muscle.
"Hello? Is someone there?" I called out, spinning around to see the cause of the noise, "Funneh, if that's you, this isn't funny. Uh, no pun intended."
Nothing. Just the same eerie silence accompanied by the wind and the cold air. I stood still, continuing to search for the noise maker. But nothing.
I started to walk forward again towards the tents when another noise caught my attention and froze me in my tracks. A hand on my shoulder caused me to shriek and jump, earning a gasp from the person attached to the hand.
"Holy cheese and crackers, Draco, you scared the crap outta' me!" I gasped as he held his hands up in a defensive position, "you're so lucky I didn't slap you!"
"Remind me to never scare you," Draco chuckled, "but you forgot your journal. And I was gonna return it to you when you started acting like you're in the Blair Witch Project."
"Oh, thanks," I said, my mouth forming an 'O', "it's just... I heard something. I dunno, maybe it's just my imagination. Probably paranoia from earlier, right?"
"Yeah, probably. But you better hurry before a ghost catches you," Draco teased, making an 'ooh' noise in a ghostly tone as he handed over my journal, "but seriously, night."
I watched as he wandered back to the campfire, disappearing into the darkness. I was alone again. I looked back in the direction of the broken stick's noise origin. I bit my lip and carried on towards the tents.
I was going to use an incantation to check on what happened. The same incantation I used previously in the past to know what was going on. It was like an omniscient, or all-knowing, chant.
I stumbled through the dark and found the tents, crawling in and past the sleeping others. I slipped into my sleeping bag besides Funneh's and opened up my journal. I pulled out the small lantern we had and used it to reread the chant.
(This is the part where there would be an incantation but the author is too lazy to write anymore poetry so just imagine something sksk ooooo)
A flash of white in my vision causes me to flinch before I hear the voices floating in my head. Small bits and pieces of the future and past. It had a pattern to what was said and what would be said, so I listened carefully.
Past, past, past, future, future, future, past, past, past, future, future, future, past. That's how it went every time.
"....We need to talk."
"....Glass painted silver."
"...She came in the night."
"....History repeats itself."
"....Twist your minds."
"....They took her too."
"...Make it stop."
"....Pick your battles."
"...Tomorrow is another day."
"....Etched into our skin."
"....Don't let go."
"....I'm sorry."
That was only twelve whispers. But there was supposed to be thirteen. Where was the last one? Whenever I used that incantation, it never failed. I mean, when I first tried it a long time ago it did, but that's besides the point. Why wasn't it saying the last one?
I flipped through the pages of the journal, scanning each writing carefully with my eyes. All the small cursive writings sketched onto the vintage pages, swirling and curving like the markings made by an ice skater on a frozen pond. The small ink blots scattered across the yellowing pages like drops of water slithering down the glossy surface of a car window on a rainy day. The detailed illustrations burned into my memory, every designated line and every small sketch traced onto the skin of the contents of the leather book by the dedicated hands of a documenter whose arm caressed the sheets like the nose of a sniffing animal so desperately savoring its fresh smell at the time.
I hadn't mispronounced anything, surely. I had said it all right, it was all correct. But the last whisper still wouldn't be said in my mind.
Another noise of a stick snapping and crunching beneath the weight of something stepping on it catches my attention. I sit up straight and try to look past the shadows being casted on the inside walls of the tent from the light of the lantern. I glanced at the others, others being Rainbow, Funneh, and Gold as they slept soundly in their own sleeping bags.
I crawled out of my sleeping bag and then crept out of the tent slowly, careful not to disturb any of the others in case it was just my paranoia. I held my journal firmly in my hand and stepped out into the open, spinning around to see what caused the noise again.
"Draco? Alec? Is that you guys?" I called out, stepping even farther away from the tents.
Then I remembered something. On the thirteenth whisper, the chant it says usually happens moments or minutes after it says. Like one time, I used it to see how Funneh and Gold would do when they first attended Y.H.S and the chant said, "...I think I'm going home to see my family. You can do the same."
Those words were said by Funneh, which I found out later when they called us to say they were going to get ready and come back home. It always happened a little while later. But what was the thirteenth chant?
Another snapping stick from behind me caused me to spin around on my heels. I glared around, suspicious and wary. Then it hit me.
Another flash in my eyes and the whisper echoed throughout my ears, bouncing around in my head and processing through my mind. I gasped at its words, recognizing the voice and I froze.
The journal slipped from my fingers that were stuck in paralyzation and allowed it to collide with the dirt. Its pages bent and folded from the awkward landing, the cover opened widely.
Something hard hit my back and I fell to the ground. Before I could scream, some sort of balled up fabric was shoved into my mouth to act as some sort of gag. I tried to sit up but the looming shadow of a person stood before me, like a king sparing no mercy on a criminal sentenced to trial or death. I felt my body shake in fear and their words struck me so hard in my heart that I froze. The thirteenth whisper, loud and clear, and definitely happening.
"The thing about being noble and a daring hero is that you put a target on your back. And you should have stopped being one a long time ago. We've finally found you. This time, your friends won't be able to save you again."
With that, a bag was shoved over my head.
SEVEN HOURS LATER....
• F U N N E H •
"Funneh, Funneh, wake up! Come on!" a voice called out, shaking my arms abruptly and jolting me from my slumber.
I sat up quickly and hit my head on the lantern dangling from the top of the tent. I groaned and crawled out of my sleeping bag, rubbing my eyes, "Calm down! I'm awake! You better have a good reason for waking me up. I was just about to eat a sandwich in my dream!"
"Sorry, but that's not important right now. Come on, something's wrong," Kyran hurried, helping me to my feet and quickly dragging me along.
"Slow down, dude! Jeez, is there some sort of rare comic on sale? 'Cause that's literally the only reason you'll sprint as fast as this!" I teased as he continued to frantically pull me along.
"We can't find her," he said, not adding onto his sentence to clarify many questions I then had bubbling inside of my mind at that point.
"Find who? What's going on? Why does no one tell me these things?" I exclaimed, almost tripping numerous times over random stuff in the ground like rocks and sticks.
"It's Lunar," Kyran started to explain, slowing down as we neared the group whilst they gathered around in a huddle, "we can't find her."
"What? What's going on? Someone explain without sounding like they're from a freakin' video game! This isn't a book! Just say stuff!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands into the air.
"We found her crown, but she hasn't been back for hours. We've tried calling her, but she hasn't responded. Lunar doesn't just disappear without telling us," Gold explained to me, holding up her crown, "it's just not like her."
"She was fine last night," Draco said, inspecting the crown, "at least, she seemed fine. It was around twelve or a little after it when you all went to bed. Draco and I stayed up for a while longer. When I didn't see her in the tent, I just assumed she was out getting some fresh air after waking up or something."
"Yeah, she seemed fine. Y'know, except for when she was totally paranoid and snapped at Draco for scaring her on accident," Alec added, to which Draco nodded.
"So one one saw her after she went to the tents?" Rainbow asked, crouching down to pick up her journal that was sprawled on the ground, "she wouldn't leave this alone and unattended. Nor would she leave it just lying around carelessly like that. What happened to her?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't look good," Aly murmured, crossing her arms and wandering around to search.
"Why is all this stuff all the way out here? It's so far away from the campsite, and this is such a random place to just leave everything behind," Kyran pointed out.
Aly wandered away past some bushes in search of more clues, as did Draco in another direction, then Rainbow did the same in the opposite direction. Soon, I was tempted to start searching in another area like them, but Evan stopped me with his finding.
"Hey, uh, guys? You might wanna see this," Evan called out, waving us over with his newly bandaged arm on the bite, "wasn't that hers?"
"That is hers! Only every Krew member has one. But why would she take it off? And why just leave it here with her crown and her journal just lying about?" Gold inquired, picking up the shiny object.
I hurried over along with the remaining others as we huddled around Gold to see the object. She held it carefully in her hands, passing it around the group. When it was passed to me, I held it in my hands. I traced my fingers over its gold and bronze designs. She wouldn't leave her journal. She wouldn't leave her crown. She wouldn't leave this. She wouldn't just leave us. This was a symbolism, our symbolism.
It was her arm bracelet.
THIRTY MINUTES LATER....
"Rainbow? Rainbow? Come on, we're gonna look around in another area!" Alec called out, cupping his hands and walking with us.
"Where is she? We don't need anyone else disappearing like Lunar. This is just like a horror movie. What if we all are gonna get killed like in a slasher?" Gold dramatized.
"It isn't like a horror movie, Gold. Don't worry. If anything, it'd be a book. A very.... messy book," Kyran assured, "God help the poor soul that ever tried to turn our lives into a book."
"Our lives aren't that interesting. And trust me, trying to turn us into book characters would be insane," Alec chuckled.
"I know right? What would you even call the book? How would they even know how to channel our personalities?" Evan joked.
"This is so meta, it's absolutely great," Draco murmured under his breath with a chuckle, to which I raised an eyebrow before he shrugged and said, "it's nothing."
Then, we heard Rainbow scream.
"But that was something."
•∞•
"Revenge is a powerful motivator."
-Marcus Luttrell
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LUNA is typing....💬