From Here On Out

Chapter 1

How It All Went Down

My Best friend Jacob Grey has been missing since May 19th, 2016. We were both 13 years old at the time and I keep track of practically every slowly, agonizing passing second that goes by no matter how long it takes. When news got around, whispers spread around like wildfire. Witnesses (or the closest thing the police could get to witnesses) simultaneously came to speculation claiming they last saw him in the woods behind our school around midnight, though not wrong, their claims probably were. No one knows what really happened, but trust me, they believe whatever nonsense they say. Our peers rumored he went out there to get high which led to him ending up lost by morning, a rumor I despise entirely, Jacob doesn't do that stuff, neither do I. As if they would know what we are always up to, no one pays attention to us in school, we're nobodies and it took a while for us to accomplish that. We like it that way, going through a school day without even the slightest remark or comment about us, though, it's not like we never got any, there was the occasional ridicule from time to time. The police though, in desperate attempts to settle the people of the town as well as to put an end to the hysteria and stories they started forming, affirms he could've ran away simply because he was upset about something at home- what a load of truth that was.
But I know Jacob, I know him way too well. I've known him since we were babies- since we were kids and made our own constellations out of the night sky, laying down on top of huge, smooth rocks that still retained warmth from the afternoon sun after we would spend the afternoon as mountain climbers and eat lunch at the "mountain's" summit; (Lunch was almost always popcorn chicken or dinosaur-shaped nuggets unless we ran out, then peanut butter crackers would have to do). When we were "Rulers of the Rock" we would rule the heavens and all its celestial bodies side by side and no earthly being could come close to out-matching us; or sometimes we would rule the woods, every acre of was ours and all woodsy beings would have to bow to us- up until we were called in for dinner of course, as parents were the only exception to both earthly and woodsy beings unless they decided to play along, those were the rules. My parents rarely participated though, as they were normally too busy with their jobs as lawyers, however it was always fun when they did. When both our parents would be busy, reenacting movie scenes were fun as well, Jacob would dangle from our treehouse ladder when I would say 'long live the King' and try to shake him off, laughing, roaring, and giggling as his feet would hover slightly over the ground until I would give up and join him. We grew up together, we grew up in those woods. He's like a brother to me, he would never run away like... like that...

This situation is nowhere near as "simple" as they say. I was with him that day. And that night the mist gracefully rolled in, filling the atmosphere with the tiniest droplets of water vapor that you feel when you flare up your nostrils and take a deep breath in. That kind of night where the air was cool and damp and smelled sweet like autumn rain. That night when the wise owls whose soothing, soft hoots echoed off into the distance of the unknown all while being accompanied by the rigorous chirping emanating from the confident cluster of crickets and the faint sounds of the highway as it played like a skipping record far off in the distance. They all filled the air with the mystifying music of the night and the world was lulled to sleep but we were still awake. That night we both agreed to secretly sneak out our bedroom windows at 11:30 pm and meet up in the woods to explore. I made sure he wouldn't forget because I wrote the time and place on the backside of his right hand after school ended. I then found him later, waiting for me, leaning against a tree in his puffy orange vest and light grey sweater. Although I was almost a minute late, we had both managed to meet up on the corner of Cambridge Road and Adelaide Lane, the Dead End Street as we called it; Three blocks away from our houses where some stray cats wander and the elderly turn off their porch lights early. It was also, conveniently, a few blocks away from the general opening of the forest by the school where the trees had overgrown and swallowed man's futile attempt at repressing nature's prevailing dominance by a simple man-made fence that barricaded the divide between the school's property and the woods'. This opening, that stood in front of us was right next to an old, tall fence with worn, chipped, grey paint and a few loose panels which we would slip through to lead up into the forest. However, when questioned about Jacob's disappearance I had intentionally left this part out in fear that the police would block up this entrance just as they had done with the opening by the school as they claimed it was to "prevent other kids from running away into the woods"- as if that's going to stop me.
But right then as we were pulling the panels to the side, right there at the edge of the block, standing under the flickering street light. I saw what he saw, out in the streets, in the open like that. It seemed to stalk us, slowly edging closer. Whatever It was, It was tall, practically eight or nine feet and thin, so thin in fact, the bruised, blemished and beaten leathery skin around the rib cage was pulled so tight by hunger you could see every groove between each rib and bone. By the area where the heart would be it was pulsing, pulsing unnaturally and if you watched It for awhile you could see the rise and fall of every silent, eerie, cautious breath in Its chest. It began to step towards us, I could tell It was filled with ill intent while at the same time It seemed to give off nothing, no emotion, no aura. It moved and walked like it were to mimic the branches of a tree when rustled with wind, it's elongated fingers looking like twigs themselves, and It's limbs extended at an unnatural length that even seemed to be able to bend and have more joints than a normal person would. On top of all that, the face... God, I wish I could explain it in words. It seemed to not have one but It had eye sockets that were sunken shallowly into It's skull as well as a distinguishable nose bridge and instead of ears It seemed to have what looked like holes or slits covered by a flap of skin growing over it. I scanned the horrific 'face' more as It advanced on us yet I couldn't find any spot where a mouth would be. I knew It was coming for us and It probably wanted to hurt us but I couldn't move, I was mesmerized, glued to the spot by curiosity and awe. Jacob noticed I had stopped following him and looked over his shoulder to see what was holding me up before realizing what I was looking at. I remember slowly turning to him nervously and seeing panic flash over his face before he looked me dead in the eyes and told me to get behind him. At first I was confused and went to question him "why?" But he cut me off before I could, as if he already knew what I was about to say.
"Just trust me" he whispered.
And I nodded.
I had never actually trusted someone completely in my life as I did with Jacob. In fact, I'd trust Jacob with my life, he's probably the only person I trust in general. I mean sure, I trust my parents but they've been acting so weird and uptight ever since we moved back into this town when I was nine, and since then, Jacob and I had been making up for lost time.
I did as Jacob said, I got behind him and hid behind the fence panels, slightly pushing them to the side, watching him as the thing approached us when something grabbed my ankle, it shot chills up my spine and I froze in place, dropping the fence panel I had been peering behind. Whatever it was, was numbingly cold and paralyzed me below my ankle. It yanked my foot out from under me, causing me to fall forwards and hit my face on the earth, knocking the wind out of me, landing me on the forest's side of the fence. Suddenly, It started dragging me in sudden jerking motions towards the forest the numb feeling spread, slowly climbing up my leg. It felt like it was draining my energy, making me weak and I panicked. I used what I could of my breath and yelled to Jacob, though it sounded more like a wheeze. He turned quickly enough and noticed me on the ground, struggling. He saw whatever was grasping my ankle and he began to panic more as well. I watched him eyeing the creature approaching us and the one that had my ankle in confliction. By then the cold, numbing feeling climbed its way up to my waist. My vision became blurry and I thought I would have passed out if Jacob hadn't ran to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me up just in time. I quickly glanced behind me to see the creature that had just had me in its clutches starting to retreat towards the woods, identifying it as the same kind of creature that was still coming towards us. Something told me I wasn't It's intended target. Instead of facing It, Jacob grabbed my hand and together we both ran. We ran out from behind the forest side of the fence panels, out into the streets. We didn't care where, just anywhere from there. I was stumbling over myself immensely as the paralyzing feeling took a while to fade but by then we had reached a new street corner and stopped, hunched over to catch our breaths. Panting, I looked up at the street signs, Dakota Avenue and Oakwood Road, we had ran four blocks, four; and I hadn't even noticed, two blocks away from home. We were so close. Jacob turned to me, panting as well.
"Lususes" he managed to say.
I looked away from the signs and at him, confused.
"Lusus Naturae" he repeated. "Freaks of nature."
I was dumbfounded but he sure had my attention, and I, a whole bunch of questions. He knew what they were? How? And why? Where did they come from? Why did they attack us? My last thought was cut off by Jacob again.
"I can tell you're confused," he said. He caught his breath and stood upright, I had done the same, following suit.
"More than just that" I replied. "How do you know what they are?—"
"We don't have time to answer questions" he responded quickly "we're running out of time, but all I can tell you right now is that they're after me."
I looked at him, concerned.
"Go home" he told me. "Go home and don't tell anyone what you saw..." he trailed off, lost in an unfinished thought he didn't want to dwell on, something he didn't want to tell me. "Or..." he hesitated, trailing off again; "or what happened to me." He aimed his gaze at the ground and hid his face away from my sight, 'ashamed' is the only word I could think of to describe how he looked. I waited, expecting him- no, begging him to say more, but that was it. That was all he had to say.
I felt like I'd just been shot through my heart, point blank, mercy. A mixture of emotions swelled and boiled inside me, my cheeks grew hot and it took all I could to not cry in that moment. "Jacob, this is stupid, you're acting crazy!" I was frenzied and grasping at straws. "I'm not leaving you with those... those things!" I practically yelled.
"..It's not your job to protect me" he muttered towards the ground.
Silence. It was deafening and it filled the air between us.
I hadn't realized this before but looking back at the time he seemed angry at himself as if he hadn't done something he was supposed to; but I was too blinded by emotions, too stupid to even notice.
I opened my mouth to set forth a barrage of protests, but held them back for a second to see if I had heard him right. The world had stopped for us, it was almost as if someone had gotten tired of the ethereal record of ambiance, ripped it from its track and smashed it. I felt my heart wrenching in my chest and my flushed, burning cheeks were washed away by a tidal wave of impending icy cold fear. I had just gotten my best friend back, I didn't want to lose him again. Tears began to prick my wild eyes like soldiers armed with tiny little needles, I'm not entirely sure if I could say the same for him, though. His hidden face served its purpose to obscure his feelings well, I guess. I slowly reached my hand out in a daze to touch his shoulder, I needed something not tangible, something to convince me that this is a dream, this isn't real, but he stopped me, grabbing my hand with his left. The sudden action had jolted me back to the present, whiplashing me as I returned to reality. "I need to show you something..." he started, turning away from me, looking like a frantic maniac for a second just to check over his shoulder, then in letting go of my hand, took a deep breath to calm down before facing me again; the coast was clear.
"Not my job to protect you?" I froze once again, confused, finally able to muster the proper words to say; a delayed reaction I'll admit. "What do you—"
"Blakesley, just listen to me!" he snapped and I stopped asking questions. "Give me your left hand." I did as he commanded, placing my now shaking hand in his grasp. He then turned my palm towards the ground and he looked up at me. "Good, now hold it there" I obeyed as he let go, leaving my wrist tingling. He continued to look back down as he held his left hand under mine, allowing for space in between. My palm grew warm as I felt a swelling in my chest once more. A slight twinge of fear washed over me and what false sense of comfort I had was no more. I didn't want to do this any longer. I was extremely confused as to what the hell he is doing, clearly it was something, but it was so alien to me. So I glanced up at him. He looked extremely hesitant as he concentrated, never meeting my eyes, and upset, though I couldn't tell why. That was just before we saw them again, the Lususes, both of them heading toward us, much faster this time. It was like a scene out of a horror movie as they bounded their way out of the mist, hurling themselves at us, one of the two on all fours, It's rigid spine arching, threatening to tear through It's thick, monstrous skin, exposing each excessive vertebrae while It's inhuman claws grasped the pavement in handfuls. Jacob pushed aside whatever he was trying to do and grabbed my hand, leading me, the warmth and the swelling and the tingling all left my body at once. We ran again, ran like our lives depended on it, which they probably did. But then he let go. I kept running a bit ahead of him, taking longer to slow down, my throat burning before turning back to look at him and stopping. He just stood there looking at me with tears in his eyes. Something was wrong, much more than the obvious. Jacob never cries in front of me, not if he can help it. He looked paler than usual and weak, like he'd just stared death in the eye. But it didn't look like he was going to give up.
"Go." he mouthed.
That single word paralyzed me, once more I felt my legs become heavier than lead and my boots seemingly became stuck to the asphalt road, but instead, this time it felt like I was walking on fire and my feet were being burned. The streets swallowed us with a deafening quiet and my cheeks grew hot again. Was he serious? He's crazy! Every part of me was screaming to not leave him, take him with me, run back home, call the cops or something, hide with our parents if we have to. Anything and I really mean anything would be better than this. But, somewhere deep inside me I knew I had to, told me I had to let go. I looked down and teared up, when Jacob's voice awkwardly broke the unnerving silence. His voice sounded calm but shook as he tried to sound confident and hold his posture.
"Please don't cry.." I looked up and Jacob was forcing a smile, his eyebrows furrowed and his fake smile twitched as he tried to relax. "I'll be ok."
I found it hard to look him in the face, we both knew he was lying, he didn't want to go. I could see it in his eyes, in his heart, in the hastily wiped tears that still stained his face and shimmered under the light of the street lamp. But with that, no more words, no more composure, he turned the corner and continued running, his 'perfect' guise faltering as he briskly wiped his eyes again with one swipe of his sweater sleeve. I shifted my feet towards him, becoming unstuck, longing to go after but I knew I couldn't. I watched as the Lususes averted their attention and followed him instead of me. I was left there, alone, wiping my own tears in that misty midnight moment, feeling like I had just lost everything I'd ever loved in my life, in the whole world. And I'd never even know if I'll ever get it back.
That night I walked home. Tear streaked and muttering like a fool. I was extremely paranoid, my pace inconsistent, my actions sporadic. One moment I'd be dragging my feet, the next, picking up the pace awkwardly. I thought the Lususes would come back for me, catch me from behind or when I wouldn't be looking. I thought the weight of the world was crushing me, and I thought my throat would close up under the pressure. My mind was flooded with questions and deprecating thoughts- comments that I couldn't even think at all, why him? Why not me instead?
God, what a sight I must've been.
When I got home I didn't even bother sneaking back through my window, I stood on the front stoop and used the spare house key I hid when I was younger. It was inside a hole high in a tree you'd have to climb for, so I did. While checking over my shoulder, I unlocked the door and silently entered through the front entrance of my house, back first, looking vastly in front of me for any movement anywhere in my peripheral vision where I was immediately embraced from behind. I screamed, still shaken from the previous events but I quickly began to realize that it had just been my parents and I relaxed a bit. This wasn't usual for them, I'd expect them to be angry with me, grounding me for all eternity or something like that. Telling me something along the lines of "it's way past your bedtime!" Or, "you had us worried sick!", their anguished faces screaming profanities at me. But no, they were quiet, their worried, pale, tear-streaked faces were wordless, and their age showed due to the dim yellow glow of the porch light that I later found out was left on for me. They embraced me for a long while and I let the action speak for itself, melting into the hug and calm that I so desperately needed, glad to not be in the grasp of any otherworldly monster tonight but my chest began to ache and my lungs burned. The adrenaline that had been keeping me going, keeping me strong was wearing off and I could feel the lethargy taking effect as I returned to my not so strong and extraordinary self.
Not only did my body feel like collapsing in on itself but there was something more beyond than just physical aching I was experiencing but couldn't describe; like I was missing something, something important- a part of me, and it carved a hole in my chest. That was when everything around me slowly blurred and went dark, I involuntarily slipped into the velvety darkness eating away at my consciousness, the pain seemingly escaping my body, leaving me limp and heavy, yet my head was light and airy as I began to lose my senses.
I had fainted and my body was carried to sleep; I wouldn't wake until the birds cried in the morning.
But oh no, Jacob wasn't running away from just anything that night, he wasn't just running away from home, he wasn't running away to get high. He was running from something. Something he and I both knew was not quite all together human.