Children of the Elements

Chapter 3-Some Black Tentacles Cancel my Education

One year ago

I stumbled down the school's narrow hallways, relaying the past night full of restless sleep and haunting nightmares.

I was in almost complete darkness. A deep, masculine voice taunted me in the shadows. His voice echoed and shadows angled toward me, clawing.

It was so vivid it felt like I was really there.

I'd woken up covered in sweat, shaking, and with dark circles under my eyes.

School was a nightmare that day. I kept zoning out and forgetting things. Forgetting things actually lead to the reason I'd gotten expelled.

I went to my locker to collect my stuff for history class—my next period—and headed upstairs to the classroom. Just as I reached history, I'd realized I'd forgotten my history textbook which was an insanely stupid thing to forget, considering it was vital to the class.

Sighing, I headed back downstairs to my locker, which was about as far away from history as it could get and still be in the same building. Once I'd gotten it, the bell and the tarty bell had rang, so I acknowledged the fact that I'd be late and probably yelled at in front of everyone. I tried to shrug it off, if better be late then without the class's basic necessities.

The halls were completely empty when I got back to the second story. No students, no teachers. No one. I was literally the only one here. Perfect.

Then, I noticed a couple fluid movements out of the corner of my eye. I turned hastily but saw nothing except a power box and the shadow the fluorescent lights casted on it. I shivered and kept walking. Something moved again. When I turned back again, nothing moved. Why does it feel like I'm in a horror movie? I repeated this movement, look, nothing happened routine about three more times until I saw something. Something on the wall, obscured by shadows, twitched. Giving it a closer look, I realized there was nothing on the wall. But it moved again. I curiously studied it. The thing peeled off the wall with a suction-like sound and turned into something to liquid to be solid, but to solid to be a liquid.

Reeling, I scooted back from where I was crouching to but a little distance between me and The Thing.

The power-box shadow wiggled and stretched like it was stretching. Then it started to worm its way around from off the floor and flattened paper-thin onto the wall. It branched out slowly and started to climb.

It spread paper thin and grew up like branches from a tree. I realized it was trying to get to the power box and had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that whatever it was going to do wouldn't be good.

I debated my options. On one hand, I could stop it somehow and we could avoid what the goo was trying to do. On the other hand...IT'S SOME SORT OF SENTIENT ALIEN SLIME. I could get poisoned or intake radiation or something just by touching it!Nick and Alesha wouldn't be happy if that happened.

So I just watched, mesmerized, as it sunk between the cracks of the power box's door and jumped when the chunk of metal flew off with enough force that it dented the lockers as they collided. I flinched away as the metal screeched and clattered to the floor.

The tentacles were writhing in the box and glistened with an inky-black shimmer. They coated the wires and started to bubble up with wet popping noises.

I rolled back on my heels as some of The Thing splattered onto the tile floor, about a foot away from me, in a particularly big bubble explosion.

Suddenly, a sharp crackling sound drew my eyes from the floor back to the ruined power box. Sparks were flying from the wires, only slightly muffled by the writhing goo. More cracking, popping, and sparking happened until some of the wires broke in two.