All of Us Are Going to Hell

NINE

Time unknown
 
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
 
The sky is red.

    Not like Lunar eclipse red, no. I know what that looks like and this isn't it. The moon isn't in the sky anymore, anyway. Nothing is. It's just become a swirling blanket of redness that's swallowed us completely. The sky is just...red.

    What the hell is going on?

    “Somebody please explain to me why the fuck the sky's turned red,” Mark begins, backing away from the windows, “and why there are only six of us in this house.”

    All of us risk looks at each other.

    Hadassah looks at me and shoots me that look of confusion that I remember from all the times I'd fire at her with a fake spell. I never told her that, of course. The redness has bled its way into the room from above us, through the windows and beaming onto the floor.

    “I guess we've finally ruined the ozone layer,” says Iris with her eyes focused on the sky.

    Lilith isn't taking this well. She's shaking in a corner. Even I can see that. Her eyes aren't focused and she's hugging herself, Hadassah style. Serves her right for trying to make me play Seven Minutes In Heaven with Aaron.

    Aaron.

    Did he vanish, too? Instant regret pours into my mouth, mingling with my saliva. I swallow and turn away.

    “This is literally the plotline of basically every horror movie I've watched,” Iris continues, facing us. “Six kids. All high school stereotypes. Stuck in a house with no means of communication, while the fucking sky turns red. Classic.”

    Elijah pounces on her. “Yeah, with you here, it's starting to feel a lot like Fear Street more and more.”

    “I'm not sure that's how Fear Street went—” Hadassah starts.

    “What is your problem with me?” Iris retorts, glaring at him. “Ever since I got here, you've been acting like a complete fuckwad.”

    Elijah lets out a short, shaky laugh. “I'd like you to repeat that to me in real life, where there's no camera to hide behind.”

    Iris looks like she's been slapped. Some part of me wishes I had a camera to take a photo.

    “Both of you, stop,” Hadassah admonishes, stepping in between them. “It's no use if we fight. We have to figure out what the hell's going on.”

    “Well, you assumed the role of leader quickly,” I say, rolling my eyes.

    “Shut up, Jabari.”

    “The phones aren't working. Neither are the computers or fax machines,” Lilith says in a tiny voice we all strain to hear. “It's almost like...we're being cut off. Like, intentionally.”

   And then, Hadassah: “By who?”

   All of us face Lilith, like the answers lie in her expressions of raw, unadulterated fear. “I don't know, but—”

    “But?” Iris's eyes light up.

    “Would you let her finish?” Mark snarls at her. Iris eyeballs him, but stays silent. He turns to Lilith again, “What is it, babe?”

    Lilith flinches at the word. She glances at me. She knows I saw that. What happened after I left?

    “I—I'm not sure, but remember the guy from this evening?” she asks no one in particular.