Hush (ManxMan)

4: Mystery

I absolutely adored the Hundeson twins. Every time I stepped into Melbore I had an enormous grin on my face because I knew my day was going to go well if they were present. Sure, they were annoying most of the time, but it was a charming kind of annoying. Similar to having a younger sibling. You hated them, but you loved them. Principal Clarksten said they were skippers, but they weren't ever absent from my class. Speaking of 'my class', Ms. Floating had yet to show back up and it's been nearly a month. The school asked me if it was troublesome to stay for such a while but I assured them that I was enjoying my time at Melbore. Being here reminded me of why I wanted to be a teacher. Even though they were all rich, the kids did their work for the most part and I hardly had any trouble with them. Or maybe they just liked me.

Yes, it's been nearly a month and I haven't had any contact with Franz (to my knowledge). It was perfect. I moved back to my apartment, to Mark's dismay. He knew something was wrong with me but he still hadn't really brought up that day at the mall, which I was thankful for. I mean, even if he did ask I wouldn't tell him. It was for his protection, like Jeremy said.

Jeremy.

I haven't heard a word from him since that day and it pained me. But I was too scared to contact him. What if they used that to trace me somehow? I don't know. I missed his stupid smile so much. At first I thought they might've killed him for my behavior, but there was something about that idea that made me disbelieve it. Heinz on the other hand probably got into a lot of trouble for my act. Somehow, that was just as upsetting as Jeremy being killed.

I let out a sigh as I laid on my back in bed, looking up at the ceiling. It had been a long day. By now the students had finished the packets Ms. Floating had assigned. I actually had to come up with lessons and it was made a little easier since the school had given me the county rubric. They need to learn how to play at least one instrument, and since there was an abundance of them in the supply closets, I chose the recorder. Yes, it's possibly the most annoying instrument in the school system, but not if you treat it as the ancient beauty that it is. It can be as wonderful as the flute if you can work with it, which I could. All of my students loved the recorder. It wasn't an instrument I played all the time, and I actually had to take one home with me and learn how to play it again, but it was worth it.

After seeing that it was passed ten at night I decided to try to get some sleep. I turned on my side and brought the comforter over my shoulders.

---

Morning came quicker than I expected. My alarm clock was blaring in my ear. Well, it wasn't a real one. It was an app on my cell phone, but I chose the most annoying sound on the list because that would definitely wake me up. With a deep sigh, I stretched my legs, curling my toes. I stretched my arms in front of me but stiffened when I felt something wet next to me. I slowly opened my eyes and felt around more, the stickiness spreading down as far as my knees.

"What the hell?" I muttered. The feeling was under my covers and I prayed I didn't do that mental thing people do when they're peeing in their dream so they pee in real life. But pee isn't sticky. Curiously, I threw back the cover to see what the hell had wet my bed.

A scream immediately left my throat as I looked down at the thick and large stain of dark blood that was next to me. Lying in the middle of it was my beloved Jeremy's head: skin pallor, eyes blood shot and rolled back, mouth contorted in the look of anguish he must have held as his head was dismembered from his body. His ginger hair was dyed redder by his own blood, gushed from his severed neck. Meaty tendrils hung from it and the blood pooled by my hips from the dent in the bed I was making.

I screamed even more and rose a shaking hand to my mouth as I scrambled to get out of the bed and away from the blood. Clumsy was the attempt though, and I fell off the edge of the bed. It didn't matter, as long as I was away from Jeremy's sundered head. I pushed myself along the floor until my back hit the wall, and even that made me tense up even more in fear.