Plague (Discontinued)

Chapter One: Rain

Hot and humid. Those were the only words Mordecai could find to describe the current June evening. It was about two weeks after school had let out and he was spending his time doing absolutely nothing productive whatsoever. A yawn escaped him as he lounged around watching movies and stuffing his face. His green eyes glanced at the cloudless sky beyond his bedroom window and he knew that later, after the sun had set, the heavy gray rain clouds would cover the sky and rain would fall. He sighed as he turned his attention back to the movie on his TV. Sweeney Todd was what he'd been watching while waiting for his mother to return from her job as a cashier at Dollar Store. His younger brothers were spending the week at their grandma's house so that left him alone. After a few more minutes of complete boredom he picked up his phone and decided to find someone to talk to. Going through his contacts, he stopped at one of his best friend's names. Hitting call, he put the phone up to his ear and listened to the ringing. "Hey, whatcha doing?" A voice rang on the other end suddenly. "Hey Danny. I need someone to talk to, I'm bored as all hell." Mordecai pretty much whined over the phone. Danny laughed and brought up the topic of next year's schedules for classes and they talked about that for a while, seeing if they had any classes together for their tenth year.

A few hours quickly passed and it was now dark outside as they continued to talk, lost in the topic of videogames and anime. Just as Mordecai had predicted, the rain suddenly started to pour down. Thunder startled him and his sudden squeak of surprise earned another laugh from his friend. "Jumpy much?" He asked after he'd stopped laughing and Mordecai tsked. "I don't like loud and unexpected noises." He said and rolled his eyes as he got up and went to the kitchen to put his chips up. "Hey, I've gotta go. I'm going to call my mom and ask her if everything's alright. She should've been home by now." Mordecai stated after looking at the clock in the living room and seeing it was well after eleven. "Alright. I'll talk to you later then." Danny said and they exchanged goodbyes before hanging up. Mordecai found his mom's number and called. It rang three times before the woman picked up. "Hey, is everything alright?" He questioned worriedly. "Yeah, the car just quit on me on my way home a little bit ago and I'm trying to get a tow truck here. You alright?" She asked with an exhausted sigh. "Yeah, I'm good. Do you need me to do anything?" He asked and she hummed as though thinking on the other end of the line. "Yeah, do the dishes." She said with a laugh and Mordecai groaned jokingly. "I should be home soon, don't worry. I've gotta go now. The towing company I called earlier is calling back. Love you." She said and Mordecai responded quickly. "Love you too, be careful." He said with a smile of relief before she hung up. He put his phone up and turned to the sink where a few dishes waited to be cleaned. A sigh left him as he ran some water and got to work. He looked out the small window above the sink as he cleaned a glass at the rain. It had let up slightly, but still fell heavily. Before he could look back down to grab another cup, something at the treeline outside caught his attention. He squinted at it in an attempt to see through the falling water but he could not spot anything. Blaming it on the leaves and wind from the storm, he resumed cleaning. Another rumble of thunder sounded and he looked out the window just as lightning lit up the sky and area below. His eyes landed on a figure standing just at the edge of where the trees stopped and his yard began. Mordecai dropped the glass in his hands and ran towards his room to get his phone and call his mom. Adrenaline started to rush through him as he fumbled with the pass code and dialed his mother's number, only to find his phone suddenly had no signal. He mumbled curses under his breath and threw the phone onto his bed. Quickly, he rushed back into the kitchen to look out the window, hoping that he had been seeing things. He peered through the rain and found that there was nothing. A relieved sigh left his lips and he went to turn towards the living room. Once he turned he was face to face with a white mask. A sudden hit to his head from behind blurred his vision and he felt dizzy. He fell forward and the masked stranger caught him before he hit the floor. The last thing he saw as his vision darkened and unconsciousness took him were three masked men looking down on him while the sound of the falling rain outside filled his ears.