BRAINS: with a side-order of Flesh. by Siagrrl (parable of the sower read online TXT) 📕

Ms Faeshar was smart and incredibly generous. Some peolpe say she was born to be a nurse. “Nice.” Was the only response I could come up with. Talking was not one of my priorities right now. Delevan eyed me cautiously as I swung my legs up and over the bedframe. I did it quickly so as to not incure more pain.

“You know,” I said trying to draw his attention away from my bloody injury. “I could still use a drink…”

“This way then, Miss Genius.” He replied bowing and gesturing with his hands towards the door. I rolled my eyes and tightened the bandages on my leg to stop the blood flow, before leading the way. The hallway outside the infirmary was dark. In fact, everything outside the infirmary was dark, the only light streaming from the infirmary behind me.

“So, what? You’ve just been sitting out here alone in the dark with the keys to practically anything on school grounds?” I queried. I had my suspicions. Something was amiss.

No response. I headed down the hallway towards the stairs that led to the first floor, Delevan close behind. “It wouldn’t surprise me if you got up to anything. Anger me, yes. Surprise, no.” I continued.

Again, no response.

“Although, I’m sure you’re smart enough to at least know better.”

Nothing.

Not a word.

By the time I reached the stairs, my curiosity got the better of me. I turned back and stared up at Dee's face. One hand on the banister to keep my self upright, the other on my hip.

“Why are you being so quiet? It’s not like you, and it definately (sadly) doesn’t suit you. So stop it. It’s weird.” Dee stopped. He just eyed me and still said nothing.                                                        

“Huh? What? What’d I miss?” I stared at him for a moment longer, trying to decipher his emotions. It wasn’t hard. He wasn’t a very subtle person. I sighed. He was probably just zoning out again. Seriously, if he spent as much time doing homework and studying than he did day-dreaming, he would probably get better grades than me.                                                                                             

Probably.

“Forget it,” I sighed, turning back around. “Just help me find the light switch.”

Something was up and he wasn't going to tell me.

He scooted in front of me, wordlessly and headed into the dark abyss (the stairs - it was extremely dark, even for night time) in front of me, dragging me behind him. 

He didn't go for the lightswitch, but instead he led me downstairs, cautiously, as if he was expecting something to jump out of no where and attack him. He was seriously on edge.

And it was creeping me out.

"Still afraid of the boogeyman, are you?"

Dee remained quiet. Deciding not to provoke the situation (whatever it was) the rest of the trip   down the winding staircase to the floor below was silent. Just like the one above it, save for the infirmary, this floor was pitch black. Darkness consumed every corner. Grabbing my hand, Dee suddenly placed a thick metal object in my palm.

“Here. This should help.”

A torch.

“This would have been helpful,” I muttered dissaprovingly, snatching the torch from his hand, “about a few minutes ago.” Without waiting for Dee, I flicked on the torch and surveyed my surroundings. At the bottom of the stairs I had a hallway to both my left and my right, not to mention a third directly in front of me. The grogginess still fading I did my best to figure out which hallway led to the canteen. I decided it was the hallway to my left and started to hustle down it when something (with a relatively human shape) caught my eye.

"Hm?" What was it?

Something moved – I swear it did, down the third hallway. I stopped to peer down the empty hallway, flashing the torch over anything and everything I could.

Nothing.

I must be imagining things.

The sooner I get a drink and clear my head – the better.

The canteen was the eeriest I had ever seen it. In fact, this entire school was its eeriest at night. And the torch wasn’t helping. Casting creepy and sometim es even life-like shadows and causing my imagination to flip into overdrive. Somehow, being here at night creeped me out. My instincts were were all haywire. It was just too creepy (this coming from the ultimate thriller/horror/slasher movie fan).                                                                            

I swung my gaze back to Dee. He was still lingering behind me. Still silent. Not thinking of anything worth saying that I hadn't already, I ignored it and made my way over too the canteen lunchcounter and swung over it to the other side. Not bothering to ask Dee for the key for the door to the kitchen area of the canteen that stood only two feet away. He was fine in the infirmary, but since leaving he'd been strange.

“Lemon soda . . ." I murmured to myself, compltetly ignoring the look of alarm on Dee's face when I spoke.

"Grape soda, Orange soda, Cola - I’m sensing there are a lot of sodas.” I could hear Dee grinding his teeth in - what was that? Anxiety?

“-Raspberry soda, Iced tea, Blueberry soda, Diet soda,” I continued, maintaining a quieted voice for Dee's sake. “Apple-Juice, Chocolate milk, Peach and Mango juice, an assortment of caffeinated energy drinks - because that will ease the pain," I roled my eyes.

“-and a giant glass pitcher of water.” I finished breathlessly. 

“I feel like I should applaud you for some reason. Maybe it's just the meds, but I've never heard yiu say so many words in a minute before.” Dee muttered, a wry smile on his face.

I chucked the torch at him. “So it speaks.”

After receiving no retort from him, just a sigh and small smile, I pulled an iced tea from the never locked fridge before nudging it shut with my bad leg.                      

I winced and took a quick swig of the tea, and feeling much, much better, I stretched again and turned to Dee.

“So, what now?”

Silence.

“Well, we have to pass the time somehow.”

“You really don't remember do y-” He trailed off. Staring out the window behind me.

Noticing the urgency in his face, I stayed quite and turned around to face the window. It might had been a trick of light but I swore something dark had moved the second I looked.

Odd. How had I not noticed the window. On closer inspection all other windows had been covered with something. This one lone window behind me, though closed, wasn't covered. Streams of moonlight peared in through it's dusty surface, and trickled onto the pale linoeleum floor below it.

“I don’t see anything.” I muttered to myself. Delevan didn't take his eyes of the window for a second.  I looked from the window to Delevan and back again.

Through the window, one could see half the football oval that resided at the back of our school, and had a partial view of the tennis courts that stood proudly beside it.

“Paranoid? We can go take a look.” I asked. Tearing his eyes from the window, and looking - dare I say, scared - Dee silently 'shush'ed me. Delevan guestured for me to climb back over the  countertop.  “I mean,” I continued, swinging a leg over. “Just to be sure.”

Dee didnt bother helping, his eyes already glued back to the window. He shifted his weight uneasily. He was clearly spooked - I guess all those years of Sunday night Horror movie marathons had been all for naught.

“But, you know, if you’re too afraid, or whatever, then I suppose I check - whatever it is - out on my own.” I started towards the window.

“Wait!” Dee whispered sharply, shuffling after me and grabbing me by the elbow. “I’ll come with you.” I was almost thankful. I didn’t like the idea of this school completely dark as it was, but to be  outside the school at night and alone, and not to mention Dee's strange reactions, did not settle right with me,  but I wasn't about to let him see that. That and Dee still had the torch.

“Hmm.” I mused, pretending to think. “You might just slow me down, but I suppose it's not wise to go out alone in my. . .prediament. Fine. You can come with me but on one condition.”

Delevan remained mute, but the look on his face was enough. What?

“I haven’t decided yet, but when I do, you owe me.”

His eyes flicked between me and the window, thinking, then with a curt nod, he agreed. Dee stood silent for a minute.

“Let's go.” I said impatiently, gesturing towards the low standing window.

I guess my injury would wait.

I pushed the window open (upwards) and lifted my left leg over the sill, putting as much weight on the sill as I could to avoid putting to much pressure on my wounded leg. With my left leg over and barely touching the ground outside, Delevan grasped my right ankle and pushed the remainder of me out the window – and might I add; not as gently as he could have.

“Ah, Fudgestickles!” I gasped, landing with my face in the dirt.

Yes, ‘Fudgestickles,’ is my euphemism for a very commonly used swear word that starts with ‘F.’ Don't like like it? Well, who asked you.

I could hear him snort to himself from inside the canteen. Jackass.

“You right, down there Ale?” he whispered, half out the window.

Ignoring him, I stood up shakily and brushed myself off, and turned around bumping into Delevan as he fully exited the window, and falling back down again. This time with sound effects. The lens of the torch smashed against a nearby rock as it flew from Dee's hands. “Fudgestickles.” I cursed again. I sat there for a moment glaring from the broken torch to Delevan and back again, before again getting up and brushing off the dirt.

“I swear you are doing this on purpose.”

Silence. Dee was looking off into the distance behind me.

"I'm not paying for that." I muttured.

I stretched again, my joints getting stiff, and turned to face the direction Dee was staring into. Nothing but silence and cold air. I studied evrything in my peripheral vision from left to right, until something caught my eye.

A person, no doubt standing in the middle of the tennis court. And they did not look well.