I should be updating one of my other five stories currently in progress but– Here's this!
Welcome to Night Vale!
Carlos García tilted his head at the road sign curious excitement sparking in his eyes as he took in the neatly painted block letters standing out on a field of midnight purple and what appeared to be a crescent moon that gave off the appearance of an eye.
Carlos leaned back in his leather seat with a sigh of relief. He'd thought he'd been lost; his stupid GPS had lost signal after he left the last town which was so long ago that he couldn't even remember when exactly it had been.
He gripped the steering wheel and glanced apprehensively at the letter sitting in the passenger seat. He knew the words by heart at this point but the fact that he could see the physical letter sitting harmlessly in the seat next to him helped reassure himself of its existence and by extension his own.
New town. New place. New people. Fresh start. It was far too late to turn back now without admitting some sort of defeat.
It's just college how bad could it possibly be?
He pulled into the parking lot of the Night Vale Community College and pushed the car door open with his foot. His shoes crunching on a mixture of gravel and sand as he made his way around to the passenger side of the car to grab his acceptance letter. After a moment of brief consideration he opted to leave his suitcases in the car; no point in dragging his luggage anywhere until he had a chance to ask about the location of the dorm rooms.
Squaring his shoulders he marched purposely towards the building's entrance.
–
His footsteps echoed loudly on the tile of the empty hallways as the fluorescent lights buzzed overhead flickering in their struggle to keep the dim hallway properly lit.
Puzzled by the lack of people- important school officials or otherwise. Carlos was half tempted to call out into the nothingness but every time he seemed on the verge of announcing his presence something seemed to hold his tongue and leave him mute and discouraged to break the peaceful, borderline eerie silence that had settled around him.
The classrooms that he passed were dark and empty. Apprehension resurfaced in his gut, twisting them into knots and all at once the darkness and quiet seemed threatening in its nature and he had the overwhelming sense that he didn't belong there at all.
He turned back the way he'd come, goosebumps raising on his skin as he prepared to run.
Blinking in mute shock at the appearance of light spilling out of an open doorway at the other end of the hall, accompanied by bizzare music.
Drawn to the light and the promise of another human presence Carlos took slow and still hesitant steps towards the light; lingering uncertainty on the threshold as he beheld the figure standing in the room.
Sandy blonde hair was tucked behind his ears and a pair of purple earbuds dangled from around his neck, swaying hazardously close to the paint bottles that sat precariously on the thin wooden lip of the easel.
His right hand held a paintbrush while the other was shoved casually into the pocket of his black jeans.
Carlos was loathe to break the other young man's concentration on the canvas and so stood and took in the rest of the room.
"Is there something I can help you with?"
Carlos snapped his attention back to the young man when the smooth voice floated across the room filling the silence left by the last note of music fading into the air.
"Uh," Carlos was rendered speechless fully confronted with the fact that he'd probably been caught staring. It wasn't as if he could help it there was just- something about this stranger that drew his attention he held the same mysterious air as the rest of the place but stronger- Here was someone who belonged where he was.
Carlos felt even more out of place now that he was faced with another human being.
The stranger tilted his head and regarded Carlos with a subtle upward twitch of the lips and expression stuck somewhere between bemused and intrigued the way someone might regard an unexpected but not unpleasant visitor. Carlos supposed that was after all what he was and he felt somewhat less guilty now that the stranger was examining him in a similar fashion.
"Sorry what was that?" The stranger's voice broke Carlos out of his muddled thoughts, having mistook his silence as a result of having asked a question that awaited an answer. Carlos reopened his mouth to reattempt introductions but the sudden crashing note of a orchestral score cut through the quiet air.
"Ah, hold that thought." The stranger abandoned his half painted canvas and crossed the room to the counter set beneath a row of windows. Carlos noted an old bulky radio sitting on the counter among an array of sketchbooks and crumpled up paper but to his confusion the stranger reached above the radio and shut the window instead. Cutting off the crescendo of violins.
Carlos thought he heard him mutter something about the lovely weather was; whatever that meant.
"Now," The stranger pushed himself up on the clear section of the counter. The sleeves of his lavender button up shirt moving to expose splashing of violet ink curling around his wrists and swirling up his arms in a way that Carlos found to be beautiful in an almost hypnotic way. "You were saying?"
Carlos blinked out of his trance and cleared his throat. "Uh, well I can't seem to find anyone else. I'm a bit confused."
"We're always a bit confused." the stranger reassured.
Carlos only seemed capable of nodding and thanking his darker tanned complexion for hiding the heat that had rushed to his cheeks in response to the embarrassment of being so hopelessly lost.
"I'm sorry, who are you?"
The laugher the drifted into the air between them was warm and bright like the desert air. Dark violet eyes glowing with mirth and curiosity. "I'm Cecil; You're really not from around here are you?"
Carlos shrugged helplessly and waved his acceptance letter around in the air as if that was all it would take to explain his very existence.
Cecil's eyes fixated on the piece of paper with a expression that bordered on hostility and he snatched the paper out of Carlos' hand so fast that Carlos froze to shocked to raise a protest.
"Interloper." Cecil mumbled under his breath.
"What?" Carlos couldn't help feeling insulted by the comment that seemed a bit harsh even in the current situation. Cecil glanced up from the letter and brushed his hair away from his forehead. Having the decency to look embarrassed.
"Nothing, nevermind it's not your fault. I mean obviously the town wants you here otherwise you wouldn't be able to enter in the first place.
Carlos had no idea what that was supposed to mean but he was a bit too preoccupied with examining the new patch of violet ink that had become visible when Cecil had run his hand through his hair.
An eye reminiscent of the one painted on the town's welcoming sign albeit smaller and more intricately etched onto the smooth plain of his sun-kissed skin.
So intricate in fact that Carlos could have sworn it was looking right at him could have sworn that it blinked!
"Look, I'm sorry for interrupting your… project." Carlos directed a pointed look at the forgotten paint canvas. "If you could just give me directions to the administrations offices I'll be out of your way."
Cecil's expression turned blank and Carlos waved his hand in front of his face. "The person in charge?"
"Station Management." Cecil beamed like a child who'd given a correct answer on a test. "Although I wouldn't strictly call them a person- more likely an entity- although no one's ha actually seen them before so there's a possibility that they're human." Cecil lifted his left shoulder in a casual shrug obvious to Carlos' permanent state of confusion.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Hmm," Cecil finally seemed to note Carlos' blank expression and smacked his forehead and sound of annoyed disgust spilling from his throat a moment before he winched from the force of his own self-inflicted slap.
"Ugh, I did that thing again didn't I, Sorry; see I intern over at the Radio Station and well the mental conditioning has...side effects. Earl says it's really creepy, says my voice goes all monotone and I practically start chanting like I'm reciting a bloodstone ritual or something but I can't help it!" Cecil rubbed at the eye tattoo on his forehead.
"It's okay I know what that's like. Being a scientist and all, I'm pretty sure I receive the periodic table in my sleep at this point."
"You're a scientist? Neat!" Cecil's voice seemed to increase two by two octaves and Carlos couldn't help but be curious by the sudden pitch change.
"Are you okay?"
Cecil pulled his hand away from his forehead and shook his head seeming more at himself than anything else and jumped off the counter, purple tennis shoes occasionally squeaking on the tile as he made his way to the door, glancing over his shoulder. "Come on then; Let's get you to the City Council, they already know your here of course but it's mandatory that you present yourself to them not to mention polite I'll come along and vouch for you."
Carlos stopped in his tracks rubbing the back of his neck. "City Council? I hardly think that's necessary, I'd settle for taking to the Dean if you could just-"
Cecil's shoes squeaking so loudly with his abrupt halt that Carlos covered his ears.
Cecil was staring at him mouth agape. "No one talks to the Dean! The last kid who went into the Dean's office didn't come out alive!"
"Ha," The laugher bubbled out of Carlos before he had time to fully process Cecil's glassy-eyed, tight-lipped expression.
"Wait…. you're serious?"
Cecil only gave him a stiff nod before turning on his heel and continuing on his way as though what he'd just admitted to wasn't shocking in the slightest.
Carlos had never felt more confused in his entire life- he was more than tempted to run back to his car and get out of this creepy town- but the scientist in him was curious about this odd place and he was admittedly intrigued by the boy with the purple tattoos.
I've posted the first three chapters of this on the Welcome to Night Vale Amino as well. :)