I had seen it coming.
There was a weird man who popped up on my television screen, he was large with an odd white beard and mustache, he was pretty much bald and his face was sagging and wrinkled. He wore rounded sunglasses to hide his eyes, and the bottom half of his body couldn't be seen.
"You are all going to die today," he stated so calmly, so matter-o-factly, "because I am going to kill you all." After that, the screen cut to static, and the town's power went out simultaneously. I shuddered and ran to my parents. I was eight at the time, and I was mortified by what that scary old man had said.
My parents told me I was over reacting and that it was just some prank that probably continued but the town's power lines had been cut. Just a prank, nothing serious. Then why hadn't it felt like just a prank? I knew this was more than just some prank, I had that deep, nauseating gut feeling you get that makes your stomach twist when you know something isn't right. Then again, I was only eight at the time, so I was easily scared and very naïve. Even though the power was out, school sadly hadn't been canceled, and my parents weren't going to let me stay home just because I was scared. So I did go to school that day, and it was the biggest mistake of my entire life.
School seemed normal, a lot of my friends and I conversed about what they thought about this weird guy. No one believed him, they all just went along with what their parents said, and even quoted them as though they knew half the things their parents say. One girl got in trouble for swearing like her mother always had. I simply agreed quietly with the conversations, not really focusing. I had lost my nerve-wracking state after a while, enjoying the day like always. That was, until after lunch.
We were all gathered for an assembly, all of us were pretty confused, it was normal to have an unplanned assembly. I sat next to my friends, and this one boy I had been crushing on. We all were talking and joking, but then I quickly froze. The man entering the room was that man on the T.V before we lost power. I shivered, feeling my stomach tighten a, then I noticed I had stopped breathing. I let out a breath silently as my eyes tracked the man's every movement, I felt in danger, I was scared.
He was even creepier in real life; he was very tall, and anything but thin. I wouldn't say fat exactly, just not skinny either. He was wearing a lab coat that seemed stained with something, something red. My friend said it was tomatoes; I simply gave a shaky laugh as though I didn't really care. The boy next to me held my hand, he knew my fear, I think he was scared to; we nodded, showing we were fine with this gesture.
The old man had even more wrinkles in person than on the television, he was also darker skinned, like someone who was out tanning for a month. It didn't look natural.
"Hello," he started, the school immediately went silent. Everyone gave a very timid 'hello', the old man just smiled ever so kindly. "I am Denea'r Elrooks; I believe you all saw me on the television this morning, no?"
Everyone nodded in response, remaining silent. The man strolled across the stage, his hands resting behind his back. Clouds rolled in, causing a shadowy effect within the gymnasium. The white of the walls now looked like a grey color. It seemed to only make the atmosphere staler. I felt a lump in my throat and a boulder weighing my stomach down.
"Well let me assure all of you," He pushed up those big, round, black sunglasses, wearing that same cheerful smile. "I was serious."
It was like all time slowed after that sentence. The big man pulled out a huge cannon-like gun, he went straight for the teachers, he blew one's head off, and shot holes through the others. Everyone screamed and ran, but not out of the room, just in circles and around the room. I felt like I was in a farm of headless chickens.
I hadn't moved until I felt myself being pulled by my left arm, I looked up to see the boy pulling me, yelling for me to get up. He was shaking and had tears in his eyes, he looked so terrified… Something in me snapped at that point. I got up, suddenly leading the boy toward the exit, running, no, mad dashing. All that poor boy could do was stumble behind, trying to follow. He sobbed and hiccupped, I was scared too, but part of me felt like it knew what to do.
Right when my free hand grabbed the door handle, that man's voice came into my eardrums, he sounded inhuman, like some sort of screeching beast.
"TAG, YOU'RE IT!" he howled in laughter as the sound of another blast literally burst my eardrums, the boy screamed, and I pulled forward. I was about to open the door, when the blast finally met its target.
Like a piece of paper, my left arm flew off, leaving me with half of my elbow and up. The boy behind me shrieked as I stood in the same position, frozen. My arm. I looked down to find the empty space where my arm had been, pain was currently replaced with shock and confusion. My arm, where was my arm? Where did it go? Where was my arm?! I just stared, watching blood drip from the exposed flesh and bone.
Drip, drip, driiiiiiip.
The man was howling with laughter, and some kids were still running around like headless chickens, and one of them was actually headless. Blood stained the walls like paint splatters; the floor was a red sea. The smell of blood was nearly overwhelming. The boy was lying on the ground, why was he there? I didn't remember him falling. He was not bleeding, he was just, silent, unmoving, unscathed, and wouldn't respond. Yet, through all of the screaming, shooting, and blood splattering over me, only one thought bitterly crossed my mind.
Do you believe my fear now?
