I own nothing, not the names, places or even the picture. Just the plot.
The title is based off of the song Black Sun by Dead Can Dance.
Have fun!
The Red Thing
The world came into focus as I lifted my head from the desk.
It was an old piece of furniture with faded bits of graffiti in illegible font doted haphazardly all over the wooden top. I sat up straighter causing the desk's metal legs to give a short yet loud scrape on the ground with my feet. What startled me was not the sharp sound slicing through the thick silence , but the realisation that i hadn't felt the movement of my own body. Everything below my diaphragm felt numb. Uncomfortably numb.
I told myself that sensation was indeed returning, that it would be ridiculous to assume I had suddenly become paraplegic; unfortunately the ability to feel was descending down my body at a rate too slow to be sure.
I took a gander at my watch while rubbing my temples with my free hand. It was nearly 3pm so school should be finishing soon; I can finally go home and...and...
What was once white noise, quickly turned into a woman's low and raspy voice originating a few meters in front of me. Looking up, the woman was initially nothing more than a blend of bark brown and vibrant green. Gradually, her image also sharpened.
The woman was beautiful in a 'just because 'I-am-a-serious-business-woman-doesn't-mean-I-can't-still-be-sexy' way. She was standing on a large stage with her dark hair swept to the side in a style that I always liked but could never pull off. The green resulted in being a form fitting dress that even I could tell was expensive. Red covered her lips.
She also happened to be our principle. Which would be why she stood where she did, raised to look down on us mere mortals. Usually the platform was saved for plays but she also enjoyed using it for one of her rare, lengthy speeches. The last one was a Greek Tragedy I think.
Aside from the other female, the high-school gymnasium was filled with at least a hundred other students, all sitting at their own uniformed desks. I attempted to search their faces, to find features that would stroke a familiarity, but my eyes kept moving back to the woman giving us instructions.
"Students! Students, I require silence!" Exclaimed the woman. The already quiet gym remained quiet.
"I am sure you are all wondering why I have assembled you here today." She continued, "Sadly, I must convey my disappointment in your conduct with our neighbouring school. The unwarranted prank committed by certain individuals will not go unpunished. Too many have been left suffering. Hundreds even." She paused to cast her gaze over the room.
What the woman was saying sounded familiar but I could not remember why. My brain was still stubborn in its fuzziness.
Suddenly, she looked right at me, "Miss Griffin, stand up and come forward"
I glanced around, expecting to see my fellow students staring and gawking at me in a form only teenagers can accomplish. Instead, they continued to look at the woman with glassed eyes.
"Miss Griffin, stand up and come forward", she repeated in the same tone.
A large crash sounded somewhere behind me just as I built the courage to stand up.
My row happened to be in the middle of the room but column wise I was sitting furthest away from the door with my desk pressed against the opposite wall, brushing my left shoulder. That is probably what saved me from dying in the first five seconds.
At first nothing happened. Nobody walked through the double doors that swung open. Just silence. Perhaps it was nothing but another prank to anger The Woman.
Then the five people closest to the entrance died instantaneously through sprays of liquid crimson that arched high, touching the ceiling. The students finally came to life as the resulting chaos ensued. Pieces of bone, organs and brain matter joined the blood as the next collection of teenagers died. At least ten people dead in as many seconds.
I stood up knocking my chair over. People ran in my direction, desperate to get away from the killer. Tables upturned. Chairs forgotten. Limbs clawing and flailing. One boy pushed a girl too young to be there to the ground after she got in his was. He trampled on her as did the people behind him. Her skull never had the chance.
I moved away from the desk and headed to the stage. I glanced back to see what was causing this distraction. Red streaked amongst the blood. Blending in it. Moving with it. Spilling it.
It was shapeless and small. Just a little bit bigger than a quarter of my size. Though it did not touch the floor as far as I could see. The best description I could give is that it was a floating orb. Translucent one second then solid the next. Smooth one second then hairy the next. Fast one second then slow the next.
It killed six more people in the moment it took me to look at it.
I reached the stage alone. I could have sworn there were people running around me. With me . But now they were crowed at the door. Pushing against each other in their stampede to escape. Only half of my fellow teenagers were left and that number was quickly dropping as they clogged up the door. Their desire to live was killing them.
The Red Thing was advancing. Slowly this time. Honed in on me.
I vaulted onto the stage. Ran to the door leading Backstage. It was locked. I banged into it with my shoulder but it wouldn't budge. The Red Thing reached the stage. I ran from one side of the platform to the other. Doing a broad semicircle around It. My running start managed to make a decent amount of distance for my leap. A quick look back told me that The Red Thing had continued on its journey. Most likely targeting The Woman who disappeared the moment It arrived.
I had to get to the doors to help my friends escape before there was no one left to save. The pile up had gotten bigger. They were crushing each other. I have to get to the doors now! My feet skidded along the blood soaked floor in my haste.
At the base of the small human hill, I grabbed the person closest and hoisted them up onto their feet, seeing nothing but scrapes and bruises for injuries. It only got harder after that.
"Everybody!" I shouted over the screaming, "You have to calm down or none of us will ever get out of here alive!" I pulled a boy from under the pile by his arm. Yanking and yanking until he was free. Too bad he was already dead.
My hands were slippery with sweat and blood. Bruise after bruise blossomed on my body as people knocked into me.
I reached through the crowd until I touched the back of one of the three people wedged into the door jamb. They were the cause for the blockage. Like pulling out a plug in a bathtub, I gave a slight push and freed the owner of the back. Through small gaps between shoulders I could see that my action made them only stumble rather than fall, allowing them to run into the hall. At least one person made it.
I stepped back and to the side so I wouldn't get caught into the raging stream. By using my arms to give directions and small pushes when needed, I managed to free a good portion of my terrified friends.
No way was I leaving until they are all out!
The last person to get escape was a girl a few inches taller than me. While crossing the doorway, she turned as if to say thank you for helping her. The widening of her brown eyes was all I needed to know what was behind me.
The last thing I saw was The Red Thing advancing on top of me. The last thing I felt was bursts of excruciating pain from every inch of my body. The last thing I heard was my scream, gurgled by the blood surging up into my mouth.