Of Evil Eminent
Never had I gone through such a mind opening experience. I still remember it to this day. It all started out a couple of days before Halloween. I found it strange that someone would come into school so late in the year. Usually the school stopped taking in students after September, as a grace period for the transfer students. We had all spent the last week of October collaborating for the spooky holiday and suddenly the new kid, Leonard Von Hellsine, walks in, his appearance the very meaning of the word "Halloween". Throughout his entire introduction to the class, his numerous aspects caught my attention. He was pale, young, and emaciated-looking with long, windswept hair that went to the side, the color of black ash with a single, platinum blonde highlight in his bangs. He wore a black starched and ironed shirt with the cuffs undone with minor white string embroidery showing it was designer, as well as dark denim jeans that fit wonderfully on him with the addition of a studded belt. His shoes were comfortable looking slip-ons with a black and red checker design.
The most interesting part of him was his face. He had a long, thin nose, as pale as the rest of him with well shaped lips, contrasting greatly with his skin, like blood on white linens. Also, his canine teeth showed when he smiled. They were as sharp looking as knives, and made him look vampiric. But creepiest of all, his eyes were a mixture of gray and yellowish, and seemed almost luminous and deadly when in the shade of his hair. For a guy, he had thin eyebrows that always gave him the look of evil. And his ears were slightly pointed, though still looked normalesque.
Lots of people think I exaggerate too much, but even principal Stranburg said Leonard gave him the chills. Though I guess he must be somewhat urbane, despite his appearance, since my friend, Kris Davison, hangs out with him. Kris is cool, though clumsy sometimes as well as unobservant in general. He has shaggy, long red hair that covers his eyebrows, and lots of freckles on his face. His dark green eyes with red eyebrows give him the look of a leprechaun sometimes. His nose is upturned, and at times he can look like a little kid. Physically he's tall and broad, and usually wears clothes that look like hand-me-downs, which makes it evident that he is a younger child out of six. According to a teacher, they're now best friends and "joined at the hip".
Benjamin Carson, or Benjy as we call him, is another one of my friends. He's really smart, yet manages to keep his cool all the time. He has silky, dark brown hair that sweeps forward and bangs that cover one eye. He's about Kris's height, but very ,very slender for a boy of his age. He wears skinny jeans, long-sleeved shirts layered with band logo shirts on top, and horn-rimmed glasses. My friend, Mellie, told me she likes him. Mellie Chezna, is one of my best friends. I met her when I moved in from Pennsylvania when I was 10 years old and we've always been together since then. We do everything together like shop, hang out, talk, and of course we join in Kris and Benjy so that they're not left out. Mellie has short dirty-blonde hair that's always down with some kind of clip to hold her bangs back. She's about my height, which is relatively average for a 17 year old girl, and likes wearing short skirts and wrinkled socks, as well as lots of lip-gloss in addition to designer tops. Well, we were all planning on walking around on Halloween to see if we could get any candy, as old as we were, chocolate to be exact. It seems Leonard is going to come along though. My friend Kris invited him, apparently. I won't complain. Leonard seems nice enough.
He doesn't act creepy or weird and laughs at all of Kris's wisecracks. But that's just it. When he laughs it sends chills up and down my spine! And his "fangs", as I call them, show and glint too. Lately he's been kinda overdoing it though. It makes me wonder if he and Kris had a fight. Anyway, as planned we were waiting for school to end to start our search for chocolate.
Then when the bell rung I exclaimed, "Yes! Mellie, today is the day we get our chocolate stashes stocked!!"
"Oí, Nira! Niiira!! Nira Hartnett!" Kris yelled, "Wait for Leonard and me!"
As they started to approach from the end of the hallway, Mellie quickly whispered to me,
"Where's Benjy?"
I assumed he was in the secret place he seldom talks about. He just says he has a secret place where he does what he wants. Though when he returns I see bloodstains on his sleeves. It makes me wonder if he's ok.
Finally, when they arrived I thought to myself, "Finally, after two days of hardly a word to Leonard, the new kid, the creepy kid, we can talk in a simple conversation."
"Well, it's nice to finally talk to ya, Leonard." I smiled as an act of courtesy. He grinned back, the tips of his canines showing, eyes discerning and said,
"It's so great to finally talk to you too. Kris has told me a lot about you, like how amazing your head of golden hair is. And, he wasn't lying when he said you were pretty. But I guess he was about his ears." He chortled a bit. And so it is proven once again, I, Nira Hartnett, am pretty. I'm one of the most beautiful girls in class. My eyes are as deep as a forest, my breath-taking smile is envied by all and I have figure that makes an hourglass weep in shame. And Mellie, who helps me choose my outfits so well, is only second to me, her appearance only marred by braces.
"Gaah!! Leonard!! You said you wouldn't tell her that!" Kris exclaimed, blushing slightly and his ears turning tomato red. I smiled to myself quickly, seeing as one of my curious questions was finally answered. I'd always wondered what Kris thought of me.
"Aww, c'mon, you should compliment her more often yourself, Kris." Just out of the side of his eye, while talking to Kris, calling him a faker, Leonard gave me a look, sort of luring, yet malicious in a way. Kris then muttered, "The teacher just assigned me to you dumbass, we're not friends." Later that day, still without Benjy, we began our trek in search of chocolate. Though, during the entire trip Mellie seemed uneasy. I wondered if she noticed anything about Benjy we didn't. We passed all different kinds of houses, ones with excessive decorations that would probably go to waste within a few years. Then there were those houses that were moderately decorated with funny or cute Halloween phrases.
Lastly, those who were stingy, lazy, or both put no decorations on their houses and they gave no candy. But amongst all the houses there was one that stood out. It was old and falling apart, and had overgrown grass in the front yard, a completely atrophied tree and a rosebush in a dying bloom. It looked eerily the same style as Leonard, since the wood was graying and the roof tiles were black, as well as the roses, vibrant with the same color of his lips. The shutters, I assumed, were most likely blocked with a piece of wood on the inside. The house itself was enormous. Suddenly, Leonard put his arm around my shoulders, which shocked me, seeing as I've only gotten to know him for about three hours.
"Ha ha, let's check this house out! I'm in the mood for an adventure." He said in a creepy excitement while also giving me that look again. By now, I could see, Kris, was getting a bit anxious about Leonard getting so friendly with me all of a sudden. I pulled away and pretended to start a conversation with Mellie while Kris said,
"But Nira wouldn't like to go in there. And quite frankly neither would I. That house doesn't seem right somehow."
Leonard seemed a bit exasperated now, and replied to Kris
"Aww, she wouldn't be scared or anything, besides, I'd be protecting her from everything, if anything."
He gave Kris a cold, stoic, triumphant stare and grin, and walked over to us just as we all saw Benjy running toward the group.
"Hey, you guys left without me!" he yelled over to us. Mellie replied with a happy smile,
"Hey, Benjy! Where were you after school?" Hesitantly, he replied, while holding his hands behind his back, as if hiding something, most likely severe bleeding.
" Umm, looking for you guys." His eyes changed all of a sudden to an almost hypnotic state, when they went from Leonard's eyes after saying a quick hi, over to the house. Mellie and I were as astonished as Kris when Benjy said with a mildly maniacal tone, "Wow!! Let's go in! I bet it'll be fun!" After the short ordeal he went racing in. Mellie, worriedly chased after him yelling,
"Wait! We're not going in!" As she went in, I followed trying to stop them both from entering. Both Kris and Leonard followed me in.
"Whoa! What's going on?" Benjy exclaimed.
"As for me, this place gives me the chills." Kris said.
"I don't like it. I really don't like it." I said weakly and shuddered. "Let's get out of here before anything bad happens."
"Where's Leonard?" Mellie asked. She was right. He had disappeared. Yet, suddenly, we all heard him say calmly from the balcony above,
"I'm right here. Don't worry." His eyes were vividly luminous in the darkness.
"Get down from there, Leonard! We're leaving!" I went up to pull him out from the house, it was evident he'd go nowhere unless dragged. I climbed up the rickety staircase. But when I finally grabbed his hand to leave, it was cold as ice, and he had a smile as malicious as ever, luminous eyes grinning with malignant contentment. He wasn't going anywhere, and I could feel it. I turned to run from the house and Leonard but as soon as my foot touched the first step, the stairs collapsed into a pit of blackness and nothingness.
"You see, Nira, once you enter the house, you can't leave it." His grin widened, showing his fangs. Kris and Benjy both tried to bolt through the door, but it was locked. He immediately muttered something foreign sounding in a malicious manner, I could have sworn it was Romanian. And then, as quick as anything, darkness engulfed us all. I couldn't see a thing, and when I regained sight, I was somewhere completely different with Leonard across the room with a dominant grin on his face.
In a different, locked room, Mellie and Benjy were stuck together. Mellie said, "Benjy, are you ok? Is everything alright at home?"
Benjy replied in an angsty tone, "Why do you ask?"
Then Mellie grabbed his hand to find a pocket knife. After a small gasp of proof, she said, "Because when you come back to us, you're always bloody."
"My dad" he said, "I hate him. He doesn't understand! The only way I found relief was through the knife, a guitar, and my poetry."
Mellie, as tears welled up in her eyes, replied, "I'm sorry. But please, stop……….I…I really care about you Benjy…I hate to see you hurt yourself." And she ended up in a tight hug with him.
"Ok…I'll stop," he said after regaining himself. "But we need to try to find a way out of here before I tell you everything."
"That's a good idea." Mellie replied.
They searched around the room until, Mellie found a small crack in the structure of the house and went into it, and disappeared into a completely different part of the house.
"Mellie? Mellie!?" Benjy yelled, then broke down the locked door in a futile attempt to find her outside the room.
Meanwhile, in the room with Leonard, I started asking questions.
"What do you want, Leonard?" I said shakily. He replied,
"Nothing much really, just some fun on this lovely Halloween night." Then he started walking towards me with a slow pace, like a lion stalking its prey. When he got about an arm's length away he said in a low, dangerous, singsong voice, "You know, you're extremely attractive." It made me cringe since he breathed in deep, as if sucking out my essence and soul. "But I guess, if you really wanna get out of here, gather all of your friends and try to run," then he whispered in my ear, dangerously close to my neck, "but one of you will have to stay here, no matter how hard you all try to escape. I'll be glad to see it be you, my sweet, and yet I've got plans for the one who hates me" The sound of his voice made me cringe again, and I bolted. I raced down the corridor until I found Mellie, coming out of a room that looked like a family would have a tea party in it, half disoriented and scared.
"Nira, I want to get out of here. I really want to get out of here! We need to find Benjy!" she said on the verge of tears. I led her down rows of corridors and dead ends until we found Benjy, who was as lost, as we were, but joyous to see Mellie again. What was worse was that he had lost his cool edge and was panicky and jumpy.
"Wh…Where are we, Nira?!" He said as we reached another dead end. Suddenly, in a puff of dark gray smoke, Leonard appeared.
"I think Kris already made it outside." He walked over slowly, and gestured for me to go to him. Then, for the last time, put his arm around my shoulders, but this time, pulling me in closer, and pointed in the direction we had just come from. "Go straight then go at your second right. Go back down and make a left and go down again. You should see the stairs just ahead when you reach that point." Then before he let go of me, he said, "Tis a shame you didn't like my house or enjoy the party. Even more of a shame you couldn't stay longer, Nira. I truly favored you over Kris." and then kissed my cheek, letting his cold nose run over it as he pulled away.
"Nira! C'mon! I'm not staying in this house another second!!" Benjy exclaimed with all hysteria and pulled Mellie along. We bolted up, we raced at our second right, never stopping to catch our breath. We went down, made a sharp left and nearly stumbled down the steps before bursting through the old gray doors. Benjy and Mellie continued running into the night, and he probably led her to his secret place, but I stayed to catch my breath for a while. It was nearly midnight when I was finally able to breathe normally, I took one last look at the house and saw Leonard looking through the window, looking at me in a stalker-like manner then looking straight forward.
Finally, he let out a demented, maniacal sounding, blood-curdling laugh while he pointed at the telephone lines. Then, slowly, fearing the worst, I followed his finger to where he was pointing. At the gruesome sight, my legs turned to jelly and tears welled up in my eyes. The only thing I was able to utter before I fainted was Kris's name. And the last thing I heard was Leonard's shrill voice screaming at the top of his lungs, "HOPE YOU HAVE A FUN TIME HANGING OUT HERE KRIS, YOU FAKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"