Chapter 4

WEDNESDAY

The blur of the weekday came and went. Wake up, try to forget, help aunt Marnie with the animals, try to forget, go to work, try to forget, go to the bar, try to forget, try to forget...go home, try to forget. Repeat until death. Sometimes he would get drunk enough that he would forget about the things he didn't want to remember, but that was normally before getting belligerent and yelling at people who had never hurt him, like his friends, or Jas, or Emily. Sometimes he would get lucky and just pass out like the piece of shit he always thought himself to be. No one deserved his baggage or his anger. Thankfully he wasn't like his old man and could keep his rage from becoming physical. But was that enough? How many scars did he have on the inside from what his father would say to him? Were they not as big or as painful as the ones on the outside? An intrusive thought made its way inside - Had he done the same to Jas without even thinking about it?

Try to forget, try to forget….

It was a Wednesday morning and that new face, Mars, he remembered, stood outside Pierre's shop. It was 8:40am. He waited under the awning wearing a big wide-brim hat large enough to hide himself and another person. In Shane's hazy mind he thought the scene strange. Big hat for blocking the sun even though he was in the shade, but also wearing a jacket and long denim pants in the middle of the summer? Shane simply thought the city boy was too stupid to realize that, if he didn't want to be hot, maybe a change in attire would help him better than the shade. However, his attention to the newcomer had him noticed and, with a wave, Mars called out to him.

"Hot out isn't it?" he called from across the way.

Shane ignored him, trying to keep his eyes straight, but couldn't help himself from glancing over. When out of sight, Shane turned to watch Mars struggle with the door to Pierre's. He grinned, thinking he should've said something to the stranger, but then if he did, the stranger might follow him to the JojaMart and try to make conversation, and Shane might turn red, which he might notice, and then Shane might say something stupid. It wouldn't stop Mars from coming to the JojaMart for long, because as soon as he read the CLOSED ON WEDNESDAYS sign on Pierre's, the newcomer turned his attention back towards Shane, who was soon rushing in to start his shift.

FRIDAY

His guts stirred for another mug as he stared down at the empty glassware. He would be on drink number three once Emily found time to feed his addiction. Newcomer came in again, and bought him another drink just like the last three Fridays in a row. Dumb fuck still couldn't beat his highscore. Shane could be proud of that. He was once again the second best at Junimo Kart. Then the words in his head hit him - Second best. Just like everything in his life. Emily slid the new mug over to him, and without missing a beat he was sipping down the contents like water.

"Everything okay?" Emily asked, feeling the sorrow melting off her friend. He didn't stop until she had pulled his arm down to sever the connection. "Shane, stop. At least taste the damn beer."

"Just get me another one," he snapped back, putting the drink back to his lips and sucking it down. With a huff Emily returned back to the other side of the bar, taking her time on that fourth drink. Shane cursed himself for being so mean. She was only speaking with kindness and concern. Sinking into his spot he tried to think about anything else, but he couldn't. Gloom consumed him, and by the time Emily swung back around with his delayed fourth drink Shane wanted his total.

"It's not seven o'clock yet. What's going on?" Emily asked with genuine concern. Shane couldn't even look at her.

"I'm just not in a good mood…" he tried to explain. "How much do I owe you?"

"You know Mars has been offering to pay your tap on Fridays."

He cut her off. "How much do I owe you?"

Without saying a word, she reached into her pocket and brought out the check, soon attending to Pam on the other side of the bar, at least when she was drunk she was more pleasant.

As he slammed back his last beer the numbers grew more fuzzy, and he had to keep looking back to the check to make sure he was giving out the right tender.

I couldn't have drank that much, it's not even seven.

How had he lost count from four drinks to six? Anyone else would've wanted to blame Emily, but Shane knew it wasn't a mistake. Thankfully, he had enough to cover the charge but damn, had his body not caught up to how drunk he should be? When would it hit? As he thought about these things, his thoughts were Interrupted.

"Leaving so soon?" Mars' voice cut through Shane's thinking. He didn't turn his head away from the countertop, trying to pretend that Mars wasn't there, afraid he might melt if he even saw a glimpse of the man.

"You know I'd get that for you." Mars added, trying to grab Shane's attention.

God damn why is his voice so soothing?

He couldn't deal with it anymore and turned to look even if it was for only a moment, and he was right, he did melt.

In a hurry, Shane left the tab money and pushed his way past Mars, then out of the bar. The urge to scream and yell at the universe stuck in his booze soaked body. Why was this happening to him? What had he done to deserve this? He tried to not answer those questions. He knew all the evil he had created and why it was coming back to bite him. He had to get away. He needed solitude.

The forest had a funny way of going from a fear-inducing black void that whispered in a strange language that it would swallow whoever entered it whole, to a peaceful sanctuary for the lost and hopeless. Maybe it was the fireflies and the way they reflected off the lake's water that ripplied from the light cool breeze coming in from the west. His mind was quieting, and whatever was stalking out in the woods most nights wasn't there this evening.

As he reached the house, Shane didn't want to go home just yet. In a stroke of luck, he managed to sneak into the kitchen without alerting Jas to his presence, grabbing up a case of beer he had just in case of this situation, and jetting out of the house without much of a squeak from the hardwood floors.

The night sky was clear as glass, Shane swore he could see every star put up in the blanket of blackness shine. The moon was not quite full yet, though it was almost there and shone as if it were. The old wooden pier, covered in algae on its underbelly and sides, creaked as he walked down it. He put his feet in the water, feeling the wind gently gliding over him and everything else. Crickets were chirping, owls were calling out in the night, and his intrusive thoughts were falling asleep, allowing for both Shane and his anxieties to rest. He could feel the Earth taking him in, holding him like a mother to a child, comforting him. He could open up to nature because nature never told on you, or spread rumors, or broke your heart. It just let everything and everyone be. Carefully, Shane brought the can to his lips, not wanting to spill any on himself.

"Why do you hate me?"

His voice cut through the wind and insects, startling Shane and making him choke on his beer. He knew the voice but still sat up and turned around.

Mars stood on the land side of the pier, a silhouette in the distance, only showing features when a firefly lit itself up near him.

"I'll leave you alone if you want me to, but I just don't know what I did wrong to piss you off so much."

Hurt him, tell him to fuck off, isolate, isolate, isolate.

"I don't hate you," Shane replied, wiping the beer he spilled off his face. He was unable to look Mars in the face. "It's not you, it's me. I'm kind of an asshole to everyone."

"Alright, I understand, I guess leave you alone from now on," Mars said before turning to walk away.

"No, wait..." The words came out of Shane's mouth before he could stop himself. Mars turned back.

"You want a drink?"

With each step the man took Shane could feel himself warming up, glad that Mars wouldn't be able to tell the reddening of his skin in the darkness. Mars' one leg bent and the other stretched out to the end of the dock as he reached into the cardboard box between them for a can. The pop of the pull tap sizzled. Time just seemed to not exist anymore, and Shane caught himself staring as Mars took a sip.

"So why are you an asshole to everyone?" Mars asked.

That's a layered question.

"I guess I just am, you know?"

"No ones just an asshole for no reason," Mars said with a grin, challenging Shane's answer. "Who hurt you?"

"No one. I just like to keep people at a distance. It's better that way," he lied while taking a drink, eyes on the rippling water in front of them. "Look, I know I haven't been all that nice to you, and I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I can be pushy," Mars said. "I forget that some people just want to be left alone, and I can take that personally."

They both lost themselves in the reflection of the dark water, the sky mirrored on its surface. The heat of summer had become dull and manageable.

"So where were you from before you came here?" Shane asked, not sure what to say.

"Where haven't I been?" Mars answered with a grin. "I used to do a lot of traveling for my job, sales and that kind of shit." He paused, seeming to gather his thoughts. "I've spent tons of time in the major cities, past the Gem Sea."

"Must've been exhausting…"

"Ohh yeah. And it's the same thing. Same bullshit. Same fake people who don't even know how to convince themselves they're faking it, let alone me." Mars took another drink. "I was so good at talking to people that Joja would send me to convince small towns like this to allow them to build their stupid supermarkets. Lie to them that it wouldn't put their Mom and Pop stores out of business, which eventually led to all the money drying up within the local economy. Only people that would be left were the old too stubborn to move and the rich who love their summer homes. Worse shit I ever did with my life. If I still had a soul, the devil wouldn't even want it."

For the first time Shane could look at the man without his emotions getting in the way.

"So why'd you come here?" he asked.

"It's quiet," said Mars. "Passed through a few springs ago and thought it would be somewhere nice to settle down. I got enough money to fix that old cottage up without having to ever worry about my savings running dry."

The idea of having enough money to never have to work again had Shane dumbfounded, but it made sense. He knew the man he was speaking to could read a person like their life story was written on their face. Shane only wished he could bullshit that well.

"Why are you here?" Mars asked after a long pause.

"It's a long story." Shane answered, pulling his attention to the now empty can in hand.

"I got time."

"Some fucked-up shit happened in my life and now I gotta live with my aunt Marnie until I can get back on my feet," he said. The words were biting and cutting as they left his lips.

Without saying it, Mars seemed to accept what Shane had shared. Like he said, he could read people, and could read in-between the lines so well that even that little bit was enough to count as Shane opening up to him. He didn't push any further, which Shane was grateful for. It had hurt to say what he just said, and he was scared of his own vulnerability. He reached into the case and pulled a new can out for his new friend.

The night carried on with the two sharing the case of beer. Shane gossiped about the other town folks and Mars ate it up. He wasn't sure how much he had to drink, but it was enough to where the most minimal of joking had him smiling and laughing.

"You have a really nice smile," Mars spoke with a slur to his speech. Both of them were laying on the damp pier dizzy, and the sky was spinning in place.

"Yeah?" Shane muttered turning his attention to Mars, even in the darkness he admired how beautifully his nose curved down to his lips twisted into a stupid smile. He tried to imagine how soft his skin would feel under his rough hands. He stared for too long and Mars had clearly noticed, but he didn't say anything.

"Why do you keep being so nice to me after I've been such an asshole to you?" Shane tried to say, only for his drunk tongue to betray him. Thankfully Mars could decipher it.

"You looked like someone that's an asshole and, I don't know...you also looked like someone who needed some company," he answered only to start to feel the alcohol lulling him to sleep. "What time is it?"

"Fuck if I know, man..." Shane slurred as he tried to pull another can from the empty box. "Shit…"

Mars tried to stand up only to fall back on his ass, laughing. Both agreed that it was getting late and they both should call it a night. Shane stood up and collected the beer cans into their box and Mars struggled to lift himself up off the dock, falling over and laughing with each attempt. Shane offered him a hand only to have Mars decline with drunken snorts.

"I'm fine… I can get myself up," Mars muttered as he successfully managed to lift his body up off the planks. However, he lost his footing and almost stumbled into the lake, and with quick reflexes Shane dropped the case and caught his new friend before he could plummet into the water. There was eye contact that lasted for a moment too long. Shane was right how soft his skin would feel, but what he didn't expect was how icy Mars felt to the touch.

"Uh, thanks..."

"Are you always this cold?" The words slipped from Shane's mouth before he could stop himself. "You're like freezing cold, dude. I know it's summer but do you want my jacket?"

Maybe it was the nearly falling into a lake that sobered Mars up, but he pulled himself away from Shane's grip and regained his ability to stand without swaying… too much.

"I'm fine, really I'm just anemic," Mars tried to explain away his frigid body.

"Are you sure? I can take you to the clinic, you're really cold." Shane offered. He'd only ever felt skin that cold when Jas had wandered off to play in the snow without a coat or mittens in the winter and came back shivering and almost blue. Mars again declined, pulling himself away, towards the land.

"Seriously I'm fine, but I appreciate the concern," he again tried to calm Shane's nerves. "Thanks for hanging out with me. I'll see ya around."

And like that he disappeared into the void of blackness, like a cold ghost carried on the winds flowing in the distance. Shane wanted more and felt an emptiness he had longed to have filled for quite some time - Someone to hang out with, to shoot shit with. But his thoughts came back to him. How long until Mars disappeared from his life just like everyone else?

Don't get too attached.

Caroline's scream had jolted her husband to his feet that morning, and not long afterwards Pierre was on the phone with the mayor and the police.

Gore like confetti appeared black against the shiny gold it was spattered against. The remains of what once was one of Marnie's missing calves dressed the Yoba shrine in its organs. The intestines sprawled up into the ceiling like sick party streamers. Its bones were gone, and the only thing to really identify that it used to be a calf was that the head sat in the middle prong of the Yoba statue.

Policemen and the mayor were there before too much longer. Pierre spoke with the officers, stating that neither of them had heard anyone break in last night, and that none of the doors or windows had been tampered with. To bring in a small cow, that seemed nearly impossible. Caroline, quiet and cunning after getting over the Initial shock of the scene, went back to look at the blood on the walls. Sneaking past the officers who didn't seem all that concerned about the splattered animal corpse dressing their place of worship, Caroline took in the details of how the blood was smeared on the walls. With calmness she didn't think she had, Caroline found herself in her kitchen on the phone with an old friend.

Just as the officers were asking Pierre if there were any teengers or young adults that lived with them, a harsh loud knock came from the front of the shop. Lewis answered it to find a tall figure with wild, dark lilac hair escaping from under his black-brimmed hat.

"May I come in?" The Wizard asked. Lewis started to answer, stumbling over his words as he tried to tell him that right now wasn't a good time.

"I know," the Wizard said. "That's why I'm here."

The mayor let in the Master of the Arcane. His heavy boots thumped against the hardwood, silencing the mundane with his presence. He wasn't a stranger to odd glares. That came with the territory of his studies, and gave him an advantage when he needed to intimidate the police officer who stood guard outside the shrine.

"You're not allowed-" The rookie tried to say before being cast aside by a force greater than his own.

The room emitted an atmosphere that stunk of evil and darkness - Things M. Rasmodius had been warned of when starting as an apprentice of the arcane to not tread in, and when he was adept at his craft, had learned how to spot. Caroline poked around at the entry, waiting to see if she was correct. Moments of deafening silence turned everyone's guts sour as they waited for the Master of Magic to tell them what they were seeing on an astral level.

"I'm impressed, Caroline," the Wizard spoke aloud from the doorway. "Most mortals wouldn't be able to tell that these symbols were writings of elemental origin. I'm thankful for you alerting me of this...disturbance."

"Well, what do they mean, magician?" the higher ranking officer blurted out with a chuckle.

"I can't read all of it, as it seems most of it has been smeared and dripped out of its original form. But there's one part I can clearly make out. And this Beast wanted you all to know something."

He pointed at each horrible symbol, translating them out loud with a hoarse whisper as he did:

"I'M STILL HUNGRY"