It wasn't easy being the scary kid. Something as seemingly simple as hanging around the school before classes begun was in reality a carefully planned and measured display. You had to be hidden enough to only be seen at the last moment (when it was already too late) but remain too invisible and people can just ignore you. Next came lighting and the shadowplay (a third of the head and the shoulders hidden in darkness was the golden standard to achieve) which were a logistic nightmare as the sun kept rising, and time management as you couldn't miss the corridor rush hour to menacingly stride past the younger students locker area.
The science, that's right, science, behind intimidation was intricate enough to write a whole book on, which luckily someone had already done and thus saved Susie the trouble of having to find this all out by herself. Maintaining a presence and reputation required constant work and dedication for which she had plenty of time.
… It wasn't like she had anything, or anyone else to spend it on.
But today things felt different. She hadn't been able to fall asleep all night yet rose up to get ready for school much earlier than usual and the moment she saw the building in the distance some new feeling stirred up in her stomach besides the usual emptiness. Some anxious anticipation, even nervousness. It wasn't unpleasant though and she was forced to admit she was actually looking forward for school.
Or rather, a part of it.
Susie whistled quietly as she leaned against a tree in front of the school. The day was honestly beautiful and she felt… happy. It could have been sleep deprivation kicking in due to yesterday's events but something within her said otherwise.
Yesterday…, she couldn't help but smile.
Two first graders had stopped in front of the school doorway and were staring at her like some miracle. Absentmindedly she responded with widening her smile even more to fully show her fangs, which sent them skittering for the seeming safety of the school halls.
She still had a hard time believing it hadn't all just been a dream. Come on, some magical wonderland in a closet with living playing cards, magic dark fountains and talking goats?
Ok, that last part was actually pretty normal, Kris lived with a family of those after all.
Kris…
Susie had always thought of him as that quiet strange kid (if she bothered to think of him at all) and it still held true to an extent. But now there was more to it. Kindness and bravery. Willingness to fight and protect.
Who could have guessed that the best way to get to know someone was for both of you to almost die?
Traffic on the path had now increased as more and more people, including Susie's classmates and a few teachers, headed inside the building. She forced her smile down and kept a look on the crowd, trying to appear as disinterested as possible towards the passers by.
There
Amongst the last few stragglers was the sole human of the town in their trademark sweater and brown hair.
What was Susie going to say? More important, what was Kris going to say? Susie's heart rate went up as she realized she hadn't actually planned anything ahead after this point.
Just play it cool. Everything will work out. Just stand by and…
… watch as Kris walked straight past her.
"…"
Susie stood still for a few moments, utterly stunned before rushing after him.
The hallway was packed but people quickly pulled aside as she made her way forwards. Kris was standing besides his locker, backpack in hands, as if trying to figure out some complex puzzle. He seemed oblivious to Susie until she grabbed his shoulder.
"Kris!"
The boy turned slowly to face her with no recognition in his face, the brief impassive stare broken when he pulled himself free, closed the locker and walked off towards the class.
Susie could not force herself to follow. It felt like she had eaten glass and the familiar emptiness in her gut was back again.
Some of the kids around her had stopped their meandering and their looks felt like all attention of the world was currently centered at her. She made a fist.
"What are you staring at?", she snapped angrily at the closest one, who sunk back into their role of a meaningless side character and soon the commotion continued as before.
But Susie was still there.
Susie had read somewhere that there were seven stages to loss and grief, beginning with shock and ending with acceptance.
Right now it felt like she had skipped all the steps until anger and would remain there forever. The school day had gone on as normal, with "normal" meaning that Kris had continued acting as if she even didn't exist.
Why?
Was this revenge? Some payback for being a bully?
For the life of her she couldn't figure out what was going on and her emotions being driven into overtime just by thinking about it didn't really help.
It was lunch and this was her final attempt for now.
Or rather, had been the final attempt as it, like all others, failed miserably in conception.
She had sat down at the small lonely table where Kris usually ate but the human hadn't even looked looked that way, instead picking the first empty chair he noticed.
The cafeteria was filled with happy talking and voices but right now it annoyed Susie more than usual. She didn't feel like eating, not after what had happened in the morning. Against Susie's will her mind kept wandering back to the locker scene but not for the usual reasons. They focused om a very specific part of it. A part that felt… wrong.
She could swear that when he had grabbed Kris, his chest had briefly glowed red. "Human biology" hadn't been a topic she really cared about but unless Kris had taken to eating laser pointers for breakfast it didn't seem normal. Along with his behaviour, it felt like Kris wasn't being himself in the most literal sense.
Maybe Susie could run an experiment?
The locker filled hallway was empty besides Susie and that deer girl, Noelle. The final class had just finished and nearly everyone had gone home but it didn't feel like Kris was leaving any time soon, instead preferring to randomly wander the corridors like he had done during the recess. It was another one of the weird things Susie had noticed and kept an eye on. Was he looking for something?
Was he looking for Darkworld?
And heavens only knew what Noelle was still doing there, fiddling and digging in her locker. At least it worked to Susie's advantage.
Footsteps rung as Kris appeared around the corner, not towards the exit but deeper inside the school. Just as he neared Susie, she closed her locker and slowly walked over to Noelle who turned with a gasp. Perfect.
Firmly (but not hard enough to hurt) Susie pushed her against the wall of lockers and pulled the notebook Noelle had been holding from her hands. "What do we have here?", she mockingly asked with the best bully voice she could muster. Noelle stuttered something back but Susie wasn't listening.
She was scowling at Kris.
The boy was right next to them but still acted as a robot. Desperate to provoke some kind of reaction Susie opened the book, flipping through it until reaching an empty page and ripping it out.
There!
For the briefest moment it happened again. A brief, minuscule flash of red from his chest and a slight twitch in his walk before continuing on as if nothing had happened, passing them by without a second glance. Susie waited until he turned the corner before dropping the act.
"Here.", she handed the notebook back. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean it." What a lousy excuse.
"I.. I.. Its ok." Noelle accepted with trembling arms and pressed it against her chest. It looked like she was about to faint.
"Are you all right?" Susie needed to go after Kris but some tug at her consciousness stayed her feet.
"Yeahhh, I… I'm fine."
Susie wasn't convinced. "You sure?"
"I just need to… sit down for a moment." Noelle leaned against the locker and slowly slid down to the floor, still clutching the book.
Susie decided to take her word for it and turned to leave but was a moment too late as Noelle's quiet whisper still reached her.
"…finally…"
… great, now there's two weirdoes on the loose.
Susie quietly reached into her pocket and pulled out an small, slightly cracked makeup mirror. She carefully edged it around the corner and to try and catch a glimpse of what Kris was doing. The boy had just aimlessly walked in circles for half an hour, occasionally pausing for some unexplainable reason.
Right now they had looped back to the lockers and Kris was briefly pausing in front of every single one.
What the heck is he doing?
They had even passed the supply closet and the unused classroom (which Susie had both checked to see that they were perfectly normal) but whatever Kris was looking for remained elusive.
There was a sound of splashing water. Now the drinking fountain had caught his attention.
But it was all so utterly meaningless. There was no point to anything he did. It was.
Weird.
Not that usual "weird" that defined Kris. Like… playing piano at the hospital. It was totally different.
Right?
But, what if it wasn't? What if Susie had just imagined it, that Kris was just being normal? Why would he or anyone want to associate with her?
What if Darkworld had just been a dream after all?
As Kris finished playing with water and walked down a flight of stairs, Susie sighed and put the mirror away.
That was it. She was quitting. There wasn't any point.
Ignoring the part of her mind that told her not to, Susie turned her back and tried to figure out the closest exit.
She was on the first floor, so…
She was on the first floor.
She was on the first floor.
Since when did the school have a basement?
Susie practically ran to where Kris had just been. The stairs were there, leading downwards. Susie had studied (ok, fine, had pretended to study) in this building for years and not once had the staircase been here.
Something wasn't adding up.
She chewed her lip in anxiety. This wasn't normal. A part of her just wanted to run and forget this ever happened.
But how could she?
She took the step.
The first thing she noticed was that this certainly wasn't a basement. In fact it was almost identical to the corridor above, minus the windows.
And the fact all the locker doors were just painted onto slabs of green metal. And that the stairway disappeared the moment she stepped off them.
Everything was wrong but Susie tried to ignore it as she followed the distant footsteps, turning corners, not bothering to sneak anyomore but sprinting in the dim light.
Until she reached him.
It was a corridor with a single door at the end with …"Kris"… standing with his back to Susie.
"You", she said quietly.
"You're not Kris, are you?"
The human snapped around, stunned for a moment, having look up at Susie towering before him.
Then, slowly, he shook his head.
"Where is he?"
Another head shake.
"I. Asked." Susie grabbed the human with both arms, lifting them up and slamming him against the door.
"Where is KRIS?"
The human only struggled a bit but remained silent.
"ENGLISH! DO YOU SPEAK IT?"
"They probably could if you stopped strangling them."
So unexpected was the voice that Susie dropped the human and took a step back, looking for the source.
"I'm here."
The human's, or whatever "it" was, chest started to glow and something exited from it.
A brilliant red heart. A human Soul.
As it left, it seemed to take with it all color of it's hosts body, reducing the rising being monochrome gray.
Susie raised her fists, as if attempting to punch the red sprite in front of her face.
"Where is Kris?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying".
"No." the soul flashed with a blinding light and Susie felt something rush over her, an emotion.
Honesty.
The Soul was telling the truth.
"He was taken last night. Or… maybe he fled. I am not sure. I only saw them fall into darkness."
""Them"? Who? Who took him? "
"Another. Another Soul."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I was never meant to deal with this."
The Soul paused for a moment.
"I'm sorry if my vessel forbade me from communicating with you."
The grey being, apparently the "vessel" in question, turned its head briefly before returning to examining the door.
"We were sent here for another matter entirely but things have gotten… tangled."
Susie had calmed down to the point of not wanting to punch everyone involved but remained suspicious.
"Who sent you?"
"I… I don't know."
"What DO you know?"
"That the one you are looking for is out there."
Without a word, the vessel finally opened the door and revealed a very familiar, pulsating blackness beyond it.
"And since you're already here, we can help you."