"The Darks? What are you talking about?" Evan says, as if trying to sound all innocent. It doesn't work.
"Oh come on, I saw you eyeing Lucy and when you were talking to her in the hallway. She's bad news."
Lucy? This is the first time Evan's heard anything negative about her. Ricky does seem like an asshole, but Evan wonders why he would tell him this.
"What do you mean bad news? She seemed nice to me." Evan asks. He doesn't know why he's defending Lucy so much when even he hardly knows anything about her.
"Yeah, well, that's how Lucy gets you. She and her whole family- mother, father, brother. They're monsters."
Evan goes cold at the word, but scoffs at the sheer absurdity. "Monsters? Isn't that a little extreme, man? I mean, maybe her dad is a little mean-"
"No, dumbass. I mean LITERAL monsters. Not just as in "they're evil rich monsters", the Darks are literal monsters. They can make themselves look human, but whenever anyone's not looking, they shift into.. Well, something else. Something evil."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. I've never seen them." Ricky confesses.
"Then how do you know they're monsters?" Evan asks.
Ricky goes silent.
"Ricky. Are you making this up? I thought I saw you looking at Lucy too-"
"No, I'm not making this up. I know how weird this is going to sound but.. uh.. a talking ventriloquist dummy told me."
Evan feels as if he's been left frozen, just staring into Ricky's eyes. "A what?" he finally spits out.
"A ventriloquist dummy. Said his name was Slappy."
"It had a name?"
"Yes, that's not the important part though. I found him sitting in my room one night. I thought someone was pulling a weird joke on me before the thing twisted its head and started talking to me. He made some really awful jokes and then started telling me how my family had been tricked into coming to Dark Falls, and we weren't the only ones. Countless families were being lured to Dark Falls for.. well, something. He didn't spill all the details, but whatever it is, it doesn't sound good. And I think it's Lucy's family who's doing it." Ricky tells him.
All that snark in his voice is gone. Evan realizes he's telling the truth, or at least something Ricky genuinely believes to be the truth. As for Evan, he isn't sure what to think. Who's to say Ricky didn't smoke a little too much that night?
"And you believe this dummy, Snappy?"
"Slappy." Ricky corrects him.
"Right. Slappy. Why trust some talking dummy?" Evan asks. He knows he wouldn't.
"That's the thing- I don't. Well, not completely. I don't trust anyone that much. I'm not even sure I trust you, Ginger, but I think you're one of the families who was lured here. I mean, don't you think it's weird there's so many new people in Dark Falls all of a sudden? Just shortly after Larry Dark buys the place?"
"I guess? I hadn't really thought about it." Evan says.
"You don't think about much, do you?" Ricky asks, shaking his head.
"Hey!" Evan says, hurt. "I just don't like scary things that much."
"Well life is scary sometimes. And it is odd. This town is small- I hadn't heard of it. I'm sure you hadn't either, but my parents were adamant on going. They refused to go anywhere else. I didn't want to- but anywhere's better than where I used to live." Ricky tells him.
At this, Evan begins to wonder. His parents had also seemed so eager to move to Dark Falls.
"And what? You think someone is brainwashing our parents to take us here?" Evan asks.
"Something like that. And not just anyone- Larry Dark has something to do with it, but then again, there might be someone pulling his strings too."
"Who? And why? Why us? What did we do to deserve getting dragged out here?"
"It's because of our pasts. All of the teens led to Dark falls have something in common- something we've had happen that we'd rather forget about." Ricky says.
"But nothing like that's ever happened to me." Evan tells him.
Ricky looks unconvinced. "Really, Ginger? Does the name Monster Blood ring a bell?"
Shit, Evan thinks. First Carly Beth, now Ricky Beamer. He never should have gone on that stupid TV Show. "So you know about that too, huh?"
"Not at first, but once I started digging it came up. I wouldn't have expected you to have such a big secret." Ricky says.
"It's not a secret. Just something I'd rather not talk about. Monster Blood made my life a living hell and even here I can't escape it." Evan admits. It's true. It's always been true, just something he didn't want to accept. The Monster Blood would always follow him regardless of where he lived. Probably until he dies, Evan will be known as the Monster Blood kid.
"Look, I get it." Ricky says. "A group of aliens tried to take over my school. They almost corrupted me. I.. I was bullied really badly as a kid. It fucked me up a lot and so I really wanted others to hurt just as badly as I did. These aliens.. they called themselves Creeps. They convinced me I could become their ruler. You know, enslave everyone who had ever bullied me."
"Holy shit. And what did you do?" Evan asks. It's hard to wrap his head around what he's hearing, but he has to believe it. No one would make up a story as crazy as this and with such emotion unless it actually happened. He starts to feel bad for poor Ricky. He knows what it's like to be tormented and hated by everyone.
"The idea sounded awesome. I was ready to commit to the plan. The Creeps had put these.. seeds, you could call them, that would transform anyone who consumed them into creatures just like them, into the cookies for a bake sale going on. I ate one."
Evan stops, trying to process this part of the story. "You ATE one? What happened to you?"
Ricky chuckles, not out of laughter, but something else. Something Evan can't put a finger on. "Let's just say it had some nasty side effects."
At this, Ricky raises his arm for Evan to take a look. Evan looks in horror as he sees a patch of deep purple scales growing on Ricky's skin like a nasty rash, or allergic reaction.
"Oh my god." Evan says in genuine shock. "And you.. You're a Creep too?"
"Yes and no. I met someone who was able to help me. A couple of scientists named the Tuckers. Their son ended up as a werewolf, long story there, but it'll never completely go away, no. I guess I deserve it. You know, as a reminder of the day I almost enslaved the planet." Ricky sighs. His words are full of regret.
"Ricky- everyone makes mistakes. Maybe not quite as big as yours. Doesn't mean you deserve to be a monster." Evan tells him. He's not used to playing therapist for someone, but Ricky sure seems to need someone to talk to. At least he can slightly understand what the guy is going through.
"You think I'm a monster?" Ricky asks, almost hurt.
Evan wonders if maybe what he said wasn't the best thing after all. Stupid, stupid.
Evan thinks about what he's going to say next. "Well, no- it's just- I'm sorry. I've just never met a monster who didn't want to hurt anybody. I mean to say- you didn't deserve what happened to you, regardless of what may have happened."
"You didn't let me finish, Ginger. I am a monster. I got lucky that day- my friend Iris was able to stop the whole thing before anyone else consumed the cookies. If it weren't for her, I would have just let it happen. She got me back to my senses," Ricky explains, sounding slightly choked up.
Evan feels like he has a responsibility to reassure Ricky, as strange as his situation seems. Largely, Evan just can't believe the whole goddamn world was almost enslaved by aliens while he was probably taking a math test or who knows what.
"But it didn't. You beat the Creeps." Evan says. "You know, I'm not sure I wouldn't have done the same thing. I was bullied a lot too- especially because of all my Monster Blood shit. There was this one named Conan Barber. He loved to beat me senseless. I honestly might have chosen to turn him into a Creep if given the choice. My best friend Andy and I- we used to pull all kinds of jokes on him to get payback, and they typically involved Monster Blood."
Ricky looks at him curiously. "I thought you were terrified of Monster Blood?"
Evan laughs. "I was, hell yeah. I was fucking terrified. I still am. But Andy somehow convinced me revenge was the best option. She was the devil on my shoulder. And Monster Blood.. It was just so destructive. There was a part of me that really liked the idea that it could do something awful to Conan. A darker side, like the one I'm sure you went to. But instead, all that bad stuff happened to me."
Ricky seems to slightly perk up, like he's finally met someone he can share a connection with.
"And what happened to him?" Ricky asks.
Evan tenses up. "It's.. complicated. He's not dead though, if you were wondering."
"That doesn't sound convincing." Ricky says.
"He's not, I swear! He's just not the same person he once was."
Ricky looks like he wants to say more, but stops. Evan then remembers his conversation from earlier with Carly Beth. She might be part of this too.
"You know, I met a girl earlier this morning. She said her name was Carly Beth. She also knew about what happened to me with the Monster Blood and it seemed like something bad happened to her too. Like she had a dark side. And oh my god, she was a newcomer to Dark Falls too."
Ricky looks at him. "You mean Carly Beth Caldwell? I have an art class with her!"
"Well I don't know any other Carly Beths, so that must be the one." Evan says.
"Maybe I can talk to her, unless you run into her again. Maybe you should focus on trying to get closer to Lucy." Ricky tells him.
"I thought you said to stay away from the Darks?"
"I know what I said, but you might be the best bet to find out what's going on in Dark Falls, while I can try and gather more like us and try and get them over to our side. Luckily, Lucy seems to like hunky gingers. You have a date with her tonight, right?" Ricky asks.
"How did you know that? You been stalking me, man?"
"Sorta. More like eavesdropped. I make it my business to know everything about everyone."
"That's a little creepy." Evan says.
"Well I am a creep, ain't I?" Ricky laughs.
"I guess you are. What do you want me to do exactly?"
Evan really likes Lucy but after everything he's heard from Ricky, he's starting to think there might be more to Dark Falls after all. It's going to be a little shady, sure, relaying info back to Ricky, but if moving to this town has led him to an all new kind of danger it seems worth it to get to the bottom of it.
"Just listen to what she says.. but if you can, the most important part is getting inside Dead House. I think whatever we're looking for is in there."
"Dead House?" Evan asks. The name makes a chill run down his back. He's heard about it plenty, but never actually seen it. Not yet. Every town has some kind of haunted house, but the stories about Dead House seem legit. If he's going to get inside, he'll have to push any unease to the side. It won't be easy.
"Okay, I'll try my best, but I'm not going to be a total snoop." Evan finally says.
"Do what you can. It's you and me now, Evan. Dark Fall's newest monster hunters! They used to find us.. now we find them."
Evan gulps. He doesn't want to end up finding anything. He hopes Lucy is totally normal and Ricky is just making this whole conspiracy out. "Sounds like a plan," he says.
"Great!" Ricky says. "Here- if you find out anything, call me. My number is 555-C-R-E-E-P. That's not a joke, by the way."
Evan writes the strange number down and almost forgets about monsters entirely until he arrives back home. Then everything comes flooding back as he feels a pair of cold hands grab him from behind, placing an icy palm over his mouth. He can't even scream.
