Chapter 4: Memories And Horror

Ugh... My head. I open my eyes and I'm greeted with a darkness. What the hell... I try to adjust to the dark as I rise off of my bed, only to get met with a sense of Deja vu.

Have I been here before?

Even though I can barely see anything all I need to do is take one sniff of this air. That smell... It brings back bad memories for me...

Yep, It's alcohol.

I stand up and walk to the nearby door. I should be pretty familiar with this room after all. It was once my bedroom before we moved. Better get geared up. I grab a baseball bat. Let's get this crap over with. I'm eternally familiar with this nightmare. I've had to re experience this many of times. As sad as it is to say, I'm used to this unfortunate routine.

...Except wait. That's different. Normally I hear one man cackling. Why am I hearing two? God dammit, this nightmare is evolving. I tip-toe down the creaky steps and I see two figures. One is my father, with the moon light from the window illuminating him.

Why can't I be left alone...

But, whos that shadowy figure behind him? I've never even seen him before. I lean on the stair railing to try to get a better look at him. Nope. Doesn't ring a bell-

SNAP

The railing broke and I fell down on the hardwood floor. Both figures lean over me and crack their knuckles. Even though I can't see their faces, I can feel the fury emanating from both of them. I can't even use my bat because it rolled away from me when I crashed.

"Time for some revenge..." The unknown shadowy figure said.

Just gotta embrace the hit!

"Markus!"

I jolt out of my bed in a sweat, with my mom looking at me with a look of concern on her face. She embraced me in a hug. "You slept past your alarm and you were twitching in your bed."

I look at my clock and see that it's only five minutes past when I usually wake up. "It's that god damn nightmare again."

She looked at me in the eyes. "Was it the one with your dad?" I slowly shake my head. "Do we need to see a doctor again."

"No... not yet anyways." I make my way to the bathroom and carry my uniform with me. Today hasn't been great so far has it? Before I shut the bathroom door my mom grabs my attention.

"One more thing Markus. Remember that you have friends that can get you through this situation." I look away for a minute. "And that you always have me to help you as well. Don't feel like you have to do things on your own."

I go into the bathroom without saying anything. I will carry her words but... I want that nightmare to stop chasing me. Whilst showering I reflect on my moms words. Maybe the literature club members can help me out. I frown at the thought. Would they even care to help me? And if they did, how would they find the solution. They're just human, not miracle workers. I step out of the shower and grab a towel.

Well, dwelling on the thought isn't gonna help either. I'll treat myself to some breakfast to take my mind off of things. Lets see... Today, I'm in more of a cereal mood I think. I open the cabinet to see that there is only one cereal.

"Really... 'Oops All Marshmallows' is the only kind of cereal we have?" I ask my mom while she's brewing some coffee.

"Sorry Markus. Write cereal on the list so we can get some next time we go grocery shopping."

Yeah, 'Oops All Marshmallows' is basically just Lucky Charms but it is only the charms. You might feel lucky when you think of all the sugar you consume from this, but just marshmallows gets old after like, five seconds. Although due to how rough my morning is, I'd say bad cereal is appropriate for the occasion. The stupid thing was that I only wanted to buy the cereal to taste test it but now I have to eat the rest of the bag.

Sorry for the rant but that's how it is. And speaking of ranting and rambling, I guess that's one thing I have in common with Yuri. A young lady with a air of maturity, surrounded by a blanket of shyness. A day spent with someone as pretty as her is nothing short of a treasure.

No doubt she would be interested in reading that novel with me. Portrait Of Markov huh? From a cursory glance, Yuri would seem to be quite the bookworm. If she's recommending me literature, then whatever she says will bound to be good.

I head to the door, wave bye to mom and stroll down the street, stopping in front of Sayori's house. Yesterday you could say she was quite punctual with her arrival. But today it takes her a few minutes.

"Sorry!" She says sprinting out of her house. "I overslept a little!"

I chuckle a bit. "I can see that, with your slightly wrinkled blazer." I look behind her. "And you left your front door open."

She looks behind and runs back to the house. "Whoops! Good thing you're paying attention Markus."

I nod. "Yep. So let's head to school." I gesture down the road, and she follows after me. I'm glad I'm friends with someone as happy as Sayori. Despite my not-so-great morning, she's unintentionally calming my nerves with her happy persona.

One day of school later and now, time for the literature club. I open the door and the usual scene greets me. Natsuki is rummaging around in the clubrooms closet, Yuri is reading a book at the front of the room, and Sayori is digging around in her coin purse. I take a seat down in-between Yuri and Sayori, the latter turns to me.

"Hello Markus! You are never going to believe what news I have to share today."

I fold my arms in anticipation. "Alright, lay it on me."

"The vending machine got restocked!" ...Oh, I guess it is news to some extent. I just thought that it would be a little more serious.

I decide to humor her anyways. "That's pretty neat Sayori."

"I can finally eat gummy bears again!"

I shake my head. "Couldn't you go to a gas station and buy some snacks there?"

"Well yeah but..." She giggles nervously. "Sometimes I get really hungry after classes are done." She straightens her back as she looks at me. "You should totally join me to go to the vending machine."

"Sounds like fun-"

Yuri, overhearing this, raises her hand. "Stop, Markus. She's trying to trick you."

I turn to Sayori whos now looking a little embarrassed. "Really?"

She looks away with her face turning red. "No... Yuri is uh, lying! Yeah! hehe~"

Yuri set her bookmark in her novel and set it to the side. "Sayori, remember last year when I first joined?" Sayori nods slowly. "You tricked me into getting dragged out to the vending machine, only to see that you didn't have any money. So then, you guilt-tripped me into getting you something."

I look at Sayori in shock. "Wow. That's quite the troll move there."

Sayori now looks even sadder. "Hey, don't say that. Meanie..."

Yuri looks at Sayori. "Please, Sayori. Only buy what you can responsibly afford." After a few seconds it's like Yuri's demeanor changed completely. "W-which is to say, um..."

Sayori heaved a sigh. "It's okay Yuri. I know I shouldn't have abused Markus' trust like that." She turned to face me. "Do you forgive me, Markus?"

"Uh... Well you didn't really do anything wrong so..." I rub the back of my head awkwardly and she tackles me into a hug.

"Thanks Markus. I guess you don't have it in you to be mean even if you want to~"

She releases me from her embrace and I turn to face Yuri. "So, you still on for reading today?"

She looks a little shocked at my question. "You... actually remembered?"

"Yes actually. I was anticipating this all day." Yuri hides behind her hair, not knowing what to do it seems.

"Not many people would willingly want to read with me..." Yuri says as a small smile appears on her face.

"I insist." I go into my backpack and pull out the novel in question: Portrait Of Markov. "Let's get started then-"

Yuri decides to speak up " Um, actually. Do y-you think Markus if we c-could, uh..." She has trouble speaking again. Poor girl... She really doesn't have much self-confidence.

"It's fine, take your time." I say reassuringly. I don't want to stress her out on our first day of reading together... Implying that theres going to be more in the future.

After a minute she begins talking again. "It's just that when I read at my desk, my back is always hunched over. S-sometimes it hurts having to do one of my favorite hobbies. A-and, uh..."

I try to finish off her sentence. "So you're saying that you have a terrible reading posture?"

"Yes!" She exclaims. "That is exactly what I'm trying to say. So, i-if we were to read on the floor..."

"Ah, okay. I'm picking up what you're putting down. Reading on the floor it is." We both stand up and head to the windows.

Yuri turns to face me. "Now before we read, would you like some tea?"

"Yeah, sure. What flavor did you have in mind." I don't drink much tea so heck if I know off-hand what any flavors are.

"I was thinking that we should have some oolong tea, i-if that's okay with you."

"I'm down." I see her walking to retrieve her tea set.

"I'll be right back, just have to go fill up the water pitcher." I nod as she strides out the room, looking elegant while doing so. Man, theres something about Yuri that I can't really describe. Either its that beautifully straight hair, or those long legs of hers... If I'm being real here, I didn't think I would be into long legs...

When Yuri left the clubroom, Monika then walks in. "Sorry I'm late everyone!"

Natsuki puts down the manga she's reading. "Was it piano practice?"

Monika shook her head and looked to the side. "Not exactly. Hey Markus, do you have a minute?""

"Yeah, me and Yuri were going to read but she's in the process of making tea so..."

"Cool." She takes my hand and we walk to the front of the clubroom. Monika keeps her voice down as we discuss. "So guess whats happening on monday next week?"

"I don't have any idea."

"It's the school festival. A time where you can have a break from classes, eat tons of food, and more importantly, advertise clubs."

"See, I heard about this festival from Sayori yesterday. I just didn't think it would be so soon."

"Haha... Yep." We glance at Sayori who is working on a poster, using the supplies we got yesterday to do it. Monika then turns serious. "This event means a lot to me. Dare I say, this is the last chance we have to fully redeem this club."

Monika walks towards the window and looks out of it solemnly. "I just came back from the principals office. We had a talk about how inactive this club is. While you only need a minimum of four people to form a club, the principle still has the power to shut down this club." She turns to face me. "This club means a lot to me, it's how I met the others. That's why I'm taking the festival seriously." She takes a step closer. "I was very ecstatic that you joined Markus. If only others were open-minded like you were."

I decide to speak up. "Well, if this club really means a lot to you then I would be more than happy to help out with the festival."

She then quickly wraps her arms around me. "Thank you so much Markus! A little help can go a long way." No problem... A minute passes and she's still hugging me. "Uh, Monika?"

"...Oh!" She releases me from the hug. Gotta be honest, it felt a little nice anyways. "After we share poems in..." She looks at the clock. "...twenty minutes, then we will discuss festival plans."

"You got it, president." I give a mock salute which causes her to giggle. Yuri finally walks back into the room carrying a full pitcher of water.

"You have fun with Yuri~" She says while while walking to a desk. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean but okay.

After Yuri makes tea, we sit on the clubroom floor, under the windows, with out backs against the wall. Yuri is sitting to my left and our shoulders are almost touching. She's holding the left side of the book and I'm holding the right. It works out fine because Yuri is a bit more of a faster reader. So when I get done with the page I flip it over and Yuri catches it, creating a good flow.

A few chapters in and this book already intrigues me. It's not the sort of thing I would willingly pick but so far it seems good. Portrait Of Markov involves a girl who moves in with her long-lost sister, all while she gets targeted by people who escaped from a human experiment prison. We are only a few chapters in so it's basically character introductions but so far it seems like a good read.

I also have my backpack nearby because I just remembered that I packed some chocolates. A nice sugary snack while reading... Can't get much better than that.

"Hey Yuri, would you like some chocolate?"

She looks at me and then back down at the book. "Thanks for the offer but I'll kindly decline. I don't want to get smudges on the pages."

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense..." I look down at the chocolate I'm holding and then back at Yuri. I have a very strange idea and I'm not sure how a shy girl like Yuri would react. But how strange can a friendly gesture like this can be anyways?

I hold up the chocolate and move it towards Yuri mouth. She parts her lips like she knows what's coming, except there's no facial reaction coming from her. I put the chocolate in-between her lips and the she starts blushing up a storm.

"Uh... Markus? D-did you just...?"

Now I'm feeling a little nervous. "Hehe, well... If getting smudges on the pages was a problem for you then..."

She eats the chocolate and swallows. "...T-thanks for that." A few seconds go by. "U-uh, you know, I wouldn't m-mind another piece."

"Sure thing." I lift up another piece and put it in her mouth, but this time it feels like time has slowed down. I can feel her warm breath on my fingers as I do this, and her breathing is slowed a bit. Also her face is turning a new shade of red. One could say that this moment was-

"Okay everyone." Monika says to grab all of our attention. She then sees what me and Yuri are doing. "Well, what do we have here?"

Me and Yuri both back up from each other, with Yuri looking more visibly shaken. "I-I uh..."

Monika giggles at her expense ."I'm just teasing Yuri. But we do need to share poems though so we can get a move-on with festival preparations." I sigh and put my bag of chocolates away. I would have really liked a extra minute or so with Yuri. But whatever I guess, what's done is done.

Another round of poems goes by and there's only ten more minutes left. Monika walks to the front of the room. "Okay everyone. As you all know today is Friday and the festival happens on Monday."

I hear a groan coming from Natsuki. "Do we have to do anything for the festival. I feel like whatever we come up with during the weekend won't be good enough."

Monika sighs a bit. "Don't say that Natsuki. All of us in here have our special talents. We can all work together to create something and 'wow' the whole entire school."

"Okay, but remember what happened last year?" The four girls frown at the mention of that. I can only imagine what terrible thing could of happened. "It's not that I don't have faith in us. It's that I'm convinced that no students in this school, besides us, like literature."

Monika's eyelids droop a bit. That seemed to make her quite sad. "If there's any proof that's against your argument, it would be Markus. He made the choice to come here, and he's already enjoying his time here.

I nod. "This is true."

Natsuki sits up from her desk. "You don't get to talk for him, Monika. After all, he has barely been here for a week!"

"Hey." Monika is starting to raise her voice. "Markus and I talked a bit, and he's willing to help out with the festival. Give him some credit."

"Ugh... Okay." She glances over at me but doesn't make eye-contact. "I'm sorry you were offended." Wow, what a way to avoid a direct apology.

"It's all good." I look up at Monika. "So what exactly are we doing for the festival?"

Yuri speaks up. "I will admit, I'm a bit curious at what the agenda for that will be."

Monika puts her hands on her sides. "We are going to be doing... a poetry performance!" Reactions through out the clubroom were mixed. Sayori is humming a little tune while putting the finishing touches on the poster. Natsuki is scowling at Monika, and Yuri has a terrified look on her face.

"Are you freaking kidding me!" Natsuki said shouting. "That requires a unreasonable amount of self-confidence and speaking abilities."

"I agree." Yuri said grabbing Monikas attention. "I don't think... I could ever bring myself... To do that."

Sayori frowns at the others. "But guys..." She holds up the poster for us all to see. Sure enough she advertised what the event will be like on it. "Look, we will even let others share the poems that they've created. Isn't that the best!"

Natsuki intervenes. "No Sayori. That is not 'the best.'" She walks up to Monika. "Why didn't you ask us earlier in the week if we were okay with this?"

"Well, uh..." Monika seems to be in a tough predicament. "I have all these other priorities I have to juggle and-"

"But still, you should have at least valued our opinions. If this club truly does mean a lot to you, then surely you would have asked us ahead of time instead of the last minute."

I decide to chime in here. "Well, technically we have a weekend so its not last minute-"

"Can it Markus!" Natsuki snapped at me. Yeah, I guess I touched the wrong nerve there.

"Natsuki, don't yell at Markus for this." She looks up at the ceiling. "Yeah, okay. I messed up. But I still think we can try our best. If anyone at the poem presentation steps out of line, I will put a swift stop to it." Her eyes look like they are burning with determination.

Natsuki backs away. "Alright, fine. So let me guess, I'm baking cupcakes for the event?"

"Well if there's anyone I know who is good at baking cupcakes, that would be you, Natsuki." She smiled at this compliment. "But we are going to need a lot of them. Think you can handle it?"

Natsuki smiles with her hands on her hips. "Challenge accepted!"

Monika looks at Yuri. "And Yuri, do you think you can handle the decorations? I know how much you love the atmosphere."

She nods. "Consider it done. I want to try experimenting with some aromatherapy if that's okay with you?"

"Sounds good Yuri! Now Sayori, do you have a good handle on advertising?"

"Yay! I'm a expert at convincing people!" She says with her usual enthusiasm. I chuckle a bit at this.

"I'll believe it when I see it."

She nudges my arm a bit. "You already know that you can't say that with a straight face."

"I will plead the fifth on that one."

"Hah! I got you to admit that I'm good at convincing." Alright, she has me there."

Monika points to herself. "I will be constructing the pamphlets that will have all of our poems on. During the weekend I will need everyone here to pick out a poem that they are comfortable presenting, okay?" Everyone is in silent agreement on that. "I guess all that remains is you Markus."

"The most useless one here." I mutter as a half-joke.

"Aw, don't say that. It's as I said before, a little help can go a long way. And all of us here have a lot of work to do." So its a choice about who to spend my weekend with huh?

Yuri looks shyly at the floor. "Well, I s-suppose I could use a bit of help."

Natsuki glances at me. "Not that I really need it but if you want to help me I could always give you some dirty work. But if you even dare to sneak a cupcake to eat, then it won't end well for you!"

Yuri shoots Natsuki a look. "If you are going to make him out to be a burden I don't think he should help you."

Natsuki smirks at Yuri. "And why are you saying that, huh? Is it because you enjoyed spending time with him today and you want him all to yourself?"

"AH! M-Markus, ignore her! She's just u-um making me l-look bad!"

"It's written all over your face..."

Yuri decides to stand up for herself. "At least he has more interest in me than you. I bet that tsundere personality of yours has turned him off."

Now Natsuki looks mad. "I'm not a tsundere!"

Monika walks between the two to separate them. "Girls, calm down. Quit acting like he's the last boy on earth."

Both Yuri and Natsuki look hostile towards Monika. The former speaks up. "It's n-not about his gender. We are merely discussing our workloads."

Natsuki turned away. "Yeah, what she said." Meanwhile Sayori has been staring out the window, seemingly oblivious to our conversation. Does she not want me to help her?

"Well, Markus?" Monika looks at me. "It's your decision here." Hm... I rub the back of my head as I think back to these last couple of days. It's been fun hanging out with everyone, to the point where it would seem criminal if I didn't bother helping someone. Looks like I know my answer.

"I would like to help all of you."

"What!?" All the girls were in shock at what I said.

"Yeah. Think about it. we got saturday and sunday to make this work. I normally am not a busy person so I can hang out with two of you on one day and two of you on the other. If your girls' schedule allows for that.

Monika pulls out her phone. "I have some time on sunday I can reserve."

Natsuki crosses her arms. "I prefer this to be done on sunday so that the cupcakes we make are as fresh as can be." She eyes Yuri. "You comfortable with visiting him on saturday."

"I can make it work. Thanks for asking if I'm okay with this."

Natsuki looks away. "No problem." She mumbles under her breath.

Sayori however still looks a little distant. "You ready for the festival grind Sayori?"

She looks at me with a quizzical expression. "Are you sure that you want to work with me? I'm a bit of a slow thinking klutz..."

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Its fine Sayori. I would love to work with you. It gives me something to look forward to you know."

She sighs. "Yeah..."

Monika then takes one last look at the clock. "Time for us to leave, everyone. We have our schedule worked out so lets make this event happen!" With any luck, this event should go by smoothly. What's the worst that could happen? "Monika turns to face me. "I'm kind of excited to be working with you..." She whispers that to me as she brushes past my hand. I flinch from the contact a bit, since it was quite unexpected.

Speaking of unexpected, who would of known I would wind up in a situation like this. Helping four incredibly cute girls towards a brighter future for the club. Even though I sometimes carry self-doubt with me, I have to try my best here if I have any shot at impressing them. ...If they really want to pursue a relationship with me anyways...

The walk back home with Sayori was silent. I'm guessing she just had a rough day today. It happens to the best of us, after all. We wave bye to each other and I step into the lovely location I call home.

"I'm home!" I call out. "And I come bearing good news."

"How exciting~" My mom says exiting the kitchen and entering the living room. "What's up?"

"Our school has a festival coming up and I'm helping the girls create the club event in question. "

"Oooohhhh, how fun." My mom says with a smile. "It seems everyday that you get a little more closer to them~"

"It's not like that mom. It's just me being a friend and putting in the work." I say trying to dismiss her thought.

"Hehe, whatever you say Markus." She shrugs and starts flipping through channels on the television. "So are you people going to be working here or..."

I put a finger on my chin. "You know, We haven't worked that out yet. All I do know is that I will be helping Yuri and Sayori on saturday, and then Natsuki and Monika on sunday."

"Do I, by chance, get to meet any of these lovely ladies."

"Debatable." I say making my way to the kitchen.

"You know I'm just teasing you... again." My mom says with a knowing smirk.

"And the more you do that, the more my appetite goes away." I retaliate with.

"Oh come on, its not that bad right?"

I close the fridge door after examining its contents and head upstairs. "I'm going to do homework." I enter my bedroom and toss my backpack to the side. Now that classes and the club aren't distracting me, I can think back to how my morning went.

I'm still at a loss for words. It's the same nightmare I've been having for a couple of years now, but now it's slightly different. Maybe I will figure out the answers one day. ...Or maybe I won't knowing how dumb this all sounds.

The man in the shadows...

Somehow he was the scarier one of the two. I definitely wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of his punches. I glance at my backpack. The homework ain't gonna do itself here.

Some hours fly by and its already time for bed. Now, normally I'm indifferent to sleeping but for the next two days I get to spend time with the club members.

I'm excited to see the events for the weekend pan out here...

With that last thought, I doze off, letting sleep take me over.