Lost In Purple
Chapter 54: Unforgettable
Melanie's POV
The entirety of the forest has been set ablaze. The amethyst vibrance pierces my retinas as they climb up the vines that hang off the cliff in front of me. The flames have all but encircled me, attempting to devour every organic molecule of my body just like it did to the miles upon miles of flora along the horizon. I can recall the time when the air wasn't swirling the ashes into the stratosphere above, contaminating it with its powdery presence. The sky is blotted out by the carbon compounds, looking like a swarm of locusts is about to soar towards me, starting an apocalypse like no other. I can recall when the meadow, atop the cliff that I now stand in, contained varying flowers that comforted not only me but the fauna that scattered the lands. Bellflowers, Lupine, Irises, and Orchids… all wilting black as they collect the ash landing on them. It's as if the gates of hell are encroaching upon my being, just one step away from pulling me through. Every inferno whips around, reaching out so it can touch me, but for some reason it never inches closer, keeping a 10 foot distance all around me. It's a prison of embers, a cage of death, a casket of torment…and nothing can be done to stop it or lead it away from me. All hope is lost and all that can be done is to leave myself to deal with the intense feeling of isolation, the paralyzing understanding that life doesn't care about what I want or feel.
What's worse is that there's now cries that find their ways through the purple blaze. They grow in intensity, oscillating in certain tones and pitches that resemble the roars of lions and screeches of demons. I'm able to move this time, turning my body in the directions of every scream, trying to see if they are just a part of my imagination or if there's some abomination within the darkness that has yet to show itself. Eventually the screams die down, only to pick back up again after moving all in one direction and revealing a figure that I've come to know very well. The tall, muscular monster with dark purple fur, and inward arching horns that reach for the sky. Relief is flushed through my veins at the sight of him. However, he's walking away from me at a snails pace, his head is down, and the screams that come from his direction, turn into cries that die down into one singular voice. He collapses to the ground, throwing his head towards the ground before catching it with his forearms. He's crying… and I don't know why. His cries are painful, so painful that they even cause me to empathetically begin crying with him. I want to be able to comfort him, but I have no more confidence left in me. I feel like there's nothing I can do within the apocalyptic wasteland that I've found myself in, and so, I just helplessly stand there as the flames begin to burn even more immensely. Death is near…and I don't think he really cares.
Suddenly, my eyes open, making me realize that I'm sweating profusely and feeling scorching waves of heat flowing through my body. I'm now in bed, no longer experiencing that horrible nightmare. I push my body out of the blankets and off mattress, but feel my chest ache when I stand up, wiping my head and feeling a grotesque amount of body fluid cascade my arm. I was sleeping on my stomach again, and I'm sure that this dream was a night terror. At least that's what a doctor would probably say. I would consider that to be more of a traumatic experience considering that I can vividly remember every tiny detail of that dream, and so certain that I will for the rest of my stressful existence. Still shaking, I strut into my bathroom and turn on my shower to get all the sticky sweat off of me. My breathing is shaky too, and have no idea what the best way to calm myself down is. It's hard for me to think empty thoughts since I'm easily overwhelmed, so riding this out is the only way for things to get better. Feeling the somewhat warm water might help me as well by gently soothing me while massaging my entire body. I've had plenty of points in my life where I've felt horrible, but this truly takes the cake. I've never felt this absolutely atrocious before, like I can literally feel my muscles trying to shut down and keep me bedridden, but my brain refuses to listen to them. The shower unfortunately doesn't help at all. I feel the same as I did when I woke up, so it looks like I'm just going to have to deal with it. What sucks is that I have school today, so waiting for that to come around is even more stressful. I'm going to have to act like nothing's wrong with me even when there is, and I just know that if Professor King pays attention to me, he'll be asking me about it. I pray to the gods above that I can just be left alone today, because like always, I really can't deal with people.
When the time does come, I grab my usual supplies and exit my room, looking all around to make sure nobody will walk up to me and remind me that they're angry with me. Chips rebuttal yesterday made it clear that I stepped over a boundary, and everybody else seemed to feel the same way. I won't be soon forgetting how I made them feel, nor will I be forgetting everything that's happened since yesterday afternoon. I'm hoping the rest of the day won't be unforgettable since I'm already wishing that I could go home to my parents, and…and… God damnit I'm already panicking! Nobody seems to be around to notice my partial mental breakdown, so I silently close my bedroom door and make a break for the front door. I'm able to not make a sound running down the stairs either, creating a successful escape once I open the door and see Frat Row unoccupied. As much as I would like to take these easy, I have this feeling that someone will come out of nowhere and try to talk to me. I rapidly walk down the sidewalks, observing everything around me, and head towards the Scaring School. I guess school life is going to become really dull and boring for me again by simply going to class and going right back home so I don't have to interact with anyone or anything. It's ok though… I'm used to it.
"Alright children, listen up!," Professor King announces.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about that terrible dream all class period, but he's somehow been able to breakthrough my iron will.
"As you all know, Spring Break is coming up soon and that means a lot of homework and stress that builds and builds and builds. I know how it feels considering the fact that I was a student just like you all not that long ago, but I'm unfortunately required to assign you all a seven page research paper just before Spring Break," He continues while walking in front of his desk and sitting on it.
Everyone groans, scoffs, and makes a whole bunch of questionable noises. I'm not particularly excited to do this either since I have other things that I have to freak out about right now.
"I'm going to do something a little academically unorthodox however, and instead of having it be due after Spring Break, I'm going to have it be due the day before Spring Break. This means you have a week to have it on my desk revised and edited. I would rather you all have more time to have fun over the break rather than be in front of a computer screen experiencing depressive symptoms. Just know that all other Scaring 102 classes will be struggling over break while you are not, so be grateful that you've decided to stick with me and not the others," Professor King explains.
He's right, I would honestly rather get it over with anyways, so I guess I am grateful that I'm in this class. I don't know what I would do over the break if I had to worry about my relationships with my…'friends' while also typing out a seven page essay. I would actually go insane and want death to strike me down as I sit in front of a computer.
Professor King continues his explanation with his usual royal tone. "This assignment is simple. Figure out who your favorite professional Scarer is, whether they be current Scarers or have dearly departed, and write about their career. You can also talk about their lives before or after depending on how much information you find. If you want to consider this as a biography, you can, just know that I'm more focused on your Scarers career. To reiterate, choose a Scarer, write about their career, have it done by the end of the week."
The Professor answers all sorts of questions, and answers them genuinely before dismissing us. He makes sure we all understand that we also have near free rein on this assignment because he basically wants us to appreciate what our favorite Scarers did and think about how we can learn to become like them. In the end, the assignment is pretty inspiring. I just don't know how easy it is when I have a ton on my plate already. I do give it some thought though, and remember that I have this small infatuation with Carina Kennedy. It's weird to think that I haven't even thought about her or talked about her in months when I couldn't stop idolizing her in high school. Hopefully Professor King won't be a little skeptical reading a paper about her because nobody considers her to be a real Scarer except for me. You know what, I'm starting to see why I liked her as much as I do. Neither her nor I are scary monsters, and we have to rely on illusions and some sort of acting to even make anyone feel an ounce of fear. Neither or us could simply crouch down, open our mouths, and roar like everyone else. Yeah…I think Carina Kennedy is the only choice for me. The only thing so have to worry about for the assignment now is whether or not I can find enough information about her. She's always been one of those monsters that almost no historian or author had an interest in writing about. Hopefully I can be the one to change that.
Johnny's POV
"You're all getting sloppy," My father says on the other side of the phone, "You were all too slow at the last event, almost getting beaten by that other fraternity, and you let that girl do everything for you at the one before that. Do you really think you'll get away with this lacking performance?"
The ROR House remains empty due to all of my brothers being in class right now. I decided not to go to class today since I already know everything and can with certainty say I'll pass the class with an A+, and so I've started relaxing in our library today. It's almost as if I'm taking a second grade math class. I wasn't expecting to talk to my father again so soon though, and now all calmness has flown out the window. Everything was relaxing until he thought he would surprise me with another one of his rage filled lectures that I've hated since middle school.
"What do you mean?! We did everything we needed to do and finished first in both events! We performed pretty much flawlessly!" I boom.
"According to my scouts, that's incorrect and all you're trying to do is find an excuse to your laziness. Even though I'm absolutely tired of giving you second chances, I'm going to give you exactly one more. I had better not be disappointed again, otherwise all of you will be on your own," My father counters, "And don't even get me started on what that means for you! No inheritance, no job, nothing!"
"Dad we actually can't be any better than we already are! We all did exactly how we've been instructed, without fail or mistake, like I don't know what you want from us!" I growl.
"I NEED YOU TO BE BETTER THAN ALL OF THOSE BEFORE YOU! THIS ENERGY SHORTAGE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD FOR THE WORST UNLESS WE AS A SOCIETY CAN RELY ON YOU! YOU CAN'T BE LIKE THE OTHERS WHO PERFORM WITH ABSOLUTE MEDIOCRITY, AND PRODUCING ALMOST NOTHING! " He roars.
But why am I not reliable right now? Is having perfect grades in the Scaring Program not enough? Does winning the last three Scare Games and proving to everybody that I'm not like them mean nothing? I really don't know what I'm supposed to do in order to keep a stable life. My father takes another deep breath, presumably to lash out at me again. "You are on your own as a professional Scarer and you cannot rely on any so called teammates! You cannot be a Worthington and not be the top Scarer in a scream factory! You cannot make any mistakes otherwise you risk dying, and I will not explain to your mother the reasoning behind your death! This is not like the Scare Games Jonathan, you cannot fly through tasks without worry or effort!"
"I know that, you said all of this before! I've understood what it takes be a Scarer and what it means to do this job ever since I was a kid! I've watched you and Mr. Gunderson scare and I use all of your techniques in class! I'm telling you, there's nothing left for us to improve" I contrast.
There's a slam from my fathers desk that shoots through the phone and into my ear drum. "Then it's looking like things won't be going very well for you. All your mother and I have tried to do is build a good life for you, but you're proving to us that you don't want one. All you are is a disappointment and you know it, so you decide it's not worth even trying anymore!"
I feel everything in my body freeze up and I stand still in shock. I never would have thought that my own father would have called me a disappointment while also attempting to take control of everything in my life whether it be good or bad. I want to hang up the phone but I can only imagine what kinds of repercussions face me if I do. Listening is the only thing I feel brave enough to do.
My father growls a bit before speaking up for the last time. "I will not speak to you again until after your stupid Scare Games are done. If you win and my scouts say you're ready, I will take everything I said back. If not, then good luck living out the rest of your life in regret."
My father cuts the connection and leaves me feeling hopeless. I really don't have a single clue as to how I can prove myself to him, but I can't lose everything that I've been working towards. I don't think I'll ever forget him saying all of this to me, nor will I forget the feeling that I have when I know I don't live up to his expectations. Giving up has never been something that I've done, and I don't plan on ruining my track record now, so more studying and instruction will do me some good. I'm also in luck because I was given some Scaring opportunities by my professors recently that could help me become better than perfect. One of them requires me to go into Monsters Incorporated and learn from various Scarers as they work, so I'm sure Mr. Gunderson could help me out with that. This just means that I won't be able to spend Spring Break with Melanie, which was something that I was really looking forwards to. We were going to go camping with her family, but now I feel like that isn't a good idea anymore.
I open my phone again and go into my messages. I haven't really talked to her a whole lot recently so I feel a little awkward having to start up a conversation with her. I tap on Melanie's name and texting out what comes into my head. "Mel, would it be a bad thing if I didn't go camping with you and your family over break?"
There's a solid minute where I stare at my phone screen, waiting for a response. I'm terrified of her being sad that I can't go. If it means that I have to figure out how to go camping and work at the same time, I'd figure out some way to do it.
"No. You don't have to go," Melanie responds.
I'm relieved to read that.
"Are you sure? Won't your parents and grandparents be disappointed?" I ask.
For me, that would be the worst possible outcome. Having both my family and Melanie's family be disappointed in me all at once.
"It's alright. Just focus on your scaring. It's more important," Melanie sends back.
When she puts it in that context, it does sound really bad. I don't have any other choice though. If all of this helps me create a brighter future for the both of us, I'll take it.
"Ok. There's just an opportunity that I want to take at Monsters Inc that starts later this week Spring Break. Tell your family that I'm sorry for not being able to make it," I text.
I wait another minute for a response and feel like a huge amount of weight has been lifted off my shoulders when I read "Ok."
I turn off my phone and throw my phone onto the coffee table in the middle of the room and sit down on the red velvet couches before burying my face into my hands. Things are going to get a lot more stressful around here.