When the Monsters Roam: Part 5

Chapter 3, Part 2: Whispers in the Dark

When the boys came back, they had their weapons. Alex had a cool butterfly knife, Jack took a hammer and a few cool-looking ninja stars, while Luke fitted this stack of rings with spikes onto both hands. Evelynn and the other girls had been waiting in the fort, just trying to talk about lighthearted things. Alex sat next to Evelynn and pointed at her baseball bat. “Nice choice, are you into baseball?”

Evelynn stared between him and the bat, remembering that Alex and Luke usually played baseball. Now she felt a little bad, since they probably would have rather had the bat, considering they use one all the time. “Um, no,” Evelynn answers awkwardly.

“Oh, well, it’s still cool. Luke and I play baseball usually, so if you end up wanting to try it out, we could help,” Alex shrugged. He didn’t seem to think less of her ever; it was strange. Perhaps some popular people are genuinely good at heart, too. Evelynn had always thought most people who gain popularity easily let it get to them, making them think they’re just better than others. Then again, that might be a bit rude of her since she knew nothing about being insanely popular. She just hoped Alex and Luke never tried to make it in Hollywood, because they just had a way with popularity, and then they might get poisoned by the popularity.

Lily popped open a can of Coke, sipping it fast. “I need caffeine for this night,” she groaned when finished.

“Same, honestly,” Astrid said, opening her own Coke.

“Do you kids have any coffee?” The man said, poking his head in the fort curiously.

“Nope,” Astrid told him, yawning before taking another sip of the Coke.

“Are you sure we’re going to be safe in here?” Luke asked the man before he could go back out, shifting on the floor.

“Should be,” the man replies, coughing a bit, to which he went all the way back outside to do. He clears his throat before coming in all the way. “If you all are tired, then try to sleep. I’ve got you kids covered.”

Jack has been non-stop glaring at the man and scoots away. “I’m not trusting you to not kill us all while we’re asleep.”

“I would have killed you already if I wanted to, kid, leave it be,” the man says gruffly.

“I don’t think we want to sleep anymore,” Evelynn mumbles more to herself.

“Kid, you should sleep either way,” He turns to stare at Evelynn now. It was crazy to her because she was not expecting him to hear her. Alex was surprised as well, having barely understood while next to her.

“Respectfully, sir, I think she just means that we’re too scared to sleep even when we’re tired,” Alex says back.

The man sighs, kneeling on the ground near them, fully in the fort now. “Alright, you kids seem pretty spooked. Just try to take your mind off it all and have some fun, okay? I’ll go take care of everything tonight, and you all are safe in here. Just don’t go outside without me and keep the lights on. Then you’ll be fine.”

Evelynn wasn’t sure if she felt safe, but she trusted that the man would help them. He announced he was going to find them blankets and batteries, then left, and the group just tried to find something to do.

Lily was next to Astrid, quietly drawing something in a sketchbook near the light. Evelynn felt some sort of pride gather at this, for Lily. Astrid was next to her, sharing some chips occasionally.

Luke was trying to talk to Alex, but Jack, who was within earshot, commented, causing Luke to tell him off in annoyance. That was when Alex came over to Evelynn.

“Hey,” Alex says, sitting back down next to her.

“Hi.”

“So, tonight is kinda a bust, I guess.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Evelynn shifts to move her leg that was falling asleep.

“I hope you don’t let this steer you away from hanging out with all of us again.”

“Huh?” she looks over to him fully now.

“I mean, you’ve always been studying growing up, we never really hear from you other than answers to stuff in class. I was surprised you came tonight.”

“Oh,” Evelynn feels very awkward. She didn’t think anyone would care.

That’s when Luke came back over to Alex. “Hey, Evelynn,” he waves.

“Hi,” she waves back, managing a small smile at his own.

“What do you do other than study?” Luke asks curiously. Alex seems to crack in his closure at the question.

“Um, I read?” Evelynn answers, caught off guard.

“What else?” Luke asks again, very interested.

“I study? And, um, I make stuffed animals sometimes…”

“Ooo,” Luke perks up. “Can you make me one?”

“Uh, sure.”

Alex becomes more interested. “Can you make me one too?”

“Sure,” Evelynn says, surprised they both seem so interested. “What are your favorite animals?”

“Sharks,” Luke replies almost immediately, looking as excited as a kid on Christmas Day.

“Cats, orange ones the most.” Alex nods a bunch at her, smiling.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” Evelynn tries to smile back.

“Do you need us to pay you or something? I kind of feel like we need to,” Luke inquires sincerely.

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” she shakes her head a lot to intensify her response. “Seriously.”

“Are you sure?” They both ask at the same time. “Jinx!” Then they laugh at themselves for being in sync so well. Oh, the life of two best friends since they were small.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” she said awkwardly as they calmed down. She shifted again since her leg wasn’t falling asleep anymore.

They were abruptly interrupted with a scream from Astrid, and when they looked to her, she was checking the air rapidly for something. Lily looked up from the bag of snacks she had moved to the other side of the fort.

“I, I heard Lily behind me,” Astrid breathed out, shaken to the core. She made eye contact with Lily, the fear palpable. It couldn’t have been Lily; she was too far away. Evelynn’s heart dropped to her stomach. It had been the monster.

“Step away from the shadows, Astrid,” Luke said, moving forward warily. “Don’t let it get to you.”

Astrid nodded, following Luke’s instructions and calming down. When she made it to Lily, her fists were clenched in frustration. “That thing needs to stay away from me,” Astrid shouted.

“Calm down,” Lily cut through to her brain, voice like a calm wave to the anger in Astrid. “It has nothing to do with you. The monster just saw someone in the shadows it could reach. You’re strong.”

Astrid, ever since they were young, liked to be strong in the face of others, but it wasn’t shallow; it was like something she aspired to be. And she was. Her competitive spirit rivaled the boys', and she was amazing at sports, striving to win everything she started. Lily was the calmer best friend, knowing how she was and balancing out the tides. Evelynn always respected their friendship greatly.

After another ten minutes or so, when everyone had seemed to calm down. Evelynn talked to Alex a bit more, about school and everything, while Jack took apart and remade a flashlight. Lily and Astrid talked more in the bright spots, but Luke was lying down to try and sleep.

Jack was working on one of the flashlights near Luke, making it a bit dimmer in the corner, and Luke started to shift and turn more anxious. After a moment, he bolts up, breathing hard. “Whoa. What was…” Luke mutters, and he moves fast to everyone else. “Alex, I, I just tried to fall asleep, but I started to hear the commentary. The commentary from last year’s championship.” His face was pale, his hands trembling.

Alex looked a bit taken aback. “The championship? You mean, the one we lost?” Alex’s voice was lowered, since it was not a good memory.

“Yeah, I, I don’t know why that happened. I think the monster thing was trying to get in my head. I haven’t felt targeted, though.” Luke was shaking, with a cold sweat on his back.

The man suddenly pops back in, surveying the kids. “What happened to make Ginger here so messed up?”

“I heard this commentary thing when I was in the corner,” Luke answers in a low voice, pointing to the darker corner with Jack still messing with a flashlight.

“Ah. Yes, it seems to be testing you kids. It’s best to ignore it and stay away from the shadowy corners…” The man explained, then moved to sit at the doorway.

“Do you want to sketch with me? It helps me calm down,” Lily offered after a moment of silence, trying to help gently.

“Sure,” Luke says after a moment of hesitation, taking a deep breath before moving next to Lily and Astrid. Lily handed him a graphite pencil and coached him on something simple.

“This is getting a bit crazy,” Alex mumbles to Evelynn.

“Yeah, it’s a bit scary,” Evelynn adds, a bit uncomfortable. She didn’t know what she would hear. But she felt the longer she stared at the corner Luke was in, she was moving closer. 

Alex left to grab them water from a bag nearby, and Evelynn slowly inched closer to the darker corner. Jack was struggling to fix the last flashlight and was preoccupied.

When she was close enough, she started to hear voices. Her parents when telling her all about how she needed to study when she was younger. The insistence, the cold, no emotion way they’d tell her off for trying to slack off. Her hands start to shake, and she moves away, tearing her eyes off the corner, feeling eyes on her again. But no one was watching her in the fort, not the other kids.

Finally, Jack got the flashlight back on, and the feeling stopped; the voices ceased. Evelynn’s shoulders slumped back slightly in relief from the stressful position she hadn’t known they were in. She sat back down with Alex, and he handed her a water.

“Where’d you go?” Alex asked her, only having caught her last step before sitting back down.

“I was just checking on Jack,” Evelynn only partly lied. Technically, that’s where she went.

“Oh, okay. Just stay clear of the darker spots, probably. We still don’t know who’s a target.”

“Yeah…” Evelynn replied, voice trailing off. Her mind wandered back to the voices as Alex continued to talk, and she wondered what was happening to them. Why did they get those emails? What could they trust?

~Written by Ashlynn Blue; do not try to copy. ~