I woke up with a throbbing pain on the back of my head. The sun beaming brightly only elevate the pain I was already feeling. I never had a hangover before but if this is how it feels, I will never take a sip. Blocking the sun from further burning my face, I was shocked to find I was not under the bridge. All I saw was blue skies and birds soaring. Then the sky was no longer blue and was stained with a dark shadow with devilish bloody red eyes staring down at me. It had the outline of a human with no face. Instantly, I closed my eyes waiting for the moment to wake up from this nightmare. My heart was beating against my chest with my breath trapped in my lungs.
"C’mon MK, I haven’t even shown you my real form yet. If you can’t handle this then you’re definitely not gonna make it." The demon taunted his voice suddenly deep. I had finally opened my eyes for what felt like forever and just like that the devil changed forms to what I couldn’t describe in my worst nightmares. It stood over me like a mountain with thousands of razor sharp teeth overlapping one another. Its eyes were glowing red with its long sharp black nails reaching towards my face. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest.
“STOP IT!” I screeched. I scooted myself back from the thing searching anxiously for any weapon as if that would save me.
"We are going to have a great time MK!" The demon cackled with its demonic voice still booming in my ears. The demon's black scaled arms recoiled. I was too afraid to look at it anymore and shut my eyes tight. I should have just died. Everything would still be painful but at least I can keep my sanity ...
"Hey! What did I say about dying! It really pisses me off!"
“Then change the fuck back to anything but that thing!” I yelled still covering my eyes as if that could prevent it from eating me alive.
"Fine." I heard the demon sigh with the sound of him reverting back to the first form. Peaking in-between my fingers, I found that Fred was true to his word. He was still creepy but this was a significantly better version than his original.
"Better?" The shadow of the demon had his hands on what appeared to be his hips waiting for me to respond.
“No, but I rather talk to this than whatever I just saw a second ago” I said finally able to catch my breath and take a second to look around if anyone could see this demon. But there was no one around. All I could find were reddish dirt roads that could go on for miles as well as tall corn fields that were behind the annoying demonic entity. If this wasn't a clear indication that I was not at my suburban home town, I could hear cows mooing and roosters screaming from the distance.
“Fred”
"Yes, Hannah Baker." The demon answered with amusement in his tone.
“Where the hell am I?” I questioned ignoring his awful and cruel nickname of me.
"Hmmm somewhere between either Oklahoma or Kansas" Fred hummed. "I honestly should have picked Las Vegas but I won’t ever make that mistake again."
“Whatever, I need to get home” I sighed finally standing up and brushing off as much red dirt I could off my white joggers. I paused for a moment realizing what I had just said. I don't have a home. What I should have said was I need to check myself into a hospital because clearly my brain isn't working.
I must have jumped and hit my head on a rock. It was the only logical reason as to why I’m seeing demons. I tried to keep my distance from the shadowy figure that I called Fred. But every step I made his shadow intertwined with mine never leaving my side.
"So we’re going back just so your family can send you off to a mental institution. Remember you attempted to try to off yourself by jumping off a bridge." Fred reminding me of my darkest moments with a breathy laugh.
"And then I bet you’re going to tell them you saw the devil?" Fred said appearing confused with its shadowy figured head tilted, luring beside me.
“Pretty much” I said blandly as I continued to walk in whatever direction was the nearest gas station so I can make a phone call or at least find an outlet to charge my phone.
"Listen MK, there’s no reason to go back. I can literally make you the most richest being in the world. You know what, I take it back. Let's go to Vegas, I know a place." Fred grinned excitedly his gruesome jaw like teeth revealing his true intentions.
“No thanks” I responded immediately. First thing I learned about Fred was that he doesn’t handle rejection well. I didn’t realize how fast his shadowed figure was able to jump in front of me.
"Listen you little shit." It was at that moment, I must have stumbled either by my own feet or a pebble due to Fred startling me from his astonishing speed. Unable to prevent myself from falling, I felt myself going through Fred’s dark smokey shadow and was surprised to find nothing bad happened. I did however got a whiff and it was the most disgusting odor I have ever smelt.
“Fred why the hell do you fucken stink” I clenched my nose, backing further away from Fred which was impossible to do.
"It’s probably because I was in the underworld for a while. Humans often describe it as burning flesh but to us demons it’s like the smell of pumpkin spice." Fred responded pretending to sniff himself with a lopsided grin. This shouldn’t have surprised me from all the horror movies I had watched in the past but it was still disgusting.
"But back to our issues. Why are you trying to be nonchalant about shit. You literally have the most powerful being by your side. To put it in your stupid human nerdy lay terms, I am a rare fucken Pokemon or that Yuggeeeo shit." Fred exclaimed his dark hands stretched out emphasizing how awesome he is.
“You mean Yu-Gi-Oh?” I smirked now finding Fred to be slightly less frightening for the moment. This thing was still creepy to look at if you haven’t seen his original form but him mentioning Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh was slightly entertaining.
"I will fucken kill you." Fred threatened with the same chilling voice he previously had when we first met, except it was starting to get old or I was adjusting to his presence a lot quicker than I thought. My final and very dark conclusion was maybe I was hoping that he’ll do it.
“Go ahead, we’re stuck together for eternity anyway” I said finding myself yawning at the end. It was way too early to be arguing with the devil especially without coffee.
Fred continued to threaten me on ways he could possibly torture me and drive me insane as we continued traveling together. If it wasn’t for Issac showing up to my house with tantrums and chaos, I would have lost my shit with Fred by now. He talked endlessly just like a five year old, only Issac never threatened to kill and burn everything I loved alive.
"And then I would-" I swatted Freds blank face out my visual field where I could finally see a gas station.
"Thank you Jesus!" I praised finally able to rest my swollen and tired feet.
"Really, you're gonna just say his name in front of me…" Fred huffed as if he was actually offended.
“Fred, you haven’t helped me to find a gas station.” I reminded him.
"Neither did Jesus." Fred muttered and fluttered his ghostly shadowed figure in front of me once more.
"Also I don’t wanna go to a fucken mental institution. It’s not as fun as it use to be anymore" He said glumly.
"Everything has to be 'ETHICAL' now!" Fred adding quotes in the air with his ghostly slim fingers.
“Well Fred, I don’t want to go to Las Vegas. I honestly don’t care about power and money. My mom passed away yesterday then I find the devil really does exist and we’re forever bounded together for-”
"Till death do us part, isn’t that romantic." Fred sighed floating through the window doors of the gas station, his shadow twirling around.
“You’re so fucken annoying” I said out loud not realizing that there were other people in the store. From the looks of it, nobody can hear or see Fred chuckling in the corner. He was happily sitting on top of the shelves reading off the warning label of cigarette packets.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?” A man snapped. He was dressed in a construction worker attire looking to have just finished a grave yard shift.
“No one” I quickly said awkwardly turning away to find anyone who worked there to borrow a phone. Not to my surprise, I can see two of the employees wearing a red striped uniform chatting amongst themselves.
“Excuse me, can one of you guys help me. My phone died and I have no idea where I am” I said showing my dead phone as proof. I don’t know why I felt the need to show them any evidence but I thought it would just speed things along.
“Yeah no problem. Let me just go in the back and grab my cellphone real quick. Also I gotta let the manager know.” said one of the employees. He had short brown hair and appeared to be in his early 20s with a uniform that was slightly torn.
“Yeah, the manager can be a dick sometimes. If he catches us with our phones out, its a strike” Said the second male employee who resumed back to placing variety cans and random car accessories on the shelves.
"Hey, MK, I should probably tell you that-"
Another customer came into the gas station creating the annoying jingle tune to alert everyone who walks through the doors. At the same time, an older woman came running from the back wearing a different uniform attire from the two male employees. She hurried and scanned the construction worker's packs of cigarettes. After waiting for the other employee to come back, I was beginning to get impatient. What’s taking this other guy so long? Screw it, I’ll just talk to this lady.
"MK..." Freds voice lingered sounding almost concerned.
“Not now Fred, I really need to talk to the manager.” I whispered not trying to gain anymore attention. As soon as the angry and clearly burnt out construction worker left. I stepped in front of the cashier who had a tired smile on her face.
“What can I help you with sweetie” she said her voice sounding strongly southern.
“Well, I asked one of the employees for a phone and one of them said they were going to talk to the manager to let him lend me his. I don’t know where I am-” I said ready to spill the whole situation again.
“Miss, I’m the only one working this shift. There’s shouldn’t be any other employee besides me” The woman said looking very confused. “But I saw these two guys in the back, they looked and sounded like they worked there. One was even restocking cans-”
"Aright MK, we need to go now." Fred’s said no longer dangling around in the ceiling. Wait, we both saw the same thing right? I thought to myself thinking that Fred was listening.
"We did. But those employees we saw were just spirits. But I’ll explain all the supernatural shit later. Right now we need to go." He said quickly.
Why?
At this point, I felt a hand on my shoulder causing me to jump slightly. I turned my head to find a familiar group of teenagers behind me. It was the same boy who was arguing with the girl about his spirit guide.
“Please excuse my cousin, she’s just pulling a prank.” The boy gave the best fake apologetic smile that even I almost believed we were cousins. “C’mon, cuz, it's time to go home. You know how your parents hate it when you start your dumb practical jokes on people.”
“Now kid that wasn’t very nice. You almost got me thinking there was an intruder in my store." The woman replied with unhappy tone in her voice as if she didn't need more baggage than she was already dealing with.
“I didn’t!” I protested trying to explain myself but this guy had a really strong grip on my shoulders despite appearing to be slim. I was literally pushed out the gas station and now facing the same teens I called the South Park goths.
“Jesus Christ, not you guys again” I groaned. I could never catch a break with this supernatural shit.
“Quit complaining. We didn’t want to pick your ass up either.” The bitchy blonde snapped.
“Megan you don’t have to be such a bitch.” My capturer said who surprisingly was still defending me. I tried to shake him off but I couldn't move my arms. I felt my arms and waist grow tightly squeezed even though I couldn’t see anything on me.
“Oops sorry about that, Mikaela. I got distracted by Megan’s ugly face” My capturer smirked and then instant relief and blood rush back into arms.
"I don’t know why you’re acting like this assignment doesn’t piss you off . Especially if we’re picking up a low class with no spiritual bloodline. If we don’t send her off by 2:30 to the headmaster then we run the risk in him lowering us to grade B or even C! And I’m not ruining mine or Alex's reputation in getting demoted.” The girl said arrogantly now looking at the reflection of the store's window to fix her hair that was perfectly fine.
“Both of you. Shut up.” The quiet member in their group finally spoke up as if he was truly the one running the show. “Vlad, take us back to the academy.” He ordered. I looked around trying to find who he was speaking to but there was nothing.
Instead, blue flames circled around us and there was nowhere for me to run. It continued to circle like a mini tornado of flames. At first something like this would have totally freaked me out but then I met Fred. Speaking of Fred, Where the hell are you?
"Don’t worry MK I’m still here- well not by choice. Not the point. I’ll find a way for us to ditch this stupid Harry-Potter-Hogwart looking ass school" Fred said his voice suddenly in my thoughts.
You better but also... What do you have against Harry Potter?
Everything.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
