horrors2

gigz.What_Went_.tex

  1\chapauth{gigz}
  2\chapter{What Went Wrong}
  3
  4
  5
  6There is blood everywhere. My clothes are drenched with it, my
  7hands slippery. I look down at the dead body of Mrs. Trencher, her
  8throat still gurgling as she gasps for a final breath. The pencil
  9in my hand is a dark crimson. Slowly beads of her blood fall to the
 10already massive pool of blood on the floor. I look up and see that
 11everyone is staring in horror. It then occurs to me that I am
 12laughing harder than I ever have in my life.
 13
 14Flash.
 15
 16I wake up with a start, scared out of my mind. I am gripping my
 17pencil so hard I can hear the cheap wood start to splinter. It was
 18a dream. That's all it was. Hell of a dream though. My name
 19is Luke Bavarious. I am seventeen years old, and a senior in high
 20school. I am not shut-in, I am not excluded by my peers, and I am
 21not ridiculed and mocked. Frankly, people just like me and I get
 22along with everybody. I think something has happened to me. I just
 23have no idea what.
 24
 25Mrs. Trencher is my English Literature professor. I have never
 26harbored any sort of ill-will towards her. Her tests can be a
 27bitch, but she is not a disagreeable person. Her classroom habits
 28don't evoke the anger of any student. She is all-around well
 29liked and respected. She gives us candy when we study for tests as
 30a class. She gives us candy when we aren't studying.
 31
 32There is no reason that dream should have happened. I got plenty of
 33sleep last night. I wasn't up late, and I fell asleep right
 34away. I woke up on time, I had a bowl of cereal and a glass of
 35orange juice, and I made it to school without being rushed.
 36
 37It's 11:32. Class is continuing as normal, and Mrs. Tren\-cher
 38didn't notice me sleeping. Then again, she is the type of
 39professor that continues on with her lesson with, or without, your
 40participation. If you miss the material, it is your own fault. I
 41shake my head and continue copying her lecture notes into my
 42notebook. At this point, I have zoned out and am copying the notes
 43without paying any attention to what they are. I'll read them
 44over lunch, so I at least know what she is talking about.
 45
 46``The elements of gothic fiction are easy to identify. In
 47almost all of them, a woman is trapped in a circumstance she cannot
 48escape from. This is usually a house. She has little time before
 49she suffers `a fate worse than death.' There is
 50something or someone keeping her in the house, by means of force or
 51obligation. Somewhere in the text, her savior will enter the house,
 52learn of the situation and save her from that Hellish
 53fate.''
 54
 55
 56
 57Flash.
 58
 59
 60
 61I look up from my notebook, and see the blonde pony-tail of the
 62classmate in front of me. With my face torn in a bloodthirsty rage,
 63I reach forward and grab a hold of it. I yank it back towards me,
 64her face now staring at the ceiling in pain and confusion. Without
 65a word, I lunge forward and plunge my pencil deep into her left
 66eye. She screams. I scream. She is screaming from the pain, I am
 67screaming because I am delighted. I twist the pencil deeper into
 68her eye-socket. She convulses, and I hold fast. I stand up, leaving
 69Jenny to writhe in her chair. I look at my hand. I slowly drag my
 70tongue across my middle finger, savoring the taste of her
 71blood.
 72
 73I laugh harder than I have ever laughed in my life.
 74
 75
 76
 77Flash.
 78
 79
 80
 81I wake up on the floor next to my desk, tears stinging my eyes.
 82Everyone is crowded around me; Mrs. Trencher has sent Jenny off for
 83the nurse. Her eye is fine. I look up at the concerned faces
 84hovering over me.
 85
 86``I'm fine; really{\ldots}I've just been feeling a
 87little ill. That's all.'' The words have to be choked
 88out through the tears. I try to stand, only to find a hand on my
 89shoulder, keeping me at my position on the ground.
 90
 91``Francis, are you sure you're okay? You shouldn't
 92try to move. Jenny went to get the nurse, just sit tight.''
 93Mrs. Trencher's voice is thick with worry. She was one of the
 94few who cared about her students. For a split second, at the
 95mention of Jenny's name, I had the image of my pencil twisted
 96deep into her cornea. I almost throw-up.
 97
 98``N-no, I'm okay, really{\ldots}''I pull myself to
 99my feet, using my desk as a crutch. I'm not really okay as I
100say I am. I am unsure on my feet, and my vision is blurry.
101Everything is swimming, but at least there isn't any blood. I
102look around at my classmates; every one of them is staring at me
103horrified. I'm not the first person to faint in class.
104Melissa did two weeks ago in Biology. We were dissecting frogs, and
105she is squeamish. As it turns out, I had screamed in absolute
106terror, fallen out of my desk, and laid on the floor convulsing in
107tears.
108
109Jenny walks through the classroom door, a very scared looking Ms.
110Surough, the school nurse, in tow. I look up at Jenny, tears still
111fresh in my eyes. Ms. Surough sets an arm around my shoulders and
112leads me out of the room. I numbly follow her direction towards the
113nurse's office. Something is wrong with me, and I don't
114know what.
115
116Ms. Surough tells me to lie down on the couch in her office. I
117happily oblige.
118
119``So, what happened, Francis? Are you okay?'' Her voice
120stays level, but you can tell she is concerned. You can see it in
121her eyes. The only thing I can think of when I look at her is the
122image of my brutally attacking Jenny. What the fuck is
123happening?
124
125``I'm fine, really. I just think I'm
126overtired{\ldots}I didn't eat this morning. I think
127that's it. Just overtired and a little stressed from work.
128Really, I'm okay.'' I'm trying to convince myself
129more so than Ms. Surough.
130
131That's it, really. I'm just stressed from work. I guess
132I did go to bed too late, and didn't eat enough for
133breakfast. I'm okay. Really, I'm O.K.
134
135I am O.K. 
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