Breakdown of Reality

               “Come on, just hurry up,” Belinda said, irritation present in her voice, “Just cut the lock.”

               Jimmy sighed and stared at the lock, bringing the pair of bolt cutters up to it. He grunted as he brought the handle together, muscles on his large arms bulging as he snapped the lock. Jimmy was a fine specimen of a corn fed Iowa boy, six foot, broad shoulders, muscled, sandy blond hair, and sky blue eyes.

               “Finally,” Belinda said, flicking her cigarette away, “Took you long enough.”

               Belinda looked out of place in rural Iowa. Knee high, black stiletto boots, fishnet stockings, a short black pleated skirt, a black tank top, a black hoody, pale face with pointed features, sharp brown eyes, and died black jaw length hair.

               “Are you sure we can go in here?” Jimmy asked, a little nervous.

               “Of course we can’t go in here,” Belinda replied, derision in her voice, “That’s why they had the lock on it.”

               “Then why are we going in?” Jimmy asked.

               “Cause it’s fun,” Belinda replied, “Now come on, let’s check it out.”

               The pair was currently breaking into an old abandoned middle school. The sign was old and battered, letters falling off of it. The walls were gritty and the plants were presently winning the battle to claim the side of the school, vines grew almost up to the top of the building. Some braver kids had spray painted words and logos on the walls.

               Jimmy didn’t normally do things like this. Jimmy was a good kid, just not necessarily a smart kid. He did ok in school for the most part, but he had trouble with math. The way things were going he wasn’t likely to pass it.

               Belinda did things like this all the time. She was the wild child that mother’s feared their daughter’s would be friends with and fathers were worried their sons would pick diseases up from. However, Belinda was smart. Things just came easy to her. The only reason she hadn’t been kicked out of school yet was because she brought the standardized test scores up singlehandedly. In an effort to tame her wild side the school had decided to make her be a tutor, or face expulsion. She wasn’t necessarily scared of expulsion, had in fact been kicked out of a few schools, but her father had decided if she didn’t make it this time, she was going to military school. She didn’t want that.

               So that was how the good dim-witted Jimmy met the bad smart Belinda. She’d been assigned as his tutor. After a month and a half his work showed significant improvement. To celebrate Belinda had suggested they come out to this school to celebrate. Jimmy didn’t like to make trouble, so he’d agreed.

               He was having second thoughts as they approached the building, something just felt… off. The closer he got the stronger it felt. As they approached the entrance to the building he almost turned and bolted. But he didn’t; he couldn’t look like a scaredy cat in front of a girl.

               Belinda felt it too, but couldn’t drop her tough girl act. She’d been scared a lot in her life, but never like this. There was always a focus to her fear, something to be afraid of. She’d never feared the monsters that go bump in the night because there was usually a real monster bumping much closer than that.

               They were both afraid and didn’t know why.

               It knew though. It knew full well why they feared the school. It had been there for a long time, since the shooting that had shut the school down, never to open again. Now that was a good day, a full day. It had subsided off of the scraps of the graffiti artists, tapping into their fear and paranoia. It was the reason no crew that decided to tag the building ever lasted longer than a few days after.

               It fed on fear, fostering it, building it, and then consuming it.

               And it looked like today was going to be quite the meal.

               Belinda turned her flashlight on as they went into the building, the sense of apprehension growing within her. The hallway was littered with dirt, plants, and papers. Belinda and Jimmy avoided those as they made their way around them.

               “Where are we going?” Jimmy asked Belinda, a part of him already knowing.

               “The gym,” she answered, confirming what Jimmy already believed.

               It grinned.

               “Isn’t that where those kids shot a bunch of people?” Jimmy asked.

               “Yup,” Belinda answered.

               It remembered that day fondly. It hadn’t fed like that in centuries.

               It was time to start the games though. It knew where to start.

               Belinda scanned the hallway with her flashlight, and gave a small startled jump when it crossed the path of the man. There was no way, it couldn’t be. She could’ve sworn she saw her father. Not the man that took care of her now, but the man that started the nightmares.

               “Did you see that?” she asked Jimmy.

               “See what?” Jimmy replied, having not seen the man that Belinda dreamed about, waking up in a cold sweat.

               “Never mind,” she said, deciding to put it behind her, “Thought I saw something.”

               It was happy. This was small, but it was a treat, like sprinkles topping the ice cream cone that was to come. It knew what it was going to do next, for the boy, simple, but effective.

               Jimmy didn’t like this place. This was the sort of place that his mother always told him to stay away from. This was the sort of place that him and his buddies sat around a campfire late at night telling stories about. This was a bad place. He walked by the door to what used to be a science lab, flashing his light in there quickly.

               A giant, rabid wolf sat on the table, red eyes glaring at him, teeth bared and drool running from its mouth. Billy let out a startled yelp.

               Belinda turned quickly and ran to where Jimmy was, afraid he’d seen the man too, not wondering why he would be afraid of the monster from her past. Jimmy blinked and the wolf was gone.

               “What?” Belinda asked, a little angry, “What’s wrong?”

               “Dunno…” Jimmy said, confused, “Could’ve sworn… never mind.”

               Belinda shook her head, stupid boy.

               “Don’t yell like that,” she said, “Almost gave me a heart attack.”

               Jimmy frowned and nodded, turning to face the hallway that would lead them to the gym.

               It almost squealed with glee. This was delicious. The heightened adrenaline, the pumping of their hearts, the fear that was coursing through their minds; it tasted all of it. And it was delicious. Where to go from here, what to do next. Ah, of course.

               It started softly, the sobbing.

               Belinda heard it first. To her it sounded like a little girl, scared and hurt, anticipating worse things to come. It was a familiar sound to her.

               Jimmy heard it soon after. To him it sounded like a mature woman, voice full of disappointment and shame.

               It got stronger as they walked down the hall and then the source was obvious, though different for each of them.

              Belinda saw a little girl, pigtails and skirt, which looked a lot like Belinda at a young age, kneeling in fear, hands over her eyes. In the distance behind her was the man, slowly walking towards her.

              “No!” she yelled, running forward. Never again, it would never happen again. She reached the little girl too late, the man had reached her. She hit an invisible wall and couldn’t go any farther. Could only watch the man that looked a lot like her father reach out and stroke the little girl that looked like her’s shoulder. It was a scene that she had lived through. It was not a scene she wanted to see again. She pounded on the wall, again and again, unable to break through.

             Jimmy saw his mother, sobbing in disappointment, staring at him. He knew why she was sobbing, why she was said. She was sad because he was here. She was sad because he had disobeyed her. She was sad because he was hanging out with a bad seed, and was going to become everything that she despised.

             Still though, she could love him again. She held out her arms, beckoning to him. He tried to move forward, wanted to move forward, but couldn’t. He stared in horror at his feet, willing them to move, but they seemed to be glued to the floor. He used his considerable strength in an attempt to move but still could not go anywhere. He reached out to his mother and she seemed to understand, but she looked so sad.

            Then she turned around. Didn’t leave, just turned her back on him. And he knew. He had lost her. She would never love him again. He attempted to single-mindedly move his feet, reach her. It was one of his greatest fears, losing her.

            On the floor of school Belinda and Jimmy laid, scenes of loss and betrayal running through their minds, their eyes twitching. The shadows around them formed into a solid mass and in that mass intelligence stared. It crept forward, gliding along the floor. A tendril crept out and touched the cheek of the two terrified, unconscious teens.

            It was satisfied for now. These morsels would do for a while, would make a tasty meal. Of course, without proper sustenance they would die. And its food would be gone. But it could wait for the next course. It was patient.