Rhys woke up to a quiet house on the 7th day of January, 2005, the first day of the new term. He usually woke up to yelling as he mother woke him up. Other times. He woke up to her yelling at his father because of whatever new terrible thing he had done. He most likely hadn't come home last night, hence the silence.
He sat up on his bed and gathered his thoughts, bracing himself for the day ahead. Not that he hated school, but all the forced social interactions, obnoxious kids, and boring teachers made it harder than it should've been. If you told Rhys he was an introvert, he'd refuse, which in a sense was true. He thought social settings were fun, they just drained the life out of him. He loved his own company to death.
He begrudgingly prepared for school. He couldn't wait to be done. He was thankfully in his last year, which he couldn't wait to fly by, Just a few more terms and that would be it. He showered, put his uniform on, and had his bag ready. This is it. The last year he has to wear his shitty uniform. It consisted of a starched short-sleeved shirt, a black and white striped tied, a blue blazer with gold trim, and grey trousers. The girls wore grey plaid skirts alternatively. He didn't hate his uniform, but he wasn't a fan of the damn tie which he decided he wouldn't be wearing today.
When he finished preparing himself, he hauled his backpack down the stairs with him. There was no one in the living room, no one in the dining room. As far as he could tell, there wasn't anyone upstairs either, no sounds from the kitchen either, he was alone today. Being a schoolteacher, his mother would be preparing for work too, but it didn't look like she had been here at all. How strange. He snacked on a hasty sandwich before walking out of the door.
Middlehazy High wasn't far from his home, the walk to and fro wasn't so bad, it could've been a leisurely 45 minute stroll. But for Rhys, it was more of a 30 minute brisk walk. He took the bus when he was running late, but he was rarely late. The bus had two stops along the way, none of which were near enough to the gas station with its various stores he visited on an almost daily basis to buy stuff. Rhys also happened to a keen shoplifter from a few of them. All he stole from the convenience store was hard candy and re-sold it at school. He stole a few albums from the record store and a few games that he would later resell from a very GameStop-esque store. It was an innocent habit to him, he meant no harm. He just needed a few extra bucks on him.
When he finally reached the foreboding gates of the hellhole called Middlehazy High, he felt a peculiar sense of dread, the kind of dread a guilt-tripped smoker gets when he opens up his 3rd pack of the day. HE froze in the throng of people going in.
Maybe you shouldn't.
Go home.
He looked back for both the voice and listener. Him? Just indifferent looks in his direction.
~
In class, Rhys sat on at his desk near the window, right in front of the corner-most seat. He'd wanted the corner seat for a long time, it appealed to him in a way that no other seat did. But then he wasn't about to wrestle that asshole Jeremy out of it, he came a day late when seats were being assigned and would just have to make do with what he got instead. At least he could look out the window when he got bored and made great scenery when trailed off in his almost maladaptive daydreams. If he ever went through one of his episodes during class, the serenity outside would help him keep it together. The window opened to a football pitch in the distance and usually a half deserted common area as it was during class.
Luca and his friend Jeffery made their way to Rhys' desk expectantly. "Please, please tell me you got them," one of them said.
Rhys reached into his bag and got out 2 handfuls of hard candy and quickly counted them on his hands. "I got new flavours too. Same price, for now." He gave both handfuls to Luca.
"Here." He handed over the money, beaming. "You're a lifesaver bro, you have no idea how much more I would have paid for these," he said.
"Yeah, yeah," Rhys dismissed with a wave of his hand.
As Jeffery and Luca went to their desks, Miss Navarro walked into class with what appeared to be new students; 2 boys and a girl. The girl in question made Rhys do a double take at what exactly he was seeing.
Leah
Right there in front of him, in school uniform. The voluminous hair gave her now mature facial features a new allure. Those eyes, those thoughtful eyes. They had not changed one bit. Her brand new blazer softly went over the appreciative swell of her chest. Her skirt gave way to her toned, youthful legs.
Rhys' head spun. What was going on here? Was he the only person that could see her? How long until he wasn't seeing her anymore?
Miss Navarro had the boys introduce themselves first, Rhys couldn't bring himself to care about them. And then it was her turn.
"Hi, umm, my name is Lucy Deubel, my mother and I just moved into Middlehazy." Her eyes fixed squarely on Rhys, like she knew all about him, his hallucinations, history, everything of his he had once shared with her. In this moment Rhys saw a glimpse of the girl he was once friends with. She averted her a gaze, a shy lopsided smile playing on her lips, not at all out of the ordinary given that she was introducing herself. "I hope I can find new friends in this town," she said shrugging her shoulders, "I guess that's all."
The class clapped and whooped at getting new members. One of the boys sat on a desk at the very front of the class. The other found a seat at the end of the class furthest from the corner seat right behind Rhys. Lucy sat in the desk right in front of him There was a enough space that she was out of touching distance, not that he wanted to as he was still a bit apprehensive.
"Hi," she said spritely as she settled into her seat.
"Hey," Rhys replied. He sounded jaded in his attempt to sound normal. He found himself suddenly worrying about his social skills. He really wanted to talk to her. Would she want to talk to the potentially boring reserved guy in class? He saw the way the other boys were checking her out and whispering among themselves. It didn't look like he stood a chance against them. He planned to work on that later.
Rhys wasn't sure if he could say he was lucky. 'Lucy' as she was now called, took most of the same classes as him. He found himself not being able to concentrate during them. He day dreamed of how it used to be between them, how things could and should be. She used to be his only friend, he'd never been closer to many other people. He did have handful of friends at school, but he kept them at arm's length. They understood his need to be alone sometimes and they let him be.
How? How is she here? She is just a construct of his mind. Is she a ghost? If she is real after all, what was he seeing all those years ago. Again, how? Or maybe—
"Rhys?"
"Yeah?" he said, pulled out of his pool of thought.
"Do you have an answer to this question?" Mr. Flemming, his physics teacher asked.
"Maybe, centripetal force," he said, with only the slightest idea of the question.
"That's right. I still need you try to follow more closely if you can. You're trailing off too much for my liking, Porcher"
~
At lunch, Rhys retreated to his little lair with his cafeteria food. He hadn't seen her all lunch and decided to give up looking for her.
As he made his way there, he hoped the faculty hadn't tampered with his hideout over the past 2 months. He half expected it really, he just wondered by how much.
Through the shrubbery, and up a few steps, he reached the main double doors. Locked as always. He went around the back and found the steel door unbolted.
Frick. They'd been here. What had changed? Hopefully, they didn't move his desk, his mini book shelf, his flea market sofa, or his old coffee table. No way he was about to start from scratch making this place bearable again. The school hall was used on a regular basis for events and the like. It consisted of a large seating area with a stage at one end, and a control room on the second floor at the other end. A winding corridor winded around the hall and was perforated by multiple fire exits. Under the elevated stage was a sort of abandoned art gallery. Not many students in the school knew of its existence. The one's that did couldn't find a way in. Rhys persisted though. The corridor that flanked the inner hall had doors that led to what should be backstage. These doors however, never opened, ever. They were thick hardwood and reinforced by steel panelling grilled doors. Both were incredibly hard to saw through, causing everyone that tried to give up not long after. Besides, they were way better makeout spots in schools.
He melted the lock off the grilled doors instead of trying to saw through it like everyone else did, and destroyed the handle of the door at the next step. He made the entrance into the art gallery good as new after, so no one would know he broke in. He cleaned up real good, brought in his second hand furniture and voila! Casa De Rhys was born.
As he got in today, nothing seemed amiss. He was confronted with the old paintings, drawings and strewn about sculptures as they had always been. The back of his sofa was exactly as he left it. However, there was a backpack resting on its arm. Rhys blood ran cold.
He stopped dead in his tracks. Was it the school faculty busting him? Lucy's head popped up from where she lay on the sofa, just as confused and scared as he was. When she saw who it was, she somewhat relaxed while Rhys was still on edge.
"Umm, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"I dunno, you tell me," he said. Who visits the almost completely hidden basement art gallery at their new school on the first day?
She pulled a novel up from her reclined position, "Reading," she stated matter-of-factly. "I just really wanted a quiet place for it, that's all.
"Well you found it alright, an elaborate set up like this wouldn't have an owner, no way." His tone was as sarcastic as could be.
"Come on," she playfully protested, "This place is great. Can I stay here today?" She got up, and in an amusing attempt at humour, "Pretty please, oh kind stranger?"
He sighed. "My name is Rhys, and yeah, you can stay here for today.
"Aw, thanks!" She beamed, and then carried on reading her book.
Rhys never saw himself sharing this place with anyone, let alone a girl. The girl in question was his former best friend who had no recollection of him because he hallucinated her, or at least something eerily close to her.
Hesitantly, he sat down next to her. She got cozy on the couch and even had her socked feet up on the coffee table. He took his own book out of his bag, which she craned to see.
"What are you reading?" she asked him.
"One Hundred Years Of Solitude."
"Oh, I heard that's a good one. I'm stuck with this right now. I only just started." She raised the cover slightly to show The Stand by Stephen King.
"Stuck? You have a great book on you, trust me, I've read it," Rhys said.
"You're quite the bookworm, Rhys," she congratulated. "How long did it take you?"
Rhys thought for a second. "Two weeks, more or less."
"You're kidding, right?" she asked.
"No, for real. Say, who's your favourite character?" Rhys implored.
"Probably baby LeVon, she's just so precious. I hope she goes the distance."
Rhys laughed. Right, he forgot that she had only just started. LeVon doesn't even make it to 6. Not 6 years of age. Page 6. He wasn't about to tell her that though.
"Alrighty then, I guess I'll bury my face into my own book now," Rhys declared. On the contrary, he desperately wanted to talk to her. He had so many questions for her, like where she was from, why she'd moved her. It was insane that Rhys had some company in the art gallery. This was the first time someone other than him was down here, so he wasn't quite sure how to feel about it.
They read for the rest of the lunch period. She was a spirited reader, uttering 'oh no' and 'oh my god' here and there, gasping, the occasional hum of acknowledgement.
She thanked him for letting her stay and asked if she could come again. He silently pondered on this as he read. He agreed rather faster than he intended to. They then went to class for the rest of their classes that day.
~
After his eventful day at school, Rhys went home to yet again a quiet house. This time though, both his parents were home. His father sat tensed up on the sofa in front of the turned-down TV with his face in his hands. He suddenly looked up at Rhys who then instinctively flinched.
"How was school today, buddy?" he asked in a dry attempt at lightening the mood.
"It was okay," Rhys answered nonchalantly. His mother was in the kitchen, probably for no other reason than to avoid her husband. She looked like she had been crying. When he saw her disheveled hair and the fresh bruise on her lip, he boiled with rage. He was upset at his father for being the way he was. He was upset at himself for not being able to do anything about it.
On their dinner table were the divorce papers. Alain had already signed them, his wife hadn't. He couldn't understand what the hold up was. Mr. Porcher was currently working at a decent law firm. His current mistress was Samantha, a striking 26-year-old Partner at the firm he worked at. The Porcher house was currently struggling financially. Not only because Alain was drinking and constantly in and out of jobs, but because he spent lavish amounts of money on Samantha too. Hell, he was probably ready to drive over to hers at this instant, and plunder that sweet cunt of hers. However, here he was, with his nagging wife and her son.
Rhys believed his parent's marriage could be saved if he gave up drinking. Alain was a kind and caring man when he was sober, that was apparent for all to see. His mother likely thought the same thing, hence the reluctance to sign the papers.
Upstairs, Rhys closed and locked the door behind him. He slumped into bed, and fell asleep not long after.
~
Drowned in sweat and his mouth dry as the Sahara, Rhys awoke to loud wraps on his door. It had become dark since he fell asleep, the ambient light outside freely streamed into his room. They came again, much louder and urgent this time. Who could that be? A large fly whizzed past his ear, startling him with the intensity of its buzz. It flew to his closet, where more like it buzzed as powerfully. The knocks came from his closet, not his door
A rat? A raccoon? A bird maybe.
In a sleepy zombie-like gait, walked toward his closet. The buzzing intensified, and then came a putrid, rotten smell. He went on and opened his closet. At the very bottom, under the clothes that rested on hangers, the flies feasted on… a decapitated human head. The hair on it was matted bloodily on its forehead. Maggots came out of its ears, into its nostrils and out of its pleading eyes, staring at him. It blinked, pleading even more.
It just moved.
Rhys picked it up, sleepy and uncomprehending, but supposedly fully conscious. The head looked frightened.
"Why are you scared?" Rhys questioned tentatively, brushing off a few maggots of its brow.
"You have to stop while you can, Rhys!" it cried in an anguished androgynous voice. The head clattered its teeth violently, vibrating in his hand.
"Stop what?" he asked.
"Lucy," it whispered, "She is not good for you. She is evil. Evil. EVIL! You know not why she is here, or how. You do not know her kinfolk. She is pure evil. Lucy came from a place neither of us can comprehend or imagine."
"I don't believe you," Rhys challenged.
It opened its eyes wider in even more fright and shock at Rhys' naivety. "No, no, nonononono!" Left and right it shook in his hand, maggots spilled out of its mouth and flies dismounted momentarily.
It was then that Rhys somewhat realized the absurdity of what was going on. He put the back into his closet, closed it, and slowly went back to bed. The apparent absurdity wasn't that a decapitated head was warning him of danger, It was that this thing supposed knew a thing about Lucy.