CREATIVE WRITING: The Masterman Shadows

Ren’s breathing slows. Mine is rapid, frantic. He coughed up blood. How did we end up here?! The day had been so... average at first... but now, it was anything but. Ah, I remember now.

The morning had started with my alarm ringing, my hand slamming against it to make the noise stop. "Ugh," I mumbled, rolling out of bed,my hair a mess. It was too early for this crap. At least it was Friday. I checked my phone; it was 5:30. Time to get to Masterman, I guess, I thought. 

It all started when I began walking to school, shoving my SEPTA pass into my bag.  It was strange, though... Nobody was on SEPTA, which was usually quite busy... And the streets were surprisingly empty, devoid of the usual cars honking angrily. I usually walked with my best friend, Bella. I thought nothing of the silence, as she was probably just early. Suddenly, a boy called from behind me.

"Hey! Aya!" I turned around and rolled my eyes.

"What do you want, Ren?" I said playfully.

He grinned cheekily as he caught up to me. As much as I acted like he was the most annoying thing ever, I did genuinely care about him.

"Oh, shoot... it's already 8:06! We have to go!" Ren yelled. We sprinted off. 

We arrived at school just moments late, but...The staff wasn't there... We scanned our IDs, and thought we just got lucky, then began walking to class. First period was in 101, Ms. Taylor's class, so it wasn't very far from the high school entrance.

Ren opened the door. He stayed silent.

I looked over his shoulder. No one was inside the classroom. The desks were in a neat grid, as always. It was strange, we were pretty late to school…

"Hey, Aya?" Ren looked at me, and I stared back in a questioning manner. "Is today a day off, or..?"

"I didn't think so...I guess I didn't see anyone on SEPTA, and not a single moving car on the walk here..."

"Even if it weren't a holiday, how is that possible? "My eyes widened, I was shaking. I slowly pointed behind Ren, trying to signal him to turn around. He didn’t notice, so he continued, "...On my way here, the SEPTA driver's windows were tinted, so I technically didn't see anyone, either. What about you?"

"Ren... Behind you..." He turned around. A shadowy figure was staring at us, with a humanoid—but not quite human—face. Ren took a step back. The creature shifted its head, looking at us like a snake, watching its prey, waiting for a chance to strike. Its eyes were barely noticeable, the same dark hue its body had. That's when I noticed its claws. They were long, sharp, terrifying. I took a deep breath. 

"T- this isn't some odd nightmare, is it?" Ren said, trembling in fear.

"I'm not taking any chances," I responded. "We need to think... How the heck are we getting out of this?!" The creature trilled, taking a step forward. Our breathing grew heavy. As the creature slowly moved forward, we moved back. "We're done for..."

Before Ren could nod in agreement, a flash of something... shiny... flew through the monster. It shrieked in pain, blood the color of black oil flooding out of its chest. As it fell to the ground, we saw someone panting, out of breath. It was a human.

"You guys okay?" Our savior looked up...It was Bella!

"Bella?!" Ren and I said at the same time. She threw down a piece of glass she was holding, the dark blood dripping off it. I guessed that was the weapon.

My eyes filled with tears. Happy tears, of course. I ran past the corpse and hugged her. "Y- you're alive!" She nodded and held me in her arms as I sobbed.

Ren spoke up. "Uh... what if another one of those things comes? We should probably get inside a classroom..."

"Sure, sure," Bella said.

We entered 101 and pushed some desks against the door, before sitting down in a small circle.

"Bella..." Ren started. "Do you... know what's happening?"

Bella shook her head. "I just... got to school, and it was infested with those... things. I hid in a classroom, and when I  heard a scream outside, the monsters swarmed towards it, I found that piece of glass from the shattered trophy display case. I saw you guys getting cornered, and couldn't just let it happen."

I hugged her again, before noticing her hands... there was blood on them. Red blood. "Did you... hurt yourself while holding the glass?"

Bella laughed. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"Uh, I have some band-aids in my bag..." said Ren. He took them out and covered the wounds on Bella's hands.

"Thanks," she smiled.

I looked towards the door. "Do you think... there are other survivors?"

"I don't know, Aya..." Bella said. She put a hand on my shoulder to comfort me.

Ren sighed. "I have some snacks in my bag, but we won't last long without real food and water. We have to get out." I nodded in agreement and stood up.

"We can't hide forever, no matter how much we want to." Ren and Bella stood up behind me. "Let's go, guys."

To be continued…