They're Hungry

Part I

It was the middle of my junior year of high school. Strange things had already been happening in our middle-of-nowhere town on the east coast. At first it was just dead squirrels appearing in people’s yards. People suspected animals. Bats, perhaps, or another forest predator. I didn’t know much about it at the time. After all, what could go wrong in Nowhere New Jersey? It was on the way to school that a girl with pink hair, ripped jeans, and a hoodie stopped me.

“Hey, can you tell me how to get to Wichborough High School?” she asked.

“Yes, I can. Are you new?” I replied. I’d never seen her before now.

“I just moved here. My parents had to leave early for work and didn’t tell me how to get to school.”

“It’s not far from here. You can walk with me.” We talked about this and that, small things like how it was getting warmer and spring would soon be here. Soon we ran out of things to talk about and walked along in silence.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Maya. What’s yours?”

“I’m Ella. Does it say what classes you’re in?”

“The email just told me to go to the office when I arrived. It said I’d get a schedule and other information there, but I don’t know my way around.”

“I can show you when we get inside. A few of my friends might be able to help out too.” Maya smiled after I said that. There was something eerie about it. We continued talking, discussing classes, her asking questions about the school, me answering them, until we reached the doors. It was too early to be let in. We stood under a tree, watching our breath form into steam in the cold air, until Jay and Cam arrived.

“Ella!” Jay called, waving hello. He hadn’t noticed Maya. She looked annoyed.

“Who’s this?” Cam asked. Their short hair was wet, like they’d showered, and it was already starting to freeze.

“This is Maya. She’s new.”

“Nice to meet you, Maya. I’m Cam.” They introduced themselves. We continued talking, filling Maya in on the drama between people, and the best and worst teachers. “The doors are opening. I’ll see you guys later.” 

“See you guys later.” Jay waved before disappearing into the crowd. Maya stared after him.

“Let’s go. The office is over there, you go down the hall and take a right.” I hesitated. “Want me to come with you?” I asked

“I’ll be okay. I don’t want to make you late.” She was still gazing into the hallway, almost in a trance.

“I wouldn’t mind-” 

“I got it,” She snapped out of whatever trance she had been in and started down the hall “I’ll see you later, okay?” she called to me before she, too, disappeared into the crowd. I didn’t see Maya again until last period, when she walked through the door of my history class as nonchalantly as if she’d been doing it for years. We sat across the room from each other, exchanging glances during our teacher’s never-ending lectures. We only had a chance to talk to each other once everyone was dismissed.

“So, how was it?” 

“It was fine. Lots of homework though. I’m glad we have at least had one class together,” She smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes

“Should we start walking?” My own smile faltered. Her strange smile made me uncomfortable, as if she was a living, breathing definition of the uncanny valley effect. Maybe she just has a different smile? Yes, that must be it. She might be a little self conscious about it. I decided to forget it. We walked home, discussing our days, then bade each other goodbye at the entrance to her neighborhood. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she called over her shoulder

“See you!” I continued on the way home. Hours later, after dinner, I was sitting at my desk in my pajamas finishing up a math problem when my phone buzzed. It was Jay. I don’t think Maya likes me. This made me raise an eyebrow. It’s your first time meeting each other, I’m sure she just felt a little awkward at the arrival of two people at once. Don’t worry about it. I texted back. There’s something different about her. Huh. That was weird, Jay wasn’t normally the judgemental type. Suddenly scared of people who are different? I was only half joking. It was unlike him to talk about someone this way, especially someone he barely knew. Never mind. It’s probably just in my head. He replied. I brushed it off.

The days passed by quickly. I got used to Maya, walking to school together, walking back, and working together in history. Jay still seemed awkward around Maya, but he never brought her up again. Life was good, and spring was in the air. But then the peaceful atmosphere shattered like a glass balloon. It happened one day as I was leaving French class and the loudspeaker beeped. 

“All students report to the cafeteria. I repeat. All students report to the cafeteria.” The secretary’s voice crackled over the intercom. I found Cam and Jay sitting together.

“What do you think this is about?” I asked.

“No clue. The principal looks anxious though, look,” Cam replied. It was true. Mrs. Filip was talking with the vice principal, Mr. Baval. Their faces were grave. Maya was the last one to arrive, slipping in just before the doors closed. She joined us as Mrs. Filip tapped the microphone.

“Quiet, everyone.” People continued talking. “We will dismiss early and school will be closed for a few days for a police investigation. You might be visited by police for questioning sometime in the future. We will be dismissed shortly.” The room was silent. Then it broke out in conversation. 

“What happened?” Jay looked as shocked as I felt. “Why are they investigating? What are they investigating?”

“It has to be serious if we’re being dismissed…” Cam murmured. 

“Walkers, you are dismissed. Please exit through the door on the left.” Mrs. Filip said. Maya and I left.

“What do you think happened?” I asked.

“A serious crime most likely.” She replied. It was a throwaway comment. We continued on in silence. Nothing too bad could have happened, right? We were in a tiny town in freaking nowhere New Jersey! Maya and I said goodbye to each other before I headed home. I had barely knocked when the door swung open.

“Oh thank goodness you’re alright! We heard about bodies found behind the school!” My mom looked scared out of her mind

“I’m okay mom.” I replied. I was shocked. Bodies found? In my hometown? Behind my school? “Wait… there were bodies found behind my school? Where did you hear this?”

“I was listening to the radio and it came up. What’s important is that you’re safe.” I was stunned. So that’s why we were dismissed.

“I’m gonna go upstairs and think…” I muttered.

“I am always here if you need to talk.” She called after me. I went upstairs, flopped onto my bed, and opened my phone. Texts from Jay, Cam, Maya, and a few other people were popping up, variations of Are you okay and Any updates? I responded to them, and it was slowly dawning in my brain that bodies had been found. That meant people were most likely killed. And that meant that none of us were safe. Articles had already started popping up about everything. Against my better judgment, I decided to read one: 

Two people, a man and a woman, were found in the woods behind Wichborough High School. They were found with about a month of decomposition. Police are investigating the area but as of yet have not found any leads.

I closed the tab, regretting that I read it at all. I spent the rest of the evening thinking, jumping at every little sound. Eventually I fell asleep from pure exhaustion.

Police updates were scarce over the past few days. An unnamed witness account said that they saw a young man near those woods about a month ago, but couldn’t give a description beyond brown hair and an olive complexion. My mom drove me to school. She didn’t think it was safe to walk.  We were allowed in the building right when we arrived, and there was increased security with officers patrolling the hallways and additional officers stationed at the exits during dismissal.. Our sleepy little town, which had been so peaceful, was now buzzing with suspicion. The deaths were all anyone was talking about. It was a morbid fascination.

“I hope they find whoever killed them soon,” Cam’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“I’ll bet that witness was lying,” Jay replied. “Half the guys in our town have olive skin and brown hair.”

“Did anyone identify the victims?” I asked.

“People assumed they were runaways. Apparently they were in a relationship and people thought they just left to start a new life. Their car was found not too far from where they were killed.” Cam murmured. They had always been a little paranoid, but it had never been this bad. Jay, on the other hand, was downright petrified. He was in a constant state of anxiety. Maya was quiet. I assumed she was just deep in thought. She didn’t seem concerned in the slightest.

All anyone could talk about was the murders. No one went anywhere alone anymore, if they went out at all. Jay continued to get more and more paranoid, constantly glancing behind him and jumping a foot into the air when someone surprised him. He started carrying around pepper spray and a self defense keychain. Suspicion became the new norm. It wasn’t long before another person went missing. Then two more. People stopped showing up to school, preferring to do their work online than risk being in a crowded building. The teachers and principals were considering switching to an entirely online program to ensure the safety of the students. Life had changed so quickly, and we were all feeling the impact. One day, I found a headline that caught my attention. ‘Jay Webber goes missing on April 27th, 2022.’ Below the headline was a picture of Jay. 

Cam and I were walking down to the locker rooms the next day. Neither of us spoke. Jay’s disappearance had rattled us both. I started to open my locker when a blood curdling shriek echoed through the locker room. Everyone rushed over to the girl, almost in tears, as she pointed into her locker. Jay’s body was shoved into it. 

“Everybody back outside, now!” A teacher ordered. We all bolted for the exit. I took one last look at what had once been my friend, at what had been a living, breathing, person. I caught sight of a few strands of pink hair in his limp hand. Pink hair. Maya. No one else in the school had dyed their hair that shade of pink. My brain suddenly began to connect the dots. Her strange behavior, lack of emotion about the deaths, her strange smile, she was behind it somehow. And somehow, some way, Jay had sensed it. He had tried to tell me that something was wrong, that not everything was what it seemed, but I brushed it off. He must have seen… something. Something that connected the mysterious deaths and Maya. That explained his paranoia and anxiety over the past few weeks. Maya had mentioned asking Mr. Mcgill about the science project, maybe she was still there. I ran, ignoring Cam’s shout of 

“Ella! Wait!” and raced up the stairs, not caring about the few stragglers staring at me. I wasn’t much of a runner, but fear put wings on my feet. I was angry. Scared. My friend was dead, and it was her fault. Gasping for breath, I yanked open the door of the science lab, to see Maya standing in the center of the room. She turned around.

“Ella! What are you doing here?” She asked brightly. Too brightly.

“I know what you did. You killed Jay.” I was still gasping, my breathing ragged. It was only then that I saw Mr. Mcgill crumpled on the floor. Blood stained his white button up, and dark mass hovered over him. There are no words to describe what happened to Mr. Mcgill’s body. This… abomination consumed him. Maya’s smile vanished. Her face… It wasn’t a human face anymore. It was contorting in a way no face should, expressions of hatred so powerful it made me shudder. This wasn’t a person. Her eyes bore into me like swords. The same smile that never reached her eyes stretched across her lips once more. The dark mass over Mr. Mcgill floated over to her. I could see the shadows of screaming faces and all sorts of horrific things, barely present for a moment among the shadow depths. Voices in languages I didn’t understand shouted from within it. Mutated creatures the likes of which I had never seen before writhed in it. “You aren’t going to get away with this. They’ll find your hair and you’ll be sent off to prison. Or I’ll tell them all.” She laughed at that.

“At that point, I will have moved on to another vessel. This one’s time is almost up. And you won’t be able to tell anyone anything.” A deep laughter echoed from the shadow. A deathlike rasp came from it

“ß̷̨̛̩̬̗̹̪́͗͗̊̾r̴͇̫͓̺͇͓̒̒̾͐̽̚į̸̢̠͕̮̖̈̄̿͑̊̅̀ñ̸̨̨̩̱̗͎̎̉̽̀͒͑ğ̸̭͇͍͇̯̱̆̈́̑̏̿ ̴̙͉͙̗͓̙̾̄͗̄̓̈́µ̴̢̠̼̫̗͋̓̐̏̕͘ͅ§̴͈͔̝̝̬̙͊͊̓͗̈́͝ ̵̗̱̱̝̝̳͛̈́́̈́͠͝m̴̧͓͙̫͎̲̎͗̀͑͌̾ð̶̣̠̦̙̜͔̓̌̑͒̌̓r̸̢̧̟͓̝̼̉̽̎̏̃̚ề̸̡͖̱̗͓͇̆̑͋̄͝.̶̦̜͍͎͔̻͛͑̋͌͛́ ̴̨̫̬͙̩̹̏͆̓̏̽́Ẁ̸̡̞̼̦̲̩̓̈͐͒͊ę̴̻̲͖̠̤̂̂̀̋̂̉͠'̷̥͕͚̠͙̯̆̾͆̾̅̀r̷̨̦̘̪̺̗̊̔̓͛͊̀ę̶̡̨̭̼̘̂́̊̓͂͛͐ ̸̣̪̖̙͇̜̌͌̊͋͘͠§̵̻̮͍̻̝͌͂̏̓̌͘͜†̵̧̘̟̪̝͕̆̏̀̾̇͝į̴͓̱̳̩͕̈̀͊̇́͠͝l̷͖̠͕̝̬̬͂̃̄̐̋͘ļ̶̩͉̲̰̺̊̅̈̊̏̕ ̴̝̙̙͇͈̈́͒̈́́̌̒͜ḧ̸̞̪̝̰̼͇́͗͆͗͝µ̶̨͙̤̙̲̥͛̽̍͑͂̋ñ̴̯̥̻̫̼̪̃͂͋͑͒͒g̴̻̫̰͓̯͗̓̃̍̓̀ͅȓ̷̗͔̠͇̲̟͂͂̆̆͝¥̶̨̞͈̥̳͉͐̓̔̐́̂.̵̢͍̤̯͔͓̈͌̈̎̀̀” The voice made me gasp, chilling me to the bone. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. All I could do was stare in horror as Maya and this… thing advanced. She laughed at my panic.

“You heard them. They’re. Still. Hungry.” 

THE END(?)