For DerseDragon: Two of a Kind

Melodic metalcore serenaded me through my earphones, making me feel relaxed and calm. This music always soothed me, and I couldn’t stop listening to this particular band. I was just beginning to close my eyes, but a sudden rough shake on my shoulder jolted me awake. I looked to see Candice was shaking my shoulder angrily, trying to get my attention. I reluctantly pulled my earphones out just as the song was getting to the chorus. It wasn’t long before she scolded me.

“Gosh Jenelle! I start talking to you and you decide to ignore me by plugging your earphones in!” she pouted her lips, looking hurt.

I sighed, “Sorry Candice, but you lost me at ‘Justin Bieber’, and I just turned off,” and I gave her a little mischievous grin. I knew Candice couldn’t stay hurt for long, and sure enough she giggled and playfully hit me with my pillow.

“Hey! You know I love Justin Bieber, and when I start talking about him I can’t stop! But that’s no reason to fill your head with metal. Seriously, you should be deaf by now, with the volume you turn it up to,” she raised an eyebrow at me.

I chuckled, “Yeah well, it’s better than hearing about a−” Candice gave me a look, so I decided to be nice this time, “−a musician that I don’t fancy.”

She smiled at the fact that I didn’t call him a name like I usually do. “I always know when you try to be polite; you use old fashioned words,” and she giggled.

“I like to think of it as classy,” I said and stuck my nose in the air. Suddenly we both cracked up at the same time and Candice suddenly fell off my bed. I laughed even more, and it felt like my lungs were going to explode. Candice eventually got over herself and awkwardly stood up. I followed suit, and wandered over to my wardrobe. I pried it open, and a series of dark clothes greeted my eyes. “Mmm...so what must I wear to this stupid party tonight?” I asked Candice.

Candice gasped dramatically, “Gee Jenelle, it’s not some ‘stupid party’! It’s the annual school Halloween Party! It’ll be so epic!” and she did a little weird dance as she said this. “Oh, and you have to dress up in any costume,” she added.

I moaned at her enthusiasm, but didn’t comment. Candice really wanted me to go, to get out and about for a while, instead of sticking in my room all the time. I appreciated it that she was trying to help me, but seriously? A Halloween party? Ugh, that in itself sounded stupid. And I HATE dressing up.

I sifted through the hanging clothes, and I found absolutely nothing. I grunted and said, “There’s nothing. I guess I’m not going to the party then!” and I started to close the door, when Candice stopped it with her foot.

“Oh no, we won’t be doing this Missy! You will go to the party and we will find something to dress you up in,” and she opened the door again, and started to sift through the hangers herself. Through halfway she stopped and said, “Seriously Jenelle? I can only find band shirts here!” I giggled at her expression and she sighed and carried on. But when she was done she looked at me, “Well, you’re screwed.” She thought for a minute and suggested, “Maybe you can wear one of my sparkly dresses?”

I gwaffed at the idea of me with a tight, short dress on and wobbling like a penguin on a pair of heels. “Nah, I’ll pass,” I said, and suddenly something caught my eye. It was a black long-sleeved tee with black and white striped arms. I studied this and found a pair of black skinny jeans. Candice quietly watched me as I fetched some black eyeliner and a black lace necklace with a small bell on the end. “I guess I could wear this,” I said half to myself.

Candice gasped and said, “Yes! That’ll be perfect! Jenelle, you are a genius! You can dress like a clown...”I looked at her, “Well, more like a ‘Classy Clown’.” And she imitated me from earlier.

I laughed and said, “You know, I guess it’s not so bad...at least I’m not a tooth fairy or some shit like that.”

We both cackled like hyenas and started to get ready for the Halloween party.

*  *  *

 We managed to find a parking spot at the school...well, a far one at that. Candice sighed irritably as she walked ahead of me, pulling at her Mickey Mouse dress, her heels clicking on the pavement as she walked. I giggled at her irritation. She hated walking long distances to get to places. I studied the height of her heels from the back, and I shook my head at myself. She’d take them off later, just wait and see.

We passed some huge bushes that surrounded the grassy areas of the school entrance, and I saw a couple out the corner of my eye making out, half hiding in the green bushes. I glanced at them, and choked as they were practically eating each other’s faces. I quickly hurried after Candice, trying to get the feeling of a warm slug withering inside my mouth away.

The hall was packed inside. Waves of bodies moved in sync as the DJ played dubstep. I watched as the teenagers swayed in their mainstream costumes, from Princesses to Transformers, some even dressed like vampires or witches. I looked down at my outfit. Well, at least I was creative I thought positively, and followed Candice closely as she weaved through the lively crowd.

Once I got out of the dance floor, Candice grabbed my arm and shouted over the music, “It’s pretty awesome in here!”

I gave her a puzzled look, and she pointed to the decor hanging from the walls. Huge spider webs made from cotton hung over some beams, and Jack O’ Lanterns lit up the dark corners of the hall with their eerie glow. There was also a huge banner that read: Happy Halloween in bloody letters. I smiled at Candice in agreement. The committee did a good job with the decorations, I’d admit.

Candice suddenly tightened her grip on my arm and I followed her line of sight to a boy that was walking toward us. He was dressed like a vampire. He wore a black tux with a bloody handprint on his white shirt, and even his sharp fangs in his mouth looked real. It was Cameron Dixon, one of the hottest guys in the school...well according to every girl except me. But I couldn’t help but look in interest as he flicked his golden hair to the side and gave Candice a boyish smile.

“Hey Candice. You want to dance?” and he held his arm out in an escort.

Candice looked at me. I nodded and she smiled hugely. She took his arm and he led her away to the dance floor, and she turned and gave me a spaz face of excitement before disappearing into the mass of bodies. I chuckled. Oh, I’d hear all about that after the party...

I was left alone on the side of the hall, and I listened as the song progressed to a hard rock song. I tapped my foot to the beat and occasionally swayed a little, but I felt awkward doing it by myself so I stopped. I decided to go and lean against the corner of the hall, where I could see who all was here from a distance. I started making my way there, when suddenly I didn’t see where I was going and bumped into a warm chest. I recoiled back in surprise and saw a tall guy standing in front of me.

“I’m sorry!” I apologised hastily, looking down in embarrassment.

“It’s okay,” he said and the sound of his unique voice made me look up at him and take in his features. He wore a white hoodie, jeans and had shoulder length black hair that stuck up a little at the ends. But what made me really look at him was his face makeup. His skin was a ghostly white, he had black bags under his eyes and his scars...they looked so real. They started from both corners of his mouth and extended in a huge smile across both of his cheeks.

I stared in awe and said, “Wow, nice makeup.”

His eyes glinted with pleasure, “Why thank you. I like your outfit. Evil Clown, right?” and he looked me up and down, “Very nice.”

Flustered I replied, “Thanks. I didn’t really have anything else.”

“Well, it still looks good on you,” he said. I giggled a little, looking shyly at the floor. He cocked his head at me, and our eyes met. “Do you want to boogy?” he asked.

I laughed at his choice of words and nodded to him. He grinned at me and pushed through the crowd, and I followed him. We found a spot and started to sway to the energetic song playing. The DJ rocked his head crazily, his neon green Mohawk lit up with LED’s at the tips. The colours of the huge lighting shone down on him, making him look mythical. Some of the lights turned toward the huge crowd of teenagers dancing, and the swirls of colour danced off their bare arms and fell gracefully around their bodies.

I smiled at Candice a few feet away, who was dancing really closely with Cameron. Their bodies moved together as they rocked their hips from side to side, and I widened my eyes as I saw one of Cameron’s hands running down her small waist. I decided to look down at their feet and I chuckled inwardly; Candice had already taken her heels off.

I turned and smiled at the boy who was dancing with me. He returned it with a side grin, and awkwardly moved to the music, as if he didn’t really know how to dance. I looked into his eyes as I showed him how to move, flexing my body smoothly to the beat of the music. He grinned and copied me, and soon enough he was dancing much better. I giggled, and said to him over the music, “I didn’t get a chance to tell you my name. I’m Jenelle.”

His eyes seemed to lighten up with interest and he moved closer to me, and as the beat dropped, in the two seconds of silence, he whispered, “I’m Jeff.”

The music suddenly blared again, and I realized how close we were. Our noses were a few inches apart, and his metallic smelling breath blew on my face. His black eyes stared into my green ones, and I suddenly saw something glint in the corner of my eye. I averted my gaze to the object and to my horror I saw that Jeff was gripping a large silver knife tightly in his hand. He twirled it slightly, and the lights overhead shone brightly over the blade, making it look beautiful yet deadly. I shuddered, “Is that a real knife?”

A flicker of disappointment glittered in his eyes, but only for a second. He leaned back and revealed his empty hand. I blinked my eyes. That was impossible...I saw it in his hand, I knew it was there! He looked back up at me, “What knife?” he asked with a sudden deep tone of voice.

I stared from his hand to him, and back again. No, I know it was there...I’m not going crazy...I saw it! I looked at Jeff confusedly, and he cocked his head at me, a slight smirk playing on his lips. My stomach dropped with sudden dread and fear, and I managed to say, “I’ll be right back...” before turning around and wildly pushing through the crowd to get away from him.

I burst out of the crowd, and I quickly hurried to the drink table. Maybe I’m just overreacting I thought to myself, Maybe I was just nervous and was seeing things... I dizzily stumbled over to the table, and I told the guy who was serving drinks, “One fruit punch, please.”

I felt his gaze rest on me and I turned to look at him. He stared at me through his creepy white mask, and didn’t say anything. I widened my eyes and stared back at him as he stood there, with his hand extended with a drink in his hand. I shakily reached my hand out to take it, when an image of blood and bones cracking suddenly flicked across my vision, and disappeared. I shrieked with fear and stumbled backwards, but the music was so loud no one heard me...except for the boy with the mask in front of me. He just continued staring at me, and my fear raged within me and I quickly turned to run away, when I was blocked by a dark figure.

I stared at it with terror and I screamed. The figure was staring right at me, its hood over its head concealing any human figures, if it had any, and its face...its face was what made my body go tense with complete fear. Its eyes were a blood red, and its mouth was turned into a sad face...and its face wasn’t a face made of skin, but complete darkness...The monster’s eyes shone like laser beams, and they drew me in, and I faintly felt myself starting to drift away... But suddenly my realization and fear snapped me awake and I tore my eyes away and sprinted for the doors to the passages of the school.

I burst through them and ran through the dark and empty hallway. The lockers on either side of me rattled softly as the beat of the music still blared behind the closed doors which I had entered through. My feet echoed as I ran, and I breathed heavily. I needed to get out of here...

Then without warning, something appeared in front of me and caught me in their strong arms. They swung me around as they caught me, to make it less painful to catch me. I screamed and saw it was the dark figure from earlier. I struggled to get free, but the figure held me firmly in its hands. I felt another set of hands secure me at my back. I whipped around to see it was the boy with the mask. I struggled to free myself even more, but I was starting to feel drained and fatigue. I still tried to get away despite this, and my head was suddenly held still and I felt a cold liquid force its way down my throat. I coughed and choked, but it was too late; the liquid had already been swallowed. I felt myself lose my balance and the two figures secured me and dropped me to my knees. I breathed heavily from the struggling I had done, and now I hung my head in defeat as the two figures held each of my arms behind me.

“Well, for a girl you put up quite a fight.”

I looked up to where the voice had come from, and I saw Jeff standing in front of me, the dark of the hallway hiding half his face. He smirked at me; the scars on his cheeks made him look horrifyingly murderous. “I didn’t expect a little spitfire like you to put up a fight for so long, especially against Masky and Hoodie. For a human, that is impressive.”

I weakly glared menacingly at him. I felt disgust inside me; if all this was a game to Jeff, scaring me and trying to kill me, then I feel nothing but intense hatred for him. Jeff chuckled at my expression, and he took his knife from his pocket and threateningly twirled it about. “Now now,” he said with a sing song voice, “We mustn’t get all mean and rude now. I wouldn’t want you to spoil your pretty face for LJ.”

LJ? I wondered who LJ could be. Jeff’s boss? The guy who ordered which victims to kill for pleasure? I felt a great weight weigh down on my body suddenly, and my eyes started to slowly close. “Hey!” Jeff shouted to me, and he walked up to me and slapped my face. I gasped, feeling the weight lift a little. I snarled at Jeff, giving him a good cold glare. “You mustn’t fall asleep, not yet,” Jeff explained, and he giggled to himself, twirling his knife constantly.

“Jeff?”

I looked behind Jeff, and saw a figure standing a few feet behind, his face was in complete shadow. The outline of his spiky hair stuck up, casting long shadows against the lockers in the moonlight glow from the large window from the far side of the hallway. I saw the figure walk closer, and Jeff opened his arms wide in greeting, “LJ! We were just talking about you!”

The figure who was LJ came and stood in front of Jeff, “We?” he asked, his voice sounding husky and strange. He peered over Jeff’s shoulder, and rested his eyes on me. “Ooh, what’s this Jeff? You about to kill a girl?”

“Oh no. I wanted to give you a present, LJ. This girl is for you,” Jeff said, smiling at him.

LJ looked at me with interest. He walked up to me and knelt down to my level. I could see what he looked like now. His skin was bleached white like Jeff’s, his nose was a pointy black striped cone, his black hair was sticking up and his bright blue eyes looked into mine. He smiled at me, and I strangely felt calm when he did. I just looked back at him, and felt my vision go a bit blurry; the drug they had given me in the liquid was starting to work a little.

“Aww, she’s so cute!” LJ exclaimed, and he got up and did a little dance. “And she’s even dressed like me!” I only then noticed that he was also wearing black and white stripes with fluffy shoulder pads. “Why thank you Jeff!” LJ said and he nodded to Masky and Hoodie, and I felt the two figures behind me pull me up. I weakly moaned with light-headedness and LJ looked at me with concern before asking, “Jeff, is she okay?”

Jeff grunted, “She’s just a little sleepy. We had to drug her; she was putting up a huge fight.”

“Ooh, a little fighter eh?” LJ asked me, looking at me with a friendly expression. I didn’t reply but just looked at him with a curious expression, and one with pleading. The figures behind me let me go, and I weakly stumbled and fell into LJ’s arms. He sighed with contempt and whispered to me, “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.” He turned a little to ask Jeff, “What’s her name?”

“Jenelle,” Jeff replied, amused by the sight in front of him.

“Jenelle...” LJ repeated to himself, and looked down at me. I clutched onto him, feeling drained from the events of the night and I felt myself slowly drift away...But before I fell asleep I heard a whisper in my ear, “Hi Jenelle. Call me Jack...I’ll protect you and keep you safe...I’ll give you a better life than the one you have right now...” I felt a hand gently stroke my black hair and I fell asleep against my new guardian’s warm chest.