Noémie Renaud-Hawking, the charming doctor and a smile as bright as a thousand sun rays, heather counties proudest achievement, made her way down the lavish steps, which conveniently led right to the spacious hallway, decorated with the latest, most expensive paintings accompanied by beautiful stained glass windows and floors so clean you could virtually see your reflection. As it appears, the apple does not fall far from the tree, her son Sebastién shared her pulchritude, however, they differed in character; Sebastién the more carefree and laid back, while his mother was more work-oriented and lacked in the emotional department.
"Good morning ms. Hawking". Greeted the house helper Hilda.
" Morning". Noémie replied coldly, barely making eye contact with her.
Everyone at the Hawking manor was used to Noémies harsh, unsympathetic behavior, this included her son. She had never been the type of person to show much emotion, but after her husband’s disappearance, she completely shut down, destroying what relationship she still had with her son.
"Any update on dad yet ?" Sebastién questioned, a seemingly innocent smile on his face.
Completely ignoring her son, she only gave him a stern 'don't say that again' look. Walked past him and over to Hilda.
" I trust you know what to do."
Hilda simply nodded and smiled as a response, before she had the chance to say something, ms. Hawking had already left.
" You know how your mother feels about that subject, she grieves in her way."
" What did I do?" Sebastén asked, looking amused.
He swiftly got up and walked towards Hilda.
" Come on then, let's get to work shall we." She said trying to brighten up the mood.
Sebastién, only flashing a smile as a reply, walked towards the study hall for his french lessons. Sebastién never really cared about studying, he never understood the point, he always thought; smart or not, we’re all going to die anyway. He’d come to find out just how true that statement would be.
“Where are you going Madame?”
“Où est-ce que vous allez Madame?”
“ Tres Bien! Next, Excuse-me, where is the train station?”
“Excusez-moi, où est la gare? Hilda, we’ve been at this for like two hours, it’s Friday, can’t we end a little early, c’mon please?”
“Well, I suppose it won’t hurt, right then, what do you want to do?”
“Maybe a round of halo? Or you can watch me play a round of Halo.” Sebastién beamed.
Unable to say no to the boy she considered one of her own, Hilda agreed. One round turned into two, two into four and before they knew it they, or rather Sebastién, had been playing for hours. Just as he was about to secure his third kill, the doorbell rang. It was very loud which caused the puzzled boy to turn in the direction of the door. It was too early for Ms. Hawking to be home, no one else was scheduled to arrive either. Hilda got up to walk to the front door, merely seconds later the radio switched on.
Sebastién took off his headset to hear the conversation at the door better. Hilda opened the peephole, She saw an older man, thinking he could need help, Hilda slowly opened the door. The man looked unwell.
“Excuse me could I please use your phone I need to call help for my wife she’s not doing very well.”
“ Where is your wife?”
“ I left her in the house, she’s been out all day working in her garden you see I told her-”
Before the man could finish his sentence, he was tackled to the ground by something, Hilda let out a loud gasp. All the commotion caused Sebastién to walk over to the front door. There, out in the front yard, They saw the old man being eaten alive by his wife. Her or rather its skin was swarming painful, large blisters and sores, oozing with white liquid, accompanied by the green, thick fluid coming from his nose. Its veins had swollen so much they looked like they were about to burst, body swollen, the veins in its eyes enlarged and the irises gone completely black.
The thing sensed their presence, slowly turning its head to face them Horror filled both their eyes, their bodies frozen, fear coursing through their veins. It lunged at Hilda, tearing into her leg. Sebastién rushed to grab Hilda’s arm in an attempt to free her from its grasp. Hilda however knew it was too late.
“You have to go love! Run!Go!”
“ I can’t leave you! Just hold on I’ll pull you free!”
“It’s alright! It’s okay!”
Hilda let go of Sebastiéns arm, now completely at the things mercy. He had no choice but to run, so he did, just as he was about to run, the man on the ground began to twitch, not wanting to suffer the same fate, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He ran into his room, hastily packing everything he could fit into his backpack. He ran back down the stairs into the living room. He knew his mother kept spare keys in the drawer of the console table. Opening the drawer, he found the keys taped underneath the drawer. he quickly grabbed the keys and made a break for the backyard. He pressed the key fob, not realizing just how loud the once comforting sound of an unlocking car door is. He darted towards the Subaru legacy, In a state of panic he fumbled to open the door, finally getting it open, he threw his backpack in and got in. Finally feeling the adrenaline rush slow down, everything sank in. He felt every emotion imaginable. So strongly he wanted to believe that all of it was a dream. The boy slowly slid his head into his palms, intending to calm down.
He sat quietly in his car for what seemed like a few minutes. Sebastiéns head perked up at the sound of someone or more precisely something, walking close by. Finally lifting his head completely, out of the driver's side window he saw Hilda, the old lady, and her husband, unfortunately, they looked nothing like their human counterparts. Somehow still resembling the people they once were but also those horrible monsters you see in your nightmares. Sebastién could only sit and stare in silence, watching the woman who raised him become a flesh-eating creature. Dread made his blood run as cold as ice. Without noticing it, Sebastién’s elbow hit the car’s horn, causing a blaring beeping sound. The sound caught the attention of the former humans, instantly causing them to turn their blister-covered heads in the direction of Sebastiéns car. They began running at the car like a bullet out of a gun, colliding with the rolled-up window, biting, scratching, and moaning at the terrified boy inside.
The familiar feeling of an adrenaline rush kicked in as Sebastién pressed his foot against the accelerator as hard as he could, driving so fast it felt like the tires would lift off the ground.
A large and heavy wave of anxiety washed over him as he finally released the pressure off of the pedal. Just then, the car radio turned on.
"Good afternoon Heather county, this is an emergency alert. There have been multiple reports of today's showers causing erratic and dangerous behavior. At this point, it is not yet known if these claims are true, but Mayor Tapia advises the people of the heather county to stay inside their homes and lock the doors, if this is not possible, find shelter immediately. The heather county police strongly advise citizens not to let any strangers inside. Thank you, may God be with you all"
He couldn’t believe what he had just heard; Why hadn’t they said something before? Why wasn’t this on the news? What the fuck was going on?
He pounded his fist into the steering wheel, cursing under his breath, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. Seemingly out of nowhere he saw the headlights of another car coming up behind him. The car drove a few hundred yards past him, stopping in front of a run-down motel. Sebastién had no money with him to pay for an actual room but wasn’t going to stay on the road either. He decided to follow the car, stopping only a few feet behind it. He got out of the car and walked into an alleyway. Sitting down, he pulled out of his pocket the only thing he knew for sure would help him relax; a pack of Captain Black cigarettes. He took one out and lit it. A few minutes of peace and use is all he had before it was interrupted by someone speaking to him.
" hey.”
Wanting to be left alone he doesn’t respond.
"Can you hear me ?"
Again, no response.
"I won't go away if you ignore me you know".
" Is that a challenge?" He finally says.
The girl walked over and sat down next to him, turning towards her, Sebastién realized she was in the car that drove by him, not wanting to appear threatening, he smiled at her. She pulled out a cigarette pack of her own, Malboro to be specific. Sebastien, without words, offered to light it for her. They sat together quietly for a few moments before he decided to speak.
" I'm sebastién by the way, but you can call me seb".
" Teagan, but you can call me T, thanks for the light by the way".
Now getting a better look at her face, he noticed the residue of smeared mascara on her face, not wanting to let her look like a fool, he pointed it out.
" What's wrong with your face?"
"what?" Teagan said taking out her phone, she used it as a mirror.
"Shit". She said as she quickly wiped her face with the sleeve of the flannel, laughing a bit.
Hearing someone laugh after the day they both probably had, loosened him up a bit, hence he smiled at the girl. they heard what sounded like a metal trash can hitting the ground, both of them turning to look in the direction of the sound, then at each other as if to say 'you heard that too, right. They began hearing heavy footsteps, reminding Sebatién of the horrifying sight he saw, only a few hours before. The pair got up and jogged to the door Sebastién had seen Teagan come out of.
"C'mon, open" Sebastién huffed in frustration.
Right then they heard a trash can fall, this time, it was right around the corner.
"Seb, I think we need to hurry"
"This piece of shit is stuck," He said kicking the door.
Try as he might, the door would not budge. The gurgling and moaning Sebastién had heard hours before were there again, he turned around and saw a man, the man looked just like the older man from his neighborhood, just like his wife and just like Hilda. Knowing what their fate could be, Sebastién started banging on the door, Teagan joining him, both of them screaming for help.
The creature getting closer and closer when finally the door busted open, leading to the pair falling in and the door closing, leaving the thing's head smashed in between. Panting heavily on the ground, they see a boy around the same age as them.
“Arja, right? Thank you.” Teagan said gratefully.
“ No problem, but we gotta go, hurry.”
With no time to respond, they both got up and rushed after Arja. He led them to a steep staircase going up. Arja quickly ran up the stairs, the two following close behind. The stairs led to a door, once opened it revealed a rooftop.
“Mom!”
Sebastién watched as Teagan ran into the embracing arms of a woman. Agitated, he wanted answers.
“ Can somebody please explain what the hell is going on?” He exclaimed.
“ That’s what we’re trying to figure out, but no one's picking up, calls aren’t even going through because there's no service, the best we can do is stay calm.” A man, who Sebastién assumed was Teagan’s father, pointed.
“He’s right, maybe we could barricade ourselves in, just until there’s more information, and it’s safe to go outside again.” Teagan’s mother suggested.
“That’s a good idea, I’ll go get my parents.” Arja agreed.
“ And who are you?” Sebastién questioned.
“ Arja Barot, my parents own this place.”
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