“So…any notifs for the Bandcamp?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
In a rather average looking library, sitting at a table towards the back of the main area, two teens emptily waited for the time to pass. One was an older boy, dressed in a red long sleeve and black sweatpants, who brushed a hand through his short brown hair before laying his head down on the table, closing his green eyes.
The other was a girl who appeared just a year younger, wearing a white sweater and black khakis, her long dyed-orange hair moving side to side with her head as her brown eyes scanned over the laptop screen. The screen displayed a Bandcamp page. Decorated with an unsettling hellscape, colored in red and black, the five albums sitting there for listener's pleasure showed, in actuality, very little in other people's interactions.
“Damn…this sucks.” The girl said, clicking her tongue.
“That's just how it is, actually getting noticed is a luxury on sites like that.” The boy responded, not hiding his jaded attitude in the slightest.
“Are you still upset about our YouTube channel? Chris, we didn’t get any views because you tried to do it all yourself when you don’t know shit about thumbnails, editing, or audio adjustment. At least I know what I’m doing, so I actually have the right to complain.” Her words seemed to sting the boy deep.
“Jeez, sorry…” The boy looked away, and the girl took a moment before relaxing her tone.
“It’s fine. I’m sorry too. I’m just…frustrated.”
“Don’t worry Chloe, your music will pick up eventually.”
“That’s not what I mean Chris.” Chloe closed her laptop, placing her chin in her hands. Chris seemed to stiffen.
“...I know what you mean.” He mumbled out.
“I’m sure you still disagree though.” She jabbed.
“Vehemently.” Chris leaned back in his chair, all the words he wanted to say stuck deep in his throat. The air was beginning to turn cold.
“Chri-”
“HELP! HELP!” Both of them looked away from each other, towards a staggering form, coming up the library steps. His arm had a horrific gash in it, deep enough for the bone to be visible.
“Chris, call 911.” Chloe got up and rushed over to the boy as he tripped over the last step, catching him in her arms. “Hey, hey, deep breaths. You’re safe now.” She gently pulled him up onto the main floor.
“H-help. Help…exorcists…I need the Pumpkin Hill Exorcists.” The boy muttered. Chloe felt her heart stop. Still, despite that, she gave the boy a warm smile.
“...don’t worry. That’s us.”
…
As the boy was carried away on a stretcher, Chloe and Chris sat together back at their table. The library assistant working the desk that night had begun working to clean the blood out of the carpet, but other than him, the two were alone.
“A demon in the White Wolf Woods…a head surrounded by flaming circles, and plenty of possessed humans. Sounds like we might have a real problem here.” Chris bit his marker as he began drawing a symbol on his hand.
“Exactly. That’s why we shouldn’t do it you dumbass.” Chloe, with her arms folded, stared him down with violent worry.
“Well, if we don’t, who will? We’ll be responsible for everyone here getting killed, and from the way he made it sound, we wouldn’t have long to wait for it to happen. Do we really have a choice here Chloe?”
“We-I-fuck!” She kicked the underside of the table before laying her arms and head down on it. Chris watched her with concern before continuing to draw the symbols on his skin.
“You don’t have to co-”
“Absolutely not.” She had moved with a quickness, now just next to him, holding his arm tight. He turned his head so he could meet her gaze, and smiled.
“...right, I’m sorry for saying that. Thank you, Chloe.” Chloe sighed at his words.
“I hate you sometimes.” She said, not entirely joking, before sitting back down.
“Ahh, you’re used to it by now.” Chris joked, standing up. “Now, come on, I’m all prepped, so lets go do what we do best.” Chloe shook her head.
“Of course you wouldn’t wait till morning.” She walked up to Chris’ side before the two began their walk to the front.
“Hey Chris.” Chris turned and found himself catching something the library assistant had thrown him. “Good luck bud.” The man told him with a thumbs up. Chris waved awkwardly back before he and Chloe made their way down the steps and out through the front entrance.
“Don’t have it in you to say thank you?” Chloe asked.
“I don’t even know what it is yet.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t give a little thanks before finding out.” Chloe continued to lecture him as he rolled his eyes and opened his hand. Sitting there in his palm was a mint. White, wrapped in plastic, probably years old considering how stingy this place is with food. Nothing about it was anything extraordinary. However, Chris couldn’t help but feel like the sight of it had caused his soul to leave his body. It was as if millions of somethings had begun trying to invade his body, trying to tear at his skin.
“Ah…” No words could leave his throat. No noise beyond the subtlest of afraid tones. Chloe, nervous, reached out and touched Chris’ shoulder.
“C-Chris?” She whispered. As she touched him, he found himself…starting to cry. “Hey, Chris, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.” Chloe began to shiver, still holding onto his shoulder. Finally, after almost a minute of pure silence, Chris turned to Chloe.
“What’s wrong?”
“W-what do you mean what’s wrong? You’re crying.”
“Cry…ing?” He reached his fingers up, and let them touch his face. He found the tears Chloe had referenced, and he looked genuinely surprised. “...a failed possession?” He began looking around, but saw nothing. “The fuck?” He looked much more scared than Chloe did. “...l-let’s get going.” Chris told Chloe before throwing the mint in the trash.
Without any explanation for their shared moment of confusion, they carried on into the night.
