Chapter 44

[The following chapter contains strong language. Reader caution is advised.]

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Wednesday 30th June 1999

 

 

You know those days when everything seems like it’s going to be nice and calm, and then suddenly things get crazy?

 

Yeah, now imagine that, only Lokonessence is involved.

 

I mean, it’s hardly the first time the school has transformed around us, but somehow it took me by surprise much more acutely here. At least the very first time, everything was already rendered in 16-bit… and the second time had the vibrating that pre-empted the actual transformation…

 

This time? I yawned. And when I opened my eyes again, the room was completely empty and the walls painted with cheery, almost sugar-sweet imagery.

 

“… can’t you give me, like, a heads-up or something?” I pleaded of the girl I knew could hear my every word even if she wasn’t in the room (anymore, at least – we happened to share this class).

 

A quick inspection of my surroundings showed nothing of particular interest. Amongst the rainbows, bunnies and flowers, there were no windows, no objects affixed and sticking out. Even a traditional door was completely absent; the image of one was painted onto one of the walls, complete with a “Welcome” doormat on the floor in front of it.

 

I did what I hope anyone would do in that situation, and stood on the mat to get a closer look at the door. After all, with no physical doorknob to take hold of, I had to figure out how to open it and get out… if all else failed, I could probably (hopefully) hack my way through with my sword.

 

And as soon as both of my feet touched the painting of a doormat, the entire world appeared to revolve around me, so fast that I’ve no idea how I passed through the wall. I found myself in a corridor, with the door and doormat apparently having accompanied me. Taking a moment to gather my bearings, I then set off down the corridor.

 

It took less than a minute for me to find myself lost in this altered take on the school. The layout was completely foreign to me, and all the painted walls and doors looked so similar that there was no easy way of knowing where I was.

 

With a flash of blue light, my sword was in my hand, and I held it ahead of myself in the hopes of finding my way to my friends. I kept my eyes on the glowing blade and steadily revolved on the spot, turning 360 degrees, minding any slight change in the intensity of that ever-present blue. No joy there… either my friends didn’t have their weapons out yet, or perhaps something was blocking our weapons from detecting each other…

 

I mean, that was what sprung to mind. If Lokonessence meant the weapons could detect each other, then Lokonessence could just as easily mean that they couldn’t.

 

This whole thing was still so irritating… our pointless monster battles…

 

“Hello?” I called out through the empty, echoing halls. “Anyone there? Guys…?”

 

No response.

 

“If you can hear me but can’t respond, get your weapon out and I’ll be able to find you! Unless you already have it out and it’s being blocked… in which case, don’t worry!”

 

Satisfied, I took another look at the sword’s blade, just in case my fortunes had changed and it was indicating a location.

 

A few moments later, movement hit my peripheral vision.

 

I glanced up the corridor in time to register the rapid approach of a cushioned board attached to a set of wheels not unlike an office chair. Multiple belts and chains ran down either side of it, flailing wildly as it zoomed towards me.

 

My first instinct was to slash towards it, which of course had no effect since I hadn’t yet accessed the power of my sword. Panicked, I darted out of the way just in time for the apparent threat to careen through the space I’d been occupying. It ground to a halt several feet down the corridor, the board spinning wildly like it was angrily trying to locate me. I quickly blasted on my Painter gear, and as it hurtled in my direction once again, I launched a pane of blue that smashed into it and slammed it into the wall. Its makeshift limbs flailed about erratically for a moment before falling limp.

 

“Y’know, a warning would be really useful next time,” I remarked to thin air.

 

A siren noise preceded the arrival of several more Roller-Boards from the same direction as the first.

 

“Very funny!” I yelped out, bracing myself and trying to figure out in a split-second what the best course of action was. Under pressure, I opted for a simple vertical slash, only I urged the surge of blue to fan out; it knocked the approaching Roller-Boards back down the corridor, a couple of them even breaking apart. Still, more poured out from around the corner.

 

I was about to use the same trick again when I was hoisted off of my feet from behind. Leather and metal bindings writhed around me, then secured me to the padded board they were attached to. I’d been so focused on the monsters in front of me that I’d not even considered any coming up behind me…

 

You probably would’ve expected the belts and chains to be uncomfortable, but somehow it felt more like an embrace. Like someone giving an awkward hug, torn between wanting to indulge in it and holding back out of nerves.

 

It was enough to hold me in place, at least, as the Roller-Board began trundling off victoriously with me in its grasp. The others – those still intact, at least – headed in the same direction, and I found myself amidst what I can only describe as a flock. Our journey didn’t last too long, but even in that short span, several of them peeled off down various corridors, perhaps off on a mission to retrieve my friends. The glimpses I got down each branching path we passed didn’t show anything remarkably different from the kind of art I’d already seen. More happy, friendly imagery.

 

(By the way, yes, of course the thought of trying to break myself out occurred to me. I still had my sword in my hand, so it wasn’t like I had no chance at all. But it didn’t seem like it would be easy to try and slice away my bindings, especially with my arm secured so I couldn’t move my weapon much beyond the range of motion my wrist alone granted.)

 

Finally, with only a handful of Roller-Boards flanking the one that was carrying me, the flock headed through large double doors and wheeled me into a large hall that reminded me of those open hospital wings in old films.

 

And there, likewise strapped up to one of these wooden monsters, smirking wildly, was one Melody Hill.

 

“Hi there, Alex!” she called out with the same sparkly cheer that she’d been using for the past few weeks now. To complement it, she waved lightly with the scythe in her hand.

 

“Hey…” I replied as I was wheeled over and left stationed beside her, two immobile figures among the hustle and bustle of wheel-bound padded boards.

 

“Got yourself captured, huh?” she asked me. “That sucks…”

 

“Back atcha.”

After all, she was in her… Painter-gear-type-clothes, complete with the shorter haircut. Only made sense that she’d wound up here too and had tried (and failed) to fend off the monsters just like I had.

 

“So, what lesson were you in before this happened?” the girl smiled at me innocently.

 

“Creative Writing… look, Melody, why are you being like this…?”

 

“What? Chained up?”

 

“No…”

She must’ve been kidding just then…

“Ever since I… came back… you’ve been acting weird.”

 

“Have I?” she purred, sounding genuinely confused. I began to wonder if, during my absence, she had somehow honestly been changed on some level. That she no longer remembered her old self. A large part of me was ready to accept that revelation without remorse… as horrible as that sounds…

 

“Yeah…” I marched on. “You’re usually much more blunt with me and it’s like you’ve been… treating me differently…”

 

“I’m treating you like your friends treat you. Like you’re normal.”

Her tone of voice was back to normal and I instantly regretted having poked the hornet’s nest.

“You have no idea how fortunate you are, that they accepted you back. How many more times are they going to do that? How many more breakdowns before they give up on you?”

 

“Okay, more of the same, then…” I grumbled. “Kudos for your commitment, I guess.”

 

“I do it well enough with everyone else,” she reminded me with an effortless glimmer of pride.

 

“You and Harmony said before that you chose us because we’re all… messed-up. All five of us. Doesn’t that make them ‘monsters’ too? And if you accept me because we’re the same, then surely that counts for them? They’re not treating me like I’m normal-”

 

“They are, because they don’t get it, and they never will. Because, incredibly, not every mental illness is the same. And not every person is the same. Do you really think people like Kendal or Zahid understand you? They can’t keep forgiving you.”

She was glaring at me, clearly having been waiting to tell me this and making sure to deliver it as forcefully as possible.

 

“So, what, you’re being stubborn?” I scoffed. “Trying to prove a point?”

 

“I was, essentially, sure.”

 

“Why can’t you just let me be happy?”

 

“Because you assume you can be happy with them,” she scowled. “But you go on and keep deluding yourself if you want. When they finally turn on you, you can come to me.”

 

I said nothing to that. I had no interest in engaging with her on that particular subject and her views on how my life would pan out. On some level, it unsettled me… the fear that she was right was like tar in my soul.

 

A handful of seconds passed with no sounds other than another Roller-Board occasionally trundling in or out.

 

“All this, too,” Melody spoke up again. “I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw these things. How on-the-nose is all of this?”

 

“What d’you mean…?” I asked her, uneasily, not wanting to tumble down another conversational/psychological rabbit hole.

 

“Securing the crazy people,” she told me. “Plus the nice, calm paintings on the walls and nothing that someone could pick up and do anything dangerous with. Whichever one of you she plucked this from, your stereotyping is second-to-none.”

 

“I suppose so…”

Not that I’d really made that connection myself, but it made sense.

 

“I didn’t even put up a fight. As soon as it clicked, I just let them take me. Laughing all the way.”

 

“You really find it that funny…?”

 

“Because of how ridiculously stupid it is,” she clarified for me.

 

I huffed through my nostrils lightly and let the conversation drop dead once again. In the ensuing silence, I could hear whistling from somewhere outside the room.

 

Specifically, Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley.

 

Which meant it could only be Bao. Whistling the hits of Elvis was his current interest.

 

“Bao!” I called out to him half a second before realising that it was entirely possible that he was about to be carted in against his will.

 

Thankfully, his head popped around the corner board-free and acutely curious a moment later.

“Oh, hey Alex! Hey Melody!”

 

“Hey!” Melody greeted him with that fake cheer.

 

“You two got captured, huh?” he asked while strolling into the room, looking around inquisitively.

 

“How could you tell?” I quipped back. “Mind giving us a hand?”

 

“Sure, gimme a sec…”

Not even looking at me, too busy taking in the art on the walls. He steadily made his way behind Melody and me, and then I heard the characteristic sounds of weapons being summoned and a blast of colour being unleashed.

“Gonna crack it open from behind, so if I slice your spinal cord, I’m sorry and you can, like, punch me or something after it heals. Also is anyone worried these things can hear me and now they know what I’m gonna do? Eh, we’ll find out.”

 

“Wait-!”

I felt the board against my back gave way, and the belts and chains holding me loosened; the entire thing crumbled to pieces as my feet returned to the ground. A grateful exhalation evacuated my lungs as my back remained intact.

 

“Phew!” Bao spoke up behind me. “Glad that worked, would’ve been embarrassing if I’d messed up.”

 

“Yeah, I think we can all be happy that you avoided being embarrassed,” I replied dryly, turning to him in time to see him move over to Melody. She was wearing a light, playful pout on her face now.

 

“Melody,” Bao began, “are you still our enemy or whatever? Not sure if I should free you too or not…”

 

“I’ve got no horse in this particular race,” she assured him. “I’ll stay here until you sort it out. Besides, if I get bored, I can free myself.”

She waved her scythe around for emphasis. Of course she was here entirely of her own volition…

 

“Suit yourself!” my friend shrugged, before looking at me. “We should make a move before they start coming after us.”

 

“Good call,” I agreed, deciding not to wish Melody a farewell as I made a beeline for the exit. With Bao audibly following, I headed off in the opposite direction from which I’d been brought to that room, the same way Bao had been headed.

 

“So, did you notice it?” his voice called out from behind me, just before he caught up to me.

 

“Did I notice what?”

 

“That’s a no, then.”

 

“I mean maybe I did but I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

 

We turned a corner at brisk pace.

 

“The art on the walls always points in a certain direction!” he noted, gesturing towards the painted critters we were heading past. Sure enough, they were all either facing, leaning or otherwise indicating the same way we were going.

 

“… huh.”

 

“Yeah, you didn’t notice it,” he confirmed as we reached the end of the corridor. The artwork of a merry skipping rabbit with a basket hanging from its arm was heading down the right path.

 

“And this is why you’re an integral part of the team!” I chirped back lightly. We turned right.

 

“You’re damn right!” Bao grinned brightly. “You need a guy like me when you’re dealing with weird hugging monsters…”

 

“Hugging…?”

 

Leftwards now.

 

“Yeah… isn’t that what those things are doing?”

 

“Please tell me Harriet doesn’t tie you up and call it a ‘special hug’ or something…”

Aaaand I immediately regretted asking that in case Bao responded affirmatively.

 

“…”

My friend stood stock still. A glance at his face showed deep consideration.

“Interesting… thanks for the recommendation!”

 

“It wasn’t a recommendation!” I sputtered. “That makes it sound like Dakota’s done it to me!”

 

“Either way, you’re pretty kinky, man!” he enthused. “First the foot thing and now this-!”

 

“So about this hugging theory-?”

Squeaked so tensely that I’d probably shattered a wineglass somewhere.

 

“I dunno, it looked more like they were hugging you… like it was comfortable. Was it comfortable?”

 

“Yeah… it did kind of feel like a weird hug, too…” I told him as I started walking again. “Maybe you’re onto something…”

 

To my surprise, Bao grabbed onto me, wrapping his arms around me, stopping me short.

 

“Maybe these ones come from you and you just need a hug!” he proclaimed.

 

“I’m good on hugs, but thanks, man.”

 

“Hey, when was the last time I hugged you?”

 

“Yesterday, during our one-year-of-being-Painters celebration.”

 

“Ah, duh! Come on, hug back…”

 

I did as ordered, awkwardly taking hold of him while also handling my sword.

 

And as I did, I noticed the blade of the weapon begin to pulsate.

 

“Bao… my sword’s glowing…” I informed him.

 

“My blades are too,” he replied. “What does… what does that mean…?”

 

“I couldn’t track anyone else with my sword before. But now we’re hugging, our weapons are able to locate the others.”

…

“Because that makes sense…”

 

“See! This is all about hugs!” Bao cheered. “Let’s go find a friend!”

 

With that, the two of us continued on, now in a cumbersome embrace, following the glow of our weapons as the intensity indicated our path. Unfortunately, that wound up meaning us wandering in the opposite direction to the one marked out on the walls.

 

Thankfully, we didn’t have to travel too far off-course before bumping into Kendal, already sporting her Painter clothing as she jogged around the corner.

 

“Ah! Thank goodness, I’ve been looking everywhere!” she immediately declared, jogging on the spot as though she didn’t want to break her pace. “Why are you hugging?”

 

“Long story,” Bao brushed it off, “but lemme check something real quick.”

He released me, and skittered over to Kendal, grabbing her into a hug instead even as she continued moving. She promptly hugged back.

 

“What’s this for? Other than because we’re best buds.”

 

“The leading theory is that all this is about someone needing a hug,” he explained to her, “so I’m just seeing if it was you.”

 

“It’s weird reasoning but he’s on a winning streak, so hear him out,” I added.

 

For a brief moment, nothing was said as Bao shared a hug with a jogging Kendal. Nothing about the world around us changed.

 

“Okay, thanks anyway!” Bao concluded as he finally broke away.

 

“Thank you for the hug!” Kendal beamed back. “We should probably keep moving, dunno if you’ve seen them but there are these board things all over the place.”

 

“Yeah, let’s go,” I nodded; Bao took the lead this time, guiding us along the path that the paintings directed us.

 

“Monsters on our tail!” Kendal shouted out barely a moment after we began, and our paces immediately hastened.

 

I could see coronas manifesting around Bao’s blades, and urged my sword to do the same: better to be ready for a fight than to expect that we’d outrun these things.

 

Our mad dash through the labyrinthine halls didn’t last long, as, after a dozen or so hurried turns, we found an elevator stationed at the end of the latest corridor.

 

“I take it we’re going in that?” I asked as the three of us rapidly closed the distance between ourselves and the metal doors.

 

“Probably, but I need to look for clues to make sure!” Bao yelped out.

 

“I’ll cover you!” Kendal spoke; I turned in time to see her spin on her heel and raise her bow up to the approaching Roller-Boards. My attention then went back to Bao, who was looking at the art on the walls.

 

“Three squirrels digging! Three floors down!” he blurted excitedly while making his way to the elevator doors. He mashed the up button until the doors opened up with a “doors opening”, and he and I both raced inside.

 

“Kendal, we’re going down! Come on!” I called out to her. Multiple damaged and defeated monsters littered the path ahead of her as she continued firing on the rest. Rather than turning around to make the short sprint to the elevator, she began skipping backwards, still launching pink arrows whenever the opportunity arose. The second she passed through the elevator doors, Bao hit the necessary button.

 

“Doors closing. Lift going down.”

 

Kendal fired one last arrow through the diminishing gap, and then the doors sealed shut and the sense of movement in the enclosed space began.

 

“Hey, does our school actually have a basement?” Bao asked us. “Then again, I guess it doesn’t have an elevator, so…”

 

“It doesn’t have Roller-Boards roaming around, either,” I pointed out.

 

“You have the best monster names,” Kendal laughed. “Hey, is Kitty lucky or not to be missing out on this?”

 

“Maybe something like this will happen next year, once she’s joined the school,” Bao suggested. For now, Kitty was spending school hours alone at Dakota’s; Neil was going to sort out her enrolment for the new school year.

 

The elevator came to a stop.

 

“Doors opening.”

 

The metal plates parted, and a huge, dimly-lit basement was unveiled to us. A large generator-like object with a big antenna was squatting in the middle of the expanse, and more multi-limbed padded boards were buzzing around like the whole floor was a hive. In amongst the frenzied bodies, Dakota and Zahid were valiantly fighting back.

 

“Guys, we’re here!” Kendal shouted out to them, and they both looked our way.

 

“Kendal, fire at the machine!” Dakota commanded, her attention immediately snapping back to the monsters around her.

 

“I’ll try!”

She didn’t get the chance: Roller-Boards started zooming towards us. Bao and I both struck out at them as one, on either side of Kendal, sending out crests of yellow and blue that knocked them back.

 

“We’ll clear a path for you, Kendal!” I spoke, exiting the elevator and waving my sword about like a flaming torch to ward off the monsters. I spotted Bao lunging out in my peripheral vision, but my focus was pretty much entirely on my own actions now.

 

The corona around my blade grew larger, and larger still, until it dwarfed the blade itself; the boards in front of me kept their distance, and I kept revolving to make sure I wasn’t being approached from behind.

 

Apparently, though, that wasn’t enough for one Roller-Board, as I caught it lunging for me just as I turned once again. I lashed out at it instinctively, and the resulting release of blue not only completely obliterated it, but mowed down a number of others in the vicinity. Seemingly spurred on, the others began moving inwards, wheeling around the remains of their kin.

 

“You guys don’t learn, huh?” I asked them, stabbing my sword into the ground and directing the blue to spread out across the floor, a criss-cross pattern that essentially electrocuted any of the boards that crossed it. A pile of inactive monsters quickly built up in a rough circle around me.

 

I took the opportunity to look around the room. Dakota was wielding her spear with a second tip on the other end, made of pure green; Bao was launching shifting spines of yellow at the boards to knock them away; Zahid… was just hacking his way through them with his axe… and Kendal was still sizing up the generator thing, charging up a large arrow all the while.

 

A chain grabbed a tight hold on my right arm. One of the Roller-Boards had apparently extended an appendage from beyond the reach of my trap. It yanked back, painfully tugging my arm away from my sword… but it had given me enough time to shift my grasp on the sword to my left hand.

“Bye-bye, Boardy…”

I willed the trap to expand out, giving the offending monster a debilitating zap (which, thankfully, didn’t pass through its chain-arm to me).

“Boardy, goodbye!” I concluded.

 

“I swear more of these fuckers are coming in from somewhere…!” Zahid growled from across the basement. “Kendal, can you take the shot yet?”

 

“I don’t think I have to wait!” she responded with vigour. “Keep out of the way and I should be able to plough through ‘em all!”

 

“To the walls, people!” Dakota yelled out with more than a hint of panic in her voice. I made my way quickly towards the edge of the basement, keeping my sword’s tip to the ground to move my board-zapper with me.

 

“Three…”

Okay, Kendal was way too excited over this…

“Two…”

I could only assume – hope – that everyone was out of the way now.

“One… GO!”

 

From her bow, Kendal launched a humongous pink arrow, barrel-thick, which ploughed through the hordes of Roller-Boards like wind blowing through grass and completely eradicated the generator. The sheer intensity of the light it made was almost blinding for a brief moment, and then it was gone. All of the remaining boards toppled over or wheeled to a lifeless halt.

 

“Daaaaaaayum!” Kendal whooped, repeatedly pumping her first in the air.

 

“We best power down and send our weapons back to mine,” Dakota noted with an exhausted huff. “And hope that Harmony puts us back where we were and not in the school’s basement.”

 

“Does the school have a basement, though?” Bao asked again as we began dissipating our regalia and dismissing our weapons.

 

No answer came, as we all found ourselves yawning at the same time.

 

The adventure was over, and as my watery eyes opened again, I was back in my ordinary classroom.

 

…

 

“Hugging?” Zahid grunted. “Seriously?”

 

“Seriously!” Bao nodded. “Let me hug you, just to make sure…!”

 

“I’ll break your nose, Bao, I swear!”

 

Another eventful journey from school to Dakota’s place on this warm summer afternoon.

 

“A quick one-!”

 

“I don’t need a hug, quit it!”

 

“Well, I’m stumped then,” my shorter friend sighed.

 

“It’s all good,” Dakota told him, “we beat the monsters anyway.”

 

“Sure, but it’s a loose thread…”

 

We reached the front door, and Dakota knocked out a tune. A few moments later, Kitty opened the door to us.

 

“Hi…” she greeted us softly.

 

“Oh! Kitty!” Bao grinned, and then took her into a great big hug.

 

In response, her face rapidly turned a deep shade of red, and she let out a stuttering squeak.

 

“Careful, you’ll squish her…” I warned him.

 

“Right, yeah, sorry!” he chuckled, relinquishing his hold on her; he obliviously walked past her as she collapsed against the door frame, at risk of setting it alight with how hot her cheeks were glowing.

 

“Hey Kitty,” Dakota smiled at the younger girl. “You missed all the action today…”

 

“A-Ah…” she muttered dazedly.

 

“It won’t be long and we’ll be off for the summer,” my girlfriend continued warmly. “And then you won’t have to be alone all day.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

… her absence had made us miss it, but her absence itself was the cause. Her being alone all day. Her just wanting a hug.

 

As Dakota, Kendal and Zahid headed inside, I put a hand gently on Kitty’s shoulder.

“Just to warn you, it’s probably gonna be a noisy evening,” I told her. She nodded, and I’m sure I could see a smile behind her eyes.

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