Hazy

Scott opens his eyes to solid metal walls. Rust and gunk caked the circular cylinder he was in, Scott looked both ways but either seemed endless and dark. It reeked of death and manure, and his feet were submerged in grotesque water up to the ankles.

A sound comes from behind him and he whips his head in the other direction. The sound of shuffling can be heard, shuffling and sloshing water. It was slow at first, as a figure was just barely visible at the edge of where he was.

He couldn't make it all out, but it looked like a person low to the water. His breath hitches in his throat as he takes a step back. In that instant the person let's out a low gurgling growl and immediately starts to bolt toward him on all fours, snarling with blackened teeth and dark sludgy liquid oozing from their mouth.

His senses kick in and Scott yelps, bolting in the other direction. In no time though he's tackled to the ground and the disgusting water gets in his ears as he's pushed down by the figure.

It pins him down by the arms and Scott can make out the face of a woman... Or, what used to be a woman at least. Her mouth looked dryer than a desert but had repulsive smelling black stuff oozing out and her teeth were sharp and were darkened by both decay and the liquid. A dentists nightmare for sure.

Her dark brown hair was matted and messy, and her face was veiny and pale as if the life was sucked out of her and the darkness of what was left took over. The woman's white dress was stained in blood and dark substance, perhaps the same thing that was streaming from her mouth.

What shook him up even more were her eyes; fully white, popping slightly from their sockets with black veins sitting at the edges of them. Her face was gaunt and sunken in like a corpse.

She lowers her face closer to Scott's and the pungent smell suffocates his lungs as he gasps for breath. The brunette squeezes his eyes shut, whimpering to himself in fear.

A loud beeping siren blares around Scott, all his surroundings were crimson red in the lighting and the walls were solid metal. The woman had disappeared and he now sat in a pentagonal concrete room with sirens on each of the five walls.

He curls up and covers his ears, they rang and rang he couldn't even hear himself think. The beeping was loud. He wanted out.

The floor below Scott begins to move and his panic set in again as the dark void below the floor begins to come into view. He scrambles for the other side, trying to climb onto anything but the walls were smooth and had nothing to grab. Even the siren lights had vanished.

The floor stops at no more than 7 inches, he desperately hugged the wall on his toes, barely keeping balance. Looking over his shoulder, the dark void turned into black gooey water. It rippled softly, and it didn't take long for the smell from earlier to come back.

Scott closes his eyes again, trying not to assume the worst. He didn't want to see that woman again, but he wasn't so lucky. The water shifted, Scott heard it. The gurgled growl came back and he heard it approaching closer by the second until his ankle was grabbed with a clawed mangled hand and he was jolted backward into the water.

As he hit the water, a solid surface smacks him in the head and his forest green eyes fly open. Scott pants heavily, looking around at his surroundings again. His alarm was going off and his mother was standing in the doorway, seemingly startled.

Scott gets up and sits on the edge of the bed, a cold sweat enveloped his body and his heart rate was skyrocketed. He tried to breathe, calming himself down.

"Honey...? Is everything alright? I heard you whining in your sleep again. Another nightmare?" His mother gives him a concerned look and sits beside him, hugging him close. Scott says nothing and nods.

That nightmare... It was worse than most of his nightmares had been in the past. It was vivid, like he could really feel and smell and hear everything in real life. Scott leans into his mother's hug, instantly feeling relieved and safe.

"Breakfast is done, get ready and come down to eat okay?" She gives him a reassuring smile and stands up to leave. "Oh, and no more falling off the bed mister. You'll bruise yourself!" With that, she closes his door.

Scott lifts up his shirt and looks in the mirror, scoffing. Too late for that I guess...

His torso was already beginning to bruise up. Scott pokes at the forming injuries and winces, they were already throbbing too. He debated on whether he should ask his mom if he could stay home today instead of going to school.

He couldn't do that though, his English class was hanging on by a thread. He wouldn't graduate this year if he didn't pull that grade up, which was motivation enough to shake off the jitters.

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The taste of warm golden egg yolk melting over his tongue along with crispy bacon and fresh fruit juice made him feel immaculately better after the nightmare he'd had. The waking sun just barely shown through the windows of the kitchen and he put his dishes away.

Scott kisses his mom on the cheek and thanks her for the breakfast before slinging his bag over his shoulder and heading out the door.

The crisp Autumn breeze immediately hit all of Scott's senses at once. The chill coolness of the slight wind danced in his hair, and the smell of rain filled his nose. It was a much more pleasant smell than the one of his previous nightmare. This smell reminded him of soft grey clouds and puddles to throw himself into.

As he walked down the sidewalk, kids came out for their school buses in warm little jackets and hats. The leaves crunched beneath Scott's feet. It was such a satisfying sound to hear whilst walking through his peaceful neighbourhood in the early morning.

Not long did he come to the corner of the street. Leaning against the dark red brick of the laundromat building just around the corner was Kenneth Maury. Scott's smile immediately spreads across his face like a virus to a globe.

"Hey Ken." Scott walks up to him and exchanges a handshake of theirs. Kenny returns the bright smile and begins to walk beside Scott in the direction of Jarville High School, home of the Ravens. The cars drifted smoothly on the paved street, gently kicking up more leaves into the air.

Kenny takes a deep breath and exhales," I kind of like October. It's always so aesthetical... What other season could have such a warm and colourful vibe like this? Not even Summer compares..."

Scott doesn't reply, but acknowledges Kenny's words. He agrees, despite being the type for slightly sunnier weather he very much enjoyed Autumn the most when he really thought about it. It had its own strong identity that no other seasons really fulfilled. Sure, Christmas was in Winter and Easter in Spring... But Autumn was perfect without those holidays.

The sight of the other high schoolers entering the building gave Scott a little anxiety. Despite being the athletic type, he didn't particularly like talking to people. Shockingly enough, Kenny was the smooth talker of the two. Only people didn't like Kenny as much, he was considered weird by a majority of the school and even some despised him.

The bright oranges, scarlets, and golds of the school's trees were mesmerising and fell like cherry blossom petals, creating a gorgeous flurry of firey leaves. He carries himself up the steps.

Ready for another day of high school I guess... He'd be lying if he said he was ecstatic. Scott was weird about school, he was semi-popular but always questioned due to his friendship with Kenny.

Scott never questioned his own friendship though. Kenny was worth being friends with, he was kind, generous, intelligent, and funny. Not to mention that Kenny was the only reason Scott got through everything at school. He wish he could protect himself the way Kenny protected him, but Scott didn't have the backbone for that unless he was really pushed far enough.

As the two boys walk into the building, they're met with crowded hallways and classmates talking in their designated friend groups. The school echoed with the chatter of teenagers and young adults, as well as teachers. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood currently.

Scott let's out a relieved exhale, scanning the hall. No sign Richard, which was good. Nothing good ever came into play when that prick was around. He was the only man who could irritate Scott quickly, and it's all because the guy can't just be nice around Kenny.

At first Scott always assumed that Richard was a racist, given Kenny's dark skin tone but when that wasn't the case Scott felt confused. He thought it'd have been obvious, racism was still something that occurred often enough so it was an easy thing to imagine.

No sign of Richard anywhere, which was great for them. He must have still had in school suspension after the fight Scott had with him. Scott moves to his locker and stores his unneeded books for the moment, and replaces the spot in his bag with textbooks.

"Hey... Scotty..." He looked up at the dark man, Kenny leaned against the locker beside Scott's with a straight faced expression and he glances away," can we skip Phys Ed today?"

That was a shock to hear. Kenny didn't usually prefer skipping unless it was certain classes, and Physical Education wasn't one of those usual classes. Scott chuckles and zips his bag up, closing the locker," Ken, you know I can't just skip gym... It's the only class I actually enjoy."

Kenny looks away before pushing himself up from the locker, continuing to walk with Scott," I know, but I'm... Not feeling it today I guess."

"Oh so you think you can get me to skip gym with you but I can never get you to skip art class with Mrs. Grover?" Scott gives a sly smirk and Kenny sighs.

"Well you see, art is actually entertaining no matter how annoying you think the teacher is. I happen to think Mrs. Grover is lovely, she's lighthearted and not afraid to be weird while doing her job. It's admirable." Kenny had a point. Scott didn't think about it until Kenny spoke about it, but he didn't really care how weird Mrs. Grover was.

Scott's thought this way every time that Kenny has retold him how admirable Mrs. Grover is. He'd agree, but when he heard other people on the sports teams talk about her and how strange she was he'd just agree and return to thinking that.

And every time Scott noticed this about himself, he'd hate how easily he followed the herd. If they asked him to arm wrestle a hungry tiger, he would. Realistically no, but that's how it seemed to be.

Scott groans and tilts his head back to look at the ceiling lights of the hallway," fine. I'll skip with you but only this once. You owe me an art skip."

Kenny nods and gives a soft smirk. Scott huffs again, he hated it when Kenny gave him that look. It made him feel embarrassed," anyway I should probably get going to my homeroom, Ken... I'll catch you later."

Kenny nods and says his farewells before leaving to his own homeroom, a couple of girls trot up to him as he's walking. Tall, dark, and handsome... No surprise there that the ladies like him.

Scott somewhat envied Kenny for that, he had all these girls around him that seemed to like him but he rarely gave them too much attention. It was always so casual for him. Though probably not too surprising, Scott knew Kenny already had a current crush.

He always wondered why Kenny was the way he was. Cool and collected, but when Kenny asked him to skip Phys Ed, Scott had a slight feeling something was wrong. He decided that he should ask about it during that period. Hopefully it was more harmless than his gut feeling said.

Scott couldn't focus all class.