Chapter 2- Eclipse Party

They all decided to lay on the front lawn. Jeremy's mom had bought a ton of special eclipse glasses and in the backyard the voices of various drunk adults mingled with the occasional scream of joy from one of Jeremy's younger siblings or one of their tiny friends.

Jeremy was a kind gangly kid. The ongoing joke was that all his nutrients just made him taller. No muscle, no extra mass, just dark hair and long limbs. His best features are his eyes. They were a grey green that reminded Diana of a calm lake. She had only ever seen him riled up around his gaggle of siblings. Being the oldest of six meant that he got all of the responsibility and none of the leniency. This in turn meant that he often played the role of the mom in their friend group. He was good at it.

The front lawn was much smaller than the backyard but their conversations were safe here. Luckily there was enough room to lay out a few beach towels and the four of them settled down. Rachel was sweetly nestled in Thomas's arms as they used their backpacks to lean against. Jeremy sprawled out on his own towel with a drink in each hand. Diana put her back pack in between her legs as she sat down so that she could have easy access to her supplies and something to lean her sketchbook against.

They had each brought a plate of food with them. Diana's was loaded with baked beans, chips, and 3 different types of macaroni and cheese. She did have a second plate that was full of hamburgers and hotdogs with all the fixings. The boys had snagged a couple beers while the parents weren't looking and had poured them into red solo cups. Beer made her sleepy but she would have one or two to fit in.

On their way to Jeremy's house Rachel and Diana had stopped and smoked a small spliff in an empty parking lot. It was going to be her first time being crossfaded. Well, closest to crossfaded she's ever been.

'I'm not that high… I'm pretty high. God. Rachel is so pretty.'

Diana's sketchbook was resting on her knees and her various pencils were splayed out at her side. She had chosen an HB pencil to start. Very light lines to create the base, the general shape, the composition started to grow. Once she had the base lines drawn she added softer pencils and shading.

"That's really good! Are you going to draw their faces?"

"…probably not." Faces are hard. They never look just right. Bodies are easier. It's really hard to make the faces emote.

It was a really nice sketch even without the faces. Two bodies intertwined in a gentle embrace. One looking into the sky while the other, in their arms, leaned into the others chest. It was a very sweet picture. Thomas and Rachel were such an attractive couple.

"What does 'emote' mean?"

Diana had to catch herself before she let out an exasperated sigh. Oliver had walked out the front door, and was standing over her shoulder, dripping a fudgcicle. He was the spitting image of Jeremy. Just… Ten years younger. It was sometimes really weird to look at Jeremy and his siblings. The genetics were so strong.

"It means to show emotion"

"Oh…"

Oliver seemed to leave it at that. He nestled up to Diana, and got a quick napkin to the face before he could wipe chocolate on her flannel over-shirt. Oliver liked to be around Jeremy's friends, especially Diana. He was a small artistic soul and he really looked up to his older brother. He would never admit this, of course, but he was going to miss his older brother when he left for college.

Diana kept adding details to the sketch of Thomas and Rachel. The grass around them, the beach blanket that they were laying on. The couple had long since changed their sitting positions, but Diana wanted to continue refining the quick pencil sketch.

She hadn't even noticed how much time had passed before the front door opened again and Jeremy's oldest younger sister came out.

"Hey Jeremy, Mom is handing out eclipse glasses, and she wants us all in the backyard for 'togetherness' or something."

As soon as she had finished her prepared statement she went back into the house. Leaving the four teens and the now awake 8 year old blinking after her.

"Whelp. I guess that means that we should head to the back."

"Finish your beers!"

All four teens started to chug what little was left in their cups while seemingly having forgotten that the youngster was witness to their debauchery.

"MOM! JEREMY IS DRINKING BEER!"

"Shit!"

Oliver dashed into the house with the four teenagers scrambling with their stuff behind him. Luckily it seemed like no one heard Oliver's outburst before the teenagers had caught him and promised him that they would sneak him extra desserts if he didn't tell.

As they made their way back outside they saw all the parents looking a little worse for wear, or maybe better. I'm sure they would argue better. Diana's dad was deep into a drunken conversation about some conspiracy theory or another. Her mother was trying to look young and "hip" (that's what the kids say, right?) while wearing eclipse glasses. Not an easy look to pull off. The four teens grabbed some root beer floats that the younger kids had made too many of, and put on their eclipse glasses.

After what felt like ages, and dozens of adults saying, "It should be any minute now". The sky finally started to change.

Diana had seen an eclipse before. Probably. I mean they are uncommon but they aren't completely rare. And with the internet you can see pictures and whatnot. It's not the most exciting thing, but the little kids had made cardboard eclipse viewers and Jeremy's dad even had a dad pun apron about the eclipse. The whole point was it was something different from the everyday. A reason to have a cookout and for the parents to get drunk.

The light shifted and the quality of the air seemed to worsen a little bit. Maybe it was just a little more difficult to breathe.

Diana felt overwhelmed by a thumping in her chest. The air seemed to congeal in her lungs, making it hard to breathe. She looked around, but it seemed like everyone else had started moving in slow motion. Rachel seemed to be talking to her but no sound made it to Diana's ears.

Wait. Her eyes. Rachel's eyes were completely blacked out. The whites of her eyes were solid black.

'Was this just a trick of the glasses? Are everyone's eyes blacked out? Why can't I breathe?'

Everything around had gone completely dark. There was only a faint outline of the bodies around her, much like the outline of the moon during the eclipse. Nothing moved. Not even a breeze passed by.

Diana went to rip off her glasses and as soon as she did all of the heads whipped around to face her. Dozens of soulless black eyes bore into her. Only the heads seemed to move. The rest of the bodies stayed stationary.

The eyes of her acquaintances, her friends, and her parents seemed to grow as the world started to darken and twist around her. This felt so familiar.

"Help us"

Everything went dark.