The Basement

The next day became much worse as the day went on. First, I fell out of bed and bruised my ass. Then a nasty knot was in my hair and the only choice was to take a quick shower which made me look like a wet dog. I bit into my eggs a little too soon and burned my mouth. The milk was spoiled and there was no chance of hanging out with my family tonight.

I could see that they were busy as they paced back and forth on their cell phones. My father was talking about a project into his baby blue flip phone. My mother was going over documents on her hot pink slide phone. Mindy texted me a good morning and said she'll text when she's ready to walk to school.

My phone went off, so I hugged my parents bye, told them I loved them and left the house. Closing the front door behind me, Mindy stood by my mailbox, her blonde hair shimmered in the sun and her outfit looked hand pressed. I assumed today she was going to confess to Jordan.

Jordan. A tall, black guy that liked all the things Mindy did. He wore glasses and kept his hair shaved short. Mindy knew he liked anime because she was able to find his Instagram. She confronted him in robotics, and he had to admit it. Every time they pass each other in the halls, they're both flustered. I knew that since then, Mindy has been head over heels.

"So, you gonna talk to Jordan today?" I poked her arm and referred to the ribbon headband she was wearing. It matched with her pixie blue dress. It looked like a fairy's wedding dress; it was cute.

She grew red like a tomato and became playfully defense. "Nooooo.."

"That no didn't sound so convincing, Mindy."

Her blush grew even brighter. "I know." She inhaled through her nose and exhaled a few times and turned to me. "I don't know if I can do it, Linsday!"

"Sure you can." She stared at me with puppy eyes.

"I can?"

"Yeah, and I'll be nearby if you need a hug immediately." She smiled and started to make way to school. The road before us felt so familiar from the years of walking it. I felt if I practiced, I could walk it with my eyes closed.

We made it to school. Nothing could be noted besides Nate was annoying and math was still stupid, and hard to solve. I was glad to make it to lunch. Almost every teacher gave me a scolding either in front of the class, before class, or after class. None of them took my side, none of them understood.

One of the few people that could understand sat across from me with a Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans on her tray. Her headband was slumping just a bit, but I knew she was going to fix it before she was going to confess.

She ate lunch, I poked it and ended up only eating an apple and a roll. I gave Mindy the rest and told her my upcoming Spanish test was getting my stomach worked up. I lied though. My stomach was upset from the recent events. What was I to do? The longer I keep it from Mindy, the worse it keeps getting for some reason.

I held my head in my hands then looked up at my friend, her chomping down on cheap lunch food. "Hey, Mindy?"

Her attention teared away from her tray. "Yeah, what's up, man?" I was about to say something, but I caught Jordon out of the corner of my eye. He was making his way to our table.

"Ten o clock, hottie coming in."

"Oh my god, Linsday, say something earlier next time!" She fixed her headband and wiped her face of any crumbs or gravy. She smiled brightly and when she spoke, her voice was a little higher. It was funny to watch as they both struggled to speak. They managed to agree to talk after school.

He then walked away, and Mindy deflated like a balloon in her seat.

"Why is he so cute?" I chuckled and stole her chocolate pudding cup.

"If you say so." I opened the cup and ate a spoonful in the same motion.

"Yeah, well, what about Halvor?"

I raised my eyebrow. "There's nothing going on between us."

"Mhm." She rolled her eyes at this; I knew she was being playful with this.

"Really, Mindy, he's just a neighbor. He's not even a friend." I said in a monotone voice. I guess I sounded the wrong way because she went silent.

Mindy seemed to believe me because she dropped the topic and stood up.

"I'll give you some room, see you when the bell rings." I nodded.

"Okay, see you in a second, mince monster." She smiled and left to dump her tray and get her stuff from her locker. I watched her leave the cafeteria and sighed. I'll have to explain that I wasn't upset, and it really was a misunderstanding and that I was tired.

I didn't have time to be tired or upset. I heard a thud in the hallway and got up from my seat in a hurry. I was in the hallway in seconds.

Lockers were dented like in superhero movies when the villain destroys everything. A body indent lined the lockers and the guy that made that shape laid on the floor. He was what slammed against the lockers. There was blood dripping all over his face and he held his ribs in pain.

He groaned. "It took Mindy." He tried to lift a finger, but I knew which way it went. There was only one place it was going to go.

I made sure my phone was in my pocket as I ran. I had to catch whatever took Mindy, I had to stop it somehow. I made it down our road, past my mailbox and into Halvor's house, slamming the door open.

Kenneth sat on the couch with a half-eaten pizza roll in his hand. He was stunned.

"Where is she?!"

"Down here, Linsday!" I heard Halvor holler from their basement. I made my way down the stairs and felt that I was going to trip multiple times but made it to the bottom.

At the bottom, in the basement of my werewolf neighbors was a tall, wardrobe mirror. I could see Mindy on the other side. She was being dragged down to Hell by Lilith.