Second Fall | Book 1 | Second Fall Read online

  The rumors were all different, but supposedly Blake went psychotic and attacked him before Travis was forced to kill his brother in self-defense. The entire incident matched the same characteristics of even more mysterious deaths around the country lately, but David didn’t really care; Blake wasn’t the smartest guy anyway. He’d probably done something to deserve it, like trying to play a prank on Travis. David didn’t think it was possible to push Travis that far, but Blake thrived on exploiting people’s emotions.

  David pushed the thought out of his mind and quietly walked down the hallway to his next class, head down low and eyes on anything but the people around him. He would’ve made it silently to his next class had he not walked into a tall, brown-haired guy who had backed away from his locker. The young man spun around and smiled when he saw David standing before him. David was actually relieved. He chalked it up to a small bit of good luck that he had just walked into his best friend, Matt Parker.

  “You’re going to walk into the wrong person one day if you don’t stop averting your eyes from everyone, you know?” Matt told him as he slammed his locker shut.

  “Yeah, sorry Matt,” David replied meekly.

  “Hey, don’t get all depressed over it. Come on, let’s get to class. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to be late again.”

  On that note, they walked together to their American History class. David was glad he had a friend like Matt. Growing up, David was the most socially awkward kid in their grade, but Matt was easy to get along with. He had never left David alone in the terror that was the public school system. From the teasing due to his quiet nature to their all-out brawl on the school bus in the seventh grade that got them both suspended, they were always stuck together through the worst of school. He was the closest thing David had to a brother.

  Their conversation took a detour from the usual video game topics since Matt wanted to discuss the Turner brothers along the way. David was a bit annoyed that Matt was following the gossip as well.

  “I’m telling you David, it’s just like those other incidents on the news. Something’s up, man.”

  “Maybe a prank gone wrong, maybe they were trying to get out of a trouble with that warden and it got out of hand, or maybe drugs. I don’t care. All I care about is if that tropical storm will get us out of class early today or not.”

  “Yeah, I saw on the news this morning where Florida was hit kind of hard. I can’t believe there’ve been twenty-six named storms already this season. The next one starts over, right?”

  David nodded, “It’ll be called Ashe.”

  “You would know that, nerd,” Matt joked.

  “Screw off,” David replied with a grin.

  Matt smirked, “Maybe the weather is a nice topic you can use to start off with Katie today?”

  David flipped him off. Matt had been trying to get David to ask out that cute girl Katie Thompson for a while. She was pretty shy, and David didn’t want to rush it, as she was fairly insecure herself. He found that funny for a girl who came from a family of wealth. They were good friends, and that was all they really were for the first three years he had known her. It wasn’t until after their junior prom the previous year that he had realized he felt more for her than he had thought. Matt kept poking him about the idea, but he only ever viewed her as a friend. Now it was just awkward anytime she was around, which he hated. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t just treat her like the friend she always had been to him anymore. Hormones were a bitch.

  One of the teachers greeting students outside of her classroom caught sight of David’s vulgar action towards Matt and stopped him, lecturing him on the importance of refraining from such behavior in school. Matt was halfway up the hallway, pointing and laughing as David shot him a glare. Matt waved dismissively and walked on ahead as David apologized and hurried to catch up. He and Matt sat in their usual spot in the back corner of the classroom. Though his usual apathetic demeanor masked it, David was happy to be in the one class he didn’t dread. Matt nudged him from behind.

  “There she is!” he whispered loudly. David looked towards the front of the room, where his eyes found the blond girl who had just appeared in the doorway. He realized that Matt was looking out for him as Katie entered. David attempted to wave her down, but suddenly locked up. Crap! Every damn time lately!

  To him, Katie was one of the few people who actually took notice of the fact that David existed in this world besides Matt. She wasn’t a popular girl, which was surprising for her appearance; a fit blond girl with green eyes to melt away the dread of anyone who looked into them. David had written that off to her self-esteem issues, which he’d been working to help her overcome, along with homework and studying. She wasn’t dumb, but David couldn’t help but wonder if she enjoyed his company as well, and might have had the same thoughts he was having now well before him. Matt continued to nudge him in the back, but David was too caught up in his own thoughts to care.

  “David! David! Dude, I’ll move! Get her to sit back here!”

  David came to, and looked over his shoulder, “You sure?”

  “Dude, I’m helping you out here! I’m moving!”

  “W-wait-”

  “Nope,” Matt said as he stood up and quickly hopped over a few desks to a seat a few rows away. He plopped down in an empty desk and gave David a thumbs up. David wasn’t sure if he should be nervous about what he had to do next, or impressed by the fact that Matt was that good of a friend. David actually managed a genuine smile and waved for Katie’s attention. She saw him in the back, and returned his wave…before taking a seat in the front desk of the row while David’s hand froze, thumbing at the empty spot behind him. His heart sank when she began to talk and laugh with the guy next to her. Why? What did I do wrong?

  David didn’t know the guy that well, but Ron Maynard was now beside something he wanted. Ron was everything David wasn’t; popular, athletic, rich, and charismatic to top it all off. He kept brushing back his blond hair as he talked to her, reaching over and patting her shoulder. David didn’t want to look over at Matt, but he could feel his sympathetic gaze. It irritated him. He hated sympathy. It only made him feel worse. Class started and David couldn't help but keep glancing at the two. It didn’t help that they were right at the front of the classroom. Katie was laughing at every funny comment Ron added to the lecture, and David was fuming inside of himself. It made him sick. Everything he had done for her, and this guy was reaping the rewards. At one point Ron looked back, almost as if he was making sure his presence was known. His eyes met David’s, and the smug look his face held made him wonder if Ron knew what he was doing to him. He wanted to chalk it up to paranoia, but the anger swelling inside was pushing all rational thought out of the way. When the class collapsed into a heated discussion about the Turner brothers and the recent cases of what officials had deemed an advanced case of rabies, David began flipping through his textbook in an attempt to find something to occupy himself from the thoughts of disappointment that were beginning to coalesce within his mind. From the War of 1812 to the beginnings of World War I, nothing was easing the war inside his head.

  After class, David stayed behind while the class emptied out. Matt walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, but David continued to flip through the same book and acted as if he wasn’t there.

  “You alright?” Matt asked. He knew damn well he was asking a pointless question.

  “Yeah…” David answered, staring blankly at the picture of the B-2 Spirit in his textbook before him. What I’d give to fly away…and bomb my problems to Hell.

  Matt glared at Katie and her acquaintance as they left the room, “Ron Maynard, one of those preppy guys from a money family. Looks at a girl right and they just flock to him. Figures, she’s just like the rest, huh?”

  David didn’t want to agree. He knew Matt was wrong. She couldn’t be like the rest. That was why he liked her. He calmly closed his textbook and placed it in his backpack before he stood up and m
ade his way out of the classroom. Matt followed behind him, catching up and walking in front of him.

  “David, where are you going?”

  “Home,” he answered. Matt recognized David’s depressed tone of voice that only surfaced after extreme disappointment. It was best to leave him alone when he was down, but he wasn’t going to let him give up that easily. David walked around Matt, who grabbed his backpack and tugged. David spun around and smacked his hand away. His emotions weren’t exactly stable, and he wasn’t against hitting anyone who got in his way at the moment. Matt was giving him a stern look.

  “Dude, just go try,” Matt told him.

  “Try what?” David asked. He knew the answer already, but wanted to avoid it for as long as possible.

  “Just go ask her out! You might as well try while you still can. Do or die man, do or die.”

  David stood in the hallway for a moment, trying to decide if he should heed Matt’s words or not, “Any other words of wisdom?”

  Matt smiled. “Fuck it.”

  “Fuck it?”

  “Yep, no matter what happens, fuck it. You’re doing it, and that’s a huge step for you. Go for it.”

  David actually found some meaning behind such a crude idea, something arbitrary. He turned around and started down the direction Katie was headed while Matt wished him luck. After a few minutes of maneuvering his way through the hallways of the school building, he caught up with her on the way to her last class, and drew in another deep breath as he called out to her, “Hey, Katie!”

  She stopped and turned around among a crowd of people, surprised to see David walking up to her. “Yeah?”

  David summoned all of his courage, and prayed he wouldn’t screw up. Finally, time seemed to stand still as he blurted, “Want-to-grab-something-to-eat-after-school?”

  She stood there for a moment with a look of bewilderment on her face. David hoped that her green eyes were glistening in relief, rather than any feeling of pity. She looked to her feet and blushed before finally answering, "Sorry David, but I was going to get something with Ron..."

  Crushing despair swept through David’s body when his heart finally found its beat again, but he powered through, "Oh, don't worry about it. I was just...wondering...anyhow, see you tomorrow!" he answered with as much of a smile as he could muster. It fucking hurt.

  "Yeah...see you," she said as she turned to walk away, still staring at the floor. David ended his façade of acceptance and started to go to his last class of the day. Halfway there, he changed his mind and decided to make his destination the parking lot instead, like it was to begin with. The long walk there gave him plenty of time to think alone, and that was a very bad thing. With one thought came two, and with those two came more and more in a pyramid of scenario after scenario of mind-numbing thoughts that would occupy his head for God knew how long. If anyone ever were to ask him to describe depression, that was the most accurate description he could give. After getting into his truck, he backed out of his parking spot and spun wheels, staining the asphalt as he left the campus in a cloud of burnt rubber.

  He couldn't get her out of his head, and grunge playing in the background didn't help. He kept jabbing the ‘next’ button on his CD player, but one sad song after another kept playing. He had to laugh at the thought that all of the music he listened to was quite depressing. He finally left it on a slow, low-tuned metal song, and tried to focus on getting home. Clouds were forming, and getting thicker and thicker as the Sun was eclipsed.

  "About right..." he muttered as the first raindrops hit his windshield. The old truck’s windshield wipers seemed to just smear the water across it, blinding him. "Still seems about right."

  He'd hoped he would be used to it by now; heartbreak. Even though it had happened before, it always managed to feel like a new pain. He swore and punched his steering wheel, hurting his hand. Cursing himself, he held his injured hand up as a stinging sensation flooded it. He'd done everything for her, and he was the one with no self-esteem now. The song blared on his speakers that he'd turned up to drown out his own thoughts. Max volume wasn’t loud enough to deafen the mind of the heartbroken. He knew he had to respect her decision, as she just didn’t see him that way, but still, it sucked.

  Moments went by, and the rain was gradually falling harder when David noticed headlights on the side of the road up ahead. They belonged to an old station wagon that had slid off of the road into the ditch. Angry though he was, it wasn’t an excuse to not lend a hand, so he pulled off of the road to help. He eased onto a dirt path used by farming equipment and pulled the emergency brake. The rain began to come down in sheets as he got out of the truck, belittling himself for not having a raincoat. He grabbed for his hat in the backseat, something to shield him from the rain. After putting it on, he looked down at his already soaked shirt. At least black doesn't show much water.

  He walked across the road to the car and knocked on the window. It was then that he realized that the driver side door was open.

  "That's weird…”

  He walked around to the door and looked inside. There was blood on the steering wheel and seat.

  "What the hell?" He took a step back and tripped backwards into the ditch. After getting back up, he went back to the road and looked around into the fields on both sides. There wasn't anyone around that he could make out, and the heavy rain was making it hard to search. He stood there worried, unsure of what to do. He finally went back to his truck and decided to put a call in to 911.

  He had just reached the door when he heard a snarling sound over the rain. He snapped his head to his right to see a beaten looking man standing a few yards away across the road, drenched and bloodied.

  “Sir? Are you alright?”

  The man began to walk towards him, swaying a bit. David wasn’t sure if he was a drunk, or if he was the man involved in the wreck. He looked hurt; sporting an obvious tear by his shoulder on his plaid shirt, so David figured it was the latter. Under the tear was the crimson color of blood. The man was making strange noises. David began to fear he had a collapsed lung, or worse.

  “Sir! I’m calling for help! I’ll help you into my truck in a sec-”

  The man suddenly broke out into a run and pounced on David, who didn’t know what to do. He tried to fend him off, but the man bit into his arm hard and wouldn't let go.

  "AAARRGH! Get off me you crazy-"

  The man finally let him loose, only to strike out again. David drove his fist into the man's face and sent blood spraying from his nose. The deranged assailant didn’t let up, and only ceased his attack after David managed to land a kick to his right kneecap. He ran to his truck as the man got to his feet and hobbled in his direction. David opened the driver side door of the truck and grabbed his backpack. Unzipping it, he retrieved his calculus book and readied it over his shoulder. Math, save me now.

  As the man got within range, David began the swing. He cracked the man against his left cheek with the textbook and sent him falling against the side of the truck. The feat actually had David frozen in surprise. His hands trembled with the book in his clutches. Fighting to breathe through the adrenaline rush, he bellowed, “Newton, you glorious bastard!”

  He raised the book over his head and brought it down on the man rising from the mud with as much force as he could muster. After planting the lunatic’s cranium into the earth he slammed the book onto the man’s head and made for the driver’s seat. Quickly fleeing from the scene, he looked in the mirror to see the man running after him, but failing to keep up with a damaged knee. When he could no longer see him, he reached for his cell phone. He started to dial 911 once again, but stopped as everything slowly began to spin. He then broke out into a sweat. The wound on his arm burned, and the blood flow wasn’t letting up. He hadn’t noticed the blood. There was a lot of it. Everything slowed down, and everything hurt.

  "What's...hap...?”

  The last thing he saw was a bolt of lightning tearing across the sky. He blacked out, and the tr
uck went off into a ditch. The thunder that crackled above shook the very earth as the skies released a torrent of rainfall.

  Chapter Two - The Hell Next Door

  Joseph Palmer was leaning on the door, listening closely to the sounds coming from outside. Shouting was coming from the house next door. He looked for anything suspicious through the peephole, but couldn’t see anything in the darkness. The power had been out for the past day, thanks to Tropical Storm Ashe. Florida had taken quite a thrashing this season, and though Ashe was one of the weaker storms, she had dealt her hand, and that hand was strong.

  Joseph and his best friend Max Dawson were staying put in Joseph’s house while the world outside seemed to be falling apart. They knew of the strange incidents that had been all over the news lately, but never would have imagined that the same scenario would leave them hiding out in a house while people were being attacked outside.

  “Should we run for it?” Max whispered loudly into Joseph’s ear. “We’ve got a chance!”

  “Quiet! I think those things are next door now!” he shot back.

  “More the reason to get the hell out of here! Come on!” Max grabbed at Joseph’s sleeve and went to pull him away. Joseph spun around and knocked him to the floor. A skinny guy like Max had no chance of moving the two-hundred and fifty pound football player. The battery-powered radio on the coffee table that had been on since the storm had rolled through began to play the emergency broadcast tone. Max had heard it countless times for storm warnings, but never had it sent a colder chill down his spine than it did right now.