#stolashoots

He wonders how it’ll happen, if it’ll be quick, a slice across his throat that leads to an endless sleep, or jagged cuts and bites that leaves him broken and bloody in a dark alleyway, suffering until his body can no longer handle the damages he’s sustained. It’s certainly a gruesome thought.

Someone comes up from behind him and sits down, legs swinging over the ledge and tugging him from his imagination. “What’s shaking?”

“Contemplating death. How’re you holding up?” A-ya turns to look over at C-ta. Large, dark bags form under his eyes, and his fists are purple and black. The answer is obvious; it was cruel of him to ask. C-ta just smiles at him, then reaches up to ruffle his hair.

“As well as can be, I suppose.” He hands over a pudding cup and a plastic spoon. “Here. B-ko found a pack while scavenging and was nice enough to share.” A-ya takes it, removes the top, and licks off the pudding stuck to it. “Might as well indulge, you know. Since this’ll be our last night.”

A-ya lets go of the top, both of them watching as it floats to the street meters below. “I sort of feel bad for doing that,” He admits after a second, then scoops up a small chunk of pudding and sticks it into his mouth.

C-ta just shrugs. “If monsters are going to steal Earth from us anyway, we might as well ruin it as much as we can. Let them deal with all of the pollution.”

He tries to savor the treat, he really does, but it’s gone in a matter of moments, and he’s left scraping at the plastic, wondering how degrading it’d be if he licked off the pudding residue. He throws the cup and the spoon, listening for the faint clatter when they strike pavement.

“Today will be a good night to die,” he declares, staring off into the distance. The sun is setting; in a handful of minutes, it’ll be completely out of sight. “I wanted to watch it. The sunset, I mean. Before, before all of this, I never stopped to watch it.” The fluffy clouds above bleed reds and oranges, and even the crumpled buildings below appear almost picturesque despite being half destroyed.

C-ta says nothing, he just leans against A-ya and sighs. They observe in silence, squinting against the harsh, blinding light, forever engraving the sight into their memories. The sun sinks along the horizon, leaving only the Tear to illuminate the world below.

“We should go back inside,” C-ta says, turning around and getting to his feet. He reaches out and helps A-ya up, too. “You know, I gotta admit, it is sort of beautiful, even if we’re all going to be dead by morning because of it.” He’s looking up, and A-ya follows his gaze.

The Tear hangs in the sky like a giant scar in the fabric of space, glowing a soft silver and oozing out thick, black sludge that falls to the ground miles away. Soon, it will be the cause of humanity’s destruction, but really, who’s to say mankind wasn’t already teetering on quite a tightrope before it decided to show up? If not today, then tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then next week. At least, this way, they could put up a fight, even if it was a losing one.

A-ya’s met with a sudden, inexplicable desire to do something reckless. After all, this is his last chance to do something he might regret later, and there won’t exactly be a later for him to worry about it. He taps C-ta on the shoulder, gaining his attention. After all these years, his childhood friend is still a few inches taller than him, and A-ya grabs hold of his shirt to yank him down to eye level. He leans forward, only to chicken out at the last minute and peck C-ta on the cheek.

He pulls away after, eyes trained on the Tear because it’s the only thing interesting to look at other than his best friend’s face. “That was for good luck,” he says, matter of fact.

“I don’t think a kiss on the cheek is going to give me much luck against an endless band of monsters,” C-ta grins. “Now, maybe a real kiss…”

“Don’t push your luck,” A-ya shoves him away, rolling his eyes. “Think anyone made dinner? I don’t want to die on an empty stomach.”

C-ta laughs and follows him back inside.

***

Years ago, when he was just a child, the Tear opened in the heavens. Back then, before everything turned to shit, it appeared to be little more than a stitch of light in the sky, almost like a shooting star that simply refused to fade.

Some thought it to be an omen, others were simply curious, and when astrologists couldn’t easily decipher what it was, most stopped caring. It was treated as something to simply accept; there wasn’t much else that could be done.

And then one day, the Tear opened, dripping its giant globs of goo onto the Earth, burning and cauterizing the land below.

That was the beginning of the end.

***

Draw, aim, fire.

Draw, aim, fire.

Draw, aim, fire.

The motions are mechanical, requiring little to no thought to complete. His arms and shoulders burn, his back stiff, his fingers sore, but he shoves away his pain to focus on his target meters below. He breathes in, then out, and releases the arrow. His aim is true; it’s a direct hit, the arrow slicing through semi-translucent matter and embedding itself into the monster. It squirms and sputters, then expands like a zit and pops, splattering its internal juices on the nearby building walls.

It’s not a pretty sight; A-ya is suddenly glad he chose such a high vantage point. He stumbles back from the roof ledge. He spies two more monsters in the distance, the light radiating from the Tear reflecting off of them, but he’s too exhausted to lift his arms and prepare his bow.

He sits down and looks up at the sky. The Tear hangs prettily, thousands of miles away, continuously spitting out inky sludge.  It can’t even be bothered to take a break to witness humanity’s downfall.

There’s a scream to his left, piercing and sharp. A-ya tenses, mistaking it for B-ko or D-ne, but it dies with a choked gargle before he can move. No, he denies, it couldn’t have been from either of them, he won’t accept it.

He struggles to his feet, his bow held loosely in his fingers, and staggers over to the edge closest to the noise. He knows it’s too later for the owner, but if the monster is in sight, he could at least avenge them. A-ya peers over the ledge, only to jerk back when he sees a giant glob scaling the side of the building. He pulls away, readying his bow and summoning up his energy to form an arrow made of pure light.

The slime crawls up over the ledge, slinking closer. A-ya raises his bow, breath harsh and arms shaking. It towers over him, rising itself higher and higher until it blocks out his view of the Tear. Only, since it’s made of translucent material, the light penetrates through it, highlighting its stringy organs and its last meal, the still undigested remains of what was once a human.

If he releases his arrow now, there will be no way of missing. Just a twitch of his fingers, and the abomination will never be able to hurt another soul again. Let it fly, he tells himself, the bastard deserves it.

And then he sees it. A gorgeous red ribbon swimming in the monster’s abdomen.

He freezes, unable to let the arrow go and save himself. Like a deer caught in headlights, he’s about to be run over, and there’s nothing he can do about. Gods, now he really regrets not giving C-ta a proper kiss.

There’s a flash from the corner of his eye, a blur of movement he’s too terrified to look at, and the monster gives a great shudder and splits apart, red-tinted liquid squirting from the massive wound as it slumps over.

A-ya drops his bow, the arrow fading with a hiss, and falls to his knees, not noticing the slime he lands in. Something grabs his shoulder and shakes him. Numb, he turns to see C-ta hovering over him. He’s covered in blood splatters, one of his eyes firmly shut, a hatchet in his tight grip.

“You’re alive,” C-ta is somehow smiling, despite what just happened moments ago.

“The others?” He asks, already knowing the answer; he just doesn’t want to believe it.

C-ta’s grin falters, and he shakes his head. “I haven’t seen anyone in a few hours. It’s a miracle I spotted you when I did. Hey, let’s get out of here, alright? There’s a structure a block away that’s still pretty intact.”

A-ya nods but doesn’t move to stand. C-ta sighs and helps him to his feet, wrapping an arm around his waist to keep him upright.

“Somehow,” A-ya begins as they walk down the steps, C-ta tensing at every turn as if he expects a monster to jump out and attack. “Somehow I feel like I should be apologizing.”

“Really? For what?”

He thinks for a second. “In middle school, I started that rumor that you were in love with that one girl. You know, the one that sat in front of you in class.”

“I already knew you did that.” C-ta laughs, rolling his eyes. “You were just about the only person who didn’t ask if it was true.”

“Of course I didn’t; it was obvious you didn’t have feelings for her. In second grade, I took two of your animal crackers and lied when I was asked if I stole them.”

C-ta scrunches up his nose. “Well, gotta admit I didn’t know about that one. I better take you to the jail house and put you behind bars.” They’re back outside now, and C-ta glances around for any movement.

“In high school, when we were all in that occult club, I tried to perform the One Man Hide and Seek game using the stuffed rabbit you gave me.”

They stop walking, turning to face each other. A-ya can’t stand the sight of C-ta’s surprise, and he looks away at a crooked stop sign. “I felt really bad afterwards; it was covered with slashes and stitches. I tried to fix it, but it never looked the same. I had to hide it every time you came over.”

“I… You kept it?” C-ta asks, eye wide. “I honestly thought you got rid of it years ago. A-ya, I-“ He’s interrupted by a moan coming from the left. “Hold up a second.” He lets go, pausing to make sure A-ya don’t tip over immediately, and storms off to investigate. He turns a corner and there’s a flash of blinding light, then he’s beside A-ya again.

“Well,” C-ta grins, leading his friend down another street, “if you get to apologize for things in the past that you can’t change, so can I.” He sticks his tongue out when A-ya begins to protest. “Where to begin. Oh, well, for starters, I’m sorry your parents were never around.”

“That’s not your fau-“

“Hush now,” C-ta slings his arm over A-ya’s shoulder. “I’m sorry that the Tear showed up, and that it opened and destroyed everything. I’m sorry our childhoods were ruined because of it. I’m sorry that we’re probably going to die soon.”

“Those aren’t things you could have prevented,” A-ya mumbles, kicking a pebble.

“Fine, then. I’ll come up with something that is actually my fault.” He hums, then points with his hatchet at a door. “There.” He lets go to open the door and usher A-ya inside. It’s pitch black until A-ya remembers to summon one of his arrows. It’s meant for destruction, yet it glows a gentle light that brightens the room considerably. He sits down in the middle of the room, C-ta joining him.

“Hey, A-ya?”

“Hmm?” He stops inspecting the boxes against the walls to look at his friend.

“I’ve thought of something to apologize for.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” C-ta shuffles closer to him and puts his hands over A-ya’s. “I had a crush on you in high school. Sorry I never said everything.”

“’Had?’” A-ya asks, leaning forward.

“Yep. Had. It wasn’t until all of this started that I realized what I felt was more than just a crush. I guess in some way I’m glad the Tear showed up; I wouldn’t have had a chance otherwise.”

“What makes you think you have a chance now?” The world is about to end, and here they are in the dark, grinning like fools. “If you’re going to confess, you’re going to have to do it properly.”

“If you insist. A-ya, I really like you. Will you go out with me?”

“Sure; I don’t think we have much time left, but yes.” A-ya reaches out and pulls C-ta closer to kiss him, on the lips properly this time. It’s not perfect, but it’s warm and makes their hearts soar.

“Two kisses in one day, aren’t I lucky.” C-ta opens his mouth to say more, but is interrupted by a bang against the door. They jump, pulling away in instinct. A-ya knocks the arrow into his bow and aims. When the door doesn’t immediate crash down, he relaxes it.

“How long do you think we can hold out here?”

“I… I don’t know,” C-ta admits. “If they don’t find us, maybe a couple of days. This place has already been scavenged, though; there isn’t any food or water. We won’t make it very long.”

“As much as I like us, I don’t think we’ll survive if we go out there.”

They pause, thinking over their choices. Finally, A-ya sighs and shakily pushes himself to his feet, C-ta following a moment later.

“Another kiss for good luck?” A-ya asks, trying to smile, but it’s grim.

“Of course,” he wraps his arms around A-ya’s waist and pulls him close. He bends down to peck him on the forehead. “If, by some miracle, we do make it out of this, I think I deserve a date.”

“A date, sure,” A-ya rolls his eyes and pulls away. “You get the door,” he says, readying his bow.

“Oh, no,” D-ne won’t meet her eyes, suddenly finding the autobiography section of the library behind her extremely interesting. “I was just wondering, once we’ve done with research, we could go out to eat.”

“Are you hungry?” B-ko prompts.

“Not really, but I heard some of our classmates talking about an ice cream stand in the park not too far away from here. And, it’s such a nice day out.” D-ne flips to the index page, something she probably should have done as soon as she picked out the book in the first place.

It’s actually the middle of winter, but D-ne is correct; the weather has been surprisingly warm lately. A sweet treat would be a great reward for all of the studying they’ve done recently, so she shrugs and says, “Sure. Why don’t we spend another hour here, and then we can check out some books and go?” B-ko glances down at the notes she’s taken so far, knowing she doesn’t have enough to write a full report yet.

“That’s fine with me,” D-ne agrees, still staring down at the page. Her hair blocks her expression, and B-ko can only wonder what she’s thinking.

They end up staying for forty-five minutes, B-ko meticulously scribbling down points of interest and D-ne doodling absentmindedly on the corner of her notebook, before B-ko decides she can’t spend another second scanning endless rows of text. They leave quickly, neither of them bothering to take any books with them.

B-ko stretches her arms up into the air when they make it outside. “Man, I can’t believe it’s such a beautiful day. Shouldn’t it be snowing right about now? Not that I mind; I’d much rather be able to walk around without freezing. Where is this ice cream stand of yours, anyway?”

“In the park by the antique store a few streets away. What flavor do you think you’ll get?” Tugging a hairband off of her wrist, D-ne pulls her hair up into a ponytail.

“Vanilla, maybe. You look nice with your hair up like that,” she observes, smiling when D-ne flinches and tries to hide her blush. “Really, you do. Your hair is so pretty.”

“It’s not as beautiful as yours, B-ko,” D-ne mumbles, then straightens, her head held high. “Oh, there’s the park. It looks a bit empty…”

“That just means no one will bother us while we eat. Let’s hurry up.” B-ko grabs D-ne’s hand and pulls her off of the sidewalk. They cut through the grass, giggling at the rebellious act as they make their way to the stand. “Huh, you’re right. We’re practically the only ones here. Did something happen?” She left her phone on mute in her pocket while at the library, so any potential city alerts would have gone unseen.

D-ne shrugs. “Maybe there’s an opening somewhere else. Let’s not worry about it.” She takes the lead, pulling the other girl over to the stand. “You order first.”

“Good afternoon,” B-ko greets the woman behind the stand, giving her a charming smile. “Can I have a small vanilla cone, please? And a few napkins?” The woman nods and turns to D-ne, who asks for a small chocolate cone. D-ne pulls out her coin purse and hands over the yen before B-ko can protest. They take their treats and walk over to a nearby bench.

“I could have helped paid, you know.” B-ko grumbles, glancing around to see if anyone is watching them, then throws herself onto the bench and takes a bite out of the ice cream. She makes a face, not expecting it to be so cold.

“We’re friends; I wanted to do this for you.”

“D-ne, you’re only supposed to pay for someone’s food if you’re on a date with them,” B-ko sighs, then pauses, waiting for D-ne’s answer. When none comes, she frowns and turns towards her. “D-ne, this is the part where you laugh awkwardly and say, ‘Girls don’t date each other.’” D-ne licks at her own cone, suddenly very interested in a bird in the distance.

“You’re not saying anything,” B-ko states. “Oh my god, I can’t believe this. First you steal my first kiss, and now you’re stealing my first date? Is nothing sacred to you?”

“It doesn’t have to be a date, if you don’t want it to be.” D-ne says, finally meeting her eyes. “I mean-“

“D-ne, you better make my first date the best first date ever, or I will never forgive you.” B-ko crosses her arms and sticks her nose into the air, but she can’t stop herself from smiling. She is forced to drop the act when she realizes her ice cream is melting, and she finishes it with a few more bites.

She snickers at D-ne’s shocked face, the other girl still attempting to process what she just said. “Hurry up and eat your ice cream,” she orders. “You’re going to be taking me to that cute bookstore by the school next.”

“What about that report? You haven’t finished it yet.” D-ne points out, smiling and shaking her head.

B-ko certainly does not pout. “Fine. You’ll walk me home, and we’ll put our date on pause until I no longer have homework to do. We shall discuss plans later.” She hands D-ne a napkin.

“If that is what you wish, Princess,” D-ne laughs and rolls her eyes. They both stand to walk over to the nearest trash bin to throw out their napkins. B-ko slips her hand into D-ne’s, and they share a smile as they leave the park.

They make their way to B-ko’s house slowly, enjoying their time together. She’s almost sad to cut their date short, but as D-ne, pointed out, she still has work to do. It’s for the best, she supposes, but that doesn’t mean she has to be happy about it.

D-ne walks her to the front door and waits for B-ko to pull out her key and unlock it. She turns back to D-ne and smiles. “Though this isn’t officially the end of this date, I will permit you a kiss.” Before D-ne can react, she leans over and gives the other girl a peck on the lips, then pulls away.

He emerges a handful of minutes later, now fully awake and hair damp. A-ya snatches up his phone, checking over his messages. There’s two from his parents, both of them sending their regrets for not being able to be with him during the holidays, but there’s never not enough work to be doing, and the trains are clogged around this time, and there’s always next year, and, and, and…

There’s a text from B-ko with a link to a forum that he’ll check out later, and one from C-ta asking him if he has any plans for the day. A-ya sends a quick ‘thanks’ to B-ko, and ‘no’ to C-ta.

He gets a reply from his childhood friend as he’s walking to the kitchen, and he ignores it until two pieces of bread are slid into the toaster.

“Can I come over? I want to give you your gift so you can put it under the tree and open it on Christmas.”

A-ya frowns; the Occult Club had agreed to get each other cheap gifts and exchange them on the last day of school. He had received an empty journal from C-ta, homemade cookies from B-ko, and socks from D-ne. Why would C-ta have gotten him something else?

“i guess, but i don’t have a tree” He types out and sends. A-ya hadn’t gotten something else for C-ta, but maybe he’ll think of something to give.

“You don’t have a tree? What about the one in your storage?”

“its still there i just haven’t put it up.” The toast pops up; he butters it and moves over to the dining room table.

“If you get it out, I can help you decorate?”

“you can come over after nine” A-ya types, nibbling his breakfast. It’ll be a pain to get the tree set up, only to take it down a few days later. Maybe he could convince C-ta to come over after the holidays to help him put it away.

“Okay, it’s a date.” He cringes at his friend’s message, then puts his phone down to concentrate on his breakfast. Once everything has been eaten and the plates are washed, he travels to the storage room. It’s dusty in there, and filled with boxes of various sizes. He knows from experience that the Christmas decorations are all the way in the back. Luckily, everything is labeled and it doesn’t take long to navigate his way over to the holiday section.

The box holding the plastic tree parts is nearly as tall as he is, and he is forced to shuffle things around so he can drag, not lift, it out and into the living room. Next comes the bins full of mismatching lights and ornaments.

He unpacks the tree, setting the four sections onto the ground, then decides C-ta can deal with fitting all of the pieces together since he was the one who wanted to do this. A-ya checks the time on his phone and sees he still has a while to go. He wastes time untangling the Christmas lights and listening to the news on the television, then later flips to a slasher movie.

At precisely 8:59, the doorbell rings. A-ya takes his time moving to the front door, pausing to turn down the volume. He unlocks and opens it. C-ta is smiling in a way too cheerful manner, but he lets him in anyway. He’s holding what appears to be a box wrapped in blue wrapping paper, with a neon yellow bow on top.

“Good morning, A-ya.”

“Hey. Want me to get you something?” There aren’t many snacks in the house; he’s been putting off grocery shopping for the past few days, and he’s been surviving off of spaghetti and plain rice for a week. He might be able to find a few packets of tea though.

Luckily, C-ta shakes his head as they make their way to the living room. C-ta grimaces at the gruesome scene on the television, a depiction of what happens to someone when their legs are cut off below the knee, and snatches up the remote to find the Christmas music channel. The present gets placed on the ground to the side, out of the way.

“We, I see that the tree is still in pieces, so I suppose we should start working on that.” C-ta stands over the parts for a second, trying to decide where to begin.

A-ya perches on the couch. “That thing there,” he points, “is the base. The other pieces are coded. ‘C’ is the largest and goes on the bottom.” He watches as C-ta stands the base up, then figures out how to attach it to ‘C.’ Next goes the middle ‘B’ piece of the tree, then the last one, ‘A.’ C-ta has to stand on his toes to reach the top. Humming the tune of some Christmas song, he steps away from the now assembled tree, glancing at A-ya.

“Now what?”

A-ya frowns; shouldn’t C-ta already know how to properly put up a tree? As far as he was aware, his family did something similar every year. “You need to spread the branches. See how they’re sort of twisted together? There shouldn’t be big gaps, and the ones on the top shouldn’t be standing up like that.” He directs, giving a vague gesture.

C-ta smiles and does as ordered, smoothing out the branches so they’re no longer clinging together. “Like this?” He asks, looking back.

“Yeah, but they need to be spread out a bit more, and you need to do it to the whole tree, not just the side that’s showing.”

“Oh, okay. Want to help?” A-ya shakes his head and leans back against the cushions. “That’s alright.” C-ta disappears behind the tree for a moment, getting the branches on the other side. When he’s finished, it appears to be nearly as poofy as the tree on the image on the box.

“The lights come next,” A-ya says before C-ta can ask. “We have two types, rainbow and white.”

“Which do you prefer?”

He shrugs, and after a second of contemplation, C-ta picks up the white lights. He plugs them into the electrical socket, checking to see if they all work. They do, and he begins wrapping them around the tree, starting at the bottom. When he gets to the middle, he turns to ask A-ya, “is this right?”

A-ya nods absentmindedly, his eyes flicking back and forth between the blank television screen and C-ta. He taps his fingers against his knee, wondering how rude it would be to start playing on his phone. Typically, ignoring a guest was sacrilegious, but it was just C-ta, and he probably already expected this kind of behavior from A-ya.

He slides it out of his pocket and checks the link B-ko sent him earlier. It leads him to a horror forum he’s frequented in the past where users tell of their experiences with occultic rituals or games. The great majority of the stories were pure bullshit, either because the author wasn’t good at suspense or writing in general, or because it was obviously made up. Occasionally, however, it was possible to find gems among the dirt, and B-ko had apparently discovered one.

“What’s got you smirking?” C-ta asks, flopping down beside him to peer over his shoulder.

A-ya looks up at the tree to find it fully covered in twinkling lights. “A forum post someone told me to check out.” He doesn’t mention B-ko, knowing C-ta had little interest in discussing their fellow club member. “It’s about the Three Kings ritual. It looks interesting; I might try it while school’s still out. The lights are nice.”

“They’ll look even cooler at night. Do you have any ornaments to hang up?”

“Everything is in those bins.” A-ya sets his phone down as C-ta gets up to pop the top of the closest one. He pulls out an ornament covered in tissue paper and unwraps it.

“This is cute,” he says, inspecting the miniature horse in his hands. “Hey, since it seems all of your decorations are wrapped up, how about I unwrap them and you put them up?”

The thought of standing around a plastic tree for a questionable amount of time certainly did not sound appealing, but A-ya forces himself to his feet anyway and steps over to take the ornament from C-ta. He hangs it near the middle, then accepts the next bauble that gets handed to him. They work in near silence, C-ta continuing to hum to the music, as A-ya systematically places ornaments onto the tree. More than a few ugly or hand-made ones get put up near the back, where they won’t easily be spotted.

“That’s the last one,” C-ta tells him, handing over a purple orb. “There’s just the topper left.”

A-ya hangs it near the bottom. “Let’s skip the topper and call it a day.” He goes to sit back down on the couch, and C-ta joins him. He fiddles with the remote, turning off the Christmas music and returning the channel back to the slasher movie. They watch as the antagonist falls into his own trap and dies a very bloody death, and then the credits roll.

“Once the holidays are over, you’re going to help me put all of this stuff back in storage, right?” A-ya asks, glancing at all the open boxes littering the floor. His present is still sitting to the side; he’ll have to move it later.

“Sure. When are your parents coming back?” His question is met with an uninterested shrug. “Well, I was hoping to see you on your birthday anyway, so I could come over on the eighth?”

“That works, I guess.” A-ya was hoping to take everything down a lot earlier, like at the end of December, but if C-ta was offering to help anyway, then he supposes it can wait. “You have to bake me a cake, though. Since it’ll be my birthday.”