Creatures Of The Night

It always crossed my mind how everything in life seemed all too normal.

The routines in life were the same... Wake up early, either go to school or work, come home and eat, sleep and then repeat. Such a boring world we lived in. What else did we all live for?

I know that everyone has at least once in their lifetimes wondered about the meaning of life. And I wonder how many people actually managed find the answer to that. Some people have a way to figure out their meaning in life. Others have something in life giving them the reason to keep living.

But me, I was still walking the path of finding that out.

I was on my way to college, riding the subway one regular morning in the beginning of September.

I silently sipped my take-away coffee as I gazed at my surroundings.

Almost every passenger on the train were busy entertaining themselves, staring down on the screens of their smartphones or tablets. They were either watching videos, playing games or messaging someone.

Two children sitting a bit further away in front of me caught my attention, with their vivid and fluorescent colored jackets. They were both sitting with each tablet in their knees while exchanging glances at each others screens from time to time, commenting something and then giggling.

Suddenly I was reminded of my own childhood. I remember it being way more lively than the way it seemed for children nowadays. Me and my friends used to talk about the latest episodes of our favorite animated show, and during recess we always role-played as the characters while making up our own adventures, pretending that the playground was a mysterious place that we had to explore.

All these extravagant imaginations of thrilling and mysterious adventures intensified my perspective of how the world seemed like a more enjoyable place to live in.

And even now, being eighteen years old, I wish the world could have somehow turned into the way I had imagined it to be. Wouldn't that had made things more exciting?

Was it only me who had such odd thoughts and visions of life and expected way more from this boring world? Or could there be someone else amongst these passengers who could be sharing my point of view?

And never, in my wildest dreams, would I even think that this normal and boring day, would end up being the last day anything would ever stay the same. Never once did it cross my mind how things could turn for the worst, in such a short period of time.

But if I had known, how would I have felt about the world instead? Would my opinion have been different? Would I have regretted the thoughts I had? Would I have embraced the way things were? Unfortunately I would never find out.

As a wise man once said, "Be careful what you wish for."

The first lesson in school flew by in a blink of an eye, and in mere twenty minutes, the next would begin. The following class was art, my most preferable subject, since being artistic had from an early age been a knack of mine.

Despite that, I had failed to finish my homework in time. A drawing of a Greek goddess named Artemis. I had chosen to draw a statue of her, and all I had to do left was some shading.

I decided to finish it in front of the classroom where the class would be held. I sat down on the floor with my back against the wall and with my drawing resting on my lap.

Drawing and painting always took me out of my mind. I had a bad habit of overthinking. But art always took my mind to a more peaceful place, to somewhere far away.

I concentrated on the shadings of my drawing, making sure that I could get the facial features I was aiming to achieve. I was almost done until I heard a familiar voice calling out to me.

"Hey, nerd! I've been looking all over for you!"

It was one of my best friends, Sarah. Her brown hair was tied up in a ponytail today that swayed from side to side as she came jogging towards me. Her cheeks had a red tint to them, and she was breathing heavily, looking quite exhausted. She had most likely been running around the campus in search for me, and I realized that my phone was on mute with several missed calls from her.

Sarah and I weren't in the same homeroom class, but we had a lot of other classes together since our school wanted us to have lessons together with everyone in our grade.

Our school had a system where every grade was divided into four homerooms. We had class A, B, C and D. Despite that, every student from different homerooms were mixed together to have different classes together.

Our principal had informed us on the first day at the assembly hall that this system existed to help us connect with one another and strengthen our social skills. And to say the least, it actually worked.

I was in class A and Sarah was in class B. We became friends because we were seated next to each others in our common lesson and as we both found out that we were loners, we kept each other company.

We magically just clicked, and as we started to make other friends along the way, we became a group of four girls that would always hang out during our breaks, and even after school at some times.

Zeena became my classmate since we had the same Spanish lesson, but eventually we separated since our school had to permanently cancel the Spanish classes due to our teacher retiring. She suffered from a long-term illness and was forced into early retirement.

Me and Zeena still hung out on the recess when Sarah had her classes. And one day Sarah came running to me, just like she did this time, and happily introduced us to her new friend, Kathy.

Kathy and Zeena were familiar with one another, but were never given the chance to get to know each others properly. But once we all four started hanging out, it clicked- like magic. As if it was always meant to be us.

"What's wrong?" I asked Sarah.

"It's the D class boys, they're killing the third graders on air hockey, you should come and see! Also, Kathy and Zeena found their targets!" She said with her light brown eyes sparkling as she grabbed my arm and pulled me up from the floor.

I had no say in the matter and knew that I had to go, but I also had my own reason for doing so. I had a so called "target" myself from the D class boys.

His name was Jade, and he caught my attention for always being the quiet one amongst his friends. He seemed to be a shy guy and I found it cute. Ever since I first laid eyes on him, he gave off the aura that he was different than other guys. It was almost as if he was beyond his age, who preferred not to draw attention.

Most girls wants a bad or a cool guy. Someone who is popular or whom all the girls would drool over. But my taste in men was different. Maybe because despite my age, I had never had a boyfriend or even kissed a guy before.

Me and Sarah went down the stairs to the board hall, as it was called, where our school had its boards and tables for games like air hockey, ping pong and a pool table.

The game hall had lime green painted walls, with big windows facing our huge schoolyard. This was one of Raven Head's few colleges, but I was happy that I had chosen this one.

Many students preferred to play different games, but to access the boards, it was necessary to book reservation, so basically, the early bird got the worm.

But only air hockey was an exception. Anyone who wanted to play only had to get in line and wait for their turn.

And indeed, the D class boys had a competition with the older students. And it seemed like they were kicking ass.

Me and Sarah joined Kathy and Zeena along with other students, circling around the air hockey table, closely observing the intense game.

Suddenly one of the competitors who just lost, decided to throw the air hockey pusher on the table and look at his classmates in terror.

"Hey, guys, the geography test was today! Holy fuck, it starts in five minutes!" He yelled and his classmates panicked and grabbed their bags while running off to their classroom.

The guy who lost nodded to the winner and smiled.

"Not bad, youngster. I'll get you next time!" And then he too grabbed his bag and ran off. Left was the first and second graders, laughing and cheering.

The D class boys were shouting in joy, jumping while locking arms around each others necks like a bunch of children. Expect for one guy. Jade.

My ears began to heat up as our eyes suddenly met. I averted my eyes from him and looked down. However, I couldn't help but to take another quick glance at him. And to my surprise his eyes were still locked on me. It was the first time we had made direct eye contact and my heart skipped a beat.

"Who are your targets?" Sarah asked us. Kathy and Zeena looked at each others and giggled as we walked along the hallway to our classrooms.

Kathy threw her thin, blonde hair over her shoulder like a celebrity while fluttering with her long eyelashes. Her chubby body gave her a figure like an hourglass, and despite not being very thin, she was without a doubt one of the most attractive girls in school. She had guys literally confessing to her almost everyday. Kathy was a goddess with a body worth to be worshipped.

"Caleb of course, didn't you see how he won against that third grader?" Kathy answered and looked at Zeena. "Your turn!" She laughed, and Zeena took a deep breath.

Her dark green eyes looked around with a naughty look as she smirked with her cherry red lips. Her black, curly hair bounced as she walked.

"I think Ian or Kevin. But honestly I wonder who has the biggest D." She answered and we all burst into laughter.

Zeena had the body of a model, a curvy and perfect body and her gothic style suited her well. Both Kathy and Zeena looked as if they had come out of a beauty magazine and sometimes, staying beside them made me feel insecure about my own features and my looks.

Even Sarah was beautiful and cute. her big and bright eyes and her small nose made her look like a western porcelain doll.

Sarah frowned a little while clearing her throat.

"Actually... I'm not really into any of the D class boys. There is this guy in C class, his name is Owen. And uh, I think he likes me, and he seems nice so I want to see where it goes." She said a little embarrassed and we all stopped to look at her in surprise. This was news, even for me.

"WHAT?" Zeena screamed and Kathy grabbed Sarah by her shoulders.

"You bitch, how long has this been going on and why didn't you tell us?"

Sarah laughed nervously and glanced at me who hadn't said anything at all.

"Actually we ended up as partners during history, and we were going to work on a presentation together so we just had to get along, you know? And when the presentation was over he kept taking seats next to me, talking and so on... We actually only started talking for real yesterday. So I haven't really been hiding anything. Calm down! Jeez!" She took a deep breath while rolling her eyes as Kathy let go of her.

"Let me know when he invites you to his room." She giggled and dunked Sarah in the back.

"Who is your guy, Ray?" Sarah asked me, who had been quiet for too long now.

"I'm not going to flirt with him or try to make him notice me." I mumbled embarrassed and Zeena hugged me from behind, threatening to tickle me if I didn't spit it out.

I broke free from her and finally confessed.

"The shy and quiet one" I hinted and the girls' eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Are you serious? Jade?" Zeena whispered and I nodded.

The girls started to laugh in excitement and hugged me.

"Oh my god, yes he is hot! You have to try to talk to him!" Zeena said.

"He is known for being weird, and many girls who confessed were rejected without a reason... But your beauty will definitely tempt him!" Kathy then said. I laughed nervously.

"I'm not even close to call myself beautiful!" I said and rolled my eyes.

The girls didn't have time to answer until the bells rang and it was time for class.

The Biology teacher had called in sick and the last lecture for the day was cancelled. That meant we could go home early. But Sarah and Kathy had to stay after school for supplementary lessons, and Zeena had to work on an an essay in the school's library.

It sucked when I couldn't walk with my friends to the station. Even though we all parted different ways, walking together as far as we could was enjoyable. Sometimes we would stop at a nearby café to sit and gossip or do homework together.

We knew the day of committing to adulthood would strip us of our blissful youth. We didn't care what people thought about us. We loved acting immature and did whatever seemed fun. That was why I loved hanging out with them. We were all allowed to be ourselves and we never judged one another for anything.

Even if life seemed boring, I loved it as it was for the moment because we all tried to make the best of it.

My mom was still at work as I arrived home, as usual. I had no father in my life or any siblings. Since I was an only child it had always been just me and my mom.

I took a seat by the kitchen table with a hot plate of pasta and decided to read the newspaper as I ate. That was when it struck me. My eyes were locked on the headline:

"Couple found dead in woods."

"It was past six in the morning when Mei Lee took the daily walk in the woods when her dog suddenly became distraught by something in a bush.

She noticed a human foot sticking out of the bush and after getting closer, she discovered two dead bodies, ripped apart and covered in blood.

The bodies has now been identified as Robert 32 and Wilma 30, who had gone out for a walk last night, according to witnesses. The police is investigating the crime, with no one yet suspected."

"I advice everyone to remain calm but to be aware of your safety. Contact us if you encounter evidential information related to this case, or if a suspect comes to mind." Sais Henry Derrek, 46, chief of Raven Head department police, who is leading the investigation."

I felt the hairs of my neck rise as I put the newspaper down and folded it.

I turned on the TV and saw the same news being reported. Pictures of blurred body parts were displayed on the screen and the man, whom's name was Robert, had his intestines ripped out of him. Even though the image was blurred, anyone could see that his insides were scattered around the dead corpse.

What had made the medical examiners so confused was the marks on the bodies that resembled claw marks of an animal. They suspected an animal attack since parts of the bodies were missing.

No animal would rip the bodies in pieces and pull out the intestines just for fun. Animals would devour most of their prey, yet only some minor parts of the remains were missing. Something was wrong, and I feared for the worst.

And this would only be the beginning of the disastrous story that awaited me. This would be the last day I could ever call a normal day.