Winds Of The Apocalypse

by Novak, Karina

  “So I guess that you are stuck here with us this summer, Again." She added and they both burst out laughing, maybe the summer won’t be so bad after all.

  "I hate Mrs. Kafka!"

  An irritated voice came behind them and one of their friends, Toby, a teddy bear looking blond teen that was in Colin’s class had also landed his tray on the table beside them.

  "You're not the only one." Casey assured him, having to already predict his arrival, cuss where ever there was Colin, Toby will surely be as well. They got along since the first moment they met a little after they turned ten. Colin was being chased by a vicious dog that he had irritated and Toby had saved him, leading the dog away and ending up in the hospital with massive bite marks on his leg, he still proudly wore those scars.

  Anyway, from that day Toby appointed himself as the official guardian to Colin, not unjustly, he really needed one.

  "What did she do to you?" Colin asked, greeting his childhood buddy, almost involuntarily glancing at his leg.

  "Did she give you an 'F'?" Casey asked.

  "She fucking flunked me!"

  Toby blurted out, almost missing Casey’s comment, then, when he realized that Casey had beaten him to his answer, he looked at the dark haired teen before him, utterly surprised. "How did you know?" Casey started laughing again.

  "Like I said you're not the only one.” She said, gesturing across the table at the still sulking Colin that sat growling and irritated across from them.

  Toby fallowed her pointing finger to meet Colin's stare. ”What? You too?!” He asked incredulous.

  "Yes, welcome to the club, one thousand dollars entrance fee."

  "I'll give you a cookie to join." Casey offered, presenting the chocolate chip treat she had a habit of always having.

  "Sold." Colin grumbled, taking the cookie and nibbling on it with that same sulking glare.

  ”I cannot believe it!” Toby exclaimed.

  “Me neither.” Casey shook her head in dismay. “Only a thousand?” She asked laughing as Toby joined her, letting out his steam.

  Colin growled again and leaned back in his sit.

  "What did that witch do? Failed everyone this year? Is our whole class here for the summer?"

  "Not everyone is here because of Kafka."

  Another high voice had joined their conversation and Casey's childhood friend, Din, a tall once dark haired feminine looking teen, came into their view.

  "Well, of course no one flunks the teachers pet." Colin nodded, completely serious, as he looked at the tall and lean teen that came to their table, frowning at him.

  "I am not a teacher's pet!" Din stated, flipping his recently bleached hair back. "I, unlike some people at this table, happen to adore literature and I am quite good at it. If I can say so myself."

  "Yes, you can." Toby sat down by Casey and gave a bite to his pizza, ‘Finally, some dissent human food’ he thought with a satisfied sigh.

  "I bet you adore it all night long…so hard and flowing…"

  "Oh! For fuck sake man! That’s just gross!" Casey pushed her food away from herself, too disquieted to even consider digesting something after the mental images that Toby’s remark gave her. "Well done you asshole, you just ruined my appetite."

  She groaned at Toby and then turned from the now laughing teen to look at Din.

  "So what are you in for, fellow prisoner?"

  Din shrugged. "You’re dearest brother, Morgan or math. One of them anyway, I am not so sure about which one it was…”

  “Why?”

  “Well, I was a bit high when they told me; just had to try the new stash you know…as an end of the year celebration." He rationalized.

  Casey laughed; leave it to Morgan to bring his whole friend base into hell with him.

  "Me too! Not the high or the math part. Just the Morgan one."

  “Predictable.”

  “I know!”

  “Oi, slow down with that thing, you look like you are tearing limbs with your teeth, not just pizza.” Colin commented on Toby’s munching process.

  “I’m picturing it’s Kafka.” Toby growled with his mouth full and Colin’s face distorted. “Ok…and now my appetite went down the drain too…”

  Din smiled and opened his mouth to say something regarding Morgan’s track record with Kafka when a loud scream coming from Mrs. Kafka's office interrupted him mid-way.

  All heads were turned and a second later a really happy looking Morgan ran out of Mrs. Kafka’s office, his grin as wide as his face allowed it to go.

  ”What the…” Casey started but before any of the teens could react Morgan had dove under the table, screaming "Hide me!" And forcefully pulled his friends legs together to hide himself from Kafka’s sight.

  His friends didn't need to be told twice, the scene was all too familiar and almost as if they had rehearsed it they all immanently scooted over to hide Morgan with their legs from Kafka's sight.

  Their timing could not have been any more perfect cuss at that moment Mrs. Kafka finally caught up to the teens table. She glared at the faces of the teens sitting at the table, almost flinching when she saw Casey; there was something about that girl that she just didn't sit right in her eyes.

  "Did any of you see that punk, Morgan anywhere close to here?!" She asked, getting back to her senses.

  "No, Mrs. Kafka." Colin said in the most innocent voice he could master.

  "Ick!"

  Casey let out a squall and Colin had to bite his tongue not to laugh, he knew that Morgan won’t be able to help himself from playfully pinching Casey while he was under the table; he never missed a chance to tease his twin. Casey growled, she didn't find it as amusing as the rest of her friends did and as a quick payback she shifted to the left and sharply kicked her twin right in his giggling face. Morgan had to bite his lip not to scream; he grabbed onto Casey’s kicking leg and held it in its place as Kafka evilly eyed his sister.

  Mrs. Kafka looked over everyone's faces again, averting her eyes from the dark haired blushing teen and trying to detect the lie and the where about of Morgan in any of their faces but she was forced to give up soon enough, if there was one thing she knew was that this group was a tight bunch and even if they knew, which they probably did, she wasn't going to get a straight answer out of them.

  "If you see him, report to my office imminently or I will hold you all personally responsible for the troubles he caused!" She barked out and stormed away, muttering to herself in incoherent anger.

  They all held their breath until she was safely back in her office and then Colin cleared his throat. "She's gone, you can come out now."

  Colin told Morgan, bending under the table and smiling brightly at his friend.

  “Thanks man.” Morgan cheered, climbing from under the table.

  "Pervert!" Casey glared at him, swinging her leg and kicking him again as he climbed out, making Morgan squeal in her voice and grunt in pain, taking his distance from her.

  "Oh, you are not fun."

  Morgan rubbed his shoulder, the second place Casey kicked as he sited himself next to his sister, automatically grabbing Casey’s food tray and taking a big bite out of Casey's unfinished lunch. "Oh, no, please Morgan, be my guest, eat my pizza." Casey said sarcastically, making Morgan grin, chunks of food still stuck in his teeth, a delightful sight, really.

  "Thanks little sister, don’t mind if I do." He mouthed, biting into the warm doe. “Delicious.”

  "Pig." Casey scolded and Morgan smiled sweetly at her.

  "I love you too, baby."

  ”asshole.”

  “Ohm, so nice.” He tried to lay his arm around her but Casey shoved him away, half smiling at him.

  "Ahh." Toby cleared his throat. "If you are done with this lovely display of brotherly sisterly affection, Morgan, Would you mind telling us what the hell that was all about?”

  He asked pointing at Kafka’s office.

  The rest nodded and stared at Morgan, who tried to avoid their gaze, pretending t
hat the matter did not concern him at all.

  "Nothing." Morgan let out as he continued eating Casey’s lunch, avoiding the stares of his interested sister.

  "Oh c'mon!" Din nudged him, moving to sit beside his friend in order to interrogate him further. "Mrs. Kafka may be a bitch…" He began.

  "May be?" Morgan glared at his friend, astonished by his friend’s lack of confidence in Kafka’s personality, clearly he had misheard his best friend or the poor boy had simply gone mad and should be committed immediately, ‘may be, AS IF!’

  Din smiled, nodding his head in agreement, how silly it was of him to think that.

  "Ok, ok, you are right. This time.” He clarified, he wouldn't want to actually enlarge Morgan’s over-sized ego.

  “When was I ever wrong?” Morgan raised his eyebrow and Din laughed, yap, ego.

  “Yes, ok, All right you are so smart...so let me rephrase that. Mrs. Kafka IS a bitch but the old hag doesn't get her kick out of chasing kids down for fun; she gets it out of failing them and making their lives miserable forever.”

  “Or a living hell for the summer.” Casey added and Din nodded.

  “Yeah, that too. So...” He concluded and the table fell silent in anticipation.

  ”So what did you do?” Casey nudged her twin from his other side; he was now squeezed between Casey and Din.

  “Nothing much…” Morgan said, avoiding a real answer. Casey huffed, this was getting them nowhere.

  “Ohm, Morgan…"

  "Don't whine, Casey!" Morgan growled, he was having a really unpleasant Casey whining flashback from their childhood.' Man, was that annoying, and loud!'

  "Then tell us!” Casey huffed, hitting her fists against the table.

  'Still loud and annoying.' Morgan cringed.

  "Fine! Fuck! There just no keeping stuff from you now is it?!"

  “NO!” Casey puffed up, totally proud of herself at her brothers annoyance.

  Morgan sat the pizza down, taking a deep breath, he was about to become the laughing stock of the table. "I…" He took another deep breath.

  "Morgan!" Casey urged him, completely impatient; her brother was taking way to long with this nonsense.

  "I'm getting there! Jizz!” Morgan puffed. “I accidentally broke one of her damn crystal statues." Morgan growled avoiding any eye contact, preparing himself for what was going to most certainly happen next.

  A mutual gasp caught everyone’s throats and then they all burst out laughing, Casey nearly falling backward from laughing so hard.

  "How you did…How did you….?" Din gasped out, hardly controlling his breathing.

  “Yes, how?” Casey couldn't stop laughing, so she ended up hiccupping the words out.

  Mrs. Kafka had a 'valuable' glass figurines collection which she kept behind lock and key in an ugly ass glass casing. No one and that meant no one, not even the school’s headmaster himself was allowed to as so much as look at the ugly glass pieces, and they were her source of pride and joy.

  "How the fuck did you manage to do that?!" Colin and Toby chanted together, both taking deep breaths to regain their normal voice.

  Morgan gave out a little smile, a bit too proud of himself, he couldn't help it, it can be days until he is the center of his friends attention again?

  "Well,” Morgan sat back, feeling a bit more at ease to tell his story. ”After mom e-mailed me the last test results that came in the snail mail yesterday to our house, I noticed that I only had one point missing to pass Ms' Kafka’s class , not that it would have got me out of the summer school but you know…one class less. So I decided to 'nicely' ask her to change my grade so I could pass it."

  "Nicely?" Din smirked, he knew his friend all too well to believe that, that kind of a conversation will go off without screaming. "Do you even know what it means?” He asked laughing, his friends grinning in unison with him.

  Morgan huffed, ignoring their smiling faces.

  "Well, anyway, “He continued. “I came to her office and I asked her to pass me but she just began ranting about what a worthless piece of shit I am…"

  "True, true…"Din nodded, avoiding Morgan's attempt to smack him in the head.

  "Dude, she really said that?” Colin questioned smacking Din in Morgan’s place and glaring at him to indicate that, that was not a cool comment.tt

  Morgan nodded, happy for the support he was getting.

  "Yes she sure did, I should sue, right? I mean she can’t talk to a student like that, that’s like verbal harassment!”

  “Wow,” Casey looked at him. “Big words Morgan, did she teach you that during your little study session?”

  Morgan glared at her. “Anyway I started yelling at her, told her she was a bitch and that she had no right to talk to me in that way and then, when I got up I turned around sharply and I accidentally knocked one of the statues she had on the table...”

  “On the table?” Casey raised her eyebrow, Morgan shrugged.

  ”Yeah, she was cleaning them or some shit like that and, well, the rest you know, you saw her running after me, I barely got away." He finished, waiting for the roars of laughter which his friend delivered instantly.

  "I still can't believe she actually chased you!” Colin roared the image of the old hag still fresh in his mind.

  "So what? Are you just planning to hide from her for the rest of the summer?" Casey asked. "That's not a bad idea." Morgan smiled. "Maybe she will crock by then."

  "Yeah, she’s like a hundred years old or something.” Collin joined, “I would have never believed an old potato bag can move that fast if I hadn't seen it myself.”

  "No one really knows how old she is.” Toby nodded. “But I doubt it goes over the hundred, it just won’t make any sense for her to still teach in that age.”

  “Or to be alive.” Colin announced.

  “Maybe she’s an immortal beast.” Morgan said seriously, resuming his teeth work on Casey’s pizza.

  "I wonder if there is a way to find out…" Colin said wishfully, his eyes glowing with familiar mischief.

  "Of course there is!” Din’s eyes sparkled, his and Colin’s eyes met and immediately the two friends grinned at the wonderful catastrophe that will definitely come from this.

  "Oh my god.” Casey exhaled, she knew what that look meant better than anybody, after all, and she was usually the bait of all her friend’s lavish pranks.

  "He has a plan." Casey murmured in pretend fear, moving away from her already planning buddy, Din was practically clapping his hands in enthusiasm now.

  "Of course I do!" Din jumped to his feet, glaring at the table. “We are going to find out exactly how old the hag is even if it’s going to kill us!” he raised his finger in the air dramatically. “Now who is coming with me?!"

  "No one." Morgan groaned, discreetly attempting to get back to his pizza but he was rudely pulled away from it by Din.

  "I seem to have my volunteer!” Din smirked cheerfully, winking at his friends who laughed with him.

  "Oh for fuck sake! I had enough trouble for one day! And I rather enjoy living!” Morgan tried to smack Din away but it was a lost battle.

  Din looked at him astonished. “You actually telling me that you don’t want any trouble?” he asked and Morgan nodded.

  ”Yes, I mean no! I don’t want any more trouble, thank you very much.”

  Din narrowed his eyes, poking Morgan in the shoulder. "Who are you, you foul demon and what have you done with my Morgan?!"

  “Agh! Leave me alone!” Morgan tried to get away from him but Din had already caught him.

  “Help!” Morgan pleaded while their friends laughed at his pretend struggle and Din was already up on his feet while he kept dragging Morgan behind him.

  "Ahh! Casey! Help me! Please!" Casey shook her head, smiling. "Sorry, big brother, but if you won’t go with him he will drag me along so you're on your own in this one."

  Morgan let out a sigh; there was no way he was getting out of this one.

  “Agh, fine.” He
gave up. "Who am I really kidding here?! This is going to be awesome! I live for this shit! We’ll see you guys later!” He smiled at his sister, finally letting go of her half eaten lunch.

  Casey shook her head and leaned forward to retrieve her pizza.

  "Don’t get yourself killed!" She said, joking, she would soon regret those words.

  Chapter two: Down we go

  “So what’s the plan?” Morgan asked Din as they both crept down the stairs of the old building.

  Morgan never gave much thought to the place where he and his friends were forced to spend their summer 'vacation'. He knew from a brief review they were given when they first arrived that the house, well, actually, the mansion, was build long ago by a very wealthy family. It stood proud for over two hundred years until the last descendant died, leaving the rights to the structure in the hands of the government, clarifying that it to be used for the benefit of kid's needs.

  “First, we are going to the basement.” Din replied, looking down and around the corner of the wooden ledge to make sure that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation.

  Morgan blinked and looked at Din.

  “Might I ask: Why are we going there? Or am I better not to know that?”

  Din frowned. “Well...”

  “Will it incriminate me in a police investigation?” Morgan interrupted him.

  “Most defiantly.” Din smiled.

  “Well, go on then.” Morgan smiled back.

  “Well, then If you must know, you nosy thing I need to renew my stash.”

  “Say what?!”

  Morgan squalled and nearly fell over, holding himself up by the wooden railing.

  Din looked at him, puzzled.

  “You don’t actually think that I can keep it all in the dorm. Don’t you? With all the damn surprise inspection the hag is doing. It’s too dangerous; I don’t really want to get expelled.” Morgan shook his head.

  “God, Din, I can’t believe that you would actually bring this stuff down here, I mean, it’s enough we do it all year round, you really want us all high in the summer school?”