Surviving the Abyss

Note: [] indicates thoughts

"I'll see you all tomorrow class is dismissed!" announced Lousler with an uneasy smile, a slim yet young fair-skinned individual with thick black hair kept in a ponytail standing 6 feet tall, who had since the beginning of the school year been ridiculed for his unusual methods of teaching. He taught literature at the famed Moriah Private Institute known for its extremely high test scores and celebrity alumni. At the age of 28, he had hit what most would call the jackpot, becoming the youngest teacher employed in the Institute's prestigious seventy year history. His class was Kai's 8th and last high school period. Lousler had a habit of grinning whenever he felt uncomfortable and as he had been teaching the class for over half a year now, the perceptive young man had easily picked up on it. The class of course, had already been packing up even before Lousler spoke. Seeing as how the students were used to dealing with strict elderly teachers it wasn't hard to understand why they did not take Lousler seriously. He was similar to them in age and had no noticeable intimidating aura. In other words, there was no reason for these pampered rich kids to listen to some new teacher. This had been a recurring issue throughout the school year and made him somewhat of a joke amongst some of the other teachers. Phones had been taken out and students were already leaving in groups. And even then the man still grinned. Is there a point in announcing dismissal if people are just gonna leave before it Kai thought. Of course in his mind, he understood Lousler's uneasiness towards the students but still couldn't understand the fake smile.

"Out of all the things to do when you're nervous, why smile? To establish a false sense of confidence? That's lame. Why not just use your authority to bend the students to your every whim. That's the only way they'll respect you anyhow or at least even if they don't they'll still obey you." Kai uttered to himself his distaste seeping in through his emerald colored eyes. As someone with few friends -and someone who in his mind was always hated-he could easily fathom why someone would try so hard to be liked but he still couldn't accept it. He'd rather it be him versus the world. How Lousler managed to smile in front of a class who openly bashed him was also something that went over his head. He just hides behind that smile pitifully Kai thought a frown beginning to appear on his face.

"Not that it really bothers me," he murmured to himself followed by a deep sigh. The sixteen-year old stood up and scanned the classroom as he did everyday. Students were checking out of the classroom faster than best sellers in a bookstore. For some reason being unaware of anything horrified him. Ever since middle school it had become a habit to know whatever's going on. Even though Lousler had urged him to sit near the front of the classroom at the beginning of the year, Kai paid him no heed and almost instantly chose a seat near the window in the last row of the classroom. Kai was eccentrically calm for someone of his age at 16. With a light-brown skin tone most assumed he was black which wasn't completely wrong, but also not true either as he was half Italian. He had a growing mustache as well a bush of curly hair on his head with the sides of his head shaved off. He didn't think of himself as handsome, but the posture his father had engraved in him as well as his habit of slyly smiling unintentionally probably made it seem otherwise. Of course, to Kai, his unusual habit of smiling had nothing to do with nervousness or embarrassment. It had been his way of coping with the horrors of his past. With the nod of the head, the young man began to survey the room with a fierce gaze. A gaze other people weren't particularly fond of. He could tell by the occasional sucking of teeth classmates would give him while chatting amongst themselves as they strolled towards the classes exit. Who cares what they think though, he reassured himself. After surveying the room for a bit he seated himself again as he was in no rush to go "home" or rather where he stayed. Putting aside this grievance Kai decided to lighten himself up.

There's nothing in this world I can't decipher! he chuckled as he thought this and not much later a grin appeared on his face. It wasn't hard for him to cheer himself up, he was a one man team after all. The classroom itself was as modern as they come, equipped with about 20 standard steel desks and posters all over the wall of established poets as well as famous quotes, and a whiteboard and a doc-cam used to project videos from a laptop. It was actually pretty neat compared to the old chalk boards and the wooden desks his middle school had. Well of course, his financial situation was different then. With the abundance of funds his father was getting as an army veteran, his life changed dramatically even allowing him to be able to go to a private school such as this. Seeing as how his teacher Lousler was a huge fan of poetry, it was not surprising to see all these posters with quotes from famous poets on the walls, however one poster with a quote engraved on it stood out to him.

"I don't hate you for killing my children, but I do hate you for making me kill yours." For some reason these words seemed especially personal to the 16 year old Kai and it had nothing to do with his father being an army vet, but he did not care enough to delve further into the matter.

"You gave me a 91 on this paper because you didn't agree with my interpretation of the poem not because it was flawed!" a girl boldly chimed, her voice echoed throughout the room as she pointed her finger at Lousler. She had long, straight, blond hair and stood a commanding 5'11 with a fair complexion and light blue eyes. She had one of those doll faces that instantly turned heads. Oddly enough, she didn't seem to have too many friends due to her loquacious personality. Without a doubt, Kai could easily decipher the owner of the voice. He couldn't think of another girl with such an annoyingly loud voice either. This girl was Reina Stuart, a girl who the youth felt he had seen all too much of as they shared four classes together. She bested Kai in height who was in his mind a "pitiful" 5'10 in comparison to his father who stood a towering 6'4. He had a strange habit of judging one's height upon first meeting them which stemmed from his own insecurities. In the times he spoke to her he found out three things about her. She was loud, talked too much, and was insanely smart. Just last week she started a conversation with him about the meaning of a poem that frankly he didn't give a damn about but of course he couldn't say that because her mother was the principal of the school and well because he thought it'd be rude. Being the daughter of the principal, her intelligence wasn't very surprising, what had shocked Kai was her hardheadedness. With girls as cute as her just coming to him out of the blue, he started to think that maybe he was a chick magnet and that there were tons of girls waiting to ask him out but were too afraid.

"Well that's a bit of a stretch." Kai shrugged his shoulders and giggled at his imagination. The more he thought about their last encounter the more he began to smile his perfectly straight teeth now visible.

"I'll never talk to her again." the young man assured himself as he glared at Reina. Of course with him being in the back, he knew she wouldn't notice at least he hoped that we be the case. As he came out of his idiotic thoughts he realized their argument had escalated quite a bit. Kai wasn't one to care about others but he faced an internal conflict as on one hand he wanted to know EVERYTHING and on the other hand he hated wasting his time on trivial matters.

"Arrggghh, I have nothing better to do anyway!", Kai mumbled to himself. Actually he could think of dozens of things better to do but he abandoned the idea. As his habit of wanting to know everything would not allow him to leave and...well it may have had something to do with the fact that he had a tiny crush on her. Not many talked to the eccentric boy besides her.

"Pointing at people isn't nice and my opinion had nothing to do with it, as the rubric handed out last week states, you are graded on being able to connect relevant places in the poem with your argument which you actually did pretty well, but in the end you still couldn't bring it all together. Is a 91 not being generous enough? Maybe I should drop it!" Lousler inquired with a crack in his voice as well as his signature smile. Kai cringed once again as he watched his god awful smile.

"Must be afraid she'll tell her mommy on you." Kai murmured. But in reality he knew that with the principal being Reina's mother things were much more complicated than what it seemed. This time, and this time only, he gets a pass for being uncomfortable seeing as how this girl has his job in the palm of her hand Kai thought. In the front of the classroom both Reina and Lousler began writing on the whiteboard in attempt to prove one's point over the other. Unsurprisingly, Reina's handwriting looked like one of those fancy fonts you'd see someone on a computer use. In Kai's eyes, the passion in which she tried to argue her point showed at least that she would try to win the argument her own way without using her connections.

"She's weird, but at least she isn't a total snob like so many other kids in this school." As he said this he started leaning in to their argument once more establishing his upper body on the steel desk in front of himself,

"Still I think the only reason you gave me a 91 is because you just can't UNDERSTAND my argument fully!" There was a ferocity in her eyes that made it seem like she had all day to argue. Kai hoped this was not the case.

"And whose job is to make their argument clear and precise enough for their reader to understand easily?!" He did have a point there Kai thought. Watching them go back in forth was enjoyable and Kai let out a chuckle, but this chuckle wasn't the result of them. It was of course the pleasure he felt in being able to understand everything going on around him. The teacher and the student arguing as if they were ready to start fist-fighting, the students who left quickly as if they had an after school activity or just didn't wanna be there, and the students who lazily packed up while checking the latest updates on social media oblivious to the world around them. Being able to understand everything as if he was an omnipotent being, that was what Kai enjoyed the most. After picking up his backpack and putting the straps through his arms the boy stood up and began to walk diagonally out of the classroom being sure that he dodged each oncoming desk leaving the two idiots to argue amongst themselves. He had all the information he needed for today. As he headed down the marble steps of the schools stairwell he looked at the posters splattered throughout the hallway of names. Names of famous people who had donated to the school. Musicians, Actors, Poets, Government officials, basically a bunch of rich people with no other use for their money or those who wanted to establish themselves as generous in the eyes of the public Kai thought. In Kai's mind there was no person in the world that helped those less fortunate out of the goodness of their heart. That's bullshit, he thought. He personally knew how people only helped you if it benefited them, but Kai also knew that was the way the world worked. This principal had been drilled into him during his younger days by his foster mother. Just the thought of the women enraged the boy and his emerald eyes glistened with hatred.

[Thanks for all the lessons you psycho bitch. Have fun burning in hell for an eternity!] As he reached the first floor the hallways overflowed with flesh.

"Forget about her and relax." The young man used every fiber in his body to attempt to calm down. It was unusual to see him emotional and Kai wanted more than anything to remain inconspicuous. One look around and the school's dress code was apparent. The majority of students consisted of Seniors like Kai who had a custom dress code. Button-downed cream colored shirts with a stitched in golden lion that represented the school's mascot as well as navy blue pants and dress shoes. The other grade levels all had their own individual floors and also ended classes later and as such it was rare to see them. While the other grade levels ended school at 4pm, Kai and the rest of the seniors left around 2 due to shorter classes. Of course there were those who stayed later for clubs and the like. That had nothing to do with Kai though as he wasn't in any clubs or extracurricular activities. He didn't plan on being in one either.

"See you tomorrow Kai!" a collage of faceless beings said from behind as Kai made his way out through the first floor towards the school's exit. Kai stood frozen lost in his thoughts for a few seconds before realizing someone was talking to him. In all honesty he didn't care who it was and as such offered only a lackluster wave in return. As he finished waving good bye to the faceless students Kai sucked his teeth.

"Well that was sweet of them, I didn't think they knew I existed." While Kai knew not having many interactions with his own classmates was majorly his fault at that moment in time he wanted to blame it all on them. The adolescent wasn't mature enough to accept all his shortcomings especially so at this moment in time as his mood had turned foul. As he began his way down the neatly organized street he gave his school building one last look.

"Doesn't look like a school at all," Kai remarked as he scanned it. It was almost tall enough to be considered a skyscraper. A gray building seemingly like one of those buildings you would see in a downtown area. With the strict uniform system and the tall-building, Kai felt as if he were leaving work.

"Well the point of a school is to prepare you for work, I guess. And it is the most prestigious school in the city so it's bound to look fancy." he murmured to himself. He was in no rush of course to get home, as the place labeled "his home" in his mind was just the location where he slept. Before sinking into deep thought he delve deep into his pants pocket grabbing his golden smartphone along with his dangling earphones. This phone had recently been released and had fully functional touch features given to him as a gift from his father. With the swipe of the screen and tap of a few buttons Kai turned his music on and inserted the earplugs into his ears and carried on. With the pesky sun glaring down at him on this hot spring day, Kai decided it was time for him to pick up his pace. Almost on cue, His body went into autopilot mode an apparent increase in his pace could be seen. This mundane walk home had already been engraved in every fiber of his body. The streets(filled to the brim with trees), the grocery stores(where most went whenever they needed something as basic as water to cooked food), the public parks(with swings, monkey bars, and basketball courts along with the kids playing around in them) ,this whole city had been engraved in Kai's mind. With the exception being that the streets looked extremely cleaner with the new government policy and the creation of "HPC" or Homeless Prevention Centers. Unlike traditional shelters, these were state of the art facilities created in an attempt to help erase homelessness which had seen a recent increase in the last decade. Of course Kai didn't believe such a thing could ever fully erase homelessness.

"But still though, to get rid of this many homeless people this quickly. The government actually got something right. We'll see if it lasts." As the young man mumbled this he continued his walk home.

As he finally reached Kent avenue, he let out a heavy sigh and in a sarcastic tone began mumbling to himself,

"Aaah, I'm already almost at the damned hell hole. I can already feel the flames engulfing me." Most people wouldn't live somewhere they believed was comparable to a place like hell, but to Kai it was slightly better than being homeless. Of course there was another reason he'd never attempted to abandon the place. For months his mother had urged him to take the bus for transportation from and to school, but Kai preferred taking his sweet time.

"Sleep and leave", that had been his new principle after his mother regained custody of him. Suddenly while walking he could hear thunderous shouting.

"Stay back! I won't let you touch him you-" The voice cut off abruptly but the screams of a women could be heard near by. [Where's it coming from!] Kai turned around focusing his ears around the block. [What the hell is going on. Should I call the cops?] The screams of the women kept getting louder and louder before they...just stopped. [I need to make sure at the very least that he's okay. I need information.] Kai began racing towards where he had last heard the noise. [Damn it, what is this an american horror story episode?] As the boy ran he felt his adrenaline pumping and his heart screaming for him to stop looking for where the horror show happened. However Kai couldn't stop. He didn't want to admit it. His mind didn't want to accept the situation he found himself in. Kai knew where the screams had come from all along but had been blocking it away. The noise had come from his house and there was no woman in household besides his mother. Tears began to stream down the his cheeks as he ran towards the house. 128 KENT AVENUE. Kai gulped as he entered the(already unlocked) door. The criminal had to be in the house. There was no way he could escape that quickly after the attack. He wanted to shout and see if his mother was okay. If his father was okay. And most of all if his two year old brother was okay. His reason for even coming back home everyday. However he succumbed to his fear and his lips found themselves sealed. [What was that? Kai had heard movement on the second floor...It couldn't have been...There was no way. No fucking way!] Kai rushed up the stairs as if he were being chased by the sun onto the second floor. He could see a trail of blood and guts leading up to one of the bedrooms. The stench activated Kai's gag reflexes and he found himself vomiting.

"Oh god...You have to do this go." Kai wiped his mouth and uttered these words in an attempt to motivate himself to go into the bloodstained room, however his legs still shook and his body still shivered. His red eyes still streamed with tears. The momentarily spineless wimp journeyed onto the door. Someone was eating. The chomping of meat on someone's jaws could be heard. No something was eating. The question was what. The thought repulsed Kai. The self-proclaimed poker faced teen bit his lip in fear.

"Alright...in three seconds you're gonna go the fuck in there!" he murmured to himself. [Here we go.] The boy stepped back and rammed into the door. What he found was...a beast eating. Munching on the bloody body of a toddler. The child's head in the creature's mouth. Kai's one and only little brother. At that point rage consumed Kai and he began yelling incoherently at the beast:

"You bastard I'll...I'll have...head...on

...platter!". Startled from the boys shout, the beast jumped on all fours towards the back of the room. It turned around and began to hiss. Kai found himself in more shock.

"It...can't be." This beast looked exactly like his father. Paralyzed by shock and confused the boy did not, no he could not move. The mountain-like humanoid-shaped monster had tongue like apparatus gushing out of its mouth. It might be more accurate to call the things in it's mouth snakes. Each tentacle had a mouth and fangs. It took the opportunity to go on the offensive leaping towards the paralysed Kai. For something of that size it had considerable speed. One of the beast's tentacles began to infiltrate Kai's mouth gnawing at his gums?

"Gabbnjjjkmmhh!" the boy screamed in pain. The horrific pain he felt snapped him back to reality. He grabbed the strange red tentacle and forced it out of his blood filled mouth but the others soon followed as four other tentacles began gnawing at his arms which he used in an attempt to protect his face. [I need something...to attack this fucker.] As he glanced around the room desperately he noticed an open bottle of milk and a turned on desk lamp...his mother must've died while making his little brother a bottle of milk. [What a sad way to die but it might work! No it has to work!]

Kai found himself reaching his pain tolerance limit as the tentacles nibbled on his flesh.[It's now or never!]In an instant Kai bum rushed the creature knocking it to the ground. [The lamp. Get to the lamp!] As the beast began to get ready to tackle him once again Kai rushed towards the plugged in lamp and gallon of milk. He needed to get the lamp near the beast but the cord was too short for him to throw it that far a distance. If he tried and the cord disconnected it may cost him his life.

"Come get some you bastard!" Kai shouted these words at the beast and his eyes glistened. [This is my only hope.] As the beast rushed at him once again like a wild animal he shoved the lamp towards the beast. It attempted to shove the lamp away from its face with its tentacles but it was too late. Kai had already poured more than enough liquid on the beast and in a matter seconds the beast began to get electrocuted. It cried out in pain before falling over. Kai found himself hit with a bit of the shock as well but it wasn't too severe. The creatures blood splattered across his body. He looked across the floor at the beasts lifeless figure and felt like vomitting a second time.

"What the hell is that thing...and why did it have the face of my father. Is that really him? Who did this?" The power had shorted due to the fiasco that had just taken place. Kai attempted to understand the situation as best as he could but there was no time. Kai could hear footsteps. Someone was at the door.

"Is there anyone here?! I heard some screaming. The power shorted as well!" A stern voiced yelled from the first floor. [Shit, the door. If he sees this I'm finished. There's no fucking way I can explain this. Nevermind that, how the hell am I supposed to tell if this guy's even human?]