Friday, the 13th

That shadow is more than just a shadow. At least to Haley, and his active imagination.

                His hands stuffed into the pockets of his faded, flared jeans, Haley walked along the dark, empty sidewalk. The summer air was warm and heavy around him, sinking into his rich chocolate hair, his black t-shirt. He could almost swear he could see the air, like steam.

 

                He stopped, beneath a flickering streetlight, squinting into the distance. His streets were usually deserted after dark, the neighborhood he lived in being filled with kids whose parents wanted them inside by then, or old couples that were in bed by five thirty sharp. However, he could swear in the distance he saw someone, a hazy figure lurking between the light of street lights.

 

                Reasoning that it was a Friday night, some of the kids might be out later. He himself was just walking home from a romp around the city with some friends, and the bus only got so close to his neighborhood. Shrugging a shoulder, he started walking again, trying not to think much of it.

 

                As he got closer the shape grew bigger, but yet it didn’t grow any clearer. Just a black silhouette, somewhat creepy. A little unnerved for reasons he couldn’t quite grasp, Haley quickly jogged across the street, reasoning he could cross back over once he was past the figure. He continued walking, and looked over when he should have been parallel to the stranger.

 

                However, no one stood between the two lights. He swallowed the lump in his throat, telling himself to calm down; the kid could have moved is all. He really needed to lay off the slasher films or something.

 

                He looked back ahead, stopping abruptly when he saw the same silhouette in front of him, much closer than before. However it was was tall, somewhat thin, maybe a hint of muscle somewhere in that body. But his colors, yes, Haley reasoned it was a man, were still just black.

 

                He gnawed at his lip, pushed his tongue against the ring through its center, and stared through his angled bangs. He must have missed him move. Yeah, that was it. And whoever this stranger was, as it sure wasn’t a kid, he was just being funny. In a very not funny way.

 

                “Hey!” Haley called, pulling a hand from his pockets and pointing a finger, decorated with black polish at the stranger. “What the hell are you doing? If you’re trying to play creep and pull some pranks, I suggest you pick another neighborhood! People here don’t take that s**t lightly!”

 

                The figure moved a little, reaching out with a hand that seemed almost claw like. He heard my name whispered on the wind, and Haley’s heart thudded. How did he know his name?

 

                Feeling like a spring, he bolted back across the street and right over the fence of one of the yards. He ran around the house and into the back yard, throwing himself behind a large oak tree, his back pressed almost painfully against it. Haley’s heart was pounding up against his ribs, and he wasn’t sure if he had imagined that or not, but frankly, he didn’t give a s**t.

 

                Sighing and closing his eyes for a second, he decided he’d leap their back fence too, and cut through back yards to get to his house. Kids did it all the time and no one said a word, and hey, at only seventeen, he could still pass as a kid on a few levels.

 

                He opened his eyes, ready to move, when the blood in his body ran cold. Staring deep into his brown eyes was a set of amber orbs, almost pitless in their insane brightness. Haley’s mouth opened, as if to scream, but nothing but his breath escaped him. The face in front of him, which was covered in silk looking black skin, black as a black crayon that is, grinned from ear to ear. Ear to pointy f*****g ear.

 

                “Who are you?” Haley finally asked, just as a hand reached up and a long, crimson nail dragged along his cheek.

 

                “Me?” the thing, surely not a man, asked playfully as that nail dragged down to his neck, tugged on the chain that clung close to his throat. “I should ask who you are, child.”

 

                “You said my name,” Haley admitted, and his eyes lit up.

 

                “Yes, but a name is only a title. Who are you really, boy?”

 

                Confused, he just stood there, his nails playing along Haley’s throat. He was horrified, but those sharp little touches were making his blood slowly rise to the surface of his skin.

 

                “I dunno,” he said, “I’m Haley. That’s it.”

 

                He chuckled and stepped back, and Haley took in his bare chest, black as black can be, with deep, bruise purple n*****s.  He offered him the hand that had been tormenting his throat, saying in a calm, slippery voice,

 

                “Then let us discover who you really are, Haley.”

 

                Haley would never know why he took that man’s hand, only that he did, and within an instant, as long as it took to lace their fingers together, he was racing through the wind and the hot breeze, the smell of fire and brimstone assaulting his nose.

 

                Haley landed unexpectedly, falling to his butt on what was hard, very warm rock. He stared up, feeling the heat through his jeans, at this creature that had landed so skilled on his feet. He finally took in what the man was wearing, red latex that wrapped low around his pelvis like woman’s underwear, and then began again on his thighs, becoming large flares. The pieces were connected by thin, red lace.

 

                “Where are we?” Haley asked, nervous, and the creature laughed.

 

                “You act as if you don’t know boy. Why, we’re in hell.” He grinned wickedly and reached down, pulling Haley up to his feet. He pulled him close, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “But fear not boy, you’re in no danger. Nothing serious, at least.”

 

                He chuckled and they began to walk, passing by other creatures, some looking humanoid like this one, some completely beyond Haley’s imagination.

 

                The man turned around and faced Haley, taking both of his hands as he walked backwards, slowly up stone stairs.

 

                “Tonight, you will discover who you are,” he said, “Tonight, you will know what it is like to live, child!”

 

                In one fluid motion he pulled Haley to him, against his chest and into the folds of his arms, and they were shooting up, up into cool air, so quickly that Haley couldn’t see. When they finally stopped, he opened his eyes and looked down, saw they were hovering a few inches above the ground. The creature grinned and gently lowered them down, until their feet touched the ground.

 

                And then he was off, rushing towards one of the dark streets. Haley recognized this as one of the better neighborhoods across the city. His was a nice one, sure, but this was one of those rich, fancy pansy a*s neighborhoods. The gated kind.

 

                Haley chased after the man until he was out of sight, and slowed to a stop, looking around him. The streets were bare, lights coming from inside the houses only, however no street lights. Just the moon.

 

                Completely confused, and considering trying to get back home, even if the cab ride would cost him more than what he had because the buses were all done for the night, he turned and began walking away. However, a moment later he heard a high pitched scream. Without hesitation he turned on his heel and ran towards it, pushing against the gate to a backyard and breaking an oddly old hinge to get in.

 

                He stumbled and fell into the grass, looking up to see a young woman screaming at the top of her lungs in fright as the creature hovered in the air, grinning at her madly. But that was about it. He wasn’t threatening her, wasn’t doing anything crazy. He was just floating there with his Cheshire cat grin.

 

                He looked over and saw Haley, causing the girl to turn and notice him too. She screamed more, and people could be heard, bustling about, hastily coming towards them. The man swept down and grasped Haley, lifting him into the air, and up they went, then down, all about, confusing the boy and knocking the wind out of him.

 

                When they landed again it was in the grass, with Haley on his back and the man over him, staring down into him with those amber eyes, wisps of his black, puffy layered hair falling down and tickling Haley’s cheeks.

 

                “Did you like her screams?”

 

                “You’re mad,” Haley said, pushing up against him, trying to get up. The man pushed down against him, their pelvises meeting roughly, making something stir inside Haley and tie into a slick knot in his gut. He gulped. “Get off, this isn’t funny, whatever you are, whoever you are.”

 

                “Orion,” he said, almost serious, “my name is Orion.”

 

                “Alright than, Orion, get the f**k off of me. My girlfriend would have a fit if she saw me like this.”

 

                Orion chuckled and leaned his face down, breath brushing over Haley’s pierced lip. “But would you care, little one?”

 

                “F*****g duh,” Haley said, pushing against Orion. The creature just grinned and closed the gap, taking Haley’s lips under his own, thoroughly tasting him in only seconds. Then he was up, hovering, grinning from ear to pointy ear, a fleshy tail swaying behind him. Had that always been there?

 

                “You lie, but it is alright,” Orion said, “I can forgive such a sweet hell son as yourself.”

 

                Haley got up, rubbing the back of his neck that ached from landing on the ground, and opened his mouth to question him. Hell son? What did he mean?

 

                “I can see your questions,” Orion said, “and they will wait, child. I only have a few hours left to enjoy the 13^th day of this wonderful lunar cycle, and I dare not waste another moment. It is not often I am given free reign over your world, hellfire.” He leaned down, hovering on his stomach so his face was close. “But fear not, I will be back.”

 

                And then he was gone, a trail of smoke leading up into the black sky.

 

                Haley stared, rubbed his kohl lined eyes, and stared again. Then he looked forward and recognized the back of the house in front of him as his own. He had been in his own backyard. But for how long?

 

                He crept inside the back door and headed into his room, stripping down into nothing but his boxer briefs and crawling under a dark blue sheet. He stared up at the dark ceiling and tried to figure out what the f**k had just happened.

 

                Had one of his friends slipped him something? Some of them were into some heavy s**t lately, and maybe they had thought it would be fun to see him trip; only it had taken a while to sink in. LSD? Acid? Who knows? But Haley couldn’t believe what he’d seen was real.

 

                He closed his eyes, thinking back to what Orion had said. Real or not, he’d said the 13thof the lunar cycle. What had he meant?

 

                Shooting up in his bed, eyes wide, heart lurching up in his ribs, Haley remembered it was Friday, the 13^th.

Author's Note

This was done in quick celebration for Friday, the 13th :) I worked all day do I didn't have time for something extravagant. Also, this feels very incomplete, as I left it very open. I quite like the characters and idea, and I think I may turn it into a novel/novella in the future.