Sunny September, Part twelve. Commotion. Okimoto.

  When I was a little kid, I was told lies about how the world works. Some lies weren’t so bad. Like when they said the boogie man would come to get me if I stayed up too late, or when they said I’d get no presents for Christmas because Santa Claus hates bad boys.

  Other lies were worse, the ones my foster parents and school teachers told me reeking of condescension. Lies like, “hard work will always pay off in the end,” or, “just be a good person and good things will come to you.”

  We are all manipulated as we grow up. Certain behaviours are punished while others are encouraged. We are told not to steal, not to lie, not to curse and to clean our rooms, to treat others how we want to be treated.

  These notions were reinforced by the media we consumed, stories where the heroes always got a happily ever after as a reward for their hardships, where the villains always got their comeuppance in one way or another.

  In the goal of forging us into good people we come to see the world as a simple and just place. We develop the expectations that good people will prevail while a bad person no matter how boastful and treacherous in their evil, will always receive their due punishment. When society fails to punish them accordingly, we are told god will judge them in the end. If we never receive the rewards we are told we deserve for being a good person, they tell us god will reward us one day. Eventually I stopped caring for such sentiments.

  When we grow up we realise the world isn’t as simple as we were told. We learn that following and meeting a rigid set of expectations won’t always reward us as it does in movies, myths and legends. When the realisation dawns on us, some of us become lost and unsure, believing we just didn’t try hard enough. Others become driven to fix societal problems, believing such efforts will gratify the lies told to us and manifest them as truth, thus creating a world that’s good and fair.

  When ‘he’ came into my life at the tender age of eight. He told me the truth of how things work. He explained to me the intricacies of the human ego, and how its function is to make us feel secure in the times we feel threatened.

  I came to understand humans as a tribal species. Our ancestors needed to stick together in order to survive, a human alone in a world of big cats and bears won’t survive for very long. Because of this we all have longing for connection and a need for others in our lives, and an all encompassing fear of social exclusion. Thus goodness was born, an evolutionary strategy where one puts the needs of the group before themselves to make themselves the most useful. Its sheer utility to those in power driving them to champion it above all else, reinforcing it through religion, myths and systems of shame and control.

  And so when we were kids, we were all told lies about how the world works.

  Some lies weren’t so bad, other lies were worse.

  In the failed process of making me a good person, I came to see the world as a complicated and unjust place.

  when the realisation dawned on me as the police carried him off for the crime of enacting justice with his own hands, all I had left for the world around me was a ten year old mind set on destruction.

  And now my youth has reached its apex. The destruction a lie that brought millions to America dreaming of that lie and other lies that now lie where it lies, in shambles at the bottom of Hollywood hills.

  I help my friend to his feet, him having regained consciousness or at least some of it.

  “What happened to me…”

  Daqwan looks around at the road, his eyes following its path up the hill and back to the hellish house where the musical sirens of youth still boom within.

  He starts to sway and I stabilise him by holding him by the shoulders.

  The aftermath of the attack will definitely buffer my life, but it won’t be the end. Once I’m out of prison I’ll be an adult with the world at my fingertips and no ties to hold me back. I’ll be free to do as I please and I’ll bask in the chaos and thrill life will bring. Until then I’ll make the most of my time.

  “Do you remember what happened before you passed out?” I ask.

  Daqwan shakes his head. “I just remember doing it with Seraphima.”

  “Seraphima?” I ask, confused.

  “That’s the name of the sister I was with.”

  I let out a sigh then laugh, “I never even bothered to learn their names.”

  “Shit what happened?” He asks me. “Did I… fall asleep after doing it?”

  I shake my head. “No you were captured by them and me and Christopher saved you. They’re possessed by some kind of demonic force that morphed them into monsters.”

  “Nigga what?”

  He looks at me like I’m speaking Chinese. “You’s a funny little nigga.”

  “Okay,” I sigh pinching my brow, “Come with me.”

  Deciding to take a show don’t tell approach, I usher him back up the hill towards the party still in full swing. I see a small commotion stirring by the entrance as Fredrick argues with a few boys blocking him from going back inside.

  “Look at me,” Fredrick spews, showing them the spider legs that sprout from his body, “you think this is one of your goofy little costumes?”

  A guy dressed as superman throws up his hands, “look man I don’t know what’s wrong with ya but you ain’t coming back in here after trying to attack the hosts. Leave and get yourself to a hospital or some shit before we call the cops.”

  “Don’t do that.” I say coming up to them with Daqwan. The last thing I need right now is an early run in with the cops. I’d at least like to warm up before a good chase.

  Superman keeps his eyes on Fredrick as he addresses me. “Your friend’s okay now right? You both can go back inside but this dude’s not going anywhere near the sisters.”

  “Bro come on.” Fredrick pleads before turning to face me and Daqwan, his face starting to morph.

  “Hey hey don’t look at them,” Superman yells, “they don’t decide who goes in and out.”

  “And who are you to decide?” Fredrick asks demandingly. “Who the fuck actually are you?”

  “I’m seraohima’s boyfriend.”

  Damn!

  I share a “yikes” with Daqwan before continuing past superman and his two friends dressed up as the hulk and Batman.

  They carefully block off Fredrick who tries to slip through behind us, the hulk bumping into me and knocking my wig off exposing my real hair.

  “Fuck!” Fredrick gasps and jumps back when he recognises me.

  Confused by his reaction, the three superhero cosplayers also look back at me curious, their faces turning pale at the sight of me.

  “SCHIZOMOTO!” Batman gulps.

  They all take a massive step back, their differences settled by the sight of a much greater threat than Fredrick.

  “Look man we don’t want any trouble.” Hulk says, his voice trembling.

  Daqwan chuckles, “it’s fine… I got him on a leash.”

  Rolling my eyes I place the wig back on my head then continue on with Daqwan.

  I hear Fredrick yell out “wait” and when I look back I see he took advantage of the situation to get past the three self appointed security guards.

  “Hey what do you think you’re doing?” Superman shouts but doesn’t take action, my presence keeping him at bay.

  Fredrick looks back at me and asks, “do you know about the sisters? Your best friend was almost attacked by one before I saved him.”

  “Don’t start with that bullshit again.” Superman sneers.

  “He told you right?” Fredrick continues to urge me into siding with him.

  Daqwan looks at me as do the other three.

  I simply shrug and lie, “I have no clue what you’re on about. We’re just here to get our friends and go home.”

  There’s no point in struggling against common ignorance. Fredrick’s on his own.

  Fredrick’s face grows increasingly outraged, his eyes starting to swell and bulge as whatever force is affecting him goes haywire.

  “Screw this!” He curses before spinning around to face the three yelling, “look at me,” then marching towards them as they recede in disgust.

  “This is what they did to me,” he says, “do you want the same thing to happen to you? I don’t know what’s wrong with me and I don’t dare take myself to the hospital out of fear. Knowing them they’ll throw me into a government lab to be experimented on.”

  “What the fuck!”

  Superman falls on his ass as hulk steps forward, placing his hand on Fredrick’s chest to push him back. “You don’t need to get all up in our faces to show us that shit. Try taking yourself to the church to get rid of this evil thing that’s possessed you.”

  “Hey what’s going on?”

  Some nearby kids take notice of what’s happening and get closer.

  “Do you still think I’m a funny little n word?” I ask Daqwan with a scowl.

  He doesn’t answer and simply continues to observe Fredrick in a trance.

  “EVERYONE LOOK AT ME!” Fredrick yells. “LOOK AT WHAT THEY DID TO ME!”

  More party goers start to surround us, forming a wall of eyes locked on Fredrick as he removes his hoodie, showing the world the state of him.

  He turns back to face us with his face half morphed into a spider’s, his limbs elongating as spider legs sprout like weeds on his naked torso.

  Around us gasps and even a few screams beat back the music from the party, the driveway turning into a massive scene.

  Many take out their phones to film and others approach him cautiously.

  “What happened?” A guy dressed as Casper the friendly ghost asks. “It’s fucking unreal.”

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  “You wanna know what happened,” Fredrick replies with a huff before yelling again, “IT’S THOSE SLUTTY SISTERS INSIDE, THEY INFECTED ME WITH THIS CRAP! THEIR SATANIC AND YOU SHOULD ALL LEAVE FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.”

  “Is this for real?”

  “I think we should get out of here, that’s definitely not normal.”

  “This one’s going on the gram.”

  Smelling an incoming thrill, I remove my wig immediately sending a wave of fright through the crowd.

  “Schizomodo!”

  “What the fuck are you doing here psycho!”

  Turning towards the crowd, I laugh before yelling, “WHAT HE’S SAYING IS TRUE! THE SISTER’S ARE INFECTING EVERYONE AND WERE GOING INSIDE TO PUT A STOP TO IT. THERE EVEN MORE TERRIFYING THAN THIS GUY, YOU’LL SEE IF YOU COME WITH US!”

  “Why the hell would we believe you?” Some guy yells, “we all know that you like to stir shit up for no reason.”

  “What do you mean?” A girl disputes him. “You can literally see that other guy transforming right infront of everyone. I don’t think he’s lying.”

  I suddenly feel a hand grab my shoulder. Looking back I see Fredrick flinching when I lock eyes with him.

  “Why… why are you suddenly helping me out now?” He asks warily.

  I did say I only intend on getting Christopher and Germain out then leaving, but who’s to say I can’t improvise and enjoy a little chaos along the way? Since it’s my last day as a free man I might as well indulge myself with the spectacle. All I had to do was slightly add to the situation and now things have gotten a lot more interesting.

  “Life needs a touch of chaos and thrill to make things more fulfilling,” I reply giddily.

  We storm the party disrupting and breaking up the bulk of the partygoers.

  I cut my way to the stereos were I knock the DJ out with a punch before slipping behind the massive set up to plug the whole damn thing out.

  I yank and silence kisses my ears softly, sparing them of the nonstop lyrical assault.

  The countless people stare at me like I cussed out their mothers, ready to rip into me for ending their euphoria.

  Before anyone can do anything Fredrick yells again, “LOOK AT ME,” before going on to ramble for a good ten minutes. At this point I start to get concerned as Christopher’s nowhere to be seen. This likely means he didn’t make it out of the garage. As much as I’d love to instigate further I can’t afford to waste anymore time while my best friend is in potential danger. Daniel just lurks by my side uselessly which is annoying but still better than having him off trying to have sex with the sisters again.

  “Listen to him!” I yell ushering on the crowd.

  After another minute of yapping enough of the party goers are convinced the sisters are to blame for Fredrick’s condition. This might not be quite correct considering Trevor but it’s good enough. Mob mentality takes control of the steering wheels and we thunder around to the garage like a tsunami.

  We come to find Trevor standing by the door with one of the sisters hiding behind him.

  “It’s not a good idea to come in here right now.” He says with a deep frown.

  Fredrick steps forward. “Move it stoner. I can see it in your face, you’re infected too.”

  Trevor shakes his head, “I’m not infected with anything. There’s something deeper going on here and the sisters are not responsible for this.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Fredrick asks with a scrutinising glare.

  “You see me right?” Trevor says, taking off his own shirt to show us the spider legs all over his body. “I had this before I even spoke to the sisters. Don’t just jump to conclusions rashly.”

  A few of the kids in the crowd start cursing while others start to pray. I’m just stunned to see Trevor not high for once.

  “Then what’s the cause of this?” Fredrick asks, expectantly.

  “I don’t know dude,” He shrugs, “but I do know what it isn’t.”

  “Can at least a few of us go inside?” I ask, “two of my homies are inside of there.”

  “Oh damn Christopher and Germain are in the garage?” Daqwan says, putting two and two together. “Wait what’s happening in there exactly. I think I remember sera-“ he stops himself likely remembering her boyfriend superman is in the crowd somewhere and goes on to say, “the sister I slept with, didn’t ask for her name, took me into the garage before I blacked out.”

  “That’s not true at all.” The sister behind Trevor squeals in protest.

  “Wait… your the one he slept with?” Trevor looks back at her with a raised eyebrow.

  “Umm… I don’t know.”

  “Huh?” A random boy sneers, “how do you not know if you’ve slept with someone or not? Were you unconscious?”

  “Definitely not.” She laughs nervously before her face suddenly tweaks, a pincer erupting from her cheek before vanishing a second later.

  Everyone jolts from the shock of it.

  She hugs Trevor from behind. “Baby you’ll protect me from them right?”

  She looks over his shoulder, smirking at us all with obvious malice.

  “Eww,” Another boy hisses, “a bunch of sluts.”

  “Don’t be upset because you’re ugly ass didn’t get any,” she shoots back with the giggle of a demoness.

  I make a move for the door but Trevor steps to block my path. I don’t know why this guy is so desperate to hide the cocoons from everyone and I don’t care. I need to get to my best friend.

  “Dude Christopher’s inside.” I say scowling, “I’m not messing around I’ll beat your ass if you don’t let me get to him to see if he’s ok.”

  He shakes his head and I can only assume he’s suicidal.

  Deciding to cut the bullshit I pull a gun on him. “Get the fuck out of my way.”

  “Shit is this nigga crazy?”

  “Oh sweet Jesus let me get back, sorry everyone I don’t wanna be hit by a stray.”

  “Schizomoto’s at it again. Forget about the spider mutant people this guys the real threat to peoples lives.”

  The crowd starts to back up from me as numerous voices react to my sudden escalation.

  Looking back I see even Daqwan has slipped behind a few people.

  “Shit I’ll let you in and only you.” Trevor mutters before backing off.

  I roll my eyes before instigating, “hey Fredrick I’ll have you know it was Trevor here that knocked you out, he snuck up on you with a bat like a pussy.”

  “Motherfucker!” Fredrick grunts before grabbing Trevor and throwing him into the corner. He then dives in and the two start a tussle that carries them both up the stairs.

  The crowd immediately shuffles away from them and then away from me when a few get too close for comfort.

  The sister now alone hisses at me as she blocks the door to the garage that crudely leans over the doorway, its hinges having already been busted by me previously.

  “Move it!” I hiss.

  She yells, “NO!”

  I keep my gun on her knowing that I can’t beat her physically. I move closer to the door while yelling, “Daqwan go and turn the music back on, you were watching when I plugged it out so you should know how to plug it back in.”

  “Why?” He asks.

  “Just hurry up and do it,” I urge.

  I don’t intend on killing her so I can only fire off a warning shot. Because of that I need the music back on to muffle out the sound and stop the neighbours from hearing it.

  Daqwan leaves and I continue to glare at the sister before stepping back when she makes a move for my gun.

  “don’t do anything stupid,” She sneers.

  “Just let him in you crazy bitch.”

  “What, are you hiding a million dollars in there?”

  A few people in the crowd take my side, their support quickly swallowed up by the music that starts blasting off again.

  I fire my gun at the ceiling causing everyone to step away from me in one massive wave. I hope I didn’t accidentally shoot someone upstairs.

  The sister also moves back slightly but still partially blocks the door with her life.

  I make a lunge to squeeze past her and she grabs my arm with overwhelming strength.

  I manage to kick the door down a second time before I’m thrown back into the crowd, the cocoons revealed to everyone.

  I look around and see their shocked expressions, their mouths moving, pointless profanities reaching no one.

  “NOOOOOO!”

  The sister lets out a hellish shriek that briefly defeats the music before walking backwards into the garage.

  She starts to transform again and barfs up a torrent of webs, weaving her head and filling in the doorway with her filth, trapping herself inside and sealing the garage off completely.

  “Shit.” I curse to myself. At this rate I’ll just have to wait for them to turn back to normal, whenever that happens.

  I look towards the stairs where I see Fredrick and Trevor come tumbling down.

  They end up rolling across the floor, the crowd tripping over themselves to avoid them.

  Trevor gains the upper hand and has Fredrick in a chokehold.

  It takes a good ten seconds before, Fredrick’s struggling face goes blank and his eyes hollow.

  With him now unconscious Trevor stands tall having acquired two black eyes, two black eyes that fix on me with the rage of a vengeful god, rage that’s quickly humbled when he calms down remembering I’m basically a black belt.

  He scowls at me before storming off, knocking several kids to the side as he leaves.

  The music stops abruptly, he storms back into the crowded hallway where he proceeds to bang on the webs that block off the garage yelling, “Seraphima! Seraphima!”

  I gasp, learning that she cheated on superman not just once but twice tonight.

  “The fuck!” He yells out from amidst the crowd right on schedule.

  He erupts from the masses with a look of betrayal, storming over to confront Trevor. “Why are you calling her name?”

  Trevor looks back at him with the frown of someone being harassed by a pesky fly. “What are you so mad about all of a sudden?”

  “That’s my girlfriend, don’t tell me you-“

  “-come on man,” Trevor says rolling his eyes, “everyone knows how the septuplets get down. You should’ve known better.”

  “Yeah come on dude be for real.” A random kid adds.

  I don’t know what to make of it. I never would’ve imagined I’d walk into the middle of a soap opera when looking to rescue my friend.

  Superman looks around for support but finds no sympathy with the crowd, only a few pitying laughs.

  Out of absolutely nowhere Fredrick springs to his feet before pouncing on Trevor who’s too stunned to react.

  Fredrick punches him again and again in the face, each punch an electric bang that makes even me shiver.

  Trevor goes down having likely been knocked out by the first punch, the other ten added on for the sake of being petty.

  Fredrick steps over him then rips at the webs clogging the door way with the ferocity of a caveman, everyone except me moving back out of fear.

  As soon as the door is cleared, three of the sisters swarm him suddenly, then a fourth emerges with her eyes locked on me.

  She lunges so fast I can’t raise my gun in time and tackles me to the ground so effortlessly it’s embarrassing.

  “Shit!” I hiss, hoping no one’s filming this.

  The partygoers all get going and are gone screaming faster than they came. So much for mob mentality.

  I try to punch, try to kick her in the crotch, try to bite her and then try to kick her in the crotch again. My gun goes flying into the corner and I watch as the other three throw Fredrick across the corridor causing him to bang his head on the stairs.

  He’s out cold and I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my chest, empowering me to throw the bitch off me.

  She goes tumbling over to the other three who just stand there completely blank faced as they look at Fredrick, then me, then their sister who’s now crying? Why the hell is she crying?

  I get up ready for the fight of my life but they all just look at me terrified.

  “What’s happening…” one of them breaks down and starts bawling her eyes out, the other three joining her before one screams, “please get away from us… hurry and get your friends out before we change again.”

  They’re back to normal? Is this fore real? Is it a trap? Theories race through my mind. I wonder if it could be a time interval thing or maybe there’s some kind of trigger.

  Fredrick groans along with Trevor, both of them getting to their feet.

  One of the sisters lets out a gasp and then another scream. “It’s happening again… I feel it coming!”

  “Hurry up and run,” another one adds before her face tweaks and her demeanour flips again, “don’t run silly we don’t mean any harm.”

  They all suddenly go back to monsters, the human tears from seconds ago still fresh on their now demonic faces.

  Fearing for my life I force my self to think think THINK! When they turned the other times what similarities where there to now? I just remember them changing randomly and Christopher said the change occurred after, after Fredrick was knocked unconscious? Screw it, it’s worth a shot.

  They progress towards me and I yell out, “wait! I’ll protect you okay. Just chill out a sec.”

  “What are you talking about?” Fredrick roars, capturing their attention away from me, their sights fixing on him as they get down on all fours to attack.

  Trevor groans before giving me a scrutinising look.

  Ignoring him I carefully pass around the sisters to stand between them and Fredrick who scowls at me like his situation is my fucking fault.

  Fright yanks my heart out my ass when I feel all four of them hug up on me from behind.

  “Sweetie you’ll protect us right?”

  “Yeah sure.”

  Fredrick scowls, “Schizomoto… you’re one real trifling piece of shit you know that.”

  “Keep on running your mouth,” I say, motioning for him to take me on.

  He makes a stupid move and tries to tackle me head on, his head low and easy to wrap my arms around in a chokehold. I easily get him in a headlock and choke him out in seconds.

  Looking back at the sisters, I see them tweak again before suddenly gaining that scared human look they had seconds ago.

  “What are you doing?” One asks.

  So that’s it? The trigger is Fredrick? Why is that? Whatever, I just need to keep him knocked out for long enough to get Christopher and Germain out of here.

  Counting down I make sure to choke Fredrick out long enough to keep him down for a while.

  “I think you should all run.” I say to the sisters, “it’s Fredrick, he’s the one doing this to you guys. You need to stay far away from here.”

  “Screw that!” Trevor who’d been watching in silence the entire time speaks up, “I’ll have my girlfriend drive him away.”

  I drop the unconscious Fredrick then shrug.

  The sisters make way for him as he comes to take the unconscious jock by the arm before dragging him off across the floor.

  “If I’m not mistaken he should be out for at least five minutes, you need to be quick,” I warn.

  He nods, but is then immediately shoved so hard he goes crashing through the wall.

  Fredrick’s arm starts to grow and contort, his entire body twists on the ground.

  The sisters all let out a collective shriek that rattles my brain.

  He slowly stands up to a height double that of himself previously. He turns to face me, his monstrous now fully spider faced form dyed all kinds of colours by the party lights.

  Black hairs sprout from every inch of him and I already know I’m not knocking him out again any time soon.

  My stomach is knocked through my back, my body going numb as his punch shatters something inside then throws everything out of me on to his face.

  Breakfast, lunch and dinner spews from my mouth and everything starts to spin before I black out.