2: Marcus

T H E R E  W E R E  M U F F L E D sounds coming from a living room. It was a large plasma TV where an action film was playing.

A large banging sound then followed after gunfire went off from the film playing which was loud enough to awaken the boy who had dozed off on the couch that was six feet away from the TV.

Marcus's brown eyes suddenly opened wide, his whole body shaking when he turned to see The Terminator playing on TV.

'I'll be back!. . .' 

He traced the couch for the remote and found it just in time to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger deliver his famous catch phrase. He then switched off the TV.

The living room was dark and Marcus turned around to get a view from the large windows where he noticed night time was creeping in.

That's odd.

There was no green sky outside but dark greying clouds.

Marcus then heard a buzzing sound coming from his left thigh.

He dug in a hand into his jeans pocket and fished out his phone which illuminated the ceiling above him in the darkening room.

Somebody had just sent him a text and he chuckled a little upon noticing who the sender was.

Crazy ass party! Where the hell are you?

~Bianca~

When did I get her number?

Things had gotten weird between Marcus and Bianca Sinclair ever since her seventeenth birthday when she had lost her cool and Marcus had stepped up to help her out.

That could have been the moment Marcus had been waiting for to maybe try something with her but the Queen B held back all the way through Senior Year after threatening to destroy Marcus's life should he ever utter a word about any of it. After all, she was the Queen B.

But then now, Marcus was staring at a message from her.

Seconds later, another message popped up, this time coming from a group chat with a link.

Marcus tapped on the link and was directed to an I*******m video where he could see all kinds of people, mostly from his school, partying like hell at a very big venue that was a sight to behold.

The messages filling the group chat were all kinds of crazy and excitement.

Sick party!. . . I'm gonna die here! . . .Best Summer ever!. . .You're missing out on a lot, Marcus!. . .

Marcus shut his phone and slipped it back into his pocket, his mind already visualizing how much fun everybody was having.

I guess it must have been a dream after all.

Marcus had just graduated and the idea that some kind of ghastly being from the heavens dressed in some strange robes had just crashed his graduation party was beginning to feel like a dream.

Marcus turned to head out when he stopped at the door.

Wait, where is everybody?

He assumed his sister was also at the party together with the others and his parents were off to work-

But didn't they say they were planning a vacation for themselves and wouldn't be working for like a month?

Oh well, I guess there was a change of plans.

Brushing off all that aside, Marcus rushed out of the house to do one of the many things he was good at-partying!

The location tag from the I*******m video informed Marcus that the party was hardly a block away and it didn't take him more than ten steps to start seeing the bright multicolored neon lights flashing up high in the distance.

Heart racing, Marcus dashed towards the source of the lights and was met the most amazing sight he could ever come to fathom.

The venue was so vast that it almost covered an entire city block and if Marcus could have at least taken a few moments to get his head straight from all the excitement, he could have been a little suspicious as to how a party rave could even be happening at a place like that.

It looked like a circus; with high fortified walls glowing in neon pink and blue from where the other party lights shimmered high into the night air.

There were still celebrants flooding into the venue as Marcus followed them to the entrance where two bulky men stood square chested clad in black suits.

Marcus noticed that each of them were holding some kind of device like a scanner which let off a green glow over the wrists of the people it glided over.

It was Marcus's turn to be 'scanned' and he stared at the device pass over his hand.

He watched it leave a tiny marking on the upper side of his wrist like a symbol, almost resembling an hourglass figure.

"Enjoy the party!" the man with the device said to him with a chuckle and Marcus went through.

Once inside, the music was so loud that Marcus had to momentarily cover his ears before finally adjusting.

It was like the walls separated the rest of the world-a sort of crazy contrast between quiet and boring, and loud and awesome.

Everyone was dancing to the rhythm of the music, losing themselves to the party hype.

Marcus dug out his phone and found his sister's contact.

"Where are you?" he called at the top of his voice.

There was a response but the music was way too loud to hear a thing.

Someone then bumped into him from behind, making him almost drop his phone.

Turning around, Marcus was then looking at a girl with long dark hair that contrasted with her pale face.

"Bianca?"

"You made it!" Bianca grinned widely at him, all the while bobbing around her head, dancing to the loud music.

"Yeah!" Marcus shouted, a little shocked to see the Queen B talking to him like that.

"Crazy party huh?" Bianca said at the top of her voice.

Marcus nodded.

"Have you seen my sister?"

"Oh, Carmen, yeah. She's with Nat and the others!"

"Where?"

Marcus did not catch what she said at that point. The music had grown even louder.

The flashing lights suddenly turned from their neon glow to thin jagged electric lines almost lightning, taking on a green color.

Is this still part of the show?

The electric lines began to strike from the center of the entire venue where Marcus could tell was the Deejay's operating deck.

The music then changed from high beating house theme to Gothic hard rock.

The loudness went down a notch though and Marcus was a little pleased by this as it would allow him to easily converse with Bianca.

Well, that was until the crazy happened.

A high pitched shrill sound followed after like someone screaming.

It was a screaming, followed by another and yet another. . .

"What's going on?" Marcus asked.

Gasping, Bianca took a step back, her back touching that of Marcus's.

Turning to her direction, Marcus was then looking at a group of people scampering in all directions as if running away from something.

And that's when he saw it. . . or. . . them!

Moving very fast like night terrors ravaging through the dark, Marcus laid eyes on the most terrifying thing he had ever seen.

At first, he had thought it was just some party people pulling a prank, with their tattered and bloody clothes, running around scaring people.

But then he saw one of them grab a guy by the neck, its dark and dirty clothes visible in the night before it went ahead to bite a chunk out of the guy's face.

What the fuck. . .!

Marcus reared, his eyes wide open as he watched blood spurt out of the guy's face, a large bloody hole on one side of his jaw.

The guy staggered and fell and it was only a matter of seconds before his head suddenly jerked upwards. Marcus watched him stare at them with his eyes that were then glowing green.

A girl was running past while screaming in terror when the guy on the floor-no longer human but something much darker, suddenly grabbed at her leg.

The girl fell and the creature was on her, already clawing away at her chest and splashing the ground with blood.

The more the creatures bit people, the more the people became those creatures.

Rock music was still playing as if in accordance with the horror that was unfolding at the party.

"We have to get outta here!" Marcus called, gently grabbing Bianca by the arm.

She did not move.

"Bianca?"

No response.

"Bianca, we have to. . ."

His voice trailed off when he spun around to look Bianca in the face and almost wished he hadn't.

What had been a pale pretty face had then turned into a dark and ghastly one, with green glowing eyes glaring back at him.

Marcus took a step back.

"What's the matter?" Bianca spoke in a whisper, "don't you like what you see, Marcus? I thought you liked me and yet here I am."

No. No. No. No. . .

Marcus slightly shook his head, his heart pounding so loud he feared it would break through from inside his chest.

He tried to run but his feet refused to move almost as if he was entranced while looking at Bianca's glowing eyes.

"Don't worry, honey. . ." she spoke again with the softest voice, this time her face so close to Marcus, he could feel her warm breath, "I promise I won't. . ." there was a pause, ". . . bite. . ."

Those were the last words Marcus would ever hear as he watched Bianca's lips part, their corners ripping apart allowing her jaws to stretch out so wide that Marcus was then staring in horror at the large fangs that were protruding out of her mouth, all stained with saliva that dripped down her lips.

Marcus let out a loud yell when he felt the jaws collapse in on each other and sharp teeth were then digging deep into his left shoulder.

The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt before as the creature began to rip his shoulder apart. . .

He was still yelling when he found himself jerking upwards from the couch in the living room. Talk about a nightmare!

Marcus was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath when he caught the sounds of a film playing on the large TV before him.

'I'll be back!. . .'

For a moment, his mind flashed back to when he had heard that line before.

From the dream. . .?

Probably from watching The Terminator too much.

He found the remote on the couch and turned off the TV. 

A buzzing then came from his jeans pocket which was a notification from his phone.

Crazy ass party! Where the hell are you?

~Bianca~

Since when do I have Bianca's phone number?

Of course. The party!

Marcus felt a slight dizziness in his head, wondering whether he was still in some sort of dream.

I just graduated then maybe I. . .

His mind then went blank.

What happened at graduation?

When was this party even planned?

Shaking his head, Marcus decided to head out, thinking that his sister was also at the party.

The high walls; the flashing neon lights coming from the Deejay's deck. It was just like he had imagined. Or was it a dream. . .?

"Well, fuck it!" Marcus told himself, ignoring the tiny hourglass mark on his wrist and walked into the party.

Loud house music played on when he bumped into Bianca and was surprised to see her talking to him so freely like that without any demands as was her characteristic "Queen B" nature.

He wanted to ask her if she'd seen his sister but decided not to considering how loud the music was playing.

It was when the music then changed to hard rock that Marcus felt a weird sensation in his head like somebody had flipped on a switch inside of him and the memories of his 'dream' came flooding back.

"I think we should get out of here!" Marcus said, grabbing Bianca's hand.

"What? But you just got here!"

"I know, but I-"

There were loud screams everywhere just as people began to run in panic.

Oh no!

Marcus slowly turned his head to see the girl turn into one of those creatures, its eyes glowing at him.

Marcus was instinctive this time and was about to make a run for it when his right arm stuck back in place.

It was the arm he was holding onto Bianca with.

"Leaving so soon, Marcus," Bianca or rather the creature, purred, "the party's just getting started!"

With that, Marcus felt his arm strongly yanked back as he was pulled towards the creature just in time to meet with its wide open jaws.

He yelled out when huge teeth dug into his scalp, penetrating through and crushing his skull. . .

He awoke with a start and instinctively passed a hand through his thick curly hair.

'I'll be back!. . .'

Marcus ignored the movie playing on TV by looking around the spacious living room then back over the couch as if dreading to find something lurking down there.

His phone buzzed from inside his pocket.

Please don't be Bianca. . .

He looked at the screen and a sudden cloud of terror fell upon him.

It was happening. . .again!

Something was definitely wrong. There's no way I'm inside a dream of a dream of another dream!

Dammit, Marcus! Do you hear yourself, right now?

He turned back to his phone and found his sister's contact.

According to how far The Terminator had been playing, Marcus guessed about fifteen minutes since he got up from the couch.

He was about to call his sister when a knock came on the door right before a bright green glow flashed outside the windows like lightning.

Marcus went ahead to open the door and Bianca came rushing in.

"Lock it! Lock it!" she was saying frantically.

"What?"

"Lock the door!"

"Hey, are you OK?"

"They're out there!"

"The. . .monsters?"

Bianca nodded, turning to face Marcus.

"How did you know that?"

Marcus shook his head, not knowing how to respond to that.

Bianca then sat at the couch that Marcus had previously been on.

She then began to do something strange. She began to cry.

Since when does the Queen B cry?

"Bianca. . .?"

Marcus approached her, seating next to her on the couch.

She went on sobbing and Marcus had no idea what to do at that point.

He heard her mumble something.

"What?"

She mumbled again and Marcus slid closer to her to try and catch what she was saying.

"Well, aren't you just pathetic!" her voice came out clear and sinister this time and that's when it hit Marcus.

Ah shit! Not again!

Marcus barely had time to react when Bianca had then morphed into the same monster as before and had lunged herself at him, pinning him on the couch with his arms spread out. . .

Marcus had shot off from the same couch to feel his neck where he had had his windpipe torn off but everything was intact and there was no monster in his house, with the only sound coming from the TV playing The Terminator.

This mayhem went on forever, with Marcus waking up to the TV, getting a text from the girl who would turn into a zombified creature and devour him, only for him to find himself back at the couch over and over again.

There were times he'd even try to be smart like the eighth time he had woken up from the couch. He had locked himself up in the house, making sure that nothing could get to him.

Well, that was until his parents returned who had their own key only for Marcus to realize that they were just the creatures in disguise which went on to tear him apart she he tried to run out of the house and out to the night that was being illuminated by flashes of green from the crazy party.

The nineteenth time he woke up, he had learned to get out of the house as his first option but then the creatures seemed to be getting him wherever he went.

He had then made note of the green flashes of light that went off every time just before all hell broke loose.

It all comes from the deejay's operating deck.

Marcus passed through the entrance after getting the hourglass mark on his wrist and ran towards the deck, making sure he didn't bump into "Bianca" anymore.

Maybe the answer to this endless nightmare lay there.

To his surprise, something was indeed off with the deck, set high in the middle.

There was no deejay except for a large platform with two huge speakers pumping loud music into the air.

Marcus quickly began to search for anything that could help him here.

Maybe a power plug.

"Are you kidding me?" he spat, finding no wires or buttons anywhere on the speakers.

What kind of hell was this?

There was only one other plausible thing to do.

Marcus then pressed his shoulder against one of the speakers and began to push.

The deck was high enough to allow a fall that could damage the speakers.

Almost. . .

Marcus heaved.

The speaker was halfway to almost toppling over when he heard the music turn to hard rock and he watched bright green streaks of light shoot out from the speakers and into the air.

Oh no!

Marcus worked quickly now, pushing with all his might and had almost done it when something grabbed him from behind.

"Hey, you."

It was Bianca.

"No! No!" Marcus gasped, "get away from me!"

"What's the matter? Aren't you happy to see me?" Bianca pressed on.

Marcus took a step back, this time willing himself not to suffer the same fate like the eighteen times before.

But whatever was in play was nowhere near done with him as he reared too far and slipped over the edge of the deck.

No!

Marcus was falling fast on his back and the fall would most definitely break his neck when there was a sudden flash of bright red.

He felt something wrap around his body, quickly fastening and pulling him away.

He never hit the ground nor did he see any monsters from that point forward as he was then drifted into another world. . .