Gigamaster001

666 Saint St.

     I didn’t believe it either, but apparently that’s where my parents were taking me. A new home for the family! Great.

     Do you know how long it takes to make a reputation for yourself? At my old school and neighborhood, you looked out for me. You were lucky if I looked at you! I was so cool, the “cool kids” of the area kept asking me for tips. I could skateboard, I knew karate, and I was undefeated in both games and duels. I was “Vanguard” to my public, and, believe it or not, Dante to my friends.

     Funny how someone with a demonic name happens to be moving in to “666” Saint St. Actually, a lot of people ask, but I am both not and not named after the Dante from the Devil May Cry series. He is really cool, but I was actually named after the original; the guy who wrote “Inferno.” He wrote that there was seven rings of hell, and in the deepest ring was Brutus, Cassius, and Judas, who were being chewed alive and eternally for their traitorous acts. The first two killed Julius Caesar, and the third one brought Jesus to his death. Harsh, huh?

     So, what’s a guy like me supposed to do? Just sit and wait it out? Become the “new kid nobody” on the block? Considering the fact that my parents took away both my skateboard and my games, it looked like I had too. Besides, it’s not like it’s haunted, right?

     Is it just me, or did I just curse myself? It’s just like the “What else could go wrong?” line, that seems to work in stories no matter how much you believe in superstition. To put it simply, I don’t, but then again, I am moving to 666 Saint St.

     Well, day one is in the morning. We just got here and the moving truck got lost, so we don’t even have all our stuff yet. I did pack an extra pair of clothes, just in case, but come on! They had a map!

     You know, it figures. It’s not even day one and 666 Saint St. is already cursed.

     The morning started out well, if you’re curious. I woke up on my unfurnished bed (which the previous owners were kind enough to leave behind) thoroughly chilled due to the lack of comforter or blanket of any kind, and went downstairs to find Mom had just left to get breakfast, due to the lack of food in the fridge. One hour later, while I was positively starving, Mom comes back with the cheapest cereal in the market! (Ever tried Captain Crunch and didn’t like it? Try it dry and add chili powder; that’s what I had for breakfast.)

     Mom wasn’t too appreciative of my behavior, but she let me off because it was the first day in the new neighborhood. She then kicked me out of the house, saying I was to meet the neighbors today. Great! More cookies and weirdoes!

     Have you ever noticed that all new neighbors give you cookies? Maybe not you, but they did for me.

     Six dozen cookies later (seriously! It’s like they lined up to talk to me!) I had finally gotten away from my neighbors. Apparently, the neighborhood consisted of old ladies and new moms, so there was no one my age on the street. Perfect. The only thing redeeming about the place was the shopping district within walking distance.

     The shopping district was a T-shaped street, with the school at the end of the main road. Lining the other streets were small shops and businesses, including an arcade, so this place might not be that bad. On the south street, facing the school, there was a small deli on the left corner of the street. It was right across from the school, so some of the kids probably had lunch there. Anyway, it’s time to see if this place has any decent pizza!

     If you thought the neighborhood was weird, try checking out the deli. Inside were the typical tables and divider chairs, as well as a couple of customers, but there was some sort of chill in there that I couldn’t place. Everyone was chatting with the person next to them, the people on their cell phones, or the waitress, but there was this one girl sitting in the corner. I didn’t know what to make of her, really. She had the biggest eyes I have ever seen, and straight brown, thin hair that made her look like a doll. I could almost see her skull through her skin, too… Standing where I was, I could see her, but I still couldn’t make out if she had lips or just a line painted on her face! That, and she was wrapped in some sort of heavy green-black wool blanket. It covered her entire body, not including her head, the tiny hand that held it in place, and her bare feet.

     Her feet were so tiny! I think they call them “lily feet” in China or something.

     Hey, I fell sleep in History class when we were on the China unit. Don’t expect me to know for sure!

     Moving toward an empty seat, I felt like I had to give her something. All I had was a measly ten dollars and twenty-three cents, my backpack, my old school jacket, my Tony Hawk t-shirt, my jeans, my socks, and my blue, black and white sneakers. I had nothing to give her! Why did I want to give her anything, anyway? I’m new to the neighborhood; people should be giving me cookies or something!

     Then it hit me. The cookies! I dropped off most of them at home and brought the rest with me in my backpack! Surely she can’t resist cookies!

     With a bit of a determined sigh, I stood up, put down my backpack to save my seat, and walked over to the girl. I held out two of the seven cookies I brought with me and said, “Yo, you hungry?” If nothing else, she definitely looked like it!

     Her head turned slowly until her eyes matched with mine. “Hunnn-greeee…” she whispered. She took a cookie and began nibbling on it, but she never broke eye contact with me. It was actually starting to make me pretty nervous…

     “Are you ready to order yet, sir?”

     The sudden question made me jump. Who uses “sir” nowadays, anyway?

     The waitress was standing behind me. She looked to be in her late thirties and her lower 200’s when considering weight. “Uh…yeah, I guess I am. You got any pizza?”

     She smiled. “Yes, I do, sir! Would you like to return to your seat while I cook one up?”

     That figures. She owns the place! “Sure, I’ll get back to my seat…”

     As I walked away, though, the girl suddenly burst into giggles, which then became drastically louder laughter. I looked back at her, and she called out, “Devils dance and devils cry, they don’t sing and they don’t sigh! Turn an’ run while you have the chance; Run, Dante! Run real fast!”

     She then collapsed into giggles, threw her cookie up in the air, swallowed it in one gulp, and fell fast asleep where she sat.

     “You mark my words, sir! You stay away from her!” the waitress scolded.

     “Geez! Lady! I just got to this town last night! Gimme a break!” I spat back.

     “Oh, so you’re the new kid!” Great. I’m labeled already! “Welcome to town! For your first visit, pizza’s on me!”

     “Thanks! I’ll be in my seat now…” I mumbled. If she was going to be so nice, she could have started out that way.

     I sat down in my seat, and, due to my insatiable curiosity, I looked back at the girl. She was awake, glaring at me, and smiling.

     I involuntarily shivered and went back to staring at the table. Why was that girl so creepy?

     A tiny bell rang as the door opened, revealing some teens about my age. If I’m lucky, they’re probably in the same class I’ll be in.

     There were three of them. The tallest one, probably a basketball player, pointed me out and mentioned something to the other two. Those two just laughed to themselves and one of them said something back. Then, all three of them moved over to my table and helped themselves to the open seats.

     “Yo, new kid! You been hidin’ for sixteen years or you with the new family on the block?”

     I decided they weren’t worth looking at, so I began reading the menu above the counter. Pizza was half off today.

     “You gonna look at me, new kid?” a different one asked.

     I smiled to myself. “The name’s Dante,” I hissed, using my cool voice. I turned to look at them, giving them the devil’s stare I was famous for back home. Basically, it was me evilly grinning at you with a slight downturn of my face to make my eyes look brighter and my face darker, making it look like my eyes were almost glowing. With ice-blue eyes, it wasn’t very hard. “And if you want me to look at you, would you prefer it to be through open air or a coffin lid?”

     The look worked. All three of them began to look nervous. They also all wore the same school jacket (probably the local school’s) and matching t-shirts. Some sort of gang, maybe?

     “Yo, you dangerous? Or just foolin’?” the second one asked again.

     “Tell me; what do you call an unbeatable black belt with the name Dante?”

     All three looked a little more nervous but also curious. “Your name’s Dante?”

     “The one and only,” I smirked, leaning back in my seat and resting my head on my arms. I’m pretty sure I had already mentioned my name, but I tried to look as laid back as possible anyway.

     Now they were looking interested. “I’d call the guy one of us. Welcome to the Green Blazers!”

     I burst out laughing.

     Seriously, Green Blazers? They couldn’t get dorkier even if they tried! Scratch that; they could, but they’d be crossing over to “girly” while they were at it.

     All three of them jumped up with offensive stances and the third one actually grabbed me. “You dissin’ the Blazers?”

     It took me a minute to realize they were talking to me (especially after they repeated themselves a few times) and to calm down from laughing so hard. “You guys,” I wheezed, wiping a tear from my eye, “are truly pathetic. I’d never join a gang named ‘the Green Blazers!’”

     All three began to look really mad. That, and the entire store was looking at us now.

     “However, ditch the name and make me captain, and maybe I’ll hang out with you.”

     “Aw, he thinks he can beat us!” the third one laughed. I could almost tell the laugh was forced.

     “Yeah, I think I can,” I smirked.

     The first one, the guy holding the front of my shirt, threw his fist to belt me across the face. I retaliated by grabbing his fist, smiling, really freaking the guy out, and kneeing him as hard as I could.

     He buckled to the floor as the other two lunged at me. Apparently, they had gotten out from behind the table so they could actually attack me. I just calmly side-stepped out of the way and watched them fall over each other as they crashed into the table and the other thug.

     “Are you in? Or do I get to be the rival gang?” I asked, hands in my pockets. I’d say I looked pretty cool.

     “We’re in! We’re in!” the guy on the floor squeaked.

     “If you boys are finished, sit down and order! If not, take it outside!” the waitress screeched, coming toward us with a hot skillet in her oven-mitt hand.

     “Hey, chill! I just took out the former Blazers for you!” I had my hands out, palms facing the waitress, to show I was no harm. I also, for cool effect, had my eyes closed and was facing slightly downward. I guess it kind of looks like I’m bowing without bending my back.

     “Well…alright, then,” she mumbled, lowering her skillet. “Thank you, then. They’ve been terrorizing the town for months!”

     I did the same devil look to her. “They work for me now.”

     I swear to god, the look on her face! She turned dead pale and took a step back, seemingly in fear. The other patrons quickly went back to their conversations and meals, hoping to miss my attention.

     I continued to smile. “But don’t worry. All I want right now is a few answers.”

     The waitress calmed down a bit. “I’ll be right back; your pizza’s burning.”

     I nodded and she walked off. I turned to the other three, who were seated at my table and rubbing their bruises or trying to ignore the pain.

     As I sat down, the tall one (thug number three) asked, “So, um…boss, what’cha want us to do?”

     “First,” I asked, getting comfortable and leaning back, “who’s the girl in the corner?”

     All three looked at each other and then at me. I had the feeling they were either scared to tell me or dumbfounded that I didn’t know.

     “That’s Salene,” thug number two whispered. “She’s possessed!”

     “Wouldn’t doubt it…” I mumbled. “How’d she end up possessed, anyway?”

     Thug number three shook his head. “Nobody knows. All anybody can guess is she was always like that. She walked into town one day, sat in the deli, and never moved. She only ate what was put in front of her, and wouldn’t react with anybody who talked to her. She’d just sit there, day after day…”

     Thug two took over. “Yeah. She’s a real nutcase! They say she started the murders, and then the hauntings!”

     “What, did I walk into a horror flick?” I asked. I sounded peeved, and I was. This was typical B-movie horror plot.

     “Hey, you moved into 666 Saint St., right?” thug one asked, still a little choked from the nut bashing I gave him.

     “Yeah, why?”

     “Let’s just say you asked for it.”

     I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, guys, you can’t actually believe this superstition crap! I mean—”

     “Did Salene guess your name?”

     I looked at the voice. The waitress was standing there with my pizza, and the boys were starting to look hungry.

     Now that I think about it, she did. “Yeah. Why?”

     The waitress looked even more nervous. “She just has a knack for that, that’s all—”

     “What, you mean she talked to you?!” thug two almost yelled, nearly knocking over the table in the process.

     “Holy shit! Sit down!” I called. “Yeah. She talked to me. Somethin’ about devils dancing.”

     “Devils dance and devils cry, they don’t sing and they don’t sigh! Turn an’ run while you have the chance; Run, Dante! Run real fast!”

     I whirled to look at the girl, who had gone back to staring at the wall in front of her. She was back in that doll position I had first seen her in.

     When I looked back at the other three, the waitress was gone and the pizza was right on the table. Instead of attacking the pizza, the boys were just sitting there, staring at me.

     “Oh, hell! Dig in!” I sighed. The three of them then took a piece each, but slowly and never diverting their gaze from mine. I think I creeped them out a little more than I should have…

     “So, what’cher names?” I asked, taking a piece of my own.

     “Jon.”

     “Roy.”

     “Dirk.”

     “Okay,” I mused. “Jon’s the tall one, Dirk’s the dork I nut-crushed, and Roy…is just Roy.”

     The other two snickered as Roy gave them dirty looks. I smiled to myself; this wasn’t going to be so bad if I could play this right.

     “So, boss—”

     “Seriously, just call me Dante. Or Vanguard, if you want a title.”

     “Okay…uh, Dante, you got any more Q’s?” Jon asked.

     I thought to myself, and then started asking about the school. I’m going to need to know all I can if I want to be able to get a good rep here.

     Apparently, the school colors are green and purple, hence the “Green Blazers.” The school mascot is a pirate, despite the town’s lack of water or lakes to justify something along that line. Also, I have to look out for Elyse, because she’s very strange (almost like Salene, but 90% more normal, whatever that means) and Vincent because he’s something called a “D and D freak.” Again, I had no clue, but I pretended to know, as I would probably be able to figure it out after meeting them.

     Also, twenty-some years ago, there were four murders at the school, and, as no one could figure out why or how, the school eventually reopened to the public. However, at the time, everyone had suspicions that it was old man Venol who lived in my new house. Apparently, he could “talk” to “ghosts” and other superstitious crap. The residents of the neighborhood chased him out of town, and no one’s heard of him since. Plus, my family is also the first family to actually move into that house ever since then. Goody. Dead people in my basement.

     To add to that, there’s also a rumor going around that Salene is his granddaughter. I wouldn’t be surprised, considering the turn of events this twisted tale is taking.

     After the guys got used to me, the pizza disappeared pretty quickly. It was obviously store bought, but at least it was a good brand.

     By then it was getting kind of late into the afternoon, so I told the guys that I’ll see them at school. They agreed, and said they’d meet me at the entrance. I know they wore green jackets and my old school jacket happened to be red, but is there any other possible way I could stick out more? Maybe I should bleach my hair or something.

     Anyway, I got back home and Mom asked about my day, with Dad commenting about “hundreds” of new “friends” I must’ve made already. I rolled my eyes and stated that everything was cool and I already had three new friends: Roy, Dirk, and Jon. Mom was quite proud of me.

     "And, by the way, we have dead people in our basement.”

     Mom’s look of shock was priceless! Even Dad, who has a problem getting a hand on jokes and other musings, gave me one of those “double take” looks. I laughed and said I was just kidding, but I did also explain the whole thing about Venol.

     Mom swore she was going to sue the real estate company for selling her a murderer’s house, but Dad mentioned that, since he was never really convicted, Mom couldn’t do a thing. That didn’t stop her from being mad, though, and I decided to wait in my room until everything had calmed down a bit.
When I got there, the first really good thing I’ve had all day was waiting for me on the floor: the three boxes of my stuff (clothes, posters, that kind of crap) and a new TV for my room! It took me about an hour to set it up, but by the time dinner was over, I could play my videogames again. Apparently, it was some sort of, “Sorry we uprooted you from your perfect world to move you into this backwater one” kind of gift. Hey, I can’t say I didn’t appreciate it, but making me move is one of those unforgivable acts.

     Oh well. You got lemons, make lemonade. Too bad life never gave you any ice cubes.

     The next day Dad ended up dragging me out of bed. My new principal actually stopped by with my schedule last night, a little before seven. I start the day with gym, and end it with history. Fun; right when I can’t concentrate, they put me in the free nap-time class. Perfect.

     Anyway, they gave me more of that crunchy nightmare cereal and kicked me out of the house again, saying I had to walk to school. Great day so far, don’t’cha think?

     Hey, give me a break! I didn’t sleep last night!

     Speaking of that, I had this weird dream about that girl, Salene. She walked up to me, smiled, and disappeared. There was nothing left but the big blanket she was always wearing, and some sort of red substance. It was actually hard to tell the color while it was on the blanket, but it was definitely red when it got on my hands. I then dropped the blanket and stared at my hands, trying to figure out how it got there. Then I hear laughing, and it’s some really old guy holding a human heart, which is, go figure, still beating. He squeezes it, I fall to the floor in pain, and suddenly realize that I have a hole in my chest and the heart that guy was holding was mine.

     That’s why I didn’t sleep. I was awake from three in the morning until six, and school started at eight-thirty, so I had, roughly, two hours of actual sleep.

     Anyway, I walked the fifteen minutes to school, and saw the green trio in front, just like they said they would.

     “Yo! Dude, what’s your first class?” Dirk called out.

     “Gym. You?” I asked.

     “No, no, I meant your homeroom! You always go to your homeroom first!”

     Now, they are either trying to really embarrass me because I’m the new kid, or they really mean it because I swept the floor with them yesterday and they don’t want to get beaten again. I decided to follow the latter.

     “Say again?”

     The other two looked incredibly peeved as Roy slapped a hand on his face. “Dude, your homeroom! It’s printed on the top of your schedule.”

     It took a bit of rifling to get it out of my pockets, but sure enough, right across the top, was “You are part of class 213 on the top floor. Please report to the room at the beginning of each school day for block activities.”

     I looked up with a puzzled look. “Block activities?”

     Jon took up the beat. “That’s what your block does every week, month, or so. A block is your grade, so the kindy kids through second graders are one block.”

     “Ah,” I replied. “So, I’m in room 213. What’s that mean?”

     The three of them exchanged smirking looks before answering. Apparently, they haven’t told me everything. “That’s the weird one. Elyse is there, and that’s where the murders and hauntings are,” Roy answered.

     I nodded. However, before I could ask anything else, the first bell rang and we had to get to class. Luckily, Roy was in that homeroom, so I just followed him. So I finally get to meet Elyse. Should I be considered lucky or unlucky?

     I guess I’ll just have to find out.