The Visitor From Curtisville--Ch. 5 Bad Omens

                                                               Chapter 5--Bad Omens

Kes, who had been staring at Ellery in frowning concentration, raised her right hand. "Uh...'Scuse me," she said hesitantly, "but when is this Lolly Mcclaren character going to show up?"

"I was just getting to that part," muttered Ellery, rubbing her nose tip.

"Oh..okay," said Kes, nodding briskly as she lowered her hand.

It was then that a sudden unmistakable stench drifted into her nostrils.

Ugh, who let one? Kes wondered, appalled.  

Her delicate nose twitched as she soon traced the acrid odor to the now embarrassed canine cop still siting firmly on her feet.  Now other people were noticing, rubbing their noses and looking in her direction with raised eyebrows.

Oh, great, she furrowed her brows irritably. The dog just farted on me, and now people think I did it...and why is my left hand all numb and clammy?

Glancing over, Kes noticed she was holding hands with one of the demonic-looking cyber goth.

"Uh...hullo there," the fearsome-looking creature stuttered.  His onyx orbs soon dropped to their tightly clasped hands. "Uh, wow.  Sorry."

Releasing her hands, he rubbed the back of his spiky neck awkwardly. "Uh, really sorry there." His gaunt cheeks took on a rosy pink as he looked at the ground. "Don't know what came over me exactly.  Must of been a nervous reaction to that creepy locker part."

"It's alright," Kes muttered, squirming slightly in her seat. "No problem..." she quickly turned away, a bright flush coloring her feline features.

She shuddered. Oh.. mah.. GAWDS!!!  I was holding hands and being all lovey-dovey and stuff with some crazy, heavy metalist guy in a fall-out bondage suit.

Seemingly oblivious to what was going on, Ellery continued talking.

"As I scrambled to my feet, I was startled by another crack of lightning.  A glance at the nearby window revealed that the storm was really packing a wallop.  The rain now came down in a blinding torrent, rippling in the driving gusts of wind.

"More lightning split the sky, while thunder continued to crack and boom deafeningly.  At this point I was starting to feel sorry for all the poor sods who were caught out there.

"Nadine was screeching at the top of her lungs, 'For Gods's Sakes, someone shut the freakin' door!'

"A blast of cold wind was rushing inside, scattering stuff in all direction--my cartoon strip pages included.

"As I scrambled around, trying to grab the fluttering pages, I happened to glance at the door.  It was very dark out in the hallway, but I was still able to make out the shape of a person standing in the doorway.  The small figure wore what appeared to be an orange rain poncho and clutched a Pikachu-shaped backpack.  I couldn't make out a face due to the darkness and large hood the figure wore.

"Shivering, the figure said in a small burbly voice, 'Hey, can I come in, nyaaaamm?  The  cafeteria's like jam-packed, and Mrs. Turner doesn't like people eating in the library.'

"'Yes, come in!  Come in, whoever the hell you are!' shrieked Nadine as she and the others snatched at the cards fluttering around them like butterflies. 'And shut the damn door while you're at it!' Her piercing gaze darted towards the shadowy visitor.  'Oh, and by the way, my name's Nadine.  Not Nyaaamm!'

"Since the newcomer seemed to have trouble wrestling the door shut, Veronica decided to help. As they pushed the door closed, her fingers accidentally brushed one of the visitor's pink, pudgy hands.  Immediately, she drew back, an unmistakable expression of revulsion crossing her face.  For a moment, I stood motionless, wondering what just happened.  Then the lights flickered back on, revealing the mess and our unexpected visitor.

"I had at first thought the person was a little kid because of the size, the high cutesy voice and the rather ridiculous choice of backpack.  It wasn't until the mysterious guest pulled off the drippy poncho that I got a better look.    

"My first thought was the girl looked like a cross between Shirley Temple and that Usagi Toukino character from 'Sailor Moon.'  She even wore a similar, sailor-style school uniform, although it would look much better had she been much taller and less chunky.  My second thought was that she looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place her.  She was not the sort of person I would normally hang out with.

"We  all stared dumbfounded as she plonked down at the nearest desk and started picking at some prepared sushi with lacquered chopsticks.

The only crazies we knew about that dressed like total morons were the teenyboppers and Scenes.  There were also some extreme anime fans, but none of them to our knowledge ever dressed up like total attention whores.  

"'So, what's going on, nyamyam ?' the girl chirped, oblivious to the chaos she just caused.  

"I frowned, puzzled. What the hell is a nyamyam?

"Veronica gave her a look as she furiously wiped her hand.

"'We were just talking about Locker 490,' she muttered, tossing the hand wipe into a nearby waste basket.

"'Oh,' the girl nodded. 'What about it?'

"'It's supposed to be cursed,' said Nadine stiffly.  She and a few other people were helping me retrieve my comic masterpiece.  So far we found only twenty-nine pages, thirty through thirty-nine were still missing.

"'Geeze, Ellery!' Garth Shelden fumed in frustration. 'Why didn't you just used one sheet of paper?"

"'I was trying to do a serial book thing,' I explained impatiently, 'like Asterix the Gaul or Tintin.'

"'Dude, I think you're way over your head,' said Pete McFarland, who always referred to people (no matter their age or gender) as 'Dude.'  'This is a school paper, not some major graphic novel.'

"'I know, man,' I said, picking up heaps of school papers, posters and books. 'I was going to introduce small segments at a time.  Make sure you watch where you step while you're moving stuff, I don't want them getting smudged or shoe treads on them.'

"'Hey, what's this about a curse,' the fashion victim piped up.

"Nadine gave her an annoyed look, then shrugged. 'Well, according to the story, back in the early Seventies, some girl got pulled into her locker by some monster, and ever since then weird stuff keeps happening to anyone unlucky enough to use that particular locker.'

"The girl's already huge eyes widened. 'REAAAAAAALLLLLYYY?!'

"'Oh, yeah,' Nadine went on casually, 'stuff like strange accidents, illness, weird smells, plagues of frogs, lice, tarantulas, giant banana slugs, centipedes...'

"'Oh,' said the girl, absentmindedly scratching behind one ear with her chopsticks. 'Is that why there's all these cops, firemen and ambulance guys upstairs?'

"We all stopped what we were doing and stared at her.

"'Huh?  What?' I inquired.

"'I was just asking Mrs. Turner if I could eat in the library,' the girl explained in a rush, 'and I happened to look over, and see this huge crowd all around those lockers just across the main hallway.  The police were like keeping everyone back so I couldn't really see anything.  So I asked this one kid about it, and he said that the bunch using those lockers all suddenly came down with some nasty stomach bug.' She looked at us with concern growing in her already bulgy eyes. 'I sure hope this curse thing's not spreading, cause my locker's at the far right end in that row.'

"We all looked at each other in a state of shock.

"'So who has Locker 490 then?' Nadine finally asked.

"But before her question could be answered, Al Philips came to the door and announced that we needed to go straight home because of the storm.  Apparently there was a funnel cloud spotted near Murrelet which was nine and a half miles from here.  

"Any other day, the teacher would have freaked about the mess made to his classroom.  But today, he just looked at it and didn't really seem to really notice it.  That was how worried he was.

"When I mentioned the lost half of my comic strip, Mr. Philips said he'd keep an eye out for it.  I was grateful for that, but at the same time I felt it wasn't going to make much of a difference anyway since school was going to be closed and my artwork was already  stolen or totally trashed.

"I also asked Mr. Philips about the emergency upstairs, but he just shrugged and hurriedly shooed us out.  Just before the door closed behind me, I happened to look back over my shoulder and saw what might have been the hem of a blue-white skirt darting behind the podium.

"I narrowed my eyes. What was that little twit up to?

"Then the Principle came over the intercom saying that the school would be closing due to bad weather, and that everyone should leave straight away.  He made no mention about the sudden flu outbreak, however.

"I gathered stuff from my locker in a daze, still pondering over how quickly the day was rapidly becoming strange.  First hysterical Scene Kids screaming about seeing a huge monster upstairs, then Veronica's Locker 490 story, then the sudden changes in the weather and the coming of the Anime Geek who informed the several students (all using the same locker block) were suddenly taken ill.  Finally the mysterious disappearance of half my artistic masterpiece.

Got to be a curse, I thought, slinging my pack over one shoulder as I closed my locker.  What else can it be? Then the logical part of my brain spoke up.  Don't be ridiculous, Ellery!  You need magic to work curses, and this town's about as mundane as a mud puddle.


"Walking towards the front, I looked around for Veronica, but couldn't find her in the mass confusion.  I reflected for a moment on her odd behavior as she was helping the Fanime Girl with the door.  How she drew away in disgust after an accidental touch, the same reaction you get if you brush up against something really gross--something dead and rotting.  

Weird, I thought, as I surveyed the swarm of students milling about.  I wondered about my other best friend, Nina Amra, the first friend I made shortly after moving to Curtisville.  About a month ago, she and her family abruptly pulled up stakes and moved to Faire Haven.  Something about 'trouble with the new people down the street' was all she would tell me over the phone.  Although she was rather vague about what these new people were exactly, other then they were rich and hailed from the rolling hills of West Virginia--horse and wine country, what I do know was this--her family weren't the only ones to suddenly pack up and leave.  

"Hmm, I wonder if...I mused.  At this point, I suddenly walked into somebody.

"'Hey, watch it,' the guy wheeled around, glaring.

"'Sorry,' I muttered apologetically as I stepped back.

"I looked up at the ginger kid I just ran into, and both our eyes widened in recognition.

"'Hey, you're in my art class!' I exclaimed.

"You're that Ellery girl who does the school newspaper comics,' the ginger whispered, a look of awe on his strangely pale face.

"'Uh, yeah," I nodded, blushing a little. "How you're doing, Hoturu?'

"'Ryuu," he corrected. "Hotaru's the one with the sunglasses.'

"'Oh, right,' I said lamely.  I keep getting those two confused.

"Ryuu and Hotaru O' Breen were part of a set of triplets which included their morbid, monster-obsessed sister Arisu who, in spite of her sheer weirdness, seemed to have a lot of friends.  They also had a little brother named Ken and an older albino brother named Yukiko, who was also a world famous rock star.

"'I'm doing great," Ryuu got a few more things from his locker before shutting it. 'And you?'

"'Uh, not good, not good,' I replied, shaking my head.  I quickly told him about all the crazy stuff that had just happened.

"'Wow,' Ryuu muttered as he zipped up his pack. 'That is really damn weird.'

"'Yeah,' I grumbled, 'Freaky damn creepy's more like it.  Right after Veronica got done telling about that haunted locker, the whole mess happened." I nodded over my shoulder. 'Now half my bloody story's lost in that room, and I can't look for it because of a freakin' tornado warning.' I sighed, loudly and exasperatingly. 'Been working my arse off on that cartoon and it's just soooooo bloody frustrating!'

"Ryuu nodded sympathetically, 'Sorry to hear that.' He gave me a puzzled look. 'You got rough sketches of the missing stuff, don't you?'

I frowned. 'Yeah, but it wouldn't be the same starting all over a second time.'

"'Oh, I don't know,' he said with a shrug. 'Leonardo De Vinci did a lot of sketches before he started on the finally stuff.  Look, how great the Mona Lisa turned out?'
"Personally, I thought the Mona Lisa was rather overrated.  It was still art, but by far not the greatest painting ever.

"Still I nodded and said I'll take his sketch suggestion under consideration.

"'Hey, don't worry about it,' said Ryuu reassuringly.  'You got plenty of time to redo it.  Nothing to get panicky about.'

"'I suppose you're right,' I said, shrugging my shoulders resignedly.  But I was feeling a little better.

"As we headed for the parking lot, a distant voice called out. "Ellery-chan!'

"We stopped in our tracks and looked at each other.

"'Did you hear that?' I asked.

"Ryuu nodded. 'Yeah, did.'

"'Ellery-chan!' the voice cried.  It seemed to be getting closer.

I raised an eyebrow.

"'Why would anyone call me Ellery-chan?' I asked, bewildered. 'Are there any Japanese transfer students around here?'

"'A few,' Ryuu replied with a puzzled frown. 'But none of them sound like Minnie Mouse on helium.'

"'Hoturu!  Ellery!' the voice called again.  This time there was no mistaking it.

"'Hey, Ellery,' Ryuu was looking back over his shoulder. 'Look, who's coming.'

"'I then turned. 'Oh, gods, no,' I groaned in recognition.

"A familiar figure in a blue and white outfit was careening straight towards us, waving a manilla envelope high in the air.   Bemused students paused to watch her barrel past.  Bystanders too slow to get out of the way were immediately sent sprawling to the ground.  Despite the swearing and furious shouts from several teachers to slow down, the girl hurtled on.

"Eventually, she skidded to a halt in front of us, grinning widely and thrust the envelope into my hands.

"'Mr. Philips told me to give you this!' she announced cheerfully.

"'Hey, it's my missing cartoon pages!' I cried. 'Cool!  Thanks--' I gave her a confused look. 'Uh...what's your name, exactly?'

      "'Lachlann A'alona Haviland,' the girl chirruped. 'I'm a High Elf, by the way.' She brushed back her corkscrew hair to show us her rather oversized pointed ears.

Kes gave Ellery a puzzled look. "But I thought you just said her name was Lolly Meeker?"

Megaera nudged her friend gently in the ribs. "Wait and listen."

Ellery paused long enough to stretch her arms and rotate her shoulders. "Now I have seen Elves, typically Scandinavian-looking with mostly blonde hair, pale skin and blue or green eyes.  Generally, they were tall and slim with sharp delicate features and long pointed ears.  Although the girl didn't strike me as rather Elven-like with her stocky-build and rather geeky looks, I figured she must be a British or German variety of Elf, which were small and were often mistaken for faeries and short humans.

But before I could ask her more about herself, Lachlann promptly let out a fan girl squeal that made me and Ryuu jump.
      
       "'Hoturu-chan,' she screamed, her shrill voice sending tremors into our ver souls. 'Did anyone tell you, you look a lot like Ichigo Kurosaki!  ZOMG!  
      THAT'S SO SUGOI  KAWAII!!!'
      
       "I stared dumbfounded as the blonde girl bounced forward, wrapping her pudgy arms tightly around the stunned Ryuu.
      
       "'I'm Ryuu!' he yelled, trying to shake the girl off. 'Hoturu's my twin brother!  Hey, cut it out!  What the freak's the matter with you!'

Ellery studied the people sitting around her staring back at at her, many of their eyes glowed eerily in the reflective light of the moon and waning bonfire.  Then, after a moment of silence, she continued,  "So there you have it.  How Ryuu and me met the weeble teenie beenie who soon came to be known as Lolly Mcclaren.

"How 'touching' it would have been to wind up this bizarre episode like an after school special by telling you how this strange, special creature was just another misunderstood kid with gawky looks and low self-esteem, that she came from a troubled home where her parents had divorced after years of constant fighting and she was trying to fill that void in her life with fantasy anime.  This perfect little fable would finally end with her washing away the accumulation of body odor and filth and getting a more acceptable change in hairdo, diet and wardrobe.

"Unfortunately that was not how things went.

"Even in a pretty ideal world such as this one where crime and war is few and the environment is largely unspoiled and unpolluted, there are people who actually believe themselves to be the reincarnations of magical beings and anime characters.  Japanese pop and  Otherkin culture are literally religions to them.  It's no joke, unfortunately.  They are the ultimate example of how utterly batsmerge insane a subculture can become.

"I may be a geek, but there are levels of geekdom that I will not even cross, such as the weaboo and otakukin freak shows.

"Lolly Mcclaren was a freak show unto herself, and this glomping incident would only be the start of her insanity."




                                                               To be continued in The Visitor From Curtisville--Ch. 6--