Voices in the Dark: Part Six

Part Six

By the first week of August, all the young people of Orangevale were preparing for the

return of “in-person school”. From what Addy could gather, it sounded like school would be very

different this time. There were still mask mandates and social-distancing rules, but ultimately she

would be back in a classroom with other kids her age. It felt like years had passed since she’d

spent any meaningful time among “real kids”… in other words, kids her age that she wasn’t

related to.

It meant the return of her dance team… regular rehearsals, competitions, and the familiar

rhythm of movement and discipline. It meant lectures and homework again, a steady flow of

assignments anchoring her days. And it meant being back in the same rooms with boys and girls

who would all be silently judging each other’s outfits, hair, makeup and acne.

Addy felt both excited and anxious at the prospect. And yet, that anticipation wasn’t

enough to quiet her mind. She still kept hearing echoes of screeching tires, twisted metal and

crunching bones. She still felt unsettled whenever she thought of The Howler… his cryptic

prediction of death, and that strange hum, flowing beneath the streets and sidewalks of

Orangevale, that simultaneously sounded both inert and alive.

Three weeks had passed since the events of July fifth. Addy, along with Lily and her

mother had spent hours doing their back-to-school shopping. It took forever to secure just a few

new outfits, a pack of hair ties, some notebooks, and pencils. Stores still operated according to a

slow, monotonous choreography. Arrows taped to the floor dictating which direction shoppers

could walk down each aisle, and circular decals marked where customers were allowed to stand

at checkout… each dot a full six feet apart.

Later that night, there would be a fashion show in the Henderson living room, with Addy

and Lily parading their new school outfits for their parents. Less than three weeks remained until

the first day of school. A steady dread was building in Addy’s mind… an ever present sense of

foreboding… an almost-certainty of impending doom, and Addy was sure it had very little to do

with school.

She was caught up in the middle of something. Something beyond her control or

comprehension, and yet here she was enveloped in its alluring and terrifying influence. Just as a

sickly glowing pale moon will exert its gravity on oceans and werewolves alike, Addy was being

drawn… pulled out and tugged towards some dark inevitability.

Day by day, tension grew in her neck and shoulder blades as she anticipated… well…

something.

The night of the back to school fashion show proved to be the one Addy had been waiting

for.

“Hi, you are currently being recorded.”

It was around 2am. The bright light that filled Addy’s room did nothing to dispel the

heavy sense of darkness. Rather, to Addy the floodlights felt more like the herald of doom… the

trumpets announcing the return of doom’s messenger.

This time, The Howler wasn’t kicking trash cans or screaming at the ground. He was

already looking toward Addy’s window, as if he had been waiting for her. She lifted the blinds,

and their eyes met. His words were still strange and fragmented, but something about him had

changed. He seemed more present… more anchored to the moment, more aware of where he

was.

“The convergence is upon us,” he said. “Has to be balanced. Has to be balanced!”

He was panting like he had just finished an intense sprint. “It wants three. It needs three.

It demands three more. Three more!”

Although the window was latched and The Howler too far to hear, she softly whispered

back,

“I don’t know what that means. What’s a convergence?”

The Howler clamped his hands over his ears and twisted his face.

“Three more what?” Addy was louder now. “Three more deaths?”

“Just three more,” he seemed to reply, “two tonight.” He was grinning now, but Addy

saw no gladness in that smile… it was the grin of a desperate man, resigned to an ill fate.

“Only two tonight,” he repeated, “it’s count down time, folks! Watch the ball drop!”

“Two tonight?” Addy said. “But who… wait, what?”

“Here we go!” He sang.

Addy began moving towards the door… ready to head outside… ready to confront him

face to face. But before she could take another step, The Howler shouted in his loudest voice yet:

“Five... Four... Three...”

“Wait… no, wait!” Addy pleaded.

“TWO... ONE!”

A split second later there was a blinding flash and a deafening boom roared across the

town. The ground shook violently, so hard that a crack splintered across Addy’s window. She

was thrown to the floor as books and stuffed animals rained down from her shelves. Outside, The

Howler had vanished.

Addy’s mother burst into the room.

“What was that? An earthquake?” she asked.

Her father followed close behind.

“An explosion,” he said.

Addy staggered backward feeling faint. She felt herself being caught in her father’s arms

as the world faded to black.