#noise katzmann

[mitjalovse]

The 90's electronic dance music felt quite eclectic as some outfits defied their own scenes with their understanding of them. Eurodance had many as such with Jam & Spoon beingprobably one of the most intriguing ones thanks to them having a certain classicism. Yes, one of the members, Jam, was classically trained, which can be heard really well in their biggest hit, which presented them as one of those machine players that listen outside the box of the genre they were in. Of course, we mustn't forget the tune functions thanks to the vocals, which possess an emotionality that doesn't go over the top. Plavka could have gone full diva in this, yet she holds back to serve the melody that shouldn't really work in a dance floor setting. Nonetheless, Jam & Spoon made that happen.

[chrancecriber]

Radio SunLounge Romania (April 18, 2023)

23:55 Olive - Miracle 23:52 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 23:51 Nux - Under The Dancing Sun (Bg Mix) 23:44 The Dream Catchers - Flower Of Spring (Suntheca Lounge Mix) 23:37 Solasoap - That Feeling 23:36 Katoey - Serenade (Downtempo Mix) 23:32 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 23:27 Darshan - Listen 23:25 Dreamscape - Nautica (Version Two) 23:13 Piero Ft. Mia Lemar - Red Sunset 23:10 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 23:07 Peter Pearson - Drifting Along 23:01 Mirage Of Deep, Amethyste - Tragic Farewell 23:00 Magneti C4 - Bebossa 22:56 Stepo Del Sol - Sunday Morning Coffee 22:53 Velvet Lounge Project - The Secret Of Your Heart (Airplay Cut) 22:46 Jens Buchert - Les Alpes 22:40 Flashbaxx - Movin On 22:38 Miklos Vajda - The Sun Breaks Over The Mountains 22:34 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 22:32 Solarflow - Always Yours 22:28 Treepines Makdaf - Behind Her Eyes 22:22 Kundalini Project, Paolo Man - The End Of Nation 22:20 Klangstein - Within You (Feat. Nosie Katzmann) 22:13 Aimee Sol - Anything You Want (Sunshine Deluxe Edit) 22:07 Lazygrooves - Secrets 22:04 Bulb - Impossible (Original Mix) 21:57 Clinton Affair - Amber 21:53 Bitter Sweet - Kelebek 21:46 Sade - Lovers Rock (Album Version) 21:38 Djibooti - Shadows And Voices (Tom Tom Mix) 21:36 Blank & Jones - Pure Shores 21:30 Lazy Hammock - Castaway 21:26 Clara Hill Meets Georg Levin - Just Paradise 21:18 Djibooti - Shadows And Voices (Tom Tom Mix) 21:15 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 21:14 Peter Pearson - Chilled To The Heart 21:07 Marga Sol - Around Me 21:04 Beach Hoppers - Bit By Bit 20:58 Cinematic - Empty Eoom (Daydreaming Mix) 20:54 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 20:51 Noise Boyz - Supernatural (The Man Behind C. Edit) 20:44 Roberto Sol. Florito. Martine - Love Finds You 20:42 Fresh Moods - Solarcell 20:39 Youth & Troy Gunner - Under My Heart 20:35 Tosca - Lone Ranger 20:29 Michael E - Don't Stop 20:23 Opium Lounge - No Time 20:22 Santerna Featuring Vadim Kapustin - Feeling Like A River (Chillout Mix) 20:18 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 20:13 Cafe Americaine - Shanghai Superflight (Ethnojazz Cut) 20:08 Billy Paul Williams - Desert Moon 20:02 Christian Hornbostel - Away 20:01 Unclubbed - Need To Feel Loved 19:54 Pat The Cat - Hotel California (Feat. Rachel Moreau) 19:52 Dejamove - Warmin' 19:45 Skunk Tribecca - Siguiendo La Luna 19:43 Blackfish - Hidden Shore 19:40 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 19:35 Thomas Lemmer - White Room (Gold Lounge In The Room Remix) Feat. Naemi Joy 19:32 Schwarz & Funk - Phil Me (Original Mix) 19:26 Twentyeight - Wake Up Call 19:23 Dj Mnx - Emotions May Fly 19:20 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 19:17 Fobee - Sea Of Love 19:14 Dj Shah - Arco Iris (Chillout Mix) 19:10 Vibrasphere Feat. K. Linder - Tierra Azul 19:04 Nostalgia 77 - Quiet Dawn (Bonobo Remix) 19:00 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 18:56 Digital Project - Coming In My Soul 18:54 Olivia Broadfield - Say (State Azure Mix) 18:44 Lorenzo - I Need You, I Want You 18:42 Thievery Corporation - Lebanese Blonde 18:32 Under - Under (Morgan Page Remix) 18:28 Ielo - Beautiful Flower 18:22 Philip Aniskin & Alexsey Krapotkin - Sexorica (Original Mix) 18:19 Ayla - Open Your Mind 18:13 Kai French - Just Relax 18:08 Trillian Miles - Summerdust 18:03 Trillian - A Little Love 18:01 Bob Harz - What We Are 17:57 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 17:55 Riccardo Eberspacher - Sansiz Olamaz 17:49 Kosmopolitans Feat. Crystalia - Wild Is The Wind 17:46 Garden City Movement - Foreign Affair 17:43 Gushi & Raffunk - Travel (G&r Celebration Mix) 17:40 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 17:37 Van - Turkish Coffee (Original Mix) 17:30 Living Room - Silkroad 17:27 Steven Solveig - Magical 17:24 Ian Pooley Feat. Marcos Valle - Sentimento 17:17 Redlounge Orchestra - Reserver 17:16 Cafe' Ibiza - Take It To (Original Mix) 17:10 Fobee - Sun Goes Down 17:08 Blue Pilots Project - Reboot 17:05 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 17:01 Shivana Faction - Talking In Whispers 16:55 Frameworks - Breaks My Heart Ft. Kathrin Deboer 16:50 Dub Mars - Between The Lines 16:48 Pascal Dubois - Deep Into The Night (Long Island Mix) 16:44 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 16:43 Nasser Shibani - Time Chase (Original Mix) 16:36 Krall Bradley - Money Cant You Buy Love (Swing Orchestra Mix) 16:34 Castlebed - Piano Interlude 16:33 Maximus & Trilogy - Du Ar (Original Mix) 16:26 Paolo - Turn Me On 16:24 Florzinho - Vem Conmigo (Euphonic Traveller Remix) 16:17 Fudge X - Memories 16:16 Lissa - Some Of Me (Feat. Philip Nolan) 16:12 Francesco Digilio & Andrea Accorsi - Oblios 16:06 Lounge Groove Avenue - Don't Be So Shy 16:03 Duane Alpert - Cool Experience (Laurent Paradise Mix) 16:00 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 15:54 Floor - Whispering (Original Mix) 15:52 Michael E - Promise 15:48 Ronny Morris - Build To Last (Ganga Remix) 15:45 Guenter Haas - First Floor Lobby 15:41 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 15:37 Lemongrass - Go In 15:31 Redlounge Orchestra - Liquid Cool 15:26 Worldwide Groove Corporation - Midnight In Venice (Feat. The Mystery Singer, Djlo) 15:25 Schiller - Dancing With Loneliness (Feat. Kim Sanders) 15:21 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 15:16 Michael E - Southern Comfort 15:13 Tosca - Lone Ranger 15:11 Kaxamalka - Backdrops (Original Mix) 15:08 Brook Sapphire - Be Chilled (Original Edit) 15:04 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 14:59 Approaching Black - The Night Before 14:54 Bobby Escobar - Playa (White Sand Mix) 14:49 Princess Of Lounge - We Found Love Feat. Dione (Wish You Were Here Mix) 14:47 Koala - Floating Pillow 14:40 Mr Vaud - Digital Inspiration 14:38 Emma Hewitt - These Days Are Ours (Zetandel Chill Out Mix) 14:32 Vladi Strecker - Over The Sea (Island Sounds Deluxe Mix) 14:25 Kalmano - Awake From Your Dream 14:18 Newton - Cross Over 14:14 Blank & Jones - (You're Gonna Look) Good In Blues (Feat. Mick Roach) 14:09 Merge Of Equals - Don't You Know 14:07 Persia Beatz - Princess Of Persia (Miracle Mixxx) 14:03 Nor Elle Feat. Bella Wagner - Love True Dimension 13:56 Jazzamatazz - Burning Man (Rhythms Del Mundo Version) 13:51 Club Camarillo - Magic Pool 13:50 Velvet Lounge Project - Baby With You 13:46 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 13:44 Paul Hardcastle Feat. Maxine Hardcastle - Slippin Away 13:37 Flight Facilities - Waking Bliss 13:35 Sofa Groovers - Ti Amo (Sunlight Showers Mix) 13:32 Shamika Cox - Te Quiero 13:22 Homebase - Dzihan & Kamien 13:16 Vargo - Intuition (Touch My Hall Mix) 13:11 Sweet Coffee - No Ordinary Love 13:06 Magica Fe - Words 13:00 Soulavenue - Stuck In A Dream 12:54 Promid - Don't Forget Me 12:49 Turnmeister - Into The White 12:44 Enrico Donner - Forget Me Not 12:43 Weathertunes - After Dawn 12:36 Paolo - Turn Me On 12:34 Mahoroba - Des Moments (Guitar Mix) 12:31 Paul Hardcastle Feat. Maxine Hardcastle - Dreamin 12:28 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 12:23 Nate Connelly - You Echo 12:16 Dubphonic - Trick Of Time 12:11 Hp. Hoeger - Calm Down (Original Mix) 12:10 Chase & Status - What Is Right 12:03 Lo Seen - When I Close My Eyes 11:56 Redlounge Orchestra - Reserver 11:51 Magnus Wedberg - Red Stone 11:48 Jazzy James Jr. - Twilight Trumpet (Open Doors Mix) 11:45 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 11:40 The Diventa Project - Still Raining (Rnb Remix) 11:34 Max Waves Feat. Pixieguts - Reflections 11:31 Breakfast Trim - Dubai Sun 11:30 Cafe Americaine - Tobago Transfer (Sad Waves Mix) 11:23 Dj Riquo - Island Delight 11:16 Sunyata Project - Pi Lo Chun (Extended Mix) 11:10 Amour Fou - J'aime Comme Tu Rit (Original Mix) 11:07 Husky Rescue - New Light Of Tomorrow (Bonobo Remix) 11:04 Pete Dingon - L'amour Est Mort 10:57 Vladi Strecker - Night Distance (After Midnight Cut) 10:51 Jens Buchert - Aurora Dub 10:48 Trio Electro - Echo Parcours 10:45 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 10:36 Nor Elle - Desert Storm 10:34 Jentarix Feat. M.k.touch - Reincarnation (Original Mix) 10:29 Andrea Cardillo - Deep Night 10:27 Naoki Kenji - Bedtime 10:23 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 10:21 Sonic Adventure Project - Who Are You 10:14 Telepopmusik - Breathe 10:13 Svendaq - Tropical Bells 10:09 Sabrina Waters - Sardinia Paradise (Wet Island Mix) 10:03 Clelia Felix - Hold On To My Love 09:57 Max Melvin - Earth Inside (Sunset Mix) 09:52 Monodeluxe - All Night 09:50 Husky Rescue - New Light Of Tomorrow (Bonobo Remix) 09:47 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 09:42 Five Seasons - Sky (Original Mix) 09:40 Ida Corr - In The Name Of Love (Shazz Man Lounge Mix) 09:34 Tomazz - Lucid Dream 09:32 Mòzâmbîqúe - Healing Touch 09:26 Dj Antoine - I'll Never Let You Down (Soft Mix) 09:23 Max Melvin - Seasons (Walking On The Chinese Wall Remix) 09:16 Peter Silence - Boost 09:14 Lemongrass - Magnificent 09:11 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 09:05 D. Batistatos - Late Hours 09:01 Wayang - Beneath These Falling Leaves (Bali Mix) 08:55 Afterlife - Makes Me Feel 08:53 Nightcruzer - Lazy Day 08:50 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 08:45 Mo'horizons - Yes Baby Yes 08:42 Jazz L'amour - Summer Dreams (See The Light Mix) 08:36 Chris Leblanc - Ahora 08:33 Belloq - De Longpre 08:32 Lignin - Come Home 08:25 Krystian Shek, Nashi Young Cho - Sweetwater (Instrumental Mix) 08:20 Weathertunes - Parfum De La Provence (Original Mix) 08:18 Vargo - Talking One Language 08:15 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 08:12 Cloudchord, G Mills - Bodega Grapes 08:07 Sean Hayman - Sleeping In The Sand (White Clouds Mix) 08:01 Sweet Velvet, Debora Vilchez - La Plena Noche 07:58 Aqua Mundi - Beautiful Awaking (Original Mix) 07:55 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 07:53 Zouave Feat. Liv - Wonderful Life (After Hour Remix) 07:46 Mathieu & Florzinho - Deixe O Sol Entrar 07:41 James Bright - Low 07:38 Ladder & Rachel Rubinger - Your Mind 07:33 Newton - Cologne City Waves 07:23 Rue Du Soleil - In My Heart 07:21 Deeper Sublime, Krapan - Je T'aime (Original Mix) 07:17 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 07:12 351 Lake Shore Drive - Ocean Blue (Cafe Ibiza Edit) 07:07 Duo Varial Feat. Julie - Pretty Places 07:05 Afterlife, Calladine - Clear Blue Sky (Blank & Jones Remix) 07:01 Sphere - Is It Sun 06:55 Randy Crawford - Gimme The Night 06:49 Koolsax - Beyond The Sunset 06:47 Spinne - Saxophonecheck 06:43 Dario J - The Lounge Again 06:40 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 06:36 Ego Buster - Starlight Avenue (Better Call L For Lounge) 06:34 Merge Of Equals - Take You There 06:27 Living Room - Maui Pie 06:24 Mariella Narvaez - All Night 06:17 Conjure One - Only Sky (Lounge Edit) 06:14 Tanga - Helium 06:08 Amanaska - Tide (Electro Remix) 06:04 Green Rabbit - Primal Self 06:01 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 05:55 Purple Avenue - Color Of June 05:54 Club Des Belugas Ft Anna Luca - The Road Is Lonesome 05:47 My 7sky - The Lonely Moon (Original Mix) 05:46 Easy Listening - Coffee Time 05:43 Living Room - From Suspicious Mind (Original Mix) 05:40 Future Loop Foundation - You & Me 05:30 Van - Enchantment Costa De La Luz 05:27 Honeyroot - Sunrise Sunset 05:24 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 05:18 Lucky Loop - Take A Look 05:13 Jens Buchert - Dominion 05:11 Yppah - Occasional Magic 05:08 Alien Cafe - Veil Of The Sunlight (Original Mix) 05:05 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 05:00 Kim & Buran - Space 04:55 Hello Meteor - Night Distance 04:53 Camelphat & Elderbook - Cola (Simon Mills Full Sugar Mix) 04:50 Darwins Dream - Lonely By The Beach - Cafe And Sand Edit 04:40 Morcheeba - Let Me See (Sonic Warrior ‘Beat’ Mix) 04:37 Castlebed - Heaven (Original Mix) 04:31 Johannes Huppertz - Seven Sences (Original Mix) 04:25 351 Lake Shore Drive - Xtc 04:24 Eocene Nine - Want You 04:18 Gelka - Please Keep Your Ticket Till The End 04:11 Pochill - Violet Theme (Nick Version) 04:10 York - My Ship 04:06 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 04:02 Jaytech Feat. Melody Gough - Blue Ocean (Original Mix) 04:01 Vincenzo - Today 03:58 Gushi - Travel (Lemongrass Couch Remix) 03:54 Paul Hardcastle - Looking For You 03:51 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 03:46 Billy Paul Williams - As A Child 03:40 Chris Nemmo - Wastin Time (Feat. Aris Duke & Helena K) 03:37 Giants' Nest - Gogaga 03:36 3rd Force - Here Comes The Night 03:32 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 03:27 Lounge Traveller - Many Places 03:21 Leonardo Bertolotto - Doctor House (Original Mix) 03:16 Gaelle - Separate Rooms 03:12 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 03:09 Honour - Aradeo 03:06 Aiemo - Dreaming Eyes (Vocal Mix) 03:03 Ian Pooley - Since Then 03:00 Tycho - Easy 02:53 V Dimension - Silence Of The Mind 02:51 Waterbone - Eastern Girl 02:44 Schwarz & Funk - Sunny Sky 02:38 Sven Vath Feat. Miss Kittin - Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus 02:36 Room Service - Ambrosia 02:26 Zeequencha - So Alive (Feat. Liz Kretschmer) 02:24 Ganga - The Wind (Feat. Helle Chirholm) 02:21 Openzone Bar - Down Under Snowball 02:11 Christa Vi - Small Way Through (Cosmonaut Grechko Version) 02:09 Smooth Gravity - Best Day Of My Life 02:02 Roberto Sol - Moment Of Quiet (Feat. Jo Kern) 02:01 Jeff Bennett's Lounge Experience - Is There Knowledge Left 01:58 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 01:52 The Maxwell Implosion - Tic Tac 01:50 The Nightfly - Hope And Glory 01:43 Colorhythm - Charm 01:41 Kosta Rodrigez - Soul 2 Sell (Boosanova Chill Mix) 01:38 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 01:33 Jjos - Nightlife 01:27 Chad - Artifacts 01:22 Imada - Sonhos 01:21 Pascal Dubois - Costa Del Mar (Silent Sea Mix) 01:18 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 01:11 Jp - Juice - Cette Planete (Sushi Club Remix) 01:07 Paul Hardcastle - Stay In The Moment 01:04 Giants' Nest - Playa Del Colina 01:02 Chris Reece - Island Of Love 00:59 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 00:54 Friendly Breaks - Morning Lounge (Groovy Chillout Mix) 00:51 Hossegor - Sunshine Blues (Golden Sun Remix) 00:44 Edo - Relaxed Love 00:43 Citrus Jam Feat. Judith Erb - Do You See (Rainbow Mix) 00:40 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 00:37 Steen Thottrup - Heading For The Sunrise 00:30 Lemongrass - To The Sky (Lemongrass Free Bird Remix) 00:28 Lemongrass - Unite (Feat. Wenawedwa) 00:25 Moondust - I Feel Love (Feat. Misal) 00:22 Jingle - Radiosun.ro 00:20 Zelonka & Marga Sol - Impossible Dream (Remix) 00:13 Laleh - Live Tomorrow 00:09 Sofya - Hari Om 00:07 Xemplify - Naughty Secret

[maikatc]

Black Sun Tale | Ten Dollars

alright, here we go y’all

remember that this is a first draft and i’ve only barely edited it, but comments and reception is heavily appreciated!

(also @rhyseoshaughnessy because they said to) --- There is always a time in someone’s life that’s the lowest, it’s a given. Those who break down from their faults and failures, ones who are toyed with to the point of numbness, the occurrences are common to an individual’s extent. 

However, ultimately the question is how to break away from the cycles, and it takes lifetimes for some to realize. 

It all boils down to the differences in people and what they want to achieve in the end. Though for some that desire is left unknown, or they were left with no certain answers, including Oliver Holguin. 

The day lengthened in time for Oliver by the early morning as per usual. His tired eyes slowly waking as he played through repeated melodies. Practicing throughout the nights, the song ringing out from the ukulele was beautiful to the ears. And as he continued onwards, his sight began to lighten up the bedroom. 

“As lovely as you are, I will have to go,” He sang with whispers tickling his throat. His bed-hair blocked him from catching somebody in the corner of his eyes, though the light greeted him with a shelf of books and a tablet on a nightstand instead of the man.

The complicated tabs and chords flew by with his fingers. The ease of the song left him concluding his mastery. “I’m sorry to let you down.” He rung the last lyrics and strings leaving the room in echoing silence. Taking a moment of pause, he placed the ukulele back to the side. He stood up from his bed. His sore legs fumbled together to go and grab a charger. His tablet turned on to a low percentage once he connected the two together. 

I need to stop using this at night, he thought while he searched for a tablature site. He pulled back his auburn bangs to read better, scrolling through lists of songs to learn. “… I need to find a new site too.” His voice croaked with soreness.

He sighed, letting the device charge. He stretched his joints in a yawn and walked out of his room. His left arm pounded asking for a scratch and reminded him to check the bathroom. The early morning traffic blasted noise through the apartment when he scavenged the cabinet filled with multiple vitamins and medicine. 

His tiny arms tried to recognize the feeling of what he wanted, and he debated on just getting a stool considering his height. However, he finally reached what he was looking for and opened the cap. 

Crap. The ointment cream container held almost nothing. “I have to get more before she finds out,” he muttered. His eyes stuck on the little bottle for seconds until putting it back in its place, ignoring his irritating arm, as well as his always ignored stomach.

***

Oliver sat on his living room couch, doodling on schoolwork and watching television. The velvet cushions pinched him by his skin in discomfort, though he’d been adjusted for years. Cartoons played on an overpriced T.V. as background noise with the occasional screech harming the boy’s ears. He worked with barely a care, only thinking once a question tugged his head hard. Eventually, to no avail he had to turn the entertainment off. What the hell is up with kid shows nowadays, he scowled.

Checking the clock, the arrows pointed to be ten in the morning. Oliver yawned. Twenty minutes of sleep couldn’t cope with boredom. However, from the amount of ‘good sleep’ he had gain from the past days, some rest could be assuring.  

He laid down, resting his body to the cushions he sat on. His mind rang until it blurred, nothing will happen, right?

His heavy eyes shut in only half a second. 

***

The sound of soft sizzles woke Oliver up. He rubbed his eyes, sitting up to see his mother standing in the kitchen across the room. 

“Seems like you were tired?”

Smile, smile. “Yeah, I slept a little late last night by accident.” He scratched his head while forcing a chuckle.

She cut up vegetables from the counter, assuring him, “You know that’s alright. It wasn’t even a school night.” 

The crunch of the plants getting cut up could be heard all the way from where Oliver’s mother stood. Oliver himself checked the time again to find the clock pointed only a half hour after five. Dear god that was a long time. “How come you came home early,” he irked.

“My last patient’s parents called in and said that she wouldn’t come today so my boss said I could take the rest of the day off. Hope she’s alright, though.” She placed her knife down to go and walked over to him. 

“You’re talking about Lavinia, right?”

She sat with him. “Yeah, the one with her phone.”

Oliver eyed her, “Didn’t you say that she’s been starting to act weird?”

“Mhm…,” she drifted, “But you don’t have to worry about that,” she messed Oliver’s hair with her hands. 

“Stop!” Oliver moved her hand away sluggishly, giving a warm smile to her satisfaction. Though her own chortles told him that he did all right. 

She stood up again, shifting back to what she did prior. “So now that I’m back early, do you want to go somewhere?”

Oliver shrugged, “We can go out somewhere if you want, where do you wanna go?”

“Oliver, it’s your choice, not mine. Don’t you want to hang out with a friend from school?” She opened the refrigerator, taking out prepped meat. “Your teachers say you get along with them but you never mention anybody to me.”

“It’s fine, Mom. They’re just kind of…” He avoided her eyes, “people that I wouldn’t hang out with privately.” He tried to laugh it off though his mother’s eyes sent concern instead. 

“Is this about Rowan and Ann? Because you know that that kind of stuff isn’t common-”

“Mom, that was three years ago, I barely remember it.” That’s a lie. “They aren’t the reason. Heck, I didn’t even get along with my class when I skipped a grade.”

“Well,” she placed the meat in a heated pan, “you’re almost eleven and you’re still cooped up in the house all the time.” The meat sizzled in the oil. The scent flowed through the air as they spoke.

“No, I’m not,” Oliver scoffs, “I go out to walk… sometimes at least.”

His mother clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “I have to check up on you more often.” Oliver’s eyes widened. “I’ll bring you somewhere later today after I get some paperwork done.”

The boy’s eyes lowered without facing her. “Thanks, but you really don’t have to bring down work. Uh, your patients really like you, don’t they?”

“But I should be taking care of my only kid, shouldn’t I-”

“They’ll miss you,” he interjected, squeezing his vocal tone to be reliable. “Besides, you can get more money to pay the mortgage here faster doing so.”

“Stop making smart words with me.” A click in the stove caught Oliver’s ears. “Anyways, food’s ready.”

After setting plates and utensils, they ate together in a plain table of shiny marble. The meat turned out to be pork chops, and the taste would have been mouthwatering. 

“Ah, this came out perfectly. Hope you like it.” She beamed, taking another bite in the process. 

Oliver cut off another piece, biting his lip. “Yeah, it’s great like always, Mom.”

“You really need to invite a friend over sometime,” she exclaimed. “It’s not fun only cooking for you and me.”

He looked down at the food, sighing, “No clue when that’ll happen.”

They went to venture through stores after lunch, only for Oliver asking to leave an hour in.

***

Oliver skimmed through video posts online, scrolling past multiple in his disinterest. Crying sweats sank through his skin, though he ignored the occasional occurrence. Chirps of his mother babbling at her friends’ calls echoed through the apartment like every other night while Oliver listened in the back of his head.

“No! Jamie, you’re getting the wrong idea,” she snorted. “He’ll bring someone home at some point… hopefully.” The sight of her crooked smile could be imagined by Oliver in a mere second. 

The redhead placed his tablet to the side of his undone bed. A deep breath was enough to function himself, same went for staring at the dull ceiling. 

His mind dimmed from his usual racing thoughts, taking time to go at a complete blank. His hearing and sight blurred spacing out. His eyes continued to close and open, the emptiness making it difficult to keep his eyes open wide. To stay awake, he raised his hand towards the ceiling, using any muscle he had to keep it up. The warm air of the heater blew against his arm and long-sleeve. With every joint and wrinkle on his fingers, all he could observe with thought was his skin, which had paled from his constant brown. 

“Damn.” Oliver clenched his hand. The arm fell down as he hopped out of his bed to the rugged floor with his bare feet. The room was already heated for Oliver, though his decision was an exception to the discomfort. Picked up from an unused chair, the boy dressed himself in a crimson cardigan dangling down to his knees. As he fitted the oversized attire, he nabbed his tablet back to his hands and sat on the floor. “This’ll probably be better,” he slurred.

Reloading the site, a certain video caught Oliver’s eyes:

Alexa Katzmann Found Dead Indoors from Area Death. The thumbnail of news made Oliver’s eyes widen, his cold sweats rising as he clicked with doubt. 

The reporter stated the repeated script about area deaths. Of course, nobody could find the real reason of the death like always. While the woman explained the exact story, the camera panned at the body. Alexa was about five as the news said, daughter of a celebrity, though they censored enough appropriately.  

However, what played over Oliver’s screen made his heart beat faster, louder. 

Alexa’s stomach had been ripped out, blood scattering all over against her clothes and pale skin. Everyone in the room stepped on the organs without realizing they were there. Nobody could see the same scene Oliver viewed. 

He muttered to himself as the video continued to play, “No, no, no…” His breathing grew as his throat continued to burn from the air and panic. 

“This is the first report where an area death has occurred indoors.” Stop saying anything. He stopped the video and tossed over his tablet as his mind raced for answers. 

His scratched his arm over and over, his heart pounding over his ears to the point of needing to scream. “When?” He barely breathed out. “When did-? “

Oliver looked around his room. Now. He jumped at his ukulele case in a split second, unzipping it in barely any time. Fuck the ointment. He reached for an inner pocket, unzipping it until he heard a voice. 

“You really do get scared quick, huh?” The voice stung obnoxiously, making Oliver pause and enter back to reality. 

Oliver twisted his head, still shaking from the previous seconds. His mind already clicked together who it was, however. A taller figure stood right behind him, leaning against the wall with hands behind his back. The man’s messily styled hair and dirty trench coat brought more memory to who he was. The boy took a gulp before completely coming back to his senses. 

“… Why are you here now, Vittorino?”

Vittorino shrugged, popping out of the wall and walking towards him. “I was bored. ‘Wanted to see what you were doing.” His dark eyes darted Oliver’s position. “I see you’re about to have fun,” he scoffed

“Shut up.” Oliver slammed his ukulele case shut. He crawled back over to his bed, turning back on his tablet and biting his lip. Of course, he’s here because of that.

Oliver continued to scroll around on his tablet, his heart still pounding loudly in his head. The screen grabbed Oliver’s attention completely.

“… You know,” Vittorino spoke after Oliver’s ignorance, “You really don’t ever go out.”

His smile could already be seen without looking. “And you mention this because?” Oliver sighed out, his head refusing to turn to Vittorino. He typed up a video to re-watch in attempt to distract himself later on.

“Because are you really going to be cooped up like some nobody?” His tone was readably different from previous conversations, from what Oliver noted. Expectations for what to come next jotted to more limited possibilities. 

 “It’s better like that.” No turn made again.

A grumble could be heard before a sudden, “Come on!” Vittorino appeared right to Oliver, the boy’s body flinched and turned in the process. “Enjoy life a little!”

 Oliver’s shoulders lowered. “You’re being pretty persistent than normal.” 

“Come on, Oliver.” Vittorino dug his hands to his pockets, a sly grin creeping through like always. “Let’s go. Just a walk with me is alright, right?”

Oliver’s eyes squinted, his mind boggling at the possibilities that could happen with the decision, considering the teen-nuisance that is Vittorino. “… Fine.” But just why would he want me to go, was the only question in his mind that moment.

After drudging out of bed and to the living room, Oliver told his mother that he was going off to a walk. Vittorino followed behind him but she made no comment, gladly telling Oliver goodbye without noticing the teen’s existence. 

Obodo City was always a bustling mess.

The tourists running around, the teenagers crying over late trends and messages, the children hyper and shouting at the tall buildings and stores, even loud, annoying traffic that’s at a constant. Oliver paced through the sidewalks, crimson hood over his head as gusts of October winds blew before him. Buildings stood tall and jagged against each other that formed unimaginable shapes in the air. Balconies stood in neighboring apartments filled with laundry or autumn plants, some even blasting music while the owners took a cig. The sounds screamed at the boy’s ears while the scent of street food caught his nose easily. As Oliver’s instincts pressured him to take a bite of something, he refused, his teeth clawing at his lip. 

“So,” Vittorino ignited the conversation, “How’s your day gone so far?” He took no look at Oliver and instead viewed the sites ahead, to Oliver’s bewilderment. The only thing up ahead were greyed alleys and crosswalks, similar to everything else in the city aside from the intense smoke in the area. 

“… Have you been hungry lately?” The man snickered, snatching Oliver’s attention despite the rude comment. 

“I just ate.” He stated, looking ahead himself, “The question wasn’t needed.” 

“Just wondering,” Vittorino bent down to Oliver’s height, still walking, gleaming by Oliver’s sour expression. 

Oliver’s sight of Vittorino disappeared as his figure jumped up in front of the boy in a blink. “You have to admit,” Vittorino said, wrapping a stop sign around his arm. “This city really is awesome to look around in, right?”

“I’ve been here for the past ten years of my life, Vittorino. Best that can happen is controversy protests and holiday decorations.”

“Really? What kind of stuff do you guys decorate?” Vittorino’s brows risen up, curiosity almost purring from him. 

Oliver walked passed him as the crosswalk glowed green. A small crowd surrounded him as he shrugged. “Lights for the most part, nothing special.”

Vittorino appeared right next to him. “Sounds nice.”

Silence covered both of them. Oliver pondered over Vittorino’s past actions as Vittorino turned all over to view the sights of the city. Oliver followed him though the teen stared aimlessly at such miniscule of things. A tiny convenience store barely seen by a tall building and a worn-down restaurant included. Someone older than him being intrigued by such things made Oliver question his identity more than before. 

Entering a cleaner street, Oliver queried, “Vittorino?”

“Hm?” 

“What do you have to do with Faustus?”

The man with the trench coat stopped at his steps. Oliver took a gulp down his throat. 

“Who’s Faustus,” he pondered.

“You know who I’m talking about,” Oliver spatters, “Emo kid, probably sixteen or something by now. Pale skin, white hair, blue eyes but he never shows one of them?”

“Oh! I know who you’re talking about now.” He sneered, “That isn’t actually his name, you know.” 

“I figured,” Oliver murmured. “But aside from that, you have something to do with him, don’t you?”

“And what makes you think that?”

Oliver threw his hands forward. “Nobody except for me can see both of you! That’d be obvious enough.” He crossed his arms. “But you both are weirdos out of anybody that I’ve ever met.” 

“That’s rather judgmental, isn’t it?”

“I’ve been trying to figure out who Zach is and where the hell he went since I was seven. I barely had any kind of way to figure out until you started popping up in my life.” Oliver’s unfastened hood flew out from the wind as he turned his sight to Vittorino’s eyes. He pleaded with brows furrowed, “Just tell me how you guys are related and why you both are really here in the first place.”

Vittorino’s mocking expression deepened. “Well, I guess I can admit one thing.”

“And that is…?” 

“You can say that I’m hanging out with you for two favors,” He raised two fingers down to Oliver, lowering one quickly after, “but one of them is for ‘Faustus’.”

“What was the favor for?” Oliver’s head drifted to the side. 

“One of them was more of an assignment out of anything, actually, but the other was so I could get some favors back.” Vittorino leaned by on a sign pole. “The one that wasn’t from the guy was basically just to check up on you from time to time. The assignment I can’t really tell. It’s about to be done though.”

“I swear to god, if you’re gonna screw me over somehow-”

“Don’t worry,” Vittorino rolled his eyes, “It’ll be beneficial for you.”

Oliver shook his head. “I don’t trust that at all.”

Vittorino chuckled and shrugged. “Fine then.” He stepped towards Oliver, slamming something to Oliver’s chest. 

Oliver coughed at the impact, but caught the item he handed. He opened his hands to find a ten-dollar bill. Turning to see Vittorino, he already found the mystery to be walking away from him. He dashed to catch up with him. “Where’d you get this?”

“I asked a guy and he just gave it to me.”

“But nobody can see you…?”

Vittorino lifted a finger. “I can be seen if I want, I just usually hide myself for the sake of it.” He dumped his hands into his pockets. “You needed ointment, right?”

Oliver tensed. “Yes…” he nodded, guilt building up inside of him again. 

“Go buy some then. Get extra stuff if you want,” Vittorino told. “Have fun, kid.” 

He was gone before Oliver could say anything. The red-head was left alone in the street. He looked back to his hand, covered over by a single bill. Pulling up his sleeves, he stared blankly and sighed, a small puff of cold air seeping out of his breath. 

“Might as well.”

-

Next >>>

[metalsongoftheday]

Monday, November 6: Tankard, “TV Hero”

Tankard rode in on the second wave of German thrash, but while they weren’t as indebted to Venom as Kreator, Sodom and Destruction, their brand of “beer metal” was much more fun. Sure, tunes like “Puke”, “Shit-Faced” and “Farewell to a Slut” were even sillier than either Anthrax or Exodus at their jokiest, but the band was still a major part of the Noise Records story, standing alongside Helloween, Running Wild, Kreator and Celtic Frost as one of the label’s premiere acts.  “TV Hero” was actually one of the few tracks from Tankard’s early albums that wasn’t about drinking and/or partying, and ranked among the highlights from The Morning After, one of their better records and a band favorite.  The song was probably a little longer than it needed to be, but there was no denying the good cheer and glorious rocking out: Andreas Geremia yelped like a classic thrasher, while Andy Bulgaropulos and Axel Katzmann riffed like Overkill after 4 kegs of Schlitz and Oliver Werner bashed his drums as if it was last call.  In other words, “TV Hero” was exactly what endeared Tankard to the Euro metal underground, not taking itself too seriously and emphasizing the good cheer that was secretly fundamental to metal in general.

[liveartandperformancegroup-blog]

Announcing the programme of the day! Squash & Stretch Festival 2018.

Main Performers

Tero Nahua (Finland)

Plastique Fantastique (London)

Tero Nauha

Artists, Doctor of Arts (Theatre and dance), Postdoctoral researcher

Tero Nauha is an artist and a postodoctoral fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies. He is a participant of a Finnish Academy funded postdoctoral research project ‘How To Do Things With Performance’, also. He defended his doctoral research at the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts in Helsinki in January 2016. In 2015, he published his first fiction novel Heresy & Provocation for a Swedish publishing house Förlaget.

His performance art projects have been presented at the Frankfurter Kunstverein, Theatrediscounter in Berlin, CSW Kronika in Bytom, Performance Matters in London, and at the New Performance Festival in Turku, among other venues.

Lives and works in Helsinki, Finland

https://teronauha.com

Plastique Fantastique

Plastique Fantastique, a collaboration between David Burrows, Simon O’ Sullivan, Alex Marzeta and Vanessa Page (sometimes with others, including Harriet Skully, Ana Benlloch, Stuart Tait, Mark Jackson, Tom Clark, Simon Davenport, Joe Murray, Lawrence Leaman, Samudraka and Aryapala), is a mythopoetic fiction-an investigation of aesthetics, the sacred, popular culture and politics-produces through comics, performances, text, installations and shrines and assemblages.

http://www.plastiquefantastique.org

Performers

Fred Astaire- Puttin’ On The Ritz dance/ Veronica Cordova de la Rosa

I dance to Fred Astaire-Puttin’ On The Ritz song. I dress up as customer service assistant and stretch and squash for five minutes while dancing. Others can join me!

Veronica Cordova de la Rosa is a fictional character. Unconventional ways to take on life.

https://veronicacordovadelarosa.wordpress.com

LINE UP (and join in)/Peta Lloyd

Instructions for the next 5 minutes:

On 5 6 7 Walk up

1 and 2 and 3 and 4

Right together Right together Step turn together clap

Left together Left together Step turn together clap

Grapevine left Grapevine turn

Cha cha and out cha cha and back

Shimmy 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

http://www.petalloyd.co.uk

Temporary State of Excessive Craving for the Fullness of a Phallic Presence/Sam Hall

The Blobby Boys carry out an intervention involving coke, burgers, wearable screens and copious amounts of expanding foam.

Sam creates work through the re-appropriation of mundane activities such as taking the bus or going to McDonald’s, finding novel ways to celebrate personal and cultural identity in web centric, consumer driven environments and exploring ideas of fetish, childhood and consumerism.          

www.instagram.com/sam_hall6

Tights/Katy Watson

Katy walks down the main staircase of the Headington Hill Hall wearing a black dress and carrying a handbag with cosmetics and tights in it. When she reaches the bottom, she sits on a chair and applies a pair of tights to her head followed by dry shampoo, makeup and more tights. She sings odd lines from “Over the Rainbow’ and other songs occasionally.

Katy Watson’s performance style in this piece is influenced by her interest and practice of the Japanese dance form Butoh, and a desire to communicate directly with her audience about things that affect her and other women.

A noise of requiem/Dario Utreras, Zarah Haji Fath Ali Tehrani, Beth Shearsby

Prometheus/Marcin Gawin

Prometheus is an intimate, participatory performance. It creates a sacred, collective experience of a construction of a human being. The piece is a procedure of reversed autopsy performed in a manner of guided meditation and a private mass, but above all, Prometheus enables audience to look at the common denominator of the human species by herding with anatomically accurate replicas of human’s most inner components.

Marcin Gawin is a fine artist born in Poland, and working in performance, video and image making. Drawing on lowbrow and camp aesthetic, his work focuses on establishing artificial environments and hierarchy with the means of a role imposition, absurd and (direct) confrontation.

Touch Screen/Hugh Pryor

Hugh’s fractal video projection creates organically generated fractal patterns as seen in nature with ferns and cauliflower. This is interactive as shadows and images of the viewer feeds into the self-repeating images. Hugh is going to take this process one step further by residing inside the fabric screen during the performance and will make himself, as well as the audience, part of the fractal generation process.

Hugh Pryor is an Oxford based artist who specializes in experimental photography and sculptural installations. Hugh’s overaching interest in motion has evolved as a deep exploration of the potential for photography to capture movement. Using his own highly individual thecniques. Hugh has been working with dancers and performers and is incorporating  performance art as an integral part of his practice.

http://www.hughpryor.co.uk

Ectoplasmic Masks/Luke Jordan

In the form and subversion of a Victorian seance my improvised vocal / body sound is channeled thorough a 'spirit trumpet' and light.  Variations of frequency cause undulations of vibrations of the trumpet against on a metal plate, and patterns of flashing / flickering light : whilst my features are transformed by a mask of yeast / fungus.

Demonstration 7: how to bag one’s air/Robert Luzar

Demonstrations are works that partially show or demonstrate actions which ‘may’ or ‘may not’ be done by anyone, artist or audience. Appearing on the Web as ‘how to’ videos. Demonstrations show audiences step-by-step actions that open possibilities; but these are ‘on-going’ works that appear in multiple performances, where audiences are shown how such works take place.

Robert Luzar is an artist, writer and educator living in Bristol, UK. His works engage 'events' that reflect spaces, traces, and actions of ongoing work. He holds a PhD through practice from Central Saint Martins; and has exhibited internationally in venues such as the Palazzo Loredan Venice (IT), Torrance Art Museum (USA), DRAWinternational (FR), Katzmann Contemporary (CA), KCCC (LTU), Künstlerhaus Dortmund (DE), Nunnery Gallery (UK), and Talbot Rice Gallery (UK).

www.robertluzar.com

Snack daddy in the castle of card  /Robert Ridley-Shackleton

i work hard at the card so u can get down x

Robert Ridley-Shackleton I am the cardboard prince and ive come to play with u, put down your books and let me feed ya.

http://hissingframes.blogspot.co.uk

Sonic Extractions/Victoria Karlsson

Sonic Extractions aims to focus the participants and audience towards the sounds of our inner worlds, the sounds of our thoughts, desires and emotions. It proposes that the artist can ‘extract’ inner sounds from the minds of the participants and play them for all to hear. It confronts both our desire to believe in a ‘pure’ connection of minds, as well as the feeling of intrusion and loss of control we would experience should someone truly be able to ‘penetrate’ our mind.  

Victoria Karlsson is a sound artist, currently undertaking a research degree in sound art at UAL, London, focusing on sound in thoughts. She is interested in investigating our emotional connection to sounds, what they mean to us and how they affect us, using performance, scores and photography.

www.victoriakarlsson.co.uk

DUO/Anette Friedrich Johannessen and Jan Egil Finne

In our performance, we will extend our awareness of each other, our materials and the surroundings, to uncover the dynamics and energy of working as a duo. During this time, all actions will consist of complementary improvisations, where we as individuals and as a team, will evaluate repetition, systems and order.

DUO is a live performance project by Anette Friedrich Johannessen and Jan Egil Finne that investigates the structures and revitalize the dynamics between humans, space and objects. To work on site, gives us the freedom to perform intuitively, open-minded and free of boundaries.

https://janegilfinne.wixsite.com/artwork

http://anettefriedrichj.tumblr.com

Untitled, Cone Dance, 2018/Jessie Palmer

A reflection on our apparent funnelled vision. Cones held to the face, we move without seeing each other.

Jessie Palmer My practice frequently explores the function of colour and the question of what it is to perform, both in art and in life more generally. These themes often enter a dialogue with absurdity or absurdism, generating bizarre spectacles.

Rise and Fall/Hannah Oram and Rosie Mullan

Location: Top Roof in front of the main garden

(Dur. 10 minutes)

Throw it down waiting for the catch

Bricks rise above our heads

Rosie Mullan and Hannah Oram We are a performance art duo living and working in London. We have performed together in London, Oxford and Beijing.

http://rosiemullan.com/Mantle-Clicks

http://hannahoram.com

Weigh In /Al/ice/ex Donaghy

Loose fitting jumper, slack on bones worn away by restricted diet and over exercise. Screaming sisters and cool covered nurses cannot get inside, the body just shakes and shakes all night long, pumped up and starved. Covering the bites of disgust and harm, waking up and returning to where everyone is carrying on.

Al/ice/ex Donaghy I am an interdisciplinary artist working mainly in performance with influences from Butoh dance, experimental writing/music and photography.

adonaghy.com

Human Clay Head (2017-18)/Robin Woodward

A person, a happening, loss of Identity, a becoming.

Using a full block of Terracotta Clay the artist places on his face he removes the ability to see, hear and breath. In actual fact, this performance is a physical representation of a distinct kind of ‘feedback loop’, a downward spiral, one that suggests a curious relationship to Wheatly’s film High Rise. By removing sensory functions, the artist becomes other and no longer has the ability to control what he does and when he wants to do it. In relation to Peggy Phelan’s theories the performance occurs over a time which will not be repeated, but on repetition it becomes “different”. The artist’s actions are unscripted and random.

“In working with clay, I form faces which may or may not represent and inner self. In my performance I do not die, but much like Laing, I become more animal. I lose the restrains that society holds on me. A more devious, sexual, frightening character takes my place-I become, I transgress into madness.”

https://www.robinwoodward.com

Mishearings/Serena Braida and Iris Colomb

Mishearings is a poetic performance piece which explores miscommunication through text and voice. The text is based on a simple process involving correspondence and homophonic translation. The result is a peculiar sequence of text which are linked through sound rather than sense. The performance involves fluctuating levels of intensity built on a variety of ways of reading intermittently and simultaneously. This piece started as a commission for the 2017 European Poetry Night, curated by SJ Fowler as part of the Enemies Project, and recently evolved into the creation of an artist book in collaboration with designer Hortense Bedouelle.

Iris Colomb is a poet, artist, translator and curator based in London. She is the art Editor of Haverthorn magazine and a member of the interdisciplinary collective 'No Such Thing'. Her current projects involve artist books, performance scores, and collaboration.

http://iriscolomb.com/

Serena Braida is a poet, writer, multidisciplinary performer and voice practitioner working both in Italian and English. Her current work focuses on cross-genre writing, text and performance. She co-curates the Locomotrix literary series at Housmans Radical Bookshop.

serenabraida.com

Im Abendrot (At Sunset)/Austin Sherlaw-Johnson

Austin Sherlaw-Johnson is a composer and performance artist who works in a variety of media. Recent work includes: Explicit Sounds (six actions for one performer), Making a Box as Quickly as Possible (video), Anti-Conceptualism, (installation), John Cage and Teeny Duchamp Play Chess in front of a Live Audience (theatre piece for two performers) and You’re Beautiful (three three minute pop songs for two performers).

www.austinsherlawjohnson.com

Welcome!/Tess Tallula

Performance and art object advocating and perpetuating love, warmth, openness and acceptance.

Tess Tallula is an interdisciplinary artist who composes immersive experiences in physical and digital worlds. Her work is celebratory and often has layers of meaning. She lives and loves in Oxford, commissions and collaborations welcomed.

egg-Hamlet 2/NuNu Theatre

egg-Hamlet is a bigger project to fight Hamlet as an emblem of Britishness in theatre and in the English language. egg-Hamlet is like the foreign artist's away match with the almighty British Shakespeare. egg-Hamlet is a confrontation that can work only through engaging with the notions of failure, de-construction, futility, non-performability, opening of the Shakespearean text to 'infestation' from other forms and removing it from the high stage of British theatre and English language standard. egg-Hamlet 2 is an installation with eggs, video and two monologues.

Nu Nu is a theatre company that supports actors and performers who work with English as a second language. Nu Nu supports marginalized artists and artists at a crossroads of their careers. Nu Nu's ethos is interdisciplinary, having collaborated with composers, performance artists, visual artists, sculptors, animators, illustrators for all our projects.

http://nunuplatform.com/sample-page/

Two for joy/Jezella Piggott and Naomi Morris

This is your body, your greatest gift, pregnant with wisdom you do not hear, grief you thought was forgotten, and joy you have never known.

Jezella Pigotts practice draws on cult female anthropology. Her work often combines drawing, print making and performance.

https://jezellapigott.co.uk

Revealed/Concealed/Exposed/Enclosed/Naomi Morris

This is a ongoing solo performance project stemming from work initially exploring finding physical form from nothing and finding the light from darkness.

http://naomiemorris.wixsite.com/portfolio/projects

Smile/Clare Carswell

Come and meet the artist’s ageing smile, get up close and let her show you her teeth!

An interactive performance that invites audience to meet the middle-aged smile of the artist. It will reveal gum recession and the dental hygiene routine required to keep it in check, a usually unseen aspect of inhabiting and maintaining a middle-aged body.

Clare Carswell MA(RCA) works with performance and drawing to make works for the gallery and public space. She curates the work of others at AYYO Contemporary Art, a gallery and project space near to Oxford. She runs Art Pitch, a residential programme for UK and international artists and writes and lectures on contemporary art.

www.clarecarswellperformance.com

[maikatc]

black sun tale | jackson

i want more jackson love so i shall share jackson love. also this is from the 3rd draft of bst too and most of it is still in the current canon, just a good amount of changes here or there (like the ending-)

-

Since the sun wanted to kill his skin like usual, Jackson stayed inside with his companion

Despite her constant rambling, he stared at his computer screen in focus. He checked left and right from every forum he travelled to, reading all of the comments and theories that left in each and every one.

“Do you think we should get Finn over? Since he’s basically the same as you and never bothers to listen. Well, actually he’s pretty good at multitasking so it’s mainly just you.”

There was a sour tone in her voice, which her minor complaints caused him to look at her directly rather than his screen. “Mirana, I can still hear everything you say while I read.”

She crossed her arms, “That’s impossible,” she scoffed.

“Have you ever seen some foreign movie with subtitles?”

Mirana looked at him deadpanned. “I was forced to, yes.”

Jackson sighed, he figured that socializing during the summer was probably a good thing. “Just call Finn over.”

“Okay! I’ll go on speaker.” Mirana grabbed her phone as Jackson comforted himself back to his laptop, muttering.

“Why am I even friends with you guys again?”

“Because childhood friends are bitches like that.”

“Right.” He cringed at his own lack of silence.

“I’m guessing Jackson’s being a prick again?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“That’s the reason you always invite Finn over here,” Jackson entered the conversation as Finn entered through the doorway.

Mirana crossed her arms. “I always tell you guys to go out but no,” she spited.

Jackson rolled his eyes, “You haven’t seen the news lately, haven’t you?”

Finn replied, “You mean the area deaths?”

“Mirana, do you really think anyone would go out with that situation at hand.” Jackson eyed her as she played with her red hair.

Mirana looked down, muttering words Jackson couldn’t hear. She looked back at both of them, “Well, we can always just go somewhere indoors. You guys just stay in your houses all the time.”

“I’m researching about the area deaths.”

“I’m trying to hack online friends for a prank.”

Jackson and Finn replied to her simultaneously.

The girl sighed and pointed at Jackson, “Okay that’s too depressing to spend days on,” she shifted her hand towards Finn, “And that just means you need more of a life.”

Finn chuckled, “They hacked me a few days ago, gotta get em back.”

Mirana shriveled downwards, “Y’all need more vitamin D, goddamnit.”

Jackson opened his computer again, “That’s why they made pills for it.”

“Don’t forget the flavored gummies.” Finn added, going on his phone in the process.

Mirana stared at them deadpanned. “… You guys suck.”

As Jackson’s focus drifted back to forums, a hand suddenly closed his laptop, causing him to jump. He saw Mirana take Finn’s phone as well.

“What the hell?” Finn his arms up as his phone was gone.

She swiftly grabbed both of their arms, her strength being able to pull them up. “I’m dragging you guys out. We’re going to the diabetes shop.”

Jackson’s eyes lowered at her. “Fucking hell.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you guys candy in return.”

Jackson pulled himself out of the girl’s grasp. “Let me at least get ready to go.” He looked at himself, still just in a white t-shirt and black boxers.

He walked to his drawer of clothing, taking off his shirt in the process.

“Don’t you ever think that’s too forward?” Finn commented.

Jackson opened a drawer full of shirts, “It’s not like I’m trying to get you guys to sleep with me. Well, anybody anyways.”

“Yes, we’ve already gotten over this: You don’t like people.” Mirana stood by his bedroom doorway as she spoke. All the while, Finn was on his phone he had gotten back from the girl. “Besides, out of anybody, Finn would be the one distracted by you right now.”

Finn turned away from his phone immediately. “Middle school means nothing.”

“And nothing came out of it, so now we’re just chill.” Jackson grabbed a grey t-shirt he’d gotten from concert Mirana brought him to around a year back. He put it on without much thought and then wore a red unbuttoned flannel over it.

As Mirana and Finn talked to each other, returning regrettable middle school memories, Jackson added a simple pair of jeans and a belt to complete his outfit. He tucked his shirt in as he walked towards the mirror. He fixed up his tuff of brown hair lying on top of his coffee-colored skin. Adding his grey newsie cap on his head, he turned towards the others.

“You definitely go on the internet too much.” Finn eyed his outfit.

Mirana laughed, “I still don’t get why you where that hat, I gave it to you as a joke.”

Jackson shrugged. “Well, I like it.”

“It makes you look like an old man.” Mira smiled.

“Let’s just go,” Jackson grinned at their common talk.

 ***

 “I still hate the sun.” Jackson complained.

“Take off your flannel then,” Mira told him, rolling her eyes.

Finn said, “Hey Jackson, there’s this one video I’ve been meaning to show you too.”

“Finn, another video and I’ll take your phone again.” Mira remarked, causing Finn to place his mobile in his pocket yet again.

“Oh yeah, you heard of the Katzmann death, right?” Jackson asked Finn.

Finn nodded. “We’re screwed.”

“I still don’t get why you used the excuse of the area deaths when you still die indoors now.” Mira grumbled to herself.

“It’s more common outside though, the Katsmann kid was the first time a death was inside. And that happened like two days ago.” Finn spoke in defense.

“I still want to know why this is happening. It’s just getting weirder…” Jackson furrowed his eyebrows, his sight on the ground as he walked in the streets. His curiosity had peaked as always.

“Leave that to the government.” Mira’s hand made a brushing motion.

“It’s easier like that but people should try to figure it out so they’d know what to make best in the situation.”

“Yeah, yeah, but your ideas are too out of proportions.” Mira retorted.

“Don’t go into one of your journalism talks again please, Jackson.” Finn commented.

Jackson sighed and let go of the conversation.

The traffic was busy as always, creating the city noise he’s listened to for almost five years. Turning his newsie cap backwards, he observed the tall buildings engraved in his mind as his friends talked to each other about whatever gossip Mira had. Their snickers mixed with nostalgic sounds eased him slightly.

However, there were ideas peeking through his mind again, area deaths being the topic of course. The number of clues for the cause is nothing to discuss. There was no reason for many of them to just die so suddenly. Everybody would just fall from system failure. No way it couldn’t been a shooting, no injuries. How could a virus appear out of nowhere and kill others instantly without any other contact? How would the virus just disappear suddenly after mere seconds of so many dying? How could no one else around the area be affected if it were to spread so quickly? Why-

He bumped into somebody, someone shorter than him for sure. He looked down from his height to see a boy around his early teens down on the ground from lack of attention. Mira and Finn stopped with him.

The boy had white hair, likely dyed, covering his eye and strangely pale skin. He bore a simple, yet untucked, buttoned shirt and tight black jeans. His visible eye stared at him dully, though it shone a pretty blue.

He got himself up after muttering something under his mouth.

“Sorry, ‘you alright?” Jackson asked looking down at him. He was definitely short, maybe less than five feet compared to himself being over six.

The boy observed him again, and with a small curve on his lip, he said, “Yeah, but you better pay more attention.” He walked off without any other comment.

“You should probably pay more attention too,” Finn fussed.

         They walked for about another minute until Mira noted, “Well this was a pretty short walk. Not much to complain about, right?”

“I’m still sweating like shit, Mira,” Jackson bickered, “Shut up.”

Mira ran to the store door, “There’s a thing called cold drinks, you know.”

Finn walked inside. “I’m just gonna have some sour candies and soda while I plan on what the hell to do with life after high school.”

Jackson sighed as he walked in himself. “Same though, I don’t want to think about the college applications in two years.”

“And I don’t want to think about that stuff since we just went through sophomore year and it’s summer, so be quiet.” Mirana entered, slamming the door.

The store was the same as always, an array of candies near the cashier and soda pop stacked upon each other in rows. Throughout the store held packs of what kids get nowadays: junk food. Though laid around were mediocre everyday items such as earbuds or chargers, which were simply begging to be bought with their cheap prices. Jackson and company mainly went however for the small table they held for customers who just wanted to relax. Though, behind the front counter was a man around their age, who they all knew well.

His name was Kasen, his parents were managers so it was the easiest job to get, from what Jackson heard. Whenever he’d visit the shop for a quick grab of snacks for a sleepover, he would chat with him whilst paying with the little cash he’d have at the moment.

His aloof attitude towards the job made the shop surprisingly more welcoming with his honest attitude. Which is its own downside since he makes the family more money from the teenage crowd, thus his parents force him to stay.

“Yo, Kasen,” Finn walked towards him immediately. “How’s today’s shift going for you?”

Kasen looked up from the article he was reading on his phone. “Boring as usual.” He wore his signature, busted nametag as well as a short-sleeved hoodie for the heat. All the while he placed iced coffee from the coffee shop down the street and a fan to keep him cool.

Jackson shrugged, “Well, at least you have company now.”

Mirana picked out three individual candies that each of them liked themselves and placed them all in front of Kasen as she grabbed her wallet. “I told you guys I’ll by candy for you,” she placed the exactly amount of money on the counter to pay, “So here you go.” 

“I still have to scan it.”

Mira paused. “Oh yeah.” She handed the treats back to him.

Kasen quickly put his long-cut blonde bangs behind his ear and scanned all of them to hand them back to her. “Okay, now you guys can have it.” He took a sip of his iced-coffee again as he took the cash to put in the system.

“Wait!” Finn suddenly said. “What about the drinks?”

After a quick moment of silence, Kasen sighed as the computer printed out the receipt. “Just get your soda already and pay me again.”

 “I still don’t get why you guys just have a table here…” Mirana sat back as she ate gummies.

Kasen leaned forward from his counter. “Well, it was my idea when I was younger, my parents bought it as a present so I wouldn’t be running around the store while they worked. Plus, I thought that people who wanted to stay shouldn’t be standing. Didn’t really noticed how weird it was until I got older.” He snickered pulling up his glasses.

Finn chugged some of his cold, orange pop and took a sighed as he swallowed. “Aren’t we the only people who actually sit here?”

Kasen shrugged, “Well, there are some who do, but they don’t bother talking to me. Mainly since they’re basic bitches, but they get annoying easily so I don’t really try at the same time.”

“Makes sense,” Jackson nodded, “You’re a good man, Kasen, a good man.”

“Yes,” Kasen chuckled, “A good man without an idea of what degree I even wanna get.” He took another sip of coffee.

“Isn’t that half the students though,” Mira questioned.

“I guess so. I mean, at least I’m pretty sure my parents will let me quit after graduating.”

Jackson indulged in his popping candy as the others talked. He already had a basic plan after graduating high school, though without older siblings like Finn had, he didn’t have anything to make reference of for himself.

“Damnit…” He muttered, taking a sip of his lemonade as the others laugh about some random new topic.

 ***

 Jackson had returned to his cozy apartment, lying beside his dining table and lightly chuckling from the thoughtless jokes of the media.

Mira and Finn had left hours ago, all the while his mother had arrived back from the hospital, cooking up dinner. Her bleached hair puffed up into a mess like always as her small eyes carried bags underneath.

Jackson turned towards her directing, eying that she wobbled as she walked.

Jackson stood up, closing his laptop as he slipped next to her and place his hand on her shoulder. “You’ve worked two nights shifts and a day shift to top it off, I’ll make dinner.”

The woman blinked at him slowly, only to place the cutting knife she held for vegetables and sighed “Fine.”

She stumbled towards the table and slumped down on a chair.

Jackson nodded to himself as she already fell to a slumber, and went on to cut the rest of the veggies to use for the last step.

The rice noodles were already being boiled and the chicken breast was already cut. All Jackson had to wait for was the rice noodles to be ready.

 His mother blinked her eyes open as Jackson stirred all of the ingredients together in a wok.

Jackson stirred repetitively for some time until the clattering of plates struck his ears. He turned to see his mother grabbing plates without precaution. Though, he shrugged and laid his eyes down upon the food. “The pancit is ready.” He said as he began serving food to the plate that had been passed to him.

“You’re starting to make better food than me, it took seventeen years.” Her mouth slurred as she spoke as Jackson passed the plate he held to her.

“I’ve been good, besides you passed out immediately once I offered help,” Jackson scoffed.

After gathering their food and utensils, the two sat on the dining table together.

“So how did your day go?”

The light shined above them dimly, and his mother’s voice was weaker than normal.

“Mira dragged me and Finn to the shop. She paid for treats though so I didn’t have to use any money.”

The woman sighed. “Well that’s good. But I’ll pass you some more money by the end of the month.”

Jackson dragged his food around silently. “You know that you don’t have to save for college money now…”

His mother looked down on her plate as she chewed up her meal slowly. As she swallowed, she replied, “I’m just trying to being precautious. My family budget got screwed over for my education around your age.”

“But you still managed.”

“But, I had to work my ass off while you were just a baby.”

Jackson scoffed, “I know, I know. But it isn’t like I’ll be in that situation.”

She sighed, placing her spoon down gently, “Look, I’ve been working enough extra shifts for the hospital to offer me a vacation week. Will that make you a bit happier?”

Jackson took a spoonful of his meal. “Yeah, just rest for the week though. I’ll take care of the house.”

“Thank you, Jackson.”

They continued to eat the meal until Jackson picked up both of the empty plates to wash. His mother meanwhile, sat at the table to have some herbal tea and bread. An array of clean dishes on the other side were waiting to be put back in place, however Jackson’s desire to was barely existent as he washed more things.  

“So, Mom, have there ever been survivors of area deaths that were in the hospital?”

“No, even the news says that no one in those places survived, you’d know that better than me.” Jackson could easily tell with her tone that she was confused.

He replied, “Yeah, but the news gets information wrong sometimes, so it’s always good to gain your own evidence.”

His mother took a sip of her tea. “That’s true. I’m guessing you’re making your own little conspiracy theories again?”

Jackson rolled his eyes with a grin. “No, this situation’s too vague to have a real solution here.” He said while placing a dish to the clean side of the sink.

“Are you going to keep trying to look for clues?”

Jackson groaned, “With how weird this all is, and the situation just getting stranger, I’m not even sure if anyone is gonna get a solid theory to this.”

His mother hummed thoughtlessly, “Well, even the absurd theories end up being true sometimes, so what do you got?” She took a bite of her bread in the process.

Jackson finished up the last dish and turned off the sink. He turned towards his mother with his hands holding the counter behind him. “The closest shot that I have is some artificial virus.”

She eyed him in a tired surprise while saying with bread in her mouth, “And what makes you say that?”

Jackson took a seat across from the woman, stretching his arms while looking at her straight. “Well, if you look at how the area-deaths go. They only happen in a specific location at the moment, and it kills everyone almost immediately. So, what if someone or some people had developed a virus they could activate and spread however they’d like. But at the same time if this were in a, most likely, terrorist perspective, it wouldn’t make sense to just attack specific people out of convenience when they can make mass destruction so easily with that type of destruction. Even more nonsensical that they would guess use this technology on singular people such as the children who’re kept and-… yeah.” He stopped himself from rambling too much.

“Hm, makes sense that this would be tricky. But maybe you should try and see other perspectives on who may have done this if there was someone in action.” His mother stirred her tea as she spoke, spreading the scent of plants and herbs across the room to Jackson’s dismay.

Jackson shrugged. “It’s hard to think of any. This tech would be impossible to create without tons of money or support.”

“With the world nowadays, anything can happen really.” She took another sip of her tea, tipping her head downwards only to get herself back up quickly.

Similar to past nights, Jackson got up to take away her tea and bread. “You’re going to work again tomorrow, right? Go to sleep.”

She blinked until she replied, “Okay, okay. But you’re drinking the rest of that tea for me.”

“That’s fine with me, mom.”

She got up with him as he walked with her to her bedroom.

“Oh yeah,” his mother said whilst slumping herself through the short hallway, “did you have fun with Mira and Finn?”

“Yeah, we talked with Kasen at the shop too, but I was still busy thinking so I spaced out for most of it.”

She softly chuckled, “Of course you did.”

They arrived at her room, all a mess with dirty clothing and mail, and she wobbled her way to fall on her bed. “Night, Jackson,” she said dozily.

“Night, Mom,” he replied as he closed the door with a soft creak.

Jackson walked back to the living room to go back to his laptop. All the while he was in the regular thoughts of a 34-year-old woman working herself exhaustingly for her almost already-independent child.

 ***

 Mirana sat quietly on the floor with her sketchbook while Jackson took notes on his bed for summer homework. As Jackson bored himself with science facts, he noticed Mirana had observed him with her pencil at hand.

He listened to her sketching on her paper as comfort, the pencil tip scratching ever so slightly against the sheets.

“So, what are you drawing now?”

Mirana placed the pencil eraser on her lip, focusing on his position yet again. “Trying to make a sketch of you, but this angle is tricky of course.”

“Why don’t you just move somewhere else to get an easier angle?” Jackson raised his brow, though her answer would most likely be predictable.

She shrugged, “The harder the angle, the more impressive it is to pull it off.”

Jackson typed up a quick fact that he’d forget later. “I still don’t get how people can draw.”

“Well, at least you can take pictures,” Mirana scoffed.

Jackson rolled his eyes. “You just don’t know how to take pictures of people.”

“Adding a filter like you do doesn’t work on everything.” Mirana whined quietly as Jackson turned to his notes again.

They continued doing their own work. And whilst Mirana seemed to have fun in her focus, Jackson began to grow a headache as per usual.

“Hey Mira, are you almost done with your sketch?” He asked.

“Oh, I actually just did. You still have those colored pencils I gave you, right?”

Jackson replied, “You told me to keep them in case you drew here so I left them to die in my closet. Go look there. I’m gonna get some pills.”

Mirana put her sketchbook and pencil, beginning to stand in the process. “’Kay, thanks”

Jackson pushed his laptop aside and got up from his bed. Muttering to himself about not sleep depriving himself before working.

He quickly walked to the living room cabinets, finding headache pills quickly from the last time he left it there. He grabbed the cup of water he’d abandoned from morning breakfast and took the pills with it, having a good chug of the rest of the cup for safe measures. Though as he drank the rest of the cup, thoughts raised through his head.

The quicker I get this work done, the more time I have to relax and… maybe get some money from a job. I’ll look after. It’s starting to get dark though-.  

His surroundings turned grey and silent as he felt a brush on his back in a flash. He choked on his water from flinching, though everything went back to normal the second he coughed it out.

Jackson gasped for air as he stumbled his hands towards the counter edges. He slowly breathed out, “What the hell…” as he stilled to calm down.

“Jackson, you okay?” He turned around to see Mirana by the end of the hallway.

Jackson let go of the counter and answered her. “I just choked on my water a little bit,” he sighed.

The woman crossed her arms and lowered her eyes. “I could hear from the other room. Your walls were thin enough.”

“Of course,” Jackson groaned as he straightened up his t-shirt.

“Have some more water. The pills won’t support your choking bit right there.”

“Sure, sure,” Jackson grumbled as his poured more water from the pitcher.

“So,” Mirana said as Jackson started drinking again, “what made you so startled anyways to that point.”

“It was an accident.”

“Yes, but choking that much by an accident isn’t really that believable.”

Jackson took another gulp of his water. “It was just random chills. I’ll look it up later or something.”

Mirana stayed quiet until she sighed, “Okay then, I’m just gonna go back to coloring.”

She walked back to where she disappeared in Jackson’s eyes. As he turned to look back at the window set on the living room wall. 

The streets were just as lively as ever. Kasen was probably taking a nap during his breakshift of the day, while Finn procrastinated to even read his english books in the first place most likely. Despite his rural beginnings, everything that brought out curiosity and naivety to him had faded into the mundane.  

His mind continued racing until he finished his drink, swifting the glass towards the sink to clean later and going back to his room. 

Though, Jackson opened the door to find his room floor covered in multiple dull colored pencils. He looked ahead to already see a blur of colors in Mirana’s sketchbook.

Carefully, Jackson dawdled to the other side of the room. “You don’t have to throw all the shitty pencils across the room,” he retorted.

Mirana scoffed, “They aren’t shitty. They just aren’t needed for the sketch.”

Jackson rolled his eyes from her ignorance as he sat next to her, getting a better sight of the sketch.

She managed to catch his appearance well, like usual. His light tan-skin was replicated using a simple mix of pencil shades. His eyes squinted smaller than they already were as he focused, which was a usual habit in his defense. Though Jackson noticed his hair was a brown mess, and he subconsciously fixed his hair with his hand as his eyes analyzed the piece some more.

“Goddamnit Mira, it’s good.”

“Thanks, I mainly just colored you but I think I’m gonna move on to an outfit sketch.” She spoke as she turned to the next page, catching some stuck pages out from seemed to be dirt.

“What kind of outfit are you thinking of?”

“Just a thin dress, for when I go out swimming, you know?” She started sketching out lines of the model’s head.

Jackson’s mind swirled about what type of design it’d be, though another question came to mind.

“With how many outfits you made, did you ever consider being a designer or something?”

Mirana scrunched up, tapping her pencil slowly as she slightly hummed. “I’m not really sure yet. I like doing art in general, outfits are kinda just another hobby but I don’t know shit about actual fabric stuff.”

Jackson shrugged as she kept sketching slowly. “Yeah, but you can always learn, that’s what half the internet was made for.”

Mirana chuckled. “Yeah, but I prefer using the other half,” she clicked.

Jackson scrunched his eyes. “If you’re implying what I think you’re implying, get out.”

She snickered as he groaned back onto his own workspace.

“So, Jackson, what are you gonna do when I’m gone for the next two weeks?”

Jackson opened an online textbook, “Oh- Wait, shouldn’t you be packing right now?”

Mirana said, “I already did all of that last night. It was pretty easy.”

“You just stuffed everything you had other than your sketchbook and materials into your luggage without a thought, didn’t you?”

She grinned. “Pretty much.”

Jackson shook his head, “Your car trip’s gonna be around 2 days long…”

“Yeah, but out of anything, all I really need for survival is my sketchbook. Same goes for my music but I always have that so no need to worry.”

Jackson sighed, “Don’t come complaining to me when you don’t know where your swim-suit is.”

Mirana looked up from her sketchbook, “What? I got too focused on something.”

Of course, he thought. His screen became his sight again as he said, “Just don’t die in Massachusetts.”

“You’d probably like it more than me really, colder than here in New York City.”

Jackson smiled. “Trust me, I don’t like anything considering the weather.”

 ***

 “It’s been two weeks. More kids died in their apartments. News is saying that people are starting to move. And at the same time, we still have no idea why this is happening in the first place.”

Finn commented, “There haven’t been anything else like this outside of NYC, so it could be worse.”

Jackson snapped back, “But what if it does get worse?” He slammed down his laptop from the kitchen table, walking off to refill his glass of water from minutes prior.

“Jackson?”

He chugged his cup full down with a vitamin D pill quickly, coughing and wiping his mouth with a sigh as he finished. “What,” he gasped.

 “You’re getting stressed again. Calm down.”

Jackson huffed. “I don’t understand what’s going on anymore. The press would’ve released something weeks ago explaining, but all I get is shitty blogposts.”

He sat at his table again, arms over his head and kicking his long legs back and forth from the stool. “If we keep this up, we’re all gonna die soon enough.”

Finn stood silently, then sat on another stool on the side. He clapped his hands together while taking a breath. “Okay. Jackson, we aren’t gonna die. Out of anything if we see people die, just turn for it until you’re out of the area completely. Maybe try not to breathe, I don’t know.”

“But we still don’t know the main cause, we’re fucked.”

“Jackson, you have to calm down,” he patted Jackson’s back.

Jackson said blankly, “What’ll happen if my mom gets involved?”

“Jackson!” Hands stuck his arms tightly, turning him to face Finn again, who was stricken with concern in his eyes. “You need to stop worrying about this stuff. You should know out of everybody that it’s not good for you.”

Jackson blinked, then replied slowly, “If we stop doing anything, we’ll get nowhere. If we don’t know anything, we’ll get nowhere… We need this.”

Finn sighed, letting him go steadily. He glared at him softly, “Just don’t stress yourself out like that anymore.”

“Don’t worry. I think I’m fine now, I’ll just take some relax pills.” Jackson stood and turned to the cabinet of pills, grabbing a bottle of valerian root pills. He refilled his cup again to take it in.

He finished the cup silently as Finn attempting to make conversation after their talk.

“Huh, that’s a first.”

Finn cocked a brow. “What?”

Jackson said, “I’ve been having these weird chills lately at random, and over half the time it was when I was drinking water. And for the first time in two weeks,” he raised his cup, “I was able to drink an entire cup without getting any.”

“Wait,” Finn asked, “Is that why you’ve been drinking tons of water and choking?”

Jackson nodded, “Yeah, didn’t really like it but I wanted to see how long it’d last. Besides I stay inside so much that I might as well get a lot of hygiene to compensate.”

“Understandable.” Finn went back to his phone. “So, you said that you were hanging out with Mira tomorrow when she comes back, right?”

“Yeah, down at the Amersford park at 2:30.”

“Do you think I can join a bit after? I’ll be like an hour late since I’m gonna hang out with some of the basketball guys.”

Jackson shrugged, “Yeah sure, she’s pretty much just hanging out with us as a way of getting out of unpacking for a bit so the more the merrier.”

Finn chuckled, “Her room’s gonna be a disaster either way so it’s fine.”

“I’ll text her later. But for right now, you’ll go do my math work for me.”

 ***

 Jackson’s phone buzzed while he looked at pop culture news. He picked it up to see Mirana’s name plastered on the phone.

He clicked the green button and answered, “Are you almost here? It’s almost two.”

“We got here earlier than expected, so do you think you can come over now?”

Jackson looked at himself, dressed in a random t-shirt and a pair of boxers yet again. “I can, but I need some time to get ready first.”

“You’re in your boxers again, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

“Okay I’m just gonna wait with YouTube. See ya soon.”

She hung up right afterwards.

Jackson groaned from his own lack of sleep and got up regretfully. After taking deep breath, he dashed to his drawer and quickly dressed himself. He immediately brushed his teeth in the bathroom, washed up his face, and fixed up his hair. He snatched his newsie-cap and phone to be completely ready to go in the record-time speed of five minutes.

He quietly said goodbye to his resting mother before going off.

Jackson called her again as he started walking to the park.

“Are you out of your house yet?”

“Yeah, I’m on my way.”

“Good, you’re being productive.”

“Unlike you.”

“Shut up”

“Okay, I’ll see you then.”

“Oh, bye then.”

Jackson hung up the phone as he started to take his ten-minute walk of the week.

 ***

 Just a block away from Amersfort park, and Jackson only struck silence in his ears. He cocked his head to say the least once he noticed.

He walked to the entrance steadily. He found a scent wasn’t of the city’s smoke, which was utmost peculiar causing him to walk quicker.

A thick atmosphere comforted around him as he got closer, and his hand suddenly began to burn but he ignored it during the flashes of monochrome that appeared in his sights, with chills going down his spine continuously.

He got to the entrance, and slowly turned to see what exactly was going on.

His eyes widened to the point where it hurt. His blood ran colder than it had ever been before as his heartbeat sped up faster and faster. His eyes slowly began having forming thick, wet tears that burned against his cold figure.

He couldn’t stop staring at all of messy, bloody bodies that laid before him. The eyes of pain they’d left only made sense with the giant puncture on their bodies.

And what laid across the entrance of the park was dyed-red hair that he could always remember.

Mirana ended up dead in New York City.

Though, as Jackson stood in shock, his eyes caught a black figure standing. It was ginormous, skin wrinkled up to its spine and a black aura surrounding them as well. However, its paws held thick claws that were stained red.

This isn’t real.

The monster turned and saw Jackson.

This isn’t real.

It took a single step towards him.

He could barely think.

He could barely tell reality anymore

However, one single thought formed completely.

Run.