Red Papers on Windows and Doors

 Matthew Calamori strolled into the Gulinger Private Academy Study Hall with his hands stuffed in his pockets, heading to where his pals Troy and Randon were preparing a Lincoln’s Birthday presentation for their American History class. They looked more like a pair of dark haired clones rehearsing a vaudeville act rather than a high school project in action, which made him laugh. But his eyes had turned back, watching Bain Nian Chen over his shoulder. The older boy was scrambling from window to window with armfuls of thin red Chinese paper cuts, tape and glue. Several strings of firecrackers dangled out of Chen’s pockets, dragging on the floor behind him like a tail.

“What is Chen doing?”

Troy shrugged, unconcerned since Chen wasn’t doing anything vampire (or Lincoln) related.

Randon peered with little interest out the door then shook his head. “Don’t know.”

Their thoughts, which he could hear with perfect clarity, were the same as what they had said. No lies there. So they weren’t covering for Chen or anything.

Matt leaned out the door again, watching Chen hurry to the next window where the boy dropped everything, grabbed one of the paper cutouts and taped it on the glass. Then Chen gathered it all up again and ran to the next window, doing the same.

“He’s sweating.”

The pair working on their assignment shrugged again, still not really paying any attention.

Lee, an eighth grader who had been listening at a nearby table, sighed aloud, picked up his things with a huff. He stalked out the room. The thick-set redhead cast Matt a disgusted glare before he left.

“What’s his problem?” Matt gestured with his head to Lee.

“Don’t know,” Randon said again, not looking up from his project this time.

Troy shrugged.

Chen ran into a classroom, spent several seconds in there then came out again, with all the haste of a jackrabbit, rushing to the next room. He ran out of that room soon after. Some of the paper cutouts fell from his arms as he hurried into yet another classroom. From his vantage point, Matt saw Chen put up the red paper cutouts on every window, almost systematic, making sure they stuck well on the glass.

About then, Rick Deacon strolled by carrying a stack of books for his English class’s new reading assignment. That term, the rust-haired, fourteen-year-old werewolf had been a teacher’s aide for extra credit.

Matt hopped after him, grabbing his arm. “Hey! What’s Chen up to?”

Glancing over his shoulder, searching around, Rick eventually spotted Chen dashing out of that classroom with his armload then into another.

“Oh,” Rick said rather unconcernedly. “It’s Chinese New Year coming up. He’s putting paper thingies on the windows and around the main doors…probably.”

Rick then continued on.

Following after him, Matt said, “He didn’t do that last year.”

Rick lifted an eyebrow, thinking on it briefly. “Maybe he forgot.”

He marched on.

Chen raced out of that classroom straight into the next, sweating bullets. His expression was pale and panicked. So stricken, in fact, that Rick halted and stared this time. He glanced back to Matt. “Ok. That’s…”

Rick wandered into the room where Chen was hurrying to paste up all the cutouts on the windows. Both Matt and Rick watched him. Frantic, he slapped red paper after red paper onto each and every window, counting them to make sure none were missed. Never had they seen Chen so fired up. The last time they saw such a terror-stricken face was when that witch had come to the school to reclaim him. This new terror was like rocket fuel. Chen was muttering under his breath, moving quickly, shaking. He glanced over his shoulder a few times, but did not see Matt or Rick at first. Eventually he did when he had finished putting up all the cutouts in that room. In fact, he almost ran into them.

Lurching a foot from crashing into both boys in the doorway, Chen looked up and blushed. Yet, he leapt right up to the pair of them the next second, hope blossoming in his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Matt asked.

Breathing hard, Chen whispered with a hiss. “A demon. A most terrible demon.”

Rick almost dropped the books he was carrying.

“Shhh!” Chen searched around the corner of the door into the hall. “It comes around every Spring Festival. It lies dormant until that day. It eats human flesh…especially Chinese flesh.”

Matt stared. “A discriminate demon?”

Chen’s panic crossed with anger towards Matt. “It

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 20.09.2014
ISBN: 978-3-7368-5209-9

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