MONDAY

Mondays were not easy for anybody but seemed to be for Lucas like they were trying to hunt down and completely murder his body. For him there was the morning rush of school and being sure his grandpa took his meds and that he didn't miss the bus. Trying to survive school. He was mostly invisible but keeping up with what seemed to be the endless amounts of useless knowledge shoved straight down his throat. It was only lunch break and Lucas was determined to get as much of a break out of it as he could. He sat with his friends Roxanne and Jasper. They were arguing about which was better, the book or the show. Lucas ignored them and focused on his book. Another story by Lovecraft. It was then when he heard Jasper's phone ringing and he glanced up having a weird feeling that something was intensely wrong. He watched as Jasper's mouth dropped open and a hand flew to his face. 

Roxanne tilted her head looking concerned. “What the matter?” she half whispered, looking as if she feared the answer.

“It’s- It’s. I've got to go,” he said, still on the phone he simply got up and left.

“What was that about?” Roxanne asked, leaning to watch him go.

“I don't know, but I've got a bad feeling,” Lucas said, rubbing his eyes. 

Soon they were back in class. The day seemed to go by quickly after that. He texted Jasper a few times but heard nothing. Roxanne received the same lack of response. They waited through Monday, hearing nothing. It was only that night when he finally heard from him.

 The text read: “Meet at Dana’s Dinner. Hurry.”  

Lucas hurried down to the diner. Roxanne was already there. They both sat down at their normal booth, waiting.

“What do you think is up?” Roxanne asked, chewing on her straw. 

“I don't know,” Lucas responded, trying to think positively.

They waited in silence. Both feeling sick. 

Jasper arrived after about thirty minutes. He looked horrible. Red eyes and he had a kind of exhausted look about him. He was covered in sweat looking like he had run there. But he still shivered, even under the large sweatshirt he was wearing. The other two waved him over. A kind of solemn air washed over the trio. He sat down.

“Um, we ordered your usual,” Lucas said, sliding over a chocolate shake, smiling faintly. 

Jasper tried and failed to smile back. 

“So, erm. What's up?” Roxanne asked tentatively. 

Jasper took a deep breath preparing to speak but then broke down in tears.

“Jeez man, what's wrong?” Lucas asked in shock.

“My Mom, guys.  My Mom, shes-s-shes-d. Dead,” he finally was able to get out through his sobbing.

It got dead silent in the store except for the silent sobbing of Jasper. Lucas saw Roxanne start to cry as well. He blinked, feeling dumbfounded.

“Mrs. Cent?” Lucas heard himself say. 

“My Mom. She’s dead, guys. She was-was mu-murdered,”Jasper stuttered out. 

“Oh my gosh. I'm so so sorry Jasper,” Roxanne said through tears. 

Lucas sat mute. He did not know what to say. 

They sat there silently for a while. No one dared speak. 

“Do they know who did it?” Lucas again seemed to only hear himself speak with no control of his words. 

“No, my d-dad found her. She was all ripped up. Like something had been eating her.”

Roxanne's hand flew to her mouth. They all sat there for some time while no one spoke. It was then when they all jumped as Roxanne’s phone began to ring. She picked it up, her hands shaking. She muttered into it before hanging up.

“It's my mom, guys I should probably go,” she whispered. 

Lucas and Jasper both muttered their goodbyes. It was about an hour until Lucas' phone rang. It was his dad.

“Lucas, where the heck are you?!” his dad shouted at him. 

“At a diner,” he said dully, not even caring that his dad was mad.

“Well, get home now we need to talk.” 

Lucas sighed and muttered that he'd be home in a minute and hung up before his dad could ask him any more questions. 

Lucas sat mute for a little while before he spoke up. “Hey man, I kind of need to head home. Um, why don't you come with me,” he said, trying to catch Jasper's gaze. 

Jasper finally looked up, his eyes looked almost blank. Like two wet empty cavities  in the guy's skull. He blinked slowly as if Lucas’ words were not yet processed in his head. Finally he nodded.

“Yeah, sure,” he muttered. 

The two boys walked home. Lucas pushed his bike slowly. He did not even know how he felt. I mean parents die but… No, they are not supposed to die like this. This was just wrong. Someone had messed up. He glanced over to Jasper. He looked completely and utterly broken.

 The two arrived at Lucas’ house. His dad was sitting on the couch and looked worried. He was never really mad. Only ever disappointed or sad. Sometimes Lucas even wished he would just get mad.

“Lucas, where have you been?! What? Jasper what, Lucas explained,” his father said, folding his arms.

Lucas looked at Jasper out of the corner of his eye. He just stood there dull. 

“Um, Dad, can we talk in the kitchen?” Lucas said, gesturing to Jasper.

After a moment his dad sighed and nodded heading towards the kitchen. “Ok you want to tell me what this is about,” his dad said, folding his arms.

“Jasper's mom… Dad, she was found dead,” Lucas said weakly.

His dad stuttered for a moment then went very quiet. Like Lucas he was normally a very positive guy. But how was one supposed to act in this kind of scenario? 

“You shouldn't sneak out,” he muttered but they both left the kitchen without saying anything else.

“Hey, Jasper, do you need anything?” Lucas' dad asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Jasper looked at his hand, up his arm and to his face. He blinked a few times as if he did not know who he was. He only shook his head.

After a few minutes both the boys were sitting in Lucas' room. Lucas had pulled out an inflatable mattress for Jasper. The two boys sat across from each other. The room was dimly lit as Lucas only had a lamp on.  

“You sure you don't want anything?” Lucas asked after an uncomfortable amount of silence. 

“No, thanks,” Jasper muttered back. 

There was a long silence again.

Jasper muttered something under his breath.

“What’d you say?” Lucas asked, looking up from the floor.

“I found her, Lucas,” Jasper said suddenly. He jerked his head up staring dead into Lucas’ eyes. Dead was in fact a fitting word. The look was unexplainable; it seemed as if for a second he was staring at a dead man. But before Lucas could fully process what he saw he began to speak again very quickly, almost manically. 

“Lucas, I found her, not the cops, not my dad. You should have seen it, it wasn’t her anymore. She was ripped apart; ripped open, her face was ripped in half. Lucas… I think my dad did it,” he said.

“Man, I-I mean I'm sorry,” Lucas stuttered out. 

“I got the blood on my hands. I tried to find her heart beat,” he stopped, throwing his head back in a kind of dry laugh. “I didn’t even notice that you could see her heart. I mean I didn't notice at first. It was ripped up. Her heart was broken. My dad did it, I'm sure. He's gonna regret it… Good night,” he said abruptly.

  Getting up and going to bed leaving Lucas sitting there he lay down leaving the lamp on. He wanted to say something. But honestly he didn't know what to say and he also would not be too surprised if it was Jasper's dad. The guy was a complete loser. Lucas went to sleep that night.