I held my breath as I plunged into darkness. It didn't really feel like I fell in paint, or even liquid. It felt almost like I was floating in a sort of nothingness. I kept my eyes closed, the creeping fear of death overwhelming me. 

Soon enough, I felt as if  I had to breathe, and if I was going to die, I might as well drown in whatever this was. I inhaled sharply, but realized I could breathe. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around at my surroundings- a large expanse of nothing. Darkness. Maybe this is what an emo's mind looks like.

"God damn it..." I muttered.

Suddenly,  I felt an intense stinging in my eyes, and I pressed my hands over them. It felt as if someone was stabbing needles into them repeatedly. I screamed in pain, and through my blurry vision I looked down, to notice the same black substance that I had fallen into was slowly creeping up my legs. I ran my hand over my leg in an attempt to get it off, only to have it creep up my fingertips and spread up my arms. Soon enough, it was up to my neck, and I cried for help, though I figured no one would hear. Once it shrouded my face, it unleashed a pain like no other. It was as if knives on every point of your body were slowly stabbing you all at the same time, over and over and over again. 

I screamed in agony, tears rushing down my face, thrashing around and floating further into the vast nothingness. My screams were smothered by whatever was sticking to my skin. 

'I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead.' I thought. I opened one of my eyes to look up, seeing a small purple light, a thread of hope among the darkness. I furrowed my eyebrows and started to push myself towards the light, kicking my legs and moving my arms in circles, like I was swimming. As I got closer, I noticed a pair of hands searching around, and I instantly grabbed them. The hands hoisted me out of the darkness, and as I was lifted through, the black pain substance peeled off of my skin with and agonizing rip. 

I inhaled deeply, adjusting to the atmosphere. I rolled onto my back, letting go of the hands, my vision blurry. 

"Andy?" I heard Jay say to my right. "What happened?"

"I....don't-" I wheezed, feeling my throat burn as I spoke. My body was still recovering from whatever the hell had just happened."...know."

Jay helped me to sit up by pushing my shoulders. I slowly and tiredly got to my feet, holding onto Jay for support as we started to walk. "Let's go."

I grinned slightly and replied, "But what about my backpack?"

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Once we were a couple houses away from mine, I noticed two cars in the driveway. Obviously my dad wasn't home, he was usually out. No, it was my sister. I stopped in my tracks and whispered to Jay, "Go around back."

And we did. We opened the fence on the side of my house that led to the backyard, I found a key under the doormat that unlocked the back door and we trudged inside. I went to my room and flopped on my bed without seeing anybody in the house. Which was good because Jay dragged me over to the bathroom, shut the door and locked it behind us. I was going to ask why until I glanced in the mirror.

Shocked, I looked closer, blinking several times as if I was seeing things.

My green irises had changed to black, and so had my hair... and oddly my tongue which looked similar to that of a lizard or snake. I looked at the injury on my arm, the blood a darker red than usual. I grimaced. It was as if my body had been genetically mutated to become EmoEdgelordMcLoner666.

I ran my hand through my hair to make sure it was real, when I felt a cold shiver run up my spine, and my hair, eyes, and tongue starting to sting slightly. I watched on the mirror as they changed back, my hair to its usual red, my eyes to green, and my tongue to pink and human-looking.

But my blood remained the same. But upon becoming human again, I felt weak and tired. Was this draining my energy? 

I tore myself away from the mirror and looked at Jay.

"Holy shit..." he whispered. I nodded in agreement.

"This is insane. Pinch me" I replied.
We heard a knock on the door, and Jay opened it without hesitation. First wrong move. My big sister sat at the door, instantly smirking. I instantly moved to an angle to where she couldn't see my blood.

"Are you done being gay in here so I can use this?" she joked Jay and I turned a bright red, and instantly left the bathroom, saying no repeatedly as she laughed.

Jay and I sat in awkward silence in my room.

"Do you think you're some sort of super hero? Y'know, some Mystique creepy thing?"

I scowled at the word, 'thing', but replied, "Nope. That's not me. Would be cool, though."

"What did you see down there? What was it?"

I paused, gathering my words. But before I could say anything, I saw Jay looking worriedly at his phone screen.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We forgot." he replied

"Forgot what?"

"To meet up with Nan at the pizza place." Our eyes widened. "We are so fucking dead, dude." I nodded my head in agreement. How could we forget?

Nancy was a good friend of ours, and she went with us everywhere with her best friend, Roger. They were pretty cool, adventurous and fun, but Nancy especially had her flaws. Impatience was one of those horrible flaws, and getting offended by the smallest of things. Roger was mostly silent with Jay and I, and hogged most of Nancy's attention.

"RIP Andy and Jay, Slaughtered by Nancy before they reached the age of 17. Very tragic." I replied melodramatically. I paused for a second, realizing something.

"Jay."

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell them anything that happened tonight. Not the manhole, not the emo hair, nothing. Nada." I ordered.

"Why?" he asked, clearly confused. I sighed.

"I don't need them in this. Besides, Nancy is a blabbermouth, there's no way she would keep this on the down low. I probably wouldn't have told you if you had gone home straight after school and hadn't gotten into this mess." I explained. Upon seeing Jay's hurt expression, I added," But if you hadn't been there, I do know what would've happened to me...so, thanks."

A smile lit across his face. "No biggie"

"Promise? Not to tell a soul?"

"Promise."

After a long moment of silence, I fell backwards onto my bed, yawning. I would take a nap, but I'd miss dinner. Besides, I had Jay here with me.

"Andy?" he said, breaking the silence.

"Mhm?"

"Are you even human anymore?"

I sat up quickly, my eyes stinging, most likely changing to black again. I ignored it, furrowing my eyebrows at Jay.

 "I..." my voice trailed off. I didn't really have an answer, so I shook my head and said, "What does it matter? At least we're alive!"

Jay nodded halfheartedly, but I could tell it was an empty agreement, his eyes lit with....what was it? Sympathy? Pity? Didn't matter. It soon subsided, and he changed the subject;

"God, it's only six and I'm hella tired!" he said, falling onto the bed and sprawling out, closing his eyes and letting himself sink into the blankets. I felt myself staring at the back of his head, and noticed that his poofy brown hair was matted against the scalp. I quickly looked for any scrapes or bruises and he shifted uncomfortably in the bed, he knew I was looking.

"Sorry... You want to go home, don't you?" I asked, guiltily. 

"I guess, I mean you're not used to your superhero-ness, don't want it to go crazy and-"

"What makes you think I'm a superhero?" I interrupted, a puzzled look on my face.

"Did you not just plummet into a pit of death and come out alive and with the ability to make your hair change color?" Jay replied, turning his head in my direction, and gesturing to my hair with and open hand. I sighed and smiled at him. What a dork.

"Look, I'm just hoping that's all that happened tome me back there. Changing my hair isn't really that heroic. I don't plan on being the next Spiderman." I said. "Just Andy."

"Mhmmm" he said sarcastically, drawing out the last syllable.

 It was my turn to change the subject.

"We can wait for my mom to get home and ask if she can drop you off" I informed him, rubbing my eyes as they changed back to green. Jay groaned.

"Why can't we ask your sister?" he said, and I shot him a menacing glare.

"We aren't asking her for anything."

"Why?" 

"I'm not talking to her.  I don't even know why she's visiting today." I growled, crossing my arms over my chest, finally feeling the ache in my bones. He frowned in frustration and replied, "Andy Carlisle why do you never tell me about your sister? She's rarely around-"

"Exactly." 

That shut him up, though he looked like he wanted to ask more questions. I heard someone walk away from my door, and scowled, storming over to it. Definitely the sound of my sister, her breathing shallow. I decided not to open the door and induce another fight. It was pointless, she knew what she'd done to us. I went back to the bed to face Jay, who was gathering his things. 

"Don't you dare." I warned. Jay smiled and pointed out the window. 

"Chill out, your mom just got home. We'll just ask her." Jay explained, shaking his head and smiling in the presence of my ambiguity. We listened for the front door to open and slam close, and then we rushed down the hallway to greet her. Mom wasn't all too surprised that I had brought Jay over to my house again, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. 

"Let me guess, Jay needs a ride?" she asked, looking directly at me. I nodded guiltily. She sighed, nit wanting to drive 30 minutes away to Jay's house, but knowing that she had to. 'Sorry" I mouthed and Jay elbowed me, giving me a warning look. 

"Well," she sighed, gripping the car keys that she desperately wanted to put away. "Let's go."

Jay nodded, waving goodbye to me and following my mom out of the door. Before it closed, my mom leaned her head in to say something, "Get along with Scarlet." And with that, she slammed the door shut, and left me alone with my sister in the house. I took a deep breath and walked back to my room. I decided to finally check my phone, which I surprisingly found in my jacket pocket, perfectly functional and not full of some dark substance like I had expected. I guess it had only entered my body and not anything else. It had taken my backpack, however, which meant I needed to ask Jay or Nancy for the homework or I'd be screwed.

I turned on the screen, and noticed that I had definitely been spammed with messages from Nancy.

Nan

hey, you guys didn't forget to go to the pizza place did you?

hello???

anyone there?

look im leaving in five minute

s

if you guys arent here by then im gone and theres no pizza

fine be that way 

wait jk guys im glad you didnt come i have something to tell you when you get back, andy

You

whats up, sorry we didnt make it

Nan

good, you should be sorry, i waited an hour

You

but whats this thing youre excited about

Nan

can i just,,,

call you please?

I instantly pressed the call button on the phone, and Nancy picked up right away, letting lose a squeal that was so high pitched I thought only dogs could hear it. "Guess what?"

"What?" 

"Okay, so Max and his friends showed up to have pizza, and apparently he just broke up with his girlfriend, and his friends were trying to help him cope right?"

"Oh, so that's what this is about. You found out that he's single and-"

"Shush," she said, cutting me off. "Let me finish my story. So, Max noticed the girl sitting alone, and invited her to join them- that girl was me. So, after a while of hanging out with them, Max started flirting with me, dude. Flirting. With me. AND THAT'S NOT ALL! He asked if I wanted to hang out with just him this weekend after we had finished pizza and I said yes,"

Max was an asshole, I'd never figure out why she like him. He wasn't an asshole to just us, it was no wonder his girlfriend left once she found out what person lie under that 'charming' facade of his. I didn't like the guy at all, and I didn't see how Nancy could find it in her heart to feel something for him. I shrugged it off. She'd learn soon enough. 

"Sweet," I said rather blatantly. "Let me know if I'm invited to the wedding."

She huffed in reply and said, "What's up with you?"

"Nothing."

"Are you jealous?" she taunted and I scowled, though she couldn't see it.

"Are you jumping to conclusions?" I retort in the same tone of voice she'd used. "I just dont know why you like him so much. I'm surprised you haven't fallen for Roger, or at least admitted it."

Nancy laughed on the other line.

"The minds of boys. We aren't just going to fall for a guy we've known forever. Anyway, since I'm sneaking out to hang out with him tomorrow-"

"Yeah, yeah, I say that you're at my house. I'll let my mom know."

"Do you have anything going on?" she asked, and I stared at my reflection on the window.

"Hopefully not." I forced out as I experimented with my hair again, changing it to black and back to red again.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Nancy asked worriedly. I hesitated, turning away from the window and sliding down the wall, resting my head against the brittle walls.

"Yeah," I lied, and she sighed almost immediately. I was terrible at lying sometimes, and right now I felt like my body was being strained, draining me of energy.

"what's wrong?"

"Nothing"

"What is it?"

"I'm fine" I insisted. "Seriously!"

My eyes and scalp started to sting again, along with my tongue, and I held the phone away from my face. I felt a rush of relief as well, regaining my strength the longer I held onto my dark form. 

"You better tell me tomorrow," Nancy said threateningly. "I've gotta go, hope you have a good night. Thank for covering for me, man" I heard her click her tongue as she hung up, and i heaved a sigh of relief as my body faded back to its normal state. I crawled over to my bed, grabbing a small pack that I'd kept for emergencies- containing a flashlight, a few snacks, clothes and rope. 

I was curious.  Curious enough to venture back to the hotel and figure out what had just happened.