The New Host

Hariette Flemming had no friends. She had bright turquoise blue eyes which sparkled out from a beautiful face. Her face was hidden behind a waterfall of brunette hair that dripped down to her shoulders. She was what the other kids at school stereotypically named her: “A Loner”. Everyday, she pretended that she didn’t care or didn’t ‘need’ friends, but deep inside her heart she wished (more than anything else in the world) that she had a best friend. Every night she would rest her head on the soft feathery down of her pillow and weep. The tears would flow from her face like water flowing from a tap that was about to burst with pressure. She did this every night for 7 years. This was until Harold  Smockley arrived as a new boarder at Smithington Preparatory School for Girls and Boys.

Smithington Preparatory School was a bleak and boring place. Every thing about it had the musty aroma of old age and of ancient times located far away in past history. This included the desks, the walls, the books and even the teachers. By this point in her life, Hariette Flemming had decided that she had had enough of being discriminated by her fellow peers and being called “The Loner” of the grade. She was desperate and thought that she would either have to make friends with someone, or be moved to another school. With this thought and the knowledge that a mysterious new boy had just arrived at the school, firmly planted in her head, she marched straight up to the newcomer and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and Hariette noticed that he had a pale complexion with unusually red lips. Two large green orbs rested in his eye sockets and a mysterious smell of spices emanated from him that tingled Hariette’s nose.

“Excuse me!” exclaimed Hariette, “What’s your name?”

“Umm…umm… i..i.. its Harold…” stammered the little boy in reply.

“Well hello Harold! My name is Hariette and I have decided that we will be the best of friends!”

“Oh! B..But I don’t want any friends… it’s not safe…” whispered the little boy.

“Nonsense, everyone has to have friends,” said Hariette with a look of sympathy on her face, “and besides, as if I’m going to hurt you!”

“It’s…It’s … not me that will get hurt…b…but I wouldn’t mind a friend if you wanted to take a risk?”

“Sure, why not? I don’t see any risk involved with you!”

And so Hariette had finally found her first friend.

The friendship between Harold and Hariette grew stronger and firmer as the days rolled into weeks and then into months. They would talk for hours about the silliest of things and would play with each other non-stop for hours and hours on end, day after day. They shared similar likes and dislikes, and all of their personal information with each other. However Hariette thought it strange that Harold wouldn’t talk much about his past or family at all. She also began to see changes in Harold. He was slowly getting paler and paler every time she saw him and his skin was becoming like parchment.

Also, she saw that bandages were slowly making their way around his body, covering his skin like snakes slithering up a tree. At first, Hariette simply thought that Harold must be very fragile and sensitive to his surroundings (just like the porcelain dolls that she used to play with) and that his bones can break quite easily if he were to fall over. She dismissed any silly thoughts that he was changing psychologically too and thought that he must just be sick and grumpy.

However, as the weeks rolled on, the bandages covering his body slowly got worse and the entire lower part of his body was completely hidden from view by them. Hariette did not think much of this as she thought that Harold had had a particularly bad fall and was still recovering from it. It wasn’t until the bandages had reached his chest and covered his arms that Hariette thought that something strange was going on. Harold began to act strangely, his mysterious timidness that he had when Hariette had met him was gone and he was now surprisingly confident, too confident for Hariette’s liking.

“Why are you strutting around the playground like that Harold?” asked Hariette with annoyance.

“I’m not strutting… although I do believe I should be!” Harold curtly replied.

“And why do you think that Harold? You’ve changed heaps since I met you!”

“It’s because I am somewhat better than you, you poor girl.”

“Ugh, I’ve had enough! Quit it Harold!” shouted Hariette as she stormed away to the other side of the playground.

The very next day, Hariette arrived at the school gates earlier than usual, wishing to apologise to Harold for her behaviour the previous day. She searched the playground high and low for Harold and finally found him in a corner behind the flying fox and other broken and run-down play equipment. His entire body, including his head, was now covered in bandages. That is everything besides his red lips and luminescent eyes. Hariette was startled by his appearance and cried out when she saw him.

“Harold! What is this?”

“Nothing, don’t worry! Just go away now!”

“Rrrrgh! This really has gone too far! You and your ridiculous bandages!” exclaimed Hariette as she lunged across and grabbed at the fabric.

She tugged and pulled at them with Harold crying out in the meantime to stop it. She finally loosened his bandages enough for them to fall away freely to the ground. Hariette gasped as she took in what she saw. A wispy and misty-white outline of a ghostly figure remained. The only thing left of Harold was his large green eyes and his lips, which Hariette now noticed were like the colour of freshly drawn blood. This spirit then whispered in the softest of tones.

“I have found my new host…”

Hariette screamed as the spirit flew at her, but nothing could stop it as it wove between the inner fabrics of Hariette’s soul. She was never the same girl again.
Susan Bockley had no friends. She was known as “The Loner” at her school and was sick and tired of people calling her that. She was also fed up with the sense of loneliness that she felt within her being. Susan was so desperate to find a friend that she was even prepared to make friends with the mysterious new girl that had just arrived at her school. The new girl’s name was Hariette Flemming.

(Gothic)