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Mack had never been big on science class.
He especially wasn’t “big on” it as he was handed back his homework, a large brightly-markered “D” in the corner. He could hear the scolding already. Literally.
“Hatheed, this is your fourth near-fail in two weeks,” His teacher, a Mrs. Lorpes, addressed him firmly, “You do realise these after-class assignments are going to impact your final grade, yes? Homework counts for at least 15% of your final yearly score.”
Mack slouched in his chair. “Yeah yeah,” he groaned.
“Excuse me?” Her voice was sharp, and suddenly Mack remembered she had the power here.
“Uhh yes ma’am,” He corrected with a cough. A chorus of giggles ran throughout the classroom. Mack shot a quick scowl to as many of them as he could.
The rest of the papers were handed out in what felt like a blur to Mack. He didn’t bother sitting up again, instead letting his head lull back and staring at the ceiling. A few obnoxious strands of black hair fell and irritated his eyes. Mack huffed them away, back to his forehead, already filled with precipitation-matted bangs thanks to P.E. class. The memory of the day’s exercises made him grin. That was where he belonged.
Mrs. Lorpes spoke up again, awakening him from his thoughts. “Dismissed, enjoy your weekend,” She announced simply, but the word was magic.
Instantly, children were grabbing their backpacks and coats, slipping them into place. Everyone was silently thrilled to be done with school for the day. Plenty were on their feet before a minute had passed. Mack was among them. He stood, taking a deep breath of freedom.
“Hold on.” A hand was on Mack’s shoulder in an instant. A bracelet around the hand’s wrist jangled at the motion, and small charm was visible. Some little red square from a kids’ show. Only Mrs. Lorpes could wear a red bracelet of a cartoon character and not become an instant laughingstock. “Mr. Hatheed, stay.”
Mack couldn’t contain the physical cringe that resounded through him as he flopped back into his seat, sitting up a little straighter. “Yes, Mrs. Lorpes.”
As soon as the room was empty, the teacher relaxed. “Mack,” The woman began, softer than he thought he’d ever heard her, “I’m setting up a tutoring session.”
He frowned instantly. “...Really?” The question was dry, bordering on disrespectful but he shook himself quickly to switch expressions.
“Really, I meant what I said before,” She asserted, leaving no room to argue, “There’s a boy in one of my other classes, Ludwig Rache, I think he would do a wonderful job… And he could use the company.”
“What-!?” Mack sputtered at once, paling, “I’m stuck with Ludo-tic!?” He buried his head in his hands, shrouding his vision in darkness.
Mrs. Lorpes’s voice came, entirely unimpressed. “No name calling.”
He groaned almost insolently, but Mack could hardly help it.
“You're acquainted, then? Splendid, we’ll bypass introductions. I expect you to treat him with the utmost respect and kindness, the poor boy hardly has a friend anywhere as far as I can tell. It’s irrelevant if he is considered “odd” by the school at large-”
“Odd???” Mack burst out, flinging his head up, “He nearly blew up the school's last science fair with his Frankenstein project!”
“That’s quite enough!” She raised her voice and Mack silenced himself instantly. “Just for that, Mr. Hatheed, you could be expelled for at least a week.”
Mack recoiled from her harshly. If a D-mark would get him a scolding, goodness, suspension would have him in so much trouble. He couldn’t! “Please, Mrs. Lorpes! I’m sorry! I just-”
Mrs. Lorpes’s eye twitched. The physical annoyance radiating off her was enough to bring him to a hard stop. “Sorry?” She repeated, then suddenly her expression shifted, “...Sorry enough to accept Rache as your tutor and treat him well?”
In that instant, Mack knew he was doomed no matter what he chose. A sense of dread filled him. Either he could face his mother with both a terrible homework score and suspension, or he could spend a few afternoons with the freak of a quiet kid who almost destroyed the whole flipping school. He could only imagine what his peers would say if they found out.
If.
Mack sat up and blinked.
That was the key word. If they found out.
“...And the suspension would be- uh-”
“Forgotten?” His teacher finished stiffly, “I suppose so.”
Mack drew a deep breath to steel himself. “I’ll do it.”
…
“Duuuuude she must’ve chewed you out BAD!” Gunner, who was just one of the gaggle of boys, clapped a broad hand on Mack’s shoulder. The force from it could’ve knocked down anyone much smaller than Mack. “We could hear the shouts from here!”
A short kid named Dylan threw his head back with a laugh as they walked down the hall, “You bet we could!” He seemed thrilled that someone other than him was the bud of the joke for once.
Mack huffed, “Go on, laugh at me.” A more pressing thought concerned him, however. “...You couldn’t make out any of what she was saying, huh?”
“Nothing, why?” Hadrian snickered slyly as his expensive shoes squeaked against the floor, “Did you do something stupid?”
“No!” Mack hissed slow enough for it to be bought, “She was just…” He glanced around, “…Giving me a way to make up a few missed grades. It doesn’t matter!” He threw his arms up.
He couldn’t really throw his arms out far as just at that time a classmate passed by. Half of him wished he had hit the boy. It was some nerdy loser, and Mack had been repeatedly told by Calvin that kids like that were asking for a fight if they passed one of the athletes in the hall.
Several more comments came from Gunner and Dylan (with the occasional witty remark by Hadrian), and though Mack refuted them as best he could, he was quickly wishing this corridor were shorter.
But even getting out wouldn’t save him, he was headed to who-knew-where with the boys to hang out. Probably a Walmart parking lot, honestly. Oh, or maybe the docks.
Just as they turned a corner, a tall blond boy with black sunglasses came into view, his back was turned to them. “Ayyy! Calvin!” Mack called, suddenly grinning, he walked a little faster. ‘Calvin’ll make them lay off. He’s the best.’ “Cal! It’s me! Wouldya tell-”
Calvin’s head whipped around so fast his black sunglasses nearly flew off. “Shut up, Mack!” He growled coarsely, before turning back around. There was a figure between him and the locker that Mack couldn’t quite see.
Mack listened immediately. Calvin was a great person, so clearly if he saw it necessary to be a little rude then-
“You no good rotten boy!” A thickly accented voice shouted, it was feminine for sure, but rough because of how each word was pronounced. German, perhaps, based on the “good” sounding like “goot.”
‘Who just insulted Calvin?’ Mack glanced around swiftly. The sheer audacity. Calvin could never deserve that.
He finally realised it had come from the figure just in front of Calvin. As close as he was now, Mack recognised her. A diamond-shaped face, ashy blonde hair, and dull blue-grey eyes: Adelheid Rache. He’d seen her around a few times… Usually, Calvin was talking with her.
“Aww, c’mon, just one night out?” Calvin asked, a little smug. He seemed undeterred by the slander. (Because it had to be slander! Calvin? Rotten? No, that couldn’t be.) There was something else that Mack admired: Calvin’s confidence.
“Nein! I do not want you!” She replied hotly. Adelheid was actively trying to sidestep Calvin.
He shifted to better keep her trapped, putting on arm on the locker next to her head and leaning against it “cool guy” style. “You don’t mean that, besides, sweetheart, I’m afraid I can only guess what “vant” means,” He mocked with a grin, “You didn’t mean want, didja?”
She glared coldly. “You are a bully! Jeer at my speech, push around those smaller than you, and are very cruel to Ludo!” She accused, holding her head higher, “I will never love you!”
“H-hey, Calvin,” Gunner spoke up, and all eyes were on the sinewy boy in an instant, “She doesn’t like that... Let’s go somewhere else.”
Mack stared at him, wide-eyed. That wasn’t the case. No way. ‘Adelheid’s just, uh…’ Mack looked back, cocking his head to the side. ‘Playing hard to get. Yeah! She’s challenging his devotion.’
Adelheid shot Gunner a grateful look at the attempt to intervene. As Calvin turned back to her, she glowered. “You heard him. Go!”
Around the wall, rapid footsteps started, but Mack hardly registered them. Someone was always running at the end of the school day, an understandable excitement.
Calvin rolled his eyes. “You don’t know what you’re on about, neither of you.” He leaned closer to Adelheid. “I promise. Just gave me a chance, sit at my table at lunches, dance with my at prom, and you’ll be the most popular girl around overnight.” He curled a lock of her hair around his finger. Like the purest ashes of a flame entwined with a fresh candle wick.
Mack felt an awkwardness wash over him. This looked… Wrong. But Calvin was never wrong. ‘No, no, no.’ Mack shook his head roughly to try and force out the doubt, ‘Calvin is-’
As Calvin’s hand moved to cup Adelheid’s cheek and she physically twisted back with a sneer, Mack hesitated. Those footsteps were growing louder all the time.
‘...Perfect. He doesn’t make mistakes. But- nope, everyone’s just jealous of him. In just a minute, she’ll embrace it because secretly she enjoys the attention, and kiss him, and then they’ll be a “thing,” yeah! That’s it!’
But this was too much for Gunner, his expression of disgust said as much and his hands turned to fists as he turned and walked back down the hall without a word. Hadrian seemed unfazed, but he hadn’t spoken or smirked since the scene had intensified. Even Dylan was slowly backing away, as if afraid to be caught at the scene of a crime. ‘Quitters, prudes, and cowards! All of them. They say they’re Calvin’s friends but they abandon him when he’s finally got a girlfriend? I have to make up for them. I-’
There was a sudden holler, almost a Warcry of sorts, and a blur of white and blue collided with Calvin. The two forms were sent careering across the room, and slammed to the ground. Adelheid stood, mouth agape in shock, looking forwards at the sudden lack of Calvin.
The unknown shape got to his feet and was quickly identified.
Ludwig, the spitting image (both physically and accent-wise) of Adelheid, stood above Calvin. “Schuft!” The Germanic insult flew from the boy’s mouth like fire and venom. “Stay away from my sister!”
“Oww!” Calvin complained, snarling, “That hurt Ludo-tic!”
“The only lunatic here is you! Never touch Heidi! NEVER!” He shrieked.
“Heidi, huh?” The glint in Calvin’s eye was practically visible through the dark glasses. “That’s a cute nickname.”
Adelheid cut in, turning to him and crossing her arms. “Which you may not use, only Ludo may call me Heidi!”
Ludwig on the other hand didn’t even give him the dignity of reply, he simply tensed and prepared to lunge back onto Calvin.
“What is going on here!?” The familiar voice of Mrs. Lorpes cut through the chaos. However, rather than bring order, it made about half the kids scatter. Dylan was gone in a flash and Hadrian carefully slipped behind a locker.
The Rache siblings stood their ground, Calvin was still on “his” ground, and Mack. He- well, he was much too disoriented to try and process why the others might be darting off.
Thus, Mack stood centre stage of this absolute mess.
Gunner was by Mrs. Lorpes’s side, a stoic but surprised expression on his face. ‘Did he- he got the teacher!?’
“You said Calvin was harassing Adelheid?” The woman remarked, and Gunner nodded.
“Traitor” Mack wanted to scream, “Liar! Calvin can do no wrong!” He wished he had the will to screech. But it was like an internal force that seized his throat; his voice was not his mind’s.
Mrs. Lorpes surveyed the scene once more. “Is that right?” She asked, addressing the group.
“It is,” Mack piped up, head and eyes downcast shamefully. ‘What am I saying!? Cal didn’t- he- No!’
Adelheid nodded swiftly as Ludwig hummed an affirmation. Only Calvin denied it.
“I was NOT!” He protested defensively as he stood up, “She liked it!”
The unconvinced expression that Mrs. Lorpes wore proved the rebuttal did no good. “Calvin Crofts, to the principal's office, now.”
“But school’s out! You can’t control me!” He snapped back, searching for an excuse.
“You’re right,” Mrs. Lorpes paused, pretending to think, “I ought to call the police.”
Calvin paled and sputtered a million reasons why that didn’t need to happen.
Mack felt frozen in place. His mind was screaming at him. ‘Defend Calvin! He’s your friend! Your best friend! After all he’s done for you, you turn your back on him! You BETRAYED him for Ludo-tic’s sister!’
But in his heart, Mack drowned in what he wished was uncertainty. No. He knew what his mother would have said if she had seen Calvin’s behaviour. He knew what his father would have done if Mack had ever acted like that: Hit him upside the head, and rightfully so! For all Mr. Hatheed’s flaws, explicit consent had been a priority growing up!
But Calvin had to be an exception, right? He was good, he… He…
It was too late; Calvin had given in and was dragging himself away grumbling. But not before he sent one bitter look to Gunner and Mack. His eyes burned into them. He mouthed three little words that sent a dark chill through Mack’s full body. ‘You’ll regret this.’
But surely, he didn’t mean that. It was an empty threat. ‘It’s just a joke.’ It had to be. Calvin didn’t just hate them now. ‘He doesn’t hate ME.’
Yet, it was true that Mack had left him out to dry when he needed him. Mack wrapped his arms around himself as a light tremble ran through him. ‘Calvin, I’m sorry. Please!’
Gunner walked by, hands in the pockets of his cargo pants. “Sorry about him, Adelheid,” He muttered as he passed her on his way to the school’s front door. Hadrian slipped away behind him.
Mack was about to follow when Mrs. Lorpes caught his sleeve and clicked her tongue to catch Ludwig’s attention.
“Now that we’re all civilised again,” She began a little pointedly, “I’ve set up the tutoring session with Mrs. Hatheed and the Raches, albeit the latter were difficult to reach. You’ll be headed to their house this evening.”
In all the chaos, Mack had entirely forgotten about his previous agreement. He swallowed nervously, looking Ludwig up and down.
Ludwig stared at him, blue eyes sharp as ice and certainly cold enough to be made of it. He grunted, a low, guttural sound. “I did not know I had agreed to teach one of the pig’s accomplices.” His accent made it sound like Mack was a particularly disgusting prisoner of war.
A sigh came from Mrs. Lorpes. “Ludwig, be polite,” She chided, before changing topics, “Now, the two of you trade cellphone numbers. Ludwig, send him the directions to your home. Mack,” She turned back to him as Ludwig pulled out a paper and pen and started to write something on it, “Get ready. You are to be at the Raches house around 4:45 P.M.” Finally, Mrs. Lorpes looked to Adelheid, “...I’m sure what you just experienced was very frightening, talking with the school counselor-”
With a quick shake of her head, Adelheid dismissed the idea. “No counselor,” She fingered her chest confidently, “The Raches are strong! I am strong! Would’ve bitten rotten boy’s head off if Ludo had not come!"
Ludwig sent his sister look, though his face was left in a blankly neutral expression with his lips in a thin line, his eyes sparkled just the teeniest bit with what might’ve been pride.
Mack opened his mouth to defend Calvin, but stopped short after remembering that Ludwig had just tackled someone twice his size with nothing but a running start, and that this skinny jock-tackler had a fierce protective streak when it came to his sister.
Though Mrs. Lorpes refused to snicker, she didn’t instantly correct the rather violent remark so she must have found it a little humorous.
“Four forty-five, then,” Ludwig began as he faced Mack and handed him a paper with his phone number on it, “I will be waiting for you.”
…
The Raches house looked like it fell straight out of a horror movie. It was dark and gothic with a dark red, “DO NOT ENTER” rug at the door instead of any welcome mat.
Mack shuffled his feet awkwardly on the decaying wooden porch. He’d stepped lightly on every board for fear it might fall right out beneath him. He saw his own nervous hazel eyes staring back at him in the silver gargoyle-shaped knocker.
That wouldn’t do.
Mack steeled himself, ‘One evening with the crazy kid and I’m out of trouble, one evening with the crazy kid and I’m out of trouble, one evening with the crazy kid and Mom won’t sell my Xbox on eBay!’ He reached for the knocker.
The door suddenly flew open without even being touched. Mack jumped back. It was Adelheid at the threshold.
“Gooten Abend,” She greeted bluntly, before turning her head and announcing something in German to the whole house, “Vater! Mutter! Ein Gast ist da! Ich bringe ihn zu Ludo!” The girl returned her attention to Mack, furrowing her brow for a moment as she began several sentences, all in German. “Willkommen bei- Wir freuen uns, da- Du solltest kommen- Ludo wartet drinn-” She groaned at the struggle, quietly repeating a myriad of words and sounds to herself before finally speaking in English. “Come in. Ludo is in the library, waiting for you.”
“R-right,” Mack replied, clearing his throat, “Where is that?”
Adelheid nodded her head for him to follow as she withdrew back to the house. “I will show you.”
The two of them walked down several dark passages and rooms of varying purposes. Neutral, serious-faced portraits lined the walls of one corridor, while another was filled with the most evil-goth-looking potted plants Mack had ever seen. “They are to be moved to our greenhouse when it is built,” Adelheid had explained, “Then they will be less… Sad.” Mack had nodded, mildly unconvinced. At some point, they passed by a TV playing a cartoon.
Mack stopped at it curiously. “Is that… Phineas & Ferb?”
“Hm?” Adelheid looked back, then laughed subtly. It was a brief, refined yet almost childish sound, like a muffled music box. “Yes, we like Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz very much. He says funny things.”
It was such a blatant juxtaposition to everything else in the house, that Mack himself almost joined her and laughed. “Alright then,” He accepted with a small smile, and went back to following.
Finally, they arrived at a small oak door, intricate carvings of monsters decorated it. The smell of books and ink was evident from outside the room.
Mack opened it slowly after a firm nod from Adelheid just before she wandered back into the labyrinth of halls. “...Ludwig?” He called out cautiously.
“I am here,” Ludwig answered, sounding distinctly uninterested. He didn’t even look up from his book.
With a resigned exhale, Mack entered. The door clicked shut behind him. “Hi.”
“Hallo.”
Mack shuffled his feet awkwardly. “…What are you readi-?”
“A book.”
‘Thanks captain obvious I got that much.’
Silence followed. Unexpectant and apathetic. Ludwig made no effort was made to start or maintain any kind of conversation. Mack realised this was going to be a long evening.
It took 10 minutes for them to get anywhere, Mack had to find the courage to speak up with every word, Ludwig barely seemed to be listening. It sucked. But finally, they made a little progress.
“You are here for science tutoring, yes?”
“Mhm, pretty much,” Mack responded casually.
Ludwig, for once actually looking at Mack, studied him. “Where is your supplies?”
‘I knew I was missing something! Okay, shoot, how to say “I forgot it” but like fancily and stuff-‘ “I forgot it.” ‘-Or I could just blurt it out like an idiot. Man, maybe I deserve it if I get serial killer-ed here.”
As Mack stared up a fascinating speck of dust on the ceiling, mentally berating himself for being so stupid, Ludwig visibly thought something over. “Then let us go to the lab.” He stood up and trotted to one of the bookshelves.
“You have a lab?” Mack inquired. ‘There’s no flipping way- wellll actually he is a lunatic, maybe it makes sense.’
“Of course, my familie comes from a long line of researchers and scientists,” He paused, searching the shelf. “You know, I am something of a scientist myself.”
“...I guess that checks out, hey- whatcha doing?” He asked, befuddled, as Ludwig reached for a high book and pulled it off.
A sound of grinding gears began, and the bookshelf moved. Freaking moved. It slid to the side, the books on it barely rattling. A hidden staircase was revealed.
Mack literally started choking on air. “I- you- the- WHAT!?”
“My mutter likes it,” Ludwig shrugged, “Says it is unique.”
“And you’re just SHOWING me your secret hidden awesome bookshelf door!?” Mack threw his hands up for the second time that day,
Ludwig looked about half as confused as Mack. “It is not secret,” He corrected, furrowing his brow before re-thinking the sentence, “You say it is awesome?” The German boy almost smiled.
“Of course it’s awesome!” Mack affirmed as if it was obvious.
The other boy hummed, before waving Mack to come-along in the same manner as Adelheid did earlier.
The lab was a little dirty, but spacious. Dungeon-y could be the word for it. There were glowing potions, flickering machines, a whirl of mechanics, and the click of gears sounded all around Mack. The room was like a beehive: busy, busy, busy! (And much too complicated for Mack to understand.)
Ludwig on the other hand was right at home. He took a seat on a rolling chair, and kicked himself back. “Willkommen,” He welcomed understatedly, before a sparkling white serum caught his eye. “Oh! My new formula!” He plucked it up and sipped it. Next Ludwig grabbed a notepad off a nearby desk and began writing notes on it as he muttered in German.
Mack stared with a renewed shock. “You just DRINK random potions??? What if it’s dangerous!?”
“Bah, there’s no gefahr,” Ludwig flopped his hand forward to dismiss the very concept, eyes still glued to the notepad as he slipped into his native tongue on a word that Mack could only hope was “danger.” As a whole, Ludwig’s English grew more rudimentary as he was taking notes in German. “Is only supposed to turn me into bird. Flight on airplanes most uncomfortable. Am looking for alternative.”
The statement hit Mack like a hammer in a whack-a-mole game.
“...You’re insane,” Mack observed, voice suddenly very quiet, “They were right about you. You are a lunati-”
A squawking cut him off. “Who is lunatic NOW?” Ludwig challenged. Mack looked up. Then he yelped in a panic.
Ludwig’s head was that of a roadrunner. Like, physically (though maybe mentally too but that was beside the point).
As Mack remained in a silent stupor, Ludwig looked downright triumphant. “Aha! I was- well,” He looked past Mack into a mirror with a large crack in it just behind him, “Almost successful. The rest of me is still me… Interessant,” He brought a finger to his beak.
Mack was not finished freaking out, nor would he be for some time. “YOU TURNED YOURSELF INTO A BIRD!” He screamed, stumbling back, “A. BIRD.”
The outrage caught Ludwig so off-guard he giggled, a twittering sound in his current form. “You are very dramatic. It is only part of me. And only for a few minutes.”
“YOU’RE STILL A BIRD!” Mack took a frantic step back, but on the slick flooring, his foot slipped. The world slid away from him. Something shattered, and then he was on the ground, back to staring at the oh-so-interesting dust specks on the ceiling.
The mirror. He’d broke the mirror. It miraculously didn’t cut him, but still he had been here less than an hour and had already broken something.
More importantly though and redundant as the statement was: LUDWIG WAS A FREAKING BIRD!
As Mack was still regaining his bearings dazedly on the ground, a hand reached out to grab his. “Careful, Mackenzie, do not hurt yourself. Let us have no more falls today,” Ludwig advised concernedly, before adding, a little more lightly, “Seven years of bad luck for you.”
“…’m sorry about the mirror,” Mack apologised guiltily with a mild slurring of words as he took the hand. He allowed himself to be pulled up just in time for Ludwig to turn back fully human. ‘Thank goodness for small mercies- waiiit what was I just called?’ “Did you just say Mackenzie?”
“Yes,” came the short, simple reply as Ludwig grabbed a bottle of glue and muttered an assurance to not worry about the mirror, Mack gathered that it had been broken before.
“I’m Mack,” He clarified, “Mack Hatheed.”
“I know you are called Mack but surely that is short for Mackenzie, no?” Ludwig assumed questioningly.
“No, it’s just Mack.”
“Not Mackintosh?”
“Nope.”
“MacArthur?”
“Not that either.”
There was a frown. “Maxwell? Maverick? Macklin? Mackerel!?” Ludwig listed off rapidly.
“That last one’s a fish!”
Ludwig was outspokenly disappointed. “JUST Mack???”
“Yes! It’s on my birth certificate and everything!”
Ludwig groaned, “Ugh, Americans and their short names.”
Mack rolled his eyes right back and mocked Ludo’s cadence, “Ughhh Europeans and they’re WEIRD long ones!”
Ludwig started to chuckle. Though the pitch was lower, it was reminiscent of Adelheid’s, and apparently equally contagious. Mack couldn’t help but join him.
The must have laughed off and on for nearly a full quarter of an hour, intermittently switching to banter over absolute nonsense: The book Ludwig had been reading, Frankenstein’s Monster, and how ridiculous Mack found it that Ludwig really hoped to re-create the experiments described in the story. Mack’s love of sports and how Ludwig didn’t get the appeal of shiny trophies. Mrs. Lorpes’s bracelet. Anything under the sun. All the while, Ludwig worked to fix the mirror, Mack assisting where he could.
As they both wound down, Ludwig spoke up, still grinning. “We are friends now, yes?” He asked the question just as he set the last shard of the mirror into place, though the crack from before remained.
Mack stopped. His peers flashed in his mind, Calvin, Hadrian, Dylan, what would they think? Even Gunner had thought Ludwig a little odd. They-
“Well, you usually don’t declare it, but yeah.” There Mack’s big mouth went again! Speaking without his permission! It- he-
But was it really so bad if he was friends with Ludwig?
‘He’s good,’ Mack admitted, ‘Like Calvin.’ But the comparison didn’t feel right. Hollow even to his own mind. But Ludwig was good, just not… Like Calvin. Could they be different yet both the same… That didn’t make much sense.
“Excellent!” Ludwig clapped his hands together, his short ash hair blowing back a little from the air force. “Then you will call me Ludo. And now I feel right calling you Mack!”
“Ludo?” He repeated, “Like… Ludo-tic? B-but that’s an insult,” Mack pointed out gravely.
Ludwig shook his head, “Noooo. Ludo-TIC is, for the children at school say it to mean “Lunatic.” Ludo is what my sister calls me; you heard her yourself! As do my parents, my other relatives… And I want my friends to call me it, too.”
The comprehension that something deeply sacred had been given to Mack filled him with an odd breed of pride in himself and unease. “...Alright, “Ludo” is it.”
Ludwig- no, Ludo brightened, “Wunderbar! So,” He swiftly switched topics, gaining a studious expression that Mack would usually call nerdy, “We ought to get to work on your science!”
“I guess so,” Mack conceded, “...After that, do you wanna, like, hang out somewhere?”
Ludo seemed startled and pursed his lips. “At the docks?” The question was oddly hopeful.
“Uhhh,” Mack shrugged, “Sure!”
There was a victorious laugh as Ludo suddenly launched into an excited rant. “I have always wanted to go! But I always said “No Ludo! You may not go without a friend! It will be unexciting, and boring!” But now I have a friend! A freund,” He repeated the last word in German happily.
Mack gave him a thumbs up because what else could he say to that? ‘He is so flipping weird. He talks to himself like a mom. This is great.’
…
With two bags of packed dinner in hand and a list of school notes in Mack’s pocket, the duo went out to the docks by the seaside. It was a lonely place all by itself. There were very few workers in the evenings. That meant it was fantastic for teenagers to hang out in.
A salty smell filled the air from the waves as the crashed against the wooden piers and sand. Ludo and Mack were just wandering around, goofing off, and deciding where to eat.
“How about up there?” Ludo offered, pointing to a high cliff-like point.
Mack spotted it thanks to Ludo’s direction. “Oh, the lookout? That’s where Calvin and the rest of us usually hang out. It’s a little hard to get to, but yeah, I think it’d be perfect.”
Ludo lost all interest in the ledge at the name Calvin. He grunted. “Never mind.”
“Why not?” Mack smiled good-naturedly.
“I do not want to run into him.”
He shrugged in return, laughing it off lightly, “Ahh, I bet you two would get along if you only talked!”
“No,” Ludo shook his head, “Calvin is not for me.”
“Well, whatever,” Mack gave up, then paused. “Heyyy… Someone’s up there now.”
“On the lookout?” Ludo asked.
Mack nodded, “Yeah! It’s-”
“Yoo!!!” A figure wearing all cyan called out from the cliff, hanging over the part of the railing that looked down upon the land, “Mack! Up here!”
Ludo stiffened instantly. “Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” He remarked harshly. Mack winced, but refused to let the negativity from Ludo bring him down.
Calvin was there, with Hadrian and Dylan from the looks of it. And they were calling him. ‘I’m forgiven? I must be, they wouldn’t invite me if I wasn’t.’ Mack thought, a rush of thrill filling him. A new friend AND forgiveness all in one day! This was great.
He looked back at Ludo, thinking of him interacting with Calvin and the others. Weird as he was, Mack wasn’t afraid of them not getting along. If only they would talk with Ludo, it would be alright.
“Coming!” Mack shouted back, cupping his mouth with a hand to help the sound travel further. He turned back to his friend with a smile. “C’mon, Ludo, just give them a try-”
Ludo grabbed his collar just as he was about to sprint away. His eyes were wild, almost more so than they had been earlier in the hallway at school. A blizzard was in them. “Something is wrong.”
“What?” Mack gawked.
“Do not go,” Ludo commanded dangerously. Mack didn’t have the maturity to recognise the tone as protective. “Not safe.”
Mack slowly reached up, and pried Ludo’s unwilling fingers off his jacket collar. “It’ll be alright. I swear,” He reassured with a grin.
Ludo shook his head vehemently. “Trick. Danger. So much gefahr.”
‘Oh great, now he’s paranoid,’ Mack sighed mentally, brushing off the gravity with which Ludo faced the situation, ‘I need to get this poor guy some mental help one day.’ He subtly prepared to dart away, trusting that Ludo would follow if he ran.
“Trust me, Ludo, you’ll like them. All you gotta do is give them a… Chance!” With no further warning, Mack was flying in Calvin’s direction.
Green blades of grass at his feet, the crisp scent of the ocean in the air, and the call of the two separate groups surrounding him, Mack was off. He raced up the hill, hearing Ludo’s footsteps behind him just as he expected.
Now at the top and panting for breath, Mack half-hunched to try and get a little air. “Hey… Guys…” He heaved, looking around at the checkered picnic blanket with a lovely pumpkin pie sitting on it, “Good to… Good to see ya!”
Calvin smiled, and quick as a viper put an arm tightly around Mack, pulling him to the metal rail that barred off the cliff, keeping it safe. “Buddy! You came!” He said through gritted teeth.
“‘Course I did!” Mack replied happily, and he ignored how tight the grip was. Calvin didn’t mean it, he was sure. “Where’s Gunner?”
Across the small field, Dylan and Hadrian exchanged looks. “Oh…” Dylan began, uncertainly clearing his throat, “He’s… He’s…”
“Snitches get stitches,” Hadrian cut in, something impish behind his eyes, something forced.
Calvin explained, smiling all the while, “Aww, didn’t you hear? His house got covered in eggs and his mom made him stay home to clean it!”
“Oh, that’s…” Mack trailed off as he debated the proper response. ‘I shouldn’t laugh. It would be mean.’ The image of the burly boy clumsily scaling his roof while his mother waved a dishcloth at him with all the fury of a tiger was admittedly amusing.
It was then that Ludo regained sufficient breath. “Let Mack go!” He burst out.
The order alerted the group to Ludo’s presence. Hadrian locked his eyes onto it in an instant. “Oh, my actual gosh, the freak is stalking you!” He announced.
“Uh, what?” Mack chirped up, then hurried to correct the misconception. “No- no.” He put his hands up placatingly as best he could with his shoulders still trapped. “Me and Ludo actually hit it off really well, I was at his house for tutoring-”
“NOW!” Calvin cried. A splat of high-calorie orange and sugary, crusty yellow was slathered over his face. A creamy, slimy feeling encompassed him. The nostalgic scent of cinnamon, spice, and Thanksgiving-dinner filled his mind.
Somewhere in the mess, Ludo hollered his name, snarling viciously as he was cut off. All the other boys started cackling with laughter.
“WHOOOO! Got him!” Calvin celebrated by tossing Mack aside. He stumbled, hardly able to put one foot in front of the other to avoid tripping and just managed to catch himself against the handrail. Mack rubbed at his face furiously. Pie, a literal pumpkin pie had been smashed into him.
Dylan’s lighter voice piped up excitedly, “We did great!”
“You didn’t do nothin’ so shut up!”
“Right, sorry Calvin.”
The exchange pushed Mack into looking up. He saw Ludo held back by Hadrian and Dylan. The ice-eyed boy was fighting against his predicament admirably but he didn’t have a real chance with uneven numbers.
‘What?’
They… They had just thrown a pie at his face, were physically holding back Ludo from coming to help him, and they were laughing like it was the punchline.
A tide rose in him. ‘The heck was that!? It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t even clever! It-‘
He stopped. The hot rage evaporated. A chill sunk in to replace it.
If Dylan were sitting here, covered in pumpkin pie, after blurting out that Calvin had been terrible to Adelheid, Mack would be giggling himself to death. He’d be laughing if it’d been worse, even. A blackeye, a sprained wrist, it would’ve been thought of as hilarious and deserved.
Mack would have done the same if the roles were reversed. The same.
Left in a stupor and still trying to un-smear the ruined dessert from his face, he did not notice Calvin shifting his attention to the other half of that small cliffside. He rolled his shoulders, swaggering forward confidently. “I’d say it’s about time for some real payback.”
Ludo glared up at him. Dylan and Hadrian still held him by his upper arms. “I am not afraid of you.” He didn’t speak as if he was trying to convince anyone, he was stating a fact.
“Maybe you should be,” Calvin began nonchalantly. A smirk crept up his face. He leaned down toward Ludo. “You’ve hardly even met me.”
“If this is about your trouble with the principle, you must know you would have been punished regardless; justice has already been dealt as far as those in authority are concerned,” Ludo replied coldly.
Hadrian cut in just then, earning him a scowl from Calvin for interrupting, which he ignored. “And those not in authority?”
Ludo side-eyed him, “I would have this Lackaffe face far stricter punishments than whatever he was given.” His gaze dropped and he muttered under his breath, “Meine Schwester ist so viel besser als ihr Schweine, dass sie die Perle IST.”
Despite all his fearlessness, Ludo was still at Calvin’s limited mercy, and that little comment hadn’t exactly thrilled the boy.
“Okay, that’s it, I know when I’m being snarked in Russian or whatever!” Calvin snapped, confident in his language assessment. He stood back straight up, like his skeleton had been pulled taut.
Just about then was when Mack regained a hold on himself. “H-hey… HEY!” His subtler off-trailing ended. “Calvin, what are you doing?” He questioned. He had never spoken so severely to Calvin. “I thought this was about me.”
Calvin rolled his eyes, curling his fingers against his palm on his right hand. “It was… But if Ludo-tic is gonna drop in all by himself, might as well get even with him, y’know?”
“Even how?” His brow creased with concern.
“I dunno, Mack, however I feel like it,” Calvin shrugged. His hand tensed even tighter, so much so that it was a proper fist.
He acted before anyone could’ve stopped him. In a swift, ruthless motion, his fist connected with Ludo’s abdomen.
Ludo’s breath hitched as a soundless cry was ripped from his throat. He was entirely winded; he doubled over sharply. There was a mix of choking and sputtering. It was as if a weight was being continually held against Ludo. There was a struggle against this imaginary weight; it was strangling him. But finally, it was just the ordinary result of a rough punch to the gut.
Calvin stepped back, laxing his posture entirely, “Apparently, that’s how.”
With a pair of malicious giggles, Hadrian and Dylan tossed him forward. Ludo stumbled. His arms flailed ungracefully ahead of him, grasping for a support that wasn’t there. There was no way Ludo could catch himself.
‘He shouldn’t have to.’
Two hands grabbed Ludo, preventing the nigh-inevitable faceplant. Ludo’s fingers reflexively clung to the arms that caught. Mack had stepped in front of Ludo just in time. “Ma-Mack?” He forced out between the scourging coughs. His eyes were wide with surprise.
A hum of confirmation was the simple reply Mack gave. His gaze was planted on Ludo’s form as he pulled him forward til Ludo leaned against him. Slowly, the coughing quieted.
Mack crouched to the ground, lowering Ludo and positioning him so that his head rested on Mack’s shoulder, facing away from his assailants.
“...What was that?” Mack’s question was deceptively quiet; it silenced the others.
“What was what?” Calvin asked directly, sincerely unsure of he what he meant. He followed Mack’s stare. It was glued to the boy in his arms. The blond chuckled, “Don’t worry, Mackie, the worst I coulda done is break a rib!” He paused, appraising Ludo. “…Well, maybe two with the frame this shrimp’s got.”
“We won’t get in trouble for it!” Dylan assured with a rising cadence.
“Wow, Dylan, that’s the first useful thing you’ve said all day,” Calvin remarked, indecipherably between sarcastic and actually surprised. His previous attitude was back a second later. “It’s true. Nobody’ll believe Ludo-tic if he tries to tell. Four of us, one ‘a him. You ain’t got a thing to worry about.”
“I don’t care about that,” Mack barked, his voice feeling tighter with a dry heat.
Calvin gave a light huff, “Are you mad over the pie? Look you had it coming for being part of the reason I got eleven days suspension!”
At the glare they all received from Mack it became apparent that wasn’t it either.
“What are you so wound up over?” Hadrian inquired probingly.
Mack’s eye physically twitched as he looked up at them slowly. “The fact he just got sucker punched out of nowhere.”
Three blank stares met him shamelessly. “Mack, that’s how sucker punches work,” Hadrian remarked as if saying that: yes, falling off a cliff would hurt.
The tide from before had been rising, and this time it had a true base. Brewing, more like. A tropical storm of sorts, and Calvin, Hadrian, and Dylan had stepped into the eye of it. Mack gave a harsh grunt. “He’s a person too, ya know!”
Dylan replied, blunt as a wooden board, “Is he?”
“Mack stop.” Ludo spoke for the first time since the interaction began. His voice was a bit hoarse. “They will never care.”
Hazel eyes snapped back to Ludo, softening a bit. “I don’t believe that, they’re good people,” Mack muttered.
“And I don’t believe you’re thinking straight,” Calvin announced mockingly as he tapped his foot. “Mack, why are you talking to him?”
Mack swallowed, then frowned. “I-”
“To be honest,” Hadrian interrupted. He was leaning against the rail, observing with a keen eye. He gave a dismissive wave. “I don’t understand how you’re able to lower yourself to his level. There’s a hierarchy, Hatheed. I’d expect better, even from you.” Something in his tone made Mack’s skin crawl.
“Yeah, forget about him,” Dylan coaxed, “He’s learned his lesson! He’ll lay off next time.”
“Never,” Ludo snarled. He let go of Mack and turned to face them, putting a few inches between himself and Mack, trying to prove his independence. “I’ll never abandon Heidi. Tear me apart and I’ll fight you as pieces.”
A glint appeared in Calvin’s eyes. “Oh, you wanna go, shut-in? Let’s go.” His whole body tensed offensively.
His allies, Dylan and Hadrian, reacted in their own ways, with Hadrian narrowing his eyes and Dylan trying to shrink. They knew Ludo had reignited a fuse. Mack knew it too. Heck, the whole hilltop seemed to, it stilled with shaking nerves.
Everything knew that Ludo’s words were sparks to a bomb, everything besides Ludo.
“I think a black eye would suit you real nicely.” Calvin sneered before adding, “Unless Adelheid likes red better, then a bloodied nose would be my first choice.” He slowly began circling.
Ludo got to his feet, still a bit dazed but managing well. Mack stood too, trying to support him from behind. Ludo looked back and shook his head, gently pushing away Mack’s hands.
“This is my fight,” He whispered solemnly as he raised his hands, “Calvin may be the school’s tyrant but he is not mine.”
‘You can’t win this fight,’ Mack thought. Calvin’s retort washed over him as worry gripped him like a straitjacket. His sudden anxiety refused to settle, instead shifting to restlessness. He had to do something. This was happening too fast. Ludo and Calvin shouldn’t fight. Calvin was acting insane, sure, but this wasn’t terribly unusual-
Mack froze.
It was true. All of this was in character for Calvin. Yet, it was unacceptable. Calvin couldn’t treat Ludo so poorly. ‘It’s not right.’
“Okay that’s it!” Mack announced. He put both hands firmly on Ludo’s shoulders and turned, physically steering him elsewhere.
Mack quickly led him away from the centre, only stopping once he’d reached the uneven ground where the hill receded; it was the area he had run up to get here in the first place.
“What are you doing. Mack- Mack?” Ludo gasped, taking a minute to regain his balance.
Already walking back, Mack made a motion for Ludo not to follow. “What I should’ve from the start,” He answered with a stoicism unfamiliar to his own ears. He came to a full stop, hardly a foot from Calvin, going around to face him head-on. He left his back towards the railing.
Calvin stared in shock. Then understanding. Then betrayal. For an instant, Mack regretted his choice. ‘I- he thinks I’ve chosen a side but-’ No, he had to stick with his choice. ‘He’ll just have to understand when it’s over.’
“Take it back,” Calvin grit. He went stiff.
Mack blinked, “What?”
“Take. It. Back.” A command on the surface, all Mack heard was Calvin begging. His chest stung. Calvin was taking this so seriously.
Glancing briefly at Dylan and Hadrian revealed similarly startled reactions. ‘Maybe I’m not taking it seriously enough.’ He pushed the thoughts away. This was no time to be distracted.
Calvin snapped, “Aren’t you listening!?”
Back to reality, Mack gave a firm shake of the head. “I made my choice.”
“Well- you-” A frustrated, almost flustered growl came from Calvin. He drew a deep breath. “Then you’re not welcome with us.”
He eyed Dylan and Hadrian for support. He received a meagre nod and a shrug. Apparently counting that as validation enough, Calvin doubled down, “I should’ve known from earlier in the hall when you sided with Ludotic. You really are the company you keep.” Calvin threw a dirty look at Ludo.
Mack snapped his fingers. “Hey, I’m over here.”
Calvin twisted back to the cliffside rail, scowling. “Hang out with freaks, become a freak,” He spat.
Trivial as it was, the spiteful comment was just enough for Mack to lose his cool. “Hang out with bullies, become, a bully.”
He had to physically retreat a step as Calvin advanced. Mack was pushed against the railing that barred him from falling to the rocks on the ground. A pebble was pushed back by his feet.
It fell for what seemed like forever, and shattered at the bottom. It caught Mack’s attention. Maybe it was symbolic, in a way. Mack hated the thought. This was a disagreement, nothing more.
Calvin took another step forward. The way he moved made Mack tense.
‘Oh gosh, if this gets physical…’ In truth, Mack knew Calvin would never really hurt him. He was glad Ludo wasn’t in his place, though, there would be real danger there. He wanted to groan. This was a hot mess regardless. If only Mack hadn’t come to this stupid clearing in the first place. ‘I should’ve listened to Ludo.’
Calvin knew the intimidation lost its effectiveness when Mack laxed. He snarled to try and goad Mack on, “Maybe I should’ve hit you.”
Mack gasped, exclaiming, “You wouldn’t!”
“Oh yeah!?” Calvin roared. Mack’s phrase was practically a challenge. It was fuel to Calvin’s fire, he chose escalation. With a petty thoughtlessness, he lunged.
And then, the wind was rushing in Mack’s ears. The hilltop was growing smaller. Every other emotion was overshadowed by a sudden revelation.
He was tumbling over the railing.
The setting sun cast an orange light over the entire world as Mack remained entirely inert. There was a devastating screech. Mack thought it might be his own, but his throat was closed up.
Down, down, down he fell. He was weightless. He was helpless. He was nothing to gravity. Nothing against the universe, against eternity. But hadn’t he always been? What was he? A single blip to all of time, less than that. No one was much of anything in the end.
Far above, Calvin’s horrified face and wide brown eyes were all he could see. His vision was going black, tunneling around that one point. The boy who he had adored, practically worshipped, just a few hours ago, had just shoved him off a cliff by accident.
‘I am going to die. Aren’t I?’
Memories of his life flashed in front of him. His friends, parents, and childhood. He felt nothing as it all burned like autumn leaves in a blaze. Everything in his mind was aflame with a brilliant orange, just like that setting sun.
‘I am going to die.’
He became aware of an eerie stillness that had slipped in the moment his feet left the ground. Mack was stone, almost. It was an uncanny peace. An acceptance so far from natural. Something inhuman. The fall was a force so great not even panicked desperation dared to face it.
‘I am going to die.’
A violent, wrenching pain shot through him and all that he weighed crashed upon him a million-fold. The wind stopped, but the scream had multiplied into a chorus. Sheer red was all there was now, Calvin was gone. The cliff was gone. There was the pain, there was the agony, a shredding feeling of sorts they were. Black swiftly swirled up once more, consuming the scarlet.
Then, one by one, his senses left him. The noise stopped, the salty docks’ smell and scent of cinnamon-pumpkin still on his face disappeared. The cold wet rock of the ground faded. The ebony won out, it was an obsidian mask suffocating him. Even the pain left.
And then it was over. All of it. Sleep claimed him with curtains of numbing static.
…
There was a voice. It cut through the static and through the numb.
“I will save you, Mack. Do not hate me for it.”
Oh what on earth Ludo was talking about?
…
Time was an untraceable factor. Mack spent the following however-long in a river between life-and-death, a 21st-century Ophelia. At last, he awoke from the spell set upon him by that great fall.
He stared up at a plain ceiling, lying against metal. A table, perhaps. There was one thing he knew for certain: he was cold. ‘Where am I? What’s going on?’
A face came into his vision. As quickly as the image of Calvin flashed before him, it rushed away. Ludo was over him, no one else.
The location came to Mack just a second later. ‘I’m in the lab.’
“Hallo,” Ludo greeted in a voice softer than Mack had thought him capable, “You are saved.”
“W-what-?” A voice, croaky and dead, choked out. Mack only realised moments later that it had been him who spoke. “Where’s Ca-”
“Calvin and the others ran away, do not think of him,” Ludo ordered in that gentle voice, “First. You are changed. That must be addressed, when you are ready.”
Blearily, Mack opened and closed his eyes multiple times. “I… Ludo… I don’t feel…”
Ludo’s head cocked to the side. “You do not feel good?”
His neck was too stiff to shake his head. “I don’t feel anything.” His eyes drifted down, searching for the problem. Looking had been a mistake. He immediately wanted to shriek.
Wordlessly, Ludo put a hand behind Mack’s shoulders. With all the care one would use for glass, he lifted Mack. He was sat up on the metal table. His body limp, he managed as well as he could. Ludo murmured, “See it for yourself, but please remain calm.”
The face and figure reflected in the cracked mirror were unrecognisable. But it was Mack. The giant stitches across his forehead that could not be hidden by his hair, the green tint of his flesh, the ugly bronze screws on the side of his head, the steel joints connecting his limbs… It was all his own body. This awful, nasty Frankenstein’s monster in the mirror was Mack Hatheed.
His vision was a grey, bland thing that spun dizzyingly at the slightest movements. All sound was muffled. His throat stung as if he’d be screaming for hours, though he knew he hadn’t been. His mind was in fragments.
And yet, one fact kept a fierce hold on his mind. It was unshakeable, really.
He knew who had made him this way… It wasn’t Ludo.
A dozen shared secrets, a thousand words of praise, a million excuses, and a lifetime of loyalty. All for Calvin. When had they lost their value? When had Mack lost his?
Mack wrapped his thick, almost geometric arms around himself. They might’ve been the part most changed. The alien nature of his stubby fingers against his skin made a tremble run through his body. “When did Calvin stop being my-”
“I said not to think of him,” Ludo reminded with a hint of sharpness. He removed his hands from behind Mack as he was stabilised. Instead, Ludo reached out and lightly patted Mack’s knee. The motion was appreciated despite its awkwardness.
‘-Stop being my equal,’ Mack finished in the privacy of his own mind.
It was about then that reality began to process in Mack’s head. It was not a crashing comprehension. It was not a sudden flood. It was molasses, filling him languidly.
His eyes widened. “I… I won’t ever be the same,” He announced, horrified in a way that made his voice almost slip into monotone. The grotesque flesh that defined his hands fell into his lap. “I can never go back.”
Ludo stood up straighter. “No. You won’t… And cannot,” He agreed curtly, a tense reserve was in his voice. He turned his head to the side, eyeing the wall instead of Mack. His entire body seemed to have gone on the defensive.
Time might as well have frozen as the next few seconds passed. The only thing that proved anything had really progressed was the ticking of the wall clock.
The next time Ludo spoke, it was slow, quiet, and vulnerable. “I am sorry that I could not save you better.” There was a sadness etched into his voice, like rock washed out by the sea.
Mack shrugged. It was a clumsy gesture with his modified frame. “Frankly, I’m shocked you could save me at all… So, uh, thanks.”
Ludo’s eyes jumped to him. He stared blankly. Somewhere in Ludwig Rache, there’d been a short-circuit. He shuffled his feet. “…You do not mean that.”
“Sure I do.” Mack decided pure simplicity would be his cope. “I mean, this isn’t…” He drew his mouth into a thin line. “…Awesome. But I’m not dead.” He leaned back, putting further weight on his arms. For their horrid nature, they were sturdy.
Vaguely, Mack tried to find a positive. A bright side. Something to laugh over. All that came to mind was “Hey! I’ve got a built-in Halloween costume!” But he felt too ill with his own body and too tired in his own mind to even try saying it aloud.
All the while, Ludo was watching. His nerves clear as day on his face. With a tight jaw and alert eyes, he might as well have been performing on a tightrope. Just waiting to disappoint some imaginary crowd by not having some perfect trick mastered. Honestly, it’d be impressive if he could walk a tightrope at all.
“This is really enough?” Ludo asked,
Mack smiled, exhaling shakily, “It’s enough.”