Chapter 2-Attack
Last night I didn’t dream at all or at least nothing that I could remember anyway, but I woke up just as sweaty and clammy as I’ve done every night for the past few weeks. My heart hammering in my chest and my fuzzy brain trying to dredge up whatever it thought I needed to remember. My hands were on fire this morning. Like tiny red ants had attacked them in my sleep. I started shaking them furiously, hoping the breeze it would create could somehow cool them off. I glanced around the room looking for ghosts or weird orbs but found nothing, so I relaxed. It was Monday, again, and I was exhausted both from lack of sleep and from having the weekend from hell.
I had texted Luke the Friday before our date and rescheduled for the next weekend. I thought about changing it again, but I knew he wouldn’t budge so I gave in. It was just as terrible as I had imagined and my stomach became queasy at the mere thought of it. Even though I had declined, he insisted on taking me to eat before the movies. When we pulled into McDonald’s, my infuriated expression didn’t even faze him. I reluctantly ordered small fries and a cheeseburger with no onions, nibbling on them and moving them around to make it look like I was eating. He made awkward conversation and perverted gestures the whole time, it was completely uncomfortable. I made a mental note to be more careful this week and avoid him. It was that, or be destined for a second date where he would probably insist on taking me to Burger King instead.
On Saturday I had decided to take a hiatus from everything and go to a secluded spot on the beach that I knew of. This would have been great if I hadn’t fallen asleep and woken up sunburned from head to toe. I looked like a cross between a strawberry and a red bell pepper. It was horrific and thus I spent the rest of the weekend soaking in aloe vera gel and watching TV.
A light knocking on my bedroom door caught my attention and broke through my slightly incoherent thoughts.
“Come in,” I said sleepily.
My mother’s slender dark figure peered around the corner. Her hair was in a tight bun with little ringlets spilling out in various sections. She was dressed to impress in a tailored suit some rare shade of brown with satin beige lining. It reminded me of how the leaves on the trees would look in the coming weeks as the season changed over to fall. Most days I can feel coldness from her the shade of ice blue, but today was different. Her aura indicated power and it radiated off of her like billowing black smoke.
She must have noticed my sizing her up. “Do you like it?” she asked smoothing her hands along the sides of her pants.
I raised my eyebrows and smiled as big as I could muster that early in the morning. “Stylish and couture,” I said enjoying our little moment. “So what’s up?”
She frowned, walked silently over to where I was, and eased herself onto the bed. She may be slacking in the nurturing department, but she would never cease to amaze me. Even sitting on my bed was graceful and delicate. As if reading my mind she smiled and then eyed my hands which I had tried to keep securely hidden underneath my blankets. I struggled to keep them still, but it was impossible when they stung as badly as they did.
“I have a meeting today with one of the counselors at school to discuss graduating early. If I can that means I will be able to get a part time job and spend more time here at home with you and your father. Would you like that?”
I leaned over and gently placed my head on the hollow space where her neck connects to the shoulder. This is one of those rare moments, I thought, where she’s actually letting me get close enough to touch her. I breathed in heavily. She smelled like earth and not in a disgusting way. It was more like a lush, beautiful blend of dew moistened greens, fresh-cut flowers and warm, tender woods. Intoxicating. “I would love that.” But would I really? I didn’t know anymore. Yes, I wanted my mother to spend more time with me, but would she be a different person or the same cold-hearted woman sitting before me?
“Good,” she said wiggling herself free. She stood up again, turned back towards the door and started to walk out. So much for bonding, I thought to myself. Every time we make any progress at this mother daughter thing she takes five giant steps back. Like a terrible game of Simon Says that keeps going awry. Tears were stinging at the back of my eyes, but I refused to indulge them until she was nowhere in sight. She had almost made it out when she paused, spun around, and asked, “What’s wrong with you hands?”
When our eyes met I could see concern, worry and even fear in them. Fear? Why would she be so afraid of my hands feeling like they were on fire?
I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s nothing. I just woke up and they were sort of stinging. I’m probably just having an allergic reaction to the new lotion I bought or something.”
It wasn’t far from the truth seeing as how I went a little overboard shopping at Bath and Body Works a few days ago. What can I say; I’m a sucker for a sale. She didn’t look very convinced, and if anything she looked more distraught than she had before. Her eyes grew dark, but when she spoke this time it sounded sincere. “You should run some cold water over them, if that doesn’t work, let me know. Oh, and finish getting ready for school before you’re late. I’ll see you tonight.” With that she went out and shut the door.
Love you too I whispered to myself and suddenly I felt like crying, so I did. After forcing myself to get it together I went to the bathroom and applied plenty of makeup to my red-rimmed eyes in hopes that nobody would ask questions. I slipped on some random assortment of clothes, gathered up my school belongings, and headed downstairs to wait for my ride.
Surprisingly enough, nobody even so much as mentioned my puffiness and everything was going fairly normal so far. The stinging in my hands had dwindled down to a low tickle, I didn’t run into Luke, and I was on my way to my favorite class. Why couldn’t everyday be this good?
I stepped into the room, which is packed like usual, and head over to my assigned group table to start prepping for whatever dish we’ll be making today. Onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, garlic cloves, sugar, a box of angel hair spaghetti noodles and some other various spices were lying on the counter. I shoved my book bag under the table, wrapped the apron around my waist, and headed over to the sink to wash my hands. “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” Mr. Rogan had said. Oh geez, I was already quoting one of my teachers. If only Jett could hear me now, he’d be on the floor rolling around and laughing hysterically.
I giggled inside and proceeded to head back to the table. The rest of my group had shown up finally and were starting to do other remedial tasks, so I let my thoughts wander. Why was my mom acting so weird today? It seemed as though she was really trying to make an effort, but then she went right back to being frigid again. And what about that ghost guy who I can’t stop daydreaming about? Who or what was he anyway? It was then that I heard a faint buzzing sound. Some fluorescent bulb in the room must be getting ready to go out because it was flickering. Each burst of light after the small flash of dark was like blinding rays of sun.
I squinted and looked around the room trying to pinpoint the location of the rogue bulb and that’s precisely when I noticed the orb. It resembled the one from the morning I woke up from my nightmare, but I couldn’t be positive. The only thing I was absolutely sure of was that it was here now, and in the middle of the room. Vaguely familiar light radiated off of it in surges of brilliance so stunning that I became entranced by its energy. I just wanted to touch it and feel the light bathe on my skin. I tore my eyes from it and looked around the room. Great, nobody else seemed to notice it but me, go figure. I’m just about to make my way over to it when it vanishes and instantaneously a sinking feeling settles into the pit of my stomach.
“This has got to just be my imagination running wild again,” I mumbled under my breathe trying to shake off the goose bumps.
Images of the orb danced through my mind. It was like a perfect oval glowing in the most wonderful shades of blue and silver. Like a warm wave washing ov
er me and trying to pull me under. Why did I feel so captivated by it, but afraid of it at the same time? And what made me want to touch it so badly? I had literally felt compelled to jump up and run my fingers across its bright surface.
“Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to Home Economics,” a sweet familiar voice said interrupting my brooding.
I looked up from the table and gasped. “Ms. Rosana.”
Her dark as night wavy hair settled in thick layers across her back. Faded black slacks and a maroon knit sweater with matching clogs completed the ensemble. Classic, I thought suppressing a laugh. She grinned at me from across the room and then came over to give me a hug. “Well fancy meeting you here. Shouldn’t you be in some advanced English class? It’s down the hall on the left if you needed directions.”
Ms. Rosana was my English teacher for the past three years of school. She was also one of the main reasons I even bothered to show up every day. Don’t get me wrong, I did well in school, but it was never any fun. She just had this way of teaching that was more focused on learning while creating and that was the environment I worked best in. Then last year, during the final week before school let out for the summer, she broke the news that she was leaving. She had decided to move back to Washington, something about the pay being better. I was devastated. She was such a constant in my life, someone I looked up to and cherished dearly that the thought of her leaving had left me heartbroken.
I smiled wider than a Cheshire cat. “Well, you and I both know that the only teacher I could possibly stand was you. Why would I bother with you gone?”
After smirking she gave me the one over and said, “Uh huh, I know you better than you know yourself sometimes. Anyway, you and I should talk after class.”
“Sounds magnificent,” I said excited.
“Alright everyone, please get back to your tables and we can begin. Today we are making spaghetti so turn to page five of your textbooks for directions. Although if you can’t make a simple pasta dish, you shouldn’t even be in the kitchen,” she said giggling.
After our brief interaction I tried to stay focused on cutting the rest of the veggies, but for some reason my thoughts kept drifting back to the orb. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and as if it had heard my desperate plea to see it again rising up inside, it materialized in front of me. So close that I could stick my arm out and half of it would be swallowed in light. The longer I stared at it the more it seemed to look like something else. Some sort of creature that was shaped like Golem from the Lord of Rings except it was taller with dark brown skin, a huge set of wings and purple eyes. Purple eyes that were staring right back at me. The onions must be affecting my vision, I thought. I bent over the table to put the knife I was holding down and when I looked back the orb was gone again.
What is going on with me? Weird things keep happening. Like seeing ghosts and bizarre orbs, not to mention my mom acting strange and then there are the crazy nightmares. All of the emotions from the past few weeks came bubbling up to the surface and I felt dizzy and frustrated. I wanted to cry and scream at the same time, but instead I decided to just take a break.
I slumped down in the chair and rested my head on the table trying to shut out all of the noisy chatter filtering through the room. I looked for the clock on the wall. Twenty minutes of class left, plenty of time. I nestled my head against my arm again and slowly shut my eyes.
It came swift and relentless. A searing pain that shot down my right thigh like someone had just ripped it open with a machete. I tried to muffle the high-pitched scream that threatened to escape from my lips. Instinctively I looked underneath the table and whimpered as my eyes connected with the same creature from the orb licking blood off my leg. He was squished perfectly under there. Wings folded delicately against his body like a cocoon. How come nobody warned me? Couldn’t they see it?
The creature smiled a nasty wicked grin up at me and growled. The kind of rumble that shook the whole table knocking pots, supplies, and other items off onto the floor. A glass bowl landed with a crack and shattered into thousands of pieces. I let out a full-fledged scream as it slowly cocked its head to one side and disappeared. I wanted to run and get out of this place, but I couldn’t move. I was in shock. My whole body trembled. And not just because I was scared to death, but because blood was flooding out of my thigh like the Hoover Dam had sprung a leak. Some part of me knew this was probably going to need stitches and fast. I looked up, about to ask for a nurse pass, and realized the whole class was staring at me. Mouths gaped open. Oh great, just what I need, more people thinking I’m a freak.
Ms. Rosanna rushed over to the table and pulled the chair out quickly, practically dumping me out of it and onto the floor. She drew in a deep breath and gasped. “What happened?”
I knew I couldn’t tell her the truth. No one would believe me anyway. So I did what I had to do, lie. I looked up into her amber eyes, shrugged my shoulders, and said, “I’m not sure exactly, I dropped my knife under the table and I guess it cut me.” I only hoped that she wouldn’t go looking for the weapon because she wouldn’t find one.
She eyed me wearily. Guess she does know me better than I thought. After several moments of silence I said, “Hey, girl bleeding all over the floor here!” That got her attention.
“Somebody please get me some paper towels,” she said exasperated. A tall boy with blonde hair whom I didn’t recognize came out of nowhere, reached around, and handed her a huge wad. She took it quickly and immediately began applying pressure as she said, “Alright let’s get you to the nurse’s station and fix it up. I’ll be right back class, continue working on the assignment.”
I swallowed down a huge knot in my throat. As much as I wanted her to go with me for moral support and comfort, I knew I should do this on my own. Just in case it came back or something. The last thing I wanted to do was drag more people into this mess. “Listen, not that I don’t appreciate the offer and all, trust me, I do, but you have a class to teach and it’s not going to teach itself,” I whispered insistently.
“Well, my class is going to have to do fine without me because I’m not letting you take off by yourself.”
“What happens if someone accidentally catches the school on fire and you’re not here to supervise?” I asked.
She pondered my words as if trying to find a loophole, but gave in. “You’re so stubborn. Are you sure you can’t be persuaded?” I shook my head and she acknowledged her defeat. “Very well, but I’m sending someone down there with you and I’m not taking no for an answer. You,” she said pointing to the guy who had brought the paper towels, “accompany her to the nurse, please.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said acknowledging her request.
“Now hurry up and go before I change my mind,” she said flustered.
I moaned internally. How was I going to get out of this mess? “Okay and I’ll make sure to send a janitor back to clean.”
“That’s the least of my worries,” she said giving me a hug. “Just be careful.”
“I will,” I said blinking back tears. She was about as close to a real mother as I was ever going to get and for that I was more than elated.
I limped out of the classroom with the support of the blonde guy and once out of earshot stopped. I turned to face him and said firmly, “I will give you twenty dollars if you stand out here for five minutes and then pretend you walked me down there.”
He raised an eyebrow and I thought for sure he would decline my offer, but then he shook his head yes and I handed off the cash. “Thanks,” I said trying not to make anymore eye contact. I turned on my heel and continued to hobble down the hall towards the nurse’s station wincing along the way. I could feel the blood seeping through the paper towel, trickling down my leg and onto the floor. The sight of the hot, sticky goo made my stomach turn and a faint memory tugged at the back of my mind. I pushed it aside and hurried on, I had to get to safety as soon as
possible. I kept looking over my shoulder just to make sure that crazy creature thing wasn’t following me with its tongue hanging out. I had almost made it to the nurse’s station when the sound of heavy breathing stopped me dead in my tracks.
I inched forward carefully and peeked around the corner expecting the worst, but instead finding the funniest. In the situation I was in, I definitely needed something hilarious. Luke had Joanne pushed up against his locker, their lips tightly locked together. I had to hold down the bile that immediately rose to my throat as his hand slipped down from her chin to caress her breast, down her thigh, and then up until it was uncomfortable for me to even watch. I wasn’t exactly hidden, so I couldn’t believe they were so into sucking face and feeling each other up that they hadn’t even noticed I was staring at them yet. I knew he flirted and the possibility was there that he actually cheated, but this was the best confirmation I could have hoped for. No more fast food dates for me.
I giggled internally, ignoring the continual throbbing pain in my thigh and crossed my arms as quietly as possible. I let the paper towel fall to the floor since it was kaput anyway, it can only hold some much before it falls apart, and put on my best disappointed angry facade. What a perfect way to end this charade of a relationship. “So is it because I didn’t put out, or do you always treat your girlfriends like this?” I asked sarcastically.
He slowly released his tangled hand from her platinum blonde hair and looked in my direction. The shock clearly written on his face indicated that he never expected to get caught. Perfect. “Callie, it’s not what you think,” he said holding his hands up in surrender.
I studied him through narrowed eyes my voice clear and calm. “Wow, that’s a new line. Not what I think? You mean you practically having sex with her right here, in the hallway is just my imagination?”
Ignoring my best impression of a dirty look, Joanne leaned up to kiss him on the cheek and whispered, “Call me later.” The next thing I know she’s walking off down the hall with a smug smile on her face. I honestly couldn’t care less, because this is exactly the excuse I needed to get rid of him once and for all.
He cleared his throat, his gaze darted away from mine and he said, “Callie, I can explain.”
“Oh, I have no doubt that you can come up with a good excuse. Like her boob had a cramp or maybe her thigh needed scratching, right? Only problem is that I don’t care. You wanted someone easy and you got her.”
We stood there silent for several seconds, gazes locked, until I realized the ever so slight shift in weight to the cut leg. After the initial high of adrenaline rush started to wear off, dizziness pulsed through my body. I wavered, falling to my knees on the hard cold tile floor.
He hurried over to where I was kneeling, the red hued liquid starting to pool around my feet. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” he asked reaching out to inspect the stream trickling down my leg. “Is that blood?”
I pushed him away as best I could, trying to stand on my own. My body felt drained and distant. “Yep, sure is.” How much blood was I losing? I felt like I was going to pass out as a foggy feeling began to penetrate my brain.
“Here, let me help you,” he said throwing one of my arms over his shoulder.
Only if he was lying on the floor and I was kicking him in the kidneys would I let him help me, I thought shaking the fuzziness off. “It’s a long story, one which I refuse to share with you, so stop pretending you care Luke. Just go back to class and leave me alone. In fact, why don’t you go find Joanne and finish what I so clearly interrupted?”
His suave attitude faltered for a moment and I glimpsed what looked like worry in eyes. “Please, at least let me help you get to the nurse’s station.”
I brushed his arm from my shoulder. “No, were through. Finite. Over. I think you should just go now.”
I figured that he would just walk away and cut his losses, but instead he did the stupidest thing ever. He pulled me forward into his arms and tried to kiss me. I had hit my breaking point with him. My hand started tingling, and before I knew what was happening I had slapped him so hard across the face that he actually stumbled backwards landing with a hard thud on his butt. After the events of the day it felt good to release a little of my own steam.
I leaned back, almost unable to breathe from both the shock and pain radiating through me. My hand felt like it was on fire, but I tried to remain calm. “I never want to see you again,” I said through gritted teeth. Maybe he’d take the not so subtle hint now and vamoose.
His eyes met mine as his face turned from a deep shade of purple to a pale white. He tentatively patted the place where I hit him and I watched as it transformed into what looked like a dark red burn mark. He stood unsteadily, turned around, and stormed off down the hall towards where Joanne had left, looking about as stunned as I felt. I didn’t have any time to think about how weird it was that I had somehow managed to scar his face. I knew I needed to get the nurse and fast.
I continued along the path, still leaving a trail of metallic smelling fluid behind me. As soon as I stepped inside, a tall leggy brunette with almost gothic like makeup on bombarded me with “are you okay’s” and “does it hurt’s”. I could barely feel it when she looped her arm through mine and scooped me up like I was a rag doll, carrying me into another room. She laid me down on the doctor chair with that horrible crinkly white paper so she could attend to the wound. I felt the sting of whatever antiseptic she was dabbing the cut with, but I couldn’t make out a word she was saying. My head was filled with buzzing and my eyes felt heavy. Maybe it was the loss of blood that caused me to doze off, but when I woke up the nurse was gone and Zilla was sitting next to the bed.
I reached up to run my fingers through my newly knotted hair. Hoping to break the tension growing in the room I tried to make a joke. “This better not be a repeat of the red wagon incident,” I giggled hoarsely.
Zilla smiled at me and squeezed my arm. “Nope, I’ve outgrown that stage. Just making sure a familiar face was here when you woke up. Besides, that was a huge turning point in our friendship, no need to go through something like that again.”
“You mean because we are blood sisters now?” I asked curiously, remembering that day more vividly than I should. It was such a long time ago when I was only nine. I had cut my hand on my rusty red wagon trying to pull her around the block. I was panicked, clutching my arm to my chest as I tried to control my rapid breathing. She stayed completely calm and reached out for me. I’d never forget the look on her face as she stooped down slashing her hand against the jagged metal. The way her blood started drip, drip, dripping onto the warm concrete. She beamed, clasped hands with me and said something about me not being afraid and how we are one in the same. Best friends forever and now blood sisters for life. It made me feel safe and content just thinking about it. To know that I have someone who cares about me so much they were, and still are, willing to do anything to keep me from feeling the way I did that day. I smiled.
“Of course,” she said placing her hand in mine.
My neck felt stiff, which made me wonder how long I’d been sleeping. I pushed myself up into a sitting position while trying to rub out the kinks in my neck and surveyed the room. The nurse was now standing in a corner prepping what looked like a fresh bandage. When she turned around I noticed her name tag read Ivy. It was such a pretty name that I found it odd and ill-suited for her personality.
“Your friend here is very lucky. If the cut had been any deeper she would have needed surgery. Luckily I was able to stitch you up and staunch the bleeding. I’m going to discharge you as soon as your parents get here. No running or stretching, anything that would cause you to pop a stitch. Make sure you change the bandage often, and keep plenty of Neosporin on it. Oh, and be more careful,” she said before turning the corner, leaving me and Zilla alone in the room.
“How long have I been here?” I asked groggily. For som
e reason it felt like weeks, but it couldn’t have been that long could it?
“For awhile I’m afraid. Not like days or anything, but last period has been over for a few hours now.” She fumbled with the pockets of her hoodie. “I’m not going to ask what happened because the nurse gave me a brief rundown. I don’t want to pester you with questions, but that doesn’t sound anything like the Callie I know. When you decide to talk about it you’ll come to me.” I gave her a very weak smile. Changing the subject she proceeded to ask, “Can I get you anything?”
My mouth felt really dry, Grand Canyon style. “I could go for some water.”
“Okie dokie, I’ll be right back,” she said leaving me alone in the room.
The silence that followed was almost deafening. I wished I’d had my iPod or something to drown it out. I folded my hands in my lap, but then decided to trace my family crest tattoo with the tip of my finger instead. I do it so often I don’t even have to look at it to know I’m tracing it perfectly. It’s made up of two curvy triangles for the golden hourglass, and a figure eight for the jade colored ivy entwined on it. I was so focused that I barely heard the faint rustling noise coming from near the foot of the doctor’s chair. This time I heard him before I saw him.
“I’ve come here to warn you Callie.” The way he said my name sent chills down my spine. I stared at him blankly waiting for him to continue. “You must be careful, you’re being hunted by an asema,” he said matter-of-fact like. His image still blipped in and out of existence, only at a less rapid pace making it easier to get a better look at him.
His voice was so spellbinding that I almost didn’t realize what he’d just said to me. It’s weird talking business to an invisible thing, well partially invisible anyway. I felt like if I could maybe get a clear view of him I might be able to grasp what he was saying. After all, I did get attacked by some weird orb creature that was beyond any explanation I could muster. I tried to think of a good response, anything really, but by the time I thought to ask him what an asema was, it was too late. He had already vanished again.
He was really starting to get on my nerves just disappearing whenever and wherever he felt like it. At least he said something to me this time instead of just grinning at me eerily. I guess that’s a start.
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