* * *
Paul
Paul watched, Rebecca next to him, as the rest of the kids walked away into the school behind the cheerleaders and jocks like a stampede. Donna, Rebecca’s old best friend, cut Spencer free and helped him off the flagpole. It looked like they hit Spencer hard so they’d be able to strip him down and tape him up easier. They were truly monsters. Like bad children in a candy store, using what science had given them to bully others. Outside these walls, Paul didn’t want to imagine the numerous possibilities of what they did in the real world. Or what they’d be able to do in the future as full grown adults.
He’d been wrong about Donna. Or at least partially. She looked just as weak as him, even though he knew that wasn’t true. Could she really have her ability, but not be working for them? Was this a trick? No, he didn’t think so. If she had known what Randy and the others really could do, there was no way, even if she was on their team, she’d stand up to them like that.
Spencer was silent as Donna walked him over to the nearest bench and helped him sit down. Paul followed Rebecca over and opened his bag to hand Spencer his gym clothes and jacket. It wasn’t like he actually participated in gym anyway.
He watched like a third wheel as Donna and Rebecca were helping Spencer out. All their eyes were locked on each other, their care for one another unhidden. Then their moment was broken, as Donna looked at Spencer’s burns and took a step back away from him. The harmonious act from before was completely gone, and he saw Donna’s eyes close as if she was about to faint. She opened her eyes again seeming light headed, and she was crying. Then suddenly Donna was running.
During this time, the bell had rung, clearing the halls until they were all empty except for two who remained inside. Paul watched through the glass doors as Randy stood in front of his locker staring at this whole thing. He didn’t know if Randy was there to punish Spencer once more when he was alone again, or to watch Paul, or worse … Maybe he’d been assigned to take him. Maybe this was it. No doubt something was going to happen soon, and he had a bad feeling about this.
“I think she’s going to change,” Rebecca told Paul.
Paul looked back, seeing Donna run past Randy, taking a left to where he could no longer see her, and he knew now that she had to be separate from the team. If not, why would she try to hide herself?
Paul, feeling responsible, found himself walking through the door, down the hall after her. As he quickly walked past Randy, the hall felt hot for a moment, as if only by Randy it was ninety degrees. He avoided his eyes, hearing Randy begin to follow him.
He didn’t see Donna. He looked toward the girls’ restroom and saw that there was a dean standing in front of it, probably so no kids could hang out and smoke in there during first class. So where was she? Where had she gone? He heard something fall in the janitor’s closet, and he opened the door, going inside before Randy could catch up behind him.
He looked inside, but he didn’t see Donna. He saw something else. Bright light exploded out of the closet and he was forced to shut the door, trapping him inside with the being. A being that was made of live electricity, shaped like a human, or at least something standing on two feet with two arms. A man or woman he couldn’t tell. It was just as tall as him, and had taken a step back at seeing him in there with itself. It lit up the darkness of the room, and the heat from it in a small space made him feel like he was in a microwave.
He knew who it was but never imagined seeing her like this. He found himself frozen and unable to do anything but block the door. Then she started turning back. Her light began growing dimmer as she now had the shape of herself, but transparent and naked except for the running shoes on her feet. She was like a ghost. Then after another couple of seconds she was almost back to normal. He felt the knob behind him start to turn and knew it was either Randy or the dean. The handle felt hot.
Paul Cohen was going to be found in the janitor’s closet with a naked, glowing Donna Young. He grabbed the knob, panicked, and pressed his body as hard as he could against the door. He took off his shirt and threw it at her, then managed to slip his pants off. Whoever it was trying to get in was not giving up. Now Paul was almost naked himself as he kicked his clothes toward Donna, not sure how much longer he’d be able to keep them in there.
Donna looked very afraid and even ashamed as she was back to a normal girl again; a naked, normal girl that Paul was too distracted to look at. She grabbed his clothes, hurrying to put them on.
“Hide,” he whispered next, practically out of breath. “When the coast is clear, run; tell no one about this! If they catch you, they’ll kill you!” If he had warned her earlier when Rebecca had told him what she was, would she have been safe right now? Yes, he could have stopped this. All new information and realizations seemed to be running through his mind. She must have heated up when she helped Spencer. Her eyes looked so innocent and lost.
He had to make a decision. Had to decide to trust her. They may have him, but they weren’t going to get Rebecca if he could help it. He in the big picture could do nothing. He was weak, but maybe she could save them all.
Then he felt himself being pushed as the door opened. He twisted around, jumping wildly onto Randy causing them both to fall to the ground.
* * *
Randy
“What the hell!” Randy yelled. He had seen Donna run off, which made him feel a flush of guilt which he pushed aside, trying his best to ignore it. Then he’d seen Paul run in what he thought was the opposite direction, toward the dean. Why, he didn’t know, but Paul was their target, and he needed to know what this guy was thinking.
He’d seen the janitors closet slam shut and a light coming from underneath the door. The kid was a coward, not ready for what Randy’s father had in mind for him. Then before Randy knew it, the kid was pushing Randy to the ground. Falling on top of him. Randy looked up, startled. Was Paul not wearing a shirt? What the …
He instinctively kicked Paul off of him, backing away to try to make sense of this, but then Paul again seemed to try to jump back toward him wildly. Like he had rabies or something. Randy didn’t give him the chance. Not knowing what else to do, he decked the nerd in the face. Was the kid crazy? Probably, but what had he been trying to do? What a freak. He felt the dean pulling him away, yelling at him, but he didn’t care. What if someone had seen Paul on top of him with only boxers on? Paul was lucky he didn’t find himself on fire.
Randy saw Rebecca and Spencer as the dean pulled him away into his office. Spencer was wearing Paul’s jacket. Had the guy given Spencer his clothes and then run to the closet to wait until the cost was clear? No, he was sure he had run past him dressed. Something weird was going on, and he knew Paul was behind it. Whatever it was, it was going to be found out.
* * *
Donna
Donna waited ten minutes after she heard the halls grow silent. Tears and more tears kept coming down her face as she heard more people getting hurt because of her. Spencer’s arms, and now Paul being punched … And what had he said to her? What had he meant? She felt very afraid as if each one of his words had been a monster, a monster violating her.
She checked the halls. The dean was now in his office with Randy and Paul. In Paul’s clothes, she walked down the hall quickly. The moment she’d made it past the school doors without being seen she started out in a full sprint toward home. It was four miles away but she sprinted nonetheless, as if a killer was chasing behind her.
The whole thing from when she had first turned until now was playing in her head: First the accident, all over again. Then hearing Spencer’s screams when she was burning up and he thought she might die. To today, when he was on the flagpole. She saw herself running into the closet, and Paul coming inside, seeing her turn. She’d somehow forced herself back to normal. As if she’d pushed what she was away, but it was too late. He had seen. Yet instead of screaming he had warned her. “Run, tell no one about this! If they catch you they’ll kill you!”
&nbs
p; Somehow he knew what she was even when she didn’t, his message disturbing. She took in his words and understood. It was like déjà vu, a hidden truth she’d known but forgotten, slamming all back into her again. Hearing the word KILL, she felt her life in danger as if she was in a nightmare. And she was, her life had become a nightmare she was forced to live, where everyone knew the answers but her, and she was completely out of control. Helpless …
Then Donna was home, she had run there without paying attention at all. She began to feel her body get that sleepy feeling, and knew once again she was about to change. She ran through the side door of her house. Her father was working out in the back, thank goodness, and wasn’t there to see her change. She ran upstairs as fast as she could without tripping and went straight into her bathroom. She locked the door behind her, her hands shaking. She then turned on her shower and waited the prolonged minute it took to start. Then as if she willed it, the water began to pour out.
She stepped in, not bothering to take her clothes off, and let the freezing cold water pierce through and absorb into her as it always did every time this happened; reforming her flesh and making her human once again. With her body still shaking violently, she pulled the shower curtain shut. Then she sank to the floor of the tub and let the water drain out her world.
Chapter Seven
Paul
Paul got a week of detention and almost risked getting suspended. His mother had grounded him, furious that this would affect his scholarship to M.I.T. Not that he blamed her for being so mad; he’d never gotten a detention in his life, but tonight he wanted to be with Rebecca. He had to see her, kiss her, one last time. After what happened today, he knew time was something he didn’t have much left. Even if they killed him, what he’d discovered would never be lost to the world. He’d made sure of it.
He decided to walk over to her house rather than drive, knowing about the bug on the inside of his trunk they were using to track him. It seemed like forever until he reached her house and was knocking on her bedroom window. Her parents were home now, so his trips would have to be much more discrete.
She opened the window, expecting him. She hugged him and they kissed again. Their tenth kiss so far. He counted each one, never forgetting them. Every time she kissed him or allowed him to kiss her, he thought he was dreaming. She was the most beautiful, angelic girl.
As they parted, he took off his grandfather’s silver ring and handed it to her. “This was my grandfather’s. ” He took a breath. “I want you to have it.”
She looked up at him, her greenish gold eyes shining like gems. “Paul, I can’t take this.”
“Please, I want you to have it.”
She took the ring, uncertainty in her eyes, and held his hands tight. He felt his glasses slide down his nose, and he pushed them up, less nervous than usual. “I was wrong about Donna.”
Rebecca looked down, listening to him.
“I’ve taken every precaution to make sure that you can trust her. She’s not one of them.”
“I know,” she started, looking back up at him. “I knew it today when she helped Spencer.”
He nodded. “You need to go to her. Tell her everything. She can protect you.”
“What about you?” Her voice was so gentle and caring.
He took a step back, breaking free from her grasp. It was hard for him to say this next part. So he stared into the ground. “They’re taking me tonight.”
She took a step back too, looking at him like he’d professed the apocalypse. “What are you talking about?” she asked through a shaking voice.
“I got the machine I showed you a while ago to tune into one of their cell phones. They’re coming at midnight.” The words made him tremble, and he tried to hide it from her. Inside he was very afraid, but being here with her made him feel strong.
“Then you’ll stay here; you can hide in my parents trunk when they drive to the airport next week.”
He could hear in her voice that she was crying. He walked back over and held her. “Rebecca,” he whispered, pulling her in so he could look into her eyes. “You’ve been my light since I entered this darkness. I trust you with everything, and know you’re meant to do great things.” He wiped away her tears. “I love you.” He’d rehearsed saying it to her for the past two days. He hadn’t thought he’d be able to do it, but now it had become the most important thing left to do, and he’d said it.
She pulled him back to her and kissed him. He tasted tears, not sure if they were his or hers. He pulled away, wanting to kiss her forever, to grow old and marry her like he’d dreamed, but he knew he needed to head back.
“I love you too,” she told him right as he turned to go.
He crawled out the window, her words surrounding him like armor. He pulled out his dad’s old cell phone he’d taken apart and rewired, to which he added a couple of microchips and radio antennas. “I’ve rewired one of the bugs they planted. You should be able to hear me, once I’m able to turn my own chip on.” He handed the gadget to her.
She nodded and he prayed to God, whom he hadn’t prayed to in years, that she’d be safe. That somehow Donna would know enough to stop them, and that no one else would discover what he discovered unless they’d have the protection to survive.
* * *
Donna
Donna was dreaming …
She was in the tree fort she and Ryan had built, hiding. She knew soon the sun would rise and she’d be safe for another day. She took a deep breath, counting backwards slowly, watching the lighting creature below search for her with only seconds left.
Then the sun started to pour out light, and the night become dawn, and she saw the creature being sucked into the lake and dissolving into the water. Donna let out a breath she’d forgotten she’d been holding. Finally, she was safe. She climbed down from tree to tree, and jumped onto the ground. She had the energy of a child and felt joy rush through her as she ran through the woods. The fall season had made the leaves turn, and they fell as Donna ran, making the air fill with orange, red, and brown confetti, dancing around her like magic.
She saw him then, Ryan as a child. He was skipping and dancing too. He looked so happy. He ran up to her, and she knelt down so she wasn’t towering over him. He laughed his goofy laugh he used to have and whispered old secrets into her ears. Then he pulled away from her and looked at her eyes, smiling. “If we race,” he teased her, “I’ll win!”
She smiled back. “I won last time,” she told him, remembering the last time they had raced when she was ten.
“That’s because I let you,” he bashfully admitted, his face turning red. He laughed childishly, and ran off, going so fast that after seconds she could barely see him. Seeing him so happy and innocent overwhelmed her, and the leaves danced around wildly. The wind blew her hair behind her and she felt it get caught on something. She looked down at her feet, seeing no shadow nearby but her own.
She turned around, bewildered and confused. Behind her was a very tall, handsome teenager about her age or maybe a little older. He had dark hair and bright blue eyes. His skin was tanner than her own, and he was in the best shape she had ever seen anyone else in. It was as if royalty were in front of her; his skin shone so bright and perfect, and when he opened his mouth slightly, his teeth were whiter than she had ever seen. She felt herself unable to turn away, as if she were looking at the sun, and it had trapped her. He was like a giant warrior angel without wings, and her body was drawn toward him like a magnet.
It was the seventeen-year-old Ryan who stood in front of her. He was in his orange and blue jogging suit listening to his music. After a minute, his expression changed and he took off his headphones and shook them. “That sucks; I thought I just charged these,” he said, tossing them aside.
“I’m sorry.” For some reason she knew it was her fault that his MP3 player had no power.
“I’ll just buy a better one,” he said casually, taking a step closer.
She nodded, staring idiotically a
t his chest and then back to his handsome face. Then at his muscular arms, then back to his face again, like she was examining a fine painting that was so great you could look at it a hundred times and still be unable to appreciate it all. He smiled at her, his gaze intense and strong. Then they both took a step toward one another instinctively. His hands grazed hers lightly, and her heart began to race.
“Remember the first time?” he asked her; at once she seemed to know what he was talking about before the words left his mouth.
“Yes,” she answered him. Her face was lit with her most sensual smile. She felt so alive, like the sun was burning inside her.
He leaned forward then, making her body tremble, and kissed her lightly, his lips playfully touching hers. Then he pulled away, moving toward her right ear, just like his child self had, and whispering, “Never forget. Even if it’s all mixed up, remember,” he spoke slowly, and each word he said grew more faint.
He moved his face back to hers, drawing her in. She looked into his eyes; they were blue like the water that kept saving her. Then they were kissing again, first softly, but as she wanted more he kissed her further and more intensely. She felt his hands slip under the back of her shirt. He touched her skin, then disappeared.
She opened her eyes, feeling nothing on her lips at all. She was standing alone, all her childlike energy gone. A breeze of cold air hit her, and when she looked down she was completely naked except for the running shoes Ryan had bought her, which remained tightly on. More wind came, making her feel very cold and alone.
Then in the distance, surrounded by a dark fog about twelve feet in front of her was her mother. She was young, Donna’s age, like she had been in the graduation picture. Then in front of her mom appeared her brother as a twelve-year-old boy. He was neither looking at Donna nor her mom. He just stood there stunned and motionless like a ghost. The darkness that surrounded them was like a piece of unholy night, which stopped at their feet, clashing with the day. They were very creepy. In fact, Donna felt afraid, and her instincts were telling her to get away from them, as if they weren’t her family at all but something else. Something non-human and evil.