It was quiet as I walked into the hall, the lights above were dim like every morning.
The corridor was long and at the end where the cafeteria was located, just around the corner was the lady’s restroom. I was thinking about John. And then, about Joseph. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy. He is something else, I thought, funny and, well, maybe a little misunderstood. I could see that.
John liked him, maybe I could learn to like him, too. He had after all turned into a different person when he offered to help me out regarding the man who had claimed to be my uncle. I wonder what brought that on? John, I thought. John didn’t think Joseph was such a bad guy, maybe I had him figured wrong.
It was heart warming how Joseph and John had stood in front of me, blocking the stranger. They were so protective, especially Joseph, whom I would have never expected to do that. But it was the stranger who took the forefront of my thoughts, the stranger who claimed to be my uncle. Is he one of those secrets my grandfather took with him to the grave?
I came around the corner. Above Joseph’s voice began to speak through the school intercom, it echoed, along with quite of static making his words not so clear at some point. But what I could make out, made him sound so professional. If I didn’t know him, I would have thought he was a strict disciplinarian.
I went into the bathroom. After finishing my business and washing my hands, I came out. Someone whispered, and I turned, noticing a face poking out of the cafeteria through the side door. It was Alex.
She ducked when she caught me looking. Then, she came back out and waved me over. Looking about I immediately raced to the cafeteria side entrance. She grabbed me and pulled me in. I nearly fell against her, and just about to scream when Alex put her hand over my mouth. I pulled away.
“What are you doing?” I asked, scared out of my wits, but relieved it was only her.
“Hiding,” she simply said.
Obviously, I thought, feeling slightly guilty when I realized I already knew why. Or do I?
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said.
A little confused, I tilted my head. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
She didn’t answer.
“Where have you been? You’ve missed two days,” I said, wondering if what I had said had gotten her into so much trouble.
Perhaps, she had been suspended, and that’s why she wasn’t in class. Maybe that’s why she was hiding. Still upset she had ditched me the day of the party, memories of that thing disguised to look like her, continued to haunt me.
“I’ve been busy,” she said.
“Busy? Do you want to get in trouble?”
“Have you seen Mr. Claypool?” she interrupted.
“No, I suppose he’s in his office along with Mr. Vasquez,” I answered, surprised by her unusual behavior. She was looking around, slightly anxious and distracted.
“Is that Dr. Müller on the intercom right now?” Alex asked. “What’s that about?”
“Didn’t you see the sinkhole outside?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She laughed. “I think we have to talk.”
“What happened to you the day of the party?” I asked.
She pressed her lips inward and look like she was contemplating what to say. “We need to talk about that, too,” she immediately said in a whisper.
I froze. I wasn’t sure what I could tell her or what she would tell me. Does she know? Why does it feel like she does?
There was a long pause. Above Dr. Müller’s voice continued its lengthily speech about school closure. Alex moved to the other end of the cafeteria and poked her head out of the entrance. I followed behind her as she stepped into the hall. Even when she ducked into the nearest stairwell, I continued to follow her. She leaned against the stairwell rail, as I came to stand in the open hallway.
“What are you doing?” I asked, watching as she looked around.
“I think they’re looking for me,” she said.
“Alex,” I said. Something between us was unraveling and I hadn’t noticed or felt it before. “There was a man. A person pretending to be you.” It felt like I wasn’t making any sense. I expected her to ask what man but when she didn’t, I continued, puzzled that she hadn’t.
Her expression hadn’t changed. It didn’t ask the obvious. Instead, it said she knew something. And that frightened me.
“That day you came to pick me up for the party, it was you but—um—then it wasn’t …” I tried to make sense of it even now hearing myself speaking about it made no sense to me. And I expected it not to make sense to her. “Who was that … in the parking lot? How?” I mumbled the rest. Her eyes stared back blankly. And I knew she knew something. She took her time answering, if she was going to lie. It wouldn’t surprise me.
Instead, she said, “I need to talk to you, but not here.”
“It’s my fault, isn’t it? It’s my fault he’s here?” I asked, ready for the expression on her face to turn into one of betrayal.
“No, it’s not your fault. It’s mine,” she confessed.
“What? Alex, what’s going on? Who was that?”
“You’ve seen him before, maybe not him, but someone that bears the same uniform, the leather, the patch?”
I froze, she knew. She knew far more than I ever imagined, and she hadn’t said anything.
“Why are you only now telling me this?” I demanded.
“Because you’re in danger. You have to believe me when I tell you this. I know what happened out there. I know who made that hole out in the parking lot,” she admitted. I’m sorry I never told you the truth, but I needed Quinn to draw him out. I needed his help. It was the only way I could stop him.”
I gazed at her, perplexed. It was like I was just noticing her. Quinn? Who is Quinn?
“He’s here, and he wants you. He won’t stop, just like Quinn won’t stop until he gets me.”
“How?” I asked. “Why?”
“I know because he knows,” she stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world, which startled me. How? Haven’t I always said the same thing about Quentin? I knew because he knew. “And the why … well, that’s far more complicated to say right now.”
My nose wrinkled. She needed to give me an explanation. I wanted one. No, I deserved one.
“Remember what you said about your abilities, about what you can do?” she asked me.
I slowly nodded, not sure I wanted to hear her anymore. In fact, not sure why she was even mentioning this.
“I know because Quinn knows. I know of him,” she whispered, and when she said that I knew whom she meant. That’s when his name left my mind. She whispered, “Quentin.”
“Claudia, I’m just like you … maybe not just like you, but I’m a Mind Sifter … or what others called Mindbenders. You might have already heard the term, from ….” she went quiet. “Your power lead me here. And if it led me here, it can also lead them. And it will lead others.”
“Them? Others?” I muttered. The way she said the words was frightening enough but I wasn’t sure what she was referring to. I had never told her anything about Quentin.
You didn’t have to, she answered my thoughts.
Her voice startled me inside my head, made me stumbled away like she was some kind of monster that had come alive from out of the dim, shadowy stairwell. Monster, serious? A voice said again in my head. I blinked back, the gap in my mouth widened. I was scared even though I had done it myself many times.
“How?” I stupidly uttered.
“You know how,” Alex said scornfully. “You’ve seen it.”
I nodded, feeling apologetic. “The shadow man?”
“I wanted to show you something before. But now, we’ve run out of time. At least, I have. There’s something I must give you before it’s too late.”
“What are you talking about, Alex? Give me what?”
“Claudia, listen to me. This is important. He’s here, and he’s coming for you. No matter what, no one can stop him. Once he’s set his eyes on you, he’ll want nothing else. He’ll take you. You can’t trust him, even if you think you can.”
Alex looked down at her wrist. The charm on her bracelet was glowing a bright red. She leaped from out of the stairwell and into the hallway to stand alongside me. She looked down the hall and then slowly backed away.
“Listen, something bad is going to happen, and I need to give you something before it’s too late.” She grabbed at the bracelet and then looked around desperately. It was the same bracelet I had seen before on her wrist; it was simple and about the only thing worth a glance was the cylinder jagged white crystal attached to it. It seemed like she was trying to decide what to do.
“Alex? Tell me how to stop him … tell me how to—”
“Claudia, stay with the hunter,” she said. I blinked at her. “Stay close to him until I can get to you.”
How does she know about John?
With a smile she tapped a finger on her head. And I knew what she meant. When she looked down the hall again, she backed away. I followed her line of site spotting them approaching. Alex’s fingers curled around the crystal on the bracelet, as her eyes fixated upon the group approaching, then over to the exit.
“The proxies,” Alex whispered.
She pulled at the bracelet, and then, gave up. I thought she would give it to me but then she didn’t. She looked to be battling with the decision to do so.
“Alex, what’s wrong?”
“I can’t explain now. I must go. But you must trust what I say. I must give you something. It’s very important.” She backed away towards the door.
“Alex!” I called over to her. “Please wait don’t leave. Can’t we talk? What’s wrong?” She was never afraid of them before, so I didn’t why was she running off?
“It’s a long story, but you must trust me. I’ll find you again when the time is right. I must go. Please, take care. I’ll see you soon.” She smiled before she hastily ran away.
As the three neared, Alex rushed out the side entrance before I could say anything else. Then she was gone and three proxies, Sean, Tina, and Ruben, were standing but a few inches from me. They startled me as I turned. Joseph’s voice had stopped and now it was quiet, and I wanted to hurry away and find John.
“What did she want?” Tina rudely asked. She had an odd grin on her face.
“That’s none of your business,” I said. Their eyes beamed right at me, which made me change my tone. “I’m not sure,” I said as they looked strangely back.
“You’re so lucky.” Tina said.
“Yes, so lucky,” Ruben whispered.
“You’ve been chosen by him. He wants you, and he’ll give everything to possess you,” Sean said. “Come to him, my pet.”
“Yes, come to him,” they all repeated creepily.
They were in a strange trance, like devoted cult members.
“How do you know about him?” I asked them.
“You know how. The same way you know what he knows,” Tina answered. “We serve him,” Tina confessed. “Praise him.”
“Yes, praise him,” they said in unison. “He awaits you,” they again said. Their voices were all in sync.
“Awaits me where?” I asked
“You’ll soon see, soon enough,” the three answered with grins.
They all laughed, but I didn’t understand the joke.
“Be patient, my pet,” Sean said. “You will know soon enough.”
They walked around me and out the exit, leaving me alone as the bell rang. The hallway flooded with students.
I got lost in the crowd, hurrying in the other direction as everyone else was trying to escape out the doors. It took me a moment to finally make it to the stairwell and as I hurried up the steps.
John, I thought, I must get to John.
I made my way up to the second floor to Michael’s office. Strange Joseph had let school out early, I had thought he had decided on not doing so.
As I neared Michael’s office, I could hear voices, it was John and Michael. The tug at John’s being close awakened, reconnecting like a lost electrical line that had come severed. Our current became one as I came closer. It was faint, but there, pulling me toward him like a spider caught in the thread of its web.
They were in a deep conversation, and as I stepped up to the entrance of the office and looked in, I heard Michael say, “She has to know him.