Chapter One

 Nearly two hours later than Jessica intended she catches sight of Callaway's only high school, a sad brick building glaringly out of place among the surrounding wood homes. She suppresses her initial grimace, fresh awareness shattering her nerves. Longing churns deep in her stomach. 

            Jessica tightens her grip on the steering wheel. Reminding herself how useless crying has become, she banishes the tears threatening to consume her. Nebraska is her home now. End of story. 

            Unable to contain her bitterness, Jessica directs her glare on the offending campus. This school resembles nothing of her last one, where the metal canopies gleamed and posies grew beside the walkways. The Lions' chose to show their pride in the layers of dust clinging to weathered brick and in the outdated air conditioners that leak condensation into puddles of sludge. Half corroded white lettering reads Callaway Public School. 

            Jessica sighs, then eases her foot off the brake. A quick scan discovers every one of the limited parking places occupied. Still, she circles the block twice before idling indecisively near a bare lot tucked alongside a green house. One SUV sits parked in the far corner. A 'Support the Lions' sticker is peeling from the back window, the black mane of the beast now faded to a dull gray. 

            Drumming her French tipped nails against the middle console, Jessica checks her mirrors and pulls through the opening between the molding rope divider. Gravel crunches beneath the tires. Her breath snags on the flood of memories glistening in her eyes. 

            Wide expanses of fields are replaced with uncharted woods, ivy clinging to trees, to walls of decrepit barns, overtaking telephone poles on the way into town. Jessica tastes the humidity pressing in on her - heady and oddly sweet with each breath. The cicadas' droning buzz swells as they welcomes the waning day. 

            Though Jessica had spent countless hours miles from the ranch house, she never once felt the nauseating crawl down her spine that warned of someone unseen. Georgia had been familiar, comfortable. 

            Nebraska epitomes Hell. From the moment Jessica sobbed her goodbyes to the only life she had ever known, she resented her dad's choice to leave. He could not stay where Elise and he had built their lives together. Jessica knew that even before her mother's death was final.

            But she also knows her mother would have despised abandoning their home, especially if Jessica told her about the nightmares. About the fear of being alone, of the panic that tore at her composure whenever she found herself trapped by the dark as she had been this morning when her dad left for work without warning. 

            A shameful blush creeps across Jessica's cheeks. Never again would she allow her irrational fears to control her. 

            Jessica parks the car, tosses her keys into the bottom of her purse and snatches a bright pink plastic folder from the passenger seat. She hurriedly shuffles though the papers inside, her hands trembling with a sudden nervousness. 

            The school map draws her attention. She squints as her eyes strain to adjust. Lines and numbers blur together forming the ragged contours of a face, haunted with sunken cheeks, lips parted on an agonized scream that resonates through her skull. 

            Shrill and sharp, the sound shifts with the face. Shrieks dissolve into cackles and the desperation that had defined the face collapses to a leer. Jessica watches with numb consternation. Cracked lips shape words she cannot understand.

            Jessica forces vain gasps for breath, but a suffocating weight restricts each rise of her chest. Specks of light flit in and out of her vision as she clutches her throat with a splayed hand, grasping frantically at her chest with the other. Silent tears stream from her bulging eyes and dribble over blue lips into her gaping mouth. She coughs and sputters, powerless to tear her gaze from the face tormenting her. 

            'It's doing this to me! Killing me - suffocating!' Her thoughts are fuzzy, but possess a terrifying truth. The face is killing her, taking pleasure from this moment. She can hear it laughs, mocking her. Soon she will be dead, never again afraid of the dark. Her fears had found her, trapped her, and now she must suffer death. 

            Her thrashing subsides. She sags against the door, her head drooping drunkenly. Contrasting the ice, fire licks through her body, burning from lack of oxygen. She gurgles by way of a scream and her eyes cross. Convulsions ripple her starved muscles. Before heavy lids drift shut, she glimpses the last of the face taunting her as it twists back to a map. 

            Heavy rapping against the window loosens the bitter clutch of death. Jessica gasps and springs forward, both hands flying to cup her neck. Fire continues to burn in her chest, but she gulps precious cool air to soothe the flames. She wipes at the sweat beading on her forehead, then looks up hesitantly. 

            A guy about Jessica's age leans on the side of the car, hands braced against the metal frame. His dark eyes are narrowed with concern. 

            "Are you okay?" His silken voice slips around her, settling her. The desperation wanes and she smiles, all memory of the ordeal suddenly lost.

            "Yeah." She starts, confusion clouding her mind. Why was her throat so raw? Swallowing, Jessica gathers her purse and the folder, then steps from the car. "Why wouldn't I be fine?" She laughs.

            Her light eyes travel the length of his tall frame; they linger appreciatively on his face. She tilts her head, something insistent nudging her subconscious, but Jessica pushes the thought away. She would have remembered him. The raven hair, penetrating eyes, and strong hands. She definitely would have remembered him. 

            While she had been studying him, he had been watching her, taking in silvery blond waves and slim hips. When she meets his eyes, a smile curves his lips. 

            "You seemed distressed. I must have imagined it." He dips his head as if embarrassed, but his startling eyes flash. 

            "It's okay." Jessica hurries to assure him. She lays her hand on his arm, then lifts the folder slightly. "Actually, I need to get to the office. Do you think you could point me in the right direction?" She bites her lip and glances up from beneath her lashes. A cold breeze nips her nose, her ears, her cheeks turning them bright red. He takes the folder from her grasp, skimming over her schedule. 

            "Of course." He murmurs without looking up.  "Are you new here?" 

            Jessica nods. "Yeah, my dad moved us here last week." The malice in her voice is caustic.

            "Your dad chose to move against your will? That doesn't seem fair." He leads her past the blue metal front doors and up to the front desk. The woman pays them little attention, gesturing to the laminated passes stacked neatly beside a sign in sheet. He snatches two and tucks them deep in his back pocket before turning toward her for an answer. 

            The shortest tips of her Jessica's hair brush across cashmere as she shakes her head. "It's not. I begged him to let me stay with my grandmother, but he... he wouldn't listen." Hurt echoes through the deserted halls. 

            His slanted gaze slides over her, lingering on her taunt, wearied expression. Jessica avoids his curious glances by sullenly tracing a latticework of webbing cast onto dingy tiles by flickering fluorescent bulbs. 

            "Must be terrible." He muses. Her bottom lip wobbles and she traps it between her teeth. "To have no one to listen."

            Tears scald her throat. She blinks furiously, but evidence of her turmoil glistens, a wet sheen against her cheeks. Gentle fingers catch the tears as they fall. 

            The weight of his hand rests heavy on her hip as he draws Jessica against his side. For the briefest moment she relaxes and allows someone else's strength to bear her burdens. Her mind stalls; she forgets her dad's resentment, she forgets her mother's gruesome death, she forgets she should be headed to class. For a second her thoughts are gloriously blank. 

            Then her nightmares seize their chance. From every direction they swipe at her, talons outstretched and bloodied with another's life. She screams and struggles to jerk herself from his grasp, but his grip tightens.

            “What’s the matter?” He questions, the moment lost; dark eyes dart in every direction. Finding nothing, he glances down, confusion clear from the wrinkle between his brows.

            “You don’t see them?” Anxiety blurs her vision. She whimpers, flinching from reach of their touch. “They’re everywhere! Please, please make them go away!”

            Heavy sobs distort her pleas. The corners of his mouth turn down.

“I don’t see anything.” He insists, pulling her along after him. Jessica digs her heels into the tile, but they cannot gain purchase on the slick floors.

We’re your nightmare, the shadows croon in silken tones that send shivers down her spine. She gags. No one but you can see us.

One long claw slices down her arm. A long clean tear appears along the sleeve of her sweater, a thin line of blood welling beneath the fabric. Every ounce of color drains from Jessica’s cheeks, leaving her cold, dizzy, and nauseated.

See you soon. The promise follows them through the hall, around the corner, only fading when Jessica and her guide stop before a brightly lit classroom.

“Here’s you’re class.” He tells her loudly, enunciating each syllable. A small sigh escapes him. “I hope you feel better. Nice meeting you.” His arm drops from her waist. “See you around.”

            Jessica sags against the lockers and tries to calm her heart, ease her breathing. Could she really have seen all she had? Had she been hallucinating? Deciding she already had more than enough on her mind, she shakes her head to clear her thoughts, and knocks quietly on the door.

            No answer. Perplexed, she rises on her tip toes to peer through the port hole near the top of the door.

            The entire class stands stiff against the walls. A tall man with thinning hair, who Jessica assumes is the teacher, squats beside a girl collapsed on the floor. Another girl waits, nearer to her than the other, tears glistening in her eyes.

            Unsure what she should do, Jessica tests the doorknob, which turns easily in her grasp. Maybe if she knew what was wrong with the girl, she could help. Flashes of her mother prattling away about her job and the different types of illnesses she had seen at work prompt her to step into the cold room. An entire classroom of  faces turns toward her, blank with surprise.

One expression stands apart from the rest; the girl on the floors eyes snap to hers, suddenly focused and bright with fear. Jessica stumbles back; the chalkboard edge digs deep into her hip.

            “I’m fine.” The girl on the floor grunts. Her voice is gruff from pain, and she winces as she slowly gets her legs beneath her to stand, but she smiles weakly at the teacher. “Do you mind if I go the nurse? I don’t feel well.”

            Her friend scoffs, pulling anxiously on a blond lock of her hair and the teacher nods. “I’d say. What happened to you?”

            The girl was already through the door. She ignores them all as she brushes past Jessica, careful to avoid contact. “Headache.” She mumbles, then she’s out of sight, leaving Jessica unsettled as she stares after her.

             

 

Author's Note

Took me long enough to post, but I strive for perfection. I'm not completely satisfied with the ending, so I might be editing that part once I sit on it for a while. Thanks for reading, and I hope to post more soon. Leave your thoughts.

Reviews

[-]

Great descriptive language. Again, like your other story midnight blaze, the character is relatable. The concept is original, and for me that is the biggest upside.
Thanks,
Josh.

[Christoph]

I have no idea where this will go, but you did a great job of not only developing interest in a character, but a world. So, you can bet I'll be back for more.

[Skye]

Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it :)

[The Invisible Girl]

This is very interesting. Can't wait to see where this leads. :)

[Skye]

I'm glad you liked it :) Thanks for reviewing!

[The Invisible Girl]

Of course!!! :) cant wait to read the next chapter! :)

[Skye]

I hope to have it up soon, though for me, soon might be a while.