Untitled Chapter 3 (Shadows)

    When the bell rings, signaling the end of the period, I jump out of my seat, say a quick “bye” to Melony who sits across the aisle from me and am the first one out of the classroom. I’ve been waiting to the past five minutes, secretly listening to my iPod, trying desperately to ignore Michael and dying for the bell to ring.
    I walk quickly, or more quickly than usual, back to Mr. Hoffman’s class where Amy and I usually hang out with everybody else at recess and lunch. Soon after I enter, so does Erin and Gabby--they usually take up a little corner of the room and keep to themselves. I don’t find it so weird until Michael walks in and sits with them.
    What the f**k is up with this guy?
    Maybe, I’m being paranoid. Maybe, I’m overanalyzing. Maybe, I’m over thinking. Maybe I’m being crazy. Maybe. But maybe, I’m not.
    Alyssa, who is sitting in the desk next to me, leans in. “Whoa, he’s hot.” She whispers to me.
    “I know.” I say with a small laugh, trying to ignore the strange feeling in my stomach. “He sits next to me in math and biology.”
    “You lucky b***h.” She says with mock jealousy.
    “Ten bucks he’ll be your next crush.” Amy says with no hint of kidding around.    
    “No way!” I deny quickly and scowling.
    I didn’t like the guy, I just thought he was cute. And a little creepy, admittedly.
    And for the rest of the day, things just made me feel a little more crazy and a little more paranoid--even if I have no idea what I’m afraid of or worried about--because for the next two classes, Michael sat next to me in both of them. And when it was lunch, he strolled into Mr. Hoffman’s with Gabby and Erin and talked with them like they’d known each other beyond today. What, was he just another sibling that doesn’t look anything like them?
    Besides, what am I so afraid of? So the guy’s in all my classes. It happens all the time with other people. It’s not like he’s stalking me or something, jeez. Maybe it’s time for me to pay a visit to a therapist.
    It isn’t until after P.E. that I figure out that something is wrong.
    Walking out of the girls’ locker room and through the halls to get out of the school, a dark shadow slides across the ceiling over me and a hundred other students.
    I feel a tight knot of panic in my chest as I try to ignore it. Maybe, it’ll go away.
    I’d only been seeing these shadows for a few years--since ninth grade. The night that guy raped me specifically.
    I’d never been worried about walking by myself at night, always convinced that nothing like that would ever happen to me. And it probably never would have. Except the shadow possessed him.
    It wasn’t obvious to me at first, until the guy was gone and I was on the verge of passing out. After the man had gone, I saw a shadow shoot up into the sky. Two weeks later it was on the news.
    His name was Patrick Samuels. Age forty-three. Loving husband and father of two--a little boy and girl. Found dead in an abandoned building on Twelfth Avenue. It was a cold case. Just like mine.
    I’d waited too long to tell anyone of what had happened so there was no proof that he’d done it.
    But I knew it wasn’t his fault. He never would have. But the shadows did. They wanted to hurt me and I didn’t know how to stop them. All they want to do is hurt people and I’m terrified that they might try something right here, in the middle of the high school, still packed with students.
    My breathing quickens as I stop walking, too petrified to move another inch while I watch the dark mass swirling mere feet above the heads of my schoolmates down the hall. The panic is all to familiar. I experience it every time I see one of them.
    Will it kill someone in plain sight? Will it take over their body and try to kill me? They’ve been threatening everyday for the past two years, but they haven’t acted since that night. I have no idea what they‘ll do. The only thing I knows is that if it decides to attack, then there’s no stopping it.
    But the shadow doesn’t target anyone.
    Just me.
    It slices through the air, straight at me and I gasp. But before it can hit me, a hand yanks me out of the way and into an empty classroom, the door slamming shut behind me.
    “Lia.” A familiar, unforgettable velvety voice says. “Are you alright?”
    I look up at Michael. His worried expression--that’s what scares me, because I’ve come to realize that I’m the only one that can see these shadows. And if he can see them, I can only assume that they’re haunting him too, or he’s not exactly like the rest of the human population.
    “You can see them?” I can only manage to whisper.
    Michael’s head tilts a little and he stares at me for a long time, seeming uncomprehending with a crease in his brow. “You don’t know, do you?” He murmurs at last.
    “Know what?” I demand.
    “We’re running out of time.” He says, taking a step towards me and I take a step back.
    “Stay away from me.” I snap, wishing that my voice wasn’t shaking so badly as I yank the door open and push my way through the horde of students still trying to exit, earning a lot of complaints and swear words.
    I bang into Erin in my hurry. And feel my stomach sink.
    “Watch it!” She exclaims, turning around to glare at me.
    “Lia, honey.” Gabby says, a maternal look of concern on her face. “What’s wrong?” She reaches out to me.
    But I jerk away, knowing fully well that whatever is wrong with Michael, whatever he is or whatever he knows, they’re in on it too.
    “Don’t come near me.” I say, backing away from them and then practically running to my black Volkswagen Bug. I thank God that Josh is already there, leaning against the passenger door. “Get in the car." I order.
    “Whoa, Lia, what’s wrong?” Josh says stupidly, opening the passenger door and peering at me as I scrabble to get the key in the ignition.
    “Get in the car, Josh.” I say more forcefully, waiting with my hands gripping the steering wheel.
    “Wait, Lia--”
    “Josh, get in the car!” I almost yell at him, and looking stunned and confused, he complies.
    Peeling out of the parking stall, my eyes search the spots around me and I see Gabby and Erin both talking to Michael, but he isn’t listening. His eyes are on me.
    I feel better once we’re on the road.