All Things Monica

 Prologue

             The wind whistled in the trees. A doe lifted her head as if she knew something was coming, but she couldn’t see anything. Her baby peacefully grazed at her side in the secluded glen. She licked the top of his head in affection; the squirrels in the tree above them paused in their frantic gathering. All of them sat up and jerked their heads this way and that sniffing cautiously. Nearby, some rabbits scurried into their holes, wary of any activity that may come their way. Even the trees were whispering with their leaves in the still air. Something was happening, but it wasn’t something to be seen or touched. As soon as it had come, it had moved on to another destination. The doe went back to her own grazing, the squirrels went back to gathering nuts, the rabbits went back to foraging, and the leaves became still again. Whatever had piqued their curiosity was gone now.

            This place had always been special. The Native Americans from the area had always considered it one of their sacred sites. No one knew that it had been chosen for an eternally significant purpose long before any person had even been on this continent. Bryce, Virginia touched anyone who lived there or visited it, and many people came to visit. It was astounding how the rust colored rock seemed to glow at sunrise and sunset. The colors were so vivid, and some of the formations were eerily close to actual objects. There was one that looked just like a bald eagle, one that looked like the face of a person, and others. It seemed to be spiritually charged. There was even a church that had been built into the rock itself. Whether it was the Native Americans, the Christians, the New Agers, the Catholics or the fringe, everyone felt something deep when they were there. That year, there was supposed to be an eclipse, so there were even more tourists than usual. Five young families had chosen this for their family vacation, and their children would be changed forever.

None of them knew that the others were there. None of them knew how much this initial experience would affect their lives. How could they? They didn’t even know that they were all there or that anything had even happened to them. One of them hadn’t even been born yet. Nevertheless, they were all in this particular place within that particular timeframe.

Why? What brought them all together? That may or may not be part of their story. What’s important is that the seven children from these families would be joined forever. How were they chosen? Why were they chosen?            

Chapter 1

 Chloe stretched her arm out to hit the snooze button. She lay in the sunlight for a moment and listened to the normal morning sounds around her: Dad asking Mom if she had moved his briefcase, Brandi barking to be let out, the birds everything. She stretched again and started to climb out of bed. She wasn’t an obnoxious morning person, but she did enjoy the way everything was new. It was a built in “restart” button for life. No matter what mistakes you’d made the day before, each new day was a chance to start over.

Something was different about today. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something unusual… in the air maybe? No, that wasn’t it. She looked at herself in the mirror over her dresser. Was there something different about her? She couldn’t see anything unusual. Maybe it was just a feeling left over from a weird dream or something. She shook her head to rid herself of the weird feeling.

She still had that sleepy look in her eyes, and her hair was definitely of the bed variety, but she liked most of what she saw. She knew tons of girls at school who always agonized over what they didn’t like about themselves. Chloe thought it was a waste of time to dwell on things you couldn’t change.  Of course, she had to remind herself that the other girls in her class were 2 years older than she was. She’d skipped two grades, so they were in a stage she hadn’t reached yet. Maybe in two years she would be the same way. It wasn’t likely, though. Her mom was one of those life coaches like you see on TV who tries to get people to see the best things about themselves and helps them achieve their goals. Consequently, she’d been given nothing but positive feedback about her appearance and her abilities. You’d think that would have made her conceited, but it just gave her a confidence (at least for the first 13 years of her life) that her peers didn’t seem to have.

            She walked over to her closet to pick out something to wear. She was neither a slob nor a fashion plate, but her mom always shopped with her, so at least the clothes she had suited her well. She liked to be casual, but she also wanted to feel good about how she presented herself. She pulled a long-sleeve red shirt out that she liked. She often got shirts on family vacations. This one had been special though; she’d gotten to take her best friend Summer with them. Being an only child can make vacations boring sometimes, so having someone else her age there was always great. They had even gotten to go off and do some things on their own. Her family had a cottage on a pretty small island, so there wasn’t really any danger, but it had made them both feel like they were on some great adventure. They’d walked to the local store to buy candy, down to a different beach than the one in front of their cottage, etc. They’d felt very grown up.

Her parents were the type who liked to plan fun (but educational) outings all the time. On this vacation, they had gone to a nearby island to visit a sailing museum. That particular day had been a little chillier than they had anticipated, so her dad bought them each a long sleeved shirt in the museum’s gift shop. Chloe had chosen a red one with shells on it, and Summer had gotten the same design but in teal. They’d even pretended to be sisters.

Chloe smiled at the memory of them trying to find the perfect shirt while her parents kept urging them to hurry. She threw the shirt on her bed and went back to the dresser for jeans and underclothes. Her mother knocked on her door.

“Sweetie, don’t forget that you’re going to Summer’s after school today. I’ve got that meeting with a potential client.”

“Don’t worry, I know. We’ll just pop by to let Brandi out then we’ll be over there till Dad gets home.”

“How did you sleep?”

“Do you mean did I have any of those dreams again? Nothing last night, so I slept pretty well.”

“That’s good. You need good rest before a test–“

“I know, ‘A good rest makes a good mind.’ If I’m the one tutoring the others, I think I’ll be ok, Mom.”

“Ok, ok. Hey, how about going out to eat tonight?”

“Sure. Where?”

“I don’t know, how about Ramona’s?” She said it as if she had just thought of it, but Chloe new that she had ideas about Chloe and the owner’s stepson, Seth. He was a nice enough guy; she just wasn’t at that place yet. She knew Anna was just trying to help her to fit in with her classmates. It didn’t really bother her that much so she only rolled her eyes in her mind.

“Ok. Sounds good to me.”

“Breakfast is waiting downstairs.”

“Thanks.”

Anna backed out, and Chloe could hear her walking down the stairs.

 “Why is your mom so into you & Seth?” They’d only walked a few minutes before Chloe told Summer about their evening plans.

“Well, she knows his step-mom, he’s a nice guy, and she’s worried about me fitting in. Seth is a little popular, so she thinks if I’m with him, I will be, too. You know all the other girls are a little boy crazy now.”

“Yeah, but that’s ‘cause they’re 15. You’re not 15, or did she forget?”

Chloe had to giggle a little, but she said, “No, she just wants me to ‘live to my potential’. To her, that means having friends and a boyfriend. I’m just not there yet.”

Summer rolled her eyes, but with a twinkle. They both knew Chloe’s mom loved her; Anna just wanted more than was totally fitting for a 13 year old. Her dad was much more levelheaded, like every other accountant on earth. He just let things be and tried to remind Anna that Chloe was only 13 no matter how smart she is.

“Will you warn Seth again?” Chloe and Seth knew each other from school and because Anna and Ramona were friends. Whenever the two women tried to push, one would warn the other that it was coming. Neither of them liked surprise attacks.

“Yeah. We just know we gotta give each other a heads up about these little plans they make.”

“When will you see him?”

“Spanish class.” The conversation paused as they waited to cross the street. Chloe’s strange feeling hadn’t diminished at all since waking up. She knew she could tell Summer anything, but she didn’t even know what was going on or how to tell her. “I feel weird today.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, maybe it’s left over from a dream or something, but today just seems different, and I can’t even describe how.” She held her breath for Summer’s reaction. Even a best friend can think you’ve lost it.

“Different how?” To her credit, her tone didn’t sound like she thought Chloe was crazy at all.

“I don’t know how to put it in words. It’s like … well, you know in West Side Story when Tony sings about something coming?”

“Of course!” Summer wanted to go into musical theater, so she knew every musical ever made, most by heart.

“I almost feel like that, but more. That’s as close as I can get.”

“Wow. Maybe it’s time for you and Seth to finally declare your love.”

“Ha, ha. Very funny. Like I said, it’s probably nothing.” They didn’t really say anything else about it. What was there to say?

“Hey, there’s Jenna. I gotta head off with the rest of the middle school thick heads. We can talk more about it after school if you want.”

“Ok, see ya.” She watched as the two joined up and waved at Jenna. Jenna was into music, too, and hung out with the girls a lot.

Chloe kept walking alone to the high school. She liked being with the older kids well enough. Since she’d been with them for a couple years now, the novelty was over. They just accepted that she was part of the class. What she really liked were the classes. She was challenged and that’s how she wanted it. She remembered being bored in school before she skipped. She spent every day looking out the window, doodling, writing stories, and anything else she could think of to keep her busy. The work they gave her just wasn’t hard for her, so she finished before everyone else. What else was she supposed to do? Now she was learning things that she had to pay attention to. They weren’t overly difficult for her, but they took more concentration.

The only drawback was that sometimes people forgot she was only 13. They expected her be like the others in every way, but she wasn’t. Like the boy thing. Then there was wearing make-up, which she couldn’t do till she was 16, same with dating. She didn’t mind, it just meant there were even less things for her to relate to the girls in her classes. Oh well, I’ll just have to be patient.

As she approached the high school, she saw Seth and his friends walking up the steps. “Seth!” He stopped to look back and then waited for her to walk up.

“Hi, Chlo, what’s up”

“I just wanted to let you know that Mom’s planning to come to the restaurant tonight.”

“She never gives up, does she?” he said with a smirk.

“Well, that would send a bad message to her clients. You might want to avoid the place all together.”

“We’ll see. Worst case, I’m there and we have to chat to make them happy. No worries.”

“See ya.”

“Bye”

 “Bruno, get up!” Devon always had to yell to wake up her brother. He was one of those super deep sleepers, and he was definitely not a morning person. He didn’t care that much about going to school either, so he had even less of a reason to wake up. She had always been the one to push him where school was concerned. She knew that knowledge was power, and that education was the only way to get that knowledge. Even if Bruno fought, she wanted him to have an education. Their mother, Lily, wasn’t around enough to push him, so she’d taken it upon herself to make sure he did well in school. It wasn’t that Lily didn’t care, but she was a single mother of three kids; she had to work a lot. Of course, now that Vic was working, that took some of the pressure off of her. Still, Bruno only had one year of school left, and he was a little rebellious. They were all working to make sure he graduated. He wasn’t a troublemaker or anything. He just didn’t like recognizing anyone else’s authority over his life or thoughts. Devon could understand that, but she also knew that there was a time and place to fight authority. Bruno hadn’t learned that part yet, so he tried to fight it all and all the time.

He groaned and rolled over. “I said get up! I’m not spending the whole morning trying to get you ready for school. You’re old enough to take some responsibility for yourself.”

“Then stop buggin’ me.” He was really grumpy in the morning, and when he was grumpy, he was snide.

“Ok, I’ll just let Vic wake you when he gets home.” Only their oldest brother could get him moving. Victor had really been his only father figure since their dad left just after Bruno was born 16 years ago. Bruno always wanted Victor’s approval. He also knew that Victor was a stickler for doing the right thing, which included going to school and always doing your best.

“Ok, ok, I’m getting up. Don’t blow a blood vessel.”

Devon smirked and went back to her room. Her first class didn’t start till 11, so she had time to get some more reading in. It was hard being in school while Vic and mom were working, but they had both insisted that she go. Victor had told her that he wasn’t the college type, which she knew wasn’t true. Of course, she knew he liked to work with his hands more than his head, and he knew she wanted to go to law school. He wouldn’t take any other answer. Lily had agreed. They helped her by letting her stay there and not charging anything. She’d gotten enough grants and scholarships that the loans weren’t too bad. At least she wouldn’t be paying for the rest of her life. She had just started this year, so she was in mostly core classes.

Right now she was reading the book for her Intro to Psych class. It was really interesting. She was thinking of minoring in psych. If she understood a little more about people and how they think, that would only help her be a better lawyer. She thought with a smile that maybe she could offer to study with Mark. She didn’t need the help, and she wasn’t sure he did either, but she wanted a reason to spend some more time with him. She’d been trying to flirt with him for a while now, but it wasn’t one of her strong suits. He was in her year, but he was a transfer student, so she hadn’t met him till this semester. He had sat next to her on the first day of class. Well, a seat away, like everyone usually does. He’d asked her if her bright pink hair was a statement or just her taste. He hadn’t said it with judgment; he just really seemed to be interested in her reason.

She said, “It’s really a little of both.”

“How so?”

“Well, it’s a color that most wouldn’t pick, so it says that I do what I want, not what others tell me to do. I could have chosen any bright color, but I chose pink because it’s generally positive color, and I’m generally a positive person.”

“Interesting.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her hackles started to rise. It started to feel like he was looking for the right box to put her in. She hated that. Why did everyone feel the need to put her in certain category? Why couldn’t she just be Devon Carloni?

“Whoa, I’m just saying that’s an interesting combination of thoughts. That’s all”

“Sorry if I don’t just lay down and let a total stranger defines me based on one physical characteristic.”

“I swear I’m not trying to define you. It was just my badly executed version of small talk.” He said it with a sheepish grin that showed off his perfect teeth (Devon had a thing about teeth).

After that, they had at least become class friends. Devon found herself hoping for more as she got to know him better. They had studied together for a couple quizzes and she found out that he was really a nice guy; even a little old-fashioned in some ways. Not that he had an issue with how she dressed or her hair. He was kind of chivalrous. He opened the door for her; let her walk into the row first. Things like that. She didn’t think that would affect her. Usually, she was attracted to guys that looked and thought similar to her. They were fine, but if none of them wanted to be put in any kind of role, they never did anything for each other. It was a little silly really.

Mark was different, and not in the way that some of her friends tried a little too hard to be different. He just did it by being himself. As they got to know each other a little more, they found out that they had quite a bit in common. Well, his parents were divorced, so while he did see his dad, it wasn’t every day. The biggest difference seemed to be that his dad still wanted to see him and his sister. They both liked psychology, but he was actually majoring in it. Neither of them liked to be labeled, but they went about it in very different ways. They had similar political leanings, and some similarities in their taste in music.

Devon found herself daydreaming about his clear, green eyes again. She had to shake her head to get back to studying. She heard Bruno stumbling to the bathroom they all shared. Honestly, if she hadn’t had to make sure he was awake, she’d probably still be asleep, too. She didn’t like mornings either, but with Victor still at work and mom having to leave early for her paralegal job, she was the only adult left in the house. Bruno was basically a good kid; he just wanted to test his limits from time to time. She smiled as she heard him groan his way down the hall.

“Do you want me to make you something for breakfast?” She heard him grunt what she took to be “no.” He usually just grabbed a pop tart on the way out the door. She looked down at the book and started to read about sleep patterns again.

Devon heard Victor’s door open sometime later.

“Hey, Sissy, did Bruno give you any trouble?” Victor knew Devon could handle him, but if he’d been disrespectful to her, he’d have to have a word with him. He’d gotten a little tough to be around recently; he was probably just feeling his way around being a man. Maybe he should spend some more time with him, and talk him through some of it. Disrespect was no way to be a man. He might not have learned much from Vincent, but he definitely learned how not to be a man.

“Nah, I just had to drop your name for him to finally get up.”

“Still, he needs to start taking some responsibility around here if he wants us to treat him like an adult.”

“Well, don’t jump all over him. It’s like he’s always ready to attack. I don’t want the two of you to start fighting. That’s the last thing mom needs, you know?” Vic could sound like he was aggressive when he was just being straightforward. They all knew how to read him, but Bruno seemed to be on edge all the time and who knew how that could turn out?

“Don’t worry; I’m very aware of what she doesn’t need.” Victor had always felt responsible for helping his mother. When their dad left, he was only seven, but even then he had a strong sense of right and wrong. He saw himself as the man of the house, and made sure that he helped Lily take care of things, which included his siblings. That only became more pronounced as they all got older. Ever since he was old enough to work, he’d done so and contributed money to the household. Now that he was 23, he could work quite a bit. As he thought about Devon studying for her classes he was reminded of how things might have been if he’d gone to college. But just like every other time, he brushed the thought away. Things would have turned out just the same. He wasn’t made for college. He would have done well, but he wouldn’t have been happy. He liked his job as a security guard, and he made good money (he was also using the money to save for the Police Academy). He could help Devon pay her tuition, and would be able to help Bruno, too. He was very proud that he was able to give that to them. He wanted a lot for them, but mostly he wanted them to be happy. If Bruno decided he didn’t want to go to college and it was for a good reason, then Victor would support him. A “good reason” did not mean he wanted to be lazy, though. That’s something Vic would never let them get away with.

He walked back downstairs and scowled at a picture of their father. Vincent had been truly lazy. That’s why he left. Vic wouldn’t let Devon or Bruno be anything like that. Vincent had been selfish, manipulative, and irresponsible. None of them had really forgiven him for how he’d left them, least of all Victor. Vic supposed he’d been overwhelmed at the idea of caring for a third child, but that’s no reason to give up. He’d been a coward. He’d had a young family that needed him and he’d taken off. Victor had more memories of him than the others did, and while he was angry at Vincent’s choice, he also knew that they were probably better off without him.

The earliest happy memory that Vic had was after his dad had already left them. Lily had taken them to visit a friend of hers. Actually, Bruno wasn’t there. The idea of taking three little ones was too much for her, so she’d left the 3 year old with her sister. They’d had fun that week, and had been really happy. In fact, that was the first memory he had of his mother really laughing. Gut tightening, tears streaming, nose running, laughing. He smiled thinking about it. It was a good memory. They’d had many since, but that was the first time he saw his mom being free of her chains to Vincent. He found out later that that was her celebration trip for their divorce being final.

He continued down the stairs to get something to eat. He was always super hungry after the graveyard shift. Of course, he was tired, but he could never sleep if his stomach was growling. He walked through the silent kitchen to the refrigerator. He opened it and stared blankly like anyone else his age who had no worries of wasting electricity.   He glanced at last night’s meatloaf. It had been delicious (Bruno was an excellent cook), but he wanted something else. He looked at the next shelf down and saw the honey ham his mom had gotten from the farm market just outside of town. He decided on a ham & cheese sandwich. He pulled out the necessary items, and lugged it all to the kitchen island. He threw everything together, and took what he hadn’t used back to the fridge. Grabbing a paper towel and a handful of chips, he headed back up to his room to read a little while he ate. After that, he knew he would crash.

As he passed Devon’s room, he saw her staring off into space. “Hey, I thought you were supposed to be reading.”

“I am, but I just can’t seem to concentrate this morning.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No…well, I don’t think so. I just feel … funny.”

“How?”

“I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like … ok, you know how in some dreams you are in one place and time, then suddenly in another?”

“Yeah.” He looked at her quizzically.

“Well, it’s like I should have shown up somewhere else, but I’m still here.”

“Uh … did you have to much caffeine last night?”

She chuckled a little and said, “I know it sounds crazy, but that’s the closest I can come up with to describe it. I’m sure it’s just a memory from a dream or something. It’ll pass.”

“Ok, well I’m going to sleep after I eat this. I’ll see ya later.”

“See ya.”

He started to walk away, but before he’d passed the door, he saw her gaze down at her book, but in that out-of-focus way that meant she was already day dreaming again. She’s usually so levelheaded. Oh well, everyone’s allowed an off day now and then. He went onto his room and closed the door.

 Despite the warmth of the day, Melissa sat slouched at the kitchen table, wearing a long-sleeve shirt and a hoodie.
            “Aren’t you hot?” Kaelyn asked her sister. She poured some milk onto her cereal.

“A little, but it’s safer this way,” she said with a furtive look around her. Kaelyn glanced at her mother. Their unspoken words conveyed enough for a 6-page spread in the New Yorker.

Sharon leaned a little toward her eldest daughter, and lightheartedly asked, “Honey, did you remember to take your meds this morning?”

“Of course, I did! Do I look like a child to you? You’ve never trust me.”

“No, hon, I just wanted to reassure myself. I know you’re on top of things.” She flicked her eyes to Kaelyn, who knew that look was her cue to go count Melissa’s pills. Usually, if she forgot any of her schizophrenia medication, she was really good about being reminded. If she showed the slightest hint of paranoia or out-of-proportion agitation, her family knew they needed to head off any episode.

Kaelyn was used to living with Melissa’s condition, but that didn’t make it easier. She silently slipped from the table and went down the hall to Melissa’s room. She entered and went right to her dresser and grabbed her bottle of lithium. Sure enough, there were two capsules more than there should have been. That meant she skipped last night and this morning. No wonder she was a little loopy. She poured out two pills, knowing they would have to find a way to sneak them to her. Once she was at the paranoid stage, she wouldn’t just take the pills from them. They had to trick her somehow. Kaelyn didn’t like being a part of manipulating her sister like that, but she also knew it was for Melissa’s benefit. In fact, Melissa had told her on more than one occasion that she was lucky to have family that cared enough to ignore her craziness.

Melissa hadn’t always had this issue. Kaelyn could remember her before her diagnosis. Even though there was an eight-year age difference, Melissa had tried to include Kaelyn in as much as possible. Most big sisters would have shooed her away or told her to mind her own business, but Melissa had always played with her a lot. Of course, there were times when Melissa wanted to be alone or hang with just people her age, but it happened so infrequently, Kaelyn hadn’t minded at all. She remembered once when Melissa was having a sleepover with her best friends, Grace & Sarah. Kaelyn was only 8, and wanted to be with the big girls. Melissa had told her before her friends got there that she would plan a special day just for them if she let them be by themselves tonight. She was disappointed that she wasn’t with them, but she tried to be grown-up about it. Still, she had only been eight, so she listened in at the bedroom door at least once that night. She was innocently walking past the door on the way to the bathroom they shared. She heard the girls laughing and talking, and knew they were having fun that she couldn’t join in. She was determined not to be a pest, but then she’d overheard her own name. After a brief pause brought on by a little guilt, she put her ear up to the door and breathed as slowly and quietly as she could so as not to reveal her presence.

Melissa said, “What about her? I thought you guys didn’t mind her tagging along with us.”

Sarah piped up, “We don’t; I mean we love spending time with Kaelyn. She’s smart, adorable, thinks we’re goddesses, and wants to be like us. How could that be anything but great and SO accurate?” All threes girls giggled.

“Then why should I ask her not to come with us as much?”

“Well, it’s just that we always have to watch what we say.” Kaelyn knew that the girls were careful around her. She’d always known that they used codes sometimes to talk about boys they liked or whatever. She just ignored it.

“Yeah, we can never talk about some of the things we want to with her around.”

“Well, you’re just going to have to get used to it. I love being with her, and I’ll do so whenever I can. You know there’s no one in our neighborhood her age; should I just leave her alone all the time? Besides, we have plenty of time in school and at practice to talk about other things.” Kaelyn’s heart had swelled with love for Melissa when she’d heard that. The other kids in her class never got to do anything with their big brothers or sisters. They complained all the time that their siblings were always chasing them out of the room, telling them to get lost, keeping secrets from them, and fighting their parents tooth and nail when told they had to take the little sib with them somewhere. Kaelyn had always known that she was lucky, but for Melissa to put her foot down with her best friends who could talk her into anything? That was big.

Kaelyn smiled to herself as she walked back down the hall to the kitchen. Those memories were bittersweet for her. She loved remembering how Melissa was before she got sick, but then it reminded her of how she was now. Actually, she had to take that back. As long as Melissa kept up with her meds, she was pretty much the same person she’d always been; she just said some strange things once in while.

Kaelyn walked behind her mom and slipped the pills into her hand. Now it was up to Sharon to figure out how to give them to her. Sometimes they told her they were pain pills; sometimes they crushed them into her favorite food or drink. If she wasn’t too far-gone, she would just take them.

Kaelyn sat back down to finish her breakfast. She sighed as she thought about how things had changed since Melissa was diagnosed at the age of 18. She remembered the taunts that some kids at school hurled at her about her crazy sister. They called her names and said that Kaelyn would end up the same way. Since it tended to run in families, this was especially hurtful; it played on one of the fears she felt guilty about.

At first, they hadn’t known what was happening. Melissa was away at school and they started getting worried calls from her roommates and then the health center. Finally, they got a call from the local emergency room. Melissa had been admitted because she’d locked herself in the closet for three days, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t sleep, and kept mumbling weird things to herself. Her roommates had decided to call for help. They had to admit that something was wrong then. The doctors said it looked like bipolar, but that a psychiatrist should properly diagnose her. They had her transferred to the nearest mental facility, and it was confirmed.

She hadn’t really understood what everything meant; she was only 10 at the time. She saw very clearly how upset her parents were, though. In the end they got her stabilized on medication, and brought her home. They worked very closely with a facility closer to home to learn about her mental illness, and how they could best help her to live with it. While she had some issues here and there, it seemed that they’d been blessed in that her disorder was somewhat more mild than average.

Sometimes, she felt alone as the only sibling of this person she had to get to know again. Sure, Simon was there, but he’d only been two when Melissa got sick. He didn’t remember a time before that. Kaelyn did. Of course, he was only 9 now, so nothing seemed to bother him too much because he was used to it. She had been pretty stable for most of the last 7 years, so things had never been as bad as that first episode. She’d had a few bad spells, but nothing that landed her in the hospital again. She had even started taking classes at the community college in town.

Her best friend Jenna had asked her more than once how she handled it so well. She was able to handle it because she had to. Kaelyn had learned that no one knew how much he or she could handle until they’d been given more than they thought they could take and survived. No one in their family thought they would be able to deal with a mentally ill relative; they just did what they had to. Even though she missed how things had been, she was also aware that she’d learned a lot through the experience. Because of the patience they had to have with Melissa, she had become more compassionate to others as well. She was able to see beyond a person’s faults to who they truly were or who they could become in the future. She could see the parts of people that they often didn’t want others to see. They had all had to learn how to stay calm in the midst of one of Melissa’s irrational rages. That experience had made Kaelyn very long-suffering. It took a lot to make her angry. Not that she didn’t stand up for herself; she had plenty of confidence. However, she knew that most people got angry for ridiculous reasons. She knew there were more important things in life to exercise her energy on.

She glanced at the cereal in her bowl that was starting to get soggy. Since she wasn’t really hungry anymore anyway she got up to dump it down the disposal. As she approached the sink, she heard her dad trying to help Simon get ready for school.

“Come on, son, I haven’t got all day.” Simon was a morning person through and through, so waking him was never the problem. It took him a while to get focused enough to get his things together for school, though. He tended to have his things scattered everywhere, so he spent desperate minutes every morning trying to find his homework, his shoes, his coat, his back pack, etc.

He bounded into the kitchen as he called over his shoulder. “I’m almost ready, Dad, I’m just trying to find my solar system project.” Mom made a hand signal that we all took to mean that Melissa was on edge. He instantly calmed his voice from years of practice.

“Mom, do you know where my project for science class is?”

“On the back porch drying.”

“Oh yeah, thanks.” He rushed off with that boundless energy that all kids seem to have,  not the slightest concern that they wouldn’t be able to set everything right concerning Melissa.

Michael walked into the kitchen and saw Sharon give the signal. In a quieter voice than normal, he said, “Good morning. How are my three lovely ladies?” His kissed Sharon as he passed her on the way to the cupboard. They all said they were fine. He reached for one of his travel mugs and started filling it with coffee.

“I have some bagels ready if you want to take one for the road.”

“Thanks, hon.” Sharon got up, spread cream cheese on a bagel, and wrapped it in a paper towel. “Another late night?”

“No, I’ll finish my part of the project this morning, so I should be home early. Want me to pick up the kids after school?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

“’K, Dad, got it.”

“Cowlick, you ready?” Kaelyn always rolled her eyes at his nickname for her, but she secretly thought it was cute. It wasn’t the same as other girls, so it made her feel special, even if it was a little corny.

“Yeah. Bye, Mom. Bye, Lis.” Melissa didn’t even lift her head, but Kaelyn wasn’t too worried. She’d probably be back to herself by the time they went to bed tonight, maybe before lunch.

Before they even got into the car, Simon had already called ‘shotgun’ and was gabbing on and on about what ever he could think of.

Kaelyn broke through the verbal torrent, “Oh, Dad, I almost forgot – mom told Mrs. Clossen we’d pick up Jenna, too”

“No, problem.”

A few minutes later, Jenna hopped in the back seat with Kaelyn. “Morning, all!” Michael said hi back, but Simon just kept right talking as if he hadn’t even noticed her.

“I see Simon is in full swing this morning,” she said with a smile.

“When is he not?”

A few minutes later, Jenna asked, “Are you ready for the quiz in Biology?” She waited for a response, but when she heard nothing, she looked over at Kaelyn; she could see her gazing out the window. She had the kind of look on her face that said she wasn’t really seeing anything what was actually out there.

“Hey.”

Kaelyn looked at her, but didn’t see her for a moment. She started a bit then said, “Oh, sorry. I guess I was off in my own thoughts for a sec.”

“I noticed. What’s up?”

Kaelyn had been trying to figure that out for herself all morning. In the midst of everything with Melissa, she’d had to put this one on the back burner. She thought for a minute about how to explain how she was feeling.

“I don’t know, but something is weird about today.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure. It just seems … off.”

“I’m sure it’s just ‘cause it’s Friday. The weekend is right around the corner, and we’re playing the Cougars tonight. We’ll be pretty busy.”

“You might be, but you know I don’t get into all that.”

“I was hoping you might go with me anyway. I need support if I’m going to try to talk to Ryan.”

Kaelyn had to suppress a laugh as she said, “You’re turning red just saying his name. How are you going to all of a sudden have the balls to say anything to him?”

The girls fell into chatter about boys for the rest of the drive to school.

             Devon wasn’t quite done with her reading yet, but she needed to get going if she was going to make it to class on time. She marked her place, dropped the book in her bag, and slipped on her shoes.  She’d been reading longer than she thought, so she needed to stretch before she got up. As she let out a satisfied groan, she walked over to the dresser to dab on her favorite perfume. When she set it back down, she bumped the ballerina music box she’d had for years. It had been the last thing Vincent had given to her sometime after he took off. She picked it up almost with reverence. With her room consisting of a candelabra, incense, black velvet curtains and posters of some of the darker things in life, a little girl’s pink jewelry box was definitely out of place. She would never part with this, though.

She remembered that he had sent it in the mail especially for her on her 4^th birthday. She had been thrilled with the little twirling ballerina. Her skirts and leotards glittering and her graceful hand extended toward the sky had made Devon feel like a princess to have deserved such a treasure. The pink satin lining of the interior was smooth and cool to the touch; just the sort of place for a little girl to hide away her secrets from her brothers’ nosy eyes. She closed it again and ran her hand over the worn material on the outside. When it was new, the white had been decorated with hand painted flowers and ivy. Now, they were harder to see. There were just faint streaks of blue, pink, and green left in various places along the edges. Whenever her friends came over, she threw a black scarf over it. They wouldn’t understand. Even her family didn’t totally understand. Vic was so mad at their dad for leaving; Bruno didn’t remember him, and Mom was just glad to be rid of him. Devon was angry, but she also missed him … at least the good things about him. That’s why she’d kept the music box; it was kind of a representation of what she missed about Vince and having a father.

She yanked herself out of her thoughts and grabbed her bag. On the way down the hall, she heard Vic snoring away. She grabbed an apple from the basket on the counter and headed out to the Civic. She started the car and backed out into the street.

She parked the car at the stadium and started walking to the on-campus bus stop. While she waited, she returned looks to the students near her. She was used to people giving her a second glance. Not many people in a town this size in the Midwest had bright pink hair, but she didn’t mind. Most of them weren’t looking at her like she was a freak, which is what the geezers usually did. She tried to maintain her integrity and smile at them or even say hello. Of course, that was a little difficult because most people these days students were tied to their cell phones or mp3 players. They barely looked at each other, let alone said hello, but that didn’t always stop her.

Then she saw Mark walking over from his car. She started to get that fluttery feeling in her stomach. She didn’t want him to think she was watching, so she looked the other way, and pretended she hadn’t seen him. Even without looking, she could sense where he was and how close he was getting to her.

“Hey, Dev! Long time, no see,” he said with that brilliant smile of his.

She hoped she wasn’t turning as red as she answered, “Hey, how ya doin’?”

“Good. You worked on the paper yet?”

“No. I’m not even sure what topic to do yet. What are you doing?”

“I’m thinking about doing something on sleep disorders. When she showed us that video of the guy who died from no REM sleep, I was fascinated.”

“Yeah, that was really bizarre. That should be interesting.” She scratched her head and said, “I’ve thought about maybe doing something on schizophrenia or the effects from brain surgery, but I was going to talk to Neilson after class.”

“Those are both good ideas. Uh … do you wanna go to the library later? We can start doing some research or something.” Was he stammering? “Maybe after that we could grab a burger at Carmichael’s or something?”

Devon was a little startled by the sheepish tone in his voice. Is he trying to ask me for a date? The flutter started to get stronger. “That would be really good.”  He tried to hide it, but she could here him exhale in relief; she tried not to laugh. She was afraid her face was a neon sign now. The bus pulled up and they both got on with all the other bustling students. Making their way to the back of the bus, they found an empty seat. She slid in to sit next to the window and he plopped down in the seat next to hers. She could tell he wanted to say something else, so she just waited.

“Look, I actually wanted to ask you out that first day of class, but I didn’t figure I’d have any chance at all with you.”

“Why would you think that?”

He looked down in embarrassment. “I don’t know; I just figured you’d only be interested in some guy with piercings who was full of angst.”

“Well, I hope there’s more to me than pink hair and wearing black.”

“Oh, there is! I knew that as soon as we started talking.” He turned to face her, so she did the same. “I’ve just never met anyone quite like you. You’re fun despite the fact that you seem to be carrying a lot on your shoulders. You’re very mysterious to me. One of the reasons I’m interested in psychology so much is I like to try to figure out what makes someone tick, but I don’t quite know what to make of you.”

She smiled in that Mona-Lisa way of hers and said, “I’m not really a mystery, it just takes me a while to warm up around people. I’m starting to thaw out a little with you.” She looked down uncertainly, not used to being this frank about her feelings.

“I’m glad to hear it.” He smiled and faced forward again. “So, where would you like to eat tonight? My treat.”

“It better be your treat; you’re the one who asked me out.”

“Touché.”

“You know, I’ve wanted to try that new Indian place on Vista.”

“Done, and I like it that you know what you want and don’t have trouble voicing your opinion.”

“With two brothers, I didn’t have much choice. Either I was decisive about what I wanted, or I missed out.”

They both chuckled and settled back into their normal banter as the bus continued to the heart of campus.

Chapter 2

She walked up the aisle with some skinny guy. He’d never thought much about her before. Of course, it was impossible not to notice her electric pink hair, but she was pretty quiet. He hardly gave her a second thought till that day. As they went by him toward the back of the auditorium, she happened to take a fleeting look at him. At that moment, both of them experienced something that neither would forget. In about the span of two or three seconds, they both felt almost an electric shock along with too many different sensations and feelings to be possible at once. They went from feeling the depth of the pain that comes with losing a loved one all the way to the euphoric joy of what it might be like to be in Heaven. There were scenes that flashed by so fast, there was no way they would be able to recall them to describe them to anyone later, yet it was clear at the time what they were seeing. There were snapshots of strange clothing, an unfamiliar landscape, a very tall, frightening but beautiful woman, a little girl that made the hairs on their necks stand up, scents that seemed to be familiar (though they couldn’t place them), and much more. The two of them even saw each other standing side by side with some other people that were strangers to him, but Wade had the feeling that one of them was related to this girl by blood.  This encounter ensured that they both were destined to be tied together in some way for the rest of their lives.

            What had just happened?

It seemed impossible that so much could have happened in just a few seconds, but it had. Both of them had been so caught off guard that she stumbled and he felt dizzy for a moment. Her friend reached out to steady her, and asked if she was all right. She mumbled something about being clumsy, and they kept going. While he tried to concentrate on the rest of the class, he could feel her eyes on the back of his head. He could tell that both of them wanted to know what that had all been about, but they also didn’t want to know. The latter feeling must have been stronger because neither sought out the other after class.

Wade Dalak made his way across campus to his jeep. He was still somewhat shaken by his earlier experience with the pink-haired girl. He kept shaking his head trying to make it fit into what he knew from his 20 years of life, but it just wouldn’t work. He wasn’t a strong believer in the paranormal, but this didn’t even fit with any of those ideas. He wasn’t sure what to do about it, if anything. He decided to put it out of his mind, at least as much as he could. But all the way home, it kept invading his thoughts. Even when he was back in his room and surfing the net, he found himself thinking about it. He thought he might get some answers online, so he typed in:

shared thought phenomenon

Plenty of matches appeared, but they were all about couples therapy or telepathy, so he tried a couple other searches:

Two people same thoughts

Same people same thoughts

Strangers with same thoughts

            Still the same kinds of matches, but he wasn’t surprised. He’d never even read about anything like what had happened to him. The closest thing he found was references to different people having the same dream, but this had been no dream. He didn’t know how he knew it, but they’d been looking at things that were definitely going to happen to them in the future. Somehow, they were going to be involved in something very intense and oddly important. He knew he wouldn’t be able to figure it out any time soon, so he thought he better get to work on his flight charts.

            Wade had wanted to be a pilot for as long as he could remember. He already had his license, but he wanted to be a pilot for the CIA, FBI and maybe help a non-profit like Doctors Without Borders or something. He didn’t necessarily want to put his life directly in the line of fire, but even to be on the sidelines of world events was exciting for him. He could interact with spies, help fly people in and out of sensitive situations, maybe even meet the President. He might be able to help those less fortunate than him.

            He remembered when he was four and had decided he wanted to be a pilot. His dad had taken him (and his brother Seth after he was born) to the Air Force museum at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He had instantly fallen for the idea of flying. He wanted more than anything to soar above the clouds. He’d been flying since he was seven (not alone, of course), but no matter how many times he’d done it, that first drop of his stomach at take off was always a buzz. Since he’d turned 18 two years ago, he had even started helping at the museum in the summer. He got to take tourists on rides, lead some tours, and do the flight check on some of the bigger planes. He couldn’t believe he got paid to do something this fun.

            He really did love flying more than anything else. He had yet to find a girl that could take his mind off of it. Sure, he looked at them, and had even dated a few, but his true passion was flying, so none of them stayed too long. His dad joked with him that he’d be an old bachelor flying planes at the age of 95. That would be just fine with him.

            His charts weren’t due for a few days, so he decided to take his mind off of his weird experience with a little X-box time. Maybe Seth would want to play. Even though he was only 15, he was a video game powerhouse. Wade’s friends always wanted to challenge him and usually lost, to Seth’s constant delight. Making his way up from his room in the basement, he listened to see if he could hear Seth already yelling at the aliens on the TV screen. On his way passed the kitchen, he decided to get a Coke. When he stepped in, he saw their stepsister Trina in the nook with books spread everywhere.

            “Heavy studying?” Ramona and his dad had only been married a few years, but he felt like Trina had always been part of the family. They all got along right away. He new that Trina had been a little unsure about living with two brothers all of a sudden; she’d been an only child. It could take some getting used to if all of a sudden you find yourself living with two boys. However, it wasn’t long till everything just felt right. Trina was one of those bubbly types, but she wasn’t annoying about it. She just had a way of making people feel better. She was optimistic without being saccharin or unrealistic. She did have a little problem with needless worry, but even that had calmed some. Of course, now she was a junior, so she had started worrying about what school to choose, what career to choose, where her boyfriend was going, where her friends were going. Sometimes, they had to remind her to tell herself to knock it off. He was surprised she didn’t have an ulcer, even if she was only 17.

Of course, he had tried to be mad at Ramona when they’d first started dating, but she had just been too genuinely nice. He couldn’t keep it up for more than the first few months. It wasn’t like he and Seth were glad they didn’t live with their mom, but they knew their family was much better off with their parents in different states. Besides, Dad was just a better person since he’d met Ramona. He didn’t yell like he used to and he even looked younger. Go figure. It didn’t hurt that she was an incredible cook, either. She owned a very successful Italian restaurant in town, and it was great to go in and get special treatment.

            “Yeah, I’m doing a group project in history. I stopped by the library for all these books, so now I’m just trying to take notes about everything.”

            Grabbing a Coke from the fridge, he asked her, “What’s your topic?”

            A little sheepishly, she said, “The Wright brothers.”

            “Hello…”

            Her reply came out in rapid fire, “I know, I know, but I didn’t want to assume you’d help, and you know I always think I have to do everything myself, and I figured you were busy, and –”

            “Whoa!” Wade had to stifle a laugh, but through his grin, he said, “You know I’d help you with anything. I won’t force my knowledge on you, but if you have any questions, I’m here. I also have TONS of stuff upstairs that can help. I’ve got models, charts, diagrams, posters, books, everything under the sun. Wanna come up later for a look?”

            She exhaled, “Yeah. I was actually hoping you’d let us use some things for visual aids. I mean, the stuff you have is so interesting, and the teacher would be really impressed.”

            “No problem.” He ruffled her hair, knowing she’d swat his hand away and fix him with a mock glare. He moved off toward the family room to immerse himself in alien destruction.

            As Kaelyn and Jenna were getting books out of their lockers, Kaelyn felt a very strange chill. She shivered so violently that she dropped one of her books, and her muscles froze for a split second. Slowly, she started to bend over to pick up her book and was struck with a slight case of vertigo. She had to lean against the cold metal of the locker to steady herself.

            “Are you ok? Do you want me to call the nurse?” Jenna had run over from her locker across the hall when she saw the stunned looked on her friend’s face. She gingerly put her hand on Kaelyn’s back and waited for her to say something.

            Kaelyn took a deep breath and looked around her. For some reason, she felt that this … whatever-it-was had something to do with someone nearby. She looked up and down the hall and felt drawn to a girl walking toward the library. She had never seen this girl before, so she kept looking around, but her eyes always made it back to her. Kaelyn couldn’t see her face, but tried to see what might be different about her as she walked down the hall. She had shoulder length dark brown hair, and skin the color of a mocha latte. She was well dressed, and carried herself with an air of gentle strength and grace. She had disappeared around the corner when Jenna finally got her attention.
            “Seriously, are you ok?”

            “Sorry. Yeah, I’m fine.” She got her other books and shut the locker door.

            “You’re still pale. Are you sure you don’t want to at least talk to the nurse?” Kaelyn could hear the concern in Jenna’s voice, but she felt fine now.

            “Really, it was probably just a random spasm or something. We gotta get to geometry.” Jenna wasn’t truly convinced, but she knew that Kaelyn’s tone of voice meant she was done with the conversation, so she let it go. For now.

            They made their way through the hall to Mr. Olish’s room. Kaelyn stopped dead in the doorway. That same girl was in the seat next to her own beside Jenna. She started back to her seat, but not before Jenna noticed her looking worriedly at a girl in the seat near theirs. As Kaelyn got nearer to her, she looked up at Kaelyn and they both flinched like they’d been shocked. They stared at each other for a minute and then Mr. Olish said,

            “Kaelyn, I see you’ve met our new student. Class, Miss Isabel Fischer is joining us this year. Isabel, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”

            Isabel still looked unnerved at her encounter with this other girl, but she gathered her wits and said, “My father just got a job at the                                , but he didn’t want us to live too close, so we came here.” She looked uncertainly at all the faces turned toward her and lingered on Kaelyn.

Mr. Olish said, “Thank you and welcome.” Then he started going over last night’s homework.

At lunch, Kaelyn searched the cafeteria for Isabel. She hoped Isabel had some idea of what had happened to them when they looked at each other. At last she saw her sitting alone at one of the tables against the wall. She looked a little lonely, but not uncomfortable. Somehow she looked both approachable and enigmatic at the same time. Kaelyn made her way through the tables toward Isabel. Her regular lunch group called after her, but she replied over her shoulder that she wanted to talk to Isabel.

Isabel heard her name and turned toward Kaelyn. “Kaelyn, right?”

“Yeah, good memory. I forget names right after I hear them.” She fidgeted a little, unsure of how to proceed. She decided not to push too much. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

“No, I’d like that. Everyone is as nervous about getting to know me as I am them.”

“Well, you know how it is.” They were silent for a moment as the drone of other conversations rushed around them. Kaelyn wanted to ask her about earlier, but what if she hadn’t had the same feeling? She didn’t want to look crazy. Well, maybe it’s just best to plunge ahead. “Listen, I know this might sound a little bizarre, but … well… did you feel anything peculiar today?” She looked down at the lunch she’d packed last night as if there were nothing more interesting than her hummus and pita. She was a little apprehensive about how Isabel might react.

In an almost reverent whisper, she replied, “You felt it, too, didn’t you?”

Kaelyn was flooded with relief. She had been a little worried that she’d started hallucinating. Given her family situation, that wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. Now, through a sigh, she said, “I’m so glad I wasn’t imagining things.”

“No, you certainly didn’t imagine it. Do you know what it was? It seems like we should know something about it, doesn’t it?”

“I was going to ask you. I have no idea what it was either, but I know what you mean. It’s almost like it was supposed to show us or remind us of something.”

“I agree. I think we’re supposed to … I don’t know, get to know each other or something. Like we need to know each other more before we’ll understand. Though I feel like I know a lot about you already somehow.”

Kaelyn nodded her head and looked off for a minute. Then she asked Isabel something she hadn’t asked anyone besides Jenna for a long time. “Wanna come over to my house later?” Normally, if Melissa was acting like she had this morning, she didn’t invite people over. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of Melissa. On the contrary, she was very impressed with how Melissa handled her illness. Her parents had decided that their home was to be a refuge for Melissa, as well as for the rest of them. If Melissa was having any issues, they tried to minimize any disturbance in the atmosphere or routine of the household. They didn’t have company except Jenna; she didn’t count ‘cause she’d been like a part of the family forever. Of course, there were other family friends like her, too. Kaelyn just knew that Isabel would be ok with Melissa, and vice versa no matter what her state was.

“I would love to. Whoever is sick, you don’t have to worry about it. I can get along with anyone.”

Kaelyn looked at her in astonishment and said, “It’s my sister, Melissa. How did you know?”

“It’s nothing. I’m pretty good at reading people, and you had that I’m-reluctant-to-invite-people-to-my-house look on your face right before you asked. You don’t seem like you come from a broken home, so it’s most likely about a sick relative, maybe mentally ill?”

“Wow. Yeah, she’s schizophrenic. It’s pretty mild so she’s usually fine, but it doesn’t take much to unbalance things. For some reason though I’m not worried about you being there.”

“Me either. I actually look forward to it. I’m an only child, so I’ve never known what it was like to have brothers or sisters.”

“Well, I have a brother, too. His name is Simon and he was a surprise child. He’s only 9, so he has TONS of energy.” She laughed. “I don’t know anyone else who can talk as much or for as long as he does. It’s like the Energizer bunny is inside his mouth. But he’s a lot of fun. Melissa is too. She’s 25.” Kaelyn was surprised at how much she was apparently willing to share with this stranger, but she didn’t really feel like a stranger. She feels like a sister, but in a different way than Melissa.

“Do you have any pictures of them and your parents?”

“Yeah.” She pulled out her wallet and passed it to Isabel. “Here.”

“You all look very happy. You have the look of a family that truly loves each other.”

“We really do. I know I’m fortunate that my parents are still married, let alone that they still love each other. What about your parents?”

“They get along very well. I don’t really know if they ‘love’ each other, but they’re at least good friends. I know they love me, though. They’d do anything for me and for each other for that matter.”

“They sound really nice.”

“They are. I wasn’t thrilled to move away from all my friends this late in high school, but I also like doing new things, so I’m glad they convinced me.”

“You mean they wouldn’t have moved if you hadn’t agreed”

“Well, they try to include me in any decisions that affect the whole family, but in the end they have to decide what they believe is best.” They nibbled on their food for a minute. They didn’t seem to mind the lull in conversation; it was like that comfortable silence you have with people you really connect with.

Finally, Kaelyn said, “You know, it’s Friday and there’s a game tonight. You could come with me to the game, and then to stay over at Jenna’s tonight. She’s my best friend, and I think you guys would really get along.”

“Do you think she’d be ok with what’s happening to us, whatever it is?”

“She might not believe it at first, but she’s pretty open. Besides, her family lives outside of town on this huge plot of land. They have tons of room and we get to sleep in her family’s RV. It’s great to be separate from the family, but still have TV, food, drinks, etc. We almost always stay in it for sleepovers. That way, her brothers can’t bother us. Well, at least not as much.” She smiled at all the times the boys had tried to scare, join, trick, annoy, or tease the girls.

“How many brothers does she have?”

“Five. Three older and two younger.”

“Wow.”

“I know. Anyway, if your parents say it’s ok, you can come home with me, and my parents can drop us off at the game later. We’ll go home with Jenna and her family after the game. How ‘bout it?”

Isabel was thrilled at finding friends this fast, so she said right away, “I’ll call them now!”

“I’ll check with Jenna, but I know she’ll be happy to have you. She loves to meet new people.”

After Isabel got the ok from her parents, the two settled into talk about classes, music, movies, and such.

Her face contorted into a grimace of rage. Her voracious appetite for complete power had consumed her for more time than most could comprehend. While she’d come close on many occasions, she still had not conquered anything to the degree that she desired. She wanted total, unequivocal, omnipotent power. As of yet, she had failed. Her only aim in life was to dominate others and bend them to her will. She expended such a vast amount of time & energy trying to achieve this one goal that she often forgot to provide for her physical needs. Consequently, she had to find other ways to sustain herself. As she was not completely human, her need for nourishment was different from a normal human. She merely had to remember to produce the necessary elements within her person, and it was so.

Her force was indeed great. One had to wonder how the control she so craved continued to elude her. Perhaps there was yet another power at work? She could sense another opportunity approaching. This could be the one she’d been waiting for. She had realized that she might be reaching for the sky when she first needed to scale the mountain. To that end, she had decided to begin to amass smaller morsels. With those unions under her dominion, she would now be able to conquer more substantial numbers of followers.

She brushed her raven hair to the side as she studied herself in the mirror. She certainly had the look and carriage of a empress. Most who had encountered her, whether they survived to tell the tale or not, agreed that she was beautiful. At least that was the closest word they could find in whatever grunting they used as language. However, they also knew immediately that her vile “heart” rivaled her beauty in its intensity. She knew that her beauty was beyond what most creatures had experienced, but they were equally astounded by her cruelty. While this was her natural physical state, her ability to change her form was extremely useful. She could become the creature of nightmares, a late relative, a wild creature, even a delicate flower in the right conditions. In her dwelling, she seldom changed form unless her mood was such that only another kind of being could sufficiently express it.

At the moment, she was anxious. She had sensed that something different was happening. She figured it had to do with the Other. Whoever or whatever this being was, she felt its presence at every failure. She would be on the cusp of complete domination and It would intervene to stop her. She was infuriated but impotent against it. Now, she felt an energy pass by her own, and knew that It was up to something. She took a deep breath. As she exhaled, she allowed the other noises in her world to fade away until she was focused only on the Other and it’s energy. She raised her long, lithe arms to the level of her shoulders, palms toward the ceiling. Keeping them stiff like poles, she held this position while she concentrated on finding its goal. Reaching out her mind like writhing tentacles, she probed the atmosphere looking for remnants of some foreign energy. She found its trail very quickly. It didn’t even seem to be attempting secrecy. How foolish! Did it not know that she was always sensitive to its activity? It would regret this lapse in judgment. If she could discover its destination, she may be able to discern its plan and thwart it.

She felt a flash of searing pain in her chest. Clutching her chest, she folded onto the floor in pain. It was as if the sharpest blade had been energized by both lightening and star, then thrust into her soul, or whatever she had that acted as a soul. She knew that the Other was warning her to back off. She acquiesced, but no matter; she had already guessed where It was headed. She could search for the reason at her leisure. She stood up and smoothed her dress into place. Her hand glided along the seam of her skirt with controlled poise, as though nothing had happened. Even though she was alone, she did not allow herself to display the frustration that twisted below the surface of her feigned composure. She refused to let It defeat her again. She would have her victory, and destroy It in the process. Once it was gone, she would have free reign over any she so chose to conquer.

Confident that she would win in the end, she took her time gathering the necessary items for her work. She would observe the key players from afar. Once she knew which were weakest, she would form a plan. Usually, the weak ones could play a role, albeit unwilling, in bringing down the stronger. I will seek them each out, discover their fears and weaknesses, and bring them all down! Her face contorted into the hideous manifestation of her lifelong hatred of all but herself.

            After school, Kaelyn and Isabel waited for Sharon to pick them up. Kaelyn had called to make sure it was ok, and her mom had been more than happy to welcome Isabel to the area. Her mom was one of those people who loved to do things for others. Since Melissa had been stabilized on her meds, Sharon had tried to have more people over. If Melissa felt uncomfortable, she either stayed in her room or went to a friend’s for a while.

            “I can’t wait to meet everyone. They sound so nice.”

            “I like them.” Kaelyn smiled. “You’ll like Jenna’s family, too.”

            “Why isn’t she coming with us?”

            “Oh, she’s in the band, so she has to get there early. I could tell she liked you the minute you met.” Kaelyn had introduced the girls in 9^th period study hall. Both she and Jenna felt like Isabel had always been a part of their lives. “Oh, there’s Mom and Simon.”

            The girls approached the curb as the bright teal SUV pulled up. They hopped in the back seat together as Kaelyn made the introductions. Simon looked like he would break his neck trying to turn around to look at Isabel.
            He said, “I like the way you talk.” He said it in the matter-of-fact way that children have until the secrecy of adulthood teaches them to hide what they really think.

            Sharon said, “Simon, honey, I doubt she wants that to be the first thing you notice about her.”

            “That’s alright, Mrs. Beaulet. I don’t mind.” She turned to Simon and spoke directly to him, an indicator of her care of others. She knew that people wanted to be heard, so she made sure she listened. “Until I was 8, we moved all over the world for my dad’s job, so my accent is shaped by some of the places we’ve lived in; Brazil, Japan, Australia, and Thailand. Then Mom said we needed to come back to the States.”

            Sharon asked, “What does your father do, Isabel? And please, call me Sharon.” Isabel could feel the warmth of her smile just through the reflection of her eyes in the rear view mirror.

            “He’s an international art buyer.”

            “Oh, how fascinating! Doesn’t he still need to travel?”

            “Yes, but not as much. He’s one of the directors, so he delegates much of the traveling. He only goes for the very important clients or collections.”

            Not wanting to be left out, Simon asked, “Where were you before you came here?”

“We were in Arizona till we moved here.”

“Did you like it there?”

“Some things. It was too dry for me in the summer, but the sky is always blue, the mountains are beautiful, and it doesn’t snow.”

Simon looked horrified as he said, “It doesn’t snow?! How did you make snow men or go sledding or have snowball fights?”

Isabel smiled at his dismay and said, “Well, most of us didn’t. If you really felt the need, to play in the snow, ski, whatever, you could go up one of the mountains. Even in the summer, if it’s high enough, there’s snow up there. I never did it, but I had friends who loved to ski.”

Kaelyn asked, “Do you miss them?”

“The mountains?”

“No, your friends.” She was painfully aware of how hard it would be for her to leave her friends. They meant so much to her. She had always marveled at the adventurous people who could leave everything and everyone they knew to go somewhere totally unfamiliar.

“Sure, I miss them, but it’s not like I’ll never see them again. Besides, I like to meet new friends and see new places. I think Ohio is beautiful. Everything is so colorful. I’ve never seen so much green, and now the fall colors. It’s really cool here. And I’ve already made a new friend.” She smiled warmly at Kaelyn.

Sharon said, “If you think it’s cool now, just wait till winter hits.” They chuckled as she turned into their driveway.

“This is your house? I love it!”

Kaelyn knew it was nothing flashy, but she appreciated the sentiment even if it wasn’t quite true. “Come on, I’ve seen your clothes. You have to have money, so your house must be huge. How can you possibly like this little place?”

“Yes, we have money, but this how just looks so … blissful. Our house is big, but sometimes, it makes everyone feel so far away.” She gazed wistfully at the two-story English cottage. It had that old European look that reminded her of the historical romances she liked. With a simply ornamented gable above the front door and ivy climbing the sides, she just knew there had to be at least one of those cushioned window seats where she would love to curl up and read on rainy day. She had a feeling that might be in Kaelyn’s room.

“I’m glad you like it, dear. Michael and I bought it when we first got married. It had been a super old house for the farm that was here. The foundation and stone were solid, but the rest of the house was a mess, so we got it pretty cheap. We’ve fixed it up, which took forever, and voila!”

“It really feels like a home. I think if I ever lived in a house like this, I would never move again.”

Sharon said, “You’re so sweet.”

“I’m not just being nice. I would never want to be anywhere else if I could call this home.” The longing in her voice was not lost on Kaelyn, though she was sure Isabel was trying to hide it. Maybe she wasn’t as gung-ho to move around all the time as she let on. She’d ask her about it sometime. Something told her they would need to learn to be totally open and honest with each other. Sharon hadn’t seemed to notice anything, and was steering Simon into the house to start his homework.

On her way in, she called over her shoulder, “Kaelyn, honey, why don’t you give Isabel a quick tour while I get some snacks ready for everyone?”

“Ok.” She turned to Isabel, almost regretting having to interrupt her thoughts. “We don’t have to, if you don’t want to. Mom thinks everyone wants to see everything about the house.”

“No, I really do want to see everything.”

She looked eager enough, so Kaelyn shrugged her shoulders and said, “Ok, I’ll show you around a little outside first. You can leave your stuff here by the door.” Both girls dropped their things, and set off out the door at the back of the garage. The Beaulets lived just outside of town, so they had a very large piece of land. It was picturesque and peaceful. Mature trees dotted the five-acre yard and small woods lined the back of the property. A creek wound its way through the east corner of the land and continued into the woods. “We have a fire pit back here. We often come back here to have bonfires and roast marshmallows and hotdogs.”

“That sounds awesome. Will you do it again soon; I’d love to come.”

“Oh yeah. Don’t worry; I’ll let you know when we do.” They kept walking back toward the wooded area. They passed Simon’s play area, Sharon’s flower garden, and a work shed. Isabel walked in silence enjoying the cool autumn air, and wondering what this new friend was all about. Obviously, it wasn’t a usual situation. They’d met each other under very strange circumstances. They’d known each other less than a day, but it felt like a lifetime. How was that possible? Any other time, she would have been leery of something like this happening, but they both seemed to accept it at face value. She sensed that something incredibly important hung on them cultivating this friendship. Is it just us?

“I don’t think we’re alone in this.

Isabel’s head snapped to Kaelyn’s direction. “What?”

Curious about Isabel’s strong reaction, she said, “What happened this morning and what it might mean. I don’t think we’re the only ones. I think some other people may end up being part of whatever this is, too.”

Isabel’s forehead wrinkled in bafflement. “I was just thinking exactly those thoughts. Maybe not in those words, but that’s what I was feeling.”

             There was a thoughtful silence between the girls as they continued walking into the woods. After a few minutes, the trees got denser and the woods around them grew darker. Neither of them was scared because they’d both been raised to appreciate nature rather than fearing it. That didn’t mean they weren’t cautious; just that they knew there was nothing inherently sinister about a group of trees.

            From simple curiosity, Isabel asked Kaelyn, “Where are we going?”

            “When Jenna and I were little, we’d play back here for hours at a time. We pretended we were queens, teachers, reporters, private eyes, or anything else we could think of. Then we just imagined that the woods looked like the surroundings for whatever we were. One day, we stumbled on the place I’m taking you. As far as we know, no one else has been there, and we’ve never told anyone.”

            “Are you sure you should show me without asking Jenna?”

            “I already told her I was going to take you there if you ever came to our house. She wasn’t thrilled about it at first, but after she met you, she said she understood.” She smiled at Isabel. “She and I can both tell there’s something about you that’s different than other people here.”

            Isabel’s faced scrunched in mock incredulity. “Does that mean you think I’m a weirdo?”

            Kaelyn laughed and said, “No, not unless we are, too.”

            “I can live with that. Are we close?”

            “Very.” They walked passed a band of closely growing trees. It was almost like a natural wall, but you wouldn’t have noticed it until you were right up next to it.

            Isabel was about to comment on how strange it was that the trees had grown so closely, when she exclaimed, “Whoa.”

            “That’s the exact same expression we had on our faces when we saw this place.” Kaelyn’s smile clearly said she had expected this very reaction.

As they had rounded the end of the wall of trees, they came upon a setting that was unimaginable. At first it looked like a small glen with some strange rock and plant groupings. The tree wall continued around to form a curved line that extended at least                 feet, which left an opening into this area that was about eight to ten feet across. Isabel walked in with a reverent grace. She knew there was something special about this place, but not exactly what it was. She continued to take in the sight. There were rocky formations against the tree walls. On top of these formations was a great deal of some kind of springy moss. She ran her hand over it. It was softer and thicker than any carpet she’d ever walked on, and she’d walked on some nice carpets. She leaned on it and thought it might even be more comfortable than her own bed! The trees that made up the walls also provided a very thick canopy over the rocks; rain would be hard-pressed to get in through those branches.

She turned her head trying to take in more of the scene. She walked to the part of the wall that was opposite the “entrance.” There was a very large, flat rock that looked like a table. The top even extended passed the base. Under this extension, there was another low set, long rock with more of that soft moss; basically a bench for the table. The surface of the table was incredibly flat and smooth. In fact, it looked better than some of the marble countertops she’d seen in some very expensive houses. She glanced back at Kaelyn with her eyebrows raised. Kaelyn smiled back at her as if to say, I know, we couldn’t believe it either. Isabel continued to the center of the area. In the area nearest the table there was a low, stone depression. It looked like a fire pit and actually had the remnants of past fires. She knew that was from Kaelyn and Jenna, so she continued on. The space just beyond the fire pit was another moss-covered area. It was almost like a lounging spot. The moss was as thick here as on the side rocks, but on the ground. It was pretty big, maybe 10-15 feet across, and looked like the perfect place to lie down and nap or anything else.

She took one more complete turn and sighed, “I can’t believe it.”

“I know! For a long time, we tried to figure out who made it and when, but it doesn’t look like it was made by people. I’ve done some research trying to figure out how it was done, but I couldn’t find anything. Until I find out something new, I have to go with it being totally natural.”

“Maybe not totally natural, you know?”

“Yeah. This is my favorite place to go. I come here to do homework, draw, think; get away if the house is chaotic, lots of reasons. Obviously we’ve had fires here, but no one has ever noticed. Somehow, they don’t even see any smoke, let alone the fire itself.” She went on. “Even the smells are different in here.”

Isabel lifted her nose and inhaled deeply. Of course, she could smell the earthiness of the moss, a hint of rain, and that smell that earthworms have, but she got a whiff of something else. “What is that?”

“We can’t quite figure it out. It’s like it a mixture of things sometimes and other times it’s something totally new. Sometimes, we pick up totally different things at the same time. Right now, I’m getting a little strawberry. What do you smell?”

She sniffed again. “I think it’s lavender.”

“Tell me, what do you hear?”

Isabel took a moment to listen. She knew that she should hear birds, insects, wind, etc., but there was almost total silence. “Wow.”

“We’ve done a few experiments, too. One of us stays in here, while the other is outside. You can barely hear each other if your on opposite sides of the walls. It’s kinda eerie. You know that creek that comes back through the woods?” Isabel nodded her head. “It passes no more than 20 yards from the entrance. We’ve always thought it was some Native American spiritual land that everyone forgot about. Now, I’m not so sure.”

Isabel understood right away. “You think this has something to do with how we met?”

“That and whoever else is involved in whatever this is.” The girls stared at each other in solemn agreement.

“I think you might be right.”

Finally, Kaelyn said, “Well, we’ll have time to talk more about this later, but we better get back before Mom sends out a search party.” They started back to the house and didn’t say a word the whole way.

Chapter 3

            “Honey, are you ready to go?” Chloe had already finished her homework when her mom knocked on her door.

            “Yeah, just let me put on my shoes.” She slipped on her shoes and checked her reflection one last time. She had long, dark hair. Her eyes were almond-shaped like her father, but the green was definitely from her mother. She wasn’t vain or obsessed with her appearance, but she was content. She knew that some would say she was pretty, but she just wasn’t interested in comparing herself to others. Maybe she would be in the future, but right now, she just wanted to soak up as much information as she could. She pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face, grabbed her jacket, and headed downstairs.

            “Are you sure that jacket will be warm enough?”

            “Oh yeah, it’s still fall, you know.” She rolled her eyes, but it was only in jest.

            “Very funny, missy.”

She had really tried to talk her mother out of eating at Ramona’s tonight. She’d even said she wanted to go to the football game tonight, that her friends would be there. It was hard for her mother to go against broadening Chloe’s social horizons, so she’d compromised. She said they would go to dinner a little earlier than usual, and then they would drop her off at the high school. Even though she had no interest in watching the game, she knew that Summer would be there, so they could run around together. Hopefully, Seth wouldn’t be at the restaurant while they were.

“Wil, have you got the keys?” Anna called after her husband as she pulled their coats out of the hall closet. He didn’t respond, so she walked into his den. He was still on the computer. “William, what could possibly be so important at work at this time of night on a Friday?”

            He sighed as he kept typing on the keyboard. “Calm down, I’m almost done. I have to make sure these reports get sent to corporate before six. I just have to attach the files, and we can go.”

            “Ok, I’ll get the keys. Are they in the bowl?”

            “Yes.”

            Chloe’s parents couldn’t have been less alike. Anna Masters was slender, with long, chestnut brown hair, and a self-assured confidence that others tried to emulate. She was the kind of person who never met a stranger, could relate to anyone, and appeared to be comfortable in any situation. She tried to portray herself like one of those laid-back, cool moms on TV, but she was really quite high strung. She liked everything to be in order at all times. She wasn’t overly neurotic about it, but it could get tiresome. She tried not to force her desires onto her husband and daughter, but it was bound to happen sometimes, right? After college, she’d discovered that people usually didn’t know how to improve their lives and were more than willing to have someone else tell them what to do. That’s when she started being a life coach, and she was very successful. In fact, she’d been a consultant to several local and national celebrities. She was definitely a social butterfly and liked to go to various events in and around the Cleveland area, but had no problem jetting off to New York City or Los Angeles for a weekend. None of that was to say that she was shallow or uncaring. On the contrary, anyone could tell from the first time they met her that she had genuine compassion and just wanted to help others.

            William Master’s was a totally different story. He was a soft-spoken, gentle man. It was a miracle when he got worked up about anything (even the Buckeyes/Michigan game). He’d always said that it was a waste of energy to get upset about most things. If it was out of your control, adjust; if not, figure out how to change it. He had kind, warm, brown eyes, and broad shoulders. He was handsome, but in an understated way. He was the dandelion to Anna’s orchid. Chloe loved both of her parents, but she was more like her father in many ways. It was easier for her to talk to him about most things. He was very levelheaded and realistic, but he loved her, and would do anything for her. He gave the greatest hugs, too.

            Somehow, the two of them made it work. They seemed to balance each other out really well. When Anna was putting too much pressure on Chloe, Wil spoke up for her; when he was being too lenient with her, Anna spoke up. Since they both had pretty lucrative jobs, they had the money to get Chloe anything she wanted. She already felt separated from her peers, so she tried not to let them spend too much on her. She didn’t want to stick out even more than she already did with the latest mp3, computer, clothes, and everything else. She wanted nice things like any 13-year-old, but tried to keep the values of her possessions close to others in her class.

            “Ok, girls, I’m ready for some good food. How about you?” Wil’s smile always extended to his eyes, and tonight was no different. Chloe tilted her head as she watched him help her mother on with her coat.

            “What’s that look for? You look like you’re contemplating the meaning of life.”

            Chloe giggled, “Dad, don’t be silly. I figured that out years ago. Actually, I was just thinking how fortunate I am to have you as parents.” They both froze and looked at her with mild surprise.

            Anna was the first to speak (as usual), “Where did that come from?”

            “I don’t know. I hear the other kids at school talk about their families all the time, and it doesn’t seem fair that they have to have such hard lives at this age.” She looked down. She wasn’t one to wear her heart on her sleeve, but she was suddenly struck by how much her parents loved her and each other.

            Her parents looked lovingly at each other. Her dad touched her cheek and said, “Sweetie, I completely agree with you. It’s not fair. I’m glad that you don’t have to worry about that. You’re in a unique position to be able to share the abundance of love you have with those who might be missing some. You can show them that it doesn’t have to be that way. When they’re adults, maybe it can help them to make different choices.” He gave her one of those big hugs of his and, before Anna could start flooding her with tons of self-reflection exercises, he said, “Alright, all this talk of love is making me hungry!” He knew she didn’t like to be dissected; she just wanted to say her piece and glide back into the shadows to mull things over.

            Anna had gotten the message, “Yes, we don’t want someone to get our table, do we?”

             When they got to the restaurant, it was crowded. That was normal for a Friday, but they had their own table, and Ramona had known they were coming, so she’d saved it for them. They sat down and started looking at the menu. Chloe wasn’t sure why, though; they each ordered the same thing every time. Lasagna for Wil, fettuccini alfredo for Anna, and spaghetti for Chloe. They might have seemed like pretty uninteresting choices, but Ramona made everything ten times better than anywhere else.

Ramona and Anna had met years ago when she had hired Anna as a life coach. Afterward, she found the strength and courage to fulfill her dream of opening her own restaurant. They’d been friends ever since. When Ramona had remarried, Anna had even been one of her bridesmaids. From the minute she’d met Ramona’s stepsons, she’d thought that Seth would be perfect for Chloe. She was always trying to find ways for them to be around each other. She was sure that if they were, they’d eventually fall for each other. Seth and Chloe just tried to ignore all the attempts. To his credit, Seth was really nice about it all. He could have been really annoyed by the whole thing and taken it out on Chloe, but he wasn’t like that.

Wil paused between bites and asked Chloe, “So, why this sudden interest in football?” She wasn’t really into sports, so he had reason to be curious.

“I’m not into football, but everyone at the high school is. I thought it might be another way to help them see me as one of them. I mean, I know they’re nice, but they still see me as ‘that little girl.’ I was also hoping I might be able to understand why everyone is so obsessed with this game.”

Anna piped in, “Are you sure it’s not to catch a glimpse of any of the players?”

“Mom, please.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like that. Summer might be checking them out, but not me.”

Pointedly, and somewhat in Anna’s direction, Wil said, “And there’s no reason to hurry that along. It will freak us out soon enough without rushing things.” Chloe smiled, knowing he was trying to head off any more of Anna’s suggestions.

Anna got the message. “So, if you aren’t going to actually watch the game, what are you going to do the whole time?”

“Summer says there are tons of people that are just there for the atmosphere, to watch people, meet friends, whatever. Of course, some kids are there to cause trouble.”

“And there is a full moon tonight, so it might be worse. Are you sure you’ll be ok there?” Anna was a worrier.

“Honey, she’ll be fine. Besides, she needs to work herself into some of the normal high school activities if you want her to have a normal high school experience.” He winked at Chloe, which he didn’t try to hide.

“Oh, I get it. You two are conspiring against me, huh?”

“Mom, we would never do such a thing.”

They continued their easy conversation until it was time to get to the game. Anna had kept craning her neck to see if she could find Seth, but he never showed. She figured he must be at the school already. They paid their bill, said bye to Ramona and headed to drop Chloe off at the high school. Summer’s parents had already taken her there and she said she’d wait by the concession stand. As Chloe made her way through the crowd to the stand, she had no trouble at all spotting Summer’s bright red hair. They linked arms and ran off toward the home team side.

            Wade had still been puzzling over his encounter with the pink-haired girl in his psych class after dinner. He hadn’t had much time though; Seth and Trina had wanted to go to the football game in Origin. Their parents were busy at the restaurant and had asked him if he would take them. He hadn’t been to one since he’d graduated, so he thought it might be kind of fun. He’d been on the team until an injury his senior year, and had always loved being there. The lights; the excitement in the air; the smell of hot chocolate, popcorn, sweat, and nachos; the roar of the crowd - all of it brought back memories. Watching Ashley Spellner lead the cheering squad had been a favorite past time. He smiled at the memory of all the boys sitting right in front of her position on the squad. He’d even liked the half time show, especially when the majorettes twirled fire. He was hoping they’d do that tonight since it was a big game. The Cougars vs. the Badgers was a big deal around here. It was one of those old rivalries that existed in the sports world.

            Trina was in the band, so she was sitting with her band friends. Seth was off with his friends; probably watching the cheerleaders. Wade had found a few people he’d gone to school with and they were reminiscing. All in all, he was having a pretty good time. Some of them were in college like he was, and others had gotten jobs at the local warehouse right after graduation. All of them seemed to be more or less content with their lot in life. Wade had felt the same until today. After that weird encounter with Pink Hair, it seemed like he should be doing more with his life. He didn’t know why his feeling has changed so suddenly or why they seemed to have something to do with her. He’d wanted to talk to her after class, but she’d been gone before the professor had even ended his lecture. He had decided to find out her name and talk to her next week. He had the impression that it was important that they talk about what had happened and what it might mean. All these things had been running through the back of his mind. He felt the need to understand it. Not just because it had been really bizarre, but also because he thought it was important, and not just for them.

            He hadn’t been there too long, but he was getting a little thirsty. He decided to go get something at the concession stand. He wasn’t in hurry though; he wanted to enjoy the mood of the game. He told his acquaintances he’d be back in a few and set off down the bleachers. When he got there, he saw how long the line was and decided to go to the stand on the visitor’s side. On the way, he ran into Seth.
            “Hey, bro, buy me a Coke?”

            “Alright, but don’t get used to it.”

            “Why are you headed to the away side?”

            “It’s too crowded over here.”

            “Ok, lead the way, money bags.”

            “Very funny. Hey! See that girl with the pink hair?”

            “How could I miss her?”

            “She’s in my psych class, and when she bumped me this morning, something weird happened.”

            Seth smirked. “You mean like sparks flew and stuff?”

            “No, idiot.” He punched Seth in the arm, but not too hard. “No, it was like I should know her, or will, or need to, but I don’t know why. I can’t really explain it, but I think she felt the same thing. She had this weird look on her face. I meant to ask her about it after class, but she was gone.”

            “Well, she’s here now. So ask.” Seth brushed his dark curls out of his face.

            “I will. Let’s go.”

            Kaelyn and Isabel were so excited to be at the game that night. Kaelyn had taken her around to introduce her to her friends, and Isabel really started to feel like she could have fun with these new people. She’d been a little nervous about moving to a rural area where there wasn’t too much ethnic diversity, but they didn’t seem to even give it a second thought. They were more welcoming than some of the self-proclaimed melting-pot cities she’d been to. She felt at home. After all the chatting, they had found where the band was sitting so they could sit with Jenna. After the first quarter, out of the blue, they’d both gotten hungry and decided to head to the concession stand.

            “I don’t know why I got so hungry all of a sudden. You’re mom stuffed us at dinner.”

            “I know.” Kaelyn looked pensive for a minute, then said, “You don’t suppose this has anything to do with what happened earlier, do you?”

            Isabel thought for a moment before she said, “I think it might. We better get over there.” They started walking toward the stand. As they got nearer, they both stopped in mid step. “I think we’re actually supposed to go behind the stand, not to it.”

            “You’re right. I’m not hungry at all anymore. It’s like that was just a reason to get us down here. Look!”

            “What?”

            “Back behind the stand in that dark area way behind the bleachers. Do you see it?”

            “Is there something glowing back there?” Isabel was squinting, but Kaelyn seemed to be able to see it very easily.”

            “Yeah, I think we’re supposed to go there.” She was sure that’s what they were supposed to do, but not why she was so sure or what would happen.

            “What if it’s something dangerous?” Sudden nerves made Isabel a little more hesitant than she had been. After all, they were dealing with something that neither of them had ever experienced nor did they have any answers.

            “I don’t think it is. Besides, we won’t ever know what’s going on unless we take this first step. Come on!”

Isabel could not argue with that, so she followed her new friend toward something totally unknown to both of them.

            They approached the glowing area with caution. From a distance, it had looked like the glow would be coming from an actual object. Now that they were here, it just seemed to surround them; almost like a mist of shimmering lights. It had appeared very thick, almost viscous, but they could clearly see beyond the mist, even from within it. As they stood there, they stirred it with their hands, testing and moving it. The mist was cool, a little like walking into the shade on a warm day; not freezing, just cooler than the surrounding air. The mist was liquid, light, and particles all at once. They’d never seen or felt anything like it. As amazing as this was, they also knew it wasn’t why the mist was here. They were waiting for the others that somehow they knew would be there soon.

            Miracle of miracles, Victor had found himself with a night off from work. The boss’s son was a tight end for the Theodore Williams High School Badgers. Apparently, he was really good, and there might be some scouts there. Mr. Collins wanted as much support for his son as possible to be at the game, and he knew that many of the workers had kids that went to that school too. He figured if he closed the warehouse for the night and still paid them, they might be inclined to attend the game. Victor hadn’t been that interested, but Simon had wanted to go, so he decided to take him. At the last minute, Devon had decided to come along, too.

            “But you don’t even like football.” Bruno could never figure her out.

            “Believe me, I know, but I thought this might be an interesting place to observe people. We’re supposed to find some kind of ritual to observe for psych, and people definitely see this game as a ritual that must be attended, especially this particular game.” He’d grunted at her, not sure if she was telling the truth. In reality, she wasn’t. She really couldn’t explain it, but she felt compelled to be there for some reason. Victor looked sideways at her. “What?”

            When they were out of Bruno’s earshot, Victor said, “I think there’s another reason we both felt like going to a game we care nothing about.”

            Devon inhaled a little. Could he possible know about this morning? “What do you mean?”

            He noted the look on her face. She almost looked like she was afraid of telling him something, which had never happened before, but the look disappeared as soon as she saw him look. “What aren’t you telling me?” They had to drop the conversation as they all piled into the old Corolla. Soon, though, Bruno was in the back seat with his mp3 on full blast; they continued in low voices. “Well?”

            She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, like she didn’t know how to start. “Promise you won’t think I’m crazy.”

            He smiled and said, “Too late; I’ve thought that for years.”

            “I’m serious.” He glanced at her and saw that she wasn’t even looking at him. What could make her this hesitant?

            “Ok, I promise.” Then she began to relate to him how strange she’d felt all day, like she was supposed to be watching for something important to happen. Then she told him about her encounter with the guy in psych class. She was clearly troubled by the whole thing, but he knew she was looking to him for what to think about it. She was usually very independent, so he knew that this had upset her very much. He couldn’t lie; this was something he’d never faced before. He didn’t know what to do. He’d always known what to do.

            Almost with the fear of rejection in her eyes, she asked, “You believe me, don’t you?”

            “The only thing I’m sure of is that I believe you.” She sighed with relief. “There have been some strange things happening today. I don’t know why or how, but something is different today.”

“What do you mean? Has something happened to you, too?”

He looked in the rear view mirror to make sure Bruno was still deafened by Eminem. “Not exactly, but when have we ever wanted to go to a game? I didn’t even go to them when I was in school, but tonight, I felt like I had to be there or I might miss something.”

“Me, too!”

“Something’s going on, and I think we have to be there to get some answers. It seems ridiculous, but that’s what my gut is telling me, and it’s never been wrong.”

“No, I agree. There is something happening at the game tonight. I think that guy from my class might even be there. I have a funny feeling that he’s not the only one either.” They continued the trip in silence. Each engrossed in his and her own thoughts about what might be happening.

The moment they pulled into a parking space, Bruno flew out the door to go look for his friends. Victor and Devon set off to find a place to sit. As they walked, they were furtively watching everyone around them. They didn’t know when the something would happen, but they knew that there were others involved and didn’t want to miss anyone. They hadn’t seen anything unusual, so they decided to find a seat.

Devon said, “I’m a little thirsty, let’s get something to drink first.”

“Yeah, that’s sounds really good right now.” So they started walking toward the concession stand.

            The girls had been having fun watching the game, laughing, telling stories about the people they saw, and making plans for how to get their parents to let Summer stay over that night. It shouldn’t be too hard, but they still had to go about it the right way. The parents liked to think they were in charge, so the girls tried not to be too overtly manipulative.

            Chloe said, “Well, if they say no for tonight, we can always ask them for an alternative, then they will have to at least come up with a day that’s ok.”

            “True enough.”

            “Hey, I just got a craving for some peanuts. Want some?”

            “Nah, I just want to watch number 34.”

            “Don’t tell me you’re turning into one of them?”

            “Can’t help it. You’ll be there soon enough.”

            “Never. Well, I’m off to the concession stand.”

            “Hurry back!”

            Chloe made her way to the stand. She started to get in line, but she got that strange feeling she’d had that morning. For some reason, she felt the need to go to the concession stand on the other side of the stands. At first, she tried to brush the thought away, but it got stronger and stronger. She realized that there must be something over there that had to do with why today had been so weird. Someone or something clearly wanted her to go over there, and who was she to argue? She stepped out of the line and started pushing through the crowd. As she neared the other side, she saw Seth and his older brother. When she saw them, she got a strange chill that ran down her spine. It wasn’t fear, though; more like anticipation. She knew that they were somehow involved in this, too. She called after them, “Seth! Wade! Wait up!”

            The boys turned when they heard their names. They both had the same sensation she did, but much stronger since they were now eye to eye. Wade said, “Whoa! That’s almost what happened with the pink haired girl this morning. It was much … bigger before, though. Isn’t that Chloe?”

            “Yeah, but what just happened, and what does she have to do with it?”

            “I don’t know, but I think we’d better wait for her.”  They just stood there as she ran up.

            A little breathless, she said, “I never thought I’d make it over here. People don’t always make way for someone my size. Did you guys feel what I did?! I can tell you did. What was it? Has your day been weird, too? Why are we all here, and what does it mean?”

            Wade jumped in, “Hold on, Chloe! We don’t have a clue what’s going on. We just now figured out that we need to head this way.” They continued on for a few minutes in silence.

            Then Seth said, “What do you mean your day’s been weird?”

            “Well, all day, I’ve felt like something is different about today, like I should be watching for something unusual. If you guys aren’t that surprised to see me, and we’re all headed in the same direction, then doesn’t that mean that something weird is happening?”

            Wade crinkled his forehead. “I think something is happening, but I don’t think we have enough information to say anything more. Are we all agreed that we need to be over here for some reason?”

            Seth nodded, a little bewildered, and Chloe said, “Yes.”

            “Ok, then we need to be deliberate about this. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s a strange glow coming from behind the concession stand. There’s not usually anything back there and it’s always pretty dark, so I want you to stay close to me, got it?”

            They both said, “Yeah.”

            Seth said, “What about that pink-haired girl?”

            “I think she went back there, too.”

            “You did notice there was a pretty big guy with her, right?”

            “I’m not trying to hurt her. Besides, I think he might be part of this, too.”

            Chloe said, “Are we going to stand around and talk all night, or are we going back there to get some answers?” Her hazel green eyes were shining in anticipation.

            “Ok, remember, stay close.” They continued walking toward the stand and veered off to the left to go behind. Right away, it was much darker than out front. There was still some light from the field lights, but they were mostly blocked by the stand and the bleachers. Chloe edged a little nearer to Wade. He could tell she was excited and scared at the same time. He was pretty sure they all were. However, something had made it very clear to him that they were doing the right thing and had to keep going toward that glow.

             Once Victor and Devon had reached the concession stand, their thirst had disappeared. Now all they wanted was to keep walking behind the building into the darker part of the school’s property. They didn’t even really voice their change of mind; they just walked on passed the stand. Once they rounded the corner, they both stopped.

            Devon said, “Do you see that glow?”

            “Yeah, and I think there are two girls inside it. I think we need to go to them.”
            “Me, too.” They continued on, knowing that they were doing what they had maybe been waiting to do all their lives. Getting closer and closer, they started to feel like this was part of their destiny. Without speaking, Devon placed her hand in Victor’s. He squeezed her hand to reassure not only her, but also himself, that they were doing this together. They were only a few yards from reaching the misted area now. The girls were watching them from inside. One of the girls had deep, gray eyes and light honey blonde hair. The other was had dark brown hair and eyes and the most beautiful caramel skin. Devon thought the one with the gray eyes looked a little familiar. They walked on, feeling more and more lighthearted, but knowing that this was the beginning of something that may change their lives forever.

As they approached, Wade saw the pink haired girl and her male companion. They were just now walking into the mist. He also saw two girls already in the mist. “Do you guys see what I do?”

            Chloe had to squint a little, but she said, “Yeah! There are two girls in there. Are we supposed to go to them?” Her voice had lowered to an awed murmur.

            Seth said, “Yes, we have to follow those other two and join them all.” Wade and Chloe looked at him. Though they didn’t know it, they were experiencing the same feelings of well being that Victor and Devon had experienced a few moments before them. Chloe edged even closer and grabbed Wade’s hand. Even though they didn’t know each other that well, he didn’t resist. He felt a kind of a responsibility to her at this point. He knew that she was only 13, so he felt like he needed to watch out for her and Seth both. Whatever was about to happen, he knew that it was really big. Maybe the biggest that had ever happened to any of them. He thought they’d probably be fine, but he wanted to make sure someone had their best interests in this. He laid his hand on Seth’s shoulder when they go closer. It was a sign of Seth’s apprehension that he didn’t brush the hand away.

            Just as they reached the mist, they heard the crowd in the background cheering for a touchdown. Then they walked right into the mist. Almost by instinct, they all turned to the center, where it was brightest. Now they were all facing each other in a circle. Immediately, there was a blinding flash of light, though it didn’t hurt their eyes at all. They all had the strangest sensation of static electricity. It was mainly in their arms, but it was strongest in their fingers. They also smelled what must have been ozone, like after lightening strikes. Because of the flash, they couldn’t see anything for a moment, but they were aware of the others being with them.

Suddenly, they heard a really loud SNAP! For a split second there was pain like what electrocution might feel like, and then all was totally quiet. Not normal nighttime quiet, but a quiet that was totally devoid of all sounds of life. They all just stood there for a minute trying to get their bearings. In the silence, they looked around at each other and realized that they all knew each other’s names now. Several of them had never before met or spoken to each other, but now… They kept staring at each other in amazement as that realization became clearer. Not wanting to break the silence yet, they started to look around. It was more than evident that they weren’t at the football field anymore. There were no lights, no other people, no stands, not even the weird mist; nothing that they had seen only moments ago. In fact, even though they were obviously deep in the woods, they could tell that it was daytime outside of the woods. They probably should have been scared at this abrupt change in scenery, but they didn’t seem that bothered or even surprised. They saw that they were in some sort of clearing in a wooded area. There were a lot of large rocks covered in moss, and trees really close together. Of course, Kaelyn and Isabel knew right away where they were, but it wasn’t quite the same. Kaelyn decided to speak first.

“This is in the woods behind my house, but it doesn’t seem … right.”

Wade said, “What do you meant not ‘right’?”

“Well, it looks just like the woods behind my house, but the colors aren’t right, and it doesn’t feel the same. This clearing is there. It has always had an other-worldly feel to it, and I think I have an idea why now.” They all released a little nervous laughter. Nodding her head toward Isabel, she continued, “We were just here today, and we could tell something was different. It has always seemed like an almost magical place to me, but today didn’t look any different than every other time I’ve been here; it just felt different.”

They looked around while she was talking. Devon said, “Has anything out of the ordinary happened to anyone else before now?”

“Yeah,” said Isabel. She went on to explain what had happened that very morning to her and Kaelyn.

Pointing to Devon, Wade spoke up. “That’s the same thing that happened to us in class this morning.”

Devon nodded her head. “Anyone else have that kind of experience?” Everyone looked around, but no one spoke up. “Why just the four of us? And why didn’t that happen with Vic and me or Wade and Seth?”

They were all silent for a moment. Chloe thought she might have an idea, but why would they listen to a little girl?

Kaelyn said, “No, Chloe, don’t be afraid. I think we should hear what everyone has to say. I don’t think age matters as much right now.” When everyone looked at her with wide eyes, she said, “What?”

Chloe said, “I didn’t say anything. How did you know how I was feeling?” She asked in that awed whisper she’d used more than once this evening already.

“I don’t know. I just did. I felt what must have been your fear to speak up in front of so many older people. I knew it wasn’t mine, and I almost felt it tied to you, like a string to a balloon. I don’t know how else to describe it.” Kaelyn paused to let this sink in, then said, “So, what were you thinking of saying, Chloe?”

She was still hesitant to speak, but Wade nodded to her, which gave her the push she needed. “Well, it could be that you guys had that reaction because it was the first time you’d actually looked into each others eyes and you didn’t know each other before. The rest of us didn’t have that experience because we already knew each other.”

Devon said, “Chloe, I think you might be right.” Chloe smiled shyly at this encouragement.

Victor moved from Devon’s side and slowly turned his head taking in their surroundings. “So, what exactly is this place?”

Everyone looked at Kaelyn. “Well, until a few minutes ago, it was just a glen in the woods behind my house. Now, I don’t think I know any more than the rest of you.” The silence continued, so Kaelyn did, too. “My friend, Jenna, and I come here all the time, but we just thought it was really cool.” She looked down, knowing that they wanted more information and that she didn’t have it to give.

Isabel spoke up, “Kaelyn, it’s ok. When we need to know more, we will.” Isabel looked almost as surprised as everyone else did. “I don’t know where that came from, but I know it’s true.” She smiled sheepishly.

Finally Devon said, “I think we have more to do before we head back.”

“Head back where? We don’t even know where we are?” said Seth.

“Well, till we see something to the contrary, we have to go with what we know. We know we’re behind Kaelyn’s house, and that it’s not even in the same town as the game. We should call at least Chloe’s parents and probably Isabel’s and Kaelyn’s to let them know they’re ok. Does anyone have a cell phone?”

“Yeah, hold on” Chloe fished into her jacket and pulled out her phone. “No signal.”

Wade said, “Maybe we should all check out our phones.” They all started pulling out cell phones. Their looks made it clear that no one else had a signal either.

Kaelyn said, “That’s never been an issue back here before.”

Victor said, “Right, well, we better figure out why we’re here and then maybe head back to the game. People might start wondering what happened to some of you soon. Kaelyn, how far behind your house are we?”

“Maybe a quarter of a mile.”

“What else is back here?”

“Nothing really. The stream that goes by here flows all the way past house, but other than that…”

“We should head toward your house at least. Do you think your parents would take us back to the high school?”

“Yeah, but how do we explain how we got here?” No one had an answer.

Chloe said, “We might be coming back here quite a lot, so we should get to know the area, especially this glade.”

Victor said, “I think you’re right. Ok, why don’t some of us head out and see what’s outside this place. We can also check and see if Kaelyn’s parents are home and willing to get us back to the high school. Those who stay here should try to figure out what we can do if they won’t. I don’t want Chloe and Seth’s parents to freak out about where they are.” He waited to see if anyone objected to this suggestion. When no one said anything in opposition, he said, “Seth, Chloe, Isabel, and Wade, you stay here. Kaelyn, Devon, and I will head up to the house. Agreed?” Everyone nodded his or her head.

Chloe said, “What about light?” The glow that brought them here had remained to give them light within its vicinity. However, once they looked beyond the confines of the tree wall, they saw how very dark it was in the woods, and how dark it had been everywhere when they’d left the football game.

Wade said, “Good call, Chloe. I don’t suppose anyone has a flashlight?” No responses. “Any suggestions?” Again, no responses. Since they hadn’t really planned to be in the middle of the woods at night, they couldn’t have been expected to be prepared for it. They were all trying to think of something though. In fact, a few of them drew breath as if to express an idea, but said nothing. After a few minutes, Seth walked toward the glowing mist. Unlike at the football field, where it had been this nebulous, ethereal fog, now it was almost a solid mass of light. He reached out toward it, but there were several cries like, “No!” “Seth, don’t!” “Don’t touch that!” and the like.

He did halt with his arm still reaching out and said, “Don’t worry, I think this will work. That could be one of the reasons it’s still here. We still need it. Otherwise, it should have disappeared when we got here.” He went ahead and grabbed a piece of the light and separated it from the rest of the mass. There were a few gasps at first, but he didn’t seem to have felt anything adverse. In fact, he was now basically holding a ball of light in his hand and smiling about it. The main mass didn’t seem to have diminished in size or strength. “See. No problem. It just feels like holding some cotton candy, except it isn’t sticky. It’s very soft and warm. So, Victor, you and the others can take light with you.” He walked over to Victor to hand it to him, but Victor nodded at Devon.

“I’d rather have my hands free; give it to Devon.” Seth did as requested.

Devon slightly recoiled as he put into her outstretched hand. Once it was actually in her palm, her expression relaxed. “He’s right; it’s not bad at all. It’s actually a nice feeling. Maybe we should spread the light around. Seth, do you think we could take bits and place them around the glade?”

They had readily accepted that there was nothing to worry about from this strange substance, and that Seth would know the answer. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.

Victor said, “While you four do that, and maybe think of a plan B, the three of us will head out.” Kaelyn, Devon, and Victor walked out of their protected area and into the dark woods beyond. He wanted to be in front, but Devon was carrying the light and Kaelyn knew the area better. He settled on the three of them walking side by side. He asked Kaelyn, “Have you been out here at night before?”

“Oh, tons of times. Jenna and I have even stayed out here over night before.” She fell silent, sensing he had other questions.

Victor was attentively scrutinizing their immediate vicinity, but he wanted to know as much as possible as soon as possible. “Does anything seem different or out of place to you?”

Kaelyn tilted her head in thought as she looked around her. “Well…the coloring seems strange, like I said.”

“Strange how?”

“It’s almost like we’re looking at everything through some kind of filter. They seem … I don’t know, maybe not as vivid as usual. Then there’s that weird glow at the edge of everything.” Devon and Victor had to look a little closer, but then their eyebrows rose in wonder.

Devon said, “I never noticed that before. There is a glow, but it’s very slight. I don’t know that I would have noticed if you hadn’t said something. At least, not for a while.”

Victor said, “I wonder if it has to do with the moisture in the air and that glow in the glade.”

Kaelyn went on, “I don’t know, but it’s never been this way before. Of course, there’s never been a glowing ball around here before either.” They laughed a little, albeit uneasily. “The only other thing that’s weird is that there’s still no noise.” They all listened for a moment.

Devon said, “Well, there hasn’t been any noise since we got here. Why do you say ‘still’?”

“It’s always been oddly soundproof in the Room (that’s what we call it), but it’s never been this quiet out here before. I mean, there’s nothing. It’s pretty unnerving, you know?”

Victor said, “At least we’ll be able to hear anything approaching. They walked on for a few minutes before they could tell that the protective, yet somewhat oppressive, darkness was shifting into the normal darkness of night. They didn’t really have much to say. It wasn’t that they didn’t have tons of questions; they chose to mull things over for a while before throwing all kinds of questions at people who had no more information than they did. After another 10-15 minutes of walking, the trees started to thin out, and they could even make out the edge of the woods. A few minutes more and they emerged into Kaelyn’s back yard. She could see the back of her house, but it looked lifeless. Even if no one was home, her house never looked this dreary.

Devon said, “It doesn’t look like anyone’s home.”

“It’s more than that. It doesn’t look like anyone has ever or will ever be there. It looks like an empty shell, like a pale copy.”

Victor said, “I agree, but let’s see if your folks are there at least.” They continued forward, and when they reached the door to the back porch, Kaelyn reached up, turned the knob, and they all walked in. The inside of the house was just as tomb-like as the outside.

Kaelyn called out, “Mom? Dad? Melissa? Simon?” They all knew no one would answer. She wandered through a few of the rooms downstairs with Victor trailing her while Devon waited in the kitchen. Once they returned to the kitchen she said, “I just don’t understand. Everything is in the right place and looks like what it’s supposed to look like, but things aren’t right. None of the clocks are running, the TV wouldn’t turn on, there aren’t even any animals running around.”

Devon said, “I’m starting to feel like Dorothy here. What is going on?”

Kaelyn, “Not to put to fine a point on it, but we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

Victor said, “We better get back and tell the others, if they haven’t already figured it out.”

Devon said, “Hold on, like Chloe said, we don’t know how long we’ll be here. Maybe we should have the others come back up here to stay.”

“I think we’re supposed to stay in the Room. I think it provides some kind of protection that none of the buildings out here could. However, we can grab some supplies from here. I’m sure the others are getting hungry. My little brother has a wagon in the garage. We can fill it with food, blankets, whatever.”

“Good. I’ll get the wagon while you and Devon start getting out things we can take.” The girls started to rummage through the fridge, the cupboards, and the closets. They pulled out food, water bottles, blankets and pillows, toilet paper, etc. She even found the camping gear her dad used every year on the trip with his college friends. They also filled a small cooler with ice and some perishables. Victor suggested that they also take back some batteries and even paper and pens. No one wanted to say it, but they seemed to know that they could be in this limbo for a long time. They wanted to be sure that they were prepared. “I think that will do for now. If we think of other things, we can always send a group back. I suppose we can also look in the other houses. It’s not really stealing if no one else but us is here.”

Devon asked, “Are we sure of that?”

“It sure seems so, but we can always take the car in the garage out to check. First, I want to get back to the others with this stuff though.” Victor pulled the large wagon full of supplies while the girls carried the pillows and some of the sleeping bags. With everything loaded up, they began the walk back to the Room.

            After Victor and the girls had left, Seth and Chloe set about putting pieces of light around their space. They noted that the rock formations around the perimeter were the right size for beds, and Isabel pointed out how soft and thick the moss was. “It’s like this place was formed for us, knowing that we’d be here and would need to stay for a while. There’s a pit just right for a fire, a table for a workspace with rocks to sit on, spaces to store things, a creek that flows within the area with clear, clean water. What else could we need?”

            Chloe said, “If we aren’t meant to be here a long time, we’ll definitely be using it a lot.”

            “I don’t know how all of you are just accepting all of this.” Seth’s brow was furrowed in frustration. “I know we’ve all had the same experience, that it’s beyond what we can explain; but all of you just take it like it’s no big deal and that we have nothing to worry about, but I have issues with all of this.”

            Isabel said, “I don’t know that we’re assuming there’s nothing to worry about, but we can only go on the information we have now. I don’t see or feel any reason for worry yet, so I’m choosing to go with the flow.”

            “What if this has all been set up by someone or something that wants to harm or even kill us?”

            Chloe looked from one person to the other, biting her lower lip. She had not once thought that any of this could be malevolent, but why not? What if Seth was right? Without saying so, all of them had sort of assumed that they were being watched over and helped by a benevolent force, but what if they were wrong?

            Isabel put a hand on her shoulder, “Chloe, we don’t have any reason to think that whatever brought us together wants to cause us harm. Seth has a point that we should be cautious, but how can it be bad that it brought us together? If nothing else, we’ve all found new friends, right?” Chloe nodded her head, but didn’t speak. She was a little afraid that she might sound like a scared little kid. She tried to smile and turned away from the others, pretending to situate a ball of light better when she knew was sitting just fine. “Besides, if someone meant us harm, they could have done something by now.”

            Isabel gave Seth a warning look to keep him from going to far. None of them wanted to think about the bad that could happen, but they also didn’t want to scare the pants off of each other.

            “I’m just saying we shouldn’t go into anything blindly.” He knew Chloe was smart, so it didn’t help her to lie to her, but he didn’t want to give her nightmares either.

            “I agree. We can talk more about it when the others get back.”

            To move the conversation along, Wade said, “We should start thinking about what we can do if Kaelyn’s parents aren’t there.”

            “They aren’t, and neither is anyone else.” Chloe was still facing away from the others, and she was talking very quietly.

            Wade said, “What was that, Chloe?”

            She turned around and tried to make herself sound more certain than her voice threatened to sound. “I said, Kaelyn’s parents aren’t there, and no one else is out there either. It’s just us seven for now.”

            “What do you mean ‘no one else is out there either’?”

            “This isn’t Cedar, Ohio. We’re in some other place that just looks like Cedar. There are no other people here, but I’m not sure about animals. I don’t think they’re here either. There will be others later, but they don’t come from where we came from.”

            “I’m not sure I understand.”

            “You will.”

“How do you know that?”

            “To be honest, I don’t know how I know, I just do.” She walked over to the light ball, grabbed another bit, and proceeded to place it as if she hadn’t just said some very strange things.

            Wade, Isabel, and Seth looked at each other. Wade decided to leave it alone for now, as Chloe seemed to be done with it herself. He decided to keep talking about what they should do next. “So, if there isn’t anyone out there, and there are any cars available, we could take one into Origin back to the high school. I guess if we’re not really in our own world, we don’t have to worry about calling any family. We still need to figure out why we’re here, if there’s a reason for us to be here, and how to get back. We may not have any control over those things, but we can at least talk about them.”

            “Isabel, did Kaelyn say anything else about this place?” Seth was wandering around the area laying his hands on things while he asked.

            “Not, really. We weren’t really out here that long. She told me about her and Jenna hanging out here a lot. I think it was their version of a clubhouse. They have slept out here, and can sleep more comfortably on that moss than any bed at home.”

            “This moss isn’t something I’ve ever heard about before. I get the feeling that it only exists for this place, which means it’s here for us. It may have other properties as well. Maybe healing?”

            Wade said, “Unfortunately, I think that may come in very handy.”

            “You see these little yellow flowers?” They watched Simon bend down and gently turn one of the butter yellow blossoms toward them. “These could be very useful, too. Not just medicinally, but for food, too.”

            Wade said, “How do you know this? I mean, none of us have ever been here before.”

“I don’t know. I just … do.” Simon looked as much at a loss as the rest of them did.

Chloe walked over to join them. “Seth, I think you might be getting this information because it has to do with why you specifically were called to this place with us. Somehow you receive knowledge of the things around us and how they can benefit us. You may even be the one who knows how to heal wounds and such. We may not be able to figure these things out on our own.” She stopped, feeling that maybe she’d said too much. She still felt a little out of place with these people who shadowed her in both years and size.

Isabel noticed. “Chloe, you may be the one who needs to tell us some things about what we need to do, so follow your own advice. I know you feel like you’re too young to tell us anything, but I don’t think age has much to do with what we’re supposed to do here. It’s about knowledge that’s been given to us to use on this journey. Someone has given us our various strengths to help the whole group.”

Chloe took a fortifying breath and added, “When any of you get information about something, let us know.”

Isabel smiled warmly at her and said, “I can’t say that I understand what’s happening, but it’s clear that it’s something no one else has experienced before.”

Wade was feeling a little overwhelmed by everything. He thought that if the others returned, maybe they could try to figure out the next step together. “Ok, hopefully the others will be back soon. All we can do is wait for now.”

Chapter 4

             She heard the SNAP! She knew exactly what that could mean. Another of those infernal groups of the Other’s had moved into the Twilight. This was her chance. If she could find them, she could manipulate and maybe even control them. Because of the previous unpleasantness in her attempts to see them, she reverted to using the basin instead of her direct energy. She bent over the basin, moving her hands and arms as she’d been taught, uttering the incantations in a particular fashion. Her goal was set: she MUST find out where this new endeavor was to begin.

            Before hearing the tell-tale noise, she had been pondering her history of never quite getting complete control. It is possible that she has been too aggressive. She let them know right away what her intentions were for them and their people. She had since been thinking that maybe the creatures she sought to conquer were smarter than she gave them credit for. She had been underestimating them. She might have to use cunning, subtlety and deceit and worm her way into their confidences. Yes! She could befriend them as an advisor of sorts. Let them think she was there to help. She could appear as something unthreatening, even benign. She could block them from sensing the truth for a while. By the time they figured it out, she would be fully ensconced in a position of leadership. From there, it would be quite simple to gain control of at least their leader if not all of them. If she could control them, she would be in control of it all! Brilliant.

            She leapt up and ran to the bookshelves along the wall. Her collection was vast; both of books she’d taken from others and those she’d written herself. All of them were overflowing with the knowledge of thousands of years and from thousands of civilizations and individuals. Those she’d written herself were mostly of her experiences and her own research and creations to further her abilities. Every book on every shelf was there because of its potential to lead her to ultimate victory over everyone and everything.

            Her fingers ran gently over the spines of the various tomes. The leather, paper, and fabric covers all gave different sensations. The materials radiated power and control; the two things she tried to fill her existence with. The aroma of the various covers wafted over her, enveloping her in their scents. She closed her eyes to fully experience and join with the wisdom within. To someone observing, they might have thought the touch was a loving one, that she revered knowledge or literature. The truth was that she was incapable of love (even of herself). Her gentle touch was due to her controlled excitement at the prospect of a new opportunity to make others suffer under her power. She wanted to rip the books from the shelves and throw them into the air in glee. However, she knew that she had to restrain herself so as not to miss any steps or race when the plan was best carried out in a saunter. She wanted nothing less than complete supremacy. She would make them all suffer.

            She continued along the bookshelf, sensing more than reading which books might best guide her to the best course of action. She honed in on a very large book with a purple, worn leather cover. It was unclear what kind of leather it was, and she was certain that human skin was a possibility. She breathed lightly onto the front cover and read the title that appeared. Yes, this would do nicely. She continued on. Shortly, she stopped again and withdrew another volume. This one was covered in worn but fine, garnet-colored material like silk. The cloth was embroidered with delicate and strange symbols and figures in golden and opalescent thread. This also could be very helpful. She carried both books over to the table next to the Basin and tenderly placed them on its surface.

She made the usual incantations before opening the deep purple book. It was necessary that they were done correctly or there could be … problems. She’d had to deal with difficult issues in the past, but the power of this book was something she couldn’t afford to make mistakes with. She wasn’t worried that she might not have the knowledge or ability to handle this kind of power; it was absurd to think otherwise. However, some of her past attempts that had yielded less than satisfactory results kept her in check now. She knew that she could not allow herself to become distracted about anything. Before taking action on anything she was about to read, she had to empty her mind in ways she rarely did. She could not allow any thoughts of these young people to seep into her consciousness. The distractions of her anger and her desire for control would be enough to rattle her concentration, and that would not be a good situation. She had learned from painful experience that distractions could be dangerous.

Before she could begin the necessary rites, she sensed something in the air. She paused, tilting her head a bit, as if listening for a faint sound somewhere on the grounds. She felt that she needed to take action elsewhere, but she wasn’t sure why. Fluidly, she rose from her seat and walked out of the room and down the dark hallway toward the front hall. It was as if she were being beckoned outside, but by whom? The hallway was lit by torches on the walls. Between the torches were the portraits of her ancestors. She glared at those she’d known during her existence. As always, she was bitter that they were no longer available to suffer her revenge. Well, someone would have to pay that price, and she would be the one to exact it.

            When Victor, Devon, and Kaelyn returned, the others filled them in on some of their speculations. Victor confirmed Chloe’s statement that they seemed to be the only ones there. They hadn’t even heard any insects while they walked, let alone seen any other living things.

With an encouraging glance from Isabel, Chloe told them that they all need to be aware of what they’re thinking or feeling. “We need to get used to sharing things with each other. If you think you might know something, we probably need to know it, too. We also need to be open to the things that the others say. Seth seems to know things about objects around us, so if he says that these yellow flowers are good for a certain thing; we have to listen to him.”

“I’m only playing devil’s advocate, but Seth’s only 15, why should I listen to him?” Victor wasn’t trying to be mean, it was a valid question.

Isabel said, “I know it seems strange, and if we were at home, we probably wouldn’t be going about things this way; we’d look to you as the oldest adult to lead us. But we’re not at home. I think we can all agree on that now.” Several of them gave a nervous chuckle. “All of us are on pretty equal footing when it comes to knowing what’s going on here. I believe that each of us has a reason for being here. Part of that could be our natural inclinations. It appears that Chloe’s has to do with her ability to know what our abilities might be and how to best use them. It is in our best interest to listen to her about this. Victor, you’re a natural leader when it comes to dealing with practical things so far. Maybe that’s part of your thing, maybe not. We just have to be attentive to each other.”

“I agree.” Kaelyn hadn’t said too much, but of this she was sure and felt the need to say so.

“Fair enough,” said Victor. “I can live with that.”

After a thoughtful pause, Devon said, “So, what do we do now?” They all looked around at each other. Now that they had supplies, there really wasn’t anything to occupy their curiosity. They would have to figure something out now.

Wade said, “Does anyone have any idea why we’re here or what we should be doing right now?”

Kaelyn brushed her hair back and cleared her throat. “I don’t think we’re supposed to know our purpose yet.”

Isabel said, “What do you mean?”

“Well, I get this feeling that we’re just supposed to get comfortable with the things we’ve seen so far, get used to these surroundings, and get used to not knowing what’s coming next. We have to learn to trust each other and our strengths. I mean, we don’t even know how long we’ll be here, right?” They looked at each other, hoping that someone might know the answer, but no one said a word. “Well, then we might as well use the time we have to find out as much about this place as we can.”

Devon nodded in agreement. “She’s right. Besides, we really have nothing else to do anyway. At least not till we get more information.”

Seth said, “You say that like there’s someone or something giving us this information as they think we need it. I already asked this while you were gone, but how do we know that this someone is on our side?”

Isabel said, “We don’t even know if there are sides yet, but I am certain that there is someone benevolent helping us in this.”

Wade said, “There aren’t sides right now, but there will be.”

Right away, Chloe went to him and asked, “Do you see something? How many sides are there?” The others didn’t really know what to think, so they stood still and listened.

“There will be 4 sides to begin with, but that could dwindle to three. One of the sides is very strong and power-hungry; that’s our biggest obstacle. The other two sides are similar to us in abilities, but larger in numbers. That’s all I see for now.”

Chloe said, “Well, now we know that at least one of us might be able to see some things before they happen. Well, I hope it’s before.” Everyone just kept staring at Wade like they’d just met him.

“What? I’m not the only one here who’s got some weird stuff going on.”

“Bro, don’t worry about it. We just haven’t seen anything that out of the ordinary yet.”

“You mean besides being sucked into some other world?”

“Good point. Well, I think we should do a little exploring around this whatever-you-call-it.”

“We were calling it the Room.”

“That works. So, shall we all step outside the Room and see what we see?”

Devon said, “I think we should try to get these supplies into some semblance of order first.” The others nodded in agreement.

As the others started to divide the items and figure out where to put them, Chloe edged up through the group to stand next to Victor. He was really big, and even scared her a little, but she figured being next to him was the safest place she could be, especially when they went outside (it was weird to think of this place as inside, but that’s how it felt to everyone). She tried to make herself a little smaller so he might not notice her, but that was very difficult in such small group. “And what do you think you’re doing, Little One?” He said in a way he though was gentle, but she blushed anyway.

“Nothing, I just – uh – well, I just thought it might be safe, you know...” Her voice got quieter as she ended the thought.

Victor looked at down at her from the side. He was used to people being afraid of him because of his size and demeanor. He was a teddy bear, but they wouldn’t know that looking at him. His 6’4” frame was broad and all muscle. His intense blue eyes didn’t hide his Italian temperament at all. When he looked angry people got nervous. He wished that would work for his brother and sister, but they were immune to his intimidation. People asked him all the time if he was a bouncer, and he’d considered doing just that. He hadn’t thought he could watch people behaving like idiots every night, though. For some reason he couldn’t place, this girl had touched him and he felt himself wanting to bring her nothing but happiness and make sure she was safe even above the others. He lowered his head so that he was looking almost directly into her green eyes.

“Chloe, I know that I’m a big guy, but you don’t have to worry about me. I will never, ever hurt you or let anything else hurt you. Ok?”

She visibly relaxed a little, and even smiled. “Ok.”

“Why don’t we help the others get this stuff sorted out?” She nodded and they joined the others. The group spent the next half hour deciding who was sleeping where and finding a place for the supplies. Victor and Wade decided to sleep in the two bottom spaces by the opening. Chloe made sure to be in the space above Victor. Devon was beside Victor with an empty area above her. Kaelyn was above Wade; Isabel was above Seth, who was next to Wade. They passed out pillows and sleeping bags, no one really wanting to admit they might have to actually stay here for any length of time.