“Can you turn that off, please!” I requested as soon as I walked into a classroom full of long tables, aquariums with small snakes bordering its perimeter, and various science-based posters scattered throughout the walls. I vaguely wondered which decor replaced the circulatory chart that the students showed far too much interest in, but I was too upset to enquire about it.
Aleck turned off his small radio, and Ellie, Ginger, and Fletcher stared at me with concern. “Isn’t that one of your favorites?” Ginger asked me.
I knew sooner or later I’d have to explain why that particular Metallica song now had negative connotations attached to it, but I didn’t esteem that I should lead off with that story! “It’s… Well, it’s just not anymore.”
“I always found it creepy, but it makes me sad that you lost your love for it!” Ginger remarked.
“You’re really upset about Phoebe’s accident, huh?” Ellie sympathized with me.
I responded to Ellie, “No! Well, yes, but that’s not why I’m triggered by that song! Although, Phoebe’s accident did get the ball rolling…”
Fletcher griped, “Don’t talk to me about rolling balls! I spent all afternoon picking up after my class’s soccer practice! Every year, I think it’s a good idea to have them practice passes to each other, and I continually forget what a disaster it turns out to be!”
“Why? Did they make a mess?” I questioned Fletcher.
“Don’t tell him,” Aleck directed Fletcher. “I gotta pick my boy up from his orchestra rehearsal in a bit, so let’s cut to the chase: What happened on Friday?”
I gulped a smidgen. We had all been through a lot together, so I supposed I shouldn’t have felt so nervous, but there was something different about this instance. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I reckoned part of it was my fiancé’s absence. When I first noticed supernatural crimes occurring, the others were highly skeptical, but Phoebe convinced them to give me a chance. I hoped that they wouldn’t display the same doubts for this episode, but I anticipated some resistance. I convinced myself my anxiety was wrong, took a deep breath, and began, “Okay… So, you know that movie that’s being filmed at the Arioch? Well, Phoebe’s sister’s in it, and she said there was some spooky stuff happening around the hotel. I went there ‘cause, with all the weird things that happened at our school last week, it seemed likely that I’d find something scary there.”
Ellie guessed, “And you didn’t find anything scary there?”
“Oh no, I did! Mara tried to seduce me! Apparently, starring in a porno isn’t satisfying enough for her!” I shuddered at this haunting image.
“Wait, Phoebe’s sister is Mara Kinkplease?” Aleck reacted incredulously. We all gave him a peculiar stare, so he admitted, “My wife and I are adventurous in bed, okay?”
Ginger advised us, “Watch what you say! Manuel could walk in anytime! He probably won’t since he’s training the school secretary in, like, everything! You know, he… Nevermind! Go on, Connor! Did Phoebe get into an accident after she learned what her sister did?”
The moment arrived- the strangeness would have to get aired, and I prayed that all of our previous paranormal encounters would keep their minds open to this narrative! “I haven’t told her yet. I will! At some point… But after I stormed out of the hotel, I saw Damon in the lake! He warned me that Phoebe was in danger, so I rushed downtown to help her! Phoebe and I wound up fighting a giant, radioactive bunny, and it hit her! Everything’s fine except for her memory, which doesn’t remember anything from the last decade! Then, when I went to lunch today, I ran into a man made of sand in the theatre where part of Corvina’s band was playing. Both scenes had magic wands involved, and it looks like Damon is planting them so our current and former students curse us!”
I spouted all of that out as quickly as possible in order to get it over with, a sort of ripping of the bandage method, but after their blank faces blinked in confusion, I considered that perhaps I went a little too fast. I mentally prepared myself to repeat everything, but then Aleck critiqued me, “Dude! You can’t unload a ton of bombshells on us like that all at once! You gotta give us time to digest each claim!”
“Sorry!” I apologized. I grew optimistic that they would accept my description of his return and we could transition into strategies to defeat him, but that feeling didn’t last long!
“I’m stumped!” Fletcher stated. “How did that prick get wands to these kids if he’s in Hell right now?”
I disclosed to them, “He says he has a conduit on Earth where he can spread his ideas to others and make it seem like it was their own.”
Ellie quizzed me, “Where is this conduit?”
“No clue! I was too busy trying to hurry and rescue Phoebe,” I let her know.
“From the radioactive bunny?” Ginger ogled me cynically.
Aleck challenged me, “Okay, so you told this to the doctors, and they let you leave the hospital?”
Their mistrust irked me slightly, so I made a noise of annoyance. “No, of course not! When the subject came up, I played dumb about the whole affair. Listen, I realize this is all hard to believe, but it’s the truth! Damon’s gonna continue wreaking havoc on our community if we don’t take the necessary steps to stop him!”
“You feelin’ alright, buddy? Do you have a fever or something?” Fletcher tried to put his hand on my forehead.
“I’m fine!” I barked as I slapped his arm away. “What, you guys think I’m hallucinating this shit?”
Ginger spelled it out, “Well, we established last semester that you wouldn’t joke about stuff like this, but… this simply doesn’t sound like Damon’s M.O.”
Ellie concurred, “Yeah, he used monsters and spooky beings that we’ve heard of. Well, except for that ghoulish girl that was supposed to send out evil jinxes- the children say it’s a movie reference, but I still haven’t seen anything about it!”
“So, do you imagine all of the oddities and odd student behavior we experienced last week were mere coincidences?” I shot back.
“Yes! Everything’s been normal so far today,” Aleck asserted.
I spat, “Maybe for you! You didn’t get attacked by magical b.s.!”
Ginger supportively pat my shoulder. “You poor soul! My grandpa had PTSD too, and when he got triggered, he-!”
“I don’t have PTSD!” I got up and went out of her range of reach. “None of this is fabricated by my thoughts over the past! I’m not the only one who’s witnessed this! Ask Roxy about it!” I mulled it over for a second, and then I altered my sentence, “Or someone more credible like Corvina!”
“Hey, Corvina!” Aleck beckoned a person in the hallway. Corvina sheepishly entered inside, and Aleck interrogated her, “Did you get ambushed by a man made of sand earlier?”
Corvina tensed up slightly, but then she fibbed, “That’s crazy! That never happened!”
I bemoaned, “Corvina! How could you lie? I need them to see the true facts!”
“Oh, no! Sorry! I thought we were keeping this secret like that vampire saga!” Corvina regretfully regarded me.
“They know about that!” I informed her. “They were helping me fight them! You almost killed them!”
Corvina looked surprised by that revelation. “Seriously? Oh, man! I must’ve blocked a lot of that out! I’m pretty sure I already started to repress this drama too. Why did you set the theatre curtains on fire?”
I dismissed her, “Forget it. You can go do… whatever!”
“I’ve got detention for being late to fifth period. Why was I so tardy?” Corvina pondered as she exited.
“Did this monster make her lose her memory too?” Fletcher probed.
As I rolled my eyes, I conveyed to him, “No! She’s probably traumatized, or she… I dunno! I don’t know much about her, actually!”
After a small bout of silence, Ginger apprised me, “Listen, I gotta go pick my partner up. We’re celebrating her birthday soon…”
“Yeah, I gotta get going too,” Aleck shared her sentiment.
“You mean none of you wanna help me?” My heart sank. This group always had my back, and it stung that they weren’t willing to support me when I needed it the most.
Fletcher rather guiltily shifted his feet. “I’d like to, but I don’t think it’s something we should encourage…”
I argued, “It couldn’t hurt to do a little research on where a conduit might be or why Damon seems to hold a grudge against all of Terra-Belle! We could learn more about his history…”
“Oh, no!” Ellie refused. “I’ve had anxiety all summer about that jackass returning, and I feel so much better since ever is finally settling down! I don’t wanna go back down that road!”
“Ignoring the problem won’t make it go away!” I contended. “You can live in your bubbles if you’d like, but your delay will only cause more damage! And you’ll be so caught off guard when something happens that you won’t defend yourselves as skillfully as you would have if you did your homework beforehand! If you act like nothing’s gonna occur, you’ll fall victim to a false sense of security! I’m warning you for your best interest! An attack could errupt at any moment!”
Immediately following that statement, we heard a loud bang from down the hall! The others appeared shocked to hear a disturbance, but I wasn’t! I mean, obviously! I wanted to tell them a hearty I-told-you-so, but with peril possibly prevailing, I couldn’t afford to waste a single minute! I dashed out of Aleck’s classroom, and while I wasn’t looking forward to interacting with another magical mishap, I was glad that they were about to behold proof of my sanity!
While I raced down the hall, I steeled myself up for a contentious foray. Prior to rounding the corner, I slowed my gait in order to avoid getting ambushed. I saw a large and mobile mass by the main doorway, and I presumed it to be some kind of alien life force. I couldn’t fathom how I would defeat it without a weapon of some fashion, but I knocked on wood that I might discover a manner of outsmarting it. I cautiously crept away from my cover, and what unveiled itself to me was astounding…
“Assistance, please!” Mrithan’s muffled voice beseeched us as his legs dangled out of a trash can on the custodian’s cart.
“Mrithan! How did this…? How did you…?” I stammered.
He swiftly pleaded, “I’ll explain myself, but first, can you get me out?”
Fletcher and I pulled him by his limbs, and Aleck as well as Ginger aided him in getting balanced. He nearly plummeted into the refuse again, but Ellie gabbed his shirt and yanked him away from his trap. Mrithan took a couple of deep breaths, and then he graciously commented, “Thank you! That was awful! What the heck are these students throwing out?”
“You probably don’t wanna know!” Ginger sagely expressed.
“I was heading home when a teacher reported that this got left here. I figured it wouldn’t be any trouble to bring it to the maintenance closet real fast, but I went too fast and fell! I was doing so well today too!” Mrithan sighed and vacated the premises.
I could sense what my friends were going to articulate, so I snapped, “This turned out to be nothing, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be something someday!” I didn’t give them an opportunity to dispute that- I marched off the campus without glancing back at them. I felt so betrayed by their lack of willingness to lend me a hand, and the weight of it all was beginning to land on me. The town was under threat, and I was the only individual who could thwart it! My cellphone rang, and I grew elated at the notion that one of my colleagues had called to apologize. When I checked my screen, I realized that it wasn’t them trying to contact me at all…