The Thought Keepers: Ability

Chapter 3: Reality Check

I screamed, bracing myself. After a while, I opened my eyes. Was I already dead? 

The bus was moving, but slowly. It was like time itself had slowed down, and the bus was wading through an invisible sea to reach me. I walked around the side of it, staring up at the bus in wonder. It finally slowed to a screeching stop, the sound like a morphed freight train blasting its horn.

It was another dream. It had to be. 

I maintained the thought that I had fallen asleep somehow standing up, that I had passed out at the bus stop somehow. But as the ringing in my ears stopped, and the bus driver leaned over slightly to look at me strangely, I knew I was awake.

I got on the bus in a daze, trying to figure out what had just happened and why. I passed by the middle schoolers in the front and made my way towards the back, where all the high schoolers typically congregated. While stepping over someone's stray backpack, my footsteps faltered. 

The alleyway was full of thick, white fog, not unlike the cloudy world from my dreams. There was a small figure shivering behind a dumpster, hugging his knees desperately. His greasy brown hair was muddled, face a dirty mess of snot and tears. His clothes had been torn to shreds by what seemed like the biggest cat in existence. 

Matthew?

Through the wisps of fog, a pair of bright pink eyes appeared, searching for the boy. With his whimpering and the faint smell of sweat, he wasn't hard to find. 

The creature emerged from the fog completely, and I honestly wished it hadn't. Its face was a skeletal mess of darkness and teeth, its pink eyes each the size of my hand. Atop its head, a pair of long, shadowed rabbit ears stood up, flickering for traces of sound. 

With a sleek, dark body and sharpened claws for hands, it quickly located the hiding boy, crouching behind him in a deadly embrace.

The sounds of Matthew's screams echoed through the alleyway, followed by the unmistakable darkness of laughter. 

I felt the ground beneath my cheek and realized I had fallen. The bus floor was gross and dusty, so I quickly struggled to my feet, grimacing. The bus driver eyed me without saying anything, waiting for me to sit down so he could drive us to school. 

I slid into an empty seat near the back, still in shock. I didn't know what to process first; the part where I'd nearly died or the part where I had a gruesome vision of my classmate's untimely death.

I clasped my shaking hands together, staring out the window. Matthew was fine. He just had a bad habit of skipping class, that's all. It wasn't uncommon for students to skip first period. 

I was off the bus as soon as it parked in the bus loop. I needed to get to a bathroom stall so I could gather myself, remind myself of what's real. I also felt the need to check my face for gum and dirt. 

I was so distracted that I bumped into someone on the way through the front doors. I looked up to see a familiar boy with greasy brown hair. Except he wasn't that greasy-looking anymore. 

"Matthew?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Sorry," he grinned, his hazel eyes glinting more than usual. "Wasn't paying attention." 

I scrutinized him, wondering how he cleaned up so well. From what I remembered of Matthew, he typically sported basketball shorts and a t-shirt with sandals, no matter the weather. But today, he wore a light gray peacoat with a button-up and slacks, like he was either on his way to a high-profile office job or a walk down the nearest runway.