The science room on Myerworth's main hall was one of the most frequently empty classrooms in the entire school. Not a soul went in there unless they worked in the building. Office staff occasionally had their small meetings there, but the principal had moved them to a more secluded part of the building, not trusting that their privacy was being kept from a certain type of student.
But not on this particular afternoon. The lights were off and breathy laughs bounced off the walls from Timothy in a state of rare bliss. His eyes rolled momentarily back in his head as he grabbed a handful of the dirty blond head nestled in the soft burnt chestnut of his neck.
"Bryan..."
Timothy could barely get his name out as it got comfortably lodged in his throat.
Both boys were more relaxed from when Caiden saw them that morning. More present. And how could they not be? In that room, located on the busiest hall at their high school, was the only place where they didn't have to not exist. Apart, it was difficult, but it had to be done because that's how they were conditioned to act. Together, though easy, was not acceptable. It was inappropriate, and there was only so much the both of them could take.
Bryan pushed Timothy against a desk in the corner. Though they were about the same size physically, he could easily overpower Timothy when he was over-excited. This was the only time both of them could be this raw. A maelstrom of contradicting emotions had shadowed his expression as he ran his fingers through Bryan's hair. If his mind wasn't sure, his heart always was.
"Bry, Bry, babe. We gotta stop—"
There was a smile on his lips as he cut off Timothy with his kisses.
"Tell me to stop again."
They kissed some more, but Timothy gently took the jock's face in his hands.
"We gon' get caught."
Bryan gauged his expression and pushed pause.
"It's your mom again, right?" Bryan was tired of hearing about it and rested his head on Timothy's shoulder for a second before picking it back up. "You're not doing what she says anymore."
"Yeah, but fuck her."
"Fuck you," he said, playfully giving into the innuendo.
Bryan started to head south, but Timothy firmly touched his broad shoulders in protest.
"Bry."
"Just shut up. It's okay"
They stared at each other, intense. For that moment, Timothy was convinced that everything would be all right. Bryan was there, in front of him. Nothing else mattered. Even if it was eating him up from the inside.
Right now, it didn't matter.
Bryan started back up again, but something was still holding Timothy back. He was still not all there. A part of him was enjoying every moment, but the other part, the part that had been consistently calling his name, seemed to be growing. And he couldn't stop it.
***
Iela watched William, a heavy middle-aged man hunch and sprint to her car. He was average-looking, balding, and normal, but it was clear that normal was something he definitely wasn't.
"Looks like this one is very well to do," she said while her eyes scaled an impressive high rise. She was parked downtown, where before she was watching the thinning corporate lunch crowd making their way back to their stuffy cubicles.
"He is," William said, rubbing the palms of his hand on his pinstriped slacks. "With a wife and kids and everything."
She eyed him, noting his sincerity.
William's brow furrowed as he gathered his strength to speak again. "Iela..."
"You know I used to live here, right." She turned off the car and allowed her back to rest comfortably in the seat. "I don't know if I told you or not."
He quickly looked at her but didn't get a read on her face. This had happened far too often where she would slip into some instances from her past. Rarely did it ever have anything to do with nostalgia, so William braced himself.
"Years back. A lot of years. I know I don't look it," she continued. "I remember if you go down about two or three lights, there's a stop sign around there." She stared at a woman who almost tripped rushing across the walkway before the red man showed up. "It had graffiti at the top of it to where it said 'Please stop' instead of just 'Stop.' I have no idea if the words are still there...It seemed too simple to be funny, but I thought it was a little."
William readied himself, not knowing what she was getting at. Trying to read her expression was futile, especially when there was rarely one there in the first place.
"At the time..." Iela slid out a Glock 19. The action was smooth, and even William thought Iela was unaware of what she was doing at first until he saw how steady her hand was.
"Please," he begged as calmly as his heart would let him.
She positioned the gun warmly just north of his femoral artery, never losing that far off gleam in her eye. He was right in that she was remembering a golden pastime that she thought was long forgotten, but Iela also hated going there just as much as William did.
"I had this pastor right where you are now. Same look in his eye. And I saw that sign. It was blaring like it was giving me an order...At the time, I did think it was from God. I only find myself believing when it's necessary." She paused a bit, her thoughts being trampled by sudden emotion.
"...But then I started to think that it was my conscience. That I had somehow projected this manifestation of another version of myself onto this pole for everyone to see..."
She finally met William's gaze, who was on the brink of tears. Her eyes were damn near shining, too.
"Have you ever been so terrified of yourself that not even a god could stop you from saving someone's life?"
William stared into her eyes, wondering if this was the real Iela. Not the one that he'd been rendezvousing with for the last couple of years, but actually this human body with a pulsing heart. While he waited for that proof, he mustered up enough saliva to finally try and state his case.
"Please listen..." He pivoted to face her as much as he could without disturbing the ticking weapon near his genitals. "I wasn't much of a person before or after I became this...thing. We both know that."
She eyed him, waiting patiently for him to get to the point.
"But I've always prided myself on my job. I can find anyone. I have for over a decade and believe me, I found your guy...Please...He hasn't moved since we last met."
Iela considered him a moment before answering. "...Okay." She put away her gun and William could breathe again.
Now, she seemed to have drifted to another distant memory as she looked blankly through her windshield.
"You can go."
He didn't move.
"What?"
"I was actually wondering about my assurances...I can feel it getting bad. I know it is."
She watched him shaking and could feel his desperation. A minute part of her felt for him. William was the only Void that she'd ever met that she'd tolerated for this long. Initially, it was for obvious reasons. He provided a service that she needed. It soon turned into an opportunity to learn more about who she was; what they were. Why they were. There was no way she was going to cut him off.
"I assure you, the cure is real."
William didn't waste any more time after that and got out. He zipped up his jacket tight, though the sun was beaming and passersby were in summer wear. His skin was pale and his forehead moist, but he got the shivers like he'd been hanging out in a freezer just now. He gripped himself tighter as he went inside the building.
***
Mil was sitting back at his desk, staring out the window of his empty classroom. This was his usual ritual during off periods. Thinking. Or writing, if he was in the mood.
"Are you sure about this?"
He was shaken out of his reverie when he spun around in his chair and saw his star pupil giving him that signature look of a lost traveler without a map.
"Aza, you really shouldn't miss your meals. Soon you'll weigh as much as the ghost if you continue on like this."
The bun on top of his head couldn't help but shift from side to side as he closed the door behind him. That was the perfect moment to smile to himself, but he hadn't done that for some time now. His feelings about the thoughtful things that Mil said to him had changed over the years, just like the man himself.
"I'm going."
Aza watched him run his finger under his bottom lip and tried to guess how long he'd been sitting in that same position. These meetings that took place in between classes throughout the day were like clockwork and he was never prepared for what was on the other side of the door.
"I know you won't believe me, but I'm never sure about anything. Nothing's ever certain." He looked at his student, who seemed to always be looking expectant of something that was taking too long to arrive. "But I've always told myself, I'd know the Soul when I saw it. I just wasn't expecting it would walk right into my classroom."
Aza's face darkened some, but his personality wouldn't let the hope go out in his eyes completely.
"Remove that look from your face. Everything has its time."
"But you saw her today. She doesn't know anything," he said, balling his sleeves up in his palms.
"Well, I assume he's not awake yet."
He shifted on his feet and his grip tightened. "Awake?"
Mil fixed on him to make sure he was coming across without question. "We need a catalyst, Aza."
Aza took a few steps toward his teacher to make sure he heard right.
Mil pierced him this time.
"Bait the Arch."
There was a moment as Aza tried to get his head around what Mil was saying when they both felt a pull towards the classroom door. At that moment, Caiden walked by.
Aza looked back at Mil.
"Make sure not to spoil your appetite for later," he said, turning back to his desk. "No snacks is what I'm saying. I'm preparing your favorite tonight."
"Japchae?"
"Borscht," he replied, blankly.
Aza watched Mil mechanically open his notebook and begin writing. He lingered with his hand on the doorknob before he left the classroom and followed after Caiden to the cafeteria.
She walked into the room still trudging through all the sensory arousal from her peers. She was an alien there and lugging around a briefcase didn't help.
The cliques were more defined now. They were scattered about, but not a single place to sit without invading someone's personal space.
"Caiden?"
She turned around and found Alise smiling at her. She was flanked by two of her friends.
"Yeah. Hey."
"Know those sheets that we filled out this morning that asked for everything, but our blood type? I took them to the office, remember?"
Caiden nodded.
"Come on."
Aza had made his way across the room to sit where Caiden was still in his line of view. It wasn't a few minutes until a group of strangers had congregated around him. He barely knew them; maybe they were acquaintances, but this was a natural phenomena.
He casually greeted them and even participated in the conversations that popped up around him while he continued to watch Caiden with fierce curiosity.
"So you were home-schooled this entire time? That must've been boring."
Caiden had begun eating her chicken salad, which looked too gourmet to be packaged in a dollar store brown paper bag. Roxa had also thrown in a brownie, which was what she wanted to eat first, but old habits.
"I read a lot, so I didn't notice."
"Did you just move here?" Alise asked. Her thumb was moving across her phone keyboard as they were picking over food from each of their lunches.
"I've been here most of my life. On and off. But mostly off, though."
"And you suddenly decided to start public school your senior year? Your parents must hate you." Caiden flinched at the joke and bit into her brownie.
"I guess I can't be your tour guide around town, but if you need help finding a class or signing up for clubs, etc., you can ask me. I've been an office aide since I was a freshman," Alise said with a confident smile.
"Okay," she said, wiping some chicken residue out of the corner of her mouth.
Caiden was waiting for more invasive questions, but Alise was satisfied with that answer. She had done her good deed for the day, so her now free hand joined the other for a while as they all took a short break to eat. Caiden sipped her water and wrapped up the other half of her sandwich. Her eyes wandered around the room, but every time she got caught by someone, she'd immediately look away. When she looked back up, Aza was staring at her. Her head dropped to the water bottle in her lap. It was a few seconds before she lifted her head again, thinking that he'd looked away, but he hadn't. He was still staring at her. Caiden was expecting him to turn away when she didn't, but Aza wasn't budging.
"I thought you didn't know anybody here."
Caiden broke Aza's gaze and turned to Alise, who now took her place at staring across the cafeteria.
"Oh, he's a good boy."
Caiden glanced back at his table and saw that he'd turned back around to the group of students awaiting his attention. At that moment, someone accidentally bumped into the back of one of their chairs and one of the girls spilled her drink all over herself. It happened fast, but Caiden's eyes were on them instead of their victim. The guy had slapped the end of the table to catch himself before his face met with the floor.
She instantly felt his fear as their eyes met briefly when he bounced back onto his feet. He displayed all the looks of someone who was once at the top of the social food chain but had fallen hard from the false grace.
"M-my fault." Mortified, he headed for the exit as fast as he could.
Caiden watched him quickly stumble out of the cafeteria while the girl was overreacting.
"Calm down, you're so dramatic," the other friend drolled.
"God, that's just David. He's harmless," Alise said. "I thought it was one of those Voids. But most of them stopped eating with the humans before I got here."
Caiden froze.
She was one of those Voids.
But as she looked around at how composed they were now compared to a few seconds ago, they didn't seem to notice. It was then that those screams from earlier surfaced again. Louder. Harsher. Caiden felt her eyes being pulled towards Alise's and the screams intensified.
Aza had stopped as well. Now, completely ignoring the girl in his ear asking about what his hair care routine was, he sensed something as he turned in his chair to catch a glimpse of Caiden. Everything seemed to be fine, but now he couldn't take his eyes off the group of girls.
Alise finally looked at Caiden and her smile faded.
"...I'm so sorry," she said, haunted.
There was a sharp pause as silence sat amongst them. It took a second too long for Caiden to get her bearings. She wanted to disappear once they had.
"I'm sorry," she said again, grabbing her briefcase and lunch.
All of them just stared at her as the bell finally sounded. Caiden left first, lugging her briefcase as she got swallowed up by the exiting cafeteria crowd, but Alise managed to find her.
"I'll see you around," she said, forcing a smile.
Caiden gave her an apologetic look, not knowing what else to do. She pulled out her folded schedule, and began spinning on her heels in different directions looking for her next class. After memorizing the entire thing, her mind went blank after whatever that was that happened just now.
She continued to follow the crowd until someone shoved her and her briefcase and its contents went sprawling across the hall floor.
"I'm sorry," she said again to no one.
After she put everything back, with no help from the humans or the voided, she stood up and felt something in her hand. It was a note and she had no idea how it got there. She gave the hall a once over before opening it.
It simply read: "I know what you are."
Caiden's breath got caught in her throat as her eyes cautiously searched around the halls. She looked at the students surrounding her as her heartbeat began to race. None of their energies stood out from the other. Everything was muddled and her mind was whirling. She felt something surging from within her. Something new and different, and not of herself.