Think. Think!
The cheerleader area lies to the right of where I am standing, just in front of the guest team's fans' bleachers. There are about four hundred Pallfordians, all on the edge of their seats, waiting for the next play.
The hooded creature stands directly behind Evie in the shadows of the bleachers.
Why can't anyone else see it?
I pick up the ball again, rotating it in my muddy hands, pretending to be calculating distances and angles. Then I look at Evie before positioning the ball on the grass.
I cannot shout to warn Evie and the others of the danger. He will see.
Behind me, my teammates look on anxiously. I see something else in their eyes now. I think it is hope and expectation. If I score, our school will be champions.
I take three steps back, and then surge forward. My foot makes contact with the ball. I make it look clumsy as I strike it on the side, my boot giving it considerable spin.
I stumble, pretending to slip, landing face first in the mud. The ball flies away at great speed, but nowhere close to the opposition goal. I lift my head out of the mud just in time to see it fall at Evie's feet.
She looks down at the ball and reads the message I have secretly written on it with my muddy fingers.
RUN
Her eyes narrow in brief contemplation but thankfully she starts running just as the referee blows his whistle, signaling the end of the game. The Pallfordians explode in jubilation. They have won the championship thanks to my terrible shot. About thirty of them jump down from the bleachers and run onto the field to celebrate with their team. They scramble everywhere in excitement. My plan has worked. Our own fans start booing and shouting in disappointment. I am, most likely, the target of their disapproval.
I remain on the ground, eyes fixed on the hooded being. It appears confused at the development and turmoil caused by me sending the ball almost to its feet and the growing crowd around it. It moves deeper into the shadows. Its concealed face turns abruptly to the left, as if it has heard or seen something, and it vanishes in the shadows.
As I am about to pursue it, a familiar voice returns.
Adam!
Pappou! Where are you?
I have always been here. Where were you?
I am sorry, Pappou. It will never happen again. I know now. No one must know. Or They will come.
My poor Adam. They are already here. Remember your purpose. Always.
Before the seriousness of what Pappou has said sinks in, my teammates start walking by me, one by one. Some don't even have the energy to look at me, let alone talk. Two of the braver ones kick mud in my face, members of Brad's gang, and if it wasn't for Coach, who is walking closely behind them, I have the feeling they would have done much worse. I also hear a few whispers as they make their way to the locker rooms.
"What a freak."
"Such a loser."
"He could have at least passed the ball."
"Asshole."
Coach Sanders stands above me. He is holding the ball from the game and drops it in the mud in front of me. His voice is thick with disappointment. "Remember that war story? I guess you are a "Simo". Give me that uniform; you're not fit to wear it." He pulls the soccer jersey from my body even as I kneel on the ground. Coach then turns his back and strides away to meet the team. They disappear into the locker rooms, leaving me naked from the waist up, covered in mud in the pouring rain.
The stadium lights dim as they are switched off, one by one.
I am still sitting in the middle of the field after the last people have left the bleachers. Only a few minutes ago, those stands were filled with so much energy and anticipation.
The physical and emotional rollercoaster I have been through is unbearable. I have let down so many people over the course of the last week. I have just lost the match for my team, disappointing the whole town. I almost lost Evie. I failed to find Mary and Harry, and didn't catch the mysterious hooded creature. I have betrayed Grandpa.
It seems that whatever I do ends up in disaster. Every decision I make is the wrong one.
But no more. I will find my path again and concentrate on my training to fulfill my mission, whatever it is. Pappou will explain soon. I have finally come to understand the one thing that is clear in my mind.
I am an Endohuman and there are Rules.
No more games. No more school. I will drop out on Monday and ask Pappou if we can move away to concentrate on my training, and to get to the bottom of everything that has been happening.
I look up at the sky again. The mysterious lights are still there, hovering at the very limit of my endosight.
"Who are you?" I whisper to the sky.
"Who are you?" says a familiar voice behind me.
I turn to see Evie standing in the rain. She is still in her cheerleader uniform. She has let her hair down. It is no longer in a ponytail but falls in wet locks over her collarbone and breasts. Her hands are crossed in front of her. She must be freezing, and the rain is becoming stronger. She bites her lip as she tries to hold back tears.
The effect she has on me is so uncontrollable and dangerous that it takes all my energy not to just take her and draw her into my arms. To hug her, and tell her how much I love her. How she has been the only glimmer of hope in my miserable life. The only light in a dark tunnel. A tunnel, however, that I have just decided to never escape from. And so I have to end what has never begun.
"H-h-hey you," I stutter back, and stand up to face her.
"Enough games, Adam. No more with the stutter! How did you do that back there? Did you miss that shot on purpose? Why did you write RUN on the ball?"
"I thought I saw something in the shadows. With all that's happened I—"
"Was it you calling me last night on my cell phone?"
I look down.
"Adam, look at me. Was it you? Tell me! What's going on? What do you want? You are confusing me!"
"I don't know what I want!" I snap back in honesty.
"Did you write this?"
She holds up a piece of paper. I can recognize my handwriting from years ago. An unfinished poem.
SHE WHO RUNS IN DREAMS.
"Did you write this?" she asks again.
I look at the word RUNS in the title and the word RUN on the ball, which is being slowly washed away by the falling rain. The handwriting is identical.
There are tears in her eyes. Evie takes a step closer. She reaches out and puts her hand in mine. Her touch is freezing and I fight back the urge to warm it with my endoaura.
She looks into my eyes and moves even closer. Her other hand, still holding the now sodden piece of paper, rests on my bare chest.
Pappou's voice screams in my head, louder than ever. No one can know! Poison be the mortal's kiss.
"Adam, please. Did you write this?" Evie's eyes are shining with tears of uncertainty and hope. Years of anticipation.
Her lips are not even a breath away from mine. As they are about to touch, I turn away, shaking my head.
"Adam?" Evie takes a step back, looking at me in confusion. "You need to speak to me. Enough of this. Please say something. Let go of your emotions. Why are you doing this? Don't you care?"
"No," I whisper in pain.
That single word makes me feel I am dying. My stomach is a tight ball of tension. I grow dizzy. My heart is being torn from my chest.
At that moment a police siren breaks the uneasy silence. Red and blue lights illuminate the dark soccer field and our anguished faces. Sheriff Damon McBrook's voice echoes in the night from the police megaphone. I can hear the sound of guns being cocked. They are aimed at me.
"ADAM VANOLF. STEP AWAY FROM THE GIRL. YOU ARE UNDER ARREST."
Evie takes a step forward and extends her hand in a protective gesture. "No. He hasn't done anything. We are just talking," she shouts towards the police cars. "Tell them, Adam! Tell them you didn't do anything," she pleads to me.
I raise my arms in the air and lock them behind my head, kneeling in the mud in surrender.
Surrender to your destiny! Pappou's voice, loud in my head.
I close my eyes and count to five.
1...2...3...4...5.
"Adam, tell them! Say something!" Evie screams as a police officer grabs her from behind, dragging her away from me.
I feel the cold metal of handcuffs forced onto my wrists behind my head. I allow the three police officers to push me down into the mud. They press me down, their knees in my back.
Sheriff Damon McBrook bends closer; I feel his warm breath on my ear. "Adam Vanolf, you are under arrest for the murder of Mary Tobor."
Evie's voice sounds shaky. I know that tone. She is scared and about to surrender to another stress, or should I say, Adam-induced seizure.
"Adam. Say something! Please!" Evie's voice now sounds so far away.
TO BE CONTINUED
AUTHOR NOTE
This is so fun writing! I really appreciate your support everyone with your reads, likes and comments. Have never gotten so far in my writing ever and it looks like we are going to finish this book together in a few weeks. All thanks to you that are keeping me motivated and accountable for my updates. I really appreciate that and appreciate YOU!!! So thanks!
Also note that I have started narrating the book so if you go back to the first chapters you can read them and listen along to the audio.
If you like Endohuman, please add it your reading list, voting and commenting your thoughts and suggestions. Would also be Endohumanly fantastic if you could share the story on your social media to get it out there. Love ya! nick_dream