I awoke in my familiar dorm bedroom. The windows are covered and the light is on. I hadn't been changed from the cloths I passed out in, and I was only lying on the bed, not covered by any sheets. I slowly ease myself from my bed, but I actually feel a lot better than I did... yesterday? I don't know how long I've been here. I walk toward the door that leads to the hallway. I push on it slightly, it doesn't move. I bang my body against it. It holds firm. Defeated, I walk over to the window. I pull on the curtains a little. It's night, maybe I've been out for only a few hours. It's seemingly normal outside, only a few students walk around who must have missed curfew.
One of then looks up at me. She looks to be about a freshman, maybe a sophomore. She just looks up at my window. Feeling awkward, I wave. Maybe she thinks I'm a friend. She just stares. Then, I notice she is a little off. He posture is crooked, he head slightly tilted, as if she is curious. And her arms seems to dangle as if they have lost all feeling. Then I see her eerie eyes. They are bloodshot and are now a faded yellow where they are supposed to be white. Her skin is a pale and bruised. Just as I realize what she is, she takes off full speed towards my window. Though I'm on the second floor from the ground, she makes every possible attempt to climb up objects to get to my window. The others start to notice and begin stacking on each other to reach me.
I start to panic, I lock the window and close the curtains. I drag a dresser over and barricade the window. I run to the door and try again. Locked... I'm going to die in here. I turn off the lights and huddle down in a corner near the front of the door. I can hear scratching at the window, then glass shattering. I hold still and hope that they will lose interest.
It becomes quiet, and after waiting for about five minutes, I get up and slowly walk to the door. I quietly turn the knob, and pray that it will open. Before I can even push the door, the cabinet in front of the window falls forward, crashing to the ground. The girl that was staring at me is now entering through my window. I scream and push hard on the door, expecting it to be locked. Surprisingly, it budges, sending me falling into the hallway and onto the floor. My forehead hits the foot of the wall. I lie there, seeing stars. I groan and roll over on my back. Then I am immediately alarmed as I hear several voices from my room. I need to hide.
I know what to do. I imagine if I were to fall like that in front of the whole school. I close my eyes and see people laughing. Heat rushes to my cheeks. Yes! I shout in my head. I curl up against the wall and focused on embarrassment. I hear a few groans and some feet shuffle by. I start to get scared. I abandon my embarrassing memories and just keep repeating lines in my head. Stay invisible, stay invisible, stay invisible...
I crack open an eye and smile. They all just keep walking. Not one glances at me. I look to a boy who looks to be about fifteen. He stops and smells the air. I keep the thoughts going. He looks around, then just continues on walking around the halls. I wonder if this would work with my fire powers. Now's not the time to test it. I just keep focused on staying invisible.
After a tiring hour of those continuous thoughts, repeating again and again, I grow bored and decide to venture, but I am carful not to lose the track of my power. I walk down the hallway until I reach the elevator. The only place I know of is the school. I select the button and the doors close, a few zombies look toward me, but look away when they don't see a potential meal.
My thoughts go back to the dream I had on the first day. I was being chased by something, but it was at my old school. I shiver at the thought of that nightmare. I then shake away the memory. It was just a dream, right? I finally decide to just go back to the nurses office. The cots there aren't too bad, and I already know the door locks and is pretty soundproof. Donald has proven that. I wonder where he is. In fact, I wonder where everyone is. Abby, Donald, Randi, the FBI, and especially Damien. He could be dead right now, and if he's not, he would be crazy if he wasn't out to kill me. I try to push away those thoughts and replace them with my stay invisible ones.
Once I reach to school, I carefully step out. I start to make my way down to the nurses office. Once I turn a few hallways, my stupid mind thinks back to my parents rather than being hidden. Thoughts of them sitting at home and missing me fill my mind. Then they turn to Damien, and his burning body. Then Mr. Scarlett's team, and the smell of their singed flesh. Their cries of agony, all caused by me. I slow down and stare at the floor. My legs fail me and I fall on my hands and knees. I begin to sob.
"I'm a monster..." I get through my sobs. I hear someone chuckle. I look up, and see a tall guy with dark brown shaggy hair. I can't make out much more due to my eyes overflowing with tears and the darkness of the empty school.
"We're all monster, girly." he says. I immediately stand up and back away. "Who are you?" I ask.
"Don't worry about stupid questions, just come with me." He reaches for my arm but I jump back. "Don't you dare touch me!" I say, my voice rising. I'm not afraid. I keep repeating in my head. If it works for my powers, hopefully it works for my fears as well.
"How cute. You're just so brave, aren't you? Well, sweetheart, you aren't fooling me." he says before lunging at me. I duck and start to run. I turn down the hall that leads to the nurses room. The door is in sight. Once I open it, I look back before I close it. The stranger is at the end of the hall, running to get to me. The door closes and I click the lock. I hear a bang on the door.
"Ooh sweetheart, you better open this door before you get me angry." he says through the door. I look at the door with silence. Then he beats on the door again and again. I start backing away into a corner. I turn to sit on the cot and wait out the stranger, but find that someone else has taken it. Donald? I can't believe no one has found him yet!
"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" I hear the stranger scream. I jump slightly at his yelling. Donald jolts awake. His eyes meet mine and change from confused to pissed. "You..." he starts in what sound like a low growl. "Donald, I..." I'm cut off by the banging on the door.
"I'M GETTING ANGRY SWEETHEART!" he shouts. Donald looks to the door, then at me. He mouths the words 'Who's that?' and I shrug. He starts banging on the door again. I mouth the words 'What do I do?' He looks around the room for a way out.
"Donald" I whisper in such a hushed tone that I don't think I would be able to hear myself. "I know how to make myself disappear..." The door is still being beaten. Donald whispers back "Go do it." And with that, he pushes me to a corner. I curl up in a ball on the floor and concentrate. Disappear, disappear, disappear. I look down at my knees and see the floor. Woah. I guess its working. Just then, the stranger calls out, "Final warning sweetheart. If you open up now, I won't tell Damien you resisted..." Fear runs through my body, but I focus on the thoughts. The door is being beaten, and suddenly breaks down.
The stranger rushes in. He looks furious. I'm still hidden as I watch Donald try to compose himself. The man looks at Donald and screams "Where is she?!" Donald stands tall and acts professional. "She's gone, you're too late." says Donald. The man shouts in frustration. He flips the cot, looking under it. Then he pulls off the cabinet doors and frantically searches. He glares at Donald.
"I'm not going back empty handed, Detective Donald. Damien should know who helped her escape. You're coming with me." He said.
Donald replied "I beg to differ." Suddenly, the man ran up to Donald and threw him to the ground, his head hitting the concrete floor, knocking him out. He drags Donald out by his feet and was gone. I sit there for a minute before following behind. I keep focus on my thoughts, so I can follow at a pretty close pace. He gets in the elevator and sets Donald against a wall. The doors start to close and I sneak in, making them open up again. I guess it can still detect my weight. I'm invisible, but not gone.
The man presses the close doors button, muttering "Piece of shit..." He still doesn't know I'm here. He presses three buttons at the same time, then opens a secret panel. He types in a code. The elevator begins moving. The doors finally open. We are at a floor with White walls and marble floor. It reminds me of a lawyers office. Is this their lair? How did they manage to slip this past the government. Then it hits me. With all the crimes Damien is able to get away with, he must have someone working for him on the inside.
He turns and drags Donald out. I follow close behind. We enter a room on the left and just as I walk in, the door closes behind me, almost shutting on me. Whoops. I forgot, I don't exist. We are in a large room with four other people. One of them sits at a desk against the wall. It's Damien. I'm assuming the three others are bodyguards. He looks, surprisingly well. All he has are a few pink scars on his body. Other than that, he looks as he did when I first met him, well, maybe a bit more stressed.
Damien looks at Donald, then at the man. "Well, that was nice of you to bring me a snack, but where is Skyler?" he asks. The man looks at his feet. "She somehow escaped, I thought I had her cornered in a room, but when I broke in, only he was there."
"Did you search for her?" Damien asked, sounding annoyed.
"Of course!" He defends.
"Everywhere?" Damien questions.
The man looked more nervous. "Yeah, I think..." He was cut off. "Did you feel all the empty spaces?" Damien shouts. The man is silent.
He finally talks. "...no." he mutters. Damien stands from his chair and slams his fists on the table. "THEN YOU LET HER GET AWAY!" he screams.
The man starts backing away toward the door. "I'm sorry Damien, I won't lose her next time, I swear!" One of the bodyguards steps in front of the door, blocking the exit. "No, you won't." Damien walks over to the man and pulls out a wooden stake. I hold my hands over my mouth to stop myself from screaming. Damien stabs him in the heart. He breaths out a dry breath, then disintegrates to ash. Stay hidden, stay hidden. I just watched someone die. I struggle to keep my thoughts in order.
Damien then looks to Donald. "Good, I was hoping for a snack..." He picks up Donald by his shoulders. His head slips to the side. Just as Damien is about to take a bite, someone shouts. "No!" It sounds like me. I cover my mouth. Invisible, hidden... Damien stops and smirks in my general area.
"Come out, come out Skyler, and I'll put Donald here back in the elevator. He will be found in the morning, and be safe and sound. If you don't come out, I can't promise that he won't be found by a wandering zombie." Damien threatens. I take a deep breath.
"You won't hurt him?" I ask. I'm still invisible. The bodyguards are turning in rapid circles to find where my voice is coming from. Damien is the only one unfazed.
His eyes grow softer. "Promise." Appear. Just then, all the guards stare at me. Damien smiles. It doesn't look like his usual smirk, but just a smile. I hold one arm awkwardly. And look to Donald.
"Can we go put him in the elevator?" I ask. Damien looks at Donald and throws him over his shoulder. A bodyguard grabs my forearm. Here come the thoughts.
Oh my gosh, he just killed someone. Better not let her escape, my life could be on the line.
He yanks me forward. I almost trip. Damien glares back at him.
"She can walk on her own, Nate." He quickly let's go of me and I walk holding both of my forearms. I walk with my head low. I don't like it here and I don't think I'll be leaving anytime soon. We reach the elevator and Damien puts Donald in. I walk by him and press the button for the school lobby. I step back out and watch the elevator close. I lean against the wall and look at Damien's feet. He takes a step closer and I back away to a corner, frightened.
"Skyler..." he starts. I just keep my eyes on his. I probably look terrible. Tears smearing any makeup that was left on my face from this morning. Damien looks at my face for a while. He has what I think is sympathy in his eyes. "Come with me." he says. "It's time for some questions."
I sigh, knowing that this won't be fun. We walk down a hall and turn at the last door on the right. Inside it has the same white walls as the hallway, but has red carpeting. The only furniture pieces are two cushioned chairs and a table between them.
I go and sit on the far side of the table. Damien leaves the room and comes back with paper and a pen. "Just answer the questions, and you'll be fine". I nod. I know I am probably not going to be able to answer most of these...
"First, what are you?" he asks.
"Pass." I reply.
"Skyler, I don't want to force these answers out of..." I cut him off. " I DON'T KNOW! OKAY?" He just looks at me, unconvinced.
I sigh. "Damien, before the detectives came to my house and stole my life, I didn't even know that supernatural beings existed!" I say.
He is quiet for a moment. Then he begins again "Okay, what are your powers?"
"So far, I can make fire, I'm sure you're aware of that." I look down to my folded hands.
"Yeah, I'm pretty aware. Anyways, how do you make fire?" he asks.
"I, I think its when I'm angry. I haven't found otherwise." Damien scribbles something down on the notepad. "Any other powers?" he asks.
"Yeah, uh, I can disappear." I decide to withhold the mind reading. That's the only power I'm sure he doesn't know about.
He writes a few more things down. "Continue." he says.
"That's all I know." I think I'm a semi-convincing liar. Not too bad.
"Skyler, you have to give me these answers, I need them." he asks, sounding frustrated.
"But what if I don't know!?" I ask, my voice rising.
"You know something, I can see the deception in your eyes!" he shouts back. He stands from his chair.
I sink back a little, growing concerned that he is angry. "But I don't!" I lower my head down to the table into my arms and think of my parents. I start sobbing, and it sounds convincing. I hear Damien get up. Then I feel the presents of him next to me. He puts a hand on my shoulder and I get up and back away. Ever since I've gotten here, I don't like people showing me signs of concern. I know they just think I'm lesser of them, or are only taking pity.
He follows me until I hit my back on the wall. He is about two feet away. "Just tell me..." he says, but it sounds like I threat.
"I don't know..." I whisper. He pulls back a fist. Not again. Disappear.
I slide to the floor and crawl around him. He punches the wall and makes a hole. Uh oh, he's angry... "Skyler!" he shouts. He punches the wall next to it, making another hole. I climb up and sit in the middle on the table.
Damien flips a few chairs and kicks around on the floor. Luckily, he only kicks his foot under the table. He let's out a scream and leaves the room, careful to only crack it so only he can slip out. I stay on the table for a few minutes. I go to the floor and lean against the door. I'll know if someone tries to come inside. I relax and lean my head on my knees. I'll see if I can stay hidden through the night. I dose off repeating the thought; Stay hidden, stay hidden, stay hidden...