The next week was harsh, whipping me around like I was caught in a storm, a whirlwind of problems causing me to fall back into the sea. Autumn was a zombie at school, barely paying attention and zoning out during class, picking at her food during lunch. Isabella was still ignoring me, not even making eye contact with me as I walked in a room. Understood, but I had given her time, just like she asked. Was she planning on ignoring me forever?
I'd lost two of my friends in the same week. Isabella may never be my friend again, and Autumn had ghosted the whole world. Trying to stay above it all, I tried to act as if everything was normal. I spent most of my time hanging out with Shawn and Sakura, first having our first conversation together, officially sharing our secret.
I recalled the memory:
"You don't need me," Sakura protested.
"Yes we do," I insisted. "Autumn didn't come to me about her problem; she went to you. You had the idea of banishing the ghost, not me. You could help us figure it out."
She nodded.
"Plus," I added, "You could be Supernatural anyway, so you might as well join the club now."
She laughed. "Okay. Let's go talk to Shawn."
We walked over to Shawn, waiting for me on the sidewalk in front of the school. I waved a greeting to him.
He lowered his voice. "Are we good?"
Sakura nodded.
Shawn gestured his arm forward, and we walked on, talking quietly.
"So what's our next move?" he asked.
"I need to talk to Isabella." I admitted.
Sakura nodded. "That's what I've been telling you for days now."
"I know, I know."
"Once you do that," Shawn started, "We should plan our next move."
"We need to do some investigating," Sakura suggested.
"And that'll be much easier if we have everything straight with everyone," I added.
"Agreed." Shawn said, nodding.
"I can talk to Autumn," Sakura volunteered.
"And I'll talk to Isabella. Today."
"Get back to me when you've both done that. Then we can make a plan."
Shawn walked ahead and turned into his neighborhood, waving as he went.
We waved back, continuing down the sidewalk.
"So how are you going to talk to Autumn?" I asked.
"I could ask the same of you," Sakura countered.
I rolled my eyes. "I'll just ask her if she's going to tell anyone."
"And if she says she can't keep it a secret?"
"Then I'll throw her in the bayou."
"Vera!"
"I'm kidding. I'll respect her decision. Even if I don't understand it," my smile faded after my words.
Sakura placed a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be alright. I'd say we know her pretty well, right? We can trust her to keep her good friends' secrets, right?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. I've never put her in a position like this before."
"But you can hope."
"Yes, I can. And I will."
"Good." She nodded.
"And you? You can't avoid my question forever."
Sakura sighed. "I'm just not sure what to ask her. Ask her how she is first, obviously, but then what? What should I say? What can I say to convince her to help?"
"It may not take a whole lot of convincing." I pointed out.
She stopped walking. "What do you mean?"
I turned around. "Remember how mad she was, how angry she sounded after reading the letter?"
Sakura nodded. "I'm not sure where you're going with this."
"I think she'll want to help. Right now she's still feeling the whiplash. Going over her whole life in her head, and how there was something so big and so important, and they never told her. The anger builds up. She's going to want to put it somewhere."
"I'm guessing you've been going through the same thing?" She asked.
"Mostly. Except I'm still working off what-ifs in my head. At least she has something concrete."
"I guess."
"But anyway," I added, continuing to walk down the sidewalk, "ask her that way. Tell her it's finding out the real truth about this town. Our lives. Ask her if she's in or out."
"Why don't you come with me?"
"Me? You're her best friend."
"But you're good at convincing. You just did, right now. You know the perfect way to ask her. Please come with me. She'll also probably be more likely to listen to two people instead of just one."
"Alright, I'll do it."
Thanks."
"After I talk to Isabella."
"At school tomorrow?"
"Sure."
We parted ways after that, Sakura wishing me luck. I ran home, threw my stuff in my room, and changed into my hiking boots. I cut through my backyard and through the forest. But before I headed over to her house, I went to the bayou outlet close to my house.
I stepped on the soft undergrowth of the forest floor, mud splashing up around my shoes. Ignoring it, I kept walking east, passing under trees and ducking low-hanging branches.
The leaves crunched under my shoes as I walked, trekking up a steep hill. Nearing the top, I grabbed onto a low-hanging branch, pulling myself up the rest of the way.
I saw the water up ahead, just past another couple yards or so. I ducked a few more branches and hanging moss. I jumped a tree log and stepped out into the clearing. And I wasn't alone. Sitting along the shoreline, staring off at the sparkling water, was Isabella.
I kept walking forward, and she finally noticed my footsteps. She turned around and faced me. "Vera? What are you doing here?"
"To think. About what to say to you."
"Oh. Well you can tell me now."
"I wanted to know if you had made your decision. About keeping my secret."
"I have." Isabella sighed. "And I will."
"You will? Last time we talked--"
"Last time I was just so focused on the lies that it took me awhile to realize how much you need me to keep this secret. For you and the others."
I let my held breath escape my lungs. "I'm glad you're taking it this way."
Isabella shrugged. "Also the more I thought about it, the cooler it sounded to me."
"Well that's good." I took another breath. "Because there's something else I have to tell you."
"You're still keeping something from me?"
"No, not like that. It's just a theory that Shawn, Sakura, and I have. It may not be true, but I think it's very possible."
"What is it?" Isabella asked warningly.
"We think that it's no coincidence that Shawn, Autumn, and I all are Supernaturals in the same small town and the same age. If it was just one of us, I would call it happenstance. Two of us? Coincidence? But three times? It's too much."
"Agreed. But are you saying that our whole town is Supernatural?"
"No. Maybe. I don't know. But I think at least our whole grade is, including all the parents and siblings of those people."
"But why wouldn't we know? Why wouldn't they tell us?"
"I don't know. But we need to know. And we need your help. Are you in?"
"Definitely."
***
There was no way I was sleeping that night. I had too many emotions swirling through me to put them to rest. Excitedness at nearing closer to the truth, and finally being on the same page with Isabella, nervousness about talking to Autumn tomorrow, and the ever so constant feeling of unease with my father in the same room as me.
But I still tried. I slipped on a pair of shorts and a tank top, brushed my teeth, and did some deep breathing to calm my stomach. I was still a ball of energy when I went to turn out my light of the night.
I nestled deep into my covers, the freezing temperatures outside making my feet cold, giving my arms and legs goosebumps.
I closed my eyes and focused on drifting off to sleep.
The world kept ducking in and out. Fading in from black to white. I felt like I was flying, but my feet were planted firmly to the ground.
Then everything came into focus and I saw myself, or rather a dream-me, running through the trees, the clouds dark and overcast, the sun nowhere in sight. Her hair was being whipped around her head by a harsh and unruly wind. The trees rattled, dropping leaves down in her path.
Then the world dipped into the darkness again, as if someone had spilled inky darkness over the scene in my head.
Then it came back, a different scene of dream-me, this time climbing my favorite cliff. She was around mid-way up, gripping the hard, dusty stone with both hands, her feet pressed against the wall like a fly stuck in a spiderweb.
The bright sun was beating down on her, this dream-me in the summer. She started to scale the wall again, bringing one hand and one foot up simultaneously. Then doing the same with the other hand and foot. She repeated these movements until she had reached the top, on the precipice of finishing the climb. Dream-me pulled herself up the side of the rocky cliff and sat down, taking deep gulps of air, out of breath.
She sat there for a little while, staring off at the distance, where a large of cloud of dust had emerged from the ground in a large boom, like something had landed in the far off trees.
Before I could see what it was, I was grabbed from that reality and placed in another one. "No!" I yelled as I moved by an outside force, wanting to see what happened next. But I was ignored, and I saw where dream-me was now: swimming at the swimming hole with Isabella, Sakura, and Autumn.
They were swimming laps, racing one another in the freezing lake water, coming up soaking when they were done, leaving a wet trail in their wake on the dry, pebbly shore.
Then they shifted to just playing in the water. They were sitting on the rocks along the edge, stretched out on their towels, drying off, but then Sakura pushed dream-me into the lake, splashing everyone with water, and starting a water war that only had one ending.
Vera pulled Sakura into the water, then Autumn and Isabella joined in, the fray pulling them in. The four friends splashed each other, smiling and shrieking as they did so, pulled each other underwater, and tripped each other.
But as I watched, Isabella pulled Sakura under the water, and only Sakura came back up. But she didn't notice yet, and neither did the others, but I did. Then, just as mysteriously, Autumn disappeared, sinking into the water. Vera and Sakura looked for her after she disappeared, both of them thinking she was trying to prank them.
But she never came back up. Vera and Sakura dove down to find them both, and only bubbles came up. All four of them had disappeared.
"No!" I yelled, waking up from my dream. I opened my eyes and found myself still laying in my bed, not dead at the bottom of a lake. I felt my breath hitch in my chest, but I let it out. Taking deep, rhythmic breaths, I attempted to calm myself down. I pushed my hair out of my face, falling in front of my eyes in my alarm.
I reached over to my nightstand and grabbed my glass of water. I drank it all, my throat feeling dry. I coughed, set my glass down on my table, and laid back down.
Closing my eyes, I tried my hardest not to think about my past dream. Drifting off again, the only thing I felt was my pillow, soft under my head.
I ran, coming to a fork in the path. I stopped, bewildered, then picked a random direction. Hearing my panting breath, I tried to put on another burst of speed, but my tired legs wouldn't allow it. The grey stone walls surrounding me flashed by as I ran, trapped in an endless maze. And I wasn't alone. There was someone… something in here, chasing me, taunting me, telling me I can't hide from him forever. At least I think it's a him. I only saw his shadow, and heard his voice. It was deep and raspy, with an edge to it, like it had been here since the beginning of time.
I came to a dead end. Oh, I hated that phrase. I turned back and found another path to take. I ducked under the archway, running down the hall with another burst of speed.
Then I heard footsteps. From far away, bouncing and echoing until the noise found its' way into my ears. Fearing "he" had found me again, I turned another corner, ran down that path until I found another exit, left through it, and ran down that hall until I found another door to use. I repeated this until I was far, far away from the footsteps I heard.
But a few moments, later, I heard "his" voice again.
"You can't hide from me, Vera."
It sent deep shivers down my spine to hear him say my name. I shook it off and took off running again.
"Do you think there's a single place on this planet where I wouldn't find you? Where you could run away? Forever?"
I attempted to block his voice from my head, but no matter what I did, I could still hear his voice, loud and clear, ringing in my ears.
"I would always find you. And where would you go? Who would you be willing to abandon? What will you sacrifice?"
I stopped in my tracks.
"I can always sense you. I will find you, and I will finish what I started."
I continued running again, turning the corner. I found myself in the center of the maze. There, in the middle, sat a stone door. I ran up to it, grasped the cold handle, and yanked it open.
A spiral staircase made of marble waited for me, tunneling down into the earth. It got darker as the steps went farther down. I lifted one torch out from its' holder on the wall, and descended the dark staircase. My footsteps echoed on the marble, the voice fading from my ears. Safety. I wasn't sure it was waiting for me, but I could only hope. And have faith.
Blinking, my eyes opened for the first time that day, my alarm waking me up. I sat up, rubbing my tired eyes. Moving at a snail's pace, I crawled out of bed, pushing my covers off. I grabbed my bundle of clothes I had laid out the previous night. I changed into a pair of dark jeans and a dark green long-sleeved shirt. I laced up a pair of black tennis shoes, tying them as tight as they would go.
Transfering to my bathroom, I brushed my hair, then twisted it up into a simple braid, trailing down my back. I brushed my teeth, cleaned my face, and finished my morning routine. Finished, I left my room and turned into the hall.
Suddenly, my dream from the night before came flashing back to me, playing in my head. I remembered the maze, running from some...thing, it calling out to me, until I escaped the maze. The sensations that I felt came rippling back to me, shuddering down my spine, feeling it in the pit of my stomach, making me clutch at the wall for support.
Trying to shake it off, I continued down the stairs, and turning into my kitchen. My father was already gone for the day. He left a note for me on the fridge, which I usually never read, and threw it away.
While I preparing my lunch, I slipped a bagel in the toaster, and continued to make my school lunch while it toasted. After I'd finished making my lunch, the toaster popped, my bagel shooting out of it.
I grabbed it and slid it onto a paper plate. After I'd quickly buttered it, I set on the counter. I zipped up my lunchbox and set it next to my backpack.
Sitting myself down at the counter, I bit into my bagel, and hungrily ate my breakfast. I finished it up, threw my plate away, rinsed my cup out, and set it in the dishwasher.
I quickly scribbled a note to my father on a pad we kept on the island counter. The note told him that I had left for school early. After that, I grabbed my backpack, threw it over my shoulder, and took my leave, exiting out my front door.
I walked down the street, the smell of the wind, cool and fresh, tingled my senses, lifting up strands of my hair. It was starting to get cold out, which was a nice change from our usually warm Octobers.
Rounding the corner, I saw school come into my field of vision. I crossed through the middle of the courtyard and through the mass of students swirling around me. I entered through the school's double doors and headed to my homeroom.
My calculus class was next. Taking notes while he talked, I listened to my calculus teacher explain a new formula to us. I hated this class. He always took forever to explain a new concept, so one unit felt like an eternity.
But it didn't help that today I was super distracted. Sakura and I talked before school today, and decided we were going to talk to Autumn in calculus; the only class all three of us had together.
We were going to wait until the end of the period, where he always gives us maybe five minutes to talk before our next class.
But time seemed to slow down for this class. Time seemed to do that a lot for me. A phrase came back to me, something Autumn once said: "Time is the thief that always gets away."
I thought she was right. It's stuck with me for a while, I guess. But, I cleared my thoughts and returned to the lesson.
"So," my teacher started, clapping his hands, "I hope you all were listening, because you have homework on this lesson tonight."
The class groaned simultaneously.
"Alright, alright, I get it," he said, dying down the groans. "Do the next two lessons in your mathbook, which are about two pages each. You can get started in the next five minutes I'll give you for free time, but we all know you'll use for socializing. Go on."
Me and Sakura, sitting next to each other, nodded and turned to Autumn, sitting behind us.
"Autumn?" Sakura started.
She looked up from her paper, her eyes tired.
"We wanted to talk to you about something," I began.
She showed no sign of hearing me.
"Remember how we told you there were others involved in this? About the theory we had?" I asked.
Still no response.
"Autumn? Can you hear us?" Sakura asked.
She made eye contact with us then. "I've just been thinking. My whole life, I've noticed things. Like my computer charger would be sitting on my desk before I went to bed one night, but then the next morning it would be under my bathroom counter. My parents had always scolded me, told me that it wasn't good to lie, and they hadn't believed me, even though they knew it was a ghost that had moved it. They knew I wasn't lying, but they instead would lie to me."
Then the bell rang. Autumn quickly collected her stuff and left the room.
"What should we do?" Sakura asked.
"Let her have some space. We try again after school."
"We have to ask her today. We need to figure this out. Sooner than later."
I agreed.
After school, Sakura and I met up at her locker.
I came up behind her as Sakura spun her combination. I announced myself as I walked up.
She pivoted on her heel, smiled, then returned to her locker. "So where do you want to talk to Autumn?" she questioned, her back to me, collecting her books and neatly stacking them in her backpack.
"Somewhere a bit more private than last time. Any ideas?"
"Outside of school maybe? In the courtyard?"
"Sure. We can talk to her there." I craned my neck around the hallway, leaning against the row of lockers. "When do you think she'll be here?"
Sakura shrugged, zipping up her backpack, shutting her locker door with a metallic clang. "Probably one of the last people. Her last name does start with a a 'W'."
"Fair point. I guess we wait."
Sakura swung her backpack on over her shoulders. "Let's wait on one of the tables outside."
I nodded, and we walked out, steps in sync. We sat the farthest table, letting our bags slip and fall to the ground. I wind was cold, blowing every few seconds, plucking at my jacket, and tugging at my loose strands of hair.
After a little while, Autumn left the school, and by the look on her face, her head was in the clouds, lost in thought.
I called out to her, waving as I did so.
She turned towards us, and walked over. "Okay," she started, taking a breath. "I'm ready to listen now."
Sakura and I exchanged glances, silently asking each other, "Ready?"
"What I was trying to tell you before," Sakura started, "was that we are looking into some things."
"What 'things'?"
"About our families," I added. "About them lying to us, about keeping our Supernatural genes a secret."
"We're looking into the truth, and we need your help."
"Who else is involved?"
"Other than us," I started, "there's Shawn and Isabella."
"Are they both-?" Autumn hinted at her question.
"Only Shawn. Isabella's just helping."
Autumn nodded.
"We want to know the truth. Don't you?" I asked.
"You had me at 'the truth.'"
"Really? You'll help us?" Sakura asked.
Autumn nodded. "I already know about my family, but I don't know all about me, or what I can do. I need to find out."
I nodded. "Alright then," I stood up. "Then let's go."
We jogged down the sidewalk, ready to meet up.