Over the next few weeks, the chill of winter finally settled over our quiet town as it drew closer to the holiday season. Snow lay like a cool blanket over every rock, tree and building.
As promised, I made a sincere effort to do better in all aspects of my life. I stopped skipping school, was no longer late to classes, and didn't have to rely on copious amounts of caffeine to remain conscious during my classes. My relationship with my mother improved slowly as time passed. I had even started drinking the herbal mixture my mother referred to as her "bedtime brew to ease her mind (and to assuage my own guilt over how I had treated her in the passing months prior to my hospitalization).
I wasn't fond of the taste. It wasn't terrible, with notes of camomile and honey. But there was something off in its flavor, a bitterness that hung in the back of my throat. Oftentimes, I woke the next morning groggy and disoriented, as though I'd been drugged. But I was thankful for the dreamless sleep that I didn't complain. So every night, my mother and I would sit drinking from our respective cups and sharing details about our day before making our way to our room.
Mom had also lived up to her end of the agreement. Within 2 weeks, the keys to my beat up Honda Civic had been returned to me, with the implication that I had to continue to act as expected, of course. She also stopped checking in with all of my teachers to ensure my attendance to each of the classes, and allowed me to leave the house unaccompanied. Mom was still filling in for Mr. Martin's Occult studies class for the time being, but he was set to return after winter break, leaving my mom to look for another teaching position in preparation for her departure from my school. While part of me was grateful that she would no longer be teaching one of my classes, another part was actually sad to see her go.
My friends appeared to be more at ease these days too. The first two weeks after my little episode, June and Kate had been constantly on edge. They wouldn't even let me go to the bathroom by myself out of fear that I would have another seizure and there wouldn't be anyone to help me. "You know, most people who die from seizure, don't even die from the seizure!" June had explained fearfully one day. "Most of the time it's cause the fell and like...bonked their head on something while having the seizure and they die all alone because no one is around to help them!". But after a few weeks of constant reassurance from myself and Kate, she finally resolved that all was well and I wasn't in danger of another episode.
Kate was essential in my return to normalcy. She had a skill for easing my nerves. She didn't just reassure June, there were moments she did the same for me as well. Something still seemed...off about her however. While she was as cool and calm as she had ever been, I couldn't help but get the feeling that there was something I didn't know...that she was hiding something from me. Sometimes when she didn't know I was looking, I would find her deep in thought, her perfectly manicured eye brows stitched together as she chewed nervously at her full bottom lip. Perhaps she was still worried and just didn't want to bother me or make me feel weird about the whole ordeal. Or maybe it had to do with the change in Kate and her mom Lydia's relationship since I left the hospital.
One night I had gone over to their house for dinner and noticed there was a chilliness between them. They still smiled and laughed like they always did, but there was a tension present that had been there before. I had seen disapproval in my own mother's eyes enough times that it was east enough to spot the same look lingering in the shadows of Lydia's stare. But anytime I had tried to press Kate on the issue, she would swear everything was fine with a wave of her perfectly manicured hand.
The one person I hadn't been able to catch up with since our last encounter was Jesse. I couldn't help but to be curious about him. While I was relieved that my nightmares seemed to be a thing of the past, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed that that also meant I no longer dreamt of him either. I couldn't help but to be enamored by him. I was beyond certain that I'd never met him a day in my life prior to that night in my hospital room, but I'd though surely I must have seen him somewhere before. After all, how could you possibly dream of a face you'd never seen before in such perfect detail? But after doing a little digging, I found out Jesse was new to our little town of Hillview. He had just enrolled as a junior at the high school a mere two days prior to my episode and by that point, I had already been seeing him in my dreams for weeks. And from what I could tell, no one knew much about Jesse or his family or why they had moved to town. We didn't get a lot of new faces here. The new faces we did see were only ever here for a few short years while they attended the university just outside of town.
Jesse was in a few of my classes; namely Occult Studies, English, and Gym. That's why he had been there the day i collapsed. I supposed I had been so wrapped up in my personal drama that I hadn't noticed that there we any new faces amongst my peers. Then again, I didn't pay much attention to anyone outside of June & Kate. I had tried to work up the nerve to talk to him on a few occasions vet the passing weeks, but what was I supposed to say, "Hey do you have any clue why I've been dreaming about you for months even though we just met a few weeks ago?" If our first encounter hadn't add him think I was a complete lunatic, I'm sure that would do the trick. One day I did manage to muster up an awkward "Hi!" as I practically shouted at him in the hall before Occult studies.
After weeks of going back and forth on whether or not I should talk to him, I had almost decided to leave well enough alone. That is until one December morning when I was sitting in Occult studies.
As my mother stood at the front of the class giving a lecture on Occult roots in Ancient Mesopotamian society, I was over come by a strange sensation. The room began to sway and distort, as if I were in a hall of mirrors, the edges of my vision blurred. Everything in the room sounded distant, as if I were no longer in the room at all. I closed my eyes shut tightly and gripped the sides of the metal desk so tightly I could feel it's corners digging into my soft flesh of my palm. I focused on the pain in my hands, willing the spinning to stop. But when I opened my eyes, the classroom had disappeared and been replaced be four crumbling marble walls. Despite still feeling myself seated firmly in my desk, there was no chair in the room, only the dim glow of a few lit candles. In the distance I could hear hushed voices deep in conversation. I wanted to edge closer to the sound, my curiosity peaked by the urgency in their voices.
"She is awakening..." I heard one voice say, almost excitedly. "I can sense it, but something is dampening her power."
"Dampening?" The second voice took in an inquisitive tone, "How do you mean?"
"My lord," I could hear the submission and fear in the voice of the second man. "I have reason to believe someone is shielding her from us. Magically that is. But I sense the shield grows weaker as her power grows. I thought we had located her, but the girl we found w-"
"Was ordinary like all the others!" The first voice shrieked angrily, the sound of something metal hitting the floor echoed through the Stoney chamber. I edged closer to the door, peering through the crack to see several figures shrouded in black hooded robes that billowed around them like smoke as they moved.
"Not necessarily, sire. We couldn't sense...well anything from her. Magical or otherwise. It was as if she wasn't there at all" a figure that stood forward from the rest bowed his head in a gesture of fealty, refusing to meet the eyes of the man who looked over him"
The man I presumed to be the leader was halted by this statement. "Interesting..."he pondered as he paced the elevated stone platform he occupied, probably as a means to show his dominance over his followers. "That's is...quite unusual. Not even the hint of a...human life force you say?" I was confused by this. What life force could there be other then human? Was this an animal, vegetable, mineral kind of deal? "We will keep an eye on this girl. Just in case it could lead to anything....promising."
"Yes, of course. I'll-"
"No," the ring leader interrupted with the raise of a hand. His fingers were of and thin, gloved in flesh as white as bone. "We will take care of it. You have done enough, my child. You have failed me for the last time." He flicked his hand through the air with a flourish, followed by the sickening crack of the mans neck breaking before he'd even had a moment to beg for his life.
I stumbled back from the open door only to feel firm hands spin me around forcefully.
"You shouldn't be here" I stared into a set of green eyes that burned furiously into my own.
"Jesse?" I didn't understand, how was he here. I didn't even understand how I'd gotten here.
"Get out, Ainsley!" He shook me by my shoulders, "It isn't safe for you here! Now, GO Ainsley!"
***************************************************
"Oh my god, Ainsley! Are you okay?" I was back in my classroom, sitting in the exact same position I was before. My eyes darted about the room frantically to see that I had drawn the attention of a majority of my classmates.
"Uhhh, I'm sorry...what?" I looked around confused. Why did everyone look so concerned?
"Ainsley, you're totally bleeding all over yourself!" June shouted from beside me, a wad of kleenex in hand.
"What?" I looked down at myself and took in the horror scene before me. My hands still gripped either side of the desk so firmly that my knuckles had turned the color of bone. The thought of bone colored flesh brought a fresh wave of terror churning in my stomach at the memory of the white hand and the sound of cracking bone. Blood trailed down my chest, staining the front of my tan blouse and pooling on top of the metal desk. I pried my hands from the sides of my desk, bringing them to my face. I could feel the sticky red blood that continued to flow from either side of my nose, down my full lip, and dripping off of my chin.
"OH!" Was the only word I could muster in my shock.
"For Christ sake, Ainsley! Tilt your head back!" June shouted as she shoved the wad of tissues in my face. Kate was scrambling to save the notes and papers sprawled across my desk from the carnage to no avail. Mom was already on the phone with the custodial crew to make sure the mess was cleaned up properly. With my held back clutching a tissue to my still flowing nose, I glanced around the room to find everyone else staring on with mixed expressions. Some looked horrified, others looked like they could die of embarrassment on my behalf, and there were a select few that looked all to amused by my misfortune. I focused on one face in particular.
Jesse.
He sat in the back corn of the room, motionless and calm. Almost too calm. He didn't participate in and of the frantic chatter that buzzed around him. Only sat there, elbows resting against the metal table top; fists clenched tightly in front his chin. Despite his calm demeanor, I could see the muscles in his jaw clench and release as he chewed contemplatively at the inside of his cheek. For a moment, he met my gaze, sending a shiver of anxiety down my spine. Did Jesse see that man die? Did he know why I saw it? Or how? Did he know what was happening to me?
As these thoughts raced through my mind, I could've sworn I saw him give a subtle nod of his head, as if he were answering the questions that waged war inside my mind.
My mother cleared her throat at the front of the classroom, forcing me to pull my eyes off of Jesse and return my focus to the front of the room, at least as much as I could while blood seeped from my face. "Settle down! Settle down! It's just a nosebleed people! You've seen more blood shed on the football field during homecoming." My mother attempted to restore order to the room. "Ainsley, I think it best we get you to the nurse to get that under control." She smiled, though I could see the worry in her eyes.
"Ms. Green," I was taken aback by the voice I heard from the back of the classroom. "I would be happy to escort her to the nurses office and make sure she gets there okay. I don't think she will be able to watch where she is going very well while holding her head back." Jesse said respectfully.
"That isn't necessary, Mr. Carter. I can have Kate escort her to the nurses office." My mother kindly declined. However this was my chance, the opportunity I had been waiting for. And I had so many more questions now, I wasn't going to miss my chance.
"Ms Greene," I said in a nasal tone as I tried to ebb the flow of blood that still seeped from my nose. I avoided calling her 'Mom' in the presence of other students, though most of them were well aware of the fact.
"Really, it's fine. Jesse can take me" I assured her. "I'll need Kate to take notes for me on what I missed anyway, and she can't exactly do that if she takes me to the nurse." My mother shared a quick look with Kate, which I found quite odd. Like they were in on some secret that I wasn't apart of.
"Very well," my mother said, giving no indication that she had a problem with this arrangement despite my knowing better. "Thank you for volunteering, Mr. Carter. You seem to have a knack for coming to Ms. Summits aid. Get her to the nurse quickly, and then return to class please."
"Yes, ma'am" he drawled politely. If he'd been wearing a hat, I'd imagined he wouldn't tipped it to her in some gentlemanly gesture. Within a few seconds, Jesse stood beside me. He slung my backpack crammed full of my bloodstained notebooks over his shoulder and gather the rest of my belongings in his left arm, while using the right to firmly place his hand on my arm and guide me out of my seat and towards the classroom door just as the janitorial staff entered to take care of the mess I'd left behind.
As soon as he whisked me out the door and into the empty hall he spoke, "You have questions, and I have some of the answers your looking for," I stared up at him, puzzled. "This wasn't how this was supposed to happen, you know? I saw you coming to me weeks ago. But you changed your mind, something out you on a different path. One I couldn't see, not clearly anyway."
"I'm sorry, sir crazy-pants! What do you mean you saw me coming to you? Are you coo coo bananas or something?"
"You don't understand yet, but you will. And I'm going to help you do that, Ainsley." He said confidently as he continued to pull me gently in the direction of the nurses office. "We need to take care of that nose bleed."