Reality Dive — 3
Chapter 3: Something Dark This Way Stalks
The final bell rang loud and shrill in my ears. To say today had been a long one, would be an understatement.
I feel tired and weary.
After the hallway fiasco with Ethan, he did indeed leave me be. I haven’t seen him since then. However, the absence of my self-proclaimed bodyguard has not gone unnoticed. Rachelle and her ilk cornered me during P.E. She had caught sight of Ethan, deciding then and there that he would be hers.
What Rachelle wants, Rachelle gets, after all.
I sigh, picking up my backpack to head out the door; memories of the encounter still fresh in my mind.
“Elie, dear, I couldn’t help but notice that your new shadow is missing. Where ever did he go?” Her voice is sugary sweet. She wants something from me, and I have an inkling of what it was.
“I told him to buzz off. I don’t need someone hanging on me.” I try to turn around and leave, head over to the other side of the field, but she has other ideas.
Her friends block me in, laughing like the horrible witches they are. “Now, now Elie, that’s no way to talk to a better!” She sways her hips as she approaches me. I don’t know why; I have no interest in her.
Perhaps intimidation, since she obviously has a better figure. Let’s not forget access to the best plastic surgeons in the world. Was that mean? Probably…I don’t care.
“Rachelle, seriously, what do you want? I’m tired of your games.” She stops in front of me, her perfectly groomed mouth turning down.
“So rude…well, if you insist then. I want your new…whatever he is. I have decided that he will accompany me to the Winter Dance this year. Of course, he’ll also perform all other necessary…duties required of him.” Her hyenas laugh again as I feel my eyes roll in annoyance.
What I don’t expect, is the small feeling of anger and jealousy that swirls up from the depths of my core. Where is that coming from?
“Look…I don’t know where he is. I don’t honestly care. I told him to leave me, and he did…finally. You want him so bad, find him yourself.” Gathering my courage, I turn from her and march through her cronies. I hear their surprised gasps behind me and a small smile forms at the image of their complete astonishment.
Take that.
I’m out the door of the high school and starting on my walk home before I even realize it. I have got to stop drifting off, not good for observational awareness.
As per usual, I find myself alone. Like this morning, no one wants to be seen with me. Except for Ethan, he was the first person in a long time to approach me. Talk to me. Dare I say…care? An image of him protecting me in the hall, his fierce gaze locked with mine, flashes through my mind. Shaking my head, I clear it away like a buzzing fly. No time to get regretful now, he’s gone and hopefully not coming back.
Turning down a side alleyway that I walk every day, I fail to notice the dark figure move behind the large trash dump. Before I can scream, a man leaps out to grab me. His eyes are red and glowing faintly in the dim evening light. His skin, a pale color, grey almost, with black oily hair falling around his gaunt face.
I brace for impact, closing my eyes in fear. A moment passes as I stand there.
Nothing.
Cracking open my eyelids, the sight that meets me causes a quick intake of breath. Ethan stands before me, swords in hand, the creepy man on the ground, unmoving. A pool of black tar-like liquid has begun gathering beneath him.
“That…is disgusting…” I turn my attention to Ethan. “What…how…where did you come from? I thought you left?” I look back to the still creature on the ground. “What is that thing?”
Sighing, Ethan sheaths his weapons on his back and turns towards me, eyes hard and unyielding. “Please…I never left you. Just hung back so you wouldn’t notice me.” He motions to the man he’s just killed, “as for that…well…” He stops suddenly.
Ethan cocks his head listening for a moment. I’m about to say something else when he holds up his hand. That’s when I hear it as well; a high pitched screeching fills the air. Like hundreds of evil mice.
Ethan lurches forward and grabs me around the waist, hauling me into his arms. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” I scream at him, banging my hands on his chest as we go flying down the alley. “Let me down!”
He doesn’t even budge, my blows mean nothing. “Stop struggling, if you haven’t realized by now, I’m saving your life.”
“My life? I have never needed saving before! My life is the most boring, mundane-”
“Your life is not what you think it is. Now stop it, I don’t think you’re a fan of getting eaten alive are you?”
My mouth slams shut. That would be a negative.
Biting back a scream, I clench my eyes tightly closed as Ethan suddenly takes a flying leap into the air. Peeking ever so slightly, I see us hovering far off the ground. The city below laid out before me. Turning to look behind us, a mass of darkness converges where we had just been. That must be what the noise was coming from.
Before I can contemplate it though, we start to fall back towards the buildings below. I have to bite my lip to keep back my scream. Landing hard, Ethan’s legs bend to absorb the shock as I hear the roof we fell on crack under the pressure.
I’m silent, shivering as he sets me down gently. I can’t bring myself to look at him. My mind is refusing to wrap itself around what just happened.
I was attacked, check.
Ethan came from nowhere to save me, check.
He picked me up like I weighed nothing at all, check.
He took a flying leap into the air so high it was like we were flying…check.
I am now standing on a rooftop, stories above the road below, shivering uncontrollably.
Check.
I need a drink… too bad I’m not old enough.
Hands close around my biceps gently, turning me towards concerned eyes. “Elie…are you alright?”
I shake my head slowly, tears beginning to trickle down my cheeks.
Ethan sighs and gathers me into his embrace. His strong arms encircle me tightly, holding me against his rock-solid chest. I feel safe, warm, protected.
Wanted.
“Oh, Elie…”
I sniffle into his shirt, he smells of the deep woods and the ocean all at once; so comforting.
“What is happening? I don’t understand.” My voice is small, I don’t recognize it.
“I’m not sure myself, you should know all of this. And yet,” he pulls back from me slightly, “you don’t.”
“What don’t I know Ethan?” I search his gaze for an answer.
He sighs and hangs his head slightly before responding, “I think…you need an explanation. One I didn’t know I needed to give.” He picks me up once more and holds me gently.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere we can talk…in private.” I hold in my scream again as he takes off into the air, bounding from rooftop to rooftop.
Just what is going on?
