At the cafeteria, Isa sat down with Cole, Ciara, Campbell, Dylan, and Bailey and narrated everything to them. She told them of her neverending nightmares that felt too real and the conversation she’d overheard. She didn’t hold back on the confirmation from the librarian and her fears that she was indeed mad.
Dylan shook his head sadly and sighed. He stared at his shoes as he muttered, “I knew something was wrong with this town…”
“Yeah I guess. Everyone was always a bit…strange or something like that,” concurred Campbell.
Ciara rolled her eyes from her seat. “And how would you know that?”
“Just know. A feeling,” she shrugged.
“Whatever’s going on, we’ll have to find out…”
“And why would we poke our noses into what doesn’t concern us?!” Ciara cut in. Her eyebrows were furrowed in disapproval as she stared at Campbell. Did she think that they would go hunting after some supposed evil?!
“We will because even if we choose to ignore it, it will come sooner or later. It’s not only Isa’s life that’s on the line here,” Campbell argued.
“The only way to find out what’s really going on is to attend the carnival. According to Isa’s story, everything centers at the carnival,” Cole admitted and cast a quick glance at Ciara.
She glared back at him.
“Are you out of your mind?! Your plan is to go to the carnival where enough weird stuff goes on, and fight an imaginary evil?”
“It’s not imaginary!” Isa said crisply earning herself a scoff from Campbell. Tension like a cloud was quickly forming and Ciara was the cause of it.
“Oh really? Where did you hear it from? An old and clearly insane janitor and a librarian that has loneliness as her only companion? Unbelievable! I thought you were more sensible than that…”
“Ciara stop!” Dylan ordered.
“No you stop!” She fired back. “I’m not done yet.” She leaned towards Isa, face covered with disappointment and vaguely hidden fear. Isa stared back at her with her jaw set and eyes hard. She had just shared something deep with them and Ciara chose to doubt her.
“You seriously believe what those two told you?”
“Yes, because it’s true.”
Ciara shook her head in disbelief as she leaned back. “You really are insane…”
“I’m not! And I’m not begging you to believe me either. If you don’t want to help, then don’t,” Isa pointed out. She was trying to refrain from saying anything hurtful to Ciara because she was her friend. Sort of.
But Ciara obviously had no filters installed in her mouth.
“Great! Coz I’m not following you to chase down a make believe evil,” Ciara said with finality. She quickly took out a few books and engaged herself in the mental comfort of assignments.
An uncomfortable silence settled on their table, but the wounds of Ciara’s indignation on them started to heal.
Campbell put her hand on Isa’s shoulder in a pitiful way, “I can’t imagine what you must feel right now. Being the target of some kind of evil thing?”
“Don’t talk about it much,” Dylan scolded but Isa shook her head in disagreement.
“No, it’s okay. Better be real than pretend.”
“If we attend the carnival, what are we going to do then? If I’m not mistaken, it’s some sort of evil power we’re up against,” Bailey asked as she looked at everyone. “How are we going to…fight it?”
“Charlie did say he was having the feeling for a long time, but Marian said…”
“Who’s Marian?” Cole asked Isa.
“The librarian.”
“Oh.”
“Marian said I was going to be safe because there wasn’t a…a blood moon or something,” Isa explained.
“Blood moon? Hmm…” Campbell hummed in thought. “Evil does operate well on a blood moon. I read in stories that they perform bloody rituals on a blood moon,” narrated Campbell.
“Some human sacrifices, men and women in long cloaks, surrounding an altar that’s dripping blood, then chanting arcane words and stuff. Bloody skulls and bones littered…”
“Not helping Campbell,” Dylan hissed.
“Sorry.”
“Anyway, we still need to come up with something for safety’s sake. We don’t know when a blood moon is going to happen,” Bailey pointed out. Everyone nervously agreed. She was right.
“So how do we fight it?,” She asked again.
“I…don’t know,” Isa muttered in resignation. She was dreading that question and it made her scared to think that she was vulnerable to danger since she was clueless on how to protect herself.
“Maybe you should ask those that know about this stuff. Maybe Charlie?” Dylan suggested calmly.
“What?! No!”
She shook her head violently. “I’d already gotten a tongue lashing from Marian; I don’t need a death sentence from Charlie.”
“So how else would you get information to stop this? You pushed Marian and got her talking, so why not push Charlie?” Cole reasoned.
“I agree. They are pretty much the only ones who know about what’s going on,” Bailey concurred, rubbing Isa’s shoulder.
“You’ll just have to try,” she added.
Isa sighed, but didn’t talk.
“You’ll also have to be careful where you go. You shouldn’t be alone,” Dylan stated which in turn made Isa roll her eyes.
“I’m almost never alone. Either I’m with you guys or my brother.” She tugged at her hair nervously and said, “Charlie said that the…the evil will strike at the carnival so…”
“So what? You think it can’t strike any other time it wants? You’re not so safe as you think Isa, and neither are we,” Dylan said with annoyance.
Jeez
After a moment of silence, Isa started, “even if I’m not attacked now, I’ll always be attacked in my sleep by the series of nightmares. If this keeps up, I might just get killed in there.”
“I can help you with that,” Bailey cut in. “You need a dreamcatcher.”
“Dreamcatcher?” Ciara asked flatly from her homework. “Seriously?”
“Yes,” Bailey started back, “dreamcatcher.”
“Dreamcatchers are charms that detain or imprison your nightmares. You won’t have nightmares as long as you have them in your room.”
“I don’t believe this.” Ciara rubbed her face in shame.
“You don’t have to,” Bailey shrugged, “they only work for those that believe, and it’s the only solution to Isa’s nightmare problems…unless your science can profer a few solutions to it.”
Cole snorted loudly barely containing his laughter while Dylan, Campbell and Isa turned away to hide their chuckling faces. Ciara scowled deeply and returned to her homework in bitter silence.
“Okay then,” Isa started when she was done laughing, “I’m taking all the help I can get. Can you get me one?”
“Sure, after school we can go to the store.”
Later in the day, during classes, Isa took an excuse to use the bathroom, but she really wanted to do was search for Charlie. Seeing her leave, Dylan tried to reason with her through his disapproving look, but Isa glared at him and left.
She looked around the empty hallway as she walked quickly, hoping and praying to find the janitor.
This is insane…but I have to find him if I want to figure my next step.
She opened up empty rooms and ran into almost every hallway in the building but she didn’t find the janitor. She had limited time to ‘use the bathroom’ before she could draw up suspicion from the teacher, so she started calling out his name and running on the hall in the hope that he would come out to scold her.
Turning around a corner, Isa found the janior’s closet at the end of the hall. Her face lighted up. If he was not in the halls then he would be in the closet. Yanking open the door open, Isa’s face fell as she started at room full of supplies and no janitor.
“Ughhh!” She groaned in annoyance, “where could he be now.”
She glared at the storage room, mentally criticizing it for giving her false hope. She looked around the room again and sighed. On closing the door, she caught a glimpse of a tattered book hidden strategically between two shelves. She frowned slightly. It looked so off among the piles of toilet paper and detergents.
Shutting the door, she stooped down and looked at the book. Why was it there and not in the library?
She stretched her hand to take it but squealed sharply and removed her hand. It was so cold, like it had been in a freezer. Isa looked at it carefully and started to touch it again when she felt a sharp pain in her chest.
She gasped loudly and fell to the floor.
“Ah!” She cried as she held her chest tightly and curled on the floor. Tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision for a moment. Her heavy breaths formed clouds of white fog as she struggled with the pain in her body.
She was freezing cold and her chest felt like a million needles were inserted into it. “God…what’s…this?” She choked out as her body curled into a ball. She opened her eyes for a brief moment and found the entire closet frozen solid. Everything was covered in a thin layer of ice.
Isa shut her eyes again and opened it. From a far corner, she saw a somehow translucent body float towards her steadily. It’s face wasn’t clear but Isa could tell the eerie look on it’s face, but she was too occupied by her pains to make room for fear.
The translucent body stopped right above her and stared at her trembling form. It’s empty eyes showed nothingness in it. It’s long hair floated calmly with it.
“Please…” was it’s only word. It’s moth didn’t move a centimeter, but it echoed painfully in Isa’s head. Another wave of pain passed through her body as she shut her eyes. For good this time. It was too much.
“Please…please…please…” it begged over and over again, inside Isa’s mind, giving no space for logical reasoning.
“Please what?!” Isa cried out in despair. “What is it you want?” She seemed to beg.
There was silence. “I want to be free…” a soft voice spoke in her head. It was small and innocent, fitting the size of the ghost. Isa’s pain had stopped too but she was exhausted. “I don’t hold you captive…be free…” she spoke softly.
Cold air brushed Isa’s face for a moment, before warmth settled in the closet. It had ended just as quickly as it happened and everything was back to normal, including Isa. She no longer felt pain or exhaustion, instead she felt more energy than before. She got up in confusion. She should be scared, but she felt normal, with a little energy.
Isa took the book and turned it in her arms, examining it. “Later,” she mumbled and tossed the book inside her bag and the door opened.
Gasping, she turned around only to see an annoyed Dylan.
“Why are you here alone?” He queried. Isa sighed and adjusted her bag before replying, “I came to look for Charlie.”
“Why?” He asked in exasperation.
“Why?” Isa asked in surprise, “you were the one who said to look for Charlie for more information, so I’m looking for him.”
“You’re looking for him alone?” He drawed and crossed his arms and leaned on the door frame.
“What…” Isa tapped her foot impatiently. “Yes alone! I don’t need a babysitter. I’m fifteen.”
“And I’m older.”
“So?” Isa asked, her hands on her hips. They glared at each other for some moments before Dylan sighed and looked away.
“Sorry,” he apologized. “I just got worried.”
Isa rolled her eyes. “Calm down big guy, I’m not dying.”
Yet…
Dylan pushed his hair back and said, “I’m guessing you didn’t find him.”
“He’s nowhere to be seen.”
“Did you find anything useful?” He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked tired.
Isa took a long look at him, “no.”
Dylan frowned and gave her the ‘really?’ look but Isa shook her head. “I’m serious, I didn’t find anything.”
She walked to the door and stepped out before asking Dylan, “are you coming?”
In reply, he scanned her for a long time. Isa wondered what he was thinking or if he would notice anything. Did he know she was lying?
Shrugging, he stepped out of the janitor’s closet and Isa shut the door.