by M. K. ROZE
scratched it. The itching started on her feet. “Oh, great, Mr.
Snowflake has fleas again.”
As Adelyn was scratching the itch away, she felt
something crawl up her arm. She ripped the blanket off and
screamed as she looked at hundreds of small black spiders
crawling all over her body.
“Dad!” she screamed and rolled off the bed, swatting
the spiders off.
delyn woke up on the couch, staring at the fan
spinning. She sat up and stretched her achy back,
wishing she could have slept in her bed, but she
couldn’t because Dad had to spray her room with bug spray.
The smell was too powerful and made it hard to breathe.
As she listened to her parents talk low in the kitchen
about which pest control company was better to come out
to the house, she remembered Dad telling her the night
before that he thought a spider from Florida had hitched a
ride and had babies. Adelyn didn’t believe it hitched a ride,
she thought because of her sudden personalities, she was
slowly being taken over by an evil entity like the father was,
in the movie Amityville. And instead of flies in the window
like in the movie, it was spiders in her bed.
Adelyn got up and right away, she could still feel the
spiders crawling all over her, causing the hairs on her arms
to raise. She grimaced and ran upstairs to take a shower,
where she scrubbed her body and hair to make sure no
spiders were hiding.
After Adelyn got dressed, she sprayed her clothes down
with perfume to get rid of the smell of bug spray that still
lingered. As she was walking out, she noticed the handheld
mirror on the edge of the bed. She picked it up and set it on
the end table before she left.
At school, Adelyn parked and stared in a haze at the
building, not wanting to go in. She was petrified she’d flip
out on someone. She knew she wasn’t always in control.
Adelyn wanted to take off, but she knew she had to go to
school or get written up. She didn’t want that, so she walked
inside and met Marissa at her locker.
Marissa looked her up and down. “Damn, you look like
shit today.”
Adelyn opened her locker. “You would look like crap,
too, after you were attacked by hundreds of spiders.” The
hairs on her arms raised, thinking about them all over her.
“What spiders?”
Adelyn didn’t want to remember, but she told her
anyway.
Marissa’s face contorted in a grimace. “Ew, I would’ve
freaked the fuck out.”
“Trust me, I did.”
“Are they gone?”
“Yeah, but Mom wants to make sure they’re all gone, so
she’s supposed to call pest control today.”
The bell rang. “Shit, come on,” Marissa walked off
down the hall.
Adelyn grabbed her books and shut her locker. She
followed Marissa to homeroom. Adelyn tried to pay
attention, but she couldn’t. All she could think about was the
poor dead people and the mystery women who haunted her,
and what the detective did to his sister. She was
overwhelmed and wished she could lose her memories.
In social studies class, Adelyn walked in and looked at
Brittany’s swollen eyes and her cut lip. When Brittany shot
her a dirty look, Adelyn was sure she thought it was her who
attacked her, and she looked away as she sat next to her.
“Karma’s a bitch,” Brittany mumbled and faced
forward.
After a while of the teacher talking about the
homework, she had planned for them, Adelyn’s thoughts
became evil. She turned to Brittany, who was writing
something down.
Brittany looked up at her. “What’s your deal?”
“Hey,” the teacher warned.
Adelyn ignored the teacher and grabbed the corner of
the desk. She leaned closer to Brittany. “You’re … such …
a … fucking … whore,” she said in the Romanian woman’s
voice.
Brittany jumped up and everyone turned Adelyn’s way
with a shocked look. Her desk and her body began to shake
violently like an earthquake just hit. Adelyn held both sides
of the desk, trying to keep the desk still, then the shaking
abruptly stopped. The students jumped up and ran to the
other side of the room.
The teacher pointed at her. “Miss. Mae, how dare you
speak to someone like that and try to destroy school
property?”
Adelyn didn’t know what to say, so she kept her mouth
shut, hoping she didn’t say anything else.
“Go to the principal’s office, right now,” the teacher
demanded.
Kids laughed.
Adelyn took her eyes off the teacher’s glare and looked
at Jake, who was staring at her with disgust. She stood and
faced Brittany. “I-I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
Brittany rolled her eyes and spun around.
Adelyn left the class with her head down. She continued
to the principal’s office, wondering if she was mentally ill
instead of being possessed by a ghost like she thought.
In the office, she sat on a chair and looked at the woman
at the front desk, who shook her head with a disappointed
expression. Adelyn knew she needed to come up with an
excuse for her behavior and make it fast.
After a while, Mr. Jacobs walked out of his office.
Adelyn glanced at his black slacks and red silk shirt, then
found his mocha brown face with a scar across his forehead,
remembering him telling her it was from a childhood football
accident.
“Miss. Mae, please step inside my office.” Mr. Jacobs
walked back inside.
Adelyn followed him in and glanced at the football
pictures on the wall, recalling being in there before when she
was working in the office the year before, earning extra
credit.
Mr. Jacobs sat in his black leather office chair. “Take a
seat.”
Adelyn sat in a black chair in front of the cherry desk
and kept her hand next to her mouth in case one of the
women showed up.
“What’s going on with you, Miss. Mae? What your
teacher just told me isn’t something you’d normally say nor
do.”
She shrugged and looked at a picture of his beautiful
Italian wife and their three young kids on a lavish boat.
He tapped on the desk with a pen. “I’m over here.”
Adelyn looked his way. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s
gotten into me lately. It won’t happen again.”
Mr. Jacobs wrote something down. “I hope not. You
won’t go far in life being mean to people because you don’t
like them. And destroying other people’s property can land
you in jail. I’m sure Mr. Mae wouldn’t like that.”
“I’m sorry. But I didn’t shake the desk. I think it was an
earthquake.” Adelyn knew how stupid that sounded. She
wished she could take it back but it already slipped out of her
mouth.
“We don’t have quakes here. If this happens again, you
will get detention.”
Adelyn wasn’t going to argue with him. “I understand.”
She knew something took over her body, but she was
sure no one was going to believe that, so she had no choice
but to suck it up and take responsibility for her actions.
Mr. Jacobs stood and shook her hand. “I want you to
go back to class and apologize to Brittany.”
Adelyn got up. “Okay.”
Mr. Jacobs walked to her side and leaned on the desk
with his arms crossed. “In front of the class.”
Adelyn’s heart skipped a beat, knowing it was going to
be pure humiliation having to apologize to Brittany in front
of Jake. But she knew if she didn’t, she’d get detention, and
she didn’t want that.
“Okay, I will.” She paused. “You’re not going to tell my
parents about this, are you?”
“Yes, I have no choice. What you did is considered
bullying, which, you know, I don’t allow. Do you not
remember the story I told you after about how I got this scar
on my forehead from a bully?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then try to remember that the next time you
want to call people names.”
“I will. Sorry.”
Mr. Jacobs smiled. “Apology accepted. Let’s go.”
Adelyn walked to class, with the principal keeping his
distance behind her.
After Mr. Jacobs got the students’ attention, Adelyn
apologized to Brittany and flickered her eyes to Jake, who
then looked down at the paper on his desk.
Some of the students giggled and others looked at
Adelyn with fear in their eyes like she was evil. It was a
horrible feeling for her, and it only got worse in her other
classes when other students heard what happened and
started calling her a witch.
At lunch, Adelyn sat next to Marissa, with Nellie across
from them. Jake walked past them without saying a word.
Adelyn was sure he was mad at her. She knew he hated
bullies because he had told her he was bullied as a kid.
Marissa took a sip of her bottled water. “First of all, I
can’t believe your wish came true about Brittany getting her
ass kicked. And secondly, I can’t believe you called her a
whore and had a tantrum with the desk. I so wish I was there
to see that.”
Adelyn turned to her. “What happened to her isn’t
funny. And It wasn’t me who shook the desk.”
“It’s funny to me,” Nellie added. “She probably fucked
someone’s husband at her job and the wife found out then
hired someone to kick her ass. That’s why they never caught
him yet.”
Adelyn rolled her eyes, knowing it was pointless to even
try shutting them up.
Marissa nudged Adelyn with her elbow. “It’s okay to
admit you freaked out on her. It just wasn’t the best time to
go ape-shit on her, especially after her getting her ass beat.
But whatever. I think it’s awesome that you stood up to
Brittany. Everyone knows she’s the whore of the school.”
Adelyn stayed quiet. She was beyond confused and felt
horrible for Brittany. She picked at her grilled chicken
sandwich, craving red meat instead. She always preferred
chicken over any red meat and thought her new way of
thinking was odd.
As they sat there in silence, a male student from
Adelyn’s social studies class approached them. He leaned
down. “Hey, that was cool as hell when you said Brittany was
a whore. And that scary ass voice and accent you used was
brilliant. And shaking the desk like you were insane was even
better. It scared the shit out of me, and I don’t scare easily.
Brittany deserved it, and the beat down she got from the
mystery dude. Good job!” He tapped on the table with his
fist and walked away.
Adelyn looked at Brittany’s younger sister, Morgan, who
was glaring at her as she walked past them.
Marissa turned to her. “When a few kids told me that
you spoke with a Romanian accent and an evil voice, I didn’t
believe them until now.”
“I heard you acted like a Southern woman in class and
freaked on the teacher,” Nellie added while looking at her
phone.
Adelyn stood and gathered her tray. “I have to go. I
don’t feel right.” She walked away, wanting to be alone.
Marissa caught up to Adelyn. She grabbed her shoulder,
stopping her in the hall. “Hey, what’s going on with you?
You haven’t been right since—”
Adelyn’s eyes widened. “Since what?” She was sure
Marissa was about to throw the car accident in her face, just
like she’d done in the past whenever Adelyn acted out of
character.
Marissa looked away with a guilty look. “Forget it.”
Adelyn hesitated then gave in. “I think I’m cursed from
stealing that mirror or something. I swear to God it wasn’t
me who said that or shook the desk. I mean, it was me who
said it, but it was like I was forced to say it.”
Marissa giggled. “You never believed in that paranormal
shit before.”
Adelyn wished at that moment that she’d kept her
mouth shut. “Yeah, I know.”
Marissa stepped closer. “It’s okay to have a hot temper.
I still love you.”
Adelyn looked up at her, hopeless. “Love you, too.”
Marissa smiled. “I heard you speak with a British accent
before, but when did you learn how to speak with a
Romanian and a Southern accent?”
Adelyn looked away wanting to tell her everything, but
she was sure based on how she was acting, she wouldn’t take
her seriously. “A movie,” she mumbled.
“Sweet.” Marissa looked around the empty hall and gave
Adelyn a quick hug. “I have a dental appointment. I’m
leaving school early. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay.”
“Maybe I’ll swing over and take a look at this mystery
mirror that I supposedly gave you.” She winked.
Adelyn forced a smile. She didn’t want company, but
she didn’t want to push her away either. “Yeah, please come
over.”
“Alright. See ya later.”
As she watched Marissa walk off down the hall, the bell
rang for the next period, but she decided to go home early,
not wanting another episode to happen.
Adelyn left school with her head down and got into her
truck. She stared off into the woods behind the school. Maybe
I do have split personalities. That has to be it. If I was possessed, it
wouldn’t come and go like this. Or would it?
When she started thinking about how she told the
couple where the bodies were, Adelyn stopped guessing what
was wrong with her and drove slowly out of the school
parking lot.
hen Adelyn arrived home, her stomach rumbled
from not eating much in the past few days, but
she ignored it because she was more eager to
see the mirror. She went into her room
and approached the
end table, but the mirror was gone. She looked on the floor,
thinking that Mr. Snowflake had kicked it off, but it wasn’t
there. She lifted the bedding to see if she’d misplaced it, but
it wasn’t on the bed.
Adelyn sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, trying to
remember where she’d put it before she left for school. Oh,
my God. Did the pest control people take it?
She didn’t want to believe that, so she got up and walked
over to the desk to look under her pile of clothes, hoping her
thoughts weren’t true about the pest control workers stealing
it.
When she saw that the mirror wasn’t there, she sat back
on the bed, and three muffled knocks came from the
window.
Adelyn checked the window because she knew her cat
always liked laying there in the sun. As she slid the white
drapes back, the knocking started again, but that time it came
from behind her. Adelyn grabbed her chest, whipped
around, and the knocking abruptly stopped. What the hell is
that?
As she scanned the room, she saw a black shadow in the
hallway and rushed out of the room, wondering if it was her
cat. She was certain it was him playing with something, so
she sprinted downstairs to take a look.
Adelyn stepped into the kitchen and smiled at the cat on
the counter—his wide, yellow eyes transfixed on the ceiling.
“Hey, Mr. Snowflake.” Adelyn petted him and picked
him up, then he growled at her. “Screw you, cat.” She set him
back down and opened the refrigerator door to get a glass of
iced tea.
As she was pouring the tea into a glass, thumping
sounds came from above her. She froze, held her breath, and
slowly looked up at the dome lights flickering on the vaulted
ceiling.
Mr. Snowflake hissed, still staring up at it, then the
thumping sounds turned into long spine-chilling scratching
sounds. Her cat hissed again, leaped off the counter, and
took off running.
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!
Adelyn flinched and looked toward the front door to see
who it was. When she saw Marissa through the glass window,