by Joshua Laack
Chapter 7
The next morning, Andrew waited through first hour, not paying any attention to what was going on in the class. Thankfully, it didn't get back to him to read, so he didn't think anyone noticed his lack of focus. He was anxious about second hour, worrying about what he would say and wondering what she would say back. He had spent the rest of the previous night going over their conversation, trying to figure out what had driven her away. Was it because of the connection, or the strange feelings he had mentioned? Had he done something else wrong?
All that worry was for nothing as Andrew sat through all of second hour without a sign of her. Was she sick, or avoiding him? He shook his head. That was impossible. There was no way anyone would skip school just to avoid him. He wasn't that important.
Third hour, study hall and lunch rolled in and out, again without a sign of her. Andrew didn't notice the food that he ate or anything around him. Jason tried to talk to him a few times, but after some unintelligible responses, gave up and left him alone.
The rest of the day passed in that haze and before Andrew knew it, the final bell was ringing. The day was over and he had no idea what had happened. He was ready to go home. All he wanted was to forget everything and go back to life when it was simple and he knew what to expect. The darkness was better than this up and down. It was better than hope dangled so near and then yanked away leaving him worse than if it had never been.
He climbed into his car and was halfway home when the fact that he was supposed to work again tonight wormed its way through his heavy thoughts. Andrew thought about skipping it, but after a moment, sighed and changed directions. Maybe a few hours at work would give him enough of a dull distraction to get him over this irrational melancholy. He didn't know this girl at all. Why did it matter so much to him that she wasn't there?
As he was driving, a shiver wracked his spine, all the hairs on his back and arms rose to attention and he realized that the feeling of being watched was back again. He looked in his mirrors and around as much as he could, but Andrew didn't see anyone. That was almost as strange as the feeling itself. This stretch of road was always packed with traffic during the day. Yet, for some reason, his was the only car for as far as he could see.
Despite being alone on the road, Andrew still felt those eyes on him. He tried to shrug it off, but the feeling wouldn't go away. It was crazy and he knew that he was losing his mind. He thought to himself that maybe he should get some professional help. Imaginary eyes could not be a good sign of mental health. Then he saw it.
At first it was just a shadow in the ditch. The shadow was keeping pace with the car, but it was on the wrong side of the road to be the car's shadow. Andrew strained to see what was making the shadow and noticed a heat blur about the size of a person. It was difficult to drive and watch the thing at the same time, but he somehow managed it.
The longer he watched, the more of a shape within the blur he saw. It was a dark outline of a man shape, though a bit larger than the average human. It was too blurry to make out any details, but he felt certain that this was the thing that had been watching him. What was it? Why was it following him? What was it going to do? Fear roiled in the pit of his stomach, threatening to overwhelm him. On top of that, the darkness which had always existed solely within himself emanated from the creature running beside his car. It was at this point that he knew for certain that this thing was about to kill him. A voice in his head said that it was time to end the pain and darkness. Just let it all end. It sounded peaceful. It sounded easy. Why not just let it happen. It was not like there was anything he could do about it anyway.
Andrew glanced back at the road ahead from time to time as he drove, but most of his attention was focused on the dark blur. In between two of those glances forward, Josefina's small form appeared on the road, standing on the center line. At that, his whole attention switched from the blur to her. At the same time, his whole attitude shifted as well. There was always hope and she represented his. He would fight death to the end, and somehow, she would help. She was about a hundred car lengths down the road, standing motionless and then she vanished.
Andrew hit the brakes and tried to see where she went. The blurred form beside his car flew backward and he saw her crashing into it, arms moving so fast he couldn't track them with his eyes. The cracks of the blows reverberated in Andrew's ears like thunder to accompany her lightning fists. The form was still blurry, even as it lay still upon the ground, though still was not an accurate description since it bounced around with the blows raining down upon it from her tiny fists.
Josefina lifted up in the air and flew backward over thirty feet. She rolled and bounced beyond that on the hard concrete, her body flopping around like a rag doll. Andrew hadn't even seen the blurred form move, but it had delivered a blow that was beyond anything he could even comprehend. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he watched her rolling. There was no way she could survive a blow that hard, let alone striking the concrete and bouncing like she was.
Then she wasn't rolling anymore. Not because she stopped rolling. She just wasn't there. She was on top of the dark blur, pounding once again. An instant later, there was another figure, a male that Andrew didn't recognize. The two came at the blur, which by this point was standing again. The male knocked it back and then Josefina was gone. He looked around and then she was standing beside the driver door.
“Move over,” she urged him. Andrew unlocked the door and hurried to unbuckle his belt and move over as she climbed into the driver's seat. Outside the car, the two figures were still locked in a fierce struggle. The blur kept knocking away the man, but he was back as fast as it could send him away.
As he watched, Andrew saw that the blur was slowing, but the man didn't seem to be. Small chunks of the blur broke off with some of the blows.
The gas pedal of his poor car hit the floor and Andrew was thrown back against the seat. He rushed to put his seat belt on, though Josefina didn't bother with hers. Behind them, the fight faded from his sight as the car rounded a corner. Josefina never glanced back. She just drove his car at a speed it had never before endured.
The look on her face was one of anger, though at the thing or at something else, Andrew wasn't sure. He was also unsure if it were wise to talk when she was so much stronger than he had realized was even possible and at the moment, angry. He decided to risk it.
“What just happened,” he asked, though he spoke in a quiet tone in an attempt to not upset her further? Her face turned to look at him, not even watching the road though she had the car groaning along over a hundred miles an hour. The car never swerved or moved from where it was supposed to be on the road. Her eyes looked into his.
“Don't worry about it,” she said, and then he didn't. Who cared what had just happened. It wasn't a big deal. The car slowed down as she pulled into the parking lot at his job. She parked the car, still looking into his eyes. “Forget everything that just happened. You left the school parking lot and drove directly to work. Nothing else happened.” And then, nothing else had.