by C. S Luis
Locks of blond hair were neatly tamed upon his head. His closed eyes began to open. His arms were extended out as his body slowly rose before her from within the water; although, not a single part of the figure seemed wet. He floated briefly in front of her, and as their eyes met, he curved a smile.
Claudia shivered back.
The creepy smile on his pasty face and his dark eyes were both transfixed on her. He slowly hovered away from the pool, lowered his arms and came to rest at the edge of the pool in front of her. Strangely and eerily handsome, he stood unnaturally, almost like a mannequin. There was something odd about him, his face human yet robotic.
"You!” Claudia uttered before the words froze in her mouth. The man in the black suit and red tie. It was him.
He smiled at her as if he had long awaited their union, and she didn’t know how far from the truth it was. He moved forward then froze suddenly, turning as a swiftly moving light engulfed him. It came between him and Claudia and knocked him to the other end of the wall and then through it. The wall collapsed into itself with a thunderous roar.
For a moment, Claudia didn’t move, unsure of what had happened. She didn’t know whether to run or stay. It wasn’t until phantom hands reached out of the wall behind and tried to grab her that she screamed and struggled. She pulled free, and the ghostly hands shriveled back like dried up weeds and disappeared.
All around her, the structure began to collapse as she tried to escape; part of the ceiling came crashing down blocking her path. She glanced at the dark pool. The water seemed to stir, and something seemed to be rising from its depths again. She feared the man would return, and this time take her as she had sensed were his intentions.
In a panic, she began crawling away, desperately looking for an escape. With a sudden splash, a ghostly figure leaped out of the dark waters and into her path to stand before her. He gazed down at her. Claudia shriveled back, too frightened to move. The figure’s radiant purple eyes drew her to him, staring deep into her as if he were trying to find something within them.
Confused and unsure of whom he was, she seemed absorbed by his stare and couldn’t move. Their eyes locked by an unknown force, and through those purple swirling eyes of his, Claudia knew he was there to protect her but was unsure how she knew it.
The handsome stranger extended his hand to her. Claudia slowly reached for his hand, and he carefully lifted her beside him. She was overwhelmed when she came within inches of his face, blushing when she felt she couldn’t look away. Drawn to the stranger, she knew there was something about him that assured her she was safe in his arms.
“Who are you?” She forced her lips to say. He merely smiled at her childish question.
The words barely left her mouth when a dark figure emerged from behind the handsome rescuer. He immediately shoved her back and faced the dark figure that gripped her rescuer’s throat and began lifting him off the ground. The figure’s face lay obscured by darkness, but Claudia knew who it was; the clearly and neatly tailored black suit and red tie were quite visible from where she sat upon the ground.
The young man grabbed at the hands around his neck, fighting to escape.
“Stop!” Claudia cried. “Leave him alone!” She grabbed a nearby stone and tossed it at the dark figure’s feet. A growl escaped its unseen lips, and she scattered cowardly away.
The shadowy figure’s hold hardened around the young man’s throat; she could tell by the way he struggled. And then just when there no longer seemed to be a fight in him, the young man lifted his hand, thrusting it forward in some sort of sign or offering. At this, the dark figure slowly turned his head and suddenly released the young man.
Her rescuer dropped to the floor and onto his knees before the dark figure, gripping his right hand tightly. Had he been hurt? She didn’t understand what had happened but soon found the dark figure’s gaze upon her as it slowly moved back.
If there were words between them, she couldn’t be sure. But there seemed to be respect. The dark figure quickly faded back into the murky mist, and just as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone. She wondered why he had ever appeared in the first place, and why to her?
The young man knelt beside her; a sweet concern consumed his strangely pale and diamond shaped face. His strong jaw and dark matted locks of hair made him appear even paler. She found herself staring and even blushing slightly when his strange, large purple eyes gazed directly at her, and suddenly, his full lips smiled.
His expression seemed sinister, curious even; he watched and examined her with an inquisitive gaze. She felt his curiosity, his need to know her more than he knew himself.
He smiled. Had he read her mind?
His expression became gentle, almost innocent in her presence, like a tamed wild cat under the guidance of the richest nectar.
He reached out a hand to touch her; she could sense it had been something he longed to do. He came forward, drawing closer until he fell upon her lips, pressing his lips against her own mouth without warning. Startled, she made no attempt to pull away as his hand aggressively pressed the back of her head towards his inviting mouth. She slowly sank into the warmth of his delicate mouth, breathing in a deep taste of him.
As he pulled back, she opened her eyes and stared deep into his own, trying to read his very thoughts, but she found a mixture of different images she couldn’t make sense of. She felt dizzy, like something wanted to leave her stomach, and she began to choke. Suddenly, water poured out of her mouth. Her rescuer watched without concern as she fought the urge. But again, her stomach pushed upward inside her, making her gag. She collapsed to the floor and began coughing violently, and then a rush of water poured from her lips, emptying her fragile body.
11
The End is always the beginning
When I awoke, I was on an uncomfortable cot whose springs dug into my upper back. I looked around and realized I was in the nurse's office. Mr. McClellan, the man I had briefly met on my arrival, was seated beside my bed along with Mr. Claypool and Mr. Vasquez who were standing nearby. All three appeared worried and only moved when they realized I was awake.
Even though their presence bothered me, I could think of nothing else but the stranger that came to my rescue. My head filled with questions. How had I gotten here? What had I really seen?
Doubts stirred in me; could it have all been a dream? I didn’t want it to be. In fact, I wanted to run to the spot and see for myself, but as soon as I tried to move, Mr. McClellan stopped me from getting up.
“Lay still,” Mr. McClellan said, he looked as seriously quiet as the other two. I wanted to scold him, but still dizzy, I dropped back on the uncomfortable cot.
My stomach swirled like I had eaten some bad fish. “What happened? How did I get here?”
“Do you not remember, Claudia?” I barely blinked up at them. “You were found passed out in the locker room by your classmates.”
My thoughts wandered, and I immediately sat up again; I remembered the stranger’s eyes looking at me from that pale face, the struggle with the menacing shadow in the dark corner that had come out and had been the man in the black suit and red tie all along. I thought of how he emerged from the depths of the pool, and I thought of the stranger who had come between us.
I knew he had saved me from something horrible. That much I knew, but what puzzled me, is how I knew it. I knew because he knew. Because my rescuer knew, which puzzled me even more. I felt drawn to him, and yet I couldn’t understand my need for him, the urge, the will to go to him. It was like a hunger I couldn’t satisfy.
I looked back at all three men and realized my grandfather was the only one missing.
“Passed out?” I asked. But it didn’t make sense; I figured my grandfather was explaining my actions to the PE teacher, giving her the grieving news of my loss, using it as an excuse for my actions. If he wanted to talk, I was prepared to do so; I couldn’t avoid it any longer. And besides, I had so many questions for him now.
“But that
can’t be. I was in the pool area. I know I shouldn’t have been in there, but…. ” I hesitated, debating whether or not to say anything to them about what I had seen.
“Where’s my grandfather? I need to speak to him.”
Mr. McClellan very slowly lowered his head.
“Claudia, honey,” Mr. Claypool, whispered, coming near the side of the cot. Mr. McClellan put a hand out to stop him.
“What?” I glared over at them. The three seemed to be acting strangely.
“What? Tell me!” I stared up at their faces and knew it almost instantly. Even if I didn’t want to believe it, I could feel it and see it in their minds.
“Your grandfather…Dr. Edwards…is dead,” Mr. McClellan suddenly said. “He suffered a heart attack four hours ago. We tried to revive him, but he was already gone. There was nothing we could do. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
I immediately jumped out of the cot and raced out the door. I heard them rush behind me as I ran out into the hallway and found it quite empty. Unnerved by the silence, I rushed into the gym and straight into the girl’s locker room, running through the maze of lockers and pen-written walls. The assistant principals clumsily stumbled behind me, calling my name, but their voices made me more determined to prove to myself, to prove what I’d seen.
I froze as I came to the back of the locker room, feeling myself trembling and fearing what I would find once I came to the entrance, but the only thing there to greet me was a wall. I must have taken a wrong turn, so I doubled back, but I found lockers instead and no door to the pool area. I stopped only when the three men were standing right in front of me, catching their breaths.
“Where is it?” I asked them. They looked at one another, unsure of what I meant.
“The pool area! Where is it? That’s where I saw him!”
I couldn’t make sense of anything else because I couldn’t remember what had happened after. I couldn’t remember whether I had seen him first coming out of the water before I tried to leave. Nevertheless, they looked over at me as if I had gone mad.
“Claudia, what are you talking about?” Mr. McClellan suddenly replied.
“The pool in the girl’s locker room. That’s where I saw him, a man in a black suit and red tie. It has to be him! He did this! He’s responsible! He’s Death!”
Again all three men exchanged glances, looking at me as if something had crawled from my ears.
“You don’t believe me?” I angrily snapped.
“I’m not crazy! Where is it? It was here. I saw it!” I yelled so loudly, the lights above flickered.
“Claudia, honey, there is no pool. Milton has never had a pool,” Mr. McClellan calmly said.
“That’s not true. You’re lying. I saw it here; it was right there! There was a door and a glass window. And right behind it was a pool, a large dark pool, and that’s where he went. I saw him!” I angrily yelled.
“Saw who?” Mr. McClellan asked, looking over at me. The wrinkles on his face softened. He was tall like the gruesome twosome. I couldn’t stop using Alex’s term to describe them. But he was also a gentle, soft-spoken man with widened, droopy clear blue eyes. His hair was completely white yet his eyebrows were dark.
“A man in a black suit and red tie, I saw him going into the locker room. I saw him before in the girl’s restroom, too. He’s after me. I know it. He’s the one responsible. He did this!” The panic in my voice was real; I didn’t realize it until then just how crazy it all sounded. And in that moment, I recalled the image on the restroom mirror, the hooded skull that had first appeared. That vision alone startled me for such a long moment that I couldn’t speak until my rescuer’s face resurfaced in my mind to rescue me again.
Mr. McClellan remained silent as he glanced over at Mr. Claypool and Mr. Vasquez; I knew they thought I was crazy. But the more I thought about it and tried to remember, the more I knew that I hadn’t dreamed it.
I moved to leave. “My Grandfather would know what to do. He would believe me!” I yelled.
Mr. McClellan grabbed me and faced me.
“Claudia, did you not hear me? He’s gone.
He’s gone. Dr. Edwards is gone,” he gently tried to say as I glared into his deep blue eyes in disbelief.
I dropped to my knees; Mr. McClellan caught me, lowering me gently onto the floor with him.
I couldn’t make sense of it, and when I began to cry, I wasn’t sure who the tears were for. But something inside of me had broken free, something I couldn’t control. And as I sobbed, I recalled my rescuer’s beautiful face, the scent of him, and the warmth and protection his arms had given me in those few moments. I longed for it even more.
Why did I feel the need for him? Why did the single need of him bring me to tears? And the more I tried to understand it, the more I cried.
I wrapped my arms around Mr. McClellan, weeping, ashamed that he thought I wept for my grandfather. I hadn’t been given the chance to cry at my parent's funeral, since there hadn’t been one. And now I couldn't stop from doing so. Everything I had felt then erupted out of me. But not in words, or anger, but in tears; I wanted to believe I was strong. But now I sat there helpless, a victim of my emotions, and it was all I could do, and I wasn't even embarrassed.
Mr. Claypool and Mr. Vasquez huddled around us like a protective wall of warmth and security. And somehow, I knew then it would always be like this.
12
Michael McClellan
(The side note)
Michael arrived at the office building early; the secretary wasn’t at her desk when he entered the attorney’s office, but he noticed Mr. West’s door ajar and walked up to it when he heard his voice coming from inside the office. He knocked then entered, catching Mr. West by surprise.
The attorney was on a phone call, and as quickly as he caught sight of Michael, he dismissed the other party on the line and immediately hung up. Michael considered it a sign of respect, feeling warmth and assurance when Mr. West rose to greet him from the other side of the desk, walking him back to the seat facing his desk.
“Ah, Michael McClellan, very nice to finally meet you in person.” He shook Michael’s hand firmly.
“I’m sorry. I hope that wasn’t an important call. I got here early, and I didn’t see your secretary,” Michael politely said.
“No, no come right in. Have a seat. I have the paperwork all prepared and ready for you.”
Michael took a seat in front of the attorney’s desk as Mr. West made his way around his desk and became comfortable.
“It’s unfortunate we have to meet under such bad circumstances, but it’s best we get this out of the way. Neil would have wanted it this way,” Mr. West said.
Michael agreed; although, Mr. West’s words sounded slightly arrogant and almost rehearsed, like an adult talking to a little boy who had just fallen off of his bike, reassuring him everything was for his own good. He recalled it had been Mr. West who had delivered the horrible news to Claudia about her parents being dead and her having to live with Dr. Edwards.
“By the way, how is Claudia?” Mr. West asked, leaning forward.
“She’s doing better. She had a nasty gash on the back of the head, must have been from the fall,” Michael softly said, recalling the events of that day. They had only noticed it after they returned to the nurse’s office. The pillow she had been lying on was covered in blood. It hadn’t been bad, but it was bad enough to concern him.
After Neil’s death, he recalled letting school out early; that’s why the school had been so quiet. The silence sometimes frightened him when he was working alone, and that day it was no different. The school was especially eerie after what had happened, and even scarier when Claudia had nearly gone mad that she had seen something.
But how was she supposed to act after such news of her grandfather’s death? Yet how had she known? He hadn’t known himself until the paramedics were called. He never had a need for a radio until that very day because of Neil. Could his friend have known his time was
near? It sickened him to know if it were true. His friend had a special gift to know of such events, and he didn’t doubt Claudia had the same gift. Perhaps it could be the answer to how she was aware of such, even if her mind had created an alternative reality to explain it all.
“Well, she must have fainted when she heard the news. I can’t imagine anything else.”
“Perhaps,” Michael said; a long sigh left his lips.
“And the man she claims she saw?” Mr. West asked.
“The nurse said she bumped her head pretty hard on the floor. She must have thought she saw somebody,” Michael answered, coming forward on his chair.
“Do you believe her?” Mr. West asked, appearing foolishly concerned. Michael found it hardly convincing.
“I don’t know what to believe. I just know I have a very young girl who’s lost her grandfather, and I’m not sure where to begin,” he said.
“Well, the mind can play tricks on you, especially after a dramatic episode. I guess it’s the way the brain tries to make sense of what’s happened. But that’s just my opinion,” he softly chuckled.
“I’m no expert on the ways of the human mind. It’s something I don’t know much about, but what I can help you with, is the legal part of this whole dilemma,” Mr. West said, pulling a few documents out of a folder and setting them in the opposite direction in front of Michael.
“Before he died, Neil asked me to revise his will, leaving you custody of his granddaughter along with guardianship of his assets to be distributed for her care until the time she’s age of consent.”
“What do you need from me?” Michael asked.
“Nothing. The paperwork has been all drawn up; all I need is a signature proving you received it,” Mr. West said, handing Michael a pen and pointing to the areas where Michael’s signature was required.
Michael signed a few spots and initialed the rest. When he was finished, Mr. West grabbed the pen from his hand.