by Lizzie Vega
Suddenly, Mikayla jumped up, surprising them. “Amanda,” she gushed, “Thanks so much for being there for me. You were awesome.” She held out her arms, inviting Amanda to stand up, “Bring it in, girl.”
Happy for the rare acknowledgement, Amanda stood and gingerly embraced a suddenly impatient Mikayla. “I’m sure you have something better to do than to hang out here, right?” Mikayla caught Kelli’s eye with a nod toward the door.
“We can take her home from here,” Kelli said without hesitation, “But I am really glad you called me. I know we joke around a bunch but thank you for looking out for her.”
Amanda nodded then looked at Alvin and Edward, “You’re, ah, welcome. I guess I don’t want to be overstaying my welcome.”
“No, Amanda, thank you, I really mean it. These are guys from a club we belong to. It’s not that we’re trying to get rid of you. Please don’t think that.”
“Oh, okay.” Amanda replied without a hint of sarcasm. She looked at Mikayla, “You,” she grinned, “be careful. See you in class tomorrow.” She made her way to exit and waved goodbye.
Mikayla smiled and continued to wave with her good hand until Amanda was out of sight. Her smile vanished as she turned to Edward, “You still got all your ghost stuff with you?”
“What?” he asked, startled at the question, “You should really head home, you’ve had a crappy day.”
She dismissed his concern, turning to Alvin, “You have your camera?”
“Well, sure,” he stammered, “Almost always, what’s with you?”
“We’re going back to the Union. I want to look around and if you guys can be sneaky, take some readings of whatever is you do with that stuff. Let’s go.”
Kelli took her by the sleeve, “Mik, you should go home. At least change or something. Maybe you bumped your head a little.”
Mikayla, clearly angry, took a few steps then turned back, “Just for a little while. It’s important.”
Edward shrugged, “I’m game, but you look pissed. What’s the big deal?”
After looking around the reception room, she walked back to them, “Because I didn’t fall down the steps,” she said quietly, “I was pushed.”
Kelli held her temper until they reached the Union. As Mikayla walked back down to the step where she’d fallen, Kelli lost it. She ordered Edward to stand at the bottom of the flight of stairs as Mikayla explained what had happened.
“Again?” she addressed all of them, “We just go right back and have it happen all over again? This is stupid.”
“Hey,” Edward responded back to her in an unusually abrupt tone, “Just dial back for a minute. I know this has you spooked. We’ll be careful. I for one, want to see this.”
“I was right here,” Mikayla pointed then turned around. Edward shifted to stand just below her earning him the tiniest of smiles from Kelli.
“Amanda and Ashley were just behind me…”
“Amanda pushed you?”
“Definitely not, she was at least two or three steps up. But I felt something hit my back and then down I went.”
“Amanda mentioned the lights flashed. Do you remember that?”
“No. I thought I blinked or something. I don’t remember that.”
Alvin cleared his throat and dug in his back pocket for his phone, “Be right back.” He moved up the stairwell a few steps, “Hey, Ethan,” he spoke quietly, “I just wanted to thank you for this afternoon.” There was a pause, “Sure, yeah, I’m glad to hear that. Have you two been practicing all afternoon?” He waited until Ethan said something, then, “You musicians…all work and no play. Hey, Edward says thanks too. Talk to ya later.”
He came back down the steps, “Just to ease my overactive imagination, Sara has been with Ethan since we left. They’re still at the music building.”
“So, it wasn’t her,” Kelli said, “That’s a relief.” She looked at where Mikayla was standing, then up at Alvin, “Amanda or Ashley could have also been the target. Not very much space between them to maneuver in between to get to Mik.”
“The lights dimmed,” Alvin pondered after a student walked past him and down the steps, “Could be an energy surge.”
“But long gone now,” Edward said from the bottom of the landing as he hoisted his equipment bag over his shoulder, “No way to record it. What else can you think of?”
“The Union, the Music building and the Annex, that’s where all of the activity is centered,” Kelli summarized.
Mikayla piped up, “Ethan said that the security people are really watching the dorms now. Lots of problems in the laundry rooms and more than a few frightened people.”
“Would Sara know about all of this?” Edward asked. “It’s an old school with lots of rumors and scandals over the years,” he shrugged, “Maybe it’s a hot bed of ghost central.
“And Sara’s arrival has triggered something,” Kelli said cautiously, “an awakening of sorts. That makes Ethan ground zero.”
“Emotionally exposed,” Edward said, “I don’t mean that in a bad way. He certainly fits the profile as someone that might be susceptible to suggestions. Plus, Mikayla’s got that big crush on him.”
Mikayla’s head turned slowly toward Kelli, her narrowed eyes said it all.
Kelli instantly tried to defend herself “I did not say a word, not one. They figured it out right away.” She looked at Alvin, “A little help here?”
“Oh yeah,” Alvin grinned, “we totally knew. Almost right away. Kelli’s way off the hook for once.”
“Today must have sucked for you,” Edward added as an unfiltered afterthought, then immediately regretted it as Mikayla walked down the steps and passed him with a withering side-glance. He turned helplessly to Kelli who was already heading down the steps after Mikayla. She beckoned them to follow, “I have a great idea,” she said loudly enough for Mikayla to hear, “We need burgers, like right now. And a beer or two.” She glared at Edward.
“I’m buying,” he yelped out, “I’m sorry, Mikayla.”
She stopped in her tracks and turned to face them. She held up her wrapped wrist, struggling to hold her thumb and index finger a half-inch apart, “I’m on my last nerve and it really did suck,” she winced, “now I’m just embarrassed.”
After a few minutes, Edward brought over the burger baskets and set them down on the table, “I am sorry, Mik. I just didn’t think.”
“It’s okay,” she said as she tried to figure out how to pick up the oversize cheeseburger with her good hand, “I should know better. School’s the focus, right?”
“Not necessarily,” he said with Alvin agreeing, “We might just be exceptional cases though.”
Kelli snorted, “I’d so go there.”
Edward laughed along with her effectively disarming the prickly situation. “As long as we’re all here now. I think Mikayla should weigh in on the picture?”
“What picture?”
Alvin handed Mikayla the camera, “There’s one at the end that Edward did some editing on. Take a look and let us know what you think.”
Slowly clicking through the practice room photos, Mikayla took her time with each one. She stopped about half-way through and turned the camera, turning it to face Kelli. It was mostly of Ethan. Seemingly lost in the music, his expression made Mikayla smile. Kelli nodded, “I think you could arm wrestle Edward for a copy,” she said, “It’s cute. Keep going to the end though.”
After a few more clicks, she stopped, glancing at Alvin, “Um…it’s...wait, one more.” She advanced to the final edited photo and gasped, “Uh-oh, this is bad. There are…two versions of Sara.”
“You saw it in the original, didn’t you?” Alvin asked, “So did Edward.”
“That’s really creepy. It’s the little upturn of her smile,” Mikayla looked up from the camera, “Does Ethan know? This is really awful…but how do we tell him?”
Edward was writing furiously in his notebook, “And not freak them both out? I’m working on that. I get the feeling th
at Sara doesn’t care-”
“Or understand,” Kelli interrupted.
“Right. We don’t stampede her but I’m more concerned about Ethan and how he’ll handle this.”
“He’s going to want to do whatever’s best for her,” Mikayla said, “I just know that’s how this will play out.”
Edward put down his pen, “Okay, let’s meet up with them again, make it super quick, then get Ethan to the house as soon as we can. But we need to mostly be honest with both of them since we really have no idea at this point.”
“Flawless plan,” Kelli snickered, “Let’s just figure out a way to isolate Sara while we search for the bad version of her.”
“Bad Sara,” Alvin said, “Sounds like a bad movie title. I’ll get ahold of Ethan.”
“You know that Sara won’t mind. Nothing rattles her,” Kelli turned to Mikayla, “Mik, what did she say to you when she came out of the practice room?”
It took a moment for Mikayla to answer, “Sorry, she was…concerned. I mean super helpful and cheery of course but she got some paper towels and made me a little cold compress.” Mikayla faded for a moment, “It was…she was so sweet to me.” She looked up, her eyes filling with tears, “Now I’m scared for her.”
“Did she say something to you?” Edward asked softly.
“Nothing,” Mikayla quickly answered back, sniffling. She held up her bandaged wrist, “My ibuprofen has worn off. I’m just sore. It’s nothing.”
Alvin hung up his phone, “They’re back at Ethan’s dorm room. He said it was fine to drop over.”
Chapter 27
Ethan answered Alvin’s second knock. He opened the door with an odd grin, ‘You shoulda been here about ten minutes ago.” As they filed into his dorm room, Sara was sitting on the bed staring down at Ethan’s cellphone. She looked up at them with a happy grin, “Hi guys,” she grinned then saw Mikayla’s wrapped wrist. She jumped off the bed and reached for her, “Are you okay? What happened?” For a split second the smile backed down a couple of notches. She touched Mikayla arm, “Are you gonna be okay? Okay to play, I mean?”
“I’m gonna be fine, Sara. Nothing broken.”
“She got lucky,” Kelli said as she perched on the edge of a chair.
Edward cleared his throat and waved his notebook, “Not on the list as I remember.”
“Right,” she shrunk back, “Just a couple of thoughts we’re having. This won’t take long.” She looked at Ethan, “Something happened earlier?”
He looked at Sara with a funny smile, “You want to tell them?”
Sara rolled her eyes, and pointed toward the closet by the door, “We were talking, and I was getting something out of the closet. Somebody knocked on the door and without thinking, I was the one that answered it.”
“You did?” Alvin said with a quick glance to Ethan, “What happened?”
“I’ve never seen someone blush so deeply,” Sara said without a hint of sarcasm, “I was in Ethan’s bathrobe, but he lit up like a Christmas tree. He asked me if Ethan was here.”
“He saw you,” Edward gasped.
“One of the first years from way down the hall,” Ethan grinned, “I’ve talked to him a couple of times. I think he was surprised is all. Don’t think he was expecting I’d actually have a guest.”
“He got all stammery and shy,” Sara grinned, shrugging her shoulders, “I thought it was cute.”
“Of course, you would,” Kelli said, “Wait, a bathr…never mind. Of course, he would,” she tried to downplay the situation, “Ed, you’re up. Make it quick.”
“Yeah,” he said, “Right away and then we’ll bolt.” He sat on the bed next to Sara, “We’ve noticed that you are always in such a wonderful mood. I just kinda wondered if there was anything that frightens you or makes you feel uneasy around here?”
Her bright smile never faltered, “I know I’m dead if that’s what you mean. But not really, nope.”
Edward looked down at his notebook, then helplessly at both Kelli and Alvin, “Uh, okay. I really wasn’t expecting that. I sorta don’t know what to say now.”
Ethan tried to help. “We’ve talked about that a little,” he said quietly, “Sorry if she blindsided you.”
“Sorry,” Sara said happily with a hunch of her shoulders.
“There was one night a few weeks ago,” Ethan continued, looking at Sara, “when you were hesitant to go through the Annex. We ended up taking the long way around cuz it was such a nice evening. There was that I guess.”
Sara’s eyes darted up and then back to Ethan. While her smile never changed, Kelli saw a moment of hesitation.
Alvin leaned forward, “Are you sure,” he asked, “Never anything?” Kelli touched his arm gently, “It’s not an interrogation, lighten up.”
He drew back, “I’m sorry, I know there’s been a lot of unexplained activity around the dorms lately and I don’t want to see anyone get hurt. Anything you think of can help us.”
Sara nodded, “I know. I would feel awful if I was responsible for that. I’ll do everything I can to help.”
Kelli took the lead, “Does anything ever worry you?”
Sara shrugged, “I think about stuff a lot.” She glanced blissfully at Ethan, “More so since I’ve met him. Maybe obsess might be a better word.” She looked at Mikayla, “You’re gonna be okay, right? I’ll probably think about that now too.”
“I’ll be fine, Sara. Thank you.” Mikayla smiled back.
“Ice and plenty of rest so you heal up quick,” Ethan offered, “What happened anyway?”
“I tripped at the Union,” she answered quickly, “I thought some caffeine might help my headache. The more I thought about it, I hadn’t had much to drink so I may have been dehydrated. I’ll be fine soon enough.”
“I think that about does it,” Alvin said trying to wrap up the conversation, “Sorry to have barged in on you again.” He stood up and turned to Sara, “It is truly a wonder to have met you Sara, just wonderful.”
Edward seconded the admiration, “I hope to see you again soon. Thanks for helping us with our little adventure.”
With everyone standing up to leave, Sara bounced off the bed and caught Mikayla just as she made it to the door, “You take care now,” she grinned as she gave her a quick hug.
Mikayla stopped and shared a soft smile with her, “I’ll get better as soon as I can, okay?”
Alvin was the last to leave. “I’ve got a new book at the house you might be interested in,” he said to Ethan as he left, “If you want to swing by and pick it up tomorrow, say late afternoon if you’ve got time?”
Ethan questioned the offer, “For me?”
“Really lighthearted stuff,” Alvin added, “I promise you’ll enjoy it. Nothing serious.”
“Sure,” Ethan said with a small nod, “After class. I’m done at four.”
“Cool,” Alvin said with a warm smile, “See ya Sara.”
Chapter 28
Kelli started what was to become a defining conversation, “Sara really has no clue, does she?”
Edward was quick to agree, “When you first described her as perfect Sara, I questioned it of course. Now I don’t. This is really disturbing if we are all thinking the same thing.”
“She’s able to manifest at will now. Anyone can see her.” Alvin said softly.
“And hear her too,” Mikayla added, “I felt creepy up at his dorm.”
“I thought of that too, Mik. We maybe should have had you stay out of that part. She sure seemed concerned about you.”
Mikayla nodded, “Mmm. There’s a first year up there who got an eyeful I’m sure. Ethan will be a legend by the end of the week.”
“He’s got to keep her under wraps as much as possible.” Edward said as he jotted down more notes, “She kinda derailed me from the start. Sorry about that.”
Kelli softened his mood, “You did fine, I think. We just can’t barge in there and say, Hey, how did you die and how come you’re not all bent about it?” She grinn
ed, “That’s more my speed.”
“I sorta felt like we used her or that she was the lab rat I talked about this afternoon. I mean, Yeah, Laa-la-la, I’m dead, whatever? Happy Sara is just glossing over anything uncomfortable. That leaves the Bad Sara.”
“How can there be two of them, that’s just nuts.” Kelli said glumly, “I really do feel bad for her.”
“Can I put forth a theory?” Alvin asked quietly, “Maybe it’s sitting right in front of us.”
“I know where you’re going,” Edward said, “It’s classic repression of a traumatic memory.”
“The ultimate trauma,” Alvin said quietly, “God, I can hardly bring myself to acknowledge that she’s really dead. Is it possible to split a personality so deeply that it exists even in the afterlife?”
“Kel, you got that feeling up in the music building. It fits with the polar opposite of the Sara that we know.”
“I watched her close this afternoon and tonight,” Kelli said softly, “There’s not an ounce of anger or regret...”
“No fear at all,” Edward said, “Pain, nothing like that at all. Empathy, for sure.”
“Joy,” Mikayla said suddenly, “Happiness…” she sniffled, her eyes quickly welling up, “Only the deepest compassion for Ethan.”
“Mik, don’t. It’s not gonna help.”
“You can easily see how much she loves him. What we’re talking about here? That puts all of her feelings in danger.” She began to cry. Alvin and Edward looked at each other uncomfortably as Kelli put her arm around Mikayla, “Leave it to you to find the best part of this.”
“Maybe the two of them…the two Sara’s are somehow avoiding each other? Maybe they don’t know about each other.” Edward said. He looked at Alvin, “We could test that theory.”
“Provoke the bad Sara?” Kelli gulped, “Not your best idea, Ed.”
“Just to prove there are two,” he answered quickly, “Just to protect Ethan. I’d hate for Sara to be tricking us. Try to isolate her when Ethan has Sara at practice…or somewhere where he can keep an eye on her.”