Dark Humanity

by Gwynn White

  The Shadows started moving about, not just one but all of them. They scattered around the room, sticking as much to the dark places as possible but it didn’t stop them coming out into the light when they needed to.

  Ariel’s bedside lamp was suddenly pushed off the table. It fell to the ground with a loud crash. She jumped at the sound, wondering what else the Shadows could do. They weren’t just creatures she imagined were there, they were actually there in her room.

  Tears started to well in her eyes from the fear and helplessness of not being able to do anything to stop them. She couldn’t run and she couldn’t hide. With her back pressed up against the wall, she slid down to the floor. She was underneath a light with nothing to protect her, but she couldn’t think of doing anything else.

  Even though it was worse, Ariel closed her eyes anyway. Not being able to see the creatures didn’t mean they no longer existed, but she wouldn’t have to stare at their horrible figures.

  She silently willed her parents to come and find her. Perhaps it was only her that could see them. Miss Perry and Reggie didn’t seem to notice them, so why could she? Perhaps if her parents came into the room, they would vanish? Ariel didn’t know but prayed for it to happen anyway. Never before had she wanted some parental interference more.

  Out of nowhere, all the items on her desk were suddenly thrown at her. The stapler, hole punch, ruler, pencils, books, everything. They came crashing into her like a tornado had picked them up. They had the same amount of force behind them too.

  Ariel covered her face at the onslaught but there was nothing she could do to protect her arms. She hunched over, sobbing openly and hoping she would be able to make it through.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Ariel’s whole body was stiff as she hurried through the school corridors. Spending a night cowering on your bedroom floor would do that to you. When she had awoken that morning, she wondered if she had dreamt the entire thing.

  Were there really mythical creatures called Shadows following her? Did they really make a mess of her room which would be more than difficult to explain to her parents? The bruises on her arms told her everything she needed to know. Yes, they were real and they were just as dangerous as everyone had warned her.

  Unable to tell anyone about the Shadows, Ariel hurried through to the prom committee meeting. She would have to deal with her room later, perhaps start sleeping in the living room or something. She would just have to make it work, it would be worth it in the end.

  She took her seat next to Cassidy and tried her best to be normal. She wore a long sleeve top to cover the bruises, hopefully no-one would ask her why when the weather was warm and sunny outside. A cold perhaps? The flu? Extreme sensitivity to air conditioning? She would have to cross that bridge when she came to it.

  Before Ms. Thatcher got a chance to start the meeting, Niccolette turned around from the front row. Her face as petulant as it always was.

  “Good to see you here, Cassandra, was it?” She looked directly at Cassidy, challenging her to correct her. There was no way she didn’t know her name.

  Ariel didn’t give her a chance to be intimidated. Not when she was functioning with barely any sleep. “Actually, it’s Cassidy, but you know that already.”

  Niccolette just ignored her and continued. “How’s your cheerleading coming along, Cassy? We’re all so excited to see your audition next week.”

  “I’ve been practicing,” Cassidy replied softly, unsure of herself suddenly.

  “You’re going to have to practice a whole lot if you think you’re good enough to be on the squad.”

  “I am.”

  “And even then,” Niccolette stopped, looking her up and down, judging her from head to foot. “We are very selective about the types of girls we let into the group. I wouldn’t get your hopes up.”

  Ariel’s mouth dropped open in shock. How could anyone speak to someone like that? She looked at Cassidy, her face was crestfallen, like all her dreams had been robbed from her. Ariel had heard enough.

  “Niccolette, seriously, who died and made you queen of everything? You’re only mean to people because you can’t stand yourself. How about you turn around and leave the rest of us alone,” Ariel snapped, her heart hammering away in her chest. She wasn’t one for confrontation, but sometimes you just had to stand up for what you believed in. Right then, in the classroom, it was one of those times.

  Niccolette opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself. With a little grunt, she turned back around and faced the front of the classroom.

  Ariel took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She stole a glance at Cassidy, she would probably hate her now for snapping like she did at Niccolette. They were supposed to be nice to her, not starting a war. Ms. Thatcher called for quiet before she had a chance to say anything.

  “Posters, kids, we need posters,” Ms. Thatcher started. “A hundred of them to put up around the school and in the gymnasium on the night. Who wants to volunteer?”

  Nearly every hand shot up, except Ariel’s. Cassidy nudged her, reminding her they needed to participate. With her elbow leaning on the desk, Ariel made a half-hearted attempt to raise her hand. Ms. Thatcher saw it anyway, even if it wasn’t waving everywhere like the other girls.

  “Great to see you all so enthusiastic. We’ll have a working bee one afternoon this week. I’ll commandeer all the cardboard and pens I can find.”

  Next, they had to give an update on their tasks. Cassidy was proud to report that half the tickets had been sold. Ariel wondered how she had managed that, her books were barely sold at all. She knew she needed to do a lot more to catch up.

  By the time the meeting was over, Ariel was more than glad to get out of there. Yet she still lingered, making sure the others had left before she could speak with Cassidy.

  “I’m sorry if I ruined your chances of being a cheerleader,” she started, hoping her apology would be accepted. “I just couldn’t stand the way she was talking to you. It was so rude and you’re better than that. You deserve better.”

  Cassidy pursed her lips in thought before they spread into a smile. “It’s okay, you were just standing up for me. It was kind of awesome actually, did you see the look on her face? She was totally speechless.”

  “You’re not mad?”

  “Only at myself, I shouldn’t have let her speak to me that way. Besides, with the routine I’ve put together, I will definitely have the last laugh. Once they see my audition, they won’t be able to say no to me.”

  Ariel grinned, that was the Cassidy she knew and loved. They left the room and headed for class but there was still something bothering Ariel. She hadn’t heard from Gabe and that was never a good thing.

  She checked her phone for the fiftieth time, hoping to see a message from him. But there was nothing, Gabe hadn’t replied to her. Nor were there any voicemails. It didn’t do anything to allay her fears for him and she couldn’t get the murder out of her head. She had no reason to believe the two things were connected but she still couldn’t help worry about it.

  On her way to Math class, Ariel passed Kourtney and Karen heading the other way. She wasn’t sure if she was still on good terms with the coven after what had happened at their last meeting. Miss Perry hadn’t said there was a problem, but Ariel was still feeling unsure.

  As they passed each other in the hallway, Karen gave her a nod of the head. “It’s going to be a big night on Saturday. The moon is going to be full and high.”

  “Yeah, looking forward to it,” Ariel replied, wondering if she was lying or not. She was looking forward to lifting the curse but wasn’t excited about the process. Every time she thought about her next meeting with Reggie, a voice inside her head screamed in panic.

  “See you then,” Kourtney added before they headed into their own classroom. At least they were talking to her and still willing to help. Obviously she was the only one worried about the Shadows. Perhaps she was the only one being followed by them.

  Gett
ing through a double period of Math was not easy, not with so much else on her mind. Ariel tried to focus, the calculations having a lot more logic than anything else in her life. She didn’t want to risk getting bad grades and having another reason to disappoint her parents. She had to focus.

  The morning passed by interminably long. Ariel saw the clock tick past every minute, wondering why it was going so slow. By the time the bell rang, she was more than ready for lunch.

  At her locker, Cassidy was waiting with a handful of prom tickets. “Ready to get rid of these damn things?”

  “So ready,” Ariel sighed. With less than two weeks left to go until the prom, she was already looking forward to it being over and done with. At least then she would be able to get some more sleep ins before school.

  They set up shop in the cafeteria, figuring they would stay there for half the lunch period and then try doing a walk around to drum up some more sales. They were both prepared to do anything to finish with their assigned task.

  Waiting for some customers to start rolling up, Ariel heard a text message arrive on her phone. She held her breath the entire time it took for her to get the phone out of her pocket and light up the screen.

  * * *

  A, can’t talk, will explain later. G xx

  * * *

  With her finger poised, Ariel didn’t know what to write back. He hadn’t told her anything, just addressed the fact she wanted to talk to him. The message did nothing to appease her worries. She put her phone back without replying, Gabe could sweat it out for once while waiting for a text. Perhaps then he would know what it felt like.

  “Is everything alright?” Cassidy asked, noticing the grimace on her face as she tried to forget about her beau.

  “It’s just Gabe, something’s going on and I don’t know what it is,” Ariel replied without thinking. She had promised herself she wouldn’t mention him to Cassidy again. Not after she so obviously disapproved of everything Gabe related.

  Cassidy rolled her eyes. “What is it now? Did he choke someone?” Ariel wanted to laugh off the comment but it was possibly too close to the truth for her to muster it. Unfortunately, Cassidy noticed. “Oh my God, Ariel, did he choke someone?”

  “I don’t know. Probably not. It’s just that he can’t talk to me at the moment and I don’t know what’s going on. He can probably explain everything if he would just call me.”

  Cassidy relaxed a little but still shook her head with disapproval. Ariel couldn’t help but think how much she reminded her of her mother. If she knew about Gabe, she would make the exact same move.

  “Just don’t get involved in his drama,” she continued. “You talk about me being better than putting up with Niccolette, but I could say the same about you. You deserve better, Ariel, much better.”

  A customer came and interrupted them, Cassidy taking their money and issuing tickets to the prom. Ariel was grateful for the reprieve, she didn’t want to talk about Gabe with Cassidy. It was a mistake even broaching the subject in the first place.

  At the halfway point, they got up and left the cafeteria. Walking around the school grounds, they tried to offload the tickets to anyone who hadn’t bought any yet. They managed to get through one complete booklet, leaving only two before they were officially sold out.

  There was no more talk of Gabe and there was no way Ariel was going to bring it up again. She would sort it out on her own, away from her friend’s judgments.

  They made their way to their respective classes. Cassidy to English and Ariel to History. Seeing Miss Perry would make it difficult to focus again, but Ariel was determined to at least try to pay attention. Miss Perry was a good teacher, it wouldn’t be too difficult.

  “I want you all to pair up with the person beside you,” Miss Perry declared once everyone was quiet. “Together you will be listing ten great moments in history and how they changed the world. It could be they changed for better or worse, but they must have changed the entire world. You’ve got half an hour. Work quickly and quietly.” She took a seat at her desk while everyone shifted their desks closer together.

  Ariel looked to her left, having a wall on her right. She hadn’t paid any attention to who was sitting beside her until then. She was surprised to see her partner was Spencer.

  “Do you have any ideas?” She asked, hoping he had been paying more attention than her lately.

  “I have plenty,” Spencer grinned. “But you mean about the assignment? Just a few.”

  Ariel could feel her cheeks starting to burn. There was something in the way he looked at her, a sparkle in his eye or something. Every time he did she felt like he was staring directly at her with a thousand thoughts running through his mind. She liked it and loathed it at the same time.

  “Let’s start with the big ones,” she continued. “The wars? They had to change the world.”

  “How about when we first met? That changed my world.”

  Ariel blinked, wondering if she had heard right. She didn’t know how to take the overt flirting, nobody had ever done it to her before. She found herself laughing, unable to suppress the giggle. “Was that your best pick up line?”

  “Not my best, but one of them. Is it working?” Spencer asked, trying to stop laughing himself.

  “A little,” Ariel confessed before she could stop herself. It wiped the smile from her face as she remembered Gabe. “Maybe we should think up some real things for this list.”

  Spencer agreed, seeing the sudden shift in her demeanor, and they started on the task at hand. Ariel was glad to have something to focus on but she also noticed how close Spencer was sitting next to her. And she didn’t hate it.

  Instantly, she felt guilty. Poor Gabe was probably going through something horrible and she was thinking about another guy. She hated having those thoughts about Spencer but she couldn’t help it. Perhaps Cassidy was right, perhaps she did deserve better.

  After all, it was Ariel who had pursued Gabe. He didn’t chase after her. She had told herself it was only because of his curse. He never even dreamed of making friends let alone having a girlfriend because of his compulsion to kill. But, thinking it through, maybe it was because he wasn’t as into her as she was into him? It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibilities, even if she didn’t want to believe it.

  Her feelings were all over the place, Ariel was more than confused. When Miss Perry declared time was up, she was relieved. They spent the remainder of the class running over each pair’s top ten. They were pretty similar to their own.

  As the class was winding down and the bell was imminent, Ariel panicked. The way Spencer was talking, he had hinted several times about asking her to the prom. What if he decided to ask her after the class? She hadn’t exactly tried to dissuade him or give him any indication that she would turn him down. He could finally have gained the confidence to ask her.

  She had to get out of there. Subtly, so Miss Perry wouldn’t notice, Ariel packed up her things quietly. She needed to make a quick getaway once they were dismissed. She couldn’t linger or she would be in dangerous territory.

  She watched the clock, counting down the minutes and waiting for the inevitable bell. She would only have seconds to flee or Spencer would have a chance to ask her.

  Three, two, one, the bell rang right on cue. Miss Perry let them go and Ariel was out the door only seconds later. If Spencer thought she was odd, then good. Perhaps he would find someone else to take to the prom.

  Ariel hurried down the corridors to her next class. She couldn’t remember if Spencer was in that class but she hoped not. She vowed she wouldn’t give him the opportunity to ask her out. Not only because she didn’t want to let him down, but because she also feared she just might accept his invitation.

  She managed to avoid him not only for the rest of the day, but the rest of the week too. By the time Saturday rolled around, Ariel had much bigger things on her mind. The big day Karen had warned her about was upon her. She just hoped she was brave enough to go through with it.
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  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The woods were dark, but at least the rain had stopped from earlier. Ariel had spent all day hoping it would. She doubted the coven would proceed with the ritual if it was raining and the full moon wasn’t completely visible. She didn’t want to wait another month for it to come around again. Too many minds could change in that month, including her own.

  “What did you tell your parents about tonight?” Kourtney asked as they stood by the lake. Miss Perry and Lilia were preparing something to their side. The rest of the coven were waiting patiently to their left.

  “I told them I was at a sleepover at Karen’s. It’s not technically a lie,” Ariel explained, still feeling terribly guilty even if it wasn’t a lie. She would be sleeping over at Karen’s, just after the ritual to lift the Morbose people’s protection spell. Leaving out information was not lying, right?

  “I said the same thing to my mom,” Kourtney smiled. “I sleep over at Karen’s all the time so it wasn’t a big deal. I kind of feel bad about lying to her all the time. One of these days I’m going to have to tell her I’m a Wiccan.”

  Ariel wondered if she would ever come clean about her involvement with Gabe and the witches to her own parents. She hoped she wouldn’t have to. The plan was to remove all the curses so Gabe was just a normal teenage boy, then there would be nothing further to hide. That was the plan, anyway.

  “Ariel, Honey, it’s time we get started,” Miss Perry called over. She was holding a piece of white fabric in her hands, holding it up like it explained everything. It didn’t.

  “What do I need to do?” Ariel asked nervously. Reggie wasn’t there yet so surely they couldn’t start without him?

  “We need to cleanse you and get you ready for the ritual.” She handed her the white fabric. “Take off all your clothes and put this on. You can keep your underwear on. We won’t look while you change.” All the women turned their backs on her in unison while Ariel just looked at the fabric. Holding it up, it was a long robe like a nightgown. She did as she was told, hoping she wasn’t a lamb to the slaughter. As much as she trusted the women, she didn’t trust Reggie. Just the thought of all the Shadows at his house was enough to give her the creeps.