by Shawn Sarles
“I was very impressed with your play, too.” Coach Lee sent the words in Steph’s direction. “The two of you really stepped up. And you worked together, which is what impressed me most.”
Elena could feel Steph’s eyes searching for hers, but she refused to turn and meet her gaze. Refused to acknowledge her teammate, the girl who was stealing her spotlight.
“As I was saying to Elena before you got here,” Coach Lee continued, clearly ignoring the tension that had crept into the room. Or maybe she was oblivious to it. “The best team I ever coached was a group of seniors who played like they were family. They were so close. So in sync. They made it all the way to the state finals.”
Coach Lee left off, letting her words sink in for a moment, as if they were the most important she’d spoken so far.
“I think you all could be that team. In three years. Or maybe even two. You’ve got the talent and the drive to win. With some strong leadership, you could go all the way.”
Elena, who had been fidgeting in her chair, suddenly grew still. This was it. One of them would be captain. And it’d better be her.
“That’s why I want you both to be captains this year.”
Coach Lee’s announcement hung in the air, a free ball waiting to be played.
“Two captains?” Elena choked out. She hadn’t expected that. It was almost worse than losing out to Steph altogether.
“Co-captains,” Coach Lee specified, sweeping her hands together across her desk as if that would unite the two girls. Maybe she wasn’t as oblivious as Elena thought.
As the coach continued talking, Elena found herself losing focus.
She was going to be a co-captain? With Steph?
She sneaked a side glance at the girl next to her. At least Steph didn’t seem that happy about it either. Elena blinked and looked away, zoning out in the glare of the trophy case, noticing her faded reflection there behind Coach Lee. An angel hovering over one shoulder. Steph, the devil, on the other.
Thief!
The mirror Elena opened her mouth wide and bared her teeth in a silent scream. Her head flickered from side to side and she tore at her blonde hair.
You deserve this. Not her. She stole this from you.
The words slithered in her ears, venomous but true.
You can’t let her do this. You can’t let her win. What will she take from you next?
“Elena?”
Her name pulled her back into focus, but that last thought lingered in Elena’s head. She glanced at the trophy case again and saw only her reflection, her hair perfectly straight, her mouth closed in concentration.
“What do you say?” Coach Lee asked.
“I can’t wait to lead alongside Steph,” Elena replied, trying her best to sell it. She didn’t have any other choice. Not yet, at least. “We’ll make a great team.”
Elena turned to face Steph, plastering on a smile, covering up her disappointment and the anger seething in her stomach like acid. Luckily, the school bell rang just then, letting Elena jump to her feet and grab her stuff without seeming rude.
“I’ve got a quiz next period,” she explained quickly, knowing no one would call her bluff. “See you at practice.”
She had her backpack on and was out the door before anyone could say anything. But as she stomped down the hallway, she heard Steph calling her name. Elena ignored her and kept going. But Steph had freakishly long legs that caught up to her in a hurry.
“Hey, we should talk—”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” Elena finally stopped and whipped around so quickly that Steph almost collided with her. “I deserved this and you took it from me. I hope you’re happy.”
“I didn’t—”
But Elena cut Steph off with a snarl, and the girl actually stuttered backward, like Elena had fangs. Like she was something to be afraid of.
Good. She should be afraid.
“Just stay out of my way.”
And Elena stormed off, satisfied when Steph didn’t come after her. She was light-headed and could feel a fever rising in her face. Her cheeks had probably turned bright red, too. Not cute at all. She needed space, a moment to gather her thoughts. Or maybe she needed to just scream her lungs raw.
Getting to her locker, Elena spun the dial and pulled it open in record time. She set her phone down on top of a stack of textbooks and then shoved her whole head in, letting out a silent scream.
She didn’t know what she’d done to deserve something as insulting as a co-captaincy. Didn’t Coach Lee think she could handle it on her own? Hadn’t Coach Lee seen her playing her heart out the other night? Leading their team to victory? Elena had done everything right, and still she was being punished. This was so impossibly unfair. So beyond embarrassing—
Elena’s thoughts broke off as her phone lit up underneath her chin. She glanced down, and excitement came over her, shivering through her whole body.
It was her anonymous admirer again. More roses. Only this time it was a photo of a bouquet of them and not only the emoji.
Elena’s whole face flushed as she thought about him, this mysterious boy who she’d been texting with for the past week. No matter how many times she told herself she was done texting him, the mystery of him and his compliments drew her back in. She’d studied that shirtless photo for hours, and still she couldn’t figure out who he was. An upperclassman, definitely. And a hot one, at that. But which one? Her mind filled with the possibilities, flipping through them all like some kind of dating scrapbook.
Maybe it was one of the seniors on the baseball team. Or Milton, the junior class president. She swore she’d seen him looking her way in the cafeteria the other day. Or it could be one of the guys from the varsity soccer team. A group of them had come out to watch their volleyball game last night.
A smile bubbled on her lips and Elena’s fingers flew to respond. But right as she hit send and glanced up to the mirror in her locker, she saw it.
Bloodshot eyes. Wild hair. A crazed expression.
A demon.
Elena startled backward.
“You okay?” Henry asked, chuckling as Elena turned to face him, her eyes wide. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She checked the mirror again, only seeing her boyfriend in the reflection now. That kind, gentle face that she knew so well. She tried to shake off the bad feeling. She must have been imagining things.
“I’m all right,” Elena said, touching his shoulder as she quickly flipped her phone over. She felt it warm with a new message, but she didn’t look. She’d have to get back to her anonymous admirer later. “Walk me to class?”
Calvin sat on a bench in the lobby watching the rest of the student body flow past. Usually in the midst of so many people, he’d worry. He’d get that itching in his fingertips, the images scratching at the back of his head, trying to claw their way out.
But it never bothered him here, with the students slipping past so quickly, caught in the mad dash of an afternoon escape. His classmates were there and gone. The visions didn’t have a chance to take hold. It left Calvin at peace, his notebook shut, his mind clear, uninterrupted, watching the heads as they bobbed along until—
“Grace!” He called her name without thinking and then watched as she paused in the middle of the lobby, a boulder in the stream. She wore a confused look as her head swiveled around.
“Over here.” Calvin waved and she finally spotted him, her eyes opening wide. She actually pinched her arm before snapping to and walking over.
“You okay?” Calvin asked, giving her a concerned look.
“Yeah. Fine. Just had an itch.” Grace flushed as she stuttered through the words. “What’s up?”
She hovered over him, her hands clasped in front of her like in prayer. She looked nervous. Unsure.
But then why wouldn’t she wonder? Other than their brief encounter at the volleyball game the other night, they hadn’t talked in forever. Calvin had barely noticed her—or anyone, for that matter—in the
years since their carpool days. He’d always kept his distance. Kept to himself.
But something had changed. Something was coming.
The four drawings pulsed in his notebook, tucked away safely but always with him. The ones he had drawn in the library. A series. Unlike any of his other pictures. Visions that he couldn’t figure out. At least, not yet.
And Grace—she was in them. She was tied to it, too. She could be the answer.
“I watched that movie,” Calvin replied, after a moment of silence. “The Wolf Man.”
She looked at him blankly for a second, and he rushed to fill the awkward break, pushing his glasses up his nose nervously. He wasn’t used to talking so much. He wasn’t used to putting himself out there.
“It took me forever to find online, but it was actually pretty good. Once I got used to the black and white.”
“You watched it?”
“Yeah.”
And with that one word, a dam opened up somewhere inside Grace, a flood of excited words rushing out of her mouth.
“Weren’t the special effects so good? The hair and makeup. The way they did the transformation at the end. I mean, I know it looks a little cheesy by today’s standards, but it was way ahead of its time. Advanced even for 1941.”
He could practically see her geek heart pounding out of her chest.
“It was cool,” Calvin said, which worked to slow her down as she took a deep breath.
“I can’t believe you actually watched it.”
This time she mumbled it under her breath and Calvin did his best to pretend like he hadn’t heard.
“So are you heading home?”
She nodded. “Taking the bus. You?”
“I’m sticking around.” Calvin tilted his head back toward the gym. The doors were open and he could hear the volleyball team warming up, gym shoes squeaking and open palms smacking against the balls. “My mom’s got practice.”
“You just sit there and watch them play?”
Calvin shrugged. “It isn’t that bad. I manage to keep busy.”
A beat passed between them, and Calvin figured that’d be the end of their conversation. Grace had a bus to catch.
“Do you want some company?”
Grace surprised him with the offer, and then did her best to avoid eye contact.
“What about your bus?”
“My dad can pick me up when he gets off work.”
“Well, if you’re sure it’s not a problem,” Calvin said.
Grace smiled giddily as she followed Calvin into the gym, practically skipping behind him, and Calvin found that he was actually happy to have a companion. They skirted around the court, watching the players as they stretched and loosened up their shoulders, some of them taping their fingers while others slid knee pads onto their legs. Calvin walked to mid-court and mounted the bleachers, climbing up to the top row before plopping down.
“I usually hang out up here,” Calvin said, getting comfortable. He set his notebook down beside him as he waited for Grace to join.
“Don’t they think it’s weird? You watching them practice?” Grace seemed unsure as she lowered herself onto the bleacher, her eyes flicking between him and the girls on the court.
“They don’t even notice me,” Calvin assured her.
And then, because he wanted to get her mind off the girls, he shot out the first question that popped into his head.
“So are you, like, really into Halloween?”
She giggled, her head dipping to look at her shirt, which featured a monster that Calvin didn’t recognize. Something with slimy green scales and gills and fangs.
“It’s kind of my thing,” Grace replied shyly. “I really love spooky stuff. Monster movies and haunted houses. The creepier, the better.”
She looked like she had something else she wanted to say, but she stopped herself.
“Are you excited for the carnival, then?”
“Obviously.” Grace finally seemed warmed up to him. “My dad takes me every year. We get dressed up and go all out. Always in some matching costume.”
“Like what?”
“We’ve done Scooby-Doo and Shaggy. Thing One and Thing Two. Eggs and bacon. One year I even got him to go as the Mummy to my Dracula.”
“Got anything good planned for this year?”
Grace paused then.
“I don’t know.” Her excitement seemed to have drained off. “I guess I’ll have to go by myself this year. At least on opening night, since only students are allowed.”
She looked so disappointed that Calvin couldn’t help himself. He liked it when she smiled. He liked making her smile. It made for a prettier picture.
“We can go together. I’ll be your Watson or Wolf Man or whatever you need.”
“Really?”
Grace leaned forward as if she were about to wrap her arms around him. But instead, her hand fluttered to her chest, tapping something hidden underneath her shirt.
“What’s that you’re fiddling with?” Calvin asked.
“It’s a necklace,” Grace said. And then after a moment she fished it out to show him. The silver locket glimmered as Calvin leaned forward to get a better look. The charm was polished and well taken care of, its smooth edges curving into a round oval.
“What’s inside?”
This seemed to make Grace nervous, but eventually she unclasped the miniature lock and opened it for him. A black-and-white photo sat nestled there, a picture of a beautiful woman with dark hair swept up and out of her face.
“Is that your mom?” Calvin asked.
But Grace didn’t answer, the locket starting to shake between her fingers. She sniffled and Calvin suddenly remembered.
The car accident.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—I forgot about your mom and—”
He was an insensitive idiot. And the itch—he could feel it starting, tingling in his fingers, humming in the back of his head.
“It’s okay.” Grace spoke softly. But at least she wasn’t crying. “I miss her. But this helps me.”
She held the locket up for him to get one last look, and then she slipped it back underneath her shirt.
“Do you remember that day? When we were at Elena’s because of the tornado warning?”
Calvin could barely concentrate on Grace’s question. His mind got lost in the slapping of volleyballs against palms and the girls’ play-calling, their shouts of line and angle and deep. His fingers buzzed with a dire urgency.
A shrill whistle cut through the air, and Calvin couldn’t take it anymore. He grabbed his notebook from the bleacher and turned to a clean page. Then, making sure to keep it angled away from Grace, he set to work, his fingers sketching on their own as he tried to stay focused on her.
“Of course,” Calvin finally got out, the release almost immediate when his pen connected with paper. As the stylus started to scratch out a vision, Grace craned her neck around, but he pulled back, making sure she couldn’t see.
“Well, do you remember how we went up to Elena’s grandmother’s room? How we played that game in the mirror?”
Calvin’s pen froze, hovering just over the page.
“Did you see anyone in the mirror? When it was your turn?”
Grace’s words came out slowly, her breath held for his answer.
Calvin closed his eyes and flashed back to that afternoon. The storm blowing outside. The four of them sneaking up to that bedroom, uncovering that mirror and then stepping in front of it one by one. The cursed woman he’d seen floating there in his reflection. Her taloned hand coming to rest on his shoulder. Her red lips whispering into his ear, showing him horrible things.
His eyes snapped open, and he hadn’t even realized he’d started back drawing.
“No. I didn’t see anything,” Calvin mumbled. “Did you? I thought it was just a silly game.”
He tried his best to play it off. He couldn’t admit it. It sounded crazy. And he’d been nine. He couldn’t trust what he thoug
ht he’d seen. What he’d imagined.
But he couldn’t ignore it either. He couldn’t forget the visions that followed him, the feeling of death at his back, death lying in wait. For him. For his friends. For anyone who got close.
At Grace’s crestfallen face, Calvin glanced down at his sketchbook and his heart jumped into his throat. Before he even had time to process it, he lurched forward, knocking Grace off the bleachers. Her surprised yell exploded in his ears as a volleyball slammed into the stands right where she’d been sitting a second earlier.
“Are you okay?” Calvin asked, watching her carefully. Her face was flushed and her bangs stuck out in stray angles, but she looked all right. Still in one piece.
Calvin spotted his notebook lying open on the bleachers and snatched it up, closing it before Grace could see what he’d drawn. The picture of her, blood streaming from her nose, her eye swollen shut and purpling, the stray volleyball ricocheting away after beaning her, completely unsuspecting and unprepared, in the face.
“What the—”
Grace took her time sitting up, looking at where the ball had whizzed past her head. Then she turned toward the court, where all the players had stopped practice to stare up at her.
“Who hit that?” Grace’s voice shook as she looked for some kind of apology.
“Don’t be such a baby.”
Calvin watched as Grace’s back stiffened. When he looked at the court, he wasn’t surprised to see the snarky retort had come out of Elena’s mouth.
“Next time try watching your head. Unless you want a black eye to look like those monsters you love so much.”
Elena’s cackle punctuated the insult, and half the players started giggling with her. Grace froze, her arms dropping limply to her sides. Calvin thought she might start crying right there next to him. But a whistle broke the tension as Calvin’s mom walked back onto the court, having missed the whole episode.
As the girls snapped into their practice formations, Calvin noticed Grace’s hands clenched into fists, shaking slightly.
“Just ignore her.” Calvin tried to smooth things over.
“It’s fine.” Grace brushed off his concern. She shrugged, and her fingers unspooled from their balls. “I’m gonna go clean up.”