Manifest

by Artist Arthur

  I can barely see Sasha in front of me and even stumble a few times as the snow is getting deeper. Beside me, Jake takes my elbow, helping to keep me steady. That is something else I am getting used to, Jake always being there to help me out.

  I turn to smile at him but can barely see anything besides his tall physique covered in coat, hat, gloves and scarf. We keep walking but I am starting to wonder if we’d passed the car. The parking lot never seemed this far away before. Sasha must have been thinking the same thing because she gasps as I bump into her.

  “Sorry,” I grumble and think she probably should have said something before simply stopping like that.

  “I thought the car was right over here,” she says, her voice muffled by the thick purple scarf she wears over her lavender wool coat.

  My coat is nice, not quite as nice as Sasha’s. It’s from Lands’ End, and it’s wool, too, just not in that cute, form-fitting style. Actually Gerald bought the coat for me and it is a nice charcoal-gray color, very warm inside and very practical. The boxy shape doesn’t really matter much as I wasn’t going for the fashionista look this morning when I left the house, but the keep-my-body-as-warm-as-possible look instead.

  Anyway, the three of us just kind of stand there looking around. I doubt they can see anything other than snow and blinding white, just like me.

  “Where’s Mouse?” I ask. “Can’t you call him on your cell phone?”

  “There’s no signal,” Jake offers. “I tried to call Pop Pop to let him know I was on my way before we left the building. A couple other students said they didn’t have any signal either.”

  “That’s great,” I huff.

  “I think it’s that way,” Sasha says and we try to stay huddled as close together as possible while following her.

  My knees start to hurt and lifting each boot-shod foot to take a step is becoming a chore. The snow is almost up to my knees and it looks like it is actually coming down faster. Jake is close behind me. I can hear his heavy breathing over the whistle of the wind. Sasha is right in front of me, wobbling with each step she takes. She’s shorter than me so I figure the snow has to be past her knees, making walking almost impossible.

  Squinting, I look up ahead and feel a little jolt in my chest because there’s nothing in front of us. Turning my head to look over my shoulder, I notice there’s nothing behind us. My heart beats a little faster as I take another step. I can’t catch my breath. I try to inhale deeply and a gust of wind comes along and snatches it away. My free hand flies to my chest and my feet stay rooted to the spot. Jake’s hand tightens on my arm and I can hear him calling my name, but it’s too late.

  I might have thought I was just cold, sans the howling wind and whipping snowflakes. But I know better. Like tiny little feet marching up my spine, the chill climbs and climbs before settling at the base of my neck, right over my M. My stomach twists and I pitch forward, leaning over just in case the nausea turns into a full-fledged heaving.

  My temples ache for like a split second and then I see it.

  The sky is pitch-dark. No stars, no nothing. The air is chilly and it’s quiet, eerily so. No car sounds, no animal sounds, just nothing. I look in front of me, spin around and look behind me. Nothing. There’s no one outside but I think I’m standing in the middle of a street. Not the street I live on and not any one that I’ve ever seen before. Still it feels familiar. I look up at the houses on the street, not mine exactly but again, familiar. I get the feeling the scene represents anywhere, any town, anyplace.

  Fear centers in my belly, bubbling like boiling stew.

  The ground sort of shakes and I immediately look down. At first there’s nothing there. Just my feet and the asphalt. Then the waves begin, swirling and curling around my boots, up to my ankles. It’s back again, that black fog that tried to choke me. Now it’s reaching up at me, like fingers clawing their way up my body. I try to move but it’s useless. Suddenly the black fog is everywhere, tangling around me, floating over the street, drifting up to the doors of the houses. Overhead I hear the birds. I don’t see them but then I don’t have to. I know them and I know what they’re going to do. I still can’t run so I open my mouth to scream but the dark fog jumps down my throat, stealing my voice and entering my body.

  I’m shaking like I’m having a seizure, all the while the black fog covers everything. Everywhere.

  Another gust of wind hits me and I fall straight back, landing in the snow like I’d intended to make a snow angel. Jake is immediately beside me, Sasha falling to her knees, like, an instant later. Both of them have one of my hands and are looking down at me like I died and came back to life.

  I blink once. Twice. Then swallow hard.

  “It’s coming for us,” I finally manage to croak.

  Sasha is first to reply. “What? What’s coming? Did you have a vision?”

  Jake sucks his teeth. “Of course she did. Don’t ask stupid questions. What was it, Krys? What did you see?”

  I close my eyes even though I much prefer the bright snowfall to what I’d seen the last time I closed them. “It’s dark and it’s coming. It will kill us all.”

  “Kill the Mystyx?” Sasha says.

  I shake my head, choking back a sob—I so don’t want to cry in front of them. But it scared me, the finality of it, the cold, creepy, calculation of its plan. It did more than scare me, it terrified me, and I don’t quite know how to convey that to them without completely breaking down.

  Jake takes off one of his gloves and rubs his bare hand over my cheek. The skin-to-skin contact feels good, reminds me I’m alive. I find a little courage to say, “Not just the Mystyx. Everybody. Everywhere. It’s coming for us all.”

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  Do you think that supernatural or paranormal powers exist? Why or why not? And have you experienced some phenomenon that you couldn’t explain?

  In Greek mythology the River Styx formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld, sometimes called Hades. It has been used as a religious allegory in other literary works, including The Divine Comedy. How did you interpret the meaning as it relates to the Mystyx?

  If you could have a supernatural power, what would it be, and why?

  If Krystal, Jake and Sasha weren’t connected by their power, do you think they would be friends? Why or why not?

  How would you react to Ricky’s request to Krystal to help him find his killer? Do you think she did the right thing by helping him? Could she have done more?

  Has someone you’ve known or who was close to you in age died? And if so, how did it affect you?

  Is Krystal’s experience being the new person in high school familiar? Do students in your school form cliques and segregate themselves? How do you handle it?

  How do you feel Calvin, Krystal’s father, handled the way he told his daughter about his new life? Do you think Krystal was right to be angry with her mother for leaving her father?

  Do you think Krystal will ever accept Gerald as her mother’s husband and her stepfather? Why or why not?

  What character do you think you identify with most?

  MANIFEST: A MYSTYX NOVEL

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-6423-0

  © 2010 by Artist Arthur

  All rights reserved. The reproduction, transmission or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without written permission. For permission please contact Kimani Press, Editorial Office, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, incidents and places are the products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real. While the author was inspired in part by actual events, none of the characters in the book is based on an actual person. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and unintentional.

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