Insanity

by Kira Moericke

  “What?!” I nearly choked on my own saliva. I sat up, coughing.

  “I mean, think about it: Witches are beings who sold their souls to the devil himself so that they may live for eternity.”

  “Nova, this is crazy.” There’s no such things as witches, and I wasn’t going to let Nova try to convince me otherwise. Getting up, I walked over to the closet and grabbed my shower caddy so I could go and take a shower. There was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep now.

  “Oh, come on,” Nova called.

  “No.” I shook my head and started for the door. I wasn’t going to listen to this.

  “Fine, you don’t believe in witches. I get it. But, if you did, who would you think it would be?”

  I paused with my hand on the doorknob. Instantly, the threatening note that I had gotten sprung to my mind.

  From the corner of my vision, I saw Nova shift on her bed. “So, who do you have in mind?” I could practically hear the smile in her voice.

  I swallowed before pulling my hand away from the door. I turned to her. “I don’t believe in witches, but…” I sighed. “If I had to decide, just for fun, I would have to say Lexi.”

  “I knew that you’d choose her,” Nova said, smiling.

  I rolled my eyes, then turned back to the door. “I’m going to take a shower,” I announced.

  “You do that.”

  With a shake of my head, I disappeared from the room.

  ***

  “Blondie, come here,” Nova called as soon as I stepped into the room after my shower.

  “Why?” I asked, drying my long blond hair with my towel. I looked over at Nova and saw her sitting at her desk, looking something up on her iPod. My brows furrowed in confusion. “What are you doing?”

  “I hacked back into the school’s website,” she replied.

  “Nova…”

  “Just come here and look!” She flapped her hand at me, motioning me to come over.

  I sighed loudly, but slowly trudged over to her. “What is it?”

  “Look.” She pointed to her iPod screen. “When I typed ‘Lexi Leclercq’ into the search engine, her name doesn’t come up.”

  “What?” I nearly pushed Nova out of her seat so I could move closer to the screen. My eyes searched the screen, but it was blank with the words No students found in the center. I could feel my heart start to quicken in my chest. “How is this possible?”

  Nova slowly turned to look at me. “Do you think…?”

  “No!” I said. I stepped away from her a little too quickly and almost tripped. Gaining steady ground, I sucked in a breath to compose myself. “I mean, no. Lexi is not a witch.”

  “Then why doesn’t she come up on the student website?” Nova challenged.

  I opened my mouth, then closed it. I had no answer for that.

  “Well, I think we need to do some digging on her.” Nova turned off her iPod and stood up from her desk. “Just to make sure.”

  “Nova, I don’t want to play detective and try to figure out why Lexi’s name doesn’t appear.” I turned away and started to finish getting ready for class. My motions were slow and sluggish from the lack of sleep.

  “But–”

  “No.” I cut her a stern glance.

  She instantly shut up, but glowered up at me.

  Ignoring Nova’s frown, I hurried and finished getting ready for class. But as I pulled my brush through my hair in front of the small, chipped mirror, worry started to seep through me like a poisonous gas. Lexi may not be a witch, but there is definitely something about her…some-thing that I was soon going to figure out.

  TWENTY–ONE

  “GOSH, EM. YOU look exhausted,” Lena pointed out at lunch.

  “That’s because I am,” I grumbled. As the day wore on, the more tired I became. I was now to the point where it was a struggle to even open my eyes after I blinked.

  “She was up all night,” Nova said, shoveling a forkful of pasta into her mouth.

  “Ooh…” A wide smile spread across Lena’s face. She leaned forward and rubbed her hands together, eager for any potential juicy details. “Who is he?”

  “What?” My eyes shot open and I suddenly felt very awake. How did she know that it was because of a guy?

  You mean a ghost.

  “Oh, please,” Lena started, rolling her eyes. “Girls only stay up late for three things; midnight snacking, movie marathons, and boys. And considering that none of the rooms have TVs, and you can only get food when the cafeteria serves it...” She leaned forward, her hair almost falling into her lunch. “So, what’s his name?”

  There was no way I could tell Lena about Casey. She wouldn’t believe me. No one would.

  “Wait.” Lena pointed a finger at me accusingly. “I know who it is.”

  Panic gripped me tight. How could she know?

  “You do?” I choked out.

  She nodded. “It’s Jayden, isn’t it?”

  Relief flooded through me, glad that she didn’t remember Nova telling her about Casey.

  “Uh…” I didn’t know if I should lie and bring Jayden into the fib or not, but before I could answer, Nova spoke up, saving me.

  “Look, there she is.” Nova stretched her arm right in front of me, causing me to lean back a little. I looked to where she was pointing and saw Lexi and the two blond twins sitting at their usual table toward the center of the room.

  A chill tiptoed up and down my spine.

  “What about Lexi?” Lena asked, following our gazes.

  “We think she’s a witch,” Nova blurted.

  “We? You mean you think she’s a witch,” I corrected. I shot a frown at her.

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Why do you guys think she’s a witch?” Lena asked, looking between me and Nova.

  “Nova hacked into the school’s website and looked her up,” I replied. “But her name didn’t show up.”

  “Really?”

  I nodded.

  She turned to Nova. “Why were you even looking her up?”

  “Because I believe there’s a witch here at Brier Hall.” Nova’s face lit up as she said this.

  Lena looked skeptical.

  “I’ve been trying to tell her that this whole witch thing is crazy,” I said, stabbing some of my noodles with my fork. I took a bite.

  “Just hear me out,” Nova said quickly. “I mean, I know that all the articles say that that girl…what’s her name?”

  “Emilia,” I said.

  Lena snapped her head toward me.

  “Yeah. All the articles say that she jumped. If she was so in love with that one guy, why would she jump? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “And you think witchcraft does?” Lena said, her brows furrowing.

  “Makes better sense than her just jumping.”

  “And how does Lexi fit into all of this?”

  I could feel Nova turn her eyes to me, but I kept my gaze downward. I really didn’t want to be dragged any further into this than I already was. “We think Lexi’s the witch.”

  “Are you serious?” Lena asked, her voice rising in shock.

  Nova nodded. “I mean, it explains everything. The way she looks, why she’s so popular…”

  “You know pretty people are always popular,” Lena stated.

  “Not true,” I mumbled. I thought back to my old school and remembered a girl named Kami Moore, who had always stuck to herself and avoided being in front of large crowds. Neither Rue nor I could understand why. She was a pretty girl with a diamond-shaped face and light, shoulder-length hair.

  “Look, her appearance don’t even matter,” Nova said. “I mean, just look at her. Doesn’t she seem…witchy?”

  I looked over at Lexi and saw her opening a diet Coke as her two friends chattered on either side of her. She looked so delicate, even as she took a sip of her soda, with her dark brown waves and porcelain skin. Beautiful and timeless. That’s how I described her when I first saw her–the time where Lena and I almost c
rashed into her on my first day.

  Are witches real? And could Lexi really be one of them?

  A shiver rushed through me, and I struggled hard to suppress it.

  Wanting to move onto safer ground, I asked, “Where’s Jayden?”

  Both Lena and Nova looked around.

  “I don’t know,” Lena replied. She looked back at me and shrugged. “Maybe he had to stay after class for a while?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Don’t worry about him,” Nova said. When she opened her mouth, she said something more about witches.

  Both Lena and I groaned in unison.

  “Please, Nova, give it a rest,” I begged. I didn’t want to think any more about witches. The more I thought about it, the more the idea of it sounded real. And that scared me.

  “Well, I’m going to go to the bathroom.” Lena got up from the table. “Anyone want to come with me?”

  I shook my head. I wanted to finish my lunch. I really needed the energy.

  “Hell no.” Nova scrunched up her nose. “I don’t do the whole pow-wow thing in girls’ bathrooms.”

  “Fine. I’ll go by myself.” And with that, she walked away from the table.

  Nova and I were silent as we ate our food. I picked at my noodles, then took a sip of my Sprite that I had gotten from the vending machine.

  “Shit,” Nova mumbled after a moment. She pushed back her chair and stood up. “Now I have to take a piss.”

  “I thought you said that you didn’t have too,” I pointed out, watching as she gathered her tray.

  “I didn’t,” she replied. “But now that Little Ginger mentioned it, I have to.” She hurried and left.

  Awkwardness started to seep into my bones as soon as Nova left when I realized that I was sitting at the lunch table all by myself. I ducked my head low, not wanting to be noticed and labeled a loner, and took another nervous sip of my soda.

  Movement in the corner of my eyes snagged my attention. Shifting my head just slightly to the side, I saw Lexi say something to the twins, but because of the noisy chatter of the lunch room, I couldn’t catch what it was. Then she stood up and left the cafeteria.

  Where is she going? I wondered. My body itched to follow, but I remained in my seat…for five seconds. Then I stood up, dumped my tray, and hurried after.

  Where did she go? I quietly slipped through the halls, looking every which way. I didn’t see her, or anyone, anywhere. It’s not like she could have just disappeared.

  But if she’s a witch…my mind started to trail off.

  No! There is no such thing as witches, I scolded myself. Stop listening to what Nova says.

  A scream erupted through the quiet, empty halls, making my heart leap. My blood started to rush, and I took off toward the sound.

  When I came to the foyer, I skidded to a halt when I saw a figure laying in a lump on the floor. “Shit. Nova!” I rushed over to her and dropped to my knees. My breathing was coming out fast and heavy as my eyes scoped over her body. For the first time since I’ve known her, her bangs that took up half her face was pushed away, revealing her whole face. There was a gash on her forehead right above her left eye. Dark blood trickled down the side of her pale face.

  “Nova?” I called. “Nova!”

  She groaned softly and her eyes fluttered half open. She looked at me, but I could tell that she couldn’t really see me.

  “Blondie?” she whispered before she closed her eyes and sank into darkness.

  “Help!” I cried, my voice bouncing around the large room. “Somebody, come quick!”

  “Em, what’s wrong?” Suddenly, Lena appeared above the stairs and rushed down. When she saw Nova, her eyes widened. “Oh my gosh! What happened to her?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied. I glanced down at her to make sure that she was still breathing. I relaxed only slightly when I saw that she was.

  “I’m going to get some help,” Lena said. Then she took off down the hall, her hair swishing behind her.

  What the hell happened? I wondered as I picked up Nova’s head and placed it gently in my lap. My eyes continued to scope over her.

  “Em?”

  The smooth, chilling voice filled the room around me, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. Turning my head, I looked up and saw Lexi coming from the hallway opposite of the hallway that led to the cafeteria.

  I narrowed my eyes at her. What did she want?

  “What do you want?” I asked, my voice close to a growl. I grabbed onto Nova’s shoulders, as if I could protect her from Lexi.

  Something filled her eyes. She glanced down at Nova. “Is she alright?”

  “She’s going to be fine,” I bit out. My voice wavered just slightly.

  Don’t cry, Em. Everything is going to be okay. Lena is getting someone right now.

  Lexi stopped coming closer just as Lena rushed out of the hall with two teachers following close behind.

  “What happened?” one of them asked.

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “I was just in the hall when I heard someone scream.” My throat tightened. I knew Nova could be cranky and hard to deal with sometimes, but she was still my roommate. And after the little time we’ve spent together, I’ve grown slightly fond of her. “I–I found her like this.”

  “I’m calling 911,” the other teacher said. He pulled out his cellphone from his back pocket and punched in the three numbers.

  As the one teacher called 911, and the other asked Lena and Lexi questions, I looked Nova over, checking to see if there were any clues on her body that would explain what had happened. Doubt started to fill me until I spotted dark hair clutched in Nova’s hand as if she had been trying to grasp onto something.

  Did someone push Nova down the stairs? Is that how she fell? If so, who did it?

  “I swear, I don’t know what happened,” Lexi said, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw that she was talking to the woman teacher whom I’ve never seen before.

  Sure you don’t, I thought bitterly.

  “I’ve called the paramedics,” the male teacher said, hanging up his phone. He stuffed it back into his back pocket. “They’re on their way.”

  The woman teacher nodded, then looked between Lexi, Lena, and me. “We have things taken care of here, so why don’t the three of you head back to the cafeteria before the bell rings?”

  I looked down at Nova, not wanting to leave her. But I knew if I didn’t follow the teacher’s order, I’d most likely get another detention. And I really didn’t want that.

  “See you later, Nova,” I whispered.

  As if hearing my voice, Nova’s eyes fluttered open halfway.

  “Llll…” she struggled.

  “Shh.” I carefully moved my legs from under her and gently placed her head on the floor.

  Standing up, I walked over to Lena, and together we made our way back to the cafeteria.

  “I can’t believe this happened!” Lena cried as we walked down the hall. “Poor Nova. If only the bathroom downstairs wasn’t closed for cleaning, she would have never of fallen down the stairs.”

  “She didn’t fall,” I stated, remembering the crescent marks that I had spotted on her arm. “I think she was pushed down the stairs.”

  “What?” Lena scrunched her brows in confusion.

  “There was hair clutched in her hand as if she had been trying to grasp onto someone,” I explained.

  “Who would do that to her, though?” We were coming close to the cafeteria now. I could hear the voices of other students.

  I looked at her pointedly.

  Lena gasped. “Are you saying that Lexi did it?” she hissed.

  I raised my chin a notch, an indication that she was correct.

  “Why though?”

  “Because of what Nova said.”

  “Because she’s a witch? Em, I thought you didn’t believe in witches.”

  “I don’t. I mean, I didn’t. I just…” I sighed as I tried to catch my bearings. “I mean, do
n’t you find it a little suspicious that as soon as Nova talked about Lexi being a witch, she gets hurt? And I saw her leave the cafeteria right after Nova left. I mean, like, right after.”

  Lena sighed. I knew that she still didn’t believe me.

  Inhaling a deep breath through my nose in frustration, I quickened my pace. There was something going on here, and I knew it was up to me to figure it out.

  ***

  Instead of going to my room after classes, I decided to swing by Jayden’s to see if he was alright. I hadn’t seen him all day.

  I wasn’t quite sure how to get to his room, but after asking some guy for directions, I eventually found it. The door was closed so I knocked. “Hello?”

  “Come in,” came his muffled reply.

  I reached down, grabbing the knob, and eased the door open. I popped my head through the open door-way, then slowly stepped inside. Instantly, the soft lulling sound of his acoustic guitar filled my ears and embraced me in its harmonious sound.

  “Em?” Jayden’s eyes widen in surprise, and the music instantly stopped. “What are you doing here?”

  “I just wanted to see how you were doing,” I said somewhat sheepishly. “You weren’t in classes today.”

  A shadow of a smile formed across his lips as he placed his guitar down on the floor beside him. “Yeah, I just wanted a free day.”

  “Oh.” I stood there for a moment, not saying anything. I knew I should leave now since I got the answer to what I was wondering, but something kept me rooted.

  “Em?” Jayden’s brows furrowed slightly. “Is something wrong?”

  “Do you believe in witches?” I blurted before I had the chance to stop myself.

  Confusion flitted across Jayden’s face. “You mean abracadabra, hocus pocus witches?”

  I nodded.

  He pinched his lips together and shook his head. “No. No, not really.”

  I must have shown a look of disappointment on my face, because Jayden asked, “Hey, are you okay?” He shifted on his bed, rising to a sitting position.

  “It’s…it’s just…” I sucked in a deep breath in an attempt to gather my words. “It’s Nova.”