Crossers (unfinished. started 15 years ago)

(preamble: I recently found this on a blog I created 7ish years ago. I had been working on this story for years and now….this is all I have left of it. I had hundreds of pages and notes but didn’t think it was anything so it disappeared like everything else. I’m just glad I found this.)

Book 1

Crossers

Part I

RESTER

Chapter 1

Spooked

“Get up, Rester.”  Hugo said running passed a body on the floor, Andy and Lidia by his side laughing with youthful enthusiasm. 

Rester’s head leered (reared) up out of the mushy lawn of the local cemetery three inches from a tombstone.  He struggled for breath as he wiped the muck out of his face and spit the crannies of grit out of his mouth, which didn’t seem to work because he still felt the tiny beads crunch as his teeth fell. 

He opened his eyes to a world of dusk and luminous moonlight, reflected off the dead branches and hard concrete stones.  Horror overtook his young mind when he thought about the dead bodies buried beneath him.

“Wait up, guys!  Don’t leave me!”  He shouted at their backs.

As he tried to get up, he looked back to see what he tripped on.  A breeze blew as his eyes fell upon what appeared to be a hand, sticking out of the ground, fingers crawling like a tarantula.

He jumped up and raced to catch up to the group still rubbing his face.   He ran straight through the cemetery, eyes darting from left to right, but all he saw was the mist covering the desolate landscape, which seemed to stretch toward infinity. 

“Damn you Hugo, always getting me in these situations.  I swear, I hate you.” He said to himself as he walked forward in hesitation.

This was exactly what he feared when Hugo planned to infiltrate the cemetery.  Panic set in as he shouted the names of his companions.

“Lidy! Andy! Hugo!  Where the hell are you! Come on already!” the only response was the sound of a bird squawking.  He was certain it was a raven and  made him think about the creepy Edgar Allen Poe Poem ending in “nevermore”    which didn’t exactly  settle his already fidgety nerves.

“Oh great.”    He had it in mind to run straight back in the direction they came in although his body rejected that idea with mortified stiffness.  Instead, he walked in between the tombstones trying to find a warmhuman body.

“Boo!” Lidia shouted as she jumped from behind a tombstone large enough to hide her small body.  He jumped a foot in the air and made a sound.  This sound would tarnish his reputation in the eyes of his peers because it was loud, it was high pitched, and kind of sounded like a screeching cat.

            As the terror waned in his little body and the cold sweat dried on his brow, his friends laughed loud and hardy.

            “Did you hear that guys! What a little baby.”  Lidia said in between her laughter.

            “O my god, that was classic.”  Hugo said as he walked from behind a tombstone right behind Rester, pinching him on the leg for an extra scare. “But I wanted to be the one, Lidy, why do you always have to spoil my fun?”

            “Oh shut your face, it worked didn’t it?”  She replied.

            “Dammit guys,” Rester said, hunched over and shivering, “Was that the plan all along, to freak me out?”

            “Nope, but it was a good laugh.”  Hugo said.

            “Yeah, for you guys.  I almost pissed my pants.  Why did you leave me behind?”

            “Because you’re clumsy butt fell.  What did you trip on anyway?”  Lidia said.

            “A hand, I think. It grabbed me.”

            “That’s serious.”  Hugo said with furled eyebrows.  “That means you got a problem with a zombie.”

            “Shut up, Hugo.”  Lidia said.  To Rester “it was probably just a tree root.”

            “Well, I had enough fun for tonight.”  Rester started walking back. 

            “We’re not done here yet, so I guess your gonna have to go back on your own.” Hugo sneered.

            Rester looked toward the path in which they traveled.  He would have to cross the cemetery in the mist, passed the headstones, through the shrubbery at the end, and finally into the hole in the fence.  The thought of moving a few feet from another live body made him shiver, let alone travelling to the fence, which was so far away in his mind.  Besides, he was prone to lose his way very often and the thought of getting lost made him gulp.  He was stuck.

            Lidia walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry Resty, everything will be fine.  Their dead, they can’t hurt you.”

            “Well, don’t lie to him, zombies can.”  She punched Hugo in the arm for saying that.

            “Where is your brother?”  Rester said to Lidia ignoring Hugo’s snarky attitude.

            All three were so wrapped up in the moment that they forgot about Andy, who was supposed to join in on the prank.  But he was nowhere in sight.

            “O, I get it; he’s trying to pull one on us.”  Hugo said smugly.

            Ignoring him, Rester’s eyes focused on something near a distant tombstone, about fifteen feet away.  At first, he thought he saw something wrapped in a veil of white, but as he looked, it slowly took the shape of a young man with curly hair.  He stood completely still, holding something thin in his hand, and looked at the face of the stone.

            “Over there, I think that’s him,” Rester pointed.

            They made their way to the motionless boy, who didn’t even notice their arrival; he just continued to stare at the tombstone.

            “Hey Andy, you alright?”  Lidia said, waving her hand in front of his eyes.  He shook his head like a dog, as if overcoming a spell and finally looked at them.

            “Oh, hey guys.  Did they getchu?”  He said with his normal very calm affect and soft tone.

            “Yeah we got him good, didn’t you hear his screech?”  Hugo said. 

            “No.”  Although Andy was looking at Rester, it was never clear, since one of his eyes always seemed to dangle about.  On top of that, as a coping mechanism for his disability, he always squinted as if half asleep to hide his lazy eye.  He learned to manipulate certain people by making them uncomfortable to his left eye by making it move in odd ways.

 Andy was the oldest of the foursome, two years older than his sister Lidia and her friends.  He didn’t have many of his own being very nerdy and a little too smart for his own good.  Sometimes, out of boredom or because his mother told him to keep them out of trouble, he went along with them.  Of course, that never stopped him, from doing stupid, dangerous, and fun childish things, like going to a cemetery in the night to call upon the dead. 

            “I found him.”  Andy said and looked back at the Tombstone, which read “Brendon Barkly 1985-2002.”

            “Great, found him, time to go back than.”  Rester said bluntly.

            “Well, shall we?”  Andy said, placing the board he held in his hands on the ground.  It was an Uji board bought at Walmart.  “Everybody sit down in a circle.”   They did as told. The fear inside Rester started to rub off onto Lidia and Hugo, but Andy seemed completely calm and indifferent.  “We will be calling upon Brendon Barkly, who died not that long ago.  He was our neighbor, three houses down the street.  Everybody ready?”

            “Yeah,” they said unenthusiastically in unison.

            “Put your hands on the planchette and let’s begin.”  He closed his eyes, tilted his head upwards, and said very seriously, “Spirits, who dwell in the other world, please listen to my invocation and, higher powers, at the helm, keep away the evil ones who have bad intentions.

            “We call upon Brendon Barkley’s spirit.  If you are with us, please let us know.” 

            The indicator moved slowly around the board seemingly on its own.  Hugo and Lidia gave each other looks of wonder, while Rester had his eyes closed in shear terror.   Andy opened his eyes wide to look down, while Rester snuck a peak. The planchette landed on yes.

            “Oh, Brendon Barkley, are you the one who lived on 107 Berry Street?”

            Once again the indicator moved in circles and landed on yes.  Rester opened his eyes slightly this time and kept them on the board.  It was working.

            “You’re moving it Andy.”  Lidia said.  “Right?”

            “Silence, you cannot interrupt or else…something bad can happen.”  The planchette moved toward a corner.  “Brendon, come back to us and please ignore the lesser minds.”  The planchette circled around and did continuous figure eights.  “Brendon…what was your favorite fruit?”

            Hugo snickered and his hands convulsed on the Planchette, but it did not stop moving toward the letter O, than r, than a, than n, than g, and finally e. 

            “I love oranges too!”  Hugo said.

            “What does this prove?” Lidia inquired.

            “We are trying to confirm we are talking to the correct spirit sis.”  Andy stated tersely.

            “Does anyone here know whether he liked oranges?”  Lidia said.

            “I saw him eating them once during lunch.”  Andy said. Brendon was part of the cooler crowd and, although they didn’t know each other, they had lunch the same time the prior year in which he died.

            “Well, how does that prove anything?”  Lidia retorted.

            “Silence!”  Andy said gravely.  “We should move on to the more important question.  Brendon Barkley, were you murdered?”

The planchette moved once again and landed on yes.

“Wasn’t he in a car accident?” Lidia asked.

“Sure, that’s what the papers wanted us to believe.”  Andy said.  “It was really an unsolved murder.”

            All the while this was happening, Rester shivered in his shoes, incapable of even focusing a little attention to the proceedings.  His eyes were fixed upon his own hands, which trembled.  Why did I have to come?  What the hell was I thinking?  I could be playing x-box in my underwear right now he said inside his head.

            “Ok, now let’s find out who is the murderer.”  Andy said crossly.  “Oh Brendon, can you tell us who killed you?”

            As the planchette moved on its own again, Rester felt a chill crawl up his spine.  Than he heard it.  It was a voice that said “This bullcrap, I wasn’t murdered you idiots.” 

Rester’s attention shifted from the board, to find out where the voice came from.

            “Did you guys hear that?” he asked.

            “Hear what?” Hugo said.

            “A voice, from behind.”  Rester looked at his companions who looked back silent.  “You guys are messing with me again, Right?  Because I’m freaking out right now.”

            “What are you talking about Resty?”  Lidia butted in.

            “Can everyone please focus?”  Andy interrupted.  “As you can see, he wants to tell us who killed him.” The indicator landed on yes.  “Brendon Barkley, who killed you?”

            As the planchette moved again, Rester heard a sound as if water was falling.  His back was directly facing the headstone, so he looked back.

            “What the hell are you looking at, Shrimp.”  A young man dressed in a T-shirt was leaning against the other side of the tombstone.  His upper body was visible, but his lower half was covered by the large stone.  A trickle of fluid arced and landed directly where they sat.

            Rester sprung up and screeched again, disrupting the whole séance.  He wiped himself, yet didn’t feel wet.

            “What the hell is your problem?”  Hugo said.  “Why do you always have to mess everything up?”

Rester looked about wildly, but didn’t see the young man any longer leaning against the tombstone.

            “Did…did…did…did…you guys see…see…see…that?  He stuttered while looking back and forth

            “See what?” The other three said simultaneously.

            “A kid…I think it was him…I think it was the ghost of Brandon…he was standing there…you didn’t see him?” he said, completely frightened.

            “Ok, now your freaking me out.”  Lidia said, not liking where this was heading.

            “I swear, I swear, he was there and he was…peeing on us.”

            Andy rarely laughed, especially when he was trying to be the adult, but this made him burst out.  The other three, however, were not so amused.

            “I want to leave now.”  Rester demanded.  “Lets go, come on!”

            “Ok, that’s enough, just calm down Rester.” Andy finally chimed in.  “I was going to let it go on a little longer, but i can see your genuinely frightened.  Just to let you know, this was all a ruse.  I was messing with you all.  See, ghosts don’t really exist.”

            “Like hell they don’t.”  Rester heard the voice again, but nobody else reacted.  “I’m as real as this geek.”  From about ten feet above the grave, the disembodied head of Brandon slowly floated down in front of Rester.  “Right, shrimp?”  Than it just disappeared.

            Andy started to gather up the board, while Rester stood petrified, skin completely white and hair on end.

            “Maybe he really did see a ghost.”  Lidia said, looking at her frightened friend compassionately.

            “Or maybe he’s crazy.”  Hugo made the swirly motion near his head.

            “Resy?”  Lidia said, looking at Rester who was frozen in place, mouth hanging low.  He didn’t make any movements.  “Rester!”  She said and punched him in the arm.  “Snap out of it.”

            The punch knocked him back into consciousness and he shook his head and rubbed his eyes followed by looking back and forth, up and down in radical motions.  Finally, he just paused and smiled at Lidia and Hugo who were watching him with raised brows.

            “Oh oh…its nothing…ha ha…I mean, I was joking…get it…ha ha.”  He said with an awkward smile.  But everything wasn’t fine.  Did I just have a delusional episode? He shrugged it away.  “Can we go….”

Than his eyes caught something in the distance beyond.  IT was Brandon or whoever that young man was, walking into the mist as other figures began to grew more and more lucent and corporeal.  There was a dozen other figures, like white shades in a variety of dress and sizes and they all just seemed to materialize out of thin air.

            As if that wasn’t enough, something began to come up from the ground, like a tree growing in a matter of seconds, growing to some ten or twelve feet tall. But it wasn’t a tree, it had legs and monstrous arms and brambly, sharp hair like branches and, worst of all, big glowing green eyes with red irises.  Rester’s only response was to point as the other ghostly figures fled from the abominable figure.

            At Rester’s gesture, the other three looked and reacted the same. They ran like bats out of hell.  The only difference was that Andy, Lidia, and Hugo did not see what Rester saw, they saw a night guard coming toward them with a flashlight.

Chapter 2

Fatso, Gangly, and Braces

Walking home from school the next day, Rester decided to take the train tracks.  He was alone, Hugo and Lidia had detention once again but that didn’t stop Rester from taking the path. 

All he think about that day was what happened last night.  More importantly as to what he saw or think he saw. He couldn’t stop himself from spouting on and on about seeing the ghost of Brandon.  They all laughed at him and called him Scardy Cat, Scardy cat, Rester is a Scardy cat, among other nasty things, the whole night and day and he was beginning to regret even saying a thing because, he didn’t see a thing.  He made it his obligation to deny it all as if it was a dream and lie to himself.  He would never mention it again as long as he lived and they would eventually forget about it.  Right?

That was his hope anyway.  But the ghostly figures, they were still burned in his mind along with that strange monster.  It was a flight of my imagination he kept telling himself, I gotta stop watching cartoons.

            So, after another long, hate-filled day at school he walked home along.  It wasn’t exactly encouraging to walk alone from the high school especially for Rester who was a magnet for bullies.  Rester only liked talking with his close friends and he had only a few. The high school was so big, that most of those kids were strangers anyway.  All the older kids were clamoring about and goofing around as he made his path straight. 

After last period, he walked out into the wild world amidst the flood of floundering teenagers and made his way down the side streets, all along not realizing he was being followed.

            At the end of Bland St., he had to make the decision, either to go the long way taking the adjacent street down five blocks to the main street walking down that for about a half mile than making a left onto his street, or cutting through the train tracks which was more risky but made a straight line to his house.  After meditating on it for about five seconds, out of complete ignorance of the danger, he went to the train tracks.  

            As soon as he walked over the broken fence and up the rock path, he knew he made the wrong decision.  It wasn’t because he saw the danger right away or knew exactly what will befall him, he just felt it in his gut, an instinctual feeling, that this was not right.  Going forward, he noticed the tracks were empty, with only a group of kids walking in the distant in the opposite direction. 

All the times he went this way with his friends, the tracks were usually blustering with kids, either hanging about or walking toward their eventual destination.  It was a useful shortcut and a very common hangout for a lot of the younger high school students.  But for some reason, it was completely empty.

Than he remembered, he got out early and walked exceptionally fast out of the school.  He was practically in the lead of everyone and now he was going walk the train tracks alone.  It was true, Rester was indeed a scardy cat, neorotic and fearful of his own shadow.

            This time, he shrugged off any insecurities.  It was too late anyway to walk back a couple of steps, he was already on his way.  Another thing Rester was; Lazy.  And he wanted to get home the fastest way possible.

He began walking along the tracks to the left.   It was only a few steps before rocks started to hail down upon him.  Before he realized what was going on, one small grey rock bonked him on the head.  He didn’t think, because his mind was not so aggressive, and he didn’t run, because he couldn’t think, instead he impulsively looked back, soon realizing, that once again he had made a stupid decision.

            The three boys overtook him, Patrick grabbing him by the collar.  Rester couldn’t even react.   He just looked up imploringly into the eyes of his worst enemy.

            “Look what I caught, it’s a pussy cat.”  Patrick, the leader of the three said with spittle flying out of his face through the metal braces on his teeth.

            His two henchboys, gangly Glen, six feet tall with ears like a donkey and a nose like pelican bill, and fat Alex, two hundred and fifty pounds and a face that looked like a grouping of marshmallows, both laughed in their own peculiar way, while Patrick, of a normal build and height, grinned like a maniacal joker.  These three boys, if you could call them that, would terrorize the weaker kids in middle school and high school, while maintaining clown status to the most popular.  In junior high, they never gave Rester a break and, because both Lidia and Hugo went to private schools back than, he had no friends back than in school, which made him a perfect target to the wicked.

            “What do you think your doing going down these tracks aw by yourself?”  the ringleader Patrick said with so much unnecessary malice. 

            “I’m going home?”  Rester said, trying to look calm, but not coming off that way at all.  “Just leave me alone, alright?”

            “Home to mommy and daddy where you gonna have milk and cookies.”  Glen said, his face crumpled up like an old man without the wrinkles.

            “Got milk!!?”  fat Alex said.  This was what they teased Rester on when he ate lunch alone in middle school.  One time, being the cluts that he was, he spilt a whole pint all over his shirt, not missing a drop, which is quite a feat in itself.  In the hallways and in class, they would shout or whisper, “Got milk,” which irked him, not because it was necessarily insulting, but because of the repetitiveness and stupidity of it all.

            They laughed and pushed Rester back and forth between the three of them.  Than, finally, Rester had enough and decided to break free and run, but before he could get away, Patrick pulled the zipper on his book bag and all the contents fell to the floor; pencils, pens, calculator, homework, notebooks, and three text books in total.  He was about four yards away before he stopped, knowing full well that he couldn’t leave behind his things. 

            Another bad decision, can I ever get a break?  He thought to himself while turning around.

            Both Glen and Alex already had a handful of rocks ready for launch, while Patrick picked up his notebook.  Rester stood their, not knowing what to do, stuck between running away and staying.   He walked back toward them and tried just to ignore them while picking up his things.  He bent over and reached toward  one of his text books, but Patrick smacked it out of his hands before he could lift it up.  He tried again to the same effect.

            All the while, Glen flipped through his notebook.

            “Check it out guys, it looks like Got milk is an artist.”  Glen showed his goons the crude doodles Rester was so fond of drawing instead of taking notes.  His face turned red in embarrassment.  “You’re really good.  It’s too bad though.”  Patrick said, grabbed it out of Glen’s hands, and tore the notebook in half, the papers flying in all directions after being blown by the wind.  Rester began getting angry, but didn’t react with violence since he wasn’t a fighter.  Instead he stood there trying not to look too weak.

            “Stop it.”  Rester said in a whisper.

            “Stop it.”  Alex mocked and they laughed again at his misery.

            Than Glen suddenly lunged and grabbed a floating sheet of paper and turned it around.  There he saw a crude drawing of himself and his friends.  It was unfortunate that Rester had added captions to this drawing. 

            “He’s also a comedian.”  The three gathered around Glen and looked at the caricatures of themselves, labeled; fatso, gangly and braces.  The most rudely rendered was Patrick, which even made his two goons laugh at him.  The drawing portrayed him in a freddy crouger sweater, his face covered in acne and his mouth a blur of wires and metal.  It was true, Patrick did have minor acne and was very self conscious about his braces.  While his goons laughed at the mocking picture, Patrick became furious.

            Instead of staying for his belongings, Rester decided it was time to bale before things got worse.  So he jolted.  He, however, was not fast enough, and Patrick, like a mad lion, fell upon him hard and fast, grabbing him by his open book bag and pulling him fiercely on the ground.  Rester’s head bounced against the metal train track, while Patrick pounded him again and again.  Rester tried several times to free himself and fight back, but to no avail.  All the while, the other two just laughed like dumb hyenas.

            Finally, Patrick got up off of him.

            “You think you’re funny?”  Patrick said and than spit in his face.  The tracks were still empty and Rester feared that this was not gonna end.  He struggled to hold back the tears and rubbed his bruised head and prayed for assistance.  He wasn’t going to let them see him cry and turned it into a scowl.

            That’s when he heard the noise, a mew.  He sat up and got to his feet and saw a black cat sitting on the opposite track.  Its eyes were an eerie yellow and it licked its lips.  Rester became so wrapped up in the cat that he almost forgot about the three villains.

            The voice seemed to come from within himself, not from an external voice, as if it bypassed his ears and entered straight into his brain.

            “Hello, need help?”  A female voice said.  It corresponded with the cat tilting its head.

            “What the hell is he looking at?”  The fat one said.

            “Your shadow can help you.  Let me show you.”  The female voice spoke again.  Rester was certain it came from the strange cat.

“I say we strip him and make him walk home in his underwear. That’s the only way he will learn his lesson.”  Patrick said and reached out to grab Rester once again.  This time, however, Rester was overcome with a strange feeling, as if he was being fueled by some energy.  When Patrick hand came close, he wacked it away and said;

            “I’m gonna hurt you if you touch me again, Braces.”   

A monstrous feeling began to grow within him, very heavy, and he felt no fear.  He looked down and noticed his shadow became distorted on the ground, growing to twice his size.  Not only that, it began to lift into the air and surround him.

            “I think that’s enough.”  The cat said as it got up and went rubbed against Rester’s right leg purring.   It wasn’t completely black, it had a small white spot on its tail shaped like a star. As its tail moved, it made the shadow retreat a little.  This all felt like a dream to Rester, he felt out of himself and out of control.          

Meanwhile, at the last remark, Patrick did not back down and the other two started to surround him so that he couldn’t escape.  They hadn’t noticed a single difference in Resters appearance, including the cat and the shadow.

            “Okay.   I’m gonna give you options tough guy so listen carefully.  You can either take off your clothes and hand them to us, or, we can bust you up some more and cut them into little pieces.  The choice is all yours.”

            “I think I like option three better, you apologize for being an ass and get out of my way.”  Rester responded.  Later on, he couldn’t believe he actually said anything.  He truly wasn’t himself at that moment.

            Before Patrick could land a punch, Rester ducked, knowing exactly when to move and elbowed him in the groin.  Patrick fell to his knees and groaned.  This was the first time Rester ever struck another human being, he was outside himself. 

            “Good job.”  The cat said again and waved its tail again like some sort of wand, making his shadow retreat completely to its normal state.

Rester suddenly felt as if he came out of a trance, his tank now on empty.

            “What the hell guys, GET HIM!”  Patrick said incapacitated.

            Gangly and Fatso didn’t do as they were told, both stood still like statues.  Although Patrick was a violent bully who enjoyed hitting weaker kids, Alex and Glen were exceptionally weak, basically scared followers who only acted according to peer pressure.

            Rester got a hold of himself again and ran back to get his things.  Alex and Glen did step in his way, but he just pushed them aside.

            “Goddamit, you guys are completely useless.”  Patrick said teetering up onto his feet.  He limped behind Rester and caught up to him again before he could gather his things properly.

            Once again, they were face to face, but Rester no longer had the confidence or power to deal with him, he was just normal Rester again. So, Patrick smacked him the face.  He no longer held back from shouting out.

            “Stop it you prick!”  Like before, Alex and Glen mocked him with their hands in their pockets.  Patrick than took a closed flip knife out of his pocket.

            “Take your clothes off.”  Patrick sneered angrily.  “Now!”

            Rester just stood still and looked at the closed knife, thinking he’ll really do it, he’ll really kill me.  What exactly provoked his defense before was beyond him, but he knew he no longer had it.  Patrick punched him in his chest and tackled him to the floor and he put the knife, still closed, against his neck and started to rip off Rester’s sweater.  In this awful position, he felt completely helpless again. 

            “I can only help you if you help yourself.”  The female voice entered his mind again.  The cat was right next to his head and licked him.  “You’ll get out of this one, don’t worry.”

            And at that moment of humiliation, a light came out of the darkness.  Rocks started to hail down again, this time, however, they were aimed at Patrick’s face.  He got pelted and looked where they came from.  Upon seeing Hugo and Lidia, he got off of Rester and started to walk away.  It all happened so fast.

            “What the hell do you think your doing Patty Acne?”  Lidia said running with Hugo at her side.   Behind them were several other kids, and, although friends, didn’t run to his rescue like Hugo and Lidia. They arrived at Rester’s side.

            Hugo bristled with anger and walked up to the threesome.

            “You like hitting people?  Well why won’t you hit me?”  Hugo said in Patrick’s face.  Alex and Glen were now officially frightened because Hugo was tougher and a better fighter than all three of them put together.  

            “Lets get out of here guys.”  Patrick said without acknowledging Hugo.  “This lost all its fun.”

            Hugo stood and watched as they departed, while Lidia helped Rester to his feet.

            “What the hell happened? Why are you on the train tracks yourself?”

            Rester could do nothing but look down and snivel. Lidia caressed his back and told him everything was okay now.  After a while, he finally spoke and told them what happened while they walked in a group.

            “You hit him in the nuts?”  Hugo laughed exuberantly.  “Good job.”

            Rester didn’t feel the same enthusiasm at that point and just remembered the feeling of hopelessness he felt after the cat left.   THE CAT.  Rester looked back and forth and all around to try to spot the cat, but couldn’t find it.

            “So there was a cat?  What of it?”  Hugo said as they walked through the tracks back to their houses on Berry st.

            “I don’t know, when it was here and next to me, I felt like I could do anything and that’s when I hit him back.  It was…freaky…I can’t explain it.”  He simplified his story because he didn’t believe it himself.  Plus, he knew how silly it sounded and didn’t want  to get harrased for seeing crazy, unexplainable things.

            “You finally decided to fight back that’s what happened.”  Lidia said with a smile.

            “Why don’t you just break those fools faces?”  Billy said.  He was walking in front with two other boys, Laurence and Sam eating a bag of chips.

            “I don’t understand why the hell you were walking this way on your own in the first place.”  Hugo said.  “Next time maybe you should wait for us before doing something so stupid.”

            That comment made Rester feel weak and he resented Hugo for insulting him, especially in front of other kids.  He of course, didn’t make his feelings known.  They were inseparable best friends since they were four but the process of growing up was trying their friendship and they were changing in different directions. Hugo was somewhat of a bully himself to Rester, constantly picking on him for being cowardly and passive.  But, for all his insults, Hugo was always ready to loyally defend his friend, even to the extent of beating people up just to ensure his safety.

            “If they ever mess with you again, tell me.  I’ll make sure they pay.”  Hugo smashed his right fist into his left hand.   

Rester was too ashamed to lay his problems on anybody.  In his heart, a sadness grew out of his own failings.  But the cat, he remembered the cat and the shadow, and the feeling of confidence it gave him.

Chapter 3

What the cat

Characters; Hugo, Andy, Andy’s friend Eric, Billy, Dom (comes later), Lidia,  Lidia’s friend Britanny

Action: midweek (Thrusday?), Watch Wrestling and movie for class instead of book report Shindlers list?  A Serious movie, one that Rester has already watched.  The Wizard of Oz? 

Question for Wizard of Oz school report

Do not summarize, give critique, or right review.  This is to be written as an essay.  How do the three companions represent humanity?  What is the symbolism that () uses to represent these qualities?  What is the end result?  Do they get what they want or need?

Is the wizard good or evil?  What are the moral implications of his actions?  How does this compare to the witch?How does the movie represent reality?  Is it all really a dream or is it her reality?  Explain using examples to back up your claims.  What are the laws of the Oz universe?

The world of Oz is not just a dream in the novel, its an actual place.  From the movie, would you want to live in Oz?  Is it all that it seems?  Discuss giving clear examples of why.

Rester didn’t want to think about what transpired between him and the three goons.  And he especially didn’t want to think about the ghost and the strange cat since they were completely outrageous and crazy   (needs to be better)

I’m smarter than this.  It was just a daydream.  It wasn’t real.  It didn’t happen.  He kept saying, over and over, inside his mind.  To admit those things would be to admit he was crazy, and he wasn’t crazy.  He was sure.  To stop himself from obsessing about the hallucinations (because that’s what he believed they were), he engrossed himself in videogames, playing for five straight hours until his eyes were ready to bleed.  It worked.  Videogames completely immersed his senses and distracted him from his own craziness.

He finally shut the machine down at 7.  He sat silent in his room and rubbed his eyes, sighing, and flopped down on his back onto his bed looking up at the ceiling.  He felt weak, pathetic, a little bug ready to be crushed.  The clock said 7:15.  He had plans at 8.

Although he thought better of it, he agreed to go by Lidia’s house later that day to watch wrestling like they did every Thursday since he could remember.

He rubbed his head hard with his palms shaking his head saying no no no no.  Everything is fine…I’m fine.  Stop overthinking

Lidia lived three houses down the street.  He said bye to his Aunt, giving her a kiss, and went out the door. (give Chrissy more substance at this point)

It was dark out now, a beautiful October night, cool and breezy.  Tomorrow was Halloween.  The houses were decorated with orange, black, and green lights and pictures of Frankenstein’s, monsters, pumpkins, goblins, and other nonsensical figures out of some devious imagination.  And of course, there were the ghosts.  Silly images of white clothes with eye holes. 

Halloween was always so stupid to Rester, more dim than frightening.

            He kicked a can across the sidewalk and watched it roll into the street.  It fell near something, an animal, a black cat actually, just sitting on the side of the street. 

            He paused and looked at the cat.

            “What are the odds.”  He spoke aloud.

The superstition “don’t cross a black cat came to mind.  He remembered reading about how cats were believed to be witches in olden times, but he didn’t believe such nonsense.

            “What are you looking at?”  he said out loud to it.  He half expected it to respond but it just stood still and silent, looking at him with its eerie yellow eyes.  He walked right up to it and looked down into its eyes.  It did not run away. 

And than he saw the white spot on its tail.  It was the same exact cat from earlier.

            “What are the odds of that?” he said out loud again.  It mewed, but didn’t move.  “Aren’t you gonna talk back? Huh kitty cat?  Aren’t you going to tell me to murder or steal some money or something?”

            The cat just sat and looked back into his eyes and he looked at it back into its eyes.  Something welled up inside of him, some sort of emotions he never felt, a warm fleeting feeling of perfect understanding as if it was looking at himself or his soul.

“What the…”

Rester snapped his head at the voice and looked back.  Billy was standing there staring at him.  

“Um…the cat…i…” Rester muttered incoherently and looked back to the cat.  It was gone.  Completely vanished.

“Yeah, that wasn’t weird at all.”  Billy said and continued walking.

Rester was just too embarrassed to say anything and remained standing where he was wondering what the hell was that black cat or whether it even existed.  Billy just continued to walk, scratching his head.

Rester finally followed behind him and saw, to his distress, that Billy was walking up to Hugo’s house.

This is just fantastic. Damn cat.

As if he could stop Billy from saying anything about what just happened, Rester walked fast to catch up to him so they can enter both at the same time.  That would at least postpone him, right? Maybe I can explain myself.Right!?

“Hey guys!”  Lidia said in her usual vivacious manner as she opened the door.

Billy looked back at Rester with the stink eye, a look that said “what is your deal man.”

“Um…nothing much Lidy.”  Billy said and walked inside.  Rester followed with a bowed head.

This is going to be fun.

Chapter 4

What’s on TV?

            There were no more seats so Rester sat on the floor.  He thought Lidia and Hugo would be the only ones there, just like the old times when they used to sit in the living rooms of one of their houses to watch wrestling or some other shows.  Instead, Lidia and Hugo invited some of their new friends over making Rester feel more uncomfortable and out of place than ever before.

            “Ew…Wrestling is gross.”  Brittany the cheerleader said.  She and Lidia had been best friends for about three months ever since Lidia made it on the cheerleader squad.  She did this instead of continuing playing volleyball.  In turn, the change made Lidia climb the social ladder quite a bit and she started to act more and more girly each day.  It made Rester annoyed.

            “Yeah I don’t know why I ever watched it.  the only thing I think the Rock is hot.”  Lidia responded.

            “Oh, I’m sorry for forcing you to watch it.”  Hugo said.  “Not like you ever complained before.” “What about you Rester?  What do you think?  Not that it would make any difference at all.”

            Everyone was looking at him now.  Britanny twirled her hair, not even knowing his name or why he was there.  Billy gave him the same “What is your Deal” look as before.

            “Um…yeah, its great.  Wrestling is great stuff.”  He didn’t know what else to say, he felt like a spotlight hit him.  They still stared at him for another moment all confused in one way or another.   More often than not, Rester wished he had the superpower to turn invisible.

The truth was Rester didn’t like wrestling at all, he thought it was a overly dramatic farce and obviously fake.  He did enjoy the fueds and some of the showmanship was funny.  After a while, he got into it out of habit, more so than because he enjoyed it.  That was his MO, follow what hugo does and leave it be. 

            “Well, we’re watching it and that’s that.”  Hugo said with firm resolve.  He clicked the remote and put on the channel.

            “Tsk.”  Brittany made the noise with her teeth.  “Like whatever dude.”

            Lidia, Britanny, and Hugo were sitting on the large couch in that order and Billy reclined on the sofa chair.  Rester sat apart on the floor with his back against the wall.  The TV was obstructed but he didn’t even care to watch.

He sat fiddling with his fingers, eyes downcast as the wrestling match was going on.  Every once in a while, he would sneak a peek to see Billy giving him more of the “What is your deal” look.  It was very aggravating.   On top of that, for all he knew, Britanny didn’t even notice he was there.

            “Damn, did you see that dude?  He got his ass wooped.”  Hugo said and looked at Billy and than at Rester.  Rester looked up at him with a stoic face.

            “Boring….” Brit said.  “When is Dom coming so we can watch that stupid movie for class?”

            “Yeah…when is Dom coming?”  Lidia said.  She seemed to light up a little when she said his name.

            “Huh…I don’t know, he said around nine.”  Hugo said still looking at Rester.  “What’s wrong dude?   Still upset about that fugly face Patrick?”

            Once again, the spotlight came back onto Rester and this time it was on a subject he didn’t want to discuss.  He shook his head, but the subject was already there and it wasn’t going anywhere.

            “Oh yeah, you’re the kid at the train tracks getting beat up.”  Billy finally said.  All that time, he didn’t even know. Maybe, Rester thought, that was also the reason why he kept giving me that look  this was very unlikely.

            “Don’t worry about them; we won’t let that happen again.”  Lidia said.  It was becoming more and more clearer to Rester that was pitying him.  It was obvious in the way she spoke to or about him. It, just like so many other things he had absolutely no control over, annoyed him also.

            “I’m fine…they didn’t even do anything to me.”  He lied, wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible.

            “Wait…what are you guys talking about?  Who did…Brester fight?”  Britanny said.  Nobody corrected her mistake.

            “You know Patrick Culuchi?  He hangs out with Glen and Alex?” Lidia asked.

            “Patrick…yeah, I know him, he’s in my math class.   He’s always talking about sex….and dirty things.  Oh, last week he put a stink bomb in the trash can.  We had to stay in the hallway for the whole period and missed a test. It was pretty cool.  I mean, not the smell, but what he did.”

            She likes to hear herself speak Rester’s mind seemed to speak on its own that time.

            “They pick on Rester all the time.  There just ugly people.”  Lidia said.

            “Aww…that sucks.”  Britinny said with a sad face.  Rester felt so weak and insignificant at the condescension, but couldn’t say anything to defend what little pride he had..  He looked down and sighed.

            “You should fight back and bust his nose next time.”  Billy said repeating the same thing he said earlier that day..  “Or just talk to yourself and they will leave you alone…you know if you act crazy.”  And so it began, but thanks to Hugo nobody really picked up on what Billy was saying.

            “Ok, be quiet, its back on.”  Hugo said looking at the TV.  He looked back at Rester and back to the Tv and back at Rester again.  “Can you even see the TV from there?”

            “Yeah…its fine.”

            “OH! I’m sorry.”  Lidia got up.  “Sit here with us.”

            ‘No its fine.”

            “Bull…I’ll get a chair from the kitchen.” Lidia went through the swinging doors to get a chair.

            They never listen to you again his mind said on its own.

            “Here.”  Lidia put the wooden chair on the opposite side of the table, next to where she was sitting.

            With a shrug, Rester lifted himself off the floor and put his behind onto the hard chair. He remained in a sullen mood and held his head in his palms, elbows on his knees.   Lidia saw his downer mood and rubbed him on his back.  Rester turned his head.  Lidia was smiling and he tried his best to force smile back.

            He decided that she pittied him enough and no longer needed to pity himself at least for that night so he straightened his back to look at the TV.  A match was in progress.

            But, of course, something was wrong.  It had to be wrong.   Rester just had a wrongness to him which was beyond his control and it became all too clear, or clearer, that night.

Because, the two wrestlers were bouncing against the ropes and grappling.  This was normal.  But what was not normal was while they acted out the match, four other guys were just in the ring also.  But that, in itself, was not that abnormal.  The real wrongness of the whole situation was that all four of them were butt-naked.  And, just because that wasn’t wrong enough, they pranced around the ring and made obscene gestures out into the audience and toward the camera.

            Rester cocked his head in disbelief. 

            “What the hell…” he said aloud.  The rest of them just watched on like nothing was happening, except for Britanny, who was lying down on top of Lidia and Hugo looking into space and twirling her long blond hair.

            “What’s wrong?”  Hugo said without taking his eyes off the screen.

            “What do you mean?  You don’t see them?”  Rester asked.

            “See who?”  Lidia said.

            “The four naked guys in the ring.”  Rester said plainly.

            The room took on a strange silence.

            “What?!”  Britanny suddenly jumped up from her laying position to see it a little to excitingly. 

Than, like a single entity, they all looked at Rester in one motion.  Rester was too (whats that fucking word I’m thinking off!) by the sudden wrongness that he didn’t notice.  His eyes were glued to the screen with the odd scene. 

            Things  aren’t  what thet appear to be that voice within, seemingly both separate and together within his mind, said.  Reluctantly, Rester looked away and saw the others giving him pretty scornfull looks.

            “What are you talking about?”  Hugo said with an angry edge to his voice.

            “What are you on?”  Britanny said falling back into her laying position on top of Lidia and Hugo.

            Billy didn’t say anything, he just laughed.

            Rester was completely confused and didn’t know how to react so he just sat there with a serious look on his face while the sweat poured down his face and body.

            “Rester…what are you talking about?  Naked guys?”  Lidia said.

            Rester looked back at the screen to confirm and, just like before, there were naked men in the ring doing obscene things, things he could never ever describe because they were too shameful for him to even dream up. On top of that, there were now more men in the ring.  They were, in fact, all over the damn place; in the crowd, outside the ring, next to the commentator’s table.  It was like something out of mardi grass.

            He took his eyes away from the TV and realized, he was alone on this.  He was the only one who saw it.  Why? 

            I’m going crazy, he thought, himself and himself only.

            To try and remedy the situation, he did the only thing he could think of, he lied through his teeth.  So, after a terse and very awkward  laugh, he said;

            “I was joking guys…it was a joke, seriously.”  and smiled, a cherry on top of a pretty bad lie.  Yet nothing could hide his pallid color, shaking eyes, sweat, and the fact that he just wasn’t a convincing liar. He looked awful and he knew it.

            “That’s not really funny, is it?”  Lidia said.

            “Kind of creepy actually.”  Britanny said.

            Rester didn’t know what to do, didn’t know what to think, didn’t know what to say.  He was freaking.  All the while, naked and weirdly outfitted men danced and undulated upon the screen obscuring the match up completely to him.

            Rester looked away and caught Billy’s eye again, who was staring at him with a grin on his face.  This time his look said pretty plainly “your out of your mind dude.”

            “I tell you, sometimes I just don’t know Rester.”  Hugo said.  He was the least fazed by Rester’s outburst, more interested in the wrestling match.

            “I gotta….” Rester scratched his head and face, breathing long and hard trying not to hyperventilate.  “can I get something to drink Lidy?” He got up off his seat and made toward the kitchen door without waiting for a response.

            “Your friend is weird.” Britanny whispered as the swinging door closed behind him.

Chapter 5

Card Reading

            Lidia’s brother Andy and his friend Eric were sitting in the kitchen when Rester came in, colorful cards spread across the table.  Rester stepped back when he realized he wasn’t alone since he really needed a reprieve from social contact to get his mind straight or as straight as he possibly could..

            “Hey Rester, what are you doing?”  Andy said, his right eye looking at Rester, the other looking up and away.

            “Just getting something to drink.”  Rester said with a forced smile and giggle, trying desperately to hide his tumultuous feelings of shellshockness.  He was clammy, pale, and very nauseous.

            Eric, who had been deciding his next move to play, looked up as Rester walked around the table to get to the fridge.

            “Woah, come back from a jog or something?”  Eric asked.

            “Yeah, you’re looking a little exhausted.”  Andy said.

            Befuddled, Rester got to the fridge and opened the door.  Without thinking, he looked inside and closed the door.  And than he opened it again, picked up ketchup and closed the door again.  He stood there for a moment trying to breathe.

            “Rester?”  Andy asked.  “You want a shot of ketchup?”

            “What?”  Rester turned around.  He had a hard time listening since he could think of little else except how and why he was going crazy.

            “Ketchup?   Why did you take out the ketchup.  Wouldn’t you rather have some Ice Tea or something?”  Andy said pointing to the bottle he was holding.

            Rester lifted his arm and saw the bottle of ketchup, not even realizing how it got into his hand.  He quickly went back to the fridge, put down the ketchup, and took out the pitcher of Ice Tea.

            “Yeah, Ice Tea that’s better.”  Rester smiled slightly less awkward than before as he put the pitcher on the table away from any of the game cards. 

They were playing the newest playing card game fad in the vein of Yu-Gi-OH and Magic the Gathering.  Rester never played this game, but had previously seen Andy’s collection with mild curiosity.  They were having a match.

            “Wow, I love this game.”  Rester said trying to make conversation to get away from his delusions.

            “Really, I never knew that.”  Andy said.  He pulled a few cards from his deck and placed them down.  “That’s three more points against your HP.”

            “Dammit, you always play that card.”  Eric said rather agitatedly.

            Rester just stood there looking at the cards spread out on the table.  He was effectively numb and didn’t have a single thought in his entire head which was a slight improvement from his other stream of thoughts which included but in no way sum them all up; “I’m going crazy?...why am I going crazy?...i am crazy…what the hell is my craziness and what does it mean in lue of everything else?...can I fix my craziness by bludgeoning my skull with a hammer or another blunt instrument?...is there a medical procedure that can remove the crazy part of my brain?...” and so on.

 As he stood there, his hands still on the pitcher, a card caught his eye.  The graphic was a monstrous thing that looked like a giant tree with a face, its eyes hollowed out holes with green light exuding out.

            “You wanna play?”  Andy asked.

            “No, I’m alright, I just wanted to watch a little bit.”  Rester didn’t even know how to play the game and thought it was just a nerdy waste of time, as if he didn’t waste hours playing silly videogames himself.  He watched for three minutes as Eric was evidently defeated.. 

Each card had a colorful graphic and name with some sort of demon or monster representing their attackers.  He had no clue as to how Eric lost or how Andy one, but pretended to be wildly interested to avoid going back into the living room as if the tree monster was waiting for him there.

            “So…” Andy said to Rester who was just standing there.  “You gonna get your drink or what?”

            Rester nodded, the sweat and naseua slowly fading.  He poured a glass of Ice Tea and took a sip.  Feeling the cool liquid in his mouth, he realized he was very thirsty and gulped down the entire glass, filling another one right after and swallowing half that glass.   Rester felt the panic fading and gained as much composure as he could.

            “I have an idea,” Andy said realizing Rester didn’t know or care about the card game they were playing. “Its a different kind of card game.  Believe me, you’ll love it Rester.  Wait here.”  Andy said

            “I don’t know, cards aren’t exactly my thing and I should go back to my friends.”

            “Believe me….they don’t notice you missing for a couple of minutes.  Just trust me, you’ll be astonished.”

            Even though Andy insulted him on the sly (as if Rester wouldn’t catch it) Rester shrugged and waited while Andy walked upstairs leaving him behind with Eric.

            “You have no idea how to play right?”  Eric said.

            “Not a clue.”  Rester admitted.  “Do you know what he went to get?”

            “Not a clue.  He has all his game cards here.”

            “Well he did say it was a different sort of card game, but I don’t really care…at all actually.  I should probably go back.  They must be missing me by now.”  He said with an obvious laugh of self debasement and made for the door..  But before he could get there,, Andy slammed down the stairs like a three legged elaphent.

            “Wait!  Just let me read your fortune and you can go.”  Andy said.  He had a pack of tarot cards in his hand.  “I’ve been honing my skills at foretelling.”

            “Oh god, not this nonsense.  You know its bullshit.”  Eric, the ardent realist that he was, condemned it immediately.

            “Don’t be foolish, my good friend. Never put doubt in the occult.  Right Rester?”

            Rester didn’t respond.  Inside, he knew Andy was just as much or possibly even more an cynic, an atheist, a nihilist, and most of all an arragont sociopath.

            He wishes to put terror inside you the voice, female in tone, said within his head in complete agreement.  He knows nothing about the occult.

            “So, what do you say?  or are you too afraid, like you were at the cemetery?”  Andy said.  He was challenging Rester, daring him to cower.  He really did see something at the cemetery.  Whether it was real or not is besides the point.  But now, Andy wished to continue his attempts at putting more terror into him.

But Rester didn’t believe in superstitions or the occult no matter what the others thought and no matter how many delusions his mind could muster up.  He was afraid of actual danger, not metaphysics.  And, only now did such assumptions about the occult seem untrustworthy because of the hallucinations.  Either way, he knew tarot cards were bullshit.

            “I’m not afraid of nothing.”  Rester said and sat down.

            “So your afraid of everything?”  Eric said correcting his bad grammar.

            “That seems about right.”  Andy said with a grin.

            “Just shut up and do it alright.”  Rester said with an edge in his voice.

            “I’m going to do a nine card reading.  It’s my own method. I learned it from an actual soothsayer, a gypsy grandmother with one eye who claimed she was no younger than 300 years old.”  Andy said.  Eric couldn’t help but laugh.  Yet Rester held his ground and made no extraneous expressions or gestures.

The first stack represents past, the second the present, the third the future.” Andy continued. “Here Eric, cut the deck.”

            “This is so stupid.”  Eric said but cut the deck anyway, placing the top half next to the bottom half.  Rester watched as Andy flipped the two decks in his hands, placing the top deck back on top and the bottom on the bottom effectively leaving the deck as it was.   It was one of the most basic card tricks that actual magicians practiced and perfected.  Andy did it so obviously bad proving he was an armature.  But Rester didn’t call him out on it.

            Does he think he is that much smarter than you as if you wouldn’t see?  that female voice said again, thoughts that he had but didn’t vocalize.  Starnge, sure, but harmless notheless so he just took it as it was, helpful but pretty superfluous.

            If anything, Rester thought, it was an act of human compassion to have Andy think he had power over him since he didn’t have power over anything else in his life like the power to talk to girls or acquire cooler friends.  Even in his pretty awful situation, Rester still had compassion.  It just was that way with him.

            Andy put the top card on the center of the table facing down and flipped three cards on his right side the first two vertical, the third horizontal on top.

            “Ok…interesting.”  He said.

            Rester looked to see what cards came up even though he knew nothing about the meanings of each card.   

The first card was called the Fool, the second called the Chariot and the third horizontal card was the Sun.  Eric watched to see what hocus pocus explanation his friend was going to feed Rester.

            “Basically, your past was a happy time filled with experience.  You were always a hesitant boy, but always optimistic.  That’s what the sun represents, a sunny outlook.  The fool, albeit the name says enough, it represents innocence and beginnings.  But with the chariot, I see it representing a sort of chaotic, craziness slowly going more and more forward out of control, like a fool driving a chariot into the sun, just like you roll into the future without real control.”

            “Bravo.”  Eric said.  “You forgot the part that says…right there” pointing his finger at the Fool “that says he will find a wonderful flower and become a dandy.”

            “Shut up, don’t interrupt or you will upset the cards.”  Andy said seriously.

            Rester took in the reading quietly and waited for more of this, so-called, wisdom.

            “You do not have any real control over yourself or the things you do or the things you feel or the things you see or the things you even say, yet, you things for a purpose albeit a purpose you are unaware of.”

            Rester found some truth in what Andy said but chocked it up to (what is that theory?  About universal truths?” universal things that all people think they feel.  It was a simple trick, a ruse.

            Andy did the same thing right in front of himself this time.  The world, the wheel of fortune, and the queen of wands.  The World card was upside down.

            “Is that a full deck because its quite odd that only the major Arcana cards are coming up don’t you think?”  Eric said.

            “Don’t mess with the judgment of the cards Eric.”  Andy said with a stern look.  Rester just sat there waiting to hear what was next.

            “So, the fool rides on into the day, but the world turns upside down and your fortune also turns.  It’s not necessarily bad, but because of some random chances, your whole world is changing now.  Everything you know, everything you are will be taken away and you will be left with nothing but your personality, believes, and your imagination and you have a huge imagination.  It will serve you well, but not keep you out of danger.”

            “And what about that card?”  Rester interrupted.  He was pointing at the horizontal Queen of wands.  The graphic was that of a queen on a throne, a small black cat at her feet. 

            What do you think it mean? That voice said again within himself.  Why does it sound like a female?  Because I am. It responded.  Rester shook his head and tried to regain focus.  No more thinking please, thank you… he thought and, of course, that voice responded…your welcome.

            “That card..” Andy said as Rester had a conversation with himself “well that’s a little harder to explain.  It is represented by the number thirteen.”

            “That’s very unlucky.  You should be careful.”  Eric said in a mocking fashion.

            “Yes, it is very unlucky.  Combined with the wheel of fortune and the upside down world, I would say your accumulated luck is really bad.  Give me a moment.”

            Andy took out a little booklet that came with the deck and read a small excerpt.

            ““If the sun "shines" in your heart, you can overcome your fears and walk your own path.”  Interesting, that’s all it says about it.  Take it as it is.”

            “That’s deeeep.”  Eric sighed.  “Okay, can you finish already so we can have another match?”
            Andy did the last stack on his left as Rester just stared at the Queen and her pet cat trying hard not to think to much.

            Do you think?  Am I you thinking?  Or are you hearing something else? The voice said again.  He blinked wildly and didn’t notice the next three cards as they were placed down because of that distracting girly voice.

            “Oh…well, this is just interesting.  Talk about thirteen.  Death is the thirteenth Major Arcana card.” Andy said.

            Of course, the death card just had to come up.  You can never have a reading without it. the voice within his mind and his own voice within his mind said in unison sharing the same ideas. 

            Rester forgot any and all voices in his mind and looked up and at the cards.  There was Death, the Hanged man, and the Judgment.  The picture on the Hanged Man card was of a man hanging by his foot upside down.  To Rester, he was right side up.  He noticed the halo around his head and the somewhat happy look on his face.

            “So…what does this all mean huh?”  Rester asked getting a little tired of this whole shlock.

            “Well…The hanged man is an interesting card.  Basically, you will have to make sacrifices to find justice.  When your judgment comes after the tumultuous present times, it will be based on your actions, on your own suffering.  But…the Death card…it permeates everything.  You will not die…but someone will, someone close to you.  And death will always be around you…”

            “You think that’s funny…huh?”  Rester had enough now. “Saying that someone close to me will die?  That death surrounds me?”

            “Calm down dude, you don’t actually believe this nonsense.”  Eric said.

            “Hey, I only interpret the cards.  Don’t worry, your not going to die.  And its gonna take place in the future, so your good for now.”  

            “Don’t.  You think I’m stupid.  You think your some sort of genius. I know you put the cards in that order.  You should practice your simple tricks more before you try it again, that’s my soothsaying.”  Rester found those words from somewhere, it seemed to just come out.

            “Eric cut the deck…don’t get so emotional.”  Andy said.

            “Bullshit, I saw you do a fake shuffle.  You put them in that order and make it sound like your giving a brilliant prediction.   Don’t quit your day job you shlub. Pure garbage.”

            Rester got up and threw the 9 cards onto the floor.  Eric and Andy just sat there, somewhat flabbergasted at Rester’s boldness.  

And, as he left to go back into the living room area and back to his friends, his eyes downcast, he saw that the only cards that weren’t facing down was Death and the world. 

Chapter 6

The strange world of OZ

Going into the next room, Rester’s boldness deflated immediately when he ran right into the most popular kid in school, Dominic (Sanchez).  He rushed in so fast that he bumped right into his shoulder.

            “Woah there cowboy, don’ knock me down.”  Dom said, grabbing Rester tightly by the wrists.  His grip softened and than he patted Rester on the back.  “Who is this guy?”  he asked the room.

            “That’s Rester.  My…good friend.”  Hugo said.

            “Best friend since they were five.”  Lidia corrected.

            “No kidding…” Dom said and gave an up and down look at Rester.  “Cool.  Put her there pal.”  He said, putting out his hand.  Rester’s soft fishlike handshake was crushed by Dom’s hard crunch.   Afterwards, Rester rubbed his pained hand to sooth the throbbing.

            “I’ll get another chair.”  Lidia went into the kitchen and came back with one.  “Britanny you can sit here and Dom can sit next to me on the couch.”

            “Bullocks, I’m not moving.  Hugo’s and your bodies are nice and soft and comfy.”  Britanny said adamantly.

            “But….” Lidia started.

            “Jeeze.. I’ll move.”  Hugo got up and sat on the chair so Lidia could rub up against Dom.  She had a huge crush on the jock and for good reason, he was by far the coolest kid in the house, let alone the whole damn school.

            Rester sat down on his chair, feeling a little obtuse after that bogus reading.  Even if the cards were arranged purposely, it still seemed to speak some truth.  Rester didn’t really feel in control, especially when he lashed out at Andy.  But, he deserved it anyway for saying that someone close to him, and very few people were, would die.

To put things into perspective, he looked around the room and realized he was pretty out of place. He was hanging out with Billy the skateboarder, Britanny the cheerleader, and Dom the football star.  It just didn’t fit right.  He didn’t fit right.  He felt alone inside his bubble.

            “Did you bring the DVD?”  Lidia asked.

            “Oh yeah, I got it.  Are we really going to watch “The Wizard of OZ”?  Sounds kind of lame.”  Dom said.

            “Like…we have to.”  Britanny said in a snippy way.

            “It’s better than reading a book, that’s for damn sure.”  Billy stated.

            “Oh yeah, that would be a complete waste of time.”  Dom agreed.  He was being serious of course.

            “Here, I got the assignment sheet.”  Brittany went into her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

            Mrs. Crabshack, the CP English teacher, gave her students a choice of assignments.  She gave a list of books and movies and told her student to either read one of the books or watch one of the movies and write an essay on it.  Wouldn’t you know it, almost every student chose to watch a movie instead of reading a book.  Everyone except Shirley Booth of course, who actually still read books for fun.  The Wizard of Oz seemed like the best choice from the list.

            Brittany passed the sheet of paper over to Dom who didn’t even look at it, who passed it to Lidia who didn’t need to look at it since she was in an AP English class, who passed it to Billy who read one word before passing it to Rester.

            The questions were as followed.

Essay questions for Wizard of Oz

Do not summarize, give critique, or right review.  This is to be written as an essay.  Choose one of the following and write at least two pages.  Be sure to focus on a thesis for your paper and not to just answer the questions.

How do the three companions represent humanity?  What is the symbolism that () uses to represent these qualities?  What is the end result?  Do they get what they want or need?

Is the wizard good or evil?  What are the moral implications of his actions?  How does this compare to the witch?  How does the movie represent reality?  Is it all really a dream or is it her reality?  Explain using examples to back up your claims.  What are the laws of the Oz universe?

The world of Oz is not just a dream in the novel, its an actual place.  From the movie, would you want to live in Oz?  Is it all that it seems?  Discuss giving clear examples of why.

            “Those questions are stupid.”  Dom said.

            “Be glad you don’t have to read Moby Dick.  That’s stupid.”  Lidia said.

            “You a smart girl, aren’t you?  In AP and all.”  Dom said with that jock charm.

            “Yeah…real smart.”  Hugo said sarcastically.

            “shut up…yeah I am kinda.”  Lidia blushed.  “well let’s watch it than.” 

            “No, there is one more match.”  Hugo said

            “Really?  I missed the whole damn thing.”  Dom said.

            “Yup…you missed the naked guys, right guy?”  Billy said to Rester with no respect.

            Rester looked up from the sheet and made with a hallow laugh.

            “Just put it on.  It’s my house.”  Lidia commanded.  Dom got up to go to the player.

            “Wait, there is one more match.  We can wait ten minutes.”  Hugo said.

            “Come on already, I’m sick of wrestling, I wanna watch the wizards of Oz.”  Britanny said.

            “Yeah, let’s just watch it.  I know you Tivo the matches anyway Hugo.”  Dom said.

            “So?  I wanna watch them live.”  Hugo responded.

            “Come oooooon…”  Britanny said to Hugo with a pained face.  She was such a bubbly blonde and one of the hottest girls in school so Hugo couldn’t resist her moaning.

            “Okay okay, fine, put that dumb movie in.”  Hugo finally relented and gave Britanny a sideways look of seduction.  She just popped her pink bubblegum and looked away blankly.  Hugo failed this time in more ways than one.

            Since reentering the living room, Rester made it an objective to avoid the TV at all costs.  He didn’t want to make another outburst as if he could make his reputation any worse. He would eventually learn, of course, that there really wasn’t a bottom to that pit.  That’s called foreshadowing, pay attention.

            Maybe the movie will be different? He vocalized a thought.

            Don’t count on it…that inner voice just had to respond.

            “Did you hear that legend about a midget hanging itself in the back scenery?”  Billy asked.

            “Little people Bill, come on.”  Dom said.

            “Oh sorry.”  Billy said unsympathetically.  “I think its in the (5th) Scene.”

            “Yeah, I heard about that.  I don’t believe it though.”  Hugo said .”Sounds like BS.”

            Dom plopped back onto the couch next to Lidia and clicked the remote control.  Rester finally looked at the television as Dom went through the chapters.

            “What are you doing?”  Lidia asked.

            “We can watch that scene first to see if a…little Person offed himself.”  Dom explained.

            “OH guys, I don’t wanna see that.”  Britanny said with another moan.

            “It will be fast, I promise.”  Dom said assuredly.

            Rester saw the movie twice before so knew what to expect.  Or so he thought because his expectations, once again, were turned inside out. 

Dom put the scene on.  It was the seen where Dorothy meets the tinman in the dark forest.

“Oh guys…I wanna be Dorothy for Halloween, but I already got my nurse costume.”  Britanny spouted out.

“OH shut up!”  Lidia hit her on her knee.  “I’m going to be Dorothy.  I said that weeks ago.”

“Nurse, huh?”  Billy could not help himself with the mental image as Hugo gave him raised eyebrows.  It was like they high fived with their looks.

“I would be the tinman cause I don’t have a heart.”  Dom said with a sad face making Lidia go hhhhaaaaa. 

“Hugo…definitely the scarecrow with no brain.”  Dom continued and they all laughed.

“And Rester…the lion for sure.”  Lidia looked over at Rester who was not even paying attention.

“And I would be the wizard of Oz, master of everything.”  Billy said.

“No, you would be more like Toto, the dog.”  Dom said.  Everyone laughed except for Rester.  He was just too busy watching the wrongness occurring upon the screen.. 

This isn’t exactly what I remembered is it?  that girly voice said once again, this time using the pronoun I.  But Rester didn’t exactly notice.

Because, as he watched, there was a fourth person on the screen; a man with a banjo singing (song) while the other, real characters, were acting.  As the tinman did his thing, four other figures in veils danced around him.  They seemed almost transparent and went in, out, and all around the Tinman as if he wasn’t even there.  There were also weird light orbs floating around the forest like free standing Christmas lights.  NEED SOME REALLY FUNNY SINGULAR GHOST OR SPIRIT DOING SOMETHING.

The scene just continued on with more and more figures coming in and out.  Some dressed in suits, talking to no one in particular, others dancing naked making obscene gestures, and others, still, acting along to the plot.  It was just madness and, like always, Rester was the only one who saw it all.

“Dude, it was a joke you know?”  Dom suddenly said to Rester upon seeing his contorted demeanor.  “You’re not really the cowardly lion.”

Rester’s blood went cold and he took on a powder white pallor.  The sweat was just leaking from his pores.  He did not understand what was happening or how it could even be possible.  He was completely outside of his self, outside his sense, he had to get out of there as fast as possible.

“Yeah dude, you look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”  Hugo said.

“A ghost!?  No no, I don’t see any ghosts.”  Rester suddenly blabbed out.  He hated himself for losing composure, but had absolutely no control over himself and this thing that was happening.  He had to get out of there as soon as possible. 

So, he sprang to his feet.

“What the heck, what are you doing?”  Lidia asked.

“Oh, I have to go…I forgot I have math homework.”  That was the best excuse he could come up with.

“But don’t you wanna watch the rest of the movie?  You didn’t even see the hanging dwarf.”  Lidia said with that pitying look.

“Little person Lidia.”  Dom corrected.

“No no, I’m fine, I saw this movie before.  I’ll be fine, I gotta go.” 

He walked across the room and to add injury to insult, his shoelace became untied and he fell flat on his face.  In the confusion after the blow, he looked up and around and caught Billy’s eyes.  He had a huge condescending grin on his face which said “oh man, you’re a real weird loser.”  Rester just wanted to bash that mouth in, but that thought took a backseat to escaping.

“You okay dude?”  Dom got up to try and help Rester like a good feller.

“No…yeah I’m great.”  Rester crawled into a walk and basically ran out the door as the rest of them sat there in puzzlement.

Chapter 7

Strange masks (before school)

            Rester awoke from troubling dreams the next day.  In his dream he was hanging upside down by his right foot while everyone laughed at him.  That’s all he really could remember.  There was also a talking cat trying to reason with him.

It was Halloween, which only meant one thing for Rester another day to dress normal.  He hadn’t bought a costume for the festivities, neither did he want to dress up and act like someone he wasn’t as everybody else did. 

Spirits were high, as always, during Halloween.  However, Rester’s mind was just too perplexed by everything.  The morning of Halloween wasn’t exactly going to get any saner.

It got worse in fact. Every time he peered around the real world on his way to school he would see people in costumes.  Since it was Halloween, it wasn’t entirely absurd.  But the way these people seemed to Rester made him a little more than worry.

First he saw ten people wearing strange oversized masks with tortured expressions.  And they weren’t walking together, they were just sporadically appearing amid normal pedestrians.  It was quiet strange that they weren’t together since all there masks seemed to be made by the same manufacturer and he didn’t see any other people wearing more normal, believable masks. 

Every time he looked into the faces of these strange people when he passed them, their expressions changed.  One example of a mask was large and trapezoidal, with two oval holes for eyes and, what appeared to be a elephant trunk as a nose.  The man was dressed in farmer overalls and when Rester came close, the weird mask turned toward him, the trunk making a sniffing noise and then retracting.  After a moment of hesitation, the man continued to walk along his way.  After that, Rester decided to avoid anyone else who dressed up on the morning of Halloween, since obviously they were freaks.

            But the strange masks weren’t the end of it.

            At the intersection of Pine and Vanderbilt Ave., he was overcome by a series of running women, all dressed in strange veils that made their bodies look translucent.  The odd thing was, he was walking and then, bang, a chill ran through him and they were in front of him.  Greatly befuddled, he looked back in distraction, and when he looked forward again, they disappeared into the oncoming cars. 

            Getting closer to his school, he saw something even more absurd and hard to explain away.  He looked up and saw what appeared to be a monkey swinging in the high tops of an oak tree.  But it wasn’t a monkey, it was a man dressed in black that moved like a monkey.  No, it was a monkey dressed in black.  He realized keeping his eyes on the figure while walking was not a good idea since he fell straight on his butt when his foot hit a curb.

Getting up, he told himself, it was just a black garbage bag and didn’t even bother looking again. 

“Yup, just a bag.” He said out loud to reassure his justification for what he saw and made sure to look at the floor the rest of the way to avoid seeing any other absurdities.

            But, when he looked down, he saw something both normal and familiar, a black cat.  No, it wasn’t actually normal, It was the same cat he saw the other day.  It rubbed its mouth on his shoe and meowed politely. 

Feeling compelled by some inner force, Rester bent over to pet it, his hand flowing down its sleek body and onto the tale, ending in the star on the tip of its tail.

            The cat felt so warm as he touched it and the warmth seemed to glow off of it in a whitish light.  He became entranced and felt a feeling of complete control.

            “You’re a good cat aren’t you?  My friend?”  He said with a babyish voice.

            OF course I am.  the same inner, female voice entered his head again.  He jumped back. 

            “Okay…I am losing my mind.”  He stood still for a moment and then shrugged, scratching his head with a bent arm.  The fact of the matter was that the cat was the normalist abnormal thing and he truly believed if everything else was bad/evil, the cat was good, a benevolent delusion.

            The cat followed it at his heels. His mind no longer revolved around all the strange sights.  He just kept asking himself, 

“Am I really going crazy?”

            At the same time, he started to notice that the people dressed up in those weird masks started to avoid him, just as he was doing to them before.

I don’t think so Rester.  It was the cat that said this. Or his own mind.  he couldn’t tell the difference anymore. It wasn’t reassuring hearing a cat say that it didn’t think he was going crazy.

As he came to the front entrance of the high school, the cat vanished again.  Just as sudden as its departure, a deep sadness and anxiety came over him.  How was he going to explain this?  How was he going to get through life if it continues?  He was going crazy and couldn’t control it.  It seemed hopeless and the melancholy grew stronger inside his heart.

You have to be strong the voice said again inside his head as he walked into the school.

Chapter 8

Samhain

            “So, you know what Halloween is?”  Andy asked holding a can of soda in his hand.  Andy, Lidia, Hugo, Eric, and Dom sat at the lunch table.  They didn’t even mention Rester’s oddball behavior which didn’t exactly make him feel any better.

            “It’s a corporate holiday created by big business to dupe the public into buying an insane amount of candy.”  Eric, Andy’s fat friend with glasses said. He was a quintessential nerd.

            “Always the rational one, Eric.  Sure, that’s an expert observation, but in no way is it the whole story.”  Andy said.

            “oooh, I know.”  Lidia said raising her hand as if she was in class. “See, people are always so uptight so they created a cool day where people could just let loose and do and act the way they want so that people don’t wig out.”

            “Well, Halloween is normal living for you than isn’t it?” Dom said casually.  He had a hard dark face with a genial quality.  Out of everyone at the table, he was the coolest in the school and decent friends with Hugo, since they were both on the JV football team.   He rarely sat at one table or with one crowd, but liked to mingle with the assortment of friends he had, which was quiet big.  This particular day, he wanted Eric and or Andy to do his math homework for him, which they gladly did in a matter of minutes.

            “Yeah, I guess your right.”  Lidia said, running her fingers through her hair.  She obviously had a crush on him, which kind of irked Rester and Hugo respectively.  Dom remained cool, as always.

            “Well, although you’re both right in some ways, that’s not exactly what I meant.”

            “Than what exactly do you mean?”  Dom responded.

            “Oh, don’t get him started.”  Hugo said.

            “Why, do you have something better to talk about?”  Andy said.  “Like, whose gonna win Wrestle mania?”

            “Cena.”  Dom said, not realizing that Andy was being sarcastic.

            “Halloween is a day when people get stupid and dress like fools.”  Rester finally chimed in.

            “O, come on, you know you love Halloween.”  Lidia said.

            “Well, its not as bad as Christmas.”  Rester said.

“Do me a favor, never invite me over your house during the holidays, I don’t want to kill myself.”  Dom said.

“Did you know that Christmas time leads all other seasons in suicide rate?”  Eric said.

“No, but thanks for that depressing piece of info.  I’m incredibly grateful.”  Dom said.

“Out of all the answers,” Andy said “I’m afraid you’re the worst Rester.”

“That’s not a first.”  Hugo laughed. “And it won’t be the last.”

“Well….your dumb.”  Rester attempted but nobody laughed at his lame retort.

 “Anyway, let me just tell you than.  Halloween goes pretty far back.  As Eric stated, in modern times it is part of the machine known as capitalism, the candy companies making a killing.  But the REAL essence of Halloween was started by the Celts.  The name wasn’t Halloween than, but Sawein, one of the most, if not the most, important holiday for them. 

“The Celts were pagans.  They believed in various gods all linked to the natural world.  They also believed in another world, a sort of afterlife or underworld.   Although Halloween has been assimilated by the Christianizing of the western world with All Saints day, the actual festival in Celtic society celebrated it as a day when the two worlds crossed.  Lepracauns, faries, ghosts, and so forth can cross on that day the most easily.  It is a portal day.”

“How do you know all this?” Dom asked, showing a slight interest.

“You know there are these things called books with information in them.  Try it out sometime you might like what you find.”

“Well, I have a life.  Maybe you should try THAT sometime.”

“You don’t actually believe this superstitious malarkey.”  Eric snidely said.

“Oh Eric, something’s are beyond human comprehension, you must agree with that.”

“Of course I believe that, but that doesn’t mean that heaven and hell exist.  If you can’t see it, if you can’t study it, than its as good as not being real.  Since when do you care so much about the occult anyway?”

“Rester, why don’t you tell him about your experience?”  Andy said.  This was Andy’s real purpose.  He was just trying to mess with Rester.  However, Rester wasn’t in the mood to play along since he was too embarrassed to admit something he would be constantly ridiculed for.  So, Hugo said it for him.

“Mr. Rester has seen a ghost.”

 “He did not!”  Dom looked at Rester inquisitively.  “Did you?”

“No, I didn’t see a thing.”

“Don’t be coy Rester.” Said Andy.  “Tell us what you saw at the cemetery.”  

“I was playing a game with you, trying to scare you after you made me jump out of my skin.”

“Let me reiterate what Rester told us after we left the cemetery.”  Andy continued.  “He said,” giving his eyes a revolve in opposite direction  “he saw the ghost of Brendon Barkley urinating on us.”  Everyone laughed, except for Rester.

“O, that’s just pure genius.” Eric said.

“Have you seen any other ghosts?  Like maybe…yesterday?”  Hugo added to the fire.

“Just shut up already, I was lying to you’s.”  Rester said really peeved.

“no no, I believe there is merit in this.”  Said Andy.

“As much merit as Ms. Shrider making out with Dom.”  Hugo said.

“Well, that actually did happen.”  Dom Said

“Aw gross.” Lidia said.

“So what else did you see?”  Eric said, pushing up his glasses.  “A hippogriff?

“oh snap, Nerdy boy has jokes too.”  Dom shouted exuberantly giving a high five to the complacent Eric who glowed red with haughtiness.  “what the hell is a hippogriff?” he asked looking at Andy who had his right eye on him and the other looking up which made Dom look away in awkwardness.

“That’s it.”  Rester said and stood up.  “I’m getting another cupcake and sitting somewhere else.”

He walked away and got on the lunch line while they continued poking fun.  He was used to being the butt of their jokes and remarks, but this time he was fed up because it wasn’t a joke to him.  They didn’t believe him, nobody would.  He tried to just put it out of his mind for good.  

While waiting on the short line, he caught sight of a girl he had art class with.  Her name was Dianna and she sat at the same table as him in the class.  From the first day, he became infatuated with her, not exactly because of her beauty, but because she seemed unique and had great handwriting. According to normal standards, she didn’t fit the description of a beauty queen, she didn’t where makeup and wore sweaters and jeans most of the time.  Her hair was flaxen and her body was pimpled with freckles and she occasionally wore thick framed glasses.  Upon seeing her, one would assume she had a soft voice, but when she spoke it had weight and confidence accompanied by strong opinions. (Should mention Count somewhere in this chapter)

Although he wanted to, he never actually spoke to her, neither did he mention her to any of his friends, since they would undoubtedly harass him and possibly her.  Instead, he kept his longing in his heart.   Seeing her walk away after getting a soda from the vending machine, he was once again overcome by sadness.  He wanted to be able to just outright go and talk to her and become friends, but his shyness and lethargy dominated him.  Besides, she had her own friends, a group of guys and girls dressed in black who talked about poetry and art and were in bands.  There were her best friends, Robin and Stacy, along with another girl, Stephanie who was a natural blond but died her hair, along with everthing else, black as the night.  Than there were the guys, Los, Soda, Frack, and the vampire, Count.  They were in a band called The Mortal Coils.

In his own eyes, he was just a shmuck with no interests or talent and would amount to nothing.

The line moved up and when his body shifted to adjust, he was taken aback when saw who stood next to him.  It was a person dressed in a mask, like the ones from earlier.  Now, the students were forbidden to wear costumes on Halloween, but some exercised their freedom by wearing makeup and small accoutrements like angel wings.  There was little fuss.  But masks were especially forbidden.  

This mask was similar to the ones he saw that morning on his way to school.  The shape was a contorted box of a grey color.  The eyes were two cavernous triangles and the mouth was a serrated opening that seemed to be sucking in air.  As Rester looked closer at the masked individual he felt a shutter in his body and a weakness grow in his head.  The masked individual just stood next to him, as if on line, his head bobbing back and forth eerily.  Rester began to think it was a joke.  He ignored him for a while and moved ahead on the line.  A breathing noise got close to his ear and he turned his head and saw the giant mask almost on top of him.

“Dude, give me some space.”  He said.

The masked individual tilted his head about 45 degrees to the right and than turned.

“Who are you?  You’re not allowed to wear masks.”  Rester said as the head turned back to him.

“I….eat?”   The masked individual said in a very high, almost babyish voice..  Its eyes seemed to turn in opposing directions.

“This is the line for food, yes.”  Rester said.  “That’s a crazy mask, where did you get it from?”   trying a more casual approach of communication.

Rester asked this question while the masked individual flicked its fingers in a pulsing motion as if grabbing air.  And than its head jerked violently.   Rester looked around to see if anybody else was observing this chaotic behavior.  To his distress, the rest of the cafeteria merely resumed its normal boisterousness, everybody doing there own thing.   Rester started to suspect that this was not normal, yet another possible delusion,  so he turned around and pretended as if the figure was not behind him.  Not able to resist for long, he peaked back again and the masked individual was swaying back and forth, its head now turning 90 degrees in one direction and than back in the other.

“My name…is bob.”  It said.  Its mouth making a sucking sound like wind in a cave.

In all his life, he never imagined such a device could exist to react in the way the mask acted and seeing how nobody else was noticing this, he became very nervous.    

Than, all of a sudden, that damn black cat reappeared again.  This time, it sat in the middle of a lunch table about three feet from him.  The kids who sat at the table didn’t see a damn thing.

Rester looked at the cat, than at the masked individual, than he rubbed his eyes and did it again.  

“Am I seriously going crazy?”  He muttered to himself again.  

I still don’t think so Rester.  That same female voice said within him again.  It was the cat speaking to him.  He just didn’t understand how or why, the only answer he could imagine was; insanity. 

I think you are quite sane actually and very perceptive.

The cat suddenly let out a screech which made Rester fidget and move his face away and when he looked back, the masked individual had vanished.   He looked and he looked, but the strange mask was nowhere to be seen.  In fact, another student was standing there in front of him, it was one of Diana’s friends although Rester didn’t even pay much attention to that.  all he saw was a boy who was wearing thick eyeliner, his hair was a greasy black mop, and his finger nails were painted black with red outlines.

Rester laughed nervously as the other student gave him a curiously interested look.

“Hi, people call me Count.  I’m vampire.  I see them too you know?”  Count asked with a smile flashing his irregularly sharp canines. 

But Instead of waiting or even listening to Count, he ignored him and abandoned the whole cupcake and walked dizzily back to his table, all the while looking at the cat which sat on top of a biology book.  The cat didn’t blink at all and its yellow eyes targeted its sights on Rester.

He sat back down without saying a word and rubbed his head.  His eyes twirled within there sockets like some sort of a deranged person.  They all looked at him curiously and waited for him to say something. 

But than Rester looked down at the table and saw a tarot card.  From the same pack of  tarot cards from the day before. He picked it up and turned it around; it was Death.  The table remained silent, Hugo and Andy couldn’t help a little smirking and snickering.  It was just a joke to them, but they didn’t know, they didn’t realize what Rester was going through. 

He ripped it up in anger and through it on the table.

Finally, Lidia said.

“Are you alright?”  Spreading out the syllables for emphasis.  Rester acted like he didn’t hear a thing and continued to look across the cafeteria at that cat and its yellow eyes.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”  Andy said again.  It was just so tired and old within Rester’s mind and he sighed.  “OH, And your going to pay me back for that card, those packs are expensive as heck, you know that?”

“Go hump yourself.”  Rester said.   “And I didn’t see any god darned ghosts, okay?”

“Rester, don’t lie.”  Andy continued.  “Its okay.  But you should get into the holiday spirit and dig up someone for company.”  For a person with a physical deformity, Andy was quite the bully in his own right, although an intellectual one at that.

“Shut up Andy.  He’s only trying to get to you Resty.  You should’ve heard what he said when you left.  “Rester is so susceptible to being scarred, especially when it comes to ghosts.” He’s only joking.  Don’t let him get to you.”  Lidia said.  She was always so nice to poor Rester.  She had so much pity for poor Rester. 

They were all having a laugh, even his best friend Hugo who laughed a little at the whole thing.  Yet, he rubbed his brow and did a slow head shake, showing his embarressement.  But no, this wasn’t embarrassment for Rester: but embarrassment for being Rester’s friend.  It was shame by association.

Lidia was the only one who showed concern since she could plainly see that Rester did was genuinely distraught.  He was trembling, sweating, and had the pallor of a marble statue.

“Alright, cut the stuff Andy, Rester is really afraid.”  Hugo said taking notice at Lidia’s whispered request.

“No I’m not.  I know you’re all making fun of me and I don’t care.”  Rester than took a chance, the last chance with his friends, and pointed at what he was staring at.  “Do you see that cat over there?”

All four of them looked at the same time and than looked back.  Lidia looked back several times to be sure.

“What cat?”  Eric said.

“ya, there are no cats in school.”  Dom said.  “but I see a dog.  Oh wait, that’s just Billy.”

“You saw a cat?”  Lidia asked.

“No….I see a cat, sitting on top of that table and its looking straight back at me.”

“Oh wait.”  Andy said.  “What color is it?”

“Black.”

“Black cats, a classical supernatural symbol tied to witches and ghosts.”  Andy’s eyes widened his left twitching uncontrollably.  “It’s a clue.” A prophecy, an omen.

“Would you shut up?”  lidia snipped at her older brother.  She got up and walked to other table and looked around.  Always able to start casual conversations with any person alive, she started to talk to Vinnay and Fernando, making gestures back to her own table.  They both looked back at Rester.  Rester couldn’t take it any longer and folded his head in his arms. 

This is so freaking stupid he thought.

 “Well, they didn’t see a cat, neither did I.”  Lidia said as she sat back down in her chair.  “Maybe you thought you saw a cat but you really saw something that looked like a cat.”

“I am crazy.”  Rester mumbled incoherently to himself. His arms were still covering his entire face.

“Or maybe you really did see a cat.  Maybe you have cat vision.”  Dom said, trying to get a high five out of Hugo who wasn’t having it and than Andy who looked at him.  He tried Eric, who complied, not because it was a good joke or anything, but because it made him feel important and cooler inside to touch the God of the school.

“Are you being serious Rester?”  Hugo asked him seriously.  He was rather tired of the whole thing.

Rester raised his head back up, looked at Hugo’s serious face, and than he looked back at other table.  He smiled.

“No, I was just messing with you guys.”  He said with a strained smile, looking the black cat in its yellow eyes.

Chapter 9

Are you coming?

He felt haunted that whole day.  Maybe it was all some sort of joke.  The whole school was in on it.  He wasn’t amused in the least.

Above other things, he saw a handful of the strange masked figures through the hallways and in some of his classes, just hovering around the other students.  Sometimes they appeared solid like real matter, yet others, they were just faint blurs.  He saw these strange, otherworldly colors that went beyond the regular spectrum, colors he couldn’t even explain since they had no previous reference.  And the smells too.  He tried to identify them, some strong some faint, but what he usually came up with were strange combinations like a carrot smell mixed with turpentine and jasmine.  The sensory overload was so strange that these so-called colors, smells, and sounds seemed to blend in some way as if one wasn’t distinct from the other.  It overwhelmed him.

The worst part was the fact that nobody else saw any of it. 

            It troubled him.  His attempt to figure out what he was seeing and sensing made him a gittery yet he suppressed everything into a calmness that from any other perspective, he looked like he was completely out of it the whole day.  Several teachers even asked, “are you okay, you look distracted by something.”

            “no, I’m fine.” Was his casual resort to everybody.

            He walked home from school that day with his two best friends.  But, of course, it was never just his two best friends anymore and Dom, Britanny, and Billy came along with others. If only it was the three of them like old times, maybe he would feel comfortable enough and trustworthy enough to come out and say what was going on.  He actually knew if it was only them, his best friends, that he would have the courage and confidence to confide.  But life wasn’t the same anymore, highschool provided other friends for his friends, which made him feel more alone than he ever did.

They all chewed the fat while Rester was preoccupied with looking around, smelling, and listening to whatever might pop up.

            He was in his own world until Hugo finally gave him a really good open necked slap.  Rester, so strung up by the hallucinations, almost had a heartattack and screeched louder than ever before.

            “What the hell did you do?”  Lidia looked back.  Rester immediately caught his breath and composure and waved her worrysomeness away.

            “We’re just goofing around.”  He said.

            “Damn…” Hugo started and placed his arm around Rester’s shoulder in a brotherly sort of way.  “sorry about that…didn’t think it would be so bad.” 

            “no…I’m sorry, it’s not you.  I just didn’t see it coming that’s all.”  Rester said weakly.  He looked into his best friends eyes and pretended to get him back with a soft pat on his neck. 

            “So, what’s up?” Hugo said, never considering how irritating it was to Rester when he did it as if yelling “open neck” before the slap made it okay.  But that day he hardly felt it.  He was glad that Hugo was acting like his best friend again, even though he only did it because the others were about thirty feet away.  (continue with Hugo a bit at least)

            “Ahhh, nothing man…nothing.”  Rester said trying his best to smile.  The vigilance he had to endure that day made him so tired, he looked pretty dead.  It was hard ignoring delusions that were out of your control.

            “You sure?”  Hugo asked.  “I mean, we’re bro’s…you know that right?  If somebody’s giving you a problem, I would take care of it for you.”

            As if everything revolved around getting beat up or beating people up, hugo naturally correlated Rester’s odd behavior with him being the recipient of some bullying.  This was the most attention Hugo gave Rester that whole day, so it wasn’t exactly surprising that he was so far off the real problem.

            “Nobody’s picking on me at the moment.”  Rester said.  “I…I don’t know what’s wrong.”  Rester wanted to say whatever he could, the truth, if he could find the words, but he had none and, as he looked at his best friend, there was something different about Hugo.  That commaradship, blood brother mentality was weak within them both, but far more weaker within Hugo who was breaking out in his own right.  Nothing would stop the deviation of the friendship and Rester knew he couldn’t trust Hugo like he used to.

            And just like that, after Rester said there was nobody for Hugo to beat up to make him feel better, Hugo took his arm from off his shoulder and jogged to catch up to the rest.  If he stayed a little longer, if he tried to talk a little more, Rester would have broke down in confidence about his new and twisted problem.  It was obvious that it wouldn’t make a difference now.  Hell, it would have made it worse.

            So Rester walked at his snail pace behind that new click of friends which he didn’t exactly belong to, with a imaginary black cat at his side and three of the craziest masks he had ever seen on three bodies going “Bob…bob….bob…”

            Unbenounced to Rester, Lidia was actually slowing down the entire group so that Rester could catch up, but seeing that he wasn’t even triying, she shouted…    

            “Hey!”

            Rester looked up from the pavement and ignored the host of floating bodies and odd colors that separated the space between them to see Lidia giving him a hand wave to come in, to come closer.  She held the entire group up for him.

            When he finally got close, she shouted a little lighter….

            “Rester, hurry up will you?”

            He couldn’t believe that she would hold up the group for him like that and he could see the disgruntled looks on all there faces even Hugo’s.  Than, of course, this gem came out of the bubbly blonde’s mouth,

“Who’s Rester?  That’s like a really weird name.”  Britanny said.  She was talking to Billy before hearing Lidia shout the name.   She didn’t remember his name or his face after that whole time.  Rester gave her the benefit of the doubt and figured she hadn’t remembered because e he wasn’t important enough, not because she was a dumb blonde.   Rester didn’t like to be prejudice.  Anyway, Rester didn’t give a hoot about her dumb remark.

 “oh Yeah Rester,” not even a little emberassed by her foible, she suddenly remembered his face from  her social studies class.  “You completely ignored Ms. Flanders when she asked you a question in class today. She repeated herself five times.  It was pretty funny.”    

            “Um, yea.”  Rester said not even trying to look at her or care what she had to say.  No matter how pretty she was, and she was hot, Rester was firm in his conviction that she wasn’t worth even his fantasy.  Besides, after her short little story, she turned away and continued talking with Billy or Hugo about who gives a crap.

            They were on (Vanderbilt street) which was a normal middle class suburbian street with well groomed lawns and bland colored houses.  While he walked with these, his friends, he continued to notice more and more people around.  For all he knew, they were all real or fake besides the ones he was sure of.

            Like those on the opposite side of the street.  It was a middle aged couple holding hands walking at a the same pace as they were.  Everything seemed fine except for the fact that a block before he could have sworn they walked straight into traffic and…right through passing cars.  Nothing happened to them.  Maybe it was just a trick of his eyes, but he felt sure about what he saw.  His actual seeing, or the process of seeing, was unsure.

            Also, out of his peripherals several times he was certain he saw very faint and opaque images glide through the air like flying people.  But when his eyes went away from the couple to see what he thought he saw, he saw nothing.

            “Dude, is Rester on lithium or something?”  Billy whispered to Hugo.  Rester only heard the parts of their conversation that related to him ,He only heard it since Billy used his name. Just like Dom, Billy was also on the JV team and Hugo was becoming decent friends with him.  However, Hugo didn’t say anything in response.  Since he wasn’t able to look at him though, Rester was unsure if he made a gesture for or against the accusation.

            He stopped listening when his hearing, or perhaps more accurately his mind, became so preoccupied by a buzzing sound like a bee mixed with a cement mixer that fluctuated red and circley.  Not that it made any sort of sense. Although he was witnessing it, he couldn’t wrap his head around it at all.  It was as if his head was in the real world and another at the same time.

            “Hello sir, did you go off to another dimension or something?”  Lidia asked him for the third time.  Rester only heard her because he pinched his arm to get his attention.

            “Um….no no.”  Rester said.

            Dom ran around and faced Rester directly walking backwards in front of him.  Rester couldn’t refuse to look away from the couple.

            “you did sm…. …thing that you weren’t su…d too.  R….t….”  Dom said.  His voice was constantly blocked by that strange noise intermixed with what sounded like, human screams and voices.  “Did you ….. me?  Helllo!”

            Rester stopped and shook his head and rubbed his face.  The rest of the kids looked at each other voicing  “what is wrong with him?” to themselves.  Still closing his eyes and looking down Rester said;

            “I’m just not feeling too good guys.”  That raking noise suddenly vanished for the most part.  He opened his eyes again and saw, very clearly, a face that he saw once before staring him two inches from his noise.

            He jumped back like a feline and closed his eyes again trying to forget that Brandon Barkly ever existed.

            “Am I that ugly?”  Dom said.  IT was sarcastic of course since Dom considered himself an Adonis.

            Rester peeked through and everything seemed normal again and he prayed it stayed that way.

            “What the hell was that?”  Hugo said getting embarrassed and mad at his best friend’s behavior.

            “Ouch….” Rester nervously said.  “I think I stepped…on a nail or something.”  He lied again and scratched his head and swiftly turned his head back and forth as if looking for something.  Through the eyes of his friends, he was looking just plain crazy the whole time.

            The momentary pause that followed was broken up by Billy who found the whole situation and Rester quite stupid.

            “So, ya’ll goin trick o treaten tonight?”  He went on walking, everybody following at his heels, leaving Rester standing there thunderstruck by whatever the hell was going on.  He didn’t immediately follow, he looked back at the couple who were now in the distance, but still close enough to be seen, so he hurried his pace to catch up.

            “Ya, we are and then when it gets dark enough we’re going to my house for our customary Halloween party.”  Lidia said with excitement. “I can’t wait till you see my costume, its super cute.”

            “Yeah, I’m sure it is.”  Dom said with a wink in his voice making Lidia blush quite a bit.

            “A party, really?  That sounds fun.”  Billy said.

            “Wooohooo partay!”  Britanny screamed while twirling a long strand of her blond her and blowing a pink bubble.

            “O guys,” Lidia said excitedly, “I gave out invitations but I forgot to invite you officially!”  Lidia said with a great exuberance. “Your all coming right?”

            While everybody responded with excited yeahs, Rester watched as the couple vanished into the distance.  They hadn’t walked out of his view, no, they merely flashed into nothing.

            Rester stood with his mouth open until his eyes caught something flying in the air.  It looked something like a cloth, some sort of long scarf of a light blue color, flew in the air almost like a thinking animal.  It flew toward them in the air, twisting and twirling as if the wind was giving it wings, yet the wind was at a dead stand still.  The cloth-like thing whipped around in mid air, trailing about ten feet behind giving off a faint whisper.  As it passed above them and behind, Rester heard audible voices, dozens of them of a normal tone talking.  Rester was taken aback by the bueaty of the thing’s movement.

            “Rester!”  Hugo screamed at him as he was watching the strange cloth apparently float away, leading a string of about ten more right behind.   A vapor like silloette of a human shape and character seemed to be leading the procession of cloths.

            He took his eyes away from it and looked at his friend with his mouth wide open, looking like a corpse himself.

            “What?”  Is all he could come up with.

            The rest of them were about a few feet away. Hugo, noticing Rester was acting weird again, ran back to see what he was doing.

            “Were you daydreaming or something?”  He asked.  “Come on man, you need to get more sleep or something.”  He held his hand like a child and led him rather forcefully.

            “No no, I was just…tying my shoes.”  He lied.  He didn’t even try anymore.

            Lidia looked back and started to walk toward them, while Billy, Dom, and Britanny, completely wierded out by this freaky kid, just stood and chatted among themselves.

            “Rester your coming right?”  She suddenly asked.

            “I think Rester went to lalla land…” Hugo said with scrunched eyebrows.

            “Going where?”  Rester asked.

            “See what I mean.”  Hugo motioned quietly.

            “O look, I was distracted by….something, sorry.”  Rester tried to recover.  Yet he still saw the weird cloth like object going passed them above in his peripherals, one connected to the other, all full of voices.  He tried to focus away from the thing, but it was hard.  It was just the strangest, most beautiful thing he ever saw..  Hugo looked at him in obvious curiosity as they continued to walk.

            “So you gonna come trick or treating with us and come to my party Rester?” She asked rhetorically, expecting an obvious yes.

            “I don’t…know.”  He said feeling very odd.  “I feel…sick.”  He kept looking around, spotting more masked people and odd colors.  The strange clothlike thing came to an end, and floated away into the sun eventually going out of his view.

            “Great, I’m so exc…wait.”  Lidia paused. “What?  Your not coming?!  Really? Why?”

            “He just said he’s feeling sick Lidia, maybe you should just leave him alone.”  Hugo said rather bluntly.  She scowled at him for the first time and not the last.

            “Rester…”  She said, but he was just dazed out looking up.  “Rester!”  He came out of it in a shock and listened to her wholeheartedly.  “you never miss out.  I know, you don’t like the whole commercial bullshit…your above that or something.  But it’s me?  Come on, pal?”  She said with a one armed hug.  That bought him back to reality and he actually considered it without distraction for a moment.

            “Of course im coming.”  He said to Lidia. No matter what, he had to go for her if nothing else, even if hell broke out on earth.  And, for all he knew, it just might.

            “Yay.”  Lidia said, apparently the only one paying attention and caring about Rester as the other kids were walking away talking among themselves.  Rester had a feeling they were talking about his behavior.  What could he do?  With everything he saw and heard, it was impossible to concentrate on anything.  It was like watching a movie while bowling as your sewing a winter hat and watching three children all at once.

Figuring Hugo wasn’t the one to ask for help, he considered Lidia. He trusted Lidia with his life.  Maybe she could help, maybe she could do something.  But what could be done for such a condition?

“Lidia.”  Rester said still trailing behind abit.  She was trying to catch up to the rest of them but slowed down to hear what her friend had to say.

“Yah?”  She said pretty flippantly without even turning around for him.

“I….nothing, never mind.” he didn’t know what he was going to say, but her response or lack of response said enough.  She shrugged and continued walking to her other friends without a second thought. 

You still have me  the cat said.  She was still by his side, the whole time, rubbing her warm furry side on his leg.

“I have an imaginary cat…I can die a happy man.” He didn’t even try to hold these words from coming out of his mouth since the others were too far away and too occupied with there own lives to ever notice him again.

A party

Costumes

The band members are all horror character tropes, Los is Frankenstein, Soda is Zombie, and Frack is a wearwolve.  And of course, Count is a vampire.

Other costumes- hellraiser, freddy, Jason, micheal myers

Eric-(math)calculator? Ben ilton john nappier?

Andy- wizard (odin one eye patch!!!)

Randy- (lit) andies third friend (eccentric with an eccentric costume, obscure) John ilton kikengaard, 

                        Sitting at the kitchen table playing magic the gathering by themselves

Lidia-dorathy

Dianna-simple cat, whiskers, ears, tail

Dom-superman

Billy- pirate

Hugo- pirate

Stacey and robin- coinciding

Britanny-vampire nurse, 

Rester- black eye mask that is all and t shirt that says-sux, im with stupid, super slacker, slacker extrodiner, 

Three goons all wear horns

Some older kids found there way, scantily clad and acting a little off.  They were drawn to the extravagant decorations and Lidias ability to talk to anyone.

The masked figures crept around him.  They sniffed like vultures picking at a corpse. 

Chapter 10

Prelude to the Party

After school, Hugo, Lidia, Dom, Britanny, and (Billy) went out for a little Trick or treat fun. They, of course, asked rester to come along like always but he got out of it.  It wasn’t because they weren’t convincing (Rester was usually easily persuaded to do things he didn’t want to), but because his delusions hadn’t subsided at all.  And his mood just got worse the more he became unsure about reality.

            But now, he had no other choice but to go along no matter what the consequence and he couldn’t deny a sort of subtle excitement about going to Lidia’s party because they were always fun. 

Since he got home, he tried his hardest to put all the strangeness aside and blamed it on a bad piece of bacon he ate during breakfast.  He felt alright.  Nothing seemed amiss in his house the hours before he left to the party.  He just played videogames and made sure not to watch the TV.  He believed, the longer normalcy existed the better chance of it continuing.

            He told his aunt Chrissy he was going out to Lidia’s party and she gladly kissed him and waived goodbye as always.  (bleh)

Rester found a simple black mask in his closet. It covered just his eyes and nose.  He wore it once when he was younger and had nothing else, nor did he want any costume to wear, so he stuck it on his face and that was his costume. Off he went out the door dressed in his mask and normal clothes, jeans and a navy blue t shirt that said “slacker.”(bleh, what the hell kind of writer are you?)

(it may be a good idea to just erase that first part cause it sucked)

Rester left his house with subtle hopes that things would go well, if at least all right.   He walked down the walkway and hit the sidewalk, turning right. 

            Than he bumped into some creepers and he screeched out.  

            “Whats wrong with him, mommy?”  A childs voice said and when he looked at the creepers he saw, a mini witch, ghost, and the flash staring at him with wide eyes.  He had walked into a group of children, with there mother following behind, who looked suspiciously at him as he covered his head and walked away awkwardly.

            He looked around in consternation for a moment to see if he noticed anything out of place.  But, all he saw was a lighted street full of children dressed up and trick or treating as it was supposed to be. 

            When he got there without any incident, he took a deep breath and rang the buzzer.

Unlike her past parties, it wasn’t going to be a small get together with five or six of her close friends.  She invited nearly the entire school, making sure to get all the cool kids.

Chapter 11

The party

            There was indeed a lot of people at the house all of whom were dressed one way or another.  Like she said, Lidia wore a Dorothy costume that she made with the help of her mother, ruby slippers and all.  Hugo was dressed as a pirate and was irked that Billy had dressed in a similar manner.  They argued over who should wear the eye patch since two eye patches was one too many for one party.  Dom had a tight fitting superman costume that showed off his muscles Britanny wore a skimpy nurse outfit that showed off her parts as well.  As if a nurse wasn’t enough, she put in fake teeth and some fake blood to make a nurse vampire.  All the guys were gawking at her and she just soaked it up like a sponge.

            The living room was packed wall to wall with kids and since it was a nice day, not too cold, a lot of people moved into the back yard.  Lidia’s mother did a marvelous job setting up decorations to make the house look like an old castle and there was many cool anamotronic skeletons and monsters all over the backyard along with some eirrie green and orange lights. The whole seen was just fun and Rester’s spirits seemed to mesh well with the funness.

            He walked passed the living room, seeing many kids who he didn’t know.  Nobody talked to him so he went into the kitchen.

            Like the other day, Andy and Eric were sitting at the table with there cards out.  Randy, a thin nerd with a mullet, also sat at the table.  They were all dressed up too.  Eric was in a big box costume with buttons on it.  It was badly constructed out of cardboard and was meant to be a calculator.  Andy was in a long purple cloak and wore a long gray wig.  A staff was next to him.  If two eyepatches were one to many for one party, Andy didn’t care since he was wearing one too.   Randy, the oddest of the three, was dressed in vintage English clothing, something out of the 16th century.  (describe the clothing).  Rester couldn’t figure out who Andy and Randy were dressed as.

            “Hey Rester, nice costume.”  Randy said.  Rester knew Randy for years and would often listen to his long explanations on things most people wouldn’t care to hear.  He was a nice guy and treated Rester, along with everyone else he ever meant, with great reverence.     “Thanks…you’re a calculator, but what are you too supposed to be?”  Rester asked.

            “I’m going to take this shit off, its so freaking hot.”  Eric complained, trying to maneuver his body to get up but failing.

            “Oh, I’m the great god Odin, the original Lord of the Rings.”  Andy looked up and for once since Rester met him saw him look directly at him and nothing else since he covered up his lazy eye with the patch.

            “Oh, of course you are.”  Rester responded, still miffed by Andy’s whole death card prediction.

            “And what, you can’t tell who I am?  Isn’t it obvious?”  Randy said.  He got up for Rester to get a better look.

            “Um…the king of Scotland?”  Rester guessed.

            “what?  Don’t be silly boy.  Maybe this will help.”  Randy picked a leatherbound book from off the floor.  Rester read the title “Paradise Lost.”

            “Well?  Can you guess now?”  Randy said expecting the right answer but Rester didn’t even know what Paradise Lost was.

            “He’s supposed to be the great English poet, John Milton.”  Andy said.  “Pretty lame getup if you ask me.”

            “John Milton huh?  I think its better than Odin, the god of…whatever.”  Rester stated.

            “Hah, see?  I told you I would have an admirer.” Randy said.

            “Malarky, all you did was dress up in a tunic and a ruffled callor, its not even a real costume.”  Eric intervened.  “This is a real costume.”

            “The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.”  Randy quoted.  

             “And learning a quote means nothing.  .  “It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations. sir Winston Churchill.” Andy retorted. 

            Bored at there bickering, Rester looked through the window into the backyard and saw someone he never expected to see at this party; Dianne.  She was wearing cat ears and whiskers.  Her two best friends, Stacy and Robin, who were bestfriends themselves, were dressed up in there cosplay versions of Sailor moon girls.

            “My brother and his silly band is here too Rester.  There in your grade, are they not?”  Randy said while Rester continued looking over at Dianna.  He could see Los, Soda, and Frack setting up there instrument in a mess of wires.  They were dressed up in the normal Halloween fair of Frankenstein, Werewolf, and Zomibe respectively.

            “Oh yeah?”  Rester said.  “Wait, you have a brother?” 

            “Rod…oh, I mean “Count.””  Randy responded.  “He’s out there somewhere.  There supposed to play…if they can all get there shit together that is.”

            Rester looked but did not see the vampire of the crew but thought little of it.

            “I ddin’t know he was your brother.” Rester said.

            “Well, I wish I didn’t know that either.”  Randy said in a whisper.  “His obsession with Vampires and demons is…lets just say, crazy.”

            “Hey Randy, what was that thing you just said?  That quote about hell?”  Rester said still looking through the window.

            “The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.”  Randy quoted again. 

            “Yeah…that sounds about right.”  Rester said.  “See you guys later.”  

            “Oh and I want a new pack of tarot cards…or I will smite thee.”  Andy said to Rester’s back as the door closed behind him.

Chapter 12

The Inadvertent Soliloquy

            A large table was out in the backyard with various bowls of gruesome looking, yet delisious treats.  Deviled eggs that looked like eyes, marshmallow voodoo dolls, and bloody punch to name a few.

            Dom was talking loudly with Hugo, Billy, and some other guys about how football was the real football and soccer was a girls sport.  

            Lidia was gleefully singing “Somewhere over the Rainbow” to a group of people next to a cauldron that spewed out fog.  

            Rester walked down the length of the table, picking up a cup of strawberry mush that was labeled “accident victim: blood and guts” and began eating it with a spoon. 

            Feedback from Frack’s guitar amp reverberated in his eardrums.  He looked over to see the three practicing some of there tunes and setting up there equipment.  The fragments he heard sounding more like noise than music yet, Frack nodded showing his approval.

            Standing still and alone at the table, he veered his gaze around the yard until it fell upon Dianne.  Like himself, Dianne didn’t put much effort into her costume.  She was dressed as she normally was in a sweater and jeans.  She had cat ears on her head and some whiskers taped to her cheeks.  Now with a better view, he also saw that she wore a black tail, a perfect excuse to look at her tush.

            “Like what you see?”  A voice snuck behind him.  He turned around and saw someone he didn’t know.  “Why don’t you go talk to her?  Its obvious you like her.”

            “Um…yeah, I don’t think so.”  Rester responded and turned to this new kid.  “I never saw you before, you go to Clinton High School?”

            “Yeah…well I went there.  My name is Sam.  And your Rester right?”  He said.

            “Huh, yeah.”  Rester put out his hand.

            “Oh sorry, I don’t shake hands…germs you see.”

            He wasn’t exactly dressed in a costume.  His skin was pale grey and cracked in areas.  Scabs and cuts all over his face and arms with congealed blood.  

            “So…what are you supposed to be?  A zombie?”  Rester asked.

            “No…I’m a goul actually.  What are you supposed to be?”

            “Nobody.’  Rester responded.

            “Well, you gotta be somebody.”  

            “I’m just me…I guess.”   Rester said.

            “Why don’t you go talk to your friends?  You just stand alone here your gonna be outcast, shunned.  You know right?”

            “I don’t care.  Their getting along famously without me.”  Rester said and looked around at the packed backyard.  He saw others in the goulish costumes along with people in very strange oversized masked.  His eyes finally fell back onto Dianne who was looking straight back at him, but only for a moment.  He turned around quickly feeling a slight blush come into his face.

            “I’m so thirsty.”  Sam said, looking a little faint.

            “Oh, you could go inside and get a drink, they have like twenty different soda’s.”

            “No…I can’t drink…and I can’t go inside the house.”

            Rester didn’t understand what he meant.

            “You don’t have to drink alchohol, I mean, some people feel the need but you can just drink punch.  That bloody punch is just grand.”

            A deep laugh seemed to erupt from Sam like a old drum making Rester feel rather uneasy.

            “You must know.”  Sam said.

            “Know what?”

            Sam looked at Rester with an awestruck gaze.

            “He said you could see…he was right.”   Sam said as if he was talking to himself.

            “What are you talking about dude?”

            “look…can you do me a favor?”

            “I don’t know…you want me to get you some soda?  I could do that.  if its lending money, look, I’m broke.”
            “No…nothing like that.  Can you just give my mother a message?  Just tell her something for me?  you can even write a letter.”

            “Um…why can’t you just do it yourself?”

            “I…I gotta go away.”

            “Your going to run away?”
            “yeah…you could say that.  Just tell her everything will be fine.  That I’m okay and that she just has to move on.  Tell her that we will see each other soon.  Can you do that for me?”

            Rester thought about the odd request but didn’t know how to say no, so he just nodded.

            “Thanks buddy.  I gotta go.”   Sam said.  He walked away.  The floor was covered in fog and he couldn’t see his feet, but he could have swore he was gliding.  

            “Damn it Rester, what is your deal?”  Hugo came up from behind him.

            “What?  did you try the guts, its delicious.”  Rester said.

            “Don’t give me that shit.  Why are you just standing here talking to yourself?”  Hugo asked.

            “What are you talking about?  I was talking to this kid, Sam.”  Rester said.

            “No, you were just standing here talking to yourself.  Everybody was looking at you.”  Hugo said in an angry whisper.

            Rester didn’t understand.  He looked around and saw to his dismay that everyone was indeed looking at him, including Dianne.

            “No….no…”  Rester sighed out.  The fiery raucous sound came from the Mortal Coils speakers drowning out everyone.  Something clicked in Rester’s head.

 It can’t be?  He thought.  He was real.  He was right there.  

            Real, but not alive.  The voice said inside his head and he saw the damn cat again sitting on the table next to the eyeballs.  Are you going to deny it forever?

            “Look, I know we’re friends but if you keep on acting this way…I don’t know.”  Hugo said loud over the so-called music.

            “Come on, he was joking around right?”  Lidia walked up alone and said.

            “Joking?  Does Rester Joke around like that?  its been the passed couple of days he’s been acting like this and it’s not funny.”  Hugo retorted.

            “I’m…sorry, I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”  Rester said.

            “Get a grip man.”  Hugo walked away.

            “Look, don’t worry about it.  A lot of people talk to themselves.  Just try to mingle a little, you know?”  Lidia said with her pitying eyes.

            “I think I’m going to be out…I just feel really sick.”   Rester lied.  He felt fine but, for some reason, right behind Lidia, a familiar face lurked.  He looked away from her and into the eyes of Brandon Barkley as he just laughed. 

            “Rester?”  Lidia tried to get his attention.

            “Yeah I’m gonna go…I’m sorry…this isn’t me…”  He dropped the cup of strawberry guts and made off to the fence as more and more ghostly figures surrounded him. They came out of the ground, from thin-air, and swarmed toward him.  They were all asking for something, dozens of voices at once.  He closed his ears and squinted his eyes as he made off. The sound of the band mixed with the voices made such a horrible noise which made him instantly natiuos.

            “What the hell is going on?”

Chapter 13

Harrassed and Harrassed (and Harrassed)

The ghostly delusions continued to swarm all around him, pleading for this and that.   In front of the procession was the figure of Brendan Barkley just as he appeared that day in the cemetery.  He seemed to be  getting a kick out of it all.

The music from the band permeated the air as he closed the gate behind himself, trying to walk as fast as he could.  He looked back to see the swarm of those pearly, opaque, and sometimes just faded figures walk right through the closed gate.

“So its true, you can see us.  I thought it was a fluke the first time when you summoned me but now its obvious.”  Brendan said as he floated in the front of Rester as he paced toward his house.  He ignored Brendan completely.  The rest of the figures kept up, trailing a couple of steps behind.  They looked imploring and even begging with outreached hands.

“Come on, don’t pretend.  I told all of them about you.  We just want some closure you know?  You’re the only living human who can see and hear us clearly.”

He tried, he really tried, to ignore them all.  But as he walked away from the noise, a figure sat in the darkest corner of Lidia’s porch and when he was right in front, it jumped like an animal into his path.

“You can only ignore so much.”  Count said.  He wasn’t dressed up in a costume.  Well, actually, he was dressed up like he was on a day to day basis, in black gothic clothing including a trenchcoat out of the Matrix, black eyeliner, and, what appeared to be, some red lipstick that looked like glistening blood.  He looked more pale than usual but other than that he looked just as odd as he always did.  And just like in school, he flashed his teeth showing his custom-made sharpened canines. 

“What?”  Rester tried to respond although the confusion of everything became so overwhelming he could no longer determine what was real and what was a hallucination.  The swarm of ghostly figures continued talking behind him as he looked Count in his solid, corporeal face.

“Don’t think it’s a curse.  It’s a gift.  And you have better Extra Sensory Perception than anybody I met.  I can tell.”  Count said.

“I don’t know what your talking about man, so just get lost.”  Rester said.

“Its so faint to me, almost non existent if I don’t concentrate enough.  The dozens of figures following you.”  Count said. His face was more feminine than most girls.  He brushed his hand against Rester’s face as he pointed.  Rester shuttered and backed away.

“Look, aren’t you missing you band and the party.  Why are you just hiding in the shadows like…like some.”

“Vampire?”  he said with a laugh.

“Right.” Rester said and started to walk passed him.

“You know…your more interesting than the others, the other squawking children in school.  There not like us, old souls.”  Count continued louder and louder as Rester walked away.  “I would love to be friends.  Let’s be buddies. We could summon great spirits as our tools and take over the school.” 

And that was all he heard.  When he looked back, Count was gone, but all those weird ghostly figures were still there begging for something.  He continued without feeding his own delusions.

Young kids were still out, trick or treating up and down the street. 

Is this real?  He thought.  Are they really ghosts? 

Can you keep denying it?  the cat suddenly appeared by his side, waving its white tipped tail.  Count is right…to a certain point anyway.

He got to the tip of his lawn, stopped, when the figure of Brendon got in front of him again.

“Ah, see, you can see us.  You talked to Sam directly.  I’m so excited, we can have so much fun.”  Brendan said with a sort of twisted look on his face.

Rester looked behind at the procession of ghostly figures.  There were 40 or more mostly young figures in line behind him.  Some were opaque and grey, others looked like defined cartoon outlines, and yet others looked normal.

“Just leave me alone!”  Rester shouted at them and looked at Brendon.  “You don’t exist.  You’re a figment of my delusional mind, so bug off.”      

He started down the remaining sidewalk to get to the walkway when a real danger struck in the form of three eggs, two hitting him on his left side and the third, which was frozen, bonking him on the head.

Being preoccupied with the delusion, Rester completely overlooked the toilet paper decorating the two trees on his lawn.  The same culprits who dressed up the trees were hiding behind the parked SUV on the street throwing eggs at Rester.

After the short bombardment, they ran up blocking his progression, all the while Rester was just too dumbfounded by everything to even realize what was happening before he saw the three goons come toward him the fatest of which held a black plastic bag.

“Look its egg benedict!”  Gangly Glen said.

“Having a conversation with yourself, Milk boy.”  Patrick said.

“”Leave me alone!  You’re a figment of my imagination, bug off!””  Alex said in a mocking voice.

The three goons were dressed in normal clothing except that they all had the same cheapo devil masks made of polyethylene covering their faces.  The masks were plain red with grinning faces and horns coming out the top.   Rester recognized who they were the moment they revealed themselves.

“You’re a day late, goosey night was yesterday.”  Rester said.  He was just plain fed up.  The whole world seemed to be crumbling around him. First ghosts, then a freaking fake vampire, and now three real devils. All in all, the three of them didn’t even seem like a real threat anymore.  If he was going to be insane than it was already worse than death, a couple of eggs and punches wouldn’t make a difference. 

Rester took off the black mask he still wore and threw it at their feet.

“Who were you talking to, your invisible friends?”  Glen said.

“Yup.  I have nothing to hide, I am crazy.  Ghosts are following me around.  A black cat is talking to me.  And I see naked guys dancing on the TV.   And I think a vampire has a crush on me. What you do can never top what I already go through.”  Rester said and opened his arms as if to say “do your worst.”

You are getting heated, your shadow will break free.  Don’t loose yourself in hatred.  The female voice of the black cat said to him.  It was still at his side, but the voice was resounding within his mind

“My shadow?”  Rester said aloud to the three goons confusion.

“He really is crazy.”  Alex said.

“Well, maybe this will help.”  Patrick said and grabbed something from the black.  With one swift movement a whole carton of rotten milk splashed down onto Rester, covering him from head to toe.

            All the ghosts were still there, waiting patiently to get Rester’s attention. But when this happened, they all “oooed” as if it was a sitcom.

            The black cat walked in between Rester and the three goons, its tail waiving like a finger pointing at Rester.

            Oh Boy.  It said.

            But Rester didn’t hear.  It was the straw that broke the camels back.  The pressure, the stress, the anxiety of the past three days compiled and broke his will.  Fear of danger, fear of pain, even fear of death completely vanished from within Rester.  He became hallow inside with one single desire overpowering everything, the desire to kill the bastards in front of him.

            As he stood there, stewing in the rotten milk, his own shadow that was cast by the street lamps became grotesque and animated, crawling up his legs to his head until it was absorbed into his body like a sponge soaking up water (or milk?).   It happened so fast and the three goons were ignorant of what was happening since they could not see.  Those ghostly figures following him, however, withdrew immediately at the sight of Rester.

            Even if they weren’t aware, Rester had transformed into another being altogether.  He had the surety of will that he always lacked and the power of a bodybuilder that he never knew.  His muscles tensed in anticipation like a scorpion readying its tail to strike at an innocent prey.  They all were just standing there like fools laughing at his misery.  He had it in mind to crush out there lives with his bare hands.

Chapter 13

Outside inside out

“Rester!”  The voice of his aunt crissy was like an alarm clock waking him from sleep.  It was as if the devil himself was exorcised from Rester’s soul. 

He watched the three goons run and scatter like flies brushed away from a dead carcass as he came out of the stupor.

“Rester, who were those kids?  And what happened here?  Did they do this?”  His aunt crissy said from the doorway of there house.  She was dressed in pink robe with curlers in her hair and a bowl of candy in her hand.

“Huh…” Rester tried to compose himself yet again but his mind and body were just in a flux as if his atoms were bouncing around violently.   To his aunt, he just stood there looking forward all alone in a sort of shocked state.

To Rester, some dark energy of dangerous and violent intentions had taken over him and he was a hair’s breath from actually killing those bullies.  It made him shudder to think.  He lost all control.

“Rester…come here. Come inside.  What are you doing?”  His aunt said again in a worried tone.

He finally shook himself out of it, whipping a swath of sweat and rotten milk from his forehead and looked around.  The delusions were all gone to his relief.

But when he tried to walk forward, he tripped over something.  It was the black cat.  Its body was in between his legs, going in and out in a figure eight pattern, its tail’s white tip brushing against him.

That was close the voice went on again within his mind.  I don’t know if I can contain that darkness again.

Rester was about to go and pick up the cat before thinking better of it since he was pretty sure it was just another delusion.  So instead, he just continued walking past it toward the door, running his fingers through his hair as the milk dripped off his entire body.

“What was that?”  His aunt put her hand on his face in an affectionate gesture than got a whiff of the smell.  “Why are you wet?  What is that?”

“Got milk?”  He laughed dryly. 

“Who were those boys Rester, I want you to tell me.”

“They were friends.  It was only a joke.  Don’t worry about it.”  He walked past her into the house.

“But you said you were going by Lidia’s.  Are you hanging around with the wrong crowd?   Were they really your friends?”  She continued the interrogation.

“yes, they just bust my chops, you know?”

            “Bust your chops and TP your house and thrown rotten milk and eggs on you?  Don’t treat me like a fool Rester, what’s going on?”

            He poured a glass of water and took a long sip.

            “Nothing.”  He said afterwards.

            “Something is not right.”  She gave him that hopeless motherly worried look.  She was the only family that he had or knew of.

            “I promise, everything is fine…It was Hugo, the middle one was Hugo.”  He lied taking advantage of the fact that they were all wearing masks.  “He was just playing a prank because I wanted to leave early.  Don’t worry, I’ll get him back.”

            “Rester, they were white except for the fat one, I could see there hands.”

            “Makup…” He was stretching it now.  “Hugo had…white gloves on.”

            “And the others?”

            “They’re just new friends, I swear.  Why you have to worry so much?”  He said in an irritated voice.  It was an act, he didn’t want her to worry so he acted tougher and more grown up than he actually was to throw her off.  The last thing he wanted was for her to know the truth causing even more problems for both of them to handle.

            “Okay Okay, fine, but something is up with you.  I can tell Rester…and I don’t like it.”

            “It’s nothing.”  he just didn’t give in, even though he kind of wanted to tell her or someone, anyone. 

            “I’m going to go take a shower.”  He said and stomped toward the stairs.  He got up halfway.

(Chrissy!!!!)

 “Just know honey, you can tell me anything.  Anything, and I will be there for you no matter what.”  One last attempt to get to some sort of truth.  And it almost worked that last time, he almost broke and told her about the delusions.  The three goons was something he could handle, but the craziness was beyond him.

            “I’m fine.”  He lied one last time to her and gave her a believable smile.  She nodded.  He stomped on up the staircase.

            “And would you stop stomping your feet like an elephant pleaset!”  She shouted as his heals banged onto the last step. 

            “I’m sorry!”

Chapter 14

Withdrawn by Default

Is this chapter necessary?  Rethink and reform

            Yup, he was crazy.  He had no doubts after Halloween.  There was no way of getting around it.  Outrageous thoughts entered Rester’s mind on how to deal with his delusional state, the worst of which was actually ending his own life.  But he liked life and even if it was going to be a horrible existence, he would rather have that than nonexistence; he was an atheist after all.

            So, he started avoiding everything and everyone.  Most of all, he ignored mostly every single delusion he had which were getting stronger and stranger by the day.  If he believed in such a thing, he would have thought that they were ghosts of dead people but with no proof he was certain his mind had cracked and he was leaking insanity all over the place.

            The hallucinations never affected real life, just what he perceived to be real.  It gave him headaches to avoid it all and act normal at the same time.  It was impossible.   One thing he did figure out was that the hallucinations hardly came to him while he was at home with the exception of the cat.  In turn, the outside world became something of a wonderland of strangeness.

During lunch, he went to the library by himself, never to study, mostly to read comic books or draw doodles.  Sometimes he would get his hands upon books that might elucidate what was wrong with him, but reading such things gave him headaches and he had an attention span of a goldfish.  He picked up a few key words however like schizophrenia, schizoid, and psychosis disorders.

             He was now sure the masked individuals weren’t Halloween costumes, they were strange hallucinations that seemed to flock about in places and near people.  He didn’t know who or what they were or what they represent.  At first, he thought they were ghosts, but all representations of ghosts that he was used to didn’t conform.  And although he saw them occasionally near other people, he mostly noticed when they appeared near him and when they were close, he felt negative emotions.  Or  he would feel the negative emotions and than they would appear.  Actually, he couldn’t tell what came first, like the chicken or the egg paradox.  All he knew was that they were really annoying.

His friends got along fine without him in any case. Lidia started dating Dom and Hugo was full into jock status on the football team.  They became popular normal kids, while Rester became a freak.  Word spread and his image went down.  But even after everything, Hugo and Lidia defended him and still asked him to hang out all the time.  Almost everyday he would get a call.  He made excuses and kept to himself.

He did feel bad to abandon his life long friends in such a way, but he had no other choice.  Talking to them would only make things worse because they would be able to see his craziness.

            For some reason, he embraced his loner freak image with a little too much work and energy. He began dressing different.  He had a knack for plain black bracelets among other cheap unsubstantial fixings.  He grew his hair long and shaggy, wore all black, mostly tight fitting t’s and black jeans.  He also started exercising to pass the time.  He rarely ate and grew lean as timber.

            A sort of darkness grew within him, manifesting within his drawings of strange creatures, skulls, corpses, and lost souls.  Although he ignored them, the delusions had influence on him he couldn’t even imagine.  He sort of took on the role he was given and liked being the outcast loner; it was a skin that fit well.

            Sometimes he would even indulge the weird delusions without a care in the world.  Talking freely to them when they asked questions, but he never ever, took it serious.  It was all a joke, a game that didn’t even matter anymore.  He became a cynical nihilist.

--

The only reassuring thing that came out of the hallucinations was the cat.  Unable to shake the delusions, he eventually decided to give the cat a name.  He even asked it what it should be called.

Whatever you decide, that will be my name.  She responded. 

So he called her Mishka and referred to the cat as a she since her voice was feminine.  The name seemed to just come to him and he stuck with it.  It seemed right and that was all that mattererd.

He became capable of summoning the cat at will by chanting it’s name over and over like a mantra.  Every time a panic settled in him after seeing something strange and unusual or he felt the dark thoughts enter his mind, he invoked her to his side and the cat appeared.  She had some sort of power to alter his consciousness, but he didn’t understand how or why. 

Oddly enough, she also made a lot of sense.  Mishka seemed to be a personification of his inner conscious trying to make sense out of the world.  She would even contradict what he thought with very nice reassurances.  She would say “think positive because negativity will only bring more of them and darkness will consume you” whenever he reacted to the strange masks and it actually worked.   She even helped out in situations that occurred in his normal life.

For example; Rester was in gym class one day and got hit with a volleyball straight in the face. Since he hadn’t bought his gym clothes he sat on the side reading a comic.  He really did hate gym class and hardly ever participated.  When he looked up from his book after getting a good wallop, the eyes of the other classmates were on him.  It was obvious who did it.  Patrick and a good portion of other students were having a good laugh at him. 

            It was the sense of humiliation that gripped him and he felt stiff with anxiety as time seemed to stand still the moments after he was hit; the spotlight was on him shining brightly.

            “you gonna cry milk boy?!”  Patrick taunted.

            “Don’t let him get to you.  He just wants people to like him that’s why he picks on you for a laugh.”  Mishka said.  She was laying down next to him the whole time.  “Look at him, can’t you see?”  Patrick was galloping like a jackass while the more cruder boys were cackling like idiots.  But most girls and some boys seemed to have empathy for Rester and obvious contempt for Patrick. 

            By being told by Mishka to look, the simple act took on a whole new angle.  He saw the whole situation from a third person perspective, no longer through his embarrassment.  He suddenly realized how silly the whole thing was and his anxiety and anger disappeared.

            The closest students near Rester, Gina and Rebecca, even asked if he was alright.           

“Smile and say something funny.” Mishka said.  Without even thinking, Rester smiled and said,

“Did you ever notice Patrick looks a lot like a Pee-wee herman?  Well, if Pee Wee herman had down syndrome.”

The two girls giggled loud enough for Patrick to hear and his smiling face, although red from both the hit and embarrassment, seemed to dissolve any remaining awkwardness.  It also dissolved Patrick’s fun time since he now wondered what Rester said.

It just so happened that those girls had plenty of disdain for Patrick and now, whenever they saw him, would see the resemblance between Patrcik and warped version of Pee wee herman.  The joke would spread and soon everyone who disliked him called him Pee wee Patrick.

Mishka helped him in such times, providing him with ways to circumvent any attention he got. Mishka was Rester’s only friend throughout the cold days of his exile from sanity.  Without her, he would have completely fallen apart.  She filled him with an odd sense of hope, even though he felt completely trapped in his own warped reality.

 She was a comfort, he admitted that it would be impossible to cope without her.  But the strangeness of having an invisible cat friend was not exactly something he wanted, especially if it meant he couldn’t lead a relatively normal existence.  Although he enjoyed being apart as the loner freak, he wished deep down inside for nothing more than to have a meager, uneventful and long life. His ultimate dream of having a pinapple farm in Hawaii seemed like a long shot now.

 Chapter 16

The Fire alarm- compress time, from Halloween a couple of weeks, not months, make it before winter, def before x-mas

            As winter slowly passed it became spring once again. It was always easy to tell when spring came,, because beautiful sakura lined the courtyard of the school, sprouting bright pink.

Out of place Things hadn’t settled within Rester’s mind.  Some days were good, other days were bad, but overall it increased.  He noticed more that translucent people were appearing, sometime just floating around going through solid objects like nothing.  Sometimes, they would even talk.  Saying strange things to passing people and if rester decided to show interest in what they had to say, they would come straight to him for help.  In order to override there pesky voices, he would have to try extra hard to ignore them and, with enough effort, they would disappear.

It was April 1 when his worst fears came to be.  It was Friday and, just like all other kids, he couldn’t wait until he was released for the weekend.  However, things didn’t work out the way he hugo, Lidia  planned when his psychosis led to a very public outburst. 

He was in art class, staring at his dream girl who was discussing a mystery novel she recently read with two of the other art lovers at the table.  He sat, his head resting lazily on his right hand and his left drawing doodles which he was fonder of doing than talking to people or paying attention to the teacher.  His eyes constantly shifted from the drawing of a ying yang symbol to Dianna.

            “Attention class,” said Mrs. Stewart as she walked into the classroom.  “Today we will be drawing portraits of our classmates.  I will put you in groups of two and you will draw each other with pencils.  And don’t get ahead of yourselves”  she said pointing at Josh who was talking loud about something crude to his mate, “I’m gonna choose the groups.”

            Great, Rester thought, I have to work with someone else.  What a lucky day.  If that wasn’t bad enough, Mrs. Stewart put him together with Dianna.  She came and sat next to him and he became automatically nervous and bashful.

            “Hi.”  She said politely.  “Rester right?”  He nodded.  “I’m dianna.”

            “I know.”  He thought this was a stupid response. What the hell am I supposed to say to her, I’m freaking he thought.

            Be honest, tell her you like her and want to see her after school Mishka’s voice said.  He looked and saw her by the side of his chair.

            For once, I don’t think that’s good advice imaginary cat.  He thought in response.  He began to understand, since she was a figment of his mind, he didn’t have to talk aloud for her to hear.

            “you don’t talk much do you?”  Dianne said to him bluntly after he remained silent for the few moments.  

            “i…I don’t have much to say I guess.”

            “Well, I hope you don’t mind if I talk your ear off because I tend to do that sometimes.”

            “I don’t mind.”  Rester said.  A strange warm feeling started to swell in his stomach.  Is this love or did I catch a virus?  He thought.

            I think you know the answer to that Mishka responded.  Of course, it was rhetorical right? Its not for me to say, but who asks themselves rhetorical questions?
            Please be quiet, I’m trying to think, he thought and realized the whole thing was pretty pointless.

            “I really like your hair, but I don’t like how it blocks your eyes, because there really nice.”  He prayed that he didn’t blush at her complement.  “Pretty cool shirt too, you like Pink Floyd?”

            “Sure.”  with this response, he missed the perfect opportunity to give back a compliment and the pause grew longer and longer until it finally blossomed into an uncomfortable silence.

            “Your friends with lidia right?”  she finally said.

            “uh..yeah…I mean yeah, we’re just friends, ha ha.”  He rubbed his hair.

            “she goes out with dom now.”  Dianna said biting her lip.  “I don’t like him much. I mean he’s alright I guess, but he is kind of narcisistic”

            “yeah…he’s a jock.”  Rester got up some courage.  He was gonna ask her if she had a boyfriend, but all he could say was “Do.” Before the teacher interrupted, giving her instructions.

            “one of you will be the model while the other draws, and than you will switch, Ok?  It doesn’t matter who goes first.  You could make any face by the way.”

            “I guess I’ll go first.”  She said.  So Rester just stood still and waited for her to begin drawing, but she just stuck her tongue out at him.  “oh, I meant I’ll be the model first.  I’m not your conventional model.”  And she stuck her tongue out again, this time making an even funnier face.  Rester smiled.  She’s so cute, he thought while Mishka just purred.

            He began with her eyebrows and her hair, than her chin and mouth.  But than he looked at her eyes and noticed she was staring at him.  It made him feel quite uncomfortable and awkward.  Even from the beginning, he knew he was going to do a horrible job and she was going to be upset. He tried his best to make her pretty, as he saw her in his head.  Other people were making stupid and outrageous expressions, which came out even more outrageous on paper.

            Rester was almost finished when he felt the pain.  It was as if something exploded in his head.  He made a jerking motion and blacked out, images seering into his brain.  Fire, the smell of burning sheetrock, a white explosion, faces and pain, it rushed all through his body.  

            He regained consciousness in three seconds, even though to him it felt like minutes, and had a feeling in his gut as if he knew something important.  Dianna looked at him and asked “is something wrong?”

            He didn’t say anything.  He looked back and forth trying to breathe while it happened again and he felt again as if he knew something somewhere in his mind, something important.  He knew what it was too, not in thoughts, but intuitively.  Than he saw a flicker and looked up.

            It was on the ceiling.  A humanoid lizard with a giant green tail that violently whipped in circles.  The creature made growling noises as it stuck to the ceiling and than started to walk upright.  As it dangled and came right above Rester, it looked him in the face.  Its head was scaly and green, looking just like an iguana except its eyes were located in the front like a human and its nose was just two flat slits. It opened its mouth, the slimy tongue, like a long pulsating snot, slowly protruded.  Its eyes were black with red irises and it had a bright red aura.

            When Rester saw it, he felt the pain explode again in his head more powerfully and he dropped his pad and pencil.   Sweat poured down his face and neck while he jumped out of chair with a shout.  He felt an incredible heat, but not on his skin, it was inside himself.  He stared at it and heaved while the class looked at him suspiciously.  He didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know what to say, and all the while the lizard man knew that Rester was aware of him.  He quickly scurried away, zigzagging on all fours, its huge curved nails scraping against the fixtures.  It went straight out the window and climbed the wall out of Rester’s point of view.

            “What’s wrong with you?”  Dianna whispered as the teacher came to him, giving him an intense look.

            “um…um…” Rester was shaking and sweating profusely.  

            “Rester…I didn’t think this was that hard of an assignment.”  Mrs. Stewart said.  “In fact, you seem to be doing a swell job.”

            “I…I…can I go to the bathroom, I feel sick.”  Rester said.  The whole class looked at him and he knew what they were thinking.  They all heard rumors about his craziness, but this was the first time he reacted so violently, his head was spinning and he really did feel like he was going throw up.

            “Yeah, just don’t make a mess on the floor, please.  They don’t pay me enough to clean up your breakfast.”  Mrs. Stewart said, signing a pass for him.  Rester finally looked at Dianna.  He was obviously very frightened by something and Dianna didn’t know what to say.

            “I’m fine.”  He mouthed.  “i…I ate some bad eggs I think.”  She just looked away at her other two friends, Stacy and Robin, as if saying “I don’t know.”

            He felt the eyes of everyone on him and became somewhat embarrassed.  But his embarrassment was overcome by something else.  He closed his eyes and said, Mishka, Mishka.  The teacher handed him the pass and he gently walked to the door, shaking uncontrollably. 

            Calm down, you have to breathe.  Mishka said and followed at his heels.

            As soon as he closed the door, he ran down the hall and came to the thing he was looking for.  When he pulled the fire alarm, ink sprayed him on his hands.

Chapter 17

Q and A

            “So, Rester, were you involved in this?”  The principle sat in his chair behind his desk and looked at Rester across the table.  He was a small man with wide shoulders and a bald spot on his head.   “Well boy?”

            “no.”  Rester responded and itched his head.  Mishka was sitting on his lap, her warmth calming him down.

            “let me see your hands.”  He said.  When rester opened the palm of his hands and placed them on the table, Mr. Berardi pulled at them for a better look.  “did you pull the fire alarm?”

            “Yes.” 

            “why did you pull the fire alarm?” 

            Rester sighed and looked up, but didn’t see a thing.  He didn’t have a good answer so he said nothing.

            “if you weren’t involved, than why did you pull the fire alarm?  Did you know who did it?”

            “I don’t know who did it.  I don’t know what did it.”

            “Rester, if you feel that covering for your friends or whatever is a good idea, think again.  Right now, all we know is that you pulled the fire alarm at 11:30 and five minutes later room 103 burst into flames.  It doesn’t take a genius to add it up.  You either were involved with the act or know who was.  So which is it?”

            “neither…sir.” 

            Mr. Berardi cracked his knuckles.  He started to become irritated.

            “People could have died.   The school could have burned to the ground. This is not a light matter!”

            “i…I know…that’s why I pulled the alarm.”

            He slammed his fist on the table and stood up, went to the window, and looked out.

            “The thing is Rester, I wouldn’t have believed you would do such a thing.  But my fifth grade teacher used to tell me “never trust the silent ones,” that’s why I began to speak, because I wanted to be trustworthy.  You have no record of delinquency, hardly ever got in trouble with your teachers.  Your grades are decent, but recently, I hear, your becoming some sort of loner and you don’t talk much.  And before the incident, you had an outburst in class.”  He picked up a piece of paper on his desk and read, “He started to sweat and breathed heavily.  Than, he jumped out of his chair and shouted as if he was distraught.  Something distracted him.  He was obviously anxious for some reason and claimed that he had become sick, even though moments prior, he seemed absolutely fine.  After he got out of the classroom, he ran down the hall and pulled the alarm.”  What went through your mind, Rester?  Tell me.”

            “I can’t…”

            “why can’tchu!?”

            “Because I don’t know!”  Rester shouted back.  He couldn’t handle the interrogation because he didn’t have the answers.

            “What do you know?”  Mr. Berardi started again.

            “I knew…I knew something was gonna happen…I…I felt it.”  Someone knocked on the door.

            “Who is it?”

            “its Marlon Bruir.”  A male voice said, muffled by the closed door.

            “Come in.”

            Marion Bruir, the high school counselor came in.  he was a tall skinny black fellow with thinning brown hair somehow.  He always seemed to be in a cheery mood.  Most students liked him, but called him cheesy.  He had two crooked buck teeth of a yellow color, which gave him a goofy and amiable quality.

            “hello Mr. Bruir, you know Rester correct?”

            “Ah, yes, Rester, I saw him in the beginning of the year to set up his schedule.  How you doing Rester?”  he said putting his long hand out for a handshake.  Rester complied.

            “I’m alright…I guess.”

            “Would you sit down Mr. Bruir.  Maybe you can gain something out of this troubled youth.”

            Marlon shook his head a little and than huffed, “Gene, I think it would be better if I talked to Rester on my own.  If that’s alright with you of course.”

            Mr Berardi was sort of taken aback, but agreed to the request and left, stating he will be back in fifteen minutes or so.

            Marlon sat down adjacent to Rester and flipped through a file.  He became absorbed for some time, not actually reading, but readying what he wanted to say.  He looked up and smiled.

            “So, Rester, how are you feeling?”

            “I’m…I don’t know.  I’m not exactly happy at the moment.”

            “Would you say you’re sad?  Angry?  Irritated? Hateful?”

            “no, I’m not angry or hateful.  I’ve been depressed for a while now.”

            “Depressed huh?  Any reason?”

            “I…I can’t say.  Its hard.”

            “Is it bullies Rester?  Are you getting picked on by bigger kids?”

            “No…I mean, yes…but no that’s not the problem exactly.

            Marlon closed the file and raised his pointer finger.  “Listen, the door is shut.  You have my promise that all things you say will be kept confidential between you and me.  You can tell me anything and I’ll respect your privacy as long as what you say doesn’t or hasn’t put other people or yourself in danger.  But I really want you to tell the truth about everything.  Don’t worry.”

            For the first time, Rester felt comfortable.  Marlon made Rester completely reassured.  He felt safe in the room, not like he did when Berardi was there.  In addition, as he looked at Marion, he clearly saw something surrounding him, it was a glowing white almost golden aura.

            You can trust him Mishka said to fortify his own thoughts.

            “I didn’t have anything to do with the fire Mr. Bruir, I swear.”

            “ok, and I believe you.  But tell me more about your emotions.  What has made you depressed?”

            “Well…I don’t know how to say this, but i…see things that nobody else can see.” He finally admitted it to someone, the monkey on his back fell off.

            “What exactly do you mean Rester?” Mr. Bruir said rubbing his chin. 

            “I…I think…well, they’re like ghosts.  It started during Halloween.  There like…see through.  I see…like colors and stuff too.  Other times I hear things that other people don’t hear.”

            “You see ghosts?”  he said with awe. “like in the sixth sense?”

            Rester never saw the movie so he shrugged.

“I see dead people.  Bruce willis was in it.”

“Sorry, never saw it.  But that’s just a movie.”

Marlon was wrote in a notepad. 

“When did it start? Any other events corresponding?  Some trauma?  Or a death in the family?  Birthdays?”

“the first time I clearly saw one was in October at a graveyard.  It was the two days before Halloween.”  Than suddenly, after Mr. Bruir said birthday, he remembered.  “It was the day after my (14th? 13? 15?) birthday. Before that, I saw things sometimes, but never as clear as that time.”

            “Okay, you turned (age).  But, what was that about the graveyard?... …actually, that’s probably not important, I’m not here to investigate.  I’m sure you weren’t doing anything illegal.”  Rester shook his head.  “Good.  So you are seeing ghosts, is that what your telling me?”

            “Not exactly.  I don’t know what I’m seeing, I just know that nobody else can see them.  And like I said, occasionally yes, these things look like ghosts, but not always.  I see just…things, creatures flying, beams of light, people…people who look like they are wearing ugly masks.  Big ugly scary looking masks that look like they were taken out of a cartoon or a parade.”

            “And its been reoccurring?  Does it come and go, or is it all the time?”

            “Well….it kindof began in the cemetery that day and then Halloween came.  That’s when I really started to see hallucinations.  It started out in small numbers.  I would see things and than they would disappear just like that.”  He snapped his fingers.  “But after Halloween, it continued.  I would say it has increased.  I really don’t want to talk about it, I have been avoiding and ignoring the things that I see.  When I see a hallucination, most of the times i look away or close my eyes and walk around.  When I’m around people, I have to remain strong and not budge or else they will notice that I’m acting weird.  Everything I see, I try to forget.  I can’t go to sleep at night because I’m just so afraid and have been staying in my house almost 24/7, except when I’m forced to go out, like when I go to school.”

            “you said that there hallucinations?”

            “I don’t know what else they could be.”

            “You don’t do drugs, do you?”

            “no…never.”

            “have you told anybody else?  Mother, father, siblings, relatives, friends, teachers, priests?”

            “my parents are dead.”

“oh, I’m sorry.”

“its ok, my aunt takes care of me and I haven’t mentioned anything to her about it.  The first few times I didn’t know that they were hallucinations, so I reacted like any sane person would.  But when it became clear that my friends didn’t see what I saw, they made fun of me.  That’s when I started to keep everything inside.”

            “I see.”  Marion continued to take notes as Rester spoke.  “However, has anything happened to you?  Anything traumatic?”

            “I don’t think so.   I don’t remember anything happening to me out of the ordinary.”

            “You said you’re not angry.  Do you ever think about hurting people or yourself?”

            “No, not anymore than any other person anyway.  I mean, a lot of people annoy me and some pick on me, but I never ever thought about hurting anybody or myself.”

            That’s not entirely honest  Mishka said.

            “Ok.  Do you know anything about the fire in room 103?  Did you overhear anything?  Did any of your friends say anything?  Think hard about this.”

            Rester didn’t have to think hard, because he truly knew nothing.  “I don’t know nothing…I mean anything about the fire.”

            “Now, Rester, you pulled the fire alarm and prevented people from getting injured.  What provoked you to do this?”

            “This is where your not gonna believe me, because I don’t believe it myself.  I was in class drawing a portrait of Dianna and suddenly I got a headache and I…saw and felt things in here.”  He pounded his gut.  “it wasn’t like I knew that there was gonna be an explosion because I didn’t.  but I felt something like a…hunch or something.”

            “you had a premonition?”  he said, realizing that Rester was unfamiliar with the word.  “you saw the future?  Like a phsycic?”

            “No…I didn’t see or know the future…I just knew what to do.  It was like a force outside myself moved me act.”

            “I’m not saying this is impossible Rester but it seems a little…fabricated.  Are you telling me the truth about all these things?”

            “Yes….you said that I could tell you the truth without fear and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing Mr. Bruer.  Whats gonna happen to me?”

            “Well, since you didn’t start the fire you have nothing to worry about.  Above that, you pulled the fire alarm and the fire department came just in time to fight the fire before things got out of hand.  The way you have described this…I would even go as far as call you a hero.”  Marlon smiled.  But Rester did not, he still felt hopeless.

            “But what is gonna happen to me?  I don’t want to be crazy.  How am I gonna survive if I’m constantly having hallucinations?”

            “This is what I’m gonna do.  I’m gonna have to tell Mr. Berardi a lot of what you told me to provide evidence that your innocent.  They really suspect that you did it or have some knowledge about who did it, but there is absolutely no evidence that you started the fire and pulling a false alarm is a victimless crime, but, as it so happened, it wasn’t a false alarm.    So you don’t have to worry about that.

            “As to the hallucination, I can tell you’re very distraught about them.  I don’t know much about this Rester.  I can’t help you with it.  But I am fascinated by what you have told me.  Just imagine if your not actually hallucinating…even if it seems a little off the wall.”

            “How does that help me?  If I’m not hallucinating than what, I’m the only person who can see this crazy shi…stuff?  I feel completely alone”.

            “I understand Rester, but like I said, I don’t know much about the condition you have.  I’m gonna get you professional help and hopefully, this problem can be resolved.  Just be strong and try to cope with it for a little longer.  Can you do that?”

            “Yeah, I can handle it.” 

            Marlon and Rester both got up.  Marion put his hand on Rester’s shoulder and said “good.  Everything is gonna be okay.”

Chapter 18-revise

Celebrity

            Soon after the news spread of Rester’s miraculous fire alarm stunt and he had brief unwanted stint as a celebrity. 

The investigation concluded that the fire was just an accident when a gas leak from one of the bunsin burners inside the chemistry classroom 103 was ignited by an electric spark from a stripped radio cord.  The fire spread quickly and tf they remained in that classroom when the accident occurred, 25 students and one teacher could have been injured or killed. 

            The Monday after the incident, the official story in the morning announcements explained that Rester triggered the alarm when he saw smoke.  The school principle and Mr Bruir, however, knew the truth, or most of it.  The principle was told Rester pulled it as a prank, that’s what Mr. Bruir told him, an offense that usually carries a penalty of an instant one week suspension.  However, since it resulted in keeping people safe and the Fire departments swift arrival at the moment when they were actually needed, he was completely pardoned of a crime.  Unfortunately, everyone knew he was the one who pulled it regardless of the reasons.  As a result, Rester got a lot of attention when he just wanted to be left alone.

            He avoided it all, just as he avoided the strange hallucinations, keeping away from crowds and inquisitive students and teachers.  He couldn’t avoid everything though and on several occasions, he was forced to explain what happened.  He never told anybody of the lizard monster and his premonition, instead he stuck to the story that he pulled the alarm as a joke, the explosion was just a coincidence.

            Some people, for obvious reasons, had a hard time believing this, especially Mr. Berardi.   Before this, the principal didn’t even know who Rester was, but now he kept a close eye on him and constant surveillance.

            It was such a big story in the town that The local news stations wanted to do a story.  But Rester refused to be interviewed and didn’t want to be on television.  He just wanted to crawl under a rock.  The day after the fire, a Friday, was so nerve recking, he convinced his aunt Crissyto allow him to stay home from school, so he so he had a full three day reprieve from the sudden celebrity. He hoped things would settle down when he went back on Monday.

            That Monday after the incident, he was switching books at his locker when Lidia peeked from behind the metal door.

            “Hello Resty.”  She said.

            “Oh…hi lidia.  What’s up?”  he said, trying to be quicker, which made him jittery and disorganized.

            “Rester, whats gotten into you?”

            “Nothing, why?.  Where’s dom?”  this was the first time he saw her without him around her shoulder.

            “I don’t know.  Would you stop trying to avoid me.”   she said because he refused to look at her.  “Are you gonna tell us what happened? I mean, here you are, a part of something extraordinary and your avoiding me and your friends.  Why are you acting like this?”

            “I don’t have anything to say.”  He put his things in his backpack and softly closed the metal door.  Finally he looked at her.  “I tried to be the cool guy for once.  Isn’t that what cool guys do?  Pull fire alarms?”

            “That’s not who you are though.  You don’t have to act this way.  We’re your friends.”  she looked at her friend with those sad, pitying eyes.  She whispered.  “There is no way you could’ve seen the smoke because the fire was in the east wing and didn’t start until everyone was evacuated.”

            “I told you it was a prank. It was just a wild coincidence that a fire would just happen to start the same time I pulled it.  Now I’m a hero, who wouldv’e…”  Hugo came down the hall behind him and startled him with a “Boo.”  He screeched and jumped back.

            “Rester. Well well, finally Lidia, you caught the elusive brat.”  Hugo said with a tilted head.

            Rester got irritated and began to walk away fast.

            “Wait!”  Hugo and Lidia ran behind him.

            “I’m gonna be late for class.” He said.

            “Who did it?”  Hugo said.  “Who torched 103?”

            Rester stopped and turned around.  “I don’t know.”

            “Bullshit.  You got some new friends Rester?  Your dropping us, is that’s whats going on?  Going off and setting rooms on fire?  Doing drugs, Robbing banks?”

            “I gotta go.”

            “Come on, talk to us.”  Lidia said.

            “I’m sorry.”  Rester said remorsefully and turned down the hallway.

            “He’s becoming a “WIERDO!””  Hugo shouted at his back.

            Rester just continued on his way feeling absolutely crushed.  There was going to be no way to mend his actions.  Everybody watched him as he walked, whispering to each other.  Teachers too, gave him crooked eyes of distrust.

He lied; he didn’t have to go to class.  He was going to see Mr. Bruir again to discuss his illness.  Maybe he had a solution.

            He knocked on the door and was let into to the office.  Mr. Bruir smiled and asked him to sit.

            “Well Rester, having fun with being a famous hero?”

            “I hate it.  I just want to run away.  It seems like everybody hates me.”

            “That’s not true, you saved people.”

            “But nobody believes it because I can’t explain myself and Mr. Berardi keeps escorting me around as if I was his date.”

            “Don’t worry, it’ll pass.”

            “No It won’t.  I’m not gonna be able to recover from this.  And what if it happens again?”

            “If what happens again?”

            “I don’t know.  Anything.  It’s like out of my control.”

            “Do you still have hallucinations?”

            “They come and go.  But how do I know?  Maybe I’m seeing things that aren’t there but I just can’t tell the difference anymore.”

            “I looked into it.  Like I said before, this is not my expertise.”  Mr. Bruir took out notes and went into great detail about various mental disorders that he briskly reviewed in the text books on his bookshelf.  Rester, all the while listened quietly, nearly falling asleep to the soft monotone voice of someone reading.  It was just regurgitated information that Mr. Bruir repeated. 

            “Schizophrenia is a mental disorder associated most with auditory and visual hallucinations.”  Mr. Bruir continued.

            “yeah, I know.”  Rester finally said attentively.  “I researched it on the internet.  It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

            “Well, lets not get ahead of ourselves.  Symptoms  of Schizophrenia usually arise in older individuals.  I’m just going over possibilities at this point.”  He continued talking with no interruptions and Rester no longer listened.  Mishka purred in his lap.  This was the second time he chatted with Mr. Bruir.  He didn’t complain though, since he was able to skip out on Art class and more questions and looks and Dianna.

            “Well Rester?”  Mr. Bruir said again.   Rester was daydreaming for the passed few minutes and didn’t really catch what he said.

            “Oh yeah, sure.”  He ignorantly replied.

            “Ok, so next Friday, she will come in to see you at the same time we’ve been meeting.  In room E 256.”

            “um…ok.”  Rester wished he paid attention to the last part because he just agreed to something he didn’t know but he guessed rightly so that Mr. Bruir got a hold of a head doctor.

“Sorry it couldn’t be a little sooner.  The school officials have been…uncooperative and I had to research and find a specialist on my own.  I also talked to your aunt, if you’re unaware.”

            “oh, I know.”  Rester remembered all to well the awkward conversation he had with his aunt, trying to convince her, yet again, that he was perfectly ok.  Mr. Bruir encouraged her to bring Rester to a medical doctor.  But, keeping his word, he didn’t tell her about his delusions.

            “Has she made an appointment to a doctor?”  He asked.

            “oh, yeah…on friday.” Rester lied, of course, he told his aunt everything was blown out of proportion and everything was peachy.”

“Can I go back now?”  Rester asked.

            “Are you good?  Don’t be afraid to get in touch with me if something happens.”

            “I know.  But I don’t think anything is gonna happen.” 

            “if you want, you can continue to see me at this time.”  REster thought about it and decided to attend art class. 

“No, its not necessary.”  He got up and opened the door saying “thanks for everything” before leaving.

Chapter 19

Man of Shadows

The halls were empty because classes were still in session.  Leaving Mr. Bruir’s office, he felt a tiny bit  better.  After all the things that happened to him, he felt as if something was clicking inside him, like he was gaining some sort of identity, albeit an infamous identity at that.

Things are better, are they not?  Mishka spoke within him as she walked at his side, her tail waging above her.

“Yeah.”  He said aloud in a faint voice.

 He walked slowly down the south wing looking at the buffed floor tiles.  What could it all mean? He thought.  First I thought I was crazy, but now I don’t know.   I know that I’m not normal, but than what am I?

Something special.  Mishka responded responded to his inner voice.    

There was a scurry noise just up ahead and he looked to see what it was.  All he saw was a blur run passed and into the boys bathroom.

            “What are you doing?”  Another voice came from behind.  It was a man’s voice.  He looked back and didn’t see anyone.  “What are you doing Rester?”

            “Who’s there?”  He said aloud.

            “Rester, I know everything.  You won’t be able to hide from me forever.”  Darkness suddenly filled the hall and moved like a wave toward him.  He walked backwards, watching the darkness envelop him coming toward his toes.  Mishka walked back in step.

            It’s power is growing, you have to control it or else.  Mishka said.

            “What is it? What do you want from me?” he kept walking backwards and was coming to the door of a bathroom on his right side.

            “I want you.  I want your soul.”  The darkness seemed to be screeching and sped up, crawling up his feet.  He ran into the room and watched the door shake.  It didn’t follow.  He went to the sink and splashed his face.  Everything is ok, snap out of it.  he looked to see Mishka looking up.

            The shadow wants to control you, you can’t let it.  Mishka said.

            “what do you mean?  It doesn’t make sense.”  he said aloud as he cupped his hands over the faucet and splashed his face and hair with cold water.

“Everything is not ok.”  The voice came again and the far most stall door next to the window swung open.  The darkness started to wash over the whole room.  A figure began to come out of the stall. 

“Oh god, oh god,” he said to himself.  He felt petrified and didn’t now whether he should scream, run, or piss himself.  The figure was pitch black, outlined like a cloaked human.  Nothing was discernable and it gave the impression of being two dimensional.  Wisps of shadows rushed all around it and made the room slowly turn black just like itself.  It spoke, if you could call it speech “enseta ballasada no trasa comineta emblazoda.”  Fear and uncertainty filled Rester.  It wasn’t just fear, but an actual feeling likepressure that expanded and deflated inside him.  It continued its chant as he slowly faded from consciousness.

            He prayed, from some inner depth of his spirit, a place he was unaware of, for light, and spoke with all his might for “Mishka.”  All this happened as if it was a dream, he felt completely out of touch with reality and even his thoughts and speech seemed outside of his power, outside his control.  He fell to his knees and was at the full mercy of this Darkness.

            But Mishka was there, she was always there, beside him.  She looked at Rester with her yellow eyes that shined limelight on Rester.  She tilted her head as and said Get up.  You must get up.

            “Empastashia morida gongoriush faltendedamonstrabolondo…. “  Rester was torn between two forces, making him drained and stressed from the darkness and the other reinforcing him with strength and confidence from the cat.

            “Gesta borobit, Fosh!”  He stammered these syllables unconsciously and got onto his feet.  Than Black cat screeched and jumped at the black figure, the small white star on its tail struck out like a lightning bolt.  The darkness callpsed within itself, revealing a figure, to his shock, that mirrored himself and than it fled out the window, sucked out like dirt into a vacuum.  The darkness disappeared as Mishka landed lightly on her feet.

Rester was back in reality, once again in control of himself.  He felt tired, stretched out, and naseaus as he stood and looked into the mirror.

“What the hell was that?”

Than, through the mirror reflection, he saw the first bathroom stall open.  It wasn’t the black figure.  No, it was so much worse, it was Dianna.

“that’s what I was thinking.”  She said to Rester.  He knew she didn’t witness any of the weirdness, but saw and heard whatever he said.

Uh oh.  Was all Mishka could muster.  She hid underneath the sink as if she was embarrassed.  

“What are you doing in the ladies bathroom?  Actually, that’s not even the question I want to be asking.  What is “Gesta Borobit, Fosh?”  is it like klingon or something?”

            He didn’t know what was worse, the fear and distress of the shadow thing or this embarrassment.  It was too late to recover, what could he do or say?  He didn’t even try and self deprecated instead.

            “No, its not Klingon, its actually orcish.”  He said jokingly.                                              

            She went to the sink and washed her hands.  “Ah, orcish, right.”

            “I think I’ll leave now.  Sorry for the intrusion, I guess I didn’t read the sign properly.”  He was dizzy, sweaty, pallid, and overall crumby to the point that he truly did not even care, as if his life was over anyway.

            “Wait!”  she said suddenly, shaking her hands dry.  “You’re not normal are you?”

            “Now why would you say that?”

            “Are you for real?”  

            “Unfortunatly, yes, I am not a poser,  I am a genuine weirdo.  IN the flesh.”

“Honestly, I don’t care that you came into the ladies room.  I don’t care about your obsession with Lord of the Rings.  And I don’t care that you drew me to look like Angelina jolie.  What I want to know is, how did you know that room 103 was gonna blow up?”

            Rester had nothing to lose.  “I saw a lizard man in art class and had a prediction.”

She didn’t say “your crazy” or look at him as if he was crazy, she just walked up to him and patted him on the head and than walked out the room to leave him feeling somewhat at ease, considering what he just went through.

I think she likes you.

New Chapter introducing his Aunt

Rester didn’t want to think about what transpired between him and the three goons.  And he especially didn’t want to think about the ghost and the strange cat since they were completely outrageous and crazy.

I’m smarter than this.  It was just a daydream.  It wasn’t real.  It didn’t happen.  He kept saying, over and over, inside his mind.  To admit those things would be to admit he was crazy, and he wasn’t crazy.  He was sure.  Or he thought he was.

He got home around 3 p.m. and, to stop himself from obsessing about the hallucinations (because that’s what he believed they were), he engrossed himself in videogames, playing for two  straight hours until he heard the door open.

“Hi Boogle!”  He heard his aunt Chrissy scream as she entered the house downstairs.  “I bought some Indian food.”   

He saved his game and rushed downstairs to give his aunt a big hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Smells good.”  He took the bag from her hands and opened it up taking the cartons out and placing them on the table.  His aunt always bought some exoctic food always from a new restaurant and never the same thing twice. There was really no rhyme or reason to it, but Rester didn’t mind, he could eat anything.

“How was your day?”  She asked.  His aunt had her own style which almost exclusively included sun dresses with some assortment of flower decorations with light fun colors and embroidered hats.  It made sense seeing how she was a florist with her own shop downtown.  Today she was wearing a sunny yellow dress with red (flowers) with a silver brouch on her left side and a leather belt around her waist.  On her head was a thin brimmed yellow straw hat.  In her other hand, she was carrying freshly picked (flowers), which she always put around the house everyday.

“Great.”  Rester lied as he grabbed two plates.

“Oh honey, I’m not that hungry right now, I’ll eat later.”  She said.

“You sure?”  He asked.  Rester hardly ever saw his aunt eat which made him a little worrisome.  He knew she didn’t have such great self esteem and predicted she half starved herself to retain her slim physique.

“I had a large lunch.”  She simply responded.  Rester poured out the strange food which he never saw before in his entire life, shrugged, and took two spoonfuls into his gullet.  He was so hungry, he could’ve eaten a raccoon at that point and as far as he knew about Indian food, he just had.

“How was your day?”  He said with some food drooling out of his mouth.

“Boogle, chew your food first please.” She said without scorn and a half smile.  “Oh, it was okay.  Not too busy.  A couple of funerals which is always sad you know.  But some births and marriages.”  She said the last part with a soft (alsdjf) tone.

Rester never knew how to talk to her about her own (problems).  She was single and had been single since he was 7 when her fiancé left her after the doctor gave her the news that she couldn’t have children of her own.  Any mention of marriage and children always seemed to reverberate within her like a plucked glum harp.

She walked out of the kitchen after she said that leaving Rester to chow down, which he did quite loud and slovenly.

“I’m going by Lidia later!”  he yelled when he swallowed the last bit of food still in his mouth.

“That’s fine Boogle.”  She responded.  “Just make sure to have fun, K?”

He finished eating and went back to his room.  He played videogames for another hour or so and finally shut the machine down at 7.  He sat silent in his room and rubbed his eyes, sighing, and flopped down on his back onto his bed looking up at the ceiling.  He felt weak, pathetic, a little bug ready to be crushed.  The clock said 7:15.  He was supposed to be there 8.

Chapter 3

What the cat

Characters; Hugo, Andy, Andy’s friend Eric, Billy, Dom (comes later), Lidia,  Lidia’s friend Britanny

Action: midweek (Thrusday?), Watch Wrestling and movie for class instead of book report Shindlers list?  A Serious movie, one that Rester has already watched.  The Wizard of Oz? 

Question for Wizard of Oz school report

Do not summarize, give critique, or right review.  This is to be written as an essay.  How do the three companions represent humanity?  What is the symbolism that () uses to represent these qualities?  What is the end result?  Do they get what they want or need?

Is the wizard good or evil?  What are the moral implications of his actions?  How does this compare to the witch?How does the movie represent reality?  Is it all really a dream or is it her reality?  Explain using examples to back up your claims.  What are the laws of the Oz universe?

The world of Oz is not just a dream in the novel, its an actual place.  From the movie, would you want to live in Oz?  Is it all that it seems?  Discuss giving clear examples of why.

Although he thought better of it, he agreed to go by Lidia’s house later that day to watch wrestling like they did every Thursday since he could remember.

He rubbed his head hard with his palms shaking his head saying no no no no.  Everything is fine…I’m fine.  Stop overthinking

Lidia lived three houses down the street.  He said bye to his Aunt, giving her a kiss, and went out the door. (give Chrissy more substance at this point)

It was dark out now, a beautiful October night, cool and breezy.  Tomorrow was Halloween.  The houses were decorated with orange, black, and green lights and pictures of Frankenstein’s, monsters, pumpkins, goblins, and other nonsensical figures out of some devious imagination.  And of course, there were the ghosts.  Silly images of white clothes with eye holes. 

Halloween was always so stupid to Rester, more dim than frightening.

            He kicked a can across the sidewalk and watched it roll into the street.  It fell near something, an animal, a black cat actually, just sitting on the side of the street. 

            He paused and looked at the cat.

            “What are the odds.”  He spoke aloud.

The superstition “don’t cross a black cat came to mind.  He remembered reading about how cats were believed to be witches in olden times, but he didn’t believe such nonsense.

            “What are you looking at?”  he said out loud to it.  He half expected it to respond but it just stood still and silent, looking at him with its eerie yellow eyes.  He walked right up to it and looked down into its eyes.  It did not run away. 

And than he saw the white spot on its tail.  It was the same exact cat from earlier.

            “What are the odds of that?” he said out loud again.  It mewed, but didn’t move.  “Aren’t you gonna talk back? Huh kitty cat?  Aren’t you going to tell me to murder or steal some money or something?”

            The cat just sat and looked back into his eyes and he looked at it back into its eyes.  Something welled up inside of him, some sort of emotions he never felt, a warm fleeting feeling of perfect understanding as if it was looking at himself or his soul.

“What the…”

Rester snapped his head at the voice and looked back.  Billy was standing there staring at him.  

“Um…the cat…i…” Rester muttered incoherently and looked back to the cat.  It was gone.  Completely vanished.

“Yeah, that wasn’t weird at all.”  Billy said and continued walking.

Rester was just too embarrassed to say anything and remained standing where he was wondering what the hell was that black cat or whether it even existed.  Billy just continued to walk, scratching his head.

Rester finally followed behind him and saw, to his distress, that Billy was walking up to Hugo’s house.

This is just fantastic. Damn cat.

As if he could stop Billy from saying anything about what just happened, Rester walked fast to catch up to him so they can enter both at the same time.  That would at least postpone him, right? Maybe I can explain myself.Right!?

“Hey guys!”  Lidia said in her usual vivacious manner as she opened the door.

Billy looked back at Rester with the stink eye, a look that said “what is your deal man.”

“Um…nothing much Lidy.”  Billy said and walked inside.  Rester followed with a bowed head.

This is going to be fun.