"Now, are you going to come quietly, or am I going to have to get physical with you?"
"What?" Ellie asked, again. She tried to think of what to do, of how to defend herself. All of her training flew out of her mind. Her two years of ninja class at boarding school were gone. She was suddenly a lost, scared, alone little girl, caught before a monster that was hell bent to make her one of them. One of the demons that haunted her every waking moment, her every nightmare.
"Can I get by?" someone asked.
Ellie looked towards the source of the voice, desperate to see if they would be an ally or an enemy. She couldn't see them, though. The voice came from behind Sam, back from the hallway. Sam seemed to stand up straighter, to take the slightest step back away from her. Together, the two of them turned towards the hallway. In the process, he stepped out of her way, though his arm never left the doorway. He never let her pass by him.
"Please?" Becky said. She was standing there behind where Sam had been standing. There was a tablet in her hands, making it seem like she had wanted to watch TV in the TV room. Or maybe she had been looking for some privacy when she couldn't find any in her room. Ellie knew that the latter wouldn't be the case, though. There shouldn't be anyone in their room. Not with her being trapped there by Sam's side.
"Sure," Sam said, smiling over at Becky. "We were just leaving." His hand moved from the doorway, quickly finding its way to Ellie's arm. His grip was strong, forceful, feeling like it was about to cut off her circulation if she didn't manage to escape it.
"Okay," Becky said.
She took a step further down the hall, back towards the laundry room, letting them pass her on their way to the lobby. Sam practically dragged Ellie from the room, almost lifting her off the ground with that one hand. As they passed, Ellie stared back at Becky, her fleeting chance to escape Sam and his iron grip. Ellie almost felt betrayed by Becky, as she just let them past.
"Actually," Becky said, when they were halfway to the lobby. Ellie could see the light streaming in through the front doors in the distance, an escape too far away. "Would you mind if I spoke with Ellie for a moment?"
Sam took another three steps before pausing in his place in the hall. He looked between the doors around the corner, Ellie in his hands, and Becky behind them, as his brain quickly wound around the possibilities that were there. Ellie found her own mind running in similar spirals. She suddenly realized that, if Sam left with her like that, his hand so forcefully on her, it might seem to others like he was kidnapping her.
Of course, he was kidnapping her. Thoughts of the last time she was kidnapped seemed to break through the wall of fear in her mind. She managed to plant her feet, though he still had leverage over her petite form. Her confidence over her own abilities started to grow, though, and she was relatively certain that Sam wasn't going to be leaving with her like that, one way or another.
Besides, it didn't seem like Sam would have taken all that well to police involvement. People didn't take all that well to kidnappings in broad daylight. At least, not since the last time it happened.
"Sure," Sam said, through gritted teeth. Obviously, he had come to similar conclusions to Ellie's. "I'm expecting to see you soon." Slowly, he let go of Ellie's arm. Once she was free of him, he made his way down the hall to the door. Just before leaving the hallway, he turned back around, facing the two girls. "If you know what's good for you, you'll come with me here and now, today. We know who you are. We know where you live. You can't escape us forever."
With that, he turned the corner, heading for the entrance. Ellie stood there, silently, straining her ears to try to hear the automatic doors to the building open and close. She knew it was loud enough that she could have heard it, even that far down the hallway. And, yet, she couldn't. She didn't hear a thing besides her own heart beating in her ears.
"Are you okay?" Becky asked, coming up behind Ellie.
Ellie jumped, letting out an involuntary squee. "Don't do that," she said.
"Sor-ry. Forget I said anything or bothered to save you from that creepy guy."
"Creepy guy? Saved me? Wait, do you see them, too?"
"See who? What are you talking about? I just saw that guy corner you and keep you from getting out of the room. I know you're kind of, well, extremely antisocial and all, and just figured you needed a little help."
"No, I... Well, I'm not... Thank you."
Becky stared at her for a moment. She seemed at a loss for words, her bluster quickly fading. "Well... you're welcome."
Ellie looked Becky over, trying to figure out just what her game was. Or what it was that had annoyed her so much about Becky to begin with. She had remembered thinking her to be a snob, to be trying to get in on her good graces. But everything with the abyssal eyed people seemed to have overshadowed that opinion, as well as its source. Instead, she was left with an unsettling thought that maybe she had been the one in the wrong.
"So, um..." Ellie said, tentatively. "Do you... I mean, I'm about to head out to dinner with some friends. Do you, maybe, want to come with?"
"Um... Sure?" Becky asked, more than said. After a moment, she started to smile. The smile gave Ellie an unsettling feeling, like maybe she had just played right into Becky's hands. Ellie tried to remember that Becky had just saved her from something potentially far worse. With all the issues she had been having since school started, she felt like she needed to start trusting someone.
Ellie nodded back towards the main lobby. The two of them went down the hallway together, heading for the front door. As they turned the corner into the lobby, Ellie wasn't surprised in the least to find that Sam was still standing there, waiting for her. Sam glared at her from the moment she came into his view until they passed through the doors together. Outside, she spotted Alex and George heading down the path towards the student union, and the two of them rushed off to catch up with them.
Chapter Twelve
A Tentative Peace
Over the next week, Ellie spent a lot more time with Alex and Becky. The two of them hit it off rather well at dinner, though Becky made it clear from the start that she was straight. "Well, no one is perfect," Alex had said to that. With Eric and George coming in on occasion, Ellie was suddenly surrounded with friends. She was at least reasonably certain that none of them were aligned with the strange people with the abyssal eyes. And, of course, with them always hanging around with each other, Ellie was never left alone to fend for herself against that group again.
Despite Alex's continued insistence that Sam was a decent guy, she refused to do anything where he would be included. Sam was a senior, so it rarely came up during the week. Ellie and Becky never mentioned that Sam had cornered her after the meeting. Although, whenever the subject of Sam came up, they would eye each other across the group. A subtle reminder of just what kind of creep the guy really was.
Then, there was the fact that her first test was coming up the following Monday. The test was in Physics, and with the threats of the hardest test they'd ever seen, all five of them were totally freaked about it. While Eric had lost the rest of the study group to indifference, the five of them had formed up a new group. This one was more dedicated to making sure they aced the exam. However, to start off, Ellie had to break one little tidbit to Eric.
"Your father?" Eric asked, with incredulity. "He's your father?"
Ellie looked around the crowded library, making sure that his raised voice hadn't attracted any undue attention. Although she noticed several people looking her way, they all had the same eyes, the ones she had started to try to ignore considering the impending test.
"Shh," she hissed. "Mind not announcing it to the world?"
"Yea, if he was my father, I wouldn't want people to know either," Eric said, this time at a more reasonable level for a library.
"It's not really that big of a deal," Becky said. "He's nice, when he's not trying to fail us all."
"And when you're not trying to date his daughter," Alex said. This drew an eyebr
ow raise from Eric, which, in turn, drew a smile and laugh from Ellie. The laugh wasn't for the mention of the fact that they once dated. It was because Mare would always give her a one eyebrow raise just like it when she was questioning her sanity.
"Isn't this like a conflict of interest?" George asked. "I mean, it's not like he can fail you."
"Pfft, yea. I'd like to see him try," Ellie said. "But, no. If I actually failed his tests, he would so give me a failing grade. He's always taught me to earn every grade that I get. He's not about to change his tune just because he's my teacher. Besides, there are plenty of people that have taught their kids without giving them unfair treatment. Remember Bobby?"
"Oh, yea," Alex said. "That weird kid that ate by the garbage. He was Ms. Allen's kid, right? Or maybe he was adopted, ‘cause Ms. Allen is fi-ine."
"Ms. Allen was dating Mr. Jacobs, though," Ellie said. "Such a loss."
"You do know that not all of us went to school with you guys, right?" Eric said.
"I didn't even go to school in this state," Becky said.
"Yea, where are you from?" Eric asked. Becky flinched away from his interest, which intrigued Ellie to no end. As Eric and Becky were the only straight ones there, she thought it would be fun if they got together. But something told her that was about as likely as her and Alex getting back together. Or perhaps less so.
"Um... well, I went to high school in Seattle," Becky said.
"Woah, demon central," Eric said. "Did you have demons in your class, or like teachers that were demons or something?"
"No." Becky scrunched up her nose at that question, making it clear just how absurd she thought the idea was. "No parent in their right mind would tolerate a demon as a teacher. I don't really think there were any demons around my age, either, so no demonic students. I don't even think I ever met a demon the entire time I was there."
"Aw," Eric said.
"Isn't that like half the point in going to Seattle these days?" Alex asked. "Why on earth would you want to live there?"
"It's not like I had a choice in the matter. My dad and step mom lived there, is all. My mom was going to move us there, but then she... Anyway, I ended up moving there anyway."
"But, what about that Hero guy?" Ellie asked. "Where did he fit in?"
"He was my mom's boyfriend," she said, giving half of a shrug. "When my little sister came along, they kind of lost interest in me. So, I sort of fell into his lap. He was cool, though. Still is cool. And a much better father than that deadbeat ever was."
"How'd your mom die?" George asked. Ellie would have wanted to ask that, but she knew how sensitive she was about her own mother's death at times, even though she barely remembered her. She felt that Becky would have supplied that information if she wanted to.
Becky shook her head as she averted her eyes from the group. She sniffled as the emotions played over her. "I... I don't really know. I mean, Hero was there when it happened, but he never went into much detail. He just said that she died to save a lot of people. Sometimes I think it was harder for me to get past it because I never really knew."
"Trust me, it's hard to get past anyway," Ellie said. "I knew the reason, or, well... I thought I knew. Growing up, I always thought she died in a car crash in Boston. It was on my fourth birthday, too. I mean, sure, there were days when I blamed her, thinking if she had only been there for my birthday that she'd still be alive. I mean, what kind of mother would miss their only kid's fourth birthday?"
"Okay, this is getting way too emotional," Alex said. "I mean, my dad's a douche, but he only just walked out on us. He might as well be dead to me, but still, he's out there somewhere."
"Yea, I know," Ellie said, patting Alex's hand. Her own hand lingered there a moment longer than it should have. Alex seemed to notice when she smiled over at her.
"See? This is why we should have gone to that survivors group meeting the other day," Becky said. "No one would understand about this stuff but other survivors. There is no way I'm missing it this week. I really wish you’d come with me. You're not going to make me go alone to this thing, are you?"
"But, isn't that the whole point of a group?" Ellie asked, trying to shirk that responsibility. "To show you that you're not alone in your grief and all that?"
"Oh, come on. You know you want to go to this thing."
"Yea, you always did have a bit of a hole in your heart over your mom's death," Alex said. "It would probably help to talk to people that understand."
"Isn't Becky enough?" Ellie asked, knowing full well that it wasn't. "I just... I mean... Is Sam going to be there?"
"Sam? I don't know. Why would Sam be there?" Becky asked.
"Oh, right," Alex said. "Sam actually lost both of his parents, so I imagine he'd be there. He's spoken about it in group a few times. So, yea, you might have another friend in there as well."
"Ha, friend," Ellie muttered. She still hadn't told any of her friends about any of that group. About how they were practically stalking her from day one. Even with keeping to her little niche group, they had still been eyeing her all week. It was clear that they weren't about to give up on her.
"Don't worry," Becky said. "I'll protect you if he gets... overly interested again."
"Oooh," George and Eric teased.
"Wait, what?" Alex asked. "What do you mean again? Did Sam say something after the meeting? You do know he's gay, right?"
"Oh, I don't know," Becky said. "He didn't seem to know how to take no for an answer the other day."
"You didn't say anything. I mean, he's my friend and all, but... well... geez. What did he do?"
"Nothing," Ellie said. "Don't worry about it. It was nothing."
"That wasn't nothing," Becky said. "He cornered her in that room back there and wouldn't let her leave."
"What? Why?"
"It's... Don't worry about it. It had nothing to do with you, with any of you. It's just this... thing I've had to deal with." She didn't want to say what it was, didn't want to sound completely crazy. It was crazy. That this group would be after her like that. That they would have those weird, hollow eyes that just sucked her soul out of her. "You know what, I will go with you, if it would mean we can change the subject right now."
"But... What is going on?" Alex asked.
"Trust me, Alex. If I knew what was going on, if there was something I, or you, or anyone could do about it, I'd tell you. Right now... I just don't know enough to do anything but avoid them."
"Them? There's more than one?"
"God, it's the twenty-first century for crying out loud. When will you guys learn how to take no for an answer?"
"Hey, don't group me in with them," George said. "I want nothing to do with them."
"Well, whenever this kind of thing comes up, I don't want anything to do with them, either," Eric said.
"It's not a girls against boys thing," Ellie said. No, it was a weird person versus normal person kind of thing.
Fortunately, soon after, the others managed to drop the subject, allowing them to get back to the matter at hand. Namely, physics, and the impending test that was sure to be much more life threatening than anything those strange people would be able to manage.
Chapter Thirteen
Dead Parents' Society
Ellie found it rather poetic that it was on Friday the Thirteenth that she first went to the Death Survivors Group. Or, as she called it, the Dead Parents' Society. Not that she felt any real fear about the day. She was no paraskevidekatriaphobe. However, at the same time, she did have a very big fear of going to that group. She wasn't sure just how many people were going to be coming to it. She had heard that an unusual amount of students had lost parents. But she had a sinking feeling that almost all of them would be members of the abyssal eyes secret society.
She dithered in her room for much of that afternoon, alternating between pacing the entire length of her bed and just sitting at her desk staring out the window. Despite all of her training, the one thing that her boarding scho
ol had never taught her was how to prepare for going into an unknown environment. In fact, if they had covered it, that class would probably be about one word long. "Don't," they would say. "Get as much information as you can before going in there." But that wasn't an option, because this was college, not an international crime syndicate.
No matter how often she repeated that fact to herself over the course of the afternoon, she just couldn't stop shaking. Half of her wanted to fake some illness, a stomach bug or something. The other half thought she already had one. The only problem was that she knew Becky was going to be going there, whether or not Ellie decided to go with her. She didn't know enough about the group to gamble on her new-found friend making it out of the lion's den alive. She didn't know anything about how they operated or what was wrong with their eyes. They might very well be initiating new members that night.
"Are you ready to go?" Becky asked, pulling Ellie out of her internal diatribes.
"What?" Ellie asked. She looked over at her roommate, who had actually put on a dress for some reason. It was the first time Ellie had seen the girl in anything other than a t-shirt and jeans. Even when Becky was going to bed, it was more pajamas than nightgowns for her. Still, she looked nice, almost like she was out to impress someone at the group. "Going out clubbing later?"
"What? Oh, no, I uh... I have a date after."
"Really? Anyone I know? Eric, maybe?"
"What? Eric? No. Wait, why? Did he say something to you?"
"No, he didn't say anything. I just thought... You know what, never mind. You look nice. Whoever they are, they're a lucky... person."
"You don't know him," Becky said. "He's in my chemistry class."
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