by Caleb Karger
Daniel Haley
And the Immortal Ninja
Caleb Karger
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2017
by Caleb Karger
Cover design: Caleb Karger
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
For Gee
Chapter 1
Shadow
A t first, I thought our house had suddenly become haunted. I’d heard someone whispering downstairs in the middle of the night only to find no one was there and everyone in the house was asleep. Stuff in my room would go missing for days before reappearing out of the blue. After sunset when the windows turned into black panels, I felt eyes watching me from the shadows outside. I could always tell the ghost had messed with something when the smell of pine trees hung in the air.
I asked my mom and my sister if they noticed anything odd going on in the house lately, but they looked at me like I was nuts. Apparently, none of their things went missing, and they didn’t hear the whispering at night. I thought it was strange that the ghost didn’t seem to bother them at all.
Things only got worse.
Someone had rearranged the books in my locker, and chips I put into the shopping cart at the store would vanish once we got into the checkout line. A few weeks after that, I started seeing someone walking behind me—following me to the bus stop—but when I turned around, there was no one there. Or, I’d be at my desk doing homework and catch a glimpse of someone pacing back and forth in front of my house.
No matter where I went, I never felt alone. Someone, somewhere, was always watching. It was starting to drive me crazy. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. I wanted to know for sure what was going on. So one night, I’d set up a camera in the corner of my room in hopes to see how my stuff had managed to move all on its own while I was asleep.
I didn’t have time to review the hours of footage the next morning before school, so I had to wait until the end of the day. After dinner, I told my family not to bug me and locked myself in my room.
I turned my computer on and hit play on the recording. A grainy black and white image of my bedroom filled the screen. I kept my eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. The only thing that seemed to be moving was me as I tossed and turned on the bed.
Then about halfway through the recording, the door to my bedroom opened. My body froze. I locked my door every night, so I don’t know how it swung open on the video as if it wasn’t locked at all.
My heart went from a nervous pace to an all-out panic as my eyes stayed glued to the screen. The dark shadow of a person stepped into my room. They weren’t hazy or see-through, so that meant they weren’t a ghost. They stood at the foot of my bed, watching me sleep for a few minutes before wandering around the room. They’d flipped through the books on the shelf, messed with my collectible figurines, and shuffled through the closet. They had done it all so silently that I didn’t notice anyone in the room with me.
As they made their way around, they stopped when they saw the camera. They grabbed one of my notebooks and flipped to an open page. They scribbled something onto the paper and held it up to the camera.
I guess the jig is up.
They put the notebook back exactly as they found it. Then as quietly as they came, they backed out of the room and shut the door.
My eyes watered up in terror. A stranger had broken into our house. They had been watching me sleep. I wasn’t delusional. For the past few months, someone was stalking me.
My mind began to race. Why would someone come after me? No one would get any money if they kidnapped me. I thought I was too ugly for a serial killer to want to cut me up and preserve me in their fridge.
My hands were shaking. I tried to stay calm as I rushed down the hall to my mother’s room. She had her hair in a messy bun and wore her baggy “mom is off duty” shirt while she played a game on her tablet.
“Mom, I need to show you something,” I said. She didn’t bother to look up at me; she merely pointed to her shirt. “This is an emergency!” I yanked her off of the bed.
“Daniel, I’m in the middle of collecting my coins!”
“I know, but I need you to see this!”
I dragged her into my room. I sat down at the computer and tried to play the video. An error message appeared: FILE NOT FOUND. What?! I thought. I went through the computer files and the recycle bin. The video was gone.
I reached for the camera. Maybe I could plug it in and upload the file again, the only problem was the camera was gone too. It wasn’t on the desk where I left it. I searched the room frantically. I rummaged through the clothes on the floor, my bookshelves, and under the bed.
My mom yawned. “What is so important that you have to show me right this minute?”
“It was a video. It was on my computer five seconds ago, and now it’s gone. I can’t find the camera. It was just here!” I said as I tore at my hair.
“Well, how about you show me tomorrow when you find it, okay?” she said and started to leave my room.
“No, mom wait! It was here you gotta believe me. There was someone in my room; there’s someone following me—they broke into the house—”
My mom laughed as she went down the hall. “What’re you talking about? The alarm would’ve gone off. You need to lay off the scary movies. All this talk of ghosts and whatever is getting exhausting.”
Just like that my chances of calling the police and getting help went up in flames. I was on my own. I didn’t know what to do. Or rather, what could I do? No locks or alarms could stop whoever was after me. All I could do was sit there and wait to die.
I snatched my hockey stick and made a hiding place in my closet. I stayed perfectly still for hours, waiting for my stalker to come. I had a death grip on my makeshift weapon. Even when it started to hurt, I didn’t dare loosen my hands. My heart thundered in my chest, the pulse pounding in my ears. I clenched my teeth until I’m sure my gums began bruising. I didn’t know when they would show up, but I knew they were coming.
I woke up when I heard the door open. My body became rigid and on alert once more. I peered through the crack to see if anything had changed. I was blinded by daylight as someone stepped quietly into my room.
I shouldn’t have been so stupid. The killer would’ve known I’d be up all night waiting for them to come. They’d outwitted me. They came in the morning when they knew I’d be groggy. Well, they were about to get a nasty surprise.
I sprang out of the closet bellowing like Tarzan. I swung my hockey stick, and it collided with my mother’s head.
She screamed and grabbed her forehead. “What on earth are you doing?! Put that stick down this instant!” She hissed in pain.
“I’m sorry!” I dropped my hockey stick. I held my hands up and backed away slowly.
She rubbed her forehead and gave me the stink eye. “…and to think I was just coming in here to check on you because your alarm didn’t go off…” She was lucky that I wasn’t all that strong. She’d barely have a bruise.
“I’m really sorry.” I looked away, embarrassed.
“Go use the bathroom before I wake your sister up,” she said, waving me off.
“Right…” I knew if I didn’t move fast enough Hannah would hog it. I lumbered down the hall to the bathroom.
Every day I avoided looking into the mirror as I brushed my teeth, but failed. I ended up poking at the blob that should’ve been a st
omach and at my soft, round face. It wasn’t fair that other guys my age had lost their baby fat and gotten more muscular; I just turned into a big teddy bear. Being fat was like being trapped. I couldn’t do the things I wanted to because I was slow and unconfident. I’d give anything to look like a pro wrestler.
Hannah rolled across the floor like a ninja. She was wearing a gas mask and held her hands up in a fighting pose. She was no taller than my waist, but that didn’t faze her. She punched my side.
“Are you ready for the apocalypse, punk?!” Hannah asked.
Hannah had once been a regular kid who liked coloring books and baby animals, but then she started watching Apocalypse Ready. She claimed that the show scared her straight and showed her what she really needed to focus on. Now, she spent most of her time watching martial arts videos and buying odd things off of the internet with her allowance.
“Yeah, sure, I’m ready,” I said around a mouthful of toothpaste.
“No, you’re not! You haven’t been doing your assigned five mile run every day. If you don’t train, you won’t be ready.” She poked my gut. “I don’t want you to die because you can’t run away from a marauder!”
“I’ll have more time to focus on it this summer, okay? I promise, no marauders are going to get me,” I said and rinsed my mouth out.
“You promise?”
I sighed. “I promise.”
After getting dressed, we had to switch into rush mode. We skipped breakfast and piled into the car.
For mom to get to work on time she had to do drive-by drop-offs, which meant she slowed down enough for us to jump out of the car. We unloaded Hannah first before driving across town to my school.
“Have a good day, sweetheart!” my mom said as I hopped out. It was loud enough for a few groups nearby to have heard. I lowered my head and hurriedly shuffled towards the school’s entrance.
The hallways were chaos. People threw paper balls, chased each other, but mostly they were milling around with their friends. My school had a uniform dress code: a white shirt, a blue tie, and either a plaid skirt or blue pants. It was to promote equality, but actually, it just promoted the teenager’s urge to express oneself through accessories. I snuck around the edges of the crowd, behind their backs so they couldn’t see me. I beelined straight towards my first class before—
WHACK!
My head shot forward, and I struggled to stay on my feet. I looked down to see what had hit me. The 7:50 basketball was on time. My body tensed at what was coming next.
“Morning, freak!” a group of guys behind me hollered. I rubbed the back of my head and kept walking. I reminded myself it was the last week of school and I wouldn’t have to deal with them over the break.
When I reached the Science room, the temperature was boiling. The only thing to help ease our suffering was a shabby fan in the corner. It provided just enough of a humming noise to mask everyone’s gossip while Mr. Varnes searched his desk.
I sat down in the last row closest to the window, which hadn’t helped me to focus. I had a tendency to let my eyes wander outside. I searched the sidewalks for my stalker. Although, when I thought about it, I didn’t think they’d be on the sidewalk. They’d most likely be in a bush, or worse, they had already found their way into the school.
I had wished for something exciting to happen to me almost every day, but I guess I needed to specifically tell the universe that I wanted to be the chosen one destined to save the world; otherwise, it thought a creepy stalker would do just fine. I wanted to feel important and special, but not in that way.
My thoughts stalled as the classroom door opened.
“Sorry to interrupt, but we have a new student enrolling here next year. She would like to shadow one of the kids,” an office administrator announced.
“Yeah, sure. Send her in,” Mr. Varnes said.
I didn’t hear the girl when she walked into the room, which was odd. I could always hear people’s footsteps. They either scooted or stomped about, but this girl made no sound. Everyone’s chatting ceased. Somewhere a pencil fell. Overwhelmed by curiosity, I looked up to see this mystery girl.
My jaw dropped.
She strode in with such confidence and poise; a queen would be hard pressed to match. She was tall and lean. Her skin was tan from hours underneath the sun. Her hair was dark brown with lighter streaks throughout and went down past her shoulders in coiling waves. Her face was the crowning jewel of her perfect body. Everything was symmetrical and well proportioned. She had bright eyes the color of healthy grass.
My eyes narrowed. There was something familiar about her. I was sure I must have seen her before. Maybe as a blurry figure on the outskirts of my dreams? Someone on a magazine? Whatever it was, I felt an urgent tug from my stomach. It was a mixed feeling. I wanted to get closer to this girl, yet at the same time, something was screaming at me to run away.
“Uhh.” Mr. Varnes fought to find words. He blinked several times. “T-take any seat you want.”
Most of the guys scrambled to make a seat beside them available. Those who had girlfriends dropped their heads with regret. The girls fidgeted with their hair insecurely and glared with jealousy. Some clung to their boyfriends. However, the new girl paid no attention to them. She scanned over the room and spotted me.
I froze in place like a deer in headlights. I gulped as I saw her come towards me. What was I supposed to do? I’d never been within a hundred feet of a pretty girl without doing something stupid, and this one might as well have been Helen of Troy.
I started trembling. No, don’t come over here! I thought. I looked down and tried to hide as much as I could behind my desk. I wished so badly that I could turn invisible. She took the desk beside me.
I felt her eyes on me. Crap, how red is my face right now? I pressed the button on my pen rapidly. I tried to pretend she wasn’t there. It was impossible.
“So, um…is anyone up for a spelling game?” Mr. Varnes asked. The class groaned, but all I felt was a sweet relief as the attention turned away from me.
Now that it was safe, I did my best to sneak a glance at her. The moment I looked, I think my eyes became transfixed. The longer I stared, the more determined I was to find some blemish or a spot she’d missed with her make-up. I couldn’t find anything, not even a scar or a freckle.
“Alright! Thinking caps on. First word: spell stromuhr.” The class pretended to be occupied by something on their desk. “Does anyone even know what that is?”
“S-T-R-O-M-U-H-R, it’s an instrument for measuring the quantity of blood that flows per unit of time through a blood vessel,” the new girl said out of nowhere. Beauty and brains? Really? Was I dreaming or something?
“Well, it’s nice to see someone brought their brain today.”
Mr. Varnes called out another word. Again it was nothing I’d ever heard of before, but this girl spelled it with no problem. Seeing that he finally had a challenging student, Mr. Varnes gave her more and more complex words. She didn’t even have to stop and think it over before she spelled them out.
This wasn’t natural. Something was up—and what was that smell radiating off of her? The moment she sat down, I felt like I was in a forest. The scent was refreshing. What could it be? I stopped breathing as I realized…she had the same piney smell that had randomly started popping up in the house.
My heart felt like it had taken a suicide dive from its perch in my chest all the way down to my navel. The color drained from my face. I finally put all of the pieces together; the way she made no sound when she walked and why she looked so familiar. She had the same outline as the person that I’d caught on camera.
It was her. She was my stalker!
Right at that moment, she chose to look at me. Her eyes locked onto mine. She grinned knowingly at me as she saw the recognition on my face.
She offered her hand. “Katherine Carvosso,” she said.
So, I’d finally come face to face with my pursuer. She didn’t look like anything I’d pictur
ed in my mind. She had a sweet, inviting smile that wasn’t hiding any malicious intent as far as I could tell. I had to be wrong. Maybe she just happened to use the same fragrance as my stalker?
I grazed her hand. I was too afraid of tainting it with my nasty, bloated fingers. “Daniel I am.” I winced. “I mean—I’m Daniel. Daniel Haley,” I said.
Katherine’s brow rose, but instead of giving me the usual Oookay-You’re-a-Weirdo look, she seemed amused. “Would you mind if I shadowed you?” she asked.
“Uh…” I was tempted to say yes, but then I mentally kicked my brain. Was I insane? I couldn’t agree to have her follow me. Next, I’d be inviting her over to my house for tea and offer my throat for her to slash. “Actually, you should just follow someone else.”
The bell rang. I jumped out of my seat, snatched my bag, and ran towards the hallway. I had to get away as fast as I could. I knew I could lose her in the sea of uniforms. I didn’t slow down until I was on the second floor. When I looked back, there was no sign of Katherine.
Some weird part of me felt bad. Was she back there lost somewhere? I slapped my forehead. What was wrong with me?! She broke into my house!
I turned into the sanctuary of my next class. I would tell the English teacher, Mrs. Kinney, that there was a potentially dangerous girl in the school. She’d get arrested, and I’d be safe. Maybe it was better that she’d confronted me at school after all.
“Oh, Daniel, there you are!” Mrs. Kinney said. “This young lady was trying to find you. She said you were supposed to be showing her around the school?” Mrs. Kinney stepped aside to reveal Katherine standing there. She waved innocently at me. Escaping her was going to be harder than I thought.
I stepped closer to Mrs. Kinney and whispered, “Can I talk to you in private?”
“Not right this minute. The school needs you to be a good representative, and the first part of that is manners. Offer her a spot next to you, won’t you?”
