“Yeah, I just noticed him. Have you heard how he’s doing? Didn’t he have a stroke or something?”
Mercy replied, “He had a mild stroke which affected the right side of his body. That’s why he’s in the chair. I guess he won’t be walking for a while, but he’s supposed to get better. What’s with the look on his face? Is it directed at us or is his face frozen in a sneer?”
“His face is always in a sneer,” I remarked.
“This is worse. It’s like he wants to kill us. I hate to say this, but it’s making me glad that he’s stuck in that wheelchair.”
I responded to Mercy, “And why would he be mad at us anyway? We didn’t do anything, right?”
“Yeah, right”, Mercy answered with a little smile.
While our attention was focused on them I figured I’d ask Mercy about Ian. “Mercy, do you know anything about Ian Miller?”
“Not really. I think he used to date Tonya a while back. He’s certainly one that’s easy on the eyes. I don’t know much else about him. Why are you asking?” Mercy looked at me curiously.
“I was just wondering,” I responded as nonchalantly as possible. “Do you think he hangs out with THEM?”
“I wouldn’t know. ‘Course, I only moved here last spring, and I’m not exactly in the know of high school society in this place. I haven’t seen him hang out with those guys much before though. Isn’t he out of high school?” asked Mercy.
I answered, “Yeah, he’s in college now. I think he graduated last year. Do you know anything else about him?”
“I think he’s aware that he looks like a god, but at the same time I don’t get the impression that he’s a dumb, arrogant jerk like a lot of great looking guys.”
“You talking about me?” asked Will laughing.
“Maybe the dumb, arrogant part,” I responded.
Suddenly we all hear a big whoosh . . . . . . . The fire had been lit so we all turned to it. It was beautiful against the darkening sky. In the background, I could hear the cheerleaders chanting and the band clanging away. It sounded like school spirit was revving up.
As our attention was distracted by the mesmerizing fire, I felt a strange sensation at my back, like someone was just barely touching me. It was creepy. I quickly glanced around. Who was there? Abruptly, the touch felt like a thrust that forced me forward onto the ground. Having initially sensed something, I had just enough time to put my hands out to break my fall. My forehead barely scraped against the edge of a jagged metal piece that was just sticking out of the ground. I felt my face where it hit. There was blood just above my right eyebrow.
Will was right there, bending down to help me up. “Are you OK? That was weird. Did you trip on something?”
“No, but I felt like I was shoved,” I answered while looking around. “But maybe I just tripped on something.”
Will brow was furrowed. “How could that have happened? What would you have tripped on? I didn’t see anyone directly behind you, either. And how did you get blood on your face? Let me see.” He got up close and examined my forehead. It was hard to see in the darkness so he leaned in. “Do you mind if I touch it? It’s hard to get a good look in this light.” As he gently pressed with his fingers, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pants pocket and handed it to me. “Fortunately, the cut appears to be pretty shallow; however, the head always bleeds more than most places. It appears to be a small gash from a sharp edge.” He bent down to examine the ground before adding, “I can feel a metal piece in the ground here. You may have to get a tetanus shot.”
Sam added, “That metal may have been an insert for a soccer post. This area used to be part of the old soccer field. I can’t believe that wasn’t pulled out of the ground when the field was moved!”
I glanced over at Mercy. What was up with her? She looked really pissed. She was watching Tonya and her gang who were laughing hysterically. What’s that about? “Mercy, why are they acting like that?”
“I was wondering the same thing,” she responded grimly.
Everyone turned to look at Tonya’s gang. There was Tonya, Red, Guy (with the slicked back hair), and Stacy, one of the cheerleaders. Bully Boy was nowhere to be seen. They all seem to have found something rather amusing in our direction. I couldn’t help but notice that Ian was gone.
Mercy was livid. “She did that to you. You know that, don’t you? You could have been killed or severely injured.”
I didn’t respond but had a gut feeling that she was right. I remembered viewing Tonya’s aura. It was troubling to say the least. I saw flaming arcs of dark red and waves of black and gray. I sensed hatred, malevolence, evil intent.
I was holding the handkerchief up to my head and feeling shaky. It shocked me to think someone out there was deliberately trying to hurt me. “Mercy, how could that make any sense? They were way over there.”
Doug commented, “I’ve heard some weird stuff about Tonya. Something about telekinetic powers. I know that sounds crazy.”
“She definitely has an evil streak, and who knows with Tonya. Things always seem to happen around her. Remember last year when that ceiling tile fell on Mr. Delapath’s head during the safety assembly? It was right after he reprimanded her in front of everyone. She was sitting in the second row with a nasty look on her face. She looked like she wanted to tear his head off,” Will added, while staring over at her.
“Hey, do you remember last year when a beaker blew up right in front of Randolph Johnson?” asked Sam.
“Yeah, didn’t he have to go to the hospital with third degree burns on his neck? Doug answered.
Sam’s looked at us, his right eyebrow raised. “That’s right. That happened right after he stupidly made a wise crack about Tonya’s new haircut. The whole class heard him. He said she looked like a pig in a blanket!”
Doug rolled his eyes. “What an idiot. Everyone knows it’s not a good idea to diss Tonya. You’ll pay!”
Will added, “That’s for sure! I just stay outta her way. Why stir up a hornet’s nest?”
“So THAT’S what this is all about. It was payback time for Tonya!” Mercy exclaimed. “Don’t you see? Tess pulled Tonya down a notch by stopping that fight between me and Tonya, the one SHE started by the way. She retaliated by doing this to Tess. Her intention was for Tess to get hurt.”
“You really think so?” I asked.
“Absolutely, and I think it’s time for Tonya and her gang to get a taste of their own medicine. I’ve been battling it out with her by myself ever since I moved to town. I’ve been their victim, but I’ve managed to ignore it most of the time because I just didn’t care. Now, she’s spreading her evilness to you, Tess. You’re her new play thing. I think it’s time to fight back, and you guys can help me,” Mercy announced.
“What can I do?” I asked.
“Ever since that day you stepped into the fight between me and Tonya, I knew you had abilities that were out of the ordinary. You may not think so, but believe me, you do. You just don’t want to face it.” Mercy stared at me, a knowing look on her face. Then she turned to Will. “In fact, Will, I also sense that you have some special talents. And I believe that you know what I’m talking about.” Mercy stared pointedly at him.
I watched Will’s reaction. I expected him to loudly proclaim that she was nuts but instead he looked back at her, a gleam in his eye. “What did you have in mind?” He asked, a smile around the corners of his lips.
“Hmmmmm…” Mercy paused for a minute while watching the bonfire. Suddenly an evil smile lit up her face. “That’s OK, Will. I think I’ll do this myself. Tonya and her gang will be sorry they started something with us. I can fight fire with fire!”
Mercy was making me nervous and I grabbed her arm. She may appear harmless, but I had a feeling that she was way more powerful than she looked. “Mercy, I don’t know what you have planned but I don’t think this is the time or place to start a fight.”
Mercy turned to us, her eyes blazing. “Look, this has become very personal f
or me. You guys don’t know what it’s been like since I’ve moved here. Tonya zeroed in on me the first day I showed up at school and she hasn’t let up. I knew I didn’t have the power to do anything about her all by myself, so I existed by lying low and staying out of her way as much as possible. I haven’t made any friends here because I knew she would just torment them to get to me. I realized there were a few other students in the school that had special gifts, such as you Will, but it wasn’t enough to fight Tonya and her pals.”
Mercy’s full attention turned to me. “Tessie, when you showed up, everything changed. I knew it the minute you barged into that fight. You have power, REAL power, and Tonya knows it. She wants to frighten you into becoming a mouse like I’ve been. It’s time to turn the tables.”
Mercy regarded Sam, Doug and Will with a gleam in her eye. “Should I pull Tonya down a notch?”
“Hell, yeah, it’s time for some vengeance!” yelled Sam.
Doug screamed, looking like a wild man, “Yeah, it’s time to pull her DOWN!”
That was all Mercy needed to hear. She faced the blazing fire that was several yards away, held her finger at waist level, and pointed it at the fire. She closed her eyes in concentration. Then she opened them and traced an arc in the air from the fire to Tonya’s thick golden French braid. Against the blackness of the night, sparks from the fire followed her arc and moved over the crowd, landing at the end of Tonya’s braid. At first, there was a tiny wisp of smoke. We all watched with bated breath and for a minute I didn’t think it took. Suddenly, a tiny flame broke out right on the end of her braid. No one around her noticed for a minute, then all hell broke loose.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh, MY HAIR’S ON FIRE!!!!! Tonya got up and started running around in circles, screaming. Red grabbed her and threw her on the ground raising her jacket over her head, trying to smother the fire. “Get that damn jacket off of my face, you idiot!!” Tonya shrieked.
“I was just trying to put the fire out. It worked, didn’t it?” yelled Red.
“I guess. Just look at my beautiful hair. It’s ruined!” She screeched.
Red retorted, “Hey, it could’ve been worse. If your clothes caught on fire your face and body would’ve burned. Your hair is nothing.”
“Ha ha, poor Tonya,” jeered Mercy.
“Yeah, she got hers,” Sam laughed.
“Guess she’ll have to get another hair cut!” mocked Doug.
I didn’t feel quite as celebratory as they did. I glanced over at Will and saw that he was frowning, for he knew, as I did, that this would not end it. Oh, no! All this did was raise the stakes for a whole new round of payback and retribution; just what Tonya was hoping for.
While our group’s attention was glued to Tonya, I realized that my head was sticky from the blood. I was also feeling overwhelmed. I wanted to clean up, but I also felt an urge to get away for few minutes. This drama with Tonya was freaking me out. “Will, I have to go somewhere and clean myself off. Where are the restrooms out here?”
He looked closely at me. “Are you sure you’re OK? Why don’t I go with you?”
“No, no, I’m fine. I’m not bleeding right now. I just want to wash my hands and my forehead off. If my aunt sees any blood on me when I get home she’ll freak out. I’d just as soon avoid that. There’s nothing for you to do.”
“OK, if you’re sure. The bathroom is pretty close. Remember that squat building near the football bleachers? Well, the restrooms are in the back.”
“OK, be back in just a few,” I answered.
I started toward the building. As I got closer I realized there was more than one building back here and it was rather dark. You’d think there would be more lights near the restrooms. I proceeded around to the back of one of the buildings because Will said the restrooms were in the back. There was nothing there, not even a door. This looked like some kind of equipment shed. I was starting to feel really spooked out which wasn’t too hard because I was half way there to begin with. My senses were screaming that something wasn’t right, so I turned to go in another direction.
I could hear a whrrrrring sound that was getting louder. I peered through the dimness to see a motorized wheelchair coming around the side of the building. Who could THAT be? Was that Bully Boy? I couldn’t see his face yet, but I noticed a blur of red. Bully was wearing a red jacket earlier. What was he doing here?
I really didn’t want to talk to him so I quickly looked around for a way to elude him. Unfortunately I realized too late that there’s no way around him from where I was standing. I managed to box myself into a corner. In one direction was a cement abutment about 2-3 feet high, followed by a steep downward slope. On the other side, there was a dense hedge. Then, coming at me is Bully, staring at me like he wanted to swallow me whole. I went over to the hedge to see if I could push through but there was a chain link fence right behind it. He was almost there.
I finally spoke, “What do you want?”
He spoke in a guttural tone, “I haaate yoooouu!”
It sounds like the stroke had affected his ability to speak clearly, but I sure knew what he was saying. I also understood his intent, all too clearly.
I stood in front of the bushes and took a step toward him. You’re always told not to show any fear, right? I yelled at him, “What have I ever done to you Bul . . . uh, Jimmy?”
Youuuuu diiiiid thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis,”he lifted his left hand and gestured toward himself. He sounded drunk but I knew it was from the stroke.
“Why would I hurt you Jimmy? I hardly know you. It just happened. It was a stroke. People can’t make other people get strokes,” I reasoned. Somehow I didn’t think he could be reasoned with.
I heard a snap. Suddenly a knife blade appeared in his left hand. “Yoooooooooou witchhhhhhh. Yooooooooooouu liieeee!” His wheelchair whirred right at me.
I grabbed the only thing I could to defend myself, a large prickly branch of hemlock from the hedge. As he came closer, I danced around and rubbed the sticky branch in his eyes. I could see the knife stabbing at my right hand, so I shifted around and continued jabbing at him as fast as I could. Fortunately, his arm movement was slow. His big wheelchair was pinning me in. I was stuck between the big wheels. He was even trying to stand up so he could overpower me. I started screaming. I could feel a burning jab in my right hand. What was I going to do? My left hand was trying to push him back but it was like pushing at a Mack truck . It wasn’t working.
Abruptly, Bully sat down. I saw him struggling to get up but he seemed stuck in the chair. In fact, his arms and hands appeared to be glued to the arms of the wheelchair. His knife was no longer in his hand. Time for me to go. As I tried to squeeze by him, I looked up and saw Mercy and Will several yards away striding toward us. They weren’t looking at me. They were staring at Bully.
He kept on turning back to them and appeared to be distraught. He was wiggling his body like crazy but he was obviously trapped. The wheelchair suddenly spun around and faced the abutment that was in the other direction. It was obvious by now that Will and Mercy were able to control Bully along with his wheelchair. Will was holding onto the top of his head but he seemed to be concentrating on Bully. Mercy was simply staring at Bully while muttering something under her breath. His wheelchair gradually inched forward toward the abutment. He continued struggling but to no avail. His wheelchair went right up to the edge of the abutment and stopped. Bully was shaking his head back and forth and trying to say something, but it came out like a low groan. Now, his wheelchair was actually lifting off of the ground. How could they do that?
“Will, Mercy, what are you guys doing?”
Will glanced over at me and barely shook his head. He was still holding his right hand over his forehead with his eyes closed. Bully’s wheelchair was still rising. He was almost on top of the abutment. It was surreal. In the background, I could hear the students’ frantic cheering and the band pounding away.
Bully managed to let out a squeal while his chair was balanced for one mom
ent directly on top of the abutment. Then, the wheelchair slowly turned downward. After a little pause, the chair descended into the darkness. Bully tried to scream but it came out like an odd gurgling sound. I was horrified as his wheelchair careened down the steep bumpy hill, Bully’s head jouncing along with the movement of the chair. Suddenly, the wheels hit something hard; probably the asphalt parking lot below the school. CLANK . . . CLANK . . . CLANK . . . What was that? It was too dark to tell. Oh, my God! The chair must’ve hit a cement curb at the edge of the parking lot while going at a high rate of speed. That’s what caused the wheelchair to flip over and over and over……
20. Aftermath
After Bully’s horrific descent, we took off. We knew Bully Boy would get help because we could hear shouts and screams from the parking lot below. I should be upset about what happened to him but I’m not. He enjoyed tormenting the innocent and it turned back on him. I would call it Karma.
I touched the knife wound on my hand. Yikes, it’s bloody! I rifled around in my purse until I found a packet of Kleenex and bunched it up against my thumb. Again, things were happening to ME. I innocently attend the school pep rally to have a little fun and look how it turns out? It seems like I can’t do anything without it getting weird on me. And what was up with Bully? What was Mercy talking about when she said that I had REAL power? Whatever she meant, I didn’t want any part of it. I’d rather be my old self, moving through life in a fog of ignorance. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s working for me anymore.
When Will and I got to his car he took out his first aid kit and washed off my cut with an antiseptic wipe and wrapped it in some gauze. Then he quickly pulled out of the parking lot. We wanted to get out of there before an ambulance or any other emergency vehicles showed up. For that entire time, I hardly said a word. The initial shock of what happened had worn off, but I still felt numb. My mind was repeating the whole Bully scenario with his stabbing knife and then his wheelchair bumping down the hill.
A Girl Beyond (War of the Witches Book 2) Page 9
