Preternatural (Worlds & Secrets)

by Lloyd Harry-Davis

  She wasn’t really old; I’d say about early forties. Her facial bone structure was sharply defined by the slightest hint of rosy blush on her chalky skin. She was tall and slender with her blonde hair tightly held up in a bun. Her eyes were a glassy grey that somehow sparkled like her diamond earrings and her nose was crooked and long. She had a flare for wearing black pencil skirts with white blouses. She also wore tanned stockings with sleek, black shoes and every time she walked in, I hoped she would trip in them. Her teeth were pearly white and perfectly aligned.

  See? She truly had the best disguise for a woman who probably ate children. I’d give her that. I guess the devil truly does wear Prada. In fact I quite remember a kindergartner crying when he first laid eyes on her. Poor kid! He might have to undergo intensive therapeutic sessions in his adolescence when the nightmares of the demon teacher begin to manifest.

  She sat herself down at her desk and opened the register; leaving the rest of us to stare at her horrifying glory in silence. She knew we were. I guess she liked the attention. A pencil dropped to the gleaming, chequered-tiled floor with an echoing clink and her eyes raced up to the class.

  Still looking at us with eyes so squinted it formed waves of creases and wrinkles around her sockets, she stretched her hand out to the corner of her desk and wrapped her long pencil fingers around her flask – then taking three, long, disturbing sips of coffee, each separated with a spine-chilling two-second interval of silence. She clicked the bottom of her pen and looked back down at the register. She then began calling names.

  I looked out of the window at the gradually-changing light grey sky; darker shades were building up above. But I was stopped in my tracks. My eyes stopped wondering and I craned my head to the window; nose rubbing the glass and my already goggle-sized eyes trying to take in more than they could see. There, in the distance sauntering towards the tree, was a figure dressed in total, absolute black. I strained my eyes, trying to get a clearer vision of who it was underneath that tree. But the greying sky outside seemed to agree with him and merely made him a silhouette; an entity whose face I would never be able to see from the distance. I blinked hard, trying to clear my eyes again – as if that would help.

  But he was gone as soon as I had reopened them. I looked around, desperately trying to see who it had been.

  With a sudden startle, I jumped back, almost falling backwards from my chair. I saw the figure in black skim past the window, his hands behind him languidly and all I could identify on him was that he wore an all-black Cressile uniform. No trace of white. Who was this student? I had never seen this person around before – and, mind you, I had been here for about nine years since childhood. His school crest had hints of white but that was the only other tone apart from the all black I noticed on his clothing. He had long, strong, black shoulder-length hair that contrasted with his extremely pale paper-white skin, but it covered the side of his face and I therefore couldn’t get a good enough look at him during the one second he used to skim past.

  He merely wandered past the window briskly and faded away. I blinked numerously, shocked, whilst staring through the glass. I quickly looked down. I had jumped up in surprise and all eyes in the class were on me. Miss Strottman ground her teeth together; her jaws moving side to side with the sound of crackling gravel.

  “Is there…something the matter, Mr Blue?” her voice sharpened.

  “No, miss. Sorry, miss,” I quickly sat myself down and she resumed taking the register.

  “What was all that about?” Robbie asked. I was stumped. I didn’t know how to react to his question.

  “You really didn’t see that guy?” I hissed undertone.

  “What guy?” Jaden joined.

  “That dude dressed in black!” I answered, my heart pounding. Suddenly, without any warning at all, the room became brighter – only the room. We wondered what had happened. We never noticed until we looked out of the window.

  The sky was black. The lightest shades of grey noticeable were way in the distance – but when I looked closer, it wasn’t grey…it was day; a pure light blue sky. Cressile, on the other hand, was underneath a wide sheet of jet black misty clouds, but it was more than that. The clouds had disguised themselves as night. The sky rumbled and quick flashes of lightning forked in the poisoned heavens. The whole class had leapt out of their seats to observe the scenery.

  “Back to your seats, ALL OF YOU! It’s just nature, deal with it!” Miss Strottman snapped, at which point those who were standing rushed to their desks. It was odd, however, that what seemed to grab my attention was a single drop of rain, rolling down the glass window ever so gently. As if it wasn’t strange enough that the sky had turned black and I saw a figure only I could see, as soon as that drop of water gently touched the bottom frame, dissolving into the wood, the sky instantly broke out in a meteoric deluge that we could swear was exploding its way through the roof. It looked like a storm outside, only the winds weren’t so vicious. The class yelled in excitement as we jumped back at the thunderous rain that fell together in surprising unison. But we, the Vernaescians, knew this wasn’t anything near a rollercoaster. Again, I got the feeling that trouble was coming. No, not even that…it was here.

  And there he suddenly was again, leaning next to the tree’s trunk underneath the leaves, staring directly at us; at me – but I couldn’t make out a face. The darkness that befell our area complimented the figure; this silhouette. Who was this person, Mr so-called Trailian? If so, wouldn’t everybody be able to see him? The Vernaescians at least…

  The bell was rung again. Miss Strottman shut her book, almost angrily.

  “Time for assembly,” she said sharply and undertone. No matter how low she spoke, you were expected to hear, understand and follow, even if the sky was decomposing into water and collapsing around us.

  “I can’t believe you guys didn’t see him,” I still complained as the whole class began standing up and laughing from the excitement they felt.

  “Look, maybe they’re side-effects; hallucinations,” Jaden suggested.

  “Side-effects from what? I haven’t TAKEN anything!” I interrupted him. Tammy stayed shut up about the whole situation, listening intently. The whole class immediately single-filed like programmed automatons.

  “You’re overreacting,” Jojo said quietly as we marched out of the door.

  “No, I am not,” I fired back through gritted teeth.

  We walked out into the corridor. The thin hallway leading us to the double swinging doors at the end of the corridor on the classroom’s left was something only this class had. The whole of the right wall (which faced the classroom door) was made of a long panel of glass, every now and again having a thin pillar separating them. I looked out to the sky and saw how dark it was; letting out biting waves of rain. I looked back down and my heart skipped a beat. As we were robotically marching down the corridor, so was he. He was there again, looking forward and marching like we were but with his hands behind his back. I quickly tugged on Jaden’s sleeve.

  “Look there he is now,” I directed.

  “A.J., what are you talking about? There’s no one there.” At that point I slowly let go of Jaden’s sleeve and looked at the figure in disbelief. He really couldn’t see him – none of them could. I was trapped in my own mental nightmare at which point I became shell-shocked.

  And all that intensified as he turned his head to stare at me, with his mouth clamped shut and no expression shown on his paper-white face, or read in his lifeless black eyes. I knew why he scared me so much…

  He was me.

  His eyes were like voids. They led to nowhere but nothingness and absolutely no eye-whites could be spotted. I was awestruck and my heart was tightening. I wanted to slow down and examine him, but I didn’t want to risk stepping out of line and facing Miss Strottman’s wrath. We were drawing closer to the double doors. Just when I was about to walk through them, I quickly moved to the back of the line.

  Jojo, Jaden, Robbie and Tammy d
idn’t notice. I stood alone in the corridor; staring through the window at – well…me.

  “Who are you?” I asked. His face was plain and unmoved; unblinking, undisturbed and unbothered by the rain that was beating on him. I inhaled lightly. He just stared at me. I blinked ordinarily but as soon as I opened my eyes, he had vanished.

  “Like I said before,” I quickly jumped and turned around only to find him staring at me from behind. “I called them.” His voice was sharp, and unsettling. But that wasn’t what clicked. I had heard that phrase somewhere.

  “I called them; I called them…” I thought to myself. He carefully raised his palm to me and I watched attentively as the creases in his palm rushed to the centre to form the words he just said. ‘I called them’ in monstrous handwriting.

  “It was you!” I hissed angrily. He still bore no expression or emotion, but simply lifted his chin to gesticulate to the door behind me. I looked through the swinging doors’ two rectangular windows. I saw the class marching and finally the last few students branching to the left. But I was doomed. I choked as I noticed a teacher, directing a tall man wearing a crimson and black suit with slick-back hair towards me. The nanosecond he made eye contact with me, both of our hearts exploded with raging emotions – his with delicious, twisted excitement and mine with demented fear. It was him…the Grinner.

  He instantly began marching towards me with his broad shoulders pushed out. He ran his hand over his glossy hair. I panicked. Who was going to save me now? The others weren’t even here. I looked around but my doppelganger was nowhere to be found. I was completely alone. I became more and more anxious as the Grinner got closer; I quickly rushed inside the classroom and dragged out a chair. Suddenly, just before he walked in, I threw a chair at the glass wall but it only cracked. The doors abruptly flung open violently. As soon as I turned my head to see the Grinner approaching, he shot his hand out towards me.

  Many translucent, grey-looking hands stretched out from the left wall and floor. They resembled that of shadows and those that had restrained mum earlier. My hands and arms were bound and so were my feet. Gently, I was being raised above the ground. The Grinner marched to me until at last we stood face-to-face. There was nothing stopping him now.

  “I’ll attempt to make this as quickly as possible. But being quick won’t mean painless.” I struggled to break free of the shadow hands’ grip, but they were too strong. They held me so firmly, my limbs felt stiff. I was choking and my face was darkening to plum again. My head trembled as I tried to strengthen my neck against the strangling whilst thick blood began to drip from my nose.

  He frighteningly grew his ear to ear grin and his face began to glow once more, with the hellfire burning within him burning holes in his skin and exposing the smoking, glowing orange flesh underneath. His eyes grew larger and completely switched to black. His long reptilian tongue snaked out of his mouth threateningly as he moved around me delicately.

  “Your death…will mean so much. You will pull us out of the ground….and save ussss,” he hissed. He malevolently opened his clenched fist, ejecting long, sharp and dirty, thick nails. I slowly shed a tear – this wasn’t how I ever imagined I would die. He pulled his arm back, gaining momentum. I trembled, but as soon as the shadow hands felt the vibration of my timidity and fright, they stopped it all together by holding me stiff – rendering me somehow paralysed.

  What I thought was the end to my new life was his clawed hand rushing towards my chest; my heart. But at that specific moment, with the sharpest gasp, my eyes and hair turned blue once more. The vicious and aggressive deluge that poured from the sky came flooding in through the long glass wall with the impact of an incredible tidal wave. When the water made contact with me, I was smacked onto the opposite wall with a violent flip and I gurgled as the pressure of the water overlapped me. As for the Grinner, well I didn’t know what had happened to him. But when the water ceased to invade the room, I coughed out water as I was left dishevelled on the flooded floor. I noticed that it was still pouring outside.

  It was a struggle for me to get up after water had just shot up my nose to my brain. I quickly peeked into the classroom and saw the Grinner, hurtled into the tables. He dizzily stood up as he tried to eject his wings through the flooded classroom. But that was enough for me. As soon as I saw he was stunned, I ran for my useless life and headed towards the hole in the glass wall.

  The Grinner had seen me and did everything to suddenly get back on his feet again. I stopped midway of my escape. I was such an idiot! I had just realised I should have gone through the doors where I could be in public. But then again, if he was sent to kill me, he wouldn’t care about exposure of our preternatural existence. And also, if any teacher saw me in this state with my uniform drenched, I would immediately be sentenced to detention.

  Do I choose death or detention; death or detention? I couldn’t believe I was arguing about this at such a time. I didn’t have time to change course and so continued sprinting away into the distance, over the hill and through the shrubs. The Grinner was finally loose again. He flapped his wings and flew towards me in low altitude.

  I darted around the hedges and bushes, nearly going around the school building. But the worst part was that I was behind the buildings and nobody ever ventured to that area of the school. However, the science lab was positioned there.

  The blistering rain and weather was still intact but it affected me less; I was determined to outrun this lunatic. I wasn’t pulling anyone out of the ground anytime soon. I sprinted as fast as I could through the inundation, but simultaneously having to dodge blasts of purple-black flames as well as thorny bushes and trying to avoid the teachers. This was too much for one rookie alien to handle.

  I was overcome by a wall-sized hedge that stood ahead and I gasped. But no matter what, I had to attempt something. As soon as I was a couple of paces away from it, I bound my legs together and jumped – almost as if I were diving. To my amazement, the earth boosted me, pushing me high off the ground and over the hedge. But I didn’t come down as soon as I expected. I seemed to have been moving but I wasn’t descending from the jump-dive yet.

  Suddenly, three life-sized balls of dark flames were hurled towards me. I pushed my body lower and my body did the rest. I began descending with momentum. My head came inches away from the ground, at which point I tucked and rolled away, continuing to sprint for my life. I was almost there – the back of the school. I turned into the alley that led to the back. He wasn’t close enough yet so I had barely a minute.

  I was faced with three dustbins. I thought about jumping into one, but that would be obvious. I hesitated as my time ran out. Next to the bins was a door. I quickly headed through it and found myself in the science lab. There was a small square window on the top of the wall. Through it I saw the Grinner descending in the back. I quickly scanned the room and saw a wide apparatus cupboard on my right with its side near the wall. I wedged myself into the gap between the wall and the cupboard and waited silently for this inevitable confrontation I had been running away from.

  I heard him finally give up searching the dustbins as I breathed heavier and heavier. Suddenly, the door creaked open. The soles of his heels knocked on the floor ever so gently. I was so wrapped in panic and fear that my heart thudded with every ‘knock’. I couldn’t take it anymore; I needed to inhale deeply. My teeth chattered and my bottom lip trembled. It was becoming too difficult to keep my thrashing and beating heart in my chest.

  And then…silence…

  Not even the slightest breath. One thud of a heel sounded as I knew he attempted to find me. I quickly rushed my hands to my mouth, covering the sound of my progressively loud breath. I blinked hard and opened them in shock. If only I knew how to control my abilities at that moment. All Tantrus had told me was that I could control the four elements. Nothing more on how to use them. At times I hated adults, always half completing their sentences. Now all I was thinking of was my imminent death.

  I didn’t kno
w what he was planning but I did not like it one bit. I turned my head to my side and noticed a slight gap between the back of the cupboard and the wall. I could see him, but his head was turned…

  He had been watching me the whole time.

  I watched with widened eyes as he stared directly at me with those black holes of his that he called eyes. I gasped sharply and with a strong, unprecedented force, I jumped out of the gap as he obliterated the cupboard. I hopped onto one of the tables and jumped to another as he attempted to shoot me down with rays of flames. But, without prior notice, my head was directed to the bottle of hydrochloric acid on a desk ahead.

  Sure it was diluted, but I knew the one thing I could do when I was scared was make things boil – literally. I hopped on over as he swiftly chased after me. He grabbed a hold of my collar as I was inches away from the table.

  I grabbed the large, thick-glassed bottle of acid and squeezed it. My fear manifested into heat and the hydrochloric acid instantly began to bubble with simmering steam encircling my hands and the jar. I turned around, scared, yet overcome with raging anger, and smashed it onto his face. He screeched in agony as his face sizzled. He instantly dropped me and rushed his hands to his flesh-rotting face.

  I sprinted off to the corner and rushed for the sink in the corner immediately. What I didn’t understand was why I never made a move out of here. He was delayed. But I just felt so compelled to confront him.

  Whilst he howled in pain, I unnervingly searched the sink. All I saw were empty vials, beakers, glass bottles and plenty of aerosol cans. They were probably for an experiment or project Mr Swade, the chemistry teacher, had started with his students. But finally, something caught my attention: another specific large glass jar, emitting frost from the lid. I carefully lifted it and looked for the label – liquid nitrogen.