Shelley and Sandy muffled their cries of panic. Both Mike and Darren brought their flashlights back to life.
Still afraid to talk, they listened while the creaking noise moved out of the coach’s office and disappeared. Darren and Mike’s eyes met.
“Custodian?” Darren mouthed.
“Maybe,” Mike replied.
Tony started toward the entrance, but Mike caught his arm and motioned for him to stay. “Wait,” he said in a whisper they all could hear.
Darren understood Mike’s thinking. Though the creaking had faded away, who was to say the person up there wasn’t waiting to catch them as soon as they started talking again?
“We’re not trapped down here, are we?” Shelley’s voice trembled.
“No,” Seth replied definitively.
Darren figured no matter what the person had stacked on top of the trapdoor, Seth would be able to push it off.
“Do you think it’s safe to leave?” T.J. asked.
“Let’s get out of here!” Shelley answered.
They clamored through the darkened passage toward the trapdoor. Darren aimed his flashlight upward, as did Mike. Without verbally agreeing, Seth moved forward and lifted the door. As he pushed, they heard the rattle of the coach’s chair as it rolled to one side and fell over onto the floor. Seth heaved it away without any trouble.
They scrambled out of the tunnel like there were demons ready to yank them back down into an eternity of darkness. Back in the coach’s office, they glanced about, afraid that whoever had shut them in might return at any minute.
Smiling in relief, Darren faced Mike, and they waggled fingers. Whatever that had been, they seemed to have dodged it.
“Let’s get out of here.”
Darren led the way this time. As a group, they scurried through the new gym, out the door, and down the dark halls of the school. In much less time than it took them to get to the coach’s office, they were bursting through the metal doors that separated the school from the Rec Center. Through these well-lit hallways, they continued at a brisk pace, laughing a bit, but also glancing about as if someone might stop them and ask what they’d been up to.
They passed by the front desk, the ladies that manned it watching them curiously.
Once they were out the doors, a lone figure standing at the check-in desk turned and observed them scattering for the two vehicles they’d arrived in. He’d only been at the desk, browsing a schedule, a few minutes before they’d come bustling through.
He pulled out his notebook and scribbled a few lines. Darren would no doubt be on his way home from here. His instructions were clear: he was to follow and record all of Darren’s actions. Replacing that trapdoor had not been part of the instructions; however, he hadn’t been precisely forbidden from doing it, either.
His night wasn’t over yet. He would spy on the young man as long as he could see in his house, recording everything he did. Once the lights went out, he’d only have a phone call to make, and he would finally be excused from this duty.
Of course, he’d have to pick up where he’d left off first thing in the morning.
CHAPTER 3
A Basketball Jones
There were two minutes, six seconds left in the game. Darren drove toward the opposing team’s guard but kept one eye on Mike, his team’s power forward, to set up a screen for him. They moved in unison, and as Mike set the pick, Darren moved off to the left, forcing the guard to go around Mike and follow him. Mike rolled under the net, and Darren passed the ball to him. He put the ball in, easily bouncing it off the backboard. The crowd cheered excitedly, already on their feet, stomping. The sound of their enthusiasm increased to a roar as the ball dropped through the hoop. Mike waggled his fingertips with Darren as they headed back down court. That basket had put them four points in the lead.
Darren glanced at the stands. He knew better than to search for his parents; they wouldn’t be there. He caught a quick view of Andrea leading the cheers. Her dark hair bobbed up and down with the other cheerleaders as she jumped and clapped, rousing the spectators into an ecstatic frenzy. She turned just in time to wink at him, not faltering in her routine. A quick smile and Darren was back in the game.
One minute, forty-seven seconds remained as the Bear’s point guard, Ryan Eubanks, headed past center court with the ball. He was as tall as Darren, but thinner and more gangly looking and, through no fault of his own, had ears that stuck out, making him look like a car with its doors open. Darren could tell Eubanks had been worked hard and was running out of steam. But, suddenly, the gangly looking kid faked to the outside, charged past Darren, and drove straight down the center. Side-stepping Tony and Seth, he banked the ball off the backboard. Darren shared a surprised look with Mike. Where had that come from?
At least they were still up by two points and had the ball. With one minute thirty-one seconds remaining, Mike took off for the other side of the court as Darren dribbled slowly toward half-court. He caught up with Seth, the team’s center and said, “Keep on Eubanks. Someone slipped him a Redbull.” Seth nodded and trotted toward the bottom of the key.
With ball in hand, Darren examined his options. Mike was moving fast, giving his defender a work out. Seth was underneath, with Eubanks close on him. Off to his right, he saw T.J. ready to move in for a three-pointer if given the ball. That might be his best move. In any case, it would free Darren up to move underneath the basket.
As the wheels in his mind rotated at lightning-speed, preparing for the pass, a flicker of light, just over T.J.’s shoulder, like the sun reflecting off a mirror, caught his attention. It was a quick flash, barely noticeable, but was instantly replaced by a hazy image hovering over the stands.
At first, it appeared to be a sheer dark sheet flapping above the students, but it quickly resolved into a young girl with long blonde hair. She was wearing a dark gown and seemed to be sitting forward, floating in the air above the students, and in her hands, she gripped a wooden stick that disappeared beneath the folds of her flowing dress. A bright glow surrounded the girl as if someone had trained a spotlight on her. The bizarre sight shocked Darren, as he dribbled in place, staring in the air at the unbelievable sight.
This had to be a stunt, something designed to hype-up the student body. She had probably been suspended there the entire game, and he had somehow not noticed.
But, she was transparent... and there was no way he had missed seeing her floating above the bleachers the entire game.
What was going on?
She must be a projection! That’s it. Only, there was no projector and this image was three-dimensional and fifteen feet away from the opposite wall.
Darren quickly glanced at T.J. who couldn’t help but glance over his own shoulder to see what had caught Darren’s attention. Seeing nothing, he focused back on Darren, urging him to pass the ball.
Sweat broke out across Darren’s forehead, but unlike the sweat he’d accumulated during the game, this was cold and clammy. The ethereal image gazed curiously down at him like any other spectator, wondering why he was hesitating. Her eyes bore into him so intensely his breath caught. They were a luminous green, unlike any color he’d seen before, and as he dodged one of the opposing players and spun back around with the ball, he could have sworn there was a look of concern in them. Whoever or whatever she was, she was watching the game.
“Pass me the ball!” T.J. shouted. Darren looked blankly at T.J., as the basketball bounced mechanically off his fingers. He could see the dire expression in his teammate’s eyes. The roar of students and parents dropped in volume as they became aware that something was wrong on the court.
Darren, not sure if he was panicking over nothing or an actual specter, covered his momentary confusion by glancing down the lane at Mike, who appeared equally concerned and started up the key. Darren knew he had to focus on the game, but part of his mind couldn’t entirely shake the girl or those amazing green eyes and the strange thrill that rushed through him alongside his adrenaline
.
Attempting to regain his composure, Darren quickly shifted his weight in Mike’s direction to set-up a fake before preparing to pass the ball to T.J. A forward from the other team broke free from his position and charged him, with Mike right behind him. Darren shifted back toward T.J., feinted, then bounce-passed the ball behind the charging player into the waiting hands of his best friend.
Mike turned, and two of the Bear’s players blocked his shot. He faked a jump, popping the ball up and over their outstretched arms into a little arc that came down through the hoop with a satisfying swish.
The students in the bleachers recovered from Darren’s momentary inaction and went crazy. Someone in the band let loose a wild squeaking note from a reed instrument that shrieked above the cacophony of the cheering crowd.
Relief now flooded Darren as he rushed down to the other end of the court. He’d never suffered a loss of concentration during a game like that before. His coach glared at him, bewildered, to which Darren just grinned and shrugged; after all, they had scored on the play.
Darren glanced back to where the floating phantom had been. It was gone. Nothing was suspended from the ceiling. No girl or dark cloth hung in the air. This was almost worse than seeing her. Dizziness made the room swim, but it stopped when he put his hand to his head. Moisture deserted his mouth, making it impossible to swallow.
“Dude, you look like a ghost. You okay?” Mike asked.
“Fine.” It came out of Darren like dust off the desert. A quick glance at the clock told him there were forty-six seconds left in the game.
This time Walker, one of the Bear’s forwards, bounced the ball to Eubanks, who was just outside the key. The tall point guard snatched the ball in the air, foiling Tony’s attempt to intercept the pass. Eubanks dribbled around to line up for a straight-on shot and jumped for a three-pointer. The ball hit the rim and bounced straight up toward the ceiling. It came back down right through the hoop. A disappointed groan filled the gymnasium, with the exception of the twenty or so visitors from the other side who were all on their feet screaming to the encouragement of their own cheerleaders.
We’re up by one point, thought Darren, as he took the pass in from T.J. He dribbled quickly down to their side of the court and surveyed the situation—the girl with the luminescent green eyes temporarily thrust from his mind. At the post, he had Seth, and Tony wasn’t far to Seth’s right. T.J. was still holding back just outside the key to the right of the foul line, and Mike moving in from the left, prepared to set another screen for him. If they did this right, not only would it be pretty, it would be an excellent way to finish the game. He gave Mike the signal. Mike planted himself, setting up another pick. Darren forced his defender to move away by charging toward Mike, who rolled behind his man. Darren passed to Mike and darted underneath the basket. In place, he turned to receive the ball from Mike and jumped, slamming the ball through the hoop.
The crowd came unglued. The sound of cheering crashed over Darren. Mike was on him, fingers at play with his, as they both jumped with joy.
The Bears traveled down court. The clock was ticking. Darren and his teammates hustled to cover their men. With only fourteen seconds remaining in the game, a whistle blew, somehow being heard above the din, and stopped the clock. The Bears were taking a time-out.
On his way to his team’s bench, Darren glanced at the stands. Nothing floated above them, no heat mirage, no girl, nothing. It was unnerving and confusing. He shook his head and told himself to stop being ridiculous.
“Okay, I don’t know where you went for a moment there, Stevens, but thankfully you remembered you were in the middle of a ballgame and managed to pull it out at the last moment.” Coach Hawthorne playfully smacked him upside the head, producing chuckles from the rest of the team. “Keep your head in the game. Now, expect them to be desperate. They’re going to rush hard. If they put in a three-pointer, the game will be tied. Stop them, even if you have to foul.”
Darren nodded with the rest of his teammates. If they won this game, they would be in the State Finals. They put their hands in the center and let out a Bobcat howl—trademark of their team. The whistle blew, and they rushed back out onto the court.
Everyone except Darren.
As he was backing away from the bench, the sunlight-flash hit his eyes again, and the misty image of the girl reappeared. This time she floated two rows above the Bobcat bench. She gazed down on him, her head askew. A puzzled expression spread across her pretty face.
Darren was jolted by the sudden apparition. Dizziness returned, and the clammy sweat broke out across his body.
Mike grabbed his arm. “Come on! Head in the game remember?”
“Yeah,” Darren said, blankly.
He turned his back on the ghost and moved down court to the middle of the key. Determined to ignore what was floating in the air behind him, he stared straight at Walker, who was poised to throw the ball in. Tony and T.J. blocked their players from receiving the ball. Seth hung back under the basket, and Mike was keeping an eye on two other players, Eubanks foremost. Darren watched, unable to take a step and afraid to let his eyes move beyond the play in front of him.
With a quick pass, the ball bounced below Tony’s arm and came up in Eubank’s hands. The tall point guard pivoted and dribbled around Mike to the arc of the three-point line. Five seconds remained on the clock.
Darren stood in place like he’d been flash-frozen. Mike and Tony closed in on Eubanks, who was lining up his jump shot. Darren made a fumbling move in that direction, but as he did, he glimpsed the floating girl back above his home bench. He swallowed hard and focused on Eubanks who threw the ball up and over Mike. It sailed in a faultless arc, lined up perfectly and heading to the hoop.
A fearful hush filled the gymnasium. The ball rushed toward the basket. It was going to be a swish. It flew through the hoop and into the net and then...
It bounced out!
There was no way that it could, but it did. The ball bounced out of the net as if it had ricocheted off something solid. It flew in the exact same arc across the court and back to Eubanks, who numbly caught it, standing there dumbfounded. He held the ball as if he’d never thrown it.
Darren stared in amazement, no longer thinking of the hovering ghost and barely aware of the shiver that had shot up his spine and left him feeling like he’d just stepped out of a freezer.
The entire room was momentarily stunned into silence, confused by what it had witnessed. Then, all at once, the gymnasium erupted into cheering and yelling.
A whistle blew long and loud, just enough to top the volume of the crowd; and Eubanks let fly an expletive that was drowned out by all the other noise.
The final buzzer rang loudly, officially ending the game.
Mike’s hand was suddenly on Darren’s shoulder. “I think we just won.” Mike’s voice had all the sound of bewilderment Darren felt.
The shocked fans no longer cared how it had come about. They knew only one thing: they had won!
Darren and Mike made their way over to the bench. Their coach was listening to the Bears’ coach who was yelling at the referee. “What kind of call was that? You’ve got to count that! That was goal tending or something!”
“I don’t know how it happened, but the ball bounced out on its own. No points.” The referee didn’t really know what else to say.
“Why didn’t it go through the net? Tell me that!” The burley coach was red in the face with indignation.
The ref looked back at Coach Hawthorne, who shrugged at him. However, his eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head at the mystery. Suddenly he barked at his team, which had gathered round him, “Go congratulate them.” He shook his head again. “You know what I mean.”
The Bobcats shook hands or high-fived the Bears, who all appeared shell-shocked. They knew it had happened, but knew it couldn’t have happened. Darren and his teammates said, “Sorry man! That was bad luck. You played a great game. I don’t know what happened there at the en
d.”
When he got to Eubanks, Darren said, “Weird.”
Eubanks just muttered, “Yeah, weird.”
The crowd poured out of the bleachers, filling up the court. The Bears had disappeared into the showers. Andrea was at Darren’s side, jumping up and down with excitement—excitement Darren knew he should’ve been feeling himself. He kept glancing back at the bench, but there was no apparition.
“You were great!” Andrea gushed. “You scored twenty-eight points. You were the high scorer.” She embraced him, and they kissed. Afterwards, she winked at him as she bumped him with her hip. Darren gave her a wan smile.
After showering, and as they changed into street clothes, Darren was unusually quiet.
“I thought you were going to have a seizure back there, Darren,” T.J. said, his wet dirty-blonde hair clinging to the sides of his head. He shook it like a dog, water spattering all about him. “You looked pale and sweaty like you were about to puke or something.”
Seth, walking past on his way to the door, said in his booming bass voice, “He was just trying to psych out the other guys with some voodoo he learned from his grandpa.”
Darren didn’t say anything but growled under his breath, irritated at the slight against his grandfather.
Tony stopped on his way to the door. “I don’t know what you were thinking, maybe you were running the clock, but I sure am glad you put it together in time. T.J., do you still want a ride?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” T.J. replied, and they left the locker room.
Once Mike and Darren were alone, Mike said, “So, you froze up out there.”
Darren pursed his lips. “I didn’t freeze up. I just...”
“You just what?”
“I... I think something’s wrong with me. I, uh... I saw something.”
Bewitched Page 4
