The Druid

Chapter 4

The doorbell rang and as Alan walked to the door he noticed that the sun was about to begin its descent.

"Pizza, pizza," Marcus said, from the outside. Marcus was dressed in what appeared to be his gym clothes: high socks, short shorts and a tank top that read "DUNK" in big letters. He was the tallest kid in their grade, and, including his bulbous afro, he was the tallest in the school. A thick red comb was lodged into it. Alan shook his head.

"So many questions," Alan said, shutting the door behind Marcus.

"It's not a phase, Alan," Marcus said. He had a comparatively high-pitched voice for a man his size. "It's a black thing."

After everyone said their Hellos, Marcus and Callum immediately began talking about the upcoming football season. Marcus was convinced that they were bound for districts.

Alan shoved the pizza in the already-heated oven. Then, while Will was distracted with his online research, Alan took the time to check on Savannah. She must be terrified, he thought.

"What do you think about all this?" Alan asked. They stood by the glass slider.

"I don't know," she said. Alan knew she answered honestly. "It's scary...but, nothing's for certain. We don't know if the man we saw last night is connected to whatever it was you saw drop out of the portals. I mean, it could be an imposter, right? Someone trying to scare us. After all, you were all alone out there with him." She paused. "Sorry, that's horrible to think of." She seemed ashamed.

"No, you're right. Bad things should have happened to me last night, but they didn't. So, maybe, you're right. Maybe it was just a crazy guy trying to scare people." But then again, Alan thought, I'm also not a pretty teenage girl.

When the pizza was done, everyone gathered around the dining room table to eat. There was tension in the air caused by unasked questions. Marcus picked up on it after a while. "You guys alright?" he said, right after he forced down a mouthful. Marcus had a bad habit of not chewing his food.

"Marcus," Alan said, "has your dad received any, um--" Alan shrugged, truly unsure how to phrase this question without giving too much away-- "strange reports lately?"

"Uh, yeah," he answered. Then, he took a bite, but his conversation did not stop. He was unaware of how disgusted everyone was with him at that moment. "You two." He swallowed. "Good thing its summer break or else everyone would be talking about you guys at school."

"Nothing else?" Alan asked.

Marcus pursed his lips while he thought. "No." He shrugged. "Nothing really happens here."

The other four exchanged glances. "Nothing strange about any missing girls?" Will asked. "Or strangers in black?"

Marcus was about to take a bite when he paused, astonished. "How do you know about that?"

Alan pretended to know what Marcus was talking about.

"Marcus, can you tell us?" Alan asked. "Please, it's important."

White washed over Marcus's face immediately and he looked down. He cleared his throat. "I can't say."

The other four exchanged glances again. "Can you give us a hint?" Alan asked.

Marcus shook his head.

Surprisingly, Savannah spoke up. Her voice was stern but shaky. "Marcus, please. We believe that someone was after me last night."

"We think there's a connection between the man in the robe and the missing girls," Alan added.

"I can show you the reports online, Marcus," Will added. "It's very real."