The Wicked Within

5. Another Note

The young don't always feel it-but it's there. It must be dealt with. It must be eliminated.

******

Mr. Alva had finally stopped staring, and had taken a seat at the teacher's desk. He was still smirking, though; that devious smile refused to leave his lips.

He sat unnervingly still in his rolly chair, the kind that kids always loved to spin and play on. He wouldn't move a single muscle- Finn wasn't even sure he ever saw him blink.

He had passed out some busy work, a ten paged, mind-numbing biology packet. He would occasionally pull out his phone- a flip phone- and text somebody.

Throughout the whole class, Finn's feeling of dread and being watched refused to cease. In fact, it got worse. It made absolutely no sense- why no one else seemed to notice how strangely this guy dressed, why he only stared at Finn and Allison.

Finn and Allison. He only stared at the two people in the class who had gone in the store. With the rats, that unexplainable note, and now this, Finn just wanted to know one thing:

Was he right? Was going to the store a mistake?

The paranoia continued to rage in his mind. What if it kept going? What if it got worse? What if it was dogs instead of rats next time? Cats?

Humans?

Finn clutched the edge of his desk and squeezed it tight, in a failing attempt to ease the anxiety.

Ever since he had been in the store, he had felt like he had a target on his back. Like someone, or something, was after him.

Finn sighed. He stared down at the biology work. None of it was done, he just couldn't concentrate. Even though the sub had stopped staring at him a while back, the image of his cold, gray, conspiring eyes would not leave his head.

The room was so quiet that some people jumped when the intercom came on. The principle's raspy voice filled the classroom.

"Finn Johnson and Allison Brady to the front office."

Finn and Allison glanced at each other. Mr. Alva returned his gaze to the two teens.

"Well, well. It looks like that's your call."

*******

Finn's legs felt numb as he stood. He noticed Allison's face brighten in what was clearly fear.

As they walked out of the classroom, the teacher stood up and followed them out the door. Finn felt his heart beating even faster.

They went at a slow pace down the hall. The sub was trying to get them to move faster, but Finn and Allison went as slow as possible, and Mr. Alva stopped trying.

The office was completely empty- which was odd for it being the middle of the day. Normally the student office aides would be in there writing on clipboards or answering phones.

Actually, let me rephrase that.

The office wasn't completely empty. There was a girl sitting in a rolly chair behind the desk. She had long black hair and extremely pale skin. She wore a dress that was just as black as her hair.

Finn noticed with horror that she was the girl from the locket.

"Hello, friends."

Finn widened his eyes. She had an extremely high pitched voice, the voice of a three or four year old child. Which made no sense, she couldn't be less than fifteen. He felt something explode in his body. His skin went a dark shade of red, sweat began dropping onto his brow. He tried to turn towards the door, to run away from whatever this was, but he found he couldn't move. He felt like a prisoner chained up on death row.

"Uh, uh, just tell us what you want and we'll be on our way," Allison managed to say. Finn could hear the confusion in her voice. She was sweating, too, and she looked like she was trying to take some kind of control over the situation. But she was failing, too.

"Oh, good!" the girl said. "I'll give it to you now!"

Finn and Allison exchanged a glance- maybe they would be able to get out of here soon. Wishful thinking, maybe. But could wishful thinking hurt them right now?

Behind them, Mr. Alva, still smirking, motioned for the girl to continue.

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed suddenly. She waved her arms dramatically in the air. "It seems we forgot your friends...no matter. I'm sure you can pass it on. Besides, they are nowhere near as special as you," the girl smiled at them, probably what she thought was warm. But it was only chilling.

She held out her hand and reached out her long arm towards Finn. Enclosed in her palm was a piece of paper- notebook paper.

Another note.

Finn nearly threw up when he read it:

Rule #3: You are the evil in this world. Don't forget that.

******

It was after school, and Finn, Allison, Travis, and Elaine sat at a booth in McDonald's. Travis was talking about some movie he had seen last night, but the others were paying little to no attention.

Finn stared down at his cheeseburger. Allison was doing the same to her Happy Meal.

"Where was Eddie today, anyways?" Travis asked after he was done summarizing the movie.

"I don't know, he's probably just sick or something," Finn answered.

Probably.

"I meant to tell you guys earlier, but," Allison began. "I- there was a trail of dead rats yesterday in my house. They lead to the bathroom."

Travis glared at her and looked down at his food.

"And they were all in the tub and the...the toilet," Allison was trying not to gag as she finished. She scooted the Happy Meal a little farther away from her.

"Gross!" Travis said. "Way to ruin my dining experience."

Elaine shuddered at the thought.

"Who would do that?"

Finn looked over at Allison, and she returned his gaze.

"I don't know, Elaine. I really don't know."