Into The Shadows

Chapter 2

As my mysterious saviour walked out of my vision, Mel and Trish rushed over. Mel’s long blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail, secured with a pink ribbon, and Trish’s hair was shoulder length, light brown and was left out.

“Lilly!” They squealed in unison. I was smothered in hugs and peppered with questions. Most of them revolved around the guy.

“So,” I heard Trish say when they had calmed down, “who was he?”

“I don’t know. He just kind of… appeared out of nowhere!”

“He looked cute, and did you see his abs?” Mel pretended to faint and flopped down on the sand next to me.

Trish laughed, “Did you find out his name?”

“No,” I replied, “I haven’t ever seen him before.” That sobered them right up. A moment of silence passed while the wind played with my damp hair. The silence was broken by the sound of two puffed teachers running towards us.

“Lillian, oh Lillian, are you ok? We saw Brice carry you off and ran down as fast as we could,” they wheezed.

“Mr and Mrs Sherman, I’m fine, really.” I shrugged their apology off, willing them to go away so I could talk to Mel and Trish alone.

“Right, of course, I’ll just go and talk to Brice,” Mr Sherman responded quickly. I said a silent prayer as I watched him walk away. He was plump man, and had very rounded features. He had thinning grey hair and small square glasses. He was wearing a navy blue polo shirt and white shorts, with a grey pattern on them. His wife looked very similar to him, in that they both had rounded figures. Her short brown hair was out and was wearing a pink tank top and denim shorts. Now I just needed to get rid of her.

“Thanks for your help Mrs Sherman, I’ll be fine now.” I smiled at her reassuringly and turned my head to face my friends.

“Lillian, are you sure?” she persisted. “I saw a person come and help you. Can you tell me who that was?” This got my attention.

“Sorry Ma’am, I can’t. Did you see where he went?” I desperately wanted to find him now that I had my balance back.

“I think he was walking towards the fish and chip store.”

I sat up straighter.“Can I go and find him, please?”

Her brow furrowed as she weighed up her options. “I think you should stay here. You are on a school excursion after all.”

I sagged in disappointment. “Yes Ma’am” I said sullenly. She patted my shoulder and walked away to find her husband.

I flopped down next to Trish, sighing with displeasure. “What am I going to do?” I thought out loud.

I contemplated wether to tell them about the shadows I saw. What would their reaction be? For some reason, I felt like keeping it a secret.

"What's so good about him anyway? I mean, sure he turned up and saved you and everything, but come on... you'r going to chase him despite everything? This isn't like you to go looking for trouble," Mel nagged doubtingly. Yeah, she wasn't one of the most supportive person in the world.

I took a deep breath. ‘These are your best friends,’ the voice in my head chimed in. ‘No secrets, remember?’

I puffed up my cheeks and propped myself up on my elbow, my light brown hair dragging on the sand.

Trish looked around; to make sure no one was listening in, and leaned in close. “What is it?”

"Well… when he was holding me, I could see… a shadow.” I didn’t know how I was going to explain it to them, but I managed to spell it out. They were completely engrossed in what I was saying, their eyes growing wide when I said that Brice made me see an inky hand forming. When I finished my story, all they could say was “wow”.

Mel’s eyes lit up, “we’ll help you find him!” I could tell she already had a plan forming in her brain. The great thing about her was that she could change her mind quickly with a little pursuasion. “How old did he look? What year do you think he’s in?”

“He looked about sixteen or seventeen, maybe in ours or year eleven, but I don’t see how we are going to find him…”

“We will find him,” Trish stated stubbornly.

I laughed, “Ok, ok. How many schools are here?”

She thought for a minute. “There are two primary schools and two high schools. I don’t think he goes to our school, so he must go to the other. Do you still have friends there?”

“Yeah,” I hesitated. “We aren’t on the best terms though…”

“Well you’ll just have to mend your fences." My friends, always optimistic.

I heard Mrs Sherman’s shrill voice yell out “Lillian! Come over here please!”

I smiled wearily at my friends and walked over to where Mrs Sherman and Brice was standing. Brice had a smug grin upon his face and was leaning casually against the bus that was parked in the bus bay, awaiting my class to climb aboard. They, of course , were still at the beach until the teachers told them otherwise.

“Lillian, Brice is going to apologize,” Mrs Sherman said, death staring Brice until his attention turned fully to me.

“Sorry, Lillian,” he drawled insincerely. This earned another sharp look from Mrs Sherman.

“Look, don’t worry about it.” I angled my head to face her completely. “Are we going to go back to school?”

She gestured to the bus door and signaled to her husband to get everyone rounded up. I groaned inwardly as I climbed up the stairs of the bus. Brice was still smirking, even though he probably just got an earful from the teachers. What was he up to?