A World Beneath

Chapter 3 - The Note

So far my first day as a tenth grader at Serenity hasn't been so bad. I breezed through English II, Algebra II, History, and Life Science. Now I'm in the cafeteria sitting beside Vince.

I've decided that I really like Vince. He seems like a genuinely nice person, and he's really friendly. We only have the first two periods of the day together, so we split up after Algebra II. And anyways, It's not like I've had any problems so far, except...

Alright, I'll admit it. I can't stop thinking about him. The mysterious glare-boy who has decided to make me his object of attention. And as hard I try, I can't put my finger on it...

..."and there's also the teacher that nobody- HEY!"

"What, oh I'm sorry!" I got so lost in my thoughts of creepy-boy, that I wasn't even paying attention to Vince.

"Earth to Alina! Did you even hear what I just said?"

"Um... Something about a teacher... who doesn't...?"

"You know what, forget it. Will you at least tell me who's on your mind?"

That caught me ff guard. "Who's- what?

"Who are you thinking about so hard, that you can't pay attention to me?"

We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, while I played with my lunch food and ignored his question.

"Ok... so do you know that guy from our class...? He was...well he was kind of staring at me-"

"Torin. Torin Carter."

I stopped playing with my food and studied Vince's face. He suddenly went from friendly to serious in a matter of two seconds. Ok. Major mood change.

"So, you know him?" I wasn't sure how to ask this question. There was something telling me that this was a conversation to tread lightly on.

"Yeah", responded Vince. "I know him. Just ask anyone, he's the most notorious rebel at this school. In fact, I'm surprised he still goes here. Strikes me as the type of guy to drop out in ninth grade, doesn't care about school at all. I don't even know why he comes anymore."

With the way that Vince is talking about Torin I'm guessing that there's some bad blood between them.

"Alright", says Vince, picking up his tray. "If that was what was on your mind, I'll give you one last piece of advice. Stay away from him. He does't care about you, or anyone else. Only himself."

Vince gets up from the table and throws away his tray, just as the bell rings. As he gets ready to head out the cafeteria door, he looks at me one more time.

"Just remember that."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the rest of the day, all I thought about was Vince's 'advice'. All throughout the last three periods (Spanish II, Study Hall, and Chorus), I thought about his last words to me.

"He doesn't care about you. Or anyone else. Just remember that."

As I walked out the building's main entrance, I saw him.

Torin Carter was getting onto an old classic black and chrome Harley. I watched as he revved the engine of his motorcycle.

And then he looked. Straight at me.

And I knew right then, that there was something different about him.

But most of all, I wanted to know what it was.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was rehearsing what to say to my mom in my mind, as I walked up the front steps to my house. Well, my temporary house. I didn't know how long I'd be staying.

"Mom?", I called out. "Are you home". I walked into the living room to find a note stuck to the coffee table.

Just ran out to get groceries. Be back soon. There's some pizza in the fridge if you get hungry. Call me if you need anything. - love Mom

I looked at the time on my phone. 4:10. It's still early, and I didn't have homework. So I warmed up my pizza in the microwave, ate, and headed up to my room for some good quality 'listening to music time'.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was drifting off to sleep to Lana del Rey's song 'Young and Beautiful', when a strange sound woke me. I reached for my phone and paused the song. I checked the time. 6:52.

I sat up slowly on the bed. I was asleep for almost three hours. I got up and peeked out the window. Nope, no car in the driveway. My mom hadn't gotten back from the store yet.

I was about to get back in my bed when I heard my door creak open.

I looked at my door.

Okay, let's just say: I've seen enough horror movies where the girl gets killed because of her curiosity. Therefore, if there really was something creepy going on, I did not want to be around for it.

But I creeped to the door anyway.

Okay. Now or never. In one swift motion I yanked the door open and...

Nothing. There was no creepy guy in a black hooded cloak, no ghost, just nothing.

Alright, the creepiness of the town is definitely affecting me.

I was about to accept that everything was completely normal, when I stepped on a piece of paper.

A tiny, tiny, tiny scrap. If I hadn't stepped on it, I wouldn't have known it was there.

I slammed my door shut and locked it, then moved to sit on my bed. I turned on the lamp.

In the smallest, neatest cursive I've ever read, the note said:

You shouldn't have come. You can't keep running. You cannot hide. Those who want to find you WILL FIND YOU.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And that was chapter three. That took quite a bit of time, so I hope you enjoyed it. Leave comments, vote. Tell me what you think!