Walking Among the Shadows: Awakening: Revised Edition (20 page)

They were clearly up to no
good and I could see she knew it. As she walked towards them I saw something
move behind her. At first I thought I was tripping and seeing things; a result
of hitting my head on the hard floor but when I took a second look I was sure I
wasn’t. Whatever it was seemed to be attached to her and it was moving around
and through her. It was ugly and disfigured like an old doll left in a fire. It
appeared solid but was able to move in and out her body like a ghost or
something. I found myself staring at it; as terrified as I was I just couldn’t
keep my eyes from it. When it noticed I could see it, it seemed to growl at me
revealing a mouth full of jagged and sharp teeth. Mrs. Palpachek immediately
turned around and gave me the most evil look, like I’d invaded her privacy or
caught her cheating on her wealthy husband. Which if rumors are correct is
something she did on a regular basis. Everyone in Deerfield knew she married
for money and she was seeing several men around the Chicago land area;
including a few right here in Deerfield. She was a very beautiful woman with an
amazing body and because of that she got special treatment from the male
faculty as well as the principal and took full advantage of it.

She wasn’t a nice person and
whatever that was attached to her wasn’t nice either. It seemed to be formed of
a dark mist and where its eyes should have been were just empty holes. It was
threatening and aggressive constantly scratched at the air in my direction.
Mrs. Palpachek also seemed agitated by the way I was looking at her and she
decided to go elsewhere and out of my line of sight instead of checking on the
wayward teens. What was happening to me? I thought. Was it the knock on the
head from hitting the floor? Was I going crazy? I was losing my cool and it got
worse once I started looking closely at everyone and noticed they all had those
misty things attached to them.

Some were similar in character
as Mrs. Palpachek’s and others were different and not as aggressive. They
seemed peaceful and their forms were beautiful and serene. Some were a mixture
of the two, like the arms would be disfigured while the rest of the body wasn’t
so deformed. It was strange and terrifying to see everyone have these spirits
or entities attached to them, clinging to them as if these things wouldn’t
survive without the host they were attached to.

All kinds of things popped up
in my head from alien invasions to demonic possessions. But none of them made
sense or seemed to describe what I was seeing. It was one of the most horrifying
moments of my teenage life because inside I knew that I was also possessed by
one of these things and what I was seeing was real and not a hallucination. As
bad as I wanted it to be hallucinations, something inside me told me these
things were real and I began to understand the feeling I had in the hallway
now. That feeling like I was missing something or a draft was blowing straight
through me. Jasmine has done something to me but I didn’t know what or how. I
just knew I was different now and I didn’t see my life going back to how it
used to be anytime soon.

I ran back in the school
trying to get away from everyone. I just wanted to be alone but fate would have
it that I would run into Tony…literally. I turned the corner and bam! I looked
around and I was on the floor again but Tony was still on his feet reaching
down to help me up. I remembered being upset because I’d never been knocked on
my back twice in the same day; in fact the same year. Tony looked me over and
noticed the scratches and scars Jasmine had given me. “Are you okay?” he asked
with concern. I reached up to take his hand then pulled back. I almost forgot
about what I was seeing and the last thing I wanted to see was Tony’s little
baby demon playing ring-around-the-rosy on his leg or torso. But when I looked
I couldn’t see it. So I allowed him to help me up and before he could back away
I hugged him tightly. After such a traumatic evening he was like my oasis in a
desert of horrors. At first he tensed up at my show of affection but seeing me
in the state I was in I guess he figured I could use a hug and for the first
time he hugged me back.

The feeling of him embracing
me filled me with security and warmth. We just stood there hugging for about
thirty seconds and then I saw it. I screamed and immediately jumped away from
Tony and pointed at it. Tony looked very worried now. He looked around himself
to see what I was pointing at. Tony’s little visitor was hiding behind his
head, wrapped around his neck. After looking at it more I realized that his
little creepy visitor wasn’t disfigured nor aggressive. Actually it was very
shy and cute like a koala bear but it didn’t have any animal features and it
didn’t look anything like Tony. But looking at it, I realized it was Tony or
something that was a part of Tony. I can’t really explain how I knew this but
something in me started to make sense of what I was seeing and I swear this
little cute companion that was hanging on Tony’s arm was actually apart of Tony
or it was Tony.

“Are you okay?” Tony asked
again. I answered yes as I slowly walked towards him never taking my eyes off
this thing that was now hanging on his arm. When I got closer it hid behind him
again, only peeking out once or twice then quickly hiding again. Then when I
got about a foot from Tony the thing popped its head out of his stomach and
then jumped back in. The sudden appearance from his stomach startled me and I
jumped back again but this time I laughed. Tony was really confused now and
grabbed my hand and told me he was taking me home. I told him to give me a
minute so I can call my mom to let her know I was on my way home. As I began
dialing I noticed from the corner of my eye that Tony’s little companion was
watching me. It was perched on his shoulder and staring at my cell phone’s
screen as I dialed. It would look at me and then back at the screen. I was
getting too comfortable with this. Where was my head? This wasn’t normal and
unless I spoke to someone soon I would find myself locked away in an insane
asylum. I’ve never shared this with anyone, but death never scared me nor did
serious injury.

My greatest fear is being
locked away in a cage or restrained, unable to move or speak. Locked away in a
padded room and forgotten by all those I cared about to rot and live out my
life staring out a window drooling and longing for an end but not having the
mental capacity to end it all myself.

So standing here and accepting
being watched by some supernatural pet sitting on Tony’s shoulder shouldn’t be
a laughing matter. In the car ride home with Tony I tried my best to not look
at him directly. Instead, I looked outside the car window. I could tell Tony
wanted to ask me about what happened but he was hesitant due to me being so
distant.

When I got home I paused
outside my front door for about ten minutes; afraid to see what type of
supernatural things would be attached to my family. Would they be disfigured
and aggressive or would they be something docile and goofy like Tony’s?

This was crazy and it would
drive me insane if I had to live in the house with those things so I wasn’t
looking forward to walking through that door. When I finally got the nerve to
open the door I noticed the house felt different. It wasn’t as welcoming as it
used to be. It felt cramped and seemed to have this feeling of disorder and
depression. The atmosphere was so toxic I almost walked my butt right back out
the house but I decided to keep going towards the kitchen when I heard my mom’s
voice. I really needed my mom at that point; I just wanted her to hold me in her
arms. Maybe her love could help me calm my nerves and make things better.

But after seeing the monstrosity
that was attached to Jason no amount of hugging was going to make things
better. Jason’s entity could only be described as death materialized before
your eyes. It was rotten and horribly disfigured and moved like a serpent;
slithering in and out of Jason. To say it was aggressive was an understatement.
It seemed to actually feast on Jason, biting and gnawing at him. Even though it
couldn’t physically bite him it still appeared to be taking pieces of Jason and
swallowing them whole. I screamed when it stared at me and grinned allowing
pieces of rotten flesh to fall from its mouth. It was a scene that not even the
most renowned “masters of horror” could conjure up in their wildest
imaginations or nightmares. It was only natural for a girl like me to scream at
the top of my lungs at this horrific display. It was the only logical response
to something like that. I may be very skilled in self-defense but this was way
out of my area of expertise.

I don’t know what is going on
with my family; I can see ghosts attached to people, and apparently Aiden can
control and walk through fire. And Jason was an evil spirit or demon. Oh yeah,
and I saw that crazy shit as my mom and I ran out of her room. On a night when
our family should be celebrating we are in the hospital trying to make sense of
the most horrifying experience any of us has ever endured.

Here goes Tony again, trying
to get to the bottom of what happened. I just wish he would drop it. I don’t
want to be mean to him but right now I’m trying to grasp everything that’s
happened and also pray my family will be okay. So the last thing I want to do
right now is start explaining the unexplainable.

“Listen, Tony, I really can’t
talk about this right now. I got a lot on my mind and it’s a lot to process, so
I’m gonna need some time to figure this shit out. I’m sorry but I can’t give
you any answers.”

By the look on his face, he
isn’t going to let it go. Now I understand why he and my brother are the best
of friends. They are both dense and hard of hearing. Boys are so dumb; it’s
like a hint to them can’t be subtle it has to be an explosion or a hit across
the head with a bat. Then they get the point but anything less dramatic and
they are clueless. On the other hand, I understand that he deserves an
explanation especially after running into a burning house to get my brother
out, risking his life for someone else’s. Also, I know that Tony and my brother
had a falling out a while back because Tony became a ghost and I rarely saw him
outside of school. I’m not quite sure why but something tells me all this
supernatural stuff may be a reason. I would more than likely have a falling out
with my best friend if they told me they could see ghosts, control fire, and
kill demons. Yeah, I think I would keep a safe distance from that kind of
crazy. It’s just not fair for people to think that just because you are friends
when a friend goes all “Hitchcock” on you that you should stay around anyway.

Self-preservation is paramount
in my book and no amount of friendships or “keeping it real” will make me
decide otherwise. So for Tony to go in there after my brother was impressive
and very selfless and I want to give him something but I need to be still and
quiet and collect my thoughts. Later I will break it to him but right now isn’t
the right time and place for it.

I just wish he would shut up
with all the questions already! He is really testing my nerves. Let me get up
and walk over to the receptionist desk and pretend I am asking an important
question because I am about to curse and real loud too. Walking towards the
receptionist I see from the corner of my eye down the hall the six agents who
came to our house several times during those murder investigations. They seem
very agitated and in a rush. They are moving quickly towards me…a little too
quick. Let me step back to give them some room, assuming they need to speak to
the receptionist; but instead what do you know they surround me, totally
ignoring the receptionist. Now this is getting over the top. First I’m seeing
ghosts, demons trying to kill me, and now six FBI agents are surrounding me
like they are going to attack.

I’m feeling very uncomfortable
in this circle and none of them are saying a word. They’re just standing here,
staring me down while I ask them if there is a problem. These guys are assholes
and I’m not gonna stand here in this circle while they stare me down. This is
creepy and I’ve had enough creepy for a thousand years. What’s strange is these
clowns don’t seem to have a ghost attached to them, well…I take that back
because after doing a double take these guys have them and they aren’t as
hideous as Jason’s but they are a close second. They are all staring at me now,
the ghostly monsters and the agents, not moving or saying a word. It seems like
they are awaiting orders from an unseen force or waiting for me to make the
first move. I’ve had enough of this, let me get out of here but once I make a
move they decide to block my path, and every time I try to use another angle to
get out, they close their positions tighter preventing me from squeezing past
them.

Where is Tony? Is he just
sitting here watching this and doing nothing?

“Uh, Tony! A little help
here?”

“Gentlemen, excuse her,” Tony
said after getting up and walking behind them.

No one moves, not one agent or
ghost. They are just standing there staring at me.

“Excuse me! Let her go!”

I can hear the anger and
aggravation in Tony’s voice. This could get bad if things get physical because
these are very bad men and I don’t think Tony and I can take these guys and
live to tell the tale. I am starting to understand a little more about what I’m
seeing and it seems that everyone who has an ugly or overly aggressive ghost-monster
attached to them is pretty much a bad person and those with more attractive and
docile ghosts are good people. And like I said, these guys have some ugly-ass
accessories.