Seeing Things

By the time that Zariah was ready for school, her mother had left. It was already seven o'clock in the morning, giving Zariah only thirty minutes to walk to school. She packed her unfinished homework into her bag, along with some bagged sandwiches for lunch and a charger for her cellphone. Reluctantly, she slipped the new pink necklace over her head and hid the ugly stone under her blouse. With a knee-length dress over top, it would be hard to notice the bump of the stone. Then she left the house, pausing only to lock the front door behind her. With the sun still not up, Zariah struggled to find the key hole for longer than she'd have liked. The morning air was freezing cold, and by the time the door was locked her fingers were already numb. Zariah stuffed her hands in her big coat pockets and set off at a brisk pace.

Her most recent home was situated in a large neighborhood just a ten minute's walk from the school. Houses here came in all shapes and sizes, but they sported one thing in common: By October 1st, they were decked out with Halloween decorations. It was as if Halloween sprung out of ground when the clock struck midnight. Zariah tried not to think too deeply on it, but it certainly felt like salt in her wounds. Her boots tapped lightly on the sidewalk as she turned her cold walk into almost a run, eager both to get away from the decorations and the cold.

The sidewalk took Zariah to the neighborhood exit. This road, which was a turn off from a busy street, was the only way for cars to get in or out of the neighborhood. There was a crosswalk that pedestrians like Zariah could use for crossing, which took them into a sizable park. A playground was visible behind some short fencing, was well as picnic benches scattered around. As was her morning tradition, Zariah went straight for the playground and sat herself down on the swingset. The cold plastic swing made her yelp in surprise, but she eventually settled down on it. Every morning, she would wait here for Eliot. The park had paths that led both to the popular shopping center and Crossing Fields High School, so it was the ideal place to meet up.

But that morning felt different somehow. As Zariah sat on the cold swing, she saw no other students passing through. That struck her as unusual, as the park was a common shortcut used by other teenagers in her neighborhood. Not only that, but there were no birds chirping or squirrels rustling about. Their absence of noise left a painful silence in its place, which drummed on Zariah's nerves.

"Scaredy cat." She scolded herself in a whisper. Her warm breath puffed out in front of her, briefly catching her interest. That childish intrigue reminded her moreso that she was being silly. "There's nothing scary about silence. Get a grip."

Just like there was nothing scary about Halloween, she thought to herself. Her mother was silly to be so worried. Zariah, too, was silly to get so worked up. Why did Halloween suddenly mean so much to her? Was it because her mom had said 'no?' Or was it the disappointment at being unable to dress-up with Eliot? Or the fear of being teased by her new classmates.

She sighed loudly in annoyance and decided to use the swing for swinging. Maybe that would keep her warm, and she could vent some frustrations too.

Eliot was late. Looking up, Zariah inspected a nearby pole with a clock on the tip. It read seven fifteen. Pretty soon, she would have to literally run late to class.

She swung her legs, using the act of swinging to distract herself. Her eyes were set forward, watching for Eliot. When the swing was at the top of its arc, she could even see over the park fence. When it was its lowest, she could only see the sand of the playground. She swung up at least five times without seeing anything. Then, on the sixth upward swing, she saw something.

But it was not Eliot.

She almost didn't believe her eyes. Briefly, she had seen a shadowy figure standing at the edge of the playground. The swing arced back down quickly, so fast that all she saw was a blurr. The next time it went up, she was looking for it. It was a tall form, perhaps seven feet tall, wearing what looked like a suit over its shadowy body. Its limbs were pure black and seemed to seep out of the suit, and tentacle-like wisps were reaching high into the air. Zariah would never call it human, but she did find a face on it. Large, white eyes with no pupils exchanged eye contact with her. She felt a shudder go up her spine. It was an awful and sour feeling, like the way she often felt being vomiting. It filled her with dread and panic.

As the swing came downward again, Zariah slammed her feet into the playground sand. The force of the stop caused her to lose her balance all together, and she stumbled forward. Her palms met the sand. Shoving herself off the ground, Zariah turned around and began running away from the figure. She didn't care to take another look: Her gut told her that it was dangerous. Behind her, Zariah could heard a loud whistling noise: It was like the combination of a tea kettle screaming and the roar of a passing train. The sound seemed to be coming up behind her at an alarming rate, too.

Zariah sped down the park's sidewalk, not sure where exactly she was going. Just 'away.' Then, abruptly, she had to stop herself before crashing into a black iron gate. It was a gate that she had never seen before then. Behind it was a building of the same description: A tall, three story mansion with rotted white paint, which Zariah never knew existed. If there had not been a 'thing' chasing her, she may have been excited by this mysterious discovery. Instead, Zariah was mortified by the iron bars that stopped her path. She grabbed them between her hands and shook them helplessly, pleading for a miracle. Anything to open the gate and let her in. They remained closed and locked tight. Behind her, that horrendous noise grew louder. Zariah could feel a strong wind coming towards her and knew she had been cornered.

I can't let it touch me! She wasn't sure why, but she knew that. There were no weapons nearby. The only thing she could think to use was the cold, heavy necklace under her shirt. Zariah took it off her neck and swung around, holding the chain and wielding the stone like a weapon. "Get AWAY from me—"

"ACK!"

"Oh, crap!"

Zariah's stone necklace did not collide with a shadowy monster, nor did it leave her hand. She yanked back on the chain before it could hit the person that had been standing behind her. Good thing too, she reasoned, since the stone could have done some serious damage to his face. And if there was one thing that Eliot Durant valued about himself, it was his attractive face.

Eliot had been standing behind her— ducking, actually, as he prepared to dodge the swinging necklace,— and he was far from a monster. Tall and lanky, he was not someone she ought to be hitting with weaponized jewelry. Quite the opposite: Eliot was known to be anemic and sickly, and might not survive a hard whack to the head. If not physically, then mentally. His face was framed by blond hair, with the tips dyed an energetic shade of pink. Eliot took very good care of his appearances and would have been mortified to have a bruise across his face.

Fortunately, between his quick ducking and Zariah's quick stop, no one got hurt.

"Eliot!" Zariah breathe out in shock, "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? I could ask you the same!" He replied, "And why are trying to kill me? It's not even seven thirty and I've done nothing wrong!"

Zariah relaxed slightly. Her gaze had swept behind Eliot, but she saw nothing. Well, nothing frightening. Just an empty pathway and some trees. She turned her head from left to right, sweeping the area curiously. "I could swear… Didn't I see something?"

"See what?" Eliot asked.

She bit down on her lip. Telling Eliot about the shadow would be reasonable, maybe… But only if it was real. Rubbing her eyes, she was reminded that she was pretty tired… And stressed, too. Maybe the Halloween argument and her over thinking had gotten to her head. After all… There was no reason to be scared of Halloween. That meant that creepy shadow things could not exist. Otherwise, her mother might be right.

"Nothing." She finally answered. Zariah did not want her mother to be right about Halloween. So she buried her fear under a smile. "I was so cold waiting for you. Thought a jog might help."

"Well. You left your bag when you went jogging." Eliot held up her pink messenger bag and she quickly retrieved it. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Wanted to put out some decorations before school."

"Oh…" Right. Everyone was obsessed with Halloween decorations. "You'll have to show me sometime."

"Of course." He grinned.

His smile was so much like a child's, but it warmed her. Zariah could feel the heat of blush warming her icy cheeks. Embarrassed, she averted her gaze.

"But you still took forever." She said quickly, "Come on. Let's get moving, or we'll be late!"