Chapter Five

Black. 

Surrounded by it. 

Where am I? 

It's so cold… 

Is… this water? 

Am I… still in the lake? 

I guess… I don't mind dying here… 

Maybe someone will say that I was brave, trying to save this idiot's life. The movement of the water around me is pleasant… 

Movement! 

What the hell!? 

What's happening? 

I'm supposed to be dying! 

Air! 

What is this hardness? 

The water was much softer… 

Maybe if I open my eyes I'll be able to see what the hell is happening. Oh, shit! 

Why is it so bright!? 

Why are there so many…lights? 

And why are they…all red and blue? 

Ahh… I'm tired…

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Monday came too soon. I could have skipped school, but I didn't want to appear cowardly. That would only embolden the punks that put me in this predicament, to begin with. Brushing my teeth with my left hand felt strange as thoughts of the dreams from the last couple of nights pervaded my mind. 

They must be memories of what happened after I blacked out in the lake… 

The ringtone on my new cell phone blared from my room, down the hallway, and into the bathroom. Mom had ordered the phone while I was in the hospital and had had it overnighted to our house. She didn't want to risk anything like the lake incident again. She knew that I would have called for help had I not dropped my phone in the lake that same day. At least that's what I told her I would have done. 

Spitting the last bit of saliva and toothpaste into the sink, I hurried from the bathroom. 

"Hey man, you coming to school today?" Oliver's voice sounded a bit apprehensive, as though he feared the answer. 

"Yeah, I'm going." 

I heard a sigh of relief through the phone. 

"What's that for? Is something up?" 

His voice was back to normal. "No, dude, just wanted to make sure you were coming in. I was afraid that you'd say no because you didn't want the other students to see all of the vampire bites and spell markings on your body." 

I should have expected that. "You're ridiculous. That didn't happen, nut-job."

"Yeah, so you say…" 

"Hardy-har-har…" I hit the big red END CALL button on the bottom of the screen. Sometimes I worried for the sanity of that kid. I dressed as quickly and efficiently as I could with one arm, trying to ignore the pain shooting across my upper back and down my right arm. I might have grudgingly asked Mom for help with my shirt if she wasn't at work. Her shift started early in the morning and most nights she didn't get home until well into the afternoon. Such is the life of an Emergency Room Nurse, or so she always said… 

I eventually succeeded in clothing myself in my typical jeans/t shirt/sneakers ensemble, thankfully. I didn't want anything keeping me from school today. Most kids may hide away in their room, but I knew what I had to do. Uncle Rob had taught me to always face a challenge head-on and to never let fear rule you. Ridicule be damned and Bradan be damned too. 

I looked around for my backpack, realizing that I had never taken it from school on Friday. 

Oh well… 

It didn't take long for me to grab the translucent, orange bottle of hydrocodone, my phone, and my courage, and then I was out the door and on my way to school. The morning was overcast and breezy, promising rain. 

I'd better grab an umbrella; and my house key; and my rain jacket. Damn it. Way to be intelligent, me… 

The walk was quiet; peaceful. While the oaks and elms still stubbornly held on to some of their leaves, the ground had gained more of the corpses of their fallen comrades since my walk through town, before it all went to hell. 

That same, steady "tch…tch…tch" of my shoes dragging on the sidewalk filled my little corner of the atmosphere, helping to clear my clouded mind.

Simple things like that always helped to lower my anxiety levels. The cool breeze made my cheeks tingle as a slow drizzle picked up and I awkwardly popped the black canopy of the simple umbrella out over my head. 

I found myself thinking of Uncle Rob. I had always admired him. He had always seemed so…cool. The way he walked, the way he talked and how he always knew the right thing to say – these were things that I had tried to emulate, though by my estimation I did a relatively poor job of it.

There was just something about Rob that drew people in. He was strong and capable and caring. And he was exactly what I thought a "real man" was. 

When he had told Mom and me that he was being deployed again, the entire house had gone quiet. Not even Misty had known what to say. Granted, her "saying" would have just been really loud, annoying barks. But she didn't bark, and I didn't speak. It hadn't even been eight months since he had re-enlisted… 

Squealing brakes. 

The squeal of wet brake pads on a wet caliper, combined with tires skidding on wet pavement snapped me back to the sidewalk. I jumped, feeling a web of pain spread across the top of my shoulder and shoulder blade and down my arm as I reflexively jerked my arm, nearly losing my balance.

I glared over my left shoulder at the white Chevy pickup truck now rolling slowly next to the curb. Oliver sat in the driver's seat with his usual ear-to-ear grin. I realized that my mouth was hanging slightly open and I snapped it shut. No matter how much I tried to consciously control it that always happened. 

"Dammit, Oliver! You scared the shit out of me!" Thankfully my throat was not as raw as it had been just two days before.

A hearty laugh escaped the passenger side window of the truck. "That's what I was going for! Gotta keep you on your toes, bro! Although I'm glad that sentiment isn't literal. It's not, is it?" 

Squinting my eyes in frustration, I spoke, enunciating each word carefully. "No, it's not literal." 

"Oh relax dude, all is well. You want a ride?" He had turned sixteen in August, so unlike most of us miserable freshmen, he could legally drive. 

"Nah, I think I'm good. I need to stretch my legs, you know?" Oliver's carefree attitude brought the tension down a notch. "Alright bro, see you in prison!" 

He slammed his foot down on the gas pedal, making the rear wheels spin on the wet pavement before they gained traction, propelling the truck forward with a lurch. A smile found its way to my face in spite of the dull ache that threatened to take over the entire right half of my torso.

Oliver was always calling school "prison." Of course, that was if he wasn't in one of his moods where everyone was a monster of some sort. If that was the case then school was called "hell." He really was something else. 

It was about twenty minutes later, just as the real downpour was beginning, that Angel Grove High came into sight. The library towered over the rest of the school, haunting in my remembrance of it. My gaze turned toward Demon Lake.

Goosebumps rose up all over my body as memories of that horrific night filled my mind. With those thoughts came a nearly overpowering feeling of doubt. The rain was falling so heavily that I couldn't even see the lake through it, but the fear was there nonetheless, just like it was when I was in the water itself. 

The fear and doubt crept its way through my mind and body like a dark, possessing spirit. My legs screamed to run away. I couldn't move. I heard a soft, distant sound, like something falling on hard ground. 

Water enveloped me. 

"Jamie!" 

Who is that? 

"Jamie, what are you doing man?" 

Oliver? What is he doing in the lake with me…? 

"Jamie?" 

No, Oliver, you've got to go! Swim away! 

"JAMIE!!" A violent shake snapped my head back and I realized the reality of the situation.

I wasn't in the lake, after all. My shoulder was screaming for me to put my arm back down. I had been holding the arm, sling and all, up in front of my face. I didn't even remember moving it. 

Holy shit. 

"Dude! What the hell?" Ollie's face was covered with concern and fear. 

"What?" 

"What the fuck do you mean, 'what'? Are you kidding me?" He yelled, causing a student that was passing by to jump and nearly slip on the wet sidewalk. 

"I'm fine, bro, don't freak out." My heart was racing from the fear that still clung tightly to my insides. I looked at the girl apologetically, prompting her to roll her eyes and continue on toward the entrance. 

"Oh, you're fine, huh?" Oliver shook his head in dismay.

"Yes! I'm fine!" 

Am I? 

"Dude, you looked like there was a damn train bearing down on you and you couldn't move. You looked like you were dying!"

Ha! If you only knew what it felt like… 

He continued, "Not to mention that you're soaked now! Why the hell is your umbrella on the ground?" He looked at me after picking up the umbrella.

"Bro, are you okay? Do you want to go back to your house? School can suck it." Oliver was always thinking of others; even at his own expense. 

The rain continued to pour down on us. I took the umbrella and put it over my head. Not that it mattered much, considering the fact that I was drenched. Ollie was dry, though, having not dropped his umbrella in a fit of mental illness. 

"No. It'll be fine. I was just remembering, well, drowning." I couldn't tell him that it felt as though I was back there again, sinking into oblivion. I looked toward the school's front entrance, trying to avoid his gaze.

Two people were just entering the school. From the difference in hairstyles and height, it looked as though one was a girl and the other a guy. They were both wearing long black trench coats, which I supposed wasn't too out of the norm for this weather.

But something bothered me about the way they walked as if the duffel bags they carried were too heavy for them. 

Oliver snapped his fingers in front of my eyes, "Dude! You just zoned out again. No way are you going to school today. I'm taking you to see a psychoanalyst right now." He stepped around behind me and began pushing me toward his truck. 

"You mean a psychiatrist?" I asked, going along with him. "No, I'm talking about a psychoanalyst. I heard that they can read your dreams like a psychic, except with science." 

"I'm pretty sure that's not what they do, Oliver," I said, stopping short and causing him to nearly bump into me. "I'm going to school." 

"Why are you so stubborn man!?"

"It's in my nature," I said, drawing out the words and ending it with a smirk. I had already forgotten about the trenchcoat-clad couple. Oliver shook his head again and threw his hands in the air in defeat. "I can't win with you! What are you going to do about your clothes?" 

"Oh, I'm sure there will be something in the Lost & Found." "Alright, alright, let's go look." 

For a moment, a fleeting glimpse in the vastness of time and space, I thought that I would be able to leave those dark memories on the sidewalk outside of Angel Grove High, to be washed away by the torrent of wind and rain.