The Gender Fall (The Gender Game #5)(112)

“Oh, I think Natalie can find her way,” the teacher replied with a knowing smile, and Alex stopped.

He stared as Natalie left without glancing back at him, and the dread hallucination trailed after her, still whispering, its hands now at her forehead, stroking down her spine.

The giggles that broke out behind him sounded manic in comparison, making the scene even more surreal.

Of course, he told himself firmly, Natalie didn’t need help finding the nurse’s office. She was probably just still tired, her body adjusting to the new environment. Maybe she’d even caught a mild bug. There was nothing to worry about.

And, for some reason, I’m just still hallucinating.

He set his bag down and dropped back into his seat, watching as the door closed through the end of the thing’s rags. Class continued as normal, though without further involvement from him.





Bonus Chapter 5





Alex made his way quickly between the rows of lockers that made up the halls of Middledale High. The other students bustled around him, chattering loudly as they grabbed books from their lockers and made their way to their next classes.

But Alex had no intention of going to his next class. He was heading straight to the nurse’s office to see if Natalie was still there. It was an irrational thing to do, checking on Natalie. He was obviously having profound mental issues, and it could prove drastic to involve someone else.

But as much as he’d tried to reassure himself that this was all in his head, he just couldn’t rid himself of the feeling that something horrible was happening to her, right now. Mrs. Lambert had seen Natalie was unwell too, when earlier this morning she’d looked fine. That wasn’t just his imagination.

He found himself speeding to a trot, and soon approached the door to the nurse’s office, which was shut. He remembered just in time that he should knock, and rapped quickly before bursting into the small room.

The creature in rags was standing less than two feet from him, with one hand at the small of Natalie’s back. Alex sucked in a sharp breath, and with it came the vague taste of dirt, and something wet. He almost gagged, staring. He’d never been this close to the thing before. Seeing it now, he could tell just how dilapidated its clothes were. They weren’t just tattered, but filthy. Streaks of dirt, and something dark and red, slashed along the back, and the loose sleeves were heavy with rot. Blue veins wrapped around the tendons in its wrists, standing out starkly through its papery skin, and it kept up an incessant, hissing whisper.

It was extraordinarily visceral for a hallucination.

Natalie didn’t even seem to have noticed him enter the room, sitting in the nurse’s chair with her head buried in her hands. Her glossy black hair spilled out between her fingers, cascading down about her knees. The thing stood as still as death, its torn gray clothes fluttering lightly around it.

“Natalie?”

Her head jerked up, eyes wide and staring, and she forced a weak smile.

“Hi. Alex.” Her voice sounded remote.

“I just wanted to check on you,” he said uncertainly. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh. Not well. I…can’t be…here anymore.” Her speech was oddly staggered, coming out in short bursts. Very unlike the exuberant, talkative girl he knew her to be.

If he had hoped seeing her would reassure him, he was sorely disappointed. She seemed worse than ever, worn down, drained of all personality. At her side, the thing turned in Alex’s direction and shifted slightly beneath its rags.

“Do you think you’re sick?” Alex pressed, keeping an eye on the hallucination.

“I think I’m…sick,” she said lifelessly.

The thing stopped its indecipherable whispering and abruptly took a step toward Alex, removing its hand from Natalie’s back to shuffle over to him. It moved its head back and forth, as if searching him out. Alex took an involuntary step back, horrified despite himself, his heart beating faster.

“Alex?” said Natalie, in a voice that was suddenly more her own. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes, I’m fine,” he managed. Act natural. She doesn’t know you’re hallucinating.

It drew closer, but didn’t seem to see him, apparently staring right through him to the door at his back. For the first time, Alex could fully make out its face. The glassy eyes were like the night sky, black and full of stars. Its hollow cheeks were dusted with a short, bristling beard, and its patchy gray hair hung down in lank locks. There was a soft noise as its fetid clothes dragged upon the ground behind it.

“Okay.” Natalie gave a weak laugh. “The nurse just had to take a phone call, but she’ll be back in a minute. So…what are you doing in here? Are you feeling sick too?” She tilted her head a little. “And what are you staring at?”

“N-Nothing,” he said. He forced his eyes back to her and saw a little more color in her cheeks. “And yes—I mean, no, I’m feeling fine. I just wanted to check on you.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” rasped the hallucination with a soft sound of irritation.

That was the final straw for Alex. “What?” he snapped, turning on the thing.

“Huh?” Natalie frowned.

He whirled on her, running both hands quickly through his hair.

“Alex,” she said cautiously, “are you sure you’re feeling okay? You’re acting…quite insane.”