Into the Aether_Part One(9)

One good thing that came from the merging of the schools was the renovations. Jericho held chapel every morning, but Leaside had no facilities for this. Over the course of a year, the cafeteria was extended, and a stage was added to make it into an auditorium and chapel. It was still used as a cafeteria, so students began to refer to it as the ‘cafe-chapa-torium’.

Leaside’s numbers continued to dwindle while Jericho’s swelled. Lara was in her last year of high school now, and rumors were circulating that Jericho would take over completely. Principal Williams laughed it off when asked, but she seemed to be growing ever more worried as the school year went on.

As Lara stood in the middle of the crowd, she continued to look around, but it was impossible to tell where Greg was. A small group of students formed, and she made her way over through the throngs of people.

The growing circle surrounded two boys: One was a teenager from Jericho, who Lara recognized by his uniform; the other was a plain-clothed boy. Greg. The uniformed student was shouting obscenities and senselessly beating Greg, who was desperately trying to cover his face.

She remembered when this actually happened, but it had been different. The real fight only lasted thirty seconds before it was broken up by several teachers. Greg was checked out by paramedics while the other boy received a suspension. Now, the pummelling just kept happening.

Lara looked up from the beating to see herself. The other Lara just stood watching, useless. Greg must have asked himself why his only friend wasn’t helping him. She had felt so guilty, but at the time, she was paralyzed, unsure of what to do. As she watched the beating continue, something inside of her let go. She would not let this happen again. Lara walked to the Jericho boy, grabbed him by the shoulders, and threw him clear across the crowd and against the wall. The boy crumpled like a rag doll. Well, that’s new, she thought to herself, looking down at her arms.

She crouched and put her hand on Greg’s shoulder. “Are you alright?” she asked. He looked up at her through his black rectangular glasses, his face oddly calm. She stood and pulled him up to a standing position.

They both looked over at the crumpled heap on the floor. “Not so tough now, are ya?” Greg called out. Lara smiled to herself.

“So you wanna go ahead and wake up now?” she asked.

“Huh? I’m not asleep,” he replied, straightening his clothes.

“Yes, you are. Wake up!” Nothing happened. Greg stared at her blankly. “What was the last thing you remember?” she asked.

“I... I was in computer class with Mr. Alcott. No, it wasn’t Mr. Alcott, it was someone else. A substitute,” he replied, looking at the floor. “I’m asleep? I don’t feel asleep.”

“Yes, now wake up!” she said, frustrated. Lara placed her hand on his shoulder for the third time. Still, nothing happened. “This is weird. Usually someone wakes up quickly when I want them to.”

“I’m dreaming? This doesn’t feel like how I dream. Are you sure it’s mine?” asked Greg.

“Where did everybody go?” asked Lara, her eyes moving about the area.

Greg turned around; almost everyone was gone except for the student from Jericho, who was still slumped in the corner. “Maybe it’s his dream.”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll try and wake him,” said Lara.

“Wait, if it’s his dream, how are we here?”

The lights in the cafeteria dimmed slightly, and darkness seeped into the room. Lara was still able to see clearly, but her surroundings had a muted appearance. The sun itself was even shining less brightly. A coldness entered the room, biting at Lara’s skin, and she wrapped her arms around herself and hugged tightly in an attempt to keep warm. She glanced at Greg. He was doing the same thing.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

A low hissing sound issued from behind the red doors toward the rear of the room. It sounded like hundreds of people speaking in hushed whispers. Lara tried to discern the words, but the voices were all saying different things. The sound steadily grew louder, and Lara instinctively took several steps back, gooseflesh breaking out over her body.

“Whatever it is, it can’t hurt us. It’s a dream, a figment of his imagination,” she said in an attempt to reassure herself more than Greg. The sounds were now a dull roar.

“We’re not a figment of his imagination.”

“And you’re not helping,” Lara scoffed.

The voices issuing from behind the door now took on an urgent tone.

She looked at the red doors and stopped walking backward. She took a deep breath, planted her feet, and balled her hands into fists. “Whatever it is, Greg, it won’t get past me.”

The sound that now came from behind the door was deafening in its ferocity. Both of them instinctively put their hands to their ears. The doors burst open to reveal a shifting, inky mass that reminded Lara of black dye in water. It did not disperse, however; instead it stayed at the doorway, floating, then slowly moved past the threshold and entered the cafeteria.

“What is that?” Lara asked. Greg didn’t respond.

A black, inky face protruded from the mass with hollowed open-spaced eyes. It looked around the room before settling on Lara. “Mare...” it said, and with incredible speed, tendrils shot up from it and darted toward them. Greg and Lara tried to run, but before they could barely turn, it had grabbed Lara and thrown her to the wall. Lara fell with a thud, the breath knocked out of her. The creature then wrapped a tendril around her waist, pressing her against the wall while raising her toward the ceiling. Lara looked at the black swirling mass before her. The face again appeared, and its eyes studied her. Somehow the face did not settle into a single appearance, but it constantly shifted.