Whispering in the Shadows

Disclaimer: Almost forgot this. Alright, alright. Names are taken from people at my high school and yes, LS is a real high school. I do not own it. It belongs to the Christian Brothers. Any brand name or place that is recognizable by franchise is not mine. Also I know that the title is the name of an Evanescence song. It belongs to them and not to me. Other that, anything else I own. Please do not steal. And now that the boring stuff is over and done with, enjoy the chapter. Please review!


Chapter 2. Going Under


Erika stepped back into the classroom and went to her seat. Mrs. Hearts just looked and watched her go by. Erika was glad to be back. If she had to lead those rude people (a/n: there are worse words, but Erika just isn’t like that. She’s kinda old-fashioned), she would do it on her own terms. She did not have to tolerate them if they were going to be difficult. The sound of a door opening barely registered in her brain as she continued to write in her journal. She heard footsteps approach, but only looked up when someone tapped her shoulder. Caileen and Jaren stood in front of her, with Mrs. Hearts behind them.

“Erika, these are our new students. They seem to be in all of your classes so I’m going to ask you to make sure they get around alright.” Saying her speech, Mrs. Hearts walked back to the desk and sat down to grade more papers.

Erika leaned back in her chair and motioned to the other desks.

“Sit down. I’m not going to bite.”

Caileen silently moved to a seat while Jaren stood watching, before finally seating in the seat opposite of Erika. The three of them looked across the grouping of desks, neither making a move, Caileen because she was too depressed, Jaren because he was too stubborn, and Erika because small talk wasn’t her forte.

The bell rang and the three of them silently stood up and gathered their things together. Erika watched as the population of La Salle High School tromped out of the classrooms and wandered down the halls to their next classes. She turned to see Jaren and Caileen looking at her, as if to say ‘where’s the rest of the school’. Erika laughed in her head and spoke softly so Jaren and Caileen had to lean forward to hear.

“La Salle has a population of about 600 students. We are a pretty small school. It makes it easier to get around.”

She started walking toward her next class, English 4. Jaren and Caileen rushed after her, not wanting to go through the humiliation of walking in late again. Erika led them down the hall till they stopped in front of an open door. The number above stated the room as 110. Erika walked in and with a little hesitation, the O’Connells followed.

The room was halfway-full of seniors, laughing over bad jokes, talking about the games, and discussing the homework that should have been done in time for class. Erika was talking to the teacher, a tall, lanky man, who was dressed in a semi-casual shirt with khaki pants. He wore loafers and argyle socks. He looked up at the two new students as they approached his desk.

“Hi, my name is Mr. McCall. I am your senior English teacher and I understand that you have come from San Francisco. That’s awesome. We’ll start class in a minute and I hope you’ll stand up and say a few words about yourselves. You both will sit next to Erika, so she can help you with catching up in this class.”

Mr. McCall then turned around and sorted papers on his desk while Erika led the two siblings to three desks on the far side of the room. They took their seats as the bell rang. The class settled as Mr. McCall stood in front of the class, holding a copy of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The class began as Mr. McCall started his lecture.

“Alright everyone. Before we get started I’d like to introduce two new people to you today. They are Jaren and Caileen O’Connell from San Francisco. They are going to get up and tell you a few things about them. Come on up, O’Connell’s.”

Jaren and Caileen moved up to the front. Erika barely glanced at them as they went past her. The class showed little to no interest in what these new people had to say. Jaren and Caileen glanced around as they decided what to say. Finally Jaren spoke up.

“My name is Jaren O’Connell and this is my twin sister Caileen. We just moved here from San Francisco due to my dad’s job. We live with our dad and grandmother. And that’s it.” Jaren promptly sat down when he finished with Caileen scurrying behind him. Mr. McCall looked startled for a moment before he proceeded to lecture the class about Macbeth.

Erika continued to write in her journal as class went on. When the bell rang, she got up and walked out, Caileen and Jaren trailing after her. The whole day went by with the O’Connell’s following her from class to class. They didn’t speak to one another again for the rest of the day. Finally, the bell signaling the end of school rang. Erika left her books in her locker and walked off to her car. She got in as her little brother climbed into the front seat and proceeded to turn the radio on rap; loudly. She rolled her eyes and did her best to ignore it as she pulled out of the parking lot and drove home.

Erika walked into her room as her brother headed towards his. They had a mutual agreement. No one bothered the other in their rooms unless it was an emergency. Her brother had a habit of disobeying that by coming in when he was bored, but after a few good yells and smacks, he usually left.

Erika dumped her book bag on her chair by her desk and grabbed the two books by her bedside. She flopped on her bed, with her feet by the head board and settled down to relax before starting her homework. She lazily rocked her legs back and forth as she read. She failed to notice, however, that her book bag had risen from her chair and was slowly drifting towards her.

&&&&&&&&&&


Jaren and Caileen sat in the car that their father provided. Jaren was at the wheel, mindlessly driving towards their new home, the fifth in six years. Caileen stared at the passing cars and buildings, saying nothing until Jaren couldn’t stand the silence.

“What’s wrong now? Huh? Are you getting that ‘feeling’ whenever something is about to go bad? Jeez, that’s all we need. After Dad gets moved, you get your ‘feeling’ or whatever and then we try to stick it out, but then you’re right and everything goes to hell! I’m sick and tired of moving, and not just cause of Dad’s work and trying to keep you happy, ok? I want a normal school life. Do you know what that is? Of course not, because there is nothing normal about us, is there?”

“Sorry,” Caileen muttered. “I just got a …”

“A what?”

“A tingle. In my stomach when we got in the car. I don’t know what that means. I’ve never felt that before.”

Jaren pulled off and looked at his sister hard.

“Are you sure you’ve never felt it before?

“Positive.”

“I wonder what that means.”

Jaren and Caileen slipped back into silence, each one thinking about the new detection of magic, wondering if this was the year everything would change for good.

&&&&&&&&

At Erika’s house, the bag dropped with a thump and Erika jumped at the noise. She looked down to find the bag lying on the floor next to her bed.

“What the hell..,” she murmured as the reality of the situation finally hit her. “Well, crap.”

With a nod and a jerk of her head, the bag started to hover again. It rose slowly as the heaviness of the books inside started to work with gravity. Erika sighed as she gave her bag a sterner look and rolled her eyes as it shot up and landed right in front of her.

“Showing off, are you?” she asked as the bag flipped open. “Lucky for you I’m too tired to care.”

She reached in and pulled out her journal. She turned the pages till she reached a clean sheet, then picked up her pen and started to write her thoughts.

Dear journal,
Today I was ‘elected’ to show some new kids around the school. They didn’t seem too friendly and good riddance. I hope I don’t have to show them around for much longer…


&&&&&&&&&

Jaren dropped his bag next to his desk and plopped down at his computer. The day had been stressful enough with the going to a new high school and having to put up with the most obnoxious person they could find. That Erika girl that had been summoned to take them around hadn’t even cared that Caileen was nervous or that he was pissed as hell. She had just taken their crap, then given some right back. Man, what a snob. He still couldn’t help but get riled every time he saw her haughty expression before she walked away from them in the hall. He had still been sore over that fact after school. He hadn’t meant to be so harsh with Caileen in the car. It was just that sometimes the moving and magic stuff, and now the added problems of ‘Princess Snob’ could get out of control. He hated to move and was still upset with his dad about the one before this one. He always seemed to start making friends as soon as his father was ready to go. He hadn’t wanted to admit it, but secretly he had hoped this move would be the final one for some time. It didn’t look good though. Mainly because he was still nervous about the ‘feeling’ Caileen had had. It wasn’t her fault, these things just came and sooner or later (it always seemed to be sooner), something had caused them to be instantly rejected from the new school and their father would tutor them for a week before announcing that they were moving, again. It had happened for the last six years. Jaren had wished the time they spent at St. Luke’s Academy had lasted longer, but as he looked back at it, considering they had spent two years there before the big event, he thought of it as a record.

A knock on his door brought him back to the present. He swirled in his chair before calling over his shoulder.

“Come in.”

Caileen opened the door with almost no sound and shut it behind her. She walked behind Jaren and placed her hands on the back of his chair, leaning forward to see what he was doing.

“You know, there is something we could do to prevent a disaster this year,” Caileen said softly. Jaren turned to look at her, half skeptic, half hopeful.

“Yeah, what?”

“You could reinforce your powers and practice. Then we could have a better chance of beating whatever is coming.”

Jaren shoved his chair away, pushing Caileen across the room. He stalked to the window and crossed his arms, looking out at the yard where their father held his workshop. His voice was rough and mean as he growled out his opinion of that idea.

“That would not work and you know it. I will never consider it an option.”

“But you know it could work-”

“NO, I DON’T!!” Jaren sighed. “I don’t think it will ever work.”

Caileen gave a frustrated sigh. “You never know until you try.”

A snort was Jaren’s only response. Caileen couldn’t believe how stubborn her twin was. He had the most potential of the two of them. Caileen thought back to when they first knew of their powers.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

They had been nine and were out for an outing with their mother. They were running around the tube tunnels and hiding inside, alternately scaring each other. Caileen had run away to hide inside the middle tunnel, planning to sneak out and hide somewhere else when Jaren was distracted. She circled around the edge and looking backward, started crawling. She bumped into someone with an Oomph. She landed on her backside, gingerly picking her hands up to see the damage inflicted by catching herself from falling. The scratches were minimal, barely bleeding and nothing you wouldn’t normally find on a child after playing. Caileen remembered that someone else was there and looked up to find a girl about her age, crouching on her knees, checking her own self for injury.

Caileen watched as the girl glanced up at her. The other girl had long, wavy, brown hair. Her eyes were light amber and sparkled with a bit of mischief and playfulness. Her clothes looked run down from playing outside and what looked to be years of wear. Her smile small and weary, as if she was unsure what to do. The girl shifted and started to back away. Caileen reached out.

“Wait!”

The girl shrunk away from her hand, scared. Her eyes changed from mischievous to wary. Caileen smiled back at the girl, trying to reassure her that everything was fine.

“My name is Caileen Orenda O’Connell. I’m sorry I ran into you. I didn’t see you. Why are you hiding? What’s your name?” Caileen said this all rather fast, becoming a little nervous herself.

The girl eased back at the friendly tone of Caileen’s voice, but she spoke so softly that Caileen almost didn’t hear her.

“My name is Rhian. I’m hiding because I think something’s going to happen.”

Caileen blinked at that statement. This girl was different from the people she usually met. Just as she was ready to ask her why, Jaren popped his head into the tunnel.

“There you are!” His tousled brown hair showed the red steaks as if the sun had lit his hair and was still burning. He glanced at Rhian with curiosity and asked, “Who is she?”

Caileen frowned at her brother. He was so rude. Just when she was making friends, he had to go and spoil things.

Rhian seemed madder at his interruption then scared.

“I’m Rhian Erika Crossan-Neil. Who are you? We certainly didn’t invite you in here. Go away!”

Jaren stared at Rhian, totally taken aback by this sudden outburst from a seemingly shy girl. His mouth hung open so wide, Caileen could see his tonsils.

Caileen laughed. No one had ever really been able to shut her brother up so well. She introduced him to Rhian, still giggling.

“Rhian, this is my twin brother, Jaren Edan-”

“She doesn’t need to know my middle name!”

“-O’Connell. He hates his middle name. If you didn’t get that.”

Rhian smiled. Her smile was wide and cheered up the whole tunnel. She stuck her hand out.

“Hi, Jaren Edan O’Connell.”

Jaren shook her hand for lack of something better to do. Just as they were about to get out of the tunnel, a large rumbling shook the earth. Rhian screamed and crouched into a ball.
“I knew it!” she cried. “I knew this was going to happen.”

Caileen joined her and they hugged each other as the rumbling grew louder and Jaren shoved them to the ground, causing Rhian and Caileen to scrape their arms.

“Hey!” they yelled, but Jaren was too concerned with his own cuts. They huddled together for what seemed minutes, when they saw a liquid come up from the ground.

It was silver and smelled like sulfur. It bubbled as if boiling and a big spurt, like a geyser, shot up and spread over the earth as if it had broken from a dam. This created a wave that rushed towards the opening of the tunnel and the children, seeing this, tried to escape. Jaren led the way followed closely by Caileen and Rhian, but they had to practically crawl because the tunnel was too small. Caileen tripped and sent Rhian sprawling. Jaren had gotten ahead, but when he saw the girls had fallen, he ran back to help them up.

Just as he reached them, the strange liquid spilled on top of them. Rhian choked on the smell and clutched her hands as the liquid absorbed into her cuts, making them sting. All she could think about was how she wanted to get out, and how she wished her mom could come, just by thinking about it. Jaren tried to cover himself as the wave came over him, but it too absorbed into his scratches. He thought how they burned like fire and wished he could push this wave off of him. Caileen silently cried, wishing she had felt about this before, so she wouldn’t be in so much pain.

But then, it didn’t hurt so much. The wave passed over them and the sting and burn went away. But that wasn’t what got their attention next. They were glowing. A bright, shiny silver seemed to burst from their skin and made them shine. Rhian looked mystified by this while Jaren and Caileen looked scared. Then the light disappeared and their liquid drenched clothes dried. Rhian was about to speak when they heard their parents screaming for them. They dashed out of the tunnel and were whisked away in opposite direction, but Caileen looked behind them and saw Rhian disappear into a car that drove away. She regretted not getting to know her better, especially after what just happened. Btu a tiny tingle in her stomach made her pause and wonder if they would see Rhian Erika Crossan-Neil again.
*******************
“Caileen?”

The voice jerked her out of her daydream and she saw Jaren looking up at her with a bewildered expression on his face.

“Are you all right?” His voice showed more concern then he let on.

Caileen mentally shook herself and looked at the floor. “No, just remembering.” She hesitated before asking, “Jaren, do you remember that day when the liquid came out of the ground.”

Jaren turned around and his face got hard. “No, and don’t remind me. That is one day I never want to think about again.”

He turned around and started pounding on his computer. Caileen sighed and suddenly thought of the girl who had been with them. ‘Rhian Erika Crossan-Neil,’ she thought to herself. She remembered the girl who had shown them around today.

‘Was her name Erika Crossan?’ Caileen pondered on that as she walked back to her room. ‘I wonder if she’s the same girl....’