After heading downstairs, Axel was immediately intercepted by a teacher and hauled into one of those private meeting rooms usually reserved for tense parent-teacher conferences. The teacher went off on an enthusiastic tirade, fuming about the carpet of cigarette butts on the fifth floor, Axel's habit of skipping class despite actually showing up to school, and his general "thug-like" appearance that screamed daily violence.
Axel sat there with one leg hooked over his knee, leaning back comfortably. He kept one hand in his pocket while using his pinky to pick at his ear, flicking away whatever he found and yawning occasionally. He knew exactly why the school wouldn't expel him despite the attitude: his grades were at the very top of his class. He'd heard this lecture almost every day and was beyond bored with it.
In his head, he was just counting down the year. Once he turned eighteen and graduated, he planned to enlist in the military. That was the only goal. He had zero interest in university or any further academic life. When the red-faced teacher finally ran out of breath and stopped shouting, Axel spoke up.
"You finished, sir?" Axel asked casually.
"You're too much... I know you're brilliant, but with this attitude, I truly fear for your future, do you understand me?" the teacher panted.
"Yeah, yeah... I'm a real piece of work. So, can I go now?"
"Grr... fine! Just get out of here!" the teacher yelled, face crimson as he pointed toward the door.
"Okay, thanks," Axel replied. He was already standing and halfway out the door before he'd even finished the sentence.
Walking down the hallway with his usual indifference, Axel pulled his phone from his pocket. As he passed the stairwell, he glanced at it briefly, then turned his attention back to the screen. He opened a note file—a list of every person he'd saved since he was fifteen, when he first understood his visions. He typed Ryan's name at number ten and stared at the list.
"Ten people saved. Ten corpses I didn't have to see make me puke... but for some reason, the guilt won't go away. Uncle Mike... Aunt Jessica... they died because I didn't tell them not to go," Axel muttered to himself, the regret still etched clearly on his face.
As he reached a three-way junction in the hall—bam!—someone slammed into him hard. Axel's phone went flying, and he stumbled sideways. He managed to snatch the phone out of the air just before it hit the floor, then stood up to see who'd hit him. His eyes widened for a second.
Standing before him was a beautiful girl with black hair and striking blue eyes, wearing a white shirt and jeans. She was sitting on the floor, rubbing her head where she'd collided with Axel's chest. She looked up at him as he brushed off his pants.
Axel looked her over. "Sorry," he said shortly. Then, with total apathy, he went right back to looking at his phone and kept walking. The girl just sat there on the floor, jaw dropped, staring after him in disbelief.
As Axel cleared the school building and headed for the gate with his hands shoved in his pockets, his vision suddenly blurred. He stopped dead and squeezed his eyes shut.
***
"Huh."
When Axel opened his eyes, he was still standing on the path toward the school gate, but something was wrong. It was eerie. There was no sound—none of the usual noise of cars passing, footsteps, or people talking. Panicked, Axel looked left and right, scanning his surroundings.
"A vision? Where's the body?" Axel asked in his head.
Axel looked back toward the school building entrance. He saw a group of human-shaped black shadows huddled together, crouching in a crowd. Their hands were moving frantically, like they were picking something up off the ground. Axel ran toward the cluster. When he saw what those shadow-people were actually doing, his eyes widened. He slammed his hand over his mouth to keep from vomiting or screaming.
He saw a girl lying there, but her entire body was black—charred to ash in the shape of a person with a blurred face. The shadow-people surrounding her were scooping up her ashen remains with their hands, even as her body crumbled into dust, and devouring whatever was left in their palms.
"What the hell is this?" Axel muttered, backing away, his face pale.
The shadow-people, who had been completely focused on feasting on the "ash girl," suddenly turned to look at Axel. For the first time, Axel felt his skin crawl with pure terror. He saw the white eyes of these faceless shadows and their mouths—wide, impossibly wide. They looked like a glitch in reality, a distortion that was sickening to look at. Then, everything went dark.
***
"Hey... why are you just spacing out in the middle of the road... hey,"
Axel jerked awake as the girl's voice pulled him back. He opened his eyes, breathing heavily as he scanned his surroundings. He was still in the exact spot where he'd been standing. Suddenly—clap—a hand hit his shoulder from behind. He spun around instantly, fist raised, but he froze when he saw the person who had tapped him.
It was the girl he'd bumped into in the hallway. She looked terrified, eyes squeezed shut and face braced for a blow she hoped wouldn't come. Axel's senses slowly returned. He lowered his fist and turned away.
"Go home. Get away from the school," Axel said curtly.
"Wait," the girl said.
"What now," Axel replied, turning back.
The girl flinched when she saw how pale he was, his forehead slick with cold sweat. She lifted her hand and opened it to reveal Axel's ID card.
"This... it fell when we collided earlier," she said.
"Oh... sorry. Thanks," Axel replied, taking the card.
"I guess you don't know me... or did you forget? I'm Elizabeth Grant. Everyone calls me Ellie, we're in same class," Ellie said.
"Okay... nice to meet you. Bye," Axel replied.
He turned and started walking away, leaving Ellie standing there frozen. But then, Axel stopped dead. His body began to shiver, his hands balled into fists, and his jaw dropped. Every bit of color drained from his face. He saw a security guard and a janitor up ahead, but what made his skin crawl was the "shadow-people" following them. It had those distorted white eyes and a mouth far wider than any human's—the exact creature from his vision.
It was mimicking their movements like a living shadow, lurking behind them as if waiting for something. Axel slowly raised his hand and—slap—he smacked his own face. He felt the pain. He saw the shadow-man was still there. He realized he wasn't in a vision anymore, and the realization left him stunned.
"Oh... so you can see those shadows too, huh,"
Axel whipped his head toward the voice so fast it looked like it might fly off. Ellie was standing right beside him. She was also watching the two men, apparently seeing the same shadow-men trailing them. Axel looked back toward the school building. He saw teachers leaving, club members active on the side of the building, and some boys playing baseball on the field. Axel's eyes widened again, his face turning even paler until his lips began to tremble.
"What the hell is this? Why is everyone being followed by those horrific shadows," Axel said, his voice shaking as he took a step back, his skin crawling.
Every person he saw was being followed by a shadow-man, poised to pounce, stalking them faithfully wherever they went. Axel backed up another step, but suddenly Ellie was standing in front of him, smiling. Axel was shocked because there was no shadow-man following Ellie. He blinked repeatedly to be sure, finally confirming she was alone. Ellie leaned in close to Axel's face, standing on her tiptoes since he was taller, and studied him.
"I guess you're like me then. I've been able to see ghosts and the supernatural since I was a kid. Looks like you can too... because you aren't being followed by those weird shadows either," Ellie said, smiling as she locked her blue eyes onto his.
"Huh... what?" Axel asked. He was dazed, still trying to process everything while a beautiful girl stood in front of him, claiming she'd seen the spirit world since childhood—and that she could see the same shadow-men that were now clear as day to him.