2. Natasha: A Stranger in the Halls

It was always a bit crowded with all of the family in their Honda Civic. Their mom had never liked the smell of new cars so she always took their ancient wood paneled Station Wagon to work. The two boys sat in the back snickering about whatever it was they got up to—Natasha never really paid much attention to them. As the oldest, Natasha got the front seat and sat hugging her bag on her lap staring out of the already fogged over window. Unless they missed their bus or were going to drown in the pouring rain the kids never really got rides even though their dad worked from home. Combined with the nice weather and the memory of what she’d seen outside still on her mind it all came together to make Natasha’s day weirder.

It was about fifteen minutes before they reached school and pulled up behind the bus in the large drop off zone. Broadway Secondary was known for housing the rich north town kids. Natasha had been comfortable enough there for the last three years though and had found a few people to stick with. Her brothers were in their first year and unlike most eighth graders they had adjusted too well in Natasha’s opinion. They loved teasing her if she walked by in the hallway. They were quickly becoming school celebrities, though no one could quite put the right boy to the right name.

After mumbling their goodbyes the boys hopped out and waved to their dad as they walked towards the school. Natasha waited a few seconds before opening the door, climbing out and shouldering her bag. She leaned back into the car to give their dad a smile.

“Thanks, dad. See you when I get home later.”

“See you,” Stephen’s normal goofy expression quickly turned dead serious. “Hey—when you head home be careful, okay? I know mom’s gonna pick you up, but just in case.”

“Yeah, will do.”

It bothered Natasha that both of her parents were so worried. Her mom tended to be the nervous type, but dad joked about everything and never seemed to be fazed. Had they seen the same thing this morning? She doubted the dog would have woken up her dad, but her mother on the other hand would have been up just hearing his claws on the laminate.

Natasha watched the white sedan gleaming in the rising sun as her dad drove away. When the car turned the far corner she sighed and made her way into the school making a mental note to talk to her mom later. Inside, her brothers huddled together excitedly talking amongst themselves.

“You saw what happened outside this morning right?” Natasha heard Aiden say, exchanging glances with Damon as they walked in front of her.

“Saw what?” Damon asked, raising an eyebrow. “I was dead asleep, dude.”

“Seriously? I could have sworn there was like a mild earthquake…then,” Aiden tried to explain and Damon gave an annoyed huff.

“What?” Damon crossed his arms; he hated not knowing something before his siblings. “Spit it out, what did you see?”

“I was showering when, like, some sort of light passed the window.” Aiden said.

“Light like headlights?”

“Nah man,” Aiden said, leaning in closer. “It kind of…shimmered? I dunno, it was weird though, just passed right over the house.”

“Over?” Damon furrowed his eyebrows. “You aren’t going crazy on me right? That sounds like some kind of UFO stuff right there.”

They continued to talk as Natasha climbed up the stairs and turned off to go to her locker. What Aiden had described was something different to what she had seen. What was going on at home? It had to be just a trick of the sun rising.

Natasha stopped, opened the metal combination, shoved her bag in after grabbing her science binder and textbook. She closed and relocked it, and made her way to class trying not to give it anymore thought.

She took the usual seat by the large windows. This desk was completely covered in scratches and ink doodles that someone had drawn years ago. People sought out this spot to not pay attention. Situated roughly in the middle row making it clear that you’re neither a try-hard nor a class clown, and looked out over the school’s fields. Only the most oblivious person took this seat and if Natasha was known for anything it was her constant absentmindedness.

The warning bell dinged in the hallways as a few people walked in and took their seats. Just before the actual bell rang the rest of the class crammed in. The teacher, Mrs. Morgan, walked in a few seconds after and took her place in the front. Natasha tuned out the droning of the roll call; only snapping out of her thoughts for a second to answer to her name. She watched out the window seeing the boy’s grade twelve gym class filing out onto the wet grass wearing their neon pinnies. They were all grouping into their separate teams based on their colours. As always they roughhoused and laughed amongst themselves with only a few of the guys hanging back awkwardly.

Mrs. Morgan began to explain something mundane about chemical combinations. Natasha looked at the whiteboard to see that a few chemicals had been written across it. Formulas were complete gibberish to Natasha; she was never able to wrap her brain around them. She jotted a few notes of the foreign language down on a black sheet of lined paper in her binder before returning to the football game going on outside, now in full force.

As the teams lined up for a scrum another person walked onto the field. He clearly shouldn’t have been there. That was apparent right away from the clothes he wore. First, they were definitely nowhere near gym clothes. Natasha squinted at him and saw that he was in dark faded jeans, a black button up shirt and a patched up leather jacket that hung off his broad shoulders loosely. In his hand was a lit cigarette. Natasha knew it was against school rules to smoke on campus. She cocked her head, wondering why the gym teacher wasn’t yelling at this weirdo. There he stood ignoring anything going on around him. The boys rushed by him without glancing at the man passing the ball very close to his face. He took a drag from his skinny cigarette and deliberately looked up in Natasha’s direction.

‘No way,’ Natasha thought. ‘Now, that’s gotta be a coincidence.’

The man opened his mouth as if he were going to talk to her—but that was impossible. He was down there and she was on the second story behind glass which she knew was catching the morning sun. She’d never be able to hear him, right? She almost laughed at the idea of catching any meaning behind the movement of his mouth. It was absurd. Her bemused and incredulous expression quickly went slack as she heard a man speaking like he was right beside her.

“It’s Natasha, right?” A man’s voice said heavy with a rough accent. “I wouldn’t’ve recognized you, ‘cept you’re the spitting image of your mom. Damn!”

Natasha inhaled sharply and looked over to her shoulder, towards the other students in the room, and away from the window and the man to see who couldn’t possibly be talking to her. His voice could not carry so far. Someone else had to be talking to her.

“‘Ey, I’m not up there,” he said. “You were just looking at me”

No one else was looking at her—just that man. Natasha raised a shaking hand and Mrs. Morgan looked over acknowledging her, looking nearly surprised that Natasha existed.

“Could I – may I go to the bathroom?” Natasha asked.

Seeing that Natasha’s face was white as a sheet Mrs. Morgan nodded, “just be quick.”

Natasha got up with a horrid scraping of her chair and nearly ran out of the classroom. At that moment she could ignore the other student’s eyes that followed her as there were many other things to be concerned about. Once away and in the empty hallways she took a deep breath. The dream, the rattling shadow, the light her brothers saw, and now this disembodied voice; what was going on? The world seemed to be throwing everything absolutely not right at her. She speedwalked down to a deadend and squatted against the lockers trying her best to hold back a sob.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Memories she’d locked away for fear of recognizing something within herself was different came rushing back to her. Kids laughed at her when she said odd things when she was in elementary. She’d point to funny little creatures that lopped along the road on the bus and no one ever saw them too. It had worried her mom to no end but over time Natasha had learned from her to shut those things away. She didn’t see them any more. Were these hallucinations coming back?

Stolen story; please report.

“Lil’ lady?”

Natasha smelled the smoke first. She covered her eyes. Maybe if she ignored it the vision would go away.

“‘Ey, you alright?” Her jaw clenched and she slowly withdrew her hands to see that man kneeling in front of her. She started back ramming into the locker behind her.

“Oh, no, didn't mean to scare.” He backed up a bit, his hands shooting up to try and placate her.

He must have been in his early thirties having the corner of his eyes creased with crows feet that gave him a friendly demeanour. Those eyes were deep forest green, which surprised Natasha since he was dark skinned, and looking into them reminded her of looking into the dense copse of trees behind her house. His hair was the same coarse black hair as hers. His cigarette was still burning in his hand, smelling very earthy, as he squatted down to her level. His clothes were stained with old dirt but somehow his scent managed to be pleasant, but completely unplaceable.

Natasha clenched her jaw fighting back a scream.

“T-The fuck?” Natasha hissed through her teeth as her eyes swept down the hall for anyone to call out to.

There was of course no one.

“Woah, language there, kid!” The man chuckled as he stood, there was no malice in his dimpled cheeks; he almost looked goofy with his too big ears protruding from his overgrown cropped hair. “Ain’t time for questions, though, you’re in danger, the rest of the family too.”

“What?” Natasha said as she shakily picked herself up off the floor and looked at him eye to eye. “What do you mean?”

The man huffed then took a second to suck on his cigarette. “I don’ have time to explain, li’l lady. Hound’s got the scent of hunters in this town—right as I found you too.”

“Hunters? You were looking for me—who are you?” Natasha realized she should’ve just shoved this guy aside and tried to make a run for it rather than strike up a conversation, but as always she was curious. Besides, there was something about him, it was familiar almost.

“Just said there’s no time for questions.” The man grumbled under his breath, shaking his head, before answering her, “Benjamin Sykes.”

Natasha didn’t recognize the name, though the surname rang a bell. Natasha took a deep breath and said, “well, Benjamin, please leave me alone.”

Natasha turned tail and headed up the way she came, pushing him out of the way with her shoulder. Benjamin moved to grab her arm but likely thought better and let his arm fall to his side.

“I’ll leave you alone,” He dropped his cigarette onto the vinyl floor and crushed it. “But I'm gonna be around watchin’ for danger.”

“Man don’t be such a creep—what the?” Natasha whipped back around to yell at him but he was gone.

Shaken, she walked back to the classroom and took her seat trying to pretend that didn’t happen. Everyone around her was working on a couple of problems that had been written on the board. Mrs. Morgan was helping a student and hadn’t noticed her walk in. She checked her phone for the time under her desk as she leaned her head in her palm.

Natasha didn’t understand what Benjamin had meant; couldn’t understand why he was acting like time was running out. Natasha felt dread deep in her stomach as her mind worked through what could be going on but she was drawing blanks. Her family was so ordinary. Why would they be in danger?

If she was being honest with herself, they weren't all that normal, not really. Natasha knew more about her friend’s parents than her own. Especially her mom. Neither her mom or dad ever talked about where they were from, or their families. It was obvious her mom tried to hide it but Natasha could hear the slight inflections in her voice, caught her out when she used a weird word, and when she was tired or excited the accent really shone through. Natasha had only ever met her one grandma from her dad’s side. The rest of her family never came up in conversation, it was assumed that they’d passed away. Natasha had never given it much thought until now, it was just a fact the Sinclair’s lived with.

The bell sounded signaling the end of class. Natasha was glued to her seat, still reeling from the questions that were now occupying her mind. She only snapped to reality when someone nudged her arm. Two of Natasha’s friends, Nick and Derby, stood next to her with similar expressions of concern. She looked down to see papers scrunched in her fists. Her vision was blurred with tears. She quickly let go of her notes.

“I knew you didn’t like science but –“ Nick, a short brunette boy, gave a laugh then sniffed at the air. “Wait, do you smell something?”

Natasha shoved the notes into her binder and rubbed her eyes clear of tears. Derby, a head taller than Nick and still round in the face unlike Natasha, leaned in to take a closer look at her friend’s face.

“The lesson set you off or something?” Derby asked.

“Whatever.” Natasha stood and picked up her things. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

She took another quick peek outside to make sure no one was watching. She felt skittish as they made their way down the hall towards the next class. Nick kept glancing up at Natasha as she stumbled around the crowds with her face set in a deep grimace. He pulled her aside out of the current. Derby followed them with an eyebrow up.

“No, really what’s up?” He said. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“Just didn’t get enough sleep,” Natasha answered as she searched the faces that passed for Benjamin. “Bad dreams again I guess.”

“No… it’s more than that. You have bad dreams all the time.” Derby leaned on the wall in front of Natasha close enough to smell her. “Is that cigarette smoke?”

Natasha picked at her shirt and smelled it herself. Well that proved it—she hadn’t been imagining things. She really had met a man named Benjamin Sykes in the hall. Nick looked at her; he always had a knack for knowing what mood people were in. Natasha glanced at him, her face pinching knowing what that expression meant. She was scared and confused, and didn’t know where to start with this problem, and he could tell. Derby gasped in realization.

“When you went to the bathroom!”

“What?” Both Nick and Natasha asked in unison.

“Really, Nat, when did you start smoking?” Derby grabbed Natasha by the shoulders. “I always put it past you, oh, oh, but I wish I was the one who started you!”

“No.” Natasha shook her head in disgust. “I don’t smoke!”

“But then where did the smell come from?” Nick asked as Natasha yanked herself from Derby’s grasp.

“Let’s talk in the library.” Natasha shook her head again then pulled her friends by the arms back into the crowd. “I can’t think in this noise!”

They made their way to the library as quickly as they could weave through the crowds. As soon as the glass doors closed behind them Natasha’s ears stopped ringing and she felt her heart begin to calm. Though she still felt the need to hurl. They took the seats near the windows at the back which looked out into a tiny courtyard that was completely disused and overgrown. During the break the library usually stayed empty with students on their way to their classes. Natasha took a deep breath before relaying her story.

“You guys are going to think I’m crazy,” She started.

“You know, I think I’d be more skeptical if you were actually smoking.” Derby was on Natasha’s right with her head in her hands. “So what's it, got a boyfriend? No, no, wait—you finally realized that you’re adopted?”

“RB, shut it,” Nick said as he watched Natasha’s expression grow darker. “Let Natsa talk.”

Natasha closed her eyes in frustration and let out the breath she had been holding.

“I–I think I’m being followed.” Natasha shook her head. “No, I know I’m being followed.”

“By who?” Derby said, shocked. “Some creep? Do you want me to beat him up for you?”

Natasha had to smile at that. Derby was the one girl Natasha could see beating up someone for a friend. She could easily overpower Nick, though that wasn’t much to brag about, he was about half her size with arms and legs about the width of a twig. Natasha respected Nick despite that though; he’d proven to be stronger than she could have imagined before.

“No, no, I don’t think that’ll help.” Natasha rubbed the back of her neck. “I dunno, he was some old guy, said his name was Benjamin Sykes—he approached me when I went to the bathroom.”

“How old was he?” Nick asked, his lips turning down into a frown. “Shouldn’t you report him to the office?”

“He looked around thirty? I don’t know—he came up to me and said some weird shit.”

“Oh my god, he must be a creep,” Derby said, grabbing onto Natasha’s denim jacket to inspect her. “Nat, you should report it, maybe even to the cops.”

“He shouldn’t even be in the school.” Nick added with a sage nod.

“Thing is he—was talking about my family, like he knew us or something.” Natasha groaned as her head fell into her hands. “I just don’t know. Today's been so weird. First I had another nightmare, then I saw something freaky in the yard, and now this guy I’ve never met just appears out of nowhere.”

“Whoa, hold on there,” Derby said. “It’s not even close to lunch yet, all this already happened?”

“Maybe at lunch we should all go to the office and report this guy.” Nick grabbed Natasha’s hand. “I think it would help, they can do something and it's not right that some thirty–something is wandering around the school grounds.”

Natasha nodded. “It’s almost time for the next class. Why don’t you guys go on, I think I’m going to skip.”

“You sure?” Nick grabbed Natasha’s gaze by leaning closer to her. “We can stay with you if you want.”

“More than happy to, actually,” Derby added. “Especially since the next class is English.”

“It’s okay—really.” Natasha took her hand from Nick’s and got up. “I’ll be fine, I’ll text you if I need you.”

The other two stood as well. Derby looked a little ashen; she really didn’t like Mr. Turrell, the English teacher. Nick was obviously concerned about Natasha’s well being, but he knew when she said she wanted to be alone that no amount of debate would change her mind. He gave her a quick tight hug and went to leave before turning around to take out his cell.

“I will take your word for it.” He waggled his phone before replacing it back in his pocket. “I’ll keep it on hand.”

“I'll bash that creep's face in, I swear, if I ever see him.”

“I believe it.” Natasha smiled and waved as her friends walked out the library.

After they’d gone she made her way to the furthest corner of the library, settling in amongst the books. It was the quietest place Natasha could think of and away from anyone who would be likely to try and find her. It was a place of solace where she knew she couldn’t be watched without her knowing. Yet she still could not shake the feeling of eyes trailing her.