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Talia
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I was happy to be back in school and back to what passed as a normal life for me. I was with the other kids in my grade, which were all two and three years older than me. I was with all the jocks and the cheerleaders, all the art kids and the music kids, all of the different groups that hung out with each other. And in a way, I felt like I had missed them.
I was both popular and not. There were a lot of kids that liked me just because I was the princess. There were a bunch that wanted to come over to the castle all the time and probably just wanted to use me for status. There were those that hated me for being the princess. They thought that I tried to act cool and more important than I was. Then again, that partially went along with the fact that I was only fifteen and I was a senior in high school. There were a few kids that I did know, that knew the real me, and they liked me just fine. And there were the other kids that acted like they knew me but they didn't, and treated me like shit because of it.
Even with the varying groups of people that were here with me, I was happy to have the chance to be in person for school again. It was annoying having to do everything on the road like that. Not that we were actually on 'the road' but you know what I mean.
I walked Zachary, Zander, Zayden and Zaley to their classrooms before I headed over to the high school side of the campus. It wasn't a far walk, and I hadn't gotten to walk with them yet this year, so I really wanted to spend that time with them today.
.....
Things seemed to be going just fine at first I went to my first class which was Latin and aced a pop quiz that had come up. I didn't want to sit it out, even if the teacher would have offered, which she didn't. The quiz was graded in class after it was done, and I was one of only three to get a perfect score. I was good at school, it came natural to me because I never forgot anything the teacher said to me.
My second class, advanced calculus, went just fine too. I talked with Ada and Leslie who were my closest friends in school. I did my work. Other than that, nothing else really happened. Not until I was in my third class.
I was sitting in my seat during my Ancient European Studies lecture and felt like I was about to fall asleep. That wasn't like me though. I never fell asleep in class. I wasn't even tired at all. I was just not able to keep my eyes open at all.
In truth, I felt like I was being dragged toward sleep kicking and screaming. I was fighting it so hard, but there was nothing at all that I could do to keep myself awake. I tried opening my eyes wide and trying not to be pulled into the oblivion of sleep, but it didn't seem to work.
One moment I was sitting in the lecture hall and the next I was standing outside of Acacia Park in the city. It was dark out and I was standing there and staring at the fountain. I was trying to figure out why I was here. What was going on?
I turned to look around the area, trying to figure out what was going on and why I was here. This didn't feel like a dream. Not a normal one at least. And something felt off. Something felt wrong.
“HELLO!?” I called out, unable to see anyone at first. “IS ANYONE THERE!?”
No one responded to my calls. There was nothing and no one here. Well, if there was no one right here, maybe I needed to walk around a little. I started to walk into the park. Obviously, I was here for a reason. Something or someone wanted me to see this place.
“This is fine. I don't mind coming to the park. It's a nice night.” I heard a girl talking and her voice was familiar.
“Yeah, parks are nice.” That girl sounded familiar too. Why was I hearing Ada and Leslie?
“I like nature. Seeing the moon and stars is the best.” There was a man's voice. It sounded familiar and faintly accented.
“Yeah, you should see things back home. It's so clear and beautiful at night.” That voice had the same accent but it wasn't familiar to me.
“HELLO!?” I called out to them as I reached the middle of the park, where there were benches and picnic tables. They were all sitting there and looking up at the sky.
It wasn't just the four people that I had heard talking. There were ten people in all. There were five different girls from my school. I recognized them all, but they weren't all friends of mine. Senna, Melissa, and Jackie were all there as well. And there were five boys that I had never seen before.
“I find it so cool that you're all from the same place. Are you all cousins or something?”
“Something like that.” The guy sitting with Senna laughed. “Brothers and cousins. We were all raised with each other though.”
“That is so cool, Fritz. I would love to have a big happy family like that.”
“It wasn't bad, most of the time. Though it wasn't always pleasant.” Another of the boys said as he spoke.
I knew that one of these boys that was sitting here was the one that had attacked that girl in California. He was the one that had raped her before he killed her. He was the worst of these monsters so far. I was looking at them all. Seeing their faces. And I wasn't going to forget them. I was going to make sure that I told people who these guys were.
“I can't believe that you asked us out.” Leslie said as she looked at her date.
“Well, you're adorable.” He smiled at her as he spoke. That was him. That was the monster that attacked that girl.
“LESLIE! GET OUT OF THERE! DON'T GO OUT WITH HIM! ALL OF YOU RUN AWAY!”
These girls, since they were from my school, none of them were human. Leslie was a falcon shifter whose family moved from up in the mountains. Ada was Mermaid whose family moved here from California years ago. Melissa was a wolf from the local pack like me. Senna was a lion from Uncle Landon's pack. And Jackie was a witch from the covenant. None of them were human. And that meant that all of them were potential victims to these boys.
“We were the lucky ones, catching you when you came out of the mall. I can't believe that we were able to evenly split like this. None of us have to be lonely tonight.” Another of the boys was saying whatever he needed to so that the girls would feel calmer.
“Thank you for dinner too, that was amazing.” Ada rubbed her belly as if she were extremely satisfied.
“Our pleasure.” The man that she was sitting with cooed as he nuzzled her cheek with his nose. They were acting like they were all on a date, but I knew that this wasn't going to end well. Those men, especially the one with Leslie, were dangerous. Very dangerous.
“GET OUT OF THERE! ALL OF YOU!” I knew that this wasn't happening right now, but I couldn't stop myself from yelling at them.
“So, what are we going to do now?” Senna asked her date. “Any plans other than just watching the moon?”
“Well, I have something here for you to see.” That rapist asshole son of a bitch was reaching into his pocket. I knew that he was going to pull that light out, the one that he used on Andrea in California. He was going to bewitch them or spell them or whatever it was that that light did to people. “Check this out.” He held up something that was on a long thin tube and pressed the button. The girls were all looking at it and the moment that the light flashed, I saw that same look wash over their eyes as Andrea's in that other dream.
“NO! DON'T HURT THEM! PLEASE DON'T HURT THEM!” I was screaming at the men in the dream, but they couldn't hear me. I was also frozen in place. I couldn't move toward Leslie and the others, and I couldn't move away from the scene in front of me. I was going to be stuck watching this, whether I wanted to or not. I wasn't able to get away. I wasn't able to look somewhere else. I was going to see all the horrors that they had planned for my friends and classmates.
“NO! PLEASE! DON'T HURT THEM! PLEASE!” I screamed at them, but it was to no avail. I saw that look of pure evil wash over that man's face. I knew that had to be the face he was wearing when he attacked Andrea in my dream. But I could see him now. I could see everything about him and his friends. And I was going to make sure that everyone knew about them.
“Come on, guys. It's time for us to get to work. We have a message to deliver.” That asshole called out to his friends. I knew that now the true nightmare was going to begin.
