Marcus
"Still searching for a way
home.."Mr carter reads.
Funny how one line from an
ancient story could hit me harder than anything happening in my actual life.
Maybe because I wasn't even
sure where my home was. Not the house I lived in now… the one before. The one I
couldn't remember.
I tried to focus on the text
in front of me, but the words blurred. My eyes felt heavy, like I hadn't slept in days- though I had. Sort of. These
dreams were draining me more than staying awake ever could.
Riley tapped my foot under the
desk."Don't sleep".
She meant it as a joke, but I
didn't laugh. I couldn't. something was wrong with me today. The air around me
felt warmer, thicker, like the room was slowly shrinking.
Mr carter kept pacing, reading
with his deep dramatic voice. "….odysseues, determine, still searching"
My heartbeat stuttered.
I blinked. Once. Twice.
The room tilted. My vision
tunneled.
Riley's lips moved again.
"Marcus?!"
I tried to answer.
I really did.
But the classroom slipped
away.
I was back in a forest again.
The same burning light
flickering through the trees. The same heat crawling up my arms. The same quiet
fire that made no crackling sound, just glowed like it was alive.
Chains rattled somewhere ahead
of me.
Then I saw it- A figure.
Tall, still, wrapped in a
flowing white dress.
"Rocco..,"it said, its voice
pushing into my head. Not spoken. Felt.
The chains rattles closer with
a sharp metallic snap.
"You're running out of time.
You were supposed to remember by now."
The fire burst toward me-
"Marcus!!"
I jerked awake so violently my
book flew off my desk and hit the floor. A couple of people laughed, but
everything sounded sounded far away. My chest was rising and falling way too
fast.
Mr carter lowered his glasses
and stared at me like he'd just discovered a new species of disappointment.
"Mr cole, if you find Homer's
masterpiece so boring that it knocks you unconscious, perhaps you'd like to
read aloud instead?"
"N-no sir,"I muttered. My
voice cracked."sorry"
He gave one slow, tired nod
and continued reading.
Riley leaned closer,
whispering, "Hey, you zoned out badly. What happened?"
I wiped sweat from my
forehead. "I don't know,"I lied.
When I bent down to pick up my
book, something caught my eye.
Black smudges.
On the floor.
Ash.
Real.
Cold.
My stomach flipped.
The forest wasn't a dream
anymore. It was following me.
The bell finally rang, loud
and sharp, like it was yelling at me to get out.
Chairs scraped. Backpacks
zipped. Everyone rushed for the door the way they always did when Mr carter
dismissed us without looking up from his book.
I moved slower than everyone
else. My hands wouldn't stop trembling, and the ash-the actual ash- still clung
to the my fingertips no matter how many times I wiped them on my jeans.
Riley stuck close to my side
the whole walk to the cafeteria, glancing at the every few seconds like she
thought I might pass out or explode.
The cafeteria was loud, and
smelled like fried rice and burnt eggs- comfortingly normal. We squeezed
through a group of juniors and made it our usual table where Noah and the team
were already sitting, scrolling through his phone.
He looked up."what took you
guys so long?"
Riley didn't even sit before
blurting,
"Marcus just fainted in
literature,"
My head snapped toward her. "Riley-"
"I'm not lying,"she told him.
"he straight up blacked out."
Noah turned to look at me,
eyes wide. "wait-what? Dude, are you okay?"
"I didn't faint,"I muttered,
dropping onto the bench."I just….. zoned out."
"Marcus"Riley said, sitting
across from me,"that wasn't zoning out. You were frozen. Eyes open. Gone. Like
your soul took a quick vacation."
Noah leaned forward,
frowning."That doesn't sound normal."
I hated the way they stared at
me- like I was breaking. Like something was wrong with me.
"I'm fine,"I said, grabbing a
bottle of water just to have something to hold.
"Fine? Riley let out a breathy
laugh."you were sweating, and shaking and-"
She lowered her voice,
glancing around to make sure no one at the table could hear."there was ash on
his desk."
Noah blinked."ash?like… ash
ash?"
I swallowed hard."it's
nothing."
"No its not nothing,"He says
gently,
Riley nodded, serious now.
"Tell us what you saw. Noah, he looked like he came back from another
dimension."
I looked away from them with a
sigh, my palm still pressed on the table.
Noah studied my face, his
expression shifting from confusion to concern.
"Marcus..,"she says softly, I
turned to face her. "is something happening to you?"
My throat tightened. The cafeteria
noise faded into a dull buzz. I looked down at my hands- at the faint black
smudges along my fingertips. And for the
first time, I wasn't sure if I should lie anymore.
I opened my mouth. Maybe I was
actually going to tell them something- at least part of it. The forest, the
fire, the voice.
But before I could say a
single word-
A tray slammed onto our table.
We looked up to see Darren, one of the five boys we had fought.
"seriously?"Noah snapped at
him with a glare, while he stares down at us with a smirk.
"Cole,"he said, like he was
testing my name on his tongue."didn't know you were in literature today,"
Noah immediately stands,"back
off Darren, we're not doing this,"
But Darren doesn't take his
eyes off me. He leans in with a strange look in his eyes.
"seems like you zoned out in
class, you should watch yourself, cole"he picks up his tray and begins to walk
away.
He looks back and says,"some
people wouldn't be happy to see you back."
Back?
He walked away but he's words
stick with me, and he looked like he meant.
My heart drops. "what the hell
does that mean,"Riley mutters.
But I didn't answer, my vision
tightened at the edges.
Something was coming.
And I wasn't ready.