Miranda

The big event soon commenced with opening the floor. The Master of Ceremonies introduced the important personalities and led them to the high seats. One of them was Nick's dad. He was introduced as Nick's dad, and that's how I got to know him. He kept looking at me with a deathful glare, and so I looked away. His look was like, "Try contending with my son and see the repercussions, who do you think you are?" He looked rich, stinkingly rich in fact.
Afterwards, everyone stood up and recited the Anthem, and no it was neither the school anthem nor the National anthem but an anthem I did not know of. Even Uncle Robinson recited it like it was just normal
They called it "The Contention" . I only heard few English words, the rest of the words were not English. When I asked Uncle Robinson what language it was, he didn't answer me. It was then I knew that I was in for something big. I was the weird one in the midst of these strange people.
After the 'big people' have been called to the high seats, the students for the competition were called: "Nick Foreman, and Ariana May Peyton. I felt tense and jittery but uncle Robinson cheered me on. "You'll do fine. Go!"
I don't want to bore you with the details of the competition but I won. Nick was a tall guy with sharp eyesight and sharp features. He in fact looked terrific and I tried to not look at him as questions were being rolled out to both of us. I defeated him with nine marks.. He was very good but I think I was better. Even me began to wonder how much of a genius I was. My knees were shaky as i answered the questions and faced the audience. My knees were shaky not mainly because i was very nervous, but mostly because I was starving. I hadn't really eaten since the previous evening. I hadn't even touched my breakfast, still i beat him with nine solid marks. I had 49 out of 50 marks, meaning i only got one question wrong, while he had 40 out of 50, meaning he got 10 questions wrong. Immediately the result was announced, he left the crowd with anger in his face. I could see Vera too, behind the crowd, running to catch up with him as he stormed off the hall. Vera? How did she get here? I mean , she didn't come with us to the camp. She wasn't part of us. I had even concluded that she had decided not to attend the camp because she couldn't make it to the finals. But there she was, and with that angry countenance she gave me when she threatened me the other day. Now I was starting to get really afraid but when Uncle Robinson hugged me and lifted me off the ground with so much excitement, my fear evaporated into thin air.
"You did it!! Congratulations!" He said. Food and drinks were served as soon as I returned to my seat. Nick's father went after him some minutes after he went away. He had sweat on his brow, even though the hall was deeply air-conditioned. I sat on my seat and wiped my palm on my skirt. My stomach rumbled and I could barely see what was in front of me. I was starting to get unconscious. It was past 1pm in the afternoon and I had not had any meals since the previous evening..The only thing I ate at the dinner in the Were-Castle was the toppings, I couldn't eat the meat and potatoes because I was very uncomfortable. I wanted to tell Uncle Robinson who sat very near me that I was famished, but I was afraid he would give me food that was tasteless or worse, very strange. I wanted to cry because I didn't know how I'd cope living in the camp like that. I had consumed Evey snack mom packed for me, and that moment, I wished I had packed more. I wished I had packed snacks , only snacks in a separate bag.
It was then I glanced back and realized that food was being served already. I saw it before the aroma permeated my nostrils. For the first time, food in camp smelt nice. It smelt like chicken breasts. Like fried chicken breasts and wings dipped in red hot sauce. I salivated and waited for my turn. I already started to imagine how voraciously I'd bite into the chicken breasts when Miss Amanda walked up to me. She hugged me tightly and sat in the empty seat next to me.
"Congratulations" she said, smiling, and all of a sudden, the smile evaporated from her face as soon as I looked up at her.
"Congratulations, you just signed up for a real war, I hope you make it" she had a smirk on her face now. Before I could ask her what she meant, she stood up and disappeared in the crowd. I wanted to burst into tears, tug at Uncle Robinson's shirt and blame him for making me come to the camp or participating in the competition. I picked up my phone to dial mom's number. This time, I was going to ask her to come pick me for real. I was not going to even reconsider. I switched on my phone which has been on earlier, and then dialed the number. She picked at the first ring.
"Hey baby! Congratulations! I thought you lost your phone" she said, sounding excited and worried at the same time.
"Mom, how did you know I won? We didn't even go live"
"I'm not sure whether you did or not, but your uncle told me. Your teacher, Robinson" she said. "Congratulations! My baby will be bringing a medal and lots of money home!" She yelled. And yeah, I was given a gold medal.
"Mom, I'm hungry" I blurted out before I could hold myself back. "Im coming home. I mean, come pick me up. Please"
She hesitated before responding. "What happened? Didn't you have lunch yet?"
"I didn't even have breakfast. No dinner last night too"
"What??! Are you kidding me now?" She shouted into the phone and I almost lost my hearing.
"Yes mom. I can't eat the food served here....I don't like them"
"Why? Are they that bad? Uncle Robinson told me they serve chicken feet and fresh meat, and nice desserts" she said. "Baby, why are you starving yourself?"
"Mommy, you need to see what these people ate for breakfast...They called the meat Alien...Alien's wings or..what was it? I can't even remember, but it has a strange name like that, mom. I just lost my appetite immediately"
"Baby, you have to eat. It's not bad to try out new foods, you know that's a different state entirely. Make yourself get used to it. Please get something to eat now, is lunch being served already?"
"Yes mom but..."
"C'mon, you have to eat it. It can't be that bad after all. Please eat, my baby, or are you dieting on purpose?"
"No but mom... These foods are so..." She kept interrupting me..she thought I was being too picky with foods. And she thought I'd adapt soon.. She didn't know there was more to all of this.
"You have to eat. I've looked out the foods they eat at that particular camp. I'd love to try them in future as well coz they look so nice"
"Mom, just come pick me please. I'm pleading. The competition is over, please come and take me home"
"I should catch a flight to the camp just to come take you home? No baby, you'll enjoy yourself sooner or later and you'll soon get accustomed to the patterns there, I promise."
"Mom, I can't. These foods look creepy. I don't even trust anyone here"
"Ill particularly talk to your teachers to make you eat. Stop starving yourself; that's not good for you"
"Mom, this place is too strange...i don't..."
"Look, darling, It's just a matter of time. I gotta go now, Jack needs help with my babies. I love you..Byeee" And just like that, she hung up. I was stuck. Even mom could not save me this time.
The serving soon reached me and someone from behind me passed me a packaged plate of food and a very cold bottle of drink. At least, they knew to serve chilled drinks instead of hot drinks.
Just then, the same person who passed me the food, got up and walked over to me, stared at me for split seconds and then sat on the empty seat next to me. Everyone started to eat but I was looking at her. I stopped unboxing my packaged food because ahe was looking at me. That look that meant: "I'm waiting for you to remember taht you recognize me"
Yeah I did recognize her. It was Miranda--the girl I kicked the other day. The girl who was rushed to the hospital on an emergency just because I kicked her and injured her in our class. I remember her bleeding that day because she had hit her head on the floor and she had suffered injuries on her body from my kicks and yanking.
The girl for whom I was going to serve punishment by picking seashells and sea animals for our practicals which would hold on the third day of camp. I doubt Uncle Robinson even remembered that, or maybe he had forgiven me because he wanted me to his mate.
"Miranda Harley" she said, stretching forth her hands for a handshake. She was wearing a smile that seemed uncomfortable rather than fake, and she was wiping her forehead with her other hand. She also had a small bag slurping over her shoulder and landing at her waist.
I reluctantly shook her hands which felt so warm. It felt like real human blood was running in her veins, unlike other students on this campground. When you touched them, they had this weird temperature which was neither warm nor cold. Everything about them was weird. It was kind of good they ignored me.
For example, despite the heat in the cabins, none of them complained or showed any sign of discomfort. Lucas even covered up in the heat and had no sweat on his brow or forehead in the morning. I mean, they all acted normal like it was normal to be in an environment where the temperature was very hot. I have even caught one of them bathing with warm water. And they all slept so peacefully. How could anyone sleep so peacefully when everywhere was heating up? You'd know they didn't have human skin.
But here was this girl, wiping her forehead for sweat that had gathered there. Have I finally found one normal person at least? That'd be great. At least we'd go find real food together, at least there should be somewhere around where people sold stuff like snacks and water. I hadn't really drunk water since I arrived the camp. I mean, I doubted if these people drank water at all.
"Hey" she said waving her palm at my face. "What are you thinking about? You don't know me?"
"I know you..I ..."
"Yeah you sent me to the hospital the other day" she said and coughed. I looked at her forehead and saw that there was a plaster on it. I hadn't noticed earlier because it was the same colour with her whole skin.
"I'm sorry" I muttered. She scoffed and looked around. She didn't have any package with her. She was dressed in a multicolored short gown and she had light make up on, even though she was only ten.
"It's okay. I like you" she said and smiled for real this time even though it was brief.
I looked at her in amazement, looked around to see if anyone else heard what I heard. She liked me?
"Why are you shocked? I like you, yes that's true. After that day, I started to like you" she said smiling. She touched my hands again and the warmth relaxed me.
"Why? I hit you, I hurt you badly.." I argued.
"Yes and I realized you are very strong. You lifted me from my seat with what seemed like only one finger and dropped me to the floor. I was shocked. I didn't know you were that strong. I like strong girls"
"Oh thank you" I said because I didn't know what else to say, then i started to unwrap my food. I was really starving and not ready for any conversation at that moment. I just wanted to be left alone to devour my food. Even though she was good company, I wanted to send her away or at least tell her to shut up for a while. But I didn't do any of it. She had said 'i lifted her with one finger and dropped her to the floor', I didn't realize I had used my superpower that day. Now she was confirming it.
"I want us to be friends, Ariana" she finally said.
"I'll think about it. Right now, I'm really starving, can you not talk and just watch me eat, or let's eat together?" I finally uttered a piece of my mind. I started tearing the wrap apart again, and finally fished out the plate. I opened it and gawked at the beauty and aroma. It looked good and smelt good.
"Are you really going to eat that?" She asked , her voice dripping with irritation . I nodded and shrugged. "Why not? Isn't it chicken?"
"No it's not. I don't know what it is, but it's definitely not chicken or turkey or anything you've ever eaten" i dropped the wrap to the floor immediately. I knew it! I picked it up almost immediately when I noticed the sound it made by dropping had drawn some attention from beside us.
"What are you talking about?" I whispered, inching closer to her.
"They serve us things we shouldn't eat normally as humans, but we don't know because they spice it up with normal toppings and regular spices" she whispered back.
"So, you don't eat the food here too?"
"No. I don't want to turn into a vampire" Now i was starting to fidget. I carefully put the plate down and covered it.
"What exactly are you talking about, Miranda?" My eyeballs tripled in size on hearing that
"If you don't mind, I'll take you to some place where we can talk freely and eat real food. Do you mind?" She asked, staring into my eyes.
"No i don't mind" i said even though I didn't trust this girl yet, but wasn't that what I wanted since? To eat good, real food? And I was even more curious to find out what the hell was going on. It seemed to me that she was equally as normal as I was, and the other students probably found us both weird just like we did too. She pulled my hand up and we walked away from the party. Finally I found someone who didn't think I was weird for calling breakfast trash and for seeing everyone as very weird. Thankfully, uncle Robinson was talking to someone and didn't notice when I left. Maybe he'd have stopped us.
Miranda and I shuffled our way into the crowd and out of the hall, farther away from the party and I began to wonder how she knew the road around there so well. After walking for about twenty minutes, I began to feel so weak that I pleaded that we rest a while.
"I'm sorry but we are almost there. It's the road out of this camp. There's a restaurant and a bar over there. I hope you have enough money on you?"
"Yeah i should" I said. She pulled me up again and i followed her, with my shoulder and lower back supported by her hands and soon we got to the end of the road that led away from the camp. True to her words, there was a restaurant and a bar there. I was so happy. I ran ahead of her into the restaurant and ordered a large plate of chicken and chips plus lots of ketchup and a big bottle of soda. She only ordered a small hamburger but with apple fruit juice instead of soda.
I sat at the table and ate voraciously. I knew Miranda was staring at me but I didn't care. She only bit around her burger because she was filled already. To my greatest surprise, I ate up the whole chicken. When I was done eating, I relaxed my back on the chair and belched. Strength started to return into my being. I was glad mom gave me some money while traveling to camp, and I was even gladder I carried the credit card with me everywhere I went to. Yes, mom gave me her credit card, the one linked to one of her bank accounts. It didn't have much money in it but it was enough to order more foods.
So I bought two plates of soup, baked pork and frittatas, burgers, grilled fish, few cookies and five bottles of soda. I was going to feed on them for the rest of the time I'd spend in camp. The woman at the counter must have wondered if I had just escaped out of prison, because she kept staring at me as she received my order. I had them packaged for me while Miranda went to the counter to make payment. I was so grateful to her. What would I do if she didn't show me this hidden restaurant and bar? Nothing, except starve to death.
Those two things--My phone and her credit card were always following me everywhere, and thank God I was not too famished to remember her PIN, because if I called her to ask, she might not let it out anymore, because according to her when she was giving me the card, "Return it before you go to camp" she gave it to me on my birthday to get whatever I wanted, after the party she hosted for me. Thank God I hadn't returned it.
"Hey buddy" she tapped me on the back. "You feel good now?"
"Yes, Thank you so much" I found myself embracing her. She was holding a customized packaged bag which contained her own order, and I was holding mine as we walked out of the building.
"I have been coming here to eat and get fresh air" she said, smiling. "It makes me feel human coming here..you know... Staying at the camp makes me feel crazy" she muttered, and sighed after. It looked like she had a lot going on in her mind.
"Me too. Finally I met someone who thinks like me" i said. She was walking faster than I was, and I was only trying to keep up. She looked so cool, and I started to wonder why she was once rude to me.
"I used to think I was the only one who found everyone weird in this camp. But what did I expect after what my mother told me about it?" She sighed yet again. I wanted to ask her what her mother said to her, but she interrupted before I could start talking about it.
"We'll stop in the shade there; I'm not wearing enough sunscreen and I don't want to go back to the hall just yet" I nodded and as we walked towards the shade, we both fell silent. There was so much to talk about, and it was just right that she wanted us to get comfortable first.
We soon got there and sat on the grass under the shade. The sun was shining brightly and sweat was starting to gather on our brows. It was like a picnic. We sat, spreading our legs on the grass, talking and sipping apple fruit juice, the one she bought.
"So, ...." I started. "How did you find me?"
"I noticed you on the first day we arrived at camp. I didn't come with your flight, you know. I arrived earlier than y'all. "
"Oh" i said. That was true. She hadn't been with us.
"My mother brought me here. She purposely booked a flight to bring me to the camp. I didn't want to come but she forced me, so I had to just ..you know, come" she said.
"Why did she force you down here?"
"My mother thinks I'm crazy, so she thinks this camp will make me better."
"But how?"
"This is a camp of crazy people, I bet it with you. Because I experience déjà Vus, mom thinks I need help, and funnily enough, she thinks I'll find help in Meteors Contention Camp. Can you imagine that?" She half laughed. She laughed her mother to scorn. "I hate my mother" she said, fishing out a container from her small bag. It contained sunscreen.
"It's okay, tell me everything. At least you're not alone, I'm here too" i tried to encourage her and prompt her to speak to me. She rubbed her suncream
"What did you mean when you said it is a camp of crazy people?" I asked
"Everyone here has some supernatural substance in their blood. It's either they can do what a normal human being can not do, or they're simply non-human" she dropped the bombshell. It wasn't as if I did not know but she confirmed it.
"It hurts to think that mom thinks I'm one of them because I experience déjà vu every year. Do you know what a déjà vu is?" She asked, staring squarely at me
"Yes I do. I learnt it is a feeling of having already experienced the present situation, like a constant feeling that you've experienced a situation sometime ago" I said and she clapper.
"I experience this feeling of déjà vu every year. For instance, everything that has happened to me this year , I feel like it has happened before. This time last year, I was here at this camp, and here under this shade but talking to some other girl. This time last year, I was wearing this particular hairstyle. And I know this time next year, I'll be here again. It happens constantly, I already know the next line of process. So I kind of want to change it, in order to, you know, have a change in a particular way, but it doesn't change. Sometimes I even yell at mom for repeating the same process as last year's. During Christmas two years ago, mom was mad at me and she hit me with a burning wood, I still have a scar on my arm, she didn't do it deliberately I guess, she was just mad and she probably didn't realize that what was in her hand was not good for a weapon, because she was sorry, but you know what?"
"What?"
"She hit me again last year at Christmas with a burning wood, and now the scar is now prominent. I know it'll happen again this year. Mom thinks I'm crazy because things repeat themselves around me. That's why she brought me here. According to her, being with people like me would help me get better" she sighed again.
"She keeps bringing me here every year, so I know I'll be here again next year. Hopefully when I'm through with high school, there'd be a change as I'd not have to come here. Just hopefully"
"I'm so sorry, that must be really hard on you"
"Yes it is. I cry all the time because of this" she said with a teary voice.
"And you're going to hit me again next year in our classroom because I was rude to you, and I'm going to get hospitalized again and have another plaster on this same spot on my head." She said, not like a question but like she was stating a fact.
"Stop it. It won't happen" i said. It was scary having occurrences repeat themselves every year. It must have been really hard on her especially as none of her parents understood her and she was just termed crazy. That's what made it worse. She was growing in height, weight and wisdom but she experienced the same things each year.
"It will, I tell you. That is what I told the other girl too, when she said something I said would happen would not" I sighed and rubbed her shoulder.
"I know this feeling. The way you rubbed my shoulders just now, I know this has happened before"
Her words ignited the spirit of fear in me but I still kept her company. She was just a girl like me who didn't understand why she was feeling the way she felt, or had the power she had, she was a girl who wasn't understood because even if someone told her about feeling what she felt, she'd be tempted to call the person crazy as well.
So it was like, you didn't like how people did not understand or see what you were seeing but you do not blame because even you who experienced such felt that it was weird.
"When did this start?" I started to dive into the matter
"Mom said I showed signs of it as a toddler because I'd repeat some things I did the previous year, or go ahead and do something on my own without anyone's help because I was already strangely familiar with it. I think I was five at the time" she said resting on my shoulder while I rubbed hers.
"And how old are you now?"
"Eleven" Oh, so she wasn't ten. She held my hands and looked closely into my eyes like she was in a trance. "My daddy is gonna die again, Ariana" she said with the most emotional voice I've ever heard.
"I'm sorry" I said and patted her back. I thought about how much it'd suck to experience repeatedly your father's death.
"I just wanna have a new year. Do you think these people at the camp can help me?" She asked calmly now.
"I'm not sure, they're of no good to me. " I muttered. I didn't know what else to say.
"I'm sure not everyone here is weird, Look we already found two of us. There could be more" I assured her. "You'll have many more friends"
"What are you going to say tonight?" She asked me.
"What? I don't understand"
"At the Award night, every year, everyone talks about what they can do and then display those things. Everyone here has superhuman powers"
"Really?"
"Yes. You can't be here at the camp if you are natural. You must at least be able to do one thing that regular humans can't do. Every single person will display their powers. The Award night is like what most of us look up to because it's always so much fun. It lasts many hours, into the midnight sometimes. Afterwards, we dance and drink from the gourd"
"The gourd?"
"Yes, there's a huge gourd in the storehouse where everybody drinks from. I don't know what the drink is, and if you refuse to drink it, they immediately agree that you're a spy and so punish you by leaving you in the forest where snakes live." I was startled
"Oh my God"
"Yeah"
"When you drank it, how did it taste like?"
"I've never drunk it"
"And they never found out?"
"I pretend to. I think they do not know how to catch people who play along, except of course they read your mind. If so, all you have to do is not let it be in your mind. Just play along, act like you're drinking it and don't think about it. Then they'd never catch you. That's what I do every year"
It seemed to me that there was more to this camp thing than what I have ever known.
"Meteors Contention Camp was established by the leaders of the blue wolf pack, as a get together for supernaturals to commemorate the deaths of their members who died in the first war, and also to showcase their diverse superhuman powers to one another. I tell you, most of them do not want vampires here but they have no choice, they allow them on second thoughts because they think they can win them over and stop the yearly wars between them, (Vampires and Werewolves). This camp is just like a fun party with activities among different types of supernaturals. But it's dangerous for humans to be here. That's what I know" she explained and I listened with rapt attention. I thought as much. These people were not regular.
"Ariana, we are the only humans in the camp." She finally dropped the bombshell. "And no matter the mixture and association, we are still meat to them"
"Do you know that they can tell we are humans just by sniffing us? We smell like fresh blood to them , and that's what they like to eat- fresh meat with blood still fresh in it. Not all of them though. Only the werewolves and vampires in their midst. We are just humans with abilities that we do not understand. We don't have powers like they do. Moving close to any of them is very dangerous." She affirmed. I just nodded.
"Get up" she suddenly whispered after some minutes and I shivered within me. "Why?"
"One of them is coming this way" she said and pulled me up with one hand while using the other hand to pack together our picnic items which were sprawled on the grass. I hurriedly hopped up and lent her a helping hand. "How do you know someone is coming this way?" I looked back and saw no one, neither did I hear any footsteps
"Because it happened last year. We have to go now, he can smell us" she said and we both ran, with her grabbing my hands. I was grabbing a bag with my other hand and she was grabbing hers with her other hand too. We ran until we got back to the cabin passing another route so they'd not see us. I actually felt our running was useless because he could catch up with us in a twinkle of an eye. We soon got to the cabin and thankfully she had the key to her room, so we entered her room and locked the door behind us. I was glad I could breathe some fresh air and be away from the bustling of the party for a while. It was choky and very uncomfortable for me.
"Finally we are safe" she sighed and I rested on her bed, beside her.
"Are you sure they are not gonna find us here?"
"We'll be all right" she said and turned on the bed. "Who are your roommates?"she suddenly asked.
"Vicky, Lucas and Tim" i replied, "And you?
"None of my roommates are werewolves. Neither are they vampires. They are all fairies, and they're all boys. They're very caring and they don't hurt me. But then, I still feel very different from them. I feel alone. Thank God I met you" I nodded, smiling. I was glad to have met her too.
" What do you think your roommates are?" She faced me
"Well, I don't exactly know but I think Vicky is a bloody vampire. Her eyes don't look real"
"No she's not a vampire. She is a pontianak from Indonesia. Tim is a shapeshifter, but I don't know what Lucas is" she said and shook her head. "There's something about that guy"
"How did you know these?"
"I saw their profiles. You'll know tonight, you'll see everyone display their abilities. So, let's practise. What are we gonna showcase?"
"Errrm...I think I'll just tell them I'm human" I said, totally uninterested in the event. I couldn't imagine myself standing before a bunch of supernaturals and telling them I could lift something almost my weight without feeling any pressure, or that I could see things that were not there. It was really something I should keep to myself. Something I didn't know if I was proud of at all.
"You think they don't know? You think they don't know you're human? One of them could easily have torn your flesh apart. It's Uncle Robinson that's preventing you from coming to harm because he sincerely cares about you" I nodded. I thought that I had to stick to him then because if I didn't, I'd be in a big danger or worse, he'd get mad at me like he got mad at Anita and killed her. Right. They all could smell me, and Miranda.
"Where did you see their profiles?" I asked trying not to sound too curious.
"In the big book. I stole a look when Aunty Amanda was going through it last year at camp" she said and laughed. "I'm very bold and smart, aren't I?"
"Of course you are" i said and she blushed, while inching closer to me on the soft small bed and for the first time since I arrived camp, I felt comfortable and loved. Miranda Harley was indeed very bold. As a matter of fact, I shared in her boldness to rekindle my own dying bold spirit. There was silence for some minutes. We could fair you hear sounds coming from the hall. Everyone was still dancing and eating and spending their time having fun.
"So, tell me Ariana, what is your power?" Here the big question I didn't like to answer or talk about came up, and I had no choice to respond to her because if I lied, it'd be too obvious and she'd figure out I was lying because she was so close to my face. I felt like whenever I llie, everyone could see it on my face that I was blatantly lying. It made me feel self-conscious so that I rarely lied.
I looked down at my fingers and fell silent immediately I heard her ask that question, because I felt something move behind me. Yeah, I knew he was there but I didn't want to freak my new friend out by looking straight up at him and yelling. So I just sealed my lips and watched him. The spooky figure. He was there standing at the door and facing my direction. It was the first time he appeared to me when someone was with me.
At home, he didn't come if mom was by my side or Dr Brown or Mike, only if I was alone. The fact that he appeared to me even though Miranda was there made it a lot more strange. I looked at him and back at Miranda and she traced my eyes to where I was staring at, but it was obvious she did not see anything, just like every other person didn't see what I saw. Could there be any possibility that he had a mission for both of them?
I was about to open my mouth to answer my newfound friend whilst purposefully ignoring the spooky figure at the door, when it started to move, a step , two steps and towards my direction on the bed. This time when he got so close, i didn't care anymore; I screamed and Miranda covered my mouth quickly and made me sit up.
"What's wrong?" She looked more frightened than I actually looked
"I can see ghosts. There's one here right now" I hurriedly blurted out before I could stop myself. Her reaction was slow but simultaneous. She moved closer to me and hugged me tight, shut her eyes and I could feel her weight shivering on my chest. I looked up expecting the spooky figure to have disappeared as he didn't always stay for long; he always disappeared as soon as he came or lingered for 30 seconds but not more than that. I looked there and he was still there but he'd stopped walking over to me. He just stood there without moving an inch. Just then, I remembered what Uncle Robinson told me on our visit to the castle where he lived with his royal family: "If he comes to you again, ask him what he wants or how you can help. He definitely wants a conversation with you" It was scary
Why would he want a conversation with me? But I decided to try it. Hopefully he'd not appear after that day.
"Hey" I started. Miranda lifted her head and said "huh?" She thought I was talking to her. "Miranda, not you" I said and she began to cry. She was so frightened.
"Hey, stranger" I said to him. The spooky figure. He began to walk towards me again and sat on Miranda's wardrobe in the room. Then he started to make hand gestures like he was glad to meet me.
"What do you...?" I tried again but before I could land, he disappeared just then, leaving behind a choky smoke and smell. I coughed and coughed until my eyes became teary and red. Miranda wasn't coughing, that meant his disappearance and choky smoke only had effects on me.
"Are you okay?" She asked me. "I want to get you water but I'm so scared to get up" she was still crying.
"No I'm okay. Thank you. He's gone too, you can loosen up" i said, but that moment, she screamed. "Why are you screaming?" I asked. She pointed to her bedsheet. There was blood on it. Blood that poured from my mouth.
"Ariana, you're about to be possessed" she said impatiently. "I read it in my fantasy stories. The way you're acting now shows that he wants to use your body, wants to possess it. Tell him no!!!" She pleaded. "Please"
So I screamed, "I don't want you to possess me. Go use someone else. Don't use my body! Don't!" After a while, I stopped coughing and we cleaned up the sheets. I was already exhausted when we heard a sound from the hall where the party with other students were going on: " It's almost time for everyone of us to showcase our abilities and have fun!"
So, Miranda and I, hand in hand ran back to the hall, passing the back route , the same place from which we sneaked out of the party.
We took a seat at the rear of the hall and she massaged my wrist while I just breathed in and out. Her face was pale, and it looked like she was thinking about something. "Are you scared?" I asked her.
"No..I'm just worried about you. You must feel really miserable for seeing something we don't see. You're really special. I'm sure nobody here can see him" she shook her head and I just fell silent. She stared at me for a response
"Yeah I can't explain the way I'm feeling right now" I finally said. "But I'll be fine"
"But why are you making your head stiff though? You're not moving it.. is it stiff?"
"No it's fine, I just don't wanna look around...you know what I'm saying?" I didn't want to catch a glimpse of the spooky figure anymore
"The way you're feeling now is the same way I felt when my father died.. He hit his head on a rock while on a tour out with his colleagues and had it smashed. He didn't survive it. When he was being buried, I didn't look. I miss him so much", she said, wiping her eyelids which were already wet with the tears she had shed back in the cabin. Her make-up was ruined, but she seemed not to care.
"I'm sorry" I said.
"It's okay. At least I found someone I can talk to, someone who feels as bad as I do..you feel me? I'm not rejoicing in your situation but I'm just glad I found you..you know.. someone who gets me, okay?" she said.
I just nodded and rubbed her shoulder without saying a word, because I hadn't recovered from the previous incident. I was still pacifying her while she rubbed my wrist when Uncle Robinson walked towards me and sat beside me. I didn't hear his footsteps and I wasn't looking until he was right beside me. He looked like he had been very busy and only spared a little time to come over to my side because he was impatient.
"Ariana, you need to be careful" he said sternly. He bore his eyes into mine and said, "Okay?"
"Okay??" I didn't understand what he meant. How else could I be careful or how much care would let this people be unable to harm me on the long run?
"Tonight I don't want you to tell anyone of your powers. Let this be between you, Miranda and I" He said, looking from me to Miranda. Miranda looked away just then. She had never liked Uncle Robinson. As a matter of fact, she didn't like anyone in the camp actually, except me of course. She must have been really having a tough life because she hated her mother too.
The person she found the worst was Aunty Amanda. Aunty Amanda was a silent devil.
"I shouldn't tell them?" I asked. I wondered why he wanted me to hide my powers. I mean, I didn't like to talk about it too but why was he so keen about it and taking it so seriously?
Was he trying to protect me from these people? If he thought I could get to harm, then he should not have brought me to the camp in the first place. Right?
"No, don't tell them. I trust Miranda will not tell anyone as well" He looked at her again. I was sure that was a question begging to be answered by Miranda herself but she wasn't even looking at us.
"What if I'm summoned to the stage? I mean, what if it's my turn to showcase...
"Don't leave your seat. I'll make an excuse for you. Or if I don't, then go to the front, take the microphone and stammer, or tell them straight up that you have tried finding out but you do not know yet. There are many ways to it. Make sure while you're talking, you're not imagining your powers because they can read your mind. Most of them" he blurted out and stood up immediately. "I have something to attend to" he added, and disappeared into the crowd.
Honestly it was really hard to not imagine. To not think about something.
Imagine someone telling you "Hey, I want you to do something right now. Tell me five things you think about chocolate but while mentioning them, don't think about chocolate" or "Tell us what happened last night at your hangover without thinking about it"
Isn't that like the hardest thing to do?