The Beacon -Paul Lahote 2-

Chapter 5

The rain was loud, and it echoed down the school corridor. Everyone was wearing jackets to protect themselves from the weather. The young blonde girl stuffed her Chemistry paper into her bag before slamming the locker closed. The sound of the locker echoed inside her mind. Mavis let her fingers rest on the cold metal before she stepped backward. All around her, lockers began to slam closed.

Everything felt slow but also fast. The sound bounced off different parts of her skull. All she could do was stand there, watching as people moved around her. The sound continued, but something was hidden deep inside the echoing noise—a voice.

Mavis was broken away by her thoughts when someone's body hit her shoulder. Dylan, a classmate of hers, looked back. "Sorry," was all he said. She didn't bother with a response.

Around her, everything went back to normal. The sound of closing lockers no longer echoed inside her head. Shaking away the feeling, Mavis swiftly walked towards her final class. Whatever she had heard seemed to have vanished. As she walked, Mavis convinced herself that the sound wasn't real. It was easier that way. It had been months since an incident occurred, and Mavis had gotten used to normal life.

Walking into her Chemistry classroom, she sat at her desk. Mavis twirled the ends of her hair nervously. Inside her head, she continued to repeat that the incident was simply a dream. It wasn't real. Everything was fine.

Everything was fine.

"Hey," someone touched her shoulder. Mavis jumped, "woah, sorry."

"Sorry," Mavis glanced at Abigail.

Abigail looked around the room, "are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

The tall girl in front of Mavis gave her a questioning look. Her red hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, and her face was covered in freckles. "Because you're sitting in my seat."

"This is-" Mavis realized the girl was right. This wasn't where Mavis sat. It was on the opposite side of the room. "Oh."

"No worries." Abigail didn't seem to mind. She sat down beside Mavis at the joined lab table. "Nobody sits in this seat anyway."

Mavis was still in a state of shock. Every day she sat in the same seat. Although the class didn't have assigned seats, everyone had their seat. They sat there every day. Nobody strayed from their chosen seat. "Sorry," Mavis sputtered. "I think I'm just having a day."

Abigail offered her a kind smile. "We all have those days." The two had never spoken before, but everyone at the school knew each other. It wasn't a large school. "You're welcome to the seat if you want it."

Mavis sighed, "thanks."

"Okay, class," Mr. Johnson walked into the room. "Pull out your assigned reading. We have a lot to cover for the test tomorrow."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Mavis sat in the living room, a book resting comfortably in her lap. She watched the fall of the rain. It had been a long and tiring day. The incident at the school sent her on a downward spiral there was no escaping. Nothing had happened since the Volturi had made an in-person visit to Forks. Life went on, and everything was normal.

Not once did Mavis feel the nagging presence of death. Not once did she let out an ear-pinching scream or find a dead body. She had seen too many dead bodies in her lifetime.

Life was normal. Life was good. 

Mavis had eventually forgotten the truth of what she was. Until today. Everything had changed again. In the beginning, it was easier to convince herself it wasn't real. But then Mavis would stumble upon a dead body or walk into oncoming traffic, and the reality of the situation would quickly set in.