The Magic at the End of the World (Do You Remember, Book 5)

Wednesday, January 17, 2001

They say that things will always get worse before they get better. That's a tough lesson I had to learn when I went with Jimmy, Claire, and Chelsea back to the place where all our troubles began.

In Room 3-G at Lochland Middle School.

Where Jimmy had once attended school until he was kidnapped four months after witnessing Christina's death.

Here's how that went...

The minute we stepped into that classroom, it felt like we were stepping back in time. The room was the same as it had been for the past five years, yet there was a small memorial for Christina placed near the spot where she had died. (The memorial, like the rest of the classroom, was now neglected and forgotten, as if everyone seemed to have forgotten that Christina Marie Brewer had existed.)

I frowned as I stared at the room, knowing that I had walked past that room during my time at Lochland Middle School and not even once considered that the classroom had been the site of a murder.

Now that made me feel uneasy, if nothing else did.

"Jed, are you all right?" Chelsea said to me as we all sat at a nearby table. Jimmy frowned, knowing that that particular table was where he always sat. Him, and Declan Caesar. I said, "I don't know, Chelsea. I don't like what we're doing, yet I know why we're doing this."

"We do," said Claire. "But remember, it's all for Jimmy's sake. He needs closure."

Jimmy nodded, knowing that he needed to close the book on that painful part of his life before he could move on. (I'm just glad that Mary and Mariah are back at my house watching Hadley and Cass.) Jimmy then said, "The sooner I can put this behind me, the better I'll feel about the whole thing."

Chelsea was about to respond when we saw Micheal Kidd, Luke McPherson, and Danny Peck walking into the classroom. They appeared to be wearing the same outfits that they wore on the day of the tragedy. I saw Jimmy wearing a white t-shirt with a picture of Pocahontas and a pair of blue jeans; a far cry from the dresses that he had worn during his “Dana Barron” phase and the black clothes he was wearing when he was rescued. (I guess that he was trying to recreate the moment that his life was irrevocably destroyed through an act of pure hatred.)

I shuddered as I felt the ghosts of Declan Caesar and Christina Brewer entering the room. Chelsea frowned at the sight of the two ghosts, but Claire had an odd look on her face. It was as if she was thinking about something that was far different from what was really going on.

Jimmy ignored everything and said, “I guess you all know why I’m here, don’t you?” The other boys did not respond. “I’m here to correct a mistake that I had made many years ago, a mistake that ended up costing me five years of my entire life. But I’m not here to get my revenge on you; that would be far too easy. But I know that someone here is a patsy, or I wouldn’t be here.”

“What are you talking about, Jamie?” said Micheal.

“I’m talking about the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak,” Jimmy snapped as he glared at Luke. “Luke, I know that you, Christina, and I were friends long before your father married Christina’s mother, and I know that you’re not as hateful as they say that you are.”

“What are you talking about?” said Luke.

“He means that while you may have done something bad (and you most certainly have, if the stories about you bullying other people are true), there was someone standing right behind you who did something far worse,” Claire said as she stepped out from behind the shadows. “I know you, Luke McPherson, and I most certainly knew your stepsister Christina, as she was my babysitter. I know that you’re not as bad as most people think that you are, but you’re not really the good guys here.”