Spirit

Two

"I'm telling you! They just... disappeared." I told my best friend, Emma, on the bus to their grade field trip to some college I couldn't remember the name of.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Emma asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yeah, why?"

"Cause' you're talking nonsense!" She told me a little too loud. A few people turned and stared. "You're telling me that two hot guys just appeared out of thin air in front of your house and then disappeared? Doesn't that sound ridiculous?"

"Not just any air. Cute air." I corrected. It was sunny now and the light seeping through the window was burning my black leggings. We both laughed. Emma's blonde hair swished and her big brown eyes that matched mine shimmered with laughter. Our moms were best friends, so automatically, we'd been friends from birth. I was only two days older than Emma and our parents -more like our moms- made sure our names matched.

My mom wasn't as funny as she thought, naming me Evelyn Elias Elliot. But everyone called me Ellie.

"Okay, once you get a picture of these 'Super Hot Guys of Air' I'll believe you," Emma told me.

"I don't know if they'll come back though!" I whined.

"Well, you better figure it out," Emma said as a teacher I had never met before told us all to stand.

"But I-" My response was cut off by someone bumping my shoulder and I nearly fell forward.

"Sorry." A dark-haired boy said, turning back towards me. Big green eyes.

"You." I breathed. He winked and climbed off the bus. I snatched Emma's wrist and dragged her off the bus after him.

He was gone.

"Come on! He must've gone inside already." I decided. Or he disappeared again.

I raced up the large stone stairs toward a building, past a purple flag with a white torch. New York University.

How I couldn't remember that name, I had no idea. But... I honestly didn't care.

"Ellie! Ellie stop!" Emma cried. I listened.

"What!?" I reeled on her, "We almost had him!"

We didn't. But I wasn't willing to admit that yet.

"Had who!?" Emma asked, panting for air and resting her hands on her knees. I wasn't nearly as tired. "You're chasing ghosts, Ellie!"  "Wait... you didn't-" My breath caught as a realization hit me like a brick. "You didn't see him?"

"See who?" Emma asked.

"The boy with dark hair. And green eyes. He bumped into me on the bus?"

Emma shook her head.

"No one bumped into you," Emma said.

"No one she can see anyway." A new voice added, sending shivers down my spine. "But you. You can see me. Can't you, Ellie?" I whipped around. Dark hair. Sparkly green eyes. And that smirk.

"Who are you?" I breathed.

"What?" Emma hissed. "Ellie, stop being weird."

"Sota. Deluca, Sota." The boy answered, flicking his dark bangs.

"Why are you following me?" I asked.

"Ellie, Stop! You're scaring me!" Emma said.

"You seriously can't see him?" I asked.

"SEE WHO?!" Emma screamed.

"Last time I checked, you were chasing me, Evelyn." Deluca retorted. "Or were you chasing cute air?"
"What do you want from me?" I asked, feeling my cheeks burn.

"I want you to tell me what's going on! Who are you talking to?" Emma asked.

"Deluca," I whispered.

"Who's Deluca?!" Emma snapped.

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You know, you might wanna take care of your friend before she has a mental breakdown. I can feel one coming on." Deluca said. "She doesn't need to." Another voice jumped in. I spun around to find Emma collapsed on the floor and another boy standing above her. Who was somehow... also Deluca.

"God. What a buzz kill." The first Deluca said.

"You're the one who jeopardized my mission, Jack." The second Deluca hissed. "Your mission?" I repeated. "Am I missing something? And why did he call you Jack if your name is Deluca?" "Because his actual name is Jack, and I'm the real Deluca." The second Deluca hissed again. 

"Change back."

"Fine. Buzzkill." Jack growled.

He dug in the brown satchel slung over his shoulder and pulled out a clear glass vial with a sludgy blue liquid inside.

"Your lucky Poindexter gave me a second dose of that stuff." He said, downing the sludge, gagging at the potent taste.

His face shifted and his eyes turned ice blue. His hair returned to the messy blonde state it had been in the night before.

I gasped. My head felt light. What I just saw wasn't possible, right? RIGHT?

"Whoa, there." Jack laughed as I lost my balance and he wrapped his arms around my waist. Half a second ago he'd been over twenty feet away. No one, not even me, could move that fast.

"Get a-away from m-me..." I gurgled. Jack pressed something cold to my lips, but I slapped his hand away. "N-no!"  He pressed it again and it slipped down my throat like a living, breathing sludge monster. It tasted like old vinegar, and it dragged me down with it, into a black void.

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Hello lovelies!!! hope your day is going well! i'm currently writing chapter 3 i'll post it later.  Don't  forget to leave comments they really help me know which way to take the story and i love reading them. pls vote on any chapters you like!! :)  😊 ✨