A Hero's Song

Chapter 8

Nancy and Robin ran straight ahead, and all I can hear is the panting of my breath and their steps. As I flashed my torch to the hallway on my left, my breath steadied as I rode down from the exhaustion of running. I analyzed the grandfather clock staring right back at me.

"R-Robin?" I called, even though she might not hear me from wherever she is now. I try to ignore the fear in my voice.

I gasped when I heard it chime, it's loud ticking made the hair on my neck rise.

I took a step closer to the clock, and wondered what a grandfather clock this old was doing in a very much up-to-date high school? Why was it looking like it was forced on the wall?

Forced on the wall or forcing its way out, I don't know. But it was obvious that it shouldn't be here.

Blue...

I turned to my back to see if there was someone there. I could have sworn that a hoarse voice just called my name.

Blue...

My heart pounded in my chest when I heard it again, but everywhere I turn there was nobody.

"Who's there?" I flashed my torch in every direction, bracing myself to see someone, something when the light hits a surface. It didn't. I'm completely alone in this hallway.

The clock chimed loudly again, now not making me jump but making me tremble to my very toes.

I held my flashlight tightly, my knuckles must be white.

Blue...

Blue...

"Don't fucking pull pranks on me, Steve! This isn't funny!"

Blue...

"Blue!"

As I blinked rapidly, I gasped for air as if I just swam from the depths of an ocean and have just reached the surface. It felt like I held my breath for a long time.

I felt tight grips on either of my arms shaking me and it took me a second to recognize my brother's face right in front of me.

"Hey! Blue!" he yelled, fear in his eyes and panic in his voice.

"S-Steve..." I breathed. "I...I'm...You're..."

My knees feel like they were about to give out, making me glad that Steve was holding me upright. As I regained my feeling on my feet, only then did I notice that the rest of the group was right behind him.

I turned to my left and felt my confusion consume me whole when the grandfather clock I saw earlier is no longer there. It was just a dead-end hallway with lockers and banners on either side. The walls were whole and there was not a single crack to be seen.

I haven't touched a blunt today. I'm not in on my head. I know I'm not high.

"W-what...?" I panted, turning my wide eyes back to Steve for some sort of explanation, like how I always do when I feel lost.

For years when I don't understand anything, all I have to do was call him or turn to him. He's no genius for sure, but he somehow knows how to level things to me.

But Steve's expression seemed like a combination of confusion and concern. The longer he stares at me, the more the confusion ebbs away. He just looks more concerned with every second.

"Steve," Max called him, "I think...she just saw the same thing I saw."

"N-no," Steve shook his head, "She couldn't have."

I shook away from Steve's hold, "You saw it too? The grandfather clock?"

Max looked at me grimly, before she nodded yes. Then that means I'm not losing my screws.