Invisible Monsters

Chapter 10: Bill the Worried

 After what happened that week, things at school changed a little. Apparently, Jane started spreading lies about me because everyone at school started giving me dirty looks. I don't know what those rumors were and I don't want to know. I thought this would be the end of me, but the truth, is I just don't care anymore. I mean for one thing, I have more important things to worry about (monsters) and all of my friends still like me. James, Rose, Martha and everyone else haven't even brought it up. Maybe they're scared it will upset me if I know what Jane has been saying. All I know is that my friends are still my friends. In the end that's all that matters. Zach and Kaiden started eating with Tiffany, Jack and me. Probably so they can stay away from Jane. They've been trying to put a distance between themselves and her. As Zach stated bros, before gardening utensils. Even though everything was mostly fine, I was still relieved when the weekend came. I needed time away from all of the drama. I slept in pretty late that Saturday. When I came downstairs into the living room at noon, I was still in my pajamas. Dad was standing by the door and was putting his coat on. Strange, where is he off to?
"Hey Dad. What ya doing?" I ask with a yawn.
Dad turns around and looks surprised.
"Oh, I didn't know you were up."
Is he avoiding answering my question, or am I paranoid? The answer is probably both.
"I just got up. Are you going somewhere?"
Dad is quiet for a bit and I start to get worried.
"I was just... going to visit your mother." He finally admits.
Oh, yeah it is around that time, isn't it?
"Do you want to come along? I can wait for you to get dressed and eat breakfast." Dad offers.
"No thanks." I look away.
"Okay, if you're sure. I'll be back soon."
He then leaves. Visit huh? Is that what we're calling it now? I flop down on the couch and let out a tired sigh. I got so caught up in everything else I completely forgot about Dad's yearly ritual. I never go with him. I've only been there once. I decide that I need to think of something else. So I head back up to my room and get dressed. I put on a brown shirt and jeans with a gray hoodie. Mom's jewelry box is open. I stop and look at my necklace that Zach gave me. Maybe getting dressed didn't get my mind off of things. Why do I still have this if I don't want to think about it? I feel like throwing the jewelry box across the room, but I know I would regret it. I take the necklace Zach gave me off of the little hook it was hanging on in the box. I smile at it as I think about when Zach gave this to me. I was so awkward and weird when that happened. Almost wish I could do that moment all over again. I decide to wear the necklace and I put it on. I head down stairs for breakfast. I just ate cereal. I wasn't feeling too hungry. At first I just watched old Dr. Who episodes, but I eventually got bored. I felt like I needed to get outside into some fresh air, but I needed more room than our backyard. So I decided to go to the park. I leave a note on the fridge in case Dad gets home before I do. I decided to take the bus and the bus ride was actually fairly quiet. When I reach the park, I just start walking down one of the paths. I have my small backpack that I use as a purse on my shoulders as I walk. It's cold, but it's also sunny, so even though I just have my hoodie and no coat I'm not uncomfortably cold. Without thinking about it, I eventually come upon the place Bill, Zach and I fought Amanda. I think back to that day. We haven't run into her for a while. I hope she's okay. Well, as okay as you can be while being possessed by a monster. It's at this moment I notice someone on a near by bench. He has a trench coat on and his hands are closed together with his chin resting on them. His long brown hair is pulled back into a short ponytail and his glasses reflect the sunlight. Yep, it's Bill. I wonder what he's doing here? He seems really deep in thought. Should I go talk to him? It's actually been a while since I've last seen him. I walk over to where he's sitting. He doesn't notice me, he's so lost in his own world. I get like that sometimes too.
"H-hey Bill." I greet him.
No answer.
"B-Bill?" I start to wonder if I should just leave.
I start to turn around, but look back at him. Now that I look closer he seems troubled. Maybe it's best I stay. I sit down next to him and shake his left shoulder.
"Bill." I say his name.
He jumps a little and then looks down at me. He looks surprised to see me. Can't really blame him.
"Oh, Sam, or do you prefer Samantha? I can't remember." He gives me an apologetic smile.
"Sam's fine." I smile back at him.
"What are you doing here?" Bill asks.
"I felt like taking a walk." I shrug.
"Are your parents really okay with their teenage daughter walking around the park by herself? Even if it is day light that doesn't seem too safe."
"It's fine. I'm pretty independent cause of my Dad's work schedule. Besides I have mace."
I swing my backpack off my shoulders, placing it on my lap and pat it with my right hand. Bill opens his mouth like he's about to ask something, but then closes it. I think I know what he was going to ask. I'm glad he didn't.
"So, what are you doing here?" I ask changing the subject.
"Oh, I was just thinking, that's all." Bill says with a sigh.
"About Amanda?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"Well..." I trail off.
Bill sighs again.
"I just can't help thinking there was more I could have done. Maybe if I had insisted that she didn't go out on her own or at least I should have tagged along. Maybe if I was stronger I could have..." He trails off.
"You shouldn't worry yourself about the what ifs so much. You might attract a monster. Then you would be possessed too."
Bill looks at me and then laughs. What did I say that's funny? I try to fake a laugh to just go along, but I have no idea what's funny.
"Sorry it's just, you reminded me of someone I used to know."
I wonder who he's talking about? It couldn't be Amanda. All he said was someone he used to know, which means it would take too long to explain. If it was Amanda, it would be easy to explain. I think back to the Halloween sleep over. Could it be his sister? Maybe, I guess it's not that important.
"So I guess none of the others have heard from Amanda then?" I ask.
"No, sadly not. We're beginning to think that the monster that possessed her is in hiding. The number of monster sightings have been going up as well. They're up to something. We just don't know what." Bill looks off into the distance like he's thinking again.
"I think we should focus on trying to find a way to get monsters out of people. We're not always going to arrive on time you know. "
Bill looks at me again. I feel my face heat up. Did I say something stupid? I guess I should have kept my mouth shut.
"You're right, we do."
"Huh?" I'm surprised.
"We need to actually start trying to solve the mysteries around us instead of just accepting them as unsolvable. It's obvious that the monsters know more than we do. We have to start taking control, if we ever want to stop these monsters once and for all and save Amanda."
Bill has this determined look on his face and he smiles a little. I smile back at him.
"You know? Zach's right. You are easy to talk to."
Zach has been talking about me to Bill? Oh no, what did he say? Bill laughs and ruffles my hair.
"Don't worry, they're all good things." Bill reads my mind.
I can feel myself blush a little at the thought of Zach talking about me. Just then Bill, looks off to the left.
"What the..."
"What?" I ask and turn in the direction he's looking.
Then I see this gigantic transparent wasp floating over a woman. The woman is frantically looking around and crying out a name.
"Yoel! Where are you Yoel?!"
She has long black wavy hair and green eyes. She looks really upset. Bill, to my surprise, calmly got up and started to walk over to her. I followed and slung my backpack back over my shoulders.
"Ma'am, are you looking for someone?" Bill asked her.
" Yes, my son. I only took my eyes off of him for two minutes and he was gone. " The woman looked like she was about to cry.
"We'll help you look for him." Bill offered.
"Oh thank you! He's only five years old and he has black hair like me and hazel eyes."
"Right. Let's start looking Sam."
Bill turned to me.
"Right." I confirm.
By the way Bill acted the first time I met him, I never would have guessed he would be this responsible. He seems way more calm. The entire time we looked, the wasp just hovered over us. It was kinda nerve racking. Eventually I looked around a tree and saw a boy that matched the description the woman gave us. He was sitting on the ground like he was hiding. I walked up. I've never talked to a kid before, so I'm kinda nervous. I bend over a little and place my hands on my knees.
"Hey there. Is your name Yoel?" I ask him.
He looks up at me and looks a little scared.
"Your Mom is looking for you ya know. You gave her quite a scare."
The boy finally speaks up.
"I-I'm sorry, but I was scared."
"Scared of what?" I tilt my head in confusion.
"There was this really big wasp, but no one else could see it. I think it's after me." he says in a scared and quiet voice.
I had to lean in closer to hear him. My blood runs cold when I hear what he says. I force myself to smile.
"Don't worry. I can see it too. I'll take you to your mom and then my friend and I will take care of it."
"Really?" Yoel looks up at me hopefully.
"Yeah, that's what we do. Now come on." I hold out my hand.
Yoel takes my hand and I lead him back. When I reach Bill and Yoel's mother, Yoel runs to her.
"Yoel!" his mother exclaims.
She scoops him up in her arms and hugs him.
"Don't ever do that again."
"I'm sorry Mama." Yoel apologizes.
"Thank you so much. Both of you."
"No problem." I smile.
"Glad we could help."
"You have a good daughter." The woman says to Bill and then walks off.
Bill and I look at each other confused. She must have just assumed we're daughter and father cause we're at the park together. We turn to face the wasp.
"It was after the kid. He could see it."
"Poor kid, must have been frightened to death."
Bill's lance appears in his hands. I realize at this point I've never actually seen Bill in action. The one time we did fight "together" I was fighting a monster and he was fighting a possessed Amanda. My scythe appears in my hands and I get ready for whatever is to come. The wasp's stinger fires from it's abdomen. Bill and I jump out of the way. A new stinger quickly replaced the old one.
"Oh well that's just great." Bill says sarcastically.
The wasp starts to fire multiple stingers at us and we keep having to dodge them.
"This is getting tiring." I breathe.
"I know." Bill agrees.
The wasp then spreads out it's legs and reveals sharp claws on the ends. Uh oh. It swooped down at us to attack with it's legs. As we both jump out of the way I swing my scythe to attack it. I clip a wing and the wasp skids on the ground. It turns to face us, standing on it's legs. Before it can react, Bill rushes in and stabs it in the face with his lance. As it starts to dissipate, Bill pulls his lance out. Our weapons soon disappear.
"What are we going to do about Yoel?" I ask Bill.
"I got their last name while I was talking with his mother. We'll have to contact them when he's older and his weapon has appeared." Bill states grimly.
"In other words we'll, be there for them when they feel all alone." I state.
Bill gave me this wondering look and then smiled.

As I headed home, I started to get this feeling like I had seen Bill before. Then I started getting Deja vu, like I had this thought before. That's right. When I first met Bill. After I headed home I felt like he looked familiar. I wonder why? There's no way we could have met before. Maybe he just has one of those faces. It's so weird.