Element

✭ Chapter 43

The wind rushes by as I fly up to my balcony. Landing gracefully, I unlock the door, put my bag on the floor next to the dresser, and then leave through the front door. Walking down the large stairwell, I ponder what needs to be so secretive about Jimmy's story. I guess he might just want to keep it to himself and a few other people because it's personal or something.

I approach room 106 and knock on the door. It opens just enough for me to see a dark brown eye peering through.

"Oh! Ramaya! Hi. Come in." The door opens all the way to reveal Kaelie standing there, and Jimmy sitting on his bed, staring out the window. His room is in a state of disarray, but I can't blame him. I'm almost certain no boy's dorm is as neat as Rhodes'.

"Hi Ramaya." Jimmy says with a small smile. It's very believable that they're siblings. They have the same smile, same dimples, and same freckles across the nose. The only differences are their eye colors (Jimmy's are a bit lighter) and their hair colors (Kaelie's is darker).

"Hi Jimmy," I reply. "How are you? Recovered all the way?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty much back to normal."

"That's good."

Soon, Gavin, Rhodes, and Alanna have gathered in Jimmy's dorm as well. Jimmy told Brooke she could come as well, but she said she has a lot of homework tonight, and wouldn't be able to come. Jimmy puts a blanket on the floor, and we all sit in a circle. Rhodes sits next to me, and he hugs my waist. I smile, and intertwine one of my hands with his. I lean against his shoulder, waiting for Jimmy to gather his thoughts and tell the story. Finally he clears his throat and starts talking.

"Okay..." He exhales shakily. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you all this before. I just needed a bit to get back to normal, you know..."

Kaelie nods at him, urging him to continue.

"The night I was sent to the hospital, just at sundown, I was taking a walk. Just... Around the lightly wooded behind the transportation storage shed."

"Wait... Why? It was getting dark, why were you out?" Alanna asks curiously, and Kaelie throws her a disapproving look. She ducks her head, but I can tell she still wants an answer.

"I just needed to clear my head. I'd just failed a math test, and wasn't feeling great."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's ok. So anyways, I was walking. I found a tree that looked sturdy enough to sit in, and I looked up to fly into it. Suddenly, I heard a weird whoosh noise. I looked around, and spotted a figure behind a nearby tree. I freaked out. I didn't know what the heck it was! It suddenly walked with long strides towards me."

"What did you do?" Gavin inquires, appearing creeped out by the account.

"I'm just getting to that. So anyways, I was freaking out. I tried to slowly walk away, but with each step I found it got harder and harder to move. Eventually I couldn't move at all. The thing walked around to face me. Well, it wasn't really walking. It's legs were kinda hazy, it was almost floating. It was really weird. It looked like a really tall, skinny person with long, spidery arms and legs, and it was wearing black pants and a shirt and a long black coat thingy. It's hair was black. But the weirdest part was its skin. It was almost grayish, like it had a light coating of ash all over it. I... I can't get the image of the thing out of my head. It was just so strange. I almost don't even believe it myself."

The group is deathly silent, and no one dares even breathe. Dang. Jimmy's actually a pretty good storyteller. I'm creeped out now.

He takes a deep breath and keeps talking.