Flipped

1.2

We didn't talk much after that. We just crouched, waiting.  Waiting, and sore.

What were we waiting for?  Why had they received the same text? Was it just Ava, and she had dragged Taylor along, like I had with Mike? Had they also gotten texts for the past few weeks?

"Look!" Ava hissed.

She pointed to the front of the library.  There, walking slowly up to the door, was an old man. He had white hair, and a slouched appearance.

"Are we in a horror movie?" Taylor whispered. It was hard not to wonder. The man looked..strange.

At first glance, he seemed like anyone you would see walking down the street. But when you looked closer, his image would start to shimmer slightly. He was dressed normally, yet here again, something was off, even though it was hard to tell exactly what.

And then he beckoned us forward.

I looked at the others. Ava seemed almost in a trance.  Taylor looked back at me with eyes that amazingly weren't full of fear – just questions.

She was the first one to move towards the man. So unafraid.

I was. But if a girl could talk to that old man, I figured I had to, as well, stupid as that sounds. So I got up, too.

A few seconds later, there we all were, the four of us, in front of him. He smiled.

"Hi," Mike said.

He just stared at us. Smiling. For a little too long.

"So what's this?"  Taylor said, waving with her phone, breaking the silence.

"I'm glad you came," the man said to her, totally non-plussed. "Although..." he turned to Mike, "I wasn't expecting you." He thought for a moment, then shrugged. I could see him considering. "I came here to show you something. Do you want to see it?"

I shot a glance at Mike. He was scared. I could tell, even though he was so good at hiding it. Taylor just looked angry. But Ava had this sense of wonder in her face. She, alone, seemed to be relaxed.

"Tell us more first," she said.

For a second it looked like he was going to give us an ultimatum, or something. But, looking at Ava, his features softened. He smiled.

SNAP.

I felt a tingle throughout my body. It reminded me of  one time, when I was thirteen at my uncle's farm. He had an electric fence and once, on a dare, I touched it. Like that, like electricity, only slightly more pleasant. Suddenly the whole world started shimmering, like a pond with hundreds of pebbles thrown in at once. Just as suddenly, it stopped.

I looked around, still in the same neighborhood.   Same blue house to our right. Except, it wasn't.  I didn't know how I knew, I just had a weird feeling. Everything was darker. Literally, physically darker, like someone took a TV set turned the contrast all the way down.

Also, everything was moving slower. I could see the wind ruffling the trees overhead but it was like everything was running at ¾ speed, slightly slower than I expected.

I looked back at the man who was smiling wily.

SNAP

Another tingle through my whole body, warmer than the first.

"Did that help?"

The man was addressing himself to Ava. I could see Ava's.. fear? No, she was emanating an excitement. She didn't say anything.

"You are here because I hope that you will listen to what I have to say," he said. "I cannot stay long. And you will never see me again."

It was strange how, as he said that, I knew immediately it was true.

"What's going on?" I blurted.

He looked at me. There was no smile this time.

"What you just saw is, in some ways, a second world to the one that you now see all around you," he said. Then he shook his head, seeing the looks on our faces.

"No – not spirits. Nor demons. Or even magic, really. All I did was help you really focus."

Silence. He seemed comfortable letting it drag on.

"Okay?" said Ava, like nothing else could really surprise her.

The man winced, almost frustrated now. "Let me try again.  What you just saw was your own perception turned upside down. I shifted it for you, so instead of seeing what is around you first, you now see it second. Anyone can, really, once they are properly shown."

For some reason, the wind had completely stopped, and I didn't even realize. We were in a quieter area of town, but even so, no cars had passed by for the last 10 minutes, which was strange. Or maybe I had just not noticed at all?

Suddenly the smile vanished, and his features turned grave.

"I would not be here if it wasn't important. But I cannot tell you more – there is so little time. You need to decide if you want this power or not. That isn't fair – I know – but I can tell you that you can trust me."

You know when you get the sense that someone is telling the truth? The sense that you can totally relate around someone? That's how I felt. I trusted this man.  "I'm in." I said.

Taylor, shook her head.    "Why can't we think about it more?"

"I'm sorry.  That isn't possible." he said.  He really did look sorry.

"Fine.  I'm in," Taylor said.  Ava nodded as well.  Mike just shrugged, but I knew he wouldn't have let it happen if he wasn't okay.  I looked at the old man again.

The man nodded. "Then close your eyes."

I closed them. It felt strange, how okay I was with everything happening.

FLASH. FLASH. FLASH. FLASH.

And silence. I opened my eyes and he was gone.

I didn't feel any different.

----

And here you have chapter two.   I will be updating this story twice as week (Mondays and Wednesdays) come hell or high water, so please know this won't just be abandoned.  Like I said in the pervious chapter, I will be doing my very very best to make sure that this story stays updated.