Xanum

Chapter Three

As the next school day arrived, I realized just how difficult hiding the runes would be. During our first class together, Tony and I sat next to each other. We didn't say much, but about halfway through the hour, he looked over at me. I could see from the look on his face that he wanted to talk. And from recent events, I knew exactly what about. "Where do you wanna talk?" I asked quietly.

"In the hall, right now." He replied. I asked our teacher, Ms. Ann, to go to the bathroom.

The blonde, well aged teacher turned away from the whiteboard to look at me, her wrinkled face displaying both concern and doubt. "Just there and back, ok Jax?" She said. I nodded and got up to leave the room. As I walked I felt the eyes of my fellow classmates boring into my back. I then heard Tony ask to go as well. I turned around to see how the events were going to play out. Ms. Ann crossed her arms, the sleeves of her shirt making a soft ruffling noise. She looked at him and asked him what he was up to.

"Nothing, dude. I just gotta piss, that's all," He said in his most smug voice. She thought for a minute, taking up an air of consideration.

"As soon as your friend gets back, you can go," she said. She uncrossed her arms, thinking she had beaten his mischief. Tony threw me a side glance, and I knew he wasn't done.

"I mean, do you want me to pee on the floor? I've drunk like, six bottles of water already. If I go in my pants, the janitors will be mopping 'til the end of the week," he said, challenging her.  Reluctantly, she agreed. He got up slowly and followed me out the door. Once outside the classroom, we walked through the halls, trying not to make a single noise. After a quiet minute, we arrived at the bathroom. I reached my right arm up to the door and opened it. I slipped inside, and Tony followed. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me over by one of the stalls. The sun shone brightly through a window above us.

"What do you think these tattoos mean?" He asked. As the last word rolled from his tongue, he rolled up the sleeve of his jacket. The glowing runes seemed to take delight at being in the sun. They flared up, glowing a little brighter than before. I leaned against the stall.

"I don't know. But whatever they are, they've got to be powerful, right? I mean, this can't be an accident," I replied. Suddenly, the bathroom door opened an inch. I could hear Tyler, one of the football players from the night before. He was outside, and he was with a few of his friends. Tony yanked me into one of the stalls and closed the door. With my shoulders pressed against the cold metal of the cramped stall, I reached up to the window and felt around for the latch. The door slammed open, and I could hear their footsteps as they stomped into the bathroom. Was this going to be the classic scene from every movie? Where the bad guys kicked in every single stall until they found us?

"Where did they go?" asked Tyler.

" I don't know. Check the stalls." One of the boys said, his voice scratchy. Yup, this was going to end up being the classic scene. Then, with agonizing slowness, they started kicking open the stalls. I found the latch. Thump.

"Why are we hiding here? We can take them." Tony whispered. Thump. Another stall kicked open. I pointed at the runes on his arm.

"That's why. If they see that, we're screwed. They'll tell the police or something. Somehow, it'll end up becoming public knowledge. We'll end up as test subjects," I whispered back. Thump.    

"Wait, I see them, they're in that stall," Tyler whispered. A few of the pairs of legs came towards our stall. Wrapping my fingers around the latch, I opened the lock and urged Tony to climb out. He clambered up onto the bacteria infested toilet. I turned around, finally having some room. I pushed my back into the door and pressed my feet against the toilet. A moment later the stall door received a kick from the other side.

I staggered forward an inch then pushed myself back into the door, slamming it closed. "You got nowhere to run, assholes. Unlock the door and let's talk." Tyler said. Wow, how cliché. I turned to look at Tony. He was gone. Next it was my turn. I jumped to the toilet seat and climbed out the window. As my feet hit the warm ground outside, I heard the stall slam open. I heard a yell of frustration, and honestly, the entire neighborhood probably heard it too. The thought made me chuckle for a minute as I jogged to Tony's car.

I thought I heard a shuffling noise. Was that someone...running? I turned around, my hand on the door. That was when I saw Tyler. He was sprinting as hard as he could, straight toward Tony. I wasn't concerned at all. Tony could take a hit, I'd figured that out myself. As he got closer, Tony stepped toward him, puffing his chest outward. With a growl, Tyler lunged at Tony. His feet left the ground and he slammed into Tony. As the two boys collided, Tony fell backwards and hit the ground. How did Tyler manage to knock Tony down? I walked over to where Tyler was punching my best friend. Tony hit him in the face, and as Tyler swung at him again, horror spread across Tony's face.

With a crack, Tyler's fist connected with Tony's stomach, where his phone should have been. But there was something else in his jacket... It was round. With growing horror, I realized that Tyler had hit the piece of alien tech. Why did Tony have it with him? Tony shoved Tyler off of him and a second later, the air around Tony's body began to shimmer. Tony looked at me with fear in his dark eyes. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I knew that if he was going to die then I was going to die with him. I grabbed his forearm. He grabbed mine as well, and as we stood there, the air flickering and shuddering, the runes on our arms began to pulse. They seemed to get brighter with each moment. They shone through our clothes. Then, the pocket of air around us exploded into a ball of light. "What the fuck is wrong with you two?" Tyler asked, bewildered.