Unseen

Chapter 1

"The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumble are armed with strength." (1 Samuel 2:4)

Ley picked up the bow lying in front of him as the gym teacher demonstrated the correct position and angle to shoot at.

"Bet I can beat you," he whispered to his friend, Star.

"No way," she replied, picking up her bow. She flipped her blond hair over her shoulder.

"I'm sure I could," he teased.

When the teacher let them go to their individual targets to practice, Ley and Star ran to theirs as fast as they could.  Although they had been friends since childhood, they loved to compete - especially against each other.

Ley struggled to pull the arrow back and keep his hand from wobbling.  He was just about to release his grip when he realized that he was holding the bow upside down.  After readjusting himself, he pulled the arrow back, and let go.  The arrow never left the bow.

"Try to pull the arrow back further," the gym teacher called as she passed by him.  Star had shot her arrow and she had landed it on the target.  Not a bull's - eye, but pretty close.

Ley tried again, determined to outmatch his friend.  He pulled the arrow back as far as he could and released it. It flew over the target.

"You said you could beat me?" Star laughed.

"That was a mistake. I got distracted," Ley protested.

"Distracted by what?" Star asked, faking innocence before grabbing another arrow and shooting it at her target - it hit the yellow ring, very close to the bull's eye.

"I can do that, too," he said, grabbing another arrow and shooting it at the target.  This time, the arrow hit the gym floor.

"Oh come on!" he complained, more to himself than to Star.  "I can do better than that, you'll see!" he called, pulling out another arrow.

"Hmm?" Star wasn't paying attention to him.  She was busy fitting her next arrow in the bow.

Ley shot his next arrow at the target.  It didn't hit the target, well... actually, Ley didn't know where it went.  He looked around at his target, at the wall behind the target, and then spotted it on the ceiling.

"Whoops. Guess I can't get that arrow back," he laughed.  He shot another arrow at the target, and it hit the floor again.  He looked over at Star's target, and saw that she had hit a bull's eye. 

Star looked back at Ley's target and saw no arrows.

"Out of arrows already? Did you collect them?" she asked.

"Well, if you look up you'll see I haven't collected anything yet."

Star looked up at the ceiling and started laughing.  "How did that get there?"

Ley shrugged.  Star laughed harder.

"If I could fly I could get it," she said through laughs.

"Like that's ever going to happen," Ley chuckled.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day.  Ley and Star headed back to the change rooms and then to their lockers.  Ley had lost Star in all the after-school chaos, so he went over to wait at the bus stop.

Ley looked through his bag to find his bus pass, finding it just as the bus rolled into the station.  As he lined up with the other kids, he happened to look over at the house across the street.  It was a normal house, but something about it didn't sit well with Ley.  He focused on the window and a shiver ran down his spine.  There was a dark shadow, but it wasn't any ordinary shadow; it was more like a creature.  Ley could see dark red, glowing eyes staring at him.

Frightened, he boarded the bus as fast as he could.  He sat down in his regular seat next to Star.

"So who do you think won today's archery round?" she smirked.  "Me, or you?"

"Probably you," Ley forced a laugh, and glanced out the window.  The shadow was gone.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing."  He looked back at Star and gave her a half hearted smile.