House Of Nightmares

Chapter Three: Trypanophobia

I said earlier that I started to suspect something was up when Kendra Welle started vomiting blood in the girls bathroom.
Well, I knew something was up when I collapsed in the middle of the hallway.
The next day I went back to school. People were staring and whispering. "That's Edelie. Kendra Welle's best friend. Kendra vomited yesterday. Blood. All of it."
Some rumor got started that she had died. At lunch I got a bunch of well-meaning people coming up to me saying things like "I'm sorry for your loss." Then I would have to say, "Yeah, Thanks. She's not dead, people." And then the people would shake their heads and be like "Of course not. She lives on in our memory." And then I would need to just agree with them, like, "Yeah. Great. Go away."
I sat alone at lunch- again. Ms Saffron came over to me at some point, and figuring she was there to express her condolences, I rolled my eyes and said, "She's not dead, she's sick, no condolences needed. Good day, au revoir, je ne veux pas tes condoléances."
But she just sat down and said very seriously, "Are you okay?"
"What? Yes. Shouldn't you be asking Kendra?"
"She's at home with her mother. She has all the 'are you okays' she needs. Are you okay?" Ms Saffron insisted. Her dress was the colour of her namesake: saffron yellow. Her glasses were a bright purple, and I noticed, wincing, that a student had pinned a sign that I couldn't read to her back. But her expression was serious as hell.
I frowned at her, kind of weirded out by the vice principal sticking her long nose in my business. "Yes. I'm just peachy. My best friend is sick, people suck, just in general, and-" I stopped myself. "And, um... and I ran out of food but I'm still hungry."
Ms Saffron smiled apologetically. "Sorry, dear. If you ever need someone to talk to, you come see me, okay, honey?"
At this point she leaned in really close to my face. "Um... yeah. Great. Um... there's a thing called a personal space bubble. I have one."
She leaned away. "Ah, yes. Sorry, dearest." She started to walk away, then stopped and turned back around. "And if you're still hungry... I believe you still have half a sandwich left."
I flushed bright red. Yup. I had forgotten that I still had half a salami sandwich left. I waved. "Yeah. Thanks." Ms Saffron smiled and began to walk away again.
I took a bite of my sandwich. It tasted weird. Probably just me, I thought, putting it down. I had magically turned into the Human Torch overnight, so the sandwich probably had just been burnt by my suddenly red-hot skin.
The lunch bell rang, and I made my way up the stairs out of the school cafeteria. My legs felt unusually heavy, like textbooks had been strapped to my shins. I slowly walked to my locker, and my legs suddenly gave out from under me. I gasped as I fell to the ground. I was able to catch myself with my arms, but soon my head started to spin. I groaned and let myself fall as I heard chaos ensue around me.
"Holy crap!"
"Is she okay?"
"No," I said, but my voice sounded like I was speaking underwater. My ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton balls, because all sound was muffled. Heels clicked close to me. Ms Saffron said, "Dear me! Edelie, you poor thing!"
A bony hand was placed on mine and hot breath blew in my ear. A voice hissed, "I'm going to stick you with something. Don't react." It sounded like it was coming from Ms Saffron, but it wasn't her voice. I just nodded, almost imperceptibly.
A sharp pain burst in my arm. I gasped a bit, but did nothing else. The voice said again, "Okay. I need you to trust me. I will help you up. Tell me you don't feel good when I ask." Ms Saffron's voice continued. "Edelie, darling! Let me help you up." She did. "Nasty fall, huh? How do you feel?"
"Not good." It wasn't a lie. My senses had returned with a vengeance. My head pounded and my ears rang.
"Shall I drive you home?"
"Yeah, yeah, I guess."
She helped me up. I looked her in the eyes and noticed nothing different. Ms Saffron smiled. "Let's get you home. My car is in the back lot." I nodded, and the vice-principal basically dragged me along. I looked at her and noticed a hardness around her eyes I hadn't seen on her face before, and her smile seemed forced, unlike normal.
This was not our vice-principal.
I whispered in her ear, "You're not Ms Saffron."
She just continued to drag me along as she whispered back in the other voice, "Not so loud, but yes. Let's get to the car and I'll explain." The voice had a British accent and sounded hard and commanding.
Finally, we reached a grey van. Fake Ms Saffron waved her hand and the door opened. I thought it was just a really high-tech car.
She shoved me into the back, and closed the door normally. The van smelled like cherry air freshener, and there were wrappers and empty cans all over the floor. I examined a can with a hint of worry, but it was just a can of grape soda.
Fake Ms Saffron got in the front seat and turned around, pointing a finger at me. I had a feeling this wasn't just an accusing gesture. I backed away as far as I could, until my back was pressed up against the seat. Fake Ms Saffron glared at me and began to speak in the British voice. "What happened yesterday?"
"What?"
"Yesterday. What happened?"
"I think you have me mistaken for someone else, I don't-"
"Anything special happen to you?"
I froze. "What?"
"Yes, it did, didn't it? Any... weird stuff? Maybe..."
"Magical stuff?"
Ms Saffron smiled. "Yes. Now hold still." In a flash, she reached over the seat and stuck me in the neck with a needle. I cried out in protest, but my vision started to go black around the edges, and I gasped in fear as my body started to go limp. "What did you do?"
"Goodnight, dear," she said in Ms Saffron's voice.
I passed out.