"Go on, I'll catch up with you," Anna said.
"We'll wait. It's no problem." Nora said as she stood up and handed Anna her hairbrush, the last item that had fallen from her purse.
"Thanks," Anna said and slung her purse over her shoulder.
She could still see that mist, or that girl, staring at her. She tried to avoid its eyes but she felt them on her wherever she moved. The mist would curl and uncurl around Edison in a graceful yet creepy fashion. Dark grey tendrils of the mist would reach out and touch Edison's hair as if it owned him.
Anna tried to gauge it with her feelings. This thing was not Gracie. Was it another spirit attaching itself to Edison? And why did this mist feel like it would be thrilled to see her death?
Speaking of which, where was Gracie?
"Come on guys, let's get going," Edison said.
"Yeah, okay," Anna said and walked alongside Nora so that she didn't have to stand next to Edison and be near the thing. Nora noticed this but didn't say anything.
Their next class was drama. How poetic, Anna thought. The teacher grouped the students into fours. One student would act out a scene from a comedy and the other three had to guess. Somehow, Edison, Nora, and Anna ended up in a group together. Mr. James said he would fill in as the third person as soon as he made sure everyone was doing fine with the assignment.
Laughter and innuendoes from some of the guys filled the small theatre. Mr. James had to settle them down as he walked about the groups, studying and watching. He was in his thirties, and sort of handsome in a teacher type of way.
Suddenly, the auditorium door opened noisily and Carter hurried in, nearly out of breath. Mr. James frowned at the interruption.
"Sorry, I'm late," Carter said, setting his backpack down on an empty chair.
"Fine, fine. You can join Edison, Nora, and Anna's group."
Anna frowned at this but Carter looked happy.
"Thank you, sir," Carter said and went to join the others.
The three were sitting in a circle. Carter pulled up a chair next to Anna and sat down.
"Hey," he said to Edison and Nora.
"Hey," Nora answered while Edison just nodded his head and looked away.
"So, what are we acting out?"
"Napoleon Dynamite," said Anna.
Carter laughed. "Perfect. Edison, you be Napoleon - "
"We already have our parts," said Edison.
"Yeah, you're late, so you get what's left over," Anna told him.
"Okay, fine. What part is mine?"
"Summer's jerk boyfriend," Anna told him.
"Blah, he's not even interesting. He's just a stereotype."
Anna couldn't stop giggling at this. Even Nora smiled. Look who was calling the kettle black.
Anna touched his arm. "You're perfect for the part."
"Whatever," Carter said, then was pretty quiet for the rest of the class.
~~~
After class, Anna headed for the girl's bathroom. She had a study date with a guy from history class and wanted to freshen up. She knew he liked her so maybe she could get him to do a lot of the work for her. She smiled as she thought of how cute he was, already forgetting the creepy mist.
She pulled a lip gloss out of her makeup bag and leaned over the sink to get closer to the mirror. Just as she finished applying it, she felt a rush of icy air behind her. She glanced around but she was the only one in the bathroom. She started applying the lip gloss again.
"Witch."
The voice was right in her ear.
"Who's there?!" she swung around but saw no one.
The room spun and Anna gripped the sides of the sink to keep from falling. When the motion stopped, the bathroom had vanished and in its place was a courtyard where she was watching two women finished being tied to stakes.
Men threw wood upon the small fires at the women's bound feet. The fires grew and the flames slowly licked their long skirts. The women began to scream.
"We haven't done anything wrong," the younger one cried, tears streaming down her face.
"You've done devil's magic!" a man shouted while others joined in.
The other woman shrieked, "We're God-Fearing Christians, let us go!"
"Lying witches," snarled another man.
The older woman began to pray as Anna watched the scene in horror. She didn't seem to be in the scene herself-she could only witness it.
Before she could think again, she was back in the bathroom, the lipgloss in her hand.
She ran out into the hallway, straight into Carter's chest.
"What the heck?" he said as she hugged him tightly, pressing her cheek against his shirt, shaking.
"Get me out of here, please."
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