In school, I really only have one close friend. His name was Alec Ahherrmire. Don't ask about his last name, I don't know why it's so weird. He must be partly Swedish or something, with the way it sounds, but I don't think it would be spelled that way. It's hard to say. Well, I always called him Alex. Alex was the best buddy I could have. He always seemed to understand me, but during the time a girl named Rachel Rae Herim came along. I guess it wasn't Alex's fault that he spent more time with her. It was just one day when he noticed her and since then he went chasing after her like he was in love or something. At first Rachel didn't notice him, but after all that time they spent together, I'm sure Rachel realized it. Anyway, Alex finally had some courage to ask her out and by then they were together for awhile. I guess I had gotten used to the way things were. I was best buddies with Alex for about five years, ever since the day I came to that miserable school. Alex understood me well because he's dad was killed in a car accident. He later told me that his dad would still be alive if the man that crashed into him wasn't drinking. Alex's mother remarried though. He said he didn't talk to his stepfather much, but he's not cruel or anything like that.
     So during this time that Alex was with Rachel, I had found that he hung with me less and spoke to me less. In a way, I felt sort of abandoned. I guess I should've been happy for him, but it was so hard when I was feeling like I didn't belong. It was around this time one night when something happened.
     I was just beginning to learn how to drive, and the only reason I learned was because John forced me so I could go out and buy for him whatever he wanted. I wasn't a very good driver and I'd always have a bad sense of direction and would get lost often. Well, one night, John told me to pick up pizza that he ordered. He was such a bastard that he purposely made me pick it up instead of having it delivered. He claims it was good practice for me. It was pretty late, about ten thirty or so, but the pizza shop didn't close until eleven.
     I didn't want to go because I knew that I'd probably get lost as I always do. Well, I did get lost. It took awhile but I finally managed to find my way again. By the time I'd gotten to the pizza place, it was nearing eleven. And as I walked toward the door, the people that worked there were in a bad mood I guess, because they flipped the open sign to close just when I walked toward the door. I kept knocking on the door, but the person working there kept pointing to the closed sign and wouldn't let me in. I finally gave up and headed toward my car.
     That's when I saw it. It was a small piece of something. It was really shiny under the street lights, and I guess if I wasn't looking down from feeling sullen, I don't think I would have seen it. I later on realized that it wasn't small at all. It seemed small because it was far away and as I walked closer and closer, and it was near my reach. I picked it up. It filled my hand completely.
     It was a crystal ball, one of those ones that you see fortune tellers use, I never realized how odd it was that I thought the crystal ball was shinning, considering that the crystal ball didn't shine at all while I was holding it. I stared in and it looked kind of gloomy, but it didn't at the same time. The ball wasn't clear; it looked cloudy, like it was covering something. I squinted harder and I saw words inside the ball. It looked like a good paragraph I would say. I only caught a few words because it was so cloudy. As I squinted harder, and that's when I saw the rat nearby.
     I looked at it and it instantly looked back, somehow I got the feeling that he wasn't a normal rat, like he had some sort of special knowledge about something, like the crystal ball I was holding.
     I looked back to the crystal and the clouds disappeared. I saw that the words were clearer and visible now. I began to mumble them.

I ask of you
I will see your mind
In this time
I ask of you
Only of this
I hold of you
In my mind
As I do,
In my hand

     As soon as I finished the last word, I felt some kind of weird jolt inside me, particularly my head. I thought my brain must've been fried, but it lasted less than a second. Then I felt a gust of wind go around me and then leave and all of a sudden I heard a faint voice in my head.
     I'm sorry, it kept repeating. Each time the voice became clearer and sharper, but I didn't know where it was coming from. Was it really in my head? It didn't feel like it was me that was thinking it though. It was a voice, a thought from someone else. Then suddenly the rat was gone, instead stood a girl. She looked flustered. Her dark hair was damp from her sweat it seemed that her make up made her face look greasy. She sighed as if in relief then immediately tensed. She looked stiff now and motionless.
     How much did you see? I was surprised to hear this, as the girl's lips didn't move. I looked around to see if it was from someone else, but as I looked, no one else was around. I was alone with the girl and somehow I had the feeling that I wasn�ft safe here with her.
     I know you can hear me. How much did you see? The voice came again, louder because it was angry. I stared at the girl, who was still motionless. She seemed to be waiting for a response.
     "Did you say that?" It came out of confusion.
     Yes. The voice answered back.
     "I didn't see anything." She looked at me for awhile. I guess she was deciding whether I was telling the truth or lying.
     I guess it doesn't matter. I heard after awhile.
     I think she was beginning to relax. She sighed and said, "Look, I got something I need to tell you. It's only right."

other chapters