Hide & Seek

Ellie’s Point of View: I lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. It was just after four in the morning. The house was eerily quiet, except for the old grandfather clock that stood in the living room, and the faint rustle of blankets as my grandmother turned in her bed, two doors down. I was pondering my life and the cruel twists and turns that had turned me into the person I was.  With my auburn hair, hazel eyes and average figure, I was not ugly, but the weirdness that emanated from me, decorated me with the unpopular-and-therefore-invisible status in high school. After four years, I had perfected the heads-down and fading-into-walls routines, sometimes quite literally. What no one knew was that I had a secret. Just like my father before me, and my grandfather before him, I, Eleanor Stevens, could turn myself invisible. In my head, it was no big deal. I had lived with it for so long, that it was the norm. ‘Hiding’ me did not hurt; it simply felt heavy, as if a heavy blanket suddenly covered me. To me it was a sort of talent, like being artistic or having an eye for beauty. Of course, I secretly possessed those traits as well. An hour later, I was sitting at the breakfast table with my grandmother, having eggs and toast. We were both early risers. “So, Ellie dear, are you going to school early this morning?” She was making conversation. I nodded as I chewed. “That’s nice…but I can never understand why you would want to go to school if you’re treated so badly.” She continued and I smiled at her. Gran had a gift of her own, attentiveness. It was not a special gift, like mine. It was a human talent. She could notice a mood or a vibe faster than anyone I had ever known. “It’s not that bad anymore, and I like the free time to study.” I loved school for a completely different reason than other kids my age. It was not the ‘getting-to-see-friends’ or meeting-new-people that interested me. I loved the smell and feel of knowledge that seemed to vibrate from the very walls of the school. I left for school a few minutes later. Before I exited the house, I quieted myself and focussed. In mere seconds the only proof that I was there was the smell of my shampoo. I jogged the two miles to school, a wisp of morning air dancing about like a light whirlwind. I was probably the only teenager to arrive at school a whole hour early, I walked right past Billy, the janitor, as he was waxing the hallways and he did not even suspect a presence. I was getting better at cloaking myself. Gran said that one day I would be able to cloak objects without touching them. For now, I settled for being able to ‘hide’ myself, the clothes I wore and my backpack. I glanced over my shoulder – Billy had his back to me, with earphones over his ears – and then slipped into Mr. Simon’s Visual Arts classroom. He was one of the only teachers who did not lock his classroom and I spent many of my mornings there, indulging myself in the shelves of creative literature that covered the walls. I retrieved a thick volume on ‘Scenic Photography’ and settled into a desk at the back of the room. As I flicked through it, I thought back on the days when my ‘gift’ was new and involuntary. I was seven the first time I ‘disappeared’. Mom and I were making dinner and suddenly I felt ‘heavy’ and I was gone, but I was still babbling on like any seven-year-old, oblivious to my ‘trick’. She did not take it well. I think having one Shadow in her family was strange enough. Of course, my mother and father disappeared not long after my gift manifested. To me it was a curse. I had no idea how to control it and so, would sometimes be ‘gone’ for days at a time. And then my grandmother, Rosie, stepped in. She took me in after my parents were gone and explained my gift to me. She taught me how to control it and how to use it responsibly. Yes, a gift like mine could do much evil, and had I not had my sweet Gran, I might just have crossed over to that dark side. In the beginning, my ‘talent’ depended mainly on my feelings and emotions, and it was only when I learned to control them that I managed to control my gift. There were rules I were to follow. I would never use it to do dark deeds. Nobody was to know about it – This rule she drilled into my head. And I wasn’t allowed to ‘hide’ from her. She called me a ‘Shadow’, the last in a long line. In every generation of Stevens, however, there was only one Shadow. Gran only knew what my grandfather had told her, and that knowledge she had gradually shared with me through the years. I always felt like she was keeping the most important things from me, but I never pushed her. She was all I had, and I treasured her more than any titbit of information. What I did know, was that Shadows were not the only gifted ones out there. There were other, more dangerous talents on the prowl. I closed the encyclopaedia, and a gasp from the front of the room jerked my head up. In my reverie Mr. Simon had settled into his oak desk and my action had startled him. I was still hidden, but the book was not. He got up and slowly made his way to my occupied desk. I was panicking. Yes, I was invisible, but I was still there, if he touched me, he would feel me. He reached the desk and his hand carefully reached for the book. I cringed back as far as I could, scared that if I moved the chair would scrape. He looked around the room with a deep, confused frown. “Kids…” He mumbled before picking up the book and replacing it on the shelf. He scanned the room again before returning to his desk. I sat there quietly panicking for half an hour before he left the room and I could get up and soundlessly run for the bathroom. I threw open the door and a couple of girls yelped at the sudden entry. They were staring right at me, but they were staring at empty space. “Holy crap! What was that?” Cindy Meyers asked in her haughty voice as I crept along the wall. She was in my Maths class, and her status in school went along with her condescending tone. “Calm down! Cindy…it was just the wind…” Samantha Williams rolled her eyes at her before scanning the bathroom. Her jaw was set in a determined line and it made me smile. She knew it was me. Of my three friends, only Sam knew my secret. Maggie and Erin were pulled into our group because no one else wanted them in theirs. We were all invisible, I of course, just a little bit more literally. I carefully pushed at the door to the last stall and it creaked only slightly. Cindy yelped again. “Still…the wind…Excuse me. I need to use the bathroom.” Sam mumbled as she made her way to the last stall. “You’re going in there?! This place is haunted…and you’re weird.” Cindy mumbled condescendingly and Sam laughed before closing the door and locking it. She closed the lid of the toilet and sat down before nodding. That was my cue. I closed my eyes and took a few long breaths. “Finally!” She exclaimed and I opened my eyes. “Super weird!” Cindy repeated from outside and I heard the main door open and close. I threw open the stall door and Sam and I were both laughing. “That was close, Ellie.” She breathed and I nodded. “Sorry, I didn’t think anyone would be here already, but I misjudged the time. I was stuck in Mr. Simon’s classroom for a while…long story.” I explained when she looked at me expectantly. We walked to our lockers together, dodging other students who had arrived by now. Of course, the day would not be complete for others if I was not humiliated in some way. And so, Travis Edgar – the chairman of my humility-club – ran right into me, causing my books and things to go flying, and me to hit the cold, tiled floor. He looked down at me and sneered, before running off with his friends. I waited a few seconds before getting up and quietly retrieving my stuff. I rose to my feet, looked up and was surprised to lock eyes with Max Crawford. In the four years I had attended Cascades high school, this was the first time we had ever looked at each other for more than two seconds. A frown was creasing his forehead as he continued to stare at me, and I was growing uncomfortably anxious as well. Max Crawford was the most popular guy in school since I could remember. With his ice-blue eyes, raven black hair and athletic built, he had practically every girl in school drooling over him. But lately everything about him seemed different. I couldn’t quite place it, but he seemed strung out and tensed, and it saddened me that his friends didn’t seem to notice, everyone but Rick, his slightly-reserved-but-in-the-in-crowd-because-his-dad-was-rich friend. And that was why I was so anxious. Max was looking at me, a girl he had probably never noticed before, even though we’d had most of the same classes since middle school, as if I had all the answers. He looked at me as if he was begging for help and that confused me. Finally, I managed to break eye contact and I let my gaze fall back to the floor, where it belonged. This was going to be a long day. #### Max’s Point of View I was losing my mind. In two months, my whole life had come apart at the seams and no one seemed to notice. At first, their obliviousness to my neurotic state, aggravated me, but then acceptance stepped in and I relaxed ever so slightly. How could I blame them for something they would never understand? How could I explain to them that my once-carefree life was now long gone, and in its place, a life filled with unexplainable horrors, that no one else saw? Ever since that night, two months ago, when I drove my car off a bridge, things had changed. My view was constantly attacked by terrifying images of large beasts skulking around town, or dark, distorted figures looming behind buildings. When I focused for too long on certain objects, they would transfigure before me into other, more sinister things. It scared me, caused me to want to hide beneath my bed as I did as a child. But I was no longer a child. I was seventeen, practically a grown-up. When the ‘hallucinations’, that was what Rick and I called them, first started, I had tried to tell my parents about it, but they blamed it on stress. They did, however, drag me to a doctor, who in turn, agreed with their prognosis. I saw Red Riding Hood’s gigantic wolf trotting down Main Street, and they gave me anti-depressants. That was my parents, alright. In the end, I opted for telling only my closest and most trustworthy friend, Rick, about my ‘complications’. He accepted it, no questions asked, and having him to talk to, helped me to regain some balance again. After weeks of constant flashes of crazy, things started to simmer down some. I still saw shadowy figures lurking about, and objects still transformed in front of me, but I could block out most of that. I was, however, starting to pick up on other things. I saw things differently. It was like my perspective was changed that night, as if my eyes were finally opened to the truth. I would look people in the eye and see ugliness I’d never noticed before. I would look at a complex math equation on the blackboard in Mrs. Robinson’s class and the answer would appear in my mind’s eye as if it was obvious. Rick suggested once that I was seeing beneath the surface of things. With people, for instance, I was seeing their inner beauty, or ugliness. It was frightening at first to realize how ugly all my friends were when I looked at them. The only one not blackened to the core, was Rick, and so I kept him, but distanced myself from all the others. They did not take it well, but I didn’t care. Seeing their inner workings appalled me so much so that I had fallen into the habit of walking with my head down. Rick and I were walking down the hallway when we heard commotion from ahead. Travis Edgar purposefully ran into a girl, sending her and all her belongings flying in different directions. I was disgusted by his behaviour. When Travis was gone, the girl slowly got up and quietly collected her things. She looked somewhat familiar to me. Heck, we had probably gone to the same school for years, and I had been so wrapped up in myself that I never noticed her. She looked up suddenly and caught me staring, but I didn’t look away, and then I saw it – vulnerable beauty, hidden behind sad, hazel eyes. I couldn’t breathe for a moment. Her inner-person was compassionate and caring, her spirit, vibrant and determined, and it all confused me. Looking at her two months ago, I would not have noticed her at all. But now, I could not take my eyes off her. Without warning she let her gaze fall and quickly shuffled to class. Heaviness suddenly rested on me. “Dude!? What’s wrong?” Rick’s voice echoed through the thick haze, jerking me back to reality. “What?” I asked confused. “Did you just have a hallucination?” He whispered and I cleared my throat before nodding. “Shall we discuss it later?” He asked formally and I smirked. “As always. I have an English paper to hand in. See you at lunch?” I questioned. We hardly had any classes together. “Oh yeah…and I want a full report.” He joked before darting off in the other direction. Three minutes later I walked into first period English and there she was, in the back corner of the classroom with her head down and her copy of Shakespeare’s Hamlet already open before her. I managed to find a seat two rows to the front and one to the left from her, giving me a reasonable vantage point. Mrs. Leighton walked into the room and called everyone to order. And so began another tedious lesson in Shakespearian literature, which I, since two months ago, found quite easy to understand. By lunch time I had gathered that her name was Ellie and that we shared three classes thus far. She always settled into the back, almost fading into the walls. It annoyed me. We had attended some of the same classes for years and I only noticed her now. What kind of superficial jack-a*s had I been?