Annabelle was on her bed, unable to sleep or study. The mid-term tests were fast approaching.

  “If only they know what I’m going through,” she muttered as she turned to her side, trying to assume a more comfortable position.

  She gazed out her window, her eyes glistening as she looked at the moon.

  “Even the moon doesn’t have problems,” she muttered after which she slowly drifted to sleep.

  It was another day in school, a very boring day for Annabelle. She was seated in class, tapping her book with the end of her pen, clearly uninterested in the class that was going on. She couldn’t help but check her watch every two minutes, wishing the hands of the clock would run faster. Joanna, using her textbook as cover, was busy texting Ron. At least she seemed to be having a good time, or so Anna thought.

  The trees were still that day, and there seemed to be no traffic at all in the parking lot. Annabelle had stared at the parking lot for so long when she noticed a police car enter the lot.

  What could have happened? Has someone died again? Anna couldn’t help but think as the teacher’s voice was completely masked out, her mind focused on the police car as four officers comprising two men and women emerged from the car.

  They entered the school, carrying what looked like flyers in their hands. Not more than a minute later, they entered the class, interrupting the entire lecture. Annabelle caught a glimpse of what one of the officers was holding and “Oh no,” she mouthed, noticing it had Dinkley’s picture on it.

  “That’s the detective that interrogated me the other day,” she whispered to Joanna as they turned to the class.

  “This man went missing this morning,” a policewoman said, holding the flyer in the air so that everyone could see. Was he dead? Did Pepper turn him? Anna thought as her eyes locked with those of the policewoman.

  “You!” she said, pointing right at Anna. Was she a suspect? She thought, “Me?” she asked in doubt.

  “Yes you,” the police insisted as she stood from her chair. She slowly walked to the front of the class, students murmuring as she tried her best to keep a straight face so as not to arise unnecessary suspicion.

  “This lady,” the policewoman said, then paused, causing unnecessary suspense in the atmosphere. Her heart raced as she stared at Joanna, waiting for the policewoman to complete her statement.

  “This lady seems responsible, so she will be the one in charge of distributing the flyers,” the policewoman said.

  Anna, thinking it was something else, heaved a sigh of relief so loud, it caused everyone to laugh.

  “Did I scare you?” the policewoman asked, bursting into laughter alongside the class.

  “But I don’t want to…”

  “Come on Anna, this is a big responsibility,” the teacher said as he gave her a bright smile.

  Why was it a big responsibility? She didn’t even want it! Annabelle collected some flyers and slowly bowed her head, contemplating how she was going to get rid of them as she headed to her seat.

  “Thank you for your time,” the policewoman politely said, then headed out of the class.

  “I guess I’ll ask Mrs. Crow why she’s helping me,” she whispered to herself as she realized Jacob wasn’t in class that day, arousing her suspicion of him. Some part of her believed he was the sorcerer after her life.

  A week had passed, Annabelle had found a way to dispose of the flyers without suspicion, Crow was nowhere to be found again and the search for both James and Dinkley seemed to be a wild goose chase. Her parents hadn’t spoken of their trip which was to occur in April and she also refused to bring it up.

  It was a beautiful morning, the morning that marked the commencement of her continuous assessment. Annabelle hadn’t studied much and “There are better things to do than study,” she said to Joanna who kept giving her reasons why she should study.

  The first subject she was to take was English language and, “It’s English, we speak it every day,” she said as she boldly walked into the test hall.

  She took a seat, her chair a considerable distance from that of the person beside her.

  “Why so much spacing?” she asked herself, noticing the serious and tensed up looks on the faces of the other students.

  A moment later, everyone was settled and the papers were distributed.

  “No cheating, no borrowing of writing materials,” the invigilator painstakingly read out the examination instructions on a piece of paper. Everyone was so tense but why? Wasn’t it just a normal English language test?

  “Begin!”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Judging by the expression on the faces of some students, it was obvious they were going to fail the exam. Annabelle looked at the questions, a smirk spreading across her face. She was what one could call a genius, if she worked harder than she usually did. She had completed the written aspect, and was almost about to conclude the multiple choice section when she noticed something very strange.

  She shook her head, trying to clear her eyes because there was no way the school would have set such a question.

  “How do you kill a Wraith?” she mouthed the words of the questions as she carefully studied the options. “You can’t, it always kills you, ask Annabelle, I’m coming for you,” she mouthed the options consecutively as she raised her head to look around.

  “Peterson, face your work,” the invigilator said, noticing she was looking around.

  The clock the school had specially installed for exam purposes ticked as she glared at the question. No one else had complained so she concluded she was the only one who could see it. The air seemed hotter, and time seemed to slow down as she shut her eyes, hoping the illusion would have worn off by the time she opened them.

  She slowly opened her eyes as the last question on her paper came into view; “Which of the following words consist of only vowel sounds,” she mouthed the words, nearly screaming in happiness as she quickly shaded the correct answer.

  “What do you mean? I didn’t see anything,” Joanna insisted.

  Annabelle had been asking her about the last question of the test and what it meant.

  “I know what to do,” I’ll ask Crow, she said as she silently prayed in her heart for her to be in the office.

  “We have another test in ten minutes” Joanna said, keeping her voice down as she tugged on Anna’s arm.

  “Let me go, I’ll be back soon,” Annabelle said, forcing her arm out of Joanna’s grip.

  She walked briskly, making her way through the crowd of students in front of the exam hall. The next subject was mathematics which she wasn’t really prepared for, but was more focused on talking to Crow.

  Doesn’t anyone notice anything in this school? Why does she have a personal office? Isn’t her office the library? And why does no one seem to notice her absence when she’s gone? What’s really going on? Anna thought to herself, for she was convinced she was under some kind of spell. The whole school was.

  She arrived right in front of Crow's office and “Mrs. Crow?” she said, repeatedly knocking on the door.

  “I know you’re in there, I have something to ask you,” she insisted, refusing to leave the door. Seven minutes had passed, yet she stood there.

  “Young lady, what are you looking for?” a female teacher asked. She was beautiful, but not as beautiful as Mrs. Crow. Her hair was blonde and tied, forming a ponytail which reached her lower back. She was light skinned with blue eyes and, “Are you looking for the librarian?” she asked, tilting her head to the side with a bright smile on her face. She wore a plain white long sleeve and a black skirt which barely reached her knee and in her hands were a few books she hugged so passionately, making her look like a college student who had no life outside her books.

  “Umm, yes but she doesn’t seem to be around,” Annabelle said, as she glanced at her wristwatch.

  “Maybe you…”

  “I’ll check back,” Annabelle said, cutting the teacher short as she ran back to the exam hall.

  She ran as fast as she could, her heart pumping and adrenaline flowing through her body. She wasn’t quite sure of what to think about Crow or Jacob at that moment and “It can’t be Jacob,” she said, as she spotted Joanna from afar.

  Most of the students had entered the exam hall and Joanna seemed to be waiting for her.

  “I didn’t find her.”

  “Told ya,” Joanna said, raising her brow as they both entered the exam hall.

  The exam was easy for Annabelle, and finishing the exam before the stipulated time, she took permission from the invigilator and headed out of the hall.

  “I have about an hour before my next paper,” she said to herself as she headed towards the entrance of the school. She had made up her mind to search Mrs. Crow’s house and; “Annabelle wait!” Joanna screamed, right behind her.

  “How are you done by this time?” she asked Joanna, a bit surprised.

  “I figured you’d do something reckless so I decided to follow you.”

  “What’s going on with you?” she asked, placing a hand on Anna’s shoulder.

  “Can’t you see?” Annabelle asked, pointing all around and gesturing.

  “I don’t understand, what do you mean?” Joanna asked, a bit concerned.

  “Look at it,” Annabelle said, pointing at nothing in particular.

  “Where is Jacob? Why is there no security at the entrance? Why can we leave anytime we like? Why do we get away with everything? Why am I still alive?!” Annabelle screamed at the top of her voice, overwhelmed by confusion.

  “It’s because we have Crow,” Joanna said softly.

  “Crow? Crow?!” Annabelle asked, infuriated.

  “Calm down,” Joanna said, noticing the same expression Annabelle had on her face when she punched Crow’s face.

  “There’s something about this school that we don’t know. Our goddamn principal is a messenger,” Annabelle said, lowering her voice.

  “As for Jacob, he has always skipped classes since we were kids,” Joanna said, knowing fully well Anna was right about all she said.

  “This pepper guy,” Anna said in frustration as she clenched her fists until they began to vibrate.

  “We have no idea what he looks like, and his sister is nowhere to be found,” she added.

  “Calm down,” Joanna said, as she took a seat alongside her friend right on the stairs of the school’s entrance.

  “This school, this neighborhood, everyone acts like puppets and most things are taken literally,” Annabelle said, a bit calmer than a while ago.

  “When next I see Crow, I’m going to ask her some serious questions like how she is a Mrs. instead of a miss. Hell, I haven’t even seen her goddam husband,” Annabelle said, as she stood up and headed back into the school.

  Meanwhile, back at the same location James had been turned into a messenger, Dinkley was tied to a pillar, overwhelmed by fear. His heart had been racing for quite a while and, “Is someone out there?” he inquired, his voice echoing all around the dark and vast room.

  “I’ll have you arrested for this young man!”