She ran as fast as she could down the dark and rainy street. Her breath came out in quiet, fearful cries. Her brown teddy bear was clamped underneath her right arm as her legs propelled her through the night. She glanced back over her shoulder every once in a while to look back. She could hear the cries of her mother, her tears sliding down her face. She closed her eyes and forced herself to run faster; she knew he'd be coming after her next.
She looked back over her shoulder, and she could sense him as the screams were silenced. She fell as her foot caught in a pothole and tripped her. She squealed as she fell down into the mud and pain flooded through her ankle. Trying to get up, she sniffed and cried out as she fell. The pain was too intense, she couldn't go on. She wrapped her arms around her teddy bear and curled up into a ball on the street's asphalt. She squeezed her eyes shut as she prayed he'd make it painless.
The presence of him was overpowering as he came towards her, slowly but agonizingly. Her lip trembled and she whimpered in fear as she clutched the bear tighter in her arms. He laughed slowly and menacingly at her frightened form. "It'll all be over soon, my dear. Just go with it…" he said slowly. She could hear his smile on his voice. She felt him kneel next to her and take a gentle grasp on her arm. "All you gotta say is 'I will you my powers,'" he whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
"I…" she said softly in a wobbling voice. "Will you…"
Before she could say anything more, he let out a painful groan. His hand dropped from her shoulder and she heard a thud as he fell beside her. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He lay next to her with eyes wide open in surprise, a knife stabbed through his back.
"Hey, you're alright," a voice said. She looked up in fear, eyes wide and teary. A face looked down at her, eyes black like her kinds. They looked tired, weary, and yet they smiled slightly. He blinked and they returned to a sharp green color. He squatted down next to her and lightly touched her cheek with his finger, smiling gently at her. "You're gonna be okay, I'll help you out. Do you trust me?" Stunned silent, she nodded slightly and pressed her bear to her mouth, eyes still wide at the kind stranger. "Okay, here we go," he said as he stretched out his arms and picked her up.
She buried her face and cried quietly into his chest as he carried her back to her home. "Shh…" he cooed to her quietly, somewhat awkwardly as though he wasn't used to something like this. She bounced gently up and down as she walked over the pot-hole strewn street. She removed a hand from her teddy bear—but still clutched the bear—and wrapped it around a small bit of his t-shirt for reassurance. She could feel him smile a bit.
They arrived in front of the house, and he walked up the front steps. They stepped into the house, and he reached up with one hand and pressed her head to his chest. "Don't look, okay?" He whispered to her. She nodded and buried her face in his shirt. She could feel him move as he climbed the stairs up to her room. He walked in, and she peeked out around it. She gave a small, happy squeal as she recognized the purple walls and bedspread as her own. He gave a low chuckle as his eyes flamed and the chair at her desk pulled out. He placed her down on the chair and looked over towards the dresser. Reluctantly, he walked over and pulled out a pair of pajamas, then crouched and handed them to her, looking her in the eyes. "Get changed out of those muddy clothes, okay? Call me when you're done." She nodded and watched him as he stepped out the door into the hallway; all she could see was his back towards her in front of the door.
She shivered, then quickly pulled off the mud-stained shorts, socks, and pink Barbie t-shirt that she'd been wearing and tossed them on the floor. She yanked the pink pajama top on, and then took a little longer pulling on the matching pants, giving a quiet yelp when her ankle bent. She held her teddy bear and swallowed before calling out in a meek voice. "Okay..."
He turned around and walked back in, smiling. "Well, you ready for bed now?" She reached out her arms to him so he'd pick her up. He laughed a little and did so, and she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. Stiffening a little, he carried her over to the bed and—eyes flaming as he flicked back the covers—placed her gently down on the mattress. He reached down and tucked the blankets around her, then straightened, looking down at her.
"You okay, now?" He asked her.
Her lower lip started to quiver a little, but she nodded. "Thank you," she whispered to him, looking up into his green eyes.
He gave her a small smile and gently placed a hand on her cheek. "Don't worry," he said slowly and in a low voice. "I'm not gonna let him get you. Don't forget about that, but I want you to try to forget about tonight, okay?" She gave a small nod. "Alright, go to sleep, Victoria." She was exhausted, so she just nodded and closed her eyes, snuggling up to her dirty teddy bear and falling into a deep, dark sleep.
Victoria May was shaken out of the trance she'd been fixed in. As she stared dreamily out the window at the beautiful little town of Ipswich, she felt overwhelmed with a feeling of familiarity and fear. She shook her head and blinked her eyes, trying to get rid of it. 'It's just déjà vu,' she thought to herself as she smoothed the pleated skirt of her new school uniform and tucked a strand of her long, brunette hair behind her ear. She returned to staring out the window.
She was excited to be attending Spenser; it was such an opportunity, and it would look really good on an application to Princeton or Harvard. Victoria smiled gently as the trees flew by the taxi window, starting to turn yellow and red and orange with the change of seasons. The scenery wasn't so bad either, she thought. She sighed and leaned her head against the cool glass as she waited eagerly for the school to come into view.
As they turned a bend and the school's tall dormitory building loomed in front of them, she gasped at the sight of it and felt her smile widen. When the taxi stopped, it took all of her might to stop herself from leaping out of the car and bouncing up and down. Victoria slowly unbuckled her belt and gracefully opened the door and slid out of the seat. She looked at the dorms, and then went to the back of the taxi with the taxi driver to get her bag. He lifted her large duffel bag out of the trunk.
"You good from here, Missy?" The driver asked her.
"Yes, thank you for driving all the way here," Victoria said cheerfully as she pulled a wad of bills out of her pocket. "It was much easier than trying to get another taxi in Gale." She handed the driver the bills and offered a sweet smile.
"No problem, Miss. Good luck," he said, returning her smile with a gritty grin of his own, before shutting the trunk and getting back into his taxi. She moved out of the way so that he could back up. She watched him as he drove back down the winding road.
Victoria turned around and faced the school again, hoisting her heavy duffle bag over her shoulder with a huff. Students were hurrying around in and out of the dorms; being a Friday afternoon, many were returning from classes and rushing back out to go to a club, bar, or whatever activity they had planned for the evening. Her eyes traveled up to gaze in awe at the intricately designed building. She slowly started to walk towards the front door, eyes tracing the outline of the dark-looking building against the whitish-blue sky.
"Oh!" Victoria said softly as she ran into someone. Her heavy bag slid to the ground as she stumbled backwards a bit. An arm reached out and grabbed her shoulder to help steady her. She reached up and placed her hand on top of it for a bit of help. "I'm sorry," she stuttered out. 'Wow, what a great way to start off a school year, huh, Vic?' She thought to herself. She wanted to kick herself for acting like such a bimbo the first day.
"It's okay," a smooth voice said. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Victoria responded while looking up at the face of the person she'd pretty much mauled. He had rumpled blondish-brown hair, a little longer than his chin. His green eyes were calm, laid-back yet sharp and alert. His face was soft and given an edge by his strong jaw. A look of amusement played along his features, and you could tell he was trying not to smile. She let her hand drop and she moved it to rub her upper arm. "Thanks for catching me."
"Anytime," he said in a strong voice. He offered her a small smile and a hand shake. "Pogue Parry."
"Victoria May," she replied, giving him a sweet, shy smile and shaking his hand firmly. "Nice to meet you, Pogue."
"The pleasure's all mine," Pogue replied. "You must have just transferred in. Where you from?"
"Just flew in from Augusta, Maine," Victoria replied.
"Wow, that's not really in the area," he remarked. "What brought you here?"
"Um…" she thought for a while before speaking. "My—my folks thought it'd be a great opportunity for me, and it's gonna look good on an application to Harvard."
"Harvard, huh?" Pogue smiled. "I got a friend who wants to head there after graduation. His dad graduated in '81."
"Oh, that's cool," Victoria nodded. She reached down and slung the duffle bag over her shoulder, giving a little groan as the weight tried to yank her back down.
"You want some help with that?" He asked, holding his hand out to take the bag from her.
Victoria gave him a smile of relief and thanks. "Oh, thank you! It's so heavy, I swear, I have half my life packed in this bag," she joked as she slid the strap off her shoulder into his hand.
"Nothing that the Pogue can't handle," Pogue flashed her a grin as he lifted the bag easily over his shoulder. "Now, what room are you staying in?"
"Um, hold on a second," Victoria said slowly as she searched her pockets for the piece of paper with her room number and her room key. When her fingers touched metal and paper, she pulled them out and looked at the paper. "313," she finished, looking up at him.
"Alright, that's my girlfriend Kate's room; I know exactly where that is," he replied as he started heading towards the dorm building. Victoria quickly started after him, following close at his heels.
"So, how long have you been attending Spenser?" Victoria asked, trying to start up a casual conversation.
"Since I was old enough to," Pogue said as he held open the door for her. She gave him a thankful smile as she stepped through and waited for a moment before they started up a flight of stairs. "I grew up here in Ipswich, and my family's been going here pretty much since it opened up way back when."
"Oh, that's cool," Victoria commented as they climbed the stairs. She reached her right hand up and rubbed her left upper arm in subconscious idleness.
"Yeah, me and my boys grew up here," Pogue added as they climbed another set of stairs and another up to the third floor. She opened the door for him, and he gave her a nod of acknowledgement. Their voices and footsteps echoed in the long hallway. "We're pretty much brothers. Hey," he suddenly said, looking down at her. "You hear about that party out in the Dells tonight?"
"I heard about Spenser's famous back-to-school party," Victoria said slowly, "but I haven't really heard much about the details."
"This is it," Pogue said out of the blue, tapping his fingers against the door frame. Victoria pulled her key out of her pocket and fitted it into the lock. She jiggled the key around until the door unlocked, and she led the way inside.
Victoria smiled at the small room; one side looking as though it'd been lived in for a while, the other side empty and more uniform. On the bed was a folded blue, red, and yellow soccer jersey and shorts, with a letter folded up on top of it. She walked over to it and picked it up, grinning at the number ten emblazoned on the chest of the jersey and opening the letter. Seeing the practice schedule, she nodded with satisfaction and dropped the items. She turned around and offered a huge smile to Pogue. "Thank you so much for bringing that up for me. You can just drop it where ever," she waved her hand around a bit, motioning around the room.
Pogue slipped the bag from his shoulder and dropped it near the foot of the bare bed. "Anytime," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "Anyways, party," he started. "Starts at sundown, goes until whenever the cops show up. It's down at the Dells," he gave her a smile as he started backing out of the room. "Hope to see you down there, Victoria."
"Yeah, see you, Pogue!" Victoria called cheerfully as he disappeared from the doorway, door closing behind him.
Victoria sighed and flopped backwards onto her bed. After feeling so exhilarated at arriving, she felt the fatigue from the long car ride setting in. She closed her eyes to get a little nap before the party, dreaming of a little girl crying in her bed.