Hello there! I deeply apologize for not updating for so long, I was away in Michigan. Tomorrow I leave on a flight for Chicago and then middle-of-nowhere Canada, so I shall not update for at least another ten to twelve days. bows I humbly ask your patience for that time. Here is the chapter!


A limp hand reached to turn off the alarm clock. Myra's eyes were bloodshot, staring unblinkingly at the ceiling. She hadn't been able to get any sleep that night. Sometimes she was able to doze, but she always woke from the nightmare panting with cold sweat covering her face. Myra's anxiety over Erik was immense. There were great black shadows under her drooping eyes.

Her mother Meliora came into her room and flipped on the light.

"Rise and shine!" she chirped. Myra simply rolled over, not having the energy to glare at her mother.

"Five more minutes." moaned a tired voice.

"Out of the question." Meliora replied, sternly. She walked tersely out of the room, leaving the door open.

Myra's nerves were numb with tiredness. Scuffing her feet, she almost walked into the open door. Jolting her head upwards, she continued her sleepy walk to the bathroom. "Maybe a shower will wake me up." she thought, yawning.

Letting the warm water wash over her, Myra tried to regain her senses. "If I am to be any use today," she reasoned, "I must be at least halfway awake."

She turned the water on icy cold. Her eyes widened and she yelped, jumping out of the way of the cold water. Quickly, she turned it back to a comfortable warm. "Okay, I'm awake." she thought, breathlessly.

Drying her wet hair with a towel, Myra surveyed her image. She still had heavy shadows under her eyes and looked a bit pale. Myra used a bit of concealer to hide it as best it could. She checked her watch, the hands read 6:30, or around that. Shaking herself a little to ward off a betraying yawn, she got dressed.

In the car, Myra had something of a premonition. She felt like something, she couldn't tell whether it was going to be good or bad, but something significant was going to happen that day. Maybe as soon as she got in the door, or maybe just as she was leaving it, but something was going to happen. Myra resolved to find Erik during homeroom and tell him about it.

Waving a hasty goodbye to her mother, she went in search of her companion. Luckily, she found him just inside the front hallway.

"Hey, Erik, wait up!" she called to him. He stopped and turned her way.

"Funny, we don't see each other often this time of day." Erik remarked.

"Yes. I just had something I wanted to tell you." Myra caught her breath and composed herself.

"Are you alright?" asked Erik, concerned. "You look a bit pale."

"Oh, I'm fine. I just didn't get much sleep last night." she said.

"What did you want to tell me?"

"Well, I had something of a premonition. I think something big is going to happen today." Myra answered, in all seriousness.

"Was this premonition of yours good or bad?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I think it could be either, it just depends on how you look at it."

"I see." replied Erik. He seemed to be thinking about something. "I have to go. I'll see you at lunch, alright?" He called, walking away as he spoke.

"Yeah, see 'ya." Myra said, hurrying off to her homeroom.

She struggled to stay awake all morning. Myra did her best to pay attention, but sometimes caught herself dozing off. Suddenly, in the middle of math class, she realized something more.

"It'll be after lunch."

"And what," the teacher asked through pursed lips, "will be after lunch?"

"Oh, nothing." Myra laughed, nervously. "I really didn't mean to say that out loud." she thought. Myra had understood her premonition farther, or perhaps had another one, and understood that the mysterious event would occur, like she had said, after lunch.

Now she was fully awake, pondering anxiously what might happen. "Good or bad?" she kept asking herself. "Good or bad?"

At lunch, she did her best to speed through the line and get to her customary seat at the very back table. Despite her efforts, Erik was there before her.

"After lunch." Myra said softly in his ear. "It will happen after lunch." She felt very excited and anxious for the event. Her masked companion seemed to share her excitement.

"I can't wait." he answered, just as softly. "What do you think will happen?"

"I don't know." The two were whispering unnecessarily. Any stranger who would happen to be eavesdropping wouldn't have the slightest idea what they were saying. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I'm not that sure." Erik replied, resting his head on his hand in thought. "But I think it might have something to do with that." He gestured to a thin cord draped over the nearby flagpole. Myra stared at it with astonishment.

"I didn't see that before." she said, already wondering it's purpose. Following it with her eyes, it seemed to drape from invisible nails along the wall and continue out of the cafeteria.

"What do you think it does?" asked Myra, thinking a little out loud. "Do you think we should follow it and see what it leads to?"

"No," Erik answered, definitively, "I think it would be much more amusing to let this thing run it's course."

"Amusing?" she asked, catching his curious use of words. "Why do you say amusing?"

"Hm?" he answered, seeming not to understand.

"You said 'it would be more amusing to let this thing run it's course.' " she explained. "Why did you use the word amusing?"

"Did I?" answered Erik, absently. "I meant to say 'interesting'. It was just a little slip of the tongue." He began eating.

"Oh," Myra said, also starting to eat, "I see."

The truth was that she did not 'see', and suspected that the word hadn't been a slip of the tongue as Erik had dismissed it. No, Myra believed that Erik knew something about the event-to-come, even perhaps that he had planed it. He couldn't have sat down more than a minute before she arrived, and no wandering eye would pick up on that small detail of the cord. The rope was far too thin to be noticed offhand, you practically had to squint to see it at all from where they were seated. Erik had to know something, but she wasn't prepared to pry it from him.

"You said you didn't get much sleep." Erik said, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Why was that?"

"Oh, no reason really." Myra answered, casually. "My body just felt like being an insomniac for the night, nothing I could do."

"Ah ha." He paused for a moment in indecision. "Um, I've been thinking of asking you . . ." Erik paused again, looking downward in embarrassment.

"Yes, what?" She egged him on.

"Ifyouwouldliketocomeovermyhouseforalittlewhile." Deciphering the words, she carefully formulated her answer.

"I," Myra paused, remembering her mother. "I would be delighted to come. When were you thinking of getting together?"

"This weekend, actually." Erik answered, seeming somewhat relieved. "Would after school on Friday be alright?"

"Well, today's Wednesday, so I think that should be sufficient warning for my Mom." Myra agreed. "I'll just have to lie to her, say I'm going with some girlfriend." she thought, uncomfortably. It never felt good when she lied to her mother.

"Great." he answered. Just then, the bell rang. To her surprise, Erik hurried off, making his way silently through the crowd.

"I wonder what he's in such a hurry for." Myra thought, her eyes lingering on the cord. Suddenly, the cord disappeared right under her eyes. She blinked, but it was gone.

"It's starting!" she thought, almost squealing with anticipation. Myra hurried to throw away her trash and practically skipped to her next class.

Unbeknownst to all, a dark shadow slipped noiselessly through the hallway, with a very thin cord in its hand.