Disclaimer: I don't own Boy Meets World.

Chapter 4

Shawn looked between Dani and the psychic man. Dani's emotionless mask was firmly in place. The psychic man didn't seem to be looking at her anymore. He took a stumbling step back while looking around the room beyond all of them.

"There is a seriously dark presence here," he said. His almost monotone, soft voice somehow made the statement even that much eerier.

"What do you mean by dark?" Topanga asked.

"I'm sorry. This reading is over." The psychic man walked away from them all.

All of the friends looked at one another. Shawn suppressed a shiver. Creepy.

"What did I miss?"

Shawn turned to find Brody had finally joined them. Angela and Topanga launched into an explanation. Dani was not-so-surprisingly silent. Cory walked over to the psychic's abandoned table. Shawn walked over to join him. He looked at the business card Cory held up for him. It was for a man named Derek Warren, owner of Journey into the Unknown, a bookstore specializing in supernatural and other-worldly topics.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

John walked up to Frankie Stecchino. He stood by a couple of tables that had been pushed together, looking around. He had that famous look John knew all too well from Shawn, the former lackeys, and even from himself during his younger years—that not-so-relaxed look of trying to look innocent but failing. John shook his head. If the rumors flying around the room were true, he knew why the "gentle giant" looked that way.

"Stecchino," he greeted.

"Mr. Turner," the student said, "how lovely it is to see you this fine evening. To what do I owe this great pleasure?"

"I know about the poker game," John said.

"Poker game? What poker game? I know nothing of what you speak." Stecchino seemed to focus on some point over John's shoulder and shook his head slightly.

John glanced back to find Joey Epstein frantically hiding something behind his back. "Mr. Turner," he said in a higher-than-normal-pitched voice.

"Relax, boys," he said. "I'm not here to break up the game. You can deal me in. But no money or I will have to break it up."

"Jonathan, a word?"

John cringed as he turned around to find George Feeny looking none too happy behind him. He walked a short distance away from the two students with his boss. "You are here to chaperone the students, not condone and participate in their rule breaking."

"They aren't breaking any rules if there's no money involved. Without money, it's just a card game, not gambling. And just because we're chaperoning doesn't mean we can't have a good time too," John said. "Besides, think of it this way . . . if I'm playing, they're more likely to not break any rules. I'll be chaperoning the game."

George gave him a thoughtful look before walking over to the boys. John stood there in confusion for a second before hurrying to join him.

"Deal me in, too," George said to the students, then turned back towards John. "I think this game warrants two chaperones, don't you?"

John suppressed a laugh and shook his head. This would definitely be interesting.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

What did the psychic guy mean by 'seriously dark presence'? How 'dark' was he talking? From the guy's reaction, Cory doubted he meant it in a depressed dark-storm-cloud-hanging-over-someone's-head kind of way. So what did he mean? Did someone there have several screws loose and was just one very thin, brittle straw away from snapping? Was someone already ready to snap and would at the dance or elsewhere? Was there a vampire, zombie, werewolf, banshee, mummy, ghost, poltergeist, or something there? He knew supernatural things were possible and did exist now. True, he didn't know to what extent, but still. That's the thing. For all he knew, all those things could actually exist.

He knew this dance was a bad idea. But, no, they had to have fun—make fun of all these superstitions and bring down lighting and fire and brimstone and doom and—

"Cory, what's wrong?" Topanga asked.

Cory stopped his half-hearted attempts at dancing. "I was just thinking about what the psychic said."

"About how you need to lighten up? Yeah, you do. He was right about that, at least."

"Huh?" Come to think of it, he did say something about that too. "No, I meant that other thing at the end." He leaned in closer to her so he didn't have to talk as loud. He didn't want anyone overhearing this. "You don't think . . . maybe, this might have something to do with Dani and those others out there she told my parents about, do you? What if one of them is here? We don't even know what they are."

"Or maybe it was just theatrics. Come on, Cory. You don't honestly think that guy is psychic do you?"

"Dani's psychic." Among other things.

"Yeah, but Dani doesn't flaunt it like that. And she doesn't own a bookstore specializing in this stuff for which she could pick up extra business from gullible superstitious people who fall for the act."

"What about all that other stuff he knew about all of us?"

"Maybe he's just really good at reading people. Some people are good at making deductions based on the smallest little details of someone's mannerisms, clothing, speech patterns, and everything. He probably also had someone here helping him . . . feeding him information to help fill in some of the gaps. Most of the frauds do detective work before trying to fool people so they can be really convincing."

"Yeah, and he just happened to know who the information he had applied to just by looking at us? I mean, yeah, what he said about you and me he probably could have picked up without talking to anyone else. Just observation and lucky guesses, maybe, like you said, but what about Shawn and Angela?"

"Maybe whoever was helping him showed him yearbook pictures? He could have an eidetic memory."

"Yeah, okay, so that would help with Shawn, but what about Angela? She only transferred here this year. There wouldn't be any yearbook photos of her here yet."

"Cory, why are you making such a big deal out of this? I'm trying to help you. If you want to believe he's psychic, then okay . . . he's psychic. I'll admit it's a possibility, but maybe . . . just maybe that thing at the end was just an act. Don't you think it's possible he could use his real psychic gift to give the reading and get us to buy into it and then flip the switch for the advertising stunt? Seriously, Cory, you were the first one he did a reading on. He called you on being superstitious. He could have easily just been playing you—or all of us really. Besides, you came here expecting something bad to happen. You have to admit, you can be a little paranoid. Isn't it even a little bit possible you're just making a big deal out of nothing again?"

Cory sighed. "You're right. I guess that could be all this is, but with everything we know now . . . ."

"What do we know exactly?"

Cory frowned. "Not much, but—"

"Not much is right. If you want to buy into anything that guy said, listen to the part where he said you need to relax and let me help you lighten up."

Cory bit back anything else he might have said. She did have a point. "Okay. I'll try to relax, but if something bad does happen . . . ."

"You have every right to say 'I told you so.'"

"Just so we're clear on that."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

John picked up the five cards he'd been dealt. He had the 1 of swords, the 7 of cups, XXI (the world), the fool, and the 4 of coins. Wow. He put his required two pretzels in the center for the starting bet.

"Anyone drawing new cards?" Frankie Stecchino asked.

John held up two fingers before discarding the world (XXI) and the fool. They'd decided to try playing with only one deck. He didn't like his chances of finding pairs for those. At least the other cards were relatively normal to what he was used to.

He picked up the two cards the student dealer sent his way. The 1 of cups and X (the wheel of fortune). Wow.

"I'm betting five pretzels." George threw them in the center.

Why not? They were just pretzels. Besides, he doubted anyone was going to do well with this. His pair of 1s might just do it. "Call," John said.

"I'm seeing your five and raising you ten," Griff Hawkins said.

"I'm seeing your fifteen and raising you another ten," Joey Epstein said.

"Fold." John threw down his cards. He was followed by most of the others. The only ones who didn't fold were George, Hawkins, Epstein, and Janitor Bud.

"Read them and weep, my friends." Joey Eptstein spread his cards out on the table for all to see. He had XVI (the tower), XVII (the star), XVIII (the moon), XIX (the sun), and XX (judgment). "A straight tarot."

The rest of the players threw their cards down.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"Look at this," Angela said. Shawn turned his gaze to follow her pointing finger. "If you don't want someone to come back, sweep the room with a broom after they leave."

Shawn smirked. "Cory and I should have tried that around the whole school after Harley Keiner got sent off to reform school."

Angela looked over at him.

"Just an old bully," he said.

Angela nodded.

The couple walked along in silence for a while, looking at the superstition board in front of them. The drama club was thorough. The display was full of not only commonly known superstitions—like breaking a mirror will cause seven years of bad luck and if you spill salt on a table, throw some over your shoulder to avoid bad luck—but also had a whole bunch of obscure ones—like mirrors capture your soul and giving a watch as a wedding gift is bad luck, as it represents their time running out. Some of them made some sense where they could come from in ancient times, but others were just plain bizarre. Some of the information was accompanied by pictures, some drawn and some photos.

Shawn walked along, glancing over the animal superstition section. There were the predictable black cat superstitions, of course, as well as some dealing with dogs, crows, insects, and snakes. Shawn paused in front of the snake section. The photograph showed a brown and grey diamond-patterned rattlesnake coiled on the ground.

He shut his eyes tight and shook his head. His breaths came in gasps. He couldn't get the air in fast enough. Why couldn't he breathe right? It was over. That snake was just a picture. He wasn't on the island anymore. He and Dani made it out of the 'Temple of Doom.' That was in the past.

This was just a picture.

Just a picture.

Just a—

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Dani almost stumbled back a step at the sudden onslaught of Shawn's thoughts trying to push their way past her shield.

"Hey, you okay?" Brody asked.

Dani glanced at him. "Uh, yeah. I just need to . . . bathroom."

She quickly made her way to the women's room right outside the gym. She didn't pause or slow down once until she was safely locked in one of the bathroom stalls. She leaned heavily against the wall. She closed her eyes and focused all her energy on blocking out Shawn. Her fingers began to knead her temples to try to alleviate some of the tension. She didn't know how long it took before even the faintest of whispers from Shawn were safely blocked out. That didn't stop the thoughts from pounding at her shields like a mental battering ram. She just had to breathe. Just keep breathing through it. It would go away eventually.

Slowly, the mental barrage began to ease off. She lowered her own shields to their normal manageable levels as it did. It left behind a dull ache. That was a bad one. It had been a while since she'd had to fight off one that strong. She still felt shaky and drained from it. She continued to lean against the side wall until she felt steady enough to try moving.

Something was wrong—or would be wrong. She could feel it. The bad feeling that had been trying and failing to fight its way to the surface hit her full force suddenly. It wasn't the worst feeling she'd had. It wasn't even as bad as the ones she'd had back on the island, but it was bad enough. It was like something hit her in the stomach suddenly, but the feeling of being hit lingered on without fading.

Why didn't it come on gradually—build over time—like it usually did? Why did it come and go? Was something blocking it? What could be blocking it?

That psychic guy . . . . He said there was a seriously dark presence at the dance. It had to be connected. It was too much of a coincidence. Coincidences didn't exist in her life anymore—not since she found out about everything.

Coincidences didn't exist anymore.

No. She shook her head. No, it couldn't be. The more she didn't want to think about it, though, the more she couldn't stop thinking about it. The bad feeling started right after she met Brody. It disappeared when she looked in his eyes. It fought its way to the surface every now and then, but always went away—buried deep—whenever he looked at her and she looked back. Brody showed up right after the psychic guy's freak out. He would have been approaching when the psychic guy sensed the 'dark presence.'

That part really could have just been bad timing, though. The psychic wasn't even necessarily a real psychic. She'd realized right from the start the bad feeling might be her own natural, normal tendency to fear getting close to anyone. There may not be anything supernatural about it at all. As for being reassured when she looked at him . . . that was a phenomenon anyone—even normal people—could experience when they looked at someone they really care about.

The strong bad feeling she got just now could be an aftereffect of the really bad telepathic struggle she just got through. She already felt off before the bad vibe hit. Add in the supposed psychic's ominous statement from before . . . . With everything she'd been through the last few years, she knew not to take things like that lightly. Some turned out to be true warnings, some didn't. She did have to admit more turned out to be something than not, but even so, the bad feeling could be because of something else coming or it could just be normal insecurities and worries and whatnot.

She couldn't stay locked up in the bathroom forever. Everything should be fine for the time being. She could worry more about this later. Even if Brody was the 'dark presence,' this was a crowded dance. He wouldn't try anything here. Even if he did, she could handle it. It's not like it would be the first time.

She flushed the toilet to keep up the pretense before going over to a free sink. Wow. She looked like hell. She took a few moments after washing her hands to regain some composure, disguising it as fixing her makeup.

Emotionless was the best she was going to get. It would have to do. One last look in the mirror and she walked back out.

"I was getting worried."

Dani jumped. She turned towards the voice, making sure not to look into Brody's eyes. Just a precaution, of course. She really hoped the smile she put on her face looked a lot more natural than it felt. "Sorry," she said. "I just got a bad headache. The music and noise weren't helping."

"How are you feeling?" The concern sounded so genuine. He was either really good at acting or her suspicions about him were way off. "Dani?"

She looked at him fully, before she could stop herself. She relaxed. He looked as worried as he sounded. She was just being paranoid after all. "Still a little off, but I'll be okay."

"Why don't we go outside? Maybe some fresh air and quiet will help."

A part of her knew that was potentially a bad idea. She could feel the warning in her gut trying to fight its way to the surface again, but the part of her that was falling fast and convinced her worries were over nothing was much bigger and stronger. "Sounds good."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"Shawn?" Angela's voice sounded so far away, even though he knew she was standing right there.

He jumped when he felt her hand on his arm. It was just Angela. Not a snake. He was at the school superstition dance, not back on the island in the 'Temple of Doom.' There was nothing to be afraid of here.

"Shawn, what's wrong?" Her voice was thick with concern.

Shawn finally slowed his breathing down. He ran a shaky hand through his hair before reopening his eyes and turning to look at her. "Sorry about that," he said, willing his voice to be steady. "It's nothing, really. Don't worry about it."

"That didn't look like nothing."

What could he tell her? The full truth was definitely out of the question. He had to give her something, though. "I just . . . um . . . had a bad . . . uh . . . a bad experience with snakes, is all."

"A bad experience . . . ." She eyed him over. "What happened? Did you fall into a snake pit or something? I mean, you really freaked out there."

"A snake pit." He gave a humorless laugh. "Yeah. Something like that."

"In Philadelphia?"

"On a mostly deserted island somewhere between the Dominican Republic and here."

"Yeah, right. No, seriously, where?"

"I am being serious," Shawn said. "Last summer, Mr. Matthews hit the lottery—won big time—took him and his family and Topanga and John and I on vacation to the Dominican Republic. We had a private plane for the return trip, but Dani and her nut-job foster parents tagged along for the ride. The nutcases sabotaged the flight, the one pulled a gun on us and robbed the Matthews before they took out parachutes and abandoned all of us, including Dani, on the crashing plane. Obviously, we somehow survived it, but we were stuck on that island for about two months." All things considered, they were lucky to have made it off at all, let alone that soon.

"Oh, wow," Angela said. "I'm sorry. I had no idea."

Shawn shrugged. "It's not something I like to talk about much. Most of the time, I'm fine, but I guess some things can still trigger flashbacks or something. That picture looks almost identical to the snakes I . . . um . . . I stumbled across back there."

"Let's move away from that picture, then," Angela said, gently pulling him away from there.

The couple walked back over to their table.

"I'm sorry," Shawn said, his eyes averted. "I bet dealing with a panic attack was nowhere on your list of things to expect from dating me."

"You have nothing to apologize for."

Shawn looked up at Angela as he sat down and she sat next to him.

"My dad is a sergeant in the military. He first joined towards the end of the Vietnam War. He was lucky he didn't see much frontline battle before it ended, but he dealt with enough for it to leave a mark. Most of the time he's fine. That was a long time ago and he was luckier than most. Every now and then, though, something will trigger a flashback. It's not something he can help, and it's not something you can help either."

"He's still in the military?"

"Yeah. He's stationed over in Asia."

"That sucks," Shawn said. "At least your dad has to be away from you, though. My dad just takes off and leaves because he can't stand staying and can't be bothered to take me with him."

"Doesn't make it any easier, though," Angela said. "Believe me."

Shawn frowned down at the table. "Do you wanna dance or something?" Shawn asked. "This is getting a little too heavy for me. We've only got two weeks. I want to have fun."

Angela gave a soft smile. "Dancing sounds great. Help both of us get our minds off things."

Shawn smiled back.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Cory took a deep breath before walking under the pair of ladders at the only entrance/exit to the dance. They were about ready to leave. Dani and Brody were MIA. Word around the dance was people saw them go outside.

He walked down the hallway past the rows of lockers, not pausing until he saw Dani walking towards him. She had her black winter coat and scarf on. Brody was nowhere in sight.

"Hey, Dani, you about ready to leave?" Cory asked.

Dani seemed to tense up a little as soon as he started talking. Her face was completely blank when she looked up at him. She nodded.

"Where's Brody?" Cory asked.

"He had to leave." Her voice was very rough sounding.

He was bad at this whole emotion thing. It didn't look like she had been crying. Even after everything on the island, though, he only saw her tear up once and she suppressed it before she could actually cry. She could be about ready to cry but fighting it off. Did something happen?

She was still fully bundled up. Her coat was still zipped and her scarf still snug around her neck.

"You know, most people take their coats and stuff off when they come inside," Cory said, trying to lighten the mood a bit. He cracked a smile.

She didn't so much as blink. "I'm cold. And you more or less said we're ready to leave anyways, so what difference does it make?"

Cory frowned. "You're cold? It's like ninety degrees in here."

"Somehow I doubt that. Even so . . . it's cold outside, which is where I was, and I think I'm coming down with something."

Okay. That would explain the voice. They both started walking back towards the gym, where the dance was held.

"Why did Brody leave? I thought he was carpooling with us?" Cory asked.

"Well, now he's not."

Cory waited for her to elaborate and finish answering his other question. She didn't. He frowned. "How come?"

"He just isn't."

"What kind of an answer is that?"

"The only kind you're going to get." She stopped suddenly as she was hit with a major coughing fit.

Cory stopped beside her, looking on in concern. It took several seconds for the fit to subside. "Yeah, I think you're past 'coming down with something' and just plain have it at this point. You okay?"

Dani nodded.

The two foster-siblings walked the rest of the way to their group in silence.

Everyone looked up when Cory and Dani approached.

"Where's Brody?" Angela asked.

"He left already," Cory said.

"Really? I thought he was carpooling with us. Everything okay?" Topanga said.

"Peachy." Dani smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She adjusted her scarf so it fit even more snuggly against her neck.

"Dani, take the scarf off," Cory said.

"Why? We're leaving soon."

"So, you can put it back on when we do. Unless there's something you don't want us to see, I don't really see what the big deal is."

He and Dani stared at one another for a while before Dani looked down. "Uh . . . okay, so Brody and I may have been . . . you know . . . uh, making out a little." She blushed.

"So, Brody sucked some neck," Shawn said.

Dani's face got even redder.

"Don't get any ideas," Angela said when Shawn looked over at her. "It's bad enough one of us will need to wear turtle necks for a few days."

"Actually, no I won't," Dani said. "There's an old home remedy I learned a while back that works wonders."

"What? You make a habit of this?" Topanga asked, surprise dripping from her tone.

"Something like that," Dani said.

Cory was torn between amusement at his friend/foster-sister's embarrassment and a very strong desire to go after Brody and pull the overbearing/overprotective brother act. It was probably a good thing he left already, the coward.