Declan walked over to the viewing window at Chrissie's hospital room. She
was sleeping, and was connected to a bunch of machines.
"They're just for safety reasons." Peggy came over and stood beside him.
"We do this for everybody we're worried about. "
"She'll probably stay here for a night or two, then go back to school."
That was Miranda.
"How would you know that?" Declan asked.
"It's the same thing that happened before."
"Huh-wait a minute, they-Shelley and the doctors-called her 'the fainter'.
Was she the one who keeled over in class?"
"That's right." Miranda pulled a folder out of her bag. "Read these."
"This is her file. How'd you get this?"
"It's not as hard as you think. She dropped her file copy when she fell."
Declan leafed through the papers. "No, that's last year..broken
arm..sprained ankle....ahh, here we are. October 3rd. Came in for a
fainting spell. Out 20 minutes. Not much unusual about that."
" Not at first glance. Do you remember what happened on October 3rd?"
"Oh, yeah....I had a dentist appointment."
Miranda sighed. "Declan, that was the day the message appeared on the
board."
"Chrissie? She wrote that. That was her?"
"I also obtained a copy of her tests on that day. She already had an EEG
that day."
"I suppose she dropped that too."
"That's beside the point. See? It shows high levels of brain activity. The
hospital kept her for two days, and then she returned to school. Her test
before they discharged her were perfectly normal."
Declan thought for a moment. "That's strange. The message, I mean. Blood?
What was that all about?"
"Maybe she just watched a scary movie last night." Peggy suggested. "Your
mind can do strange things when you're scared."
"I don't think she'd be affected like that."
"Well, then what else could it be?"
A middle-aged woman walked down the hallway. She was tired looking, as
though she'd just gotten up after a long nap. Her eyes were violet colored,
but not mean, and she had brown hair that was just shy of touching her
back.
"Are you a doctor?" she asked Declan.
"You've got it all wrong. He needs a doctor. I'm Peggy Fowler, and you're
Chrissie's mother?"
"No, her aunt. Her parents died before she was 1. I was given charge of
her. How is she?"
"She's resting now. Everything should play out the same as last time."
"Good. I'm so worried about Christina. She really feels upset about not
knowing them. I show her pictures, but it's just not the same. And now she
goes out, for hours, and I don't even know where she is."
"When did this start?" Declan asked.
"Oh, it didn't really start at any one time. Last year, she was really
lonely. All her friends were off at Breakwater, but she got accepted to
Acorn. I told her she was lucky, but she asked me what lucky really meant.
I couldn't answer her.
" Then in April, it all changed. She stopped coming home after school
early, and when I asked her where she'd been, she didn't answer. Her
clothes smelled like cigarette smoke. The next day, it happened again. And
she's been like that ever since. Not really quiet until I asked her about
what she did. Then she'd change the subject."
"Typical. You know, leaving all your friends behind can be pretty
traumatic, especially in the adolescent years." Peggy said. "Why don't you
go home and rest? This has been a long month for you. She'll be fine, and
you can visit her in the morning."
"You think I should?" She was kind of shaky.
"Yes, you really need to sleep. I can tell you've been up late these last
few nights."
"It's that obvious?" She laughed. "I suppose you're right." She shifted
her gaze to the window, then back again. "If she'll be alright, I guess so.
Thanks." She headed down the hallway, leaving the group wondering at this
new information.
"Hmmmm.." Declan said. "Troubled kid gets depressed, can't share her
feelings, so where does it go?"
"On a board." Miranda said.
"But there's still one thing I don't get. All that 'blood' stuff."
"I think I might have an explanation for that." Peggy said "When you're
depressed, you tend to think of your own mortality. You wonder what comes
after life. You think maybe there's no reason to live if nothing happens
when you're gone."
"Are we talking suicide here? Chrissie doesn't seem like he type to me.
When I saw her in the classroom, she was smiling, and in a good mood."
"Maybe she was hiding her feelings."
"You don't get it. Unless Chrissie's a Vulcan with gas, I don't see how she
can hide her feelings so well."
"Or she's a really good actress. I've seen it before."
"Whatever she is, we still have to figure out what's going on. She's trying
to tell us something, and we have to find out what it is."
"Us?"
"Not us specifically, but someone. All I know is, we have to figure out why
this is going on." He paused a little.
Miranda walked over to look in the window again, and knocked into Declan.
He dropped a notepad he was carrying. Loose sheets spilled onto the floor.
"Oh, sorry," she said. She bent over to help him, and they both picked up
the papers. They were just notes for lectures, mostly, and a few reminders
to himself.
"Wait a minute..what's this?" He picked up a sheet. On it was written
'Help!' There was a picture of a knife dripping in blood drawn on it. "I
didn't write this."
"It's in your handwriting." Peggy took it from Declan's hands.
"But I didn't write this."
"Then maybe one of your students is well versed in the fine art of
forgery."
"Weird." Declan looked at it again.
"You probably just had something at the back of your mind, and you doodled
on the page. Happens all the time."
"I've noticed that about a lot of things you say. But you're probably
right."
"Where are we going to do it?"
"I already told you, the school. Mark promised we'd be paid well."
"Somebody's going to notice. Computers don't just disappear for no reason."
"Oh, Chrissie, don't be such a wimp. You agreed to do this weeks ago. I
should have never let you join. It's only because you can get the-"
"So, we're not going to shoot anyone?"
"We've already been through this. They're just for protection." Kiley
groaned. "Are you in? You can back out if you're-"
"I'm in. No going back."
was sleeping, and was connected to a bunch of machines.
"They're just for safety reasons." Peggy came over and stood beside him.
"We do this for everybody we're worried about. "
"She'll probably stay here for a night or two, then go back to school."
That was Miranda.
"How would you know that?" Declan asked.
"It's the same thing that happened before."
"Huh-wait a minute, they-Shelley and the doctors-called her 'the fainter'.
Was she the one who keeled over in class?"
"That's right." Miranda pulled a folder out of her bag. "Read these."
"This is her file. How'd you get this?"
"It's not as hard as you think. She dropped her file copy when she fell."
Declan leafed through the papers. "No, that's last year..broken
arm..sprained ankle....ahh, here we are. October 3rd. Came in for a
fainting spell. Out 20 minutes. Not much unusual about that."
" Not at first glance. Do you remember what happened on October 3rd?"
"Oh, yeah....I had a dentist appointment."
Miranda sighed. "Declan, that was the day the message appeared on the
board."
"Chrissie? She wrote that. That was her?"
"I also obtained a copy of her tests on that day. She already had an EEG
that day."
"I suppose she dropped that too."
"That's beside the point. See? It shows high levels of brain activity. The
hospital kept her for two days, and then she returned to school. Her test
before they discharged her were perfectly normal."
Declan thought for a moment. "That's strange. The message, I mean. Blood?
What was that all about?"
"Maybe she just watched a scary movie last night." Peggy suggested. "Your
mind can do strange things when you're scared."
"I don't think she'd be affected like that."
"Well, then what else could it be?"
A middle-aged woman walked down the hallway. She was tired looking, as
though she'd just gotten up after a long nap. Her eyes were violet colored,
but not mean, and she had brown hair that was just shy of touching her
back.
"Are you a doctor?" she asked Declan.
"You've got it all wrong. He needs a doctor. I'm Peggy Fowler, and you're
Chrissie's mother?"
"No, her aunt. Her parents died before she was 1. I was given charge of
her. How is she?"
"She's resting now. Everything should play out the same as last time."
"Good. I'm so worried about Christina. She really feels upset about not
knowing them. I show her pictures, but it's just not the same. And now she
goes out, for hours, and I don't even know where she is."
"When did this start?" Declan asked.
"Oh, it didn't really start at any one time. Last year, she was really
lonely. All her friends were off at Breakwater, but she got accepted to
Acorn. I told her she was lucky, but she asked me what lucky really meant.
I couldn't answer her.
" Then in April, it all changed. She stopped coming home after school
early, and when I asked her where she'd been, she didn't answer. Her
clothes smelled like cigarette smoke. The next day, it happened again. And
she's been like that ever since. Not really quiet until I asked her about
what she did. Then she'd change the subject."
"Typical. You know, leaving all your friends behind can be pretty
traumatic, especially in the adolescent years." Peggy said. "Why don't you
go home and rest? This has been a long month for you. She'll be fine, and
you can visit her in the morning."
"You think I should?" She was kind of shaky.
"Yes, you really need to sleep. I can tell you've been up late these last
few nights."
"It's that obvious?" She laughed. "I suppose you're right." She shifted
her gaze to the window, then back again. "If she'll be alright, I guess so.
Thanks." She headed down the hallway, leaving the group wondering at this
new information.
"Hmmmm.." Declan said. "Troubled kid gets depressed, can't share her
feelings, so where does it go?"
"On a board." Miranda said.
"But there's still one thing I don't get. All that 'blood' stuff."
"I think I might have an explanation for that." Peggy said "When you're
depressed, you tend to think of your own mortality. You wonder what comes
after life. You think maybe there's no reason to live if nothing happens
when you're gone."
"Are we talking suicide here? Chrissie doesn't seem like he type to me.
When I saw her in the classroom, she was smiling, and in a good mood."
"Maybe she was hiding her feelings."
"You don't get it. Unless Chrissie's a Vulcan with gas, I don't see how she
can hide her feelings so well."
"Or she's a really good actress. I've seen it before."
"Whatever she is, we still have to figure out what's going on. She's trying
to tell us something, and we have to find out what it is."
"Us?"
"Not us specifically, but someone. All I know is, we have to figure out why
this is going on." He paused a little.
Miranda walked over to look in the window again, and knocked into Declan.
He dropped a notepad he was carrying. Loose sheets spilled onto the floor.
"Oh, sorry," she said. She bent over to help him, and they both picked up
the papers. They were just notes for lectures, mostly, and a few reminders
to himself.
"Wait a minute..what's this?" He picked up a sheet. On it was written
'Help!' There was a picture of a knife dripping in blood drawn on it. "I
didn't write this."
"It's in your handwriting." Peggy took it from Declan's hands.
"But I didn't write this."
"Then maybe one of your students is well versed in the fine art of
forgery."
"Weird." Declan looked at it again.
"You probably just had something at the back of your mind, and you doodled
on the page. Happens all the time."
"I've noticed that about a lot of things you say. But you're probably
right."
"Where are we going to do it?"
"I already told you, the school. Mark promised we'd be paid well."
"Somebody's going to notice. Computers don't just disappear for no reason."
"Oh, Chrissie, don't be such a wimp. You agreed to do this weeks ago. I
should have never let you join. It's only because you can get the-"
"So, we're not going to shoot anyone?"
"We've already been through this. They're just for protection." Kiley
groaned. "Are you in? You can back out if you're-"
"I'm in. No going back."