Chapter Six
The Bird and the Fairy
The following morning I woke up, brushed my teeth, dressed, ate breakfast, and headed off to school. The rain had cleared up, leaving a dull, clear, morning sky. The birds chirped as I headed for the bus stop. I arrived with five minutes to spare, as usual. I crossed my arms and looked down the street, waiting for the bus.
I searched the sky line, if only for something to look at, when I noticed a rather large round bird flying overhead. I watched its progress. It was too far away to make out much detail. I squinted at it, and was slightly caught off guard as the bus rounded the corner, coming into view. The bird came closer as well, and I realized that it was following the bus. As the bus approached, I watched the bird in the air. The closer it came, the less it looked like a bird. It was too round and its feet were huge.
The bus stopped, and the doors opened. The thing actually landed on top of the bus, and panted. It fell on what I could only guess was its back. It was really too round to tell. Up close, the only bird like feature I could see of it was its black feathery wings.
"You going to stand there all day?" the bus driver said. It was a woman today. She had a scratchy voice. A smoker voice.
I walked onto the bus and headed towards the back. Sarah was there, looking dazed out the window. Had I not been so preoccupied with the strange creature, I might have realized something wasn't right with Sarah.
Her pink hair was in a loose bun, not styled by any means, and her outfit wasn't miss-matched. In fact, she looked relatively normal, which was weird for Sarah.
I took in her odd appearance, but didn't think too much of it. My mind was still on the weird bird. I wondered if it was still on top of the bus and if I should tell the bus driver about it.
Whatever.
"Tonia," Sarah said softly, ten minutes into the ride.
I looked toward her, but she was still gazing out the window. All I could see was the back of her head.
"Yes?" I said to show that I had heard her for she didn't say anything more for several seconds.
"You said you saw something weird yesterday? When we were getting on the bus?"
I hesitated. It was then I realized something must be up. She didn't sound like herself. She was usually bouncy, and full of life. She made a point of attracting attention to herself, but this morning she spoke in soft tones.
"Yeah," I answered truthfully.
She looked towards me then, and I saw that she hadn't put on any makeup. I was a little taken aback. It wasn't that she looked ugly without it. I was just not used to seeing her without her makeup. No. I never saw her without her make up. She always had a little something on. There was some left over eyeliner from yesterday that didn't wash off, but that was it.
"What did you see?" Sarah whispered. She leaned in close.
Okay. Something was definitely up. Sarah? Whispering?
"Why do you want to know now?" I asked her, speaking just as quietly. No one was listening to us. They were all too sleepy to take much notice of Sarah's odd behavior.
"I-" Sarah began but bit her lip. "Just tell me what you saw."
"I don't know," I said, trying to sound natural. "It was just some really tall guy wearing a cape and red mask." I shrugged. I wasn't going to tell her about the warp. That was just too weird.
"You saw him too?" She whispered.
I blinked, honestly shocked. "Yeah. Why didn't you say anything yesterday?"
"I didn't see him then." She darted a look at the students, but no one was listening.
She dropped her voice so low I had to lean in to catch what she said. My hair fell in front of my face, shielding it from Sarah, but I could still see her through it.
"I saw him last night. I went for a walk."
Someone else might have asked why Sarah was walking at night, in the rain, but I knew she liked to do things like that. If it was different she'd do it, if only just because it was different, even if there was no one to show off to.
"Are you sure it was the same guy?" I asked, and another thought struck me. How had Sarah known I'd seen him?
She nodded her head. "He said he saw me at the bus stop."
"You talked to him?" Not a smart move, talking to tall strangers in the night. I looked over her appearance again, bracing myself for what she would tell me next.
"He came up to me. Well, I actually almost bumped into him. He appeared out of nowhere. It was the scariest thing. He said he was going to take me with him and then…"
I felt a chill.
Stalker.
Creepy.
"Did you call the police? How did you get away?" I couldn't see her overpowering a man that big.
"No.," she said. "Look, this is going to sound crazy, so don't laugh."
I just looked at her. She'd seen something else, just as I'd seen something else. How had she gotten away?
She took a breath. "A fairy saved me."
For a moment, I wasn't sure if I heard her right. "A fairy?"
She nodded.
"Saved you?"
She nodded again.
"Okay." I leaned back in my seat and looked out the opposite window. This was too weird.
After a few minutes, Sarah couldn't seem to help herself. "Well?"
I didn't answer, just watched the telephone poles shoot by.
"Tonia, I'm not making this up and I'm not crazy. This other girl was there too. She tried to get me to come with her and the fairy and the guy were fighting. I ran back home and I knew I couldn't tell anyone. I haven't slept all night. Will you say something?" Her voice cracked and I couldn't help but look back at her.
She was crying.
"I don't think you're crazy," I said after a few seconds.
She sniffed. "You believe me?"
I shrugged and looked out the window again.
"Tonia, what am I going to do?"
How the hell would I know? "Hope the fairy killed him. Not take walks at night. I don't know."
"He saw me at the bus stop. He knows where I go to school, probably where I live!" the last part came out in a half shout. She glanced fearfully at the students, but they only shot her one peek, and closed their eyes sleepily.
"Call the police."
"Like, they'd believe me."
"I don't know," I sighed.
I felt Sarah's gaze on me for a few seconds, and then she leaned away. "Some help you are."
I blew out a breath. What did she expect?
The bus stopped outside our school and I remembered the weird round bird. I decided it was best not to mention it to Sarah.