Sarah and Gi sat cross-legged on Sarah's bed. Gi had found a baggie full of whole roasted peanuts in her purse and was pulling them out one by one, cracking the shells with a pinch of her thumb and forefinger and then tossing the shell in the general vicinity of Sarah's trash can. Sarah had her head bent forward and was rubbing the bridge of her nose and casting surreptitious glances at the pile of shells accumulating on the floor. Neither of them spoke, but the strange disappearing act at the coffee shop that afternoon was the elephant in the room, weighing them down and making conversation on any other topic impossible.
Finally, Sarah straightened her back, stretched and yawned and cleared her throat. Gi continued placidly munching peanuts. Sarah coughed and cracked her knuckles. Gi chewed and idly flicked a peanut shell that had fallen on her foot. Sarah tapped her fingers on her knees and cleared her throat a second time. Gi rummaged in the depths of the baggie for the very last peanut and having retrieved it, tossed the baggie in a not-very-graceful arc to land fully three feet from the trash can on the head of Sarah's second favorite bear, Guinevere. From outside Sarah's door came the shouts and cat-calls of her three dorm-mates who were playing strip poker with the boys across the hall. A loud clatter indicated one of them had knocked over the pyramid of Diet Coke cans stacked near the bathroom. Sarah felt her blood begin to boil.
"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" she yelled, simultaneously pounding her fist on the wall next to her bed. Anxiety was hot lava bubbling up and out of her. Her fingers and head felt like they were on fire. "I hate living here! I wish you would all go away!" She grabbed a pillow and threw it at the door before flopping backward on the bed, all the anger ebbing out of her and a blush of shame creeping into her cheeks. She still hadn't learned to control her temper.
Outside her room, all noise abruptly ceased. Sarah sprung up as though being pulled by a string. "No..." she moaned, eyes turning towards her door and the silence beyond. "No, no, please...I didn't mean it."
Oh, you didn't?
Gi was looking alarmed now, her ruddy features draining of color. "What's the matter, Sarah? What did you do?" Her eyes, too, swiveled towards the door.
Sarah leaped for the door, throwing it open in one smooth motion and vaulting through it to the common area beyond. Playing cards and soda cans were scattered about the center of the room, along with several pieces of discarded clothing. Of Sarah's roommates, there was no sign.
Gi pushed past her and surveyed the room. "Maybe they ran out for snacks," she said hopefully.
Sarah stooped down and picked up two pairs of jeans. "Without their pants?" she asked and shook her head. "No Gi, I did this." She tossed the jeans back onto the floor and moved to the window. Outside it was just beginning to get dark. The window faced west across the main campus square and above the tall pines lining its far side, smoky blue clouds were being buoyed by the arcing colors of sunset.
"Well..." began Gi, coming up beside her. The older girl bent forward to place both elbows on the wide metal windowsill, sticking out her bottom and wiggling comically. "They were being awfully annoying." She gave Sarah a wicked grin.
Sarah swatted her backside and suddenly both girls dissolved into laughter, sinking down onto the floor in a heap. "Not...not...," Sarah gasped for breath, wiping tears from her eyes and looking anywhere except at her friend. "Not funny!" she got out at last.
Both girls sat quietly, letting their breathing return to normal. Gi's eyes wandered to the calendar on the opposite wall. "Valentine's Day tomorrow," she said and sighed.
Sarah gave her a sideways look. "What?"
Gi shrugged and climbed to her feet. "Nothing, really. It's just...things always seem to go wrong at this time of the year." She turned around and pulled the blinds closed over the window, shutting out the brilliant orange sun sinking over the horizon. Darkness filled the little room.
Sarah was still sitting on the floor, knees pulled up to her chin. "I've got to fix this, Gi." She closed her eyes and wished her roommates would reappear. Come back. Return! The silence continued.
"Well?" asked Gi, "How?"
Sarah opened her eyes wide to find her friend in the dark room. "It's not working. I need help." She struggled to her feet and fumbled for the light switch. Both girls blinked in the sudden brightness.
"Maybe they'll just come back on their own. Like the coffee guy?" Gi scanned the room for something to eat, finally spying a half-eaten bag of potato chips beneath a cast-off sweater. "Yum!" she mumbled around a mouthful, "sour cream and onion."
Sarah returned to her own room and made straight for the mirror on the closet door. Her face was a study in determination. "All right Goblin King," she said loudly, "I know this is your doing." She stared hard at her own reflection in the mirror, willing her message to go through to that far-away place. "Whatever you did to me, undo it right now!" For emphasis, she stamped her foot, hands on her hips like a storybook harridan.
Gi was standing open-mouthed in the doorway. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked. "Are you calling...him?" Her eyes sparkled at the possibility.
Sarah ignored her. "Goblin King," she intoned, "I summon you. Appear!" In the mirror, her own reflection looked disappointed. She dropped her gaze, mind sifting wildly for any phrase that might do the trick. "Oh!" her eyes snapped back up as a thought struck her. "I...I wish the King of the Goblins were here. Right now!" Triumph lit her from within, but just as quickly faded when only her own image continued to stare back at her.
"It's not working," stated Gi.
Sarah turned to glare at her. "Well thank you, Captain Obvious." She turned back to the mirror, but it held not so much as a ripple. Feeling thoroughly deflated, she retreated to her bed. There was a noticeable crunching sound as her shoeless foot came down hard on a discarded peanut shell. "Ow!" she shrieked, catapulting onto the comforter. "Damn it, Gi! Would it kill you to clean up a little?" She rubbed her sore instep while the older girl sheepishly stuffed the now-empty potato chip bag behind her back.
"Sorry, Sarah, I..."
"Gah! I wish you would just...just...just keep your mouth closed so I can think already!" Sarah felt like she was feverish, her fingers were hot, her head was hot. She rolled over and grabbed a bottle of water from her nightstand and gulped it down in three swallows. That helped a little. One thing at a time, Sarah, she told herself.
It was then that she noticed the "mmpfth mmpfthing" sound coming from across the room.
The very small breeze stirred up by the baseboard heater may as well have been an arctic blast. Sarah felt her blood freeze as she stared at Gi. The older girl was frantically pawing at her lips, which appeared to be sealed. Completely.
Sarah staggered forward and gently touched a finger to her friend's lips. There was no way anything was going to get past them, food or water or words or anything else. "Oh, Gi," she moaned softly, "I am so, so sorry."
Gi regarded her with surprising calm and then moved to Sarah's desk. She found a notepad and pen and hastily scribbled, Now what?
Sarah hugged her and burst into tears. She sobbed noisily for a few minutes and then gradually stopped, her equilibrium restoring itself with its usual speed.
"C'mon." She pulled Gi out of the room. They found their shoes and bags and Sarah took one last look around before locking the door behind them. The hallway outside was deserted as well, long and blue and decorated with paper and lace hearts hastily tacked to the wall. Someone had put the initials of every girl and guy who lived on that hall randomly onto different hearts.
As they made there way towards the outside doors, Gi spotted Sarah's initials, S.W., printed neatly on a large pink heart along with the initial J. "Mumpth!" She stopped and pointed at the heart, raising her eyebrows to indicate a question.
Sarah wasn't really paying attention, her brain too busy considering her next action. She glanced briefly at the decoration and shrugged. "Who knows? Now come on already!" Grabbing Gi's hand she tugged her quickly out of the dorm.
In the empty hallway, all the hearts save one peeled off of the wall and fluttered softly to the ground.
Three hundred miles to the northeast, Toby Williams was talking to shadows.
He had been terribly bored, kicking up dirt with his new sneakers and whipping sticks through the air over the telephone wire. All his friends had other plans and his mother was hosting some kind of incredibly boring party with candles in the house. It was unbearable in there, so he had to come outside. His missed Sarah. She always had time for him and always had interesting ideas of what they might do together. He had wasted a good hour or so with the sticks and the dirt when he suddenly began to hear whispering in the rear of the yard. Naturally, he investigated.
If his parents could have overheard him, they would surely have been concerned. "Uh huh," he nodded, listening intently to the dark and shifting figures beneath the tall oak tree. "Oh!" and "Really?" and "Oh, no!"
At last the whispering subsided, and Toby bent down to retrieve something rolled to him across the grass. He scooped it up carefully and cradled it in his shirt like a kitten. Straightening his head, he nodded sharply to the shadows and turned to go back into the house. If he hurried, he should be able to hide the crystal ball in his room. Then he just had to figure out a way to get it to Sarah, and fast.
What's it for? he had asked, but shadows would only whisper warnings. One thing was clear enough: it was a message.
Sarah came home to a still-empty dorm. The day was an utter disaster and all she wanted now was for it to be over. She had taken Gi back to her own apartment and elicited a promise to stay put until Sarah could get some help. How she was going to do that, she still didn't know. The phone rang.
Sarah warily lifted the receiver. "Hello?" She listened tiredly as her stepmother complained about Toby and how he had insisted on calling Sarah. It was an emergency, he had told his mom. Could Sarah imagine that?
Sarah could.
Finally Toby was allowed on the line. "Sarah!" His bright voice lent her some energy, even from so far away. "Sarah you have to come home, 'kay?" His voice grew muffled as though he were talking through his shirt. Sarah could just picture him pulling it over his head for privacy. "Someone gave me something for you. And you have to come get it, 'kay?" In the background his mother could be heard berating him for speaking nonsense.
Sarah smiled. It couldn't have been easy on Toby to convince his mother to let him call her. She had to admire his perseverance. "I'll try, Toby, but I've got a lot of work this month and remember, I don't have a car."
Her brother's voice took on an annoyed tone. Still muffled, and interspersed with asides of "just another minute, Mom!" and "I know, I know!", Toby pleaded with her: "You've got to come right away! If you don't, they'll be gone forever and, and..." he seemed to struggle with what came next, like he couldn't quite remember what he was supposed to say. "And she'll die!" he finally finished. This last part was said with a dramatic emphasis that would have done Sarah's real mother proud, but caused her stepmother to squawk and wrench the phone from Toby.
"You can come anytime, of course, Sarah," said the older woman coolly, "but your brother is grounded for the next week." Now it was Toby's turn to squawk. Sarah heard him clump upstairs to his room. You wouldn't think a newly-six year old could make so much noise with just his feet.
"Well...I...," Sarah's mind was racing fast. "Is there any way Dad could come and get me? Just for the weekend?" Her stepmother give a lengthy sigh.
"It's a long drive, Sarah, but if it's really important, I'll ask him." She could be heard tapping her nails against the phone table, a habit Sarah found particularly irritating. "I'll have him call you after dinner. Goodbye, Sarah." The dial tone sounded in Sarah's ear and she childishly stuck her tongue out at the receiver before replacing it.
The next hour was slow torture as she waited for her father to call. It seemed impossible that Toby could know anything about her disappearing roommates or Gi, but those things he said... Well, she thought, stranger things have probably happened.
Again and again her eyes were drawn back to the large closet mirror. She felt edgy, anxious, like she was being watched. "If you can hear me," she said at one point, trying not to feel ridiculous, "I really, really need some help." She paused. "Please!" Her only answer was silence and it was impossible not to be discouraged.
Finally, the phone rang and after a brief conversation it was settled that her father and Toby would drive up the following afternoon and visit with her, then they would go camping at a nearby state park for the weekend and visit with her once more on Sunday before heading for home. Sarah wondered if her father had forgotten the next day was a holiday, or if Karen, her stepmother, just didn't care about that sort of thing. If it was a problem, she felt sure she'd eventually get the blame for it, one way or another.
Sarah tried and failed to do some homework then, but at last had to admit defeat and just go to bed. Her stomach was rumbling and she realized she'd forgotten to eat dinner, but she refused to go in search of a snack. All she could think about was how hungry Gi was going to get before she was able to get help for her. And what if the something Toby was bringing her didn't help Gi? What would she do then?
Alone in the darkness, it was several hours before she finally slept.