Going Lucid, A YA Paranormal Read online

  Chapter Four

  A Bad Trip

  Malakha blinked the light out of her eyes, feeling disoriented when her mind drew a blank as to where she was and why she was there. She sat up and took in the room. It took her mind a few seconds to register that she was in her room at school, sitting on her bed with her school uniform still on… well most of it anyway. Her jacket and tie were gone. The question was why had she been sleeping in it?

  “You’re finally up I see.”

  Malakha looked at Sabrina, who was coming back into the room. As the girl went over to her drawers, she said, “You’re lucky it’s the weekend. If we had a class, I would have had to explain why you were absent to someone and then you would have been in trouble again. Probably expelled after that stunt you pulled last night.”

  “I wish. My grandfather would have just shelled out more money to make them let me stay,” Malakha said. She was silent for a while before asking. “What stunt exactly did I pull last night?”

  Sabrina looked at her with a wide-eyed incredulous look. “Sneaking out to a rave and getting so high you couldn’t even say your own name and then knocking yourself out! Malak and I were almost afraid you overdosed or something.”

  The previous night came rushing back to Malakha, but it wasn’t the rave that she was concerned about. She touched her arms, making sure she was wearing her blouse and not someone else’s.

  “Is that all that happened?” Malakha asked.

  “Fortunately for you, yes. You better be glad Malak asked Ashley to keep an eye on you if she saw you. No telling what would have happened otherwise.”

  “Ashley?”

  “Some girl that Malak brought with you all to the rave. She’s the one who helped him get into the girl’s dorm when he brought you back.”

  “Malak brought me back?”

  “Yes and thankfully unhurt.”

  Malakha lowered her arms, the barren world she had been in last night at the forefront of her mind, particularly the big demon-wolf man that tried to rape her and then kill her. Was it all just a dream?

  “Well,” Sabrina added as an afterthought, “except for those bruises on your wrists. Did someone try to mess with you or something?”

  “I don’t think so,” Malakha said slowly, taking note that the bruises were in the same place the man in her dream had grabbed her. Had it been a dream? “Are you sure that’s all?”

  “That’s all Malak told me,” Sabrina said and then turned to look at Malakha. “Why? You looked a little spooked about something.”

  Malakha shook her head. “Nothing.”

  “I don’t believe you. I’ve never seen that look on your face before. But if you don’t want to tell me, whatever,” Sabrina said starting to leave the room again.

  “Wait!” Malakha said. “Do you know where Malak is?

  Sabrina shrugged. “You may want to avoid him for a while though. He was really angry at you last night.”

  It wasn’t the first time someone had been angry with her for one reason or another, and it wasn’t going to be the last. She swung her legs off the side of the bed and stood up, ignoring that they felt a little wobbly. Then she began to follow Sabrina out the room.

  “Where are you going?” Sabrina asked.

  “To find Malak.”

  “I told you, he’s angry at you. And shouldn’t you take a shower or something first?”

  “I’m just going to talk to Malak and come back.”

  “You don’t know where he is.”

  “He’s not hard to find on a Saturday morning.”

  “Afternoon actually,” Sabrina corrected.

  Malakha stopped at that. “What time is it?”

  “Two twenty-four.”

  Malakha started to ask if she was really out that long, but decided it wasn’t important and headed to where she knew Malak spent his Saturday afternoons when he wasn’t in his room doing school work or on the computer.

  Malakha went down the stairs, taking them by twos, ran down the hall of the second floor, and took the next set of stairs by twos again, arriving in the large living area of the girls’ dormitories. She breezed past the fireplace and through the lounge, into the hall that led to a large foyer and the arched doorway that was the exit. Malakha exited the foyer through the doors, made her way down the concrete steps and then made a left across the front lawn of the school, passing nuns and monks and caring little about the weird looks they were giving her as she made her way to the other side of the large castle where the boys’ dormitories were. She found Malak around the side of the building with a bunch of other boys from the dorm, playing football. They seemed to be in the middle of a play, but Malakha didn’t care about that as she made her away across the field.

  The other boys must have noticed her urgency because everyone broke up to pause their game as she made her way to where Malak was. He looked like he really didn’t want to be bothered with her, if the way he rolled his eyes and slumped his shoulders at her was any indication.

  When she didn’t seem deterred he asked tersely, “What do you want Malakha?”

  “What happened last night?” she asked closing the distance between them so everyone would take the hint to mind their own business.

  “I told Sabrina to tell you if you asked. Go find her,” Malak said about to turn away from her.

  Malakha grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn back to her.

  “She told me what you told her. I just want to make sure you told her everything. You did didn’t you?”

  “Yes,” Malak said snatching his arm out her hand. “Why wouldn’t I? And why are you so concerned I didn’t.”

  Malakha hesitated and then said, “Because I had… a disturbing dream I guess. But it felt so real. And then there was that laughter.”

  Malak huffed. “So you had a bad trip. It happens sometimes when a person gets high from LSD,” he snapped.

  “So that’s what that pill was,” Malakha said.

  Malak gave her a look similar to the one Sabrina gave her earlier, that incredulous wide-eyed look.

  “You seriously didn’t know what it was?”

  “I knew it was a drug, but not what kind.”

  “Whatever Malakha,” he said turning away from her again.

  Malakha went around to stand in front of him again, causing him to bump into her.

  “Malak. I’m serious. I don’t know if I was dreaming or not. It was happening before. I don’t think—“

  “Malakha, you had a bad trip. Now leave me alone,” Malak said pushing her aside and walking past her.

  “What’s your problem? What did I do to you?” Malakha asked.

  “You’re not stupid Malakha. Figure it out,” Malak said starting to walk away.

  Malakha jogged beside him. “No. I really don’t have any idea.”

  Malak rounded on her, causing Malakha to run into him this time. Malak grabbed her by the arm to steady her, but didn’t let go when she was solid on her feet again.

  “I don’t know, you disappear last night and the next time I see you, you’re practically out cold after getting high. I think that’s reason enough,” Malak said and then let go of her arm like she was something disgusting.

  “What’s that got to do with anything? So I got a little high. No big deal.”

  “No big deal that you had me and Sabrina thinking you might have overdosed.”

  “Oh please,” Malakha said. “If it makes you feel any better, I won’t be trying it again.”

  Malak stared her with the penetrating gaze that normally made Malakha feel uncomfortable. Today she was too frustrated with him to care.

  “You’re unbelievable,” he said turning away from her again.

  Something dawned on her.

  “Does this have anything to do with you liking me? Like you’re hoping I’ll realize how much you mean to me because you don’t want to talk to me.”

  Malak laughed lifting his hand in a gesture like he was about to choke something. Then he dropped hi
s hands and said, “Maybe it’s just that I care about what happens to you.”

  “Because you like me?”

  “I more than like you Malakha. Why else would I be mad at you right now? Is that so hard to believe?”

  “Yes actually.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s hormones and all that. Once that wears off, you’ll get over it.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “My mother.”

  “Trust me. If that were the case, I would have given up a long time ago.”

  “So what are you saying? My mother lied to me?”

  “I’m saying that’s not always—You know what? Whatever. Now I see why everyone avoids you. You’re fucking psychotic,” Malak said walking away.

  Malakha reared her head back in surprise. She was so surprised that when she finally decided to say something, Malak was long gone.

  Malakha huffed and turned on her heel. That was fine with her. If he wanted to be an ass because he liked her so much, then let him. As she began to walk away, she saw a monk coming toward her out the corner of her eye and tried to get ahead of him.

  “Malakha!”

  Malakha stopped and rolled her eyes as she turned to face the monk.

  “Honestly. I was just talking to him, it’s not like we were doing anything scandalous like discussing having sex in a secret classroom later. Really!”

  “What?”

  It was John, the young monk she had met the previous night at the exorcism.

  “Oh. Sorry. I thought you were one of the other monks that are always on my case. You’re still here?”

  “I’m always here, just usually on the church side.”

  “Why are you here today then?”

  “I was looking for you last night. I wanted to make sure you were alright after you stormed out of that exorcism. Father Thomas told me you were just… a little rebellious is all and that you were just acting out again, but it seemed like more than that. Are you alright?”

  Malakha wasn’t sure what to say at first. The truth was she was a little flustered by everything that happened last night, but she couldn’t tell John that. He may have seemed a little less uptight than the other monks she knew, but he was still a monk.

  “Fine. I think I’m a little claustrophobic is all.”

  John frowned. “Are you sure? You said you heard laughing last night,” John said gesturing for her to walk with him.

  “Yeah. I think that exorcism was getting to me.”

  “They’re like that.”

  “You mean people are subjected to that abuse every time they’re exorcised?”

  “It’s not abuse. But exorcism can be painful for the demon being exorcised.”

  “That girl wasn’t possessed,” Malakha said looking at John out the corner of her eye before looking ahead again. “She was just rebellious and her parents wanted to scare her. That’s emotional abuse. A scare tactic.”

  John looked at her silently, going so far as to stop as he did so. Then he started walking again and asked, “You really don’t believe in any of this do you?”

  His tone was without judgment or reprimand. There was only curiosity, and Malakha appreciated that for once someone wasn’t looking down at her for her thoughts.

  “The exorcism or Catholicism?”

  “Both.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  The question surprised her. Most people usually wanted to know what she did believe in and when she couldn’t give them an answer, they usually just stopped talking to her.

  After a long pause, Malakha said, “I really don’t know. I was raised like every other Catholic girl. My mother filtered everything I watched and read, didn’t let me read Harry Potter for a long time, and made me read the bible and learn Latin and sent me to a catholic all girl’s private school. Catholicism is all I know, but it never made any sense. Nothing was logical about any of it. Nothing seemed practical enough, so I never really believed it and as I got older, I got more vocal about it.”

  “Do you believe in anything?”

  “Only that something put us all here, but beyond that…” Malakha trailed off with a shrug.

  John stopped in front of the main entrance to the school as they began to pass it, hands clasped in front of him.

  “That’s interesting,” John finally said. “I have to go, but I hope I’m able to get to know you better Malakha. See you soon.”

  John began walking back to the school again, leaving a somewhat perplexed Malakha behind. He was a very different kind of monk. Most of them thought she was more heathenish than interesting. She could honestly say John was a monk she wouldn’t mind seeing more of.

  ******

  The laughing came back Sunday while they were in the chapel. Malakha was doing her best to try not to fall asleep. If she weren’t already in trouble, she might have stayed in her dorm. But after sneaking into the music room last week and storming out the exorcism earlier that weekend, Malakha figured she had caused enough scandal for everyone to talk about for the rest of the month and allowed Sabrina to drag her out of bed to the worship.

  By the time it was time for the choir to sing, Malakha had given up trying not to fall asleep and the fact that she was so cold she had goose bumps again wasn’t helping, so he started to give in to her heavy eyelids. Then the sound woke her up; not the sound of the loud notes of the organ or even the sound of the choir singing in mostly perfect harmony. It was that laughter; that mocking laughter she had heard during the exorcism Friday evening.

  Malakha slowly sat up, looking around for a source, hoping that this was just some big joke that the entire school was in on in order to scare her out of her rebellious ways.

  “What’s wrong?” Sabrina asked.

  “Nothing,” Malakha said slowly.

  “Yes there is. You suddenly started looking around like something spooked you.”

  “I…” Malakha heard it again, but it didn’t sound like it was coming from in the chapel. Rather she heard it coming from outside.

  Malakha stood up suddenly, starting past Sabrina.

  “Where are you going?”

  “The bathroom.”

  “For real this time?”

  “Yes,” Malakha said continuing out the row, then down the aisle and out the chapel.

  The laughing became louder in the hallway, but seemed to be coming from one particular direction. Malakha took a left, heading down the hall, passing the large stained windows, and going towards where the bathrooms were. The laughter started to quiet down to low chuckles, but continued to persist steadily.

  Malakha stopped at the bathroom door, putting her hand against it, the laughter seeming to echo from behind it. Malakha slowly began to push it open while saying, “Hello.”

  When it was all the way open, she stopped, literally frozen in shock at the sight before her. The girl, Eliza, from the night before was standing over the sink, eyes red and puffy from crying at some point, and holding a small short knife, a little bigger than a pocketknife but much smaller than a dagger or something, in her hand to cut what looked like an X shape onto her wrist. The first line of the X was already beginning to bleed, and it appeared Eliza was trying to make the other line deeper since she hadn’t cut deep enough the first time.

  Malakha looked at her, managing to ignore the laughter for a while as he tried to figure out what to do. Her first instinct was to just walk out and pretend she hadn’t seen anything. She figured as long as the girl wasn’t trying to kill herself, why should she care. But in the back of her mind she wondered what if the girl did kill herself whether by accident or on purpose? She would have been able to prevent it.

  Before Malakha could come to a decision, something seemed to snap in Eliza, and the older girl looked at the knife and then back at Malakha before raising it and charging at her with it.

  The girl’s attack took Malakha by surprise, causing her to dodge out the way late and when she did finally move, she was to
o slow and was caught in the shoulder with the blade.

  Malakha sucked in a sharp breath, falling sideways after Eliza pulled the knife out. She clutched her bleeding shoulder, while looking at Eliza who pulled her arm back to get ready to strike her again. Malakha managed to catch her hand and hold it back, but Eliza was persistent and continued pressing her hand down towards Malakha’s face. Eliza was so singularly focused on stabbing Malakha though, that she forgot Malakha still had a free hand, a free hand that Malakha used to pull a cheap dirty fight trick that she wasn’t sure would work or not. She reached up and grabbed one of Eliza’s breasts, breasts that were thankfully bigger than Malakha’s, and squeezed it as hard and painfully as she could.

  Eliza yelled lifting herself off Malakha. Malakha let go of the girl’s breast and tried to leave the bathroom again, but Eliza grabbed her by the ankle and stabbed her in the back of her calf.

  Malakha screamed and fell forward, hitting her head on the wall in the process. Eliza began to pull her towards her by the ankle, while Malakha desperately tried to grab hold of something. Her fingers caught on the other girl’s bag. She didn’t know what was in it, but she hoped it was hard and heavy.

  With the bag in hand, Malakha rolled over as far as she could and swung the bag at Eliza’s face. Eliza let out a cry of surprise and sat up on her knees to move her hair out her face, with the knife still raised. Malakha scrambled to her feet while Eliza tried to gain her bearings and swung the bag at her head as hard as she could once more. The girl fell sideways and hit her head on the sink, causing her to lose consciousness and fall forward on the floor.

  Malakha panted, dropping the bag as she stared at Eliza’s unconscious form. But that wasn’t what bothered her. What bothered her was that she heard the laughing again, but this time, it was laughter from more than one person.

  Chapter Five

  Eliza’s Boyfriend

  The laughing had stopped a while ago, but now Malakha was irritated for another reason entirely as she sat in the infirmary with the doctor fussing over her.