A Dark Lesson pt.10

It was happening again, just like before.  She knew it in her gut that her past… the past she had supposedly never lived, was coming to pass in this timeline as well.  She was frozen, unable to move.  The darkness seemed thick and heavy weighing down her, pulling at her.  It felt like it was trying to swallow her whole. 

The emergency lights flickered on. 

Matt was still there, still by her side, his hand wrapped around her own.  The dim bulbs of the emergency lights only seemed to amplify the fear that was so obviously on display across his face.  He looked at her, tried to smile, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. 

“Come on, we need to get you out of here.” He reached for the doorway to the office again. 

“What about everyone else?  Didn’t you hear them?” Amanda was whispering. 

“Who else? What are you talking about?” He reached out, his hand wrapping around the doorknob.  Quickly he opened the door to the main office, and both of them stepped inside. 

Inside the office everything seemed… normal.  The lights were on, and a few of the staff members sat at their desks, working as if nothing had happened.  She glanced at Matt, expecting him to share in her shock. 

“You really need to get some rest,” he placed a hand on her forehead. “You have a fever.”

“I just… I’m just warm from running from that… thing that took Debbie.” She was stammering, unable to complete a thought. 

“Debbie?” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Whose Debbie?”

“She was the girl Marie and I found this morning. She…” 

“There’s no Debbie here.” 

“But there was.  Marie and I, we…” Amanda pulled her hand free from Matt’s.  Maybe she had just forgotten to tell him about Debbie.  If she found Marie then she could tell him. 

She rushed past Matt towards Marie’s desk.  Marie would tell him all about the girl they had found out front of the Youth Center this morning.  She would tell him about the cuts on poor girl’s body, and how terrified she had been.  She would tell him that Amanda wasn’t losing her mind. She could tell everyone else in the office, too.  They were all watching her, some looking slightly amused, others their faces set in mild concern. 

Marie looked up at her as she approached. 

“Tell him,” Amanda blurted out.  “Tell him about the girl we found this morning.”

The look Marie gave her made Amanda’s stomach drop. 

“Amanda, what are you talking about?” Marie shook her head. “What girl?”