Axel looked Ellie up and down, his gaze finally settling on her face as she stared back. Suddenly, his mind flashed back to the vision of the charred girl being devoured by those "shadow-people." He examined Ellie's clothes. He couldn't be sure of the colors since the girl in his vision had been burnt to a crisp, but the lace on her three-quarter sleeves, the specific collar, and the patches on her jeans... it was a perfect match. He looked at her face again—the shape, her hair, even her earrings. Axel's eyes widened and his heart hammered against his ribs. He was certain: Ellie was the girl he had seen turning to ash.
Thud. Without thinking, Axel grabbed Ellie by the shoulders. She flinched, her smile fading into a look of pure horror as she realized she was being gripped by the school's most notorious delinquent.
"You... you... you're the one I saw... don't you dare leave my side," Axel stammered.
"I... okay, um... I don't understand," Ellie replied, terrified.
"Hey! What's going on over there?"
At the sound of a man's shout, Axel glanced back while Ellie craned her neck to see around him. The security guard they'd seen at the gate was heading toward them—and of course, the shadow-man was right on his heels. Before Axel could move or say a word, his vision blurred again, and he instinctively closed his eyes.
***
Axel opened his eyes. This time, he was on a running track. Right in front of him, an athletic young man lay sprawled face-down on the ground. He slowly crouched and rolled the body over. "Gasp," he immediately clamped a hand over his mouth at the sight of the boy's throat—it was torn open deep, as if something had sliced clean through it. He stood back up and surveyed the area.
The body was on a section of the track far from the main school building, right behind the baseball field. He looked ahead and saw a wire stretched across the lane, dripping with fresh, wet blood. It seemed like that wire was what had ripped the victim's throat open, and by the time the runner realized it, it was already too late. Because the surroundings looked blurry like a mosaic, he couldn't tell where the wire had come from.
"If this is a new vision, then the previous one with Ellie has already been averted; the vision has shifted. Who the hell put a wire here?" Axel asked in his head while examining the razor-sharp string.
But suddenly, he felt a presence. He whipped around and instantly stumbled sideways in shock—a shadow-man was standing over the corpse, staring down at the dead boy.
"W...what? Why is that thing here?" Axel thought.
Before Axel could do anything, the shadow-people unhinged its massive jaw. Its eyes turned a deep red, and the inside of its mouth followed suit. It leaned down—its body folding unnaturally while its legs stayed perfectly straight—and touched the corpse below. "Bwoooosh," in an instant, the body ignited, turning into charcoal and then ash.
Then, a swarm of shadow-people appeared out of nowhere, crowding around the one that had burned the body. They all dropped into a crouch and began devouring the ashen remains. Axel, watching it all unfold right in front of his eyes, was speechless. His heart hammered so hard it felt like it might shatter his ribs. His face went pale as his terror reached an absolute peak. Then, everything went dark.
***
Axel opened his eyes. He was back where he started, his hands still gripping Ellie's shoulders as he looked at the security guard walking toward them. He immediately glanced at the running track circling the baseball field on the school's left wing.
"Follow me," Axel barked.
Before Ellie could answer, Axel had already grabbed her hand and was sprinting toward the field on the left. Ellie was confused, but she didn't resist as Axel pulled her along.
"Hey!"
The walking security guard finally broke into a run, chasing after Axel as he dragged Ellie toward the side. When they arrived, Axel—panting for breath—looked left and right, scanning the area. He saw students playing baseball, each followed by a shadow-people. They had just finished practicing and were heading back into the school building. He rushed down the hill while carrying Ellie, then set her down and ran onto the track.
"Hey, Axel, where are we going?" Ellie asked, out of breath.
"Someone is going to die on this field... it's hard to explain, just trust me," Axel answered, struggling to figure out how to explain it all to her.
"Okay... I'm with you," Ellie replied, having calmed down a bit.
Axel led Ellie to the part of the field furthest from the school building. But when he saw the guard crest the hill, he immediately pulled Ellie into a nearby locker room they happened to be passing to hide. Inside, Axel pulled Ellie close, covering her mouth with his hand as he peeked outside. Ellie's face suddenly flushed red, but she stayed still and didn't fight him, looking on resignedly as she followed Axel's gaze.
When the security guard finished looking around and finally left after seeing nothing, Axel let go of Ellie. He suddenly realized he had been manhandling a girl he had just met today and quickly backed away.
"Sorry," Axel said shortly.
"It's okay," Ellie replied shyly.
The two stood in an awkward, heavy silence. But then they heard someone talking. They both peeked out again and saw two 12th graders walking past them toward a spot far from the field—the exact place Axel had seen in his vision. As they chatted casually, Axel noticed one of them was carrying a fishing rod and a backpack that was clearly much larger than a school bag. Once the two had passed the small building used as a locker room and storage—where Axel and Ellie were hiding—Ellie whispered.
"What exactly is going on?"
"Just watch. We stay here," Axel answered.
"Okay," Ellie replied.
They watched the two guys from behind the locker room door. From a distance, Axel could see them stop exactly where the wire had been, right at the back of the baseball field. They sat at the edge of the field, and the boy with the fishing rod pulled something out of his bag.
He seemed to start rigging his line, then appeared to be teaching his friend how to fish by standing up and demonstrating a cast. After that, he handed the rod to his friend, who also stood up to practice. But his friend accidentally let go of the bait, and the hook snagged on the chain-link fence separating the field from the road, causing the fishing line to stretch horizontally across the track.
The one who had been teaching immediately looked furious at his friend, who just scratched his head while holding the rod, which was now severely bent. The boy took the rod back and jammed the handle into the ground so it wouldn't bend too much and eventually snap. Then they seemed to run off, probably to find something to cut the line.
"So that's how it happens," Axel muttered.
"What is?" Ellie asked.
"I'll explain later. Come on, follow me," Axel said, standing up.
"Okay," Ellie replied.
When Axel opened the door, he was startled to see a guy in a jersey carrying a gym bag. He had dreadlocks and looked like an 11th grader, just like them. The guy stood frozen, staring at Axel and Ellie inside the room holding hands, because he recognized them. Axel and Ellie also knew exactly who the guy was: Mason, a track athlete on the school team and their classmate. Axel had never spoken to him because Mason was quite popular with the girls.
"Wait... Ellie? Axel?" Mason asked.
"Mason? What are you doing here?" Ellie asked.
"I was going to do some laps... are you two... dating?" Mason asked, confused by the sight of them.
Suddenly, Axel grabbed Mason's jersey, startling him. He slammed Mason against the wall next to the door. Mason gasped in horror because he knew exactly who Axel was—the troubled delinquent everyone avoided. Dealing with him was a nightmare, even if his name stayed at the top of the rankings every year.
"Hey... what the hell, dude?" Mason said.
"Don't practice today. Listen to me if you want to stay alive," Axel said in a heavy, cold voice.
Axel shot a sharp, intense glare at the shadow-people standing next to Mason, who seemed to be staring right back at him. Ellie gripped Axel's arm without saying a word, as she could also see the shadow-people beside Mason.
"Dude... let me go, what's wrong with you?" Mason shouted, terrified.
"Promise me first. Go home and don't practice. I'm watching. If you show up again, I'll beat you down," Axel said, cold and firm.
"Fine... fine, man. I'm going home. Just let me go," Mason replied.
Axel released Mason's jersey. Mason took a deep breath and rubbed his neck. He looked at Axel and Ellie, who were both staring at him. Mason clearly thought he had seen something he wasn't supposed to, though he still wondered why the beautiful and popular Ellie was with a troubled thug. Before he could think too much, he stood up.
"Sorry, sorry, I won't tell anyone you two are dating... just get back to whatever you were doing. I'm going home, skipping practice. Sorry again for bothering you," Mason said as he stood up and grabbed his fallen gym bag.
Without waiting for Axel or Ellie to respond, Mason turned and walked away, followed by the shadow-people. But before the shadow-people left, it turned back to look at Axel. Its eyes turned red, as if it were furious that Axel had interfered with its plans. Axel didn't flinch this time; he simply flipped the shadow-people the bird. Ellie gripped his arm even tighter. Then, the shadow-people turned and exited through the open door.
Axel followed him out. He saw Mason already far off, heading back toward the school building in the distance. Then, Axel took Ellie's hand and led her to the spot where the fishing line was stretched across the track. Looking at it from the middle of the track, the line was completely invisible, as if there was nothing there at all. He pulled a folding knife from his pocket and sliced the line, then kicked the rod planted in the ground until it fell over. After that, he turned to Ellie, who was staring in shock at everything Axel had just done.
"Let's go. I'll walk you home," Axel said.
"Hmm... okay. Want to stop for coffee too?" Ellie asked with a shy smile.
"Huh?" Axel was caught off guard. He'd never seen this side of Ellie before—or maybe he'd just never bothered to look until now.