Skyler and Vera are a no show today. I wonder what happened.

Apparently so did Niko.

He was confronting Adram in the hallway when I arrived. A small crowd had gathered around him.

“What the fuck did you do? Skyler hasn’t returned any of my calls.” Niko was bright red with anger.

Adram remained calm, though I could see he was uncomfortable with a crowd.

“She’s fine.” Adram said tersely.

“You got one minute to explain.” Niko was ready to throw fists.

I almost burst out laughing at Adram’s response.

“Fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven.” Adram was counting down the minute for Niko, staring straight at him.

Niko let his bookbag down. “Meet me in the bathroom. Now.” Fighting in the hallway would be too obvious and it’d get broken up in an instant.

Niko led the crowd to the bathroom. Adram went willingly.

I slid through the bathroom door but stayed by the entrance. We’d all get in trouble at this point. There were ten of us in the bathroom, boys and girls.

A couple people blocked my view so I doubt Adram noticed me in here.

“And why do you smell like that?” Niko asked mockingly. He got a few chuckles from his buddies.

The students formed a ring around Adram and Niko.

Adram saying little only accelerated the fight.

“Before we begin.” Adram started. “Does the name Emily mean anything to you?”

There was no response from Niko for a heartbeat. I saw a girl whip her head to the side in surprise. I’m not sure if anyone else caught it.

“There’s a few girls named Emily here. What of it?” Niko spoke a lot quieter than he had before.

“I just don’t see why you care so much about Skyler when you are cheating on her.”

There were a couple gasps and oh’s but other than silence.

“Liar!” Niko finally shouted. “I’ve been dating Skyler for two years. I’m not cheating with a fucking Emily!”

That was a bad move on his part as an underclassman, presumably named Emily, went up to Niko and slapped him hard.

Niko stood shocked as Emily cursed at him and then stormed out.

“Wait!” Niko tried to call her. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

Then he turned on her. “Did she tell you? That whore!”

Niko was really destroying his high school career. No one would be friends with him after this. Skyler was a sweet girl and certainly deserved better.

Niko’s friends apologized to Adram and left shaking their heads and talking about kicking him off the soccer team.

“You can’t do that!” Niko screamed at them. They ignored him.

The thing about this school, the students here were elitist in many ways. Prove yourself to be a degenerate and you will be shunned by everyone and blacklisted by any club or sports team.

Everyone left aside from Adram and Niko, and I still stood by the door. Adram’s back was to me.

Niko was paralyzed by the sudden turn of events. All he had was his anger. He directed it towards Adram again. “Who snitched?”

“The hanged man.” Adram said seriously.

“Quit fucking playing all right. You won. You ruined my life, congratulations. I should beat you just out of spite.”

“Skyler asked about her future with you.” Adram explained. “When the hanged man was revealed a vision of you with Emily appeared. It was a present vision. You were with Emily yesterday. Skyler is taking the day off, understandably.”

Niko’s jaw dropped. “You’re a demon worshipper! I’m reporting you to the principal. You’ll be expelled by the end of the week.”

I couldn’t help myself. “Give it a rest Niko.” I said. “It’s not worth it. You did it yourself. Skyler would have found out eventually. The truth always comes out.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Niko was defeated after that. He clenched and unclenched his fists. Finally he walked out on the verge of tears.

“We are so late for class.” I told Adram with a smile.

“What’s another couple minutes? I haven’t gotten my books yet.”

We left the bathroom together and made our way at a slow pace down the hallway.

“Are you ready for today?” I asked with a spark in my eyes.

“All the preparations are ready.” He told me.

“Spooky. You’re not going to sacrifice me are you?”

Adram thought for a moment, “depends. Are you a virgin?”

I think he regretted the question as soon as he said it but I laughed at his awkwardness.

“You really know how to talk to a girl.” I said sarcastically.

He spread his hands but ultimately couldn’t find much to say other than, “joking.”

“Skyler and Vera are okay?” I inquired.

“Emotionally, probably not. I don’t think people are used to knowing themself.”

“What do you mean?”

Adram tapped his chin. “Uh. No one realizes their mental state. Out of touch with themselves and stuff like that. The tarot really showed those chicks their past, present and future. I think they are contemplating their lives.”

“You didn’t show them anything scary?” The reading sounded surprisingly wholesome.

“Scarier than your inner hell? For most the truth is horrible enough.”

“Yesterday you said you would show them the ’underworld’.” I brought up.

“The subconscious is the underworld. They got a good view of all their demons.” Adram was one of the worst explainers I’ve ever met.

“I think when you get to english class, ask about the difference between literal and metaphorical.” I laughed at him.

He shook his head. “You misunderstand me. The demons are real. They enter our bubble and harvest those experiences we block out of our mind.”

I pursed my lips. “Show me one day.”

“Okay.”

By now we really needed to get to class. We parted ways and went about our schedules. The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully and terribly slowly. Expecting something makes all the time leading up to that thing so unbearable and dull in comparison. Admittedly, most of my life felt that way already.

When the final bell rang marking the end of last period, I gratefully packed my books, talked to Lou briefly before going to Adram’s locker.

I half expected him to not be here for some reason. But there he was.

He stuffed his bookbag in his locker, abandoning his school supplies. “Ready?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You don’t have anywhere to be today right?”

I shook my head. “I’ve got the afternoon clear.”

“Great. We’ll take my car.”

“Sounds good.”

We left the school building and headed to the parking lot.

I received a couple odd looks from girls and guys alike but I ignored them. Adram didn’t seem to pay attention. He probably got those looks on a daily basis I realized.

We didn’t talk much on the road. It wasn’t awkward, he seemed to be focusing so I didn’t want to disturb him.

It was about a fifteen minute drive before he declared we arrived. We were at the hiking trails.

I couldn’t help but feel a little worried, instinctively.

Adram didn’t notice. In a perfect world going to a forest should be a natural and common thing. Reality, however, was much more brutal.

Still, I trusted Adram. We may end up being possessed by demons sure, but he wasn’t going to murder me and bury me in the woods.

I got out of my head when he finally parked. I was here for an adventure. I threw a smile on my face and started up the conversation again.

“Is this your secret cult meeting spot?” I teased.

“No.” He always answered so seriously to my joking questions but snarkily to my serious ones. “Forests are the best places for portals. Ancient forests anyways.”

“How do you know this is an ancient forest?”

“You can feel it. The energy and magic. The trees here are twisted and full of personality. In a young forest the trunks are usually just narrow and tall.”

“That's interesting. Being here heightens spiritual stuff?”

“Essentially.” he confirmed.

We picked a trail. We’d stand out in the forest being in our uniforms but it was a cool enough day and there weren’t many people right now.

“I picked this trail because it doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic. When we get to the cedars we’ll need to break away from the path.”

“You come here a lot?” I asked him as we trekked along the root infested path.

“On occasion. Only when I need to enter the void.”

“The void?”

“There are some plants that only grow in the void I need to collect. I’m glad you’re coming, I need an extra pair of hands.”

“Glad I can help.” There was no point in asking him what the void was or what plant he was looking for. I’d find out soon enough if it was real. A growing nervousness and adrenaline in me told me it. was true. A vague sense of dread and apprehension beating with my heart.

“Ah here it is.” We came to a large cedar tree and the forest itself began to transition to cedars.

“We’ll take this left off the trail.”

I followed him and watched his movement. He was smooth and coordinated but then again this forest was familiar to him.

We arrived at a circle of cedar trees whose canopy created a shadow over the center. I noticed some bright colored mushrooms growing about the forest floor.

“Now what?” I asked. A strange sensation hit me. Something was off about this place.

I couldn’t wait to explore it!

“Now we open the portal.”