Q: Why was the nose feeling sad?
A: Because he was tired of being picked on!
(Click HERE for the PDF of Chapters 1 to 32)
Andy and The Zodiac Crystal – Chapter 33
It felt as if the rest of the school day went by at a snail’s pace. I had deactivated the Virgo ability on my way back to class and my head was now totally swimming with nothing but fears and worries about Carl Dillard. How long had he been watching me? How was I supposed to stop him? And how am I going to prevent him from hurting my family or Chris’s?
By the time the school day ended, I had no answers to any of these questions and hadn’t retained much of anything that had come out of my teacher’s mouth, not even during one of my favorite subjects, that being Math. After getting my jacket out of my hall locker and leaving a few books within it that I didn’t need for the night, I headed out to where the buses were beginning to line up and saw Chris was already there waiting for me.
“So I see you survived a visit to the principal’s office?” Chris said with a jovial smile, obviously having no idea what happened to me while there.
Our bus had just pulled up and opened its doors for everyone to board. As I began to walk up the few short steps, knowing I had a lot to fill Chris in with on the ride home, I suddenly felt that icy feeling head up my spine and my head began to throb again. I immediately clasped my hands against the sides of my skull, hoping it might help somehow, and then turned around to look for the Assistant Principal.
“What’s wrong?” Chris said from behind me, seeing me in apparent distress.
I pointed when I located him. He was standing directly in the center of the throngs of kids who were filing out to their buses, hands on his hips, glaring at me with a menacing stare.
“Hey kid, you’re holding up everyone from getting on the bus!” The driver said sounding slightly irritated.
I turned around and swiftly headed towards the very back with Chris following from behind. The pain began to subside as I took my seat.
“What the heck was that all about?” Chris said, as soon as he was seated next to me.
“Do you remember that prophecy I told you about, the one that Delilah had given me, up in the mountains?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“It’s all true.”
“What do you mean it’s all true?”
I spent the next ten minutes telling him everything from the strange feelings I had that someone was watching me back at the cabin, to the man who was sitting in the diner on our trip home who kept staring at me, to the pains I got in my head when he was, to the assistant principal who was actually the very same person, to the powers he demonstrated when I couldn’t move, and finally to what he promised he would do if I didn’t give him the crystal willingly.
The bus was beginning to pull away from the school’s parking lot. I made sure not to look out the window, as I didn’t want to see Carl Dillard still staring at me with that awful look on his face, nor did I want to have any more of that icy feeling running up my spine.
“He wasn’t there in case you’re wondering.” Chris said, seeing how afraid I was to even look out the window.
“I don’t know what to do Chris? If we don’t give the crystal to him, he said he’s going to harm you and your family and mine as well.”
“We can’t give it to him. You know that.”
“I know, but I’m not strong enough to beat him. He’s had years to master the use of his dark crystal. I can’t believe this is happening! Up until just a few days ago, I was rather enjoying learning all the ins and outs of my crystal, but now I feel like it’s a curse.”
“I understand how you’re feeling, which is why I think it’s time I pay another visit to the Council of the Zodiac.”
“What are they going to do? They’re probably just going to speak in ways that don’t make any sense and tell us we need to figure it out on our own.”
Chris could tell I was totally frustrated and speaking out of fear.
“Look, I know you’re upset and afraid, but we need to work together. And we will make it through this.”
“I don’t know how you can have such a positive attitude about this…”
“Well, a negative one is only going to make it seem all the more impossible to overcome.”
“Yeah, I know. Well I hope you have something in mind to ask specifically to the Council. Remember there’s that time lapse that happens while we are there.”
“I know, but there’s no ‘we’ this time. I’m going alone.”
“What? What do you mean you’re going alone? Don’t I have to be present to activate it?”
“I don’t think so. And I’m going alone because I don’t want your parents freaking out if you were to disappear again for a period of time.”
“Well what about your parents?”
“Well you see that’s the thing. I don’t have to tell them anything because they’re heading out of town for a few days. My mother got a call last night from her parents. I guess her father had a slight heart attack and is in the hospital. They say he’s going to be ok, but my grandmother thought it would be a good idea for my parents to come anyway.”
“They’re going to leave you alone all that time?”
“Of course, they trust me. I’ve never given them any reason why they shouldn’t. It’s not like I disappeared into the woods for several years you know.”
“Ha ha, very funny. So when are they leaving?”
“They already did this afternoon. I just need to check in with them tonight and then I won’t talk with them again until tomorrow night.”
“So you’re planning on visiting the Council tonight and hoping to be back before then? What about school?”
“Well I’m hoping I’ll be back before then, at least that’s the plan…”
“You have no clue what you’re doing, do you?”
“Well do you? We certainly need some help and I know of no better way to get that than to visit the Council again.”
We spent the rest of the bus ride home brainstorming some questions Chris could ask the Council, with the biggest one being how could we better protect ourselves from Carl Dillard. I also personally wanted to know how this dark crystal came into existence and asked if Chris could get the answer.
Once the bus had dropped us off at our stop, I wished him good luck and said I’d hope to see him the next morning there. He agreed and then headed towards his house.
The walk back to my house felt different today. I kept looking over my shoulders, thinking I’d see Carl Dillard watching me off in the distance. I also thought some strange person or animal might unexpectedly show up and say or do something to me, being manipulated by his powers. But thankfully none of that happened.
The rest of my evening sped by pretty quickly. I received a phone call from Chris just before he planned on attempting to use the “Zōidiakos” ability. I wished him good luck once again and told him to call me back if it didn’t work.
It was hard to focus on anything after I hung up. At first, I waited by the phone for a bit, thinking he was going to call back and let me know it didn’t work, but when he didn’t, I decided to start my homework. I completely struggled through it and by the time dinner came, I didn’t have much of an appetite. I managed to eat a small portion of the lasagna my mother made before heading to my room for the rest of the evening. As I laid on my bed and tried to read a book, I watched as the time went from 8:00pm to midnight in the blink of an eye. I was so wired I couldn’t fall asleep and finally decided I’d use my powers to check in on Chris. Maybe he was already home and just didn’t want to call because it was so late.
“Capricorn” I said the words while thinking about his room at his house.
VAVOOM!
When I came out the other side of the vortex, I immediately saw Chris wasn’t there. While the lights were on in his room, there were pieces of paper scattered everywhere showing clearly that the ability had worked for him. I must admit, it felt kind of weird being in his house without him there. And although I knew he wouldn’t be upset about it, especially with his family out of town, I still felt like I was breaking and entering somehow.
CREEEAK…CREEEAK…
A strange noise broke the silence of Chris’s house and came from downstairs. It sounded a little like footsteps. Was someone there or was I just imagining I was hearing things?
I listened for a few more minutes in complete silence and heard nothing more but my breathing, which was slightly erratic given my heart had started racing again.
Man, I really am on edge aren’t I? I decided it was time to teleport myself back home before I got any more freaked out by strange noises.
“CAPRI-“
“Leaving so soon…Andy?” A sinister-sounding voice interrupted me and was unmistakable.
The brooding figure of Assistant Principal Carl Dillard then abruptly emerged through the entrance to Chris’s room…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
