Evidence
Begin report: November 3, 2011.
It started like most days with the craziness that is middle school. I mean, I knew the truth, but I wasn’t one to say much. I was in on the secret. It would be better to hear the start of this, at least, from one of the kids.
Journal entries for Eloise Montgomery beginning with October 14, 2011, and ending at October 31:
I am standing on the threshold of a new school, a new day, a new beginning. I am Eloise Montgomery. My daddy got transferred here from New York. Before that, we lived in Dallas. Before that, we lived in some hick town in Tennessee. And before that, we lived where I was born: in the middle of nowhere in Florida. Throughout elementary and my first two years of middle school, I’ve been on the journalistic team for the newspapers at my school. I love following a good story. That’s why my first day at Johnson Middle School was weirder than weird.
I was standing in my first period classroom on my first day of eighth grade at this new school. It was pretty amazing. I made a friend first period. And, the funny thing is: she was a tutor! I still kinda laugh about that. Her name was Miss Cathy. She said, “You must be the newbie. Welcome to the craziness that is AVID tutoring!” I laughed. A girl named Aria came over and told me that Miss Cathy was pretty awesome and so was Ms. Darius, the teacher. She also told me there were secrets around the school, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time.
I made several friends that first period. Second and third period went without a hitch, too. The teachers were weird, but nice. Pretty much everyone was nice, save for a handful of bullies. But, bullies will always be there. I saw Miss Cathy in the hallway around fourth period and waved. She waved back and asked how my day was going. I told her it was weird, but good. She smiled and let me get onto class.
It wasn’t until lunch that I understood the weirdness a little better. I sat down next to Aria and her friend Chelsea. We made the introductions and started eating.
“Have you noticed anything weird?” Chelsea asked me.
I shook my head. “Not that I can think of,” I said, looking down at my pizza.
“She’s talking about the staff,” Aria said.
I shrugged. “Some of the teachers seem a little off, but nothing that’s not too abnormal.”
Chelsea nodded as a teacher walked by, then leaned in to whisper. “The teachers are hiding something from us.”
“Like what?” I asked, totally intrigued by that point.
“We’re not sure,” Aria said. “But something is going on.”
Well, that was pretty much my first day’s weirdness. That Friday wasn’t that weird at all, but I used my instincts to get a little bit more information. Not any worth mentioning yet.
It wasn’t until the following Tuesday that I noticed something weird. Chelsea and I were talking before first period when we noticed that three of the teachers were watching us with interest. We walked into the girls’ room.
“What was that all about?” Chelsea asked. “They were creeping at us.”
“That was just plain weirdness,” I said. “It was like they were listening in to make sure we didn’t know something.”
Aria agreed.
Evoni and Lily walked in and waved at their friends.
“What’s up?” Lily asked.
“Three teachers were creeping at us,” Aria said.
“I think they’re all up to something,” Evoni said. “It’s like they all have a secret.”
“You think the tutors are in on it?” I asked.
The others shrugged.
“It’s hard to tell with them, ‘cause they’re not here every day,” Chelsea said.
Eloise nodded. “But I like some of the teachers, and definitely some of the tutors.”
“So do we,” Lily said. “But that doesn’t mean something’s not weird.”
The others agreed.
“For all we know, they’re just friendly and don’t care much about the weirdness, but still know about whatever’s going on,” I said.
“She’s got a point,” Chelsea said. “Although, I have to admit, I don’t like thinking that way about Ms. Darius, our tutors, and some of the other teachers.”
The girls all agreed.
“We should gather as many clues and pieces to this puzzle as possible and have a sleep over on Friday,” Evoni said.
Everyone agreed and headed to their first period classes.
Miss Cathy greeted us and took our papers for grading. She told me how to get a better grade with one of my questions and handed me my paper without grading it. I fixed it and handed it back. She gave me a thumbs-up and handed my paper back to me. I took it over to my group.
Ms. Darius came in, and we started tutorials.
Over the next several days, we girls scouted the teachers for abnormalities and clues. We wound up at Chelsea’s house on Friday night to deliver our findings.
“So, Mr. Parvoni looked like he had fangs yesterday,” Aria said, pulling her blanket around her arms.
We had waited until Chelsea’s family had gone to sleep before starting our share time.
“So did several others,” I said.
Chelsea nodded. “Miss Cathy even looked like she had baby vampire fangs!”
The others nodded.
“I think our teachers our vampires,” Evoni said. “And, yet, I’m pretty sure they’re the good kind, though.”
The others agreed. I wasn’t so sure. But, then again, I was new. I had more lessons in being a skeptic and a pessimist than they did.
Chelsea’s brother, Adam, came barging in. “You girls and your conspiracy theories,” he said.
Chelsea stuck her tongue out at him. “Go away,” she said.
“I wanna see the proof you have,” he said.
“Like these,” Aria said, dumping some rune-covered stones on the ground in front of us.
Adam studied them. “These are freaky,” he said, rubbing his finger over one that looked like an odd shaped flower. It began to glow. He dropped it with a jerk and a gasp. “Correction, that is waaaay freaky.”
The girls nodded.
I reached out and took it in hand, placing it near the other runed stones. They all began to glow.
“Make it stop,” Adam said.
An image began to form above them: a lotus-like flower surrounded by nine-pointed stars with a crescent moon floating above it. The runes began to form words: “Keep these findings a secret, lest you be erased from memory.”
Adam squealed like a girl and ran to his room.
“Boys,” Chelsea said, moving the runes away from each other.
The image disappeared.
“Who can we trust with these findings?” I asked.
“Miss Cathy, probably,” Chelsea said. “I mean, she is our Facebook friend.”
“I wonder if she’s on right now,” Evoni said, flipping her phone on and checking. “She just posted that she can’t stop editing a story she’s working on.”
“Let’s message her about the runes,” Chelsea said.
They all agreed.
I wasn’t so sure, but I went along with it anyway.
Miss Cathy’s reply came quickly: “Do not go any further in your investigation, girls. This is weirder than it looks. Bring me the rune stones tomorrow at the movie theater. I’ll get them back where they belong and treat you to a movie as well as an explanation of as much as I can say. Whatever you do, though, DO NOT go to anyone with what you’ve found.”
The girls shuddered.
Aria threw the stones in a pouch from her bag.
“Let’s go to the movies tomorrow then,” I said.
They nodded.
I was practically vibrating with excitement. We would finally get some answers.
The next day, Chelsea’s mom dropped us off at the movie theatre and headed off to run some errands for a few hours. Miss Cathy waved to us. We walked over to her. Aria handed her the pouch, which she weighed in one hand before settling it in her purse.
“What would you like to see, ladies?” She asked us, pointing to the showtimes.
We debated, settling on a cartoon movie that had been out for a while and would likely have a mostly empty theatre, so we could talk.
They settled in with popcorn, nachos, and drinks, circling Miss Cathy.
“Okay, ladies. Here’s what I can tell you,” Miss Cathy started. “The teachers are not going to harm you. Yes, we have a secret. No, I cannot tell you exactly what it is. But, for now, ladies, give up your investigation. It will lead you to nothing but trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” I asked, knowing I probably shouldn’t.
She turned to me and frowned, sad eyed. “You don’t want to find out, trust me.”
We watched the movie in silence, chewing our popcorn and drinking our drinks slowly. I had so many more questions that wouldn’t stay quiet in my head.
Halfway through the movie, Miss Cathy turned to me and said softly, so the others couldn’t hear, “Don’t listen to those questions in your head. It’s not worth it. Go find out who’s stealing food from the cafeteria during your lunch period, ‘kay?”
I nodded, unsure if that would be enough to satisfy my journalistic appetite.
After a few minutes, Miss Cathy reached into her purse and pulled out a phone, not her regular phone, either, some dark red looking number that glowed when it was ringing, even if it wasn’t making sound. She read a text, that none of us could see; replied; and continued to watch the movie, tensing and relaxing her muscles. When the movie was over, she walked us out, waited for Chelsea’s mom, talked to her for a bit, then headed off to her own car. Our group went to the park and sat near the lake, waiting for Chelsea’s mom to head off with Chelsea’s little sister to the swingset. We whispered about what happened and, eventually, dropped it.
Two days passed and we were back at tutorials. Miss Cathy waved to us, all smiles and professionalism. She pulled Chelsea and Aria aside to whisper. They spread the word to the rest of us that the rune stones had been returned without incident.
Adam, that night, told Chelsea, who told all of us, that he had told one of his counselors about the rune stones and the glowing and stuff. We all thought he could be in danger, so we decided to warn him.
The next morning, Chelsea came in. I had reread my journal entries that morning before school. I asked her if her brother was all right.
“I don’t have a brother,” she said, perplexed.
I blinked and realized that, beyond what I had written, I couldn’t remember Adam. “I guess, I’m thinking of someone else,” I said. “Sorry.”
“No worries,” Chelsea said.
I decided it was time to crack a caper about a food thief and ignore the rune magic stuff.
It took me exactly two days to figure out that Michael Witzmansky was stealing pizza from the cafeteria. He didn’t get in much trouble, though, because his family was going through a rough time where he was being pretty much ignored all the time. All the teachers took pity on him and began sneaking him gifts of food, giftcards for shoes and supplies, and other smaller gifts.
Even though I realized that the teachers were nice, my journalistic instincts wanted to find out the whole story. So, I set out to do just that. The next week, I began searching through teachers’ stuff, asking stupid-sounding questions, and digging through things I knew could get me into trouble. Miss Cathy, somehow, figured out what I was up to and warned me not to go there. Her eyes were more sad than angry, like she didn’t want something to happen to me unnecessarily.
I was in the bathroom during fourth period when she found me. She checked each stall then stood in front of the door so no one would come in.
“I have a pass for you for fourth period,” she said. “What do you need to know in order to stop this investigating?”
I looked around, realizing the walls were all sparkly. “Uh, first off, why are the walls all blingy?”
She smiled. “I’m making it so others can’t hear our conversation.”
I nodded. “What are you? Are you a vampire?”
She shook her head. “Not really,” she said with a grin. “Noticing my mini-fangs?”
I nodded.
“I’m what is known as an enchantress: half vampire, half sorceress.”
I shook my head in total disbelief.
“The other teachers are of various species and crafts, save a handful who are actually human through and through,” she said. “That is our secret.”
“Why?” I asked.
“We have to keep it from the kids,” she said, eyeing me purposefully.
“What happened to Adam?” I asked, before I lost my courage.
She gulped. “You’re not supposed to remember him,” she said, sad-eyed. “You need to bring me your journal.”
I shook my head. “What happened to him?”
“He’s living with a family of sorcerers in Iowa with no recollection of who you, Chelsea, or anyone else here is,” she said. “He revealed the secret, which could have cost us our lives.”
“But, how can we forget someone?” I asked, not really meaning it as a real question.
“Only an enchantress can erase a memory from human minds,” she said sadly.
I gasped.
“I don’t like doing it,” she said. “Especially not to kids I care about and want nothing more than to help. That is why I am answering your questions. I hope, with all my heart, that hearing the answer will be enough for you.”
“Do you suck blood?” I asked, gulping.
She shook her head. “I’m only half-vampire. I don’t do the blood thing. The real vampires really don’t do the blood thing, either, to be honest. They prefer actual food.”
I nodded.
“Is that enough information?” She asked.
I nodded, still thinking, but not letting it show.
She nodded, released the spell, handed me my pass, and let me go.
I knew without a doubt that the teachers here were nice, but couldn’t get past the whole my-teacher’s-are-vampires thing.
Over the next few days, I tried hard to forget things, but couldn’t. The other girls did, but I couldn’t. I had figure out that Ms. Darius was a vampire, Mr. Coltin was a sorceress, Mr. Jordyn was some sort of ghost-like phantom, and Ms. Anna was just a human in on the secret. I also figured out that the principals were all werewolves, a handful of teachers were vampires, one of the counselors was a sorceress, two of the male teachers were sorcerers, and a handful of the other teachers were of various other species: fairy, goblin, and wizard, among other lesser knowns. That’s when I decided to put this out on the internet, as a blog. Once posted, I couldn’t take it back; so, I waited until Halloween to do so. Everyone thought it was a story I’d made up. That is, everyone except the teachers.
Miss Cathy came to my door the following night. Mom let her in, entranced. My mom, dad, and two brothers sat on the couch and stared into space. I was so frightened.
Miss Cathy took me by the hand, eyes sad. “I was so sure you wouldn’t do something stupid,” she said.
I bowed my head in shame.
“Let’s pack your things,” she said.
“What?!” I backed away.
“Everyone’s memories of you are being erased,” she said sadly. “When they wake up tomorrow and go on as normal, you will not be in anyone’s mind except your teachers’ and mine. Let’s get your things packed.”
My limbs moved of their own accord. I began packing up all evidence that I had been alive and living in that house. She moved my stuff to a moving van and piled me inside. The door shut, locked, and the car wouldn’t start no matter how I tried. She emerged from my house, tears in her eyes.
“Why did this have to happen? What happens to me know?” I asked.
“Write what you’ve witnessed in your journal,” she said, pointing to the notebook on my lap.
I did as I was told, knowing she would take it from me.
Take it from her, I did. I hated doing it. I hated the next step, too. I put her to sleep, giving her a new identity: Ellie MacGentis. I let her sleep, as time froze and opened before me. I transported her to Maine, to a family of fairies. They welcomed her with open arms. I made sure her journals were burned, save one which I tucked under my coat in order to save.
Once all measures were taken, I woke up Ellie, giving her time to adjust.
“What happened?” She asked me, realizing she knew me somehow.
“You were in that wreck with your family,” I said, softly, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“You’re the police officer person, right?” She asked.
I nodded. “Child Protection Division,” I said. “We’ve managed to place you with a new family. It will take some adjustment.”
I made all the introductions. The fairies took her in carefully, quietly. I made the drive home.
Unfortunately, I realized something too late…I had forgotten to erase parts of the school from her memory. That is why I am writing this report. If ever she should remember anything about us, about her family, about anything simply from that lost memory, this will tell what happened.
We are kind and caring creatures, who do not like to do what sometimes we are forced to do. We live in peace. We care about the wellbeing of others. We love the kids we teach. We mean no one any harm.
I do not like erasing memories. I do not wish to ever do this again.
End of report.
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