Shadow Prince Ch2

Shadow Prince
Chapter Two
April’s yell woke her sleeping mother. “April?” Her mother threw the heavy covers off of her and went to her screaming daughter. Apparently, April had fallen backwards into the hall. Because of the light coming in from the kitchen, Melissa could see her shaking daughter covering her face with her arms, eyes clamped tightly shut.
“April! What’s the matter with you?” The first thing that went through Melissa’s mind was that April may have had a seizure. April had never had a seizure before, but Melissa had. Her medication was sitting on the window sill in the bathroom.
April’s heart was beating like the wings of a bird inside her chest, but she finally realized no attack was coming. She opened her eyes and found her mother standing over her, concern and worry painted on her face.
“Baby, talk to me. Why are you shaking?” Her mother’s voice reached April’s mind, but she didn’t want to listen. Her eyes were searching for the boy.
“Blood.” April whispered, remembering the walls. She stood up and peered at her mother.
Melissa stared back at her strangely. “Are you all right?”
April pushed her mother’s hand away and rushed past her into the room. It was now caked in darkness.
“Did you turn the light off, Mom?” April asked.
“No, I didn’t. The light was never on. I just got up when I heard you screaming.”
April shook her head. How could that be? She squinted at her mom. Adrenaline was surging so quickly through her viens it was a wonder she couldn’t see. Adrenaline helps you see better when you are scared.
April knew what she had to do, even though she didn’t want to. She reached for the switch, found it, and flipped it down.
Nothing.
She flipped it to the on position.
Still nothing. That didn’t make any sense at all. Just a moment ago, the room had been filled with light. And then …
“You must have been dreaming.” Melissa said.
David found his way to April’s side and looked as lost as his mom. “What’s up? Oh no, you woke up the witch.”
Melissa shot David a look that silenced him.
April flipped the switch up. Still nothing happened. As many times as she flipped it up and down, nothing happened. So, was it a vision what she saw? That would explain the darkness now.
A second ago it had been so bright, it could have been one o’clock in the afternoon in sunny San Fransico. But right now it was 6:30 Am in Michigan. February. Out side it was dark.
“April what did you see?” Her mom sounded like she was getting mad. She put her hands on her hips.
“Blood. It was everywhere. All over the walls, all over the sheets-“ She was about so say all over him, the boy who had been holding the knife, but her mother’s glare stopped her.
“You must have been dreaming. Its early, you’re tired – “
“She wasn’t dreaming mom.” David said. “I just talked with her.
April suddenly remembered her waffle, and found it crushed up in her fist like a piece of paper.
Everyone stared at it.
“Maybe you saw like, a ghost, like in “The Shining.”” David said seriously. April laughed.
“Of course I didn’t.” She sighed. Ghosts weren’t real. Everyone knew that. She tried apologizing to her mother for waking her up. “Mom I’m sorry for – “
“Jesus Christ, April!” David’s voice cracked.
“David watch your language.”
“You put a huge hole in the wall.” He felt his fingers over the hole April’s head had made in the wall when she fell. It went through the drywall.
“Let me see your head.” Her mother demanded. April turned around and let her mom pull out her pony tail. “Where does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t.”
Melissa felt over the back of her head and pressed.
“Oww!” April cried.
Did she really fall back that hard? David made an oww face.
Her mom tapped her on the shoulder and told her to turn around when she was done going through April’s hair. “No blood,” She said, “Just a bruise. Are you sure that you want to go to school today? You can stay home and take it easy if you want to.”
“Of course I’m going to school today.”
David rubbed his ears. “Geeze, tone it down?”
“I’m fine.” April said, trying to reassure her mom. But she wasn’t so sure. It was almost as if the vision had been real. The strange part about it was, everything had been, in that second, crystal clear. But she hadn’t had her glasses on.
Her mother was watching her closely, as if she might suddenly turn into a chicken.
David came running back - no one had really noticed that he had left - and waved a yellow slip at his mom. “I’m going to need you to sign my eligibility every night.”
“What for?” His mom asked.
“Soccer.”
“Oh that’s wonderful! April, did you hear that? David’s going to play soccer for Green Ville.
April managed a weak smile. Her mind was still on her crazy vision. What could it mean? Was she going crazy?
She pulled on her heavy winter coat lying on top of the sofa in the den. She loved this coat. She had made it herself. It was pink, with huge black buttons. The coat itself traveled below her hip, and above her knee.
“I’m going out.” Her brother called. She heard the door slam and then the woop of excitement from her brother as he realized that it was snowing.
“Damn.” She said. April hated the snow. It was cold, sticky, and wet. But mostly cold. She opened the front door and stepped out onto the snow covered porch and pulled her jacket tighter around her. She hated being cold.
Snow fell lightly like dust particles from an endlessly black sky. Down the street the neighbor’s front porch lights were one. Tall pines lined the front yards, backyards, and in between houses. Her mother had said that she wanted to move out in to a more woodsy area. April snorted. She had definitely been successful. It seemed that she had to walk half a city block before she saw the bus stop at the end of the road, packed with kids. They were more bundled up than she was, with thick, solid colored marshmallow like coats, and bright thick mittens.
She approached, watching them stare at her. There were several girls, but only one boy besides her little brother. All of the girls carried shoulder packs that looked like huge purses, instead of backpacks. April could have kicked herself. She had forgotten her own back pack.
Without proper introduction, April raced back the way she had come, feeling like an idiot.
“How could you forget your backpack?” She asked herself. God, she made herself feel like a fool.
She kicked up snow behind her and cut across the neighbors yard, praying that the neighbors weren’t looking out of their horizontal blinds. She lost her footing once or twice and slipped on a steep incline, right before reaching her own home. She caught herself on her hands, and made it back to her front door in a huff.
“Mom!” She called
Her mother appeared quickly, no longer in her pajamas. She now wore a thick gray sweater with a pair of slacks.
“I forgot my back pack.”
“Oh April!” Her mother disappeared into her room and started unpacking.
It must be in my room. She thought. She bounded up the stairs, exasperated at herself for not keeping orderly. Only kids in middle school’s forgot their backpacks.