Part V: Duck, Duck, Goose
“Duck,” Emily followed her words confused as my own.
Tim raised his phone, now looking even more nauseous than before. “Who is your guys message from?” he worked out, fairly unevenly.
Em and I both shrugged as our calls had come from an unknown number. Tim spun his screen around, so we could see what he was about to tell us…
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“How have I never seen you here before?” I asked.
Emily had been explaining how much time she had spent in the Library. She was a history major and spent a bulk of her free time pouring over books. Funny enough, I had a similar habit. Despite that, I can’t recall ever seeing her at the library before.
“Well. Do you often seek books on historical artifacts, astrology or ancient civilizations?”
I returned a blank, vapid stare hoping my blinking was the SOS I had intended it to be. The answer was no. The books I went for were mostly fictional. They took place in far away lands. Historical, yes. Useful in our present situation, no.
Emily shrugged, not looking like she expected anything different. “Most people don’t even know the library has a section for much of the stuff I read. Dr. Sonya’s office has a bunch of old, rather obscure, texts, stories and plays. A very eclectic mix, but helpful if you find yourself in the midst of a supernatural investigation.”
Emily smiled and winked, as if born for this exact moment. She had a unique insight into the case and had recalled skimming an anthology of short stories called ‘The Lady of the Barge, that had referenced the monkey paw and may be responsible for its lore. She pointed to where she had found the books. A shabby looking corner of the library that appeared to have been forgotten. It was also possible people had taken great care not to disturb the dust.
“Hey guys!” Tim shouted. A little too loud as the librarian at the front quieted him. “Hey, what’s up you two?” Now hushed but still enthusiastic.
It was refreshing to see Tim looking well and wearing a set of his own clothes. He was still gangly and awkward but at least looked more at home in what he was wearing now. As for me, I was also in my element. Most of my days were spent here, with a set of headphones, in my own little world. This time of year, the place was just starting to get busier. Close enough to final exams that the early crowd had started prepping; however, fewer than the movies or older generations may have you believe.
The internet had likely taken a chunk out of attendance and most kids had their own laptops. Much of that crowd only showed up here when they needed a familiar landmark to meet at. It was just easier to get the information you were looking for or a book summary from the comfort of your dorm room. The students present often were the product of a professor who required at least a few of your sources to come from an actual book. It didn’t bother me as most of the time it was nice having the place to myself.
The lofted, steeple ceilings allowed plenty of room for thought. The blue painted steel beams gave a bit of a cold, industrial vibe. This was well offset by ornate, hand built bookcases tucked between the various beams. There were cozy, cubby corners where you could listen to music or read, a handful of computer labs and writing desks. A majority of the seating was long wooden tables dotted with cheap, plastic chairs. Blue chairs to match the fighting spirit of Louie the Laker. A truly terrorizing mascot who tended to haunt the dreams of its students, rather than opposing schools. Despite this, we actually had some pretty good teams, or at least that is what I would say if in to that sort of thing.
Lost in the grandeur of the setting, we missed Emily heading off to hunt for books. I scanned the area trying to look busy. Tim and I had not quite found our timing yet. Neither of us had any idea how to start the conversation, or carry on much further than ‘how’s the weather?’ Emily was sort of the glue. A very terrible, sticky glue that often got under your skin or in your hair, but one you couldn’t help but huff. So Tim and I looked around visually scanning our separate corners of the library floor.
“Oh shit,” I heard him say under his breath. “Josh and his crew are here,” he whispered a bit louder and directed my attention to them. They were all huddled around one of the school computers sniggering like a bunch of middle schoolers looking at ovaries in the health book for the first time.
“Make yourself small,” I said demonstrating what I meant. We grabbed a spot central to the sea of tables. I dropped my belongings in a defensive perimeter taking up as much space as possible, and hunched myself over a book. Tim joined in and sat across from me, our eyes connecting just a few inches from the tables surface.
“Man, what are the odds? How often would you expect them to be here?” Tim said, letting out a sizeable sigh.
“I mean you tell me. You used to hang with them, right?” I asked. My question was earnest but Tim looked disgusted at the implication.
“Yea, I guess, kinda’. “He dropped his chin to the table and stared passed me in recollection. “I tried to join a frat those guys were in. They hazed me pretty good. They left me outside, but were too drunk to remember where they left me. Some of the campus staff went out looking for me and I must have passed out, because next thing I remember is being in the school infirmary.”
“Wait, are you?” I began. There was a story about some kid being tied to a tree and coated in feathers.
“Big bird… yea that’s me.” Despite the notoriety it brought, Tim’s look said he would have preferred remaining anonymous. He began squirming around in his chair, and clenching around the jaw. His skin shaded red, but I was not sure if from anger or embarrassment.
“Damn man, I am sorry to hear that. Why did you keep hanging out with them? And why BIG bird?”
“After the hazing, I was pretty well known. I guess they liked me because I was popular. They never really treated me right though. As for the big bird part…”
Tim sat up, and made another scan around of the room. It appeared he was checking to see of Emily was yet returning. He met my gaze again and turned red with embarrassment this time. He brought his hand to his mouth as if about to whisper, but then pointed down under the desk, toward his lap.
For Tim’s sake I tried to remain calm but my eyes lit up and I sank back into my chair with a single blunt ‘HA.’ I tried to cover the parts of my face that gave away how amusing I found this, but he had received he entire message. In my expression I also garnered another ‘shush’ from the librarian, but worse it seemed Josh noticed our back and forth.
They assembled like the vicious mob they imagined themselves to be. The campus terrors. the funny guys. The henchman. They all had nasty grins that made you want to whitewash them in the winter time.
“What are you girls doing?” Josh droned, littered in disrespect.
“Shut up Josh, you know full well I am not a girl,” Tim said with the added context of the hazing, I suppose Josh had probably seen ‘it.’ Tim was now navigating his way through bashful and well into anger. He threw the words back at Josh, hoping to knock him over.
“That’s not what we heard Timmy, is it?” Josh echoed to his posse. They grunted and laughed like hyenas, hyping up their pack leader.
“What is in the bag Tim? Is that your new girl outfit?” The nature of the confrontation now becoming clear. I had no doubt Tim had been careful when returning to his dorm, not to be seen in Chloe’s warm ups, but he was impossible not to see. In some sense he looked good. The outfit was baggy, but it had hugged him in areas that flattered his Gumby-like frame. Unfortunately the last thing these guys had in mind was paying a compliment.
“I heard you wear Vicky’s now,” Josh continued mocking him as he reached for the bag.
“Nothing. No. Give it back!” Tim and Josh fought over the bag and it felt as if we had instantly traveled back to the playground drama of our elementary years. Tim, desperately trying to conceal the contents actually gained the upper hand. Internally I cheered, seeing my friend stand up for himself and making Josh look silly. Out maned though, the others of the group quickly restrained him and barred me from getting up. Josh took his spoils and spilled them across the table in a victory slide.
“Just missing a bra it seems,” Josh smirking and holding the image of Tim dressed in women’s clothing over both our heads.
“I knew he was gay, ever since the hazing,” another added as if to justify the bullying.
“Maybe he can find some nice underwear at the bridge,” the peanut gallery really firing off now. Had they been stalking the campus looking for someone’s life to make miserable? Maybe they had just been targeting us. That was the things about campus. There were eyes everywhere and despite the stated expectation of people being more open minded, things were just as weird as they had been in high school.
Josh threw the clothes around to other members of the gang, and they held the clothing items up to themselves pretending to look sexy and letting out cat calls. A levy of quiet requests had been sent our direction by the librarian but the boys kept pushing. Verbal warnings failing, she was now headed our way.
“Hey, dickhead. Eat shit!” Emily returned firing her own barrage of insults. If there was one thing to love about Emily, it seemed she was fiercely loyal and had a knack for making herself larger than life. Unfortunately she had been to laser focused on her retort and her timing was horrendous.
“Ms. Thompson,” the librarian scolded. “Those words are inappropriate anywhere on campus, but certainly here. Dr. Sonya will be hearing about this and I have half a mind to recommend to her that you be suspended from using her office. You and your friends better shape up and quiet down or you will be out of here.” She lowered herself and gave eyes to every one of us. She pointed and gestured, indicating we were all of the same party.
How wrong she was.
“Yes, Mrs. Shane,” Emily conceded. It was not like her to back down, at least in my limited experience, but perhaps the consequence of losing access was enough to tame her wild side. She bowed before her while eating gloating jests from the boys. Josh’s group stood behind her hand waving and stunting on us. They took a victory lap as Emily finished apologizing and before finally got bored and skipped out, driving the librarian into a fit as she chased them out.
“Sorry Em,” Tim said. The redness from his skin had faded, leaving room for defeat.
“No Tim. Don’t apologize, those guys are assholes. They keep pressing their luck and I may just just curse them.” Emily licked her index finger, and fired a shot in the direction the had left. I couldn’t tell if she was joking, but whether a real threat or not the last person I would want trying to curse me is Emily. We laughed, both glad we had sided with her, and amused with how easily we believed it a possibility.
“When you do count me in.” Tim sat straight up in excitement, as if all the harassment had been worth it to set them up as a target.
Emily placed a hand on his shoulder, and began winding him up a bit further. “I would say we could curse their IQ so they might fail all their classes… but that might not need any magical effort.” She stuck her tongue out and stupidly packed away the clothes that had been the center piece for taunting.
For a moment Tim forgot the serious side of Emily, and instead began petitioning her to do all sorts of nasty things to Josh and his friends. Once was satisfied they would be perfectly miserable, he started wishing on her like a genie. He even asked her for money, a Lamborghini and a prize winning poodle. That was enough for her to return a look that reminded us who was at the top of our dominance chart.
“My magic is not some card shop trick,” she said, emphasizing the tail end of the sentence, brining our moment of whimsy to a close.
We had indulged, drunk at the prospect of one of our team having real power. It was likely we had all been bullied in school. All of us knew way too much information about things most people did not care about, to have had a rich circle of friends. I had no idea about the rules of magic, but there was probably a code of conduct neither Tim or I were privy too. Memories of the recent events also returned, grounding us in the reality of how dangerous magic could be.
Emily spread the books she had acquired on the table. The leather books were worn, scuffed, rugged and rough. The books looked as if they had been discovered in a medieval authors study, after many years of daily use. If something like magic did exist, I would imagine it was found in books exactly like this. They even smelled and hummed of powerful incantations.
We each sat in front of a couple of texts not really sure what we were looking for. Tim peaked up his head to see how Emily was examining the books in front of her.
“What are we looking for?” Tim asked, speaking both our minds.
“Any reference to the wishing and how, specifically, it works. Kae seemed to know something about how it worked and used her knowledge to threaten us with death. We need to know how it might respond to the wish Zach made.”
I lowered my eyes to the floor. I hadn’t had the opportunity, or breathing room, to feel the burden of responsibility until this moment.. Now I stood confronted with the fact that I had made a wish that might get someone killed. Furthermore, that person could be me and, honestly, hopefully it was. Someone else’s death is not something I was seeking to have on my hands.
“Who do you think it is?” I asked Emily. A question which we had all been too afraid to ask. “Who is it that is going to die?”
We sat in silence for a moment, ramifications of our ritual echoing in our minds eye. After a brief reflection we were shaken from our thoughts to the sound of our phones going off. Each of us had received a notification, barely able to determine who had received theirs first. We looked at each other with wide eyes as we slowly reached for our pockets to read our message.
I checked my phone, first in silence. My eyes rose, to meet the others who had finished reading theirs as well. The message before me was short. I sent out a stare, probing to see if Emily or Tim had anything more sensible. Tim looked far more disturbed, though he typically did. Emily looked to me to start, preparing herself to read her message following mine. I brought the screen to my face, hoping I had missed something that might fill in a blank, but the text just said.
”Duck.”
“Duck,” Emily followed her words confused as my own.
Tim raised his phone, now looking even more nauseous than before. “Who is your guys message from?” he worked out, fairly unevenly.
Em and I both shrugged as our calls had come from an unknown number. Tim spun his screen around, so we could see what he was about to tell us. “Mine is from Kae and it says.”
