getting taken away by the ambulance. It didnât look good.â
âWhat the heck happened?â I asked.
Lisa shook her head. âAll I know is that the biology lab exploded. And a bunch of people are hurt. Loads of people have been taken to the hospital on stretchers. But the paramedics were doing CPR on Mrs. Farnsworthy. I saw it.â She looked at me as if I had the answer to some riddle scribbled on my forehead.
âWhat?â I asked. âWhy are you looking at me like that?â
âWhen did you have your vision?â
âVision? You mean my hallucination?â
âStart of first period,â Colin said. âMaybe ten minutes in.â
I blinked. What was she getting at? I opened my mouth. âAre you saying thatââ
âIâm not saying anything. Yet. But I think itâs pretty clear what we have to do,â she said.
âIs it?â Colin asked.
âWe go to the hospital.â She looked back at the school. âDean, you said yourself that you saw Mrs. Farnsworthy, right? I think we need to go see her.â
âYou think Mrs. Farnsworthy has something to do with my hallucinations?â
âShe was your hallucination, Dean.â
Colin nodded. âSheâs got a point. I say we go.â
Â
***
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We each called our parents and told them not to worry. It took the better part of twenty minutes to convince my mom that we were fine, and by the time she let me hang up, we were already on the bus, halfway to the hospital.
âWhat do we do if sheâs not okay?â I looked at Colin, then Lisa. âWhat would that mean?â
Lisa shrugged and then cleared her throat. âIsnât that guy from the alley in the hospital too?â
Colin sprang up from the seat. âWe should go see him.â
I turned to Lisa. âDonât tell me youâre buying into Colinâs curse theory now.â She shrugged and I added, âThe last thing that man needs are visitors.â
âItâs not all that far-fetched,â Colin said. âYou save him, he mutters some cryptic word at you, and all of a sudden you go nuts.â
âHeâs not nuts,â Lisa said.
Colin drew a breath. âWell, heâs nuts orâ¦â He chewed his lip for a second. âYou have some kind of psychic ability.â His eyes widened. âIâve heard of people becoming psychic after getting into an accident.â
Lisa wiped a sleeve across her face and turned to me. âIâm not saying I believe Colin. I still think your hallucinations have to do with stress. But it might help for you to see that heâs okay, and that Mrs. Farnsworthy isââ Her voice cracked.
âSheâll be okay,â Colin said. âSheâs ex-KGB, remember? Itâs going to take more than a little explosion to hurt her.â
Lisa looked at her shoes. âYou didnât see her.â
Colin opened his mouth then closed it. He cocked his head as if he wanted me to say something to make Lisa feel better. âFine. Weâll go see him,â I said.
Lisa looked up.
âGood,â Colin said, relieved. âItâs settled then.â
âDo we even know what weâre going to say to him?â I asked.
âYeah,â Colin said. âWeâre going to ask him what kind of voodoo spell he cast to make you seeâ¦â He trailed off and glanced out the window. âWhat is it youâre seeing anyway? Visions? Aberrations?â
âApparitions,â Lisa said.
âWhat?â
âYou mean apparitions, not aberrations.â
Colin shrugged and turned back to me. âI mean ghosts, the otherworldly, theââ
âI get it,â I said.
âLook, guys,â Lisa said, âletâs just take this one step at a time, okay? First, we check on Mrs. Farnsworthy. Then we find the guy from the alley, and we talk to him. Letâs not jump to conclusions here.
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