“Are you okay?” Joanna asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I just felt a bit dizzy,” Anna replied, forcing a smile.

  “Let’s go get that book,” she said, and hurriedly walked towards the librarian.

  “Good morning, I’m looking for the section of the library that has history books,” Anna said, skeptically staring at the librarian.

  “Or better still, I’m looking for the history section of the library,” She added, in an attempt to correct her poor construction of words.

  The librarian seemed to take forever to reply until, “Well of course, it's this way,” Mrs. Crow said, as she gently dropped the book she was pretending to read and stood from her chair. Mrs. Crow was the kind of person that would make you say ‘wow’ when you saw her for the first time. She had long black hair and a perfectly sculpted face and her body shape was so perfect, she looked like a candidate for miss world. Looking at her from head to toe, she resembled someone that was specially carved by angels, being completely flawless to the human eye.

  “Follow me,” She said, leading the girls towards a section of the library.

  “I trust you’ll be able to find your way back to the entrance of the library,” Mrs. Crow said and slowly walked away, looking as sexy as humanly possible.

  “I wish I were that hot,” Joanna commented, staring longingly at Mrs. Crow.

  “Ok, this is it,” Anna said, holding a big history textbook in her hand. It looked really old, resembling something that had been written five thousand years before then.

  “We got what we came here for,” she added, and quickly headed for the entrance to the library. The school library was constructed in such a way that the entrance was also the exit and no one could explain why. Some people always said that it was because the school was once haunted, but those were just dumb assumptions. Anna went to see the librarian so she could write her name in the register, claiming she had borrowed a book. Mrs. Crow skeptically glared at her as she scribbled her name in the register. Uneasily, she walked out of the library, refusing to look back.

  “Hey, is everything alright? I noticed the librarian staring at you in a weird way,” Joanna commented, the moment they left the library.

  “Yeah, there’s something I need to tell you,” Anna replied, refusing to look at Joanna.

  “What is it?” Joanna asked, glaring at her friend like someone that knew she was about to receive bad news but was prepared for it.

  “We can’t talk about it here,” Anna said, and grabbed Joanna by the hand, walking briskly without looking back, then she began to run, dragging her friend with her.

  “Slow down,” Joanna said, nearly tripping as she tried to keep up.

  The two girls entered the toilets and Anna quickly checked the stalls for students.

  “What did you do that for? What’s going on?” Joanna asked, trying to catch her breath. She gasped for air but it was like all the oxygen was avoiding her nostrils. She then gagged and coughed for a while.

  “Sorry about that,” Anna said, as she patted Joanna on the back.

  “It’s okay. Can you just tell me what all the dragging and almost fainting was for?” Joanna asked, still breathing heavily.

  “Come on, we didn’t even run for long, how come you’re panting like this?” Anna asked teasingly, but that was not a good moment to tease.

  “Sorry,” She apologized after noticing the unexplainable expression on Joanna’s face. Joanna was confused and angry at the same time. A rare combination of emotions.

  “Ok, I’ll talk,” Anna said.

  “It’s about time,” Joanna replied, folding her arms in front of her.

  “I’ve been having visions about something,” she said, fiddling with her thumbs and staring at her feet.

  “Visions? Visions about what? And what’s so embarrassing about having visions?” So many sensible questions could have been asked on hearing that statement, but Joanna decided to ask a stupid one.

  “Awww, you’ve been having visions about me? There’s nothing to be shy about,” she joked, while making a face as if she were talking to a child she was about to give candy to. She opened her arms wide and wanted to give Anna a hug so she could playfully comfort her. Joanna loved acting and always wanted to be an actress, but that was definitely not the time for rehearsals or what she was trying to do. Throughout their lives, Joanna and Annabelle had never had a single fight or argument, but at that moment, Anna was getting really irritated and was at the brink of losing her temper as she clenched her fists.

  How could she take this as a joke? Anna thought to herself, just as she repeated her statement, this time more firmly.

  “I’ve been having visions!” She screamed, startling Joanna.

  “And in these visions, I die the same death, or let me say I get killed by the same creature,” she added, but this time her voice shook as she spoke.

  “I don’t understand, what do you mean killed?” Joanna asked Anna, clearly confused. Her tone had dropped and this time, one could deduce that she was actually serious. Annabelle paused for a while, on hearing that question. It was as if time had stopped with her too. She breathed slowly, and her heartbeat was calm. She felt like she was in a movie where something big was about to happen, and everything had to be played in slow motion. Anna took a deep breath and swallowed nervously, after which she spoke.

  “I don’t understand the visions too. But I don’t think they are visions, I think they are memories.” Anna said, unsure of her statement.

  “Memories?” Joanna replied, looking at Anna as if she was a lunatic. My friend has gone insane, she thought to herself.

  “I don’t remember you being killed dear. Something is wrong with your mind,” Joanna said bluntly. Her blunt attitude was one of her major attributes, even though some people said being blunt was a flaw.

  “I know, but I feel like it has happened before,” Anna said, her eyes fixed on the entrance of the toilet.

  “When did the visions start?” Joanna asked, talking softly.

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  “They have happened just twice. When I….” Anna paused and thought for a moment. Was Duncan responsible for the visions? and did the librarian have a hand in it too? She then shrugged and continued.

  “When I was in class, Duncan stared at me and my heart rate went up even though I wasn’t scared.”

  “It was at that moment that the visions flooded through my mind.”

  “Ugh, I hate that creepy man,” Joanna replied, pretending to puke. “Do you think he’s responsible for the visions?” she asked, seeming to be interested in what Anna was saying.

  “Possibly,” Anna replied, and kept on talking.

  “The second time was when I noticed the librarian staring at me.”

  “When she stared at me, I started to lose consciousness and the memories or visions, because I don’t know what to call them now, flooded through my mind.”

  Joanna was completely dumbfounded and just stood there looking like an idiot. She still did not understand what Anna had said to her. My friend must be going insane, she thought as she listened.

  “Well, what do you think I should do?” Anna asked, looking completely confused. She was scared too and Joanna could see the fear in her eyes.

  “Maybe we should investigate both Duncan and the librarian,” Joanna proposed, trying to fight back an evil snicker.

  “Investigate them how?”

  “We are going to pry into their personal lives, but still live our normal lives,” Joanna replied as she started to think of a plan.

  “I’m not on board with the entire plan,” Anna replied. Joanna was just about to speak, when a girl entered the toilet, forcing them to change the topic and pretend they came to use the toilet too. The girl entered into one of the stalls and peed. The pee dropped directly into the water in the water closet and she then came out to wash her hands afterwards. The entire incident took forever, but she was finally done and then left.

  The girls then resumed their conversation.

  “Do you have a better plan? Because if you do, I’ll be happy to hear it,” Joanna said.

  “I don’t,” Anna replied as if she was struggling to speak. Her voice barely came out of her mouth and it felt like someone was choking her and forcing her to speak at the same time.

  “Good, so we investigate them. But I’m thinking that if they are responsible for the visions or memories as you call them, then magic may be involved,” Joanna said with a straight face. Anna burst out in laughter, tears clouding her eyes as she laughed. It was not possible to keep a straight face after hearing the statement Joanna had made. Joanna looked at her, confused, wondering why she was laughing, because to her nothing was funny.

  “Come on, magic doesn’t exist,” Annabelle said, with all certainty.

  “Umm, yeah it does,” Joanna replied, as she made a facial expression like she was trying to say don’t be dumb.

  “No it doesn’t,” Anna said again, with more conviction.

  “Ok, explain this, how do you look at two different people and get the same visions when they stare at you?” Joanna asked, expecting an answer, but Anna just stood there looking like a fool with nothing to say.

  “Exactly, I thought so,” Joanna said with a superior sneer. “We will meet after school to plan,” she added and walked out of the toilet with Annabelle.

  Anna was unsure about how to feel. Should she have felt happy because someone had agreed to help her? Or should she have felt uneasy because magic, which she had believed wasn’t real actually was? Questions ran through her mind as she walked briskly through the hallways. They walked past the principal’s office, her eyes focused on the sign on the door which read: PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE. She shrugged and averted her eyes as she headed for the next class which was chemistry.

  “Ok, so for the rest of the classes today, just act normal and we will deal with this after classes today,” Joanna said as she tightly squeezed Anna’s hand. She squeezed it so tight that it hurt, but was comforting at the same time.

  The both of them entered the classroom and attended classes like normal teenage girls who had no problems.

  Classes were over for the day and everyone seemed to be in a hurry. Students all rushed home and the school was almost empty within ten minutes.

  Probably they have stuff to do during the new year festival, Anna thought to herself.

  “By the way, happy new year,” she sheepishly said to Joanna who smiled and wished her the same. It was 5:00 p.m. and it was time for her to go home with her brother. She usually walked home with him every evening because she didn’t want him to tell her parents that she had a boyfriend.

  “It would be the death of me,” she would always say when her brother asked her why.

  “What’s wrong? Do you have something you want to do?” Joanna asked as she noticed the uneasy expression on Anna’s face.

  “No, it’s nothing. I just remembered I have to walk my brother home and I have to get rid of him somehow,” she replied.

  “Ohh, you mean Joshua? I’ll get rid of him for you,” Joanna replied. Anna gave her a look that showed she was clearly interested in knowing how she would get rid of Josh without creating a scene.

  “Here he comes,” Anna said as she noticed Joshua approaching, taking large strides as he walked.

  “Ok, time to go home, I’m done for today,” Josh said, tightly holding on to the straps of his backpack.

  “Oh, hey Joanna, I didn’t know you were back,” Josh said, but Joanna just pretended like he wasn’t there. She disliked him for reasons no one understood. She had been asked on several occasions why she did not like Josh but she always managed to change the topic.

  “We have a personal project to do so, you have to go home yourself today,” Anna said as she stared intently at Josh.

  “But what if mom asks where you are?” Josh replied with a skeptical look on his face. He did not believe what Anna had told him and was determined to carry out further investigations by himself in secret.

  “Just tell her what I told you,” She replied, motioning him to leave. Josh then sighed, turned his back and began to walk home as a sinister smile crept across his face.

  “Whatever it is you are hiding; I will find out,” He whispered and chuckled silently.

  “We will start by 7:00 p.m. when everyone is gone,” Annabelle said as they both walked towards one of the empty classrooms.

  “What about your curfew?” Joanna asked.

  “I think my life is more important than that stupid curfew,” Anna replied, gesturing with her hands.

  “Well, don’t let the dangerous bunny get you if you go home late.” Joanna said, referring to Anna’s mother. She always called her a dangerous bunny because she was calm and sweet but could still destroy you when she was pissed off.

  “Stop referring to my mum like that, come on let’s go and sit there,” Anna said, pointing at one of the chairs in the back of the classroom.

  They both sat down and Joanna told Annabelle about her experience in Paris, killing time as they waited for everyone to leave school. It was 7:30 p.m. and the sun had already gone down, the pale moon hovering in the slightly dark sky.

  “Ok it’s time to go. No turning back now,” Joanna said looking for the slightest expression of hesitation on Anna's face.

  “Why are you staring at me like that?” Anna said, and put on the rubber gloves Joanna gave her, not caring where she got the gloves.

  “No, it’s nothing,” Joanna replied.

  “But what are we going to do about the security guard?” She added.

  Both of them paused for a moment after which Anna spoke.

  “We have to sneak around him or knock him out.”

  “What?! Knocking him out isn’t even an option so we will have to sneak around him,” Joanna said, putting on night vision goggles and taking a flashlight out of her backpack.

  “Wow, you really came prepared,” Anna said.

  “Yeah, and I just formulated a plan. I know how we will get rid of the security guard,” Joanna replied.

  “And it will involve these flashlights.”

  “Don’t worry dear, you’ll get it as we execute the plan. Donald will soon begin his security rounds so we have to move now.” Joanna walked towards the door, motioning for Anna to follow her.