Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Fox Tales ❯ Infusion or Illusion? Part III ( Chapter 7 )

Fox Tales

 

Chapter 7

“Infusion or Illusion? Part III”

 

(A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my grandfather, Maurice Carl Miller.

December 26, 1919-January 20, 2007.)

 

Staring at the night sky that was filled with stars, due to a lack of city lights, Todd stood in the middle of the camping campus. He felt a little different, but he just couldn't describe what that change was because he didn't exactly know what the change was. Todd attributed the change to jetlag, and blew it off as if it never existed. He tried to shake it out of his head, and returned to his tent so he could recover as much of the lost sleep as he could. Naomi, however, wouldn't let him off the hook that easily. She couldn't sleep either, and she inexplicably needed someone to talk to very badly.

 

“Hey,” she said as she walked up to and stood beside Todd.

“Hey,” he replied back as he looked over his left shoulder.

“I couldn't sleep.”

“Neither could I. I had a very weird dream, and trust me, you do not want to hear what it was.”

“So, what are you doing out here?” she asked, trying to change the subject as quickly as she could.

“I don't know. I guess I'm here to try to clear out my head so I can get back to sleep. We're going to need a hell of a lot of rest for the return flight home,” he said.

Suddenly, it dawned on Naomi that she had wasted the entire trip, and failed to get any alone time with Todd in order to express her feelings. That is, until now.

In trying to be polite, Todd thanked Naomi for inviting him on the trip, even though deep down, he knew it wasn't the best trip of his life. This was the opportunity Naomi was waiting for. In a desperate attempt to keep the trip from becoming a complete waste, she grabbed Todd by the left arm, pulled him over to her, stood up as high as she could, and kissed him squarely on the lips. She was able to hold the kiss for about three seconds. When she was done, she whispered in his ear, “You're welcome.” Naomi walked back to her tent, as Todd was left standing there in complete and utter shock.

 

The next morning, everyone had to get up really early in order to have enough time to pack and catch the flight. Todd was still reeling back from what happened just a few hours earlier. He barely slept a wink last night, and it kept him from being able to fully concentrate on packing everything up for the return home. After a very simple breakfast was served, and luggage was packed and stored, the students and supervisors walked back onto the bus that would bring everyone to the airport. About two hours later, the group was at the airport, and on the way to the terminal.

 

A 9:00AM departure meant that Todd and everyone else would be arriving back home at about the same time that the left one week earlier. Unfortunately, there would not be an in-flight movie, and the only entertainment Todd brought was a CD player, and a case filled with CDs he'd already heard at least a thousand times each. It became obvious that he did not give enough thought towards entertaining himself for fifteen hours. He tried to fall asleep on the flight, but the thought of what happened last night kept him up and very wide-eyed. What the fuck was she thinking? he thought. It's official. She's lost it. She has absolutely lost it. What was good for Todd, however, was that all the worrying kept him busy for about three hours. He thought about confronting Naomi about this on Monday morning, and he didn't care if it would be in the middle of the hallway at school, or if it was private.

 

On Monday, Todd and Naomi passed by each other in the hallway while they were off to their respective classes. They both stared at each other's faces, too embarrassed to say anything whatsoever. There were a few people standing in their way. It was, after all, an overcrowded high school, with the term “overcrowded” being used lightly. This kept Todd from being able to pull her aside and confront her in front if everyone, but it also kept him from doing he'd probably just end up regretting anyway. As they passed each other, both began to blush just a little bit. When Naomi arrived at her class, it was the very first thing her best friends noticed.

“Why are you blushing, Naomi?” Rachel asked.

“I'm not blushing,” she responded as she sat down.

“Yes, you are blushing, and we want to know why!”

“You don't have to yell, Rachel,” Jasmine interrupted.

“Well…”

After explaining to her friends what happened that night, neither Rachel nor Jasmine could contain herself. Naomi tried as she could to calm them down because class was about to start. But she never really was able to completely get them quiet.

 

While Todd walking home late from school, rain suddenly began to fall down. It wasn't a drizzle, but it wasn't heavy either. He wasn't prepared for it since it had been sunny all day. Out of nowhere, an elderly woman walked up to him and said, “Excuse me, sir, but you look troubled. Would you like to have your palm read?”

“I think I'll pass. Thanks, though,” Todd replied cynically.

“Oh, please. It will only take a moment. I'll even give it to you `on the house,'”

“Fine,” Todd said half-heartedly. He was extremely skeptical of mediums, but had extra time and nothing to lose. He told himself repeatedly it wouldn't mean anything.

 

The woman took Todd aside by the arm into a small alley, towards a station that had an improvised roof over it, and sat behind a fold-up table with a purple tablecloth. Todd took the seat on the opposite side of her, facing a brick wall. The woman placed her arms on the table, and Todd did the same. As soon as the old lady placed her hands on Todd's palms, she felt an intense shiver go down her spine. Oh my! I've never felt anything like this before, she thought.

“Is there something wrong?” Todd asked the old woman.

“Oh no, there's nothing wrong, sir,” she replied embarrassingly. “I sense a life-changing event will come to you. In fact, I foresee a number of life-changing events happening to you.”

“Right. A series of life-changing events will happen to me,” he said sarcastically. “Whatever you say.” Todd stood up and continued his trip home.

“It was nice to meet you sir,” the woman said. Todd simply ignored her.

 

That night, Todd dreamed again. It was similar to the dream the other night. Todd was in a pitch-black space, but this time, he was in his dark blue pajamas. Suddenly, a bright light appeared about six feet in front of him. Todd had to close his eyes and hold his left arm up to shield himself. When the light subsided, he opened his eyes to find a man standing in front of him. This man was dressed in many thin layers and wore a chest plate.

“Who…who are you?” Todd asked. But the man just stood there with a small smirk on his face. After a short pause, the man opened his mouth. With he was about to speak, the sound that came out was…nothing other than his alarm clock. When Todd opened his eyes, he gasped a little bit. Not again, he thought. What the fucking hell was that?

 

Todd had to stay late at school again that day. He took the same path home that he did yesterday. It was dark and clouds were starting to gather in the skies. The medium that he met last night stepped out of the alley and onto the sidewalk 30 feet in front of him.

“Oh, no. Not you again,” Todd said as he stopped in front of her. “Why don't you just leave me alone?”

“I'm glad you've come here,” the woman said in a dark tone.

“Look, I don't want another palm reading, and I'm not gonna waste my time or money by dealing with you.” Todd walked on, a little frustrated.

 

“Hmm,” the woman said softly to herself. She pulled out a slip of paper with some writing on it, whispered a little prayer, and threw the paper like a Frisbee with her right hand. The front end of the paper caught fire, and zoomed past the right side of Todd's head, hitting the concrete sidewalk, and breaking up into a million pieces. Todd gasped and turned his whole body around. “What the hell are you doing?” he shouted. “You're not supposed to attack former customers.”

“I'll tell you the truth, young lad, about the palm reading last night,” she explained. “As soon as my hand came in contact with yours, I felt something strange. I felt a spiritual presence inside you.”

“You don't use pot in your practice, do you? You're absolutely crazy, lady!” he exclaimed. But the woman continued on.

“There is someone within you who is having trouble crossing over, and it's my job to help it do so. If I have to destroy you in the process…” She paused to pull out a bunch of slips. “…then so be it!!!”

 

Three flaming slips came towards Todd at a blistering pace. But to him, it was a little bit in slow motion. When he moved his left side out of the way to dodge them, he yelled, “What the hell are those things?”

“They are called sutras, and they are going to exorcise that spirit.”

Five more sutras came flying at him, this time towards his legs and feet. Todd easily jumped in place and out of their way. The woman, growing a tiny bit frustrated, walked closer to Todd, throwing more sutras in the process. They were coming to him three at a time. To avoid them, Todd first leaned back and toward his right, then did a back flip to avoid the one at his legs, another one to avoid some coming to his hands when he landed. After that round, Todd landed on his feet with the most perplexed feeling he's ever had. I've never been able to do a back flip before in my life. How and why the fucking hell am I starting now? he thought.

 

The suddenly evil medium continued to get closer, and Todd had to do more flips, somersaults, etc. in order to dodge the other sutras. All of this was happening in slow motion to Todd, like it was too easy for him (A/N: This is also known as “The Matrix Syndrome” LOL). Somehow, I'm suddenly a master at some kind of martial arts. I don't think even adrenaline could explain this, he thought. However, he eventually was moving too fast and his foot slipped while landing a flip. Instead, he ended up on his back and wincing in pain. The woman stopped walking and smiled. “This one should do it. Spirit, BE GONE!” she yelled. As the sutra caught fire and headed towards Todd, something amazing happened. It was swatted down. The woman gasped in awe. Todd looked ahead to see what object swatted the sutra away, then his eyes followed to the person holding the object. It was Gary, using his six-foot long defense pole like a baseball bat.

“Who are you?” the old woman asked.

“Listen. You may not know me, but you do not want to mess with me, or my friend,” Gary said. He walked in front of Todd and held his stick like a samurai sword, with the head facing out. “Now, you have two options. Either you beat it, or I beat you.”

“You don't want to mess with me either. But we will meet again,” the woman said angrily. She then ran off, through the dark alley.

 

“Hey. Are you okay, man?” Gary asked as he looked behind him and stuck his right hand out.

“Yeah, I'll be fine,” Todd answered. “Thanks for saving me. Let me guess. You had to stay late as well.”

“I sure did. We've got a big game coming up.”

“Talk about being lucky.” Gary now had that smirk on his face he got when he was about to say something inappropriate. He was about to say it when Todd tried to shut that door. “DON'T…SAY…ANYTHING!”

 

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