Julia Lelieveld and the fifth element
~33~

They all shrank back and looked at me in shock.

“What do you mean, it’s here at the school?” said Leo. I heard a little panic in his voice.

“It has taken possession of Simone, she has done this.” I pointed to my shoulder.

I saw Leo put his hands on his head and started pacing. The others were still frozen to the ground with a fearful look on their faces.

“Are you sure she was possessed?” Kate looked at me questioningly.

I nodded, remembering the image burned into my retina. Simone with her terrifying eyes and evil smile. I shivered at that thought.

“How did you manage to flee?” Max asked.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“Lucky. Tim came in so she was distracted.”

“Tim?”

“The gym teacher, Tim.”

“Do you call him by his first name?” This time Kate looked even more surprised. I looked at her in disbelief. What difference did that make? Was that important to discuss?

“Julia?” It was Leo, he was back at the benches. I looked at him.

“What happened to Simone?” he looked doubtful.

Suddenly I got that nauseous feeling again that I had felt before. Judging by Leo’s look, I knew exactly what he meant. What if evil leaves Simone, what would she be like physically? Could evil ever leave Simone? I didn’t want to think about it, afraid I’d hurt her.

Leo was still looking at me.

I let out a deep sigh.

“She was blown against the wall by a force of wind.”

“And? Was she unconscious or did she get up right away?”

“I don’t know. I immediately ran.” I looked at him remorsefully.

He nodded and continued pacing again.

I could already feel the pain fading. Was she really right that I healed quickly? Geez, would she have been right about everything? That I can indeed practice the fifth element, or that I really radiate such power that I draw the evil and the e-warriors towards me?

Leo was still pacing. Sara, Max and Kate were talking about evil. I heard they had read and heard a lot about it, but never seen it. Well, that was the opposite for me. I’ve never read anything about it, but I’ve been eye to eye with it. A shiver ran through me again. Jesus, what was I supposed to do? What if everyone around me was in danger because I attracted evil? What if they start taking possession of my friends?

“Say guys, can’t evil only take possession of you if you give them permission?”

Leo nodded and walked over to us.

“That’s right, but even if you mean evil. But often they take possession of people who give permission. Make no mistake, they are smart. They can persuade almost anyone with their smooth talk.”

That thought made me angry. Almost persuade everyone with their smooth talk? What if it takes possession of Eva or Bas? From daddy? Or from Renzo? No, I didn’t have to think about this.

What still haunted my mind were her eyes. Would they always have those eyes, or can they turn that off?

“Leo?”

He looked at me questioningly.

“If someone is possessed by evil, how can you recognize them?”

He raised his shoulders.

“That is different. There is always a change of the person that the evil is in. For 90% percent these are the eyes. For example, they are a different color. The evil that is very old and has many powers can change that and then you hardly see that someone is possessed.”

So it’s possible that someone is possessed while you don’t notice.

Damn, it’s even more complicated and scary than I thought.

“How did you see Simone?”

It was Kate, she looked a little impressed.

“Her eyes.”

She nodded and looked away again.

There was a loud knock at the door. Everyone was startled and Max went to look out the window. He unlocked the door and Rob walked in. He saw white. Shit, what happened?

He sat down on the couch with a big sigh and looked at all of us, his gaze lingering on mine a little longer.

“And?”

I couldn’t take it any longer, I had to know what had happened.

“Tim is all right, he doesn’t seem to remember anything. He thinks he slipped or something.”

“What about Simone?” Panic struck again, I could see from Rob that something was wrong.

“Simone has gone to the hospital. She is still unconscious. She’s not possessed anymore, I checked. But she’s in bad shape. She is now monitored in the intensive care unit.”

All hope drifted out of my body, no this couldn’t happen. This was my fault, I injured her.

“Julia, don’t feel guilty. This is probably because she was possessed. Promise me you won’t blame yourself.”

I nodded hard. Of course I couldn’t promise him that.

“Did Tim have such a strange mark?” Sara pointed to my shoulder. Automatically I looked at it and it seemed as if the veins were less fiery.

Rob shook his head. “No, you only get that when evil touches you. I don’t think she touched Tim.” He looked at me questioningly.

I nodded. She hadn’t touched Tim. With a flick of her hand she had knocked him unconscious against the wall.

I can’t believe that Simone’s hard blow didn’t knock me unconscious.

“Will she remember?” Now it was Leo who spoke.

“Frankly, I don’t know. You often hear that they don’t remember.”

I felt a little relief enter my body. But I still didn’t feel comfortable. What if she could remember?

“How can you check if the evil is out of someone?” I looked at Rob questioningly. Because if you knew that, you could also check if someone was possessed.

He looked a little uncomfortable.

“Someone who has evil in them, the blood turns black. Simone’s blood was red.”

“Does she have a wound then?”

“No, I gave her a finger prick so I could check.”

I nodded again. It all got too much for me.

From one day to the next I suddenly have powers that are very rare and I had to fight against evil?

I really had to get out of here.

I got up and walked to the large doors of the library.

“What are you going to do?”

I looked at Rob. “Just to put my mind to something else.” Try anyway.

“You can’t just leave now, what if evil awaits you.”

I cringed at the thought for a moment. I was sure there would be more evil waiting for me. He was right, I had to train, learn to fight. Being able to defend myself.

He looked at me for a moment.

“Did she say anything else?”

“Say what?” I knew perfectly well what he meant, but I didn’t really want to tell what Simone had told me. On the other hand, it might be good to tell Rob so he could consult with the Elders. But I didn’t want to scare the others. I believed what Simone had said, that there would be more to come.

I nodded.

“She did say something, but I really have to go to class, I’ll stop by during the break.” He looked at me again and nodded. Grateful he didn’t go through with it.

“Don’t leave school and stay close to people.”

“I will, see you later.”

I walked up the high corridors to the classroom, barely able to keep my mind on it. When I got to the classroom, I was the last. I quickly went to my place. Eva nudged me for a moment.

“Did you hear from Simone? She had some sort of epileptic seizure and fell so hard that she is now unconscious and taken to the hospital.” She looked at me incredulously. I nodded.

“I’ve heard it.”

She opened her mouth again, but the teacher warned her that if she did, she could get detention. She looked at me annoyed for a moment and dove into the books. The next lesson was canceled due to circumstances. That worked out well. Then I could talk to Rob about Simone. I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror for a moment. My eyes radiated concern. I looked at my shoulder and startled.

You could still clearly see the red veins coming out from under my shirt. I pushed the shirt aside and looked at the red spot just below my collarbone. The veins found their way across my skin, as if it were a crimson sun.

I couldn’t believe that Eva hadn’t said anything about it. I was sure she should have seen it. I pushed back my shirt, but it could never completely cover the veins. Hopefully they will leave soon.

I quickly opened the door to the hallway and wanted to go to the library.

“Will you go to the coffee house with us?”

I looked back and saw Bas and Eva standing. The rest of the friends were there too. They looked at me for a moment. I shook my head.

“No sorry, I’m behind on homework. I really need to catch up on something.” I shrugged and tried to look very disappointed.

They believed me and said goodbye.

I walked to my locker on the second floor and exchanged the books for the next lesson. Then I could go straight from the library.

In the stairwell to the first I heard someone else walking towards me. My senses immediately became alert. Rob didn’t let me walk through the building alone, but I would go to him now. Shit, what if it was someone possessed?

I wanted to turn around and quickly walk back to the second but I was too late. I saw a blond person coming my way.

It was Tim.

He looked at me.

Would he have remembered? That I had flown backwards and the evil Simone was coming at me. Had he seen her knock him unconscious with a flick of her hand? Would he have lied to Rob?

“Do you have a break?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

He seemed to think for a moment.

“How about clearing out the storage room now. Do you remember?”

I nodded again. I remembered. I should have somehow made up for the lesson that I had run away from. This was the compromise. It just came out terribly wrong now. But what was I supposed to do? I had to go with him.

“I remember. Let’s go then.”

He looked at me for a moment and then turned and went down the stairs. I followed his lead. He opened the door of the long corridor to the changing rooms. A shiver ran through me for a moment. I stood in the doorway for a moment. Tim turned and looked at me quizzically, probably because I wasn’t walking on.

I pulled myself together and kept walking. He took the first door to the boys’ locker room, I hesitated for a moment but followed him. It was exactly the same as the girls’ locker room, only mirrored. He walked on to the gym, straight to the storage room.

Tim rolled up the shutter and handed me a duster.

“Start at the back, I’ll be right there.”

I grabbed the duster and climbed over the appliances, all the way to the back. Gosh, what a mess it was here. There was indeed a thick layer of dust on all devices. They’d be better off just throwing all that old junk away.

While I was at it, I went over everything in my head again. The whole incident with Simone. What she had told me. I still couldn’t comprehend what had happened. How my life could suddenly turn around like that. I thought I’d had that nine months ago. That had already felt like a turnaround, and certainly not a positive turnaround. But this beats everything.

Everything I believed in was different. All the books I read. The stories in which I could empathize so that I was less busy with my own life. Would it all be true? I really needed to talk to Rob. There was too much going through my head.

“Are you okay?”

I was startled from my thoughts and looked behind me. Tim stood at the beginning of the salvage. Automatically I would have just kept on fabricating.

I nodded.

“Yeah, maybe you can tap my cloth so I don’t have to climb over all those devices again.”

He laughed a little. I must have thought that I really hated gym class.

“There’s a door behind the wooden horse. Hardly anyone knows, but it’s an extra fire door. You can just open it. You don’t have to climb back over everything.” He gave me a wink and still walked away with that smile.

I climbed over the wooden horse and indeed saw an old fire door. Like the appliances, it was completely covered in dust. I made an effort to get rid of the dust and cobwebs, but in the end it was just myself. As Tim had said, the door opened easily. He ended up in a narrow alley between the school building and the gymnasium. A staircase led down to the right, where there was also a door. I recognized the ugly green door. This door was opposite the detention room. To the left there was a long narrow alleyway to the side of the schoolyard. All the way on the old side of the school, where hardly anyone went. It makes sense that no one knew about this door.

After knocking out the duster, I turned back to the storage room. As I was about to close the door, I heard a loud bang at the bottom of the stairs near the cellar door. A little startled, I looked in that direction. Still with Simone in mind.

With a bad boy look, Lucas came up the stairs three steps at a time. Before I knew it he was standing right in front of me. His expression didn’t make me feel good. That’s how I had seen him yesterday, as if he was suddenly someone else.

“I thought you’d be here,” he said, moving closer to me.

Uncomfortably, I took a step back, signaling that he was standing way too close to me.

I looked at him uncomprehendingly. How could he know I was here? Nobody knew about this door.

Before I could say anything, he spoke again.

“You’ve changed, you know.” He looked at me from head to toe for a moment.

The panic hit me, what was he talking about? Would he know? No, that couldn’t be right? Only the evil and the e-warriors could feel me.

“Changed?”

“Yes, changed. You know. You give off a different vibe. Something that draws me to you.” And he raised his eyebrows mischievously.

He ran his index finger over my upper arm and stopped at my hand. He looked at me intently.

“I knew you were special. I was attracted to you from the first moment I saw you, but I could never have wished for you to be so special.”

He looked at me as if I were some kind of art object. Rob’s words rang in my head “they can pretend to be your friend”. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. All alarm bells went off. My new instincts told me to run as fast as possible.