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  OUT OF TIME

  A novella by April Sadowski

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2011 April Sadowski

  Cover model is Rayna Pitter (Shiskababe). Design by April Sadowski.

  Discover other titles by April Sadowski at Smashwords.com

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase or obtain it through Smashwords, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission except in the case of critical reviews. Everything in this book is a figment of the imagination (well technically, my subconscious, because I was dreaming).

  This is an adaptation of the free audio drama available for listening at http://www.nother.us.

  PART I

  CHAPTER 1

  It was the first day of school for best friends Sasha and Mandy. They were walking to school after being dropped off from the bus. The gravel path into the school, which was an old stone building, built on what used to be a hill and nearly surrounded by nothing except for a few fields for extra-curricular sports, was quite narrow and so Sasha ended up walking on the grass while Mandy walked on the path. The birds chirped in the background and Sasha smiled, thinking of how fall could quite possibly be her most favorite season and it was just around the corner. The leaves had yet to turn color, but the temperature had dropped to jacket-wearing. Sasha decided to strike up conversation with her friend.

  “So, do you have anything planned for after school? I was just thinking we should do something together.” she asked Mandy.

  Mandy, a medium-height brunette just shrugged and twisted one of her curly locks of hair behind her ear. “Yea, that would be fine if I didn’t have band. You know how much that takes up my free time. We have sectionals tonight.” Mandy replied. Sasha missed the human interaction, for the most part because she didn’t really have much at home. Her mom was generally quite distant since the death of her father when she was younger.

  “Oh. I’m sorry I forgot it was Wednesday. Maybe tomorrow?” Sasha asked, her voice low.

  “Sure.” Mandy replied, “I know it’s the beginning of the school year and all, but we start up in the summer so we are all in our cycles by now.”

  “Don’t you ever get bored of it?” Sasha wondered. Mandy really did commit a lot of time to band. At least in this school, mostly everyone was in band. She got labeled a band geek, but Mandy didn’t mind at all.

  “You’ve never been to BOA Grand Nationals. The past two years have been amazing. I like meeting people from different cities and all the traveling gets me out of this box we live in.” Mandy commented, a tinge of excitement in her voice. There wasn’t much to do in this town and sports were generally all high schoolers did to keep themselves amused. They couldn’t even drive to school. Apparently in the 1970s there was an accident with some students and the school had banned all students from driving to school. You had to have permission and a card to hang from the rear-view mirror.

  “I guess I didn’t think about that. It could be fun, but I don’t know since I don’t play an instrument.” Sasha said, letting out a sigh as they ebbed ever closer to the building.

  “If you wanted to, you could probably play drums or something. Those are pretty easy to pick up if you have a knack for keeping a rythym.” Mandy offered.

  “Really, don’t they have that developmentally challenged person on the drums?” Sasha wondered. She wasn’t trying to be rude about it, just stating facts, but Mandy’s expression turned sour.

  “He’s really good at it.” Mandy noted, pausing to adjust her backpack while Sasha shifted uncomfortably.

  “Oh.” Sasha said quietly.

  “Anyway...” Mandy said, trying to divert the conversation to something lighter.

  “Are you excited for the new school year? We’ve only got one more left until we graduate.” Sasha wondered with a smile.

  “Yea, but I don’t know what I want to do in college. I know I’ll probably end up being a music major. Then again, I don’t know if I want to get into music theory, performance, or education.” Mandy told her, adding, “What about you?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. Maybe some kind of art career. I don’t think I’m very good at anything else.” Sasha said. She had taken some art classes in school, and she had lined up a commercial art class in her courses for this year. She always took a few art classes and wished she was able to schedule more in, but other subjects took priority.

  “What about the other thing?” Mandy offered.

  “Seriously? You can’t make a living being a medium.” Sasha responded. She hadn’t ever thought about her special gift as a profit-making one. Of course, Mandy was the only one that knew about it and she wanted to keep it that way.

  “Uh...yea you can can. Look at all those commercials on TV. Look at TV! They’ve got shows for people like that.” Mandy said excitedly. Sasha thought it about it for a minute.

  “It’s not like I can just tell my mom, ‘I’m going to be a medium’ you know.” she said to Mandy sarcastically. Mandy huffed in response.

  “But you can see things. You know things!” Mandy told her. It was true. Sasha could sometimes see imprints of the past as they were related to the dead. It rarely happened, and when it did she wasn’t sure whether she was just imagining it in her dreams. She certainly didn’t want to become someone’s science project.

  “You are the only person that knows about it and I want it to stay that way. I don’t want people to think I’m weird or crazy.”

  “I guess it would be weird for some people.” Mandy said solemnly. She didn’t feel very helpful, but it wasn’t though it was her fault. Sasha could sometimes be a little cold and Mandy knew Sasha wasn’t even aware of it when she was.

  “No kidding. I don’t want to end up in a psych ward.” Sasha laughed out her reply sarcastically.

  “Well, we are here.” Mandy said as they stopped walking. The words “Everidge High School” were etched above the door in the stone in front of them.

  “Let’s go in.” Sasha told her.

  Sasha and Mandy entered their first classroom, which they had together. Luckily students were sometimes able to request a class in the same time period as their friends. The staff at Everidge thought it would be beneficial if the students were more comfortable with their classmates. They weren’t allowed to talk during class hours of course, but the students did seem to pay more attention.

  They took their seats and one of their friends called to them from another seat while they waited for the teacher to come in. “Have you heard about Betsy?”

  “Who is Betsy?” Sasha asked, turning to address Simon. Simon was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. He had piercing blue eyes, messy brown hair, and a very athletic build. Sasha might have had a crush on him, but she always dismissed the idea as he never seemed to have an interest in her.

  “She was a junior last year. I heard she vanished from the school.” he said to Sasha as if he was telling a ghost story. Sasha turned to look at Mandy and noticed her eyebrow upturned.

  “From the school?” Mandy inquired.

  “More like in the school.” Simon stated. Sasha rolled her eyes. Simon was very playful and liked to get a rise out of his female friends. He was a prankster and making up a story to scare them was right up his alley.

  “Honestly?” Sasha asked, her jaw dropping slightly.

  “Would I lie?” Simon said with forced seriou
sness.

  “You’ve ben known to.” Mandy said to him. Before he could say anything more in defense, they were interrupted.

  “So, we should like totally go through the school and look for her body or something.” It was Kendra, the all-American blonde bombshell of a cheerleader. She liked to hang around Simon, probably because she thought he was deliciously hot and a great athlete.

  “Start in the attic.” Simon said, a tone of mystery and contained excitement in his voice.

  “The attic?” Sasha wondered. “Is there even one in here?”

  “You haven’t heard the stories about the attic?” Simon asked in a hushed whisper, suspenseful even. “There’s a door that leads to nowhere.”

  Kendra flipped her hair and said, almost pouty, “That’s ridiculous Simon. Who ever heard of a door going nowhere?”

  “Actually,” Mandy said with a finger raised, her voice airing a tone of intellectual prowess. “There is a house in California, I think, with a bunch of doors that go nowhere. It was supposed to channel spirits or something. It’s a huge mansion that was never finished and they just kept adding to it.”

  “I think I saw that on TV.” Sasha noted with realization. “The History Channel did a special.”

  “I remember watching that!” Kendra exclaimed dramatically. Everyone turned to look at her.

  “You watch the History Channel?!” Mandy asked surprised.

  “Yea. My mom thinks it’ll make me smarter.” the cheerleader answered, raising her head high in a smug pose.

  “Dunno if it’s working.” Simon said through a snicker. In a violent rage, as much as could be expected in a classroom, Kendra slapped Simon on his arm. “Hey! That hurt!”

  “You deserved it.” Kendra remarked through gritted teeth. Sasha couldn’t tell whether or not Kendra was completely serious or just putting on an act as she quite often did.

  “Probably.” Simon said, agreeing with her. “So do you want to look after class?”

  Sasha opened her backpack and started to shuffle through it. “I think we actually have a class up there.” she said as she took out her schedule from her backpack.

  Mandy beat her to it. “Yea, Brit Lit. We have that class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I guess they renovated over the summer and made some classrooms in the attic space.”

  “We could always check it out before class then.” Simon offered as Sasha slid her schedule back into her backpack.

  “Let’s wait for a bit.” Sasha said hestitantly. “I don’t want to get in trouble on my first day of school.”

  “Right.” Kendra agreed, flipping her hair again. “That would completely mess up my chances at being cheer captain.” The group stopped talking as the teacher walked in and closed the door.

  “Let’s talk about it later.” Mandy said quietly. The teacher then began with the introduction of herself and went around the room asking for their names.

  CHAPTER 2

  Sasha entered the door to her house and could hear water running in the kitchen. Being an only child, she knew it was her mother doing the dishes. Her mother worked as a real estate agent and from home for the most part. It was nice for her mom, but Sasha sometimes felt clustered in her home, without the freedom to do what she wanted. She always felt like she was being monitored.

  Sasha decided to sit down at the kitchen table, quietly enough that her mother didn’t even notice she was there. She pulled out a notebook and pen from her backpack along with a textbook and started on her homework. She didn’t really mind homework — mostly because she knew when it was test time she could reflect on what she had written down. It was how her memory worked. When she was finished, she put down the pen and turned to face the direction of the kitchen.

  “Hey Mom?” she called out. “Have you heard about that girl disappearing from the school?”

  “Oh, hi Sasha. I didn’t hear you come in.” her mom said, turning as she wiped down a plate. “I think I read about it in the paper and also the newsletter the PTO board sends out.”

  “I don’t remember hearing anything about it.” Sasha said. She was an avid reader and enjoyed taking the time to look over news every day. She would have remembered if there was something interesting happening at her school, since hardly anything did.

  “They didn’t want it to get out and scare the students before classes started up.” Sasha’s mother noted.

  “We’re practically adults.” Sasha said, rolling her eyes. “It’s not like she was murdered or anything.”

  “You don’t know that sweetie.” her mother said lovingly. Sasha didn’t know how to react then, so she decided to talk it out.

  “One of the guys at school that I’m friends with was talking about it. He said she disappeared from inside the school. I thought it was strange.” Sasha said, getting up from the chair and heading over to the kitchen. She opened a cupboard and took out a glass, then went to the fridge to retrieve a bottle of orange juice.

  “It is strange, but that’s why it’s been kept quiet.” Sasha’s mother told her.

  Between sips, Sasha continued, “It’s almost weirder that the popular girl in school was talking to us about it. Like she was actually interested in what we were talking about.”

  “I thought your school was like that — everyone talks with everyone.” Sasha’s mother commented.

  “Yea, for the most part. I don’t know.” Sasha said with a shrug. “I think I’m going to go to my bedroom.”

  “All done with your homework, then?” her mother asked curiously.

  “Yup. I just finished. I think I’ll give Mandy a call. She is probably back from band practice by now.” Sasha said, putting her glass down and opening the junk drawer. She retrieved a hair band and used it to put her hair up in a ponytail.

  “Just don’t tie up the phone.” her mother said, finishing up with the last dish. “I have a conference call with a client at seven about a house I’m working on selling. He needs to get some remodeling work done before we can do any open houses and I’m going to get the contractor on the other line.” Sasha’s mom was also very pro-active with her clients. If they needed work done she would make sure it was carried through, almost like an interior designer would.

  “Can I go out then?” Sasha asked. Her mom hesistated, looking at the clock first before replying.

  “Be back by ten.” she answered her daughter.

  Sasha muttered back, “Will do.”

  CHAPTER 3

  The drive to Mandy’s house wasn’t terribly far, but with the waning light, Sasha had to keep a close eye out for any deer that might jut across the road. The last thing she needed was an accident on her plate. She knew she’d never hear the end of it. So she decided to take it slow and make full use of her brights.

  As she approached Mandy’s house she smiled. She loved the old Victorian style with the wrap-around porch. It was a step up from the ranch house she lived in with her mom, but she didn’t mind her home. It was always exciting to get a change of scenery though, and Mandy’s mom loved to spoil her.

  Sasha walked up the steps and pressed the doorbell, then kneeled down to fix a stranded shoelace that had fizzled out from the knot it was in. When the door opened, Mandy was there to greet her friend.

  “You’re here. Didn’t take long.”

  “Long? I was going super slow because I didn’t want to hit deer. I did take a shortcut this time.” Sasha told her.

  “There’s a shortcut?” Mandy asked. Sasha shook her head, as if Mandy didn’t know even though she had grown up here.

  “If you don’t go on the main road, and take the dirt road instead that goes between —.”

  “Yea I know where you are talking about. I can’t believe your mom let you drive though.” Mandy said. Sasha’s mom was very protective of her daughter, given that she was an only child and because her husband died behind the wheel. Sasha was rarely ever allowed to drive on her own.

  “I was surprised with the whole disappearing Betsy thing. Did you know the P
TO board sent out a memo to parents and they wanted to keep it hush-hush?” Sasha asked.

  Mandy replied, leading them both farther into the house. “Really?”

  “I wonder how Simon found out.” Sasha wondered.

  “Considering how many conversations we’ve caught him evesdropping on, are you really all that surprised?” Mandy asked with a light and airy giggle.

  “True.” Sasha admitted.

  Mandy yawned and then looked at the clock. “It’s eight now. How long can you stay?”

  “Mom said until ten.” Sasha stated.

  “Want to see if I can dig anything up on my computer?” Mandy offered as she opened the door to the fridge, took out a can of 7up and flipped the tab back.

  As the carbonation sprang to live, Sasha replied, “Sure, I didn’t even think of doing that.”

  “Let’s go then. Do you want anything to drink? We’ve got some more 7up in the fridge. There’s also milk and water and I think some juice.” Mandy asked. Sasha shook her head.

  “Nah, I’m all right.”

  “Okay then.” Mandy stated as the two walked back to her bedroom. Mandy had the luxury of having a first-floor bedroom in the two-story house. Her parents did have a couple bedrooms on the top floor, one of which Mandy used to sleep in, but Mandy preferred her own quiet zone away from them as she grew older. As an only child as well, she was able to get her own pick of where she wanted to sleep. The bedroom had no windows so her parents gave in to her pleading.

  Mandy’s room was the typical spread of a teenage girl. There was a bulletin board in the corner with crudely written notes pinned onto it. A few photos dotted the area, and there were a few movie posters hanging on the walls. Not any photos of boys, though. Sure, Mandy was into boys, but most of them couldn’t see beyond “band geek”. She thought it was shallow to pin up a hot guy on the wall.