Taking care of trouble.

All our phones buzzed at practically the same time. It had to mean Mila had sent us a message, and since she was taking longer than usual in arriving, we checked immediately. My very bones chilled when I read her message.

‘I’m in the first floor hallway. An Oliver impostor just tried to kiss me. Come over here.’

I couldn’t explain why, but I knew this was exactly what I was supposed to be wary of. I couldn’t be sure until I saw it with my own eyes, however, so I bolted out of the club room with Sarah very closely behind me.

An impostor? What did that mean? A look-alike? I had my answer when I reached the main first floor hallway. For a split second I saw myself there, with Mila grabbing the other me’s hand to keep him from running away.

“...I’ve grown tired of you, that’s all.” That wasn’t my voice, though.

The closer I got to them, the blurrier the man’s image became until I was only a couple meters from them. Then I saw it clearly. Julian Jenkins, just like I had thought.

What was he saying to Mila? What was he trying to do to her? I felt her fear, her confusion at seeing this… double of me. I felt heat in my chest and tension in all my muscles. I had never felt so furious in all my life up to that point.

I grabbed Julian by the collar of his school jacket, lifted him up and practically slammed him against the wall.

“I warned you,” I told him, seething. “I fucking warned you, Jenkins!”

Julian stared at me with terror in his eyes. No doubt me lifting him like he weighed nothing despite the height difference shook him deeply. Before he could say anything, however, I saw his eyes losing focus. At nearly the same time, my own vision began to turn white.

It couldn’t have lasted long because when I came to, I was still holding Julian by the collar. But I could also tell something had… changed. Julian went limp all of a sudden. He groaned and looked around, but that seemed to make him dizzy.

As I was trying to process it all, Mila and Alice got behind me and grabbed my arms.

“Don’t,” Mila said, looking at me with worry and pain in her eyes. “Don’t hit him.”

Alice swallowed nervously. Her hands shook on my bicep and my wrist. “Save yourself the trouble, Oliver.”

The adrenaline and tension in my body began to subside, though it was replaced by a light headache. I watched Julian’s face and he seemed to be feeling worse than I did. His eyelids were closing, and his body had so little strength left that he wasn’t even fighting back against me.

Still holding onto his jacket, I slowly brought him down until his feet touched the floor. Turns out he couldn’t stand, either.

“D-Did he… pass out?” Noelle asked.

“Saved his ass,” Sarah said.

Grace sighed. “As much as I’d like to leave him here, we should probably take him to the infirmary.”

“Yeah. Give him here, Oliver,” Sarah said, approaching me. “You don’t look all that well yourself.”

I shot her a small, tired smile and shook my head. I also smiled at Mila and Alice to let them know I was alright, that I wasn’t going to do something stupid like hitting an **** guy.

I threw Julian on my back and carried him piggyback all the way to the infirmary on the first floor. The nurse was already there, but was shocked that someone was already coming in first thing in the morning.

“What happened to him?” the old woman asked.

I didn’t know what to say. Alice was the one who stepped up for us. “We don’t know. He was in the hallway and didn’t seem well. He passed out in front of us.”

It was technically the truth, but there was also a lot not being said. Not like we could give the full story, anyway, but… Alice was blatantly covering for me. In her position as the student council president, she should also say that I may have had something to do with it. Even so, Alice lied without hesitation nor remorse.

I helped the nurse set Julian down on a bed, and after I did, the old woman took a look at my face as well. “And what about you, boy? You look a little pale, too.”

I smiled politely at her. “It’s nothing. I… didn’t… sleep well.”

“If you say so…”

We left Julian in the infirmary and silently made our way back to the club room. When we were all inside and the door was closed, Mila threw herself at me and hugged me tightly.

“I… I was so scared!” she said, sniffing into my shoulder. I held her close with a hand on the back of her head. Odd as it was, having her close helped my headache fade away. “He… He looked like you and sounded like you, but he WASN’T you! The way he moved, the things he said…! Oliver…!”

“It’s alright,” I told her. I kissed her cheek and she turned to look at me. I locked eyes with her and grimaced. She wasn’t crying, but looked close to. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. It’s my fault.”

“How is that your fault?” Sarah asked me, arms crossed.

“Yeah, did you know he’d try something like that?” Noelle asked me, mirroring Sarah’s pose and sounding just as incredulous.

“I… thought he might try something. I didn’t know what. I… woke up with a vague feeling of worry, and I knew I had to look out for Julian.”

“A vague feeling…” Grace muttered. “The spirit? Frey?”

“Oh. Could she have been trying to warn you?” Alice asked.

I nodded. “That’s my guess as well.”

Mila shook her head and gripped tightly on the back of my jacket. “It’s not your fault. That’s not what I meant.”

I swallowed. “I know, but…” What if he was trying to get back at me for something? That was probably it. Mila ended up getting involved in someone’s grudge against me.

“Forget it, Oliver,” Grace told me. “I know what you’re thinking. That route leads nowhere good.”

I pursed my lips and nodded. If I started thinking that them being with me would cause them trouble, then there was only one solution. None of us cared for that solution.

“Still, what we saw…” Noelle began. “I didn’t imagine it, right? For a short moment, Julian looked like… Oliver, right?”

Sarah nodded. “He did. To the last curl of his hair.”

“That means…” Noelle nodded and glanced at the ouija board for a split second. “It had to be something supernatural.”

Alice followed Noelle’s gaze and looked straight at the board. “Should we ask her?”

I held Mila by the shoulders and looked into her eyes before leaning in for a kiss. She grabbed me by the jacket and pulled me closer to deepen it. Her tongue darted around with mine, not exactly in lascivious hunger, but in **** need of reassurance and comfort. I guess for us, a passionate kiss worked better than words or a strong hug.

After a full minute, I slowly pulled away. I turned to look at the ouija board. Mila let go of me and I went to get it.

It was time to talk to Frey again.

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