For Nevermore Season 1

there, when her hand touched someone. Or, judging from what she heard next, something.
    A loud, high-pitched shriek filled the darkroom, something neither animal nor human. The single screeching turned to many, and suddenly, all at once, dozens of eyes lit up in the darkness, like small yellow lights, surrounding her.
    They closed in on all sides, all at once, their bodies brushing and bumping into hers as their hands grabbed her, trying to force her down to the ground. Noella kicked out, screaming, and her hands flailed out into the darkness. Her hand found a knife on the ground. She gripped it tight, and brought it up, desperate to cut through the horde that was upon her.
    Her blade found one of the creatures in front of her. Though she couldn’t see its eyes, or even its shape, she felt it, and stabbed into the darkness. The blade punctured two, three, four times, as the creature screamed out in pain. Noella kept stabbing, slowly silencing its screams until the creature finally stopped crying.
    Suddenly, Noella was back in the real world and the glow of the red light above illuminated the carnage below. Jessica Shaw lay on the ground, clutching her bloody stomach. Her eyes looked up at Noella, like a wounded, scared animal.
    The other two girls raced from the room, screaming in terror.

    “Help! Somebody get a doctor!”
    “Noella stabbed Jessica!”

    Noella stared down at her bloody hands, and then at Jessica, as confused as the girl she’d stabbed.
    Jessica was rushed to the hospital, and Noella was brought to Kings Point, screaming about monsters the entire trip, and then for two days after.
    Noella swore she never stabbed Jessica, insisting that she didn’t have a knife to stab anyone, even if she had wanted to, which of course, she didn’t. Things would have been a lot worse for Noella, but no one ever found a knife or weapon of any sort.
    Teachers were on the scene immediately, and the police just minutes after that. Teachers and police tore apart the darkroom, and the surrounding classrooms, in search of the weapon. Meanwhile, Jessica was lying in a hospital bed, recovering from stab wounds made by a weapon that no one could find. The knife had simply vanished.
    If it had ever been there at all.
    Fortunately, Jessica recovered, and the girl’s parents didn’t want to press charges, since Jessica and Noella had been friendly. Noella missed months of school and had to take summer school classes to catch up. Though Jessica moved out of town shortly after the incident, and before Noella ever had a chance to see her to apologize, the students never forgot, and her nickname Scarella was born
    Though Noella hadn’t physically grabbed Mets Hat, much less attacked or burned him, she couldn’t help but feel there was a distinct connection between the two events. Something she felt like she should understand, but didn’t.
    Josie said something which pulled Noella out of her thoughts. The drinks and fried zucchini had arrived.
    “What?” Noella asked, taking a sip of her Diet Coke.
    “So is Sam wearing an EnvyUs tee-shirt and matching panties?” Josie said.
    Noella laughed. “No, not yet,” she said. “But I think there’s hope for him. I keep thinking that the guy who mixed Springsteen, White Stripes, and Andre 3000 together will wake up and smell the plastic.”
    Josie scrunched her nose and leaned closer to Noella. “Sometimes boys suck,” she said. “Sam will come around. It just might take a while. But he’s a smart kid.” Josie smiled at her niece, then added, “I’m going to make a giant batch of white chocolate macadamia cookies for Mako. Four dozen for earning fourth place. You take them to school and tell Mako to keep them in her locker. And you tell her that I said ‘congratulations.’ She earned them!”
    Noella smiled. “Thank you, Jo. I will.”
    “You’re welcome,” Josie said. “And happy birthday.”
    “Not just thanks for my birthday, and for the cookies. Thanks for sticking up for me with Randy this morning. That meant a lot.”
    “Of course, Noey.” She shook her head. “No way was I going to let him say all those things to you, especially not in front of Detective Avery. Wrong is wrong, and you’ve gotta stick up for family. You’re all I’ve got, kid.”
    “You too,” Noella said, feeling a happy cry coming on. “Do you think he’ll come back?” Noella asked.
    Josie shook her head. “I honestly have no idea. Things have been sorta weird between us,