Laughter gave way to stone deaf inner silence as soon as Adam spotted Tom leaning against a locker. There he was. The towering shadowy figure around him. This time Adam could see it clearly. Tall and wearing a black robe that covered its entire body and shrouded his face in darkness. Ice cold liquid flushed through Adam’s body once again, only to turn into a gut sinking bag of ice the moment the entity turned to him. 

I thought I told you not to look at me again.

I... I…

The entity slowly raised its right arm and a skeleton hand slipped through the sleeves of its black robe. A stretched finger aimed right at Adam’s forehead.

"Ok, that's enough. Just chill big guy." Fabian steeped in and pushed Adam forward. "We are going now."

"Are you talking to me?" Tom asked with a frown on his face.

"Nope."

"Yeah you better not," Tom grumbled and looked away.

"I… I…" Adam stuttered.

"What are you stuttering for Adam?" Quince had just joined Adam and Fabian. "Hey, it’s Fabian right?"

"Yes, and you are Quince."

"Wow, you know my name."

"Of course I do, you are Adam’s best friend. I live a few blocks down from you."

"You guys seem to have gotten pretty close all of a sudden, huh?" Quince remarked, a little unnerved by the revelation that Fabian apparently knew where he lived.

"I guess we did, right Adam?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure, I guess."

"What is up with the glasses?" Quince asked Adam. "I never saw you with glasses before."

"Ah, yeah, it’s a, hmm…"

"These are glasses my uncle prescribed. He thought it would help him see things more clearly."

"Your uncle? So he is an eye doctor. When did that happen?"

"Yesterday after school. We dropped by for a visit."

"Dropped by for a visit?"

"Yeah, no big deal. They are just glasses, right Adam?"

"Haha, yeah, just glasses."