Whispers in the Dark by Chase J. Jackson

again,
and I told her to just ignore them and that she was beautiful and gifted. And I remember
the last thing she said to me was, ‘I can ignore them, but my sister can’t.’”
    â€œOh, wow,” I responded.
    â€œNot too long after that, Jason and Ashley both started acting different,” Denise
continued. “Their teachers last year told me how they would just be in a daze and
not say much in class. Then they would break out into cold sweats and just stare
at things that weren’t there. No one understood what happened to them.”
    â€œDo you think Robin had something to do with it?” I asked.
    â€œWell, the police came in and questioned them,” Denise said. “But they didn’t have
anything to go on. Now, since the twins are named after birds and they were seen
being questioned by the police, some of the kids started calling them jailbirds.
Then a couple of weeks later, Jason’s and Ashley’s parents pulled them out of the
school.”
    â€œWow! So no one knows what happened?” I asked.
    Denise looked at me, then looked away, as if she knew something.
    â€œYou know something, don’t you?” I asked.
    Denise didn’t say anything.
    â€œWhat do you think happened?”
    Denise smiled, and then said, “I don’t know. No one knows.”
    I could tell Denise was lying. She knew more than she was telling me.
    â€œOne thing that I do know is that I have to get back to the office,” she said, gathering
her stuff. “Let me know if you have any questions about anything, Adrian, and enjoy
the rest of your day.”
    â€œOkay. Thanks. You, too.”
    Denise walked out of the teachers’ lounge as two other teachers walked in. I left
to go to the cafeteria, where all the students were.
    As I walked through the hallways, I wondered what it was that Denise was hiding.
There was definitely something going on with my students, and I had to get to the
bottom of it.
    My students! Just the thought of having my own students at this prestigious school
put a smile on my face. I smiled as I entered the noisy cafeteria, knowing that I
was there to make an impact on these young students’ lives. Years from now, they’d
go on to do great things, some becoming doctors, lawyers, writers, teachers; just
knowing that I was there to help guide them along the way gave me a sense of pride
and satisfaction. If I could get to the bottom of this, then I could really make
an impact.
    My thoughts were cut short when I heard yelling coming from one of the tables. Raven
was yelling and getting in Dorian’s face! Another teacher and I ran over to break
up the argument.
    Raven was shouting, “If I hear you saying one more thing about me or my sister, I’m
going to punch you myself!”
    â€œWell, do it then, jailbird!” Dorian taunted, laughing in Raven’s face. “Come on.
Hit me right here!”
    â€œHey, hey!” I said, coming in between the two. “What’s going on?”
    Dorian sat back down at the table, ignoring me, and continued laughing with his friends.
I could see tears forming in Raven’s eyes. She said nothing, but stormed off in a
rage toward the exit doors.
    â€œDorian, I’ll deal with you in just a second,” I warned him as I went after Raven.
“Raven! Raven! What happened?”
    â€œI’m sick and tired of Dorian and his friends making fun of me and my sister,” she
said, crying. “Every day, it’s the same thing over and over again, and no one seems
to care.”
    â€œIt’s going to be okay,” I assured her. “I’m going to deal with Dorian and make sure
this doesn’t keep happening. Where is your sister now?”
    â€œShe’s either in the bathroom or in the library,” Raven told me. “She never eats
lunch in the cafeteria because of him.”
    I saw Robin and Isabelle coming down the hallway.
    â€œWhat happened?”