Sam tried not to fidget as the lecture droned on. She also tried not to look too often at the empty seat in the back row on the opposite side of the lecture hall. It wasn’t hard, given that she had been doing so all semester, but today…
Today she felt a bit more anxious than usual. Adam was late. Again.
This caused her butterflies and queasiness to return with a vengeance.
Whatever Adam did that kept him from class had a tendency to show up more on Fridays than any other day of the week. Seeing him sit there at the opposite end of the lecture hall caused her stomach to turn inside out.
Maybe Adam was here for another reason…maybe he had changed his class schedule. Maybe he was sick and was coming to school today to let her know about it. Or maybe he was late because of a failed test.
She tried not to think about the possibility of him failing. That had to be it.
As the lecture continued, she tried to focus on the lecture, but she found herself looking at the empty seat intermittently.
All too soon, the lecture ended. The procession of notes and papers followed by their eager and persistent bearers made its way to the back of the room and stared at Sam for a few seconds; the ones in the front row jumping up and down to see her.
She couldn’t take it anymore.
“Hey. It’s over.”
“Where’s Adam?” asked one of the students. The blond curly haired woman smiled slyly as her eyes darted around the hall glancing at everyone she passed.
“He’s late again.”
“Adam?” she asked confused.
“Yes, Adam. Adam.” She said through a clench of her teeth. Her patience, like her blood pressure, was waning.
“Oh. Ok.” The young woman’s gaze lingered on a tall young man as they passed each other. “Well I hope that you two work things out. You’re too cute together to not get back together.”
Sam stalled with giving the student a response. She hadn’t seen it coming. The student’s remark left her speechless for a moment.
Was she cute with Adam? Were they cute together?
The students and their papers moved on and left Sam alone in the lecture hall. She sat there for a moment trying to reflect on the student’s words. This is what it meant to be on her own.
She had to be cute with Jason. She didn’t have a choice about that. What if she wasn’t? What if he left her? What if she was cute with Adam?
She didn’t have time to fully process the revelation of the student’s statement; the door to the lecture theatre swung open with a display of bright light.
“Where the hell were you?” she demanded as the figure appeared in the doorway.
The form was Adam, but he was not the one who answered.
“Did you not hear the lecture?” asked Sam.
“I didn’t miss a single thing.” said Adam. “I was actually early.” he said proudly.
Sam’s stomach dropped slightly.
Early…
“Right.” She said dispelling any doubts. “You’re early.”
“So am I.” said a small voice from the doorway. “And I don’t think it’s because I had the flu. I’m the one you always have to be dragging along.”
He stepped farther into the room.
“Oh yeah. I forgot.” said Sam to herself.
She immediately noticed that, by comparison, he was more physically worn out than she remembered him being. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in at least a week; even his hair had what appeared to be an extra five inches of brown that he didn’t have yesterday.
Adam looked like he was about to break down.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.”
“That’s ok.” said the smaller man as he stepped through the doorway. His voice was small and weak. “I’m James.” he smiled at Sam as he held out his left hand to shake.
Sam reached over to shake his hand and impulsively hugged him. As she let go, James dropped both his arms to his sides and stared up at her with an awkward, puzzled look.
She smiled warmly at him and turned to face Adam.
“It’s nice to meet you Adam.” she greeted him. “You too.”
“I’m really sorry.” he said sliding into a seat near the back of the room.
“It’s ok.” She replied as she sat down next to him. “How are you?”
“Meh.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing.” He said as he sat up. The smile returned to his face. “Other than the fact that I’m not late for class for once.”
“And nothing else?”
His throat constricted a little as he turned his head away from her. He started fidgeting with the zipper on his backpack and looked up to the ceiling. He smiled again and said, “I’m sorry. I’m a little tired.”
“Oh.” she said with a soft smile. She turned to look at James. “I see that you’ve met my guide.”
“Guide?” asked Adam chuckling.
“Yep. My guide.” She leaned in and whispered, “He’s pretty awesome.”
James stared at her confused. She smiled at him again and he turned beet red. The lecture hall lights dimmed, signaling another lecture was about to start.
“I’m going to grab a seat a few rows back.” whispered James and headed out the door. Adam and Sam remained sitting. Sam looked at him a little longer than was socially appropriate, but a growl would have been too much out of character.
“All right. Now that you’re here.” said Sam, still noticeably flustered. “What can we talk about this time? How much do you want to tell me about what happened today?”
The house lights came back on. As the room grew quiet, Sam realized someone was in the back row. A collective gasp from the remaining students had the figure raising its hand.
“Guess that’s him.” said James as he sat down on the opposite side of Sam.
“What?” said Adam suddenly leaning over to whisper in her ear.
“What’s that?” asked Adam.
“Someone in the back row.”
“Who? Who is it?” asked Adam, confused.
James spoke first. “Our new student.”
“What?” asked Adam. “Our new student?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you see?”
Adam and Sam looked around the room to see who was speaking in the back row.
“See what?” asked Sam.
“I don’t see anyone.” said Adam.
The lights dropped again. They laughed to themselves as the room became eerily dark. A small flame appeared in the back row. The flame grew larger as it approached. It was a candle, its flame dancing in the draft from the row of open windows. Light from the candle swept over the lab tables and over the aging faces of the seminar hall’s population. The candle’s flame suddenly snapped out. The glow from the candle’s wick died. The room drowned in darkness.
“What just happened?” asked Sam. They stood up, ready to leave.
“Where are you going?” asked Adam.
“We’re leaving.” said Sam.
“What?” asked Adam.
“Sam and I are leaving.” said James. “This is all just a bit too creepy for me.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Adam. “You don’t even know what happened.”
“I know exactly what happened.” said James. “I saw a candle. And I saw the room get dark. And I felt cold air come in, like someone opened one of the doors.”
“What?” asked Adam. He and Sam looked at each other.
“What’s going on here?”
“I’m leaving.” said Sam. They left the room.
The hall was empty. Every other lecture hall on this floor was empty as well. The science labs and the main lecture hall were empty.
They stood by the main lecture hall’s door and waited.
“Where is everyone?” asked Adam.
“And why do we feel so cold?” asked James.
Sam and Adam shivered. They looked around. As they turned around they noticed a small bluebird flapping several feet behind them on the windowsill. They looked at each other then back at the bluebird.
“Umm…”
“Why are you asking us for help this time?” asked Sam.
“Maybe it’s because you’re not late for class for once.” said James.
“Well…” said Adam.
“Fine. What do we need to do?” asked Sam. “You never did give me a full explanation.”
“Oh that.” said Adam. “I saw a candle.”
“What?” asked James.
“That was all I saw.”
“Okay. So what else?”
“The room got dark.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah.”
“What kind of candle was it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know what kind of candle it was?” he looked at Adam incredulously.
“It wasn’t a real candle.” said Sam. “It looked like a candle.”
The door swung open as a small creature walked in. It was in the lat of a motionless body dressed in black. The creature moved forward and out of the doorway.
“That’s weird.” said Adam as it exited.
“What’s weird?” asked Sam.
Adam pointed at the shadow the creature had cast on the door.
Sam and Adam’s world went completely silent. Blank stares filled their faces as they looked at the door. The shadows were gone. The door was no longer black. The door was tinted a deep purple.
“What just happened?” asked Adam. He looked at James who was still going on about the shadow. He looked back at Sam. “Did you feel that?”
“Did I feel what?”
“Did you notice any change?”
“What kind of change.”
“Did you feel anything?”
“I was asking Adam about the door.”
“Oh.” They looked at him. “The door.”
James continued ranting about the shadows that were no longer there. “Cause these shadows were all over the door. And then they disappeared. And then the door changed.”
“Black to purple?”
“The door kind of turned clear.” said James. “I can’t really believe I’m saying this right now but… it’s all purple.”
“What?”
“The door, it’s all purple.”
“Oh.” said Sam. She listened to James again and stared at the door. Then, her eyes went wide. She stepped forward. “All ridged?”
“What?”
“The doorknob.” Adam stepped forward. James, who had been listening to Sam, followed. Sam stepped back. Sam, James and Adam stared at their doorknob for a moment.
“What’re you guys doing?” asked James, shaking confused. “What’s going on?”
“The door’s vibrating.” said Sam, stepping back again.
“The door’s vibrating.” James took the first step over to the door. “What?”
Adam looked at Sam who had backed up to the wall a few feet away. He looked at the door again to see what she was talking about. James stood near the door and listened.
“Door.” He said out loud. “Door?”
There was no answer. The door was vibrating.
“Weird. But it’s still moving.”
“Let’s check it out.” said James
“Okay.” said Adam.
“Wait!” There was a screech of the door’s lock.
“The lock.” said Sam.
“Yeah.” said James.
“Should we just go?” asked Adam.
“Let’s look to the right.” said James, taking a step toward the right wall. Sam and Adam followed and stood side by side.
“Door.” said Sam. “Show,” she pointed. “You on the left, you on the right. As we turn, we could see the door.”
“Okay then.” said James. He walked to the left as Sam walked to the right. They turned.
“Look at that.” said Sam.
“What?” asked James.
“That’s weird.” said Adam.
The door was gone. Where they saw the door was nothing. Posters. Blueprints. No door.
“What are we going to do?” asked Sam.
“We’re going to forget this entire day and go home.” said Adam.
“Let’s not just walk through a wall.” said James.
“Good idea.” said Adam.
“So why don’t we go out?” said Sam.
“Let’s not.” said Adam.
“Let’s go out.” said James.
“James.”
“Besides, if we walk through this wall it will break. But we won’t go through it.”
“So, by walking through this wall, is it like a closet wall?”
“Yes.”
“We could get out of here.” said Sam.
“Or get arrested.” said Adam.
