Shadowless by Kareca (the reading strategies book txt) 📕

one returns. The figure is gone just as quickly as it had appeared.
That was not there, that was not there. I try telling myself this but despite my efforts I know it was there. I am not sure what that was. It was not Benji playing tricks on me. His parents would never do that. They are so uptight sometimes I think they can not breath because of it.
I can feel my body shaking. Which means that I am more scared than I am willing to admit. I try to be strong... but in this situation I do not think I can last long. Maybe that figure looked terrifying becasue of the lighting. It was the car lights which caused it to look like that. You know I did not even hear any movements. Unless maybe my hearing was off because of that thing. It looked like something from the grave. I hear the creak of a floorboard outside in the hallway and I jump. I end up turning the other way and grabbing Benji's legs. I wish it were a pillow but I do not want to move. That thing might be back... it may be outside. Or it could just be his parents. For some reason I can not reason with my mind. My eyes are clenched shut so tight there are tears coming out the sides. I can feel Benji stirring. After a while of mumbling and groaning he leans behind him to turn on his light. I can tell by the click of a switch.
He is probably rubbing his eyes now. Sitting up and now noticing I am clutching onto his legs for my life. I feel pathetic and like a little kid scared; afraid of a haunted house.

'Cherel what are you doing?'

I can tell he is still partially asleep. His voice sounds groggy and rough.

'Nothing.'

The words rush out of my mouth coming out much louder than I expected. He grabs me by my shoulders and pulls me off. He is much stronger than he appears. I open my eyes now. He pulls me closer to face him. He looks concerned, annoyed, and tired. I am not sure which one is winning at the moment.

'Please tell me what is bothering you. If you do not then I will not be able to tease you with it later.'

I squirm a little and pucker my lips. Then I decide to tell him no matter how weird it sounds. After telling him what I saw he sighs.

'You can see it then? I thought it was only me who could see it.'

'What do you mean?'

He lets go of me and I flop down onto his legs. He grimaces while I move over so that I am not injuring his legs. He has a bruise on his one leg... he said it was from running into some metal railing. He pushes his hands through his hair quickly. It is a weird move I thought only existed in cheesy movies.

'Well to keep it simple it appeared after Autumn disappeared. I have been wondering if it was not Autumn... it would make sense with the timing and the appearance. Why she keeps coming into my room makes me puzzled. I thought I was just seeing things... it is good to know that it is not just me.'

'So what you are telling me is that you think it is your sister. She grabbed my leg... why would she do that? Unless she wants to lead us somewhere... show us some sort of clue. Does she appear every night?'

He leans over against his wall. He closes his eyes and breaths for a minute or two. He seems so much nicer when he has his eyes closed. Or maybe it is the fact he is not talking. I am trying to joke a little there. When he replies it seems as though it is hard for him to say. He then tells me that she appears every night at the same time. He says that she usually does not grab him.

'Cherel can we continue this in the morning. I just want to get some rest before jumping into this again.'

I nod my head and crawl back to the other side of the bed. He leans back and clicks off his light. I manage to go to sleep. Maybe it is just thinking that the figure may have been Autumn. I have a much better feeling if it was her instead of someone I do not know.
When I wake up in the morning I hear birds chirping before I hear anything else. My body jumps a little and I am sitting up straight looking around. I almost forgot that I was in Benji's room. This is to strange, I am in my late best friend's brother's room. Whom I remember sharing a lot of jokes about. I feel a little out of place, even though I have known Benji for a long time. It is just strange, since well I am a girl in a guy's room for one. Not that Benji is much of a guy. I pull myself out of those thoughts. After looking around I notice that Benji is still asleep. As well as it is almost time for him to be going to school.
This pushes me onto another problem. I need a disguise if I am going to be dead. Which I need another name as well. I will probably do some research today. I think if I can get some information on the internet that could help. A list of everyone in this town. That way I can keep track of who everyone is. Who may be targetted next. I am not sure really what to look up. That guy who I saw yesterday before passing out it would be helpful to know his name or anything about him. I barely remember who he was now.

'Ay Cheewel...'

Benji yawns and stretches. I did not even notice that he sat up.

'So we should start investigating today I guess.'

I wonder if he thinks he is going to be going with me. It would become suspicious if both of us were missing from school.

'Actually you should go to school I think... oh you can figure out that one guy's name and information about him. It would bring to much attention if both of us were missing today.'

'I guess you are right, but don't you need a disguise? I mean if people see you walking around town that would also draw attention.'

He moves around a little and cracks his knuckles. Most people find that sound sickening, I guess I got use to that. That is one thing both him and Autumn had in common.

'Precisely, yet I have nothing to disguise myself with.'

He crinkles his eyes a little like he is thinking. Sometimes he is thinking and other times he just makes that face.

'I think I have an outfit... and there is a wig in the closet. I think one of my Aunt's dropped it here when they were visiting.'

I jump out of the futon with a light thud. Well I guess that works... I just hope the wig is not one of those old grandma wigs. He pushes himself to the edge of his bed. I wonder what I should be doing but there is nothing to do at the moment. He stands up slowly and goes to his closet which is hidden behind a dorito bag, three jackets, two shirts I think, a pair of pants and a can of spray cheese. I decide not to question why that stuff is there. He pushes the things aside, which I would have thought ate him. He opens the doors slowly and rummages through the bottom.

'Here is the outfit.'

I almost cringe a little. An outfit which came out of the bottom of his closet. He pulls out a white box. Then he hands it over to me.

'That was for my girlfriend.'

My one eyebrow goes up while the other seems to stay flat. It is a mixture of puzzled and questioning. I never knew he had a girlfriend. I do not remember him having one at least.

'We broke up over a week ago. She said I had to much drama going on.'

'So basically she got bored of you. People like that really make me want to just... hm... slap them on the head. Maybe revive a few braincells.'

He shrugs his shoulders and walks out of his room. I guess the wig is in another closet. Should I get dressed now or wait until I know he is going to be gone for a few minutes. Well I really do not want him walking in on me. I stand there contemplating for a few minutes. Then he comes back in the room. He tosses me a blonde wig, it is a shoulder length cut with slightly spiked ends. What type of aunt did this belong to?

'So you can get dressed in here, I am going to get dressed in the bathroom. Oh and my parents are downstairs at the moment. They will probably leave in five minutes or so. If you need anything else it is probably in the bathroom.'

He turns around grabs a shirt off of his dresser top then bends down to grab a pair of pants off of a table by his door. Then he is gone... leaving me to some peacefulness. I lay the wig down on his bed. I wonder what type of outfit he would buy for a girl? I open the white box and peek inside. I think there is a jean skirt, or capris. I give up waiting and I just open the box all the way. There is a skirt, but it is a black kind of shiny skirt. It comes down to about three inches above the knee. I never wear skirts usually... if I do they are not like this. Or I wear legging underneath. I will have to make and exception today. I pull the skirt out and lay it on the bed. The shirt underneath is actually kind of pretty. It is a purple color with two black stripes going up the sides. What type of shoes should I wear? I will figure that out later. I put the skirt on first and then go to put the shirt on.
In the middle of getting the shirt I had on off and putting the other one on I hear something knock over. I whirl around to face the door. There is Benji holding a pair of shoes. His mouth is gapping wide open and I feel embarrassed beyond belief. I turn around to face the wall trying to hide myself. No guy has ever seen me in just my bra before. I can feel my face flaming red. It is probably blinking signaling out to any satellites in space saying look at my humiliation.

'I'm sorry.'

He chokes the words out and runs out of the room. It is partially his fault for not knocking. That does not erase the fact that he walked in on me getting dressed. How long had he been standing there? I pull the shirt on quickly trying to figure out how it fits. It seems to want to suction cup to my curves. Which this outfit is not helping me at all. I hear a knock on the door.

'Cherel can I come in?'

'Yeah Benji you