"I'm gonna get you!"
"Run! Run Sara!"
"Tag, you're it!"
"Ah, run from Sara!"
Arminius listened quietly from his vantage point, sitting on the ground, idly playing with a handful of sand every so often, as the other children ran along and played in the yard. He was seven years old, and had never played with another child in his entire life... because he couldn't see.
You look lonely.
"Hmm?" Arminius snapped his head up, the sounds of the real world seeming to bleed away, to go far from him. "Who's there?"
His blind eyes opened, and Arminius gazed to his left, where a little boy sat next to him, smiling brightly. He was dressed in clothes that reminded Arminius of what it felt like his mother dressed him in. Knee-length shorts, a white shirt, and a small blazer. The boy had dark hair that fell about his shoulders, and his eyes sparkled brightly with mirth. But he was pale and off-color; white seemed to settle about him like powder.
Why doesn't anyone play with you?
"...Because I can't see to play," Arminius whispered, lowering his head. "...I'm not s'posed to talk to you..."
Oh, right. Your mommy said not to, huh?
He nodded sadly.
She doesn't have to know. The little boy smiled and held out a hand to Arminius. My name's Josh. My mom called me Joshua.
"I'm Arminius." He smiled and shook the spirit boy's hand; trying not to shiver at the cold.
So, you can see me, eh? Josh giggled. How odd. I didn't think anyone would have been able to see me.
"I see lots of weird things."
Yes you do. But I like that, because now I have someone to talk to. Josh smiled brightly, leaning back. So, why don't they come and talk to you?
"Because Sara and Jason think I'm weird, and everyone likes them." Arminius sighed. "It's not fair."
Why do they think you're weird? They're stupid.
"I don't know. Because I can't see, I think," Arminius sighed sadly. "A lot of kids are mean to me because of that."
I don't like it when people are mean to my friends, Josh announced calmly. They won't be mean to you anymore.
"What do you mean?" Arminius gaped at him, but Josh was already up and flitting along through the play yard. "Josh, what are you doing!"
Fixing them for being mean!
"Uh-oh!" Arminius called out, rising and beginning to stumble after the spirit boy. "Josh, stop it! Don't be bad!"
"Oof!" Arminius yelped as someone's feet hit his shoulder, and sent him tumbling to the ground.
"Watch out, stupid!" Jason's voice laughed. "Oh, yeah, you can't!"
"Meanie." Arminius got up, rubbing his shoulder, and gazed around for Josh quickly.
"Move, stupid! What are you lookin' at!" Jason's hands connected this time, pushing Arminius away from whatever the boy had been standing near. "Idiot!"
"Josh, where are you!" Arminius called worriedly, and Jason's footsteps receded and disappeared as he climbed back up on something, then pointed at him.
"Arminius is being weird again, guys!"
I hate kids like him, don't you? Arminius turned to see Josh several feet in the air, hands ready to push something...
"Jason, look out!" Arminius shouted, but it was too late.
Jason let out a cry as he toppled from atop the monkey bars, and Arminius screamed at the sound of something cracking; his sensitive hearing picked it out easily. Then Jason started screaming and wailing, and the other children ran over.
Darn. He didn't land on his head like he was supposed to.
"Josh, why'd you do that!" Arminius snapped, unaware that the other kids were staring both at Jason and at him. "That was wrong! You could have hurt him badly!"
I didn't though. His arm is just broken in two places. He was supposed to fall on his head, and break his neck.
"You can't hurt people like that! Because of me! It's not right!"
"You pushed me!" Jason howled, as two of the teachers came running over to him. "Arminius pushed me!"
"I did not!" the little boy protested. "You were up high! I can't get up high! Josh did it, because you're mean to me, but I told him not to!"
"Arminius, come with me." One of the teachers took hold of the little boy's shoulder, just as the nurse came running out to tend Jason. "We need to have a talk."
"It was Josh!" Arminius insisted, but the teacher sighed heavily. Looking to his right, Arminius glared at the little spirit boy, who walked beside him. "You're bad!"
Nope, not me. You were, they think you did something. Josh giggled, throwing his head back, and Arminius gasped aloud as he saw something chilling. Josh's neck twisted back at an unnatural angle. I'll fix the girl later; mean people deserve to have their necks break!
A bit overwhelmed as Josh started laughing, and that terrible neck of his made eerie grinding noises, Arminius fainted.
"Ms. Mackie says Arminius is strange, my mom told me so."
"Did he really push Jason?"
"He wasn't up there."
"But Jason says he did it."
"Arminius says Josh did it."
"Who's Josh?"
"Dunno."
Arminius squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he listened to the conversations of the other children at lunch time, trying not to cry.
Ever since the day that Josh had pushed Jason, everyone had treated Arminius like he was evil. No one sat at the table even near to him, and everyone talked about him behind his back... even the older kids.
"My mom said that his mom said a long time ago that he wakes up screaming all the time."
"He says he saw a boy named Josh push that other kid, but no one was there."
"He's weird."
Arminius heaved a sigh and laid his head down against the table, pushing his lunch away uneaten.
What's wrong?
He didn't even have to look up to know that Josh was sitting right across from him.
"..."
Tell me, we're friends and all.
"..." Arminius remained silent.
Arminius, talk to me.
He straightened and took a bite of his sandwich, before he pulled over a small chart of the dot-language that made up what he was learning to read. A, B, C, D...
I said, talk to me! Josh was beginning to sound angry.
That means cat, that means ball, that means apple... Arminius thought to himself calmly.
I SAID TALK TO ME!
"This is easy..." Arminius smiled, feeling over the dots quicker now. "Mommy's going to be so happy!"
You better not make me MAD!
"Mmm." Arminius took another bite of his sandwich, and a sip of his apple juice.
YOU ASKED FOR IT!
Arminius screamed as the table he was sitting at flipped over onto its side, then flew against the wall. He covered his ears as it struck and shattered into a pile of useless wood.
"JOSH STOP IT!" Arminius wailed, drawing his knees up to his chest. "STOP IT!"
YOU ASKED FOR IT! I'm gonna make your life miserable!
Arminius screamed as his chair was kicked out from under him, but he didn't know by who. He hit the ground with a sharp cry, and opened his eyes to see Josh running towards another table.
"STOP IT!" Arminius screamed, just as the table flipped over. Screams erupted from the children sitting there, who'd been peacefully eating moments before, and Arminius screamed at the sound of another sickening crack, faint but audible to his ears... Before he saw a white-dusted outline rise from under the table, and started screaming.
"SARA! SOMEONE HELP HER!" A few children started screaming, but Arminius just stayed where he was, watching blankly.
"...She's already dead..." he whispered. "Josh... you're a bad boy..."
Thank you.
"Josh did it..." Arminius whispered, closing his eyes, and watched as the girl, whom he knew had to be Sara, screamed, and only he could hear it. "Sorry Sara, but he wanted to protect me... and you were bad, so he made you pay... but it was wrong."
With that, he slowly got up, and began feeling his way toward the door to go outside. The air was cool out there, and the sunlight was warm... and he just wanted to get out of there.
He sat there for several hours, on the steps of the school, just staring out blankly over the street... and wondering why Josh had done that.
"Arminius... there you are..." One of his teachers, Ms. Mackie, gasped as she came walking out. He could hear her walking strangely, as if she were shaking. "You shouldn't have come out here without telling someone!"
"...Don't lecture me because you're nervous, it's not nice." Arminius lowered his head; he'd always been an intelligent child. "Sara is dead."
"!"
"She's dead because Josh killed her. He made the table I was eating at break, and then made hers fall and hit her. He broke her neck, didn't he." Arminius' rueful words were eerily calm, and more statements than questions. "He did it because she was mean to me."
"He's crazy!"
"There's definitely something wrong with that boy mentally!"
"Someone should send him to an institution!"
"I'll talk to his mother when she comes, word's been sent for her to pick him up."
"He's frightening!"
"Unnatural!"
"How did he know!"
