Marked By The Flame

It started with a shadow.Not the kind that moves with you in the sunlight. No, thisshadow twisted. Shifted. Lurked just out of the corner of myvision. And it wasn't alone.By mid-morning, the cafeteria felt wrong. The fluorescent lightsflickered. The chatter around me seemed hollow, like echoes ofvoices I couldn't quite hear. I squinted, trying to focus.Then I saw it.A girl from my math class, sitting two tables over. Her hair fellin waves over her shoulders, but something was... off. A blackmist clung to her like smoke from a fire. I froze. My stomachdropped.I blinked. Nothing.I blinked again.The mist was still there. And I could see it now: whispers curlingfrom her ears like smoke, moving toward her mind. Lies. Doubts.Fear.I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth. Nia, sitting across fromme, leaned over.