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Chapter Two

Turning the key in the lock to his house, Ned slipped inside. "I'm home!" he called, even though he knew no one was there to respond back. Tossing his backpack on to the couch, he sank into its cushions, once more cracking open the book he'd been reading.

What had caught his eye was the title, "Paranormal Mysteries". While the book itself wasn't bad by any means, it certainly wasn't very good either. Most of their 'eye-witness testimonies' were bogus and vague. They didn't really ever go into details about what they had seen, nor did they even show appropriate emotions. He knew that if he'd witnessed the ghost of a dead relative, he'd be a bit more gloomy than excited at the prospect. It was because of people like this that Ned kept to himself.

He felt that people often wore masks, not literally of course, but in the sense that everyone was far too concerned with what other people thought of them. Honesty, he felt, was the best policy. If his directness hurt the feelings of others, well, that was their problem, not his. His thoughts went back to the mysterious rabbit, Laura. He still couldn't believe that such a cute girl was ever picked on by the school, though given her timid nature, she'd make an easy target.

There was something bothersome about the way she'd stared at him as they were leaving. Even as Ned was sitting here in his home, he could feel Laura's piercing gaze on the back of his neck where his fur had stood up. It was because of this that Ned had such an interest in her. Something was different, but he just needed to discover what. But he'd do that later; for now, he only wanted to lay on his couch and read through his mediocre book.

But as often happens when he read his books, Ned's eyes began to grow heavy and, before long, he was snoozing gently. As he fell deeper and deeper into sleep, he could see images flashing before his mind that caused him to toss and turn.

He felt himself tumbling through the darkness of his mind, until he landed with an impossible gentleness. As he tried to clamber to his hind paws, his eyes rose to see a frog high in the air, cranking an antique gramophone. "Excuse me!" he called out to her, taking a step closer. "Where am I?"

She said nothing, only continuing to turn the crank. But even though she seemed intent to continue forever, no sound escaped from the wide floral tube. Ned took another step, but the frog seemed to stay exactly as far as she was before. He was certain she had not moved, but still she remained just as far from him, even as he began to sprint towards her as fast as his legs would carry him.

He didn't know why he was so desperate to reach her, just that it was important. When at last, his lungs burned so much that he collapsed on all fours, he knew he couldn't reach her no matter how hard he tried. "Please." he begged her. "Tell me who you are! I need to know!"

"She is one of the Major Arcana." a voice explained behind him. Turning, he was shocked to see Laura, standing before him, a bland expression on her face. "Specifically, she is number twenty: Judgment." Ned was shaking as he stared back up at the emotionless frog in the sky, continuing to crank her musical device. "It's really a beautiful song." Laura commented, causing Ned to frown.

"What song? It's not playing anything. Laura, please tell me what's going on." He couldn't even begin to understand. Who were these people that plagued him? Why was it that only they could hear the sounds, but he could not?

"You cannot hear her because you are not listening." Laura's monotone voice came again, pulling Ned from his thoughts. "Judgment is the representation of being called to action. But you are not listening, so you are not receiving the call."

Ned closed his eyes tightly, trying desperately to hear the music that was supposedly coming from the record player. Still he couldn't hear anything, but the high-pitched creaking of the lever as she rotated it. "I still don't hear it." he whispered as tears ran down his cheeks. "I don't understand...what is it she wants from me?" There was no response. "Laura?" His eyes cracked open to find he was now laying in his living room. His book lay discarded on the ground beside him.

He sat up, placing a paw over his face. Despite the fact that it felt so real, he couldn't believe he didn't realize it was a dream until after waking. "Who's Laura?" a feminine voice asked, causing him to look to see his sister, Christie, with a smirk on her face. "Is she your girlfriend?"

The lilting sing-song voice she used to ask her question made Ned irritated, though his cheeks were burning red for an entirely different reason. "No. She's not." He rolled off of the couch, going to get ready for school. "What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be at work or something?"

Christie frowned, scratching her cheek with her paw. "I have the day off. The kitchen caught fire yesterday, so they'll be making repairs for a week."

"Was it you?" he taunted, attempting to get back at her for her earlier teasing.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she let out a 'hmph'. "You know I'm an excellent chef. You've never objected to my cooking before."

"Back when I actually was able to eat your cooking." Ned muttered under his breath. He knew it was unfair to his sister. When their parents disappeared, her life was basically put on hold. She took care of him well enough, and even if she worked long hours, she did the best she could. But recently, with an increase in the restaurant's hours, Ned was more or less stuck to fend for himself.

Soon, he was dressed in his spare uniform and had skipped out the door, slamming it shut behind him before his sister could even offer her farewells. It would seem cold from the outside looking in, but in truth, Ned had a deep love for his sister, even if she did torment him sometimes.

He walked silently towards the school. His way was out of the real throng of the crowd, so he was for the most part alone in his journey, just how he liked it. Or so he thought until a familiar figure fell into place beside him. "Good morning, Ned." Laura greeted him with a smile.

"Hey." he answered, though his was not nearly as cheerful. "What brings you all the way out here?"

She smiled and pointed to a single-story house that was wedged between two of the larger complexes. "That's my house there. I had no idea you walked this way to school. I'm glad I was running late enough to miss my bus. I've never really walked to school with anyone before."

Turning to look at her, he was stunned by how accurate his dream had been. The Laura in it had been an almost exact replica. That was curious; normally, dreams had exaggerated caricatures that our brain identified, rather than an accurate depiction. "So, how did you sleep?" he finally asked.

The question took Laura aback. "Oh, umm...I slept well. Thank you. How was yours?"

"I had a bit of a nightmare." he answered. Ned wouldn't go into further detail than that, but the way he stated it caused her to shudder.

"It was about me, wasn't it?" she whispered. Ned's silence was the only answer she needed. "Did I hurt you in the dream?"

"No." he responded. "On the contrary, you were helpful."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The question was one that Ned had to ponder. His first instinct was to say 'no', and yet, it was he who brought up the nightmare in the first place. It would seem odd to say 'no' after having initiated the conversation. "I'm not sure what to say." he finally confessed. "If I say 'no', you'll think I'm weird for having brought it up. But if I tell you about it, it'll also seem weird."

Laura had to cover her mouth to hide a giggle. "I tell you what. Do what you want, and I promise I won't judge one way or another. You're already plenty strange to me."

"Thanks." he muttered sarcastically. "Well, in that case, I won't tell you."

He knew that she was probably even more curious now, but she held true to her word. It wasn't long before they'd reached the school gates. Despite that most of their walk had been rather quiet, Ned hadn't minded it nearly as much as he thought he would.

"Well, thanks for walking with me." she offered as the two parted ways. "See you at lunch?"

"At the library, don't forget. I don't want to be stuck waiting for you there." he answered, ignoring her thanks. As he watched her flounce off to her classroom, he couldn't conceal the small inkling of a smile on his face. Her cheerfulness was starting to rub off on him. How annoying, he thought, but his smile stayed there for a long while.

As Ned sat in his class, listening to the teacher give his lecture on mathematics, his thoughts couldn't help but to drift off to their mission. Just how long would it take, he wondered. "Psst, Laura." His ears perked up as he heard mention of the rabbit. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Laura and his neighbor, Ashley, sitting about three rows back. He didn't know Laura had this class.

He leaned back in his seat, straining to hear what they talking about. Knowing Ashley, it was probably about someone else. She was notorious for gossip. "I heard you were walking with a boy this morning." Ashley whispered to her, causing Ned to frown. If Laura named him, it'd be no time at all before people started blabbing about how the two were now spending time together.

Laura leaned towards Ashley. "Yes. Ned and I walk the same way to school."

"Creepy Ned?" Ashley hissed in shock. "Why are you walking with him?"

There was a long pause from Laura. "He's helping me with something." she finally whispered back. "He's really not so bad when you get to know him."

Ned was genuinely surprised to find that Laura liked him. He, better than anyone, knew how difficult he was to stomach. He intentionally made it that way. Before he had time to listen further the bell rang. Laura and Ashley were up, packing their bags to go to their next class. Ned nonchalantly decided to lag a little behind. He knew he shouldn't be eavesdropping, but now he was curious. "How long have the two of you been hanging out?" Ashley asked with barely contained cynicism.

"About a day."

"Glad to see you've gotten to know him so well." she answered sarcastically. "So what is he helping you with anyway?"

"A report," she lied, "on the older classes of Warren High."

"And you needed his help specifically because...?"

As the two stopped in the hall, Ned froze contemplating whether or not to duck behind the locker like a cheesy spy movie. "Well...he..." Laura began as her friend crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

"You like him don't you?"

"No, it's not like that. He's just helping find some information is all. I've heard he's really good at doing research." Laura quickly explained.

"I've heard that he scared off all of the other members of his club with his freakiness."

"He didn't, they scared themselves." she quickly corrected. "He told me they forgot to put batteries in their flashlights when they went on a field trip." Laura was sticking up for him. Ned could scarcely believe that anyone would, especially having just met him.

"Well of course he would say that Laura. You're so dumb, you'll fall for anything." Ashley clutched her books tight and walking forward from her, Ned could see his breath as a cold mist, just as Ashley was toppled by an invisible force into a locker.

"Ashley! Are you okay?" Laura asked, rushing to her friend. Was that the ghost Ned was supposed to find? Surely he wouldn't have done something like that. He just scared them before; Laura had never said anything about him getting violent.

Ashley nodded, standing back up. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I just lost my balance. It felt like something tripped me." Ashley winced as she put some weight on her ankle. "I think I sprained it or something."

"Come on, let's get you to the Nurse's office." the rabbit instructed, looping an arm around her friend. As the two hobbled off down the hallway, Ned could feel a presence watching him. This didn't feel like a normal creepy haunting; it felt like trouble.