Samantha couldn't explain what she was doing in the yard at 2:17. Her mother had long since given up on a 'truthful explanation ' because the idea of a strange hooded man in their front yard seemed like a mere fallacy.
"I'm not lying." Samantha was resilient in conviction.
*******
The next .morning at school felt like a blur. Samantha moved like a puppet someone had forgotten to finish carving - jittery and stretched thin. The pendant, now in her pocket, felt warm against her skin, even through the clothing.
She found Ron by the west stairwell during break, where sunlight filtered through dirty windows and cast diagonal bars across the tiles.
He took one look at her and snorted. "Let me guess, you didn't sleep."
"Not much" she replied.
"Yeah. I can tell. You look like the dragon warrior right now"
"Did you just liken me to a panda?"
"Maybe. I mean, did I?"
Samantha rolled her eyes and pulled out the pendant without a word.
It gleamed faintly in the light. The circular metal glinted with strange markings etched into its surface -much like the night before, but more subtle now.
Some parts of it looked ancient, and others seemed freshly cut.
"Ron leaned in. "Is that....from him?'
She nodded.
A low whistle escaped Ron's mouth. "You seriously went out barefoot to meet your maybe- imaginary stalker and came back with jewellery. That's one hell of a night"
"Shut up and look closer"
"Hey, I'm just narrating what you explained " he retorted, but complied. He turned it in his fingers. The metal felt oddly warm against his palm.
"Where'd he get this?" He asked.
"I didn't ask. He was gone before I could."
They fell into silence. Around them, the stairwell echoed with the distant thump of lockers and chatter from the courtyard. In here, it was just the two ofnthem-and the object between them.
"We should figure out what it is." Samantha said.
Ron glanced at her carefully. "You're not scared?"
"Kinda getting used to it if I'm being honest."
*****
They gathered at Ron's house to 'conduct exper of extreme importance' in the dramatic words of Ron. After a lot of explanation and sweet talking, Samantha's mother was appeased with the idea of Samantha going to his house. She so kindly left them with the parent anthem "stay safe....and use protection"
Back to the present, Ron dumped a pile of random piles onto his desk: flashlight, magnifying glass, nail file, even a couple of batteries for whatever reason.
"We're either about to discover some ancient secrets ro commit a very small crime" he whispered in a ridiculous British accent.
Samantha rolled her eyes at his antics,but cracked a smile. It was her first smile the whole day.
They started simple. Held the pendant up to light, examined the carvings. Googled symbol after symbol trying to piece it together. Half of the links turned out to be clickbait, though. So they very quickly gave up on that option.
They tried pressing it against mirrors, like in old folk tales. Dangled it over a lit candle. Played a high-frequency sound on Ron's phone.
Silence. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Hours passed. Frustration built.
"This is stupid." Samantha muttered. "We're treating it like a magic 8-ball."
Ron sat on the floor next to her. "Yeah, but you of all people know it's not normal. It's warm. It shouldn't be warm."
"You think so too?"
He nodded.
For a moment, there was quiet. Neither of them moved.
The Samantha shot up. "He said something last night!"
Ron looked up. A raised eyebrow compelling her to go on.
"He said I wasn't losing my mind. That I was....finding it. Whatever the heck that means"
He opened his mouth thoughtfully. "That's either really deep...or the weirdest form of gaslighting I've ever heard."
She snorted at that. "Maybe both."