“Happy birthday!” Caroline cried as she plopped down next to her friend Victoria on the school bus.

“Ugh, no,” Victoria said as she tried to good-naturedly cover her ears. “Hi, Caroline.”

Her golden-haired friend looked at her askance. “What's wrong? Did your parents forget your birthday?” the pretty girl spoke with a Texas twang to her voice.

Victoria yawned then smiled wanly. “No, yes, sort of. Moms having to work an early shift so I had to get the munchkin ready this morning.”

“And your paw is still in the hospital,” Caroline stated. “I’m guessing that means your not having that good of a birthday.” Caroline chewed on her lip. “Maybe we could do something fun after school?”

“Maybe, Michael has asked me to go to some stupid club with him.” Caroline winced.

“When is that boy going to ask you out?” She lamented. “I mean lordy you are one of the prettiest girls in our grade.” She said as she eyed Victoria's long dark hair, deep blue eyes, and petite frame.

The birthday girl chuckled. “I get the feeling Michael sees me as one of the guys and has me in the friend's zone. But with my dad in the hospital, I don’t know if I have time for a date or even a boyfriend.” Caroline reached out and gave her a hug before getting properly seated.

“Alright everyone get seated we’re starting this field trip and I don’t want to see anyone walking around.” Mrs. Babbage their math teacher said as the school busses doors closed.

“At least we have a half-hour to talk before we get to the Alamo. You know it was one hundred and eighty years ago today that it fell to Santa Anna?” Caroline said as she withdrew a magazine and opened it up to a series of pictures. “ Did you see the dress in this month's issue of Girls day?”

All too soon their talk and the dull roar of the other students were interrupted as they pulled into the parking lot. “Wow,” Victoria thought as she looked up at the building. In front of the edifice, she saw rows of tents and men and women walking in period dress.

“I thought you said you’ve been here a lot?” Caroline asked her.

Her dark-haired friend nodded. “I have but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it like this.” She said. As she stared at the spectacle around her she failed to notice her friend's quizzical look. But then the blond-haired girl shrugged putting the peculiarity out of her mind.

X X X

Victoria was bored, it was understandable, this was the fifth time she had been to the Alamo in the past two years. This time she just felt that something was off, as the bus rolled up to the plaza that held the old missions stone walls. She was having a hard time focusing on the guide as he spoke about the pivotal events that lead to Texas’ creation as an independent country.

She had found it to be far different when she set foot in the old mission that had been made into a fortress. The place gave her the willies. She felt a rush of cold and what felt like the sound of rushing wind in her ears. She had seen reenactors all around the plaza. Some were dressed in little more than peasant rags. While others were dressed in mountain men buckskins and still others wore old wool clothes. She shivered with the cold she attributed to winters last gasp.

The guide droned on. “Those thirteen days in February and March of eighteen thirty-six paved the way for the defeat of the Mexican army in the battle of San Jacinto and what would ultimately end the rebellion.” The guide said boredom dripping with every word.

“So whatcha doing for your birthday?” Lucas one of her friends asked.

“Going to visit my dad in the hospital. Mom says he should be home soon.” She looked over at her bespectacled friend. “Why? Want to come along?”

“Nah, I hate the hospital. But I asked Mr. Lagrand if you could come to the gaming club to try it out…” He said with a wistful tone in his voice.

“Michael asked me already but I don’t know. I don’t think it would be my thing.” She said wringing her hands. “I mean Bonnie and the others think I’m strange enough as it is.” Lucas nodded his agreement.

“The queen bitch.” He snorted quietly so that only she could hear it. “Still just pop in this afternoon we’re starting a new campaign,” Lucas said excitedly. “We get to play the original D and D.” His blue eyes sparkled mischievously.

“Wait, there's more than one type of D and D?” she asked puzzled.

“Yeah, original, two-point zero, three, three-point five, four and five.” He said with a smile on his face. “Then there are the derivatives like the D twenty system that has both fantasy, modern and this futuristic one.”

She rolled her eyes. “What does that even mean? Seriously?”

Victoria heard a mighty sigh and looked over to her other side, one of the reenactors stood hunched over shaking his head. He looked like the picture of Jim Bowie. “That one thinks of life as a game. If it was so easy the battle could have been replayed and won. I wasn't supposed to have played out that way at all.” He said. “If we had listened and been able to get the guns out things might have ended differently.”

“What do you mean?” Victoria asked as she looked over at him. Her mind still thinking about the various versions of dungeons and dragons.

“My orders were to take away or destroy the stores in the mission. We didn’t have the oxen to move the guns.” He snorted. “They called it a fortress, only to the surrounding homes was it that. What gave it her strength wasn’t her walls, it was my men and their courage and honor.” He continued to speak. She eyed him critically as he continued to talk about the battle. “We were all cocksure and full of piss and vinegar.”

“And then what happened?” She asked him.

“Mrs. Babbage, Victoria’s talking to herself again!” One of the other students cried.

The man looked up at her startled in surprise. “You can see me?” He said shock in his voice and then was gone in the blink of an eye.

Lucas was looking at her curiously. “What happened?”

Victoria blinked then pointed. “Did you see the man that was just standing there?”

Lucas noticed her quivering hand as it pointed to a spot that was on the ground next to them. “Man?” He asked quizzically

Victoria nodded as she tried to explain what she had seen, then a floating blue box appeared before her. Quickly her eyes scanned the text as she gave a startled squeak. Lucas watched as her eyes fluttered then rolled into the back of her head as her body collapsed bonelessly to the ground. Mrs. Babbage Victoria passed out again.”

Victoria awoke to someone shaking her and calling out her name. “Victoria are you okay?” She kept her eyes closed and answered the officious voice of Dr. Babbage her math teacher.

“No, I have a migraine and someone keeps shaking me.”

The shaking stopped almost immediately. “I’m so sorry, is that what happened?” Dr. Babbage replied.

“Yes,” Victoria lied. While she had migraines and the school did know about her sensory issues Victoria just wanted to keep her eyes closed as she tried not to think about the blue message she had seen

.

“Do you think you can stand?” Mrs. Babbage’s voice asked.

“I think so?” Victoria said lamely.

“Good Luke will escort you to a seat while we finish up here.” Victoria felt the older woman's bony grip and she inexorably pulled her to her feet. “Luke.” The woman said as Victoria felt other hands on her elbow.

“What happened?” Her friend asked as he led her to a bench.

“I don’t know, It had to have been a migraine.” She said.

He felt his arm shake. “No that wasn’t it. You always get flushed and your right eye twitches when you have a migraine.” Luke replied. Victoria's head turned toward him here eyes opening wide.

“How?” she asked.

“I’ve known you since first grade.” He said sheepishly. “Anyway, what happened?”

The young girl looked around surreptitiously. “You won’t believe me.” She whispered as she looked into Luke's dark gray eyes.

“I believed you about the fairy in third grade.” He whispered back. She remembered the fairy when she was seven it had been like a ball of light that danced through the flowers in her mother's garden that summer. She also recalled that no one else besides Luke had believed her except her baby brother Vincent.

She took a deep breath, calmed her nerves then spoke. “It was really weird I was standing there and I thought there was a reenactor talking to me.”

“Wait, why did you think he was an actor?” Luke said glancing around.

She nodded then pointed to one of the other people dressed in period costume, a man dressed in buckskins holding a Kentucky long rifle. “Well just like that guy over there.” She whispered. “He’s dressed like one of the soldiers.”

Victoria saw Luke look and then his eyes narrowed.”I don’t see anyone there…” he said tentatively “are you sure?” He asked.

“Yes. He’s right…” She said as one of their friend Caroline walked through the figure and visibly shivered. “Oh my god!” She hissed as the blond girl went right through him. Victoria swallowed her eyes going wide in panic.

“Victoria are you alright?” Caroline asked her visibly distressed friend.

The frightened girl swallowed reflexively. “I… I think I saw a ghost.” As she spoke her attention was drawn to a small spot in front of her eye that seemed to throb with energy. As if it recognized her attention it once more unfolded into a flat blue box before her eyes.

“Victoria? What's wrong you’ve gone pale again.” Mrs. Babbage their older math teacher said as she came over.

The girl was startled by her teacher. “It’s just my headache.” She said as she clutched her head and passed her hand through the Blue obstruction in front of her fearing that they were all too real.

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