Secrets Never Known

The sun shone down on AnnaBelle as she leaned against the warm brick of the school building. Her Biology textbook was open in her lap and her notes were spread out around her in the grass, held down by pencils and erasers. She closed her eyes for the briefest moment, basking in the warmth of the rays. A shadow passed over her and she peeped up at the person that was standing before her.

"Hello, Mr. Smith," she said, smiling at the teacher, then going back to scan through the papers encircling her.

He sat down in front of her, careful not to muck up her notes. Leaning forward, he read the titles on the heads of a few of the pages. "Biology?" he asked.

Anna nodded. "Yep," she answered, popping the 'p'. She didn't look up from the paper she'd grabbed in her hands.

"You any good at it?"

A laugh escaped. "Hardly," she chortled. "I can't even tell the difference between DNA and RNA." She paused for a second, realized how dim her words made her seem and continued with an explanation. "I know the difference. Obviously, we've studied them and I know how they're different, I just..." Anna trailed off, shrugging her shoulders and giving a small smile.

"Aren't interested?" he guessed.

She shook her head. "Not in the slightest. English and history, those are my subjects. Ask me anything and I could probably tell you the answer. Now science and math, on the other hand, not my strong points. Certain parts of science interest me, like the solar system and stars and things like that, but genetics and elements aren't very high on my list of things to check out books on."

Mr. Smith stared at her for awhile, eyes searching but, apparently, finding nothing that he'd been looking for. "AnnaBelle, what's your plan for after school?"

Creases formed on Anna's forehead as she thought about what he'd asked. She didn't have a plan. She hadn't ever had a plan. Since she'd started high school the previous year, the teachers and counselors had been telling them that they needed a plan. It was then that she realized why she didn't have a plan. Her Madman. AnnaBelle's dreams had taken over much of her life from the time she started fifth grade onward. Her man was as real to her as the man that sat before her. She'd been hoping, she now knew, that he was real; that he would find her and they could be together. That was her plan.

"I don't really have one," she said. The lie was as close to the truth as she would ever set free. No one needed to know that she was waiting around for someone who would never come; who wasn't even tangible.

The teacher seemed to have heard what he suspected, but didn't ask anymore questions about the subject. "Have your dreams gone back to normal?"

Two days previously, Tuesday, the day AnnaBelle had gotten in trouble with her mother, Mr. Smith had asked to read her journal again. For reasons she hadn't know, he seemed eager to find out what had occurred. She'd let him read it, and he'd frowned, the look in his eyes one of shame and worry and thousands of other emotions Anna couldn't name if she tried. They'd talked about it, about what had happened in the dreams. Just before she had left, she told him that she didn't have any idea who the Doctor could be, but that she hoped she never crossed paths with him in any way, because she hated him. As she closed the door behind herself she saw his frown deepen impossibly.

"Yes," she said quietly. "Normal as they've ever been. He hasn't spoken, but he still seems angry. He looks really stressed out; like he's been trying even harder to find me."

AnnaBelle didn't know why, but she trusted Mr. Smith. He had a genuine curiosity towards the dreams that plagued her, and not in a psychologist type of way. It was as if he knew, just as Anna knew in her heart, that the Madman was really real, that he was looking for her, that he would find her some day. She hoped he would help her find her man, and not tear her away from him like her parents had tried to do when she was young.

"Can I read last night's?"

She looked at his eyes. There was a smile in them, just as there always was when he looked at them, but something was off about it; just as off as it had been when he'd seen her drawing from Monday night's dream. "It's nothing special, but sure." She moved the textbook from her lap, revealing that the notebook had been underneath it the entire time. She handed it to him and watched him as he read; seeing the words as clear as day in her mind as he did.

It was easy to see the fury bubbling just beneath her Madman's skin. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he bent low over a mess of wires. AnnaBelle kept her distance for a few harrowing moments before allowing herself to step closer. She didn't know why she felt the need to keep her distance. After all, this was all just her own thought up fantasy, wasn't it? He could in no way be affected by their closeness.

As he always did, the Madman ignored her subtly shifts. AnnaBelle didn't know what to do or think as she sat by her Madman for what must have been the entire night. All she could focus on was his face. She watched his face repeatedly relax into a tranquil expression as his fingers expertly twisted and wound wires only to twitch in sudden response to another wave of rising anger.

Before long, the fury would no longer melt away and the Madman had given up on his complicated task. With one more contemptuous glare in the wires' way, he tossed them away from himself and moved to storm out of the room, hands shoved angrily in his pockets. Anna watched him go with a scowl and a newborn ire.

"What do you think he's angry at, AnnaBelle?" Mr. Smith asked, handing the notebook back to her with a great reluctance.

"Everything."

"What do you mean by 'everything'?"

"I mean that he's angry at everything. He's angry at all of the species, human or otherwise, who he's asked for help but haven't done anything. He's angry at the Doctor for whatever he's doing. He's angry at certain planets, I know he is because I've heard him say so, because I'm not there."

Mr. Smith looked at Anna, expression calculating. "You said everything. Does that include you?"

AnnaBelle thought about it. "He's not angry at me, exactly. He's angry at the thought that I might have something to do with him not being able to find me. Which is stupid, by the way, because I really do want him to find me. He's angry at whatever planet I'm on and the people who are here with me because they're not helping him find me."

"But he hasn't looked here yet."

Anna shook her head. "It doesn't matter to him. All that matters is finding me. He'll do anything to get me, Mr. Smith." She looked into his eyes, and the bell signaling that it was time for her to go to her Biology exam rang. "Anything."