Still in the dorm hallway, ambient sound of a card shuffle and faint music playing from another room.

  Sam, across the hall, heard Jacob’s scream. He jumped up from his card game and ran over to his room—only to see Jacob sitting on his bed with his shirt off, staring at his arm in fright.

  “Jacob? Are you all right? What’s going on?” Sam asked.

  “Did—did I get a tattoo?” Jacob asked.

  Sam looked at Jacob’s arm in confusion and tilted his head. “Not that I know of. We never left the karaoke bar until after breakfast. Did you go somewhere after I went back to the dorm?”

  Jacob shook his head. “No. Other than a basic walk, I didn’t go anywhere. Then I ran into that girl and—after that, I came straight back.”

  “Maybe you should go see the doctor,” Sam suggested.

  “Yeah—I think I’ll do that right now. This is weird,” Jacob nodded.

  Jacob put his shirt back on and started to head out the door. Sam caught him at the threshold.

  “Hey, want me to go with you?” Sam offered.

  “Nah, I think I’ll be fine. It doesn’t hurt or anything—it’s just—there, all of a sudden.”

  “Okay. Well—best of luck to you, buddy.”

  Jacob left the dorm building and headed to the campus medical wing so he could be looked at by a dermatologist. The university usually had certified doctors on hand to help train new students in the field. He followed the hallways until he found a door with a sign: Department of Dermatology and Research.

  He knocked.

  A voice from inside responded, “Come in!”

  Jacob walked in to find several doctors—or at least people who looked like doctors—sitting around tables.

  “I’m looking for a dermatologist—I have something I’d like them to look at,” Jacob said.

  An older man near a whiteboard looked over and nodded. “Yeah, I can look at it for you. I’m Dr. Wiseman. I teach this class.”

  “Great. Did you want to look at it here or—”

  “Let’s go to a private exam room,” Dr. Wiseman interrupted.

  A couple of students in the room started to murmur, but Jacob couldn’t make out what they were saying. All he knew was that right now, he was a little worried.

  Inside the private exam room, Dr. Wiseman turned toward him.

  “What is it you’d like me to look at?”

  Jacob took off his shirt and showed him the markings on his arm.

  Dr. Wiseman took a closer look. “Hmm—well, it doesn’t look like a tattoo. Doesn’t appear to be any kind of infection either. But I’ll scrape off a small sample and send it to the lab just to be sure. It should only take about an hour. I’ll let you know. Did you want to wait here, or go back to your dorm?”

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  “I think I’ll wait here. I’d rather know for sure before going back to my roommates,” Jacob replied.

  “Good choice,” Dr. Wiseman nodded.

  Jacob opened his eyes and saw the empty room.

  His heart thudded. Not from fear. Not entirely. It was something else. Something growing.

  What’s happening to me? he whispered to himself.

  Dr. Wiseman returned about an hour later with a document in hand.

  “Well—it doesn’t seem to be any kind of infection. In fact, the system’s not showing anything. It’s just—skin,” Dr. Wiseman said.

  Where did this mark come from? Jacob thought to himself, relieved yet still confused.

  “I’ll need your student ID so I can log this in the system. The university has to bill it properly,” Dr. Wiseman added.

  “Yeah, no problem. Here’s my ID,” Jacob said.

  Jacob headed back to his dorm room, relieved that it wasn’t something infectious that could put his roommates or others at risk. Still, the mark was confusing.

  Back in the room, he took his shirt off again and examined it.

  Sam noticed him return and peeked back in.

  “Hey—what’d you find out?” Sam asked.

  “Doctor has no real idea. Says it’s not infectious or anything—but yeah, it’s weird.”

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Nope. Not even a little bit.”

  Sam, being Sam, decided to smack it.

  Whack!

  “What the heck, man?!” Jacob shouted.

  But Sam had been pushed back—like something invisible had shoved him. The mark on Jacob’s arm shimmered faintly.

  “Whoa—that was weird. Are you okay? Did it hurt you?” Jacob asked.

  “No—what about you? Did it hurt you at all?” Sam replied.

  Jacob stood up and helped Sam back to his feet. “No. I didn’t even feel you touch me.”

  “It just felt like somebody stood up and pushed me,” Sam said.

  “Maybe I was bit by a radioactive spider and now I have superpowers,” Jacob laughed.

  “Oh, that would be awesome! Can you spit webs?”

  Jacob playfully flicked his arms and wrists like he’d seen in comics. Nothing happened. Except—well, that strange push earlier.

  “Hey—let’s go outside. Punch me in the arm, as hard as you can. Let’s see what happens,” Jacob suggested.

  Sam laughed. “Heck yeah. Be fun to slug someone full-force.”

  The two roommates raced downstairs and out into the open field. Jacob braced himself. Sam took position, wound up, and—

  Thump!

  Whoosh! Sam went flying almost 10 feet.

  “That was incredible! I didn’t feel a thing!” Jacob shouted.

  “Well, that’s good—but my backside hurts now. It was like a wind shoved me,” Sam groaned.

  In the distance, students murmured and whispered. Some of them seemed to know something Jacob didn’t.

  Jacob noticed their stares and whispered to Sam, “We’re being watched.”

  “Maybe we should head back inside—”

  “Good idea. Let’s go.”

  Back in the dorm, the door closed behind them. Laughter returned.

  “You’re like a superhero now, dude! You take hits to the arm and don’t even feel it,” Sam said.

  “Yeah—if it’s in that part of my arm. Everywhere else is still exposed,” Jacob nodded.

  Sam took that as a challenge and lightly punched Jacob in the stomach.

  “Oof! What the—?! Why did you do that?” Jacob groaned.

  Sam burst out laughing. “I wanted to test it! Now we know—it’s just your arm.”

  Jacob laughed too. “Yeah, well—no duh! It’s only on my arm. It’s not anywhere else—I’ve checked, believe me.”

  Jacob glanced at his phone.

  “Well—it’s 5 o’clock. I’m gonna catch the bus home for the weekend. I’ll see you Monday, Sam.”

  “Yeah. You have a good weekend, man. We’ll see you Monday.”

  As Jacob walked to the bus stop, he noticed someone watching him. Following him? He didn’t recognize the person but brushed it off.

  He continued walking as if everything was normal.

  Jacob hopped on the bus and made the hour-and-a-half ride to Coos Bay. When he arrived, the stop closest to his house was still a 30-minute walk away.

  After a short walk, he finally arrived home. He opened the door.

  “Grandma, I’m home!”

  “Jacob! You’re home—welcome back. Dinner’s just about ready!”

  “Okay, I’m gonna go watch TV.”

  “What the heck you are! Get in here and help me! You can chop the vegetables!”

  Jacob walked in and started helping his grandma prepare dinner.

  I thought she said dinner was almost ready, he thought to himself.

  Not that he minded. He liked helping Grandma.

  Once dinner was ready, they sat down. Jacob chatted about his first few days at university. He told her about Sam, Corey, Skye, Ryan, and Ed.

  Grandma was absolutely delighted to hear he was getting along so well.

  Later that evening, they sat in front of the TV.

  “Hey, Grandma—something weird happened recently. I wanna show you something, and I want your opinion.”

  He started to roll up his shirt sleeve.

  Grandma gasped.

  “That—that—!”