The Edge of Panic

Dawn strolled over to another wall where a large, framed, penciled drawing presented a grinning skull, a transparent round pipe with smoke curling from it, and a horned skull with hollow eyes that appeared to be laughing at her, like the phantom of her nightmare. Devoid of color, gray and white swirls of smoke depicted illusionary demons-there were demons in the smoke. The artwork, a little on the dark side, seemed almost symbolic. She remembered a time, not so very long ago, when Preston City was the safest place to live. Then drugs became more than a troubling issue. Van Morrison and Bob Kaley invaded their town and death walked stealthily through the halls of their school, out onto their quiet streets. They had arrived in town at about the same time last year, a simple coincidence? Van Morrison, a drug pusher on the south side, Bob Kaley, a respected teacher in her school. It seemed unlikely the two would have any connection. Still, she had her suspicions. Dawn wondered if it was her imagination working overtime linking a social studies teacher to disreputable drug pusher.