Chapter 3

Lakewood Elementary School. That’s what the large sign in front of the building stated. It had been seven years since Alex Beelz had even set foot near this place. He was mildly surprised that he even remembered where it was. The first part of the building was an old brick school with two stories that had once been the old middle school. Well, the middle school had been transferred to a newer home while this old thing had become grades K-6. Eventually, after Oakfield had its population explosion, new buildings had been added onto the old one. Now, about half of the educational prison was new and the other half old. A stark contrast when one walked from shiny, white linoleum to tile that was slightly yellow with age. Of course, all the older kids, mainly the fifth and sixth graders, loved to search around the older half of the building. Especially in October when all the TV horror movies put in the ideas that there would be some hidden room with a corpse that would come after you if you disturbed it. Children had repeatedly found small holes in the back of cupboards that led into a small crawl-way under the main floor. Or they would open a closet door and find a bricked-up window. The doors that were half up the wall in the auditorium were always a favorite subject in making fear-inducing theories about the old school. Speaking of theories, one of Alex’s favorite was the one that the bricked-up windows where actually doors to hidden rooms where people where buried alive. He wasn’t sure why but he had always remembered that story. Maybe because he had actually believe it at first.

The new part of the school had never gotten as much attention as the old section. Nobody was ever able to find any sealed windows or hidden corridors. Though, in tradition that a whole building should be haunted instead of just half, a story did circulate that the new part was built over a graveyard where people who died in the brick section had been buried. And, like most urban legends, the gory history of Lakewood Elementary School was completely made up by horror-obsessed children. It was and always had been a school. Though, most kids find that fact horrifying enough. But now Alex had returned to this place under circumstances that almost gave truth to the gruesome tales. I’d probably wet myself if I actually did find some dead and rotten bodies, he thought with a little irony. That would just be the thing to happen, too. He simply stood at the front of the brick building and gazed through the windows. Like the store windows, these also had that strange, grayish fog obscuring them. I wonder if the whole building will be covered in mist. Well, there was only one way to find out. Mustering up some courage, he quickly walked up the three steps to the school door and laid a hand against the wooden door. The doors were one part of the old building that had been replaced.

Alex half-expected it to be locked, I mean what kind of care-taker would leave the building unlocked so people could just come and go- the knob turned in his hand. He sighed, Figures, opened the portal and went inside. The door made a large echo as it shut automatically behind him, making the somewhat nervous teenager jump. Man, if it wasn’t for this silence, I wouldn’t be so freaking freaked out, he sullenly thought, Then again, I suppose it is better than a chainsaw sound... Alex almost bursted out laughing, not really because being chased by a chainsaw would be that funny. More about that fact that, for far, he was the only person here and that he was letting his imagination get away with him.

Well, with this weird stuff going on, you never know what might be waiting around the corner, the new, inner voice warned with a grin.

Thanks, the 19-year-old remarked with sarcasm and rolled his eyes. The interior of the school looked like about any school in the country. The front office was just to the right of the doors and the hall almost immediately split into a T-intersection. Thankfully, the interior wasn’t obscured by thick fog. Perhaps it was just a trick of the glass that made them appear smokey. For all he new, they could’ve just been reflecting the cloud-covered sky. Though, I highly doubt that, he told himself. If one thing didn’t have a rational explanation, what made him think anything else would. I suppose that’s just how the mind works. It wants to figure out everything, he introspected.

Pretty good assumption there, the little voice nodded, But let’s stop with the philosophical thinking and see what’s new in this old building.

“Agreed,” Alex said out-loud and then scolded himself for answering. He walked into the T-section, his shoes still making a hollow echo that didn’t travel quite as far as outside. Glancing to his left, he saw that a door at the end of the hall way led out to the playground. A picture of his dream slowly floated upwards and then back down. A small warning tingle went down his back, telling him that he really didn’t want to go outside. Then again, he didn’t have any other leads to follow unless he wanted to wander aimlessly around the school. Stretching his arms in an attempt to get rid of the tingle, he walked to the door and pushed it open. Yep, just like I remembered it in my dream, he thought as his eyes scanned the playground. A large part of black pavement was laid down for courts of all different kind of games. A swing set and monkey bars settled over an area covered with wood chips with a large sandbox nearby. Last but definitely not least, about half of the area was a field for kids to go nuts and run around on. Soccer goals were placed at both ends just incase and the grass had long since turned yellow from the cold. Memories didn’t exactly flood back as he started walking towards the swings. They more or less came in sporadic, disjointed bubbles. Everyone of them had the girl even though he still couldn’t recall her face or name. The swings were relatively old with chains holding the leather strap that served as a seat and the place where children stopped themselves had moved away all the wood chips so that dark brown dirt showed through. Alex gently moved the swing and it rocked back and forth slightly, dislodging any snow that had accumulated on the seat. Wiping the rest of the cold stuff, he took a seat, So, now what? I’m reliving childhood memories, yay. He looked down and kicked absentmindedly at a few chips.

Suddenly, a sharp sob caught his attention. The teenager jerked his head up and saw a group of kids, probably around ten, standing in the middle of one of the courts. There were four boys standing around a girl who seemed to be crying. It took Alex only a second to realize, It’s her! He bolted up and started running to the group until two thoughts struck his mind rather hard.

The first one, Wait, that was over seven years ago. How could she be here now? She would be the same age as me.

The second was more of an observation, I... can see through them... Indeed, up-close one could see right through the children. The word ‘ghost’ instantly came to his mind. They certainly wouldn’t be out of place with the other strange stuff going on. Also, just like his dream, the teenager couldn’t see faces, only the misty outlines of facial expressions. It was obvious the girl was crying. But now he could hear exactly what she was crying about.

“Aw, poor girl crying,” one boy jeered in a false-concern voice, “Bet you want your momma right?” The others laughed.

“She can’t see her mom ‘cause she doesn’t love her,” another stated loudly which caused another burst of laughter.

A third looked at the others, “Naw, she wants her daddy. ‘Cept he’s not here to protect you, either.”

Alex was starting to lose his temper even though he probably couldn’t do anything about it. Why doesn’t one of the teachers do anything?! he questioned with appal, They’re talking loud enough that somebody has to hear what they’re saying to her. He looked around but there weren’t any other ghosts in the area, just this play out of torment.

“L-leave me alone,” the girl finally said between sobs.

The ghostly boys were quiet for a few seconds before one finally said, “Eh, whatever. You’ve been plenty entertaining for today.” The others snickered and the four boys walked off. Actually, they walked only a little distance before disappearing into whatever nether realm they lived in.

The solid boy stood silently, depressed that he couldn’t do anything. Well, I suppose I haven’t tried... he decided and slowly walked up to the transparent girl. “H... hey,” he asked, slightly worried that disturbing a ghost would make it turn on him with a ghastly face and mouth that was full of sharp teeth. But, just about the opposite happened. Nothing. The ghost apparently couldn’t hear him which actually relieved him.

“You know you shouldn’t listen to them,” another voice suddenly stated, startling Alex. However, what startled him more was the fact that a ghostly version of him had appeared beside the girl. Creepy... he thought and took a step back without realizing it. “They’re just bullies,” the younger ghost reassured, “They don’t know anything about you.” The scene playing out before him reminded Alex highly of his dream. In fact, if he thought hard enough about it, he had a feeling he knew what would happen next.

Isn’t it obvious? the inner voice asked, surprised that it hadn’t been figured out. You were talking about reliving memories. Well, here you go.

You mean this is just a memory, he pointed at the two ghosts. Now that he really thought hard about it, he could kind of remember this conversation. He had several that were almost exactly the same with this girl. Or, he queried, Am I just thinking that I remember this? ...Naw, that’s too creepy to think about.

“Okay, kids, recess is over. Line up single-file so we can go inside,” a woman’s voice stated, the teacher. Both the ghostly girl and his younger version stood up and walked a few steps in the direction of the doors and then vanish. Alex, however, stood in the snow for a few minutes, mulling things over in his mind while snow continued to collect on the ground. Even if they had been memories, their voices were more than welcomed in the silence that had once again engulfed the town.

Are there more memories in this building? he wondered and glanced back over his shoulder. The brick structure almost seemed to loom over him.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there were. Though, I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t anymore, either, Mr. Voice replied. Alex wasn’t sure if he should be comforted by those statements or worried. Then again, what harm could a memory do to a person? Just memories, nothing more or less. The teenager bent down, rolled up a bit of snow into a ball, and threw it out into the field. It hit near the middle and broke into fine, white power. He didn’t have any reason for doing so. Alex just did it for the sake of doing something other than wandering around like a lost child. Letting out his breath, which turned into a visible wisp, he turned and went back inside the teaching center. It wasn’t much warmer indoors, the heat was probably turned off since there wasn’t anyone around to turn it on for the few teachers that came to grade homework over the weekend. Alex rubbed his gloved hands together to chase away the coldness that was prickling them. Let’s see, those ghosts looked like they were about... 11 so they’d probably be in the sixth grade, he surmised and then looked above. The fifth and sixth grade classrooms were kept on the second floor of the old building. He took the stairs two at a time, his shoes’ echos had become so common that he practically tuned them out.

The upper floor wasn’t anything special. Rows of lockers lined the walls and broke whenever there was a door. The lockers had been repainted red but some had been chipped in some spots so the dull metal showed through. None of them had locks, either. All the children were assigned a locker simply so they could hang their coats or put projects inside so the rooms would have more space. Nobody expected a ten- or eleven-year-old to remember a lock combination. That being said, Alex had no idea what his locker number had been. Of course, he never thought he’d be coming back here. Likewise, he didn’t remember which rooms had been the sixth grade classes. Well, there are only six rooms to look through, he counted and then opened the nearest door on his left side. I led into a normal-looking classroom with rows of desks, a whiteboard for the teacher to write on, and the teacher’s desk. Two windows at the back allowed light into the room. Walking up to said windows, the teenager peaked outside. Nothing had changed in the outside world. He could see the faint outlines of his footprints leading up to the front door though they were almost filled in with the continued snow fall. Seeing those tracks as the only sign of human life made him uneasy. The 19-year-old had to resist the urge to go out there and try to wipe them away. I’d only make more tracks doing that, he reasoned and stepped back from the glass, I wonder if the windows still look foggy on the outside. Oh well, doesn’t matter. Since nothing interesting was happening in this classroom, not that he knew exactly what he was looking for, he exited and went to the one across the hall. This one was also extremely normal-looking. He waiting for a few minutes and then left when nothing happened. Jeez, it’s like looking for a needle in a needle stack, he commented when he opened the door to another normal classroom.

Well, at least this stack isn’t poking the hell out of you, the inner voice joked.

“Har, har,” Alex said sarcastically with a little grin and opened another door. Instead of finding a classroom, he found the old school library. Bookcases lined the walls, and were obviously filled to the brim with books, while round tables were set up in the middle of the room. One table was had a notepad, pencil, and filing box sitting on it. Mostly like where an adult sat and had the children checked out books. He was about to leave, A library, how exciting... when another sob grabbed his attention. Another pack of ghostly children appeared in the middle of the room. It was the girl in the center, again, with only two boys and another girl crowded around her. Alex sighed, Why do all the memories seem to just be this girl getting picked on by other kids? Though, this little time trip wasn’t accompanied by sounds. He could tell that the bullies were saying some mean stuff but their mouths moved without any noise. Curiosity overcoming his fear slightly, the teenager walked over to the group and poked at one of the bullies. His finger went right through just as he had expected. Okay, if all I’m going to get out of this is seeing the girl get hurt feelings and then me coming over to comfort her, I’m outta here, he turned and marched towards the door. Then stopped as a sharp pain shot through his head and scrambled his thoughts.

“They were so mean to me,” a voice, a woman’s voice stated suddenly. It was full of contempt and pain. Not only that but it seemed to come from nowhere but inside Alex’s head. “All the kids picked on me and I never did anything to deserve it other than have the family that I did. Monsters, that’s what they were. Monsters...”

As sudden as the pain had come, it vanish altogether. That voice... the teenager though. He had heard it before, just as distinctly, but couldn’t recall. A strange hissing sounds forced him to turn back to the movie memory. The bullies were still jeering at the girl but the smokey fog that had covered their faces was now enshrouding their entire body. The hiss came again, from the ghostly forms. On the shoulder of one of the fog-covered children, a slit appeared. Alex thought that something might have cut the kid’s shoulder, don’t ask how, until it opened and showed off a top and bottom row of sharp teeth.

Several things soared through his brain at that point but only one managed to correlate into a complete thought, Monsters... By now, several mouths had opened on various places on the... things’ bodies, everywhere but the head which didn’t have any facial features to it at all. Alex unknowingly took several steps back, his eyes about as wide as a person’s could get. The ghostly girl in the center had long since disappeared so all that was left were the gray monsters. Which weren’t transparent anymore. Another hiss came and, at the same time, the three creatures turned their heads at him and looked at him. Even though they didn’t have eyes, the teenager knew that they could see him. And that was about all he could take. He turned around quickly, almost tripping over his own feet, and bursted through the door only to close it immediately behind him. “What the hell was that!?” he shouted, his fear finally allowing cohesive thought through. His heart slowly went back to its normal pace which had tripled in the last few seconds. Alex let his breathes come in and out, trying to calm himself. Maybe, he thought, Maybe that was just my imagination. Maybe I just thought I saw those things because of headache and the woman’s voice. Yeah, that had to be it. Seriously, monsters don’t exist.

At scraping noise from the other side of the door nearly made him leap out of his skin. Oh crap, they are real! he panicked.

Calm down, the inner voice commanded.

“How am I suppose to do that?” Alex asked out-loud, not caring about the fact that he was talking to himself, “There are monsters here. Monsters!”

Can they open doors? the second Alex asked calmly. That stumped the teenager. Could they? How was he suppose to know? You do realize that, if they could, there’s another door that leads in and out of the library, he stated. The 19-year-old muttered something intelligible under his breath and back away from the door. The scraping noise continued but the door didn’t suddenly swing open with the gray monsters leaping to tear him apart. Thankfully, Alex’s heart and breath rate slowed to normal and he let out a semi-relieved sigh.

“Okay, they can’t come after me. That’s good. But what the hell are they doing here in the first place?” he asked, somewhat to no one in particular and somewhat to that inner voice that seemed to know everything.

That’s like asking where did everyone go, the second voice replied.

“I can handle being in a deserted town. Being in a town populated by monsters instead of humans is a little much,” he said with slightly aggravation.

Those are the only ones you’ve seen, Mr. Voice pointed out, Saying the town is populated by them is a bit of an exaggeration.

“Who cares about specifics?!” Alex shouted then wished he hadn’t as his voice echoed throughout the school. The scraping became slightly louder and more frequent. He forced himself to calm down, “Look, the fact is that there are now monsters in this place. I would just like to get out of here,” he stated.

You could try going to sleep, came the suggestion.

The teenager shook his head, “Forget that. I’d be so worried about something jumping out and biting off my head that I would never be able to fall asleep.” He sighed and glanced back at the library door. With the scratching noise still coming, he had a feeling the monsters weren’t exactly the brightest things ever... created. Which he was highly thankful for. He’d probably already be dead if the things were smart. Well, at least he knew what he wanted to do now, I’m getting the hell out this school. And, he answered, knowing the question was coming, I don’t know where I need to go next but anywhere is better than here. He marched to the stairs and down them, not even taking the time to check any of the other rooms on the second floor. Alex had a feeling that, for some reason, he was only suppose to see the creatures here and that nothing else would happen at the school now. The teenager stopped at the T-intersection right in front of the main doors and looked to the right. The hallway had a few more classrooms but mainly led to the newer half of the building. And as he continued to look down that hall, bad vibes started to circle around him, almost smothering him. Something much worse than those gray monsters was down there.

Will you becoming back? the inner voice queried.

“I hope to God not,” was the reply and Alex hurried out into the snowy town.

~

Word Count - 3645

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