Strange Happenings at Third Street Chapter 1: Don't Look, a recess fanfic

Dodgeball's were thrown back and forth throughout the playground. What had started as a game between the fourth and fifth graders quickly became a game involving the entire student body, minus the kindergartners, when a few of the rubbery projectiles were thrown in the wrong direction. One miss understanding lead to another, and now Third Street's playground was a war field.

Luckily, or unluckily, one of the dodgeballs that one of the fifth graders misaimed hit a first grader, El Diablo was released from one of, if not the scrawniest fourth graders, and every now and then, a dodgeball going at 20 mph zoomed through the air.

The dodgeballs weren't the only thing going through the air. If you could listen carefully, you could hear the yells and screams of Ms. Finster demanding that this massive game stop, before everyone got a level 6 detention. They didn't listen however, and the game continued.

One of the fourth graders, TJ smiled when he saw another student and his friend, Spinelli effectively take out Lawson with one swift throw. Seeing Vince ducking and avoiding dodgeballs being thrown his way, TJ shouted at him and tossed him the ball he was holding. He picked a ball that had landed near his feet. He prepared to throw it, but a careless glance towards the woods in the back of the playground caused a cold chill raced up his spine and settled in the pit of his stomach. He suddenly became of the cold sweat on his forehead and his breathing became shallow.

He could've sworn he saw something out there, hiding between the trees. His pause was long enough for one of the fifth graders to notice and aim and hit him, sending him to the ground. Before he could get up, the bell rang, ending the game.

"You okay, TJ?" Spinelli said, helping him up. "You zoned out there for a second."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I saw someone out there," He said, pointing towards the woods. There was no one out there. "Oh. I guess I was seeing things."

"C'mon, let's get inside before Ms. Finster gives us a bigger detention than she already is," she said. They laughed before heading inside. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

After a harsh test that following Friday, the gang decided to blow off some steam and relax down by the lake, skipping rocks. While seeing who could skip rocks the farthest, they joked and talked about their plans for the weekend. Spinelli had tickets to a wrestling match on Saturday and Sunday (and after having to convince her mom to actually let her go, there wasn't anything that was going to stop her), Vince's parents were dragging him to a family reunion a few towns over, Gretchen was headed to a science exposition, and Mike also had tickets, but to a play.

TJ was stuck at home, working one bring up his abysmal grades through extra credit essays, book reports, and homework. He was about to tell them as he turned around to look for a flat rock toss but seeing something in the woods in the corner of his eye caught his attention and stopped the words from coming out his mouth.

That cold chill from a few days ago returned, as well as the inability to move, and a racing pulse to match.

"Something the matter, Teej?" He heard Vince ask. He blinked, and he could move again.

"There's something out there," he said, pointing towards the woods. They looked and saw nothing.

"But there's nothing out there," said Gretchen.

"I could've sworn there was something just there," TJ mumbled.

"Just like on Thursday, huh?" said Spinelli.

"You saw something on Thursday?" Gus asked.

"Yeah, in the woods in the back of the playground," said TJ. "It was after the dodgeball game, but it was gone when I looked gain."

"Maybe it was just a kid passing through," Mikey said.

"Makes sense," Gretchen said.

"But…" TJ tried to come up with some reason that it wasn't, but couldn't. "I guess that makes enough sense…" A boom of thunder lit up the sky, and rain started to drizzle. Deciding to head home, the group said their goodbyes hen they had to split of towards their own homes. When the last two, Spinelli and TJ, split off the feeling of being followed returned. Even though they were only down and across the street from each other, TJ couldn't help but look behind him every couple of seconds to see if there was somebody there.

Right before he opened the front door, he started a coughing fit. Covering his mouth, he went inside. The sound of his coughing caught the attention of his mother.

"TJ, is that you?" His mother called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's me," He answered between coughs. His mother came out to check on him.

"That cough doesn't sound good," his mother said. "Go upstairs and get the Robitussin."

"But mom—"

"No buts! That's a bad cough, and you've been outside in the rain, too!"

Sighing, he followed his mother's orders. While his coughing eventually stopped, his growing paranoia didn't. He spent the rest of the night in his room, sitting at his desk and working at the large pile of school work he had waiting for him. Still, he looked out the window every few seconds. The darkening skies didn't help when he was looking for what he was sure was following him. He could find anything, but he was sure that something moved right when he looked away.

He was running, from what he didn't know. The lack of air in his lungs and his pounding heart in his chest told him that he had been running for a while. It was dark, and the only clue to where he was was the sound of grass crunching beneath his feet. He tripped over a branch and fell flat on his face, but that didn't slow him down. He scrambled back to his feet, but he was only able to run for a few feet before something wrapped around his ankles and caused him to fall. He tried crawling away, but whatever was wrapped around his ankles, wrapped around his arms and neck. He was lifted off the ground, and his air was cut off and his neck was squeezed.

What little he could see started to fade away…

TJ woke up with a shout and sat up in his been. His hand immediately went to his chest and he breathed and tried to slow his pulse.

"What was that?" He asked himself. Looking out the window, he saw that it was still raining, and didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. He felt something drip down his nose and over his mouth. Wiping his face, he saw that it was blood. "Great, a nose bleed."

After going in the bathroom, her grabbed a bunch of tissues and cleaned himself up. Looking in the mirror, his vision swam, and he didn't have enough time to grab the end of the sink before he fell to the floor.

The sound of him falling got the attention of mother. Seeing her son struggling to pick himself up immediately worried her.

"TJ what happened?" She asked as she helped him up.

"I got dizzy and fell," he said before breaking out in another coughing fit. He felt his mother touch his forehead before speaking up again.

"You have a fever. Looks like you're sick. Let's get you back to bed." Being put back in his bed made him realize how tired he was. Even with his recent nightmare, the sleep was welcome.

Despite his mother telling him to rest and his body getting exhausted very quickly, TJ was still determined to at least do a few things on his to-do list. He managed to complete three assignments, plus two book reports. By Sunday night, his cough, fever, and dizziness were gone, as well as his growing paranoia. Ultimately he blamed it on the cold he was struck with, and brushed it off.

The following week went by normally, all things considered. As soon as he got to school on Monday, TJ explained to his friends those moments where he zoned out and swore he saw something following him were just his minds playing tricks on him since he was coming down with the cold.

They all laughed it off and continued with things as normal. A few pranks on well deserving fifth grade bullies (and Randal), a couple of good games of kickball, basketball, and tether ball, and some well executed plans to retrieve confiscated items Ms. Finster took all helped to bring things back to normal. Until Thursday.

It was on Wednesday that TJ remembered something that was so important to him that he wouldn't stop talking about it for days. There was going to be a release of special, limited edition Senor Fusion comic. The good news was that he had save enough money to preorder it months before. The bad news? It was being released tomorrow, at 8 pm. What kind of release date was that? That put a he dent in his plans.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" Spinelli asked the day before.

"Isn't it obvious?" TJ asked. "I'm going to sneak out to get it."

"Couldn't you just ask your parents to take you?" Vince asked.

"I did, but they said no. I tried to explain that if I didn't go get it when it came out then they would get my copy away, but they didn't believe me," TJ explained. "I'll be quick. I won't even get caught!"

It had only taken twenty minutes to reach the store. They were more than ready for the large number of kids as well as adult fans lining to up get their comic as soon as possible. But even with this short amount of time, TJ was still a little worried about his parents realizing that he was gone. He wanted to get home as soon as possible to avoid getting in any kind of trouble.

Walking down the street, he noted the woods. Going through would get him home faster than the way he took to get there, but it was in the woods that he saw something in last week. He reminded himself that it was just his cold playing tricks on him before stepping into the woods for a much shorter way home.

The thought of possibly getting lost wasn't in his head at all. He and the others had been through these woods more times than they could count. Sure, things looked a bit different at night, but it shouldn't be that significant of a difference. Besides, everything looked different at night.

Holding his newly acquired comic book, he looked around to get an idea of where he was and how much longer he would be walked before going on. He recognized the area, helping him to relax. Dried leaves and twigs crunched and snapped under each step he took. That, and the occasional bug creaking being the only sounds he heard was starting to creep him out. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness from the city lights, he was able to better see the tree's in the distance. However, that was a luxury that lasted for only so long, as a thick fog began to pour in. Soon, he was only able to see the few trees in front of him.

"This is crazy," He mumbled to himself. "I'm not going to be scared by fog!" His attempt to restore his wavering bravery only worked for a few seconds before faltering. Something in the back of his mind telling him that he wasn't alone. The familiar chilling feeling he felt last week went through his body and settled in his hands and stomach. A lump made itself comfortable in his throat, and only left when he swallowed it, as well as is growing fears. He wanted to turn around, and figure out what was causing him to be like this, but didn't.

"There's no one there," TJ told himself. He reasoned that he wouldn't heard them. Footsteps, breathing, anything! He couldn't. He only heard his own breath and footsteps. Still, his curiosity got the best of him. He slowly turned around, as to lessen the surprise or shock if he did see someone there.

Off in the distance, as he could see were the faint shapes of the tree's, and a few fallen ones; nothing suspicious. Having eased his fears, TJ started to turn around and keep walking, until he noticed something else.

It, whatever it was, was tall. It stood up straight, like most of the trees but its presence was unsettling. Though it was far away, TJ could tell that it was taller than anybody he had seen. It didn't move, only standing there, perfectly able to blend in with the trees.

"No," he said. He shook his head before turning back around and continuing on his way. "It's from the cold. I'm just seeing things again. It has to be."

When his feet began to hurt, he question why he wasn't out of the woods yet. The path wasn't long enough to make his feet hurt. On top of that, he couldn't see the edge of the woods at all.

"What a time to get lost." He rolled the comic into a tube and tucked it in his back pocket. Sighing, he tried to calm down. Now was not the time to panic. "My parents definitely know I've snuck out my now," He thought. "I can say goodbye to this comic for a month." Honestly, his parents were the least of his worries at the moment. He was using those thoughts as a distraction, but it wasn't working. He couldn't shake the feeling of being watched and followed. Picking up the pace, he tried to lose the guy, but the nagging feeling stayed.

Squinting, he tried to spot the tree's father ahead. It worked, if only a little. One of the trees had what looked to be a piece of papers attached to it. He walked to it and picked it off. There was writing on it, telling him it wasn't some wayward flyer. It looked like it was written in black crayon by a little kid or in the very least, someone in a rush.

"Don't look or it takes you," he read. "What? That doesn't make any sense. Whatever, I gotta get out of here and get home."

He continued on, reminding himself that he would eventually reach the edge of the woods. He couldn't help his racing heart. Then, the ground rumbled. It was slow and repetitious, like a giant's footsteps. That was impossible, but it wasn't strong enough to be an earthquake. As soon as it started, it stopped, and he let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"It's nothing. It's nothing. Just calm down, Detweiler. You'll be out of here in no time," he thought. He kept repeating this in his head to feign the feeling of safety. Sniffing, he halfheartedly wiped his nose, not expecting anything, but finding blood on his hand. "It just keeps getting better." Looking ahead, he barely avoided running into a tree. He found that there was another note with the words 'HELP ME' scribbled on it.

Where things were just creepy, it now became terrifying. All he wanted to do was get a comic book, now TJ was sure he was getting stalked by some psycho killer. He stopped, and slowly turned around again. This time, that guy, the man, was closer, though still a ways in the distance. Now he could see its disturbingly long arms, though he couldn't make out its face. But he knew that he was being followed, and it wasn't just a paranoid feeling.

Turning around, he took off running. He stumbled over a few logs on the ground, but kept running. He found himself slowing down and running out of breath before he expected to. He had to stop to catch his breath. It felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest. It didn't, but it felt like it jumped into his throat when he heard movement right behind him.

He forced himself to keep running, but tripped over a log and fell face first into a large mud puddle. He pushed himself up, and wiped the mud of his face. He turned around for the third and final time. This time, the man was right behind him.

The distance from before was deceptive of his height. No one could possibly be that tall. His body looked stiff, uncomfortably so. And now he knew why he couldn't read his face; there was none. It was just white. No nose, no mouth, no eyes, nothing.

He didn't want to stick around to figure out what this thing was, so he tried to stand up and run, but couldn't. He couldn't move at all. Something was keeping him from moving, but he couldn't figure out what.

Then, long thin tendrils came out of the creatures back. Once they were long enough, they started to reach out to him.

"Oh God, it's going to kill me," He thought. He closed his eyes, expecting to have his neck snapped or something of the like, but felt something wrap around his abdomen. He opened his eyes, realizing that he was being lifted onto his feet. The tendrils unwrapped from around him, and seemed like they were shrinking back into it.

Suddenly, faster than anyone could blink, they shot out of the monster again, and shot straight through TJ's stomach and out his back. He coughed, and weakly clawed at the tendril going through him at a pathetic and futile attempt to get away. Every cough brought up blood. It poured down his face, staining his shirt and the ground. Pain was shooting through his entire body from his abdomen. He was pulled off his feet, and felt an electric like pain directed towards his head. All off his strength was gone, and he couldn't do as much as move his arms.

"…s-stop…" he gasped and begged. "….p-plea-ase…st-stop…" The monster didn't listen, and if it was, didn't care. The last thing the ten year old heard was the sound of his own flesh being torn and ripped as the tendrils penetrating him tore the entire upper half of his body, ending his short life.

His body landed on the ground with a stomach churning squelch. Blood pooled and stained the ground. Tendril wrapped around his corpse and picked him up. His comic, the reason he was out here in the first place, fell out of his back pocket and in the puddle of blood.