Turning for the Worst. Phase I
Author's Note: As you may know, I said this story would get dark and this chapter is going to push those limits to a newer level. Hope you're okay with that.
Todd felt proud of himself after thrashing Joy in a fight. After saying he'd rather not resort to violence, she simply ignored him and moved on to fight him anyways. It's not like he was going to lose a fight he commits to as his durability far exceeds many others. But he didn't think, or hoped for that matter, that he'd ever need to resort to violence. Now that he has done it, he's prepared to do it again going forward if needed. As he gets to the twenty third floor he notices the door is open. But how? That door hasn't been opened since the day Mr. Wilco left the school. He steps inside to get a better view and comes across Stephen brewing something up.
"Stephen?" The young elf turns around. "What are you doing?"
"Oh hi Todd, I was just creating a spirit bomb." Todd raises an eyebrow in confusion.
"Like a Dragon Ball Z spirit bomb?" He chuckles.
"No Todd, it's a Hex chemical, made with internal dark aura of fallen people within the area." He faces him. "By the way, what happened to your face?" Todd sighs.
"Joy thought it'd be polite to beat me up as a result of breaking up with Maurecia." Stephen's eyes widen.
"You two broke up?" He nods. "I cannot believe that." Todd shrugs.
"Well I was reminded how horrible this school really was." Stephen flinches.
"Horrible? You don't miss Mrs. Jewls?" He shakes his head.
"I hate Mrs. Jewls! I'm glad she's gone and I won't miss another few people if they don't show up later." Stephen sighs.
"Todd." He steps closer. "I can see darkness within you. Someone has corrupted your good nature." He shrugs.
"I don't mind it. I used to be the guy who got pushed around all the time and the only one who received consequences. Punching Joy's face and throwing her on the ground was the best I've ever felt!" Stephen face-palms.
"Todd, I'm getting scared of you." He says. "You're not violent are you?" He shrugs.
"If someone hurts me first, then striking back would be a necessary reaction." Stephen opens an uncarved pumpkin and pours the fluid inside. "By the way what is that?"
"Again, it's a spirit bomb. Myron is helping me with it." Todd frowns.
"Myron is dead." Stephen faces him.
"Yeah, I got a horrible vision last night that many more students would join him in the afterlife at one point or another. And Myron still couldn't tell me who did it." Todd sighs. "But he did say Vice Principal Keseau tried to kill him."
"I doubt that. You're talking crazy." Stephen frowns.
"I'm entirely sane Todd. I got this vision and I received contact from Myron. He's dedicating his negative aura to this Necromancy I'm going to use." Todd raises an eyebrow.
"You're not going to kill anyone are you?" He shakes his head.
"I doubt one soul is enough possession to kill someone, rather than simply paralyzing them for life." Todd glares.
"Stephen. That is a very dangerous thing to do." He shrugs.
"Is sword fighting a child an acceptable thing?"
"Where'd you hear that?" Stephen faces the idol.
"This totem gives me a vision of the afterlife." He then faces Todd. "Myron says Ivil Keseau tried sword fighting him to death and that every scenario that could've ended, they'd get away with it." Todd frowns.
"Are you suggesting the entire staff is in on this?" He shrugs.
"It's not my analysis, it's Myron's." Todd grips the totem.
"Hey Myron, can you hear me?" The totem doesn't respond. "Yeah, I'm really certain Myron told you anything." Stephen sighs.
"Todd, Voodoo isn't something you're used to. It's not like just anyone can use this idol." He points at his life sized doll. "Or that voodoo doll either." Todd steps toward the doll and stares at it.
"Then how does it work?" Stephen smiles proudly.
"I put my DNA inside this doll prematurely so if I were to die, all I'd need is my aura to resurrect!" Todd turns around and raises an eyebrow at him.
"That's literally the most insane thing I've ever heard." Stephen shrugs.
"I care not for your doubt. But we'll put it to the test if Myron is right about the dark future that awaits this school." Todd crosses his arms.
"You think something's going to happen? School shootings happen on an almost weekly basis across the country, if anything we're lucky only one person died. And it's likely we can just throw Sharie in jail to solve the problem." Stephen looks down in sadness.
"I'm sure Sharie is innocent, I just don't know how to prove it." Todd shrugs.
"What, did your crazy statue tell you that?" He shakes his head.
"Not at all."
"Then what did?" He pauses.
"Well, I really don't know, but she's not evil. There is no darkness resonating within her." Todd steps toward the door.
"Oh well, good luck." As he steps out he points at the totem one more time. "And tell Maurecia I'm over her." He leaves. Stephen looks at his totem again.
"That's weird, I don't see Maurecia in the afterlife."
After Todd exits that room he comes across Sharie as she climbs the stairs.
"Hi Todd!" She exclaims. Todd looks confused.
"Hello Sharie?" She giggles.
"How are you today?" She asks. He rolls his eyes.
"Well I'm a little frustrated. Joy decided to start a fight with me and it hurt pretty badly. But it's fine, I was able to show her who's boss!" Sharie frowns lightly.
"You beat up a girl?" He nods.
"Well what is a guy supposed to do? Let the girl beat him up? Let's face it, if a guy beats a girl everyone frowns upon him even though they'd look at him as a wimp if he lost."
"Hmm… unfortunately I think that is true." She remarks and then smiles again. "But it's still really nice to see you." He frowns in displease.
"Why are you so happy?" She shrugs.
"I had a real good night sleep." She sighs contently. "There was another boy in my dream." Todd grimaces.
"Hey Stephen!" He shouts. She holds her hands out.
"Wait! Don't tell-"
"Yeah?" Stephen exits the room. Sharie blushes lightly at his appearance. "What did you want?" Todd points at Sharie.
"You see that look?" Sharie's blush darkens once eye contact is made between them. "That's the look Maurecia used to give me." Stephen begins blushing at her as well. Todd's naughty smile widens. "I'll leave you two in peace for now." He continues his path to the thirtieth floor. For about fifteen seconds there is silence between the two of them until Sharie finally speaks up.
"So, hi Stephen." She says shyly. Stephen slowly regains his confidence.
"Good morning Sharie." His blush vanishes. "How are you?" She shrugs.
"Still fairly heartbroken that Myron is gone." Stephen smiles.
"Don't worry about him. I've been speaking to him in the afterlife." Her eyes widen.
"You can do that?" He nods proudly. "Can you show me?" His smile fades.
"Well, I can't." She looks disappointed. "I'm sorry, it only works for me." She regains her smile.
"That's okay, but did he know who did it?" He sighs.
"Unfortunately he never learned his name. But he did say that you're innocent." Sharie looks over her shoulder nervously.
"I don't think anyone will believe what you say." He nods sadly.
"I know. Todd thinks I'm crazy." She smiles and steps forward.
"Ignore Todd, he doesn't seem too happy today so we should discount his opinion."
"Yeah, I guess so." She unexpectedly hugs him. Immediately he falls silent and begins sweating slightly. His heart begins to pound much faster and more intensely.
"By the way." Sharie says calmly whilst holding him close. "Thanks for the pumpkin pie." He gently hugs her back.
"You're welcome." He responds. She lifts her head off of his shoulder and makes eye contact with him.
"I don't get to eat something that delicious in my poor house often." He chuckles.
"Well I'm glad I could help out." Sharie pauses for a second and ends the hug.
"You're a really soft person." He smiles again. "And you look much cuter when you're happy." The enlightenment strikes him to the core.
"And you're much cuter when you're not sassy." She giggles. "But if you're not sassy, then I'm happy."
"Interesting." She says in a humming tone. "Then perhaps I should tone the sassiness down so I can adore your cute smile all day." Stephen feels shocked by the confidence she's showing, but even more from the confidence he's capable of showing himself.
"Well then, I'll see you in class later."
"Okay, bye Stevie." Out of nowhere, she leans in and kisses his right cheek. She then turns and runs up the stairs as Stephen nearly passes out.
"Wow." He says as he slowly regains his conscience. "She is beautiful." He then re-enters the room to precede his weapon.
An hour and a half later the twenty four students appear in the classroom. Todd refuses to lift his head out of his arms. The usual Maurecia, Kathy, and Nancy aren't here and neither is Jenny or Myron. But for some reason another student is missing.
"Where's Joe?" Dana asks. Terrence begins giggling slightly. Ron faces her.
"I'm not sure, but I kind of hope he shows up. He did something pretty nice this morning." Terrence begins laughing even harder. Leslie frowns at him.
"Shut up will you?" Suddenly a heap of pain hits the back of her head. "OW!" She screams, and then turns around to Paul. "Stop pulling my pigtails!" He shrugs.
"Then be a little more polite to Terrence." She glares at him.
"You keep your hands to yourself!" Terrence slaps his desk.
"Hey! I don't believe anyone other than Todd gets to say that."
"I don't want to deal with anything right now." He mumbles in a disgruntled tone. Suddenly Mrs. Gorf steps into the classroom.
"Hello students." Dana, John, Sharie, Stephen, Leslie, Bebe, Rondi, Caroline, and the three Erics gasp upon seeing her. Suddenly Leslie screams again.
"Hey!" She turns around at Paul. "What did I just tell you?" He shrugs.
"It's very rude to gasp at someone's appearance." She glares.
"It's not your job to police my behavior!" She exclaims. Mrs. Gorf whistles loudly, catching both of their attentions.
"Excuse me, you two in the back. Stop fighting!" Leslie points her thumb behind her.
"He was pulling my hair!" He shrugs.
"She was being disrespectful." She frowns at them.
"I don't care, just don't do it again." She clears her throat. "My name is Mrs. Gorf." Dana raises her hand. "Yes honey?"
"Where is Joe?" Mrs. Gorf frowns.
"Is he skipping class?" Terrence chuckles.
"Kinda." He keeps laughing. Everyone faces him.
"Where is he?" Mrs. Gorf asks.
"Look out the window." Benjamin gets up and looks outside. At the very bottom he sees the small boy struggling to get off of the top of a flag pole.
"He's just hanging there flailing his arms hopelessly." Ron gets up.
"What?" He runs over to the window. "He looks desperate! Someone should do something." Terrence elbows Todd.
"I did that." He whispers.
"You're sick." Todd mumbles back. Mrs. Gorf rolls her eyes and gets on the telephone.
"Hello sweetie, this is your mother." She says into the phone. The students pause and face her. "One of my students is stuck on top of a flag pole. Can you please do something?"
"Of course." Morris responds before hanging up.
"Okay that's settled." She clears her throat. "By the way, with a student's life ending the other day, Le Chef has created a drop out policy. If any of you children are too scared to remain at this school, you're allowed to leave the building never to return." A few students look at each other as she proceeds. "In order to do so, you must report to the office, get on the PA, and announce to the school that you're quitting." Mac sighs. He knew he'd never be able to do that, and it didn't feel good to not see his girlfriend each day. Suddenly Todd raises his hand. "Yes Todd?" She asks.
"Are you going to tell everyone they've got nothing to be afraid of or not?" He doesn't lift his head. She frowns lightly at him.
"Todd, please face me when you talk." She demands.
"I'd really rather not." He mumbles. Stephen and Sharie face each other nervously.
"Come on Todd." Calvin says. "Show us you're bright face." Todd raises his head and reveals his trashed face. Many students gasp.
"Oh my!" Mrs. Gorf exclaims. "What happened to your face?" Todd glares fiercely and points at Joy.
"She beat me up!" She looks up and reveals a slight bruise on her forehead.
"You're going to blame me now? You're the one who won the fight!" She complains.
"Yeah, even though I didn't throw a single punch until I showed signs of recovery and you wanted to hurt me further!" He exclaims.
"You threw me on the ground head first, and slammed your knee into my shin!"
"What was I supposed to do? You were aiming for my scrotum!" Mrs. Gorf whistles.
"Alright quiet down!" She faces Joy while frowning. "Why did you hurt him?" She glares.
"Because he broke my best friend's heart." Allison turns around and frowns at her.
"That's why you beat him up?" She nods. "That's irredeemable!"
"Of course you'll take his side, he loves you beyond all reason." Todd face-palms.
"I don't." He faces Allison. "Allison, I respectfully don't love you." She nods.
"And I'm alright with that." He faces Joy.
"See? I'm completely sane and subconsciously intact." Suddenly Leslie screams again.
"PAUL!" She screams in frustration. "What did I do that time?" Paul shrugs.
"Nothing, I just wanted to break up this fight." Mrs. Gorf face-palms.
"Todd, how would your old teacher deal with this sort of thing?" Todd frowns humbly.
"She would put someone's name on the board, in this case Paul." Paul frowns as she writes his name on the board. "She'd put a checkmark next to it as an additional warning." She does just that.
"Stop giving her ideas!" Paul exclaims. Todd faces her.
"And she'd circle it if he acted up again. If that happens, he leaves this school at noon on the kindergarten bus." Mrs. Gorf puts the chalk down.
"Paul, you have one more chance. Please don't abuse it." Paul nods reluctantly.
Meanwhile outside Joe is still hanging by his pants on top of the flag pole. He just hangs there with no hope of getting down anymore. Until Morris steps outside.
"Hey son, are you okay?" He asks. Joe sighs.
"I think so. Can you get me down?" He shrugs.
"How'd you even get up there?" He asks.
"I told Terrence to F off of picking on Ron and he hooked my pants. Then he raised the flag." Mr. Gorf frowns.
"I'd love to help you out but the only way to lower it is to loop the string entirely. I'll go tell our vice principal." He walks back into the school.
"Please hurry! This is too much for me to sit through much longer!" He panics as Mr. Gorf approaches the office.
"Miss Keseau." He gets her attention. "There's a child hanging on the flag pole. Can you get him down?" She smiles despicably.
"Of course I will." She steps outside to the flagpole.
"Help me!" Joe exclaims desperately. She smiles evilly and withdraws her fencing sword. "Wait! Don't cut it!" She brings the sword to the rope.
Meanwhile on the thirtieth floor, Stephen's idol blinks. The eyes on his totem glow bright blue and he gets a confused look. A second later the PA turns on.
"Hello, my name is Joe and I'm dropping out of school." It is Joe speaking over the announcement. "Thank you and goodbye." The PA turns off. Mrs. Gorf rolls her eyes.
"Well I guess I can take his name off the rollcall list." Sharie raises her hand. "Yes?"
"Joe wasn't in here when you gave us the dropout policy. How'd he know what to do?" She shrugs.
"Maybe my son told him about it when he got him down. Now, are there any questions?" John raises his hand from the floor. "Okay good, let's move on." John frowns.
"I did have a question!" He asserts.
"Who said that?" She asks as Deedee points downward.
"John did." John waves while upside down. "You probably couldn't see his hand because he's closer to the floor." She walks up to the flipped kid and frowns.
"Why are you standing on your head?" He chuckles nervously.
"I flipped my brain over when I was younger, it vertically inverted my vision and so if I sit right side up, everything is upside down to me." She rolls her eyes.
"I'll suspend my disbelief. What did you want?"
"I'd like to use the restroom." She folds her arms and holds her right hand toward the door.
"By all means, go ahead." John gets onto his arms and walks out of the room on his hands.
When he gets outside of the room he sees someone messing with the controls.
"Hey!" He exclaims as the lady turns. It's Mrs. Drazil. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm trying to get familiar with these complex controls." He glares.
"Don't do that! The room could turn into a trash compactor!" He crawls closer.
"Well what does this button do?" She hits one closer to her right. John's eyes widen.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" He flips onto his legs and back onto his arms, his legs swing forward and kick her in the chest.
"Ouch!" She cries out as the hole opens below John.
"AH!" He falls into the chute. Mrs. Drazil looks into the hole and makes an evil smirk.
"Oops."
A few minutes later an announcement is made.
"Hello, my name is John and I'm dropping out." He says over the PA. "Have a nice day everyone." It turns off. Stephen stares at his idol again and the eyes are glowing blue.
"I can't believe he quit." Benjamin says.
"Me neither." Allison agrees. Mrs. Gorf face-palms.
"He said he needed to use the restroom. And then he ditched our class." Sharie raises her hand again. "Yes honey?" Mrs. Gorf asks.
"John was here less than four minutes ago, don't you think he'd still be on his way to the bottom?" She shrugs.
"How would I know? Who's the fastest runner in the school?" Dameon raises his hand.
"That'd be me. But even my record is 5:24." He says as Sharie holds a hand forward.
"I doubt someone who never uses their feet would make it to the bottom floor in less time than that." Stephen glares at his idol upon receiving a vision.
"This is bad!" Everyone faces him as he faces Mrs. Gorf. "Joe and John are dead." Everyone gasps in unison.
"Impossible." Mrs. Gorf says in annoyance. "Where are you get that?" He holds his idol out.
"This totem! The eyes glow bright blue whenever somebody dies, it glowed for Joe and now again for John!" She holds her hand out.
"Please give it to me." He frowns and holds it closer.
"No. It's mine!" Suddenly Leslie screams again. Mrs. Gorf faces her.
"What the hell?" Paul questions. She turns around and glares at him.
"You pulled my pigtails a third time!" Mrs. Gorf rushes toward the chalkboard.
"Paul, I've had it with this behavior." She circles his name. "Get to the office now." The disgruntled boy stands up.
"Okay, I did pull on her hair the first few times, but she pulled that scream out of her ass!" She glares at him.
"No I didn't! You hurt me!" He gets in her face.
"I did not! You did this the other day as well! I pull your hair twice and then you scream for no reason to get rid of me sooner!" She stands up.
"I didn't!" Jason stands up.
"Okay that is enough!" He faces Mrs. Gorf. "I witnessed Paul's every move. This time he's innocent." He grins and faces Leslie.
"Take that liar!" Leslie grabs his collar.
"Okay you've done it!" Mrs. Gorf whistles loudly and they both flinch.
"I've had enough of both of you! Get out of my classroom and to the office right now!" Leslie points at herself.
"Me?" Mrs. Gorf raises her voice.
"Both of you! If you children want to drop out, then fine. I won't miss either of you." Leslie is about to cry, Paul only sighs deeply.
"You're not a very friendly teacher." He says as she rolls her eyes.
"It's not my job to be friendly, it's my job to be serious and I'm sick of your fighting." Terrence chuckles.
"I find their fighting rather amusing."
"Well I'm tired of it." She says as Leslie and Paul exit the classroom. Mrs. Gorf slams the door behind them.
By the time they're get to the office Ivil is reading a book with a disinterested look on her face.
"What are you two doing here?" She asks. Leslie points at Paul.
"He can't keep his hands off of my hair!" Paul frowns.
"Or maybe I could but you were too urged to get rid of me." Ivil rolls her eyes and points at a pair of chairs in front of her.
"Sit down." They reluctantly sit next to each other. "Now, please don't bicker until Le Chef gets back." Leslie raises her hand. "What?"
"Where is Le Chef now?" She shrugs.
"He's going over every student and faculty member's medical history." Paul's eyes widen.
"I'm not sure if I'm okay with that." He says.
"And why is that?"
"I have severe allergies. If I eat mushrooms, lettuce, bananas, or anything high in sodium or potassium, my face will puff up to the point I'm uglier than Kathy." Leslie points a finger toward him.
"I dislike you for many reasons, but I agree with that." She raises an eyebrow.
"Who's Kathy?"
"Someone very mean and ugly." Leslie says.
"Almost as ugly as you." Paul adds. Leslie glares at him.
"Me?" He shakes his head and points at Ivil.
"No her." Ivil glares at him to. "No offense." She face-palms.
"Well young man, you've got a real attitude!" Leslie holds a hand at her in defense.
"He said no offense." She shrugs.
"Does that mean I cannot take offense from it?" Paul makes a defensive gesture.
"No, no. It just means I'm not trying to hurt your feelings."
"Well I recommend you apologize to me right now!" She demands.
"Not yet, wait until I'm in a better mood." Paul remarks. Leslie stands up.
"I have been stressing him out a lot lately." She admits. "And he's been stressful to me." He nods in agreement. "But we were sent here on account of an unfriendly teacher who said she wouldn't mind if we dropped out of school." Ivil frowns and holds the microphone out.
"Do you want to leave Wayside?" Paul shakes his head. "Come on you little squid." He gasps. "Do us both a favor!" Leslie glares at her.
"Now you've insulted him." She points at herself.
"He insulted me first!"
"Well that doesn't mean retaliate." Paul stands up and stands beside Leslie.
"I'm not dropping out, and I wish Kidswatter hadn't either." She pauses.
"Kidswatter?"
"Yeah, our old principal?" Paul says.
"The person you dumped." Leslie adds. Ivil sits there speechlessly.
"He was a friendly person. Back in fourth grade I was afraid of him." Leslie nods.
"Everybody was. I was to." He continues.
"But he was a gentle person who deeply cared about his whatchamacallits."
"Students." Leslie corrects. He nods.
"Right, he always cared about students, he never tried being cruel even if he should've, and he was not ugly at all." She frowns.
"So you two think I'm hideous?" Leslie puts her left hand over Paul's mouth.
"No, we just think you could do better." She frowns.
"Okay that's enough. I'm done with you kids." She grabs a remote.
"You're letting us go?" Paul asks with excitement, a second later a trap door opens and both of them fall in.
"AH!" They both scream in unison until they hit the ground. "OW!" They look up.
"What the hell was that for?!" Paul yells.
"You guys can come out when school is over." Leslie frowns in sadness.
"You're just going to leave us here?" She nods.
"For now." She smirks evilly. "Have fun." The ceiling closes above them.
"I don't believe this!" Paul pouts. Leslie begins crying quietly. Paul moves a little closer. "What's wrong?" She stops for a second.
"I'm scared." She says quietly. He sits next to her.
"Don't be, it's just a dark basement in the bottom of a school." The air becomes more humid and the little bit that they can see gets blurrier.
"Does it smell like smoke to you?" She asks. He sniffs.
"It does. But how?"
Meanwhile on the fifteenth floor kitchen, Le Chef is scolding Miss Mush as Miss Nogard holds an exhaust fan out. The smoke is entering the pipe system.
"You overcooked the meal!" He yells. She holds her arms out.
"I didn't try to." She remarks.
"Well try specifically not to next time!" Wendy looks up.
"Are you sure this pipe goes to a chimney?" She asks. Le Chef rolls his eyes.
"No, it goes to a secret room within the basement, but nobody goes in there so it's not an issue if we purify it later." His phone vibrates. "What is zis? Miss Keseau?" He reads the text silently.
"What did she say?" Wendy asks. Le Chef glares and nearly releases a tear.
"Get your boyfriend!"
Meanwhile back in, formerly Mrs. Jewls classroom, Mrs. Gorf is teaching literacy as students follow along silently. Stephen flinches at the sudden sight of his totem's eyes glowing for a second. He sighs deeply and holds his head on the desk.
"What's wrong?" Sharie whispers. Stephen doesn't lift his head up.
"Call my cellphone." She leans closer.
"I live in poverty, I don't have a phone." The idol blinks a second time. His inner frustration grows.
"Borrow Leslie's." He says firmly under his breath.
"Do you think she'll mind?" He turns around and reveals extreme stress.
"No! She's not coming back!" He whispers even louder. Mrs. Gorf spots him this time.
"Quiet down please." He flinches and looks forward. "Thank you." He briefly faces Sharie with a desperate look. She nods and withdraws Leslie's phone. Luckily Mrs. Gorf doesn't pay attention as she punches in the digits. Stephen's phone rings.
"What is going on now?" Mrs. Gorf asks in annoyance. Everyone faces Stephen as the 'Tom of Bedlam' theme plays out loud.
"Whoa!" D.J exclaims. "Nice ring tone dude!" Stephen nods proudly his direction and then faces his teacher.
"I really need to go." She face-palms.
"You've disrupted class twice now with your little statue. Should-"
"It's an emergency!" He blurts. She sighs and holds her hand toward the door.
"You're excused." He gets up.
"Thank you." He begins running out of the room and down the stairs. Mrs. Gorf faces the stairway.
"If you're making this up! I promise you a horrifying fate!" She calls down. He's too far down to respond. She groans audibly and reenters her classroom.
Stephen dashes down to the twenty third floor and the room is still unlocked and empty. He goes to the back to pick up his deadly jack o lantern.
"Okay." He holds the idol above the tip. "Speak to me."
*Hi Stephen.* It's Myron's voice.
"Myron, please tell me you're alone." Stephen prays.
*Myron is that you?* That sounds like Joe.
*Oh hi Joe!* Myron exclaims.
*What happened man, I thought you were dead.*
*I am dead.* Stephen face-palms. *It looks like you're dead to now.*
*Are you serious?* Myron nods. *I just turned fifteen and this is what I get?* Stephen raises his index finger.
"Anyone else in the afterlife?" Joe pauses.
*Is that Stephen?* Myron nods. *He's dead to?*
"I'm alive and I might be your only open window to life on Earth." He withdraws a tiny torch out of his pocket along with a match. "Show yourselves." He lights the torch and sets it inside the carved pumpkin. The entire face lights up and upon staring into its eyes, Stephen sees them.
"Hi Stephen!" Myron exclaims and waves. Stephen nervously waves back.
"So, we're dead now? Forever?" A tear leaves Stephen's right eye.
"Yeah…" Unexpectedly John walks into the vision, on foot.
"Myron, Joe?" He asks.
"You're on your feet?!" Joe asks in surprise. John looks down.
"Wow! I am. But where are we?" Myron points at the one-way portal.
"We're dead people in the afterlife. Stephen is watching us." John flinches.
"We're dead?" Joe sighs and nods. "Please tell me Stephen can hear us!" Stephen nods.
"Hope answered pal. Is there anything you aren't ready to say goodbye to that you need me to do for you?" John shrugs.
"I don't know, I'm just waiting for this nightmare to end so I can resume my life." Stephen begins shedding more tears. Myron steps toward him.
"Sorry pal, your soul's awake and your will is asleep, permanently." John looks down in sadness.
"And you're just okay with it?" Joe asks Myron.
"I've been dead since Friday. What day is it today?"
"Tuesday." John responds. Myron folds his arms humbly.
"I'm used to being dead now. And I'd rather not worry about my own personal gain now because I don't get a say in anything anymore." Suddenly Leslie and Paul walk in.
"What is this?" Paul asks. Everyone faces them.
"Leslie! Paul!" Myron exclaims happily. "More company!" They both stand there phased.
"He's dead right?" Leslie asks.
"Yeah, Myron is dead." Paul responds subtly.
"And I'm dreaming right?" Paul firmly yanks her left pigtail.
"Did you feel that?" She shakes her head. "Then it's official, we're dead." They step further.
"Does that mean you guys are all dead to?"
"Yeah." Joe says subtly. John just stands there crying.
"I wasn't ready to die!" He exclaims. Paul steps forward with frustration.
"Wait, we're all actually dead?" Myron nods. "Why aren't we in heaven with all the other people in history who've died?" Myron points at the window.
"Stephen and I have been talking since yesterday, and whenever he looks into the afterlife, everyone within the school area who dies departs here first." He turns around. "Right Stephen?" Stephen is covered in tears now. He nods reluctantly. "Is something wrong?" He faces his five deceased friends.
"This school is turning into a dictatorship. I felt like this morning students' lives were at stake. I didn't realize how dark it could get." He looks down and a few more tears soak his eyes. "And I'm fairly sure it's not over yet." His determination comes back. "So I want to avenge you." They all nod in unison. "Did vice principal Keseau kill you guys as well?" Paul flinches.
"Who kissed you?" They face him.
"It's pronounced I-vil kiss you." Myron remarks before facing Stephen. "And yeah she tried to kill me." Joe glares.
"She cut me off the rope. I was about twenty feet in the air and she cut the rope!" John shrugs.
"I died because I fell into the chute that leads to the principal's office. I fell in head-first." Leslie sighs.
"Paul and I were sent into a dark room that filled up with smoke. We died of carbon monoxide poisoning." Paul frowns and points at Stephen.
"Under the ugly bitch known as Ivil Keseau. Take her life for us!" Stephen nods.
"I can't harm her without your help. She has a sword." Paul smirks evilly.
"What can we do?" Stephen picks up the pumpkin.
"Hex her like never before!" He grabs a screwdriver from the desk in case of emergency.
Stephen walks all the way to the ground level carefully with the pumpkin in his hands. He enters the principal's office and Ivil sets her book down.
"How many times am I getting interrupted today?" She asks in annoyance. He rolls his eyes.
"I don't know. How many disturbances in Wayside's life as a whole on the thirtieth floor am I going to painfully sit through?" She lowers her eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" He frowns in disappointment.
"I get the feeling people are dying." He looks at the pair of empty seats. "Interesting. Weren't Leslie and Paul supposed to be here?" She leans forward.
"They dropped out." His frown strengthens.
"WRONG!" He yells loudly, causing her to flinch. "They dropped through the floor." Her eyes widen.
"And? They're in timeout." He chuckles twice.
"Permanently? That's dark." She stares blankly in suspense. "What about Joe? I thought you were supposed to get him off the flag pole."
"He dropped out to." He shakes his head.
"He wasn't in the building when the policy was announced. He wouldn't know that." Before she can speak he continues. "And what about John?" Her glare darkens.
"I thought I told you! They dropped out! He literally said so on the PA!" He frowns.
"I'll suspend my disbelief, Including the disbelief a boy who stands on his head all the time can get down thirty floor on foot in under three minutes." She growls inaudibly. "But what about Myron?"
"Who?" Stephen opens his eyes and his eyes are bright red.
"MYRON!" She flinches under intimidation.
"Please stop shouting." He quiets down. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying he came down here to rescan the safe on Friday, a day our class didn't have school. To this day we don't know where Mrs. Jewls is… or Myron for that matter." He sets his pumpkin on the desk. "You tried slaying him to the ground with a sword." Out of anger she withdraws her sword and holds it next to his face.
"YES!" He frowns at the sight of the sword. "I did. But he got away and someone else shot him. Now leave before you get the worst!" A mischievous smirk appears on his face.
"I think the worst is already in your favor." Her glare fades slowly due to confusion.
"What?"
"Goodbye." He says before the pumpkin explodes.
"AH!" She screams and falls backward in her chair at the sheer staggering of the explosion. A second later a yellowish purple gas emits from the pumpkin and hits her. "Ack!" She coughs. "What, auc." She constantly continues coughing as Stephen flees. On his way back to the stairs Mr. Gorf grabs him by the arm.
"Excuse me son, what are you doing?" Stephen points behind him.
"She's on the ground begging for air. You should help her." He flinches and lets go.
"What?" Stephen jets up the stairs. "Son." He calls to him. "Son! Get back here!" Stephen ignores Mr. Gorf and runs up the stairs. By the time he gets to the fourteenth floor he's tired.
"I need to find another way." He suddenly comes across a closed vent at foot level that is about three and a half feet in height and two and a half in width. "Okay." He withdraws the screwdriver and undoes the door. He proceeds to crawl into the vent as he hears someone coming behind him.
"Hey sweetheart what are you doing?" He recognizes Miss Nogard's voice. However he continues to crawl in until he's out of her sight and vocal range. He takes a deep breath under stress.
"I guess I'm in here for a little while."
Author's Note: Yes. Things are getting more deadly now. This is the first half of the macro homicide, and the other half is coming next.
Deceased Characters:
Joe
John
Leslie
Paul