Student Homicide phase II

Author's Note: As I continue to write this story, more thoughts go through my head. There are some very specific events I have planned and other trivial items I throw in there like conflicts and romance. But I assure to some degree, you'll find satisfaction in chapters yet to come. I'm already really looking forward to chapter thirteen. But I first need to finish up on these additional chapters first. Also I should warn you, this is probably the darkest chapter you're going to read, and I'm done censoring the F word. Hope that doesn't discourage you to continue.


Mrs. Gorf is writing some things on the chalkboard as the now twenty one students study silently. Sharie keeps thinking of her adorable close friend and prays he knows what he's doing. Dameon is thinking about Joe and wondering why he left. Rondi can't help but look over constantly and fail to see John's feet. She was really used to the view of his shoes hovering in front of her. Jason feels a little sorrowful because he might've got Paul and Leslie sent home. Even D.J. stopped smiling at the absence of almost a third of the class he met the first day he was moved here. But Allison is the one hurt most of all, as she feels a large amount of responsibility. She believes that maybe Maurecia's absence lead to the unravelling of everyone else. And she can't help but sympathize for the void in the hearts of Dana, Mac, and Todd. Even with the new teacher Todd's sworn to liking, he doesn't seem as happy as he usually is. She's not in love with him either, but she does find enjoyment in the happiness he usually shows. Instead he's sitting in the corner alone, with a darkened eye and freshly cut lip. Under the same fact however, Joy was sitting like that as well. She can't help but wonder Todd's motive for fighting back. All this is interrupted the second Louis steps in.

"HEEELLLLOOO FRESHMEN!" He exclaims in excitement, successfully capturing everyone's attention. Mrs. Gorf frowns at him in annoyance.

"What are you doing here?" She asks as he glances around the room.

"I'm in love!" He exclaims. Allison, Sharie, Bebe, Calvin, and D.J. all smile passionately. Todd lifts his head up lightly.

"Good for you." He mumbles. Louis's excitement fades once he sees Todd's beaten face.

"Whoa Toddster! Did you run into a wall or trip on the stairs?" He shakes his head. "Then what did happen?" Todd's eyes face Joy for a second. He notices she's fighting to keep tears in her eyes. Then he faces Louis.

"I don't want to talk about it." Joy faces Todd and smiles briefly under his concern to avoid exposing her aggression. Unfortunately Jason isn't the same way.

"Joy beat Todd up." He points at her. Joy whimpers under her breath. Todd frowns at Jason.

"Well what happened to you?" He asks Joy. "Your forehead has a mark." Todd exhales slowly.

"I retaliated." He reluctantly admits. Louis's eyes lighten up.

"What? You actually fought back?" Todd nods. "That isn't like you." He frowns.

"Well it isn't like Maurecia to punch me on top of my head." Louis sighs.

"Where is Maurecia anyway?" Mrs. Gorf flinches. "I haven't seen her at all today."

"Maybe she dropped out." Terrence remarks. Allison holds her index finger up.

"That's unlikely. Dropping out wasn't allowed until this morning."

"Or maybe she cut her wrist." Joy says in a low voice. Allison faces her.

"You're prone to believing she killed herself?" Joy frowns.

"What do you care? You seemed fine with her potentially ending her own life yesterday. I'm prone to believing I've lost the only friend I'm ever going to have and my life will be deprived of any happiness it potentially had." Terrence sighs and reveals his thought.

"You could be more like Kathy, she doesn't have any friends." Joy abruptly slams her face on her desk, triggering some gasps and muttering from many classmates. Louis holds out his hands in defense.

"Whoa, take it easy Joy!" He exclaims. Joy looks up and glares at Terrence.

"I don't want to be someone so negative! I don't want to be the person with no friends!" She points at Dana. "I don't want to be someone who loses the only person I care about." Dana's face lights up.

"Whoa! Who said Myron's the only person I care about?" She asks as Joy's eyebrows scrunch.

"I don't want to be the oblivious girl who isn't aware of the boy who has a clear crush on her." Dana's eyes widen.

"What?" Everyone goes silent. "Someone here has a crush on me?" Joy rolls her eyes and points at Ron.

"He is literally less than two feet away from you!" Ron blushes as Dana faces him.

"You think I'm pretty?" She asks. Ron begins sweating lightly as he nods slowly.

"Y-yes." He says whilst gulping on his own words. Allison glares at Joy again.

"Why'd you tell her? That's literally the lowest you can go." Terrence chuckles loudly and she faces him. "What?"

"I'm surprised it took Dana this long to figure it out. Maybe she's not as intelligent as we all thought." Dana's face changes to sadness.

"Hey!" She exclaims in offense. Terrence holds his hands out.

"Calm down, at least you're not as big of a loser as Dameon." A few classmates cross their arms and face him. Dameon angrily raises an eyebrow.

"What makes me a loser?" Terrence crosses his arm and frowns back.

"You are so pathetic, you actually fell for Mrs. Jewls." Many classmates face him.

"Is that true Dameon?" Louis asks as he nods lightly.

"Yeah, but that doesn't make me a loser." Terrence shrugs.

"Well look at Todd here, people used to treat him like a loser until he beat up the toughest girl in school." Todd sighs. "He got sent home on the kindergarten bus as a result of falling in love with Mrs. Jewls." He points at Dameon. "But what makes you special? All you're good at is running down the stairs at a faster pace than anyone else. She's twice your age and you're not very handsome." Mrs. Gorf stomps loudly.

"Okay that's enough!" She frowns at him. "I'd like to speak to you before you go to recess." Terrence shrugs.

"Fine." She faces Joy.

"As for you, your behavior is completely unacceptable." Joy shrugs sadly.

"How? I'm being looked at completely as the bad guy right now!" She exclaims. "I'm just saying what I want to say." She points at Mac. "Unlike him." Mac whimpers loudly. Todd slams his fist onto the table.

"How dare you bring Mac into this?" She glares at him.

"I dare because unlike him, I'm willing to do something when someone is taken from me. I don't just sit there while my friend is taken away, and I don't freak out to the point I'm completely silent among everyone else!" Mac begins crying. Todd leans forward.

"You leave him alone." He says in a threatening tone. She folds her arms adamantly.

"No. I think he needs to wake up and realize that she's only one floor below his feet and get the hell over it!" Mac's crying becomes audible. Sharie and Ron face him with sympathetic gestures. Mrs. Gorf points to Louis.

"Okay that's it! Everyone who's name isn't Terrence or Joy, you're dismissed for recess." Many students get up and go immediately. Todd, Sharie, Dana, Ron, and Mac remain at the door. "As for you two, we need to have a conversation." Louis sighs.

"I better get going, I'm needed on recess duty." He begins walking out before Sharie holds her arms out.

"Wait!" He stops and faces her. "Who are you in love with?" She asks with an adoring smile. He casually smiles back.

"Wendy Nogard. She's a hot nurse and a sweet person in general. Remember to respect her greatly." Sharie nods.

"Will do Louis." He walks out. Mrs. Gorf turns to the five students standing.

"Why are you still here?" Dana shrugs.

"I need to know one thing for sure." She makes complete eye contact with Ron and he blushes. "Do you actually have a crush on me?" He begins shivering wildly and nods. Sharie smiles cutely at this. Mac gives a satisfied grin as well. Dana only sighs lengthily. "Well Ron, you're a sweet person." He continues shivering.

"Th-thank you." He stammers. She closes her eyes.

"But you're really not my type." Sharie and Mac's expressions go blank.

"Oh really." He successfully drops the stammering. "You don't like me?" She sighs.

"It's not like that at all. I just really don't see us working out as a couple." He looks down.

"I see." Terrence looks over his shoulder.

"I told you you'd never get her." Joy glares deeply his direction.

"Shut up Terrence!" Mrs. Gorf snaps.

"No talking until we begin." Ron begins crying and runs down the stairs. Dana frowns in a sorrowful disappointing way.

"I better follow him." Sharie taps her shoulder. "What Sharie?"

"Do you really think he's not your type? He's a sweet guy who does well in school and deeply cares about the well-being of his classmates." Dana rolls her eyes. "You really won't give him a chance?" Dana reluctantly faces her and reveals a broken spirited, blank face.

"I don't know. I've lost the ability to love after losing someone I care about. But I doubt you know what that's like." Sharie frowns.

"But I di-" She holds her hand out.

"Even if you're not Myron's killer, you'll forever be the person who got the last kiss from him." She turns around. "And that's a thought that I'm never going to forget." She turns around and walks down the stairs. Sharie faces Mac.

"You think I'm innocent right?" He only nods. "You're still mute?"

"Mm hm." He hums. She sighs and then smiles.

"Come on, let's go talk to Nancy." He grins. Todd steps out.

"I guess they don't need me to be part of this conversation."


When they get to the floor below them they hear yelling.

"What are they saying?" Sharie asks.

"GET OUT OF MY CLASSROOM!" Todd recognizes Mrs. Drazil's voice.

"LEAVE YOU RETARDED JACKASS!" Sharie and Mac's jaws drop. Todd glares.

"Okay, I can't accept this kind of talk." Todd opens the door.

"OH YEAH?" It's Jason. "WHY DON'T YOU LEARN RESPECT?" Todd snaps.

"HUUSSSSH!" He screams at the top of his lungs. Everyone stops. Nancy is sitting at her seat and crying. Kathy and Jason's faces are red, and Mrs. Drazil is glaring fiercely. "What is going on in here?" Todd asks.

"This boy interrupted our class." Mrs. Drazil asserts. Jason glares.

"I came in here because I heard crying." He points at Nancy. "These ugly bitches have been insulting her all morning!" Kathy glares at him.

"I thought we told you to fuck off!" Todd points a finger firmly at her.

"I'm tired of hearing swearing! Let's talk about this like adults." He faces Jason. "Why'd you come in here?" He sighs deeply and holds his hand beside him.

"Because they've been rude to Nancy. Kathy has been insulting her all morning and Mrs. Drazil hasn't done anything about it." Mrs. Drazil points at him.

"He's lying!" Todd shakes his head.

"Please continue." Jason folds his arms.

"Thank you." He inhales. "Yesterday Maurecia was here and she stood up for Nancy every time she said something rude, but today with Maurecia gone, she's allowed to bully her as much as she wants with no reciprocation." Todd raises an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, 'no reciprocation'?"

"I mean if Nancy tries to stand up for herself Mrs. Drazil threatens her. She says she'll send her home on the kindergarten bus." Todd frowns.

"Is that why they left school early yesterday?" He nods. "Well Jason, thank you for your time. Now please go to recess." Kathy's face turns dark. Jason rolls his eyes and gives her the middle finger.

"Eat it bitch!" Both Kathy and Mrs. Drazil gasp. Todd humbly points to the door and allows Jason to leave. Mrs. Drazil holds out her arms in panicky confusion.

"You're just going to let him say that and get away?" Todd shrugs.

"It's a little taste of Kathy's medicine. If she does that to Nancy then she should know what it feels like." Kathy seethes with rage.

"Frankly I'm not fond of you either!" Todd gives a carefree gesture.

"Is it my job to care? I can't enforce your behavior." He points a Liz. "That's your job Mrs. Drazil."

"Oh really?" He nods.

"Yes, you're their teacher and you need to be reasonable with punishments and you cannot show favoritism or prejudice against any student." He opens his eyes and the sheer intimidation is released. "If you can't follow that simple rule, it may cost you your career." She and Kathy gasp.

"Who do you think you are?" Kathy asks with a surprised tone. Todd turns to her.

"I'm the smartest kid in this school. I'm also the student of the semester appointed by Kidswatter. And if it makes you feel better, I have no concern for your well-being either." Kathy flips him off. "That will be reported to Le Chef for judgement." Mac steps forward.

"What are you doing here?" Kathy asks. Sharie steps forward.

"He came to see his girlfriend." They both flinch.

"Girlfriend?" Nancy asks. Mac blushes. "That's what you consider us?" Mac begins sweating.

"He's too shy to speak to anyone else."

"Because he's a loser." Kathy remarks. Nancy points her index finger to her.

"Don't you dare call him that!" Kathy shrugs.

"Well it's true." Nancy stands up.

"If you insult him one more time, I am going to rip your hair off!" Kathy shrugs.

"Bring it bitch." Nancy nearly flips the desk over before Todd holds his hand out.

"Hold it." He frowns in disappointment. "This behavior is unacceptable Kathy, if you do this any longer, I will request Le Chef to expel you." He faces Nancy. "Have they actually been harassing you?" Nancy pauses and spots Mrs. Drazil making a cut-throat gesture. Nonetheless, she answers.

"Yes. They've been hurting my feelings all morning." Liz face-palms as Todd faces her.

"This will be reported to Le Chef. But for now, I suggest you release your students for recess." Kathy steps forward.

"Who told you you're allowed to talk to the teacher that way?" He gives her the stereotypical honey-badger face.

"Our original principal." Sharie, Mac, and Nancy flinch in shock as she throws her fist at him in rage… only for her to gasp at the sight of her wrist caught in his grip. "Do you want me to leave you like I left Joy this morning?" Kathy glares.

"I'm not afraid to kick your ass!" Todd sighs and points to the door.

"Go to the office now." He releases her wrist. "I will ask Miss Keseau later if you showed up and if not, your parents will be notified." Kathy stomps firmly and walks out. "As for you Liz, you need to change your habits." She sighs.

"Fine." He gives a satisfied frown.

"That's more like it."On the way down the stairs, Kathy thinks about the things Todd said. She doesn't like anyone else, it's her right to hate them isn't it? D.J always says you don't need a reason to be happy, so by that logic, you shouldn't need a reason to hate someone. Whenever Kathy says it nobody takes her seriously. And the fact that Jason got to come in and scream at her, pissed her off so badly… speaking of the devil, on the twentieth floor she spots him walking out of the bathroom. He doesn't see her and proceeds to walk down to the nineteenth.

"It's payback time Jason." She says under her breath as she withdraws a switchblade from her pocket.


A minute later in the vent, Stephen's idol blinks. He frowns in discomfort at the thought of another classmate dying.

"Drat!" He exclaims. "Another person died!" He leans a little closer to his idol to try to identify the lost soul, but unfortunately he has no identification. "I cannot do this any longer." He begins heading toward the area he entered a while ago. Only to find his exit is closed. "God dammit!" He exclaims as he sees legs. "Wait!" He crawls up to the door and to his luck the person stops, to his misfortune it's not someone he hoped for.

"Can I help you?" Asks a distraught Kathy. Stephen nearly frowns at her but manages to keep his desperate face on.

"Please open this door." He says through the vent closing. She rolls her eyes.

"No thanks." She starts walking away. Stephen gets angry.

"Stop!" She flinches. "What do you mean no thanks?"

"I'm sorry if you don't like politeness." She clears her throat. "No I won't open this door." Stephen punches the lid in frustration.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't like you." He face-palms.

"Why?" He asks with light rage. "What did I ever do to make you dislike me?" She shrugs.

"You're short, your wimpy, and your voice sounds like a ten year old." He glares.

"That's your argument? Small things I have no control over? You have no legitimate reasons to dislike me." She folds her arms and smiles darkly.

"Fine, I hate your costume." His jaw drops. "No normal person wears a Halloween costume to school every day."

"It represents who I am." Her eyebrows raise.

"Oh it does?" He nods. "Then you've given me a relevant reason to deplore your well-being." He nearly slams his face on the door.

"How can you be so heartless?" She gives an evil grin.

"Because I can. You need a reason to like someone but I've never seen any out of anyone." He rolls his eyes.

"You also need a reason to dislike someone." She shakes her head.

"No you don't. You can tell a lot about someone by their appearance. You're trying too hard to be a goblin so I find you incapable of redeeming your sanity." He sighs deeply.

"I find you irredeemable by all standards." A dark flare rolls over her eyes as she withdraws something from her pocket. His heart stops upon seeing the item.

"I take pride in being irredeemable." He remains speechless as a drop of blood lands on the floor. "Losers like you desire friends because you're too pathetic to grow up without their support." She holds her now completely identifiable knife into the vent opening and drags it against the edge. Blood is smeared against the metal and Stephen can clearly tell it's fresh. His eyes remain open to the point he feels he cannot blink.

"Who was that?" She flips the blade back and slides it into her pocket.

"Jason." He gasps. "That asshole never shut his mouth." Stephen glares.

"That is no reason to kill him." She holds her arms beside her.

"It is if he thinks he has the right to enter my homeroom uninvited and scream at us. And so I punched him in his giant Adams apple and then shoved the blade into his uvula." Stephen nearly screams at this thought.

"That is the most despicable thing I've ever heard in my life!" He exclaims. She grins.

"Well then." She steps closer with her knife. "I'll get you out and you can tell everyone about the deaths of the other students." He flinches.

"How did you know about the other deceased children?" She points upward.

"Their bodies are on the nineteenth floor, the floor with the classroom no one ever goes in. I threw Jason up there with all the rest." Stephen begins crawling backwards.

"Well screw you! I'm going to find another way out." He pauses for one second. "And I'm cursing your soul right now!" She chuckles.

"Curse me all you want, I'm not afraid of you." Stephen glares.

"I promise if you kill one more person, you will be given a slow and painful death within the same hour." He continues crawling. "Think before you stab!" She chuckles and walks away.


Meanwhile in the cafeteria, Le Chef was evaluating Miss Mush. He's tried many of her foods but none of which were cooked to perfection.

"Sacre bleu!" He spits out her liverwurst smoothie. "Can't you cook anything correctly?" Miss Mush shrugs.

"Well Frenchie fry cook, perhaps my food is scrumptious and you're just too picky." He frowns.

"No one with common sense would even touch their fork after the first bite of food on any of your dishes." He pulls out a shaker of brown spice. "You need to spice your items up." She raises an eyebrow in confusion.

"What is that?" She asks as he gives a charming smirk.

"Cinnamon. It is the most popular spice in the world. It's the most common favorite amongst the citizens across the planet." She takes the shaker.

"Cool! How much should I use?" The French chef smirks darkly.

"Use as much as you'd like." He chuckles. "The whole can if you insist." She sniffs the top.

"Mm! That does smell like it would taste good with a little sawdust and back cist!" Le Chef gags silently upon that thought, though his feelings recover at the sight of her pouring the entire shaker into her pot. "Okay! Time to get the children's perspective." He holds his index finger out.

"Uh, uh, uh. You have to taste the food before you serve it." He insists. Miss mush licks her lips and stares at the large pot of brown soup.

"Okie dokie!" She grabs a ladle of soup and shoves it into her mouth. "Mm this is- ack!" She coughs. Le Chef steps forward.

"It is what?" She coughs again.

"It tastes- auk! Like- auc, oke, uk!" She begins coughing reflexively as Le Chef stands there with his arms folded.

"Did you inhale too much cinnamon?" She nods desperately and proceeds grasping her neck, trying to cough it all back up. Le Chef proceeds to watch her suffer darkly.


In the vent, the idol blinks and Stephen face-palms at the sight of yet another death.

About a minute later Mrs. Gorf and Terrence step inside the cafeteria as Miss Nogard steps out of the nurse's office.

"What happened in here?" Mrs. Gorf asks in horror. Terrence grins evilly.

"The old hag poisoned herself with her own cooking. It was going to happen sooner or later." Le Chef raises an eyebrow in disgust.

"You laugh at the concept of death?" Terrence nods.

"I wish I could've seen her suffer." Mrs. Gorf frowns and sighs lightly.

"I'm here because I've received a report from Kathy that there is a student hiding in the air vent. I need someone small to chase them." Le Chef shrugs.

"I've got absolutely nothing to give you." Miss Nogard screams all of a sudden. "What is it Wendy?" She points to the vegetable counter.

"There is a dead rat sitting upward on the counter." Le Chef flinches in shock.

"Sacre-"

"Ooh!" He's interrupted by an intrigued Mrs. Gorf. "A dead rat you say?" Terrence rolls his eyes.

"The old hag never threw that disgusting thing away." Mrs. Gorf picks it up, Miss Nogard and Le Chef give her the same disgusted look.

"You cannot be serious!" Nogard exclaims. "You're taking that with you?" She shrugs.

"Why not?" She asks curiously. "I adore dead things."

"Because it's probably carrying diseases!" Wendy exclaims.

"That's the best part." Mrs. Gorf says as she strokes his back gently. Suddenly Mr. Gorf enters the room. "Morris! My son!" She holds her arms out. "Come give your old lady a hug." He holds his hand out.

"Maybe later. I'm not fond of hugging people holding dead rats." Le Chef sighs.

"So how is Miss Keseau?" Mr. Gorf sighs.

"She's going to be okay but the chemicals she inhaled paralyzed her lungs." Miss Nogard gasps.

"Does she need to breathe through an oxygen tube the rest of her life?" He nods.

"I'm afraid so." She sighs.

"What kind of monster would do that to her?" Mr. Gorf shrugs.

"The only kid I saw before her was a small child dressed as an elf."

"That's Stephen." Terrence remarks. "He's a total weirdo who thinks he's a wizard. He has no power and he should realize that." Mr. Gorf faces him.

"You know about him?" He nods.

"He's probably the one who tried to kill Miss Keseau." Le Chef frowns.

"Okay, Morris take Miss Mush's pot to the wishing well." He hands him the pot. "Our prisoner needs some food." Mr. Gorf faces him nervously.

"Prisoner?" He says while taking the pot. "Whoa!" He tries to get a better grip. "It's heavy." Terrence takes the pot and lifts it high. "Whoa!" He smirks. "You're strong!"

"I know." Terrence chuckles. "Let me feed the prisoner please." Miss Gorf frowns at him.

"You like having a prisoner at the school?" He nods.

"I'm cool with anything. Especially if I get to taunt someone else." She faces her son.

"I think you should spend some time with Morris." Terrence sets the pot down.

"Okay." He holds his hand out. "Hi, I'm Terrence." The puzzled man reciprocates.

"Okay Terrence. I'm Morris Gorf." They shake hands. "Let's get our job done." He smiles menacingly.

"Oh yeah!"


About thirty minutes later everyone is in the cafeteria and the entire grade is pretty split. Allison arranged a group of students at her table.

"Okay, is everyone here?" She asks. Eric, Eric, Eric, Rondi, Caroline, and Dameon sit down and face her.

"I think we're all here." Rondi says. Suddenly someone they don't usually talk to comes near them.

"Hello." Sharie says shyly. "May I join you guys?" The two taller Erics face each other and nod. Rondi and Caroline nod. Eric taps the chair next to him.

"Please have a seat." He says. Sharie smiles and sits next to him.

"Thank you very much Eric." She looks around at her classmates. "So, what were you guys talking about?" They all face one another for a second.

"Should we tell her?" Dameon asks. Allison nods. "We're all slightly scared and suspicious of some staff members. So we're foraging a secret rebellion."

"I didn't see that coming." Sharie admits. "Why is that?" Allison sighs lengthily.

"I have the scared hunch that the students dropping out actually died." Her eyes widen.

"I knew it!" She exclaims.

"Whoa, calm down Sharie." Rondi says. "We don't know for sure." She frowns.

"Actually I do know for sure. I saw Myron die!" Everyone flinches in shock, except Caroline who's facing another way.

"I can't believe that!" Tall Eric says. "You said he was shot?" Sharie nods.

"I witnessed him with a bullet wound and he bled all over the floor." Dameon faces Caroline. "Hold that thought." He says holding his index finger at Sharie. "What are you looking at?" Caroline faces them.

"Benjamin, he's sitting on that table alone." Buff Eric sighs.

"Do you think we should invite him to join us?" Dameon nods.

"I'll get him." He gets up and signals Benjamin. Allison faces Sharie again.

"Did he die in your arms?" She shakes her head.

"I passed out." Dameon returns with a shy Benjamin.

"I'm back!" Benjamin only waves. Rondi taps the empty chair to her right.

"Please join us!" She says cheerfully.

"Thanks." He says as he sits down. "I didn't expect anyone to invite me to their table." Sharie sighs in sadness.

"You don't have any friends?" He shakes his head.

"No, everyone I know just calls me Mark Miller. But that isn't my name and they know it." Dameon pats him on the back.

"That's something Terrence started a while ago." He takes a deep breath and holds his head in his arms. "We're sorry we joined in." He looks up.

"You guys are sorry?" Sharie smiles.

"Your parents named you Ben, so I'm calling you Ben." He smiles lightly as he looks around the table. "Are you okay with that?" He nods and nearly sheds a tear.

"Yeah. I am okay with that."

"We're your new friends!" Caroline cheerfully exclaims. All three Erics nod in unison. Rondi gives him that large smile of hers. Dameon and Sharie both give him satisfied grins.

"Okay!" Ben says with newfound proudness. "I found some actual friends!" A few of them laugh heartily. "It feels awesome." Allison clears her throat.

"Okay good. Now can we please focus on the large picture?" Ben nods. "Jason did not show up for recess today." Sharie places her hand on her chin.

"Interesting, why is that?" Allison shrugs. "Are you aware he stayed behind to yell at Kathy and Mrs. Drazil when they were picking on Nancy?" She shakes her head.

"Mrs. Drazil does that?" Sharie nods. Dameon speaks up.

"While I was outside, I saw Mr. Gorf drop a large amount of soup into the well." Sharie raises an eyebrow.

"Doesn't he know that well only lead to the school basement?" He shrugs.

"He seemed okay with doing it so… probably not." Allison frowns and looks behind her. "That is very suspicious, I'm going to keep an eye on him." She faces Dameon. "In the meantime you should go downstairs to check out what may be down there." Dameon nods.

"I will." Allison stands up. "In the meantime I've got to go spy on Mr. Gorf. I'll see you all in a while." She sets her tray in the deposit zone and exits the lunchroom. Dameon stands up and does likewise.

"I'm done to." He sets his tray down and then points back at his friends. "But mark my words." Benjamin face-palms.

"Did you just call me Mark?" He shakes his head.

"I said; mark my words. If I do not return to the classroom within the next hour, that means I'm in my grave. I am not dropping out. Understand?" The seven remaining classmates nod. "Good. And goodbye now."


Meanwhile Dana was looking for a place to sit. She spots a heartbroken Ron and proceeds to walk toward him, whilst keeping her positive attitude on.

"What is up my friend?" She asks in a cheerful tone. Ron faces her, and then back to his tray. "Quite an awesome meal isn't it? Le Chef is a legend!" Ron groans audibly as she sits next to him. "We can still be friends can't we?" He faces her with a disgusted look.

"No." He's not blushing, he's not sweating, he's only crying subtly. Dana feels a heap of remorse rush over her as he turns his chair to face away from her. She continues to whisper behind him.

"Look, I'm really sorry. But I'm just not in the mood for a relationship right now." Ron hums obnoxiously.

"I can see that. You told me I'm not your type. That means you won't even reconsider before giving me a chance." She shamefully steps closer to him.

"No. But that-"

"I heard no." He interrupts. "That's all I need to hear. I don't want to be your friend and you know it." He turns around and reveals a red face. "So please leave me alone." She gives a really long sigh and then sets her tray down.

"Look. I'm sorry." She gently wraps her arms around him and hugs him lightly. "I still think you're a sweet person and I adore your loving personality." Outrageous and abruptly, Ron turns around and forcefully pushes her. "Whoa!" Dana exclaims as she falls on the floor.

"GO AWAY!" Ron yells extremely loudly. Everyone in the cafeteria faces him. Dana just remains on the ground both sad and scared. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE!" He screams at the top of his lungs. "THAT MEANS GO PESTER SOMEONE ELSE!" Le Chef steps out of the kitchen.

"What is going on here?" Dana begins crying.

"Ron pushed me!" She exclaims through the tears. Le Chef faces Ron with displease.

"Did you push her?" He asks. Ron begins breathing heavily and faces him.

"Yes." He closes his eyes and continues crying himself. "Yes I did." Le Chef crosses his arms.

"Would you like to give this young lady a heartfelt apology?" Ron turns to her as she continues crying and then faces him again.

"No sir. I would not." Le Chef points to the door.

"Then sucktee!" Dana gets up slowly and stares at Ron. Ron sighs and then walks out of the cafeteria. Dana then turns to see Todd sitting alone at a table. She regains control of her emotion and walks over to him.

"Hi Todd." She says as she nearly sits next to him. He holds his arm in front of her legs.

"I don't think so." She steps back. "You're not sitting with me." Dana nearly drops her food.

"What? Why not?" Todd glares at her.

"I don't deserve your presence." A couple more tears fall down her face. "And why are you crying?"

"Ron pushed me on the floor after I tried to comfort him." Todd raises an eyebrow.

"You deserved it." She flinches upon hearing that.

"You think I deserved to get pushed on the floor?" He nods.

"Yeah, you broke his heart. And instead of telling him you'll give him another chance, you friend zoned him." She sighs.

"I was trying to make him feel better." Todd shakes his head.

"No you weren't. When a guy is told no that means he's never going to look at you the same way again. All talking to him after that does is make it worse." Dana sheds a few more tears.

"Are you mad at me?" Todd faces her with an angry frown.

"I'm mad at everyone okay?! Yesterday Maurecia knocked me out, this morning Joy beat me up, apparently some of our classmates drop out of school because their too scared to accept a 'witch' teacher, and I've seen back to back fights all morning! Jason and Kathy got in a fight, and now you had to hurt Ron more than you needed to."

"Again, I meant no harm!" She interrupts.

"But you didn't think that through before you did it. You lost someone you cared about, and you don't show any support to those who care about you." Dana frowns.

"You mean Ron?" He holds his hand out sideways.

"I'm talking about Sharie. I know for a fact she's not responsible for Myron's death and you won't act even the slightest bit forgiving after that!" She whimpers defenselessly.

"If someone you cared about got shot, wouldn't you pressure the person who likely killed them?" Todd shakes his head.

"Not if I had the a fraction of common sense that reminds me the suspect is too poor to afford a gun." She flinches. "And spoiler alert, I do have that common sense. And unfortunately I know almost no one else does have it." She attempts to justify before he dismisses her. "So get lost Dana." Her voice cracks under the sadness she's in.

"Todd, I thought we were friends." He sighs.

"Why were we friends? I'll admit, next to me, your smarter than the rest of the class and you fight harder to maintain perfect attendance and be a dedicated student. However, you're bossy, obnoxious, feel the need to enforce rules even if they shouldn't exist, and police people's behavior." He pauses and gets up. "None of those things build a satisfying friend."

"Where are you going?" She asks as he clears his tray.

"I'm done eating. And now I need to find Stephen and see what he's up to." Upon hearing his name, Sharie's attention is drawn. She realizes she needs to get back in touch with him.


After lunch on the fourteenth floor, Allison and Dameon are talking quietly.

"So what is your plan?" She asks. He grins mischievously.

"I'm going to the basement to find out who they've taken hostage." She nods.

"I love that, in the meantime I'm going to find clues to potential dead students." Dameon gives a thumbs up.

"You do that; remember there's often a secret graveyard that holds everyone who dies. I'm guessing it's in the basement." He begins running down the stairs. "So long Allison." She waves at him as he sprints down the stairs at his above average speed. She takes a few steps forward and smells something unfamiliar.

"Huh?" She stops and checks her surroundings. "Who's there?" She stands there for twenty seconds motionlessly and doesn't hear or see anyone. "Ha!" She chuckles. "It must be my imagination." A few seconds later… something terrible happens. As she walks out, someone leaps out at her from behind the locker and holds a wet folded towel to her face. "Mm!" She gives a scream that is muffled by the towel. She attempts to protest but her strength is getting weaker by the second.

"I tried reasoning with you Allie, but you wouldn't take no for an answer." Allison sighs weakly and recognizes Kathy's voice, only before passing out from exposure to the toxic towel. Kathy smiles darkly at the towel upon successfully knocking out her victim. "Ah, chloroform. A harmless drug that renders someone more vulnerable than a clawless kitten. Can be harmful if used unprofessionally…" She rubs the towel against her former classmate's face as if she's washing it. All for no reason other than to weaken her further.


Dameon ran and ran and ran. He was used to running down the stairs and back up them, even challenging Maurecia for fastest time. But this time he has a motive, the potential hostage, and this time he's committed to collecting the knowledge of who it is at minimum. He makes no hesitation to enter the principal's office, mainly because Ivil is injured, but even if she were still here, he wouldn't look forward to seeing her agreeably unpleasant face. He opens the basement door and peeks inside.

"Hello?" He calls down. "Is anybody down here?" He flips the light switch and steps forward onto the first stair from the top. "Anyone?… Anyone at all?" His heart halts in shock at the sudden sound of loud metal shackles. "What was that?" He asks with audibly noticeable fear in his voice. He takes a couple steps forward before seeing a taller human in the shadows by the wall. He stops in fear upon seeing them.

"Dameon?" Says the person in a very weak voice. Dameon gasps upon hearing it as he knows who it belongs to.

"Mrs. Jewls!" He screams before shining a flashlight on her revealing her pale face and a sore left arm chained to the wall. Her right leg also has a chain on it and she's struggling to maintain comfort. All her muscles are sore and her stomach is upset, mainly from only being offered Miss Mush's food.

"Help." She says both weakly and desperately. Dameon just stands there in shock of someone he's in love with so sick and so vulnerable largely. In fear he shakes his head. Mrs. Jewls cries a tear.

"Please Dameon. I can't bear this place much longer." Dameon closes his eyes and fights the indecisiveness. He's extremely scared to go further, but is it worth it? Would an attractive thirty year old woman take a chance with a fifteen year old? Could this be a turning point in his love life?

"What are you waiting for?" A deeper voice asks as a giant shadow covers his back. "Go get her!" He turns around to instantly create joinder with a pair of hands, forcefully shoving him forward.

"Whoa!" He exclaims as he's propelled forward. "Ow!" He screams upon crashing his forehead on a stair. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" He keeps bouncing down the stairs, damaging himself on impact as Mrs. Jewls gasps in horror. He keeps bouncing until he's injured at the bottom. "Owww." He says weakly as the pain of all the sudden impact runs through his body. He's bleeding in many places and many of his bones are fractured. He weakly lifts his head up from the ground while enduring the unbearable pain in his freshly punctured neck. "Terrence?" Mrs. Jewls looks up to see the buff teen only a split second before he darkly closes the door, ignoring the damaged he'd just done.

"Dameon…" Mrs. Jewls says weakly as tears run down her face. Dameon uses every ounce of strength to get closer.

"What is it Mrs. Jewls?" He says under heavy breathing and vocal stress he's unable to control.

"I'm so sorry." Dameon gets face to face with her, sheds a tear, and then smiles.

"I forgive you." With his dying breath, he pulls his beloved teacher in and kisses her lips. Mrs. Jewls's eyes shoot open widely from the sudden shock, however under learning the sudden truth, she surrender's to the young teenager's dying wish and kisses him back. Her heart breaks as soon as it's over once Dameon collapses motionlessly on the floor. He proceeds to join her deceased husband in the afterlife.

She had no romantic feelings for him leading to his death, but learned he's the hard worker who fought for her despite the negative doubt from everyone else. Seeing her student die is going to leave her scarred emotionally for the remainder of her life, let alone a student who reminded her why she misses her husband. She hopes and prays no others will receive the same fate.


Meanwhile in the very non-forgiving vent, the young wannabe elf witnesses yet another blink of the totem. Upon seeing this his mood is altered drastically.

"FOR GOD SAKES WHY IS EVERYONE DYING?!" Stephen screams at the top of his lungs. His voice echoes through the vent from the sheer frequency of his anger. He then proceeds to lean forward and groan sadly, following this come his tears. "Why are lives being taken away from small, innocent, children?" He begins crying until he sees a small pair of red lights. "Hm?" The lights move closer fairly quickly as the sound of light pitter patter emits from the floor. His eyes widen as he hears an unfamiliar sound.

*Squeak.*

"A RAT!" He screams as the now identifiable fur is revealed. He quickly begins crawling through the vent faster than ever before. He turns around for a brief second to see his efforts are in vain. The rat is gaining speed on him and has a look in its eyes that give off that look that he's specifically targeting him. The rat zips right into his elf suit. "Ah!" He screams in fear until something hits him. "OW!" What feels like a stapler being lodged into his upper spine hits him. He falls forward and surrenders to the large rodent under prayer he'll be merciful. To his luck the rat adamantly walks out of his costume and begins walking the other way. Stephen turns around slowly to see the rat walking away.

"Are you serious?" The rat turns around and faces him. "It's almost as if you chased me specifically so you could bite me!" The rat glares and nods. He's in sudden shock. "Oh my god! I've seen you before!" The rat shrugs and walks away. "But where have I seen you?" He asks as he attempts to aid his wounded spinal flesh, but unfortunately he can't reach it. He also can't reach the reason for recognizing the rat either.


A couple hours later, Allison manages to regain consciousness. However she's completely unfamiliar with her environment. And to top everything else off, she's still drowsy from inhaling the chloroform.

"Where am I?" She asks as she notices she's tied to a metal chair and a dim lamp is the only amplification of light. A familiar voice greets her.

"Hello Allison." She recognizes her original teacher's voice. The lights are still off and the rest of the room is still dim so she's incapable of recognizing his face.

"Mr. Wilco?" She asks in a still tired voice. "What do you want from me?" He chuckles darkly.

"You've done a great job in my class for a long time. You've always been my smartest student." She hums in confusion. "But unfortunately, you're too smart." She raises her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"You've learned a little too much. And now you're the leader of a secret freshman rebellion." He stands up, still completely faded out by the darkness. "So I'm asking you of one favor. Silence."

"Silence?" She asks both nervously and curiously. He nods.

"You must dissolve your rebellion and forever seclude yourself from the names Eric Bacon, Eric Fry, Eric Ovens, Caroline, Sharie, Rondi, and Mark Miller." She frowns.

"His name is Benjamin Nushmut!" She says in an assertive voice. "You knew his name was Benjamin but you called him Mark anyways!" He chuckles as the stress hits her and weighs her down. The drowsy feeling returns. "And what do you mean by seclude myself?"

"Simple, tell your friends that you've lied to them and never speak to them again. Never speak of Paul, Leslie, Jason, Dameon, John, or Joe." Allison flinches after Dameon.

"Dameon?" He nods. "What have you done to him you socio psychopath?" He holds his hands beside his shoulders.

"Unfortunately Dameon fell down the stairs about fifteen minutes ago." She gasps. "But keep in mind that was done by a physically superior male student. The faculty is not at fault for that one." Allison sighs deeply and tries to regain her energy.

"Why did you say 'that one'? Did the other students die on your watch?" He shrugs and shakes his head. "As of this week, no student's blood lies on my hands. But as you predicted others have. And I'm giving you a choice." He gets up and steps closer, but his face is still completely unidentifiable. "I'm asking you for your eternal silence." She struggles around in the chair, trying extremely hard to escape. "All you have to do is accept the currently deceased children as a given, and if you convince everyone else with the adamant spirit we all know you have, then no other student's life will be in jeopardy." She finally gives up and accepts she's held against her will.

"I will never do that." She says broken spirited as tears slowly begin forming in her eyes. He shrugs and opens what she can tell is a gun.

"Very well, I'll be generous and give you a second option." He begins loading the pistol with sharp, brass, ammunition. "If you choose to remain silent anyway from your rebellion, giving them no information about this talk I'm having with you and no indication of Dameon's death, then I will convince Le Chef to move you to Mrs. Drazil's classroom with Kathy and you won't need to worry about spilling the beans of this talk at all." She frowns.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you can tell them everything that's happened and it's all accepted. Kathy is the one responsible for bringing you here and Mrs. Drazil is the only other person thus far who knows about this. You can share the story to them to your heart's content and they won't do anything about it." Allison's tears halt.

"What about Nancy and Maurecia?" His nose, eyes, ears, and hair are all still silhouetted by the darkness of the room, but the glimmer of light now exposes his mouth. She shivers at the sight of his evil grin.

"Look at that desk next to you." She turns to the teacher's desk and raises an eyebrow.

"A teacher's desk?" He chuckles.

"Notice anything odd about it? Notice something good children used to give to their teacher to show appreciation?" Allison nods at the sight of a shiny red apple.

"The apple?" He gives a thumbs up.

"You are correct Miss Smarty-pants. You see? The students nowadays don't have any love for their teachers. They don't make it a priority to bring joy to them anymore. But let's see if you get this riddle; today, your homeroom teacher took joy away from you." Allison's heart stops to the point every blood vessel in her body is petrified.

"She killed Joy?" She asks with tremendous fear in her voice. He holds his index finger up and waves it back and forth.

"Not at all, that apple is Joy." Allison gasps. "Not like you should care as I've come to learn you have no respect for her."

"You can't do that! You can't go around using evil spells on defenseless people." He shrugs and shakes his head.

"Unfortunately, we can. So it's up to you to make that choice." She feels angry inside, but all her emotions turn to sad ones rather than aggression.

"I don't want to tell anyone anything." She says under the pressure of sheer defeat. "I don't want to abandon my friends and leave them to wonder what happened to their friends they'll never see again. And I definitely don't want to lie to them about it." The tall man dims the lamp to nearly off and all her vision is derived from her. "I won't accept either option." She says in a conceding voice. The man sighs deeply.

"That's a real shame young lady." She closes her eyes and cries deeper as his footsteps approach her. "If we can't attain your silence by choice, then we'll need to attain it posthumously." She leans her head down under learning her fate as the pistol is elevated to her level. "I'm so sorry." He leaves her with before the bullet is fired. The last thought that goes through her mind, is how wrong she was to believe this man was the teacher she enjoyed. This wasn't Rodger Wilco at all, but before she's capable of learning who he is, her mind goes blank.


Meanwhile, Stephen's idol glows. He sighs weakly under the now powerful plague that has been cast upon him.

"Another death?" He drops his idol back to its standard chest level on the necklace. "Completely irrelevant now." He finally finds his way back to the door he entered, but it's still locked. "Nooooo." He groans and faints in front of the exit.

A few minutes later Sharie walks down the stairs in hope to reunite with Dameon and Allison. She's unphased by nearly everything on every floor, but upon reaching the fifteenth floor, she spots something that catches her attention.

"Did you make the pain go away?" The woman asks.

"I fixed everything." The man responds before they suddenly begin making out. Sharie's eyes widen once she recognizes them. It's Miss Nogard and Mr. Gorf. She notices their eyes are closed so she tiptoes past them to the best of her ability. After she's presumably out of their range of vision, she takes off dashing and for a split second, Mr. Gorf opens his left eye and catches a brief picture of her presence.

She proceeds to run down the stairs but once she goes past the fourteenth floor, she gets a glimpse of something unfamiliar when she passes the vent. She takes a few steps back to see a friend of hers sleeping.

"Stephen?" The young elf instantly raises his head.

"Sharie?!" He reacts loudly. She shrieks lightly and steps back upon seeing his face. He has a bluish pale face with red bloodshot eyes and a dark outline around his eyes.

"Oh my god Stevie! What happened to you?"

"What?" He asks seemingly unaware of his condition. "Do I look like a zombie you've had nightmares about?" She nods in fear. He flips his head back and holds his arms beside him. "Well that's fantastic." He says sarcastically. "I'm a small boy who messed with voodoo and instead of becoming a spirit master who could control it, I'm about to meet my early demise from a severe plague carried by a diseased rat." She gives a puzzled look. "I'm just the devil's bitch." Sharie wraps her fingers around two bars of the vent.

"Don't be like that Stephen. I'm going to get you out." Stephen gives a surprised and unexpected hopeful face.

"Really? I'm not just a monster before your eyes?" She gives a determined frown and makes eye contact with him.

"You're no monster Stephen; you're a cute little teddy bear." He's about to respond but she trails that sentence. "My teddy bear." His pupils dilate.

"Your teddy bear?" Sharie nods with a sad yet compassionate face.

"The moment I hugged you this morning I learned how soft you are, how embracing you are, and as I've learned in my dreams, how genuinely pure you are." He gives a passionate smile. "Despite spending years of class time asleep, I've learned more from you than anyone else ever will at this school. I learned that despite my powerful crush on Myron, and helpless flirtation with you, you were the boy I truly care about." She closes her eyes. "Stephen, you're not only the boy I love to see at school, but you're also the boy that lives within my heart." Stephen begins shedding joyful tears. "Stephen," Sharie opens her eyes and makes eye contact with him. "I love you."

"Wow, is all of that true?" She nods.

"Yes, and as long as I'm here with you in your presence," They touch hands through the bars of the vent. "I won't allow the devil to steal your soul." He smiles with comfort. "Now hang in there just a little longer, and I'll go get help." He nods.

"Okay. I trust you." He says as she stands up and starts walking away. But to the opposition of their hope, she is stopped.

"Ow!" She yells as something stings her neck.

"Sharie?" Stephen asks nervously.

"Not again." She says weakly before falling on her back. She lands in front of Stephen.

"Sharie!" He notices a fresh dart in her neck. "No! Sharie! Please wake up!" He sheds a few more tears. "Don't leave me." He says as someone steps out and kneels down. "HEY!" It's Mr. Gorf.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" He asks as Stephen glares viciously into his soul.

"You monster! You knocked her out cold to prevent her from saving me! You sick fuck!" He frowns.

"Language son!" Stephen points at him.

"Shut up! I've been locked in the vent all afternoon as a result of evading capture after attacking a serial killer!" Mr. Gorf frowns at him.

"Wait a minute, you're the kid who ran away from me after I told you to stop!" Stephen glares.

"Then why didn't you tranquilize me? It worked pretty well for Sharie!" The man frowns and shakes his head.

"I don't even own a tranquilizer." Stephen sighs.

"You literally walked out here about ten seconds after Sharie lost consciousness! Of course you shot her!" He shakes his head.

"Son, I've never told a lie. As a guidance counselor it's against my morals and influence to lie to anyone. I did not shoot your friend." Stephen punches one of the bars.

"Then get me out of here! Many students have perished today and I'm dying of diseases from a rat's wretched fangs!" Mr. Gorf frowns.

"I don't own a screwdriver so I can't help you. But if you want an exit, there's a classroom on the nineteenth floor that the vent leads to." He raises an eyebrow.

"How do you know?" Mr. Gorf makes a humble gesture.

"I've read the blueprints. Good luck." He says as he grabs Sharie. Stephen's face turns red.

"Don't you dare touch her!" He proceeds to lift the sleeping girl over his shoulder, causing Stephen to grunt in frustration. "If you do the slightest thing to her, I will personally slit your throat!"

"Excuse me." He responds. "It's my job as a staff member to carry sick or hurt children to the nurse." Stephen slams his head on the bars in infuriation.

"You have some real nerve! But I'm going to get my revenge. I swear on my grave and give full possession of it to Satan, that I will have the last laugh here! You evil people won't get away with any of this!" Mr. Gorf rolls his eyes and walks away. "You haven't seen the last of me!" He screams with morality as he turns around and begins climbing back up the vent. He gets weaker and weaker, sicker and sicker, and more and more dehydrated as he goes. But he does succeed to make it to the classroom on the nineteenth floor. He desperately crawls forward on the classroom floor. "I'm… free!" He celebrates weakly, before looking forward at the exit which is completely barricaded with wood nailed to the door. He face-palms.

"Son of a bitch." He face-plants on the floor and his body finally gives up.

Author's Note: This was easily the darkest thing I've ever written and as a result, I feel I owe my readers a little relief so I'll leave you with this; no human can win this battle alone, but can something, or someone… non-human do something?

Deceased Characters:

Miss Mush

Allison

Dameon

Jason

Stephen