Everyday Average Ordinary: Chapter Thirteen
Earth Blues Baby
A/N: Well, I had a couple things to say before I started off on this- first off, once again, thanks for all the awesome support and reviews I got from all of you guys! Your responses really keep me going, so thanks! Also, just to clear up, the chapters are one behind their labels due to Chapter Ten being a two-parter and my forgetting to label it that way. :O I know, my apologies man. And, also, no, they did not just leave the girls behind, Kori and Kitten are upstairs with Dick.
Well, also, the story is almost over! One chapter after this. Thanks for all your support throughout my friends! But, for any of you who enjoy my writing or are interested in seeing what might come next, I'm going to put out the first chapter of my next story, "Bits of Pieces" on Saturday, June 3rd. I hope to see a lot of you dropping reviews! Thanks so much for everything.
Peace and rock on-
Earth Blues Baby
Chapter Thirteen:
"I said-" He was about to repeat himself, but noticed instead the look of surprise on Rob's face. He was staring ahead, eyes wide and mouth open. Victor turned to see what had made him act this way, and was just as much in shock when he saw what he was looking at. Staring right back at him was a section of the wall moved to the side, revealing a dark, cold and gaping black tunnel.
"Man, this night just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Rob moaned, collapsing on the wall behind him and sliding down it, making an odd whining sound all the while.
"What is it?" Gar murmured, craning his neck to get a better look.
"It's a tunnel. As weird as that is. Why, why, is there a tunnel in the janitor's office?" Victor exclaimed, putting his forehead in his hand. "A secret tunnel under our school!" He cried, an odd laugh playing at his words.
"No, look." Gar said, taking a few steps forward. "There's stairs." Rob's head immediately jerked up, and Victor looked curiously at the boy. The two walked towards Gar. They squinted into the darkness, and were even more shocked at what lie within it. Crude, barely noticeable stairs, tumbling downwards until they were engulfed in ebony.
"It goes underground." Rob noted.
"We should check it out." Gar stated.
"No." Victor said, stepping in front of the tunnel. "We need to get Dick, Kori and Kitten first. Before we do anything. Come on." Rob and Gar did not argue to this, and, they turned around, full of questions and confusion, but nonetheless turning their backs on the mysterious tunnel to receive their friends.
"Wow." Kitten said. Her eyes were glowing with shock. "Wow, guys, you are never going to believe this." She said slowly.
"After the way tonight has turned out, I think I just might." Dick stated. "Try me."
"All right. This is from four days after Moscahan's death. Listen up." Kitten straightened out her paper, and began reading. " 'A new turn and twists has come up on the death of local construction worker, 25-year-old Avery Moscahan. One that is looking quite more suspicious. Upon doing a follow-up report, Moscahan's still close childhood friend, Robert Delonning, who was interviewed for the original report, was interviewed once more. What came up was simply shocking. First of all, Moscahan's cause of death was reported as heart failure. It was fitting considering his family had a history of heart failure- his father died from a heart attack a year ago. What the original reporter had failed to put into their article, but what was brought up in the interview, was the fact that Avery Moscahan was adopted. Delonning knew the names of Moscahan's biological parents (both is adopted parents have passed), and I was able to discover that heart failure is not common in Moscahan's biological family. Not only this, but Moscahan has been an avid runner since his freshman year in high school, when he joined the track and field team. "He was constantly running," Delonning reports. "We'd go on marathons together all the time. That was why it was so surprising to me that he died of heart failure. His heart must have been strong as a horse's." This new turn in events may lead to other possibilities for the case of Avery Moscahan.'"
"Wow." Kori said.
"No. Wait." Dick said, and then began shuffling through the newspapers in front of him. "That's from four days after he died?…I saw a paper from five days later. Let me see if there's a follow-up article." Dick found the paper he was looking for, and flipped through to find an article of interest. He found one, and immediately began reading.
" 'What was known just yesterday as the Moscahan death case may very well become the Moscahan murder case very soon. Due to the article yesterday revealing that Moscahan was very unlikely for heart troubles, further investigation and interviews took place. Some that very well could prove murder. Because the mysterious cause of death (heart failure to an avid runner with no history of heart problems) was odd enough, that could prove the measures taken were indeed murder. Not only this, but motive could have been there too. After one more interview with Moscahan's best friend since childhood, Robert Delonning, yet another suspicious point was brought up. Just the night before the day of his death, Moscahan had been talking with Delonning. Delonning describes the conversation as Moscahan being very nervous about something. "He knew something." Delonning says. "There was something he knew about, and he had to tell someone. He was always such an honest person. It must have been a big deal if he was so nervous about it." Delonning says Moscahan's nervousness was due to what might happen if he told someone. Most likely, he was worried about hurting someone else. It seems his silence may have hurt him though. Delonning continues, "He didn't say exactly what it was. I guessed, though, that it has to do with something extremely big. Huge-scale. He said it would affect everyone in this town. I have no idea how Avery got information like this, but however he did…I wish he hadn't." Authorities are looking into what Moscahan may have known, but, it seems, the horizon looks bleak for whatever happened to Avery Moscahan'"
"Wow." Kori repeated. "And I haven't seen anything that says they found out who may have…killed him." She finished.
"So what do you think happened to him?" Kitten asked.
"What if…what if it had something to do with the money being stolen from all the banks?" Dick proposed. "That seemed like the biggest thing going on in Jump City at the time. If he knew who may have been behind it…"
"They may have killed him." Kori finished quietly.
"So what if-" Kitten started, but cut off the rest of her sentence with a gasp and wide eyes. The door to the classroom burst open, revealing three silhouettes standing in the doorway.
"Ohmygosh!" Kori gasped, shaking slightly. Before they could respond any further, a panicked voice cried,
"You guys! You have to see this!"
"Guys…" Dick sighed, relief flooding all the way to his fingertips. "You can't do that. Not with everything that's happened tonight."
"Sorry, but, you HAVE to come with us!" Victor urged. "There's a tunnel in the janitor's office!" He finished. There was a moment of stunned silence from Dick, Kori and Kitten.
"In the janitor's office?" Kitten repeated disbelievingly.
"Yes! Come on!" Rob exclaimed. The three got to their feet right away, and darted towards the door. The six were moving down the hallway, but were interrupted quite suddenly.
BANG BANG BANG! Rob stumbled backwards, Kori jumped with a slight gasp, and Kitten grabbed Dick's shoulder.
"Oh…" Kori whimpered, green eyes glowing.
"Is that the guy from the library?" Gar asked, rushed and panicked.
"What guy from the library?" Dick asked, eyes demanding an answer.
"The silhouette guy." Rob explained in a rushed voice. "We saw him in the library. He knows were in the building."
"What?" Kitten shot.
"It's the pipes though!" Kori urged, voice quaking with panic.
"We should go look at them." Dick said, taking a few steps towards the bathroom. The panic and confusion was swirling over everyone's heads, causing a thick, heavy feeling in the air.
"We know it's the pipes! We have to get downstairs!" Victor exclaimed.
"We haven't actually seen them though. We should go." Dick argued, storming off to the bathroom.
"Dick! Please! We need to go to the janitor's office!" Kori urged, grabbing his shoulder. He spun around, firmly looking at the girl.
"Kori." He said softly. "We need to find out what's going on here." Kori's eyes were wide with fright, and Dick took her hand as he led the group towards the noises.
"He's seriously going there?" Rob snarled, crossing his arms.
"Come on." Gar said, as they followed Dick and Kori. The six shortly ended up standing outside the boy's bathroom.
"C'mon." Dick instructed the group, as they stepped inside. The bathroom was cold, drafty, and frightening.
"There's noth-" Kitten started, but was interrupted by the strident metallic banging echoing out once more.
"Look!" Kori said, turning towards the pipes running down the wall. The rusty pipes were rattling and vibrating.
"It's definitely coming from the pipes." Dick said in a low voice.
"Good, we've determined that! Now there's some guy out there, can we leave?" Rob roared. Dick turned and looked at him hardly.
"Let's head downstairs." He said, voice unwavering. Kori quickly started to lead the group out the door and down the hallway. They were about halfway there, when, suddenly, there was yet another interruption.
"Not again." Gar gasped, closing his eyes tight. His knees began to wobble, and his head stung when he heard he crackling of a PA system.
Band music began.
"Someone's going to be gone at the end of this." Victor said. His voice was low and serious. The group looked around, taking in everyone's eyes.
"Who's going to go?" Rob whispered, but no one could reply. The jolly musician's voice sang out,
"Half an hour till the time
You'll never hear another rhyme,
One more to your missing fate
Oh, joy, isn't high school great?"
Darkness fell over the hallway. There was uneasiness. Thick silence. Waiting for light once more. Confusion swirling overhead. And then…light.
Five pairs of eyes looking at each other.
Five equally heightened senses of fear were amplified.
One voice whispered, "Kitten."
The girl was gone.
"We have to go downstairs." Dick said in a small voice.
"But she's gone!" Kori cried, the panic obvious in her voice. Her emerald eyes were staring uneasily at the spot where Kitten had stood just moments ago.
"Please, Kori, we need to go." Dick repeated. He took her hand, and began leading her towards the staircase. The other three followed, nervous and scared.
"Wait." Rob said, suddenly halting in his steps.
"What?" Kori whispered, eye flickering back and forth, searching the hallways with alertness.
"Come on Rob, we have to go!" Victor urged.
"The song. We only have a half hour left, don't we?" He asked, panic obvious in his voice.
"Then let's not waste it standing up here!" Victor roared.
"But Kitten's gone!" Kori whined.
"Guys!" Dick exclaimed. "We have to go downstairs. Come on." Without another word, he ambled towards the staircase. The other four followed in silence.
Dick, Kori, Victor, Gar and Rob faced the door of the janitor's office. Reaching out, Dick opened the handle, swinging it open. Kori gasped as she saw the gaping tunnel that had been revealed through the wall.
"Where does it go?" She whispered.
"I don't know." Victor said. "There's a staircase, but I have no idea. Underground, I guess." He replied.
"Only one way we're gonna find out." Dick said.
"We're going down that thing?" Rob asked slowly.
"Do you have any other ideas for our one way?" Dick asked, words biting with hostility.
"Well lead the way, Grayson." Rob sarcastically swung his hands forward, gesturing for the door. Dick took in a small breath, and then took a step towards the tunnel opening.
"It's so dark…" Gar whispered.
"Wait." Victor said, taking a step backwards. "There's a flashlight in here." He went over to the shelf where earlier that night he had found the flashlights. He grabbed the one sitting on the shelf, and handed it to Dick. "Here." Dick nodded in thanks, and started towards the blackness.
"Let's go." He said. He took a few more cautious steps forward, until he was standing in the entrance. Cold air wrapped around him, and there was an eerie silence suspended down the stairs. The stairs themselves dipped into ebony, lodged messily between chiseled gray rocks. Taking one more cautious step, Dick stepped onto the first step. Kori grabbed a hold of his arm. He held onto her arm with his other, in a combination of both trying to be comforting, and in his own fear as well. He heard a footstep behind him, and heard a low hum coming from Rob. A heavy footstep was behind Rob's, obviously Victor's as opposed to Gar's. A last footstep came, and Dick knew they were all heading down the stairs.
The flashlight he gripped in the arm Kori was clutching had a wobbling beam, illuminating cracked and broken rock. The stairs weaved slightly, continuing at their downward drop.
The stairs twisted, and the black darkness only grew heavier. The silence surrounding their footsteps was unbearable, but in the same way comforting, knowing that there was nothing else down there with them. But then again, what if they just couldn't hear…Dick pushed those thoughts out of his head, grabbing the flashlight tighter. His knuckles were white, but he couldn't see them. He illuminated a few more steps, and found that they were the last ones. He gave a sigh of relief. Four…three…two left…one.
They were downstairs.
Underground.
"Wow." Rob gasped as he stepped inside.
Everyone was in equal shock. They were standing in a room.
Dick slowly dragged the beam of light across the room. It had a tile floor, with bright, vivid blue and white tiles. There were counters against the far left wall. At the very top of the wall just below the ceiling was a thin, thin slit, a tiny window which let in a ribbon of moonlight. It fell against the counter below it. There were desks and cabinets and shelves and all sorts of things in the room.
"What is it?" Kori whispered.
"You know what it looks like?" Victor said slowly.
"A classroom." Rob said without hesitation.
"It does." Dick said, fascination in his voice. The room looked like many of the other classrooms in the building, except for the fact that it appeared to have never been used.
Kori took a step forward. There was a thick impression from where her sandal had been. There was so much dust everywhere. She walked in a silent, solemn stride towards the shelf under the window. Dick carried the flashlight with her so she could see. She stood in front of it, examining the rich wood that had been used. She dragged her finger across it. A line was left in the dust. The girl looked up, and saw a long, small seam of a book leaning against one of the shelves. Curious, she pulled it out. It, too, was covered in dust. She wiped her hand against it, and read the cover: Jump City Construction. Kori tilted her head to one side, curious. There was a red ribbon in the book, marking a page. She opened to the page, and gazed over the page. Moonlight illuminated the milky white paper, covered in pictures.
The first one was of five men sitting, eating lunch. They were at a construction site that Kori recognized. They were sitting in front of a concrete sign reading, "Carlton High School." There was wood, beams, and tools behind them. Little arrows pointed to the men, reading five names.
Below it was another picture, this of two men sitting on the beams. The first had jet-black hair, and was squinting towards the camera. His tan face was spotted in dirt, but his smile was still worn wide. Below him was the name "Eric Walden." Next to him was another man. He had light blond hair, shaggily over his baby blue eyes. He was grinning at the camera. A cowboy hat was atop his head, and small earrings dangled from his ears. His jaw was very square and strong, but his frame was rather gangly. Underneath this man was a name Kori had become quite familiar with.
"Avery Moscahan." She said aloud. She looked into the face, wondering if he knew what would bestow him. Very shortly, since this picture was taken during the school's construction.
"You should see this." Kori said. The boys walked over, looking at the page illuminated in moonlight.
"That's him." Dick whispered.
"What else is in here?" Rob asked. The group looked over the counters.
"What's this?" Victor said, grabbing a thin stack of papers. He put the first one down, and Dick shone the flashlight on it. It appeared to be notes of correspondence. The five drank in the words.
KEY:
I know about what you've been up to lately. Please take care of it and do what is right. I don't know what to say, but I don't want you to get hurt because of it.
-A.M.
The next was written in another handwriting.
Just what is it that you think I'm up to? I doubt I will be in trouble.
KEY:
You know just as well as I do what investments you've been taking that should have been more securely out of reach.
-A.M.
Several things clicked in Dick's mind. "Wait a second…" He whispered. "Key, that's Skeleton Key Wilson, I'd bet. And A.M. could be Avery Moscahan." Kori nodded in agreement. "And this thing they're talking about, whatever it is that Wilson did, it sounds like it might be robbing the bank. Moscahan's not coming out and saying it, but listen to his wording- 'investments', 'more securely out of reach'- they didn't know who stole the money, and their security obviously wasn't doing a good job. It sounds like Moscahan was getting the point across that he knew." Dick explained.
"It sounds like it would make sense." Victor agreed. He looked down to read the next passage.
Nothing will happen. Just keep quiet, I don't want to cause trouble for you.
------
KEY:
I have to say something. Please take care of it yourself to help both of us.
-A.M.
-------
JUST STAY QUIET, I'M NOT "FIXING" IT.
-------
KEY:
I can't stay quiet, this isn't right. Please take care of it!
-A.M.
--------
No.
And if you can't be quiet on your own then I might have to make you. You're not ruining this Moscahan.
-------
That was the end of the notes.
"That sounded rather…threatening." Rob stated simply.
"Moscahan knew Wilson robbed the bank." Victor stated.
"And I think he killed him because of it." Kori whispered.
"What?" Gar inquired.
"Skeleton Key said that he would have to silence Avery himself if he was going to talk about the bank robberies. Avery died. They didn't find out Skeleton Key robbed the banks." There was silence as this clicked in everyone's heads.
"Oh…oh, whoa. He did, didn't he?" Victor said, voice stunned.
"What else is in here?" Rob asked. "This room seems full of surprises." They took this as a sign to keep searching, and Dick drew the flashlight over the cabinets, shelves, and drawers. Everything was so dusty, but the room was so empty. It looked like it had never been used by anyone in the school, at any time.
"Wait! Dick!" Victor said, grabbing the flashlight to stop him from moving it. The beam illuminated a small shelf, tall and narrow. Inside was a long, rolled up piece of paper.
"What is it?" Rob whispered. Dick pulled it out, and unrolled it.
"Wait…haven't we seen this before?" Kori asked, lowering her brow. The others were just as confused. They were looking at a blueprint. One of the high school. It looked exactly the same as the one upstairs, except for two major differences. The group quickly caught them.
"Look. This one shows the room we're in now." Dick pointed out. At the bottom of the blueprint, below what they had believed was the bottom story, was a staircase leading down to the room they were currently standing in. It was labeled "store room."
"It also is from a different guy." Victor said. In the bottom corner, where "Skeleton Key Wilson" was scribbled on the version upstairs, were five signatures. None of them belonged to Skeleton Key Wilson. Above the names was the label "Architects."
"Why is this so different?" Kori asked, confused.
"I think this might be the original one." Dick said slowly.
"That doesn't make sense. Why would they re-do it, without the basement and with a different guy?" Rob asked. There was no answer. Dick shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe something was down here that wasn't supposed to be?" Victor suggested.
"But why was the door sealed off?" Kori asked another question. There was no answer, yet again.
"Should we look around some more? See if we can find an answer?" Vic suggested.
"Yeah, let's go." Rob said, spinning on his heel and taking a step forward.
"Wait…" Dick said, keeping the light shining on the blueprints.
"What?" Rob asked, turning his head. However, he missed a step in the darkness, and fell forwards. He hit a cabinet, sending it knocking over. A loud crash and echo came out, as well as an outburst from Rob.
"ROB!" Victor screamed, having not seen in the dark curtain and being unaware of what may have happened. His voice carried and echoed through the room.
"Rob! Are you all right?" Kori exclaimed as Dick brought the flashlight over to Rob. He was collapsed on the ground, rubbing his head. A drawer cabinet had fallen next to him.
"Yeah, I think so…" Rob replied.
"All right, good, we-"
BANG BANG BANG! Dick was cut off by a strident, metallic banging noise. Rob jumped forward, having heard it intensely near him.
"It's the noise from the pipes!" Kori whispered.
"But why is it so much louder?" Victor asked. The noise had intensified ten fold. It seemed to engulf them from all around, and bit at their ears and deafened everything around them but the crashing.
"Where is it coming from?" Rob asked, bringing his hands to his head once again. He had hit his head falling down, and this noise wasn't what he needed right now. It only increased, it was so much louder than it had been in the bathrooms. Upstairs it had seemed rumbling, somewhat distant, but now it was as if the noise was trapped within their heads.
Dick began dragging the flashlight beam around the room, searching for a source of the noise. He went over many things, none of them providing an answer for the crashing noises. Nothing seemed out of place.
"Oooh…it's so loud!" Kori murmured, clutching her head. Dick moved the flashlight farther, until, suddenly…
"It's gone." Rob whispered. The noises had ceased, and left a humming, uneasy air lingering in the room. The four stood in shocked silence, in a combination of two different things. The first was the fact that the noise had stopped. It had left them in curiosity, confusion, and the vibrating was locked within their heads.
The second reason was for what the flashlight had stopped on.
Another door.
There was an average-looking wooden door, brown with a big copper handle. It too was just as unused looking as the rest of the room.
"Where does it go?" Victor asked. Dick slowly began walking towards the door. The round beam of light began increasing as he neared it. Kori, Victor, and Rob followed him as well. As odd as it may seem, the door seemed almost threatening in a way. They were discovering a secret within a secret. Another secret room within a secret room. How much farther would things go?
They were standing in front of the door. They could feel their lungs wanting to breathe heavily, but their minds not letting them. Slowly, Dick drew his hand forward, gripping the handle. It was cold and smooth. He pulled.
Nothing.
The door was locked.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Rob asked in a voice below even a whisper. He wasn't sure why, but he felt anything louder couldn't be used.
"I don't think we can. We don't have the key." Victor sighed. There was a moment of still silence.
"Wait." Kori said. She began rummaging through her pocket, until she pulled something out. It was the old-fashioned key she had found in the hallway.
"It's worth a shot." She whispered. She slowly began bringing the key to the lock. Victor leaned forward, engulfing them in a dark shadow. Only the light of the flashlight was lighting the handle.
Kori put the key in, and turned it. There was still nothing. She sighed. The others lowered their heads, an odd sense of disappointment filling them. The silence and cold air around them wrapped around their face, sending a tingle down their spine.
"Wait." Kori suddenly snapped her head up. "I know what it is." Her eyes were wide and excited, sparkling with some sort of realization she was about to burst with.
"What?" Dick inquired.
"It's the moonlight." She stated. "The moonlight. We have to let the moon shine on it. The moon has always been around when something happened. Gil disappeared, his desk was in the trail of moonlight. Whenever I remember finding something, there was moonlight around. When the paper began making those words, it was when you put them in the moonlight. When Rae disappeared, it was in a hallway filled with moonlight, and nothing else." The others let these words sink in. They played their night through, and realized that whenever something had happened, the moon had been there.
Dick turned his head, looking at the thin ribbon of moonlight coming in from near the ceiling.
"Victor." He said. "Move your shoulders. Let the moonlight in." Victor nodded, shifting his position. The thin beam came through to the door, illuminating specks of dust floating through the air.
Kori took a deep breath, turning the key one more time. She closed her eyes tight, waiting for what might happen.
Click.
The door swung open.
a/n: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading the chapter, one more to go. Please leave a review, I really want to hear your feedback now that the story is almost complete. Thanks to all!
Peace and rock on-
Earth Blues Baby