The Extremely Crappy Days at Ashfield High

Chappy Twenty: Discovery

Alexis flipped to the next page of the small, blue book; his eyes locked on the tiny print, moving along with the words. Perhaps he was so good at reading because of how much they did when they were children, but it didn't really matter to him.

He didn't even look up when Zeik stormed into the room, shutting the door loudly behind him. "I'm curious… as to where you've been the past two days," the redhead stated while still providing his attention to the book. Zeik scowled. "I've been on the freakin' run! It's not easy escaping police, you know."

Zeik cleared his throat and tore the book away from Alexis. "I… was reading that…"

"Yeah, well you can read it later," replied Zeik as he threw the book onto the small sofa beside the chair Alexis sat in. A lamp on a desk next to the chair gave off the only light aside from the bright bulbs in the kitchen area just a few feet in front of Alexis.

"Look, I need to talk to that Jeremy guy; where is he?"

"He left a few hours ago… the only ones here are Melissa, Catherine, and myself… and you, I suppose…"

"Where's that Noah guy?"

"Noah's usually never here, and when he is, his stays are very brief…"

"Yeah!"

Zeik suddenly felt something collide with the back of his head; he turned to see a jar of peanut butter rolling on the carpeted floor. Catherine was glaring at him from inside the kitchen area. "Since you're here, Zeeky boy, make me a sandwich."

Zeik chuckled. "I'm not your little monkey lackey." He kicked the jar away. "Make your own damn sandwich…"

"Tch, no respect!" Catherine picked up the jar and juggled it in her hands. "You need to learn some manners; if we women weren't here you idiot boys would die out!"

Zeik grinned. "Oh my God," he said sarcastically, "you, like, so made me break a nail." He turned and headed towards the door. "Thank you for your time; tell Jeremy I need to talk to him." Zeik gave a great, big smile in Catherine's direction before leaving and slamming the door once more.

Alexis stood and grasped his book, staring hard at the cover for a moment. "I don't recommend you causing him to become angry… He… is not predictable, and his intelligence is astounding…"

Catherine laughed softly. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

---

Joshua shuffled out of the classroom as the bell rang for the last time that day. Students passed by or just pushed him out of the way, but that didn't exactly bother him… What did bother him was the piece of gum stuck to the back of his jacket.

But, anyway, as Joshua neared the school's main entrance, something caught his eye. Something blue. Something posted on the wall. Something identical to a number of other pieces of paper scattered throughout the school. It was a flyer, of course, with big, bold, yellow font and a cobalt blue background.

Joshua stopped and walked up to the brick wall, staring up at the flyer. He began to read it…

The Yearly Brangy Competition begins in a Month!

Please support our school's team by coming and cheering them on! Entry Fee...

Joshua ceased reading at this point, since that was enough. 'The 'Brangy' Competition…'

"Hey, so are you going?" Joshua turned to see Nicole approaching him, looking at the sign as she did so. "The Brangy one? Nah, I went last year…"

"I g-got that information y-you w-w-wanted, J-Josh…" Myron tapped him on the right shoulder and held out the three pieces of paper. Joshua took them quickly, looking them over. "Thanks, Myron; I owe you one…"

"Is t-t-t-that f-for the Brangy thing?" He was looking past Joshua and at the flyer. Nicole nodded. "Yeah, I happen to be part of this year's team… Actually, I'm surprised Mrs. Lockhart didn't have the announcement out sooner…"

Joshua chuckled. "Maybe our team will actually have a chance to win the preliminary round with you on it."

"W-What d-d-do you mean?"

"As far as I know, our school's never gotten past the preliminary round of the competition."

"You sound a little different today, Joshua," Nicole commented. "Are you feeling all right?"

The brunette shrugged. "I guess… Christian's not here so I can't bug him… but I think it's because there's gum on my jacket…"

"R-Really…?"

"Yeah…"

Nicole frowned. "Well, you look a little pale…" Joshua rubbed his eyes. "Pale? Okay… Do I… look pale now?"

Joshua cleared his throat and threw his head to the side. Myron and Nicole regarded him with bewildered expressions as he remained completely still for a moment. "Are y-y-you okay, J-J-J-Joshua?"

Joshua made a small laugh before turning back to them. He looked slightly different than before; his pupils were a tad bolder, his cheek bones were protruding just a little, and his overall aura seemed to be… Uh… I dunno the word for it…

Myron seemed to be amazed, and Nicole was trying to get herself air by flapping her right hand very quickly next to her face. "Oh God…"

The brown- haired teenager ran a hand through his hair. "Still, though, do I look pale?" he asked in a very heavy and somewhat sexy voice.

That was the last straw for Nicole. She fell back, causing Myron to quickly catch her before she landed on the floor.

Joshua groaned while rubbing his face. "My face hurts so much after I do that…" Myron looked at him while helping Nicole stand. "H-How'd you d-d-do that?"

"Do what?"

"The s-s-s-sexy t-thing…"

"Oh, well I was bored one day a few years back…"

---

"You okay, Nicole? I overdid it a little…" Joshua said as they walked outside. The blonde girl giggled.

"Don't worry, I'm fine; just got caught off- guard…"

Myron adjusted his glasses when someone called, "Nicole!"

The girl immediately turned to the direction of the voice, and after a moment of staring at the man, she ran towards him, laughing happily. "Uncle James!"

James had a great big smile on his face as the teenage girl embraced him. "How've… you been?" he inquired as she released. "I've been great actually, but I was wondering when you'd get in."

Joshua and Myron watched as the uncle and niece conversed. "Come on, Myron, let's go say 'Hello'."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah."

"B-B-But-," Before Myron could answer, however, James was already walking over to him. "So I see Nicole's been making some friends, eh?" He grinned and held out his hand. "James Sunderland."

Joshua nodded and shook his hand lightly. "Townsend; Henry Townsend." He scratched his nose as James let go and turned to Myron. "And you are?"

"M-Myron C-C-Cartland, sir."

James sighed and backed away. "So, tell me, guys, has Nicole been good?" he inquired with a laugh. Myron shrugged as Joshua smirked. "That depends on how you classify, 'Nice', Mr. Sunderland," replied Joshua. They both somewhat laughed as Myron scratched his head.

Nicole walked up to the sort-of-geek. "Nice guy, isn't he?"

His head slowly bobbed up and down. "Y-Yeah…"

---

Joshua kicked off his shoes and collapsed onto his bed. The day had seemed longer than usual, and the trek back to his house after meeting Nicole's uncle only tired him out more.

He remained like that for a few minutes, staring at a photograph beside his computer monitor. It was a somewhat old photo, taken by his father when he was around five. He and his parents had gone to a water park during the summer, and he'd had a very nice time.

Of course, he almost drowned, he fell on his head, and he puked… twice… after drinking what he thought was lemonade. Plus, the day after, he felt horrible.

But, even though his mother scolded him and explained that he was experiencing a 'Hangover' and shouldn't drink something he wasn't sure of ever again, she still tucked him in that night and kissed him on the forehead before leaving.

He was brought back from reminiscing, however, when a terrible smell reached his nostrils.

Joshua quickly sat up, clenching his nose between his right thumb and index finger. The smell was extremely strong, and he instantly pinpointed its location: the chest.

Now, Joshua had never thought anything of the chest, because, once again, it frightened him, and it smelt pretty bad… but today, the odor had been multiplied about ten times.

He narrowed his eyes, scrunching his face in discomfort. He knelt down on the floor, studying the chest. Joshua groaned while slowly feeling the lid. 'Damn… it's getting worse…'

Joshua gagged as he released the hold on his nose and prepared to raise the lid. Taking a deep breath, he pulled the lid up, a high- pitched squeaking noise straining his eardrums.

Joshua squinted to see into the darkness of the chest, making out the outlines of several objects. He made out a variety of golf clubs and an aged pipe resting at the bottom, while a tall, waxy candle lay upon them. A medallion with an intricate design carved into it sat in the corner of the chest.

Joshua gradually extended his arm towards it; he picked it up, using his thumb to wipe some of the dust off of it.

'Gee, all this junk must be years old… I shouldn't even be touching this stuff…'

Joshua glanced around the chest one last time… when something suddenly caught his eye. It was a book, maybe a journal of some sort. Its red- orange cover seemed to be barely holding on to the pages.

The teenager brought it out from the depths of the chest and dropped it on the carpet beside him. He examined it quickly before flipping the cover to the side and staring at the crimson page. The words were definitely written in ink… black at that. They seemed to have seeped a little, but were still readable.

Joshua picked the journal up and began to read…

Lately I've been feeling like my life is in serious danger.

I've been through a lot in my life, but I've never felt this kind of pure,

animal fear.

In case something happens to me, I've decided to write down what I've learned

for whoever you are that's living on the apartment now.

I've been investigating the mass murder that took place 7 years ago in which

10 people were killed in 10 days.

They were killed in a variety of ways, but the one thing they had in common

was that each corpse had the following numbers, in order of their deaths,

carved into them:

01121, 02121, 03121,

04121, 05121, 06121,

07121, 08121, 09121,

10121 ... The name of their killer... it was carved in as well...

His name was...Walter Sullivan.

April 4