Chapter 11:
Facing the Music: Running away from Home:
(Thursday May 4th, 2017)
It had been three days since Jack had easily defeated Billy Nolan and his two friends and had then uploaded the dirty laundry of them as well as the dirty laundry of Chris and the other Ultras up to the internet. After handing their statements and information over to the police not long after, the officers viewed the footage that Freddy had recorded of the incident and reassured Jack that he wouldn't get into any trouble, as he had been acting in self-defence of his friends, which the officers said was a very admirable thing for him to do.
However, for Billy and his two lackeys, thanks to all the information that Jack and the others had given, as well as Freddy's video, would be charged with attempted assault and threatening to sexually assault a teacher and the other girls in the group. These charges would be added to Billy's long list of existing charges, which Chris's father had quietly swept under the rug. Also, Freddy's camera footage made it impossible to defend Billy against his actions.
Once all the evidence had been reviewed, a warrant was quickly issued for the arrest of Billy and his two lackeys, and they were arrested not long after by local police officers at a nearby bar late on Wednesday evening. With that, Billy wouldn't be seen in public again for quite a long time.
(Ewen High School, lunchtime)
Standing outside the front of Ewen High close to the parking lot, Chris Hargensen paced and waited for news from Billy, Jackie, and Kenny. She was hoping they had been able to get the information from, and get revenge on, the one who humiliated her and the other Ultras. But she had heard nothing from him for a while and was getting a little concerned inside that something had happened but kept calm and composed on the surface. What she didn't know at that moment was that she had been made an even bigger fool than what happened when Jack stood up to her a few weeks before.
Tina Blake walked through the corridors to the cafeteria with a false sense of calm and confidence on her face. Since the young Irishman had stood up to her and her friends a few weeks before, the reputation of the Ultras had plummeted. Other people had stood up to them instead of going at people like Carrie and often chanted "Fuck up! Fuck up!" (n) in intimidation, all wanting to know what their dirty little secrets were. Trying to appear calm and composed wasn't easy when she and the other Ultras knew Jack had their dirty laundry in his possession, and the thought of it being put out there for people to see terrified her greatly.
When she and Chris, in a move of desperation, told their respective boyfriends about the dirty laundry that Jack had gathered about them, she conveniently didn't mention the fact that she was sleeping with Mr Ullmann to boost her English grades. After all, what her boyfriend didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
(n): think of the scene early in The Shawshank Redemption (1994) where the prisoners all chant "Fresh fish! Fresh fish!", starting slow and then getting faster and louder. That's what I imagine the other students doing whenever any of the "Ultras" come along the school corridors.
(Cafeteria)
Tina sat at her usual table with the remaining Ultras, including Jessica Upshaw, Rachel Spies, Donna Kellogg, the Watson twins, Nicki and Lizzy and the Thibodeau twins, Donna and Mary Lila Grace. She was about to tuck into her lunch when she noticed that many of the other students sitting near their table were looking towards them and whispering among themselves and snickering at times while glancing at their iPhones or iPads.
"What's going on? Why are they all looking at us like that?" Tina asked, while starting to feel her anxiousness rising.
"No idea. Do you think we should go and ask them?" Jessica said. But before they could do anything else, one of the senior female students, who happened to be on the school's cheerleading team, came up to their table with a smile on her face that made Tina even more nervous than she had been a moment before.
"Hey Tina, just to remind you…we've an English test coming up later today, so you may wanna…ride Mr Ullmann for an A+." she said, as Tina's face turned a pale white.
"W-w-what are you talking about?! Those are just rumours! Lies! It's not true!" Tina said in a quiet panic. But the girl raised her eyebrows and pulled out her iPhone as a cheeky smile formed on her face.
"All lies, huh? Isn't this evidence of you being "assisted" by Mr Ullmann for some EXTRA credit? One of YOUR texts?" she asked with sarcasm, showing a text from Tina to her English teacher.
"Mr Ullmann…our last session together was AMAZING. Can't wait to feel your big d**k in my tight, wet p***y again. Until next time, here's something to keep you busy" and Tina felt the air leave her lungs in shock as she saw under the message was a private photo of her posing in revealing lingerie in her bathroom.
"How'd you get those?!" she asked in panic.
"You're kidding, right? All of this, and a lot more besides, was released online earlier this week and so EVERYTHING'S free for EVERYONE to see. Good luck with the test!" and with a final laugh, the cheerleader walked out of the cafeteria leaving the group of girls trembling at the table.
They each took their phones out quickly and checked, hoping what they'd been told was only a joke. The air left their lungs and eyes opened wide in shock when they saw it was no joke; countless comments about their dirty laundry flooded their social media pages. Just as the cheerleader said, everything was there to see, every comment, video, and picture.
"This can't be happening! T-this can't be real!" Tina said, as she hyperventilated as the sudden news sank into her brain. The faces of the other Ultras were identical to hers when they saw their secrets out in the open.
Then Tina's phone rang, which made her jump. She saw an unfamiliar number on the touchscreen and pressed the answer button and after saying "hello", heard a familiar Irish voice.
"I gave you and all your friends a clear-cut warning about what I'd do, and you didn't heed it. Now you can all face the music for what you've done."
Tina, the colour gone from her face and in shock, scanned the cafeteria and saw Jack sitting with Carrie at their usual table not too far away. Norma and Freddy, Roy, and Heather as well as Tommy and Sue were with them. Jack was looking directly towards her with his iPhone to his ear.
"Your boyfriend and his mates were…unsuccessful trying to retrieve the dirty laundry that's now free for all to see. All three are currently in police custody and will face the music for their actions, so...they won't be available for the prom unfortunately. Oh…before I go…I should let you know your parents have seen the proof of your…ahem..."meetings" with the English teacher. So…good luck with that one, ya big feckin' eejit!" and then Jack ended the call. He and the others at their table watched as Tina, looking as though she was about to faint, quickly stand up and leave the cafeteria as fast as she could. The other Ultras, looking exactly the same quickly followed suit, as the whispers and laughter from other students following close behind.
Jack smirked as he watched Tina and the others leave the cafeteria, and then he turned back to the others.
"That'll teach them for doing what they did to other students here. And for what they did to you in particular." he said, glancing at Carrie. She'd a big smile on her face, bigger than Jack had seen in the last few weeks.
"Oh, it's so nice to see everyone laugh at THEM for a change!" she said, the big smile still on her face as she turned back to her lunch.
"Yeah…and I wonder how a certain someone's gonna react when they hear the latest news." Jack said, a big grin on his face.
(With Chris a short while later)
The Ultras leader was still waiting outside the front of the school, waiting for word from her boyfriend, but had still heard nothing. Then a message came from Tina telling her to check her social media accounts at once. Chris quickly did and was instantly bombarded with a lot of hate comments on her Twitter account, calling her all sorts of derogatory names, as all her secrets, including her hidden criminal charges, were on display.
Chris's face quickly drained of colour and her eyes widened in horror as everything sank in.
"How's this possible?! Billy should've taken everything off that loser's boyfriend!" she quietly asked herself in disbelieving panic. Suddenly her phone rang with an unknown number and she answered it. Quickly, she heard the Irish voice of the one who had humiliated her.
"Enjoying the latest news? Ha, ha…quite interesting, if you ask me."
Chris spun round, looking for where the caller was. She noticed him standing just inside the doorway, his phone to his ear, and smirking mockingly at her.
"You thought that your lover thug boy and his friends would be able to take all the information I had on you and your friends by force? Tut, tut, tut, you were sadly mistaken. I told you what I'd do if you or anyone else tried that. Billy's in police custody now…and will be spending some time behind bars for quite a long time to come. And don't think your dad can help on this one. All Billy's past crimes have been brought to light and, with plenty of new evidence against him, he ain't gonna be getting outta this."
"Y-you can't do this to me! You've got no right to do this to me!" Chris screamed in anger into her phone.
"Oh, quite the contrary Chris…it's already been done. And don't think that your dad can help you outta this one. It isn't just your dirty laundry that's out…his is too. I don't think his law firm will take kindly to him sweeping the criminal records of you and your boyfriend under the rug. You thought I was bluffing when I warned you, didn't you? Well…now you know. I never bluff." and with that, Jack hung up and walked back into the school.
Chris collapsed onto a bench, breathless and defeated. Her plan to retrieve all her dirty secrets had completely failed, her boyfriend and his lackeys were all gonna be put away for a long time and now everyone knew what kind of a person she really was, and her and her friends being made the school's laughing stock in the process too. And there was nothing she could do about it. Her perfect life was over, and she knew it.
(Later, after school. 3:05pm)
With another day finally done, and several different tests finally completed, Jack and Carrie stepped out of the school's main entrance among their fellow classmates and headed to the parking lot.
"And I know there's a very dress shop in town not too far from here where I can get some more things for my prom dress." Carrie said.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come along with you too? I really don't mind you know." Jack said.
"Don't worry Jack, I'll be fine. I'm a big girl, so I can take care of myself." Carrie said.
"All right Carrie, but just please be careful though. I've heard that there's a big storm on its way this evening." Jack said, looking up at the sky with some anxiousness where a small number of dark grey clouds were passing overhead.
"Okay, I won't be too long. Just an hour or two max." Carrie said.
"Fair enough, I'll see you tomorrow morning." Jack said, accepting her wishes. And after giving each other a hug, Carrie walked into the old part of Chamberlain to the dress shop she wanted to visit. For a few moments until she was out of sight, Jack watched her. He was very pleased to see that her confidence had grown so much in the last few weeks, yet at the same time he'd a feeling deep within his gut that something was gonna happen. But he didn't know if it was good or bad. Shaking his head, Jack tried to dismiss the uneasy feeling he had as he headed over to Rita's minivan.
(On the way back to his apartment)
"Jack, are you okay? You seem a bit…concerned about something." Rita said, noticing the uneasy look on Jack's face as they drive back.
"I'm not sure…eh Rita, have you ever had any times in your life where you've had an uneasy feeling really deep inside that something was gonna happen, but you weren't quite sure what it was?" asked Jack.
"Oh yes, I've had a few of those moments…why?" Rita said.
"That's what I'm feeling right now." Jack said.
"Hey don't worry, Jack. Many times, when I've had that feeling, nothing ever happened. Are you sure you don't know what it is?" Rita asked.
"I'm positive." Jack said.
"Well…try not to worry about it too much. I'm sure that it'll pass over. Many times when people get odd feelings like that...usually nothing ever happens." Rita said, as they pulled into the parking lot in front of the apartments.
"Okay Rita, I'll do that." Jack said.
"What are you gonna do for the rest of the afternoon and this evening?" Rita asked, as Jack grabbed his school bag and opened the door.
"First off…I'm gonna go straight over to the barber shop across the street and get a haircut; I think I need one. And then I'll head on back to my apartment and do the little bit of homework I have to do." Jack said.
"All right. I'll see you in the morning." Rita said, as Jack got out of the car and closed the door.
"Oh, Jack!" Rita called, as she pressed the button that opened the window on the passenger side. Jack stopped, turned and looked back towards Rita.
"Yes, Rita?" he asked, as he bent down a little to look through the open window at her.
"Well done on releasing all the dirty laundry on Chris and her friends. Maybe all the embarrassment it'll cause them will teach them all a lesson or two on why they shouldn't bully other people." Rita said with a smile, as Jack smiled back and nodded.
"It's okay, Rita. I'm happy to do it...especially if it makes a difference to other people in school." Jack said.
"Absolutely...anyway I'd best let you get over to the barbershop. See you in the morning!" Rita said, and after Rita turned her minivan round, pulled out of the parking lot and headed home, Jack headed across to the barber shop to have his haircut. But he was still feeling uneasy inside.
(About two hours later, the White household)
Margaret White stood outside her home and paced about in a worried way on her driveway. Carrie was supposed to have been back ages ago and there was still no sign of her. Evening was drawing in and, although the sun hadn't fully set yet, off to the west was a slow-growing, but very large, storm system, with clouds reaching very high into the atmosphere and blocking out much of the sunlight.
Every now and then, brief and bright flashes of lightning could be seen within the dark, ominous clouds in the distance followed some twenty seconds later by the rumblings of thunder.
Many thoughts flowed through Margaret's mind of what could've happened to Carrie as she paced up and down the driveway.
"Where are you, Carrie? What sinful things are you committing right now in our Lord's eyes?" she said quietly. Then she saw Carrie walking along the street towards her with a bag in one hand and her schoolbag on her back.
"Carrie, where have you been? I've been worried sick." Margaret asked, as Carrie tried to walk by her. "Come on, come inside." she said, as she grabbed Carrie's arm.
"I'm sorry I'm late, momma." Carrie said, as Margaret dragged her inside the house.
"You're supper's cold. I'm gonna have to heat it up." Margaret said, as they entered the living room. Then Margaret noticed the clothes her daughter was wearing as Carrie took off her jacket.
"You're immodest. I didn't know where you were." Margaret said harshly, as she went into the kitchen. Carrie followed, trying to explain where she'd been.
"Momma, I took a bus and went into Main Street in town, and I bought material for a dress."
"You're only to go to school and back. You know that." Margaret said, as she reached down to turn on the oven.
"Momma, before you say anything else…I've been asked to prom." Carrie finally revealed to her mother. "Momma, I've been asked to prom." she said again softly, waiting for her mother to respond to her.
"Oh God, why?" Margaret asked, as a flash of lightning lit up the sky in the distance followed by the rumbling of thunder.
"It's gonna be at the school in a little over three weeks from now and he's very nice . He'll come and meet you and he's promised to have me home by 10:30pm." Carrie said, hoping to convince her mother to let her go to prom.
Margaret stared at her, with her eyes emotionless. "No, no, no, no." she said, over and over as she shook her head.
"I've already accepted the invitation!" exclaimed Carrie. "I know it scares you…it scares me too. The other kids at school…they think I'm weird and I don't want to be. I want to try and be a whole different person…before it's too late."
She stepped closer to her mother as she spoke. When she was right in front of her, Margaret smiled sadly and placed her hands on Carrie's cheeks. Carrie smiled, thinking she had finally got through to her mother.
"He'll hurt you." Margaret whispered. Carrie's smile dropped and she quickly took her mother's hands off her face while she back away slightly.
"No momma, there are bad people out there in the world…but not Jack, he's good. You'll like Jack. He's a very nice boy." Carrie said, as she shook her head in denial of her mother's words.
But Margaret stood up straighter and walk toward her daughter. "Boys. Boys have blood. Boys sniff things, slobbering like dogs." she rambled, as Carrie tried to block out her mother's words as she tried to walk away.
"Stop it, momma."
"He'll paw at you and try and find out where that blood smell comes from. Then he's gonna take you, Carrie, in his car out into the wilderness where the roadhouses are and the whiskey." Margaret rambled on.
"Stop being so crazy!" Carrie pleaded desperately.
"Tell that boy you're not going!" Margaret ordered.
"No!" Carrie said in defiance.
"We'll move from here! We're never gonna stop moving!" Margaret said.
"No, momma!" Carrie cried.
"You're gonna go into your closet and you're gonna pray!" Margaret ordered, as Carrie's eyes widened with fear. "You're gonna go in there and you're gonna pray for forgiveness!"
"No, never again momma!" Carrie screamed, unconsciously activating her telekinetic powers and making all the furniture rise a few feet off the floor as Margaret screamed in terror and fell to her knees as the furniture came crashing back down to the floor. She knelt on the floor seemingly praying, as she slowly turned her head back up again.
Carrie stood still for a few seconds, looking round the room and processing what she'd just done. Looking down at her mother, she spoke again. "M-momma, stand up…" But Margaret kept kneeling on the floor praying, seemingly having not heard what Carrie said.
"Momma, stand up." Carrie said more firmly, holding out her arm and activating her telekinesis, causing her mother to rise from the floor with a scream of terror. She floated in mid-air about a foot or two above the floor and stared at Carrie, eyes filled with fear.
"Mom…I'm going. I wanna start living my own life. I don't like yours." said Carrie.
"Witch." Margaret said, in a quiet fear.
"I'm not a witch momma. There are no witches." Carrie said.
"The devil's got her now…like he did before." Margaret mumbled.
"It's not the devil, momma. There are other people out there who can do what I can do." Carrie said.
"You poor child, don't you know…don't you know he's working through you?" Margaret rambled quietly.
"Mom, it's inherited. It was passed on from grandma and it skipped you. You…you know that!" Carrie tried to explain. But Margaret was shaking her head in denial. "Maybe it came from daddy?" Carrie said.
"He gave me a cancer…I thought your daddy gave me a cancer." Margaret said crazily. Carrie's eyes widened in shock on hearing that.
"Momma don't say that. That's awful!" Carrie said with tear-filled eyes, as she used her powers to swing her mother back and forth through the air, causing Margaret to scream out in sheer terror.
"You must renounce this power! You must give it up! You must never use it again!" Margaret screamed as Carrie kept her suspended in the air.
"Momma, I don't wanna fight with you! I'm not like you! And I'm never gonna be like you." Carrie said, as she stopped moving her mother back and forth.
The levitating woman said nothing more and, shakily bringing her hands together, prayed quietly as her daughter kept her suspended in the air.
"Pray all you want, momma. But I'm going…and nothing's gonna stop me." and with that final word, Carrie dropped her mother to the floor. "And I don't wanna talk about it anymore." And after a long moment of staring at the pathetic form of her wretched mother on the floor, the young telekinetic teen turned round, left the kitchen and went upstairs to her bedroom, where she shut the door and collapsed on her bed, fresh tears flowing from her eyes as she sobbed into her pillow.
(about half an hour later)
Margaret, after taking some time to calm down from what had just happened, fearfully stood up from the floor and went into the kitchen. She looked through all the drawers and cupboards before she took hold of a knife sitting on one of the countertops. Then the religious fanatic slowly and very quietly crept upstairs to the room of her daughter – no, the witch – with only one thing on her mind; "kill the witch and send her back to hell."
(Carrie's room)
Carrie lay on her bed, seemingly asleep. But then a creak on the old floorboards suddenly roused her from her sleep. She turned and her eyes widened in sheer terror when she saw her mother standing by the bed with her arm raised high with the knife.
"Burn in hell's fiery pit!" the mad woman proclaimed and thrust the knife down to Carrie, who screamed in terror. Carrie instinctively rolled; the blade missed her heart, which was what Margaret was aiming for, and instead hit her right shoulder, tearing a shallow flesh wound about five inches long at the top of the shoulder.
"AAAHH!" Carrie screamed, as she felt the sudden and searing pain. Her telekinetic powers reacted and with a big push sent her murderous mother flying backwards into one wall, the knife still in her hand.
Then, after a moment, Margaret climbed back to her feet, her cold uncaring eyes staring hard at Carrie.
"M-momma! Why are you doing this?!" Carrie cried in fear and pain.
"You're no daughter of mine…you're a witch I must slay and burn before I send you back to hell's fiery depths to be with your master…Lucifer." Margaret rambled crazily, and stepped closer and closer to Carrie, who was stepping back as she got closer.
"Momma, please don't do this! Stop!" Carrie pleaded tearfully. But Margaret came on, closer and closer, unaffected by Carrie's cries.
Then Margaret screamed with rage and thrust the sharp blade back at Carrie, who fell onto her back and, thrusting her hands out, managed to activate her powers just in time and prevented Margaret stabbing her.
Carrie was struggling to keep the knife away and was slowly losing the battle at Margaret kept pushing it closer. The blade came nearer and nearer. When it was a few inches away from touching Carrie's face, a memory of her with Jack suddenly flew into her head.
(memory)
"Why would you do so much of this for me? You could get into serious trouble for what you've done. Why would you risk it for someone like me?"
"Because you're a very special person, Carrie, and you mean a lot to me. Spending time with you over the last few days had made me realise that you're one of the most important people in my life. And I'm not letting you go…no matter what."
(end memory)
As the memory faded away, Carrie suddenly felt herself fill with a surge of immense strength and, with a determined "RUUAAA!" and thrusting her arms out, sent her murderous mother flying backwards again with a very powerful telekinetic push.
Margaret felt the air leave her lungs as she hit the wall for a second time. She lost her grip on the knife and it went spinning round until it jammed itself in a gap between the wooden floor and the skirting board in one of the corners.
Slowly getting to her feet, Carrie saw that her mother no longer had the knife in her grasp. Taking the chance, she used her powers to lift her mother off the floor like she did a short while earlier and pulled her closer until they were staring each other face to face. Margaret was looking at her daughter with fear-filled eyes.
"Carrie?" Margaret said, fearfully.
"Goodbye, momma." Carrie whispered, and pulling her arm back, and adding her telekinetic powers, her fist delivered a very hard punch she learned from Jack which sent the murderous woman rocketing back into the wall, which she hit with a hard thud. Margaret fell to the floor in a heap, completely knocked out cold.
Carrie, breathing heavily and trying to calm down, had to fight to just stay on her feet as what happened within the last few moments finally sank into her head: her mother, the one who had given birth to her and raised her all this time, had just tried to violently kill her, just because she wanted to go to the end-of-school event all teens dream of going to and had defiantly refused to listen to her by standing up to her...just like anyone in that situation would.
Once she had calmed down from what she had just gone through, but her hands and body still shaking all over, Carrie went into the bathroom. She examined the wound on her right shoulder; it was bleeding, but not very heavily. Carrie looked inside the cabinet under the sink and took out an old roll of bandages from the back of the bottom shelve. She wrapped a length of it round her shoulder and tied it tightly to stop the bleeding.
She then went back into her bedroom and put on a coat before she took a suitcase out from under her bed and grabbed her backpack at the foot of the bed. Fighting back tears of grief and fear, and taking in deep breaths to keep herself calm, she packed the suitcase with clothes, personal items, and toiletries before packing her backpack with schoolbooks and a few of her own books. Then, with that done, and Margaret slowly starting to come to, she quickly left her room and went downstairs. She unlocked the front door and stepped outside, heading to the sidewalk by the road.
The storm that had been building up over the last hour or so was now almost directly overhead, with bright blue white lightning flashes and low rumbling thunder now very close indeed. Though it wasn't yet raining, Carrie knew rain was on the way, judging from the smell in the air. Ignoring the stinging pain on her right shoulder, Carrie paused and took a final long look at her old home, before turning and running down the street as fast as she could to the only place she felt safe.
And that's the end of that chapter everyone. Carrie's broken free from that abusive and controlling woman and is now on her way to Jack's apartment. Don't worry though, because Margaret will get her comeuppance for what she did to her daughter.