Chapter 7: Friday Knight Lights

Jeremiah had gotten so involved with creating his own vigilante outfit that he almost forgot about going to school. He knew he would have to go because it was the only way to find out what everyone was saying about Valerie's disappearance- not to mention, Officer's Smits and Rochman might be there- and if they were, Jeremiah would be able to spy on them and possibly follow them after school. Even though he couldn't prove it, he knew those two officers had something to do with her disappearance- and they were the only lead Jeremiah had at the moment.


When Jeremiah got to school, there were banners outside that read, "Beat the Bulldogs!" The biggest game of the year for Central. Last year, nearly 20 people were injured- and that was mostly due to the fighting in the stands.

When he entered the school, several students were in the hallway lined up in a single file. Most of them were members of the football team. He wasn't sure what was going on. It looked as if the students were holding their hands out with their palms facing up. He could hear most of them conversing about the GothCorp explosion from last night and Valerie's disappearance. Then, he spotted the two officers, Smits and Rochman, near the front. It looked as if they were checking everyone's palms for some reason. He turned his hand over to look at his palms. That's when he realized what the two men were looking for. It was Valerie's phone number. "That's how she became involved with this whole mess. They must have seen the palm of my hand on the video footage at GothCorp when I tried to shield myself from the cameras." He couldn't believe he was so careless. He knew he had to do something before they made it down to him. Without making it look too obvious, he quickly ducked into the bathroom and thoroughly washed his hands, and before anyone noticed, he hurried back out and snuck back in line.

The two officers finally made their way down to Jeremiah. They immediately recognized him. "Well, well, look who it is." Rochman blurted out.

"We don't appreciate you going down to the police station and lying about us to the Desk Sergeant." Smits declared while trying to grab hold of Jeremiah's hands.

Jeremiah piped up. "What are you saying? I was somehow imagining things that night?"

Smits squeezed Jeremiah's hands tightly and pulled him in closer. "We had to let your dad go that night. You should learn the facts before spewing lies." He suggested. "What's wrong, you didn't get the memo? Apparently Anthony Rowe died of a drug overdose. Don't be mad at us because your daddy didn't call you to let you know he got released."

Jeremiah was furious inside. They were lying straight through their teeth, and he wanted nothing more than to knock their teeth out. Despite his anger, Jeremiah played it cool. "Yeah. It's a shame he didn't have the decency to call. That was wrong of him. Maybe I will get a hold of him tonight."

"Pffff." Smits scoffed and laughed. "Good luck with that, kid."

"Oh my God! These two are evil incarnated!" Jeremiah thought to himself. He couldn't believe how obvious they were making it sound.

"This guy's hands are clean." Smits said, releasing Jeremiah from his tight grip. "Hope you find your father." He smirked as the two of them began walking away.

While Jeremiah was observing the other students in the hallway, he noticed that Tommy wasn't anywhere to be found. "Could he have had something to do with Valerie's disappearance?" He thought to himself. "Not to mention, if Tommy is absent from school, he won't be able to play in the big game tonight between Central and Bludhaven. The Raiders won't stand a chance if that's the case."


Minutes later, after sitting down in his first period class, Jeremiah noticed that the two officers were out in the hallway speaking with his teacher, Mr. Crane, once again. They never spoke to any of the other teachers as much as they spoke to him. Based on their body language and hand gestures, it looked as if they were discussing a plan. Jeremiah decided to act as if he was getting up to throw something away, so that he could try and eavesdrop on their conversation. He was barely able to make out a few words. They were saying something about tonight's football game. Something about, "if they couldn't figure out who the mystery man was, they were going to punish the whole team." But, he couldn't hear what they were actually planning to do.

Jeremiah didn't understand why they would be talking to Mr. Crane about planning something against the football team. "What could Mr. Crane have to do with all of this? He was probably about to turn 75 years old and should be ready to retire." He thought.

"First my dad was shot, then Valerie was kidnapped, now they are planning to hurt everyone on the football team just to get to me. It's amazing how one small action could escalate into such an avalanche."

Mr. Crane turned around and began heading back towards his classroom. Jeremiah quickly took his seat. He sat and thought about what his next plan of action should be. After pondering ideas for a few minutes, Jeremiah finally came to a conclusion. He decided that the only way he could help the football team was to play in the game- and if he wasn't able to play, at least be on the sidelines scoping things out.


"RAAAAHHHH!" The energy from the Bludhaven Bulldog's bleachers were in high spirits. Their players, cheer squad, and fans were all on their feet minutes before kickoff. The exact opposite could be said for the Central Raiders. Everyone looked depressed due to the fact that their head cheerleader was missing and their starting QB was deemed ineligible. It also didn't help that it was beginning to rain.

Jeremiah had begged his coach to let him get in the game. Normally, the coach wouldn't have let him play since Jeremiah was technically on the Junior Varsity squad, but he figured they didn't have much to lose since Tommy wasn't playing. However, the coach told him he wouldn't play much unless they absolutely needed him to. That was good enough for Jeremiah because he mostly wanted to be on the sidelines anyway.

Jeremiah looked around at the security detail. There were no signs of officer's Smits and Rochman yet, but he knew it wouldn't be long until they showed their faces.


Bludhaven Bulldogs kicked a 30 yard field goal just before the end of the first half making it 17-0. Jeremiah was surprised the Raiders were able to keep it that close. He was also surprised that he never spotted officers Smits and Rochman throughout the entire first half. Everything seemed to be going okay.

As the team walked into the locker room, Jeremiah checked under the benches and inside lockers. He was trying to make sure nobody had installed a bomb of some sorts. It would have been the easiest way to punish the entire team all at once, but he couldn't find anything.


Minutes later, after the coach tried giving a somewhat motivational speech, the team reluctantly started heading back out onto the field. Before Jeremiah left the locker room, he noticed a couple of his teammates not wanting to move. One of them was the starting Free Safety and the other was a Linebacker. He wasn't sure what was going on, so he decided to approach them.

"Hey, guys. What's going on? Why aren't you heading back out onto the field with everyone else?"

"The demons." One of them muttered.

"Too many cockroaches on the field." The other one added.

"What are you guys talking about? What demons? What cockroaches?" Jeremiah asked, only to get the same response over and over again.

Something had frightened them. They were in a state of paranoia and seemed to be having a panic attack. Jeremiah quickly ran out to get a doctor.

Seconds after alerting the doctor of the two players, the head coach yelled out to Jeremiah. "You're up! Our Free Safety isn't coming back out! It's time to show us what you're made of!" He declared.

Jeremiah looked around at his other teammates. Several of them were acting as if they didn't want to play in the game. Something strange seemed to be going on, but he wasn't sure of what was causing it. Maybe it was the cold November rain.

Because he had never played in a varsity game, it felt surreal for Jeremiah as he put on his helmet and ran out onto the field. The Friday night lights seemed so much brighter than he could have ever imagined as he joined the defensive huddle.

After breaking the huddle, he studied the offensive line. It looked as if they were lining up for a pass. Then, Jeremiah noticed the Quarterback checking his position- he then nodded to his Wide Receiver. Jeremiah knew the play was coming his way. The Bulldogs thought it would be an easy play since Jeremiah was a rookie.

"HIKE!" The ball was snapped.

Right away, the Wide Receiver started running in his direction. Then, he tried cutting across the field, but Jeremiah was ready.

The ball was thrown into the air. The Wide Receiver was fast, but Jeremiah already knew where the ball was going.

"INTERCEPTION!" The Wide Receiver yelled out.

Jeremiah had snatched the ball out of the air and was able to run in for a defensive touchdown.

The entire crowd on the Raiders side got out of their seats because they finally had something to cheer for.

His teammates congratulated him, and the score was now 17-7. That was the last time the Bulldogs would try to throw in his direction for the rest of the quarter. In fact, the Raiders were so pumped up after the turnover, they managed to score an offensive touchdown before the end of the third quarter was over- making it 17 - 14.


As the fourth quarter started, Jeremiah began noticing more and more of his teammates feeling sick and acting scared. As he walked out onto the field, he scanned the sidelines up and down. There was still no sign of Officer's Smits and Rochman. However, he did spot his teacher, Mr. Crane, standing near the water cooler. It looked as if he was handing cups out to the team.

That's when it hit Jeremiah. There must've been something in the water causing his teammates to be scared. There wasn't much he could do about it because it was third down and the offense was about to snap the ball.

Jeremiah thought of a plan. He would let the receiver catch the ball and then drive him out of bounds and into the water cooler. It would cost the team a first down, but it would keep the team away from whatever was in the water. And that is exactly what he did.

CRASH! The receiver had caught the ball and Jeremiah blasted him into the water cooler, causing the water to splash all the way out onto the spectators in the front row.

"FIRST DOWN!" The referee announced as the crowd for the Bulldogs cheered aloud.

As the next play was about to get underway, Jeremiah noticed that Mr. Crane was sending players on the team towards the school. That seemed strange to Jeremiah because the medical team usually dealt with players in the locker room below the stands. Plus, several teammates were missing from the sidelines. Then, he looked off towards the doors of the school. That's when he recognized Officer Smits standing at the door. He was allowing the team members to enter the building.

"Whatever was in the water must be some sort of truth serum. Or maybe whatever was in the water was causing them to be so scared that they wouldn't dare lie to the police. Either way, I have to find out." Jeremiah said to himself.

Jeremiah thought for a second. He then realized that he would have to cause a turnover so that he could get off the field. He hadn't blitzed the QB the entire game. This was a perfect time to do that.

"HIKE!"

Jeremiah faked as if he was going to cover the pass, but then, with a quick stutter-step, he rushed in towards the QB. Nobody was ready for it.

POW! He hit the QB so hard it caused him to fumble the ball. Jeremiah quickly snatched the ball up from off the ground and ran for the End zone.

"Touchdown!" The referee announced. 20 - 17. Soon to be 21 - 17 after a field goal.

Jeremiah didn't even stop after making a touchdown- he just continued running- all the way out of the stadium. He had his "OTHER" uniform stashed in a bush just outside of the stadium. He quickly ducked into one of the porter-potties and got changed.

He then snuck his way around the backside of the school. He knew that his art teacher always left one of the windows unlocked.

After managing to get into the school undetected, he went on the search for his teammates. The only place he could think that they could be holding that many students would be the gymnasium or the cafeteria. First he checked the cafeteria, but nobody was in there. Then, as he was heading towards the gymnasium, he heard noises coming from Mr. Crane's classroom. When he looked through the window of the door he could see several of his teammates curled up in fetal positions as if they were completely traumatized. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. Suddenly he heard Officer's Smits and Rochman approaching the room. He quickly ducked behind the trophy case. After peeking around the corner, Jeremiah saw the officers dragging another team member back to the classroom. The team member had the same scared expression on his face just like the others.

After the officer's locked the student in the classroom, Jeremiah quietly followed behind them to see where they were going. They lead him to the gymnasium. After they went inside, Jeremiah tried looking through the window to see what was going on, but it was too dark for him to tell. Then, Officer Rochman shined a flashlight. Jeremiah was shocked when he saw Valerie tied up to a chair. Her mouth was gagged. It looked as if they were trying to get information out of her. Jeremiah was about to bust through the doors, but suddenly he noticed Tommy enter the gym through an outside door.

"I want you guys to let my girlfriend go!" Tommy demanded.

Officer Rochman raised his nightstick into the air as if he was going to strike Tommy. "You better get the hell out of here! I will shoot you dead on the spot, then I'll shoot your girlfriend and claim it was a murder/suicide!" He threatened.

"You can do whatever you want with me! I'm not going to let you hurt her!" Tommy blurted out while trying to step towards Officer Rochman.

THUD! Tommy was suddenly struck in the head from behind by Officer Smits- knocking him out instantly.

"Stupid kid!" Officer Smits said with his gun pointed at Tommy.

"Whoa! Whoa! You can't shoot him!" Officer Rochman exclaimed. "The boss would kill both of us if he lost his financing from the kid's father!" He insisted, causing Officer Smits to holster his weapon.

Suddenly, out of nowhere- BAM! Jeremiah was taken by surprise and thrown through the doors of the gymnasium.

When Jeremiah looked up, he saw that it was the Serpent leader that had thrown him through the doors.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" The Serpent leader inquired. "You must be the one we've been looking for." He declared.

"Just let Valerie and Tommy go!" Jeremiah demanded.

The Serpent leader picked Jeremiah up from off the ground. "Let's see who you are!" He said while trying to remove his helmet, but Jeremiah had it connected to his steel shoulder-pads and it stayed locked in place.

Then, the Serpent leader tried ripping the knight's armor off of his facemask, but that too was secure.

"You know what? I prefer you to have all this armor on!" The Serpent leader proclaimed. "I usually knock people out with one punch. But, since you have all this protection on, I will be able to knock the shit out of you several times before ripping your head off! He declared.

POW! He punched Jeremiah in his facemask, causing Jeremiah to fly several feet through the air.

Before Jeremiah could gather himself-

BAM! He was hit with another hard punch.

The punches kept coming as the Serpent leader used Jeremiah's body as a pinata. Everytime Jeremiah looked up, the Serpent leader was flying toward him like a raging bull.

"I'm going to need that microchip back!" He demanded as he connected another punch to his helmet- leaving another dent.

"I'll give you what you want. Just let everyone go!" Jeremiah pleaded.

"You aren't in a situation to make demands!" The Serpent leader exclaimed while pulling out a gun. "Now, let's see if that outfit is bullet-proof."

Just as the Serpent leader pointed his gun at Jeremiah's helmet, a noise came from the dark corner of the gymnasium.

"What was that?" Officer Smits asked. "Point your flashlight over there."

When the officer shined the flashlight towards the area that the noise came from, he didn't see anything. It wasn't until he shined the light towards the ground that he noticed a pair of black boots standing in the background. He then slowly raised the flashlight up. That is when he could see the silhouette of something very big in the corner.

"Who is there? Show yourself!" Officer Rochman declared.

"What are you talking about? I don't see anything!" Officer Smits piped up. "Have you been drinking the water?"

"Oh no. Something is over there. Something big." Officer Rochman was so scared, he pulled out his gun and started firing towards the corner of the gymnasium.

BANG! BANG! BANG! The bullets bounced off of whatever they hit.

"What are you doing, you idiot?! Someone is going to hear us!" The Serpent leader yelled.

Suddenly the large shadowy figure stepped a little closer. The other two realized that someone else must be there.

The Serpent leader pointed his gun at Valerie. "Come on out where we can see you! Or I'll shoot the girl!" He demanded.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dark round object, about the size of a small bowling ball, came flying out of the darkness.

BAM! It knocked the gun out of the Serpent leader's hand.

Within a split second, the round object was retracted back into the darkness like a yo-yo.

Officer Smits tried firing his weapon.

POW! Another round object came flying through the air, knocking the gun out of his hand, and then retracting back again.

The Serpent leader could tell that the situation was getting out of control, so he decided to take off through the gymnasium doors.

Officer Rochman was about to fire his gun, but before he could-

CRUNCH! A bowling ball hit him in his hand and shattered every bone in his arm all the way back to his elbow.

Just as it was retracting-

POW! Another ball was smashing Officer Rochman in the head, knocking him to the ground.

Then, the dark shadowy figure emerged from the dark corner. It was a huge person dressed up with a long, dark, bullet-proof cloak, which covered their entire body from head to toe. You couldn't even see the face because it was shrouded by a dark mask.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Officer Smits demanded to know while trying to help Officer Rochman stand up.

"CALL ME STRIKE!" The mystery man yelled out.

"Strike? What the hell does that mean?" Smits asked.

Suddenly, another bowling ball came flying from out of the mystery man's sleeve hitting Officer Smits right between the eyes, knocking him out cold.

"STRIKE!" The mystery man yelled out again while simultaneously throwing another bowling ball out from his other sleeve, connecting with Officer Rochman again, also knocking him out cold.

"STRIKE!"