Fall 2011, Amity Park (VALERIE GRAY)
Valerie Gray was having one of the shittiest days in quite a long time. She'd been hanging out with Paulina and Kwan in the hallway between classes when Danny Fenton had barreled into Paulina at full speed. Paulina's latte had been sent flying, dumping lukewarm coffee all over Valerie's face, hair, and clothes. As if wringing coffee out of her hair over the disgusting bathroom sinks wasn't bad enough, her brand-new magenta top from Sixth Avenue was practically ruined less than 24 hours after she'd gotten it.
Five-hundred and seventy dollars had just gone down the drain. She'd almost felt bad about sending Kwan after Danny, until she'd made it to the nurse's office, where she discovered that the nurse didn't have any spare shirts that would fit her. The nurse had clucked in sympathy ("I'm sorry dearie, the only shirts that I have left are in an extra-small,") and gave her a late pass for her next class.
Valerie jogged over to the locker room, only to remember that she'd taken her gym clothes home the day before to wash them, as the freshmen didn't have gym on Fridays. No one else had any spares. Slamming the door to her gym locker shut, Valerie resigned herself to managing the coffee-soaked blouse for the last three hours of the day. Maybe her father would have time to stop by the house so she could change into something else before his security system demo.
Valerie grimaced at the cold, soggy and sticky sensation of the fabric against her torso. The scent of vanilla syrup, coffee, and sour milk assaulted her nose. Maybe I should try to rinse it out in the sink, better to wear a cleaner, wet shirt than a coffee-soaked one. Valerie thought. She spent the next twenty minutes trying to wash out the stain in a locker room sink. The cheap soap managed to lift some of the coffee, but it was still obviously stained. With a wince, Valerie wrung the water out as best as she could, and pulled on the damp shirt. Maybe I should've just tried to squeeze into the extra-small…how am I going to walk into trig like this, dripping wet and thirty-minutes late. Maybe I could skip, trig was going to be over in ten minutes anyway, she thought. With a sigh, she decided to just walk over to the class and try to talk to Mrs. Anderson after trig ended and see if she'd show any mercy.
In no time at all, Valerie had made it to the other side of the school building. Leaning against a row of lockers next to the classroom, she idly played a round of Angry Birds on her phone. She was halfway through a round when the bell rang; the noise startling her into dragging her thumb at the wrong moment, sending Chuck careening into the ground. Streams of students poured into the hallway, the noise of a hundred conversations coalescing into a wall of noise. After most of the students had exited from the classroom, Valerie slipped in. Mrs. Anderson was busy sorting through papers at her desk.
"Mrs. Anderson? I'm sorry that I missed class today, I have a note from the nurse's office." she said haltingly.
Mrs. Anderson looked up. She had a gentle face, smooth umber skin, and almond-shaped brown eyes. "Valerie, are you alright? You missed class, that's unlike you."
"Yeah, someone spilled coffee all over me on accident right before your class, so I went to the nurse's office to look for something to wear, and tried to clean up a bit. I have a note from the nurse, though, I just wanted to know what I need to work on for next week's class." Valerie explained.
At the explanation, Mrs. Anderson did look at her more closely, pausing for a moment at the dark coffee stain covering the collar and top half of the shirt. "Ah, I see, that is quite the stain, I'm sorry that happened to you Valerie. The nurse didn't have anything?" she asked gently.
"No, unfortunately," Valerie sighed deeply. "Everything that she had was extra small, I couldn't fit. And I remembered that I took my gym uniform home yesterday, so that's when I decided to try cleaning it up a bit."
"It does sound like you tried everything that you could do, so it's okay that you missed class today. Do you know if your mom or dad could bring a new shirt for you?" she asked kindly.
Valerie twitched minutely, shaking her head. It was always a tad unsettling when new people talked about her parents. Assumed that she had more than one parent left. They didn't know, couldn't possibly know that her mom had died three years ago, but each reminder felt like the sting of iodine on an open wound.
"No, Mrs. Anderson, but I'll be fine, it's not as bad as it was before I washed it." she said after a moment.
Mrs. Anderson seemed skeptical. The late afternoon light illuminated her sleek, relaxed hair. "Ah, I've got just the thing!" the teacher whirled around and crouched down to rummage through her satchel, brandishing a bold robin's egg blue cardigan with a flourish. "Now, I know that this will clash with your top a little bit, but you can borrow it for today if you'd like." she offered. The late bell went off with a loud roar, reminding Valerie that she still needed to deal with Lancer's class. She took the cardigan, carefully pulling it on over her blouse. The magenta clashed with the blue, but the cardigan did conceal some of the damage.
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Anderson, I'll bring it back tomorrow." Valerie said gratefully.
The teacher just waved it off as she turned to shuffle papers on her desk. "You're welcome Valerie…I know that high school can be difficult. Now, since the bell did ring, here's the homework sheet that I assigned, and a tardy note for your next teacher. The homework is extra problems based off of Section 4.1 in the textbook, which we did cover last week. Today was more of a practice session. I'll collect the assignment on Wednesday."
Valerie took the stack of papers and skipped to the door with a bit of pep to her step. "Thanks Mrs. Anderson!"
It was an unseasonably warm afternoon. Valerie had been waiting for her father underneath an ancient sycamore tree for some time, watching hundreds of Casper High students mill around the parking lot. To her right, a group of junior boys piled into an aged forest green hatchback. Two girls from her fourth period English class sped by on skateboards. Bored, Valerie began to rock back and forth on her heels, twitchy from the oppressive heat. After a minute, she decided to sit down on the grass and work on some homework. Her top was already ruined, so a few grass stains weren't going to make her look like more of a mess than she already was.
Before she could settle down, her peace was disturbed by the blare of a car horn. Looking up, Valerie spotted her father's shiny black sedan along the curb. With a huff of air, Valerie rose from the grass and jogged towards the car.
Pulling the door open, she scowled. "Daddy, you were telling me yesterday that we have to be early to this thing! I've been waiting out here for 20 minutes!"
"Well hello to you too, Valerie." Damon said dryly. "There was an issue with some of the files, it took me a little bit longer to get it sorted out. We'll still be on time for our meeting with Axion's owner."
"Do we have time to stop by the house first? Some loser knocked a whole cup of coffee on me this morning, and I've been stuck with this soggy shirt all day." Valerie asked. Her father frowned at the pejorative.
"I'm sorry Val, we're already running a bit late. If we leave now, we'll only get to Axion a few minutes before the meeting. How come you didn't call me? I could've brought you another one." Damon asked as he started driving towards the main road.
Frustrated, Valerie crossed her arms. "I tried to check if the nurse had anything or if I still had my gym clothes. By time I finished, I had to go to class. Besides, you had said we would be early to the meeting, so I thought we'd be able to go home first so I could change."
"Well, honey, I'm sorry that your shirt was ruined, it was very nice. We could probably figure out a way to fix it later. I don't think Mr. Dixon will be too bothered about your shirt." Damon said distractedly.
"Mr. Dixon?" Valerie questioned.
"The CEO. Val, he rarely leaves HQ in Chicago to come to Amity Park."
Valerie grunted in acknowledgement. Turning her head to face towards the window, she stared out of it, watching the middle class neighborhood melt away into the squat, rectangular buildings that adorned Main Street. With a soft crackle, the punchy beat of the latest Top 40 hit filled the air. Eventually, the uniform look of the downtown gave way to the outskirts of Amity, home to several large warehouses and factories. The road turned to gravel, crunching beneath their tires. They were partly shaded from the glaring afternoon sun by an allée of towering oaks and squat sycamores. The idyllic scenery quickly gave way to looming chain-link security fences, several feet tall and topped with spires of prickly barbed wire.
In what felt like no time at all, the Grays had parked. Damon turned to Valerie, beaming. "See Valerie, what did I tell you! We've made it with a little bit of time to spare. I have a good feeling about this demo honey."
Valerie turned away, hoping that her father wouldn't notice her scowl. I should be more excited, she thought. If this demo goes well, Dad would basically get a ginormous raise. But for some reason, her gut twisted and roiled, the heavy veil of foreboding almost choking her.
Nonetheless, Valerie swallowed her apprehension and slid out of the car, following her dad. Each step she took along the pavement seemed heavy. Two imposing guards stood at either side of the main entrance. Axion Labs was several stories high, completely sheathed in dark concrete, tall teal-tinted glass windows peeking through in places. Valerie craned her neck as they approached the guards, just barely able to see the gigantic Axion logo that crowned the building, slightly obscured by puffs of dark smoke.
Check in was equally as imposing. Unsmiling security staff ushered them through full-body metal detectors and scrutinized their IDs. To Valerie, it almost felt like all eyes were on them as their bags were checked and they made their way into the next room, whose doors were flanked by two white-suited security guards.
Mr. Dixon was waiting for them beyond the security booths, surrounded by a handful of bored looking mid-level executives and assistants. Dixon was a tall, middle-aged white man with a dour expression, a head of gray hair and wire frame glasses. His dark blue suit and black dress shoes looked expensive and well-made, making Valerie feel self-conscious in her ruined top, mismatched sweater, and casual skirt. Damon seemed unperturbed by Dixon or his entourage, confidently stepping up to greet them.
"Mr. Dixon, what a pleasant surprise! I wasn't expecting you to meet me here in the lobby," Damon laid a hand on Valerie's shoulder. "This is my daughter, Valerie. Her school finished just before this appointment."
Dixon smiled thinly, offering his hand for Valerie to shake. "Hello," she said, shaking his hand quickly.
Dixon gestured at the entourage around him. "Nice to meet you. These are members of my security team, as well as a few of the department heads we have here at Axion. They're all excited for the new security system—everyone was happy to be rid of those smelly old guard dogs." Dixon shuddered in disgust. He then proceeded to rattle off the names of his staff, all of which filtered through Valerie's memory like water through a sieve.
Distracted, Valerie had to jog to catch up with the group. Along the way, her father pointed out several of the new security features, like the hyper-sensitive motion detectors, UltraHD security cameras, and a plethora of traps designed to thwart intruders. The executives oohed and ahhed at each high tech innovation.
The group had just passed through the automated doors to the maximum security laboratory when something utterly bizarre happened. The only warning that Valerie got was a nearly imperceptible drop in temperature. A chill washed over her body, leaving a trail of goosebumps in her wake.
Before anyone could so much as cry out in alarm, a glowing teenage boy with odd white hair, tanned skin, and a black and silver jumpsuit fell through the reinforced blast doors.
"What are you?" Valerie asked.
Before the teen could respond, a gigantic bright green dog burst throughthe security doors, knocking them down as though they were made of paper. To make things worse, the dog immediately shook its head, sending puddles of glowing green slobber in every direction; a particularly large splash covered Valerie, who screeched at the top of her lungs. The boy somehow managed to fly after the dog, as the alarmed cries of the executives and busy employees filled the air.
"What the—"
"What the hell is that!" A lab assistant cursed before diving underneath a heavy oak desk.
"Watch out!" cried another employee.
The two security guards that had been flanking their group fruitlessly shot their lasers at the dog, which dodged their every attempt to apprehend him.
"Initiate Protocol 12! This state of the art security system can stop anything!" Her father shouted over the din.
The monster-sized dog paid no heed to the nets, darts, or even the laser array, as it bounded around the laboratory, overturning desks, computers, tables, and a whole assortment of expensive equipment. Light fixtures were knocked askew and chunks of the wall crumbled as everyone scurried for cover.
With a great tremble, the laser array sphere broke away from the ceiling, hitting the ground with a great crash that crumpled the metal on impact.
"What the hell…" muttered Damon, who stared at the wanton destruction with a look of abject horror. Several of the other executives were huddled behind overturned tables and shelves.
The glowing boy struggled to corral the dog, shouting out a hasty "Sorry!" as the dog pulled them through the back wall of the lab. The silence left in their wake was deafening, punctuated by a storage unit toppling over, the clanging noise reverberating through the room.
Slowly, everyone began to emerge from their respective hiding spots, shaken. For several minutes, there was a bit of a clamor as everyone was looked over for injuries.
Dixon's usually pale face was ruddy with anger as he stomped towards Damon and Valerie, his square glasses in danger of sliding off of his nose in his fury.
"Mister Gray," Dixon practically spat the name. "Your 'state of the art security system that can stop anything' failed to stop a teenage boy and his dog from completely destroying my multimillion dollar laboratory!"
"Mister Dixon, we all saw this 'teenage boy and his dog' run through a wall. I believe that this truly is an unpredictable freak accident." Damon said defensively.
At that, the graying executive seemed to redden even more. A vein at his temple bulged so much that Valerie feared that the man would collapse on the spot. Seething, the man practically spat out his next few words. "Your very expensive security system should have been built to withstand even the slightest bit of stress in a real emergency. Axion is canceling your contract, effective immediately." The silence around the room was deafening. Valerie felt like her ears were ringing, and immediately felt for her dad's arm, the only thing that felt remotely solid in the aftermath of the destruction.
"Sir–" Damon started, only to be interrupted by Dixon, who immediately raised his voice to speak over him.
"No! I can be a very generous man, Mr. Gray; had this been a minor security breach, Axion would be willing to overlook things." Dixon sucked in a breath and gestured at the collapsed laser array and the shredded blast doors. "But this? This is too much."
Valerie felt as though she was speaking from very far away, surprising herself when she cried out. "It's not his fault! That dog was bright green, and almost as big as the room itself–I've never heard of any dog that can do all that! Didn't we all see the thing fly through the back wall?!"
"This is too much." Dixon repeated hollowly. Turning to one of the burly security guards, he waved towards Valerie and her father. "Mason, please escort the Grays out. Our legal team will be in touch very soon, Mr. Gray."
Dixon and his entire entourage of executives swept away in a flurry of dark suits, and the few scientists, techs, and other employees scattered like roaches. The few lights that had emerged from the chaos unscathed flickered unsteadily, casting odd shadows on the wreckage of the lab.
The radio was silent in the sedan. Damon had draped a tarp over the passenger seat to collect the green goop that had soaked into Valerie's hair and clothes, saying very little after that.
Valerie fumed from the passenger seat. "Dad, they had absolutely no right to cancel your contract for this! Even the White House doesn't have a security system that could stop a glowing green Clifford that could float through walls!" she shifted her legs, having kicked off her goop-stained shoes.
"Valerie," he started tiredly. "That may be true, but more than half of their lab was destroyed. At this point, the cost of the destruction is far more than what my contract was worth."
"What's going to happen now?" she asked in an uncharacteristically small voice. Damon sighed as he made a few turns, steering their car back onto the main road.
"I don't know, Val. The best case scenario is that they don't charge me for the damages. But I think that we'll just have to wait and see."
An air of unease settled heavily in the car. Bile rose in Valerie's stomach with every mile that took them closer to Poulter Heights.
End Note: Things are getting a bit more exciting now...although for Valerie, they're actively getting worse. Danny and the other ghosts have finally entered the picture. I should hopefully have part two of this ready to go soon!