My name is dave raito. I'm a student at leafmore high. I usually get a or b's most of the time. But that's not important…what is important is the nightmare that awaited me and my friends. It was just a normal day with the sun nice and bright. At the gym playing basketball with kenny matthews and stan jones. The basketball team captain and our group's resident slacker. And watching from the stands was kenny's sister shannon and josh carter. Recording the game for the school newspaper. During it i had my mp3 player playing still waiting by sum41 while playing. After kenny scored the winning point he high fived stan and brushed the sweat off his forehead only to back into josh.
"Hey josh! Get out of our way!" kenny yelled aggressively.
"But i've got to finish up my story on the basketball team for the paper." josh said. Luckily stan is always there to reign in kenny's temper.
"Yo dog, kenny chill out, leave him alone. come on let's hit the showers. you gonna sit around until everyone else is gone dave?" stan said.
"Yeah…go on ahead without me when you get out." i said.
"Heh…and you say you're not in the closet." kenny said. My response was flipping him off on my way to the locker room. I'm also on the basketball team. But i'm not comfortable showering with them. Which led to all of them teasing me with being gay. I'm straight! And despite some people believing otherwise. High school is not prison. I can choose to wait until everyone else is out before hopping in. it was pretty late by the time i got a shower. I put my shirt on. Checked on my hair in the mirror. And i heard something coming from the locker room.
"Ashley no you know me better than that. I just finished practice. Just a quick shower and i'll be right there!" kenny said most likely on the phone with ashley thompson. Kenny's girlfriend, head cheerleader and a kitty with claws. She doesn't need kenny watching out for her. She can fight her own battles. I've seen some of the guys who hit on her who weren't Kenny coming to class with black eyes. "Okay i'll be right there." kenny said as i stepped into the locker room. He looked over to the bench with a raised eyebrow. "Hey…where's my bag?" kenny asked. Looks like someone stole his backpack. Can't leave a friend hanging. So both me and him followed after the thief. It was tracking them considering the thief was at the double door at the end of the gym and the metal door next to said double doors was still swinging by the time we got out.
Going through the metal door. We found an old house with a garden.
"I didn't know there was a garden behind this iron door." kenny said.
"Neither did i." i said. There was no way to enter the house from what we could see. So the only place the thief could have gone is down into the basement via those outside double doors that lead to stairs to a basement. This was already starting to seem like a bad idea. Which only got worse when we entered. There was a ladder that led even further down. But too dark to see anything. There was some duct tape and a flashlight on a barrel. Kenny picked it up and used it to look around. He opened a box that contained…a handgun. A walther ppk to be precise. I'm a gun nut. One of my hobbies. As soon as he found it. An inhuman noise came from down from where the ladder leads.
"Yeah…not worth it let's get, kenny!" i yelled as i saw him taping the flashlight to the gun. He's not serious is he?
"What?" he asked.
"Do you have steroids or weird fetish porn in your backpack? Because if not! Then your backpack isn't worth it!" i yelled.
"You're free to chicken out. I'm going to get my bag" kenny said as he went down the ladder.
"Ugh. you fucking idiot." I said. With no choice I followed him down the ladder. A long tunnel of cement walls is what we found. But what looked like fleshy tree roots was coming out through the wall.
"It's friggin creepy down here." kenny said as we made our way down the dark tunnel. "What the hell?" kenny asked as we saw something small run into a hole in the wall. Not sure what it was. But I saw enough to know that it wasn't a small animal. Every part of my body was telling me to get out of here. But I have to make sure my dumbass friend doesn't get killed. We reached the end of the hallway where a metal door resides. But it's covered in some black substance. Looked like a mass of spores. Spores that don't like light as kenny beaming the flashlight on it made disappear allowing us further in. after another room with surgical equipment on a nearby table and another room with a metal cabinet in the room, we found a room that looked like a cell. And some guy in the corner with a green shirt who looked like on the verge of losing it. Clearly he was being injected with something nasty. considering he was muttering about no more injections. He freaked out when kenny reached out for him. He begged us not to hurt him.
"Chill out! I'm not going to hurt you!" kenny said in an attempt to calm the guy down. He noticed that we weren't the guy who was doing this to him.
"Oh…you two fell for it too?" the guy asked. He was bald and his eyes told me that he's been through hell.
"Fell for what?' kenny asked.
"You don't get it? We got to get you both out of here. Quick!" the guy yelled. It's clear now that whoever stole kenny's backpack. It was to lure him down here.
"Okay, let's bolt!" kenny said. I wanted to groan at his stupidity. It's only now that he realizes that we shouldn't be down here and were in danger!? The guy grabbed kenny's shoulder.
"Don't abandon me whatever you do! He's nuts!" the guy yelled. I don't know who he is but he's obviously someone we don't want to be at the mercy of.
"I won't." kenny said making his way to the door. As we exited the room. The bald guy began searching the cabinet.
"He always hides a gun in here." the bald guy said. And he was right after opening it he pulled out another walther ppk pistol from it. As we passed by the room before i was knocked back by the big metal door by bursting open knocking me back to the door we came out off. I got up to see…a horrible beast.
It was a creature bigger than a person hunched over it's flesh looked was rotting and looked like it was somehow both human and wood. And it's face was a skinless skull and underneath it was a large tendril of flesh hiding its three jawed mouth. I was cornered. The wall next to the door made it so that getting back to kenny was impossible and both of them were dealing with a second creature. My only option was to take that second door back in the room with the cabinet.
I had no idea where I was going. I just kept running through the long halls of this place. Considering how long i was running this place must run under the whole damn school. I had no idea where I was going. But the various inhuman sounds behind me told me that i couldn't afford to stop. And considering I was unarmed all i could do was run. And hope i find another way out. And prey i don't run into a dead end. After running through a room that looked like a small cell block. I soon found a ladder leading up. I jumped up to it and climbed up as fast as I could. I immediately closed the way I came from with the manhole I just removed. I found myself back on school grounds around the area with the big code locked gate.
I sat down on a nearby bench. My heart was beating so hard that it was hitting against my ribcage. My lungs felt like they were on fire. And my legs felt like jelly. Once i finally got enough air in my lungs and my heartbeat slowed back down. My mind got to work trying to comprehend what the hell just happened? What was that place? What were those things? And most of all…did kenny and that guy make it out? I didn't know but i was not going back down there to check. I barely made it out with my life. And I still had no weapons. So going down there would achieve nothing but dying. So i did what i could do at the moment….go to the parking lot. Get into my car and drive back to my apartment.
I turned 18 recently. I got my drivers license when i was 16. And my parents decided to get me an apartment and let me live on my own. They gave me a daily allowance to live off of. But it's up to me to spend it wisely and maturely. Having a car and my own apartment is something my friend group took advantage of multiple times. Using my place to get away from their parents or to hit up a restaurant or store that was far beyond their reach.
I got to my apartment. And locked up everything, My door and windows just in case whoever lured us down there noticed that I got away and tried to drag me back in my sleep. You'd think after that i wouldn't be able to sleep. But i managed via pure exhaustion. I still had a pretty bad nightmare…flashes of those damn creatures biting into someone's leg…a bloodied kenny reaching for the ladder. Only to be dragged back into the dark. I woke up in a cold sweat. My breathing heavy….after a shower and getting ready for school…i really don't want to go back after what i saw. But i needed to know if kenny made it out. I looked at the sword on the wall my dad gave me. It's a family heirloom. He gave my big bro will the other family sword…if kenny didn't make it out….then he's either dead or missing. And I needed to know the fate of my friend. So i grabbed my guitar case and opened it and took out my guitar with care.
"Sorry baby. But I need to use your case for something important." i said to my guitar. Music is another hobby of mine. And my guitar is one of my prized possessions. After leaving it on my bed. I took my dad's sword off the wall and put it in the case and headed to school. And when i did. I put my guitar case in my locker and no one was the wiser. And so I arrived at Mr. Walden's class. I noticed that shannon and ashley looked worried. Josh soon arrived as well.
"Hey ladies! What are you so gloomy about?" josh asked.
"Kenny has disappeared. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" shannon asked. My eyes widened…so there's my answer he didn't get out of there.
"No. I spent all night working on my movie." josh answered.
"No one has seen him since last night. I'm starting to get worried." ashley said.
"I know! Aliens beamed him up to their ship. Did some experiments on him and finally killed him." josh said. Ashley and shannon just rolled their eyes before turning their attention to me.
"What about you dave? Did you see him?" ashley asked.
"Yeah…i saw him. It's just as believable josh's story. But i'm telling the truth. Even if it doesn't sound true." i said.
"If he doesn't show up, let's meet in the cafeteria at 6 and go look for him." josh said. Of course he was excited for his first real investigation. Something tells me his dream job is to be a private investigator. So in the cafeteria. Ashley was complaining about nothing working in this school as she hit a dead tv. I told them about what happened last night. Josh was recording the whole thing.
"Monsters? Get real." shannon said. That was the reaction i was suspecting.
"Believe it or not. It's what happened. I'm not even sure if kenny's even alive. For all I know those things ripped him to shreds. All we can do is hope he somehow survived down there." i said. The sound of the door closing and locking was heard. Good news is the janitor didn't find us. Bad news. We're locked in. I grabbed a baseball bat and broke the window to the door leading to the supply closet and grabbed a reel of wire. Stan showed me how to pick locks with various things. It really is amazing how many things can be used as lockpicks. But in any case…we're out and about.
Leafmore is a lot creepier when it's empty. I handed the bat to ashley as she's the bad bitch of the group. Figured she put it to use the best. I opened my locker and took out my guitar case and put my sword on my back.
"Isn't that the sword you had on your wall at your place?" josh asked.
"Yeah…it's a lot better than a bat. It'll come in very handy i'm sure." i said as I strapped the sword to my back. And now we had another problem. Trying to get around the place. As expected most doors here are locked. When school's over. Everything is locked up tight. So we had to take some…scenic routes. Which included breaking into our classroom to find a screwdriver. And using it to unscrew a vent in the girl's bathroom. I had to give shannon a lifr to reach it.
"It's dark in here." i said as we crawled through the vent.
"Don't even think about it!" shannon yelled.
"Think about what? I'm just pointing out it's dark in here." i asked. Confused at why she's angry.
"Oh uh nothing! Stay you dave!" shannon yelled as we met it through the vent. I was confused but decided to let it go. We had much bigger things to worry about. The place we ended up in was another bathroom. It was the bathroom of the faculty area. We found two keys. One for the attic and the other for the other doors around here. We also found stan's grades…
"Stan's never going to graduate is he?" I asked. His grades were downright awful. And so with no other option. We investigated the attic. I had my hand on my sword ready to fight when we went up the stairs and saw the door…those same black spores i saw coming from that metal door down in that underground area were here on this door. As we entered the attic. A vent in the wall broke as small two legged creatures with big mouths akin to a human ribcage came bursting from it. This time i was ready for these thing so i drew my blade and slashed one dead and stabbed the other. The last one roared at me by the window.
"Move over!" I heard someone yell. Which turned out to be our teacher. . He ran towards the window with a metal bar and smashed it open. Letting the sunlight in. The creature roared in pain as the light cooked it like a steak on the grill.
"Thanks for the assist . But why are you here?" i asked.
"You've got to get out of here, quick!" mr walden yelled.
"But these things. I saw them last night. What the hell are they?" I asked.
"I don't know…i'll make it my business to inform the authorities." mr walden said.
"Looks like you've taken a few hits yourself." i said as i noticed his wound on his arm.
"It's nothing, just get out of here!" mr walden demanded.
"As much as I would love to. I got to go find that idiot friend of mine kenny." i said.
"Kenny…go see mr friedman." mr walden said. Friedman was the school principal.
"There's one problem with that plan…all the ways out of this building are locked up tight." i said.
"I'll open the door to the courtyard for you. There's something i need to do…remember the light." mr walden said as he left. I looked at the burnt up creature on the floor.
"Hmm…thanks for the tip teach." I said. After leaving the attic and returning to the main hall. The sound of the door unlocking was heard. And we headed out to the courtyard.
"Well. you guys can't call me crazy now." i said.
"No shit! We saw them with our own eyes." ashley said as she whipped out her phone. Josh was of course doing his investigator bs again. Something neither of the ladies are in the mood for. Soon his camera died.
"Oh no! The battery's dead!" josh yelled.
"Big surprise. You've been filming for hours." shannon said with sass.
"It's not possible!" josh yelled in frustration.
"Any luck with the police ashley?" i asked.
"Stupid phone. I got no reception here. What are we gonna do now?" ashley asked.
"Only thing we can do, go have a chat with the principal." i said…and so the horror of leafmore began…