Heroes and Villains, Season Three

[spideyfan914]

THE LONGEST DAY

The last day of school is meant to be a joyous occasion. Kids parade through the halls, proudly sitting through the final review sessions as they anxiously await the final bell to end the torment for a whole summer of fun! But this year, things were different.... This year, students only wondered if they'd survive the hour.

At last - the next exciting installment of Heroes and Villains! Will you survive?


Note: Please refrain from commenting in this thread. Any comments, questions, etc. may be posted in the separate comments thread. Any miscellaneous posts here will be deleted.

[spideyfan914]

Episode One: RELIEF

I run. It’s all I know how to do. Fighting’s impossible. You can’t fight Death. Those who try are fools. All you can do is run.
But Death is fast. You can’t outrun it for long. You trip and fall. And then it pierces your heart....
Jake, it says.... Jake....
“Jake!”
The ruler slammed against my desk and I jumped awake.
“I know that the history of your people is rather dull, but if you don’t know your history, you’ll fail in the future.... Say, on next week’s Reagents exam....”
“I....”
The bell rang.
“I’m outta here!”
I threw on my backpack and darted out of the room as Mr. Garrison flared his nostrils at me. But it didn’t matter anymore – it was the last day! Seven more periods, and I’d be gone for good! Well, aside from Reagents anyway....
“Hey, Jake!”
I looked behind me to see Rose coming up.
“Oh, hey Rose. You heading to Fangye’s class?”
“Yeah, and hyped for it! Two periods of Reagents review, and then the last day of an elective....”
“I know, I love that! We just get to hang out and do nothing – it’s awesome!”
We laughed as we arrived in Creative Writing. Most of the kids were already there, and I took my seat next to Shawn. Rose sat behind me – Mr. Fangye didn’t care about us sitting in our seats on the last day.
“Hey, Shawn, what’s up?” I said.
“God.”
I laughed.
“Excited for the last day?”
“School’s long over for me, dude. AP tests were last month – I’ve been watching movies in all my classes.”
“Oh yeah. Cheater.”
“It’s not cheating! I’m chilling!”
Doug arrived and sat down in front of us. He just put his head on the desk and started sleeping.
“Smart kid,” I joked.
“Well, he doesn’t get any at night,” Rose reminded me. “What with the.... you know....”
I shrugged. “Suppose....”
The bell rang to begin class. I looked around – there were fourteen kids. Myself, Shawn, Rose, Doug, Nick, Barney Katcher, Alex Wolf,
Alicia Garner, Ellen Travers, Nora Yin, Ben Wolf, Lauren Teeves, Samantha Hayner, and Jack Jakobi. Mr. Fangye stood up in front.
“Okay, raise your hand if you’re not here.... Then everyone’s here.”
Someone chuckled.
“Sorry, sorry, horrible joke. Okay, let’s see.... We’re just missing –”
The door opened. Coming in was a tall slim boy with dark hair that covered half his face and skin as pale as Nosferatu.
“Hey, Shawn, who’s that?” I asked, curiously.
“Quiet kid. Real quiet. Sits next to me in Health. Lake, I think his name is....”
“Don’t think I ever noticed him before....”
“Really, really quiet. Don’t even know what he sounds like. Only ever saw him talking to one guy.”
“Who?”
Shawn turned with wide eyes and bit his lips.
“Oh.... Him....”
“Don’t know what went down between him and Zamxus,” Shawn went on. “He might not know anything. Or he might be a member. Hell, he could be a Wraith for all I know....”
I shook my head. “Only two Wraiths.”
“How do you know?”
“I just.... know....” We both looked at Doug. If he had been listening, he pretended not to.
“You’re late,” Mr. Fangye joked. Lake looked at him with a face worse than Mr. Garrison’s. Fangye blinked. “Um.... I’m kidding....”
Lake took a seat in the back, far behind everyone else. We had all moved up after Reaper’s attack on the school the month before, after the other ten students.... died....
Everyone began talking as Mr. Fangye sat back down.
“Well?” Rose said suddenly. Shawn and I turned back to her.
“What?”
“Are you guys finally gonna tell me what happened last weekend?”
I sighed and turned to Shawn. He gestured that it was time.
“Long story short,” I began, “his dad was the leader of the True Society and he kidnapped us and we fought for our lives against.... six, was it?”
“Only if you count Zombie.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Well, it was technically just an extension on Nosferatu’s powers....”
“Whatever.”
“Wait, what?” Rose asked.
“Okay, so there was this lady who controlled energy, a giant spider, some Joker rip-off, a vampire lady with a zombie henchman, and my dad wound up having the same powers as me,” Shawn explained.
“O....kay....”
“Goblin and Sorceress are dead, Nosferatu changed sides, and Tarantula’s expectedly gonna pull some strings so that Spirit isn’t in charge anymore,” I summarized.
“Oh, and Jonathan Cradle was a spy. And he brainwashed Doug. He broke free, though. And Jonathan helped us escape in the end.”
“Cradle was a spy??”
“You see, this is why we hadn’t told you! It’s a long story!”
“Why did they kidnap you?”
I turned to Shawn. He didn’t hesitate. “When I was breaking away from the True Society, my mother was killed in the crossfire.”
Rose’s eyes widened, but before she could say any more, we were interrupted.
“Rose! Rose Bielle!”
We looked up to see Lauren Teeves running up to us. She had been best friends with Rose since the seventh grade.
“Hey, Lauren,” Rose smiled, “how you doing?”
“Miserable. I think I failed my Health final.”
Rose laughed. “Where’s Ben?”
“That’s the other reason I’m miserable. I think he broke up with me.”
Rose snickered. “You think?”
“Well, he hasn’t said a word to me since the Hamlet play.... He just spends his time staring at his desk and doodling.”
I looked over at Ben’s desk. Sure enough, he was doing just as Lauren had said, never looking up.
“I have no idea what’s up with him....” she continued.
“He’s upset,” I explained, remembering his breakdown during the play. “It was only a month ago that Reaper was here.”
“Reaper?” Lauren inquired. I stared at her awkwardly.
“Um.... the skull-faced guy.... with the cloak.... and the scythe....”
Lauren spun around and walked away. I blinked. Shawn and Rose were staring at me.
“What?”
“Dude.... She’s having problems....”
“She is?”
“Obviously,” Shawn explained.
I looked back at her. She was now smiling widely and talking with Samantha Hayner. She was both a cheerleader and a drama kid. She was in both of the two biggest cliques. And she couldn’t handle the loss, so she chose to forget it....
“I’m gonna go talk to Nora,” Rose said, standing up and walking over to the brilliant musician who excelled in everything, except for finding friends....
I scanned the room again. Lake sat by himself in his lonesome corner, his mind on things unknown. Nick Sanchez, wondering why he had to be the child whose parents had been knocked off when he was just a kid, arm-wrestled with Barney Katcher, completely oblivious of his quarterback friend’s inner troubles. Ben Wolf stared down at his desk, where he doodled some projection of his encounter with Death. D.M. Fangye, the teacher of the class, reminisced on his lost family; students aren’t the only ones with tragedy. Ellen Travers, head cheerleader, gleefully chatted with Alicia Garner, both entirely naïve of all the horrors around them. Jack Jakobi, struggling to gain acceptance in a world where acceptance is forbidden, eyed Alex Wolf, cousin of Ben and football goalie who stared at his cousin and pondered what was wrong. Doug Urson slept on his desk, dreaming nightmares of the monster within.
“Hey, Shawn, I just realized something,” I said suddenly.
“What’s that?”
“Everyone’s screwed up.”
He laughed. “Yeah.... Everyone....”

[spideyfan914]

Episode Two: CALM

“Twenty minutes left.”
The clock was ticking. Only six more periods, and then I’d be done.
“What do you have next?”
“English, you?”
“Pre-Calc.”
“Nerd.”
Shawn just grinned.
“Hey, Shawn, why do we do this?”
“Do what?”
“Go to school, take our tests – you’re a flippin’ superhero and I’m the closest thing to a sidekick you’ll ever get! We don’t need this!”
“Jake.... Trust me – you’re lucky to lead a normal life. If it were up to me, you wouldn’t be involved in any of my other.... affairs....”
“Oh, come on! That’s not fair!”
“Well, you kind of just got tangled up in everything on your own, so....”
“Yeah, yeah.... So now I get to share all your horrors with you, and then keep coming to school as if nothing happened. And we can just keep on joking around, keep on studying, keep on going about our daily lives, etc., etc.”
Shawn eyed me strangely. “Are you okay, Jake?”
“You told me last week that it wasn’t the end. That these things would keep on happening, over and over until the end of time. One week we’ll be fighting your crazy dad, the next will be some sort of hellhound, then a witch, then a skeleton, then a werewolf, and to top it all off, Reaper himself!”
“Reaper’s dead, Jake!” Shawn snapped. He maintained his volume to avoid catching attention, but his intent was apparent.
“Shawn.... Stop kidding yourself.... He’s out there, waiting.... and one of these days, he’ll be back.... I still have the dreams....”
There was a pause. Shawn didn’t say anything for a moment. Then....
“What about your girlfriend? Does she still have the dreams, too?”
“My – what....?”
“Rose.”
“Uh.... She’s not my.... No, no.... Uh, yes.... Uh.... I’ve been meaning to ask her....”
Shawn rolled his eyes. “I really hate that b****.”
“I still don’t get why. I mean, she used to hang around with Nick’s crowd, but she hates him now. She’s seen the light!”
Just then, Rose popped her head between us. “Whatcha talkin’ about?”
“The weather.” Rose looked at him inquisitively, then went on.
“So, Jake, you ready for the Catskills?”
“Yup – when do we leave again?”
“Two weeks, Saturday. After all the Reagents are done. My folks will pick you up, and we’ll head over to Jarret’s.”
“That’s your cousin, right?”
“Yeah. He’s pretty cool – he used to help me out with all my ridiculous problems when I was a kid. I was a bit depressed when he moved to the Catskills last year. It lasted until....”
“What?”
“Until I met Nick....”
Shawn let out a sigh, got up, and walked to the other side of the room.
“Shawn doesn’t like me very much, does he?”
“Nope.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever understand him.”
“Well, you kind of used to date Nick Sanchez, who kind of picks on us non-stop....”
Rose shrugged, as Ellen Travers came over to tap Rose on the shoulder.
“Hey!” she greeted through her large toothy smile. “A bunch of us are getting a game of Hangman ready, but we need more people – wanna join?”
Rose looked over to me.
“Who else is playing?” I asked.
“Well, there’s me, Lauren, Alex, Alicia, Barney....”
“And Nick, right?” Rose added on. “You can tell him to go **** himself.”
“What? No – no, Nick didn’t ask me to come here! What are you talking about?”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Just.... go....”
“We’ll play,” I said. Rose snapped her head toward me. “Nick needs a good telling-off,” I explained.
We got up and followed Ellen to the back, where the jocks and the cheerleaders gathered round. When Nick saw me approaching, he whispered something into Ellen’s ear, and she whispered an audible, “Sorry....”
“Okay, okay,” Nick said, drawing the gallows on some looseleaf. “So I picked up this trick in one of my other classes – it’s foolproof! Five letters.”
“E.”
“A.”
“I.”
“T.”
“Like I said – foolproof!” Nick drew the head, body, and arms, jotting down a “T” in the third spot.
“Hey, no fair!” Barney cried out. “Only one arm at a time!”
“Oh, come on! That’s the kiddie version!”
“Yeah, yeah – and then you still gotta do the legs, and the hands, and the feet –”
“Anything else, bright eyes?”
“The eyes, the nose, the mouth, the hair –”
“Maybe he’s bald!”
“The freckles, glasses – oh, and clothes! Can’t forget clothes!”
“Just frickin’ guess!”
“H.”
“O.”
“I.”
Nick added an “H” in the fourth spot, and drew the other arm and the first leg.
“I’m stopping with the next leg. Yes, Jake? Let’s have you let everyone down.”
“Is it RHYTHM?”
Nick stared flabbergasted. “How....?”
“I’m in that class with you. And by the way, you spelled it wrong – the word is six letters, genius. There’s another H.”
“Oh, just wait ‘til the day ends.” His nose was flaring up. It looked really pathetic, actually. “Then I’ll tear you limb-from-limb, you wimpy lowlife.”
“I’m a lowlife? And yet, I saved your life....”
Nick jumped up, but Rose stepped in front of me. “Y’know, if you’re trying to make an impression on me.... you’re succeeding....”
“Back off, you two-timing slut!” He was still keeping his voice just low enough that Mr. Fangye couldn’t hear.
“Nick, sit down.” We all turned to look at Alex Wolf, his hand on Nick’s shoulder, pushing him back into his seat.
“But.... but she....”
“You sent Ellen to bring her over here, and then you just snap at her. Not a good way to get a girl’s attention. Jake, too – just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean you have to threaten him. He has just as much a right to play as you do. Of course, you usually focus on the ball more than the words, so I suppose this really just isn’t your game.”
Nick swung his fist at Alex’s nose. Alex caught the punch.
“Hey!” Mr. Fangye called over here. “You two, what’s going on?”
“Sorry, Mr. Fangye,” Alex explained. “Nick seems to have forgotten how to seduce a lady, and thus forgot his manners.”
“Why, I oughtta –”
“Nick, get out.” Fangye pointed his thumb to the door. Nick blinked.
“You.... you serious?” The whole class was staring now.
“What do you think?”
Nick looked around.
“Or, you can keep arguing and make even more of a fool of yourself.”
Nick threw his arms into the air as he walked toward the door. “Fine! I don't need this stupid class anyway! I’m only in it for the credit!”
“Just remember not to come back – last day, remember?”
“How could I forget?”
“I didn’t think you took the time to study the school calendar.”
“Screw you, Fangye!” Nick grabbed the door and flung it open.
Or at least, he tried to. He wound up pulling himself forward and bashing his nose into the wall. He yelled out in pain as he stumbled backward, nose dripping blood. The class burst into tears laughing.
“Oh, shut up! Just shut up!”
He grabbed the doorknob and tried to jimmy it.
“This damn door isn’t working!”
“Need a hand with the big bad door, strong guy?” Rose laughed, walking up to him. Nick just grunted as Rose turned the doorknob and tried to open the door again. She pulled on it, pushed it, kicked it, but it wouldn’t open.
Alex tried, but still nothing. Then Shawn and myself.
“It’s stuck pretty good....”
“Lemme try the custodians,” Mr. Fangye said, grabbing the school phone to dial the janitor’s office. “Hey, this is –” He stopped mid-sentence, and furrowed his eyebrows. His eyes flicked around the room, as if to check if there were a ventriloquist present.
Shawn was the first to ask. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s.... hard to explain....”
“May I....?”
Fangye shrugged. “Um.... Yeah.... Yeah, I guess....”
Shawn went over to the phone, and I ran up after him. We listened in.
It wasn’t a custodian – that was for sure. But it wasn’t a dial tone either. It wasn’t even silence.
All we heard was a cackling, demonic laugh.

[spideyfan914]

Episode Three: SHOCK

The bell rang to end class, but we stayed in place.
It didn’t make any sense – none of it made sense. It wasn’t even scary, just.... bizarre.... The door was stuck, and when we tried the phone, all we could hear was laughter.
A few of us whipped out our cell phones. I tried calling my dad, but got no signal. I even tried texting him, but it wouldn’t go through.
“Strange.... I usually get a signal in this room....”
The hours passed. Nobody really knew what was going on. There was no movement outside either – no one passed by.
“But we’re next to the bathroom!” Nick had shouted. “There’s always someone in there – aren’t they ever going to come out?”
We were trapped in the room. At first glance, it appeared as though the door was merely stuck. But the situation was far stranger than that.
“Shawn, is something going on?”
He looked around the room. People were huddled into their cliques, talking amongst themselves.
“I.... I don’t know....” he told me.
“You don’t think that....”
“That what?”
“That we’re in.... Nouda’s Realm.... do you?”
He shook his head. “It’s always night in Nouda’s Realm. It’s still light out.”
“Maybe it’s an illusion.”
“Even if it were, Doug’s still human....”
“Oh.... right....”
“And besides, I can tell. It comes with the abilities.”
I sighed. “But.... if something is wrong, what will we do?”
“I don’t know, in all honesty. I can’t change in front of everyone – I don’t even have a rune.”
“There’s chalk on the board if you need it.”
He looked over there.
“Yeah.... Maybe.... Still, can’t change in front of everyone....”
Doug was curious now, too. He looked around the room, quietly but curiously.
“Penny for your thoughts.”
“Jake, my thoughts are worth a heck of a lot more than a penny....”
“Three pennies, then – we can play triangle.”
“Deal.”
I set up the game on top of his desk as he began.
“It’s just.... y’know.... something’s up....”
“Yeah, I kinda figured that out,” I admitted, flicking one penny through the other two.
“This isn’t normal,” Doug explained in a quiet voice, nearly inaudible. “That door isn’t stuck – it’s become part of the wall. It’s happening all over the school!”
“How do you reckon that?”
Doug flicked a coin past the invisible line. “No one’s passing by – not even on bathroom breaks. That means they’re stuck too.”
“Never thought of it like that....” I made my move.
“It’s the work of Nouda.”
“We’re not in Nouda’s Realm.”
“No.” He made a wide triangle – an easy opening. “But that doesn’t mean one of his servants isn’t among us.”
I choked, and my coin didn’t make it through.
“Play again?”
I set up. Doug was to make the first move.
“I don’t buy it,” I said.
“We’ve had demons in the school before. Go.”
“But wait a minute, aside from you and Shawn, who could possibly have powers from Nouda?” My penny landed almost right between the other two, an impossible shot.
“Zamxus Zane.” He hooked his coin, and it bounced off another, saving himself.
“Reaper is dead,” I told myself.
“You know as well as I that that’s not true.”
I sighed, flicking another penny. “Yeah, but.... he can’t do something like this!”
“I never said he’s doing it directly.” Doug took his turn.
“You mean.... he’s operating through somebody?”
“Yup.”
“A wraith? (Your move.)”
Doug bit his lips, thinking. Then he flicked a coin and shook his head.
“Then who?”
“Him.” He looked back into the corner of the classroom.
“Lake!” My coin shot off the desk and clinked onto the floor.
“Quentin Lake. Only friend Zane ever had. Play again?”
“I’ll pass....”
Could it be Lake? Could he somehow have something planned? Could Zamxus somehow have something planned? It was all so confusing....
Rose was on the other side of the room – I wondered what she thought of all this. But as I got closer, Nick cut me off – he got to her first. I sneered, and turned around, bumping into a desk and knocking over a few papers.
“Sorry, sorry!” I said, rushing to pick them up. As I grabbed it, someone else frantically reached out for it – Ben Wolf. I had knocked over Ben’s doodling paper. And yet.... it was almost strange....
I turned to look at the paper which we both now held. After one fast glimpse, however, he yanked it out of my hands. My eyes were wide as I looked him in the eye.
He had an innocent look on his face. Like a little puppy-dog. “Please don’t tell anyone,” it seemed to be saying. “Please don’t tell anyone what you saw.” I nodded. I wouldn’t tell.
Ben Wolf.... He was the president of the drama club. He was quite popular, and loved by all. And yet, unlike the jocks, Ben seemed to genuinely care about each and every one of his many friends. Perhaps that’s why Reaper’s attack was particularly hard on him – why he, over everyone in the school, has to suffer.
Not to say we weren’t all grieving. In fact, the vast majority of the school was probably in a state of depression of some sort. And yet.... Ben seems different. He seems worse off. I wouldn’t ask him, but I’d hope he was seeing some sort of professional. The school put in a request for a few additional school psychologists after the attack, I recall, but it was denied for monetary reasons, and so our one guy has been swamped.
On that day, we all stood by and watched our closest friends die. We watched our distant friends die. We watched our rivals die. We watched people we barely even knew die. Everyone just died. For no real reason. We’ve all been mourning.
And Ben.... he had so many close friends. He had to play Hamlet, I remember. But only half the cast was really all that good – the rest were played by understudies. The show itself was a disaster. The cast had been murdered, and the people who were on stage should not have been on stage. I watched as Ben collapsed during a monologue, collapsed into tears, losing his sense of character, his sense of self, feeling nothing but grief and death. That’s all he sees now. All he sees is death
And so that is what he draws. He draws death, skulls, and corpses.
I sat by the window. There were a few others around me – Rose and Nick were farther down, Jack and Samantha too, and Lake was frighteningly close-by.
I was waiting for Nick to leave, so I could go talk with Rose. In the meantime, I stared out the window. A big kid was riding up on his bike. I recognized him – don’t know his name, but I think he’s some kind of drug dealer. Comes to school late a lot too – I guess that was the case today. I followed his movements out of boredom, as he turned his bike through the gates of the school, and began making his way over to the bike rack.
He didn’t make it two feet – the ground beneath him suddenly erupted. As if some sort of pillar had been formed out of the pavement, as though the ground had come alive. It became like rubber, and simply flung the kid into the air, like a coin in a game of triangles. He flew about twenty feet high, except then he wasn’t flying – he was falling. Blood splattered everywhere, spreading across the flat ground.
The flat ground. As quickly as it had shifted, it had now gone back to normal. All was peaceful. The boy was dead.
More people were gathered by the window, watching the scene below. There were whispers amongst us. Whispers of what was to become of us. Whispers of what absurdity was happening now. Whispers.... and then a voice like fate.
It sounded chilling – entirely factual, and yet it sends a shiver down your spine. The deep, frostbitten voice of Quentin Lake.
“We’re all going to die.”

[spideyfan914]

Episode Four: FEAR

"Well, maybe no one's behind it! Maybe it's just some freak accident - some bizarre collision of worlds!"
"Someone's behind it, Jake, and they've gotta reveal themselves sooner or later."
"And what if they don't? What if they just leave us here?"
"Wouldn't make sense. Take Reaper, for instance - he HAS to kill with his scythe, or else it doesn't count. Nouda wants deaths - sacrifices - and starvation doesn't quite meet his standards."
"So it's definitely someone from the True Society?"
"Only thing that would make sense. And eventually, they have to come in here."
"And if it's Lake?"
"Then eventually, he has to change. Point is, I'm gonna be ready."
"You have a plan?"
There was a pause. He didn't answer.
"Shawn? You DO have a plan, right?"
He hesitated. "Well…. It's not like we ever had a plan before, right? These things like to change so much that it doesn't really make sense to make a plan before knowing what you're up against…."
"You have no idea what to do, do you?"
A tear ran down his cheek. "I don't know, okay! I don't know who we're up against, or what they can do, or when they'll do it, or what they're planning! I just don't know!"
"It's okay, Shawn," I said, patting him on the back. Shawn's brief outburst didn't really draw any attention - he wasn't the only one crying, after all. "Listen, the best we can do for now is to be prepared to transform whenever you need to."
He held up his hand - he had chalked a barely noticeable rune onto the back of it. "Already done."
"Will that work? I've never seen anyone draw a rune on their skin like that…."
"I told you - I!! DON'T!!!! KNOW!!!!!!!!!!"
"You guys okay?" We looked up. We were sitting in a couple of seats we had pulled over by the window, away from the rest of the class. Only now did someone approach us - Rose.
"What do YOU want?" Shawn sneered.
"Shawn…. She's trying to be friendly. I mean, how many people know your secret, really?"
"You, her, Doug, and every goddamn member of the True Society."
I rolled my eyes and turned to Rose. "We're managing."
"So, who do you think's behind it?" she asked, pulling up a seat.
"That's between me and Jake. Heck, for all we know, you could be the villain!"
Rose laughed. Shawn stared at her with narrow eyes. "I…. uh…. I thought it was a joke…."
"Rose isn't a psychopathic freak, Shawn. Get a grip."
"Listen, Rose, it's real nice of you to act all friendly all of a sudden, but just because you almost died doesn't mean we're suddenly friends. In fact, quite the opposite. Both myself and Jake here have saved several lives, and you wanna know what? Sometimes, we have no idea who these people are - sometimes, it turns out that they weren't the kindest of people themselves. And guess what? We never see them again. You're no different - get a life."
"First off, Shawn - you didn't save her life. I did. And if Rose is thankful for that, I'm not going to push her away. She wants to help us - to help you. She's just as much my friend as you are, and if you're going to have some stupid juvenile grudge against her, maybe I don't want to hang out with you anymore."
I got up and walked across the room, as I could hear Rose say, "He didn't mean that." Did I mean it? I don't even know.
What I did know was that I was afraid. Afraid of what might happen, afraid that Shawn wouldn't be able to save us this time. Maybe it was just getting to my head - getting to everybody's head. For all I knew, I could take two steps and die. Just like that fat kid on the bicycle. Something strange was going on here - something that we hadn't seen before. And I'd thought I'd seen it all….
"Jake! OOF!"
"Sorry, sorry…." In my deep thought, i had crashed into Jack Jakobi. He's a bit on the short side, and I guess I just looked right past him, standing by the window.
"It's okay, it's okay…. My fault - i didn't see you coming. Looking out the window - police are here, y'know. Was kinda just…. thinking…."
"You okay?"
He shrugged.
"Anything you wanna talk about? Y'know, I don't know how much use I'd be, but I've seen my fair share of strange events…."
He chuckled. "Yes…. the Reaper…. I know, I know…. But it's…. well, it's not really…. I mean…."
"Yes….?"
"What would you do if you only had a few hours to live?"
"We're not gonna die here, Jack."
"Just answer it - what would you do if you only had a few hours to live?"
I thought for a moment. "Well…. I guess that I'd just do whatever I wanted…. not thinking of the consequences, just acting on impulse…. I'd probably punch Nick a few times, for starters."
He laughed.
"But…. no…. No, I think I'd want to spend it with the people I care about," I said. "My friends, family…. and kind of just have a good time…."
Jack looked down.
"Something bothering you, dude?"
"Well…. well what if the people you cared about…. didn't really care…. about you…. that…. way…."
Oh. "You like him, don't you?"
"Huh?" Jack jerked his head back up. "What - what do you -? Who -?"
"Alex. I've seen the way you look at him. You like him, don't you?"
"I…. uh…."
"Don't act like there's something wrong with it! He's a great guy - I'm sure loads of people like him!"
"Yeah, but…. Most of them would be…. you know…."
"Even so, it's not like he's gonna hate you or anything. He isn't like Nick and his gang - Alex is…. y'know, he's really something different."
Jack smiled a little. "Yeah…. He is…."
"Tell him."
The smile went away. "You crazy??"
"No, I mean it! It's better than just keeping to yourself and never telling anyone. Just be yourself - I told you, he's not gonna hate you."
"But Alex…. isn't…."
"Why should it matter? There's no reason for you to hide who you are - from anyone!"
He bit his lip. "Well…. I…. I mean…. uh…. Hey - what's that?" Jack was looking up now and pointing behind me.
I spun around, and my eyes went wide. Everyone was standing around, whispering to each other and pointing up to the ceiling, where the center was beginning to sag.
"I…. don't know…."
Nora Yin stepped forward, as if entranced.
"Nora! What are you doing?" someone called out. It sounded like Rose. Nora just held out her hand for silence, and sure enough, the whole room went deaf. We stared as Nora walked up to the sag, the only sound being the tapping of her shoes against the floor. She stopped in the center of the classroom, head tilted all the up to face the anomaly, and she reached out her hand, as if to poke it.
And then, in one quick motion, the lump lashed downward, turning into a point - a spear - and it stabbed into Nora's face, out the back of her head, and another two feet down, before she could even scream. It held for a second, then slicked back up, and as fast as it began, the ceiling returned to its normal flat state. Nora stood there for a moment, staring up at the assailant, before she fell backwards, and collapsed upon the floor.
She was dead. One down. Only silence was heard. After all, she never truly had any friends….

[spideyfan914]

Episode Five: PANIC

It took another moment, but at last, the class burst into panic.
"We're all gonna die!!"
"I can't even call my parents!"
"Who's next??"
"What's going on in the other classes?"
"This doesn't make any SENSE!!!!"
"I don't wanna die yet!"
"Why is this happening?"
"Who's next??"
"We're all gonna DIE!!!"
"I can't believe this!"
"Class, class, settle down!"
"I'm too young!"
"Settle down?? You expect us to settle down??"
"Who's next??"
"Why? WHY??"
"Omygodomygodomygod!!!"
"Too YOUNG!!"
"People, please! Let's all pull together and -!"
"She's DEAD, Mr. Fangye! D-E-A-D - DEAD!!"
"It's just like Quentin said!"
"We're all gonna die, die, DIE!!!"
"This can't be happening!"
"Who's next??"
"Listen up, now - I'm just as freaked out as the rest of you, but we have to -"
"DIE, DIE! We're all gonna DIE!"
"I don't wanna die!"
"Who's next??"
"Come on, now - we can't panic. There must be some way to -"
"Face the facts, teach! We're all gonna DIE!!"
"Who's next??"
"We won't die if we just -"
"Who's next??"
"What if I'm next?"
"We need to act like a team, and then maybe we can -"
"Who's next???"
"WILL EVERYONE PLEASE JUST SHUT UP???" Immediate silence. Everyone stared at Mr. Fangye. He had never yelled before. "Please, I just…. This is too much…. We…. we can't…. I don't…. know what…. I…. We…." He fell to his knees, burrowing his face into his hands, as tears streamed out. "I can't do this…. It's too much…. too much…. too much…."
We stared at our teacher, the man left in charge of us, in charge of this horror show. He'd been broken. The next voice was that of Quentin Lake.
"One by one…."
---
Three o'clock. School should've ended by now. And yet there we were, still trapped in third period. It was like some nightmare come to life.
Maybe Jack was right. Maybe we do only have a few hours to live. And if so, shouldn't I spend it with the people I care about? I looked around. Shawn was still sitting by the window, right where I left him.
I walked over, and waited. Finally, he looked up at me, his face red from gentle tears. I sat down beside him, barely able to look him in the eye.
"Look, dude…."
"Don't," he said. "It's cool."
We sat in silence, waiting as time passed by, waiting for something to happen, waiting for someone to die.
"Well, we gonna do something already?" I finally said.
He hesitated. "Lake still our only lead?"
"Yeah."
"I guess we should talk to him, then."
"What? Don't you think it's him?"
"I don't know…. Maybe…. But I mean…. it's so obvious…. Zane's best friend becomes the new Zane?"
"Zane's ONLY friend becomes the new Zane. Not to mention that he, too, is downright creepy. All I've heard him saying this whole time is things like, 'We're all doomed,' and One by one' - not exactly encouraging, now is it?"
Shawn shrugged. "It's a possibility…."
I looked around the room. Lake was still sitting in the same desk as in the beginning of the day. He hadn't gotten up or moved even once. Ben, too, still sat in the same seat, still drawing his doodles. Doug now sat a few desks in front of Lake, as if to keep an eye on him. Most of the kids, however, were gathered in the front of the room, away from Nora's body, chatting in small huddles.
Nick sat with Barney, Alicia, and Ellen. Ellen especially kept flicking her eyes around the room nervously. Rose was sitting with Samantha Hayner, another of the drama kids and a popular one at that. Mr. Fangye, meanwhile, had his head on his head, moping to himself, at a loss of what to do. Alex and Lauren sat together by the window up front. They spoke in silent whispers, probably exchanging what they feared to be their last words.
I wondered - what would Alex say if he knew of Jack's affections? He was a great guy, true, but he had a girlfriend and an enormous reputation. No one's truly a saint…. Of course, there was only one way to find out for sure…. Of course, who knew if we'd all live long enough to reach that sort of resolution?
And as for Jack, he was kneeling against a desk by the door, staring across the room at Alex unnoticed. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and got up.
"Hey Shawn," I nudged, "what's Jack doing?"
Shawn looked around. "Uh, taking a walk? Why?"
He was walking - right up to Alex Wolf and Lauren Teeves.
"Hey, uh, Alex…." he said, and they both looked up.
"Yeah, Jack?"
"Um…."
I beckoned Shawn. "C'mon."
"Why? What's going on?"
"Just c'mon."
We got up and moved in closer.
"I'm…. uh…. I'm sorry to bother you like this…. Alex…. It's just, uh…."
Alex began eyeing him strangely. "You okay, Jack?"
"Well, yes - I mean no - uh…. I mean…. uh…."
Alex laughed. "Out with it, dude!"
The next moment, Jack's arms were thrust around him, and their mouths met. Lauren screamed, and the whole class turned their way.
"Oh, God…." I whispered. "I didn't mean for him to do THAT!"
Alex was shocked, to say the least. He held his hands up, but didn't make any effort to push Jack away - too taken aback, I suppose. Jack held the kiss for another minute, and probably would've went longer, but Lauren stepped up and yanked him off, thrusting Jack to the floor.
"Get OFF of him, you homo! What the hell is wrong with you??"
Alex just sat there, eyes wide and mouth slightly open in a completely blank expression, the kind you make when you're stabbed. And Jack just lay on the floor, staring up at Lauren.
"You freak! You f*****! You think you can just do whatever you want?? Kiss whoever you want?? Well you're WRONG! I always KNEW you were sick in the head, but THIS?!? Seriously - WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU??"
I looked around the room. Everyone stayed in their places, too shocked to do anything. Mr. Fangye stayed in his desk, his head still resting on the top, not even turning to look at the situation.
"You deserve to be burned, you hear me? You're just some sort of freak, you know that? If you had pulled a stunt like that when our parents were kids, you'd be dead the next morning! And you wanna know what - you'd rot in hell! You're STILL gonna rot in hell! That's all you deserve - you shouldn't even be in this building with us! You shouldn't be allowed to learn with us! You see, everyone? You see? THIS is what happens when we let homos - f**s - go to the same schools as us! They make themselves all cozy and think they can just do whatever they want!"
"Lauren…." Samantha interrupted.
"Yes, Samantha? You have something to say?"
"You…. you sound like Hitler."
"Well, it's true! People like that deserve to die!"
A noise was heard. A quick one - like a piercing. A quick piercing noise. And blood.
The floor. It was happening again - the floor had grown spikes. Spikes, all over, right through the body of Jack Jakobi.

[spideyfan914]

Chapter Six: MANIC

Five o'clock. Two were dead, fourteen remained, and no one was safe.
"This is getting out-of-hand…."
"I know…. But I just - I don't know what to do…."
"We'll think of something, Shawn…." I looked around the room again. Alex was sitting by himself now. He sat on the windowsill, his head resting in his hands, deep in thought. He had moved up just a little to avoid staring at Jack's dead body, but the attempt was in vain. Nearby, Nick, Barney, Alicia, and Ellen continued talking in loud whispers, frequently eyeing Alex, wondering what to do. Samantha now sat next to Ben, talking to him, but he ignored her, resting his head on the desk and trying to sleep. Mr. Fangye now ran his hands through his hair, clawing at his face, and occasionally shoving some item off his desk or hurling it across the room. Rose sat with Lauren by the door. She was bawling uncontrollably, heartsick and guilty. Shawn, Doug, and I, meanwhile, sat together in our own little circle, pondering our next move.
"Lake…." Doug sneered. I looked to my left. Sure enough, Lake was still sitting in that same spot across the room, just staring off into space.
"Hm…. Maybe it is time we finally spoke to him…."
Shawn sighed. "Fine. Jake, you go."
I gulped. "Me?"
"Doug's getting crazy. He might get out of hand."
"Hey!" Doug snapped.
"Okay…. Okay, fine…." I rose. "But if I die -"
"I'm telling you, Jake - he's just an ordinary guy. Creepy, yes…. but he's not the one."
"And if he is?"
"He's not gonna kill you yet."
"Yet…. Thanks…."
"Any time."
I walked the long walk across the room toward Lake. He didn't even turn to look at me. He just kept staring forward, unblinking, into nothingness. How did even Zamxus talk to this guy?
"Uh…. hi…."
He didn't turn.
"Um, hello? Lake?"
His eyes flicked in my direction, face as expressionless ever.
"Uh…. i noticed you sitting alone here, and, uh…."
He didn't budge, not even an inch. Didn't say a word, just kept staring at me out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, uh…. Just wanted to say…." I tried to smile. "Hi!"
He blinked.
"So, uh…. Do you talk….?"
He just kept staring.
"Um…. Okay, then…. Uh…. So, um…. what's up?"
His stare read, Get to the point.
"Sooooooo…. You used to hang out with Zamxus, right? Zamxus Zane?"
His eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Um…. Just a question…."
"We talked."
"Oh, uh…. That's cool, I guess. More than I can say, anyway…."
"Then he died."
….
"Oh." Well, what was I supposed to say?
"When I find the demon that killed him…. that thing will wish it was never born…. It. Will. Pay." He turned back to staring into space.
"Um…. Yeah! Yeah, vengeance is good! Just as long as you, um, know who to serve it to!"
He kept staring.
"So, uh…. That was a really thrilling chat and, um…."
He didn't even look at me.
"Yeah…. Uh…. I think I'll go now…."
He kept looking forward.
"Uh…." I forced a smile. "Bye!"
I darted back across the room to Shawn and Doug.
"NEVER make me do that AGAIN!"
"What did he say?"
"He thinks Zamxus is dead, and he wants to kill Reaper."
Doug blinked. Shawn rolled his eyes.
"See? I told you so!"
"I don't know…." Doug bit his lips, staring out at the sun. "I don't buy it…. And we're running out of time."
"Hey, if you don't buy it, you can go over there and ask him yourself!"
I heard a seat slam down next to me and spun around. Rose had arrived.
"Did I just see you talking with Quentin Lake??"
"Uh…."
"Did I just see you talking with Lauren Teeves??" Shawn snarled.
I moaned. "Shawn…. They're best friends…."
"So what?? You saw what she did!"
"But -"
"Jake, I can stand up for myself," Rose interrupted. "Listen, Shawn, if you hate Lauren, I understand and respect that. But EVERYONE hates her now. Alex dumped her -"
"He did?"
"Yes, Jake. He did. No one pities her. She's been outcast by the whole class, and when word gets out, she'll have no break."
"Serves her right," Shawn muttered. "She has to live with it."
"Exactly! She has to live with what she did, and that alone isn't easy! She deserves one friend - everybody deserves one friend. That's what stops us from going over the edge. Imagine how you guys would've felt growing up if you didn't have each other. You, of all people, should understand that, Shawn."
"I'm not a Nazi homophobe!"
"And neither is Lauren! Yes, she overreacted - I'm not excusing it. But she does regret it."
"No, I agree with Shawn."
We spun around. Samantha Hayner.
"Weren't you talking with Ben?"
"Talking to Ben. I was doing all the talking! So I came over here."
"Samantha, listen -" Rose began.
"No, Rose, you listen. What Lauren did was inexcusable and unforgivable. I don't give a damn if she's sorry! She should be sorry - because now she's facing the consequences! Now she realizes that everyone hates her! Someone like that doesn't deserve a friend. Alex realized that!"
"But -"
"Jack wasn't some devil, he wasn't some abomination. He was just a kid, like me and you, an ordinary kid. I met him in drama back in freshman year, and I've gotten to know him. He was my best friend."
She reached into her purse, situated on a nearby desk, and pulled out a photograph, handing it to us. Samantha and Jack, licking snow cones. Coney Island.
"We shared everything with each other…. Between us, there were no secrets…. He was an ordinary kid, and he had a strange way of being happy, of making the best of things…. He - he was having a hard enough time…. accepting who he was…. That b**** is the one who deserves to rot in hell!"
There were tears on her cheeks. We watched in silence as Samantha cried on the loss of her friend. Why was everything so tragic all of a sudden? Weren't things bad enough when Reaper attacked? Why did this have to happen again?
"C'mon, Sam," Rose said, cheerily. "Let's go meet up with Ellen and Alicia - they'll cheer you up."
"Rose…. I don't want to be cheered up…. My best friend just died…."
"Well, crying about it isn't going to help. More people are going to die before the day ends. The least we can do is try to stay optimistic, try to stay happy."
Samantha hesitated.
"HEY! ELLEN! ALICIA! OVER HERE!" Rose called out across the classroom.
"Rose!" Samantha snapped.
Ellen and Alicia looked at Nick and Barney for a moment. Nick waved it off, and the other three got up and walked around, taking precaution to steer clear of Nora's corpse.
"What's up, Rose?" Ellen asked.
"It's time to play, 'Cheer Up Samantha!'"
"Rose…."
"Oh! I'm great at this game!" Barney laughed. He ran over to the shelf, tore a paper out of a book, crumpled it, chewed on it, and I ducked under the spitball. Barney grimaced. "Don't wanna play, Jake?"
"Don't think that's gonna work, Barney," I curtly responded, rolling my eyes.
Rose jumped. "You smiled, Sam! I saw that - no pretending you didn't!"
"Wow, girls are crazy…." I whispered to Shawn.
Alicia rolled her eyes as she walked over to Barney. "Honey, can't we play nice for once?"
"But Alicia -!"
"Not 'buts!' If we're all gonna be stuck in this classroom together, the least we can do is get along!"
"Sandy never gave me problems…." Barney muttered under his breath.
"Y'know," Rose whispered, "I invited Alicia over…. not him…." I chuckled.
"Fine!" Barney said, rolling his eyes but smiling.
"You see? Was that really so hard?" Alicia hugged him.
"Well…. Yeah!"
Ellen screamed.
We jerked our eyes toward her, as she fell backward into a desk. She was pointing at the floor, shaking violently. We looked - at Barney and Alicia's feet, the floor had crept up. Their feet were buried, as though they were stepping in mud. Their eyes went wide, and they stared down at the floor as four tendrils emerged around them in a circle. And then, they looked at each other.
"Barney…. Hold me…."
"Don't worry, Alicia…." Barney said, as he held her tight in his large, oversized, steroid-induced arms. "I'll never let anything happen to you…."
The tendrils moved inward, leveling with the couple's necks. And then, in one swift motion, they spun around the circle real fast. Two heads fell to the flat floor below.
There was another scream. Ellen, once again.
"That does it!!! Who's doing this??? Why are you doing this???"
"Ellen…." Rose was flabbergasted. "What are you talking about?"
"It's one of YOU!!!! Someone in this room - SOMEONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!! Well?? Which one of you is it?? WHICH ONE OF YOU IS DOING THIS??"
"Ellen…." I tried to say. "No one…. Not in this room…."
"Oh, really, Jake Bradley?? And what about YOU?"
"Me??"
"You're the one who wrote the goddamn Reaper story! You're the one who started all of this in the first place! For all we know, YOU could be the Reaper! YOU could be doing this now!"
"But I -"
"I didn't notice YOU in school the day it attacked! How do we know it isn't YOU?? How do I know it isn't you??"
She was in tears. She was hysterical.
"Ellen…." It was Shawn's turn to speak. "Jake came back that day…. and saved my life…."
She fell to the floor, bawling like a baby. "Alicia!! Alicia…. Alicia…."

[spideyfan914]

Episode Seven: MONSTROSITY

"Ring around the rosie….
A pocket full of posie….
Ashes, ashes,
We all fall down!"
"I miss the old, silent Lake…." Shawn said.
"I'm telling you - it's gotta be him. There are no other suspects!" Doug said again.
"He seemed pretty sincere when I talked to him…."
"Listen, we're running out of time…."
"Where'd Rose go?"
Shawn snorted. "She's talking with Lauren Teeves again…."
I sighed. "Shawn…."
"What?"
"Last time she hit a bump, she pretended it didn't exist. Remember? You're the one who told me that, just a little earlier today."
"Your point being?"
"Never mind."
"So…." Doug cut in. "We're just gonna let Lake get away with it, then?"
"I really don't think it's him…."
"I'm right! He's faking it! Quentin Lake is the one responsible for all these deaths! There is no one else!"
"What about Jake Bradley?"
We looked up. Ellen Travers stood over us, staring down at us, at me. We had moved over a bit, more into the center of the room, away from the bodies.
"You don't…. really think I'm behind this…. do you, Ellen?"
"You know something, Jake…. and I intend to find out what…."
"But -"
"Whatever's going on here, it killed my best friend."
"We've ALL lost friends, Ellen," Shawn interrupted. "Samantha lost Jack, Nick lost Barney, Ben lost half his club -"
"Not Jake. He doesn't have enough friends to lose."
"Reaper killed my brother!!" I jumped out of my seat.
Ellen stared at me with cold eyes. I'd never seen her like this before - no one had. She's the girl who was always smiling, with pearly white teeth. But I didn't care. At that moment, I wanted to wring her throat.
"Then why are you helping him?" she went on. "Why won't you tell us what we know you know??"
"Jake…."
"I have NO IDEA what's going on, Ellen! I don't know any more about this than you, or Mr. Fangye, or Alicia!"
"HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT HER LIKE THAT!!!!!"
"No - how dare YOU disrespect ME and MY BROTHER!!!"
"ENOUGH!" She punched me. In the face. I fell back. I tripped over the chair. I slammed against the floor. Headfirst. I've survived battles with Reaper, Sorceress, Tarantula, Nosferatu, and so many others, but some ordinary peppy girl hits me once, and I hit my head on the floor.
"Ellen, stop. It isn't worth it."
"What?? Didn't you hear him just now??"
I got up, wondering why she held back.
"Yes, I heard him. But now isn't a time for fighting, Ellen. Leave him be."
Lauren Teeves.
"But he knows something! HE KNOWS!!!!"
"He knows nothing. Don't make the same mistake I made."
"I'M not some homophobic psychopath!"
"Well, you're sure acting like one…."
Ellen snarled. She looked at me, then looked at Lauren.
"Let it go…."
"Fine…. For now…."
They walked away, toward some desks by the door, as I rubbed my head to make sure everything was still in place.
"You okay, Jake?" Rose said, popping again.
"Yeah…. Just a little bump and some mild humiliation…."
Rose laughed. "Still hate Lauren, Ghost-Boy?"
"Shh! Shh! Not so loud!"
I scanned the room again. Samantha and Alex were now talking by the window, unable to keep their eyes off Jack. Lauren approached them, presumably trying to win Alex back, but she was greeted with eyes of hate. Ben still sat by his lonesome, checking the time and holding onto his stomach. We were all pretty hungry by then - it was getting late. Mr. Fangye had fallen dead-asleep on his desk. At first, we had needed to send Samantha to check his pulse. In the back corner was Quentin Lake and…. Ellen Travers….?
"What the….?"
"He beckoned her over," Doug grumbled. "Don't ask me."
I'll admit that I was taken aback. And yet, one person still remained…. Nick Sanchez. He was left alone, now. All his friends were either dead, crazy, or they just didn't give a damn. It was the first time I'd seen him by himself since the night Reaper attacked him, the night I found him hiding behind a dumpster. The first time….
"Hey guys, I'll be right back."
"Where you going?" Rose asked.
"Nick."
She grimaced disgustedly. "Okay…. as long as you know what you're getting yourself into…."
I ran around the room and sat down next to him. He looked surprised. And slightly disgusted.
"Hey, Nick."
"What the hell do you want??"
"Well, I noticed you were sitting by yourself…."
"So what? You wanted to know if I'd mind giving you my seat, my royal pier? Go ahead - take it."
"Huh?"
"Just like you took my girl…."
I blinked. "Uh, listen, about that…. Rose and I, uh…. we aren't dating…."
"Yeah, that's what they all say. And then they turn around and twist your nuts."
"No, I'm serious…. I'm beginning to think that people think we are…. but…. we're not…."
"She dumped me for you. You lucky dog."
"Not exactly…. I kinda got the feeling that she dumped you 'cause you're, no offense, an a******."
He gave me the look. "F*** you!"
"Hey, I said no offense…. Uh, listen…. Do you remember that night that I found you in…. uh…."
"We're never speaking of that night again," he grunted through his teeth.
"Listen, it's just…. I thought we were…. you know…."
"What?"
"Becoming friends….?"
Nick stared at me for a moment. Then he started laughing hysterically. "Friends?? With you?? In your dreams!"
"I mean, not GREAT friends or anything…. But you came to me when you could've gone to -"
"Ixnay on the avesay."
"You wanna know what, Nick? Rose was right to dump you - you really are an a******."
I got up, and walked back around the desks to the gang. I half-expected Nick to sock me in the back of the head. But…. nothing….
"Well, didn't I tell you?" Rose said as I sat back now. I looked back - Nick was still sitting there, head hanging low.
"Yeah…. You did…."

Eighty o'six. It was getting late. Doug was getting nervous. I had almost forgotten.
"Dude…. You okay?"
"I told you we should've just attacked Lake and finished it…. Now look what's happening!"
"I…. I forgot about…. that…."
Shawn sighed. "There's been a lot on our minds. I - I didn't want to bring it up…."
"There's gotta be something we can do!" I said.
"No, nothing…." Shawn shook his head. "I've already run by everything in my head. There's no way to stop it, no way to hide him."
"But -"
"It's no use, Jake!" Doug moaned. I looked around. The bodies were beginning to crowd us, and the positions of the class now revolved around avoiding them. The windows had been found too gruesome, with corpses on all sides, and so Alex and Samantha were now moved to the door along with Nick. Rose and Lauren stood along the wall. Ellen continued her enveloping discussion with Lake, and Ben remained in his front row seat, right across from Mr. Fangye who now covered his head with an open book. Shawn, Doug, and I, meanwhile, stayed to the back, in our own little section, away from everyone else. The quarters were small, and everyone was out in the open. There was truly nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
"Doug, I…. I…."
"Maybe it's what I deserve."
"Huh?"
"Everyone will finally see me for what I truly am."
"Doug, what are you talking about? You've learned to control the Wraith!"
"No, Jake! I'm no better than Reaper! I've killed - I've killed many times. With no reason. I'm a monster, plain and simple, and I guess now, everyone will know it."
"Doug, you saved our lives. Twice!" Shawn said.
"Yeah, and what good did that do? The True Society broke me faster than you can say 'brainwashing.'"
"That doesn't mean anything! You broke through it!"
"Yeah - AFTER I nearly killed you!"
"Uh, Doug…." Shawn whispered. "You may wanna keep it down…."
"Why?? Why SHOULD I keep it down??"
"Because…. you're attracting…. attention…." The class' eyes were slowly shifting to us.
"SO WHAT?? They'll all know in a minute anyway! The sun is setting - I'm GOING to change!!"
I looked over at Ellen and Lake, biting my lips. They both eyed Doug strangely.
"Don't you get it, Jake?? Don't you get it, Shawn?? I'm a monster - ME! He's inside of me still - he's always inside of me, tempting me, TALKING TO ME!!!"
"Wait - he talks to you?" I didn't know that.
"Yeah, he gives me orders! He tells me what to do - who to KILL! And dammit…. sometimes - sometimes I listen!"
The whole class was listening, dammit. I could see Rose sweating."But…. you…. you TRY to control it…. You're LEARNING to…."
"I CAN'T control it!" He was in tears. "It's IMPOSSIBLE to control! No matter how hard you try, the monster is still in you, waiting to emerge! You lose yourself to it…. You…. enjoy it…. I ENJOY IT!!!"
Nick was narrowing his eyes, waiting. He knew what was coming.
"None of you understand! I ASKED for this! I BEGGED for this! It was the only way - it's MY FAULT this is happening!!!"
"That's a lie!" I shouted. "When I met you, you had no idea what was happening to! You had NO FLIPPIN' CLUE!"
"I didn't know because he let me FORGET!!! NOUDA let me FORGET!!! I'm a monster, plain and simple! I may as well have massacred the school MYSELF!!"
Ben stood up, staring at Doug blankly. It was too late now…. I suppose it was too late from the beginning….
The sun had set.
"But Doug…." I tried one last time. "You're not a bad person…."
"Am I, Jake? Aren't I the one who killed those people? Heck, try to prove that I'm not the one responsible for THIS!"
"You - you've been here the whole time!"
"Haven't we all?"
"But…. but…."
I couldn't do it. The truth is, it COULD'VE been him! We knew so little, it COULD'VE BEEN HIM!
"Doug…. ARE you responsible?"
His skin was sinking back now. The eyes of our classmates were popping forward as they saw his hair fall away, and the skeletal mask creep over. "I…. don't…. know…." His eyes sunk back into his head, leaving only the swirling black mist in their place. He looked around the classroom at all our piers. Even Mr. Fangye looked up in horror.
"NO!!!!!!!!" Lauren was screaming. "NOT HIM!!!!!!!!! NOT HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!" He was clawing at her eyes, covering her face. Rose held onto her, trying to stop her nails from clawing into her skin.
"So…. I guess Ellen was right after all…." Nick sneered. Samantha and Alex just stared in terror, in fear. Ben was just too shocked to utter a word.
And Ellen…. She stared at him through gritted teeth. Her nostrils flared and her eyebrows crossed. She didn't say anything - she just stared in silent fury.
Lake stood up. He walked over to Doug and looked him straight in the eye.
"I am going to kill you. And you will beg for mercy."
I…. I'm sorry….
Doug…. Run….
Doug looked one last time at all the faces of shock, of fear, of hatred, before he vanished into darkness.

[spideyfan914]

Episode Eight: BLAME

"It was him. It was him all along. It makes so much sense."
I don't know who said it first, but after that, everyone was saying it.
"It was him. It was him."
But it WASN'T him - right?
"He attacked the school before, and he's doing it again."
"He killed Nora."
"He killed Jack."
"He killed Barney."
"He killed Alicia."
"He killed Zamxus."
Only Shawn, Rose, and I knew the truth. Everyone else hated Doug Urson's guts.
"So, Jake - did you know about this?"
I looked up, expecting to see Ellen. But this time, it was Samantha. Samantha Hayner.
"I…."
"Did you know that your friend killed half the student body, and that he's back for more?"
"But -"
"I can't help but notice that no one in your group's died. I'm thinking that you kept it all hushed to keep yourself alive. Correct?"
"No!"
"No? Then explain."
"Samantha, you have it all wrong…. Doug's NOT Reaper!"
"You're telling me that my own two eyes have deceived me?" she sneered. "He transformed in front of the whole class. Face it - gig's up."
Before I could say anything else, Samantha walked away. I turned to Shawn.
"What are we gonna do?"
"Only thing we can do. Admit it."
"Huh?"
"Jake, there's no point in denying any longer," Shawn said as he jotted something down. "Doug Urson is the Reaper, and there's no other way to it."
"What are you -?"
"Listen, Jake," Shawn slid the paper over. "I know it's hard to admit, but he's not the guy we thought he was. He probably WAS only sparing us 'cause we were his friends, but clearly, that's not the fact anymore."
Play along, Jake. Doug's secret is out, but we can still protect ours.
Suddenly, I hated him. I couldn't believe he was doing this - couldn't believe what he was willing to do. We couldn't abandon Doug when he most needed us. We couldn't "Play along," acting like we had no idea, pretending that he really is Reaper. He's NOT Reaper - he's a victim! To sell him out would be to desert a friend.
I grabbed the paper and tore it in two. "Shawn, I don't even know you anymore." I got up and stormed across the room, passing by Lake and Ellen's accusatory faces, Alex and Nick's suspicious looks, Samantha's hardened heart and Rose's plea, Lauren's silent stare, and finally, I was stopped by Mr. Fangye.
"Tell me, Jake…. Did you know?"
"Mr. Fangye, listen, he -"
"But did you know?"
I hesitated. Maybe I should just play along. Mr. Fangye's family was killed by Reaper. Anyone would mistake Doug for the monster - in their demon forms, they look almost exactly alike. I once thought my own brother was truly Reaper! Of course, that was before I knew the truth….
Now, nothing would seem to be able to convince these people otherwise. When we get out - if we get out - all the news station will pick up that Doug Urson is Reaper, the very demon which killed so many. And me - I'll be thought a co-conspirator, an ally. Somewhere, Zamxus is laughing.
"Yes, Mr. Fangye. I knew. But -"
"Jake…. He killed my family…. I told you this…. Why didn't you tell anyone? The cops? ANYONE??"
"Because Doug isn't Reaper! Doesn't anyone believe me??"
"Jake." I turned around. Ben Wolf was sitting in the front row, staring at me through teary eyes. "Come over here."
I hesitated for a moment before leaving Mr. Fangye to sulk alone. Ben Wolf, president of the drama club, and friend to so many. I never forgot his performance as Hamlet, when he broke down on stage, in front of a full auditorium and his fellow understudies.
"Did you know Vinny Maguire, Jake?"
"Vaguely…." Vinny had been cast as Claudius. He never performed.
"He was a great kid. You would've liked him. Always carefree, always joking, always laughing. You remember that giant phallic that appeared on the building last year, right outside the girls' locker room? Yeah, that was him…. He was very energetic and exuberant. A lot of the time, him and the others would start wrestling in the hallways, spontaneously. I still don't know how much of it was faked. And then there was one time, when I was upset about some girl problems or whatever - I think I'd been dumped…. Vinny tracked me down, brought a load of water balloons, and started an epic battle. By the time we calmed down, my mind was set free, and I was back on my feet and dating by the end of the week. He was the best friend you could ever have.
"Gary Churchill, know him?"
"He was in my gym class."
"Bit obnoxious, right? Kinda snobby and stuck-up. Always full of himself. You wanna know why he was like that? It's 'cause he didn't give a damn what anyone thought of him. He was gay. He was gay and proud. And if people didn't like it, they could suck it. He liked to shop and go to plays and read Sixteen magazines. Heck, he's openly admitted to liking Twilight, for crying out loud! He was always so sure of himself, never faulty, never afraid. Once, when we were all hanging out after school, waiting for another show opening, he walks up to us in the hallway with a little radio in his hand. At first, we look, wondering what he's doing - he puts down the radio and turns it on. A minute later, he's lip-synching and hip-hopping to Avril Lavigne. We all start laughing and grooving along, when suddenly, out of the blue, he whips his thing out - right in front of all of us, and without another thought, he grabs the radio, turns around, and parades through the halls. Got suspension for a week, but he didn't care. He was proud."
"Ben…. It wasn't Doug."
"Pam Hayner. Yeah, Samantha's older sister."
"Ben…."
"Harry Callman. Proudest achievement was successfully gluing a set together with wads of gum."
"Ben…."
"Harriet Gunner. She was gonna be a great playwright someday."
"Ben…."
"Him too. Yup, me."
Silence.
"I…. What?"
"I'm another one. Haven't you heard?"
"Are you saying…. you're…. dead….?"
"Yup.The Reaper killed me too."
"Ben…. Listen…. I know it's hard, but…. You're still alive…. You still have a chance to make something of your life. All those people, all your friends - they wouldn't want you to just give in, to close shop. You have to keep moving, for yourself, for them."
"Too late for that, Jake," he said. "Far too late…." He closed his eyes and leaned back. "Next time you see Doug, tell him that the whole world despises him. Tell him that he'll pay. In the name of the dead, he'll pay."
It was pointless. I turned around to keep moving when I found myself face-to-face with Ellen Travers.
"Let's refresh, shall we?"
"Ellen, it's not Doug! How many times do I need to tell you that?"
"Only until you believe it yourself." A shiver ran down my spine. Quentin Lake stood beside me, staring with cold, expressionless eyes.
"But - but I…."
"You yourself had to ask Urson if he were responsible, didn't you?" Lake asked. "And he himself responded uncertainly, correct?"
"IT'S NOT DOUG!!!"
"No, but it is the monster." Lake's voice was cold, unfeeling, bitter. "And unfortunately for Urson, he and the monster are one, correct?"
"No! I mean yes! I mean - different monsters!"
Lake furrowed his brow.
"What do you mean, 'different monsters'?" Ellen butt in. "Urson transformed into the same monster that attacked the school. I was lucky - I had a broken arm that week, and had left class five minutes early the day he attacked. I was right by the door when someone pulled the fire alarm, and got out quickly and easily. My friends weren't so lucky. Alicia wasn't so lucky. Urson IS responsible! And for that, someone WILL kill him. I hope it's me."
"I don't have time for this!" I shoved Ellen aside and walked away. She wasn't even letting me speak.
I kept walking - Lauren leaned against the corner. I looked her in the eye. She just stared, her cheeks red. I could tell - she thought the same as everyone else. And all she wanted to know was why.
"Lauren…. I'm telling you…. It's wasn't him…."
Her eyes teared up. "Just go."
I sighed in frustration, and turned around. Nick and Alex were sitting by the door, talking in low whispers, looking at me. I didn't care what Nick thought - I didn't want to know. I just kept on walking.
Rose and Samantha were talking along the wall, and as I approached, Rose left Samantha and came to meet me. She stopped halfway with a look of disgust. I was only confused for a moment, then Nick grabbed my shoulder and spun me around.
"Jake, I -"
"Get a life, Nick! It wasn't Doug - but what do you care?? Just stay the hell away from me!"
I turned and walked away, meeting Rose. Samantha was now with Shawn, probably soaking up his act.
"So what now?" I started.
"I honestly have no idea…."
"We need some sort of plan to clear Doug's name."
"Jake…."
"This is all Zamxus Zane's fault! He's the one who started this! He's the one who attacked the school last time! And now, he's got Doug as the perfect scapegoat - the perfect red herring!"
"Jake…."
"We need to find some way to expose Zamxus. Then, people will have no choice but to listen to us about Doug and -"
"Jake!" I jumped mid-sentence and turned to Rose. "First and foremost, we need a plan to survive…."
I stared at her for a moment.
"We do need to help Doug, but not now - not yet. Heck, if we all die here, none of what happened will even matter, no one will know. If we get out of here - and only then - can we turn our attention to Doug."
"Y…. Yeah…. I guess you're right…." Of course, with the entire class turned against me, that wouldn't be so easy.
"As for pulling the class together…. You have to stop standing up for Doug."
"What??"
"AFTER it's all over, THEN we can help him. But it's like I said - right now, all that matters is that everyone gets out of here with their lives."
"And then….?"
"Then the monster dies." We turned around - Lake was there, with Ellen just behind him.
"I told you guys! I don't have time for -"
"Let me handle this, Jake." Rose put her hand in front of me and stepped forward.
"Oh no…. Rose, PLEASE don't tell me you were in this too!" Ellen pleaded, coming forward.
"I have no idea what's going on here, Ellen," Rose explained. "I don't know what's up with Doug, I don't know who's behind this - or if anyone's behind this. I don't know what's happening, and I don't know how to stop it. But I do know that right now, the best thing to do is for all of us to stop fighting and try to work together!"
"Nice plan, Rose - unless there's a traitor among us!"
I could not believe what was happening.
"Jake isn't a traitor. Whatever he believes, he DOES believe it. Is he right? Maybe! Who knows? But even if he's wrong, that doesn't make him a traitor! He's an ordinary kid, just like me or you -"
"- or like Doug Urson, right? He WAS an ordinary kid too…." Ellen sneered.
"What's gotten into you, Ellen? This isn't like you. Alicia is dead. It happened. A lot of things have happened. But this ISN'T YOU! You've always been the happy one, the cheery one. You've always been that smiling girl who everyone wanted to be like. And now, it's as though you've suddenly transformed into some sort of monster!"
"Reality hit. Maybe you should open your eyes, Rose - people are dying."
"People are ALWAYS dying! We need someone to be happy, someone to bring up our spirits when we're down."
"Ellen…." Lake's cold voice. It gave me the chills every time he spoke, like one of those demons. "Rose is right. This isn't the time for fighting." He turned and looked me in the eye. One of those cold, paralyzing looks. "I'm sorry, Jake. Let's move on."
Ellen looked at Lake, then at Rose, then at me. Then back at Lake. "Quen…. He KNOWS something!"
"Maybe, but if he does, he's not gonna spill. It's time we keep going, and see if we can survive."
And then it happened again. My eyes went wide as two tendrils popped out of the wall in front of me. At first, I thought that was the target - me. But I was lucky this time. They reached over to Rose - Rose, whose back was turned.
"NO!!!"
Rose flew to the floor. She had been pushed out of the way, saved. And now, Ellen took her place.
The tendrils grabbed her by the neck, and then flung her to the wall, head slamming hard. It was as though a noose had been wrapped around her throat, and it was rising up the wall. Ellen gripped at the noose, but to no avail. Her legs were kicking, body flailing, as she struggled to break free. The whole class looked up in fear as Ellen was hung against the wall, grimacing, gasping for air, choking, dying.
As her body went limp, she looked down and saw Rose getting up from the floor, rubbing her back gently, as she watched Ellen, tears on her cheeks. And then, Ellen smiled - that same old gorgeous toothy smile.
And then she died.

[spideyfan914]

Episode Nine: HATRED

Eleven-forty. I looked out the window - the police were still gathered there, along with several parents. But they couldn't get in. One lay dead on the floor beside the big kid who went down first. I could see my own dad, waiting with the cops. I wanted to shout down to him, let him know I was still alive, but it was pointless. Besides, so many were already gone, with no end in sight. I didn't know if I would survive.
Anyone was fair game now. Anyone could be next. And we were no closer to figuring out what was going on than we were when it all began. Ten of us remained now. There were sixteen at the beginning of the day. Five of them died, and Doug just barely got away.
Our only hope of survival was Phantom. And he was completely disabled - entirely paralyzed and hopeless. The situation was hopeless. I didn't know how we'd get out. It was beginning to look like we wouldn't. Even if there was a chance, even if there was any light at all, it would have faded with the fighting. The extreme conditions brought about irrationality, and now, friends fought friends, our piers were shunned - Lauren, Shawn, myself - all of us useless against the crowd. Too many of us had already lost hope. Mr. Fangye, Ben Wolf.
It was over. Just like Lake had said. "We're all going to die."
"Hey, Jake…."
I turned from the window. Alex Wolf stood next to me, looking more at Jack's lifeless corpse.
"Sup, Alex? You hate me too?"
"No…. Not at all…."
"Well then, you're alone on that one," I sighed, turning back to the window.
"No, Jake - I'm not…."
"Right. There's Rose and there's Shawn. Maybe."
"Yeah…. I saw you fighting with Shawn earlier…."
"The room's so quiet now…. So lifeless…."
"It's gotten to the point where every way you look there's a body. We can't avoid it any more."
"Well…." I sighed. "Thanks, I guess…. At least one guy's listening…."
"Actually, Jake, you never let me finish," Alex went on. "You see, I was talking with Nick…."
"Yeah, I saw that. Hate that guy."
"He believes you."
I looked at Alex, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.
"I was with everyone else at first, thinking that Urson was the Reaper and you were in on it all along…. But Nick told me…. Well…."
"That doesn't sound like the Nick I know," I interrupted.
"Come on, talk to him."
"Hell no! Last time I tried that he accused me of stealing his girlfriend and laughed at me."
"Just come on…."
I stayed there for a second, then reluctantly followed Alex to Nick Sanchez.
"Jake…." Nick began.
"Yeah, a******?"
Nick grunted. "Listen, I…. When I was attacked by the Reaper, it had glowing red eyes, which had some sort of power to freeze you with fear. Urson…. he had dark, swirling, black hole eyes. It just didn't feel the same."
"Doug was attacked by Reaper long ago, before any of this began. Reaper's got this whacky ability to turn you into a Wraith, a weaker version of him. He did the same thing to my brother."
"So…. he's learning to control it, you said?"
"Yeah, Shawn and I have been helping him through it. But I'm telling you - it CAN'T be him doing this. Doug isn't that powerful, plus he only changes at night. I don't see how it could've been him!"
"Well, it wouldn't be Phantom…."
"Nope, wouldn't be him. But there are other guys with powers too, demons. I've learned a lot since we last met up. You remember that green guy who killed those people last month?"
"Oh yeah - it was all over the news," Alex recalled. "You think it's him?"
I shook my head. "He died. Name's Goblin. And there are others too - they've got demons of some sort inside of them."
"You mean they aren't demons themselves?"
"Nope - they're people, humans. It takes some sort of ritual to give them those powers."
"God, where do these people come from?"
"The True Society."
Nick and Alex gave me a look of curiosity.
"It's the religious cult group who worship a demon-lord called Nouda. They've even got their own parallel dimension."
Nick snorted. "I don't believe in that parallel universe stuff!"
"I've been there."
Nick blinked. "Oh…."
"This is all pretty hard to take in, Jake," Alex said, biting his lip. "Do you have any proof?"
"Look around you, Alex - this IS the proof!"
"Then you know how they're doing this?"
"Well…. no…."
There was silence.
"If only Phantom were here…." Nick said. "He'd know what to do."
If only you were right, Nick…. If only….
"Well, for now, the best we can do is pull together," Alex said. "Jake, I think you need to be the one to take charge."
"What? Me?"
"You know more about this than the rest of us."
"Shawn -"
"Shawn's denying it," Alex went on. "Jake, you're our best chance of survival here. You have to do something!"
I looked to Nick. "I'm with Alex, dude. Take charge. We'll back ya."
I hesitated. I had no idea what was going on. Everyone hated me. How could I take charge? I'm no leader, never was. This was Shawn's place, or Rose's. But they wanted me.
"Excuse me?" I said, standing up and turning to face the class. Alex, Nick, and I were by the door. Rose was with Lauren in the back corner. Lake sat by Ellen's body, staring up at him with his same expressionless face. Mr. Fangye sat in his desk, gazing into his palms, trembling. Ben sat in his same old desk, Samantha by his side. And Shawn sat by himself, near the bodies of Barney and Alicia, deep in thought. "Excuse me?" I said again, slightly louder. This time, heads turned.
I looked at the class. Everyone was staring at me, with faces of hate, face of shame. Only Shawn and Lake didn't turn.
"Um, everyone…. Uh…. I…. What I mean to say is…. Um…. Well, this whole time…. we've been fighting…. amongst each other. We've grown hopeless, angry. We've turned into something we're not. We've learned to hate - forgotten how to care, how to listen. Uh, we've lost so much, suffered through such tragedy. Nora…. Jack…. Barney…. Alicia…. Ellen…. They've all died. There's been no movement in the halls - we can only assume the whole school is going through this. But the truth is, nobody knows what's really going on -"
"Then why don't you tell us??"
"I don't know either! There are things I do know. I know of a place called Nouda's Realm, where the world can shift to the liking of its residents. Not like this - in fact, I know this isn't Nouda's Realm. But in that world resides a cult called the True Society -"
"Making it up! Tell us what's really going on!"
"I've BEEN to Nouda's Realm! I don't know if Nouda exists. He's supposedly some demon who the True Society worships…. Reaper - the one who attacked this school months ago - was a member."
"Call him by his real name - Doug Urson!"
"Doug's something else - a Wraith. He's a copy, a cheap imitation, nothing more. Reaper enslaved him once, but he's broken free, learned to control -"
"That's not how he told it!"
"LISTEN, YOU IMBECILES!!" I jerked to the right. Nick was shouting now. "THIS GUY IS TELLING THE TRUTH! I KNOW HE'S TELLING THE TRUTH! AND IF YOU DON'T ALL SHUT UP AND LISTEN, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!"
The class fell silent.
"Take it, Jake."
I gulped. "So…. Uh…. That's about all I know…. I don't know who's doing this, or how, or why. I can guess the why - the True Society needs sacrifice - but I really just don't know. But Reaper isn't the only man possessed by the True Society. Phantom was once a member. And then there's Goblin, Sorceress, Tarantula, Nosferatu…. The list goes on. They have all sorts of…. of powers. But they've been beaten before. There may be a chance we can beat them again. But not if we keep fighting! Not if we keep arguing! We need to put our differences aside, work together, forgive each other's mistakes. Maybe I should've told you guys this sooner - maybe you're right. Maybe if we did this sooner, Doug wouldn't have had to run away, and he could've helped us when sundown came. And maybe Lauren shouldn't have been so hard on Jack - maybe Shawn shouldn't have been so hard on Rose - but none of that matters now! What matters is working together, getting along, and seeing if we can't still find some way out of this mess! Now who's with me?"
"Who is the Reaper?"
I looked over at Quentin Lake. He was still staring up at Ellen.
"You said he was a man possessed. Who?"
"I…." I did know who he was…. Zamxus Zane…. But did they really need to know that? Then again, why shouldn't they know? But what if knowing a kid in the class was Reaper made them more suspicious? And how would Lake react to his best friend being Reaper? Heck, what would the class think of Lake? Would they gang up on him like they did me?
"You said you've been to Nouda's Realm," Lake went on. "Surely you discovered the identity of our school's original horror monster."
"I…. I don't know if I should…."
"Then you do know. Well, if you want our trust…."
I bit my lip and looked around the room. Maybe I should tell them?
"Go on, Jake," Alex urged me. "Tell them."
I looked over at Rose. Behind everyone, she was shaking her head. I looked over at Shawn. He was still just gazing off into space, without any real direction. I looked over at Nick. He stared at me with a face of wonder. I looked over at Alex. He had one eyebrow raised, waiting for an answer.
I looked back to the class. All eyes were on me. "I…. can't say…."
Lake stood up and turned to the class. "Don't you get it? Think about it - how does he know all this? I'll tell you. It's because he knows the Reaper. The Reaper lives - the Reaper is responsible for this! Maybe - Jake IS the Reaper! He's the one who started all of this! He's the one who first saw the Reaper! You listen to him, and he'll lead you to your deaths!"
"What are you -? Reaper killed my brother! Why would I do that?"
"A simple diversion. That killer is heartless, a cold-blooded animal. You'd have no problem killing him! All along, it was you! You! YOU!!!"
"I don't believe that," Nick stepped forward. "The day the Reaper attacked, Rose and I barely escaped with our lives - we saw Jake right outside, running -"
"And in which direction was he running? Yes, I've heard the story. Mysteriously, Jake just happens to miss class that day. And mysteriously, he appears just in time for the Reaper's attack. Didn't you hear him just now? He claims to have Wraiths - underlings - mirror images. That could only be of benefit in disguising his true identity! Jake Bradley killed our classmates! He killed our friends, all the people we once loved! He killed Donna Harbinger! He killed Kenny Truman! He killed Max Jaguari! He killed Gary Churchill, and Mary Smith, and Tina Lang! He killed my only friend - he killed Zamxus Zane! And now he's back to kill us, too! But will we stand for it??"
"No!" the class cried out, as everyone began to stand. They started coming toward me - Samantha, Ben, Mr. Fangye, Lauren - Rose in the back tried to grab onto Lauren, but she was shoved aside. Shawn just sat there, still staring off into space.
"This is it, Jake! This is your end!"
Alex stepped forward, but Mr. Fangye grabbed him by the ear and flung him aside.
"Nick -?" I looked to my right, but Nick just stood there, jerking his head back and forth between me and Lake.
Samantha was the first to grab onto me, pulling me in and throwing me to the floor headfirst.
"I'm not Reaper! I'm just a kid! I'm just a kid!"
They started beating me. I could see Rose running forward. She grabbed onto Lauren, pulling her off, but Lauren clawed at her, and finally punched her in the face. As Rose stumbled backward, Lauren turned back to rejoin the mob.
"Kill him! Avenge the deaths!"
I looked over at Shawn. He still didn't move. He was truly lost.
"KILL HIM!!!!!!!!"
Shawn's eyes finally flicked toward us. But he didn't even stand up. It was as though he was debating whether or not to get involved. And above him, the ceiling was starting to sag. As the crowd beat me, as Lake cried out for my death, as Rose and Alex tried desperately and futilely to pull the mob off, as Nick stood uncertain, the ceiling above Shawn was sagging, sagging into a point - a spear.
"SHAWN!!!!!!!!!!!!" I cried out over the shouts. "LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The spear descended.

[spideyfan914]

Episode Ten: HAUNT

"SHAWN!!!!!!!!!!!! LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The spear descended. Midnight.
The desk split in two. The splitting noise emanated throughout the room. Slowly, the fists stopped beating. Everyone was silent, as they turned to behold the ghostly image that was Shawn.
Phantom.
"Does this explain it, then? Does this explain how Jake knows so much? I am Phantom. I've been Phantom since the beginning. I fought Reaper, and he is not who you think he is. I fought in the True Society, just I had long ago. I've won, somehow. Against all odds, I've managed to prevail. Now, it's time to win again."
The people stared.
"Step away from Jake Bradley."
They listened. Thank God, they listened.
"Everyone, pull it together. We're breaking out of here." He walked up to the door. "Been wanting to try this trick for a while now…."
Suddenly, he jumped into the wall, phasing into it. A second later, it started to vibrate rapidly, and then, in a loud sonic boom, it disappeared like the wind, and Phantom stood in the opening.
I had to ask. "How -?"
"I sent it to Nouda's Realm."
"I didn't know you could do that…."
"Neither did I…. Now everyone, stay together. Don't wander off. We'll see how many remain in the other classes as we make our way downstairs."
The class hurried out the opening. I was still on the ground. I looked up at Nick, he stared at me with a disgusted face, and then turned to leave himself.
"Here, Jake." I turned to see Rose, with her hand outstretched. She helped me up.
"You okay, man?" Alex asked, rubbing his head.
"Yeah…. I'm fine…."
Both of them were a bit battered from the brawl. Alex had a bruise on his right cheek and his lip was slightly cut. Rose had a black eye and bloody nose, and her left sleeve was torn.
"Um…. Sorry that didn't go so well…." Alex said.
"It's fine, man. You were right - someone needed to take charge. It just wasn't me." I looked over at Phantom, then back to Alex and Rose. "Guys…. Thanks…."
"Don't mention it," Rose smiled. "People do crazy things when they get crazy. Least we could do was try to stop the angry mob from killing you…."
I chuckled. "Well, let's get going then - don't wanna hold the others back."
"Right…."
We moved on into the dark hallway. The lights were dim - I'd never been in the school so late at night. I let Rose and Alex run ahead, and I stayed back with Phantom as we walked. With each classroom we passed, he'd do his new trick to open up the corridor. In each one, we found more peers and teachers to save, and more dead. We checked the bathroom, but only one kid was in there, his face in the toilet.
"Lucky that hand-rune worked, huh?" I joked.
"Yeah…. Lucky…." He seemed out of it.
"How you holding up, Shawn?" I asked. "Now that your identity is out?"
"I'm not sure, Jake…. I know it was the only way…. but it just doesn't feel right…. It'll take some adjusting…."
Finally, we reached the stairs. It had only taken a few minutes, actually - the stops along the way had slowed us down - but it felt like a lifetime.
"There are still more classes on this floor," I said. "And plenty on the first and second floors too."
"First we need to bring these people to safety, then I'll turn back to gather more. We won't clear the school in one outing." He blew open the door to the staircase. "Stay calm, everyone. Act like you would in a fire drill - no running, no pushing, and stay together."
Suddenly, Phantom fell forward. Something had pushed him, and he hadn't had the time to go intangible. Thinking fast, he turned around and thrust a huge gust of wind at his assailant, tossing Nick against the opposite wall.
"Nick??" Phantom boomed, as everyone watched. "What is the meaning of this?"
"You're a lousy, two-bit bum, that's what," Nick sneered, wiping the blood from his lips.
"What are you talking about? He's SAVING us!" I reminded him.
"Is he? This school's been goin' crazy all day. People have been dying - dozens of people, dead. And what were you doing about it, you pathetic excuse for a hero? Sitting in your desk, not saying a word, protecting your 'secret identity.' You could've saved us - saved them - if you just acted sooner."
"I…."
"But no, you had to wait 'til it got real bad. You had to wait 'til your OWN life was in danger, 'til YOU were the one who would've died, 'til it was choice between death and exposure. And meanwhile, there were corpses rotting all around you…."
"But -"
"You could've saved them! You could've saved Barney!"
Nick fell over, collapsing in tears. Phantom looked to the rest of the school, who stared up to him, in confusion, in question, in anger, in fear. Nobody said a word. Finally, Phantom spoke.
"Let's keep going."
Rose went back to help Nick, as we moved along to the stairs. A little ways down, Lauren was speaking to Alex, tears running down her cheeks, and his arm was around her shoulder. Samantha walked with friends from other classes, no doubt exchanging stories. I looked around for Lake, but instead found Mr. Fangye, who stayed to the front of the line, sobbing silently to himself. Ben, too, walked alone, facing forward, flicking his eyes around the crowd almost as though paranoid.
Suddenly, the stairs went wild. They fell over, like in a movie, turning into a slide. We all fell over, onto our backs, onto our stomachs, and slid uncontrollably down the stairs, around the turns, wondering where and how it would end. As the bottom approached, I could see the wall turning into spikes - the end. But Phantom swooped down just then and turned into a barrier - a cushion - and we collected within his grasp.
"This is ridiculous!"
"We'll never escape!"
"They'll pick us off one-by-one, or just kill us all in one swift blow!"
"We're not gonna make it!"
"I'm not gonna make it!"
"We're all gonna die!"
"ENOUGH!!!"
Silence fell, as we turned to the speaker - Quentin Lake had already stood up, and now looked down at us in Phantom's net.
"If we want to survive, we should follow Phantom's lead. Whatever's passed up to this point is irrelevant now - with his help, we'll break out, we'll survive. We've already lost so many - don't be so stupid as to let us lose any more."
There was silence for a few seconds, and then Nick popped up.
"You're telling me that we should just forget about what's happened? Forget about what he's done?"
"No, but for now, it doesn't matter -"
"IT DOES MATTER!!!" Nick shouted. "IT ALWAYS MATTERS!!!"
Someone laughed. It started soft, but got louder. We all looked around, wondering who it was.
"That's funny, Nick…. I don't remember you being so sensitive…." The voice was familiar. "You're usually the one who couldn't care less about the sufferings of your peers, who gets pleasure out of other's pain. Is it different, maybe, now that it's your friends who've died?" Ben Wolf stood up. "I don't remember you crying the last time the school was attacked by Death. I don't remember you mourning anyone."
"What are you talking about….?" Nick was dumb-founded. "I mourned as much as everyone else!"
"Did you, now? Tell me - do you even remember their names?"
"I…. Of course I do - There was Kenny Truman, Timmy Fruger, Jennifer Atlas, Mary Smith, Isaac Goldfinger…. Rebecca Hayerdahl…. James Gilto…. Uh…. Harry Callman…. Uh…."
"How about Katie Drucker?" Ben sneered. "Remember her?"
"Who?"
"Oh, she was a great girl…. A bit crazy, though…. One minute, she'd be all over you, the next, she'd hate your guts. It was kind of funny, really…. She would be annoying as hell one minute, and then the next, you'd be in some deep, serious conversation…."
"Jake…." Rose whispered into my ear. "That's his girlfriend…."
Poor Ben…. So lost in a world of the dead….
"I met her in drama," Ben went on. "She wasn't much of an actress, to be honest, but we all loved her in the club. When she and I first met, we would tease each other, back and forth mockery, but in more of a friendly way. It was an interesting relationship, kind of a love/hate type of thing. But in time, the hate began to fade…."
I couldn't help but notice that, as Ben approached Nick, Lake was beginning to back away from the two…. except he wasn't moving his feet….
"I…. I'm sorry, Ben, but…."
"One day, things got a bit out of hand. I said something to her that truly, genuinely upset her. I don't remember what it was, or if I truly meant it, but I felt like hell run over, and did everything I could to make it up to her. From that moment on, Katie and I grew closer, tight as can be. We would pour our hearts out to each other and give assistance when one was down. We did everything together, never apart. Did you ever have anyone like that?"
"Well…." Nick was clearly taken off-guard by Ben's assault. "Barney was…. my best friend…. and also…." He looked in my direction - at Rose. "There…. there used to be someone else…. but she's moved on now…."
Lake was now backed against the wall, staring at Nick and Ben. Except, something was off…. He looked…. scared….
"So, you've never had anyone to truly care for you? Or at least, not in the same proximity as Katie and myself?"
"That's not exactly what I -" Nick began, but then…. "No…. I…. I guess not…."
"Then how could you ever know TRUE PAIN??" Suddenly, the ground twisted up around Nick's feet along with Ben's clenched fist. A few people got up, but Ben waved his hand and walls sprouted up around them, pushing everyone back. "January 13…. just earlier this year…. I finally summoned up the courage to ask Katie out on a date - and she SAID YES!! After that, we went steady for several months. We were voted Cutest Couple for the Senior Superlatives! You've never even heard of her?? Can you really care so little??"
The ground beneath Nick's feet shot up, and he was risen on a stand. Tendrils shot down from the ceiling, grabbing his hands and hoisting them up, trapping him in position, as he looked around frantically at the crowd, frightened.
"Shawn…." I whispered. "Do something!"
"I HEARD THAT, JAKE!" Ben cried out. "But the thing is, and I'm sure Shawn knows, if he were to make any sudden movements, Nick here would die on the spot. And of course, he cares so much about everyone's favorite bully…."
"Please…." Nick pleaded. "Don't do this!"
"Why not?? Who would care?? After all, no one cared about Katie Drucker, now, did they?? Last month, Death attacked the school. I was in that stupid Creative Writing class at the moment, with yet another lousy substitute teacher. As I recall, he was one of the first to die. I SAW the first deaths. But I myself got lucky - I escaped that class. And then Death struck the rest of the school. Katie was in her Physics class at the time, unsuspecting, unknowing…. I wasn't there for her last moments…. I only know that she was found later with stab wounds in five different places. Her corpse was unrecognizable. And what did the school do? What did they do to mourn the loss of HALF THEIR STUDENT BODY?? They gave two lousy weeks off - two weeks to mourn for hundreds, hundreds of lives, lost in a matter of minutes. And when we get back? NOBODY CARES!!!!! Not one - we just move on, with the same old daily lives, same classes, same studies, same finals, as though NOTHING EVER HAPPENED!!! They even give us new teachers, like Mr. Fangye here…. Teachers who don't understand, who don't share our pain…."
"The Reaper killed my family!!" Mr. Fangye cried out.
"SHUT UP!!!!!!!"
A cocoon emerged from the floor, encasing Fangye and pinning him to the wall, only revealing his face, just barely allowing him to breathe.
"You don't have the right to speak!" Ben hollered. "You don't know! YOU DON'T KNOW!!!"
"Ben…. Please…." Nick begged again.
"None of you get it!!" Ben went on. "It was so much…. so much…. I couldn't take it…. I went to the basement of the school - a huge sandy pit, in which no one ever trods. I hung myself there. I met with Death. And yet, I'm still here…. Explanation? Death CHOSE me - he chose ME!" Ben was laughing now. "You see? Death wanted to show the people what he truly meant, all of you ingrates who just don't understand the true meaning of DEATH!!
"It's not some sort of storybook ending…. It's not Heaven, or Hell, or any logical resolution. Death is NOTHING!!! It is the end, the ultimate end, of everything. When someone dies, they don't come back. Only ghosts are able to walk again. Katie - she's no ghost. She's dead, and dead forever. Death is the ultimate power, the ultimate means. It's not something to be taken lightly…. When someone dies, it means that a light, a soul, has just faded out of existence, never to be seen or heard from again…. You don't move on from that. You don't get over it. And it doesn't go away either - Death just keeps on COMING BACK!
"This isn't something you can ignore, it's not something you can pretend never happened. Once someone's dead, their memory is all that moves on. And yet you continue to FORGET! You people just DON'T GET IT!!! I can not stress that enough - you just don't GET IT!
"Well I'll show you…. I'll show all of you…. I'll teach you the meaning of Death, and you will all fall down…."
"Ben…." Nick was crying now. "I…. I'm sorry…."
A slow smile creeped over Ben's face, as he turned to look straight into Nick's eye. "Finally…. You begin to UNDERSTAND! Very well, then…. Let's play Hangman."
Suddenly, a gallow leapt out from the floor, with it's point right above Nick's head. The floor beneath Ben's feet rose up like a pedestal, and he smiled down at the rest of us. At the base of that pedestal, seven lines popped out.
"Remember, Phantom…. No sudden moves…. Now, who will begin?"
"A!" We turned - Alex Wolf stood there, an angry look on his face. "It stands for A******, in case you were wondering. What's gotten into you, Ben?"
Ben laughed. "Nice one, cousin - but no, there are no A's here…." A noose sprout down from the gallow, wrapping itself around Nick's neck. "Care to try again?"
"M!" This time, it was Rose's turn to guess. "As in, Murderer."
The tendril bounding Nick's left arm was released, and he grasped onto the noose, trying to make his way out.
"P! For Phantom!"
"N! For Nick!"
Nick's right arm was released, and a P appeared on the second line.
"S! For Sanchez!"
"R! For Reaper!"
An S appeared on the first line, and an R on the sixth. "Hm…. Maybe I chose an easy one…." Ben mused.
It was my turn. "D, for Death."
"Thank you!" Ben laughed, and he released Nick's left leg. Leaning to the side now, Nick choked for a moment, then quickly adjusted, balancing himself on his last lifeline.
"Spectre."
Ben looked at Phantom with a frown.
"That's what you are, isn't it?"
Ben looked back at Nick, who now wore a very innocent frightened smile. "Eh, what the heck?"
Ben jumped down off his pedestal as it fell back to the earth below, and let Nick's final step break away, hanging him from his neck. Mr. Fangye's cocoon bolted down the hallway toward Ben, who fled away from the crowd with Fangye just behind him.
Quickly, Phantom leapt into action, phasing into the ceiling above Nick and shattered it into Nouda's Realm. Nick collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath, as Rose ran up to him and helped him, leaning him on her shoulder.
"Phantom!" someone cried out - Quentin Lake. "I'll help these people out of here. You need to follow Ben. He must have some way of seeing everything in the school, but perhaps if you keep him distracted -"
"Are you sure about this, Lake?"
"Positive," he said, and with a smile added on, "My friends call me Quen."
Phantom nodded, then turned to the crowd. "Everyone, follow Quen! He'll help you out of here. I'll meet up with you later - just go!"
A low murmur fell over the crowd as Quen swiftly crossed. "Now, listen up - we need to move quickly and decisively. The front door isn't far from here, but Wolf may have traps planted. Stay together, and look out for each other. We can make it!"
As we all followed Quen one way, I watched as Phantom departed after Ben. They were moving toward the back door.
"Be warned, everyone - we're not safe as soon as we make it out those doors. I've seen Wolf work his tricks outside as well - we need to pass through the gates! There are police there, and they're there to help. Stay calm, people!"
"I hope Shawn will be all right," a voice whispered in my ear. I looked next to me - Rose was walking there, still helping Nick along.
It was hard to tell. Ben's attacks wouldn't work on Phantom, but he had a hostage, and that complicated things. Over the past twenty-four hours, we had been locked in a room with nothing to do but wait for the end. We argued - I barely even remembered what we had argued about. The future was unclear.
"Go on without me," I said to Rose quickly, and bolted back down the hallway.
"JAKE!" she cried out. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??"
"Leave him be!" I heard Quen say behind me. "We don't have the time…."
It was Ben. I could hardly believe it - Ben had been the one behind it all. Ben trapped us in that room. Ben killed those people. All along, it was Ben. I didn't pretend to understand why he did it - he was babbling nonsense. But I couldn't quite get how he did it. He has some sort of powers - powers to control the environment around him. Or maybe it's just the school - maybe he's somehow tied with the school. He said this happened to him in the basement, right? But what happened to him? What did he mean that Death chose him? It didn't make any sense…. Quen was right about one thing, though - Ben must have the ability to see through the walls, as the walls. Almost as though the school is just an extension of his own self. That much makes sense. The rest is gibberish.
I had reached the back door. It opened this time - Ben was distracted now. I could see him running around the edge of the school, with Mr. Fangye's cocoon sliding along the ground beside him. Phantom wasn't too far away.
"Shawn! Wait up!"
He froze for a second as I caught up. "Jake?? What are you doing?"
"I'm here to help you, dude! I told you before - I'm the closest thing to a sidekick you'll ever have! Like it or not, we're in this together!"
"But -"
"No time to argue - Ben's getting away!"
He only hesitated for a moment. Then he grabbed me under the arms, and flew at top speeds toward Ben.
"Man, that kid can run…."
"He's moving the ground beneath his feet along with him - it's like running with a conveyor belt."
"But…. you're faster, right?"
He didn't answer, just leaned in and sped along, pushing winds against us for extra speed, as we arrived in the large grassy field. Walls of dirt began to pop up in front of us, but Phantom outmaneuvered them all.
"He could only push himself so much…. Force his feet faster than he can run, and he can't keep up…."
Ben slipped. Fell right on his butt, sliding across the grass. He rose to his feet, looked back and saw us coming, then took Mr. Fangye and ran just a little bit farther, onto the basketball court.
Phantom and I made it just in time, and he gently put me down on the concrete. "Give it up, Ben…."
"I told you all before - Ben Wolf is no more. He died with the rest."
"So now you're just gonna kill a few more to break even??" I cried out. "Where's the logic in that??"
A wave of concrete threw me off my feet, hurling me to the ground beside Mr. Fangye. "Jake…." he was saying with a tear in his eye. "I…. I'm sorry…."
"Don't mention it…." I whispered back. "Just give me a passing grade, and we'll call it even."
"Ben, you are not dead, you are not a ghost. Such simply isn't possible. Now listen, I understand your pain, I understand what you're going through, but we can get you help - you just have to trust me."
"And then what? I can move one - forget the pain, feel better??"
"No, Ben…. The pain never goes away. But we can make it manageable."
"I don't want it to be manageable!" His face was red now, red with tears.
"You don't need to lose yourself to it, Ben…. Think of what Katie would've wanted - think of what she'd say if she saw you now -"
"SHUT UP!!!!!"
The ground around Phantom suddenly erupted and closed up around him.
"NO!!! SHAWN!!!" I cried out as the pavement began to settle. Phantom still stood.
"Your tricks won't work on me, Ben. Please don't make this harder than it has to be."
Ben looked around frantically, and noticed Mr. Fangye. With a wave of his hand, the cocoon shot upright.
"I'll kill him! You know I will! I'LL KILL THEM ALL!!!!"
"And what would that accomplish?"
"I…. I'd show them - show them true pain! Show them what it means to die!"
"Ben…. I once killed my own mother. Crossfire. I still haven't forgiven myself. Jake here has lost his brother, witnessed death after death. We've all experienced loss, and we've all had our troubles. It's merely a matter of how much we choose to let on."
"Not him! Not Fangye! He wasn't there - he didn't lose anyone!"
"He lost his family."
Ben was panicking, looking back and forth from Phantom to me to Mr. Fangye. He was sweating. Crying. Panicking. Finally, he drew a breath, clenching his eyes shut…. and erupted.
"DIE!!!!!!!!!!!"
The ground around Phantom went nuts. Basketball-sized hunks of concrete hurled out of the ground into the air. Tendrils shot up, turning into knives and flinging around blindly and randomly. The hoops bent into the crowd, slamming the ground, making it ripple and crack. Phantom let them all phase through, as he began to step closer to Ben.
The boy stepped backward, nervous. Mr. Fangye fell over by my side - even his cocoon was beginning to unravel. Now was my chance - while he was distracted, I grabbed Mr. Fangye and started to run. There was a gate nearby - I just had to hope that Phantom would keep Ben occupied long enough that I could make it. Perhaps there, outside of school grounds, we'd be safe.
It was just a little bit farther now. I thought back on all of it, on the time I saw Ben in Hamlet, the time I saw his encounter with Death. And he couldn't handle it. I remembered his doodles, his doodles of Death - of skulls, of corpses, of rotting bodies and graves and the dying. I remembered all the deaths, from Nora who died alone, to Jack who died the moment it was wished, to Barney and Alicia who I never thought appreciated life until I watched them die, and to Ellen who wasn't the target…. Rose, who tried to stay optimistic…. Shawn, the only one who chose to stay out of the attack altogether…. And Nick, who always hid his true colors, always afraid of humiliation for doing what was right….
Ben was not an evil man. But something changed.
We made it to the gate. A few policemen waited there. The cocoon burst open the minute we passed through, and faded away, and Mr. Fangye fell to the floor, battered and bruised, but still breathing, and the officers collected him. "Good work, kid," they said, but I wasn't listening.
I looked back over the field at the basketball court. It was still just as wild as when I left it, but Phantom kept stepping ever-closer, never once fazed by Ben's worldly attacks.
"Ben…. It's over…."
"NO!"
Suddenly, he sunk into the ground. Phantom dived in after him. Moments later, Ben emerged in the center of the field, rising up on a pedestal, ever-rising. Phantom emerged as well, and flew up after Ben, finally knocking him down with one mighty blow.
Ben began to fall. The pillar beside him spat out of its sides, creating a slide to guide it's creator's descent. When Ben reached the ground, he just ran. Phantom chased after him, up to a tall fence.
The ground beneath Ben's feet jumped up, and he hurled himself at the fence. He just barely missed that jump, slamming against the top of the barrier. Phantom came up right behind him, grabbing onto his foot.
"NO!" Ben cried out again, trying to kick Phantom off. A rock emerged from the ground, shooting up and covering Ben's ankle right where Phantom was holding on, and thus shook him loose. Frantically, Ben climbed the remaining foot, and jumped down on the other side of the fence. The cast around his foot crumbled and faded away into nothing as he ran, ran, ran….
Phantom waited a moment, then turned to me and Mr. Fangye, flying over to us.
"Aren't you going after him?" I asked.
"No…. There's no harm now - he only controls the school."
"How do you -?"
"As soon as he, or you, reached the gate, all his effects faded away. He's powerless off of school grounds. The police will keep a perimeter, in case he returns. They always do…."
The police told us that the others had escaped - they'd gotten word from the officers situated out front. The remainder of the school would be evacuated shortly.
It was over. Our school's Spectre was gone, and some had survived. Some had died.
But for now, there would be peace. We'd reached another period of mourning. Finals would be canceled, but what more could they do?
Most students and teachers went to therapy. We had all seen such horrors that it was hard to believe we'd ever live it down. Rose and I still had our vacation planned, though - after a few arguments with our parents, we managed to convince them that it was best for our health that we go. It would help to put our minds at ease.
And yet…. there was something else…. I was never able to make sense of exactly what had happened. There was something more to this, something we didn't know. Something was missing….
---
Running, running…. Always running….
Been running so long…. Been running days on end…. No food, no water…. So tired, so exhausted….
But how? Why? Why am I running? Since when do the dead run?
But my mission isn't finished yet…. Yes, that's it…. The mission - always the mission….
Where am I now? Woods of some sort…. Been running so long…. Don't know how long…. Mountains - I'm in mountains….
That noise - I hear a noise. I'm not alone.
Who's there?
It's him. It's Death. With glowing red eyes.
"Congratulations, my Spectre…. You've done well, but you've outlived your purpose…."
There's a quick slash - one quick slash. And then, everything goes black….