They say the year Argus McCree accepted the posistion of custodian at Brecksville Highschool, was the same year the sophomore suicides took place. In the wee hours of the night, four teens had crept into the school auditorium, and they never departed. This tragedy left a searing mark on the community, shrouded in a variety of speculation.
Rumors circulated amongst the students, each one adding their own spin in the telling. Argus had been seen with scratches on his arms that same week. A bruise across one eye was proof that there was more to the story. What did he really know about what had happened that night? Some say he was there. Others outright called him a murderer.
It was true that Argus did most of his work late at night- where was he when this horrific event took place? The bravest voices ventured to ask more, why weren't the police called until sunrise? As years went by, the story was refreshed by those who hadn't even attended the school yet when it all happened. As they passed the tale to younger siblings, tragedy became urban legend.
Bethany stood sideways to look at herself in the mirror, her torso strangely upright. A red hue began to creep across her cheeks as she strained. "You're still fat, get over it." his infuriating little voice startled Bethany, who exhaled her stomach back to its resting state with a groan. "Why are you under my bed weirdo?! Ugh. Get. Out. Nooooow Bradley!" She stomps a booted foot, heaving.
Tossing the closest object at his head, which just barely pokes out from under her pink bed frame, she screams, "Jerk!" Bradley sucks. Brecksville Highscool sucks. And Tina Stevens wasn't as cool as everyone thought she was! With a sickening twist in her guts, she remembers the dare. As Bradley scrambles out from under the bed, to hop off down the hall.
Trevor flicks his head sideways, flinging his shock of green hair slightly out of his face. A beanie contains most of his messy locks, "Leftover Crack" embroidered across the front. He takes a steadying breath, "Bethany, it's chill. You really don't have to do it if you don't want to. You do know that, right?" his voice was always sarcastic, except when he spoke to her.
He wore one icy blue contact in his left eye, a stark contrast to the dark brown of his right. Everyone thought Trevor was weird, he thought everyone was boring. Bethany had known him since she was small, their mothers being best friends and all. Maybe the friendship had started because of that, but it grew on a foundation of magnificent mutual understanding.
Trevor thought it was stupid to pick flowers, he knew that wasn't how you appreciated them. He acted aloof, but in his words: "It's easier to go along playing the part you're cast as. These aren't the defining lines that matter." he had a philosophy. In a baggy pants pocket, he kept a leather-bound notebook with dense pages of fine paper.
Filled with sketches of birds, elderly couples, and trees, it was a treasure that Bethany was certain no one else knew of. "I know I don't have to, but maybe I want to do something cool for once dude!" her heavily lined eyes are pleading, "So, are you going to go with me or not?" she crosses her arms.
It had all started in History class when Mrs. Cline had needed to step out to take an urgent phone call. Tina began talking loudly to her friends- both Monica and Brittney were on the cheer team with her, and they always sat together. That fact made History particularly strenuous for Bethany, since they all loathed her "creepy style". Monica laughed artificially at something Tina had said.
"Argus obviously murdered them!" she says when her high-pitched giggles die down. A serious look crosses her normally vapid features, "I bet you could find proof in his office, if you looked." she says a bit quieter. Bethany can't hold it in, the laughter starts as a snort in her nose. Bursting out despite her best efforts she says, "That's absolutely ridiculous!" oops.
"If you're so sure, why don't you take a peak with your freak boyfriend?" Tina sneers, "Unless you only talk tough." her mocking smile is perfectly even. Monica and Brittney lose it, patting her on the shoulder as they laugh at the great jape. "Yeah, I dare you, goth girl!" Brittney giggles.
Late Thursday night Bethany hears a tap outside her window, it's go time! Of course Trevor agreed to go with her, just to break into the school if nothing else. Sliding the lower pane of her window up slowly, Bethany eases though the opening.
She's done this dozens of times before, evidenced by the graceful way she steps just so. Landing a bit out of breath to greet her best bud she says, "Let's do this!" grinning widely, as she clasps hands with her favorite co-conspirator.
Getting into the school is easy, dealing with Trevor isn't. "Can you hear them Beth?" he whispers close to her ear, "They need you to hold their truth..." the low vibration of his words sends a shiver down her spine, the heat of his breath adding to the sensation.
"You're a clown!" she huffs, making some space between them. "It's sad what those kids did, you shouldn't joke about them." she means to give him a stern look, but the way he juts his bottom lip out makes her laugh anyhow. He continues to play remorseful, as she stifles laughter into a sleeve.
"Shhhh you butt! C'mon, his office is this way." Bethany gestures down a hallway, but Trevor is staring in the direction of the auditorium. "Let's go this way first Beth." his voice is distant, yet all Bethany hears is that he's going to be annoying. "Whatever dude, I'll meet back up with you." she says, striding off down the dark corridor with agitation prickling her skin. Trevor the troll.
The office is dimly lit, a desktop lamp illuminating a jumbled mess of documents layered on the heavy wooden desk. A box sits in the corner, filled to the brim with shredded paper. As Bethany creeps into the small room, something catches her attention right away. A series of newspaper clippings is tapped to the wall, spanning almost its entire length.
She recognizes the faces of the four kids immediately, a chill raising the hairs of her arms. Why would he have these up after so many years? A desk drawer sits tantalizingly ajar, she moves to pry it open. "How did you get in here?" a gruff voice causes her to scream, as she spins around to face the custodian. "Bad things happen to people who go through other people's belongings." he says.
Trevor realizes with a jolt that it's been way too long. Bethany should've wandered in by now. He's already walking towards the door when he hears a scream. Crap. Argus's office is on the other side of the school! Hiking his baggy pants up, Trevor sprints towards his friend, his heart in his throat.
The school had never felt as large as it did now, Trevor thought as he streaked past door after door. Hold on Beth he yelled in his mind, willing her to be okay. What if the rumors were true and she was in danger? All because he wanted to goof off. Tears welled in his eyes, burning the one with the contact lens. Please be okay he mentally begged, why hadn't he just gone with her?
As he reaches the staircase to the faculty offices, the silence below sends his heart to hammer against his windpipe. He can barely breathe as he jumps down the stairs, turning to close the small space between him and Argus's office.
Bethany is sitting at the desk, Argus looming over her. Her shoulders shake, Trevor expects to hear sobs, as her torso quakes... but she's laughing? "Oh my goodness, that is such a beautiful way to remember someone!" she says, turning to notice Trevor at last.
"You okay dude?" she asks with a furrowed brow, "You look like you saw a ghost!" she chuckles. Heaving with relief as he catches his breath, Trevor shakes his head. Leave it to Beth to make friends with Argus while breaking and entering!
"Look at this scrapbook Argus has kept Trevor! People couldn't be more wrong about what they think happened!" she says, her bright eyes dragging him into her magic, she had a way of doing that.
Your story has a great spooky feel to it, @grindan. Perfect for the Halloween season! The tale pays homage to a rich history of stories about dares, kids doing things out of curiosity that get them into trouble, and mysterious characters who turn out to be harmless. This one takes its place in that milieu nicely. Well done!
Thank you for engaging with the work of other authors in the community. We appreciate it!
Thank you 😁 I'm a total wimp, so channeling some spooky was hard for me 😂 I'm so glad I pulled it off! I appreciate the wonderful feedback
Aw... I love a happy ending! As always, this was a very enjoyable story Grindy. I especially loved the characters in this one though, they were all just so... down to earth and likeable you know! Lol, who would've thought that an 8 minutes read, was all it took for me to get emotionally attached to Trevor😅
Haha... This little detail was all it took for me to make out this character's appearance and personality. Lol, I'm picturing some type of imo, oddly charismatic, beast boy who rather prefers to hang out in small circles.
Say no more! I know I'm right 😌
When you write, do you decide who the characters will be, or do they let you know? Your writing style always intrigues me, I feel like we could have some similarities in method :)
My characters totally write themselves, it's just my job to find the right words to describe what they are doing etc. I do of course think my plot points out ahead of time... but the rest is a mystery to unravel lol ANYHOW why do I always ramble to Zeraton.. oh no! I'm in sup script!
Thank you so much duder 😁 I felt the same way about Trevor, he's a good egg :) I appreciate you stopping by to leave some smiles with me !PIZZA
Perhaps, yes i believe so too. Well, I often think of the plot as a whole before writing, and that's usually inclusive and only limited to the protagonist and antagonist themselves. The other secondary characters I guess, just sorter falls in as the story develops.
Haha... DON'T YOU KNOW? subscript is my home😈
And hey, don't mention it! I enjoy reading your fictions😁
Nice work with the suspense in this story, @grindan. The story builds to a frightening conclusion — just exactly what we're looking for in a good story arc!
I kept thinking of the rumor prompt, so that was in the back of my head as I wrote this as well. Hey, at least I kinda took my wack at it before october was over lol! Thank you for the awesome feedback 😁
Reading the story it is just like being there. Actually we are still in our souls are children so readinf such story brings me back to my childhood time and make me think what everythign we have done and enjoyed it.
That is a wonderful compliment, thank you very much :)
You create these two characters so well, making me genuinely believe and care about their friendship. I loved the first lines. You build the suspense well and then left me hanging too - what DID happen? A great way to conclude a well told tale!
It really makes me smile to read that, thank you for the fantastic comment!
I think if I had another 500 words, I'd have used it to develop Argus as a character. I think it would be terrible to witness an event like that, to need to begin the first officious step to properly handle it. Then everyone thinks YOU could be guilty? Oh poor Argus 😭
I originally had much more about him in my first draft, but I've been trying REALLY hard not to go over 1500 words too often 🤣 (thanks for your hard work ink well team!)
Sometimes a cliff hanger is good fun, the arc was finished, so no one can be mad at me! I'm glad that added value for you 😁 !PIZZA
It'd be fun to redraft to shift between the two sets of characters - the kids and Argus - in a kind of dual narrative, a third person omniscience perhaps. It's definitely a story that could be rewritten in many different ways. I do like that ending as its a great cliff hanger and doesn't NEED expanding - all we need to know is he wasn't what we thought he was, or that anyone suspected him to be. I think it's really good!!!
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