|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:25 pm
They could knock all they wanted, the RA was out. And no student was going to believe a monster had been about to reach into Zeke's bedroom, even if the two tried to tell someone.
Who'd be around at odd hours to talk to? There was always Mr. Martin - he was the friendly, middle-aged chemistry teacher who could always be found working in his office when class wasn't in session. When the two students finally arrived at his office, they found the door open just a crack. From inside they could hear the monotonous scribble of a grading pen and the creak of a chair. No sense in being calm and rational when they'd just ran all the way here carrying a lamp and a pair of cleats - it was the sort of door built for bursting into rooms with, anyhow.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:31 pm
And so, the door was burst into. Zeke's eyes, that is, the little bit of one gray eye that could be seen under his shaggy hair, was wild and his cheeks were almost alabaster. He held his lamp in one hand, ready to attack any monster or pie-eating ghost that dared face him.
His mouth was moving, but hardly any words were coming out. Instead, just a garble of mismatched words and confusion.
"Mr. Martin!" he finally exclaimed. "Something-- outside my window... something BIG!" He waved his arms.
"I thought we were going to get attacked or killed! Tell him, Mack. Tell him what we saw!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interesting Conversationalist
|
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:36 pm
What Zeke had forgotten to tell the auburn-haired girl was that he was actually planning to go through a door she couldn't see, as she was facing down the way they came. As such, she almost fell back as he pulled away to burst through the door, yelping and whirling around, thinking he got taken by the thing.
"FLUFFY?!"
Slamming her weight into the door as well (although it was hardly necessary,) she came hurtling through it as well, shoving it closed with her back, her body sprawled comically against it, cleats still in hand. It took her a moment to realize where they were and how silly they probably looked, and she moved quickly away from the door to stand next to the sheepdog of a boy, pointing towards the door with one cleat.
"Mr Martin, there was a zombie outside Fluf-- Zeke's window!"
And that's all she could say.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 10:00 pm
Mr. Martin looked at the two students, clearly confused by their entrance. His eyes grazed the lamp, the pointed shoe, and the clear signs of terror the kids were radiating with. He sighed, took off his spectacles, and began to polish them on his shirt. When he put them back on, his expression was one of concern mixed with understanding. "Oh dear. Oh dear."
The teacher rose to his feet, and slowly capped his pen before placing it down. There was an air of seriousness about him. He looked at Zeke first, and then Micky, before walking around the desk. "Children, I know exactly what you've been seeing. And I'm glad you came to me before it was too late! But I need you to be honest with me, or the consequences could be terrible for you both. Very terrible."
He was now standing in front of them like a redwood tree, between them and the door, though he was not blocking it so much as obscuring it from view. After seeing something as terrifying as that oily hand clawing at the window, everything they saw seemed to carry a dangerous connotation. Even with his benign expression, his tone came off sinister. Until he spoke again.
"Children, have you been... smoking anything today? What do they call it these days... pot? Weed? Grass? I mean marijuana, children. It's an illegal substance."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 10:21 pm
Zeke looked at Mr. Martin with a grave face, listening intently to what he had to say. If he knew anything about what was going on, Zeke wanted to hear it. He wanted to know what he could do to help, to stop those zombies from getting in. He wanted to--
Wait. What?
The boy frowned. He knew that Mr. Martin was being serious-- and even if he were being sarcastic, Zeke wouldn't have realized it anyway.
"Mr. Martin. I can tell you seriously that I have never had an illegal substance in my life! Mack can tell you that I refuse to drink, or do any other mind-altering stuff. Well, except one time I tried meditation. I didn't really like it, I don't like sitting still. But we're being serious! There was this awful THUMP against my window, and then there was blood and this hand..."
Zeke groaned.
"I can do a drug test right now, but what we saw was real!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 10:42 pm
Mack paused. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
And then she laughed.
It was weak, one of those 'why didn't I expect this' laughs, and she let her arms drop to her sides in mild exasperation. He thought they were smoking. When she thought about it, it didn't surprise her -- had it happened to someone else, she would have accused them of the same thing. It was almost hilarious. She did, however, notice how the teacher moved between them and the door, and she leaned against the other boy a little, clutching the shoes, just in case.
"Zeke's right -- he won't even eat anything with cooking wine in it," she replied, laughing again, her nerves definitely shot. 'Let us outta here, teach' she thought to herself a little desperately, smiling at him as best she could. "Maybe we were mistaken... too many monster movies, you know," She added after a few minutes, giving him what she hopped was her cheeriest look, "Isn't that right, Zeke?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interesting Conversationalist
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 12:35 am
"I'm glad to hear it!" Mr. Martin clapped his hands together. The teacher seemed to brighten up at discovering his students were not, in fact, drug addicts. But the implications that slimy monsters were banging at the windows of the dorms had gone clear over his head. He adjusted his glasses. "The two of you have never been any trouble before, and I'm just happy to know you'd come to me if something was really wrong. We'll be covering tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, later in the semester, by the way. I was afraid I'd have to explain it right here, but it seems you both don't need to hear it after all. I know you are both excellent students, you'll catch on quickly when we get there."
His humor lessened a bit when he looked down at the makeshift weapons again. "Now, I would love to take your word and send you on your way, but you, Mr. Martin, don't have any real use for an unplugged lamp. And you, Ms. O'Connell, seem to have grown fond of wearing shoes on your hands. There are no such thing as zombies, no matter what movies these days will have you believe, so there will be no further need to arm yourselves when you drop by my office."
"Barren Pines is responsible for the safety of its students. And as a parent myself, I'm concerned about your behavior." He crossed the gap between himself and the door, and moved to hold it open for the students. "If you both are drug-free - and I do believe you - then there must be something else the matter. I'm going to have to insist you come with me to the health office before you go anywhere else. Just a little check-up. I think it's better to be safe than sorry, don't you?"
He didn't give them any opportunity to protest, and herded the pair into the hallway. The teacher paused to turn the lights off in his office, and shut the door behind them all. It was off to the health office, to be poked, prodded, and asked a bunch of irrelevant questions. Zeke and Mackenzie knew what they'd seen, though, even if the nurses didn't believe them either.
Incidentally, the drug tests both came back negative.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
