The Scent of Death

by Shelby Skabelund

  Once in his room he swung the door closed and started slipping into the best set of clothes that he could find. As he looked into the mirror his stomach tightened again as he saw how they didn’t fit quite right. They were his cloths from last year and he had grown. They were just small enough to make him feel uncomfortable. He clenched his teeth as he felt overcome with a wave of anger again. He grabbed his backpack and his phone and headed for the kitchen.

  When he sat down at the kitchen table he realized that mom wasn’t home. It was Monday. On Mondays his mom left at five and headed to her new job stocking shelves at the grocery store. Nicks mother had never worked that he could remember until now. This reminded him again of how hard things had become since they had sold their home. Dad and mom had hoped they would get more for the old house and that they would be able to cover all the moving expenses from Maine to Evanston. It didn’t happen, and they had been completely strapped ever since. Dad’s new job was a job in the field he was used to, but the pay was half of what he had been used to at Augusta Fuel. Nick couldn’t believe how much he had taken for granted.

  He pushed himself up from the table and headed to the cupboards to get a bowl and some “Marshmallow Crunch”. “I could definitely use something sweet today” he thought to himself. He sat back down after he had poured a bowl with some milk and found himself focusing on the activities on the back of the box. After his third bowl, he headed out of the house without a word goodbye to his dad. He noticed that the bus wouldn’t be here for another twenty minutes, but he didn’t want to get stuck in the house in an awkward conversation with his dad.

  He made his way out to the paved road and headed for the stop sign where the bus would stop. It was a warm day already, and he couldn’t see a cloud in the sky. The sun hadn’t come over the horizon yet, but he could see the line of sunlight working its way across the landscape. It would be peaking its head over the horizon very soon.

  He sat down on a big rock that was just off to the side of the road. It was surrounded by 3-foot-tall weeds. He plugged in his headphones and flicked through his playlist. After finding one of his favorite songs, he let the music numb his thoughts. So numb that he didn’t notice the other person sit down next to him 10 minutes later. It was another sophomore just like Nick. He had spiked jet-black hair. His clothes were much more “hip” than Nick’s. He had almond eyes and the perfect smooth complexion that his Korean family roots had given him. He himself was second generation and living in Evanston. He was as “American” as the farmer down the street.

  Nick was startled when a song ended, and he heard a cough. The sound was so close and unexpected that it startled Nick and he jumped. “Calm down, I am not going to jump you.” Said a reassuring voice. Nick turned to see who was sitting next to him. The boy was smiling an infectious smile. “I am Joe” he said with his hand outstretched. “You must be the Channing kid.” Joe said.

  “Yeah, Nick. How did you know that?” Nick said. Joe smiled even bigger, “Are you kidding me? In a small town like this you seem to know everybody, and everybody knows you. You are the only face I don’t recognize, and tourists don’t catch the school bus. I figured you had to be the new kid.” There was something very likeable about Joe. Nick couldn’t pin it down, but there was something familiar about him. Joe was definitely a talker. He just kept going on. He asked question after question about who he was and about Augusta Maine. Nick even lost himself for a moment and forgot that he was completely miserable. He even smiled a few times as he heard Joe complain about how little there was to do in town. “So how did you end up here?” Nick asked. Joe raised his eyebrows and sighed. “Well unfortunately for me, my dad landed a good job with Mountain Fuel about 3 years ago. We packed up and moved here from Salt Lake City. I have been bored out of my mind ever since. Living out here on the edge of town doesn’t help. It would be better if I had a car! I did hear that your parents had bought the place next door and it gave me some hope when they said they had a son who was a sophomore too.”

  Nick seemed to warm even a little more. “So, we might have some classes together?” Nick asked. “Sure thing” said Joe, “There are only 25 new sophomores this year, so I bet we have almost all of our classes together. No doubt that we will have English, Math and Gym together.” Joe assured him. “Good, at least I can talk to you, well that is if you will let me.” Nick said sheepishly. “I will save you a seat in every class I can. I could use a good friend.”

  It was like Nick had known this kid for a few years. Something about him didn’t scream small town at all. He was very fun, laid back, and likeable. It made the whole morning more bearable. Slowly but surely 5 other students slowly showed up. None of them really showed much interest in Nick, and only barely noticed Joe. “What is up with them?” asked Nick. “Oh, they are full timers. They are juniors and seniors and all of them have been serving a life sentence here in town. Don’t expect them to notice you for a while. It took two years before any of them would pay me any attention. They are good people don’t get me wrong, but they live for the horse races, and rodeo, and that isn’t my thing, so we don’t have a lot in common.” Joe explained.

  A few minutes later the bus rounded the corner and they were on their way to school. The day had started off way better than he could expect. He had even made a friend with a pretty cool kid. He was happy he wouldn’t be alone the whole day. Who knew, he might even do okay hanging around Joe. It didn’t take more than 3 hours to change his mind though.

  It all started after second period. His first class was English, and sure enough he sat with Joe. It was nice. He didn’t feel too bad about things. Second period wasn’t too bad either because it was art. The teacher seemed nice, but Joe wasn’t an “artist”, so he had to go it alone. After second he had “first lunch” he spent the whole time looking for Joe and when he couldn’t find him he finally got in a line and ended up with only five minutes to eat. He quickly sat down at the first open table he came to and started to dig in. Not moments later he heard all six chairs around him jerked out and saw very large figures sitting down. “What are we going to do to him?” Said a deep manly voice. “Let’s take him to the locker room, pants him and duct tape him to the flag pole!” said another. “Naw, let’s just push him out into the parking lot stark naked and leave him a map to the office to fetch his clothes.” Laughed another voice.

  Nick stopped chewing, he even was sure he had stopped breathing. He had heard of this before. He had seen the hazing back in Maine but had never been in the line of fire before. Nick struggled to keep his hand that was holding his fork steady. He could feel the lump in his throat and stomach from this morning return twice as strong. He couldn’t look up. He just stared at his plate of food wishing this were all a dream.

  “You know, I think I would like to just make a good example of him in the parking lot after school. Sophomores don’t ever get privileges at this school. I think I will enjoy kicking him around out there.” Nick felt his eyes welling with tears. He couldn’t really see his plate clearly anymore, all he could see were dark shapes around him at the table and the fuzzy shape of his plate in front of him. The tears managed to distort everything into a crazy dreamland, but he knew this was really happening.

  Right as he was sure that he was going home with a broken body and as the school papers new headline, he heard the one chair directly across from him get pulled out. As he heard it slide out he heard a reprimanding voice say, “You guys get lost, and leave the poor kid alone.” He could hear nothing else but chairs moving, not another word for at least 30 seconds. Nicks face was still glued to the same spot on the table, his head was lowered so that he didn’t have to look at anyone. Just then a strong hand grabbed his. “Look at me. Hey, look at me!” the voice commanded. Nick slowly looked towards the voice across the table. As he tilted his head up, the water brimming in his eyes was pulled free by the gravity. He quickly swept his free hand to catch them before anyone else could see. There on the other side of the table was a s
enior that looked more like a man. He had short dark hair and a physic like the incredible hulk. “What is your name kid?” the new voice asked with compassion. “Nick” he said softly. “Well Nick, of all of the open places in the lunch room, you picked the absolute worst place to sit. This is the seniors table. Only seniors sit here” said the voice.

  The tears seemed to dry up and Nick could focus enough to get a clear view of the person talking to him. He had genuine concern on his face and Nick had a feeling for just a second that he wasn’t alone. Even though he had no idea who this person was, he had a savior, a hero. He just wanted to throw his arms around this guy and hug him for saving his life. (At least that is what it felt like to him.) Nick didn’t though. He was still frozen to his chair. The hulk like figure rose from the chair and patted Nick on the shoulder. “Nick, everything will be ok. Just don’t sit at this table!”

  By the time Nick could find his voice, his hero had left. Leaving Nick alone in his chair at a table he wasn’t supposed to be sitting at. His thank you went unheard, but Nick Channing was changed forever. He could not believe what had just happened. His day was ruined, but at the same time he had just had a new experience that left him speechless.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about how grateful he was to this mystery person. He found himself wondering about how many other people wandering the busy halls were having these terrible experiences like him. He wondered how many of them were as miserable as he was. As Nick wandered into 3rd hour class late, he decided that he would be like his new hero. He would stick his neck out for others. He was going to try as hard as he could to make others feel better too.

  Third period was History. The teacher was a no-nonsense man named Mr. Carson. He was older with graying hair and wrinkles deeply cut into his leathery skin. His voice was different than his demeanor though. It had an interesting tone to it that caught you up and helped you hear the excitement he had for what he was teaching. It wasn’t until halfway through his lecture on “Pearl Harbor”, that Nick realized that Joe was sitting in the back of this class. It wasn’t long and the bell was ringing, and he was quickly making his way to Joe’s side.

  “So, what do you think of Evanston High so far?” Joe asked.

  “Not my favorite place in the world.” Nick said with sincerity.

  Joe just smiled and said, “You don’t have to tell me.” For some reason this was comforting to Nick. It was nice to have someone around that thought like he did. The last few months had been very lonely, and he liked saying things out loud to someone who could appreciate them. Nick was happy to know that on A days he would have 3 of 4 classes with Joe. They headed off to Biology for the last class of the day. To make things a little better there was a Pep-assembly in the Gym for the football game that night. This meant less class and more time to talk.

  During the assembly, Nick found out the name of his new hero. It was Kirk Lancaster. He wasn’t only the incredible Hulk’s twin but was also the captain of the football team and starting middle linebacker. Nick couldn’t believe it. He also picked out a few of the guys that had swarmed the table as fellow football players. Nick realized that if Kirk hadn’t shown up when he had, he would have been in for it. The thing he couldn’t believe was that someone so big and popular, would take time out to help a scrawny little sophomore with pants that were too short. He could tell from the speech that he made that he was a sincere person who really cared, and by the reaction of the senior girls, he could tell that he rated well with the ladies.

  On the way home from school, Joe filled Nicks ears with all the up to date information of the different clicks at the high school. Nick never mentioned the incident at lunch. He felt too stupid. His face reddened a little though when Joe mentioned not ever sitting at the front tables in the lunch room. He also let him know about senior hall and all the other parts of the school he should avoid. Nick was irritated that all this information hadn’t been disclosed to him earlier, but he didn’t say anything. Joe also mentioned that he would love to hang out, but that he had to go into Salt Lake with his Mother to visit his Grandfather in the hospital. Nick asked if he would come over the next night to hang out at his house and made sure to let Joe know about his new gaming console and flat screen in his room. Joe said he would love to come over the next day after school.

  Chapter 5

  Bubbled Glass

  The next day at school was uneventful. Nick chose to steer clear of the lunchroom all together. Instead it was to the vending machines and off to the cubby in the hall by his locker. Classes seemed to drag on forever. The only one that seemed worth wile was PE and that was because Joe was in this class with him.

  “I have a good idea for after school!” Joe said. “Do you like scary stories?” “Of course I do.” Nick replied. “What do you have in mind?” “Well, I thought instead of vegging in your room we could go down to the abandoned part of town and I can show you the town legend.” Joe said dramatically. “Show me the Legend?” Nick said with a smile. “You’ll see.” replied Joe.

  The last 20 minutes flew by as they chased a soccer ball around the football practice field. Nick liked PE just because it was a chance to do something physical. It seemed like he didn’t spend much time playing sports like he had in Augusta. It was amazing how much better he felt after he had run up and down the field a few times. When the warning bell rang, Nick was covered in sweat and was feeling excited about the adventure Joe had planned for them.

  Before he knew it, he was jumping off the bus and running for the shower. He was still all sweaty from playing soccer. He had only 15 minutes before Joe would be banging on his door ready to go to the abandoned part of town. He took the quickest shower he could. He climbed into some old clothes, Joe had said to wear something he didn’t mind getting dirty. He couldn’t wait to see the town legend. He hoped it would be something worth seeing. He grabbed a few granola bars and inhaled a quick bowl of cereal.

  Nicked jumped up when he heard a loud knock on the front door. He snatched up his old shoes from the laundry room and headed for the door. When he pulled it back, there stood Joe in Black clothes head to foot. “Going to a funeral?” mocked Nick. “Wait and see. You better grab your bike though, we have a little bit of a ride.” replied Joe.

  Nick’s mountain bike wasn’t the best-looking bike, but it got him anywhere he needed to go. He had had it for 2 years now, and he had ridden it hard back in Maine. He pulled it free from the lawn mower and hoses that had it trapped in the old tin shed in the back yard. “Woooow, that baby has seen the road hasn’t it!” Joe couldn’t help letting out when he saw the bike for the first time. “It works just fine.” Nick shot back as soon as Joe had finished his sentence. They both jumped on their bikes, and Joe pushed down on his pedal and yelled “Follow me!”

  They headed for the main part of town. Just before they reached the bridge that went over the river, they headed out a road that Nick had never noticed before. The road didn’t even have lines painted on it. It curled around a couple of warehouses, and it disappeared behind one of the bigger ones. As they turned around the corner leading behind the larger of the two buildings, Nick became aware of the strange feeling surrounding this place. Behind the warehouse was a street lined on both sides with old commercial stores but not a sign of life. They were very old buildings, but in great condition. They seemed like buildings that should have been prime real estate. It was a haunting feeling. He felt as though these streets should be bustling with shoppers, cars and along with that, the sounds of motors, bells (from shop doors), and all the other sounds of a bustling street.

  All that was here now was a deep silence. The buildings and trees behind them seemed to muffle all the sound from the rest of Main Street and the surrounding area. He started to notice that each window was boarded up with weathered plywood. It almost looked like someone had prepared for a hurricane many years before and just never came back after the storm.

  “I had no idea this was even her!” Nick gasped.

&nb
sp; “Most people don’t. Not unless your family has lived here for a long time. No one really talks about it anymore either.” Joe said quietly.

  “Well, let me hear it!” Nick said with more enthusiasm than he had felt in the last 4 months.

  “Not just yet, I have to take you to where it all happened. It is right down there in toward the middle of the street. Do you see that three-story building?” Joe asked Nick.

  Nick strained is eyes a little but did notice the one building that was taller than the rest. It became clearer as the two walked towards it pushing their bikes. Soon they were standing directly in front of the building Joe was talking about. It seemed odd to Nick that this beautiful building was not being used. It stood 3 stories with an ornate crown piece directly over the center of the building making it an additional 10 feet tall. It was made of granite and carved with great precision. It depicted a king being tended to by his servants and an inscription was below it in Latin that Nick didn’t understand. As he looked over the building one thing stood out to him. The windows on this building were not covered with plywood. They were intact, but they were a darkened color. He also noticed that at the corners of the windows he saw some black stains running up the sides of the window.

  When they were standing directly in front of the grand Marble stairs that led up to the front door, Nick realized he could see bubbles in the glass. That is when it hit him. “There was a fire in this building!” he said out loud. “The game is a foot Watson!” joked Joe. “You should have been a detective with a mind like that.” Nick didn’t say anything back as he walked up the ornate stairs to the front door and started to run his hands along the Granite stones under the window seal. It was amazing how beautiful it was on the outside even though he could tell the inside must be ravished by the fire that had melted the windows. He couldn’t see anything through the rippled dark glass except darkness.