by Bella King
I sat down at a desk, feeling like I was participating in a military briefing. I was trying to pay attention, but Travis looked good enough to eat that day. He was wearing his typical formal school uniform, but there was a light in his eyes that I had never seen before. It was captivating.
“So,” He said loudly, “I have done something pretty crazy. I bought a GPR yesterday, which we are going to use to look for Kimberly in the walls.”
I raised my hand like I was in class. Travis pointed to me.
“What’s a GPR?”
“I’m glad you asked, Alice. A GPR is a Ground Penetrating Radar, but this one we’re going to use on the walls. They’re pretty fucking expensive, so I just rented one for a few days. It still cost a few grand so we need to make this quick and get it back before I get charged for more days.”
I nodded, but I didn’t fully comprehend what he had just said.
Travis cocked his head to the side, picking up on my confusion. “Still don’t understand? Basically, this sucker sends radio waves through the wall and comes back with a reading of what’s inside based on the rate at which the waves are absorbed and bounce back. The data can be a little tricky to interpret, but it’ll be clear if we come across a person. Bones are unique.”
“So, we need to x-ray the walls and then we’ll find Kimberly?” I asked.
Travis nodded. “Yes, exactly. The GPR machine looks a bit like lawnmower, and we’ll be able to fit it through the front door of the school without doing any damage. With a bit of effort, I can push it up against the wall to start scanning. There’s a few yards of wall that we’ll have to scan from where the major construction was the day of Kimberly’s disappearance.”
“And how are we going to get through the front door? I’m assuming we’re not doing this while everyone is here,” I inquired. This plan sounded difficult, but I knew that Travis had probably figured out a way to make it work.
Travis rubbed his chin. “Hm, I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Woah, really?” I asked.
Travis rolled his eyes. “Have you been paying attention, Alice?” He tapped on the chalkboard. “It says right here that we’re coming in through this room. We have a window there,” he said, pointing a finger aggressively at the window, “and all we have to do is leave it open. We climb up into the window, then open the front door from the inside, walking right in with the GPR.”
“Makes sense,” I said, nodding along.
“Good. We’re going to need to do this tomorrow because I don’t want to have overdue fees on the GPR,” Travis said matter-of-factly.
Not only was Travis exceedingly handsome, but he was good with money as well. When we inevitably went to prison for this, I hoped that they would stick us in the same cell. I imagined endless nights together with the man of my dreams. He wouldn’t be able to get away from me.
Travis could tell I wasn’t paying full attention. He sighed and walked over to my desk, where I had propped my head up on hands. “If we pull this off, I’ll destroy the flash drive and we’ll be done with all of this. Maybe we could go for a date or something.”
My brain lit up at those words. “I would love to, Travis,” I said, feeling like a stupid schoolgirl but not being able to help it. I was totally in love.
Travis chuckled. “Yeah, I thought you would. Now, I’ll pick you up tonight, and then the plan is going to have to go into action quickly. I don’t want any delays. They have cameras in the hallway, but the only reason they would check the tapes was if there were some sort of commotion overnight. We get in, and if we don’t find anything, we leave to fight another day. If we do find something,” he said, pausing for a moment, “We break down that wall and call Detective Charles.”
“Yes sir,” I said, giving Travis a salute.
He smiled at me. “That’s my girl.”
Chapter 25
This was the final part of Travis’s plan. We had no idea what had happened to Eve, Grace, or any of the other students that had passed away this past month, but we would be a step closer if we managed to find Kimberly.
There was little harm in sneaking into the school. As long as we left everything untouched, there would be no reason to check the cameras. The worst that could happen was that we were caught sneaking into the school at night, but that’s not all too unusual for seniors to do. We had our fair share of overnight vandalism at Crimson High.
The buzz of the basketball court bombing came and went, and they were already working on a new court. A fresh batch of cement laid just outside the basketball court the night Travis and I snuck into Crimson High School, waiting to be poured in the next day. I had a strange feeling that we would be finding something tonight, even if it wasn’t Kimberly. That GPR device would reveal a lot of what was in the school’s walls.
There was definitely some strange energy in the air that night as I climbed out of my window and jumped down into my backyard to meet with Travis. It was colder than usual for Autumn, and the air was eerily still. I knew that what Travis and I were about to do would either send us back to square one or catapult us into a whole different world. I wondered which it would be.
I pulled my jacket tighter around my body as I sprinted across the wet lawn toward Travis’s idle car. He had the door opened up for me already, so all I had to do was hop inside and we were off.
“You look cold,” Travis said, adjusting the warm air blowing from the vents in his car to face me. “Do you need another sweater or something.”
“I don’t want to take yours,” I said, but I was awfully frigid.
Travis reached into the backseat, fishing around for a spare sweater. He pulled out a black one and handed it to me, placing his hand back on the wheel. “Wear this one.”
“Thank you,” I said, removing my jacket and pulling the sweater on over my head. It was warm and smelled like Travis. He wasn’t going to get this thing back any time soon, but I think he knew that. I would sleep with it to keep his scent with me.
Travis’s knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel. The atmosphere was tense in the car, and I knew that he was taking this very seriously. This would be the moment of truth, and he didn’t want to be disappointed.
I placed a hand on his thigh and squeezed it. “We’re going to do great tonight, Travis. I know it. Kimberly will be brought to justice.”
Travis’s eyes were large and intense, staring down the road as we drove. He nodded his head slightly. “This is it,” he said simply.
Indeed, it was. My heart thumped hard in my chest as we pulled up to Crimson High. I felt like security might be tighter at the school since the explosion, but the building looked the same as always. There were no armed guards waiting to gun us down the second we stepped foot onto campus, no detectives lurking in the parking lot with binoculars, and no sign of any reason to be afraid.
I still felt like this was a huge moment, and I knew that Travis felt it too. We parked the car on the street and Travis opened the trunk, pulling out a large machine that looked very much like a lawnmower. It was the Ground Penetrating Radar that we would be using to look for Kimberly.
“And you know how to use this thing?” I asked as Travis hoisted it out of the trunk.
“I’ve been studying it nonstop since I read about these things. They’re not that complicated once you understand the feedback they give. Operating them is simple,” he said, closing the trunk.
“I guess I should climb up into the window, right?”
Travis nodded. “Yeah, I need you to do that, then come open the door for me.”
I looked at him with big eyes. “Travis, I love you,” I said, searching him for some kind of reaction this time. I came up blank.
Travis pointed at the building. “Go,” he commanded.
I sighed and took off sprinting through the cold night air toward the side of the school. The window wasn’t that high up, and I would be able to climb onto the ledge without an issue. We had left it cracked open on purpose, so it was
easy to get into the building without triggering any alarms.
I looked around the property a final time before I climbed up through the window. There wasn’t a soul in sight. I grabbed the brick ledge and pulled myself up, which proved to be a lot harder than I imagined. After clumsily getting a leg up, I managed to pull the rest of my body up through the window. I rolled into the room and onto the dusty floor.
I picked myself up and patted the dust off Travis’s sweater. It was the only thing I had of his and I wanted to keep it clean, as difficult as that was while I was rolling through windows into dusty old rooms at night.
It was quite dark, so I pulled out my phone and turned the flashlight on, slinking out of the forgotten classroom and skirting through the empty school halls. It felt strange to be there all alone. It was like I had stepped into an alternate dimension in which Travis and I were the only people that existed. In a way, I liked it.
I almost shat myself when I saw a shape looming near the window of the front double doors of the school, but calmed down when I realized that it was just Travis waiting for me to let him in. I walked briskly to the door and unlocked the large bolt, pulling it open.
“Took you long enough,” Travis said as he pushed the GPR into the school. “I don’t exactly look inconspicuous with this thing.”
“Sorry,” I replied.
Travis shrugged. “Let’s get to business. The part of the building that was under construction when Kimberly vanished is in the back, near the forgotten classroom. It should only take about half an hour to scan through all the walls there for evidence.”
I followed Travis, trying to keep up with his pace. Even though he was pushing a heavy piece of equipment, he was flying down the halls at incredible speed. He was truly a man on a mission tonight, and I was more of a sidekick than some who was actually contributing anything.
I watched as Travis came to a stop in front of the first wall, tilting the machine up against it awkwardly and turning it on. It didn’t make much of a noise.
“Is it working?” I asked, expecting it to hum like a motor.
Travis nodded, slinging his backpack off his shoulder and placing it on the ground in front of him. He unzipped it and pulled out a black laptop, opening it and logging in. “We’ll be able to see the results here,” he said, pointing to some software that looked like it was made in the 90s.
I squinted at the screen as some odd black and white lines began to appear on it, but none of it made much sense to me. Travis seemed to understand it though, looking at it periodically as he ran the machine against the wall.
I stood with my arms crossed as Travis searched the walls. I wasn’t really sure what to do with myself, so I just watched. Every creak and groan of the old building made my head snap around to see if someone was coming down the hall. The place was empty, but I was still quite paranoid about being caught.
Travis didn’t seem to have a care in the world though. He was actually smiling as he ran the GPR across the wall, something I hadn’t seen in a while from him. He never genuinely smiled, only smirked when he was acting cruelly. This was a sight to behold.
My heart hadn’t slowed down since we pulled up to Crimson High, and even as Travis studied the walls, my heart beat loudly in my chest. I was afraid that Travis would actually hear it because of how loud it was, but he was too focused on his work to even acknowledge that I was standing there.
The minutes slowly crept by without event, and I sat against the opposite wall, staring into space and beginning to grow bored. Travis looked handsome and everything, but I wanted some excitement, not just to watch him hunch over a machine and frown at it periodically.
I nearly fell asleep when Travis suddenly perked up. “I think I found something,” he whispered loudly.
I jumped up and rushed toward him. “You found Kimberly?”
Travis shook his head. “I think it’s a pocket of air in the wall. There might be something there, but I’m not sure if it’s worth smashing through the wall for.”
“If we don’t find anything, we’re going to be in trouble for breaking the wall and they’ll definitely check the tapes to find out who did it,” I noted.
Travis silenced me with a hand. “Wait a second,” he said, frowning at the display. “Do you see that?”
I looked at the screen where his finger was distorting the display. “I don’t really know what that is.”
Travis turned his head to me and gave me a look that made a chill run down my spine. “There’s a body in the wall, Alice.”
Chapter 26
My heart skipped a beat. “Kimberly?”
Travis nodded. “I think so. Alice, this is huge. Hand me my backpack,” he said, reaching out a hand.
I grabbed his bag, which was quite heavy, and handed it to him. He took it, and reached inside, pulling out a large sledgehammer. “Time to do some damage,” he said in a low voice.
I stepped back as Travis took the first swing at the wall, blasting bits of plaster across the hallway. I was sprayed with flecks of the wall material as Travis hammered at the wall with a ferocity, I had never seen from him before.
I stepped back, blocking my face so that I didn’t get anything in my eyes as Travis haphazardly bashed through the wall. He peeled back layers of plaster with his hands as he made his way in, tossing them down the hall in every direction.
I could have sworn I heard footsteps in the hallway as he worked his way into the wall, but when I turned, there was nobody there. I was paranoid at this point that we were going to get caught with how much noise he was making.
Travis, on the other hand, didn’t care one bit. He glanced at the computer screen for a second, taking a step to the left, then continued to blast through the wall like there was no tomorrow. Rubble covered the tile floor as he bore through the wall.
“Oh my god,” Travis said, dropping the sledgehammer at his feet and stepping back.
“What?” I asked, peering over his shoulder at what he had uncovered. What I saw nearly made me sick. There was a large clear plastic bag that was taped shut with duct tape. It was about the size of a person, and upon a closer look, I could clearly see a young woman’s face lifelessly staring out from beneath it.
“Travis, what the fuck is that?” I asked, grabbing him and holding him from behind as though to protect me from the corpse in the wall.
“It’s Kimberly,” he said quietly.
Kimberly’s body was propped up inside of the wall, wrapped up in plastic and left to decompose. The plastic had preserved the body quite well, however, and she looked like she could have died that very night and been stuffed in the wall hours before we came. It was unsettling enough to see a dead body for the first time, but even more so because she still seemed to be alive inside that bag, staring emptily out into the hallway.
“We need to call Detective Charles,” Travis said, reaching for his phone.
There was a sound down the hallway, this time very obvious. It was footsteps, and they were heading right toward us.
Chapter 27
Travis and I looked up at the same time to see Grace nearly skipping down the hall toward us. I thought for a second that I was seeing ghosts, and that this was all some kind of horrible nightmare, but when I saw the gun in her hand, I began to realize what was going on.
“Grace?” Travis said, clearly as surprised as I was.
“Yes, it’s me. I’m obviously not dead, like everyone seemed to think,” she said cheerfully.
I gripped Travis tightly as he spoke to her. “What the hell are you doing here with that gun?”
Grace pointed the gun at Travis. “Drop your phone and I’ll explain.”
Travis put the phone down on the floor slowly, maintaining eye contact with Grace.
Grace smiled. “Good, now put your hands up and stay like that,” she demanded in a shrill voice.
Travis and I both put our hands up, our minds racing as we tried to figure out what Grace was doing.
Grace waved a hand t
oward the broken wall where Kimberly’s body was stashed. “You could have just forgotten about her, Travis. That’s really all I wanted, but what do you go and do? You dig her up, and now I’m going to have to take care of all three of you. It’s not easy finding a grave large enough for three people, but since you both decided to nuke the basketball court, I have my work cut out for me. You’ll rest easy in the concrete.”
“You’re insane! Why are you doing this?” I shouted.
Grace rolled her eyes. “Jesus, Alice. Mind your own damn business. I’m not going to explain everything to some stupid bitch like you. Use your fucking brain.”
I was shocked by the way she was talking to me, but even more by the dawning realization that she may have been behind everything bad that was happening at Crimson High.
Travis stepped in front of me. “Don’t talk to her like that, Grace. Put the gun down and let’s talk about this,” he said boldly, but there was nervousness in his voice.
Grace laughed. “What? Are you in love with Alice like you were in love with Kimberly? Is that why you two ganged up on me and got me expelled?”
“I’m sorry, Grace,” Travis said. “You know how my dad is at home. I couldn’t let that happen again.”
Grace shook the gun at Travis. “You keep whining about how your dad beats you, but you’ll never stand up to him. It’s disgusting. You’re disgusting. You like every slut that puts up with your pathetic behavior except for me. Why is that? Is it because I’m not a slut?”
Travis shook his head. “You’re acting crazy. Please, can we just talk about this?”
“We are talking about it, honey. If you wanted to know, I was the one that killed Eve. She died cold and alone out there in the mines. You did that to her though. You led her out there and left her for me to find. You let her die.”
Travis grew furious. “Shut up! I didn’t let her die. I was trying to protect her!”
