He brushes his thumb again his jacket and feels the sharp pain shoot through his thumb again. He holds his thumb up to what little light he can find and sees a splinter stuck in the side of his thumbnail. He uses his teeth to bite down on the splinter and pulls it out. A small blood sphere begins to form in the spot.
Donovan looks at the lock. He sees a group of flared splinters around the opening.
‘What is that?’ he says confused.
As he squeezes the splinters together and pulls them, a small twig begins to emerge. He looks around the parking lot, ‘If this was some sort of joke, it’s not funny. Kate probably did this, no wonder she was acting so nice when she came in.’
He breaks the twig in half and throws it to the ground, ‘I hope she has the money to pay for repairing this lock, immature twit!’
He walks to the passenger side door while nursing the small wound on his thumb. He sticks his key in the lock and notices the same frayed splinters.
Donovan angrily kicks the side of his door over and over. ‘Now how am I going to get in?! This is such bullshit!’ He paces around his car, contemplating breaking a window. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, ‘I better call Linny and tell her I’ll be late. I wonder if she’s in on this?’
As he begins scrolling through is contacts, he realizes his phone has no service.
‘That weird,’ he says looking down at his phone, ‘how can I not have reception out here? This night is shaping up to bet the worst night of my life.’
He begins walking around his car, looking for a signal. The wind begins to roughly blow the collar of his windbreaker. Donovan zips his jacket and tucks his collar inside.
While walking through the parking lot, he hears the sound of footsteps echoing through the fog. He looks up from his phone. The dense fog obscures his vision. He looks in the direction of the footsteps. The long, dragging sound across the gravelly lot continues to get louder and louder until he sees a shadow slowly limping towards him. The sway in the shadows walk and the unsteady steps the shadow takes resemble that of a drunkard.
Donovan puts his phone back in his pocket and begins to walk to the shadow, ‘It has to be that wino Mr. Drew. He always tries to come at the last minute.’
Donovan puts his half cupped hands to his face and yells out, ‘Mr. Drew! Were closed! I’m not opening up the store!’ The shadow continues to walk.
Donovan sees the shadow across the parking lot get larger and larger as it gets closer and closer.
‘What is this guy deaf?’ he thinks to himself. He cups his hand together again, ‘Hey! I said we’re closed!’
The shadow begins to cut through the fog. Donovan notices the shadow is too tall to be Mr. Drew.
He sees the unsteady legs of the shadow struggle to walk. He sees what appears to be scarecrow like hands scraping the ground and its arms swing back and forth with each step. The gold buttons pinned to the sleeve of its black, single breasted suit glow in the light as its silhouette gets closer and closer. Bits of clumped mud smeared across its body crumble and fall to the ground with each step he takes.
Donovan stops. He feels his hands begin to tremble with fear and the shadow grows in height with every step it takes. As the fog thins, he sees the jagged texture of its greyish white head.
‘This has to be part of the joke.’ He mutters under his breath, ‘Nothing is that tall…’
He slowly walks towards the creature, ‘Alright guys, you got me.’ The creature stops and sways unsteady back and forth.
Donovan takes a step back, ‘I said you got me. I don’t appreciate what you did to my car but, for a prank like this, it was worth it. Now who’s in there? Jonathan? Pete Scalaro? Whoever it is needs to give me a ride….’
The Creature swings its hand at Donovan, impaling his cheek with its finger. Donovan grabs its hand as he feels the hard, boney finger digging and ripping into his flesh. He can hear it tearing deeper inside as it pulls him.
Donovan grabs the hand and tries to pull it out. The Creature swings its other hand toward Donovan. Donovan falls to the ground and the hand crashes through the back window to the car. The shattered glass pings against the ground as Donovan rips the hand from his face.
‘Hey! What the hell are you doing!’ he screams. The wind begins to howl inside of his ear.
Donovan gets to his feet and begins to run across the parking lot. The Creature begins to move unsteady, but swiftly toward him.
Donovan runs to the front of the store and quickly flips through his keys. He hears the dragging of the Creature’s fingers scraping the ground.
‘C’mon….c’mon! Where is it!’ he says as he frantically searches for the door key.
He sees the reflection of the Creature in the glass behind him, growing larger and larger. He finds the key to the door, but his shaky hands will not hold steady enough to put it in the lock.
The Creature swings its hand. Donovan feels the unbearable pain of the Creature’s fingers tearing into the back of his calf muscle.
As he tries to put the key in the door, the hand of the Creature burrows into his muscle of his leg and rips through to the bone.
The Creature grabs the bone and snaps it, causing Donovan to yell out in excruciating pain. The Creature slides his hand out of the wound as Donovan falls to the ground.
Donovan watches the grass blow away from his face from his heavy panting as he lies on the ground.
The itchiness of the grass on the side of his ripped face pales in comparison to the open gash in his leg. He looks up and sees the Creature ready to swing again.
Donovan rolls out the way and the Creature plows his hand into the side of the concrete building. The Creature tries to free himself as Donavan struggles to get to his feet. Through the thick fog, he sees a steady stream of car headlights moving along the road.
He begins to limp toward the road, one hand waving; the other had pulling his pants legs to assist his injured leg. ‘I gotta get to the road,’ he thinks, ‘I gotta get some help.’
The Creature watches Donovan as he hobbles furiously to the road. The Creature yanks his hand from the wall. The Creature unsteady, but swiftly moves toward Donovan. He swings his hand at the back of Donovan’s head, spearing it through his neck.
Donovan stops. The Creature digs further into his skull until its fingers emerge from his mouth. The Creature turns its palms up and climbs up his face with its fingers.
The Creature reaches Donovan eyes and plunges his fingers inside. The Creature begins to close its hand into a fist, crushing Donovan’s face. The Creature pulls his hand back as Donovan’s lifeless body collapse to the ground.
As the Creature makes its way back into the woods, it opens its clenched hand and looks at what remains of Donovan’s head.
Chapter 12
Simon stands in the doorway of the darkroom as the students causally converse amongst each other in the hallways of Maplewood High. He anxiously looks at Linny standing alone by Kate’s locker, typing feverishly on her phone as she also waits for Kate to arrive.
He wonders if this would be the perfect time to formally introduce himself to Linny. He wonders if she’ll be hospitable and appreciate his effort, or shun and dismiss him like she always does. He looks down at his watch, 10 minutes until the first bell.
‘Unbelievable’ he says while scanning the hallway, ‘she never comes early.’
He notices that Linny has the same anxious look on her face and wonders if Kate has told her about their discovery. The wooly fiber of her white sweater glows from the early morning sun shining through the windows and gives her face a soft, angelic like appearance.
Simon begins to caress the camera hanging from his neck. He thinks how such a beautiful moment shouldn’t be erased by the continuous breeze of time.
‘I shouldn’t’ he says as he takes his hand off the camera, ‘he boyfriend might catch me and beat me senseless. Or worst, she’ll beat me senseless.’
Linny begins to nervously chew her na
ils and she looks through the window. ‘I wonder if she got my messages for last night. She had to, unless her phone is off.’
She walks closer to the window and peers at the parking lot through the glass. She watches the students outside sitting in their cars and talking in small groups. She checks her phone again, ‘I has to be off. How else do you ignore 12 messages?’
She scrolls through her contacts and finds Donovan’s number. She looks around and presses the call button. The phone begins to ring. Donovan’s voice comes through the speakers,
‘Hey, you know who it is. Leave a message and I might get back to you.’
Linny hears a beeping sound, followed by a woman’s voice saying how the recipient’s mailbox is full.
‘God! Really?!’ Linny says in frustration. Just as she begins to put the phone in her pocket, she sees Kate walking across the lawn of the school. Linny briskly begins to walk toward the main entrance, gently pushing and shoving those who are walking slowly.
Simon sees Linny making her way to the main entrance, and sees Kate walking down the long, concrete sidewalk that leads to the school. He begins to follow behind Linny, carefully keeping his distance.
Linny quickly runs outside toward Kate and grabs her by the arm, shaking and spilling the orange juice in Kate’s hand.
‘Kate! Where have you been?! I’ve been calling you all night and half the morning!’ Kate looks at Linny startled. The dark circles under Linny’s tired, fatigued eyes give her face a sunken look.
‘My phone is off. I haven’t turned it on yet. Why? What’s wrong?’ Linny begins to pull Kate into the school, ‘I’ve called you like, 25 times. I called Donovan like 25 times. Why aren’t you two picking up your phones?’
Kate reaches in her pocket retrieves her phone. She pushes the power button and Linny’s missed calls instantly pop up on the display. ‘I’m sorry Linny. I figured after you got back in town you would go to sleep or something and not call me. But I’m here now so what’s up?’
Linny looks at Kate bewildered, ‘What’s up? Really, after being worried sick for the past 12 hours about you and Donovan, all you have to say to me is what’s up?’
‘Donovan?’ Kate replies, ‘Why are you worried about Donovan?’
Linny reaches back into her pocket and pulls out her phone, ‘You just reminded me. Wait a sec.’ Linny begins going through her phone. She turns her back to Kate and puts the phone to her ear.
As Kate begins to walk to her locker, she spots Simon standing behind the corner wall of the hallway. He subtly waves in Kate’s direction with an attention grabbing wrist shake. Kate starts to walk over to Simon.
‘Non no!’ he mouth silently. Kate stops. She slightly tilts her head at the thought of Simon’s odd request. ‘What?’ she mouths back.
Simon points to Linny, ‘Does she know what we were talking about?’ he mouths again. Kate slowly shakes her head.
Simon erratically points over his shoulder with his index finger, ‘Meet me in the darkroom again, when you’re finished talking to her.’
Kate gives Simon the thumbs up, ‘Aye aye captain.’ she mouths sarcastically. Simon backs away from the corner and points to his watch, ‘First period.’
Just as Simon disappears, Linny spins around to Kate in frustration. ‘Donavan still isn’t answering. Every time I call, it goes straight to his voicemail, which I might add is completely full and has been completely full since last night.’
Linny sees Kate staring down the hall. Linny taps her on the shoulder, ‘Hey! Are you listening? What are you looking at?’
Kate turns to Linny and sees a look of confusion and frustration on her face, ‘Umm, nothing. You were saying that Donovan’s voicemail is full, or something like that?’
‘Yes,’ Linny says dryly, ‘his voicemail is full. Sorry I’m bothering you.’
Linny turns sharply from Kate and begins to walk heatedly down the hallway.
Kate walks behind Linny and puts her hand gently on her shoulder, ‘I’m sorry. I was just distracted. Listen, I’m sure Donovan isn’t avoiding you. Who knows, maybe he broke his phone or something.’
Linny looks at Kate crossly, ‘Broke…his…phone? The last time I talked to him was last night and we were supposed to meet up later last night. I doubt he broke his phone in the 10 minutes it would take him to get from the store to my house. And even if he did break his phone, that wouldn’t have stopped him from coming over.’
Linny stop and begins looking closely at Kate with suspicion.
‘You know what? He told me that you stopped by the store last night. Something about a yearbook picture. What else did you two talk about?’
Kate begins to stare at the ceiling. Her lips clench together as she tries to recall their conversation. ‘Nothing really. Just school and…actually that’s it, just school.’
‘Hmm,’ Linny chimes, ‘Just school. Did he seem pre occupied? Did you see any cars outside while you were there? Did he try to rush you out?’
Kate shakes her head and smiles, ‘I know what you’re trying to get at. You think he’s cheating on you right?’ Linny raises her eyebrows, ‘No, I didn’t say that. Why, do you think I should be concerned?’
Kate puts her arm around Linny, ‘No, you have nothing to worry about. I mean, who would cheat on such an adorable face.’ Kate says while playfully squeezing her cheek. ‘Let’s be honest, he’s probably skipping school…again. If he’s trying to avoid anyone, it might be me. I told him to get some sleep and get here early but I bet he went and got drunk off his head.’
The warning bell for first period rings. The students begin piling into their homerooms. Kate looks at Linny and squeezes her shoulders, ‘After lunch, I bet he’ll call you and give you some big story about how he forgot and try to make it up by calling you baby and sweet corn and whatever other sick pet names you have for each other. Don’t worry, it’ll be ok, it always is.’
Linny grabs Kate’s hand, ‘You right, I’m sure it’ll be some lame excuse. See you at lunch?’
‘Of course!’ Kate replies. Linny gives Kate a tight hug around her neck and begins to walk down the hall. Before Linny could make it down the hall, Kate dashes toward the darkroom.
As Kate turns the corner, she sees Simon standing in the doorway of the darkroom. ‘Hey!’ she says brightly. Simon glares at Kate with a scowl. Kate begins to walk slower toward Simon. She reaches in her bag and pulls out the camera. Simon’s scowl grows more intense as Kate approaches.
Kate extends the camera to Simon, ‘Here you go. Thanks for letting me borrow it.’ Simon roughly snatches the camera from Kate, ‘Did you get anything good?’
Kate looks at Simon puzzled, ‘Did I get anything good? What are you talking about?’ Simon lets out a discouraging sigh, ‘Did you get any good pictures of Donovan?’
Kate timidly gazes at Simon’s wide, inquisitive eyes, ‘No, nothing happened for me to take a picture of. Was I just supposed to take a picture of him sitting at the counter?’
Simon pinches the bridge of his nose and hangs his head, ‘Are you serious? You were supposed to take a photo of him and everything around him! You really did nothing with this camera?’
Kate shakes her head, ‘Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t know….’ Simon angrily storms in the darkroom and slams the door in Kate’s face. Kate starts to knock on the door, but stops. She did something wrong, but what? ‘We were getting along so good. What’s his problem?’ she asks herself.
As the late bell rings, Kate zips her backpack and makes her way to her homeroom with the feeling of starting all over again. She doesn’t know if Simon will apologize again like he did the last time. And she doesn’t know if this time, she’ll accept it.
Chapter 13
Kate nervously taps her pencil against her desk and stares out the window as Mr. Woodford enthusiastically explains Fourier analysis to a classroom full of sleepy, uninterested students.
Every so often, she’ll glance up at the chalkboard and see Mr. Woodford desperately try to
catch the attention of the class by pointing at the lesson plan scrawled across the chalkboard with a long, dark wood pool stick. Prodding and poking the air with the showmanship of a fencer.
The Slender Man Game of Myths Page 11
