It was a late evening, the sun was setting down and the color of the neighborhood had turned orange. The sounds of birds and crickets were all over the place as we walked past the trees and the bushes.
A perfect temperature at this time of day.
Not too hot, not too cold.
At the time I was walking with a few of my friends, we had stayed extra as we were finishing up our backlog of schoolwork that had piled up through the year.
"Man, this sucks! Two weeks, two weeks they have been forcing us to come to school on our off days."
"Well, it's better than repeating the last year, no?" Leonard replied to Tom.
After skipping enough classes and genuinely ignoring most of the schoolwork that was assigned, this was a small price to pay for our redemption.
We were in our last year of school, our third year. While this is no high school, we were in junior college, separated from public schools, usually for those who want to avoid an overcrowded public nightmare that is called 'a high school'.
It is quite a big city that we were in, however, this was no city center.
We were on the outer part of it, in a more rural area with more trees, fields, and overall larger distances between buildings together with a few shops here and there.
It's a quiet life, especially for someone like me — It was perfect. Not so much for them though.
"Man, I really need to get out of here and have some fun, it's been ages since I bought any games also." Tom sighed.
From all the time that I have known them, they always preferred more dense and active areas with things to do and areas to explore.
"And I need new running shoes. Not that I can buy any here, everything in this area is upside down!" He complained again.
"And you, Oli," He said, "What do you think?"
"I don't really mind." I replied.
"You don't really mind?"
"Nope."
"Not much of a talker today? What's up?"
A brief silence covered the air as he looked at me, walking up the road. — "Hmmm" He sighed, smirking "Something DID happen?".
"Can't you just get digital copies anyway?" I said.
"Well yeah but you know, having a physical one feels nicer and it's almost the same price."
"Calm down guys." Leo added to the conversation laughing. "We'll get our chances soon."
And to be fair, while he had a point that schools should not force people to stay extra time to study, it was actually doing us a good thing—as I personally can barely remember the curriculum.
We got so comfortable with our lives here that we started skipping casually and ended up in this mess.
A trio of slackers.
Making our way up to the convenience store up the road, it was already 8 pm by then and most of the other smaller shops, usually family-owned, had closed.
I noticed that it has been way quieter than usual as there were barely any cars on these streets or any parked ones for that matter.
If you want to go to the city, you would either need to get a cab or catch a bus that comes rarely, or to have your own transport. Perhaps most people went to the city center as it was a Sunday?
Being a rural area, it was still quite up to date so to speak, a few modern houses here and there and still quite a decent population overall. It was also kept tidy and barely had any overgrown bushes around, grass kept in check, clean roads.
"So are we not going to talk about the elephant in the room?" Tom asked.
"....." — I looked as he got my attention, speaking with Leo.
"What are you talking about, Tom?"
"You know, the rumor."
"Rumor?"
"Yeah, the new girl. It was going around, no? Isn't it supposed to be tomorrow that she should arrive? I wonder what she looks like but based on what the others are saying, she's a pretty one."
"And you seriously believe it?" Leo replied.
"Yaa, the teachers were talking about it also. At least, from the last time I was at the staff room a few days ago, though they seem to be nervous talking about her if it is true that she is coming. Or maybe it'll be just a disappointment and nothing will happen. Shaaaaame."
The rumor, one that started spreading a week ago about a new girl joining, however, every time someone asked, the teachers would turn a cold shoulder. They didn't deny nor approve it, but we did know that a new girl was coming soon into the third-year class.
In the whole time I have been here, not once have I seen such a suspicious and weird situation being portrayed by the staff.
It is true what he said, the teachers really don't like talking about it.
"Creepy."
"Why's that, Oli?" Leo asked me.
"I don't know, it just feels that way." Not many noticed the odd behavior of the management, even them.
***
"Another one, huh?"
Leo sighed, looking up at the TV next to the cashier after we had arrived at the store. The convenience went quiet as others also started to look at the TV, listening to the recent news.
I looked up together with him as a new message on the TV repeated an alert message. Another person went missing. This makes it two just this month.
"That's so f*cked up." Tom said — "Did they say anything about the bodies?"
"No, like always, nothing. They didn't even give any updates on the previous missing people."
A body.
A body can be one of the biggest clues to an investigation when it comes to murder and or disappearance in this case. With an autopsy, you can identify many factors about one's death and reveal hidden clues that can not be seen with the naked eye, such as DNA tests, etc...
However, this killer, or kidnapper, never left one, which could be a good thing that means that the person might still be alive, or a bad thing, meaning that one can suffer a fate worse than death.
This time it was a girl, age fifteen, seen yesterday evening at the Turn Gate entrance which is located past most of the houses in the area, however, there is a small park there, abandoned mostly.
This has been going on for the past two to three months and the police have been all over the place, especially during times like the evenings and nights.
The public was shaken.
Those who are in groups don't seem to have any issues, however those who are seen alone, usually have a higher chance of going missing of course.
However in this case it seems that middle-aged adults don't have any issues either because this b*stard …
This b*stard likes teens.
We might have stayed a bit too long at the school this time after having the mandatory extra lessons, we are all on the track team together so we had to clean up the equipment after a week's use in the field, dirty with mud and dust, left in the storage.
We grabbed a few snacks on our way out of the store and after I paid for them, putting my wallet back into my bag, I realized that I had made a big, crucial mistake.
I forgot my console case under the desk ...
Not only that, but my home keys are in the case where I kept them, and to make things even worse, my dad was out of town so I now have to go back and get it.
This sucks!
"Look, guys, I need to go back. I forgot some stuff."
"Stuff?" Tom said.
"It's like 9, are you crazy?"
"Yeah," Leo added. "With all the things that are going on now, let us come with you then."
"No-no, don't worry guys. I'll be quick." I replied to them, not to drag them into this. Though it was nice of him to offer, I don't want them to go all the way back down and up the hill. Nor that it was my type of thing to drag people with me into my troubles, it's the damned keys that I can't go on without.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow." I told them as I started to run opposite way, towards the school where we came from. At the time, the sun had already almost set and the streetlights had turned on.
The buzzing of the insects had all but stopped and the temperature already started to drop with a chill in the air.
'Okay, just a quick get in, get the bag and get out.' — I was thinking. Sh*t…
The school was still lit, it was an easy entry even after hours as long as you got your student card with you which has a magnetic strip on it. That way it was easier for the management to keep track of the students, — and also to use it against them when needed.
At the time one could feel the humidity in the air and moisture participating on the object was visible. The cold wind breeze swept the area.
The gate opened up after scanning the card, at that time, I noticed something, or rather someone on the top. On the top of the roof.
Long hair?
I could see a black silhouette on the roof looking down as if they were about to jump.
Hair waving through the air, maybe a bit longer than the waistline. We were the last ones to leave the school today, so that means this person came in after we have left, or has been here without us noticing.
I thought.
'What's up with her?'
— Curiosity killed the cat so they say.
Usually, the roof is closed for everyone, the only way to get in is if you got the key from a teacher to clean the solar panels or from the janitor, as there are two, the janitor, and the staff room locker.
I didn't bother with shouting, especially at this time and not for a reason like that. The person simply stood there, not moving, looking down.
Not too close to the edge to make me think they are trying to jump but from what I could see is that they were looking at something.
All that needs to be done is to get the case — that is what I'm doing as soon as possible before I get stabbed somewhere around the corner by some serial killer that has been roaming these streets for the past few months.
It's dark, very dark, the classrooms were lit yet the hallways were pitch black. Usually, it is the opposite, meaning that this was done by someone, but why?
Could it be that the girl on the roof did it, if so there would be literally no reason for someone to do this, except to confuse someone?
Ignoring all that, making my way to the usual classroom was easy. The third floor on the right of the stairs was the location of the classroom, the stairs were also pitch black but I had my phone torch with me, not to turn on any lights to cause even more suspicion.
My case was still under the desk, together with my keys inside as I threw it into my school bag. Looks like nothing was touched, so no one went inside here, or rather, not for this reason.
Thankfully now I can make my way down and out of this as it's going to be 10 pm soon and by the looks of it, it's pitch black outside.
— But I am no cat.
If she's still there then that means that the door is open and going there will be easy as the door itself can only be locked and not closed completely.
Making my way up, I could hear the door banging through the empty, dark corridors in the school. The wind had the door pinned and released, over and over again, smashing it on its frame.
The noise became louder and louder as I approached it, finally making my way up the final staircase, where I could see the dark sky peeking through the gap of the open door.
[BANG!]
The door smashed again with the wind, even louder this time, yet now it was shut closed and did not open again.
Did the wind stop?
No, it couldn't have, the wind whistle can still be heard from here, then that could only mean one thing. That the person on the other side — is holding the door down.
I somehow managed to get myself in such a situation where it's pitch dark, in a school with barely any lights, some stranger is on the rooftop where they are possibly holding the door and there's a serial killer on the loose in the town.
"N-Nah, it can't be." I whispered out loud, nervously under my breath.
The metal door started to squeak from its hinges as it opened again, this time opening wide and the sky was seen again through it.
That was a relief.
Knowing that it was the wing holding the door shut, I put my hand on the metal handle and pushed it out, walking outside.
[Bang, bang —]
The door started to hit the frame again as I stood outside, looking around. Whoever was here seems to be gone. My hair was made a mess by the crazy wind of the top floor.
The key was still in the keyhole outside, left alone with no one on top, with no one to take them.
I took more steps from the door, walking away from a meter or two, looking around to find no one as the door kept on hitting the frame behind me.
[Bang, bang, bang —]
"....."
It had stopped?
[*Click* — ]