Chapter 2
Night Plot at St. Augustine's Holy Academy for the Unenduring World
Tarou and Alyssa both spoke to each other in the classroom. They were going to find the secret sub-basement in the school boiler room. They removed the concrete block that was marked with the ? mark from the school manifest. It had been there four centuries ago, and here it was now. They entered the catacombs and were put off by the crooked corridors. Alyssa lit a torch, and Tarou followed her into the antechamber. Unbeknownst to them, Mrs. Malorie and Mr. Mac were both behind them. They were following the in case the two school students were close to uncovering the hidden secrets of the System of Authority's history. It was begun ten centuries ago. In a hidden room with a sun dial on the floor and what looked like ancient torture devices, Tarou and Alyssa were spooked by Mrs. Malorie playing a little joke on them. Mr. Mac stepped on an old bone and it fractured, causing Alyssa to ask, "Who's there!?" and Tarou to look about for the culprit. They were in the catacombs far beneath the school. They were cold, as it had long been hidden away, and there was a cool breeze coming from somewhere. They found an old doorway and entered the old caretaker's chambers. Inside was the body of the old caretaker. There was also a bound journal, which was made of leather and bound with a clasp and a strap of fabric. Alyssa took the book and she and Tarou left the catacombs but were found out by the principal of St. Augustine's Holy Academy for the Unenduring World. He was with his bodyguards. Mrs. Malorie and Mr. Mac hid from view. Tarou and Alyssa ran from the terrible team and the System of Authority's servants chased them throughout the catacombs. They stopped them by throwing sand in their faces, but reached a dead end, deep in the winding catacombs beneath the old school, which lurked above, and was on an outcropping high above this stunning vista. The school, unbeknownst to them, was perched on a high plateau, far above the water, and with the ocean roaring behind it, they were sitting ducks, as the water was lurching towards them, and then ducking back out to sea, and the guards of the System of Authority's main channels were encroaching on the two of them fast.
They decided they had to escape.
Tarou used a piece of rope and tied it to a nearby metal sconce. He used it and a loop he made to catch a branch above, which was the small arm of a tree that refused to grow. Tarou and Alyssa climbed the rope to the perch above. But the evil defectors of the school system that were after them were hot on their tails, and faster than the coattails of a mad hatter. They watched as Tarou and Alyssa escaped from them. Mrs. Malorie and Mr. Mac confronted them. They planned to watch them for a time. They were planning to capture them when they made their move. When they resurfaced, there would be nowhere for them to run, nor to hide. They returned back through the catacombs and sealed the entry way up tight. It was then sealed with a magic crest. Mrs. Malorie and the principal and Mr. Mac and the principal's bodyguards returned to the school and Mrs. Malorie went about her business as if nothing had ever happened. Mr. Mac did as well. He was teaching a class that Tarou and Alyssa were in. After school, Tarou stayed behind to study in the library, while Alyssa attended to her after school club duties. Mr. Mac and Mrs. Malorie had work to do as well. Mr. Mac was grading papers and saw Alyssa out of his classroom's window. She was running and looked beautiful. She was wearing a white t-shirt and a simple pair of red gym shorts. She had her favorite necklace on. It had a strange green pendant attached to a gold chain.
He had stood up to watch her performance.
Mrs. Malorie was attending to her student council president duties. She had to speak to the council members, and then decide on a few actions. She agreed to let the Archery Club have their way. They could use the council's money with her permission to buy new bows. They were very pleased with her decision. After they left, she worked with her committee members on her re-election campaign. They designed new flyers, and banners, and she waved them goodbye as she left for the day. She bumped into the school principal outside of the student council's commandeered room. It was just a classroom, but they had the full run of it. He talked to her about school matters and she and him were smiling. Mrs. Malorie noticed Tarou, the Milque-Toast Boy, who had been hiding around a corner down the hallway from the two of them. She waved the principal goodbye, and he bid her farewell graciously as ever. She went to the janitor's closet on the first floor of the school, which was also near the entryway, where the shoe bins were. She noticed that some people were not respecting the school grounds. She tidied up their shoe bins and grabbed a mop and bucket from the janitor's closet and took them and herself to the school's locker rooms. There, she did her student council president duties and cleaned the floors, which was her task for the day. She returned the mop and bucket back to the janitor's closet and closed it. She locked it with the student council president's key, which she hung around her neck for safe keeping. It was a golden-colored brass metal key. It was cold to the touch and on a threaded string, which was tied in a knot to prevent it from getting lost. Tarou had been running to his secret after school club meeting underneath the school gymnasium. There was a secret entrance you could only get to from the second floor of the gymnasium. You went down some stairs and then ended up beneath the floor. He bumped his head on the low ceilings and had to light a candle to see down there. He made his way to the meeting spot. There, he met up with the After School Sorcery Club's committee members. They were learning how to cast magic spells from the mysterious book he and Alyssa had found in the hidden caretaker's room. They were newly formed. Alyssa had given him the book when they got back inside the school building. He took it to the Library Club's members, who had been meeting in the library during the break time before the second half of school, and when the bell had chimed, signaling that the students were to get to their classrooms for the second part of the day, Tarou and Alyssa had already been in their seats, ready to begin. They finished their day out normally. They got ready in the classroom and outside of it, waved goodbye to each other and left for their after-school clubs. Tarou had to go in the opposite direction from where Alyssa was going. She went to the school's locker rooms and entered the female side. There, she changed into her gym clothes and tied her hair back with a red ribbon. She put her earbuds in, which were white and connected to a long cord, which dangled from her ears, and led into the music player she had, which was white also, and was tucked into her left gym shorts pocket. She ran on the school track and stopped to catch her breath. It was very hot outside, and she was sweating profusely. She took her shirt off in the locker room and changed with her club mates. The principal was in his office. He was sitting on his desk while talking to Mrs. Malorie. She was telling him about their re-election campaign. She asked him for some money to buy supplies. He granted her request. The budget was increased by exactly what she had asked for. She was pleased, and courteously left his chambers, as he leapt off his desk and bowed and graciously and courteously told her goodbye as well. She left his office and waved to the school secretary, Mrs. Martin, and went to the student council requisitioned office room. She told the others the good news and they went back to work on student council affairs. When she got done, she explored the school grounds with the principal. They watched the students leave for the day, and the principal, Mr. Moses, put his hand on Mrs. Malories shoulder. They watched as the day ended. Tarou and Alyssa and the usual suspects with a few more in tow walked home together. Tarou and Alyssa waved goodbye to the group as they went inside their house. Mr. Mac and Mrs. Malorie waved goodbye to the rest of the school students who were travelling with them as they went on ahead. The others kept going to their destinations.
On the train platform, Mr. Mac and Mrs. Malorie got on their train. They sat together and got off on the train platform in the 10th district. Mr. Mac waved goodbye to Mrs. Malorie as she stopped in front of her front gate, and she waved him farewell as well. She entered her home, and he went to his. He ran part of the ways after stopping at a convenience store and got inside his apartment sweating. He smoked a cigarette and used a fan to cool himself down. He actually had two of them. One was a broken ping-pong paddle, and the other was his electric fan. He was also eating a popsicle and typing with one hand on his mobile. He got food from the fridge and drank a beer with his meal. He ate a roast beef and turkey sandwich with lettuce and drank chocolate milk from the fridge before he passed out reading a magazine in his futon. He did not have a lot of furniture in his tiny apartment. He was awakened by a woman at his door late at night. It was around 12:30 AM and it was his ex-wife. She had brought food from a local diner nearby. She and he ate the leftovers and drank beer. He smoked another cigarette, and they ended up going to bed together. In the morning, he got ready for work, and Tarou and Alyssa were on their way to school when he met up with them. They walked together to St. Augustine's Holy Academy for the Unenduring World, and he left them to go get ready in his classroom. He set up his ex-wife's picture and typed on his laptop as he smoked a cigarette in his classroom. The students filed in.
Tarou and Alyssa raised their hands when their names were called and said they were there.
In another classroom, Mrs. Malorie and other students did as well.
The principal was in his office. He looked at a picture that was on his desk. He seemed to have a family photo of his wife and his child. They looked happy. His child was a happy young baby boy. He left the office and closed the door. He waved to his secretary and walked around the school. He talked to Mr. Mac, who was leaving his classroom. He, Mr. Mac, ended up going for a smoke outside the front doors of the school. The principal was in the eastern hallway, looking at a statue. It was of him. It was made of solid gold and encased in a glass box. He turned and continued his rounds by walking east, up the eastern hallway, then he turned to the left, facing north, he entered the stairway to the second floor of St. Augustine's Holy Academy for the Unenduring World. He exited the stairwell and looked into a classroom. He entered it. It was Classroom 3-A. Inside were Tarou and Alyssa, and their classmates and Mr. Mac. He had a cigarette in an ashtray on his desk, his laptop, which was in his leather briefcase, and his ex-wife's picture, which was in a gold picture frame, also on his desk. In his lap was a cat on a school jersey. The cat had been something he picked up.
The principal was happy.
He left the classroom and Mr. Mac played with the new feline friend.
The school was dark.
It was after school.
Mr. Mac was running.
He entered a door, and inside, was the last time he ever saw Mrs. Malorie...
To be continued...
Next episode:
The Dark Stories They Tell In The Dark, Part 1
Synopsis: Next time, on Dynamite Alley, Mrs. Malorie will wind up dead. How? You're asking the narrator? She was the student council president. She was also the principal's favorite student. But Mr. Mac found her, and when he realized what had happened, it shook him to his very being. His core world shattered. Now he's scared, and running, and might not be able to stop what's coming.
Tarou, and his sister, Alyssa, were also in trouble. They discovered the book hidden in the old caretaker's room. But what secrets does it hold? And where did Mr. Mac hide the key to the old mausoleum? The school still has secrets, and skeletons deep in its confines...
The closets will open, and the System of Authority fears what will step out of the shadows when the time comes...
Tune in next time for Chapter 3, The Dark Stories They Tell In The Dark, Part 1.
Some secrets are better left dead.