A Final Night

The blindfolds were torn off and their eyes adjusted to a deeper darkness. Oliver looked up to see a dark field, seemingly devoid of any buildings or life. The field seemed to go on forever until it blended with the black sky. As he shifted, his eyes caught a glimpse of a hidden object. When he focused, the object materialized and it looked like an old school; it had a school bell hanging from the belfry and the school house looked as though it had been freshly painted. They shifted uncomfortably as the big red building towered menacingly above them. The moon made an appearance from behind the clouds and the sound of a wolf howling cut through the air. There were no wolves in Hutchinsville, which puzzled Oliver.

“Dude, where are we? Oh, and where did that building come from?” asked Oliver.

“It’s supposedly cloaked by an ancient spell, but I think it’s a trick of the light,” he paused, “or the dark in this case. Ha! See what I did there? That’s because I’m cool,” replied Luke as he pantomimed a sting. “Ba- dum ching!”

“Well I don’t get it, what’s the whole story?” asked Oliver as he combed a hand through his hair.

“You don’t have to, and I’m not telling you anything until you get your little princess butt in there. Even Serenity is walking to the door. Come on, Ollie, you’ve got this. It’s not like you’re afraid of the dark or anything,” replied Luke.

Oliver looked slightly shaken by that comment. The truth was that Oliver was terrified of the dark, or more accurately, terrified of dark, confined places. When he answered, he shook off the fear and remained stoic.

“Fine, let’s do this,” he said as he walked, shoulders back and head held high, through the open door. A chill permeated the air which carried the years old scent of parchment and chalk.

“This place is so sketchy. Luke, you know I love a good scare, but this is a bit excessive,” said Serenity with a half-smile that flashed her white teeth.
“It’s really not that bad, or so I’m told, but anyway, since you guys actually entered this place with me, I’m going to…” said Luke before a screeching sound came from the chalkboard.

The sound pierced their ears and Oliver slid to the floor in a moment of weakness. The screams of the chalkboard died down but continued as writing appeared across the board, the same words repeated over and over again. “Get out, it’s mine,” it read.

“This better be some freaking joke, man, or if it’s not, I’m going to kill you if we aren’t already dead!” replied Oliver as his voice rose.

“I have no idea what’s going on. I knew that this place was haunted, but I thought it was a trick, just some neighborhood hoax. Anyway, I don’t know about you, but I would like to get the hell out of here. The board didn’t have to tell me twice, never mind a hundred times,” said Luke while walking towards the door.

The rest of the group followed suit as each floorboard creaked with every hurried step. When they reached the door, it shut with a loud bang. They stopped in their tracks with terrified looks on their faces. Oliver’s mind was reeling. What are we going to do? he thought.

There was no light whatsoever in the schoolhouse. The darkness bounced off of the walls and they could only see the outlines of each other. There were four outlines in the dark room.

“Ummm, guys. I thought there were only three of us,” whispered Serenity with fear etched in her voice.

“There were,” said Oliver, punching the nearest outline.

“OUCH! What was that for?! It’s me, Luke! Couldn’t you warn a person? That really hurt, Mr. Jackie Chan. When did you get so strong? I guess carrying those books is really good exercise. Never underestimate a nerd,” squeaked Luke, doubled over in the darkness.

“Either way, you deserved that punch, but I was aiming for that fourth outline over there if you must…” Oliver said before getting slammed against the wall. The air was knocked out of him and he was stunned by the sudden blow. It slapped him across the face which stung as though somebody splashed a few drops of hydrofluoric acid on his face. An ugly scream rang throughout the room. It took a few moments before Oliver realized that the scream was his own.

“Oliver!” yelled Serenity and Luke.

Suddenly, he heard a bang and the dark figure let him go. A light illuminated the room, momentarily blinding him. The sound of their footsteps bounced off of the walls as they approached Oliver.

“What on earth did you hit that thing with?” asked Oliver, his voice hoarse.

“A frying pan, what else? Oh, please, you act like you don’t carry around a frying pan in your back pocket. Well, I don’t either. I found it on the floor over there. I stubbed my toe on it. It nearly killed me actually. So, you better be sorry that I saved your pretty face,” said Luke.

Oliver’s eyes started to droop as he slowly drifted into unconsciousness. A hand jolted him awake: it was Luke’s.

“Stay with me, buddy. We can make it through this. It’s just a surface scratch. Well, sort of,” he turned to Serenity, “Serenity! See if you can find some first aid supplies. It’s a damn school for God’s sake! They had a frying pan lying around and some candles. So, my bet is that there will be something that can help him. Just promise me that you will be safe, okay? Here, take the frying pan in case it attacks you,” said Luke as he cradled his best friend.

“Okay, Luke. By the way, there is a miniature kitchen in the next room, which explains the frying pan. Everything in here is sadly outdated, but it seems as though nothing fits. Were there kitchens in schoolhouses?” asked Serenity. She was slowly inching out of the room with the last bit of candlelight.

“It’s just a hunch, but I think this schoolhouse has been through the ages. I think that it has traveled through time and that it has changed and adapted to its surroundings. Either that or it’s a really haunted house that likes to play mind games. Now go quickly. I don’t think we have much time. I don’t even know what’s wrong with him or what scratched him, but all I know is that it did some damage,” said Luke, staring at Oliver.
Serenity left the room with the last bit of light, leaving Oliver and Luke in the dark. She made her way through the kitchen and into another room about as big as walk-in closet. The light flickered off of the walls menacingly. It was a small bathroom with barely any walking space. There was a
medicine cabinet on the wall.

“Please, let there be something in here,” Serenity muttered.

She slowly opened the cabinet and grabbed everything she saw. There was plenty of peroxide and bandages, but there was no telling if any of those things would have an effect. She filled up her arms and closed the cabinet. On the mirror of the cabinet was a face. Serenity screamed, but before she could turn around, the figure struck and cut off the shrieks.