Condemned

by Christopher Renna

  "Yeah. We're all right."

  "You should have seen the commotion at church. When those reporters showed up, it was intense."

  "It's been a very intense week," he replied.

  She set her hand onto his. "That's why I'm always asking how you guys are doing. I'm concerned."

  The fact that she believed it was necessary to assume the role as his close confidant provoked an uncomfortable jumble of nerves. Especially since her father had threatened him. "I know. But don't worry about us." He grabbed his tray. "When we finally figure out the whole story, we'll be fine."

  As he walked away from the table, she said his name. Yet he continued to walk. Where to? He didn't know. Just out of the cafeteria, away from everyone who thought they knew what had happened to Jared. Away from the stares and the whispers.

  Trevor called out, "Yo, Conner."

  He reached the far end of the cafeteria, where a group of football players sat. Seniors and juniors. Although Newman was a relatively small suburb, the high school was large enough that many of the students one would assume congregated together, didn't. The football players routinely hung out in groups while the basketball players had their own clique. During the fall and winter semesters, the two athletic circles rarely mingled.

  As Conner passed the table, Doug, the middle linebacker, flung a stream of water onto him. Then he said, "Nothing happened."

  "Duh," the defensive end responded. "It has to be holy water."

  Another guy arranged a fork and knife into a makeshift crucifix.

  Conner scowled, doing his best not to react with his fist. Instead, he hurled his turkey sandwich at Doug's face. "Asshole."

  The football players responded with several shocked expressions and a few hoots of laughter.

  Doug grimaced, mustard smearing his cheek and the bridge of his nose. Rising to his feet, he exclaimed, "Big mistake!"

  Unflinching, Conner looked at Doug as if daring him to make a move. "No, you made a big mistake."

  Trevor, Adam, and Miguel slid into position at his side. Then the football coach appeared on the scene as if magically teleported, shooting daggers and ordering Doug to "sit your ass down." Then at everyone else: "Save it for the opposing team, nimrods."

  Before walking out of the cafeteria, Conner glanced back at Hailey, standing with Jasmine at their table. She watched him with sadness and a hint of worry. Zach remained seated, shoveling food into his big mouth.

  "That was a good shot." Adam laughed. "You nailed him right in the face from like ten feet away."

  The guys jumped into Miguel's BMW and headed for the drive-through of a fast-food restaurant a couple blocks from school. None of them were in a rush to return to class, but they devoured their lunch in the car and then ventured inside Newman High unenthused to fulfill their obligation.

  Conner and Adam headed to Algebra II. As soon as they entered the classroom, the bell sounded. Within seconds of sitting, Mr. Peterson handed out a quiz on polynomial factorization. "You have twenty minutes. I want to see your work. You'll get your grade at the end of class."

  Unprepared, Conner glanced at the first section: Identifying common factors. Easy. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  Several minutes into the quiz, and nearing the end of the second page, Conner spotted a shadow in the corner of the room. There was nothing particularly unordinary about it. It could have been the bookshelf or a tree outside the window. But the longer he stared at it, the more it seemed to resemble the shape of a person. Not wanting to freak himself out, he told himself to ignore it. Don't look at it. Don't study it. Ignore it.

  He noticed Melanie Crawford, two rows over, watching him. She quickly averted her gaze to the quiz, then looked at the wall, staring as though something about the shadow had piqued her interest as well. Seemingly transfixed, she dropped her pencil, which clattered to the floor. Her body stiffened and trembled—mildly at first, but the shaking intensified. She whimpered as her chin dropped to her chest.

  Mr. Peterson, his face morphed into horrified concern, rushed toward her desk. "Melanie. Melanie, what's wrong?"

  Everyone seemed frozen by shock, witnessing Melanie's apparent seizure.

  At her side, Mr. Peterson knelt and reached out to her shoulder. "Melanie. Can you hear me?" He glanced at the students closest to her. "Someone, run to the nurse's office."

  Her body jerked with violent convulsions, causing the metal legs of the desk to hop and rattle on the floor.

  "Everyone, move away," he ordered. "Give her some space."

  Several kids jumped to their feet and cleared the area.

  Conner joined Adam near the front of the class.

  Mr. Peterson scanned the students. "Does anyone have experience with seizures?" When no one responded, he returned his attention to her. "Help is on the way, Melanie."

  She jerked her head back, saliva dripping from her mouth. "I saw."

  Leaning closer, Mr. Peterson asked, "What, dear?"

  "I saw," she repeated and then looked at the student nearest to her. "I saw the devil, Jesse."

  "What?" Jesse asked with blatant confusion. Then he fell to his knees. Within seconds, he was trembling as violently as she had.

  Melanie sat rigid, staring straight ahead.

  Everyone catapulted out of their seats and gathered near the front of the class.

  A girl down the hall, in another classroom, screamed.

  Jesse's seizure abruptly stopped. He whipped his head back, drool bubbling and oozing from his mouth. Then he looked to the side, fixing his eyes on the captain of the girls' volleyball team. "I saw the devil, Amanda."

  She collapsed onto her stomach and twitched in a fit of spasms. Her forehead bounced against the vinyl-tiled flooring, her legs kicked, and her arms flailed like featherless wings.

  A door somewhere down the hall banged against a wall. The sound of rushing feet and terrified cries followed. Apparently, what was occurring in Mr. Peterson's Algebra II class was also happening in other classrooms.

  The fear that Amanda or another trance-stricken student would call him name prompted Conner to clutch Adam's wrist and hurry toward the door. "Let's get outta here."

  Several students ahead of them pushed their way toward the doorway, their bodies pressed against each other in a frenzied struggle to leave the chaos behind.

  Before they walked out into the hall, he heard Amanda say, "I saw the devil, Ashley."

  In every direction, students banged against lockers in a rush to flee, nudged each other out the way, and plowed through small clusters of kids. Screams, cries, squeaking shoes, muffled voices, and the sound of quick footsteps filled the hall. In the midst of it all, a random kid would fall to the floor, shaking and mumbling until another collapsed in imitation.

  "I saw the devil, David."

  "I saw the devil, Natalie."

  "I saw the devil, Rebecca."

  "I saw the devil, Jason."

  Adam yanked Conner by the T-shirt, directing them toward the closest exit as they twisted and pushed through the crowd. "Go, go, go! Move it," he yelled.

  From around the corner Hailey and Jasmine appeared, crying and wide-eyed with fear.

  Conner called out to them through the horde of frantic teenagers.

  The girls attempted to reach Conner and Adam, but the rush of students between them made it impossible for the girls to cross the hallway.

  Outside on the main steps, Conner hauled Adam to the side and searched for Hailey and Jasmine through the entrance. He waved his arms in the air. "We're right here."

  Kids scattered. Very few lingered near the school building. Most continued on a path leading to the parking lot.

  A female reporter with a microphone and a cameraman dashed toward the school.

  Conner cast his sight back to the entrance. He could see Hailey, a dozen or so students separating them.

  A boy yelled, "I saw the devil, Hailey."

  And then she dropped out of sight.

  TWENTY

 
Tap, tap, tap on the door. And then a forceful pounding.

  "Open up," Dave shouted. "There's something going down at the high school, right now. We gotta get there."

  Lou jerked the door open. "What happened? What's going on?"

  "Some freak out. Kids having seizures and collapsing one after the other. It's like mass hysteria."

  Spinning on his heels, Lou snatched his wallet and coat from the desk and then ushered Dave back out into the hall. "Let's go check it out. I'll call the boys on the way."

  Down the elevator, through the lobby, and out to Lou's car, Dave recounted the phone call he'd received from a police source. At that time, nearly two dozen students had fallen into hypnotic fits. Paramedics had been dispatched and were attending to the students who had collapsed.

  As Lou sped out of the parking lot, he called Trevor. When it went to voicemail, he called Conner, who didn't answer his phone either. He called Adam.

  At first all he heard was noise—the distraught voices of kids and sirens blaring in the background. Then Adam said, "Who is this?"

  "It's Lou Price."

  "It's that Lou guy," Adam said.

  Conner grabbed the phone. "Hey, Lou? This is Conner."

  "What's going on at the school?"

  "Um. I really don't know." Conner glanced around the parking lot. Kids continued to rush away from the school. The police and several ambulances had arrived. Flashing red, blue, and white lights whirled about. Worried parents had appeared on the scene, and at least two other reporters had swooped in to cover the chaotic incident.

  "Kids started having, like, seizures or something," he continued. "Then they'd say that they saw the devil."

  "They said they saw the devil?"

  "Yeah. Then they'd look at someone and say that person's name. Then that person would have a seizure and say the same thing. It was creepy as hell. Everyone ran before it happened to them too."

  "Where are your friends?"

  Raising his voice because of an approaching police siren, Conner said, "Uh. Adam's with me. We don't know about Trevor or Levi."

  "Did you call your parents?"

  "Yeah."

  "Are they coming to get you?"

  "Yeah. But I don't know how they're going to get through the crowd of people and police and everything. We want to walk down the block so my mom can find us, but we don't want to leave until we know what happened to everyone."

  "Dave and I are on our way. Where should we look for you?"

  "We're still in the parking lot near the main entrance."

  Lou said, "See you soon." Then he hung up.

  Conner handed the phone back to Adam. "It's effing freezing out here, man. I wish I would have grabbed my coat."

  "Me too," Adam replied, nestled up against Conner's arm. "I'm glad I had my phone in my pocket, though."

  A policewoman approached, gesturing to the school. "All students need to get to the gymnasium so everyone can be accounted for. Then you'll be free to go home."

  "But my mom's going to look for us here," Conner replied.

  The cop shook her head. "Sorry. Those are the orders."

  "Do you know when we can get our stuff?"

  "No idea. The main building is being evacuated. You won't be able to go inside until it's been inspected."

  "For what?" Adam asked.

  "The source of the disruption."

  "What's that mean?"

  "Look, kid. I don't have all the answers. I'm directing students to the gym. That's where you need to be headed right now."

  As she stalked away, Conner nudged Adam. "C'mon, let's go. It'll be warmer in there."

  A police car emitted a sudden woot, woot as it moved slowly through the parking lot.

  Passing by the main entrance, Conner scanned the hall for Hailey. Too many faculty members and policemen crowded the area. He couldn't tell if the paramedic he saw was helping Hailey or another kid. He and Adam hadn't even seen Jasmine exit the building. They'd called Trevor, Levi, and Miguel more than once, but none of them answered. Now he and Adam were freezing their asses off, wandering around without a clue of what to do.

  * * *

  Within a few blocks of the school, Lou was forced to come to an abrupt stop, a long stretch of cars clogging the street ahead of him. If Lou continued to follow the traffic, who knew how much longer it would take to arrive at the campus. Lou directed the car to the first available spot along the curb. He and Dave walked briskly on the sidewalk, dodging people headed to and from the school.

  In the distance, the flashing lights of emergency vehicles beckoned them to their destination. He noticed the logo of the local news on the side of a black van they passed. The presence of the local news, police cars, several ambulances, and frantic parents with distressed children presented an alarming scene. It would have been easy for any observer to assume that perhaps a school shooting had occurred.

  Edging closer to the high school, Lou reflected on the mass hysteria cases he'd read about. Welsh, Louisiana in 1962. Mount Pleasant, Mississippi in the 1970s. Then he thought of the more supernatural-type of hysteria outbreaks: the Salem witch trials, Spring-heeled Jack in England during 1837, and the mass hysteria events attributed to witchcraft or demonic possession at schools in Africa, even in modern times; one of the recent cases had occurred in 2009 in South Africa.

  He was convinced the incident at Newman High was related to the Jared Smith case. But he suspected that the community would place the blame on every possible rational but mundane explanation. Toxic fumes. Food poisoning. Drugs. Disease spread by rodents. Bugs. Maybe an environmental cause like a methane gas leak underneath the school.

  The kids had said they'd seen the devil. To Lou, this meant one of two things had occurred. Either the kids had been influenced by the reports of Jared's possession, resulting in a true mass hysteria event fueled by nervous energy and fear. Or the entity responsible for Jared's horrific ordeal and death hadn't left Newman when Jared died.

  Finally in the parking lot, Lou and David maneuvered their way through an active maze of teenagers, parents, teachers, and emergency personnel. As they approached the entrance, Lou scanned the faces of boys but didn't see Conner or Adam. He approached a woman who appeared to be an anxious parent. "Excuse me. Are there kids still inside the school?"

  She regarded him with a teary, pained glance. "No. The gym. If you're looking for your kid, they're probably there."

  "Thank you. Thank you so much."

  Next, he questioned a teenaged girl several feet away. "Excuse me. Which way is the gym?"

  She pointed. He and Dave quickened their steps toward the far end of the main building. They rounded the corner and headed to the gymnasium. Nearly there, he spotted Conner and Adam walking outside with an attractive dark-blonde woman, evidently Conner's mother. Dammit. There goes my chance to talk to them.

  Panting a bit, he shouted, "Hey! Excuse me. Conner. Adam."

  The three stopped talking and paused on the sidewalk that led to the street west of the gym.

  The woman looked at him suspiciously.

  "The guy we interviewed with," Conner said.

  "Oh," she replied. Turning her attention to Lou, she said, "This isn't a good time. The boys have been through a traumatizing experience. I'm taking them home where they can be safe from what's going on here."

  "I understand," Lou said. "We wanted to see how they're coping and ask a couple questions."

  "Maybe later." She gestured for the boys to walk.

  "Just a couple quick questions. I promise."

  A flicker of a smile disappeared as she said, "As you can see, the boys are not properly dressed to be outside. Their comfort and health are the most important things to me right now. So, like I said, maybe later, Lou."

  "Okay. I'm sorry. Please take the young men home."

  She directed the boys toward the street.

  Once the three had walked a distance, Lou signaled for Dave to head toward the main building. Frustrated, he huffed, "Da
mmit."

  * * *

  Stretched out in the back of an ambulance, Hailey opened her eyes and immediately squinted, the light too bright. Gradually, her blurry vision faded, and she was able to focus on the woman to her right. "Mom?"

  "Yes, sweetheart. It's me. Relax."

  "I don't . . . What happened?" She covered her eyes. "Am I hurt?"

  "No. You need to rest."

  A man said, "Your mother's right. Take it easy. You may have experienced a neurological issue."

  Hailey glanced at the interior of the ambulance. The vehicle didn't seem to be moving. "Am I going to the hospital?"

  "I just need to check your stats and ask a few questions," he said. "Then your mother can take you home."

  "What neurological issue?"

  "Do you remember what happened?"

  Incredulous, she responded, "Yeah. Some of the kids had seizures. Jasmine and I freaked out and left. But everyone else was trying to get out of the building too. But then . . . um, something. I don't know."

  "You had a seizure," he said.

  Her mind clouded with a flurry of frightening thoughts. "I didn't have a seizure. How could I?" Then she cried. "What happened to the other kids happened to me too?"

  He nodded.

  Tears flooded her eyes. "Then I saw the same thing they did? I acted the same way and said the same thing?"

  He crouched next to her. "You don't remember anything?"

  Hailey clutched her mother's hand. Surging with fright, she sobbed, "Mom. Did I say that I saw the devil? Is that what I said? Is that what happened to me? Did I see the devil?"

  "Sweetheart, calm down."

  "No. Mom, tell me. Is that what I said?"

  Her mother glanced at the paramedic.

  He said, "Hailey. Just like everyone else who suffered the same kind of seizure, the only thing you said was that you saw the devil."

  Hailey slapped her hands over her mouth and wept. "Oh, my God. No. Oh, please Lord, protect me from evil."

  Her mind reeled. Her stomach burned. And then she threw up.

  * * *

  Once they'd arrived home, Conner's mother ordered the boys upstairs. "Take a hot shower and then put on some nice, warm clothes." So, he stood under the hot stream of water while Adam sat on the vanity in the warm misty bathroom.