"Okay," Steve said.
The sound of a loud banging noise filled the room.
“Bill watch out for that table man!” Steve yelled.
"Huh?" Steve asked.
The sound of a strange rattling noise echoed in the vast space just before a loud crash resounded in the auditorium.
“Ow!”
Violet felt a light bump on her side. She looked up and saw Hal standing next to her.
Hal stared down at her with a wide smile.
“What happened to Anna and Sylvia?” Violet asked.
“Oh. I told them I wasn’t interested,” Hal replied.
“Oh,” Violet said.
“They didn’t take it very well,” Hal said.
“Oh,” Violet repeated.
“Look, Violet. Would you uh…” Hal began.
“Erwin," Principal Lubbitz said in a loud voice. "Kindly begin your presentation. We're all waiting."
“Sure sir!" Erwin shouted. "Attention everyone! May I have your attention please!"
The students in the auditorium looked at Erwin.
“Well," Hal said softly to Violet. "I uh. I guess I’ll talk to you after…”
“Shhh!” a low voice hissed.
Violet and Hal turned away from each other. They looked at the suntanned face of a Bill Weatherly who stood near them.
The young man’s face was covered with bruises and small scratches. His dark hair was disheveled and he rubbed at his bleeding nose with a sniff.
Bill stared at Erwin with an expression of awe across his battered features.
“Bill, what happened to you?” Violet asked.
“Oh I asked Sylvia out and she threw a table at me. I’ll ask again when she calms down. She told me she liked my Netbook last week and she kissed me too so I think I have a good chance with her,” Bill responded absently.
“Uh okay,” Violet said.
“Bill man," Hal said. "You're bleeding."
"I am?" Bill asked rubbing his head.
"Yeah dude. Look, maybe you should go to the nurse,” Hal said.
“I’m allright," Bill stated.
"Bill you don't look so good," Violet said.
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I wanna hear Rutger’s presentation. He killed it last year with those glowing fish,” Bill said.
Violet and Hal looked at each other briefly before they turned away from Bill and focused on Erwin.
“Salus!” Erwin squeaked.
The students in the auditorium stared at Erwin with expressions of confusion.
Erwin cleared his throat with a loud chortling noise before he continued his speech.
“Today I seek to prove the existence of something that man has failed to provide absolute proof of. But I will do so, today!” Erwin exclaimed.
Violet felt warm fingers close atop her left palm. She stared down at her limb and saw Hal’s hand clutching hers.
She looked up at the handsome young man. She saw him staring at Erwin with a wide smile across his chiseled features.
Violet’s heart raced. She turned away from Hal and stared at Erwin. She took a deep breath and smiled softly.
Erwin took a stumbling step backwards. He turned to the sheet-covered table beside him and grabbed clumsily at the black drape. He released a loud chirping noise before yanking the dark coverlet from atop the furnishing.
Two large three-paneled displays lay on the table.
The cardboard displays were decorated with swaths of black silk onto which hundreds of small blurry photos were attached. Large crystal balls, dusty Ouija boards and oddly shaped crystals rested on black velvet pillows atop the table.
A string of misshapen shrunken heads was draped across the front portion of the table. A large glass skull with sparkling ruby eyes lay on the far side of the metal tableau. A deck of rust-colored tarot cards lay beside the large transparent object. A square-shaped crimson pillow of shimmering silk lay in the center of the table on which a large square-shaped wooden box rested.
“What in the heck?” Hal whispered.
Erwin released a series of high pitched giggles while he stared at the wide-eyed students in front of him.
“Erwin please explain this,” Principal Lubbitz said.
“This is simple. Since the beginning of time man has wondered about the unknown,” Erwin began.
Erwin turned from the crowd and he pointed at the deck of tarot cards.
“Divination,” Erwin said.
Erwin pointed at the table with a shaking hand.
“Invocation,” Erwin said.
Erwin took a small step forward. He grabbed at one of the shrunken heads and caressed the thing’s garish cheek with a choking whisper.
“Annihilation,” Erwin said softly.
“And failure,” Principal Lubbitz stated loudly.
Loud laughter filled the auditorium.
Erwin stared at Principal Lubbitz with wide eyes.
“But Dr. Lubbitz you don’t understand,” Erwin began.
“I understand that you will not be going to the State Fair this year Erwin,” Principal Lubbitz said.
“How can you say that, sir? You haven’t even looked at my project,” Erwin protested.
Principal Lubbitz moved towards the cluttered table. He leaned forward slightly and stared at the objects.
After a few moments, he stood erect. He raised his hand to his face and adjusted his silver spectacles atop his nose with a resonant sigh.
“I am looking at your project, Erwin. And I see no evidence of the scientific method. What is your hypothesis? On what principle is it based? What are your findings? Where is the data? How did you obtain the data? And where is it located in this display?” Principal Lubbitz inquired.
Erwin balled his chubby hands into tight fists. He contorted his dough white features into a menacing sneer while he glared at Principal Lubbitz.
“All I see here are party favors and movie props,” Principal Lubbitz continued.
Principal Lubbitz reached into his jacket. He pulled out a silver pen and lowered the writing instrument to his clipboard and scribbled furiously across a small piece of paper atop the object.
“Perhaps you should have done your project on the abject effects of an individual’s forced confinement within an isolation unit and the psychological and physiological damage it may cause. A project of that nature would have given you a sufficient mark and your usual place at the State Fair instead of this ironic display,” Principal Lubbitz stated.
Principal Lubbitz looked up from the clipboard and he glanced at the table.
“As it stands, Halden Langford will go in your place. His study on the effects of artificial sweetener on the blood levels of aquatic fish was noteworthy,” Principal Lubbitz said.
“Thanks Dr. Lubbitz!” Hal exclaimed.
Erwin turned to Hal and he scowled at the handsome boy.
Hal grinned at Erwin.
“No milk and cookies for you eh Erwin?” Hal asked.
The students in the auditorium laughed.
Erwin stared at the chuckling students around him. He pressed his lips together and his fat jowls shook as his portly form trembled with rage. His face became a shade of deep scarlet and a single tear gushed from the corner of his left eye.
Erwin closed his eyes and he took a deep breath. After a few moments, the tremors Erwin's body ceased. He opened his orbs and blinked rapidly. He bit his lower lip brutally and focused his cold gray eyes on Principal Lubbitz.
“The Scientific Method is alive and well with this project, Dr. Lubbitz. If you look at the evidence,” Erwin suggested.
“The decision regarding your project or lack thereof has already been made Erwin. You will not win this competition this year. But take heart. There is always next year," Principal Lubbitz said. He turned from Erwin and looked at the students near him. "Now, on to the next project.”
"But this is an outrage," Erwin said softly.
"Enough Erwin," Principal Lubbitz said in a warning tone.
Princip
al Lubbitz glanced at his clipboard before he looked up at the students around him. “Ms. Laura Simmons.”
“Yes sir!” a loud voice called.
Everyone in the auditorium turned in the direction of the voice.
A short blonde girl stood in the center of a crowd of students a few feet away from the principal. She held a large blue box of dessert cakes in her left hand and she clutched a small torpedo-shaped yellow cake in her right hand. She gazed at Principal Lubbitz with wide eyes while she shoved the sweet cake inside of her mouth with a loud chomping noise.
“Laura Simmons I take it?” Principal Lubbitz asked.
“Yes sir!” Laura said with a burp.
The students laughed.
“Uh sorry Dr. Lubbitz. Research. Yeah, I was finishing up some last minute research,” Laura hiccuped.
“Your project is on the lack of degeneration of the Sparkly Happy Cake in various environmental conditions?” Principal Lubbitz inquired.
“Yes sir,” Laura replied.
“Very well. Show us your project Ms. Simmons,” Principal Lubbitz stated.
“Yes sir. Okay folks. The question is how long can a real Sparkly Happy Cake last? Well let me show ya! Follow me. Right this way people!” Laura yelled.
Laura turned away from the crowd and she rushed across the crowded auditorium. She stopped in front of a large table that possessed a large cardboard display that was in the shape of a lemon-colored torpedo.
Several small plates filled with tiny yellow cakes lay atop the table. Dozens of large blue boxes of sponge cake desserts lay in neat stacks atop the tableau.
Laura tossed the dented blue box in her hand into a nearby receptacle. She moved to the table and snatched one of the dessert-filled boxes off of the metal slab. She ripped open the cardboard container and pulled a tiny cellophane-wrapped cake from the interior of the box. She shook the yellow dessert in her hand and before turning to the students near her with a wide smile.
“Come on people. Don’t be shy. I got samples,” Laura sang.
The standing students let out a collective shout of glee before they rushed across the auditorium in the direction of Laura’s table.
“Slowly people. No running,” Principal Lubbitz called.
Principal Lubbitz walked slowly towards the sweet-filled table.
Bill Weatherly's voice suddenly echoed in the vast auditorium.
“Hey everybody Laura's got strawberry mini Sparkly cakes!” Bill shouted.
Loud hoots rose up from the crowd of students near the table.
“Bill don’t eat the ones on the plates," Laura said loudly.
"Why?" Bill asked.
"Because I used those for the experiments,” Laura said.
“Humph?” Bill asked.
“Dr. Lubbitz! Bill’s eating my evidence!” Laura cried.
“There’s nothing wrong with these,” Bill said.
“Dr. Lubbitz!” Laura screamed.
“Bill Weatherly step away from the table,” Principal Lubbitz said wearily.
“Des Thir,” Bill said with a burp.
“Wait!" Erwin yelled. "Where are you all going? Come back! I’m not finished! I will have my say! Don’t you walk away from me! Listen to me! Dr. Lubbitz! Dr. Lubbitz, I command you to return!”
The students ceased their trek forward. They all turned around and stared at Principal Lubbitz.
Principal Lubbitz stopped walking. He turned around and removed his glasses before settling his gaze on Erwin’s pinched face.
“Erwin Rutger, you are out of line and will be spending a great deal of time in detention at this rate,” Principal Lubbitz said.
“Sir," Erwin said. "Just let me present my findings.”
“No.” Principal Lubbitz stated firmly.
“But it’s not fair!” Erwin cried.
“Young man, you will soon find that life is not fair,” Principal Lubbitz stated.
Erwin stared at the middle aged man for a few moments. He shifted his sight from the aged administrator and stared at the students around him. He took a deep breath before he spoke in a cold loud voice.
“My hypothesis was to determine whether or not ghosts were real.” Erwin said loudly.
“Erwin that's one day of detention.” Principal Lubbitz interrupted.
“And I have discovered that they are real. Look at the photographs.”
“Two days detention!”
“The scientific findings of ghost hunters!”
“Four days detention!”
“The revelations of mediums!”
“Erwin, you are suspended!”
“And the most startling evidence of all!”
“Erwin, you are bordering on permanent expulsion and the immediate rescinding of your college admissions papers!”
Erwin turned away from the crowd and he rushed to the table near him. He snatched the large wooden box from its perch atop the scarlet pillow in the center of the display. He pulled the top off of the container and threw the lid to the floor. He thrust his pudgy hand inside of the box and pulled a severed head from the interior of the container.
The wooden box fell to the floor with a loud clattering noise.
Erwin turned to the wide-eyed students in front of him. He took a small step forward and raised the head in his grasp with a triumphant squeak.
“Here it is. The existence of ghosts. Realized!” Erwin screamed.
The severed head was covered with a thin layer of clear slime. Its gaunt cheeks were covered with sickly green flesh. Its mouth was open and dozens of black beetles crawled atop its withered lips. Ragged black flesh lay at the lower portion of its shredded neck. A shiny black worm dangled from the remnants of the thing’s left nostril. The thing's left eye was covered with a rotted lid. Its right eye was ajar and a sickly blue eye dangled from its socket.
The auditorium was filled with silence.
"Its fake," Violet called.
"And a very unconvincing replica," Principal Lubbitz added.
The students laughed.
"Oh it is it? Check this out!" Erwin shouted.
Erwin raised the head higher in his grasp. He curved his lips into a maniacal grin.
The severed head's left lid slid upwards and its blue eye gazed at the crowd of students.
Erwin remove his hand from the head with a high pitched chortle.
The severed head remained aloft.
Its lolling left eye suddenly from its perch within the deteriorating skull and the slimy sphere landed on the floor in front of Erwin’s feet with a loud slapping noise.
The sound of a loud click filled the auditorium just before the lights were extinguished.
The severed head's left eye flashed yellow and the orb glowed in the dim space of the auditorium.
The sound of a shrill scream poured from the center of the crowd.
The students turned away from Erwin and they released loud cries of fear as they fled in all directions.
The running students toppled tables and kicked at chairs during their mad dash to the auditorium doors.
Hal grabbed Violet and he pulled the young woman protectively against him as the groups of running students rushed by them in a mad panic.
"People calm down! Stop this now!" Principal Lubbitz shouted at the running students.
A group of screaming pupils slammed into Principal Lubbitz during their flight.
Principal Lubbitz dropped the clipboard from his hands while he staggered backwards.
Three howling girls shoved Principal Lubbitz from their path.
The middle aged man's glasses fell from his face and he cried out while staggering backwards. He crashed into a large display table before landing on the floor.
Violet looked at the running students around her.
“Wait! It’s not real! It’s just a prop!” Violet yelled.
“That’s right!" Erwin screeched. "Run you cowards! You never could face the truth! Ha! Ha!”
Violet turned from the fleeing students
and she looked at Erwin.
The pudgy young man jumped up and down with high pitched laughter while he watched the scene of panic around him and he stomped atop the floor in a squeaking rhythm.
Violet pushed Hal away from her and she rushed to Erwin.
Erwin stopped laughing when he saw Violet.
Erwin raised his hand and grabbed the severed head and snatched it from its perch in mid-air. He grabbed at the silver chain at his throat and took a step away from her.
Violet stopped in front of Erwin. She looked at the young man with narrowed eyes.
"Erwin stop this right now," Violet said. "Someone could get hurt."
"Who cares if they get hurt?" Erwin protested.
Violet raised her right hand and she thrust her limb in Erwin's direction.
"Hand it over," Violet said.
“I already told you. I’m not giving your promise ring back. Its mine and you’re mine too. It doesn’t matter that it was kindergarten it still counts. You can’t deny you gave it to me because your DNA is all over it,” Erwin said.
“Gimme the head,” Violet said.
Erwin removed his hand from the chain. He stopped and looked at Violet with an expression of fury.
“That’s what you want? The answer is no,” Erwin said.
Violet raised her right hand and she extended her index and middle finger outwards. She lunged forward quickly and thrust her digits into Erwin’s wide eyes.
“Agh!” Erwin screamed.
Erwin dropped the head from his grasp and he let out a blubbering cough while staggering backwards.
Violet fell into a crouch and she caught the falling sphere in her grasp.
“I can’t see!” Erwin squealed.
Erwin tripped over his feet during his clumsy movements backwards. His portly body descended rapidly and the top portion of his skull struck the edge of the table behind him with a resounding crack.
Erwin landed on the floor atop his spine with a sickly thud.
The steel table behind him shook violently for a few moments just before the brittle legs of aged object collapsed.
The metal tableau fell to the floor with an audible crash.
“My work! No!” Erwin screeched.
Violet leaped to her feet. She turned away from Erwin and rushed to the center of the auditorium. She looked around the space.
Most of the students were running in the direction of the yellow doors. Several were kneeling on the floor of the auditorium wailing with despair. A few were pressed against the green emergency doors.
Anthology of Ichor III: Gears of Damnation Page 19