by Kunz, C. A.
“I see.”
“I know, you probably think I'm this super nerd or something,” he began.
“No, not at all. I’ve got a security blanket too, kind of. It’s the book Red Twilight by Robert Craven. I’ve read it a million times.”
He laughed. “Oh yeah, he’s that horror writer right? The ever-elusive man.”
“That’s the one,” Cat replied. “So, now back to Miss Amaya.”
“Well, with that said, it’s getting late and you should probably get home. I’m sure you’re tired after practice and looking through files here,” Mr. Pierson rambled, frantically putting some papers into his over the shoulder bag and trying to avoid the subject.
Cat groaned. “Alright then, see you tomorrow for our…dissection.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” he replied with a slight laugh. Watching Cat leave his classroom, Melvin began sifting through more papers.
An hour later, Melvin finished organizing for the night and put the last of his files into his bag. Turning off the lights, he closed the door behind him. The hall was empty and Melvin’s footsteps echoed through the school’s corridors. A loud bang came from behind him. Startled, he spun around and saw one of the janitors coming out of a classroom, picking up his mop that had fallen through the door into the hall.
“Sorry ’bout that, mop’s got a mind of its own,” the janitor called out.
“It’s all right, just gave me a little-” Melvin began to reply and then realized the janitor had put in his earphones. Shaking his head, he turned and made his way to the exit.
Reaching the parking lot, Melvin noticed that his and the janitor’s cars were the only ones left. “Too bad I don’t get paid by the hour,” he joked. Making his way to his car, Melvin drew his keys from his pocket. As he inserted them into the lock, his car alarm went off, causing him to drop his keys into the muddy snow. Groaning, Melvin bent down to pick them up only to find them gone. “Great, just great! They must’ve gone under the car,” he muttered in frustration throwing his bag on the trunk. Getting down on his hands and knees, he peered into the blackness under the vehicle with the annoying sound of the alarm still ringing in his ears. Unzipping his jacket, Melvin drew a penlight from his pocket protector. The light’s beam caused the keys to shimmer and Melvin realized he would need to stretch to reach them. How did they get so far under the car?
Over the sound of the screeching alarm, Melvin heard a muffled bang as the whole car shook. Springing up, he scanned the surroundings seeing nothing unusual. The streetlamp in the parking lot gave off quite a bit of light, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him from the shadows beyond it. “Get a grip, Melvin, it’s just that stupid alarm driving you nuts. Just get the keys already,” he muttered, getting back down on the ground and shining the penlight under the car. “What the hell?” he asked out loud when the light’s beam failed to reveal the keys. He jumped to his feet confused. They were just there, where could they have gone?
The sound of the car alarm shutting off and the doors unlocking broke his train of thought. Melvin hesitantly reached out for the handle and the door locked again. Hearing giggling behind him, he spun around, but saw no one. “Hello? Is someone there?” he asked, taking a few steps away from his car, the snow crunching under his feet. “If this is a joke, it isn’t funny in the slightest…hello?” he asked again into the dark. Hearing no reply, Melvin rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the goose bumps that were rising up. Turning back around to face his car, his eyes grew wide when he saw a pale teenage girl sitting on his car’s roof, her straight black hair falling over her face.
“Mr. Pierson, right? Are you looking for these?” she asked as she dangled the keys from her finger. Slowly raising her head, Amy flipped her hair back, her jet black eyes challenging his. “Remember me, Mr. Pierson?”
“Uh, yes…I do, but what are you doing here, Amy?”
“Do you remember how you failed me in biology, even though I had begged you not to? Oh, how the tables do turn!” Amy grinned, revealing two long white fangs. Melvin’s eyes filled with fear as Linda and Becca popped up from behind the car with their fangs bared as well. “This is the part where you run,” Amy said menacingly. Melvin took off running back toward the school’s main entrance, yelling at the top of his lungs. Pulling on the doors wildly, he realized the janitor just locked them. He could see him walking away down the hall, oblivious to Melvin’s yelling. Banging feverishly on the door, Melvin continued yelling, trying to get the attention of the janitor. He can’t hear me! He has those damn things in his ears! He thought before he was viciously ripped away from the door.
Early the next morning, Cat strolled into Mr. Pierson’s classroom and was surprised to find Miss Amaya sitting at his desk, flipping through his lesson planner. “Hey, you’re in here a lot, aren’t you?” Cat asked her jokingly. Miss Amaya looked up at Cat with worried eyes and a half smile. “So, where’s Mr. Pierson?”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t called in sick or anything yet, but being late just isn’t like him.”
“Huh, well if he doesn’t come in, who will take over his class?”
Miss Amaya lifted up the notebook containing Mr. Pierson’s lesson plans, “You’re looking at her.”
“Oh, I’m sure everything’s fine. He’ll be here, don’t worry,” Cat said reassuringly, placing her hand on Miss Amaya’s shoulder.
“I know, but I just have this weird feeling in my gut,” she said as she looked weakly into Cat’s eyes.
“I know what you mean,” Cat replied, suddenly concerned.
Cat hated being late to class. Even with a tardy pass in hand, she still rushed to her locker. Flustered, she misdialed her combo and had to start all over again. She heard someone walk up beside her and turned to face the person. Cat groaned inwardly when she saw it was Isaac. “What do you want? Stalking me much?” she asked snidely.
“We need to talk,” he replied with a cold stare.
“I have nothing to say to you,” she answered as she pulled her books from her locker and slammed it shut.
“It’s about Hannah.”
“I already told you that I’ll be friends with whoever I want, and so will your sister. So the quicker you get that through your thick skull, the better off we’ll all be!” Cat stated bluntly. She went to move away, but instead was blocked by Isaac’s imposing form. “Really? Intimidation doesn’t work, remember? I’m not scared of you, Isaac,” she said, staring at him and was shocked to see the usual sneer lacking from his face. In fact, he almost looked human to her.
“Cat, will you just listen for a second! I’m not here to fight, alright?”
“Okay, that’s a new one. You have five seconds, Bancroft, and that’s all you get,” she said, raising an eyebrow to him.
“I want to…uh,” Cat waited as he fumbled for the words. She almost smiled seeing him like this…almost. She thought about teasing him, but decided against it. “I want a truce,” he blurted out.
“A truce?” she asked.
“Yeah, you know we don’t mess with you, you don’t mess with us. A truce,” he whispered quickly.
“Hey, let’s get one thing straight. You’re the ones who mess with us,” Cat stated.
“Whatever, do you want a truce or not?” Isaac asked in frustration.
“What brought this on?”
“Hannah,” he replied, looking away shamefully.
“When have you ever cared about what she thinks?” Cat asked smugly.
Isaac slammed his hands on the lockers on either side of Cat, and then brought his face right in front of hers. “Do you want a truce?” he roared.
“Sure, truce,” Cat replied, and then extended her hand for his after he backed away. Just as Isaac went to shake her hand, Cat pulled hers back. Isaac glared at her, she returned it. “What about the rest of your group?”
“I’ll take care of them, okay?”
“Alright, truce,” she said, shaking his hand. Isaac imme
diately stormed off down the hall, not looking back. “Wow, I can officially add that to my ever-growing list of things I didn’t see coming,” Cat mumbled.
Sitting in her sixth period chemistry class, Kirsten began to nod off while listening to her teacher, Mr. Thompson, ramble on about the properties of water. “Blah, blah, blah, water, blah, blah,” Kirsten murmured to herself. She stretched and yawned, leaning back in her chair. “Chemistry…most boring class ever.” Looking over to her left, she saw Tonya doodling in her notebook. An elf, riding a unicorn? Really?! Why do I even hang out with her? Tonya looked up from her drawing at Kirsten and smiled, giving her a little wave. Faking a smile, Kirsten turned her attention back to the teacher, rolling her eyes.
“Psst…Kirsten,” Jessica whispered.
“Jessica, do you have something you want to say to the whole class?” Mr. Thompson asked.
“Uhh, no. I just wanted to talk to Kirsten,” Jessica replied blankly. Mr. Thompson stared at her with one eyebrow raised and his arms crossed. “Oh right, class,” she said, slouching back into her desk.
“So glad you remembered, Jessica. Now, where was I? Water, right,” Mr. Thompson stated. Kirsten rolled her eyes again shaking her head.
The class seemed to be lasting forever, and Kirsten was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. Resting her head on the cool desktop, she slowly drifted off to sleep. Opening her eyes, Kirsten looked around and saw nothing but rows of lockers. “Why am I in the locker room? I’m supposed to be in chemistry,” she asked out loud. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a basketball bouncing toward her from the equipment cage. After grabbing the ball on its last bounce, Kirsten headed over to the cage, and placed it back on the shelf. As she turned around, she was stopped cold by Cat, who was frantic.
“Kirsten, you have to hide! They’re coming!” Cat spat out.
“What are you talking about?”
“There’s no time to explain! Hurry, hide in there!” Cat ordered, putting her hand on Kirsten’s shoulder and shoving her slightly toward the equipment cage. Kirsten pushed Cat’s hand off of her.
“Not until you tell me what’s going on!”
Cat looked away, “Shhh…they’re here.”
“Who’s here?” Kirsten asked anxiously.
Cat slowly turned her head back to face Kirsten, her fangs bared. “Vampires,” she said and lunged for Kirsten’s neck.
“No Cat!” Kirsten screamed, waking up in class. Everyone was staring at her. Scanning the room, Kirsten became more and more embarrassed as she noticed all the looks she was receiving. What the hell was that? She thought.
“Looks like someone has a lesbian crush,” a girl called out from the back of the class.
“Who said that?” Kirsten asked angrily, eying the two back rows. No one answered.
“Kirsten, I’m going to need you to stay after to discuss this little episode of yours,” Mr. Thompson ordered as the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Kirsten moaned and slumped in her desk.
Walking into her biology class, Cat expected to see Mr. Pierson sitting behind his desk with his usual glasses nestled just off the bridge of his nose, his prized pocket protector proudly displayed, and his light brown hair disheveled from running his fingers through it all day. Instead she was met with a somber and tired looking Miss Amaya.
“So I’m guessing he called in then?” Cat asked. Miss Amaya shook her head and proceeded to cross names off the roll call sheet.
“So class, today we shall pick up where you left off on your frog dissections. Everyone please proceed to your lab tables and begin prepping your areas,” Miss Amaya said, forcing a smile. She walked over to the cabinet where the frogs were being kept. Opening it she was hit by the stench of formaldehyde. Ugh, this is such a foul smell! She thought. As she distributed a frog to every lab table, Miss Amaya cringed at the sound of each one plopping onto their trays.
“Miss Amaya?” Cat called out, holding the scalpel to the frog’s chest.
“Yes, dear, you have a question?” Miss Amaya asked, covering her mouth with her lavender scarf to protect herself from the smell.
“Well, Mr. Pierson was in the middle of showing us how to make the first incision yesterday, and then the bell rang. Could you show us?”
“I guess, I could,” Miss Amaya replied, hesitantly taking the scalpel that Cat handed to her. With one hand firmly holding the scarf over her mouth and nose, Miss Amaya placed the scalpel to the frog’s chest. Pressing the scalpel down, using only two fingers as to not accidentally touch the frog’s slimy skin, she began to make the incision. The sound of the frog being cut open caused her to squint and turn her head away. Suddenly a liquid shot out from the opening causing Cat, Miss Amaya, and Hannah to scream. Miss Amaya’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as she collapsed, fainting to the floor. Her scarf slowly floated down to the ground after.
“Miss Amaya?!” Cat yelled.
Waking up in the nurse’s office, Miss Amaya blinked open her eyes and felt her head. A groan of pain followed. “You took a nasty little fall there, Amaya,” the school nurse said, patting Miss Amaya’s arm.
“How long have I been out?”
“Not long. The school day is almost over though,” she replied with a smile.
A few moments later the school bell rang. The door to the nurse’s office flew open and Cat ran into the room. “Miss Amaya! They found Melvin’s car in a ditch by the Covington River! There’s no trace of him anywhere!” Cat’s voice wobbled.
“What?!” Miss Amaya sprang up, forgetting her headache. “Do they know what happened?” she asked with worried eyes.
“No, they have no idea! Principal Landers just made the announcement like fifteen minutes ago. She wanted to let us know personally, and not have to find it out on the news.”
“I was shocked when I heard. Such a nice man, I hope they find him soon,” the nurse commented. Miss Amaya stared at Cat in disbelief, Cat stared back. A tear rolled down her cheek as Cat embraced her in a hug. No more words were spoken.
15
Mind Your P’s And Q’s
The school’s winter open house was a packed affair. As Cat and her mom entered her biology classroom she was overcome with sadness. She missed Mr. Pierson’s smile. Miss Amaya stood by his desk greeting the parents and students, not looking any happier than Cat.
“Mrs. Colvin, Cat, welcome. And thank you for braving this dreadful weather to be with us. I’m still getting used to this room.” Her eyes began tearing up as she turned to point to a sheet of paper lying on the desk. “Please sign in, and as soon as the bell rings we’ll begin.”
Cat reached over and squeezed Miss Amaya’s hand, relieved at the little smile she received back.
“Welcome, parents and students. I’m Miss Amaya and this is Biology 101. If some of you haven’t heard, I’m Mr. Pierson’s temporary replacement. On the board you’ll see what we have in store for the remainder of the school year. We recently dissected frogs, not one of my favorite things, I can assure you,” she smiled as several people laughed at the disgusted look on her face. “Now, feel free to look around the room at some of the projects your children have been working on. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”
After walking around the classroom, Rachel sat down in one of the many student desks, trying to keep her attention on one of Cat’s project folders. Instead, she was distracted by her daughter’s focus on Miss Amaya. Cat had informed them of the affect Mr. Pierson’s disappearance had on her usually happy teacher. Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel watched as Ulla Bancroft’s ugly glare focused on Cat who was talking with Hannah.
“Miss Amaya looks really upset,” Hannah said gloomily.
“I know. I wish we could help her. She really liked Mr. Pierson, and he liked her,” Cat whispered, glancing over at Miss Amaya.
“I can’t believe they found his car in that ditch. It’s strange that they didn’t find him too, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, and why was he
out that way? He lives on the other side of town. It’s really weird.” Cat shook her head and then froze, as she met Ulla’s cold stare over Hannah’s shoulder. “Your mom doesn’t look very happy,” Cat whispered. Hannah turned her head and sighed as she looked at her mom.
“I’ve got to go, Cat. That’s her ‘come-here-right-now’ stare. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she murmured, making her way to her mother’s side.
“Mom, what’s up with Mrs. Bancroft? She’s always giving us the evil eye.”
“Just ignore her. Ulla has always been like that. I think she thoroughly enjoys making people uncomfortable. Oh, there goes the bell. Let’s go find your dad and Taylor.”
Rachel stood and moved to the front of the class to say goodbye to Miss Amaya, not seeing that Ulla was also moving forward. “Miss Amaya, thank you for taking over the class, even though it’s under such tragic circumstances. Cat is especially grateful that you did,” Rachel said reassuringly.
“So this is how you get the witch into your corner!” Ulla’s menacing whisper made Rachel turn quickly.
She glared at Ulla, and was thankful that they were the only ones left in the classroom. “I see you still haven’t worked on your manners, Ulla,” Rachel replied.
“How dare you talk about my manners, you filthy mutt! I loathe that my children have to go to the same school as your offspring. You keep your Cath-”
“Ladies, please for your children’s sake, cease this behavior.” Miss Amaya’s eyes met Ulla’s with a warning.
“Sorry, you’re right. This isn’t the time or the place. Please forgive me. And thank you again for everything,” Rachel said and shook Miss Amaya’s hand before leaving the room. Without a word, Ulla scowled at Miss Amaya and then followed Rachel out.
Outside in the parking lot, away from the crowd, Trish’s parents, Roland and Anna Digby, were in a heated argument with the Stone twins’ parents, Tegan and Meredith.