The elementary school had closed only a short time ago, so most of the entryways were still unlocked. Sara and Maria entered through a door that was located at the back of the building, facing the baseball field. Once they were inside, they found that the place was eerily quiet.
Since the vast majority of the staff had departed for the day, the school had an odd, somber aura about it, which was a striking contrast to the hustling, bustling place the sisters were used to. They were accustomed to hallways that were filled with children and laughter and the squeaking of sneakers.
Now, the only sound was the hum of the heating system. It was a low, droning noise, created as the furnace burned its fuel, and currents of air were pushed through the ductwork of the building.
“Holy macaroni… it’s kind of warm in here, don’t you think?” Maria asked.
“Yep,” Sara agreed. “It’s already gotten quite a bit warmer just from the time school was dismissed.”
The difference in temperature was immediately noticeable, particularly since the sisters had just come in from the outdoors, where it was relatively cool by comparison.
Knowing that their baseball cleats would make far too much noise as they moved about on the tiled floor of the hallways, they quickly removed them from their feet, swapping them for their sneakers. They stashed their cleats and their ball caps in their backpacks and proceeded in near silence.
The sisters quickly made their way to the auditorium, which seemed like the most logical place to begin their investigation. In a precautionary move, they ensured the door that led to the hallway was propped open before entering, should a hasty retreat become necessary.
As they stepped into that vast room, they let their eyes roam over it, taking everything in and searching for any potential clues. Their first impression was that nothing was amiss. The overhead lights were in full effect, so the auditorium was perfectly illuminated, leaving little to the imagination.
The rows of stadium-style seating were empty, and nothing looked out of place. There certainly were no nefarious characters present (Phantom or otherwise), as far as they could tell.
“Let’s take a look at the stage. That’s where the Phantom said he’d pick up his ‘salary’, right?” Sara asked, keeping her voice low, in the event they did happen to be under observation from an unseen person.
“Yep,” Maria confirmed. “That’s what the lunatic said.”
“And there’s no sign of Dad, as of yet,” Sara said.
“I wonder if he’s down in the cafeteria, getting all that food together. Well, let’s take a look up on the stage before he gets here, just in case the Phantom laid out a booby trap for him or something,” Maria suggested. “He thinks he’s looking out for our safety, but that’s a two way street - we need to look out for him, too.”
They bypassed the short series of stairs that made ascension of the stage possible, instead choosing to climb directly onto it. As they clambered onto the hard surface of cherry wood, they got to their feet and began poking around the thick, green curtains that hung from the ceiling.
“Well, we have to look behind here,” Maria chuckled. “That’s a given!”
“You know… I thought I might have seen something back here earlier,” Sara said.
“What do you mean? When?”
“It was when we were sitting here in the dark, when the Phantom had taken control. Just after that second pyrotechnic display, when the place filled with light and sound - that’s when it happened,” Sara explained.
“Well, what was it, exactly?” Maria asked eagerly. “Why didn’t you mention it earlier?”
“I didn’t bring it up because I’m not even sure that I did see anything. It could have just been my eyes playing tricks on me, or my imagination running wild. That flash of light from the ceiling was so bright, I was seeing black spots for quite a few seconds afterward. But…”
“But what?” Maria asked.
“In that short moment when the whole auditorium was lit up, I could have sworn I saw some movement back here,” Sara said, pointing at the drawn curtains. “Where they meet here in the middle, I thought I saw the fabric ripple and move, like somebody was back there, getting up to something.”
“Oooh, interesting,” Maria said, her curiosity engaged. She reached for the curtains in question. “Let’s take a look-see, shall we?”
The girls pulled the heavy curtains apart just far enough so that they could squeeze through. On the other side, the stage continued, and there was a wide array of equipment that had been used for plays and presentations in the past. The lighting there was not as bright as it was in the rest of the auditorium, but there was still more than enough to see by.
“Hmm… nothing out of place at first glance,” Sara whispered to her sister. “Let’s do a search.”
At first, nothing looked suspicious in the slightest. But as the sisters cautiously paced the length of the stage, they saw something that caught the attention of both of them simultaneously. As one, they paused in their tracks, their eyes fixed at a spot near their feet.
“Uh… what is that?” Maria asked.
“I have no idea,” Sara answered. “Let’s take a closer look.”
A hole had been cut into the wood of the stage, and the sisters knelt down to examine it. They saw that it was about six inches in diameter, and the edges were fairly rough, as if it had been created with some type of saw. They peered at it in bafflement, unsure of what its presence could possibly signify.
“What do you suppose the meaning behind this might be? It seems kind of weird, don’t you think?” Sara asked.
“Hmm…” Maria murmured as she leaned closer to the hole, squinting her eyes. “Too dark… I can’t see anything in there. I wonder if it has anything to do with that Phantom character.”
“I can’t see any legitimate purpose it might serve. Maybe he’s hidden something in there,” Sara suggested.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Maria said, reaching her hand into the hole.
“Careful, sis! It could be booby trapped!” Sara warned.
“I’ll be careful…” Maria promised, slowly stretching her hand deeper into the hole. “I just want to see…”
With a short yelp, she withdrew her hand in a blur of movement. Her eyes had become wide, and her face had twisted into an expression of shock.
“What is it? What happened?” Sara asked.
“There’s something in there,” Maria hissed.
“What?”
“I just felt it brush against the back of my hand!”
“Are you sure? What do you think it was?”
“I have no idea. I’m kind of hoping it was just a mouse… but I have my doubts,” Maria said. “The way things are going around here, I suspect it might have been something more sinister than that.”
The sudden noise of tings and pings and thwomps from above drew the girls’ eyes to the ceiling. There were large, tubular pieces of ductwork that had been installed among the rafters as part of the school’s heating system.
And it seemed as if the sounds were coming from within that ductwork.
“What is going on?” Sara asked.
“Is it the Phantom?” Maria wondered.
They were doing an admirable job of keeping level heads, but they had to admit they were somewhat unnerved by what they were experiencing. Was it possible, they wondered, that the Phantom really was an omnipresent specter, flitting among the rafters and seeing all?
As silly as it seemed, they were almost getting the impression that the auditorium might be haunted.
Suddenly, a different noise was heard. Unlike the other sounds, this one had not originated inside the auditorium. Having left the door propped open, they could tell that it had come from one of the nearby hallways.
It was a terrible racket, like the sound of a collection of drum cymbals crashing upon the floor. The sisters locked eyes with one another, and the same thought passed through their minds simultaneously. They saw the alarm clearly vis
ible on one another’s face.
As one, they whispered: “Dad.”
Chapter Eleven
Seized By Strangeness
The Green Beans, Volume 5: The Phantom of the Auditorium Page 10