Reunion (A Psychological Suspense with Murder, Mystery and the Paranormal)

by Jeff Bennington

  Nick watched the scene like a spirit entering eternity. He heard the whimpers and cries for help. He saw students hiding under tables and bodies lying in blood. The deafening screams faded as Nick’s sleeping spirit rose from the grim scene. He hovered away from the pain and misery of not only his life, but David’s life as well. Then as he escaped the dreadful experience, Nick felt a pull. It felt like a kite string yanking him back into reality. He felt a tug on his throat that reeled him backward, faster and faster, returning him to the reality of the cold, waxy floor. In an instant, his spirit slammed back into his body, leaving him face to face with David one last time.

  David gasped for air and his eyes flew wide open, sucking in all the oxygen his lungs could take. His mouth opened to its fullest capacity and he screamed, “I’M STILL ALIVE!” Over and over Nick heard David cry at the top of his lungs. “I’M STILL ALIVE! I’M STILL ALIVE! I’M STILL ALIVE! KILL ME! KILL ME! KILL ME!

  Nick startled to consciousness in the jail cell. He sat up and screamed, panting like a dehydrated animal. His clothes were soaking wet and his skin freezing cold. He then realized that other inmates had woken and were surrounding him. They stood still, just staring down at him. He lay back on the cot, trying to reorient himself.

  From across the aisle, someone cried out in a bloodcurdling voice. “Aaaaaaaa!”

  Two cells down the hallway, another made gobbling noises.

  “Boooooo,” whispered another inmate who stood over Nick.

  Nick rolled off the bed, panicked by their close proximity. He yelled, “Shut up! Shut up! It was just a dream!”

  Sheriff Richards entered the cell block in response to the ruckus.

  “Hey! Hey! Hey! Keep it down in there!” He beat his nightstick across the cell gates as he walked along the aisle. When he came to Nick’s cell, he put his hands on the bars and asked, “You okay, Nick?”

  “I’ve been better!”

  “What’s going on?”

  Nick shoved one of the prisoners out of his way.

  “I just had a nightmare. But you shouldn’t waste your time worrying about me. You’ve got bigger problems on your hands.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m talking about the school, Larry.”

  “What about the school?”

  “Oh, I think you know.” Nick brushed his fingers through his sweat-soaked hair.

  “I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”

  Nick’s brow furrowed and his lips tightened with frustration. He knew Larry was lying. He pushed his way to the gate.

  “I’m talking about David Ray! Come on, Larry. I know about the kid, and I know about David too.”

  One of the derelicts across the isle shouted, “David Ray? I remember him.” He laughed. “He was a good boy, a real good boy. Hehehehe.”

  Larry looked toward the chuckling deviant and said, “Shut up!” and turned back.

  “It’s politics, Nick. You know that.”

  “I—don’t—care!” shouted Nick. “Just keep everyone away from the school so no one else gets killed!”

  Larry sighed. He called for another officer and then unlocked the gate.

  “Come on. We should talk.” Larry let Nick out of the cell, guarded by the second officer, relocked it and escorted him to an interrogation room near his office.

  17th

  After a day of resting, relaxing and talking together, Maria and the group were back at the school, cutting down overgrown brush and cleaning up trash. Julie and her team resumed recording to add video clips and sound bites to the story. Meanwhile, a team of maintenance workers made aesthetic and mechanical repairs.

  Inside the mechanical room, high-pressure steam seeped out of some of the pipes, creating a humid mist. It was an open area approximately thirty feet by thirty feet, with an overhead hoist, electric panels, an industrial boiler and large pipes lining the walls.

  Paul Giles, the maintenance foreman, led the repair work. He was a towering figure who had spent decades maintaining the school system’s facilities. He hadn’t been on this campus since they shut it down and was excited about the prospect of reopening the school. He stood on the ground, while his subordinate, Mike Neal, worked on a ladder, replacing one of the steam fittings. Mike had only been on staff for a few years, but he was one of Paul’s best workers. He was in his early thirties and had a brown ponytail—a work-by-day, party-by-night type of guy. He had headphones hanging from his neck, so he could listen to his music when he worked alone.

  “You know, Mike, this building isn’t in that bad a shape. If we replaced some pipes and light fixtures, it could be up and running in no time!”

  Mike replied with a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth, “That may be, but I’ve heard some rumors going ‘round ‘bout this place. From what I hear, it’s not a very hospitable environment to the living, if you know what I mean.” He nodded his head and reached out his hand. “Hand me that wrench, would ya?”

  “Sure. Here you go.” Paul handed Mike a pipe wrench. “But what are you talking about, Mike? What rumors?”

  “Thanks.” Mike grabbed the tool. “Dude, I’m talking about the ghost of David Ray! They say he’s been hauntin’ the place.”

  “And you believe ‘em?” Paul cocked his head and grinned. “Come on, Mike!”

  “Hey, I’m not altogether superstitious, but I do think anything’s possible.”

  “Hmm. We’ve been here for two hours now, and I haven’t seen anything. “ Paul shook his head and laughed, brushing off the possibility of paranormal activity.

  “Well, I hope you’re right.”

  Paul watched Mike scratch an itch on his face, adding more grime to his already dirty complexion, and wondered if his employee had been partying too much.

  “So, what are the other guys workin’ on?” asked Mike.

  “I think they’re waxing the cafeteria floor and installing some new ceiling tiles. You know, a basic clean-up job.” Paul grabbed the clipboard which had his “To Do” list on it and asked, “You gonna be all right for a while?”

  “Sure.” Mike nodded and grinned, his lower lip bulging from the tobacco. “I’ll be working on this for a little bit longer and then I’ll work on the breaker over there.” He nodded toward the boiler.

  “Okay then. I’ll go check on the boys and see if they need anything.”

  “Sounds good. Thanks for your help, boss!” Mike put his headphones on and continued working. Paul walked out of the boiler room and headed for the cafeteria.

  • • •

  Mike started singing along with his MP3 player to make the time go by faster.

  “In the night—time for fright—fight or flight—gonna get it right—or you’re gonna lose sight. Go to bed—sleepy head—don’t get dead—don’t see red—that’s what the sandman he said. Sleep with both eyes open—clutching your blanket tight…”

  While he sang, he felt a slight breeze blow by his neck. He dismissed it, assuming it was just a draft. He continued singing while he tightened the fitting.

  “Go to work—go to play—just don’t go dead today—gotta hear what I say. I wanna fly—wanna try—got no time to die—please just don’t ask me why. Sleep with both eyes open—screaming into the night… “

  Again, Mike felt something whip past his neck. That time he suspected one of the guys.

  “Hey! What the hell?” He took off his headphones, put his wrench down on the top step of the ladder and turned around to have a look. He didn’t see anything, but it felt as if someone was watching him. He slowly turned his head and peered into the dark shadows to see if Paul or one of the other guys were hiding. Still, he saw nothing. Then just before he turned back to continue working he felt a rush of air blow by his face and heard voices whispering as they rushed past him.

  “Set him free, set him free, set him free, set him free, set him free, set him free, set him free…”

  Chills rippled down his spine and caused him to lose his balance. To keep from falling, he
reached toward the ladder but missed and grabbed a hot steam line. He shrieked in pain, letting go of the pipe, instinctively grabbing at his injured hand. As a result, he fell from the ladder and tumbled awkwardly down, catching his leg between the rungs and hearing a crack as it broke. Screaming in pain, he landed on his tailbone, and slammed his hand on the bottom step of the ladder. The vibration caused the pipe wrench to shift and fall. When Mike heard the wrench clanging down the rungs, he looked up, but could not stop the inevitable. It landed with high velocity right in the center of his forehead, splitting his skull. He was knocked out cold and lay there alone and bleeding badly.

  • • •

  Instead of cutting back the overgrowth, Tanner was practicing his golf swing with a sickle. He set his feet, shook his body into position, bent his knees, clasped his fingers together and swung his arms backward. He called out “Fore!” as he swung forward with his head down.

  Kate watched Tanner as she walked with Bryan. They carried plastic trash bags and pickup sticks to skewer the debris. Kate stabbed an aluminum can, stuck it in her bag and turned toward Bryan and said, “I know we agreed to have the reunion here, but something doesn’t feel right. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s me.”

  Bryan stood still and silent.

  “Bryan, are you okay?” Kate touched his shoulder.

  “What? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking about the school. I just wish—”

  “Wish what? You can tell me.”

  Bryan chuckled to himself and turned away. “Yeah right. I wish I could.”

  Kate pressed further. “Really, Bryan. What is it?”

  Bryan turned back and snapped at Kate. “I told you. I can’t say anything!” His eyes were blank. Kate thought he looked like he was in a trance.

  “You don’t understand, Kate. There are things in my line of work that I see…that I know about, but I’m not allowed to tell anyone, not even you. Trust me, I wish I didn’t know about any of this, but I do!”

  Kate looked at Bryan. He seemed more distressed than she’d ever seen him. She looked at the school and turned back toward him. He didn’t move and his eyes looked cold and detached as he watched Julie Divulge walking toward them.

  “Is it the school?” Kate asked.

  He turned away to hide his reaction.

  “Is it?”

  At that moment, Julie approached.

  “Hi, guys! How’s it going?”

  “Oh, just fine,” Kate lied. Her face couldn’t hide her uneasy feelings.

  “Why so glum? This is a big week for you guys! And the place is looking great by the way. You should be proud.”

  “Thanks,” replied Kate. Bryan dropped his trash bag and walked away.

  Julie’s jaw dropped. “Was it something I said?”

  Kate shook her head. Accustomed to codependency, she covered for Bryan by saying, “It’s his work. He’s having a hard time and he can’t talk about it.”

  “Ouch! I’m sorry to hear that. Good thing we got some footage while you were both working.”

  • • •

  Lana kept busy picking up sticks and other debris. She pushed a wheelbarrow as she made her way toward Tanner, intrigued by his golf swing.

  “Hey there, Tan! What are you doing?” she asked accusingly.

  “Why? Am I in trouble?”

  She responded flirtatiously. “Maybe.”

  “Maybe?” He smiled and resumed his pre-swinging position.

  “Keep your head down,” Lana teased. Tanner cleared his throat as a way of asking for silence.

  “Lock your elbows!” Lana giggled. Tanner stopped and rubbed his eyes and jaw, but said nothing. The look in his eyes expressed his irritation. He resumed his stance and prepared to swing.

  Lana persisted. “Bend your knees!”

  As Tanner swung the sickle, he heard her words and laughed quietly to himself. However, the joking came to an abrupt stop. Tanner let go of the sickle, and it went flying into the air. He fell backward, and his face twisted with terror. Suddenly, his breathing changed and grew heavy. He began crawling backward, in a crab-walk, as if he were trying to escape something.

  Lana ran to him.

  “What is it, Tanner? What happened?” Lana looked terrified by his sudden display.

  His eyes were wide open, searching blankly for something.

  “I don’t know. I…I think my mind is playing tricks on me…or something!”

  “What happened? Did you see something?”

  “Yes!”

  “What was it?”

  Tanner hesitated. “It…it was David Ray. He was right there!” Lana put her hands over her mouth and gasped.

  “When I swung…” Tanner gulped, clenched a fist and put it near his mouth. He barely got the words past his trembling lips. “When I swung, I saw David Ray’s head. And when the sickle came down, he screamed! The sickle cut his head off!” Tanner breathed deeply, his eyes staring wildly around the yard, searching for the head, but he saw nothing. What the hell? It was there, he thought. I saw it!

  He wasn’t much of a believer in the paranormal. He tried to come up with a logical explanation, to no avail. He turned to Lana.

  “Did you see or hear anything?” he asked.

  Lana shook her head. “No. Nothing.”

  “Then it’s me. I’m seeing things, aren’t I?”

  Lana stared at Tanner. “I don’t know.”

  • • •

  Paul walked toward the two men on his maintenance team who were working in the cafeteria. The bigger man, Tony, was plump and stood about five feet eleven. He wore coveralls and a green John Deere cap. He was pushing a mop with wax, moving it in a figure-eight motion. His partner, Joe, pushed the squeegee and wiped away the excess solution. Joe was a frail seventy-something. His coworkers called him “old man Joe.” He had a quiet spirit and a tell-it-like-I-see-it mantra.

  “Looking good,” Paul said. “Everything looks real good.”

  “Thank ye,” replied old man Joe. He never looked up but kept working when Paul arrived. He had broken his back in a farming accident as a child and was hunched over as a result. Tony, on the other hand, proved more than willing to take a break. He plopped the gooey mop-head on the floor and rested his weight on the handle.

  “And what have you been doing all day, boss?” asked Tony.

  “I guarantee I’ve done more than you,” replied Paul.

  Paul and old man Joe both chuckled.

  Tony strained to speak through his heartburn. “Well, maybe I’d get something done around here if you got me some help that’s still breathing!” Tony nodded his head and double chin in Joe’s direction. Joe stopped laughing.

  “Oh, don’t worry about old man Joe,” said the foreman. “He’ll be here long after you’re gone!”

  Joe resumed his work, giggling. “He he he he.”

  Paul changed his tone to a more serious one. He had to get to the bottom of the rumors that were circulating about the building. “So, have you guys seen or heard anything unusual?”

  “Nope!” responded Tony.

  “Aaaap!” wheezed old man Joe.

  “You okay there, Joe?” asked Paul.

  “Aaaap!”

  Taken aback, Paul questioned Joe’s response.

  “What are you saying, Joe? Did you see something unusual today?”

  “Aaaap!”

  “For God’s sake, what is he saying, Tony?”

  Sarcastically, Tony replied, “He’s saying…Aaaap!”

  Paul grew frustrated. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “I think it means yes. At least, that’s what I assume he means when he makes that sound.”

  Paul thought for a second and asked, “So, what did you see, Joe?”

  Joe pointed behind the two men. They both followed his finger with their eyes.

  “What the—!” shouted Tony. He tripped on the mop bucket, causing the wax to spill all over the floor. He slipped and splashed in the slippery solution.

&n
bsp; “Oh, God!” cried Paul. His heart skipped a beat.

  When Paul turned to look at what old man Joe pointed at, he saw a hazy mirage of children walking to and fro. The images looked like an old-time movie where the picture faded in and out, but the same frames played over and over. Paul and Tony stood there frozen, watching the images emerge and vanish again as if their broadcast depended on a weakening signal. Old man Joe just kept on gliding his squeegee across the floor. The flickering film continued, smoky and translucent. Paul stared right through the children, across the cafeteria.

  They seemed to be trapped in another dimension where they walked the same path over and over. Their spirits appeared lost and searching for the life that was cut way too short. One of the spirits resisted the pattern and stared right back at them, looking deep into the place that he could no longer enter.

  “Do you see that, boss?” asked Tony as he rose to his feet, dripping with wax.

  Paul stepped back and said, “Yeah,” then turned toward Joe. “Why didn’t you say something, Joe? Why didn’t you tell us?”

  Joe kept on working. “Reckon, you’d see it all by yurself, just like you done.”

  Paul and Tony looked at Joe in disbelief. Paul threw his hands in the air and began pacing in circles, trying to make sense of the mirage as it slowly disappeared.

  Paul looked at the men and commanded, “Just finish the floor and get the hell out of here. You hear me?” They nodded and began rapidly cleaning up. Tony looked over his shoulder and gripped the mop handle tight.

  “I’ll check on Mike,” said Paul. “Hopefully he’s done by now.”

  • • •

  When Paul entered the boiler room, he saw Mike lying on the floor twisted and bleeding. He rushed forward. He could tell the injuries were serious. He crouched down, taking note of the pipe wrench lying near Mike’s head.

  “Mike! You okay?” Paul put his fingers on Mike’s neck to check for a pulse. He’s still alive, but barely breathing, he thought. Immediately he pulled his cell phone off his belt and dialed 9-1-1.

  Minutes later, two paramedics wheeled a gurney into the school. Old man Joe stood guard by the front door, taking it all in. He watched the small crowd that had gathered outside, holding his squeegee like some sort of gatekeeper’s staff. He kept the others out so the paramedics could do their job. After they’d triaged Mike, they wrapped his head in gauze and fitted him with a neck support brace, and then wheeled him out of the school to the waiting ambulance.