As Sophie lined up the shot, leaping off the floor and propelling the ball towards the hoop, Cody side stepped and span away from Kyle’s trajectory, knowing that it would be stupid to remain in his way. Kyle’s momentum carried him forward and, little to Cody’s knowledge, straight into Travis, who had been streaming towards him from the opposite direction.
They realized only at the last minute that a collision was imminent. Kyle tried to slow himself, his fury melting to fear, but it was already too late. The pair of them skidded into each other, bashing shoulders before Travis toppled to the floor and Kyle pinwheeled his arms for balance, just managing to stay on his feet.
“Yes!” Sophie pumped her fist and laughed, jogging over to collect the ball. She cupped it in the crook of her arm then ran over to Cody, throwing one arm around his neck and pulling him into an embrace.
Too stunned to seize the moment, Cody patted a hand on her back, feeling the clamminess of sweat beneath her clothes, heat radiating from her collar.
“Foul!” Kyle cried, pointing at Travis. “Foul ball. No point.”
Sophie rolled her eyes. “You’re kidding. That was a legit pass and a legal move. Just because you two morons crashed into each other, doesn’t mean the points don’t count.”
Travis cradled his elbow in the palm of his hand, eyes screwed tight in pain. “I think it’s broken. Shit. It hurts.”
“See! Broken limbs. That’s our ball.”
Sophie twisted away before Kyle could grab at the ball. Amy climbed to her feet and jogged over to join them. “Foul ball. I saw it all.”
“Ref’s call.” Kyle grinned.
“Since when was Amy assigned ref?” Sophie scoffed and turned. “We won, fair and square. Just pull up your big boy pants and take the loss.”
Amy stood dutifully by Kyle’s side, her pawing at the loose folds of his clothing. A hurt look came over her face. “What’s gotten into you?”
“What’s gotten into me? First your boyfriend charges Cody for no reason, then he insists on a ‘best of three’ after he loses the first game, and now he’s trying to claim that because he crashed into spaghetti limbs over there, we forfeit our winning point. I don’t think so.” She looked at Cody for help, her bright eyes keen.
Cody shrugged. When he spoke, he was embarrassed by how uncertain he sounded. “Yeah. We won. Fair and square.” He bounced the ball, sending a loud elastic echo around the gymnasium. Brandon still waited by the side-lines, huddled tightly in his jacket and insulated gear. His eyes were closed. Cody wondered if he was actually asleep.
Apparently, Sophie noticed, too. “Your friend isn’t really the adventurous type, is he?” She smiled.
Cody smiled back, then rolled the ball at Brandon. When the ball touched the tip of his toes, Brandon jumped, startled from his snooze. “Come on, Trevors. We’re heading home.”
Cody made a beeline to reclaim his ball, but before he could get to it, something sped past him, knocking into his side before scooping the ball off the floor with nimble fingers. Travis smirked as he clutched the ball to his chest and wagged a finger at Cody. “I don’t think so, new kid. Best of five.”
He chest-passed the ball to Kyle who nodded his agreement, massaging his tender elbow after the throw. “That’s the only way out of here. We win, or no one goes home.”
Brandon climbed unsteadily to his feet. “Just like the NBA pros. Great sportsmanship.”
“What was that?” Kyle snarled, eyes flashing.
Brandan’s breath caught, his eyes shying away from Kyle’s. “Nothing.”
Kyle tossed the ball back to Travis and strode across the court to Brandon, each step a thunderous clap as the sound raced in loops around the gymnasium. “Not ‘nothing.’ You got something to say, say it.” He shoved Brandon firmly in the chest, sending him stumbling back into the lower row of the bleachers where he fell into a seat.
“Hey, back off,” Cody said, springing to his defense. “Brandon’s done nothing wrong.”
“He’s certainly done nothing tonight,” Amy muttered.
“Neither have you,” Sophie elicited a stunned look from Amy, as though she couldn’t believe her bezzie would call out her inherent laziness when it came to sport. She moved quickly and closed the gap between Kyle and Brandon, placing a hand on Kyle’s chest. He glanced down at the whites of her fingers in disdain. “Look, we’re all tired. We’ve had some fun, but let’s quit now before something stupid happens. It’s already,” she looked at her watch, “nearly three in the morning, so let’s pack up our gear and get out of here. Okay?”
Kyle’s nostrils flared. His eyes darted over Sophie’s shoulder to Brandon and then to Cody, now stood by Brandon’s side. For a moment it looked as though he was going to press the issue, then he pointed a finger at Sophie and said, “No one hears about this. Got it?”
Sophie lowered her hand from his chest. “Fine.”
She stood in position until Kyle moved away, following Travis to the pile of coats and gloves which they shrugged on in preparation for the cold outside. The temperature in the gymnasium had lost the edge of its chill thanks to their sweat session, but their breath still frosted, and now that the heat of the game had worn off, their skin began to prickle again.
Dressed and ready to call it a night, they headed towards the door. Brandon took the lead, the most eager of them to leave the gymnasium and get back into the warm cocoon of his bed. But, as they neared the door, they noticed that he was having difficulties pushing it open.
“What’s the problem now?” Travis said.
“It won’t budge.” Brandon shoved his shoulder against the metal door, but it held fast.
Kyle glared at Cody. “Your best friend is a pussy.” He strode towards the door and shoved Brandon indelicately out of the way. Placing both hands on the door, he dug his feet into the ground and shoved, his body shaking from the strain as he gave it everything he had. The door didn’t move an inch.
Cody and Brandon exchanged a look, tried to hide their smiles.
“King, get your ass over here.”
Travis joined Kyle’s side, and together they tried to push the door, yet still nothing happened. After another minute of straining, Kyle stepped back and shook his head. “Must be something blocking it.”
“Need some help?” Sophie called out. There was a note of joy in her voice that Kyle didn’t miss. He scowled as Sophie gathered Cody and Brandon, and even ushered Amy over to press against the door.
“On the count of three,” she said. “One. Two.”
“Three!” Kyle finished, triggering them all to shove against the door. For the first time, there was some give. The double doors started to move, letting in a sharp, thin stream of cold that hurtled at Kyle’s face, its edge keen and sharp. He grimaced against the blast, able to see the first hint of the darkness outside. The door opened another inch, and then held fast once more.
Kyle growled. “Keep pushing!”
They did. The door wouldn’t open any further.
Another minute passed before they gave up. Amy slumped against the door, wiping the back of her forehead with her glove as though this was the most exercise she’d ever done. Brandon folded over and placed his hands on his knees, his back rising and falling in sharp bursts as he struggled for breath. Only Cody, Sophie, Kyle, and Travis had the energy left to step back and examine their work.
The door had opened no more than two inches. Through the three-finger gap they could make out the drift of snow that had gathered against the door. It was piled up to their waists, easily three-feet high, at least. Above the pure white section of snow was nothing more than the darkness of the night, interspersed with the fall of snow that, even now, continued to hurl its contents at the collecting drift in its attempt to cage them within the school.
“Shit,” Brandon exclaimed, taking a step back from the door and blinking numbly.
Kyle rammed his shoulder against the door. “It’s fine. Look, it’s moving.”
“No, it
’s not!”
“Yes, it is. See?” Travis joined Kyle and beat against the door, their shoulders bouncing straight back off as the door protested their efforts. It may as well have been nothing more than a concrete wall.
Cody’s mouth hung open as he peered through the slit in the door. Already the chill had invaded what little warmth they’d generated, the darkness outside acting as a stark reminder that he was not safely nestled in Alex’s home. The snow billowed with a ferocity that he had only glimpsed on one other occasion since his arrival here, and he began to wonder how they were going to get back. The terrain looked all but impossible.
Travis took a few steps back, then sprinted once more at the door. The sole of his boots caught the flurry of ice that had fallen into the gym and slickened the floor, and his feet slipped from beneath him. His arms flailed as he tried desperately to stop the crash, but it was too late. He folded over and smashed into the door, his cheek and temple hitting the frozen metal. His eyes shut and he lay motionless as drifts of snowflakes settled on his face.
“Travis!” Kyle grabbed his feet and dragged his friend away from the door, putting distance between his unconscious body and the invading snow. He came around to Travis’ side and teased open his eyelid. Travis showed no sign of response.
“What do we do?” Amy crouched beside Kyle, draping her arms around his shoulders and burying her face in the thick cloth of his collar.
Kyle shoved Amy with such ferocity that she skidded onto her ass and back across the floor.
Sophie started towards her, “Kyle!”
His eyes flashed with annoyance, not even bothering to look at Sophie, unsympathetic to the hurt displayed on Amy’s face. Amy’s mouth remained open in a perfect ‘O’ as Kyle turned his attention back to Travis. A silent tear rolled down her cheek.
Cody paid attention to none of this as he fixed his gaze on the world outside, the swirling tornadoes of snow finding their way through the small crack they had created to the outside world. His skin began to prickle, and this time he wasn’t certain that it was because of the cold. His eyes narrowed into the black void of darkness revealed through the crack in the door.
Sophie helped Amy to her feet. “Are you alright?”
Amy shrugged Sophie off, patting down her sleeves and turning away. “I’m fine. God, it was nothing, okay?”
“There has to be another way out of here,” Brandon breathed. “Another door? Can we get into the main school?”
“All the doors will be locked,” Sophie said, eyes lingering on the back of Amy’s head. “The only way we can get into the main school building is if this asshole is up for sharing his lock picking skills with the rest of the group.”
Kyle span towards Sophie. “What did you just call me?”
“You heard me.”
Amy glanced from Sophie to Kyle. To Sophie’s surprise, Brandon stepped between them, his eyes uncertain. “This is not the time to turn on each other. We’ve got to find a way out of here before the snow builds up even more and we’re trapped inside until the storm passes.” He pointed to the far side of the hall where a wooden door led off into the farther reaches of the school. “If I know anything about storms and blizzards, the wind should have a dominant direction. The drift building against that door might just be the result of the wind blowing in that particular direction, meaning that if we can get out on the other side of the school—”
“The drift won’t be as high,” Sophie said.
Brandon nodded, his cheeks flushing.
Kyle scowled from the floor, clearly unimpressed that the fat kid had shown some kind of survivalist knowledge and was leading the charge. “What about Travis, huh? He’s out cold. Isn’t that bad for you, if you’re moved when you get knocked unconscious?”
“You’ve already moved him,” Sophie said.
Brandon moved closer to the Kyle and Travis, approaching as though he was entering a cage with a predator. He kneeled on the other side of Travis and placed two fingers against his jugular. “His pulse is fine, that’s a good sign.” He ran his fingers across the slick floor and dabbed his wet fingertips against Travis’ cheeks and lower eyelids. They flickered, only weakly, but he did not wake. “Shit…”
“What?” Kyle asked.
Brandon met his eyes then quickly lowered them again. “We need to wake him up. If someone remains unconscious for too long, it can have serious damaging effects on their brain.”
Kyle seized hold of Travis’ shoulders and shook him violently, calling for him to wake up. Brandon shouted above him, urging him to stop. “No! Don’t shake him. You could make things worse! We can’t move him until he wakes.”
“But you said he needs to wake up!” Kyle breathed heavily, that isolating darkness returning to his eyes as he leered at Brandon. “What are we supposed to do, Point Dexter? One second you’re saying we need to get the hell out of here, the next you’re saying we can’t go until King wakes. Which one is it?”
“Don’t yell at him,” Sophie said. “We need to calm down and think about this. All of us. Breathe and work through this.” Sophie looked at each of them in turn, eyes lingering on Cody who she realized hadn’t said anything in a few minutes and was now simply staring through the gap in the door. His face a sickly shade of white. “Cody? What’s wrong?”
Cody heard her voice as a distant call. He didn’t know how to explain what he was seeing, let along how to activate his numbed vocal cords to put it into words. From the moment the figure had appeared in his field of view he had stood transfixed, unable to process it at all.
It spawned from the darkness, materializing like a specter in the night. At first, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. That perhaps his tired imagination was concocting monstrosities from nothing. But then he could make out the white of the skull hovering above the dark body. Empty sockets where eyes might once have been. Not human, not by any measure, but… something.
Cody raised a shaking hand towards the door, unfurling his finger to point in the creature’s direction. Sophie moved beside him, struggling to see what he was drawing their attention to. Her face was next to his, cheeks almost touching.
“What the…”
The figure raised a hand to its mouth.
Something shot through the gap in the door, a small black projectile, skimming by Cody’s other cheek and finding its home in the wood of the bleachers. A second later, something heavy whacked against the doors, the metallic thud reverberating around the hall like the beating drums of some giant beast.
Amy screamed.
Sophie grabbed Cody’s wrist and pulled him from his reverie as another resounding thump hit the doors. They closed with a sudden snap, bouncing off their frames to re-open again in the meagre gap and get stuck in the snow.
Two faces peered through the gap, faces hidden by the bone-white masks.
Brandon turned on his heels so suddenly that he almost slipped as he made a dash for the far side of the hall. Kyle glared forlornly at Travis, grabbed his ankle and started dragging him across the hall. Together they were within only a few feet of whatever the hell was outside.
Putting aside his reservations, Cody tore his wrist free from Sophie and ran towards Kyle and Travis, closing the gap on the doorway.
“Cody!”
Cody ignored Sophie and grabbed Travis’ other leg, doubling their speed as they dragged him to the others. Travis’ head hung limply to one side as another thud came from the doors and a second object flew through the air, missing them by feet this time due to the awkward angle granted by the doors.
A strange growl, as if of frustration, followed the dying echoes of the banging thuds.
Cody dropped Travis’ leg when they were ten foot from the door at the back of the hall. He placed a hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “Unlock it. Now.”
Any remnant of Kyle’s intimidation left in that moment as the weight of Cody’s words sank in. Moving as if in a dream, Kyle fished inside of his pocket and drew out his lock picking eq
uipment. He began work on the heavy-duty padlock holding the thin wooden doors shut, as the banging returned, growing ever more desperate with each beat.
“What the hell is that?” Sophie breathed, pressing her body against the wall as if she could melt through and fade from sight.
Cody stared at the small black slit on the other side of the hall, the vision of that thing filling his mind’s eye as he slowly shook his head. The memory of the white of that skull hovering in the darkness.
10
Karl Bowman
Karl couldn’t sleep. Not for one second had he kidded himself into believing that he would.
He sat upright, feet touching the bare wooden flooring at the side of his bed. Alexa slept soundly behind him, cocooned in the many folds of their marital bedsheets. Sheets her mother had made for her to mark the occasion of their marriage. Sheets where they had consummated their nuptials and conceived their first and only child. Sheets which marked over a decade of love, arguments, joy, and misery.
Karl was tired of this shit.
He wore only his boxer briefs, his skin prickling with the first sign of cold from the storm outside. The streetlights shut off almost twenty minutes ago and cast the world in darkness. In his mind he played a loop of what had taken place at Tori’s house. The argument they had engaged in, the venom she had spewed. Karl’s blood boiled at the memory of the tiny woman coming at him like a cornered Chihuahua, her feral mouth yapping her retorts and insults as he toyed with the opportunities that presented themselves. Remain in a loveless marriage and raise his child. Or throw it all away for a short-lived fling of incredible sex followed by the empty husk of a relationship he knew deep down he had truly never wanted. That’s all it had ever been to Karl, a way to pass the monotony of the ritualistic living of Denridge Hills. A way to add adventure and excitement to the Groundhog Day that had become his life. Sure, while he was out hunting, he could play up with the lads and enjoy himself as they hooked in meat for the rest of the town and skinned them with only a set of rudimentary tools which had been tried and tested for years, but what happened after that? Return home, engage in mundanities, sleep, repeat. There was no place for love in Denridge.
The First Fall Page 9