Blue Bell

by Sasha Fino

  SASHA FINO’s

  BLUE BELL

  A DARK ACADEMY ROMANCE

  Copyright © 2020 by Sasha Fino

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Sasha Fino asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Sasha Fino has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

  2nd edition

  ISBN: 9798644232253

  To all of the Girls that never saw their 21st birthday due to sexual misconduct has gone wrong. Also, all the survivors of sexual abuse, this book to you.

  2018

  Those woods were once my worst fear; my greatest fear once had been him. He had been my first love—the first man to touch me, to make soft love to me. By far, it remains the best I ever had with a man. He had away with me. Our long conversations could last for hours. The longing gaze in his eyes peering into my soul. Yes, I’ve indeed been aware of pure darkness within him all along. For a while, I overlooked it, observing the good side of him. Being young, foolish, and so damn deep in love.

  Sitting on my patio area overlooking the Portland skyline. Those days are long gone, enjoying a new sunrise with my warm cup of coffee. Feeling the soft spring breeze upon my face looking at the blank page on my laptop screen. It’s past time to speak the truth. Tell the whole story. I spend time reflecting on what happened at Blue Bell Academy. What am Iwa0iting for? I took a long deep breath. It’s the time!

  My name is Audra Calloway, Born on May 24, 1992. I’ve grown up in Portland, Oregon’s elite, a blueblood. My Father, Ronald, the most powerful and respected man in the city. Our family is one of the founding families of Portland. Our family’s beautiful Italian architecture mansion was built around 1907, and it overlooked all of Portland’s skyline. My mother, Penny, left while I was still a newborn. Telling my Dad, she didn’t want to be a wife and a mother. Dad let her go with no fuss. Allowing Penny to leave with loads of money; my Dad had his daughter, and that was all he ever wanted from her. Also, he had his mother; my beloved Grandma Rosemary, helping him raise me. Everyone treated me like a princess. I was content living with my dad, my grandma Rosemary and my dog, Chester.

  I went to Happy Valley Elementary School. There I met two of my lifelong best friends, twins, Ella and Riley Ellison. The three of us were always together. In school, I was the teacher’s pet. An excellent student, love to learn. Some teachers I’ve had I didn’t care for, I’ve overlooked that. No bullying went on in my school days, unlike like today. We all were friends and also kin to each other. My Dad gives me the best of everything and always took me anywhere he went.

  I went to Ringcon Middle School, the home of the Bulldogs. I was involved in the school’s many activities. There, I found my love and passion for writing. I became a part of the school newsletter. I was named the editor of the newsletter in my 8th Grade year. Writing became my passion. I went out with Josh, the boy I played within the sandbox during pre-school. Josh gave me my first kiss; one night, while walking to his home in downtown Portland. The kiss didn’t set off something that was missing inside me, unlike I had hope.

  My grandma always told me stories of her high school days at Blue Bell Academy. Grandma held a particular fondness for her old school. “Audra, my girl, you’re the right fit for the school.” She urged me. It was a family tradition to go there, and everyone expected my Dad to send me to Blue Bell. Had I thought of attending there? In fact, I did all the time. Dreaming of that day, I could enroll. I’ve googled Blue Bell, more often than I’d like to admit. Built-in 1812 and opening the same year, Blue Bell quickly became one of the top boarding schools in the US. Still, the school is hard to get into and only accepts the best. Even though I was a legacy, something else was at work, drawing me to Blue Bell.

  One night my Dad and I were discussing the high school I will attend in the fall. Eating dinner at the best French Restaurant in Portland. I asked him if I could go to Blue Bell in the fall.

  “Audra, I knew you’ve been dreaming about attending Blue Bell. Sweetheart, are you sure about attending Blue Bell? It’s way back on the east coast! You might be homesick.” He told me after a sip of his wine. Eyeing me while he does.

  “Yeah, I know, daddy, I won’t get homesick. Grandma went to Blue Bell, and she made it. She loved her time there and graduated top of her class. Blue Bell is also a tradition in our family. It will prepare me for Dartmouth like we had planned.

  Oh, pretty please, Dad!” I beg him.

  “I can’t argue with that! However, there is a wonderful private school right here, in the heart of Portland that matches Blue Bell, Portland’s Ridge Academy. I went there, and I’ve hoped that someday you’d attend it. All your friends will be going there as well; you would be home with your grandma and me.

  I already put a call in for you began in the fall.”

  “Dad, I love you… I had set my heart on going to Blue Bell.” I reply to him.

  “Are you truly sure of attending Blue Bell, Audra?” “Yes, I’ve carefully thought it out, Dad.” I pointed out to him.

  “How can I ever say no to my princess?” taking in a deep breath, letting out aside. “All right, Blue Bell it is. I’ll put a call in for you to begin in the fall. Audra, you will be a shoo-in because of our family history there.”

  “Daddy, you are the best!” I exclaimed, smiling at him.

  Freshman Year 2007

  Blue Bell accepted me once they noticed my last name and read my application. I’ve told Ella and Riley along with all my other friends. They had given me hell for leaving them for a boarding school for no good reason. “Audra, no one is making you go to Blue Bell!” Ella remarked to me while we were walking downtown Portland with Riley.

  “I want a change of scenery; to go on an adventure. Blue Bell will help me start me on the way to my goal to become an award-winning author if I work at the school newspaper.” I shot back to her.

  “We’re about to enter high school, our golden teenage years!

  You want to miss out on the best years of our life!” Riley griped.

  I continued explaining to Riley and Ella my reasoning on why I am going to go to Blue Bell. They did not like it, but they understood my argument. Ella and Riley also knew that my boyfriend, Josh, and I had ended on good terms. Understanding we didn’t want to have a long-distance relationship caused by my going to Blue Bell.

  The big day came, I was thrilled; saying my goodbyes to everyone. I flew off to Blue Bell Academy in Rhode Island. Blue Bell looked like an old castle sitting all alone and surrounded by a beautiful lake, leading into the woods. Located ten miles outside Radcliffe Heights, the picture-perfect small town. It was everything I’ve dreamed it would be, with much more. Blue Bell is very charming. Little did I know, such dark secrets hiding

  within Blue Bell’s walls.

  At first sight, my new Headmaster, Ashbrook, took my breath away. Upon arrival, Headmaster Ashbrook stood commanding authority and welcoming the freshman class as we all arrived at the main hall of Blue Bell. Explaining the school rules.

  Headmaster Ashbrook, a handsome blue-eyed, salt and pepper brown hai
r, with a great, good-looking body. Also, there were Mr. Derek Baxter, the executive head-teacher, and my all-time two favorite teachers, Ms. Alice Weaver, and Ms. Grace Santana. In all 16 teachers live on campus along with the 400 students attending Blue Bell.

  I made fast, wonderful lifelong friends named; Lindsay, Lionel, Chloe, Matt, Bryce, and Trent. All my new friends came from family wealth like myself - “old money.” Lionel came from a blue-blood family New York City. He’s pure English, born in London, England. The rest were American families just like mine.

  They assigned Lindsay Kemper to be my dorm roommate, and we got along great. We had a blast decorating our room and were able to remain roommates for the next four years. Like me, she came from “old money” a real southern belle; she still lives on her family southern plantation passed down in the family when not in attendance at Blue Bell. She’s very proud of her ancestors’ rich history in Charleston, South Carolina. She loves Gone with the Wind, while I favor That Hamilton Woman, another Vivien Leigh movie. My roommate, Lindsay becomes my best friend there.

  I started up at my school newspaper as soon as they would let me. Hearing stories of murders and mayhem in the school, Stories of ghosts walk the school’s hall piqued my interest immediately. I did not want to buy into these rumors since my grandma had never told me anything terrible of Blue Bell and brushed it off, but I kept being drawn to investigate. Still, I fell in love with Blue Bell. I loved to spend my Sundays off reading under a huge old tree right by the lake.

  I’ve spent a lot of time with Ms. Weaver and Ms. Santana after school hours. Ms. Santana took me under her wing becoming a motherly figure in my life. One day I was running late for a meeting for the school’s paper. While running in the hall; I smacked right into Headmaster Ashbrook, knocking us both to the floor, catching me in his arms, we look at each other for a moment.

  “I apologize for rushing into you Headmaster,” getting up from the floor and un-entangling myself from him. “It’s all fine. I’m not hurt, but are you?” Headmaster Ashbrook questions me.

  “No, I am not hurt. I would have been if it weren’t for you catching me, Headmaster Ashbrook. Will you be giving me a pink slip?” I ask the last question nervously.

  He smiled at me. “Why would I? It’s just a mistake; I’ll let it pass.”

  “Oh, thank you Headmaster Ashbrook!” I exclaimed being thankful.

  “Please call me Ashbrook. Headmaster Ashbrook was my dad’s name and my grandpa’s. My family has owned this school since day one,” he laughs a bit awkwardly.

  “All right Ashbrook,” letting out a small laugh. “I’m late now!”

  “Yes, you are, better go… Freshman, right?” “Yea,” I told as I walked past him.

  “What’s your name?” Ashbrook asks.

  “Audra!”

  “What a pretty name. See you around!” waving goodbye at me and I smile in response to him.

  After that, I kept on bumping into Ashbrook. We would start talking, walking the halls for hours on end, establishing a friendship with him he made me laughed, joking with each other. I found myself being sexually attracted to Ashbrook. I couldn’t believe it, but yes, I did, feeling like I could tell him things that I’ve said no one. Lindsay called it a silly schoolgirl crush that would pass once I told her my feelings for Ashbrook.

  Fall and winter were just breathtakingly beautiful; the scenery of the estate grounds almost couldn’t be described. Having a blast with all of my new friends, I reluctantly went home on Christmas break. My grandma began doting on me for going to Blue Bell like she did before me, at all of the Holiday parties. My Dad was proud of me too. I took note for the longing in his eyes for Charlotte, he liked her. Also, Ella and Riley told me had seen my dad and Charlotte kissing and holding hands without a care in a world at an outside coffee café.

  Dad never had dated while I was growing up. He always told me that, “It didn’t feel right for me to have a girlfriend while you were at home and I was caring for you.”

  It turns to spring at Blueblood. Lindsay, Lionel, Chloe, Matt, Bryce, Trent, and I all decided to venture into the woods beyond the school’s grounds on a sunny Friday afternoon, after school.

  We got lost in the deep woods, and wound up playing flashlight tag once the sun had set. I step on a piece of timber discovering that I’ve measured on a trap door on the ground of the woods covered by leaves and wood.

  “Why would there be a trap door in the woods?” I ponder while we all voted to see who would look what was behind that creepy trap door since night had fallen on us. We all have flashlights and decide to climb down together; once we were below, we discovered the bodies of three dead girls. They looked as if they were beaten, naked, tied, and bloody. The bodies had been there for many years. Lindsey turned white as a ghost while she held my hand so hard. Chloe yelling and swearing, Bryce looked stone cold at the bodies while Lionel and Matt took charge, everyone talking at once about why there is something like this in the woods as our eyes wandering around the room taking in the scene.

  The room had been built with bricks from the 1800 hundreds, I thought. A medium size room, with the walls covered with old blood stains with dangerous objects on the walls. Horror hangs in the air. What the hell had we found? Why were there three murdered girls doing there rotting away? My mind racing around for answers or some kind of reason, but grabbing on to nothing concrete that made sense.

  My mind raced with thought about how my dad had let me read Stephen King, Nora Roberts, loving the good psychological thriller books and movies. Dad or Grandma made me watch with them because they loved them too. I spoke, telling them that I once read a psychological thriller with scenes like this and it was evident that there’s foul play here and we must not stay in this room another minute.

  Hearing the voices of Ms. Weaver and Ms. Santana calling

  to us as we each climbed out. We were relieved to see them. The teachers called the police to investigate the murders after we told Ms. Weaver and Ms. Santana what lay below the trap door.

  I had to answer questions from the police, Ashbrook, and Mr. Baxter. I was told that the three girls went missing in 1981. The missing persons case was considered a cold case because the authorities did not find enough evidence to develop a prime suspect or even figure out what happened to them. Mr. Ashbrook comforted me during this time by listening to me and consoling me.

  I heard rumors, a prostitution ring that included sex trafficking of young girls was going on at the school, and that’s how these girls had been murdered… did I wonder about it? Nope, I didn’t… I could not begin to believe Mr. Ashbrook would allow that to happen in our excellent school.

  That summer, I returned home. My Dad was very angry with my grandma for most of the summer. “Look what you did, Mother! Audra, my princess, has become involved in the finding of the bodies and investigation of these three horrible murders! Audra must not go back!” He hissed to her one night while they had thought that I already asleep in my bed. They whispered more I couldn’t hear what they talking about. Did they know something that I didn’t know?

  When fall came and against his better judgment, my dad let me return to school.

  Sophomore Year: 2008

  If memory serves me right, that’s the beginning of the end of things at Blue Bell. On Saturday, Lindsay, Lionel, and I play tag in the woods yet again. We uncovered an unmarked VHS in a box near where we had found the trap door. We didn’t know what to do with it and we were scared. Lionel wanted to go to Headmaster Ashbrook and turn that VHS into him.

  We wondered if we should have listened to Lionel; however, Lindsay and I were being too headstrong chose not to turn it over.

  Looking for my first big break in the school newspaper writing something that the school would buzz about. Anyhow that night, Chloe, Matt, Bryce, Lionel, Lindsay, Trent, and I snuck into a classroom at 2am in the morning, while all the teachers slumbered. Putting in the VHS into the VCR player. The tape turns out to be a recording made by a child
pornographer. A sweet little girl and a dirty much older man. We were in such shock and we kept watching it to the end, mostly because we just couldn’t believe our eyes. We were young, dumb and naïve.

  It makes me sick in every way. That’s not possible, I kept thinking… I wanted nothing more than to figure out who the girl is and to ensure she was safe, and that it never happens to any child again.

  We notice the date make on that tape, March of 1998. Right then and there Lindsay, myself, Lionel, Chole, Matt, Bryce, and Trent take a vow, to tell no one, not tell a soul regarding what we had watched on that VHS until we could figure out who the little girl was and if she was one of the dead girls we had found. A few days later after no leads on who she might be, Lindsay and I began to wonder if that little girl is one of our classmates since the girl was our age, now.

  Why was that tape too easy to discover in the woods… every damn time I have gone there I stumble upon on something horrific? I must stop going there.

  I’ve begun to see a lot of sexual things happening at Blue Bell. Bryce got after school detention for a bad grade on a paper in Mr. Edwards English class. Bryce told Lindsay and me after that he made her have sex with him while in detention; she had tears pouring out of her eyes and just wanted it to all go away. She didn’t want to report him and didn’t want us to say anything either. It had been her first time. Such a tragedy. How can I make this stop?

  I wrote everything I saw in my notebook. Subsequently, digging in deeper and deeper discovered that some of the female teachers were prostitutes by night, and a few high school senior girls were in it as well to pay for college. Mr. Ashbrook is rumored to be the head of the prostitution ring.

  I went right to Headmaster Ashbrook and came right out and asked him if the rumors are true. He told me in the matter of fact and I began to see the evil that he really was when he responded, “Yes,” while looking deep into my eyes.