"Logan, come look at this." Ollie laughed. Logan looked. "It's a rat being eaten by a cheese." Logan rolled their eyes.
"I see that, Ollie. We're supposed to be researching Raid. Stay on task. Can't you just like, know this shit? Why aren't you helping?" Logan said, scrolling through a Wikipedia article on Raid County. Finding reliable information was difficult. Especially when basically all of the content about your town are conspiracy theories.
"I do know it. But the problem is getting it down for you. I don't want to do that. You know, we shouldn't take advantage of me. Let's just copy the best things from everyone else's projects. You know, change them up a little." Ollie rambled, continuing to draw monstrous cheese with sharp teeth, devouring rats.
"I can't stand working with you. Just tell me what to write, you don't have to do anything yourself." Logan bargained, trying to get Ollie to actually say something factual instead of drawing stupid rats and cheese.
"Fine. You're no fun. So... Raid was founded by Sandy Cardinal, not that long ago, in a random unpopulated area of Northeast Missouri, and the reason no one was there is because when people first tried to move there, everyone went missing, and about half of them showed up about a month later having no idea that they'd been gone."
Logan's fast paced typing was only slightly behind Ollie's train of thought. "Shouldn't we write the exact date?"
"Well duh, I figured you'd edit what I tell you, that shouldn't be hard to find. Anyway, the old buildings in Raid used to catch fire, like, a lot. That's why all the old churches and shit are so messed up."
"Who's head did you pull that out of..." Logan mumbled, continuing to type what Ollie said into the school desktop.
"Hm? Oh, if I had to guess it's one of the our classmates, judging by how easy it was to gather, and someone who's actually working right now, so that rules out... it's Zoe, that kid in the corner by the cabinets." Ollie recounted, piecing together information to form an easy conclusion.
"I'm continuously surprised that you're not as stupid as you act." Logan stated. "I probably wouldn't have figured that out."
"You wouldn't know, would you? I can tell when information is close. There's a difference-" Ollie was cut off by an announcement over the staticky intercom.
Lockdowns were frequent, as were weather warnings and random power outages. Raid was a weird town, it was common knowledge.
"This is a lockdown. I repeat, full lockdown."
Logan and Ollie crawled under the table where the computers were situated. The rest of the class followed suit, with too much chatter for the situation, Logan thought.
The teacher closed the curtains, turned off the lights, and locked the door. Ollie attempted to listen through the wall to hear the footsteps of whoever was inside.
It would be easier to know, she thought, if I could find its information. So, Ollie reached out with her mind to attain the location of the supposed intruder. Everyone should be out of the halls right now, so whatever's there is the intruder. Easy.
The images were blurred, not what Ollie was used to. I've never seen someone's mind on drugs, maybe that's what this is. But the more she searched, the more it seemed that wasn't the case.
The hazy woods she knew to surround Raid were the main content of the memories, and the knowledge did not follow any dialect.
The occasional streetlight was the only familiar sight, and even those seemed warped, much brighter, and Ollie found that they were associated with pain. The light is harmful. The lights are off in the school. Is this thing dangerous?
This mind was much like the minds of animals, but there was a difference here that Ollie couldn't place. Judging by its view of the hallway, it was tall, perhaps on two legs.
Ollie found the memories of food, and it confirmed her fears. Human features, limbs, and organs were included in its diet.
"Logan, turn on the lights in the hallways." Ollie whispered.
"Why, are you crazy?" Logan shot back.
"Trust me, I'll tell you later."
Logan closed their eyes, they knew where the light switches were, all they had to do was move them. They sent their energy toward the switches, turning on every light in the hallways.
What a weird thing for Ollie to say, she must know something I don't, she wouldn't say that just to mess with me, I know that, Logan thought.
Ollie looked for it again. It seemed to have retreated to the woods. After a few minutes the lockdown ended, and class resumed.
"What was that about?" Logan asked.
"Don't laugh, but the stuff people say about Raid might be true." Ollie explained.
"The... paranormal stuff?" Logan asked slowly, wondering if Ollie was going insane.
"Yes, I think there's a monster in the neighborhood."
