The Boy From The Basement

The Shooting

I felt sick from nervousness, because today was the day of the shooting. Trent and I waited in the basement, holding hands. Every now and then he would run his thumb against the back of my hand to comfort me. We could hear the men pacing upstairs and loading guns. It was dark in the basement, the sun had not raised. I assumed it was very early in the morning, around 6:00am. After waiting for a while, the basement door opened, and Mike stood at the door with a gun in his hand. He jerked his head upwards in gesture for us to come up. We separated hands quickly and stood up. My lower spine sent a massive shock down the back of my legs, and it caused them to shake. My knees wobbled and I couldn't control my legs. Trent watched as I struggled to stand up. I had already attempted to stand up many times, but each time I fell over in pain. This time, as I was not wanting to displease Mike. I suffered through my pain and slowly walked to the steps. I grabbed onto the wall to help push my legs up the stairs. I eventually, but painfully, got to the top and let out a huge sigh.
Carl, Scott and Jake all stood in the kitchen, loading a huge amount of guns and weapons into some duffel bags. The basement door shut behind us as we entered the kitchen. Mike put a hand on both of our shoulders and sighed with excitement.
"Alright, you guys follow me."

We followed Mike upstairs and Trent stood cautiously behind me. Once again, I struggled to walk up the stairs. It was so annoying that I couldn't properly walk that I wanted to cry. We then got to the top of the stairs and approached Mike's bedroom. Mike entered the bedroom and approached the wardrobe. He then pulled out a large dusty box and dumped it onto the bed. Mike opened the box and pulled out some clothes. Finally, it was about time we got some new clothes. All I had worn in the past 2 weeks was a bra and bike shorts. Luckily for Trent, he had shorts and a T-shirt on to properly cover him. Mike laid out the clothes onto the bed and separated them into 2 piles.
"You will both wear these for today, now get changed."
Trent and I looked at the pile of clothes. I assumed mine was the one on the right, as it included what appeared to be a corset of some sort. Trent picked up his clothes and looked at them curiously. I turned around to see if Mike was still here and of course, he was, and he looked at me impatiently as I stared at him. Surely he was not going to stand there and watch us get changed. Mike then rolled his eyes and sighed.
"I will wait outside," Mike growled, as he left the room and half closed the door.
I then turned back around and picked up the first item in my pile.
It was a black ski mask, typical to wear when committing a crime of any sort. I put the ski mask off to the side and picked up the next item. It was a black leather cropped corset. I was in disbelief that I had to wear this inappropriate and revealing item, all for a school shooting. I looked at Trent who had put on his top. It was a black tank top, with a black leather long sleeved pollo neck jacket over the top. The jacket had a zip going from the collar, all the way down to the top of his hip. He zipped up his jacket and looked at me with a compassionate smile. I then slid the corset top over my legs and pulled it up to my torso. The top highlighted my breast cleavage, as I had expected. For as long as I had been in this house with Mike, he always made me wear inappropriate clothing for my age. I pulled the straps over my shoulder and picked up my pants. The pants were black leather, and they appeared to have not been new, as they were sprinkled in some dirt. I struggled and groaned as I slipped the tight pants over my legs. They were so tight that I struggled to move in them. Not only was I struggling because of the pain in my spine, but also because the jeans were so tight.
Next were some plain old socks and black boots. The boots were shiny and had a small heel on them. They made me around 5cm taller than I already was, so I was now 172cm tall. I picked up my ski mask and tucked half of it into my pocket. I turned to look at Trent who was now dressed.
He wore his tank top and jacket, as well as some plain black jeans and black sneakers.
He wore tight fingerless black gloves and he held his ski mask in his hand.

Because of my heels which made me 5cm taller, it also made me 5cm closer up to Trent. Trent is taller than me, and I assume that he is around 180cm, no less than 175cm. Trent looked me up and down with a smirk.
"Hey," I half shouted.
"Sorry," Trent sighed and smiled.
I can't blame him. With what Mike had made me wear I was sure to look at least some what attractive. Although not exactly liking what I was wearing, it felt so good to finally be in clothes.
Trent walked closer to me and rubbed my arm. His touch made my heart beat faster, as per usual. We then headed to the door and stood behind Mike. Mike turned around and looked at us, mostly looking at me. He looked me up and down with pleasure, mainly looking at a certain part of my body, which I felt extremely uncomfortable with.
"Alright, let's get going," Mike said with enthusiasm.
We headed down the stairs to meet the rest of the guys, only this time a few more men were in the kitchen. They all wore black jackets and black clothing. They all loaded guns and packed weapons.
"Help yourselves to some food, you're gonna need the energy for today," Mike said enthusiastically.
Mike was clearly very excited about today, which displeased me. Trent and I walked over the the kitchen bench, were we saw a basket of fruit and a plate of cooked bacon. I had forgotten how hungry I was. I can't remember the last time I ate, maybe a few days ago. We both went straight for the bacon and tried our hardest not to embarrass ourselves by scoffing it down. We left some bacon over, incase Mike and the men wanted any. We both took an apple and headed over to the table.
"Trent, my boy! Help pack some bags will ya? Make one for yourself. This is the day we have been waiting for! This is the big one!", Mike sang while slapping Trent on the back.
Trent pulled a straight face and soon, a small smile. He grabbed a duffel bag and turned to look at me. On the table there was piles of guns, ammo, knives and, luckily for us, tranquilliser darts and guns. While Trent grabbed some knives, I quickly grabbed some darts and shoved them into our bag.
In total we had 5 guns, 2 pistols, 1 revolver, 1 shotgun and a tranquilliser gun. We had 4 knives, a pack of 20 bullets and we grabbed 4 packets of 10 tranquilliser darts.
Trent threw the bag strap over his shoulder and around his neck and waited for any further instructions. Around 25 men were gathered out the front of the house. Mike went out to talk to them and Carl stayed inside to watch on us. I began to feel sick again for nervousness. I really hope that my plan will work. I kept thinking about Bethany. I was not going to let her get killed, I was not going to let anyone get killed. Unfortunately, that might not happen. There is going to be a lot of people getting killed or hurt, but I was going to do everything in my power to reduce the amount. After a good half hour, all 35 men had arrived. There were several cars and vans parked outside the house on the dirt garden. I watched as the men all talked and joked around. They all wore black and had ski masks on, they looked very intimidating. One guy had biceps the size of my face and another had hundreds of tattoos.
I continued to panic and I tried to keep my breathing under control. Trent saw me panicking and he grabbed my hand. He squeezed it tight and continued to stroke his thumb against the back of my hand. He hid our hands behind the duffel bags so that no one would see us.
"Everything will be fine, don't worry," Trent said softly with his charming voice.
"How will we know for sure?", I asked desperately.
"Because you promised me. You made me believe that we can do this. We just need to work together, okay?", he said looking deeply into my eyes.
I had promised that the plan would work. I wasn't going to let a little worrying stop me. I smiled and stroked his hand with my fingers. His cold hand were like touching the outside of a freezer, not that cold, but still cold. I could feel the bones in his hand, his skin was thin on his bones. His veins were soft and warm.
"If we make it through this, I promise that I will stay with you forever," Trent assured me with a promising tone.
I smiled warmly and blushed.
"You better keep that promise," I giggled.
Trent laughed quietly and lifted our hands up to his lips. He softly kissed the back of my hand before bringing them back down behind the duffel bag.
Mike barged into the kitchen and stared directly at us.
"Get your stuff, we're going."
Trent let go of my hand and walked around the table. I limped behind him and headed out the front door. The men all came close as Mike approached. "Let's get going Lads!", he yelled.
The men started to cheer and applause. Trent and I followed along, trying our best to remain normal.
"You all know the plan. Hitch Glaze College is one of the best school's in the state of Western Australia and in Kalbarri. They have a population of 3,800 students at the school. Their school is insanely rich, and is able to provide the kids with many expensive equipment. I have sent you the details on where you will be going and what exactly to do. Have fun boys, tease them, make them beg, watch them suffer and plead for their lives. Enjoy this experience because it's one you only get once in a lifetime."
The men cheered and screamed. Their claps sounded like bombs hitting the surface and I cringed to the loudness of it. Trent also squinted a few times but continued to clap.
"You all know the plan, get your vans, you cars and trucks. Let's do this!!"
Again, the men cheered and began heading off to their cars. Trent and I stood silently as we did not know what to do.
"Trent and... you come with me."
We followed Mike to his car, the Black Mazda. Trent opened the car door and we both sat inside. Trent placed the duffel bag in between us and sighed. Carl hopped in the car and sat in the passenger seat. Mike ran around and gave last minute instructions to the men.
"You kids nervous?" Carl asked.
Trent and I looked at each other.
"Oh come on, don't act like you don't know how to speak. I'm not Mike, you can talk to me without being worried or anything."
Trent looked towards Carl.
"I'm kind of nervous I suppose," Trent answered.
"Well you know how to use a gun don't ya?"
I looked back at Trent. I didn't actually know how to use a gun. Trent shook his head, also just realising that he didn't know how to use a gun.
"Jesus, clearly Mike got so caught up in organising this whole thing that he forgot about preparing you two! Lemme help you out."
Carl reached into his bag and pulled out a pistol.
"This should be easy for you to understand. You get the ammo and put it in the chamber. You close it and then simply just pull the trigger and there you have it. You try," Carl explained.
He then took out the ammo and handed Trent the pistol.
Trent held the pistol in his hand and the weight of it made his arm drop a little. Carl chuckled and shook his head. Trent cautiously put the ammo into the chamber and closed it. He then put his finger on the trigger and waited.
"There you go! Now I dare you, roll down the window and shoot that tree over there."
Trent looked at Carl and at me. I nodded at him reassuringly. He needed to know how to use a gun if we were gonna make our own plan work. Trent rolled down the window beside him and held the gun out the window. His hand shook as he pointed it at the tree.
"Don't be afraid, just shoot," Carl said calmly.
I was surprised how strangely nice Carl was being. It was nice to be around another person who didn't hit you every time you spoke. Trent squinted his eyes and pulled the trigger. The sound of the bullet exiting the gun sounded more powerful than I expected. The bullet flew and struck the tree right in the centre.
"Ha Ha! You did it! You're a natural! Must get it from your father ay?"
Trent panted and pulled his arms back inside the car. Those words seemed to have hurt him. He didn't want to be anything like his Dad. Not one bit.
Mike came around to the drivers seat and opened the door. He sat down, which made the car shake.
"Hey hey! Who's ready for some fun!", Mike cheered.
"Ay Mike, ya boys a natural! He just shot that old oak tree square centre!"
"Ahhh that's my boy. Finally living up to my expectations I see? See Trent you have those instincts in your blood. It's in the McLennan blood to kill and to be violent. Some day you will realise just how powerful you can be."
Trent was still panting, this time not from physical exhaustion but from rage. I slipped my hand behind the duffel bag and poked his arm. His hands laid on his legs and his finger nails dug into his quad. I stroked his arm to get him to give me his hand. He moved his hand behind the duffel bag and put it into mine. I let out a little squeak as Trent tightly grabbed my hand. I stroked his hand with my fingers to calm him. He loosened his grip and sighed. His thumb stroked mine and he rested his hand.
We drove down a dirt hill and the tires of the car crashed over rocks. We got onto a dirt road and followed the other few cars onto a new gravel road. This road was smooth and long. It trailed off into the distance and continued to swerve and stretch. Trent's hand was still in mine and we continued to comfort one another.
"Why did you have to put me with Joe, Jack and Billy. I'm so much better at shooting than they are," Carl complained.
"It's all for fun Carl, don't worry about it. Just do what you have to do. You should be thankful I put you with them, you will get more kills in that case," Mike explained.
Carl chuckled and clapped.
"Yeh I suppose so. I will put those old blokes in their place won't I?"
Mike and Carl laughed and roared. Clearly they have a very close connection. Surely they were brothers, it had to be that.

We were now on the main road and it was full of cars, however we could still tell which cars belonged to our group. All our cars were old and dirty. We were only 2 minutes away from the school now. I took this road to school whenever Mum took me in her car. My school was built on a huge area of land. It was surrounded by trees and dirt paddocks, your typical Australian outback area. There were some houses that surrounded the school but they were a fair few hundred metres away. The road into the school was 200 metres long, however there were many roads that surrounded the school from afar. The school was now in view and I began to breath quickly again. My stomach churned and I felt like I was going to be sick. I saw some of the gangs cars turn different ways, probably taking another root so they could park and raid another end of the school.
We turned left and headed towards Touldren Boulevard. I saw my home room, and I could see some middle school kids running around on the oval. It had not properly occurred to me that they were raiding the whole school, meaning they were planning on killing little children. Kids who were only 6 to 10 years old, they hadn't even lived yet! We drove past Touldren Boulevard and parked on an empty road behind some bushes. Mike picked up his phone and dialled in a number. He lifted the phone to his ear and began talking to someone. Carl turned around to us with an evil grin.
"Get ready," he ordered.
Trent reached into the bag and pulled out some ammo and a pistol. I reached in and started to load the tranquilliser guns. Carl looked at me confused. Mike got off the phone and turned around.
"Why the tranquilliser gun?", Mike asked firmly and curiously.
I panicked and stuttered out the first thing that came to mind. "More torture. We can paralyse and poison them and once they regain consciousness we can kill them."
Mike stared at me for a while and I panicked even more.
"Torture. Watching them suffer. My speech must have inspired you. Like your thinking babe."
Babe? Mike just loved to tease me like that. Mike turned on his phone to look at the time. He then pulled his black ski mask over his head. Carl did the same and then so did we. The ski mask covered my head like a blanket and itched the scabs that were on my head. Trent now had his mask on as well and it highlighted the dark green of his eyes. It was 8:59am and the date was Friday, August 5th. Period 1 had already started. I looked ahead to see that my classroom was empty. I didn't know what session we would have right now, I just hopped that my class was somewhere safe.
"Ok guys, get ready," Mike warned.
Trent put the duffel bag over his shoulder and around his neck, holding the pistol by his side. I held my tranquilliser gun in my right hand hand sat up straight, which made my spine spaz a little.
"Ok gang, in 3, 2, 1..."
Mike's car door then flung open. It had begun.