Halloween Detention

Jalen

Nigel and I grinned at each other as we clanked our water bottles filled with soda. We both took a large drink before eyeing the empty patio. Various lawn chairs and tables lay scattered around us, and an abandoned umbrella lay on an overturned chair.

“Guess what I have?” Nigel wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and I couldn’t help but smile at my best friend.

“Mono, HIV, AIDS…” I trailed on uselessly causing Nigel to snort loudly.

“It’s not an STD.”

Nigel began rummaging through his bag, and I rolled my eyes. “Nigel, I swear to God if that’s my diary…”

“Jeesh! Relax, it isn’t your diary.” Nigel’s anxious tone cut off my rant mid sentence. “It’s spray paint.”

I grinned as Nigel opened his bag showing me various colors of spray paint. Cautiously, I reached over his massive shoulder to grab a can of yellow spray paint. Nigel grinned while also reaching out to grab a can of green spray paint.

“Where did you get these?” I cried out testing the spray paint on one of the various tables lying around. “This is awesome!”

“You know I found it.” Nigel winked at me, and I grinned in return. Sure, I wouldn’t want to know where or how he found it or who he found it from, but it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy the moment while it lasted.

The two of us got to work spray painting all the lawn furniture on the patio. Eventually, that was finished and Nigel began spray painting the floor in various colors while I busied myself by seeing how far over the ledge I could lean without falling. After a while, I began to grow bored with watching Nigel spray paint.

“I’m heading downstairs to spray paint the wall below.” I mentioned while grabbing a few spray paint cans. “Yell if you need me.”

“Try not to get killed.” He called out as I walked away.

I walked back into the building before heading down the back staircases. A couple lights were off while the rest flickered on and off. My footsteps echoed up and down the empty staircase with each clang sounding louder than the last. A cold breeze passed by me, and I rubbed my arms to warm up.

Ka-thunk… Ka-thunk… Ka-thunk

I looked around trying to find where that thumping noise was coming from, but I couldn’t see anything. Deciding that it would be better to just get out of the hall, I quickened my pace until I was jogging.

I finally managed to make my way to the door, but when I tried to open it, it wouldn’t budge. I pushed harder and harder, but it just wouldn’t open. I heard that god awful sound again, and it urged me to try to push open the door again.

The sound got closer and closer, and I began to panic. I could feel whatever it was that making that sound coming up right behind me. I shoved on the door even harder before finally it opened sending me sprawling out on the concrete.

My knee skinned the ground, and I slowly stood up ignoring the burning feeling. I already knew that if I looked at my knee I would see a butt ugly cut. I mentally cringed.

Limping forward, I managed to make my way towards the brick wall directly below the patio. If I looked up long enough at the right moments, I could see Nigel’s back. I smiled up at my friend even though he couldn’t see me before turning my attention back to the wall.

Choosing my colors carefully, I began spraying out a city theme at night. I was halfway through the mural when I heard the sounds of someone talking above me.

“Nigel!” the loud voice shocked me, and I looked up shocked to see Nigel stuffing the spray paint cans into his bag. He looked like he was talking to someone, but I couldn’t see who it was. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Nothing.” Nigel seemed to be relatively calm compared to how some of the people would act if they were caught spray painting the school. “I found these and decided to clean them up.”

“That’s bullcrap, and you know it.” I paused as the familiarity of the voice struck me. Where had I heard it before? “Give me those spray paint cans.”

I heard the sound of scuffling, and I looked up but was unable to see anything.

“Hey, Nigel.” There was an awkward silence before the mystery person spoke again. “Catch.”

“What the–” Nigel’s sentence was cut off by an awkward scream followed by a loud thud. I blinked a couple of times before slowly turning my head to see what had fallen.

I swear you’ll never see a sight as bad as what I saw. It was horrible, I promise it was. Oh God.

Nigel was just laying there. His body neck was twisted in an awkward angle and his head… Oh God his head was practically crushed. You wouldn’t have been able to tell that it was once a head. It was covered in blood that stained the concrete dying it a dark red. His skull was cracked in at least five different pieces, and you could tell that his right hand was practically bent all the way backwards.

The longer you looked at him the more could tell that the small white spots in the blood were bits of his… oh God. I’m not gonna lie I threw up a little when I realized that.

“Nigel,” I whispered his name before inching my way over to him. “Nigel.” I rested my hand on his chest as if I was expecting to hear a heartbeat or something like that. Instead I found a football. I curiously examined the football wondering what kind of joke this was.

Slowly I looked up at the patio above me hoping to see who the mystery person was. Honest… I wasn’t expecting to see who I saw. But there was no mistaking that blond hair.

I shook my head for a moment to clear my vision in case I was mistaking him for someone else, but he was gone. I froze as I scanned the patio for any chance of catching another glimpse of him, but I got nothing. Deciding that it wouldn’t be safe for me to stick around, I did what anyone else would do… I ran.

I sprinted across the field and headed towards East Hall. It was probably my only chance to live. The other kids were probably just heading over there. If I hurried, I could probably catch someone before they left.

Eventually, I saw Crystal and Jace walking towards the library, and I called out there names loudly. I stopped running when I got halfway across the street, and I rested my hands on my knees as I struggled to catch my breath.

“Crystal! Jace!” Crystal was the first to spot me, and she didn’t even bother mentioning to Jace that I was there, but she took off running towards me.

“Crystal! He’s dead… Oh God… he’s dead. Nigel is dead. H-he fell! No, he was pushed.”

“What?” She was still too far away.

“Nigel was pushed off the balcony on the arts building by a football.” I called out. “Oh God... he was pushed, Crystal.” I ran a finger through my hair nervously before wrapping both arms around myself as a sob escaped my lips. “He was pushed.”

“Who pushed him?” She was getting closer.

“It was…” another desperate cry came out and I struggled to contain it. “Mr. M-Mr. … Oh God… it was–”