The Dark Ones

Chapter Two: Revelation

By the time Georgia finally reached the parking lot of Beldon High, she was drenched and shivering. The familiar gray and red entrance came into view as it arched over double-length sliding doors. The clouds ahead cast a morose tone over the day that reflected her mood. The parking lot was full but seemed to lack color today. Even the trees around the lot were dull and lifeless, the sky painting everything below with a pallid tinge. As she neared the entrance, the usual throng of students was down to a small trickle as most kids were already inside.

Joining the line, the chattering group in front of Georgia did nothing to ease her mixed emotions. Their inane conversations were so typical, a bunch of tripe with no substance beyond obsessing over how many likes their latest social media post received, or whatever bandwagon cause they were championing today. They were the reason older people thought of her generation as nothing but a bunch of whiny weaklings. Georgia sighed inwardly as she kept her head down and tried to drown out the chatter around her.

There were times she felt like she truly had nothing in common with people her own age. As she reached the doors, they parted open with a soft whooshing sound. Most of the bubble tea goop had washed off but her hoodie still had patches of pink stains all over it. Georgia could see some kids pointing and sniggering at her. On another day it might have made her cheeks burn with embarrassment. Today, she had other things on her mind. It had been quite a morning. Between the rain, the howling wind, Tyler and Joey's idiocy, and the mysterious boy she encountered that morning, Georgia's nerves were already rattled and she hadn't even attended a single class yet.

The small line finally made it through the doors and Georgia welcomed the rush of warmth that hit her once she stepped inside. Her ears began to tingle as blood rushed back to them. After the last two kids in front of her entered, she swung her backpack over her shoulder, placing it with a light thud inside the plastic container that Mr. Weaver held out. The portly security guard looked as sullen as ever, his dark blue uniform failing to hide the paunch that hung out over his waist. His bushy mustache had droplets of rain in it and his shirt clung to him from being wet. Georgia wondered how his balding head never froze in weather like this.

Red faced and leering at her as usual, he said, "Part of the stragglers again, huh Pearce?"

"I missed the bus," Georgia mumbled, barely glancing at him.

"What happened, did you ride a stick of bubblegum all the way over here?" he asked, motioning to the pink stains.

"Tyler and Joey," Georgia replied curtly.

Weaver's face scrunched up and looked even angrier than he always did. He pretty much loathed all students but Tyler Norton, Joey Swinton, and their crew were by far the ones he hated most.

"If you'd got here earlier, I could have straightened those idiots out."

Georgia rolled her eyes. Weaver's tough guy act was so sad sometimes. It couldn't be easy being a security guard at forty five years old. Less so when you had to spend your days surrounded by a bunch of entitled teenagers that all looked down on you. On another day Georgia might have felt pity for him like she sometimes did. Today her mind was far too agitated to care about him. As he passed her bag through the scanner she saw the green light turn on as she passed the gauntlet and grabbed her bag, entering the school without another glance in Weaver's direction.

The ritual always irked her. She hated living in a world where you had to pass a metal detector just to enter a school. Once she passed the section she referred to as 'the gauntlet', she went straight and turned right down the first hallway. The relative silence at the entrance was instantly broken. The lights were on, which made it brighter than outside. A slew of colors and noise greeted her as she rounded the corner. The school was like a cliché. Georgia made her way through the usual melee. As she walked, she spotted familiar scenes out of the corner of her eye.