The Principal

Chapter 6: The Discovery

Lonnie and Danny walk onto the vibrant stage while Serena strides to the front corner of the auditorium and claims one of the light blue padded chairs. She elevates her feet on the back of the chair before her and observes the people scurrying across the stage. Lonnie walks towards the classroom while Danny helps the other techies move pieces of the set onstage. Mrs. Garcia crosses the stage, clapping her eager hands together loudly. A deafening boom of thunder rocks the auditorium, and the students fall silent as everyone listens to the rain pelt the roof.

"All right, everyone, it is time to get back to work. Let's start this, so we can get out of here sooner than later and make sure you have all called your parents or have a way to get home," she informs them. She passes out papers with the help of her student director, "We are going to do another run-through of the first act. Everyone must be in costume, and the set is all finished now. Remember, opening night is right around the corner."

Serena watches the students initiate conversations as they disappear offstage and into the classroom behind the stage. She yawns and works on some of her writing as the rest of the students run through the first act. Halfway through the first act, Mrs. Garcia calls over Lonnie and hands him some papers.

"You have a few minutes before your part starts. Will you take these papers to the office and give them to Mr. Tanner, and will you make ten copies for me?" she asks.

Lonnie flips through the papers, and Mrs. Garcia eyes him annoyingly, "Can I bring Danny with me?" Lonnie asks.

Mrs. Garcia sighs profoundly, "Yes, just don't take too long and ten copies, okay."

"Yes, ma'am."

Lonnie acquires Danny on his way out of the theater, and the two of them cut through one of the side doors of the auditorium. Lonnie separates the papers as they enter through the rear entrance of the office. Danny retains the stack for copies and waits as Lonnie slides the others into the cubby for Mr. Tanner. The computer screen on Mrs. Kouma's desk catches the teen's attention. The glowing screen in the dimly lit room displays a search engine site with an incomplete sentence typed in the search box in the middle of the screen. Danny shrugs it off. He glances around, but she is nowhere in sight.

"Maybe she ran to the bathroom. When you gotta go, you gotta go," Danny says.

No other words are exchanged as Lonnie plops himself into the warm chair and wheels to the copy machine. He correctly loads the papers into the tray and presses buttons on the screen. A resounding thump comes from the wall in front of them, causing Lonnie's finger to hover over the large green button. They wait silently.

Lonnie turns to Danny, "Did you hear that?" he asks in a low whisper.

Danny nods as they fall silent again, intently listening to the slightest noises. The distinct sound of rubber shoes scuffling against the carpet, followed by knocks on a wall as if hands or objects were striking them. Lonnie vacates the chair and creeps his way toward the hallway with Danny. The sound of a loud thwack causes the two of them to freeze. Their curiosity propels them to advance gradually to the corner of the hallway. With heavy footsteps, the shuffling of feet, and infrequent grunts, the teens assume a struggle. Neither of them thinks they will be of any help, yet they continue onward. Danny hastily conceals his mouth as Mr. Jackson lands directly before them. He lies motionless on the floor, blood trickling down from a gash on his forehead. Danny darts around Lonnie to assist, but Lonnie promptly seizes hold of him, and they withdraw from the dean.

Lonnie holds his index finger on his lips to inform Danny to keep quiet. His heart pounds loudly in his chest, kick-starting his adrenalin into overdrive. They peak around the corner as a massive figure of a creature emerges from a room. The slender figure is primarily enveloped in fur except for the front, which reveals humanistic features. Predominantly, the body appears similar to an enormous human, but a wolf's head sits atop the shoulders. In horror, the two teens watch as the figure shrinks and the hairs on the body recede, falling in clumps to the floor. They gape in shock as the human features reveal the familiar form of Mr. Lowell and his green eyes shining in the lights. Danny jerks Lonnie's arm, desperately urging him to depart from the scene, but Lonnie keeps his eyes locked on the principal. He observes Mr. Lowell, still with an extended clawed, hairy hand, grab onto the dean and hoist him off the ground as if they were a doll.