Jim's haunted past

Chapter 6: police suspicious

Jim stormed down the empty school hallway, fury coursing through his veins. He flung open the door to the boys' restroom, startling Vinnie and David who were lounging against the sinks smoking cigarettes.

"Enjoy it while you can," Jim spat. "I'm done playing nice. Unless you punks confess what you really are, I'll expose you myself."

Richard emerged from a stall, face twisting into a scarred sneer. "Barging into bathrooms threatening students? Not a good look for you, teach."

Jim stepped closer, fists trembling. "I don't care about appearances anymore. I'll do whatever it takes to stop your killing spree."

Vinnie blew smoke in Jim's face lazily. "Good luck proving anything. You really think the cops will take your word over ours?"

"Once I reveal the truth, they'll have no choice!" Jim said through gritted teeth.

Richard let out an icy chuckle. "And what exactly is this 'truth' you think you know?"

Jim straightened, looking each of them in the eye. "That you're the same hoodlums who murdered my brother Wayne in 1955, resurrected somehow. And now you've come back to kill again."

The greasers burst into mocking laughter, slapping the bathroom walls. Jim felt his face burn but held his ground.

"That's quite an imagination you've got," David sneered. "But ain't no one gonna buy that crazy story."

Richard pretended to inspect his switchblade. "Let's say for argument's sake we are these...undead killers." His pale eyes glinted dangerously. "What's stopping us from carving you up too for making accusations?"

Jim felt his gut twist but didn't back down. "Because you need me alive. I'm the only one who knows what you really are. Kill me, and your secrets die too." It was a calculated bluff, but he prayed they wouldn't call it.

Vinnie leaned in close, rancid breath hot on Jim's face. "Here's a news flash, old timer. You got no proof of anything. But keep running that mouth, and we'll show you just how sharp our switchblades still are."

With a cruel laugh, the greasers brushed past Jim and disappeared down the hall. Jim released a shaky breath, their taunts ringing in his ears. He had to be smart, not let their goading push him into reacting rashly. The truth would come out, he just needed patience and cunning on his side too.

Yet as Jim watched the killers stroll away unpunished once more, doubts began clawing at his resolve. The final school bell rang, echoing through the empty halls. Jim stayed seated at his desk, struggling to grade papers through the dark fury clouding his thoughts. The confrontation with Vinnie, Richard, and David kept replaying in his mind - their smug taunts, the glint of danger in their eyes.

Jim slammed his pen down, overcome with frustration. It was bad enough that the police refused to believe the supernatural truth. But now the greasers felt utterly untouchable, even reveling in tormenting him openly.

Their arrogance and cruelty pressed on Jim's psyche like a vice. All he could picture was Wayne's terrified face as those monsters descended on him decades ago. And now Billy Sterns, Kate, and the other victims - their innocent blood spilled while the guilty walked free. It was unjust. Unbearable.

Something inside Jim snapped. With a primal roar, he leapt up and swept everything off his desk in one violent motion. Papers, books, and knickknacks crashed to the floor satisfyingly. The destructive release only fueled his rage. Jim overturned chairs, tore posters from walls, smashed anything within reach.

Years of trauma and anger boiled over as Jim decimated the classroom. He was beyond reason, lost to blind fury and pain. All his helplessness and grief manifested in the need to destroy.