Freak Week Chapter 4 - The Questioning Begins #WritingWithGrace

Greetings Robo-D,

It is I, Lace Heavensmall, earthling extraordinaire.  Sorry. This day four atmosphere has me feeling like an extra-terrestrial air head. I could really use some help becoming grounded again.  

Since the mystery message came through yesterday everyone has been acting a little strange. Stranger than a normal person would normally act during the strangeness that is a normal Freak Week. I've just been floating around trying to watch my back and make sure I don't get killed. Yes floating. It's day four and per usual on day four gravity is gone.

Banana has been floating cross legged in the corner stroking her chin and making a hmm sound while looking pensively off into space for about an hour now. "Aha!" Banana exclaimed shooting an index finger into the air. "What if we hold an investigative interrogation to figure out if anyone here is behind the message?"

"Oh yeah, because this school just has a torture dungeon interrogation room like any other classroom just waiting for an unsuspecting lost freshman to stumble in, only to find upon entry a dominatrix dressed in head to toe leather wielding a riding crop. KNEAL TO LADY MARMALADE!" Shouted Marmie gesturing as if she were cracking a whip. She clasped a hand over her mouth and her eyes darted around the room when she realized everyone was staring at her with confused looks on their faces.

Freak Week struck again. The inability to hold anything down or back or sideways or anywhere triggered Marmie's fit of truth spouting. She may have been the first but I'm sure she wouldn't be the last victim.

Trying to ignore everything Marmie just said Mr. Kevin chimed in with, "That's actually not a bad idea Banana. And I think I know just the place to go."

"I'm sorry Mr. Kevin, as much as I think it's a great idea too, I don't feel safe leaving the basement. Especially not after that weird message went out to everyone on campus. Who knows how many crazy psychos are waiting for me in the hallway armed with modified left over instruments from yesterday. One xylophone to the face and I'm a goner." I said.

"I've already got a supply of drumsticks, Crush and I can grab some bows and we'll be armed for combat. Or we can break off the tips and use them to stab people." Harry said patting the backpack he up until now had mysteriously been wearing on his chest. He unzipped the backpack and sure enough a drum stick floated out. Harry grabbed it and broke it against his knee. Stick pieces in hand he made some stabbing and swatting movements as he rotated around unable to control his momentum.

"My name is Jim Heavensmall, you threatened my sister, prepare for trial!" Jim shouted donning the Mighty Mallard's head and pushing off a wall to intercept Harry's flight. A rogue drumstick stuck the plastic beak of the costume and snapped Harry back to reality.

"I'm no COWard, but I would be udderly outraged if Harry were not the first to be put on trial." Interjected Banana who floated mouth agape in a smile looking around the room for at least the hint of laugh. After no response Banana abruptly began to cry and blurted, "I use comedy as a coping mechanism to break the tension in what I find to be extremely uncomfortable situations. It also helps me suppress my true emotions. I just want everyone to get along!"

Before anyone else could object or blurt out any other emotions or secrets Mr. Kevin devised a plan to lead us all to his mystery location. Jim and Banana restrained Harry and manuevered out of the basement behind Mr. Kevin in their own sort of twisted good cop and bad cop routine. Jim as I assume the bad cop spouted exclamations of, "I hope we're taking you somewhere dark so we can deprive your body of vitamin D" or "I was even starting to take a lichen to you before all of this" and "I will crumble the bones in your body like leaves that are experiencing cell death in winter." He's not the most intimidating bad cop, but I appreciate the effort. Banana used her shoelace to tie Harry's hands together and spent her time making shoe based puns and presenting her shoe upon delivery of said pun. Some of which included, "Wouldn't shoe rather be somewhere else right now?" and "Shoe've really done it this time." Arguably Harry didn't need to be detained because he will fully complied with anything we asked him to do but Jim and Banana really embraced these characters to the best of their abilities.

I waited hesitantly holding the frame of the basement door and watching Jim, Banana, and Mr. Kevin proceed down the hallway. Marmie and Crush floated out into the hallway and checked for any signs of life that might be waiting in the flanks to kill me. I looked back into the basement thinking that I could easily return down there and felt a hand grasp mine.

"Come on Lace, I'll protect you" Crush said staring deeply into my eyes. "I've got your back and I've always wanted to tell you that I–"

"We've got company! Two football players armed with trombones and led by a pack of angry looking Chihuahuas are heading our way. Yo quireo to get as far away from those raging boners as I can. Which is a phrase I never thought I would say ya'll!" Marmie said linking arms with Crush and pulling us away from the basement door.

We all ricocheted through the hallway bouncing back and forth from wall to wall until we reached the principal's office. Mr. Kevin hurried us all inside and locked the door quickly behind us. Mr. Kevin put his key into a lock on a cabinet and turned it. The door omitted a depressurizing hiss and one by one we followed Mr. Kevin into the cabinet.

Banana verbalized the thoughts on all our minds, "Why does the principal have a secret room in her office? And how do you know about it?"

Mr. Kevin dodged the questions and deflected the topic of any further questioning in Harry's direction. An onslaught of rapid-fired questions ensued. Using his magical teacher powers Mr. Kevin suppressed the cacophonous roar and gained control of the group. Much like a classroom we worked out a system where Mr. Kevin called on us to deliver questions and surprisingly Harry had an answer for each one. Maybe not a good answer, but an answer nonetheless.

Q: How much experience with computers do you have?

A: I've been playing on them since I was a toddler.

Q: Have you ever written code?

A: I tried once but that stuff got too confusing. There were too many slashes and dashes and everything had to be perfect in order for it to work. My head hurt and I got bored so I quit.

Q: Why do you have all of these drum sticks?

A: I'm in the drum line and wanted to save them for later.

Q: What made you think to use them as weapons?

A: I don't know, I guess I have an active imagination.

Q: Have you ever had any contact with Jim before today?

A: No.

Q: Where were you when the message came through?

A: In the room with everyone else.

Q: What's the name of Lace's diary?

A: Lace has a diary? Can I read it?

Q: Who do you think did it?

A: Uhh, not me that's for sure.

We weren't really getting anywhere with Harry but it was pretty clear that he didn't possess the qualities necessary to be the brains behind everything. His hands were untied and we returned to square one. Who could it be?

I noticed that since entering the secret mystery cabinet room Mr. Kevin had been awfully quiet. He didn't ask Harry anything and tried to steer the questions that were being asked in specific directions. And why would he bring us here in the first? We could have interrogated Harry in the basement. He did send me, Jim, and Crush out of the room right before the message came in...

OH MY HEAVENSMALL! Mr. Kevin! No!