Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-27887213-20160229001238

My name is Darren Winthrop and I am fifteen years old. It had been two years since my father died, leaving me as the man of the house for my mother and my five year old brother. School had just let out and my mother had taken us to a carnival for the weekend. My baby brother and I enjoyed it very much, but we still had the empty hole of our father not being there to enjoy it with us. When the moon began to take her reign, we got in our car to go home. We made a pit stop at a rather empty part of town, just to get a few things and to fill up on gas. “Where’s Jamie?” my mother suddenly asked, slightly panicked as I lit a cigar, I looked old enough for no one to think much of it. I looked around myself and discovered that my brother was nowhere in sight. “Must have wandered off I guess,” I answered, a bit worried myself, “I’ll go get him.” With that, I started off toward the food mart, thinking he may have stayed in there. After an unsuccessful search, I came back out and began calling for him. I heard him respond distantly. I was a bit frustrated, for I didn’t want to or have time to play games. “Jamie, where are you? It’s time to go,” I called out into the nearly empty streets. “I’m over here,” I heard distantly. “Not this again,” I grumbled to myself, he would commonly play this kind of game in the streets, and at the most inconvenient of times. I decided, however, to let my mom deal with it when we got back. I continued calling to him, following his distant responses. The town seemed to get emptier and emptier, buildings with no people in them on every block. I found it strange and unsettling. “Jamie, seriously, we have to go,” I called. “I’m over here,” he called back distantly. “When I get my hands on him, I’m going to tan his hide myself,” I growled to myself as I followed his voice. I came to a downward slope and saw my brother headed toward a large fence. “Jamie!” I hollered, quite frustrated, “Get back here now!” But he paid me no heed and proceeded toward the fence and climbed over it. Of course, how often does a five year old listen. I pursued him toward the fence. As I approached, I caught sight of police tape and signs reading things like “Keep out” “Do not enter”. Of course, how often does a five year old pay attention to signs. I climbed over the fence myself. When I landed on the ground below, I looked up and saw….a school? What was a school doing in the emptiest part of town with a fence and police tape around it? I shrugged the question off and continued after my brother. I followed his footsteps in the gravelly dirt to the schoolhouse and spied a broken window. I tested the door next to it and found that it was locked. I stopped suddenly and looked around; I could have sworn I heard a giggle. I shrugged it off and charged through the window. When I looked up from my barge-in, I saw math books laid open and half-done worksheets on the desks as if everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and left. I found this somewhat unnerving. “Jamie!” I called, but this time I got no answer. I exited the classroom and entered the hallway and lit my Zippo lighter, my boots sounding off on the tiled floor. I stopped suddenly when I thought I heard the pitter patter of sneakers behind me, too heavy for my brother. I was uncomfortable, so I drew a revolver from my jeans. I had gotten it from a black market sale: ever since my dad died I figured it was the only way to protect my mom and baby brother. I continued slowly down the hallway, looking around and calling for my brother, forgetting how mad I was, I didn’t like this place and I wanted to get out. I came to a door labeled Science Room. I tested it and found it unlocked, so I tentatively opened the door, my gun in one hand and my lighter in the other. I entered cautiously, looking around the room. I stopped short when I thought I heard whimpering. I listened closely and indeed it was whimpering. I followed the source to a table with a tablecloth. I lifted the cloth, revealing my brother who let out a frightened squeal. “Jamie, what are you doing?” I said, “Why are you hiding?” “Monsters,” he squeaked, “Monsters of the dark.” “It’s alright Jamie,” I tried to reassure him, thinking it was his fear of the dark, “it’s just your imagination. Come on, we have to go.” Jamie let out a piercing scream and pointed behind me. I whipped around with my gun at the ready as the door to the room slammed shut. There before me stood a girl that looked to be about ten, she had a perpetual yellow smile and bloodshot eyes, her hair was ratty and she was dressed in a plaid uniform dress. “Hello,” she began, giving me a start, “I don’t think we’ve ever seen you here before.” “We were just leaving,” I said hastily. “What’s the rush?” she giggled a familiar giggle, her smile staying plastered to her face, “We would just love to get to know you, it’s not often we get newcomers,” she finished as she began to saunter toward us. “We really have to go now,” I replied, “Come on Jamie.” The girl began to laugh a sick cackle and bit down on her own fingers, severing them from her hand. The sight sickened Jamie and me, Jamie throwing up on the floor. “Jamie,” the girl said as her fingers fell to the floor, “such a cute name.” “Hold it there, bitch!” I said, aiming my gun at her, for I was a bit unnerved. “Tut tut,” she replied as she stopped in her tracks, “how rude, didn’t your mother teach you manners, especially for a dainty lady.” The girl resumed her forward walk. “Stop!” I shouted, but she didn’t stop. I pulled the trigger, putting a bullet through her head, dropping her to the ground. Damn that was loud! And boy did it ring off the walls! I wish I had earmuffs for indoor shooting. I looked at the girl for a second; her face unchanged except for the bullet, and turned to Jamie. “Through the window,” I said as I grabbed a chair, busted the window, and boosted Jamie out. “Why?” The voice gave me a start as I turned around and saw the girl back on her feet with a hole in her forehead. “WHYYY??!!” The girl let out a piercing scream as she charged at me with her open mouth. I quickly responded with a knee to her face and gave her a hard shove back before jumping out the window after my brother. I ran through what I realized was a playground and quickly caught up with Jamie. I tripped on a discarded toy and fell headlong into a loose rope ladder on a play set, getting tangled in it. I turned my head to see the girl in hot pursuit, coming straight for me. I franticly wrestled to free my pistol hand from the entanglement and succeeded barely in time to put two bullets in her torso, knocking her down. I took my bought time to free the rest of my body from the rope ladder and continued after Jamie. I grabbed Jamie by the hand and made a beeline for the fence. I picked Jamie up and set him as high on the fence as I could get him to give him a head start while I kept watch on the ground. As soon as I deemed him high enough, I put my pistol in my jeans and began my own ascent. Suddenly, I hollered, for I felt a sharp pain in my left rib cage. I looked to see a little boy, who looked very similar to the girl, biting my side. I drew my pistol and put two bullets in his head, sending him to the ground, and continued my climb. “We know you now, Darren Winthrop!” I heard the boy shout. “Darren! Darren!” I heard the girl shout with insane glee. It chilled me for them to know my name, but what mattered now is that we get away. Now I know why this school was locked down like this, it wasn’t meant to keep anyone out, it was meant to keep them in. When we finally made it back to our previous pit stop, we found three cop cars with mom’s, and mom crying in her car. When she saw us, she rushed out to us with hugs and kisses. “Oh my babies,” she said, still crying, “I thought you had been lost. Oh Darren what happened to you?!” “I fell down and hurt myself, nothing big,” I lied, knowing that she wouldn’t believe the truth, besides keeping my black market pistol a secret in the whole thing. Mom got me to a doctor who stitched it up and told me it would be fine. But I couldn’t help but feel that it was far from fine…that it would never get better, and that my family was no longer safe with me. 