When the Monsters Roam: Part 4 (Short Story Series)

Chapter 3, Part 1: Flashlight

“Hello?” one of the kids called out in the darkness. Evelynn couldn’t see anything, and she didn’t have anything to make light to see.

She heard rummaging somewhere to her left and a thud to her right. The other kids were either panicking or doing something fast. More of them then started to call out for each other, trying to find out if anyone was nearby or gone. 

Evelynn was trying to keep calm herself, though it was getting harder by the moment. She was about to move to try to find a wall or crawl on the floor when a light surprisingly flickered on.

Lily was standing to the right and holding a small flashlight up, looking concerned and slightly scared. “Are you guys okay?” she asked, moving the light around in a circle to look for us.

“I’m here,” everyone said in turn. The kids all gathered around the light, feeling a bit panicked. Evelynn was sitting crisscross next to Alex and Astrid.

“So, what do we do now?” Lily asked quietly, trying to put the flashlight in a good spot to provide light for everyone. Why were flashlights not made to stand up on their own? It would make this so much easier, honestly.

Luke looked around for a moment, then gave out the idea we were all too stupid to have thought about already. “We need to find the school breaker, I think.”

“But we only have one flashlight,” Evelynn cut in. She was feeling more at ease with them now, since they were treating her normally. They never seemed to think it was weird that she was there too.

Alex turned to her with a thoughtful nod, “Yeah, Evelynn’s right. I doubt we should all go, but do we have to because of the one flashlight?”

Jack grabbed the backpack with an annoyed look. “Seriously, I bet there's gonna be another one in here somewhere.” He starts to rummage through the bag roughly.

Astrid got mad and tugged the bag out of his hands fast. “Stop, it’s not your bag. And there’s only one flashlight, I know that.” Jack just huffed in response.

Lily sighed at the exchange and rolled her eyes. “We need to stick together. Nobody wants to sit in the dark here alone.”

Everyone seemed to fall quiet, because no one exactly wanted to argue. Lily was right.

“Maybe we should lock arms?” Evelynn suggested. “Then we can all get there without losing anyone." 

“Yeah, sure,” Alex says, locking arms with her and Luke. Astrid and Lily followed, adding to the chain. Only Jack sat there now. 

“Come on, dude," Astrid said. “Don't be stupid and just get in.” 

Jack narrowed his eyes and begrudgingly locked arms with her. “Fine."

Luke held the flashlight firmly and started to lead the group to the front two doors of the cafeteria. The biggest problem at the moment was opening them, but Alex, Luke, and Evelynn worked together and kept the door open long enough for the others. 

They stepped out into the hallway, and it felt almost eerie. The halls were devoid of students, dark, and there was no noise around.

“I think I've seen a poster in front of one of the classrooms that says it has the breaker in it. It was near the front of the school,” Luke said, leading them to the front. 

Everyone was collectively quiet, feeling weirdly like too much noise would be dangerous. It seemed irrational, but at the same time, fear was a large negotiator. It even got middle schoolers to be quiet. 

They made it down to the front doors, and Luke turned them into the first hallway of classrooms. They started to go up to each door, checking for the breaker. So far, the first five didn't have it. However, at the sixth door, there was a paper saying the breaker was inside.

The group quickly went to open the door, but it was unfortunately locked.

“What do we do now?” Alex asked, turning to them all. 

“We should go back to the cafeteria, obviously," Jake huffed, crossing his arms. “You guys should have known this wouldn't work.”

“If you're gonna keep that attitude, we'll just leave you here,” Luke said, rolling his eyes. Then he turned to everyone else. “Maybe the front office or the janitor’s closet has the keys? Or at least more flashlights should be in the janitor's closet." 

“True," Lily replied. “I'm good with heading to the office, it's just down the hallway a little, and the front doors have light from the moon outside.”

“I'm going with Lily,” Astrid speedily cut in. 

“I'll join you guys,” Evelynn says, moving towards the two girls a little.

“Then let's all go,” Alex shrugged.

“No, we need to get more flashlights,” Jack said angrily.

“Then you can go to the closet alone," Luke said, handing him the flashlight, and sighing.

“Fine, I will.”

Jack started to storm off, heading down the hallway in the opposite direction from them. Evelynn felt a bit worried but followed the rest of the group as they walked away.

They made it to the office, and the doors were unlocked. The group headed in, rummaging through the available drawers. Alex and Luke checked in at the principal’s office. 

Evelynn decided to check on the Vice Principal’s office. She stepped inside, looking at the shelves, then headed to the wooden desk. Their vice principal was a tiny man and constantly made jokes about it. He had pictures on his desk of him dressing up as an elf for the Christmas season, and framed a bunch of cute notes from students asking him to talk to Santa for them. He loved his height because of that. Evelynn respected it. So his chair was up high, and his desk was low. 

Evelynn checked the drawers, kneeling slightly. Surprisingly enough, she found a flashlight. She checked if it worked, pressing the button, and the light flickered on. A smile came to her lips, and she moved to leave the office. Alex and Luke were heading out of the principal's office, empty-handed, but when they saw her newly acquired flashlight, their faces lit up.

“Good job, Evelynn.” Luke gave her a high five. 

She smiled bashfully and nodded. “Thanks.”

Alex bumped her shoulder lightly. “Yeah, good job, Eve.”

“Eve?” she questioned.

“Yeah, your nickname," Alex seemed to barely think anything of it, so she didn't push it. 

They headed back towards the normal office when a loud shout rang out. They rushed now and saw Astrid and Lily just as confused. “Jack?" Alex asked, eyes wide with fear and determination.

They all nodded and rushed out, Evelynn leading because she held the flashlight. They ran down the hallway, taking a left to the hallway with the janitor's closet, and saw Jack on the ground, and a man with an axe in front of him.

Cold fear poured through Evelynn’s veins, and adrenaline pushed her faster. The rest of the group followed, just as panicked. “HEY," Evelynn shouted, though afraid, to distract the man.

Jack looked back at them and scrambled to get up while the man was distracted. Alex rushed ahead of Evelynn to the man and was ready to try something stupid when the man dropped the axe to the floor.

They all froze in their spots, shocked. The man looked at them, squinting because of the flashlight in his eyes. “What are you kids doing here?” He asked loudly, looking at them, confused. "It's the middle of the night.”

“What are you doing here? Who are you?” Jack yells out angrily, moving away fast. “You tried to jump me!"

“No, I didn't kid, I was just working and didn't see you,” he covers his eyes, trying to look at them.

“You work here?" Alex asked curiously, still tense in his stance. 

“Yes,” the man said tiredly, sighing.

“Why were you holding an axe? And why have we never seen you before?” Astrid asked, eyebrows raised, crossing her arms. 

“I'm a night worker. I'm like a mix of security and janitor. I only work the night and I'm alone. I was carrying the axe around because I'm usually alone and had heard noises around the school.” The man says, droning on boredly, then reaching down to grab the axe again. He swings it over to rest on his shoulder again. Evelynn lowered the flashlight to the floor to keep the light but not put it in the man's eyes. 

The man had graying brown hair, buzzed short. He wore what was probably a janitor's suit and boots. He seemed pretty fit, especially considering he could carry the large, heavy axe so easily. He unsettled her a little, but she guessed it was because he was unfamiliar. 

“Now why are all you kids here, at night?" the man asks, eyes roaming over the group in their various places. 

“The school hosted an overnight sleepover event,” Lily chimed in, hugging herself. The rest of them nod along to agree. 

The man scratched the graying whiskers on his chin, seeming to ponder for a moment. “Never seen the school do that before. Oh well. Are there any more of you out there?" he looks down the hallway, as if expecting more kids to come running down. 

“Um, no, it's just us,” Luke says, his foot uncomfortably tapping the ground.

“Ah, I see. Well, I'll be keeping you guys company tonight then. Need to keep the youngins safe,” the man shifts his axe, and then starts to walk down the hallway. “Where's your home base?"

“We've been in the cafeteria. But the power went out, so we were trying to find the breaker,” Lily respectfully told the man.

“Ah, that won't work. The power won't be turned back on until the morning. It's how it works here,” the man says, not looking back. "Follow me, kids. We're  going to make a real base.”

They all scrambled to follow him, and he led them all merrily to the cafeteria again. Along the way there, Evelynn wondered why he was being so vague. What was happening in the school? Why is the power off? She felt eyes on her again, and it was stronger and more uncomfortable than before.

~Written by Ashlynn Blue, do not try to copy.~

They arrived at the cafeteria, and the man opened the doors. He strides in, having his headlight. He starts to pull tables over to their circle of sleeping bags.

Alex and Luke started to help the man, also pulling tables over. They started to turn them on their sides and make walls. Jack reluctantly helped out by carefully placing tables on top of them for a roof. 

The man admired his work, then pulled another table to the little gap doorway. He places it in front, then moves it over like a door to kneel and go inside. He takes his flashlights and turns them on, pulling out about 8 of them and placing them on each side to illuminate the mini makeshift room. When he came back out, he placed two other small flashlights outside the door. “The light keeps them away. Come on inside,” he motions for them all to hear inside.

They all one at a time head inside the fort, sitting at their respective sleeping bags. The man came in last, sitting between Jack and Astrid near the opening, closing it behind him. “Alright, kids," the man said, brushing off his legs. “We have a lot to discuss.”

“Yeah, we do. Why did you try to kill me?" Jack says, angry and moving away from him more.

“I didn't. Shut up, child. Now, I don't exactly know where to start, as I've never had to explain this to someone before, but we're not exactly alone here. This place is a channel. I'm sure none of you know what that means,” the man sighs.

They all stare at him, and he continues.  “Okay, so you know the booty man? And like the stuff about all these old monsters that come out at night and stuff? Like to give you nightmares and everything?”

“Yeah,” they all say collectively, attentively.

“Right, so, the thing is, those are real. Normally, like everyone tells you growing up, they're myths that can't hurt you. But in places like channels, they've chosen to stay somewhere and feed off of emotions. They come out at night, but get stronger and stay here. They can get so strong that the channel becomes their territory, and eventually they can target people they see in the daytime.” The man stops, watching them all curiously.

Luke is the first to say something. “So, you're telling us we're in some kind of boogie man's territory?" 

“Yeah, kind of," the man says. “Very bright kids." He smiles. 

“You expect us to believe this,” Jack spouts a few vile words as he continues, annoyed and not believing one bit of it. 

“Yeah. Because otherwise, you're going to be this monster's new meal. That's why I have this axe, to fight it." The man replies, patting his axe. 

“What does it look like?” Evelynn asks, voice quiet.

The man nods at her, answering. "It looks like a strange bony thing. It seems to be made out of shadows, which isn't unusual. It can see anything in its territory, and gets stronger the longer it sees you. When it comes out, it makes you feel helpless by replaying your life's worst moments. It has become stronger lately, so I suspect it's targeting someone it thinks is a good prey.” The man's face grows dark.

Evelynn tenses, remembering all the times she's felt someone's eyes on her. “How would you know if you're targeted?" 

“You'd probably feel like you're constantly being watched, and then slowly you'd start to feel more depressed, more like you were in the lowest moments of your life. Then it'll come out, and the flashes of your life usually make you too depressed to fight back when it kills you." The man cracks his knuckles. “Usually, kids are safe, because they haven't gone through the toughest parts of their life yet. Nowadays, kids are becoming more and more depressed, so I wouldn't be surprised if one of you or all of you are targets.”

Evelynn swallows her nervousness, unsure of whether she should say something.

“But no worries, you kids will be safe in here with all this light. I'll watch over you as you sleep and everything. Do you have your pajamas or whatever you need?” The man inquired about them, looking around. They all nod, shakily grabbing their bags. “Good, girls first, and then I'll take the boys. Come on, to the bathrooms. Take some flashlights.” He opens the door, holding his flashlight and crouching out 

The girls all grab their bags and a flashlight, following him. The man closes the door on the boys and starts to lead them down the hallways to the bathrooms. 

“Now, I know you girls usually have it worse around this age, mentally, emotionally, etcetera. If you want to speak up, go ahead, but otherwise I'm going to look after you all anyway, so you won't need to.” The man said, looking over his shoulder at them for a moment.

Evelynn decides not to tell him. She doesn't want to make everyone freak out about her or take all the attention. It'll just make them annoyed at her, and possibly hurt someone else who was being targeted.

They make it to the bathrooms and head inside. The man waits outside but tells them to spread the light as much as possible so they won't be watched. They do as he says, placing the flashlights around to flood the room with light, at least enough.

They change, putting on pajamas. Evelynn had purple fluffy pajama pants with little hearts and cookies in a pattern, and an oversized gray hoodie she got as a hand-me-down. Astrid had a plain black T-shirt and green shorts. Lily was wearing a pink and white satin pajama set with pants and a short-sleeved shirt.

Lily was starting to French braid her hair, and Astrid helped so it would go faster. Evelynn washed her face and brushed her teeth, putting on more deodorant. Evelynn left her hair down today because she was lazy. 

When the girls were all ready, they came back out to the man. He looked relieved they were finally done. “Alright, let's just head to my closet to grab a couple weapons of choice on the way back.”

They walked back, holding their bags close and their flashlights out. They stopped at the closet, and the man showed an assortment of weapons. “Not sure what's safe these days for you all, but you can choose whatever.”

Evelynn looked in, not wanting to take a bladed one, and took a wooden bat. Lily took a pocket knife, looking a bit pale. Astrid calmly grabbed a few karambits. It was a small blade with a tiny hole for her finger. The man nodded, approving the choices. And with that, now armed and ready, they headed back to the fort, ready for a crazy night.

~Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy the series so far. <3 -A.B.

~Written by Ashlynn Blue, do not try to copy.~