When The Monsters Roam- Part 6

Chapter 4, part 1: Not Just Shadows

The man had come back the final time, empty-handed. “The doors are all locked,” he had said, kneeling with them. Jack huffed at him, annoyed that he hadn’t done much of anything so far to help them, supposedly. 

Lily tucked away her sketchbook and tugged on Luke’s arm. Luke listened, then looked up at the man. “There are keys in the front office.”

“Ah, right, thanks, kid,” the man said gruffly, then winked at Lily to show support. 

“We could go with you,” Alex decided for them.

The man squinted at them for a moment, gaze falling suspiciously on each one, holding on to Evelynn for a last four seconds, as if examining them completely. “We’ll use a buddy system,” he says finally, grabbing three flashlights, then turning the remaining ones to fill the room with light. 

Evelynn’s heart fell into her stomach. She hated it whenever she had to pick a partner. Astrid and Lily were obviously going to go for each other, then Alex and Luke, and then Jack wouldn’t want to be in a group with her. Just like in school, she’d be left as the last choice, but instead of it just being that her friends aren’t around, like Jack, it’s because she doesn’t have any friends.

The others all nod, and the man makes some ground rules. “Alright, kids. When you get your buddy, you stay with them. Don’t run off alone; you’ll get targeted if you aren’t already.  Like when you used the buddy system on field trips and things. Next, if anything happens, you call for me. Don’t call for anyone else, it could be a fake version of your friends that comes back, to make the situation worse. Third, make a safe word with your partner, so that you can trust them. Ask them if you ever split up and get back together. But don’t leave your partner unless I’m with you, or I tell you to.” He breaks off for a moment, coughing. He covers his mouth, turning away from the group. “Just, just make your groups, kids.” The coughing continues as he chokes it out, waving them off.

Evelynn’s anxiety rises. She wasn’t going to be picked. Her gray and brown eyes flick back and forth as she sees Astrid and Lily pairing off like she had expected them to. Jack takes a step back from them all, seeming to notice the same. Luke and Alex automatically moved closer to each other, but looked around. Alex must have seen the panic in her gaze as he met her eyes, because he then said something to Luke that made him nod and go to Jack begrudgingly. 

Evelynn looked away before Alex could see her panic again, pretending she didn’t care about pairing with people. Her heart beat rapidly, fueled by adrenaline. She pretended her nails were interesting, examining them with all of her brain power, trying to pull the reins on her thoughts to just shut up about Alex or her spiraling anxiety. Abruptly, she got pulled out of her thoughts when Alex stood in front of her and leaned down to put his face in her view, which was otherwise directed at her nails below.

“Hi,” he said, acting like this was the most normal and naturally easy thing in the world. “Wanna pair up? Promise I’ll be the best partner ever. I bet I could fight the monsters away if they try to jump at us, cause I mean, I’m just so jacked, right?” He grins, dramatically flexing his arms that were a little muscular from sports, but the point being that he was, in fact, as muscular as any other guy their age.

Evelynn tried to stifle her laugh before it could come out, but she left behind a small, entertained smile for him. This made him grin and straighten up to his normal height, in turn making her look up as well.

Obviously, she was relieved she had been picked as his partner. Maybe they were becoming friends? A bit of hope sparked in her chest, and for a moment, she thought to let it grow.

After the buddy system was established, the group moved out of the cafeteria and down the dimly lit hallway, flashlights bouncing across the walls and occasionally hitting lockers. Evelynn’s stomach knotted with each locked door they tried, every metal handle that refused to turn, twisting her fear tighter. She kept her gaze low, tracing the edges of the floor tiles, pretending the patterns were more interesting than the dread pooling in her chest.

The man led, alongside Luke, pulling Jack along. They crouched slightly to peer through a narrow office window. “Nothing here,” Luke muttered, brushing past a dusty counter. Evelynn’s breath hitched every time the door creaked under someone’s touch, half expecting to see the infamous monster, while hoping it would finally be the keys.

“Front office,” Luke said finally, voice quieter than usual, like even speaking too loudly would alert whatever was waiting in the shadows. Evelynn hurried to follow, her heart racing in her throat. She caught Alex’s eyes for a brief second, and he gave her a small nod—like the one he’d given her before, reassuring but unspoken, and it made her chest warm in a way she couldn’t explain.

The office door was cold under her fingertips when Luke pressed it open, and for a moment the group hesitated, scanning the dim interior. Evelynn’s nails dug into her palms as she stepped forward. Maybe the keys were here. Maybe, just maybe, this was the one place that would finally give them a tiny sliver of control. 

Alex acted fast, tugging her towards the front desk. He opened the top one, rummaging through. “Always wanted to be able to do stuff like this without getting in trouble,” He looked over, grinning. He was trying to lighten the mood, since she always brought it down with her constant anxious atmosphere. So Evelynn nods, mustering a smile back, which she worried almost immediately would seem fake. This seemed to please Alex enough, and he went back to his drawer. 

Evelynn opened a side drawer, beginning her own search. Her anxiety was almost like a constant adrenaline rush, so she was eerily aware of everyone and everything around them. Lily and Astrid had followed them over, checking the filing cabinets in the very back, while Jack and Luke had gone with the night janitor to look in the teacher’s lounge nearby. Alex was flipping through old and new papers, the rougher, yellowing pages a stark contrast to the pure white and smooth ones nearer to the top. Evelynn saw toys in the corner of her drawer, probably taken from kids in class and never returned. She yawned for a moment, pausing, then went back to it wearily, her brain racing despite her body’s exhaustion.

What if they never found the keys? She was thinking, looking under a notebook in the far side of the drawer. Or worse, what if they found the keys, but they led somewhere worse? Was she a danger to the group if she was targeted, or was it really better to keep quiet?

Alex tried to make some conversation as her inward monologue continued. “So, you read, huh?”

“Uh, yeah. Do you?” Evelynn replied, hand shaking a little with nerves. She wasn’t sure what was right to say. Or, in better words, what people wanted to hear. She never could figure out what people wanted to hear, so it didn’t even matter if she was doing it right; it would still not be right.

“Not really, but I've been interested for a while. But maybe you could get me started? What would you recommend?” Alex shrugged, looking up from his job.

Evelynn felt a new rush of fear going throughout and down her body, especially gripping its way down her spine. Her stomach was twisting in faint knots. How was she supposed to know what he would like? She has barely actually known him. Maybe a crowd pleaser? What’s a regular book for their age like that? What if she goes so bland he’s already read it, or just thinks she didn’t actually give him one she liked, because she didn’t care to think? But then again, if she does one that’s less known and basic, maybe he just won’t bother even trying to find it because it seems strange. She tries to remember the first books she got into, but she already knows he wouldn’t like those.

Eventually, she sighs, shrugs, and says quietly, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians?” It was a generally accepted book to start with, and almost everyone enjoyed it, not that that made it less fun and amazing, though. Most books like that with their own world deserve recognition, since it took a lot of work.

“Oh yeah, I’ve seen some kids reading that around school,” He said, smiling back. “I never read more than the first chapter, I think, but I don’t remember it. Luke read the whole first book, though, so I’m sure it’ll be a fun read.” Alex seemed so genuinely interested; she felt the heavy burden of her thoughts lift just a little, knowing she made the right choice.

“What made you interested in reading lately?” Evelynn asked him quietly, having been silently rummaging through the rest of her second drawer for a few moments. She was nervous; she was supposed to keep the conversation going. But she wasn’t used to it, so she was just trying her best and worried it might be wrong. There was a bit of awkward tension in the silence.

Alex didn’t answer right away. The silence stretched until he finally muttered, still digging through his drawer, “I don’t know. I’ve just…always noticed how different you look when you’re reading. Like, like you’re not putting on an act for anyone. You’re just…you. Peaceful. Not the you who seemed so unreachable. It made me want to know what that felt like.”

Her brain stopped its gears for a moment at his words, blanking. The sensation was almost surreal, but soon enough, they got to turning again. She didn’t think he had ever really cared about what she did. Did everyone see her as just this stoic nerd? Alex was the most popular guy she’d ever met; even the high schoolers knew him. So why would he care about her that much? Everyone ignored her. Every day at lunch, she ate alone, all the way through this school year, and all the ones before. It was lonely, and it hurt so badly. He had mountains of friends, inner circles, etc. He was probably making it up. She told herself that, and let the words sink in, reminding herself that after this night, she’d go back to before. She nods at him, acknowledging his words, and she goes back to her drawers, moving to the third one.

But as she crouched down and opened the third drawer, she saw metal catch the light of her flashlight, shining. Evelynn stuck her hand in and gripped it tightly before taking it out. 

Alex had been watching her for a minute suspiciously, but when he saw the keys, he straightened up his posture. “Whoa! Guys, come on, Evelynn found the keys!” He yelled, and the group came in fast to crowd around.

Lily and Astrid were shocked when the keys were found, having assumed they were lost. They had just been talking while they searched half-heartedly. Jack, Luke, and the man came in fast, holding donuts left in the teacher’s lounge. Jack held the box while the man had a donut in his mouth. Luke eyed the box but didn’t say anything as he joined the rest in crowding around Evelynn and her keys.

Evelynn got nervous with all the people around looking at her, so she tried to just give them to the man. He took them and examined them before walking to the door out of the office, taking another bite of his glazed donut. “Well, let’s try it out, kids,” he said, mouth stuffed still.

The kids quickly got up to follow, Astrid bee-lining for the donut box and not taking no for an answer. Quickly, everyone was handed a donut except Jack, who insisted he didn’t trust anything that man would eat and would rather just hold the box. It was his loss, they all decided.

The man led them down the hall to the nurse’s office and tried the door. It was locked, as he said it would be. He made a grunting noise, then placed the second donut he had grabbed back in his mouth, almost entirely eaten, and took out the key ring Evelynn had found. He tries a few keys, and Evelynn is stuck anxiously wondering if none of them will work. Then she would be the one who found the wrong keys. 

But after every try with the keys, each wrong one building the knots in her stomach, they found that, with the last key…

It didn’t unlock.

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