Valeria Horror Story Part Five

    The first day back was unusually terrifying for very different reasons. My mother walked me up to the school doors as usual and then to my horror kept on walking with me through the doors and up the hallway!

That dark winters day the school was a shock for my mother. The dark hallway looked like midnight. My mother commented she didn`t know how we put up with it to my bewilderment. The lights began flickering as always, the end of the corridor disappeared in black gloom and our every footstep rang out louder than seemed remotely possible.She looked nervously for a  piece of  paper with the room number on it.

”This should be her” she said knocking  urgently.

 It was Mrs. Goldgren the head mistress`s office. She looked stricken to meet us but said the opposite. I wondered if it was being found at all that had effected Mrs Goldgren whom i realised then always made a point of telling everybody in the upper school her office was in the lower and everybody in the lower that it was in the upper.

My mother sat down on a dark grey plastic office chair in front of Mrs. Goldgren`s desk. I sat beside her.Mrs. Goldgren proceeded to rattle off a long apology that sounded well-rehearsed. I thought she looked in a position she didn`t want to be in, she seemed alarmed to see me.I noticed Valeria sat crossed legged the other side of my mother on the carpet. Ignoring me she watched Mrs. Goldgren with a careful attention I couldn’t myself muster. In the dark gloom under a small high window a group of Valeria`s friends milled about, they had a light of their own but it was constantly turning slowly off and on.Mrs Goldgren and my mother saw nothing.

Mrs. Halisted had been removed from her position I suddenly heard “following complaints from parents”

“I should think so “replied my mother.

I looked over at Valeria wondering if she had any explanation she turned her face to me, the whole right side of her face was black. The longer I stared at her the more her burnt skin shrank back till her eyeball bulged and her teeth grinned horribly. The face might have been devastatingly gruesome had I not detected the briefest flash of a mischievous smirk across the still ok side of her face. I still had to look away and shut my eyes. I had thought for some time she might do something like that but hoped never to see it.

When I could I looked over at the group under the window to see what they were doing. Their flesh boiled and blistered red like lava and then blackened like charcoal. I stuck my head to my mother’s shoulder, catching a glimpse of disbelieving sneer from Mrs. Goldgren

“Can you see them Samantha?

She asked me somewhat sarcastically

“What are they doing?”

My mother tried to shrug me off so I would answer

Mrs.Goldgren stiffened herself and sat upright,putting on her friendly face she addressed me in the manner of someone dealing with the deranged

“We have the plaque up for the lost children now Samantha.We know this is what they wished.All the children who caught the bug had the same nightmares you see?Take a look”

She waved an arm over in the direction of a bronze plaque on a wall next to a filing cabinet in a humouring a lunatic style

I gasped. Even from where I was sat I could see many names. More than I had expected

“How many names? “

I asked.Mrs Goldgren surprised to hear me speak replied instantly “Eighty six”

Then she comforted herself with some more formal apologising on behalf on the school this time to Clemency and myself whom she felt had been particularly affected by the “outbreak” which was somehow connected to the “hysteria “My head buried in my mother’s shoulder she said to her

“You have my sincerest apologies”

“But is it over? “asked my mother.

I looked up to catch Mrs. Goldgren shrugging a shoulder  in the direction of the plaque and then looking at me as if to indicate I was involved. My mother and myself looked at each other questioningly. I Felt sure she was about to mention the bang in the back of the head I had received but the next sound we heard was the sound of the plaque on the wall being dropped to the floor. It very obviously did not fall.The disturbing sound we heard was of it moving through the air at an unnatural speed, thrown to the ground.Swoosh.Clank.

Mrs. Goldgren span round her chair to stare at it mystified.Turned again to eye me suspiciously.My mother cut her off with an accusatory “Maybe the screws loose “

The lights were flickering which made my mother nervous. Mrs. Goldgren and myself  barely noticed. The doors burst open and a woman froze herself in the doorframe realising she had not knocked “Yes Heather?” asked Mrs. Goldgren “The stage curtains are all down again “ She informed her. Mrs Goldgren had no reaction. Heather noticed the plaque on the floor and in a confused state went straight over to it.As she picked it up all the other pictures on the walls made a similarly speedy descent to the ground.Heather,not noticing looked at me accusingly “The screws are all missing”

Seeing my mother had just  about had enough Mrs. Goldgren stepped in saying “It was not Samantha Heather”Mrs Goldgren tried to gather  herself to smooth things over sensing all her time spent apologising was about to be lost. As we looked to her all the things on her desk began to slide slowly forward and onto the floor.

“They don`t think it`s enough! “I squeaked nervously. Thinking I had better point out the obvious. Heather who had been frozen to the spot suddenly moved again, we all thought she was about to accuse me again but she became distracted by something in the air. There had been something of a mist,i had dismissed as the steam that you get when you come into a warm room from cold wet weather, but it was was not wet out and this mist was becoming blacker it was more like smoke. Looking around the walls seemed blacker too. The tension was too much for anyone to stand .I thought we all had the same idea at that point to Get Out Now .Mrs. Goldgren did not, laying out her hands in a sudden display of unearthly calm Mrs Goldgren stopped us.She told Heather to sit down.

Speaking slowly and quietly it became clear Mrs. Goldgren`s  greater fear was to lose control of her school

“If we make two more plaques one for one entrance and one for the hall, will that be enough”?

She was addressing me for some reason I looked at my mother for help. I saw Valeria was sat on the floor again and looked to her questioningly,she shrugged.

It seemed like anything at all might be about to happen.At odd intervals children ran wildly down the hallway.I could make make out moving shadows flitting past in the frosted glass of her office door.Mrs Goldgren had noticed too and was annoyed but not aware.The frosted glass was not so blurring that it would be able to hide the coloured clothes schoolchildren like me wore.The children running past had no colour other than black. I was scared I would become too frightened to move and just wanted to get out, I clung to my mother urging her toward the door.I thought the children out in the hall were running toward the doors.The sadness paralysed me as much as the fear. Valeria was stood under the window now with the others in discussion,saying something that divided opinion.

“We want to be remembered “They all said in unison. It was terrifyingly deep somehow wordless sonorous sound. Everyone else had a reaction although they appeared not to have actually heard what was said

“They want to be remembered? “

Shouted Mrs. Goldgren trying to remain calm I nodded

“What did they say exactly!?”

But I could not speak “I want to go!” I managed to shriek.A sound like the rest of the school roof caving in crashed into the room.it was almost a relief just to hear external sound the tension in the room was so thick...

www.abctales.com/story/witchling/valeriaa-horror-story-part-one

www.abctales.com/story/witchling/valeriahorror-story-part-two

www.abctales.com/story/witchling/valeriahorror-story-part-three

www.abctales.com/story/witchling/valeriahorror-story-part-four

www.abctales.com/story/witchling/valeria-horror-story-part-six