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Lock InThis story may contain adult content. |
| Written by Cody OBryant | |
| Tuesday, 27 May 2008 | |
 *Note before reading* I struggled writing this story for multiple reasons. One: I wanted to write a story where the antagonist was completely unknown, and the reader is allowed to imagine it. I think I did that pretty well. Two: the format I wanted to write it in was hard to achieve. I didn't want to include anything but dialogue so I could continue my theme of leaving everything to the reader's imagination. Eventually I realized that wasn't really going to work, so I added a narrator of sorts, and I added some non-dialogue script at one part. This whole story is an experiment, so please let me know what you think!
Lock In By: Cody O'Bryant
"Holding on to you, / To keep from falling" - Matt Tuck
"Gone insane, / But the memory remains" - James Hetfield
Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. As the clock tower sings its song, we look in on a group of teens wanting nothing more than a good time, but will get something they never dreamed possible... "Man, Mark, it's weird being in the school at night. It's only six o'clock and already the shadows give me the creeps." "Know what you mean Bevvie. Can't even begin to fathom why we wanted to stay the night in this stupid school. I mean seriously, I can't even stand being here when the suns up!" "Me neither. The only possible thing I can think of is that we were high." "More than likely, but I think this is all just Albert's fault. He either talked us into this or gave us the weed. Ain't that right, Albert?!" "You wish. It was you guys who dragged me into this you stupid sons-of-bi-" "How many times do I have to tell you to watch your language in front of the ladies Albert?" "Shut up, Alex. The las time I checked, you weren't my mother." "Ah, but I am your father!" "Ha, good one Alex!" "Thanks Steph. Aw c'mon Albert don't give me the bird, I was just screwing around!" "Of course you were; you always are, jackass." "Here we go again with the language! You must've learned that from your mother, ‘cuz I know you sure as hell didn't learn it from me." "Both of you shut the **** up. If I'm gonna be stuck in this dump of a school all night, I'm sure as hell going to make sure I have fun!" "Sorry, Mark." "Yeah, Mark, sorry." "So, what shall we do first? Oh, I know, how about I tell you guys a scary story?"
***
Our ignorant children found an unlocked classroom, and began to set up their "beds." Then, Mark gathered them all around in a circle, turned off the lights, and proceeded to make things interesting... "This is more than a story, more than a legend, this is life. I swear to you all that every word that comes out of my mouth is the cold, dark truth. How do I know? I learned of this sad truth from Janitor Velazquez. How does he know? Well, since he has been working here for over fifty years, he knows the in and outs of our dear school. He knows all of its dark secrets and cover-ups; he knows everything there is to know about Roswell high. "JV swears on his soul that something dark and sinister occurs here every five years starting back when the school was built in the fifties. His exact words were: ‘The teachers, I don't know if it's higher up than them, well, someone selects five students to sacrifice to it every five years so it stays appeased. The worst part is that the chosen students are all forgotten, no one remembers them. The only reason I do, is because I make sure I have something of theirs so I will never forget them. Also, Mark, it has been five years since the sacrifice was made, so you need to watch yourself.' If you guys actually think hard for once, you'll remember that not even one of us volunteered to stay the night here. We won the "privilege" in some raffle that not one of us remembered entering. Coincidence? "When I asked JV what it was, he began to sweat really badly and glance around a lot like he was watching out for someone, and I guess he was, because just as he was about to tell me, the principal butted in, gave him a strange, unnerving look, and spat ‘Don't you have a job you're supposed to be doing?' JV panicked and ran before I could say anything. "The strangest part though, is when I told JV we would be staying the night here. He looked terrified, and barley squeezed out, ‘Do you have something of yours that I could hold on to so I don't forget you?' I must admit he freaked me out, so I ran off. "If it is as I now fear, we are the chosen five, and by tomorrow, we will never have existed. One by one we will fade away. After one goes, we will not remember them until it is our turn. And even though I have told you all what will happen, the school will make us forget, make us ignorant, and one must never forget: He who is ignorant is the easiest of prey. One by one, we will all fall."
***
Though they all believed Mark's prophetic story to be fiction, it set fear in everyone's heart. Even Mark was surprised by how eerily ominous the words sounded as they came out of his mouth, and paid attention to everything around him while repeating all his friends names in his head over and over again as they explored the school. At first, they all jumped at the slightest sound, but eventually they forgot the darkness of Mark's prophecy, and began to think it funny. It's a good thing to, because they should not have to recognize what would eventually consume them all... "So Mark, did JV really tell you all that carp? "That he did, Steph, and it's weird, because he genuinely looked scared, like he really believed what he was telling me." "Man that jerk was really pushing to give us, or just you, a scare, wasn't he? "Yeah, Bevvie, but I don't think he was trying to be a jerk. An old man like him must not have a lot of fun anymore, and that was the perfect chance for him to have some. Hey! I just remembered, JV's on duty tonight, so how about we give him a scare? Although it can't be too scary, don't want to give him a heart attack..." "That's actually a good idea Mark! See I told you that you don't have to be high to be smart!" "Thanks Steph, but if I stopped getting high, Albert would be out of business. Wouldn't you? "Only if Beverly stopped buying too, but losing you would cut my profit in half... Hey Alex, would you please stop pulling on my shirt, you're chocking me!" "Sure thing, Albert, but I'm five feet in front of you. Are you smoking your own weed man? "Wha-" "Speak up please, Albert, I could barley understand you." ... "Albert? ... "ALBERT?" ... "Guys, Albert's gone!" "What?" "Holy ****! He was just there! Oh my god? ALBERT?" "Alex, I need you to calm down! Alex! ALEX! Stop blubbering you're not going to find Albert that way! Plus, he's probably just messing with us. I told a scary story, now he's going to play a game with us. That's all!" "Is everything okay guys?" "Yeah, Bevvie, he's just hiding. "Oh... wait, who's hiding?" "A... I don't know?!" ***
Having already forgotten their lost friend, our children moved on. They walked around looking for the janitor and talked about random things. Eventually, they managed to find their way back to their sleeping room. They were light-hearted, happy as could be. Unfortunately, they did not know that soon another would join Albert as one of the lost... "I agree with you Steph, it is a little weird that we couldn't find JV anywhere, don't you Mark?" "I guess, but you have to remember, Alex, he is at work right now, so he's probably just cleaning somewhere downstairs and we missed him." "That or he's purposely avoiding us. What do you think Beverly?" "I don't know. My brain is set on think mode at the moment, I'm hungry, and when I'm hungry you can't count on me for anything. Ain't that right, Steph?" ... "Steph?" ... "Stephanie?" ... "Guys, wasn't Steph just here? "Yeah, did you see her leave Alex?" "No, I didn't... STEPH? STEPH?" "Alex she probably just went to the restroom." "No way, Mark, Stephanie is afraid of the dark; she would've asked me to escort her like always." "If it'll make you feel better, we'll split up and look for her." "Thanks Mark." "Uh guys...who are we looking for again?" "Are you joking, Beverly? Who have we been talking about? We're looking for my girlfriend Ste-" "Wait. Didn't you break up with Alicia two months ago? When did you start dating again? I thought you were heart broken... "Hey, Mark, I'm a little hungry, let's go see what we can scavenge from the kitchens." "Sure Bevvie. You coming, Alex?" "Yeah..."
*** Hunger is perhaps the greatest of universal concepts. Everything gets hungry, and everything feeds. While Mark and Alex plundered the Kitchens, Beverly held the door open, attentive to everything. Therefore, it was only she who sensed the hunger that wasn't their own. The hunger that would soon devour them all... "Hey, Alex, do you think this stuff will be any good if we just pop it in the microwave for a few minutes?" "Tastes fine at lunch, doesn't it?" "Touché." "Hey guys could you please hurry it up a little bit, I'm getting really freaked out." "What's there to be scared of, Bevvie? The Boogeyman?" "Funny, Mark, but... Oh, I don't know, it just feels like I'm being watched, like something is hiding in the shadows, waiting for its chance to strike. Listen to me! I sound like a freakin' five year old!" "I sympathize with you, Bevvie, if I had an over active imagination like yours, there is no way I would've lasted this long in this creepy school at night. Let's go Alex." ... "Alex?" ... "Bevvie, where'd Alex go?" "I don't know." "He would've had to walk right past you to get out, Bevvie." "Yeah, well you were standing right next to him, why didn't you see him walk off? "Because I was talking to you, Bevvie." "Well, Mark, I was talking to you, so I guess it's fair." "Whatever. C'mon, I'm not that hungry anymore, let's go back to the room." "Fine..." "Hey, Bevvie, since me and you are staying the night here alone, how ‘bout we spice things up a bit and have a little fun?" "Sure, when Hell freezes over." "Aw, but Bevvie, I'll be lonely and cry. Especially since it's our first anniversary." "Hmph. I'll think about it." "Sweet, let's go!"
***
Ignorance is bliss. When you have no idea of all the world's secrets, you have all the happiness imaginable. The minute you experience pure happiness or pure evil, though, is the days your eyes are opened. Unfortunately for our two children, they experienced both in the same night, forcing realization upon them. Fortunately, though, the dark pit both Mark and Beverley were thrown in comes with lack of memory comes ignorance, and with ignorance, comes bliss. Thus, they would have been happy, but Mark and Beverly experienced the purest of happiness, and nothing could keep their eyes shut any longer... "Wow, Bevvie that was the most amazing thing ever!" "Hah, thanks, my sister taught me some tricks." "I'm not sure I wanted to know that Bevvie..." "Why, cuz it was your brother he learned them with?" "Now that's just going too far in the direction of way too much information. How ‘bout we talk about something else?" "Hm... how about this: I'm sick of doing nothing in my life. I'm sick of sitting on my ass while people die. I'm sick of people dying because they don't have money to buy food. I'm sick of doing nothing to help!" "Beverly, calm down. Where did all of this come from?" "I'm not sure. It has been on my mind for weeks, if not months, and tonight I finally came to terms with how much I hate myself for it. I'm living the life while other people die of disease, hunger, murder, terrorist attacks; I just want to help in some way. "My mom calls me an ungrateful brat, and I have to agree with her. I'm a spoiled *****. I get whatever I want, and I give nothing back! I've passed a million homeless guys on the street in my life, and not once have I given one change. I won't even give up a penny! "I have no idea why I care all of the sudden, but I do. My dad always tells me I'll understand when I grow up, and now I think I actually do. I understand everything my parents have been telling me for years, and I'm pissed at my self now for not listening to them. I hate myself... "Mark, do you think everyone will ever be happy?" "Probably not. No, definitely not. For everybody to be happy, everyone would have to care about what is happening to a good bit of the people on this earth." "That's what I feared you'd say. It shows even you have no hope, which means, no drive to help. Am I wrong? If you really wanted to help Mark, you'd have hope, but since you don't have hope you don't want to help! Why, Mark, why don't you want to help?" "Beverly, you want to go for a walk? Maybe clear your head? It helps me sometimes..." "I'm making you nervous, aren't I? Alright, I'll go. It's eleven now, so if you get tired don't wait up for me, but if you do decide to wait, think about your answer to my question." "Okay. I love you Beverly." "If you say so..."
***
Mark was left to think about what Beverly said, and to wonder what caused her to freak out so much. He waited half an hour for her to return, and when she didn't he went out to look for her. Of course, he wouldn't find her. As soon as she left the room, she was whisked away to join her lost friends. The strange thing was that Mark was able to remember her, which should've been impossible. Perhaps it was the happiness he experienced with her; maybe it was the question and imprint she left on his mind. Soon though, he forgot everything but her name. He some-what knew who she was, but he couldn't recall any details. All he had was a name. As helpless as it seems though, this name is the key to Mark's memory, and the key to challenging fate herself... "Beverly. Beverly. Beverly. Beverly. Aah!!! Why can't I remember you, Beverly? What happened to you? Why can't I recall anything but your name? Beverly. Beverly. Beverly. BEVERLY!!!" Mark then experienced anger like he never had before then, and kicked a door down. "What the?" Inside a small desk lamp was shining, a lamp that should've been off. He walked into the classroom and noticed a drawer in the teacher's desk was opened. He pulled out the drawer and found nothing. He was about to push it back in when he noticed that its bottom was at a slant. He reached down, found an edge, slipped his nails into it, and lifted. With a small pop, a fake bottom came out revealing a small, loaded revolver. "That's interesting," he mumbled to no one but himself, or so he thought. "It is, isn't it, Mark? I believe you were all told at the beginning of the year that this classroom is off limits." "What the...is that you Mr. Velazquez?" "Yes Mark, and don't be afraid to call me JV like you do with your friends." "Okay, JV, but what did you mean by ‘off-limits'?" "What's it sound like, smartass? This is k104, the room a mother went crazy in, and ended shooting a teacher. Apparently, the mother thought the school had done something with son and four of his friends. Strange thing is though, no one remembers her ever having a son. We know that she did though, don't we Mark? "Is that a revolver? Strange, looks exactly like the murder weapon, and I could've sworn that it was confiscated. Ah, but of course, the school works in mysterious ways. I wonder..." "Pardon my French, JV, but what-the-fuck are you talking about? You're not making any sense at all. I am glad you here though, you see, Beverly is missing, she went for a stroll around the school, and never came back." "Who, Mark?" "Beverly..." "My God, you actually remember her?" "Why wouldn't I?" "Don't you remember what I told you, Mark? Remember, students are sacrificed to the school every five years..." "I know the story you're talking about, but it's just that a story. You were just trying to scare me, and you are again. I have to give you props though, you really are convincing. If I was gullible, I so would've fallen for it." "Mark, it's not a story. I promise you everything I said was real. Think hard and you will remember. You remember Beverly, even though she was taken don't you? Think hard, maybe you'll remember Alex, Stephanie, and Albert too." "Alright, I'll play along. If what you told me was true, why didn't you forget them?" "As I said before, I took precautions. I held on to these...That's it! Here, first Alex's," he handed Mark a bright yellow theatre mask with ALEX S. written on it. Mark turned it around in his hands a few times murmuring, "Alex, Alex, Alex..." "Now how about Alex's girlfriend Stephanie? Can you remember how much she loved singing?" He passed to Mark a microphone with Stephanie penned on it. Mark reviewed the microphone, and while he did, JV noticed he began to pale. "Next is Albert. This is the best I can do and I'm sorry, but it helps me remember him so..." Mark was now hold a one-hundred dollar bill with a tiny scrawling of Albert kicks assets. "Albert always was a comedian..." "What was that, Mark?" "Nothing. I just remember Albert was always so high and mighty about the money he earned off the stock market, and I remember he would make jokes about his assets like this." "So then, you remember?" "I guess I do. Sort of. My memory is all foggy, it's as if I want to remember something but can't..." "Exactly. Maybe this will help." Mark reached out and grabbed a bracelet with BEVERLY hanging as a charm. "This was the bracelet I was going to give her for our anniversary! How'd you get it, JV?!" "You gave it to me when I told you the story, remember? You said ‘If what you told me is true, take this and make sure never to forget Bevvie, make sure no one forgets Bevvie.'" "So I believed you? "Why can't I remember you guys? Albert, Stephanie, Alex, Beverly. I know who you are, but then again I really don't. Why?!" He ran his fingers over the items JV had given him again and stopped. He felt something in him, thundering to escape as he passed over Beverly's never-received bracelet. "Today's our anniversary. I completely forgot. I knew it was coming up, but I forgot it was today. How could I do that? This morning when I woke up, I was all prepared to go over to Bevvie's and just be with her, but then Albert called me up and reminded me we won this stupid lock-in..." It hit him then, his memory that is. Everything came flowing back at once. It felt like he had just been winded. It was too much for him, so he collapsed and JV rushed to his aid. "What is it, Mark, are you okay?" "Albert was the first. He was arguing with Alex when he just vanished. He was hanging back; just listening to everybody else talk, and then poof, we all forgot he existed. It was so strange though, because it was as if whatever took Albert and our memories created new ones, because everything Albert said ended up being said by me. "Stephanie was next. I was surprised by how quiet she was tonight. She was even quieter than Albert which is highly unusual. Anyway, we were just sitting there talking again, when she sort of distanced herself from the conversation, then nothing. No more Steph. Once again our memories were replaced, and yet again, it was I who had all the missing lines. "Alex went third. We were borrowing food from the kitchen... Don't give me that look, we didn't even take anything! Anyways, Beverly and I got into an argument about whether or not something was watching us, and Alex stayed out of it. Next thing I know, Beverly and I are walking back to our "dormitory" alone, and in our minds, it was me who stole all of Alex's lines again for the night. "Last was Beverly. We had just... Uh, we, she started talking about how much she hated herself because she sees all this pain and suffering in the world, yet she does nothing to help. She then challenged everything I believed in and went for a walk." "So let me get this straight, she was taken, but you still remembered her." "At first I did, but over time I forgot everything but her name; before you ask, no I don't know how I remembered, I just did. Maybe it's because of what we shared; maybe it's due to the question she left on my mind; who really cares as long as I remember? "Now I have a question for you JV, what happened to all of them?" "I don't know, Mark, and even if I did, I couldn't ell you and it wouldn't matter, because you're going to find out soon enough." "What?" "You know what I'm saying Mark, you're bright, I know you'll understand. Oh, and I am sorry it has to be this way. I really wish you could've lived." "No, JV, wait! Hold on. Why can't you help me? We can make it out of here together!" "You don't understand, Mark. The school doesn't want me, it wants you. That's why you were chosen, and if you don't fulfill your duty, Hell will almost literally open up. I'm not entirely sure what'll happen, but I can guarantee that it would be a thousand times worse than if you just disappeared." "If you knew about this, why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you try to stop it?" "You think I haven't? I've been working here since the school was formed. When I first found out what was going on, I reported it to every authority I could: the police, the mayor, even the army, and did any one of them believe me? No! They all laughed in my face and told me to go visit Area 51. "I then took matters into my own hands, helping the kids who were selected escape their fate. Even though I succeeded at first, the school was still able to claim them when I wasn't watching. The faculty found out what I was trying to do, and ever since they've kept their eyes on me. I can't even breathe without them knowing. Believe me, I tried to help you. I even went to the principle and begged for someone else to be selected, but here only reply was, ‘It's too late.' So don't think I just abandoned you Mark." "Please JV, if you really care that much about me, help me get out of here. We can't fight what comes together. Just please JV, please..." "I'll tell you this Mark, if you can get out of the school before your time is come, then you will live, but unfortunately you'll have to get past me to do that." "I'm sorry then JV, because right now my drive is greater than my heart." He picked up the revolver, pointed it at JV, and pulled the trigger. "I'm sorry JV, but I'll see you again, in hell. Mark took off running. He had leapt down the stairs and was tearing through the hallways when the clock tower began to sing. Ding. Dong. He was almost to the door, he could see it. Ding. Dong. He heart was climbing up his throat as he raced against time. Ding. Dong. He was about to pass through the first set of doors when he stopped. Ding. Dong. He couldn't move. He wanted to get out, but he couldn't. Mark. "Who's there?" He was beginning to feel tired all of the sudden. "Weird. Is that you Beverly?" Ding. Dong. Mark. It was a chorus of sorrow-filled voices now, all luring him to sleep; all pulling him away. "Hello? Bevvie? Hel-" Ding. Dong. Copyright 2008 Cody OBryant |
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