Eric Rhodes was a freshman at Pine Valley High School. He started the school year a little bit late because he just moved there from California from crime, traffic and noise to the quiet boring town of Pine Valley. Trouble seemed to find Eric frequently, but things could be easier for him at Pine Valley. It was a new start that was very welcome to him.
Eric was walking to his first period class from his locker when he overheard two girls talking about something strange.
"Did you hear about Em?", the girl said to the other.
"Yeah. How the f**k do you end up missing at school?"
"I know. You have to be an extra kind of special to pull that off."
"Rude ass bitches.", growled Eric under his breath. His
first period class being two doors down the hall, Eric quickened his pace to make it before the late bell rang.
It was the end of lunch, and Eric's day seemed to be fairly uneventful. He had a little bit of time until his fourth period class, so Eric decided to give himself a tour of the school.
After a few minutes of exploring, he noticed a dark hallway. Not a soul was to be seen walking anywhere near this newly found area. As he thought for a brief moment, Eric had no recollection of how he even got there.
"What are you doing in here!?", a rough sounding voice from an elderly woman barked. Eric turned around and gasped with a start.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I was just...", He didn't even finish his explanation before the brute of a woman grabbed him by his arm and dragged him deeper into the dark hallway.
A minute or two went by when the woman brought Eric to a steel door without windows. He could just barely make out the words on the face of the door. Before the silent, intolerant lady opened up the door, Eric made out the words "Timeout Room". The door was pried open by the woman's cold, rough hands before shoving Eric in and shutting the door. A metallic clicking sound indicated that he was locked in.
The room was pitch black. Feeling around the dark, Eric could tell that the room was really small. It was probably smaller than most closets. The only sound that filled the room was his panicked breathing. Upon realizing the intensity of it, Eric tried his hardest to slow his panting down. It was hardly effective if at all.
Moments later, after he got himself somewhat under control, he heard a faint tapping sound down the hall outside the door. The sound grew louder and nearer. It was close enough that Eric could tell that the sound was footsteps. Louder and louder, nearer and nearer they approached when the sound stopped directly outside the door.
'Great. I can finally get out of here.', he thought to himself. The clicking sound he was anticipating never came. What was worse than that was that the footsteps didn't move anymore. He was starting to wonder if he had just imagined the footsteps.
"H...hello?", Eric asked hesitantly through the door. BANG, BANG, BANG...! The sound of fists slamming the door sent him back into the wall where the back of his head slammed into the solid, concrete wall. Everything went black.
Eyes fluttering open, Eric woke up with a massive headache. It was once again silent in his small, dark prison. His hand felt it's way to the back of his head where he found it to be dry and crusty. He could tell he's been out cold for some time now.
What seemed like hours, long uneventful hours, he heard a sound outside the door. It wasn't footsteps this time. It seemed to be a build up of laughter. It was faint, at first, but it gradually got so loud that Eric could feel his skin vibrating. Between his pounding head and the manic laughter, he could do nothing but curl up, cry and pray for death.
So much time has passed, before the intense cackling abruptly ended. Eric knew that more insanity could be expected but when and what next?
"Why? What the f**k? I want to go home. I miss Cali. My mom... my dad... are they looking for me?", Eric panicked aloud to himself. More footsteps outside the room filled his ears. This time, when the sound of stepping halted, old music the 1920s echoed the hallway outside his concrete cage from what sounded like an equally old record player.
The music went on so long that Eric almost got used to it when he heard a second sound. It sounded like a girl whimpering and crying, but it came from right next to him. Two thin, cold hands rested on both sides of his head. His heartbeat intensified, his blood ran cold. The sobbing stopped but the hands still held onto him. Loud shrieks of terror filled the room except the shrill screams weren't his. It came from right in front of him. Over and over and over, the screaming persisted until Eric passed out from intense fear.
(Two weeks later...)
"Mark is missing now? How many people are missing now? Five since Em?", Katie asked her friend.
"I think so.", her friend replied,"Well, gotta go. See you after class?"
"Sure thing. See ya."