No Exits Admin Mod (noexitshelp) wrote in noexits, @ 2022-10-03 12:18:00 |
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He hunched over his desk and scratched the back of his head. His leg shook nervously and he tapped his pencil against the side of the test, leaving an anxious pattern of dots near the only answer on the page he was certain he got right.
His name.
The teacher hushed.
Danny glanced up to see the teacher glaring at him. He made an apologetic shrug and then stared back down at the paper. All of the words and numbers blurred together. Then they reformed on the page.
“No,” Danny whispered. He flipped the test over to the second page.
The mathematical figures scattered across the page. Each line from the drawings separated from the image and moved around to create a single word across the entire sheet of paper.
No. It’s not real. You’re gone. You’re all gone. Delbert Grady. Mrs. Massey. Mrs. Grady. The Twins. Dad. You’re dead. You’re all dead.
No! Danny flipped over the test to the first page.
Then he felt it.
It was like a jolt. Like hitting a speed bump too fast. Someone crossed the Ghost Line. He could feel their life force sucked out of their body and deposited into the ethereal nothingness on the outskirts of town.
(WE GOT ANOTHER ONE, DANNEEEEEEE)
Danny shook his head. The test. He had to focus on this test. If he didn’t pass this test then he risked failing the entire quarter. And he was not going to redo the year. He wasn’t.
(IT’S A TASTY ONE)
I don’t hear you.
(MMM DELICIOUS)
Stop it.
(GONNA TAKE OUR TIME WITH THIS ONE)
Go away.
(MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH)
“SHUT UP!”
The entire class stopped and stared at Danny.
“That’s the third time I’ve had to warn you today, Mr. Torrance,” the teacher said. “Grab your bag and go to the principal’s office.”
“But—”
“Now, Daniel.”
Danny huffed. He grabbed his bag and stood up. He glanced down at the test. The words were gone. It was blank. Just a normal test. No REDRUM. No malformed symbols. Just his name written at the top and no answers.
“Leave the test,” the teacher called out from the front of the class.
A few students in the back snickered.
Danny shot them a glare and then glanced out the window. Over the school were blue skies. But off on the horizon he thought he saw lightning and an oncoming storm of angry clouds.
(COME JOIN US, DANNEEEEEEEEE)
(WE’LL SHARE WITH YOU)
(TASTY TASTY NEWCOMERS)
(COME ON, DANNEEEEEEEEE)
(COME OUT AND TAKE YOUR MEDICINE, YOU LITTLE SHIT!)
“Fucking ghosts,” Danny grumbled. Then he hiked his book bag over his shoulder and stormed out into the hall.