Encounters Of The Bizarre Kind

The next day arrived sooner than expected. Marcus was already ready for school way long before the school bus was due to arrive. The murder of the day before had saved him but he was certain no other situation would save him any other day to come. Seeing that it was about twenty minutes before the bus arrived, he sat on the dining table and began taking his breakfast slowly. His mother appeared and brought along with her a tray of pineapples and set them before Marcus.

"Oh mom! You should have brought them earlier. I have already started taking my tea."

"Stop dodging the fruits son. You can just save some space for them in that burly stomach of yours. Fruits are good for your health, and you know that."

"Urgh! Fine mom."

Jane fiddled with her fork for some seconds. She was just playing with her bacon instead of eating it. She seemed deep in thought and appeared to be wrestling with a decision before finally speaking.

"Hey, Marcus..."

"Yes mom," Marcus replied, half afraid that the topic about the fight was going to be brought up again.

"I was thinking about, you know, what happened in school yesterday and I was wondering...ummm...whether you'd be comfortable with shifting schools. I know this may be a shocker, but I am not forcing the issue on you. I am just worried about you. My best choice would be Panterbaker School. But please don't fret about it. It's only a suggestion." Jane told her son, concern written all over her face.

Marcus' reply was interrupted by the hoot of the school bus waiting outside. He hurriedly stood up and picked his backpack going for the door.

"Don't worry mom. I'm sure the death was only a one-time incident. It's not like the murderer will return. Bye." Marcus said, leaving in a rush so as to not be left by the impatient driver.

"And I know you are running away from these pineapples. You'll find them here when you come." Jane called at Marcus, who was now already leaving the compound.

Marcus entered to find a rather quiet bus. The usually noisy bus was now replaced with a silent and half-empty atmosphere. Most of the students were either staring out the window blankly or were in deep meditation. Marcus went and sat at his usual seat beside Jeff.

"Hey bro," Marcus began the conversation, greeting each other with their secret handshake. "Seems like we are the ones unfortunate enough to have our parents send us back to school after what happened."

"Tell me about it," Jeff sighed, "my dad actually said that the death was actually the devil's plan to stop God's children from acquiring education."

Jeff's dad was a religious man. He was a born-again Christian who was the deacon of Middlewood's Protestant Church. He was a staunch believer who believed in in rewarding good and punishing bad. That is why he had made it his initiative to instil the same Christian morals to his family. One could obviously notice this from the numerous posters of Jesus hanging about in their home and the rosary placed on their door. Those morals however had failed to be familiar to Jeff and he turned out to be the rebellious one in the family, or in what his dad would say, the lost sheep who needed to be found.

"Well you're dad can be a little over the top sometimes. Anyway, you won't believe what my mother just told me this morning. She wants to transfer me to Panterbaker! What the fuck?"

"Ew! That gross school? What is she even thinking? Those students look like prisoners sentenced for life imprisonment. I'd rather run away from home than let my dad take me there."

"Same here."

The bus stopped and someone boarded. It was Michelle. She was Sheila's best friend. She was in deep sorrow and seemed as if she was crying. There was a moment of silence in the bus as everyone looked at her. Ignoring the attention, she went and sat on her usual place, where she usually sat with Sheila.

"The poor girl, I can't imagine how sad it must be for her to lose her best friend like that." Jeff said.

"I know. Jeff, just promise me that you won't die anytime soon, I don't wanna be like that." Marcus added, with a tone of care.

"Oh this nigga got the lives of a cat. If anyone here should be the one not to die soon, then it's you bruh."

The bus roared back to life and they continued with their journey back to school.

The bus arrived in school to find the same sombre atmosphere. Mr. Stevens was there to welcome the students. His face portrayed the usual mask of frowning and he just grunted on seeing them alight.

Then the most unexpected thing happened.

On Michelle alighting she came face-to-face with Mr. Stevens. She halted and glared at him as if she had seen some ghost of a kind. All energy had seemed to have escaped her and she just stood there, looking as if she was about to have a heart attack any second now. She suddenly regained her strength and bolted into the school block as if she was being chased by someone.

"Whatever the hell is wrong with her?" Jeff remarked.

"It's the grief maybe. Can make you see some terrible shit." Marcus replied.

The school was no different as some of the students had apparently not reported. Mr. William was also not present. The students were told that he had gone to clear some issues with the police. The morning sessions went about smoothly, with teachers using their lessons to talk to the students to get to hear their personal experiences. Lunch arrived and as students made their way to their dining hall, Marcus remained in class claiming that he wasn't really hungry. He was not alone as some few other students had also lost their appetites.

Marcus was busy pondering when suddenly Jeff rushed in.

"Marcus, you have to come and see this!"

"What is it Jeff. Has someone else been murdered?"

"No. But it's related. Hurry and let's go before it gets too crowded."

Marcus had no choice but to follow him. They seemed to be moving with the traffic as other students were also rushing in the direction they were going. They took a corner and Marcus met a scene that rather shocked him.

The school auditorium had been broken into. The doors were opened and the police tape that confined the scene of crime was torn. But that was not the interesting bit.

What was interesting was a message written on the floor, in blood, and it said:

'LAST WARNING!'