Published || The Secret of Larimore High School

◽️11◽️

I clambered back out of my house at a late hour, grumpily rubbing my eyes and checking the address again on the email that Nashita sent. Why did it have to be this late to prepare for some stupid event? Man, I loved this game, but I needed my sleep, too. I'm surprised my dad didn't yell at the prospect of going out. I would say he didn't notice, but he's not one to act like that. He wasn't overprotective, but he cared a great deal about me just like I did about him.

My phone indicated a time of nine thirty in the afternoon. Yeah, it wasn't too entirely late now, but by the time I got back, I couldn't get as much sleep as normal. Mahogany sounded trivial enough. I started on my feet, and eventually hopped a bus at a nearby stop. The thing roared along with very few passengers aboard. After all, it wasn't in-between regular work shifts yet, so only midnight soul searchers would be aboard.. I didn't feel like a soul searcher, though. I just walked out here, shivering in my t-shirt and wanting to participate in this stupid event because it was my last year of high school. No one could stop me from enjoying it.

I had never been out on a bus this late, but for some reason it felt good and fulfilling. I could do anything tonight, like bound across buildings, summon ghosts and take over the world. I didn't intend to try, but I certainly felt like it.

"You wanted off at Mahogany Street?" The person next to me grumbled. I asked them earlier if the bus route led that way, and they replied with a tired 'sort of'. "This is as far as it goes that way, but you've only got a few blocks to walk, north."

I thanked them and they waved after I got off. The bus rumbled away, leaving me with the only light in the form of streetlights. Thank God for mace and pocketknives, both of which I had with me and felt more than willing to use if someone decided to sneak up on me. They both seemed much more lethal than the game intended, but then again, it wasn't for the game. It was for the fact that this was a new town and I walked the streets at night. Quiet seeped into all the cracks of the buildings as I walked, and I finally realized why the bus route didn't go out this far. This church sat outside of city limits.

It towered above several small country houses, most of which looked uninhabited but not too worn down. The church steeple was cracked and looked like moss infected over half of it. The building ached of old smells and architecture, but looked mostly stable other than the steeple. As I got closer, I noticed a small banner on the open front door- one that had the now familiar insignia of the Copper Phoenix team.

I walked inside, hit with the light from lamps stuck on pews and hung with rope from the ceiling. Yeah, someone turned the utilities off in this place long ago. However, the battery-powered lamps that hung above really did brighten the place up, just as if the electricity remained. Also battery powered, a radio with a CD player sat on a table nearby, playing along some mash up rap CD. Something in my bones told me that it belonged to Rowdy. The beats underneath sounded like a familiar grunge band, which I supposed half of the mash up belonge. Words about roaring and other pump-up pep talks shook the floor.

"There she is, Miss Valiance!" Nashita called out, waving her hands from the back of the room that looked like a main fellowship hall. Her dark eyes sparkled with praise. I could crush anything tonight. "How did it feel to see the despair on my brother's face when you beat him to that thing?" She laughed, crossing her arms and smirking. Nashita acted like a whole bundle of sass as always.

"Oh, man, felt pretty great." I dropped off my backpack on one of the pews, and dug through it until I brought out the small box containing the sought after artifact. The small gem sparkled in the overhead light, as if it really could protect you from gruesome vampires.

"He hates to be bested, especially by me, my team, and newbies. So, you got him with a double whammy." The Administrator winked at me, giving thumbs up as I placed it on one of the nearby tables.