Shadow Within

Chapter 1: The O'Reilly House

"Mr. Cunningham?!" a feminine voice called out. "Mr. Cunningham..." It called again. All the children in the classroom turned around to the young boy with silver colored hair staring out the window in almost a trance like state. His eyes were emerald green and face absolutely hair free. His baby face made him look almost too young to be in High School. He definitely looked like the outcast of the class since it was the middle of August and was the only kid in the class wearing a hoodie indoors. "Mr. Cunningham!!!" The voice shouted out loud angrily. The boy snapped out his trance like state and looked around in confusion. All the students laughed at his startled reaction as he still looked left and right. He then stared at front of the classroom where a dark skinned woman in a khaki colored blouse and skirt stood. "Brock Cunningham, in my classroom. The only things your eyes should be on is either on a textbook, the board, or myself. Not daydreaming about who knows what!" The woman snapped at the daydreamer. "Sorry Miss Wallace, won't happen again..." Brock sighed heavily. "It better not, next time it'll be a detention slip that wakes you up." Miss Wallace threatened.
She then turned around to the White board and began to write the name Edgar Allan Poe "Now class, what is Poe most famous for? Anybody???" She asked looking around. None of the other students said a word, everyone was quiet and motionless. She looked back near Brock and saw him looking outside again. "Mr. Cunningham, what was..." Brock turned to Miss Wallace with an almost bored expression. "He's most famous for writing Dark Poetry with Death and Despair being the main driving themes of his stories. His use of personification is by far one of the most praise worthy as he often uses animals, plants, and even colors to represent death or tragedy in his poems. Most notable being The Raven." Brock answered so nonchalantly and efficiently, the class was shook with both terror and amazement. "How the fuck did he know all that?" One boy whispered quietly. "I think he does witchcraft." One girl whispered back. Miss Wallace's angry expression quickly turned into one of intrigue and delight. "Excellent Mr. Cunningham, I guess I should let you daydream more often in class." She smiled and began writing down more things on the board.
Brock looked at the clock and saw the time at 1:49 and school ended at 2:00. He was impatiently tapping his fingers rhythmically on his desk to the beat of the song American Idiot by Green Day. It was quiet enough no one heard the taps on his desk and Miss Wallace was continuing the lesson while calling on other students.
"Vrrr" His phone vibrated in his pocket. Another student sitting next to Brock heard the vibration and looked at him. Brock was tempted to reach into his pocket and check his phone. "Dude, you're gonna get caught." The boy sitting next to him whispered. "Shh, only if you make it obvious, Numb Nut!" Brock whispered angrily as he pulled his phone out and checked it. He had gotten a text from his friend, Matilda. It read "Hey Doofus, are we still meeting at Spirit Club? Lol" Brock smiled and looked up to make sure Miss Wallace was still facing the other way. He looked back to his phone and began to run his thumb through his screen and text back. "Yeah, I'll be there. Meet me outside Miss Wallace's first." He replied. "Mr. Cunningham!" Miss Wallace called out again. Brock quickly looked up concealed his phone underneath the sleeve of his hoodie. "Yes Ma'am." She pointed back at the board "Since you're very knowledgeable of Mr. Poe's work. I'll let you go ahead and have first dibs at one his works for the 1st Book Project." She said eagerly as she had a clipboard and pen at hand. "Oh, well I guess I'll go with "Cask of Amontillado" as my choice. He said nervously, he figured he'd been caught at first. She wrote down his choice on the clip board. "Interesting choice, you're one of the first students in years I've ever known that chose that story first." She said ever so impressed. "Next on the list... Riiiing" the bell had rung before she could finish. Everyone in the class began to get ready to leave. "We'll continue the selection tomorrow. Don't forget to read at least 2 poems from your books and your 2 paragraph summaries for each poem." Miss Wallace said loudly as everyone began making their way to the door to leave class. Brock was a little behind grabbing his things. The zipper on his backpack was stuck and he couldn't get it to budge. Miss Wallace walked over to Brock's desk as the other students had almost all left the classroom. "Mr. Cunningham, a word?" Miss Wallace asked. "Sure, again sorry for daydreaming. Sometimes I look out the window and get lost out there." Brock said trying to chuckle it off. "Try to limit that, you're an incredibly smart young man. In all my years teaching Honors English III, only a handful of students could explain to me correctly what Authors like Poe, Fitzgerald, and Twain were famous for. You're a smart kid and I want to see you thrive. It's only been 4 weeks since the new school year and I've had to get on you a handful of times about daydreaming in class." Miss Wallace lectured Brock. Brock was so embarrassed, he couldn't exactly look her in the eye. "Don't let your great talents go to waste. I see a gifted writer in you. Limit your distractions and I think you'll be good." Miss Wallace patted his shoulder and sent him on his way. Just as Brock got to the door, he turned back. "Miss Wallace?" He paused. "Yes" she responded. "He looked back smiled "Call me Brock, I prefer that a lot more than "Mr. Cunningham". And thanks for the pep talk, I'll try to focus a lot better." He said smiling and giving her a thumbs up. She smiled back gave him a thumbs up back. "Have a great day, Brock." She waved bye as he left the classroom.
"Man, thought that would never end." He sighed out loud as he walked out of the classroom. The hall was semi-busy as some students were rushing by to either go home or head to their clubrooms. A couple of the girls from the School's Volleyball team walked by and one of them was hiding her face as it was painstakingly bright red from blushing. "Hi Brock." The girls giggled walking past him and he smiled and waved hi back. They giggled even louder as they hurried away. As he turned away from the girls. He saw a lone girl standing right next to a locker holding up a diorama of an old house from the 1800's. Her hair was dyed black with two twin streaks of lavender on the left side of her head. She didn't have much make up on but she was incredibly beautiful. She was a few inches shorter than Brock and was wearing a black long sleeve with a lavender Moon Crescent in the center with the outline of a woman standing at the edge of the lower half of the cresent. "Y'know if you're gonna have me meet you outside of class. Ya shouldn't be the last one to come out." She rolled her eyes at Brock as he stopped in front of her. "What? I was getting a talk from Miss Wallace. Couldn't exactly leave class and ignore. Wouldn't look good." He chuckled at the girl. "Riiiight, and since when were you popular with Volleyball Girls, huh?" She snapped back smiling. "What the? They just said hi, I don't even their names let alone know who they are." Brock's face flushed red with embarrassment. "Mhmm" the Girl rolled her eyes again and turned her back away from Brock. "C'mon Matilda, sorry I made you wait. How bout I buy you an ice cream from the machine next to the Club Room". She smiled evily as he fell into her trap. "Ok, only cause you offered." Brock's face went from embarrassed to annoyed. Realizing he'd been tricked into buying Matilda an ice cream out of guilt, he shook his head at her. "You are the damn devil, y'know that?" He sighed as they walked their way to the Club Room. "Never said I was an Angel now." She laughed at his expense. "Yeah yeah..."
The two walked up to a little space near a few classrooms that had two vending machines. One gave out Ice Cream and sodas, the other gave out chips and other small candies. "Strawberry Cheesecake Pop I'm guessing?" He said looking at her with disgust. "Aww, you really do know me." She teased. He placed the money into the machine and made the selection. The Ice Cream treat came down from the machine and Brock handed it over. "Y'know if you wanted ice cream. You could've just asked, you don't have to guilt trip me into getting you one." He rolled his eyes. Matilda opened up the wrapper to her Popsicle and stuffed it into her mouth. "Whe duh fu if wat we?" She said with her mouth full. Brock looked at her with confusion and just gave her a blank stare. She took a small bite from the tip of her ice cream. "I said where'd the fun in that be?" she smiled at him. He rolled his eyes and then smiled. He grabbed his backpack and opened up a small compartment and pulled out a little tube with pills inside. "Time to take my medicine." He said as he took out one small pill from the tube and popped it in his mouth. "Need water, Matilda asked as she reached into her purse and pulled out a small bottle of water. Brock kindly took the bottle and sipped a small out amount to help guide the pill down. "Thanks, guess we're even now." He chuckled. "Yeah, guess we are." Matilda smiled back and then took another chomp at her ice cream.
Brock looked down at her feet and saw the diorama placed there. "What's with the haunted house?" Brock asked. Matilda hurried on chewing the bite of ice cream in her mouth and coughed a bit. "Man, that was cold. Anyways, this is that O'Reilly House in New Jersey I heard about and wanted to present to the Club. I think if we get permission from the School and property owners. We'll get permission to go look at the house and maybe do an investigation on it." She said eagerly as she picked up the model and showed it Brock. The house looked old and paint was chipping from the sides. "You use cheap paint or the house itself looks old you tried to make it look chippy." He asked as he looked at all the paint creases all over the house. "Rude, I spare no expense with my stuff when it comes to decorating anything or investigating." She snapped. "True, but yeah. It'd be pretty cool to check a place like this out. Not many houses like this left around the East Coast." Brock said admiring the sheer design of the model. "Legend has it, the house was visited by aliens too. But that part seemed a little outlandish. At the same time, I'm never one to say somethings not true until I debunk it myself." Matilda said proudly.
Brock smiled at Matilda "She's really determined to check this place out. That's really cool... Not many people like her out there." He thought to himself. She caught him staring and daydreaming. "Brock? Brooock? BROCK?!" She snapped right in front of his face as he fell back into reality. "Sorry, just dazed off again." Brock sighed and began to catch his breath. "You ok? You're breathing like an apparition just took over you." Matilda looked slightly worried. "Yeah I'm fine, Miss Wallace told me I've been doing that a lot lately." Brock looked away in embarrassment. "Oh Brock, you're such an idiot sometimes." Matilda shook her head smiling as she she thought "What am I gonna do with him?".
"Hey, you two are early." An older student showed up where Brock and Matilda were. "Oh, hey Dean!" Matilda said hi eagerly. Dean was a Senior Student and a year older than Brock and Matilda. He had scruffy facial hair and piercing blue eyes and short cut brown hair. He was wearing a khaki green button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had a tattoo on his left wrist and bracelet with Red Gemstones on his right. Matilda handed Brock her diorama and ran up to Dean and hugged him. Dean just laughed and hugged back.
"Yeah, she'd never go out with me. She's so caught up with "Dean" he thought as he rolled his eyes and looked away from Matilda hugging Dean. "Brock, how are you doing man? Hope I didn't keep you guys waiting." Dean asked Brock very warmly and genuinely. Brock quickly changed his facial expression from glum to chummy "Great man, and you're fine. I had Matilda waiting myself a while ago." Brock replied back. Dean smiled and extended his fist to Brock. "No harm no foul, brother." Brock fist bumped Dean and both laughed. Dean pulled out a key from his shirt pocket and opened up the clubroom for them. "Guess we'll just sit here and wait for Star and Drew and Mr. Thomas to get in." Dean said as they entered the club room. The Spirit Club Clubroom was pretty much a gothic paradise. The walls were painted lavender with a large zodiac mural painted on the ceiling. On the walls were pictures of clubs from years past and Paranormal Evidence captured on Polaroids. On the shelves were books on ghosts, witchcraft, star charts, and dioramas of famous haunted buildings and locations. At the center of the chalkboard was a saying "Make sure no spirit leaves this classroom but you're own. - Mr. Thomas" Matilda placed her diorama on the desk at the end of the Club Room where Mr. Thomas normally sits. Dean walked up the podium right by Mr. Thomas' desk. He was carrying a clipboard with a roll sheet. "Guess I'll give it a few minutes before I submit the roll sheet." Dean said to Brock and Matilda. Brock sat criss cross on top of one of the desks and put headphones in his ears meanwhile Matilda went back to her Diorama with a handful of index cards. Dean was on his phone texting away, probably on Twitter or something.
The door opened up and two kids walked in. A boy and girl with matching outfits. They were wearing black Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword t-shirts. The girl had long brown hair with a Tri-Force hairclip sitting comfortably next to her right ear. Her eyes were a light brown and had red lipstick on. The boy had short brown hair and brown eyes. He wore glasses and had a Tri-Force necklace hanging around his neck. "I'm telling you Star, Dad's gonna freak the hell out." The boy said to the girl. "Dad won't find out as long as you shut it Drew." Star said back to her brother Drew. "Hi guys." The Twins said to the rest of the Spirit Club. "Yo!" Brock said waving. "Bout time you dweebs made it." Matilda laughed. "Star and Drew, present." Dean said as he marked them on his roll sheet. "Where's Mr. T?" Brock asked. "Right behind ya!" A British voiced called. A lanky man with Brown hair and beard came into the Class room. He wore a brown plaid coat the a beige dress shirt underneath. He also wore brown plaid slacks and dress shoes. He was just plaid cap away from looking like Sherlock Holmes. "Apologies for being late, had to discuss matters with Principal Dockett about our bi-annual club trips to the unknown. As much as she tried to say no. My charms overcame her cold front and voila. We're permitted to travel to two locations for our Club Trips with the condition all you here have a Grade Point Average 2.8 and above." He said boastfully. "Yo! Mr. T you are the man." Brock shouted. Everyone began to celebrate. "Principal Dockett is as cold as she gets. Especially with last year's trip, how'd you get her to say yes?" Dean asked so eager to know. "My dear Weston, sometime one must beg with the charm of a true gentleman." Mr. Thomas said so cunningly. "I'm hoping he didn't have to have sex, cause it sounds like it." Brock thought about it for a second and it made him shiver in his skin. "You have a hoodie on indoors in August, how are you shivering dude?" Drew asked Brock. "Best you didn't know..." Brock sighed.
"Well with that out of the way, any ideas or hotspots you'd suggest to visit. Keep in mind, it must be reasonable and within our Club budget to do this." Mr. Thomas asked the Club. "What about the Jersey Forest? I've heard of many recent sightings of the Jersey Devil. One as recent as 3 weeks ago." Star suggested. "Good choice, camping outdoors would be neat to do again. We haven't done an outdoor expedition since Dean was a Freshman." Mr. Thomas suggested. "Yeah, that would be pretty cool to do it one last time before Graduation." Dean said smiling. "Put down Jersey forest as a suggestion. Any others?" Mr. Thomas asked. "The Abandoned Molasses Factory in Boston. Back in the early 1900's, the Factory exploded due to pressure caused by lack of air exposure and it claimed many lives. Many experts still believe the Factory workers and owners that died that day still reside in the Ruins of the Factory." Drew suggested. "Ahh, another historical sight. I remember about that accident, local residents even claim that on very hot days. You can smell the molasses coming from the Ruins as well. The sight is historically significant considering America began to stop using molasses so heavily because the explosion was so catastrophic." Mr. Thomas explained. The club was in awe with the story. "Any stories about the Paranormal activities within the Ruins?" Mr. Thomas asked Drew. "Just rumors, nothing confirmed." He replied. "All the more reason to investigate ourselves." Mr. Thomas said as Dean wrote the suggestion down as well. "Any more?" Mr. Thomas asked. "I have one!" Matilda shouted. "Well let's have it Miss Ackerman." Mr. Thomas said eagerly. Matilda walked up to the desk Mr. Thomas stood by and picked up her Diorama and placed it in the center of the class room. "I was wondering what that was." Drew gasped. "Mr. Thomas, Star, Drew, Brock, Dean... I give you the O'Reilly House in New Jersey." Matilda presented proudly. The class was left in awe by the diorama's impressive design. "What's special about this house Matilda?" Mr. Thomas asked. "This house was built by Irish Farmer, Fran O'Reilly back in 1815. He was but a humble potato and corn farmer in the more rural side of New Jersey, his house was allegedly a safe haven for runaway slaves as they'd stop at his house on their way to New York or Canada. Shortly after the Civil War, one of O'Reilly's ranch hands tipped off sympathizers of the South that O'Reilly harbored runaways so they can escape. Eventually, the Ku Klux Klan got to him and shot him. The Ranch Hands that tipped him off were given the Deed to the O'Reilly House illegaly. But once every year. A member of that Ranch Hands family that lived on the house wrongfully mysteriously would commit suicide. After 10 years, the Ranch Hand allegedly changed his name and fled West. He couldn't handle the madness the house had caused. The government sent a letter to Ireland and offered the next of living Kin to live in the house Fran built. His great grandson George O'Reilly decided to move to America with his wife Abigail and two sons Adam and Liam for the opportunity. While they were able to live in the house peacefully, trespassers weren't so lucky. A major paper from 1977 came out with a headline "Burglar slaughtered in O'Reilly House." The Burglar was found brutally mamed and headless. The scary thing was, the only one in the house was George's youngest son Liam. Liam was 68 and had lost his eyesight at age 57 due to complications with his Cancer Treatments. The Police had Liam removed from the Property and scary enough. One of the Officers that had showed up to remove Liam O'Reilly ended up going insane and sent to Psychopathic Ward 3 weeks after. There's even a rumor Aliens visited this house at one point in time. Either way, I think we'd have to investigate this place. We'd make Paranormal History! What do ya say?! Matilda asked the Club.
Everyone's face was absolutely mortified by what they heard. Drew and Star looked like they were going to puke. Brock was either daydreaming or left in shock with the story. Dean's Jaw was left hanging. Mr. Thomas's eyes were both wide with excitement and joy. "Miss Ackerman, I absolutely admire your courage and eagerness to investigate. But don't you think something with that much dark history would be a little too dangerous?" Mr. Thomas implied. "That's just the thing Mr. Thomas, nobody has investigated it. Only outside research has been done with the O'Reilly House. As a matter of fact, a Priest is called once every New Moon to bless the area surrounding the house. I think if he can perform a blessing ritual and we pack enough salt and holy water. We'll be fine in this investigation." Matilda tried pointing out. "Matilda, I'm not sure if Holy Water and Salt would be enough. Let alone the blessing from the Priest. This investigation is quite intense, perhaps maybe something less intense?" Mr. Thomas suggested. "Mr. Thomas, with all due respect. You have always pushed us to explore the unknown and embrace the dangers ahead with excitement." Matilda pushed. Mr. Thomas looked at everyone in the classroom. Everyone's facial expression was starting to change into one of determination and pride instead of fear. "She's right, Mr. T. Like she said, I think we'd be making history too. Wouldn't that be cool?" Dean tried pursuade Mr. Thomas as well.
Mr. Thomas began to fantasize about the accolades he'd receive for the investigation. He even pictured Principal Dockett worshipping him "Oh Mr. Thomas, you are so brave for investigating that dreadful house. How'd you do it?!" She swooned. "With charm my Dear... With Charm!" He flirted back as he rubbed his moustache. He then fantasized being on the Jimmy Kimmel show being interviewed about the investigation. "You went into a haunted house that not even the Ghost Adventures team would investigate. What was that like?" Jimmy Kimmel asked Mr. Thomas. "I, Thaddeus James Thomas the Third fear no ghosts or anything of the Paranormal. As a teacher of History, it is my duty to explore the past and interact with those who lived through it." He boasted to the audience. Everyone in the audience began to applause him. "You deserve a Medal for Bravery!" Jimmy Kimmel applauded as well. "Thank you, I couldn't have done it without my amazing students of the Spirit Club!" He boasted again.
"Uh... Mr. T?" Brock asked. Mr. Thomas was in a trance like state just like Brock was in class. "MR. T!" everyone yelled. WHOA WHOA?! WHAT?! CRICKEY! WHAT'S GOING ON!?" He snapped out of his fantasy. "So... Is it a yes?" Matilda asked. Mr. Thomas looked at everyone's face. They all hoped for a yes. "There's absolutely no way..." Everyone's faces turned dull and sad for a second. "We can pass this up. Dean, mark it down as a priority." Mr. Thomas snapped his fingers. "Awesome, congrats Matilda." Dean said as he wrote it down in his list.
Matilda was jumping up and down with joy. She was like a kid at Disneyland. Brock couldn't help but smile and admire her spirit. Star and Drew went over to give her a high five and Mr. Thomas to shake her hand. Brock got up from his seat and began to walk towards Matilda. Just before he can even give her a high five himself. She rushed to Dean and gave him a big hug. Dean smiled and embraced her back. Brock then felt a little deflated right after that.
Mr. Thomas looked at the clock and saw it was 4:28. "Wow, pity we had to start a little later. Would've loved to start planning for a date. But that'll have to wait until next week. Great discussion today, well meet here next week to pick a time and date for our trip the O'Reilly house. Make sure you give me your weekly progress reports so I may submit them to Principal Dockett. No grades, no trip. Understood?" Mr. Thomas asked the Club. "Got it, Chief!" The Twins said simultaneously. "Well then, off ya go. And make sure no spirit leaves this room but your own." He shouted as everyone began to head out.