Beyond the Shadows Chapter 1

BEYOND THE SHADOWS

Foreboding Tales of Terror

WARNING

Readers of this book BEWARE! You may think these are stories, but are they true? Tread with care, lest they happen to you. Ye be warned. Proceed at your own risk.

1. NEW SCHOOL

Ashley waited patiently by the front door with her new book in hand. Of all the times for her mom to have overslept, she picked the worst possible day. It was Ashley’s first day of third grade and being late to school was not ideal. To make matters worse, it was her first day at a new school, and she didn’t know anyone. Ashley didn’t know where to go and did not want to make a negative first impression.

“Are you ready, Mom?” Ashley asked hopefully up the stairs. There was no answer, so Ashley cracked open her book and began reading to pass the time.

Ashley’s family moved to Sleepy Falls so her mom could help take care of her ailing grandmother. Ashley didn’t mind the move and was actually very excited to make new friends and live in the town where her mother had grown up. However, this was not her idea of a great first day. If only her father had taken her to school. He left for work at 6:30, which was far too early to be dropped off. Finally, Ashley’s mom came downstairs.

“Okay, honey, let’s hurry and get in the car,” she said, as they dashed toward their grey Honda Civic. “I’m sorry I’m late, but I was up all night with your grandmother. She wasn’t feeling very well last night.”

“Okay, mom, can we hurry though? I don’t even know where my classroom is.”

“It is Room 39, sweetheart. They told me that it’s on the third floor. Just follow the numbers, and you can’t miss it.”

The drive to school seemed to take forever. They passed house after house, street after street. This neighborhood was more beautiful than the one Ashley had lived in previously. The homes were modest sized, in excellent condition with freshly cut lawns and beautiful flowers in the front yard. Ashley gazed out her window admiring the houses and wondering if she would like her new school.

Finally, Ashley’s mother pulled up in front of Hill Valley Elementary School. Ashley glanced at the car’s clock. It read 9:15 – she was already 10 minutes late.

“Oh great,” she thought to herself. “Just the way I want to show up on the first day.” Ashley quickly hopped out of the car and sprinted up the old stone steps to the main gate of the school. For being located in such a well-kept neighborhood, the school seemed out of place. The decrepit building looked like something out of a scary movie. The dark grey stone walls gave it an ominous look and Ashley had a feeling of foreboding as she entered the gate. The rusty hinges creaked open, and Ashley was inside the main hallway.

“All right, Mom said it’s on the third floor. Here we go, I better hurry.” Ashley sprinted up the stairs at top speed. She loved to run, and she was the fastest player on her previous soccer team. Ashley reached the second floor in a matter of seconds and began to take the stairs two at a time. Right before reaching the third floor, Ashley stubbed her foot on the side of one of the stairs and fell. Her knee bumped into the edge of the wood stair, and she knocked her head against the rail. Ashley laid on the stairs in a daze. “I’m not going to cry, not on my first day,” she told herself. Ashley prided herself on her toughness.

“Are you okay, dear?” She looked up and saw an elderly woman at the top of the staircase. “You must have had a tremendous fall. I heard it all the way in my classroom.”

“I’m okay,” Ashley replied. The old lady smiled warmly at Ashley. Her eyes glimmered behind black glasses, and her grey hair was pulled up into a bun. She was short in stature, barely taller than Ashley. The woman carried a cane in one hand. She was wearing a full-length black and white dress.

“Well, dear, why don’t you tell me your name, and where you’re headed so I can help you out?”

“I’m Ashley, and I’m trying to find Room 39.”

“Hee heh heh,” she cackled. “Well, you are in luck today. I teach in Room 39 – it’s my kingdom. I’ve been expecting you, Ashley. My name is Mrs. Yorp. Welcome to Hill Valley Elementary School.” Ashley entered the classroom and looked around. Nineteen inquisitive faces turned around to see the new girl joining the class.

“Class, this is Ashley. It is her first day at Hill Valley Elementary School. Who would like to show Ashley around today?” Immediately, 19 hands shot up to volunteer. “Okay, let’s see… Lauren and Caitlin, you can do it. Ashley, why don’t you go and sit down next to Lauren.”

Ashley walked over to the empty desk, set her backpack down on the ground and plopped herself into the chair.

“Hi.” Lauren smiled at her. She had her red hair pulled back into a pony-tail.

“Hello.” Ashley grinned. Her dirty blonde hair hung a little past her shoulder, and she was a little taller than Lauren.

“Hi, Ashley. I’m Caitlin,” the curly brunette next to Lauren chimed in. “Where are you from?”

“I used to go to Reagan Elementary in Folsom. We just moved here,” Ashley replied.

“Okay, listen up class.” Mrs. Yorp interrupted Ashley getting to know her new friends. “Please do not touch the aquarium and tanks over in that corner of the classroom. Those are our class pets, and we will be using them to learn a little more about life science.” The exotic fish in the aquarium caught Ashley’s eyes initially, but then she shifted her gaze to the tanks. Two long snakes slithered inside the huge cage. “We have a few more items to go over.” Mrs. Yorp reviewed the rest of the classroom rules.

“Does everyone understand?” The class nodded. “Excellent, now we are going to work on a math pre-test. Try your best, children. It will not be graded. I’m testing you to see how much you already know,” Mrs. Yorp explained. Most of the questions were very easy for Ashley, and she flew through the test. At long last, it was recess.

“Come with me. I’ll show you the school. We have the best playground.” Lauren grabbed Ashley’s hand and took off running for the jungle gym. Who needs a tour of the school when there are monkey bars to swing across, a cargo net to climb up, a suspension bridge to run across, and three mountainous slides to slide down? The three girls yelped with excitement as they scurried all over the play structure. A few minutes later, the bell rang, interrupting Ashley’s fun. Hurriedly, Ashley, Caitlin, and Lauren ran to get in line.

“Just wait until lunch – we have way longer to play!” Caitlin exclaimed. Ashley loved Hill Valley Elementary already. The girls continued talking in line until Mrs. Yorp hobbled out of her classroom and around the corner to where her class waited.

“All right children,” she gurgled. “As soon as we are quiet we can go inside. We have lots to learn today.” Mrs. Yorp glared at the students until they were quiet. It only took a few seconds – this was the first day after all. Room 39 marched back to class in single file. The students took their seats, and Mrs. Yorp had planned an art project for the students for the remainder of the morning. Ashley listened as Mrs. Yorp showed them an example of what she expected. She had crafted an art project of a campfire. It was an impressive 3D project inside a shoebox. Enormous flames appeared to be leaping out of the shoebox. Several people were seated around the campfire. Mrs. Yorp explained that this is what had been her most memorable experience of the previous summer.

“My favorite part of summer was sitting around the campfire telling stories. I just LOVE campfires.” Ashley could not picture Mrs. Yorp camping. “I want everyone to depict their favorite summer activity. It can be a drawing, a painting, or a 3D picture. I have crayons, markers, paint, and other supplies up here. I will excuse you by your table.”

Ashley decided she would make a 3D picture of her friend Natalie’s swimming pool. She had spent practically the whole summer swimming. Like most 9-year-old children, it was her favorite thing to do.

Ashley was nearly finished with her 3D project when Mrs. Yorp shuffled by with her cane.

“You like the water, eh?” she smirked.

Ashley looked up and nodded. “I love swimming.”

Mrs. Yorp turned away and mumbled something as she limped toward another child’s desk. Ashley couldn’t hear what she said.

“She must not like my picture,” Ashley thought. “What is wrong with it?” Ashley had created one of the best pictures of her young life. “This is going to be a difficult year if Mrs. Yorp is that tough to please.”

Eventually, everyone finished their art projects, and it was time for lunch. Ashley stood in line to buy lunch because her mom hadn’t packed one this morning. Ashley hated corndogs, so naturally, the cafeteria served corndogs today. She had a bad experience with them when she was 7. To make matters worse, she received a scorched corndog. It was almost entirely black as if it had been left in a fire too long. Ashley didn’t even bother asking for a new one. Burned or not, she wasn’t going to eat that garbage on a stick.

Ashley wolfed down her fruit cup, french fries, and milk in record time. She wanted as much time as possible to play on the playground. The girls enjoyed a raucous game of tag all over the jungle gym. Lunchtime flew by, and so did the rest of the day. Before Ashley knew it, it was time for her to go home.

“Bye Lauren. Bye Caitlin, see you tomorrow!” Ashley yelled as she ran from her classroom. She floated all the way to her house. Ashley loved her new school, despite her mixed feelings about Mrs. Yorp. Sometimes she seemed nice, but sometimes Mrs. Yorp was a little strange. “Oh well, I already made great friends in Lauren and Caitlin,” she thought. At night, Ashley told her mom and dad all about Caitlin, Lauren, and the fantastic playground.

“It’s great that you love your new school, champ!” Ashley’s father told her. “I knew you would make friends quickly.”

Ashley had trouble falling asleep because she was so excited and couldn’t wait to go back to school tomorrow. She drifted off to sleep an hour later still replaying the day’s thrills in her mind.

It seemed like only a moment later the bright sun shining through her window shook her from dreamland. Ashley sprung out of bed, threw on her clothes and raced downstairs to fix herself breakfast.

“Mom, are you ready? I don’t want to be late to school today,” Ashley called out between mouthfuls of Cheerios.

“I’m almost ready honey. You won’t be late.”

For once, her mother was right. Ashley didn’t just get to school on time. She arrived 10 minutes early. “Even better,” thought Ashley. “I have more time to play with my friends.”

Ashley began looking around for Lauren and Caitlin. They didn’t seem to be anywhere.

“Oh well,” she thought. “I’m sure they will be here soon.” Finally, the bell rang to go to class, and still, Ashley didn’t see Caitlin, Lauren or any of her friends from yesterday.

“They must be waiting at the classroom.” Ashley realized as she made her way up the stairs to Room 39. Upon reaching the third floor, Ashley was baffled. Lining up in front of Room 39 were 19 new students and a new teacher.

“What happened to my class? Where did they go?” The thoughts raced through Ashley’s head. She began to look around to see if Mrs. Yorp and her class were going into a different room today.

“Good morning, I see a new face back there. You must be Ashley,” the strange lady smiled at her. “We missed you yesterday.”

“Umm…where is Mrs. Yorp’s class?” Ashley was confused.

“Who’s class?” The teacher now had a confused look on her face to match Ashley’s.

“The teacher I was with yesterday, Mrs. Yorp, and where are Lauren and Caitlin? What is going on?”

“Ashley, there is no Mrs. Yorp at this school. My name is Mrs. Silver, and you are going to be in my class this year.

“Wait, I don’t understand. Yesterday I was in Mrs. Yorp’s class with Lauren and Caitlin. What happened to them?” The other children in line were giving Ashley funny looks, but she was too disconcerted to notice.

“Ashley, you were absent yesterday. Did you go to a different school by mistake?”

“No, no, no. I was here yesterday. I remember the big grey front gate, and the monkey bars and the cargo net. I was here!” Ashley was almost beside herself with frustration. “Where is my class?!”

“Ok, children, go in, sit down, and get your books out. I’ll be inside in a minute. Ashley, we’ll get this figured out.” Mrs. Silver smiled sweetly and seemed to be genuinely concerned.

“I’m going to call down to the office, and you can go talk to the principal. Maybe he can get to the bottom of this.”

“Okay,” Ashley sighed reluctantly. She felt like she was in a bad dream.

Mrs. Silver walked into the classroom. Ashley stepped inside but stayed by the door. She knew something was not right, and she wanted to stay close to her only escape hatch. Ashley was still in a daze thinking about what had transpired when she heard a voice calling her name.

“Ashley, this is Paula. She will walk you down to the office.” A worried look replaced Mrs. Silver’s smile. Ashley felt even less at ease, but she followed Paula out the door without a word. The two girls walked down the two flights of stairs, through the hall, and to the office.

Paula broke the silence as they reached the office door. “Don’t worry, Mr. Kimmerly is cool. Bye.”

“Thank you,” Ashley mumbled as she turned the handle to the large grey door. Inside two middle-aged women peered at their computers, obviously very busy.

“Umm… excuse me; I’m here to see the principal.” Ashley was still trying to figure out what was going on. The short, brown-haired secretary on the right glanced up from behind thick glasses.

“You can go in, honey, Mr. Kimmerly’s office is right there,” she swiveled halfway around in her chair and pointed at a room toward the back of the office. Head down, Ashley walked around the lady’s work station to Mr. Kimmerly’s office.

“Come on in, you must be Ashley.” Mr. Kimmerly was a kind looking man who appeared to be in his early 40s. Beneath his well-groomed mustache was a smile that welcomed Ashley into the tidy office. “Why don’t you have a seat and tell me what seems to be the trouble.” Mr. Kimmerly eased into his leather chair.

“Well, sir, I can’t find my class. I went back to the same room I was in yesterday, and there is a new class with a new teacher and new students.” Ashley studied Mr. Kimmerly’s face to see if he had any answers.

“Okay, Ashley, what room were you in yesterday?”

“Room 39, the same one I went to this morning.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Mrs. Yorp was there, and Lauren and Ca-”

“Who was your teacher?” Mr. Kimmerly’s smile had disappeared. His eyebrows furrowed and a look of concern took over his face. It troubled Ashley. “What was wrong?” she wondered.

“Mrs. Yorp. Why?” Ashley asked him.

“Ashley, here is the problem. Mrs. Silver has taught in Room 39 for the last four years, including yesterday. Nobody by the name of Mrs. Yorp works here. You were absent yesterday. Are you sure you didn’t go to a different school by mistake? Sometimes these things happen.”

Ashley was more perplexed than ever. She knew she went to this school yesterday. She recognized the playground and Room 39. Everything looked exactly the same, except all the people were different.

“No sir, I’m sure I was here yesterday.”

“Okay. Here’s what we are going to do. I am going to give your mother a call, and maybe she can come down here so we can sort all this out.” Mr. Kimmerly picked up the phone as he scrolled through the student directory until he reached M. “McCall, ah here it is.” He quickly dialed the number. Ashley could hear the phone ringing. Finally, after what seemed like forever, it went to voicemail.

“Hello, you have reached Susan McCall. I’m not available right now. Please leave a message, and I will call you back. Thank you. Beeeeeep”

“Hello, Mrs. McCall. This is Mr. Kimmerly, the principal at Hill Valley Elementary school. I would like to ask you a couple of questions. If you could give me a call at your earliest convenience, I would appreciate it very much. Thank you.” Mr. Kimmerly appeared disappointed.

“Okay, Ashley, does your mom have a work number?”

“No. My mom doesn’t work.”

“Do you know your father’s work number?”

“No, sir, he just started a new job.”

Mr. Kimmerly was running out of ideas. “Tell you what; I will continue to try to contact your mother. Meanwhile, why don’t you get to know your new class? Mrs. Silver is a fantastic teacher, and I’m sure you will enjoy her.”

“All right,” Ashley sighed.

“I will call you down to the office as soon as I get a hold of your mom.”

Ashley stood up and slowly trudged out of the office. She wandered back to Room 39 in a stupor. Ashley couldn’t make sense of her meeting with Mr. Kimmerly. She could not have dreamed up yesterday. Her imagination was not that good.

“Maybe I can find Caitlin and Lauren at recess. They’ll help me figure out what is going on.” With this comforting thought, Ashley entered the classroom and prepared for another first day. Ashley had difficulty focusing on her school work. Most of the time she had no idea what Mrs. Silver was saying. She was too busy thinking about recess, and whether Mr. Kimmerly would be able to contact her mom.

“Janice, I haven’t been able to reach Susan McCall. Would you please continue to call her every so often?”

“Of course, John.”

“Did you hear what Ashley said?” Mr. Kimmerly asked Janice.

“No. What?”

“She claimed she was in Mrs. Yorp’s classroom yesterday. Where do you think she got that name from?”

“She must have talked to someone from the town. Why would she even joke about that?” Janice was now quite irritated.

“You think she made up the story to cause trouble?”

“Of course I do. Ashley talked to someone in the town and thought it would be funny to do this on her first day of school. That girl is trouble, John.”

“She didn’t seem like she was lying. We need to get Mrs. McCall on the phone. That should shed some light on this situation.” Mr. Kimmerly turned and walked out of the office.

At recess, Ashley roamed around searching for Lauren and Caitlin. She could not believe that her friends had just vanished. Several girls from her new class tried to ask Ashley to play with them.

“I’m sorry. I don’t feel well,” was all Ashley could think to say. She didn’t want them to believe the new kid was crazier than they already thought. Finally, the bell rang. It was time to go in from recess, and there was still no sign of Lauren or Caitlin. With a heavy sigh, Ashley made her way to line up for class.

The rest of the school day was a blur to Ashley. She couldn’t concentrate on anything. Yesterday kept replaying in her head.

“Was it a dream?” she thought to herself. At lunchtime, Mr. Kimmerly updated her. They still had not been able to reach her mother. Now, Ashley began to worry about her mom.

When the school day finally ended, Ashley raced home as quickly as her two legs would carry her. She didn’t want to be at this crazy school a second longer. Ashley’s house was two miles away. By the time she reached the end of the street, she was out of breath and slowed her pace to a quick walk. As she rounded the corner and turned left onto Bettencourt Drive, she started to smell smoke. Ashley looked up.

“What is happening?” she thought. At the end of the street were two fire trucks, an ambulance, and thick smoke plumes. Ashley sprinted down the road. Her house sat at the end of this street.

“Mom! Mom!!! Mom!” she started screaming as she scrambled closer. When she was within 30 feet of the fire trucks, she could see her house was the one on fire.

“Mom!” A fireman intercepted her before she could advance any closer to the blaze.

“Easy, honey. You can’t go in there. Do you live here?” The fireman tried to get her attention, but Ashley couldn’t hear him because she was screaming and crying.

“Ashley! Are you ok?” A familiar voice called from behind her. Ashley whirled around to see her mother jumping out of her car. She darted up to Ashley, and they embraced.

“I –I thought you …”

“I know, honey. I’m fine. I’m right here.” Ashley’s mom comforted Ashley.

“Where were you?”

“I was taking care of Grandma. I was at her house all day. She asked me to come over because she wasn’t feeling well. I guess it’s a good thing I went,” she whispered ruefully.

Ashley and her mom watched the firefighters extinguish the blaze for an hour. Finally, one of them came up to Ashley’s mom.

“Mrs. McCall, we’ve put out the fire. It appears it originated in the living room. We’re not sure what caused it – possibly a lamp left on. Would you like us to do anything for you?” The firefighter smiled sympathetically.

“No thank you. We’re just going to look around for anything we can salvage and then we will stay at my mom’s tonight. Thank you for everything you did. Please thank all the firefighters for us.”

“You’re welcome, ma’am. Good luck to you.” He turned and strode back to the fire truck.

Ashley and her mother warily walked toward the rubble that used to be their house. Much of the exterior was still intact, but inside was a different story. There were ashes everywhere, and Ashley hardly recognized the place. The living room was a disaster and contained nothing salvageable. Ashley followed her mom down the hall toward the family room.

“What the…” Ashley’s mom couldn’t finish her sentence. The family room was utterly charred except for a little 3-foot square in the dead center of the room. Amidst all the ashes sat a perfectly undisturbed piece of carpet. On the floor laid something that caught Ashley’s eye. She crunched through the ashes and bent down to pick up the object that had grabbed her attention. It was a photograph. A look of bewilderment spread over Ashley’s face as she examined the photo.

“What’s wrong, honey?” her mom’s curiosity was piqued.

Ashley continued to stare at the picture.

“Let me see, sweetheart.” Ashley handed the picture to her mother. Now it was Ashley’s mom’s turn to look baffled.

“What in the world is this doing here?” Mrs. McCall whispered.

“Do you know her?” Ashley questioned her mother.

“Huh…um…yea,” Mrs. McCall seemed stupefied. “This is the woman that almost killed me a long time ago. I was in third grade, and I hated it. I had the meanest teacher in the world. I used to fake stomachaches to get out of her class. One day at lunch, I pulled my usual stunt, pretending to be sick. The secretary kept trying to talk me into going back. All of a sudden the fire alarm went off. I remember leaving the office thinking it was a drill. When I got outside, I saw smoke coming from my classroom. People were screaming. My teacher had gone crazy, lit the classroom on fire and locked the children inside. Nobody survived. She killed herself and all my friends, Caitlin and Lauren…all of them. The only reason I’m still alive is that I faked…”

“Who did you say your friends were Mom?” Ashley interrupted.

“Caitlin and Lauren – they were the best.” Mrs. McCall had a sad smile on her face now.

“Can I see that photograph again?” Ashley’s mom handed it back to her daughter. Ashley gazed at the picture in disbelief. Leering back at her with a sinister grin was Mrs. Yorp.