Page 12 of Defined and Defiled (Ghostlight Falls)

Resolution (n.)

Res·o·lu·tion : the point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out

If confronting Mike/Matt alone was number two on the 'ways to assure you die first in a horror movie', allowing him to bring me back to the scene of the crime is a solid number one. The trek down to the basement is as dirty and long this time as it was the time before. Only this time, instead of being on the search for school supplies, I'm on the hunt for answers.

Mike removes the chains and gestures for me to go first. I'll break a lot of safety rules, but allowing him to get behind me is not one of them. When he realizes I'm not moving forward he steps around me and pulls the chain so the dusty bulbs can light up the space. The faint red outline I noticed before is there, but now that I know what to look for, I can make out the shape.

“My coven and I were messing around, hoping to cast a spell to help with exams, but we weren't all on the same page.”

He pauses looking back at me.

“No pun intended.”

He coughs and looks around the room.

“We'd done a few small things, but this one would have been so much bigger. Guaranteed scholarships for me and Wren, perfect scores for Nina and Thea, and a job offer for Zachary. We were almost done when Mr. Diction, or Richard, came in.”

Mike runs his hand through his hair and the ends stick up.

“I liked him. He was a great teacher, always letting me come into his room for lunch. I yelled out to warn him, but the rest of the coven didn't notice, or didn't care, I'm not sure. Whatever we did, it made him disappear.”

“Disappear?”

Mike nods.

“Or at least that's what I thought. Obviously, that's not what happened.”

He watches my face, but I keep my mouth shut. Mike’s eyes never leave mine as he continues.

“The spell went... wrong. Maybe it's because I lost focus, I'm not sure. I passed out, when I woke up everyone besides Zachary was gone and I was like this. The spell stole ten years from me.”

He gestures to his body.

“I had to change my name, I couldn't get a job anywhere until Zachary took over and offered me the position here. It's been a nightmare.”

“So if you were a teen in the nineties, you should be about forty-five years old.”

“Yes.”

“So why have you been hitting on me?”

“What? I mean, Richard is fifty-six and you seem to like him just fine.”

“You see the math just feels different since you're a grown ass man, and he's mostly a book and on that note, why would you even let me down here with you?”

“I don't think I'll win any points if I say I wanted to get laid.”

“No. Not really.”

“If I had known, that was his book. I never would have let you borrow him. Truth is I didn’t know until Zachary informed me.”

Mike scratches his face and looks down at the floor.

“And what about the other teachers?”

Mike looks back up at me.

“What other teachers?”

“Marge mentioned that other teachers went missing.”

Mike blinks at me before he frowns.

“Marge doesn't know what she's talking about.”

If anyone in this situation knows more than they should, it’s probably the ghost that’s been eavesdropping on principals since the dawn of time.

“I kind of think she does.”

Mike opens his mouth, but shuts it without saying anything. His phone buzzes in his pocket and he pulls it out. Whatever he sees on the screen seems to give him a new resolve and he straightens up as he types out his reply.

“That was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter now. If you could just tell me where Richard is, we could all just move on from this.”

He takes a step towards me, but I retreat.

“I can’t do that Mike.”

“Aw, Shirely, that’s disappointing to hear.”

Zachary Bailey, my boss, and apparent warlock of evil is behind me.

So much for not letting evil be at my back.

“Principal Bailey.”

There are men flanking both my sides, and very much not in a fun way.

“What are you doing here?”

“I got an interesting text from my friend here. I had to see what was going on.”

Bailey shakes his head at me before looking up at Mike.

“What happened with Matthew and our friends was unfortunate. It's laughable, really to think about now. We were sure that magic would solve all of our problems. All of this,”

He waves his hands around to encompass the room.

“and for what? A job to be waiting for me when I finish school? Well, jokes on me, I'm right back where I started.”

“What happened to the other teachers?”

I ask again.

Now is the time when the bad guys are supposed to start monologing and I reveal that I've been livestreaming this whole time, but the wifi in here is abysmal and the villains are not cooperating at all.

Mike looks between me and Bailey.

“I'd actually like to know that too. I didn't realize it wasn't just Diction.”

Bailey sighs as if this conversation exhausts him and turns to me.

“It might be easier to show you Shirely, I know you're more of a tactile learner.”

I try to take a step back but there is nowhere left to go.

“What do you mean?”

“I have always stood by the fact that if you fail once, you should try again, like you with your proposals. They always get denied but that hasn't stopped you yet. It's been the same for me, and I know that I've almost got it this time.”

Bailey reaches for me and I jump back. I knew my fears of teacher hell were justified.

“Zachary! Stop.”

I was hoping for some divine intervention and it appears I’m getting defined intervention instead.

“Camille?”

Bailey straightens and attempts to pat his nonexistent hair down, but it's Richard I can't look away from as he floats in front of Cami.

Cami's attention to detail is evident as arms and legs spring out of Richard. His new limbs are all corded muscle and dark pen lines.

“Talk to the hand, asshole.”

I get the pleasure of seeing Bailey's head whip back as Richard's newly inked hand slaps his face. Cami leans over to me.

“Talk to the hand?”

She whispers. I nod.

“Let him have this.”

I can’t get enough of this newest edition of Richard. He stands in front of Bailey with his hands balled into fist, his pages shiver with anger.

“Mr. Diction?”

Mike’s eyes go wide.

“Come on, ol’ Richy Rich, it doesn’t have to be like that.”

Bailey wipes his cheek over what will most certainly be a bruise in the morning.

“Did you hurt her?”

Richard points at me. Mike glances between the two of us, his eyes wide. He shakes his head hurriedly.

“I would never hurt Shirley. Promise.”

“And you, Zachary?”

Cami crosses her arms over her chest and levels our boss with a glare.

Bailey rolls his eyes, and Richard reaches out to grasp his collar.

“Well?”

He demands.

Bailey lifts his hands to push Richard away.

“No.”

“Not yet.”

I correct and Bailey shoots me a glare.

“Camille, Shirely. I’d like you to step outside.”

Richard’s voice is a low growl.

“What? Why?”

“I think I’d like to try page 106.”

I try to remember what we found on page 106.

“Richard, we don't know what that does. I seem to remember you saying it could be dynamite.”

“Dynamite?”

Mike shrieks.

“And I can’t let you do that here.”

Cami puts a hand on my arm.

“Shirely, maybe we should leave.”

“You cannot be condoning this. It’s unsafe.”

“Just trust me.”

She smiles.

I look back at the men. Mike looks like he’s a few seconds away from vomiting but it’s Bailey’s smug smirk that has me agreeing to walk away. Richard must have a plan.

The second the door shuts behind us a bright light followed by a loud clang emits from the door. I look over to Cami and she shrugs.

“Richard? Are you okay?”

I yell. It would really suck if he died right after Cami went into the trouble of making him limbs.

The door rattles and Richard steps out from the basement smiling.

“What the hell!”

I punch his chest, which is more painful for me than him as my fist meets his hard cover.

“Come see!”

Richard grabs my hands and leads Cami and me inside. Mike and Bailey are passed out, but look relatively unharmed in a large metal cage.

“C for capture. That’s brilliant! You knew this would work?” I grin.

“Not exactly, but it was worth testing out.”

Richard admits.

Cami walks over to the cage and peers in.

“What do we do now?”

I ask. I’m not even sure how we’d explain this to the police. The whole story seems too far-fetched.

Cami straightens up.

“I’ll go talk to Marge and see what we can do about cleaning this place up.”

Cami smiles at us.

“I’m sure there’s a lot more to uncover here, but I’m not eager to get an investigation started right away.”

“Thank you for your help. I’m sorry we couldn’t grab those drinks.”

“It’s alright.”

Cami looks back down at the sleeping men.

“Next time.”

“Shirely Temples on me.” I agree.