Chapter 5

Will had just finished cleaning all three floors of the High-school buildings. Each corner of each window was wiped down. Cobwebs were dusted off the long ceiling of the hallway. After getting waxed on and waxed off, the marble-tiled floors shone under the fluorescent lights and not a speck of dirt and dust; he couldn't help but feel proud of himself. He hoped that the pristine condition of the building could last a little longer, but he knew as soon as the lunch bell rang It'll be all for naught.

He moved on to a Faculty building. It was a fairly large office building, similar to those you’d find around the city; glass-pane exterior, muted interiors, and rows of desks. But outfitted to house all the needs of the teachers and professors in the school.

A mountain of heavy boxes were waiting for him in the storage unit. Will stretched his back and did some warm up exercises before he started, “Alright, here we go.” He wheeled in the trolley cart and loaded it up with some dusty boxes and other utilities. He restocked the Faculty rooms with their supplies of pens and papers, amazed how the staff can burn through all these stuff in just a few weeks. Next was the printing room, where he loaded the large printers with ink and paper. He went around and filled up the half-empty vending machines on each floor, and changed the empty water dispensers along the way. The decorative plants lining the hallways needed watering, so he had to fill up a bucket in the restrooms. He helped one of the faculty with moving his desk, and after that he mopped up a spilled cup of coffee in the lounge. And finally delivered the mail to the principal’s office.

Will sat out back in the storage unit, the shutters wide open so the cool air can blow inside. He sat on a box and rested his legs from all that work, a cup of coffee steamed in his hand. He liked the cold air of winter. Even with the thick and warm coveralls he was wearing, he wasn’t sweating even with all that work. It has been snowing lightly for the last two weeks, the only downside to that is he had to constantly clear out the paths and courtyards out of the snow.

Will took a look at his phone, hoping for another contract, but there wasn’t a notification of the sort. He got lucky with the goblins from a few weeks back, but he doubted he’ll get another call anytime soon. He still has one ongoing contract, which is going nowhere. He couldn't find a lead to his target, it’s been weeks since the last sighting.He’s starting to doubt that this thing is still in Doecroft, or if it even existed at all. The large bounty fogged his mind and he took the contract without thinking ahead. He knew it was too good to be true, but the regular jobs weren’t paying well. At this point he was ready to cut his losses and break some sweat with these odd jobs for a few weeks.

The bells in the tower rang to announce it was 8 am. He hadn’t had breakfast, so he got up and headed to a cafeteria to get some bread to pair with his coffee. The nearest one happens to be in the college campus, right behind the council building itself. Its an open air type set up, the various food stalls lined the sides with tables and chairs sheltered under sturdy metal umbrellas in the middle of a mini pavilion. Despite the cold, it still gets a lot of traffic from students around the area.

As he got closer, he half expected for a certain someone to just pop out.

“Hey, Will!” Nigel’s voice called out from somewhere to his right. Just as he thought

He turned and saw him on one of the tables. He wore a furred coat over his uniform. His glasses were a little bit fogged up as he exhaled into his palms. He wondered why the council president was letting his ass froze out in this weather. The last time he checked, the council building still had heating.

“What the-?” Will grimaced. As he got closer, he noticed an absurd amount of plastic wrapped bread and pastries piled on his table. He was munching on a croissant by the time Will got to him. “Where did you get these?”

“The pastry shop at the corner!” He beamed, “They’ve got a box filled with stuff people won't buy, and I haggled them for an insane discount ! I’m bringing some back to the inn.”

“Really?” Will picked up a random item in the pile and read aloud, “Spicy Curry Croissant… The fuck is this garbage?” He knew now why these never got sold.

“Its actually not that bad!”, Nigel protested. He pushed a bunch of stuff towards Will. “Here, you have that pile.”

Will shrugged and sat with him. It was free food after all, he can’t possibly decline. Both of them dined on the rejected snacks. He took a tentative bite off the abomination, and was pleasantly surprised. The spicy curry and sweet bread actually goes well with each other. The Curry Croissant was actually really tasty, Will just wished it wasn’t called that.

Nigel must have noticed his expression, “I told ya’! Never judge a bread by it’s filling.”

“They could’ve called this curry bread and they wouldn't have a problem, you know?”

Will was always amazed by Nigel’s food taste. The guy can cook like a fancy chef. He’d take note of someone’s favorite dish and their preferences. He knows whether you’d like a dish or food item by the way it tastes. But the guy has a problem…

Will shifted his legs under the table, and his foot accidentally kicked something under the table, “Huh?” he grunted and looked down.

There was another box of what he suspects were more snacks. He glared at Nigel and he was turning his head nervously

“Did you really buy the whole box?”

“The-The discount was on the whole box…”, he meekly replied.

“Ugh…” Will groaned as he palmed his face. Nigel’s appetite is almost insatiable. He can eat a fast-food family meal all by himself. All his expenses are because of his food trips.

“What are you even doing here slacking around?” Will asked, “Don’t you have something important to do?”

“No, I'm taking my time for now…” He said through a mouthful of bread, “I went out so Madelin won’t see me slacking around. That’ll just worsen my chances. ”

Will pointed behind Nigel, “She can see through the window, though.”

“WHAT?” He hastily turned towards his office window behind him, only to find it empty. He squinted back at Will, “Come on, man…”

Will smirked, “Why did you even give her the secretarial seat if you’re so afraid of her?”

“She’s the only one qualified enough for the seat.” He took a bite from a pastry, “Too qualified… in fact…”

“Qualified enough to be… the council president?”

Nigel faked a laugh through his full mouth, “Very clever.”

Will was in the washrooms when the speakers blared his announcement. It was a crazy gamble, he had basically given the seat away. Will has trouble understanding the complicated politics with the council, all he knows is the whispers going around the school are against the current president. But knowing Nigel, he’s probably planning something.

“I still can’t believe you’d bet on the presidency like that.” Will shook his head.

“Look, it was the only way to get Madelin’s attention.” He waved a bean bread at him, “Otherwise she’d never take the contract.”

“Doesn’t she hate you the most? She’ll just deny your work and take the seat in a month.”

“No. She’s bound to the contract. Unless I really fail, I doubt she’ll risk tainting her family name by lying.” He grinned.

“Yeah, I still don’t get how that contract works at all. Too many moving parts” Will scratched the back of his head.

“Ah don’t worry! I just need to solve a problem inside the university.” He shrugged, “ But it’d help if you could tip me off too.”

“Okay, sure… I’ll keep an eye out.” Will sighed, “As long as you’ve got a plan… You do have a plan, right?”

“No.”

“Ah, well…”, Will scooped up his pile of food and stood up, “Good luck out there, I’m gonna get more coffee.”

Will took a deep breath and exhaled as gazed over the snowy smooth surface of the parking lot. A thick blanket of snow coated the whole lot. It was temporarily closed over the weekend when the snow started to really intensify. Now, with a snow shovel in hand and a “go get em” attitude, he’s ready to tackle this three hour task.

This parking lot is relatively smaller than the main one for the public, as this one was accessible by a concrete pathway lined with trees behind a small office building away from the center of the university. There’s even a little garden and gazebo further down the path. He himself wasn’t sure what the building is for, but he does see people go inside and out. They must really need this parking lot, since the nearest one is ten minutes away.

He started at the edge, throwing the snow over his shoulders and out the lot. As he inched towards the middle, he threw the snow further to the middle as well. Pretty simple, so much work. Good thing it was cold though; Will hadn’t even broken a sweat, but his legs were starting to feel sore. He was able to pile large mounds of snow almost as tall as him.

As he was about to finish, he heard the sound of crunching snow and idle conversation.

Off from the building, three high-school girls were walking through the snow laden path. Will guessed they were likely in Abby's age group. They were pretty chatty and upbeat, laughing among each other and kicking up snow. Will didn’t think students would actually reach this remote part of the university. He still had a hard time believing this school even has “remote places”.

They looked like they were heading for the gazebo, but Will hasn’t been there so the place is probably covered in snow. He pondered whether to let the girls know about that, but he thought they did went all the way here in there free time and they doesn’t seem to be bothered with the cold at all. Will decided to let them be, plus hes still has a job to do.

The girls continued on forwards and their chatter slowly faded into the distance, while Will continued to shovel out the snow. Just as he was about to heft his shovel, he heard another. He perked up his head towards the sound, and noticed how quieter it is than the last group. He guessed it was just another person, but something else was going on. The person seemed to be walking more lightly. The sound of footsteps were far apart and slowly placed. Still, the crunch of the snowy path was audible.

This Intrigued Will; he wondered what kind of person would be sneaking around this area. Then, he realized where this sneaky person was heading towards. He nonchalantly stood behind the mound of snow he made, which he assumed made it harder to see him. He concentrated on the source of the sound as it approached. He wondered what kind of weirdo would be sneaking around and following students. But to his surprise, it was another kind of weirdo.

The culprit crept out and came into view. It was a lone girl with a crown of long messy golden hair. She was short, her face was half buried in a scarf and her legs sprouted out below her thick and oversized winter jacket. Will could recognize that mess of blonde hair anywhere.

“What?” Will blurted out.

Abby ducked into a tree trunk and quickly scanned her surroundings, yet she wasn’t able to spot Will at all. She wasn’t as sneaky as she thought she’d be. He wondered what the hell was she doing. After she thought the coast was clear, she continued off to sneak towards the gazebo.

Ever since her unfortunate run-in with that psycho, Will always thought she was an absolute mystery. Girls her age would be traumatized by now, but she just shrugged it off the next day. Everyone from the inn chalked it up as bravery and a strong spirit, but that only exists in fantasy. He is relieved that she’s doing quite well in Doecroft all by herself, Though she seems to be coping in a weird way.

Nonetheless, Will felt it necessary to intervene with… whatever this was. He scooped up a considerable amount of snow and balled it up. He aimed at the general direction Abby was heading, waited for her to take the next step, and threw. The snowball burst on the ground in front of her.

“NGAAAH!” Abby screeched as she jumped a few feet backwards, Will swore he saw her hair stood up in shock like a cat. He couldn’t help but chuckle loudly.

Abby turned to Will, he could see her face turn tomato red. She furrowed her eyebrows and furiously stomped towards him.

“What’re you doing here?!” She angrily demanded, placing her hands on her waist.

“I should be the one asking you that.” Will replied. She was furiously eyeing him. She’s got a lot of spunk for such a little girl.

“HUUUH?!” She sounded like a gangster trying to intimidate him, “Why do I feel like you’re looking down on me?!”.

Whoa, She’s sharp… He thought. He made a mental note to be more subtle with her. He cleared his throat, “Anyway, what are you doing sneaking around?”

“I-I wasn’t sneaking around!” She protested, “I… I was just exploring!”

“Really? Because to me it looked like you were tailing those girls over there.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“U-Uhhhh…” She stared at something else and fiddled with a lock of her hair, “I wasn’t though.”

“Alright,” Will started to walk past her and towards the gazebo, “Let me just tell them to get out there, the place is closed after all.”

“Okay, fine!” She tried to stop Will by tugging on the side of his coveralls with both hands, “I was following them!”

“But… why?”

“I… uh…” Abby looked conflicted.

Will patted her head to comfort her, “Oh come on, you can tell me.” Maybe Abby was just trying to make friends. Maybe she thought those three were cool and she wanted to be friends with them, but was too shy to approach them as one would normally do. If that was the case, he planned to tell her “It’s okay to be shy, just talk to them and it’ll be fine”. Will was gonna be a role model for once.

“I followed them because…” She pouted, “Because they were glowing.”

“Aw! It’s okay to be shy, just go and-” Confused, he turned to Abby, ” What?”

“They were glowing.” Abby stared back at him, not a lick of doubt on her face.

“Like… they’ve got… amazing skin?” he rationalized, “That kind of glowing?”

“No,” She shook her head, “Like they’re covered in a soft glow.”

Will wasn’t sure what to make out of it. This was the first time he had heard of glowing people. He was sure he’d seen those girls as they passed, but they weren’t glowing at all.

Will took off his gloves and placed them on her forehead, “Are you sure you’re not sick? You should.”

“Ah, I knew I shouldn’t have told you!” She swatted away his hand and stormed off, “I’ll go check on them myself!”

“Hey! Wait-!” He followed her, he had to make sure she was safe. “Abby, come on…”

”I swear they were glowing.” She said, though Will thought she said it to herself.

She followed their footsteps halfway to the gazebo. The place had chest high hedges surrounding the whole area, most of them only the thick branches were left. Abby strayed off the path and crept behind a portion of the hedge wall that was laden with snow. Will followed suit.

“Stop following me!” She harshly whispered, “You’re too big! They’re gonna see you!”

“You walk too loud,” Will whispered back, “They’re gonna hear you.”

What am I doing? Will wasn’t sure why both of them had ducked behind a hedge, but he had to make sure Abby is out of danger. But what danger is there in a group of girls?

But he did notice something weird.

“Hey… There’s no one there.” he whispered. By now he should’ve heard some chatter from the girls, but there was just silence.

“What? That’s impossible! We hadn’t seen them pass back through!”

She’s right. It was just a few minutes ago when he saw those girls, they couldn’t just disappear like that. The only access to the gazebo was the path they also took.

Abby decided to peek out the top of the hedge. “You’re right. There’s no one there!” She announced loudly.

Both of them trudge through the snow following the footprints the three impressioned on the snow. They lead straight to the gazebo, and nothing else. There were no footprints that lead out of the gazebo. It was… weird.

“This is strange…” Will admitted, “I didn’t notice them pass us.”

“That’s because they didn’t pass us at all.” Abby replied, actively scanning the surrounding area of the structure. “Agh! I knew I shouldn't have stopped following them!“

“They couldn’t have gone far. Let’s look around.”

He and Abby searched around, trying to get some sort of clue to the whereabouts of that group of students. Will wasn't sure what to make out of this.Three girls just disappeared in thin air. Or they noticed they were being followed and hid. Should he just brush this off? Or should he take this seriously?

Is there something else going on here? He asked himself, What is with those three? And why is Abby seeing something I can't?

Too many questions, and none were answered.

They scoured the area for a few more minutes before eventually giving up. He sat on the steps of the gazebo. With all the stuff that just happened, he forgot about his work for a while, and along with his weariness. Abby sat alongside him, her eyebrows furrowed into a frown. Clearly this was bothering her, but Will doesn’t know what to do.

There’s something going on with Abby, and it intrigued him. She could see a glowy aura around people? That’s the first time he’s heard of such a thing.

“Hmmmm…” She put both hands on her waist and announced, “There’s something weird going on here.”

“Okay… You’re right.” Will agreed, “There’s something going on here. Though how can we be sure they didn’t just go somewhere else?”

“Or…” She stomped on the wooden floor boards of the gazebo, “There’s a secret trap door on the floor!”

“WHOA! Hey, come on!” Will had to stop her before she could actually snap the wooden floor, “This is crazy! Don’t break school property!”

“Ugh…” She groaned, slumping her shoulders and sat along Will. “Fine… You’re right… This is going overboard...”

This girl has some crazy energy… Will thought. “Is this what you have been spending your lunch breaks on?” he asked, “Following people around?”

“What?! NO!” She snapped, “I do lot’s of things! It just so happened that I thought those three were interesting.”

“Don’t you’ve that one friend? Where is she?”

“Oh, Maya? She’s busy with something important.” She exhaled into her palms, “ I figured I shouldn’t bother her for now.”

“Is that what she told you?” Stretched his back, “Or something that you told yourself?”

“It’s what I told her and myself.”

Will couldn't help but chuckle, “Damn, you’re one great friend.”

“Yes, I am the best friend one could ever befriend.” She laughed.

“Mmm… You should really join a club or two.” He advised, “It looked like boredom got the best of you.”

Abby was silent for a moment, “Yeah, you’re right. Maybe I should find one. There’s just too many, I don’t know which one to pick.”

“Go ask Nigel. He could get you into any club, guaranteed.”

“Ha! No way! I’ll get bullied!” Abby said. He guessed Nigel’s reputation had finally reached her ears too.”I’d want to get in on my own way. if I keep getting favors from him, people will think I’m that guy’s favorite pet!”

“Can’t argue with that.” Will nodded. He stood up, offered his hand to Abby and she obliged. “We should get going now. I’ve still got work to do. And you've still got classes to attend.”

“Oh right…” she grumbled.

“Also,” Will added, “Don’t follow people around just because they’ve got some weird aura around, You won't’ know what kind of trouble you’ll get yourself.”

“That’s it!” Abby clasped her hands in her epiphany, “I should call it Auras! That make’s much more sense!”

Oh no… Him having implanted another strange idea on a young one made him doubt himself as being a good role model.

Will was in the auxiliary lounges, laying on one of the couches and trying to get a nap. Shoveling the snow off the main parking lot was a draining task. His back hurt with all the shoveling he’d been doing lately; maybe the winter season isn’t that relaxing after all.

He’s been closing his eyes for minutes now, occasionally tossing and turning on the couch to get comfortable, but to no avail. It felt like he was too worked out to sleep.

“I really need a massage.”, he said as if promising himself.

“Will?” someone knocked on the door, “Are you in there?”

“Yeah.”, he sat up on the couch trying rub the weariness from his eyes. “I'm in here, Jack.”

Jack popped his head through the open door. He was this skinny dude in his late-twenties, maybe the same age as will; his head shaved bald. He’s one of the many auxiliary workers here in the University. Both of them are part of the group assigned to the western portion of the campus. “I’ve been looking for you! I need an assist with a ladder.”

“The big one?” Will asked, “Why, where do you need it?”

“There’s a air conditioning unit that needs fixing, but it’s two floors up.” He exhaustively said. “Can you help?”

“Sure.” Will agreed.

Together they hauled a long and large double-sided ladder towards a nondescript building. A lot of students use these buildings for their clubs. Some of the older buildings are in need of maintenance, something which students can request directly to the auxiliary. Fortunately though, most of the clubs take care of their buildings so the only problems that would pop out would be the technical stuff.

They trudged through the snow while shouldering the ladder, Jack at the front end while Will volunteered to haul the heavier back end. Jack did got stabbed and almost bled to death only a few weeks ago; if it wasn’t for Nigel, Will would be attending his funeral. The amnesics Will gave him also seemed to work…

“Are your shoulders alright, Jack?” Will asked.

“Oh, I’m fine!” He ensured, even went and flexed his skinny arm. “These guns ain’t just for show!”

“Alright, just don’t push yourself. Your still recovering form that accident, after all.”

“Actually, I feel amazing!” Jack turned hi head to grin at Will. ”In fact, I feel even better after that fall!”

Of course you do, Will thought. Nigel basically healed his wounds and whatever ailment he had been carrying. The amnesics wiped his memory of the accident; when he woke up, Will just told him he fell from the stairs and went unconscious. It’s a better solution than telling him he almost got killed.

“The thing’s just behind this building.” Jack pointed out, “Apparently, the cosplay club’s heating unit is coughing up randomly. I’mma go check.”

“Alright , I’ll hold the ladder steady.” Will be offered.

As they turned the corner, Will heard Jack grunt and slow his pace.

“Hey, something wrong?” Will asked.

“There’s some guys over there.” Jack replied, audibly confused by the situation.

“Are they blocking the way?”

“No, not really. I think they haven’t seen us yet.”

Will leaned to the side to take a look. There was a group of seven students huddled together. Will wasn’t sure if they were trying to hide or not. They were easily noticeable with their purple uniforms in contrast to the snow and drab walls. They mumbled to each other loudly, and Will saw they’re handling each other small plastic baggies filled with something.

“Ah, They were really not in the way,” He said “It won’t be much of a problem.”

“Okay,” Jack agreed,”Here, put the ladder under the thing.”

Or so he thought. As soon as the boys noticed them, they stiffly stopped what they were doing and pocketed whatever they were passing around. As Will and Jack set up the ladder onto the snowy ground, the boys came up towards them.

“You two!” The tallest one of them growled, “Get lost! This is our turf!”

“W-What?” Jack stammered.

“You heard me, get lost!”

“Hey, don’t you have respect for your elders?!” he scolded, “And what turf?! This is school property!”

“You’re right. This is school property, therefore this is also student property. And this is our turf.” The boy answered back. The group of students surrounded them, trying to look intimidating.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense!”

”Fuck off old timer.” One of them jeered and kicked some snow in Jack's direction. He could see Jack's face turn red in anger, trying to hold it in.

Will had to step in before things got messy. If he could take a guess, these kids are from really rich families. The last thing he would want is some trouble with some spoiled rich brats.

“Look fellas…” He chimed in, stepping in front of jack. “We're just here to fix that thing up there. How about we all go our separate ways so we can go back to work and you can go do whatever you were doing.”

He spread his hand in a friendly gesture. It was a reasonable suggestion, even the dumbest of thugs would try not to get themselves in unnecessary trouble. He could see some of these boys starting to ease up and look at each other.

But the tall one got up to Will’s face, trying to be intimidating.“And who are you to tell us what to do, huh?” Clearly, he’s trying to be the pack leader, and yet it doesn't faze Will.

He stared at him straight in the eyes,“I’m just a guy trying to get my work done.”

“Oh yeah?” The guy smirked, “How about I get you fired, huh?”

There it is… Will groaned and palmed his face, which confused the kid for a moment. Will half expected to get the “Im gonna get you fired” card pulled on him. All these self-important brats don't know the real consequences of losing a job, and it frustrated him how easily they threaten someone’s livelihood. They could’ve just left the area and gone on with their business, Him and Jack could’ve started their work now, everyone could’ve gone on with their lives. But no, these brainless thug wannabes decided to harass two tired workers.

“You know…” Will scratched his head, “You are some dumb shit-heads.”

The group of thugs were taken aback, confused by the situation. Their leader faltered for a bit but still stood his ground.

“The fuck you said to me you-”

“Who the hell sells drugs in groups? And In school uniform. You’re all just waiting to get caught.” He blatantly said. The boys nervously shifted and looked at each other. “Not only that, instead of running away you idiots actually harassed the people who caught you in the middle of a deal. Fucking amateurs.”

“W-What-?!” The leader stammered, “What are you talk-”

“What I’m saying is…” Will pulled out his phone and showed it to them.“You all got the nerve to bother us when we caught you all red handed.”

His phone was on call, with Nigel.

“Hello? Will?” Nigel’s voice called out. “Hey! You’re muted!”

He could see their faces pale in fear, jaws were dropped, and one guy stumbled backwards. He guessed the prospect of getting expelled from the university is as terrifying as losing you’re only job. It was time to put Nigel’s infamy to actual use, and it seemed to work exceptionally. Will felt like a bully, but is was that or get their shit beaten out . They can’t possibly hit these kids even for self defence; Will could see the shitstorm the parents would cause. It’s better this way.

“You’ve got 30 seconds to disappear before I unmute.”He hovered a finger over his phone screen. “Starting now.”

The boys scattered so fast, kicking up snow behind their heels. In just a few moments, only Will and Jack were left behind the building. “Heh…” Will couldn’t help but smirk. His connection to Nigel was pretty handy, but didn’t want to depend on it. He checked his phone, and Nigel had already hung up.

“Alrighty… Let’s get back to work” He turned back to Jack, who was raising a quizzical eyebrow.

“You… You know the council president?” He asked.

“Yeah, for a while now.” Will passively confirmed. It wasn’t a big secret though, sometimes he and Nigel eat lunch and talk around the school; maybe nobody noticed. He gestured up the Machine and Jack nodded and readied his tools on his utility belt.

“Ugh… Cocky brats…” Jack bemoaned as he went up the ladder, “All talk but not bite.”

“They actually have a bite though,” Will corrected, while holding the thing steady. “ It’s the big talk that’s really annoying.”

“Thanks for the save, by the way.” He started to work on the machine, “I almost got beat up by a bunch of kids.”

“Ah, don’t mention it.” Will tapped around with his phone, “We both needed to get out of that shitty situation.”

Will heard the clinks of tools above him. Jack was a better mechanic than him. He usually depends on him with the technical stuff. “Can’t believe that stuff found it’s way into the school.” Jack grumbled.

“Huh?” Will looked up, “What do you mean?”

“I think it’s that new substance that’s headlining in the news lately.” He said,” The stuff those boys were passing around looked exactly like it.”

Will remembered what he saw, “That black stuff?”

“Yeah… I’ve seen it around my neighborhood too.” He was hammering something, “Can’t wait to move my family somewhere else.”

I’ve never heard of this before... Will pondered silently. Though he could believe this fad would spread into the students. He wondered if Nigel was aware of this…

“Hey, Will…” Jack called, “Are you still gonna tell the council president about those kids?”

Will could've help but smirk. He showed jack his phone, and a text to Nigel.

“Already did.”