Chapter 13 – The Discipline Hall – Holly Hayfield

We were so gung-ho about our search that we didn’t take any basic precautions. Our level of stupidity didn’t occur to me until we were approaching the Discipline Hall. Once we knew how to get to the Discipline Hall we abandoned the map in the library. It was useless, right? What help would the map be once we were there? As the three others walked ahead of me I began having second thoughts about this. This part of the school was off-limits, and practically untouched by time.

These intrusive thoughts didn’t start until we reached the far side of the school. The further away one moved from the central building, the more vacant the school was. A fair amount of the school went unused, considering its larger-than-life size. It was unlikely that they made effective use of the school’s size even in the past. At no point in time, to my knowledge, was the population high enough to justify the school’s size.

The public high school I attended before expulsion wasn’t nearly as big. The overall size of the school was just impractical. Its classrooms, hallways, and facilities were frustratingly small compared to the overall size of the building as a whole. What we failed to realize on the map was just how remote the Discipline Hall was. This part of the school was far removed enough from the core that no one would be able to hear us scream if something went wrong.

My companions were comparatively unconcerned. Why would they be? There was no real Killing Cat, right? This was all just a ploy to get closer to Lilith so that I could talk her into joining Val’s student council group. I was failing at that.

Lilith, the melancholic loner that always kept to herself, now wouldn’t stop talking. Sam had only asked about what we were looking for. Lilith retold the entire story of the Killing Cat. Sam was listening with interest. Naomi yawned as we approached the hallway leading to the Discipline Hall.

“So let me get this straight,” Sam said, “Your grandmother…”

“My great grandmother,” Lilith corrected.

“Right, your great grandmother had this depressing life that led her to buy a whacko cat. Said cat went beserk and killed her other cats. She got depressed and tried to kill the cat. Then later she killed herself and now she haunts the school along with the cat?”

“No,” I said, “The cat is what haunts the school. Judith Meredith and her husband died with the cat sitting by both their corpses.”

“The Killing Cat killed them.” Naomi said.

Sam chuckled.

“Impossible. You’re telling me that a house cat hanged two fully grown adult humans?” Sam asked.

Lilith shook her head.

“That’s what the rumor mill would have you believe, but it isn’t true.” Lilith said.

“Still,” I said, “The coincidence is ominous.”

“Agreed,” Sam said.

We reached the section that joined an unused hall with the entry to the Discipline Hall. The only problem was that the double doors were locked. Lilith and I searched the door for some way to undo the locking mechanism. Naomi helped us by providing a steady source of light with her flashlight. The lighting was incredibly sketchy this far away from the main section of the school. The lights flickered, buzzed, and in some areas, were completely off.

Lilith and I were having no luck getting the door opened. Sam fixed that. She KICKED the doors so hard that they both flew open and banged against the wall. One of the doors hit the wall so hard that the old wooden wall panel cracked along the impact area. The three of us gave Sam a surprised look.

“Whoops, maybe that was a little too hard.” Sam said.

“Let’s go in.” Lilith said.

The Discipline Hall was a short hallway with only a handful of classrooms. It was impossible to see anything in detail. Lilith walked in first to flip the switch for the hallway lights. Nothing happened. Apparently there was no electricity in this portion of the school.

The only lighting came from the small window on the far end of the hallway. We still had Naomi’s flashlight. Sam nodded at Naomi to move forward with her flashlight. Naomi shook her head and began to hand over her flashlight. Lilith grabbed it before Sam could.

“I’ll lead the way. Follow me.” Lilith said.

The first thing I noticed was the sound of our walking. We had transitioned from walking on hard concrete to walking on old wooden floorboards. Each step we took was followed by a large creak. The second thing that came to my attention was the literal writing on the walls. Lilith caught sight of it too and pointed the flashlight at the nearest wall. There were names of students written in black ink, each with different handwriting.

“Yikes,” Naomi said, “This is freaky as hell.”

Lilith pointed out a name on the wall. The name read ‘Hannah Kinsley’.

“No way! That’s the hag!” Naomi said.

“Who’s the hag?” Sam asked.

“Are you saying that’s my homeroom teacher?” I asked.

“Yes,” Lilith said, “She was a student here for a few months. I went through some old school yearbooks a while back. I know what this is now. Whenever a student was sent here to be punished in the past they’d have to write their name here. It was meant to be a list of shame.” Lilith said.

Lilith backed away and shined the light across the wall to reveal the incredible number of people listed there. Sam’s jaw dropped.

“Jesus, this must’ve been the entirety of the school in those days.” Sam said.

“Not quite,” Lilith said, “These names would’ve been put up over the course of several years. We’re likely looking at multiple generations of girls sent to the Discipline Hall.”

“What the hell is this place anyways?” Naomi asked.

“It’s just as the name implies.” I said, “Student punishment was far stricter in the past. It isn’t unheard of for older schools to have detention halls. What’s unique about this is the fact that this is a detention hall inside a school for troubled individuals.”

“Right,” Sam said, “The entire school is supposed to be a detention hall of sorts. So why did they need a place like this?”

“They needed a place to send students who were especially problematic.” Lilith said.

“Let’s put this aside for now. Let’s check out those classrooms ahead.” I said.

“Good idea.” Lilith said.

There were four doorways ahead. There were two on each side of the hall. At the end of the hall was a dead-end with a dirty old window that looked to be damaged by debris. All four of the classroom doors were closed. We chose the first door on the left to go into since it was closest. I opened the door and looked inside.

The view inside wasn’t scary, just odd. The desks were arranged into a massive circle with a single desk in the middle. This desk in the middle had a large dunce hat atop it. As we walked towards it we found ourselves battling through blankets of cobwebs and dust. The windows on the far side of the room were so dirty that they hardly let any light in. Once again, Naomi’s flashlight saved us. Lilith led the way.

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Inside we were able to make out the details more clearly. The desks still had paper work, pencils, and other classroom items there as if they were just abandoned in the middle of class. This detail intrigued me. I decided to get a closer look. Atop the desk closest to me I found writing intensely carved into the wood of the desk. ‘Malorie’, the writing read.

That wasn’t the only place either. Lilith shined the flashlight on the blackboard at the front of the classroom. ‘Malorie’ was written in white chalk over and over again. It was like they were trying to teach her a lesson. Malorie’s name was even on the dunce hat at the middle of the room. Sam picked up the dunce hat and looked at it.

“Damn, Malorie must’ve been one problem child.” Sam said.

Naomi used her cell phone to take a picture of the dunce hat. She spun around and began snapping pictures of everything like we were in a museum. As she pranced around taking pictures with her phone she stumbled over an object and fell.

“Ouch! What the hell is this thing? Is this some kind of bat? Were they playing sports here?” She asked.

She picked up the item she tripped over and waved it in the air. Sam stared at it too and began walking over.

“No, that looks more like a piece of a ceiling fan that broke off.” Sam said.

Lilith and I shared a small laugh. Lilith’s laugh was cute, fitting someone of her stature. Sam and Naomi stared at us, waiting for an explanation.

“You don’t understand,” I said, “That’s not a bat or part of a ceiling fan. That’s an old school paddle.”

“Oh? What’s it for?” Sam asked.

Lilith smirked.

“It’s for punishing girls that have been naughty.” Lilith said.

Naomi grinned.

“Is that so? I think I could get into that. Maybe I’ll keep this thing. I have a few girlfriends that could be taught a lesson or two.” Naomi said.

“Let’s see what’s in the room across from this one.” I said.

We walked across the hallway together. Naomi wore the dunce hat as we walked around. She was waving the paddle in one hand and her smartphone in the other. The second room was even more unusual than the first. It was a classroom of desks in a typical row and column array just like any regular classroom. The main difference came from the fact that each desk had these cardboard dividers. Each student would be effectively cut off from the others.

“Is this like a test-taking room?” Sam asked.

Lilith pointed the flashlight at one of the desks.

“That’s a good guess. The dividers are here for a different reason though. I’ve read about this place in the old yearbooks. This is called the Silent Room. They only send girls here if they couldn’t behave in the detention room we were just in.”

Naomi laughed.

“You mean this is detention for detention? This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder.” Naomi said.

She started taking pictures of everything in this room too. This room was darker than the first one. She turned on her phone’s flashlight to take more pictures. When she turned around to take a picture of the blackboard we all caught something in the moment the light illuminated the board. There was more writing. Lilith focused the flashlight on the blackboard. The writing said ‘Malorie’ again and again. This time it was in bolder lettering.

“What the hell.” Sam said.

“Writing your name on the board was a serious punishment in the old days.” I said.

“Forget the old days,” Naomi said, “I had a teacher make me write my name on the whiteboard after school last week!”

Sam chuckled.

“You were punished on the first week of school?”

“Please, that isn’t even the worst of it. The stories I could tell you, transfer-girl.” Naomi said.

Lilith ran the light across the writing on the chalk board.

“This is unusual, though. They never had to do this much writing.” Lilith said.

“Maybe it was over the course of several sessions?” I asked.

“Maybe, but it’s still odd. The writing should’ve been erased by a janitor at some point.”

Sam wiped the dust off of her clothing to make a point.

“Do you think a janitor has been down here in years?”

“I don’t know, maybe? So far none of the doors beyond the main entrance were locked.” Lilith said.

“Let’s try the door next to this one.” I said.

“Right,” Lilith said.

Just as Lilith started to grab for the door, Sam pulled her back by the arm. A ceiling panel fell down and shattered, bringing a rainfall of dust, dirt, and old insulation with it. Sam took the lead to spare Lilith any potential danger.

“Let’s make this quick. This place is falling apart.” Sam said.

Naomi took a plethora of pictures of the damage as we walked out of the room. We all went back into the hallway. Next, we went to the door right next to the classroom we came out of. This time, Sam was the person to go in first. We all crowded behind her to follow her in. That didn’t turn out as planned. We couldn’t follow her in.

The room was about the size of a broom closet. Unlike the rest of this area, the surroundings were concrete instead of wood. This design was more in line with the rest of the school. There was no window, no desk, or hardly anything. All this room had was a chair and a floor-to-ceiling mirror. Sam didn’t say anything as she turned to Lilith and me. Lilith pointed at the door handle.

“This room is exactly what it looks like. According to the map I had this place is called the Reflection Room. It locks from the outside.” Lilith said.

Sam grimaced in disgust.

“You’re telling me that they literally put students into solitary confinement?” Sam asked her.

“I’m telling you that you should be grateful for the age that you live in. These days this type of punishment would be seen as cruel and unusual for a school. As shady as this school is, things could be worse.”

Sam, Lilith, and I looked at the room in horror. It was only Naomi that seemed to be having a blast. She took a few high speed pictures and then backed out into the hallway. She skipped across the hallway and opened up the door behind us. She took some pictures of the inside but didn’t walk in. She only looked around from the entrance.

There didn’t look to be anything inside that final classroom from what I could see across the hall. It was possible that whatever was in that room was cleaned out previously. Since these rooms were retired that would’ve been the normal thing to do. Still, Naomi finished taking her pictures and shut the door. She came back across the hall with a disappointed look on her face.

“I didn’t see anything in that room. Aren’t we looking for the Killing Cat?” Naomi asked.

“We are.” Lilith said, “It’s just that I’ve been wondering what this place looked like for a while now. I was too afraid to go by myself.”

“I’m glad you decided to come.” I said.

“Me too, it’s interesting to see this sort of history in person.” Lilith said.

Sam looked at Naomi.

“Want to check that first room again? We may be able to find something we missed.” Sam said.

“Sure.” Naomi said.

“We’ll be here if you need us.” I said.

Sam and Naomi went back across the hall to check out the first classroom. Now I was left in the Reflection Room alone with Lilith. Lilith was moving closer to get a better look at the mirror. Seeing this as an opportunity I decided to get closer to her and look with her. She pointed out writing crudely etched into the concrete wall, likely by an improvised tool. It came as no surprise that the writing said ‘Malorie’. This Malorie girl was popular.

“What do you think it means?” I asked Lilith.

“It isn’t the name that disturbs me. Check this out, up here.”

Lilith pointed out more writing on the other side of the wall, away from the mirror. I hadn’t noticed it before. There was writing on the wall, etched crudely just like the other one. This one was different. This had dates, times, small notes, obscenities and so on. That looked more representative of what someone would write in this situation. Still, I wasn’t sure what Lilith was trying to show me. She pointed out a note with a date on the wall.

“This note here, where the girl wrote about how bored she was.”

“What about it?”

“You don’t notice the difference? Look at the name on the other wall and then look back at this.”

It took me a while to understand what she was getting at. It was only as she shined the light back and forth did I realize the differences in the decay of the wall.

“The Malorie writing is newer. What about it?”

“The date on this note says 1969. That was the last year this hall would’ve been in use, at least going by school records. This place was shut down that year. That being the case, why is the ‘Malorie’ etching newer?” Lilith asked.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s a prank? Maybe we weren’t the last ones back here since the school closed it down?”

Lilith backed away from the wall and put a finger on her chin.

“I’m starting to believe that’s the case. Come on. I want to check out the fourth room.”

“Didn’t Naomi say it was empty?”

“Maybe she missed something. I want to check!”

“Lilith, slow down.” I said.

Lilith didn’t listen to me as she dashed across the hallway to the fourth door. She was too excited. It never occurred to me that Lilith would be the one I’d need to keep an eye on. It was funny in a way, considering how she was slow to accept the offer the day before. It turned out that this sort of thing was right up her alley.

She ran into the fourth room, to look for more writing I assumed. She froze when she saw the blackboard. I came in behind her and took her hand so that she wouldn’t run off again. Her eyes were so focused on the blackboard that she didn’t protest me grabbing her hand. When I turned my head to see what she was gazing at I froze up the same way she did.

“What the…” She didn’t even finish the sentence.

‘MALORIE’ was scribbled all across the blackboard in huge bold letter text. ‘MALORIE’ was written in such density that the writing overlapped. It was like the writer was trying to fill up every spot on the board. The text was sporadically written, differently sized, differently written, and just differently laid out altogether.

In the other rooms the text was at least written line by line. This, this was something else. It was hardly even legible. The way the writing was so shakily written it was clear that this wasn’t the work of Malorie herself being punished. This was the work of an obsessive. Someone was obsessed with Malorie so much that the other rooms weren’t enough.

“Sam…” I said in a panic, “SAM!” I yelled, without taking my eyes off the blackboard.

Lilith and I backed up to get a wider view of the blackboard. We were so drawn in by it that I hardly noticed a strange sound. The rickety wooden floor panels began to make a cracking sound as we backed up. It was just as I looked down that I saw the small crack in floor begin to expand into a massive network of increasingly large cracks. Lilith noticed it too and looked at me, wide-eyed. Sam and Naomi came running inside just in time to see it happen. The floor completely gave-way beneath us, sending Lilith and I into a free fall.