chapter eight: first day in hell
9 a.m came too fast. Its almost as if I just shut my eyes then poof, the time is gone. I had to get ready the first day of class. Just thinking of the place gave me the creeps. But dad said it was only temporary so might as well make the best of it.
I got ready and stepped out the door to see my dad walking up the hall with his Kakis and his leather jacket on. Under the jacket he was wearing a red and silver striped tie with a pale white button up shirt. His hair was slicked back and he was wearing his glasses, they were bronze with a thin wire frame. Why was he all dressed up just to take me to school?
"Ready son? You don't want to be late on your first day." He said as he fixed his tie.
"I suppose." I said as I struggled to get my arm through the sleeve of my hoodie.
"Why are you dressed up dad?" I asked.
"Oh, no reason." He said as he smiled and patted me on the head as he walked by me.
I finally got my arm through the sleeve and zipped the hoodie up and followed my dad. It was weird that he wouldn't tell me, but I guess if it were important he would tell me. We jumped in the truck and headed out to the asylum of doom as I thought of it that way.
As we drove, I could see my dad fidgiting with his tie. I knew he hated those things, but I was still curious to why he was dressed up.
"You going on a date?" I asked
He shook his head no, then we passed through a long drive which were surrounded by a tree line on each side. I didn't remember seeing those there before. Once we passed all the trees we came up to an iron gate and about the gate is an archway made of stone. Engraved in the stone said * Portas purgatorias* which was Latin so I had no idea what it went.
The gates opened on their own as we came upon them and proceeded down the drive until we came up to the front of the building. He stopped the truck and let me out. I said bye to him as I turned to walk up the walkway to the front doors. There stood sister Agatha awaiting my arrival. I finally reached the doors as she had her arms crossed.
"Its about time young man, come follow me." She demanded.
I followed her inside and it was silent. She led me through the same door we went to last time we were here and into her office. Once we were in the office, there was a set of clothing folded nice and neat on her desk.
"These will be your uniform. You will wear it properly every day that you are here. No creases, no wrinkles. It has to be kept tidy and clean. You will only speak when spoken to. If you are out of line, there will be servere punishment. Do I make myself clear?" She demanded.
"Yes sister." I mumbled.
"Posture is an important fact, stand up straight. Stop mumbling and speak clearly. Now follow me to your first class." She said to me as she handed me the uniform
She led me down the hall to room 181. On the door was a carving engraved saying faciam ut mei memineris again in latin and I had no clue what the saying ment. She pointed at the bathroom across the hall and told me to change my clothes then return to this room in 10 minutes exact.
I went into the bathroom and it smelled horrible. The smell of a sewer filled my nose almost enough to make my eyes water. The tiles were stained with piss and rust. It was a dark green color throughout the whole bathroom. There was one long mirror above the sinks and the stalls were barely on the hinges. The toilets we cracked and leaking at the bottom. The ceiling looked as if it were falling in. I hurried as fast I could to change my clothes. By the time I got one leg in the pants, a young man walks in the bathroom and stops in his tracks.
"What are you doing?" He asked me.
"What does it look like? I'm changing." I snapped at him.
"Oh so you're the newbie everyone's talking about. You've got a lot to learn and where you stand. Watch your tongue, because next time it won't be pleasant." He said in a demeaning tone.
"Yeah yeah keep talking. I'm only here temporarily so you won't have to see me too long." I said as I got my shirt on.
"Hahaha if you only knew. Faciam ut mei memineris. Good talk. Be careful what you say around here. These walls have ears everywhere." He said as he walked out
I followed behind and when I got out into the hall, he was nowhere to be found. Sister Agatha was standing across from me waiting for me.
"Who was that guy?" I asked.
"Who are you referring to young man? There's nobody roaming these halls." She said.
"But there was a guy that walked in the bathroom and threatened me." I said.
"Do not mock me young man. I told you there's nobody roaming these halls." She huffed.
"But..." I said as she interrupts me.
"Don't talk back to me mister. This is your last warning!" She snarled.
I just stood there in silence as she turned around to unlock the door. She led me into the room where there were empty desks lined up in 4 rows. This whole place was falling apart and not suitable to be considered a school. There were no windows, just posters with random quotes from the bible. The desks were rusted and the wood on them were splintered. The teachers desk was close to the chalkboard which the board was smeared with chalk dust.
I walked to the desk that had a book on top of it, so I sat down. It had my name on the cover so I figured it was mine. Minutes went by and I was the only one in there until I heard whispering coming from behind the door. I stood up to see if I could make out what they were saying but they stopped when I reached the door. I tried to turn the knob but it was locked. Why would you lock your students in?
I walked away from the door then I heard the door click as someone unlocking it. It opened slightly but nobody came in. I opened the door the rest of the way and peeked out to see nobody around. I wasn't going to wait around all day so I decided to roam the halls to see if I could find anyone. All the doors were locked like last time. And the halls were silent, I was starting to think that nobody was even going to this school.
I reached the end of the hall to find the double doors that were locked as well. I heard something crash onto the floor behind the doors and then muttering words exchanged between two people as if they were arguing. I couldn't help but try to listen as I placed my ear against the door. The voices stopped cold and I stepped away from the door. I then seen the door knobs wobbling like someone was trying to open the doors. So I started to back up until I bumped into someone. I turned around and it was sister agatha with her arms crosses with a ruler in her hand.
"Curiosity is one way to stir up problems. Arms out in front. Palms facing down." She said.
"But, I was trying to find..." I said as she interrupted.
"NOW!!" She shouted.
I did as she told me. She took the ruler and with one good wack, it went across all eight knuckles and sent a cracking sound echoing through the hall. It hurt like a bitch and my eyes shut tight trying to fight the tears.
"Back to class." She said as she pointed to the door.
I headed back and when I opened the door, the classroom was half full of students and a teacher as they stopped what they were doing and stared at me. There were at least six students in the same dark blue uniform with white collars. All of them were boys, I'm not even sure there are girls that even go to this school. The teacher was wearing the same hooded robe as sister Agatha was wearing. But she looked nicer than Agatha.
I walked to my seat as I hear them snickering and whispering to each other.
"Enough class, the teach said. Allow me to introduce you to everyone. Class, this is Cole Turner. My name is sister Kay. Have a seat and we'll begin class." She said as she smiled.
I sat down and still the boys were whispering about me. But I just ignored them and faced the front of the room. She went on talking about the gates of hell and quoted verses from the bible. Asking if everyone has been cleansed. I started to get anxious as I was tapping my foot on the ground. Shaking the desk as I moved my leg up and down, I felt the seat crack beneath me. Next thing you know, the whole thing split apart and the legs collapse. I fell to the ground with the broken chair and immediately the boys started laughing at me.
"Are you alright?" She asked as she rushed to help me up.
"Yeah I'm fine." I said as I stood up and wiped my pants off.
She assigned me to another seat but before I got a chance to sit down, a hear the bell ring. I guess it was time for lunch. The boys scattered and lined up at the door. Sister Agatha had unlocked our door to let us out for lunch. She let each room out one by one. Then I finally notice there were tons of boys here.
The double doors were wide open that led to the mess hall. Students were sitting tightly together as they had gotten their food. The tables were pushed together. Everyone was in silence as they waited for everyone else to sit down. Again, there were no windows. The place was damp and musty. The lights hanging above were covered in dust and cobwebs with a couple of flickering light bulbs. Some even had blown out.
I went through the line and grabbed a tray. The people behind the table were serving us food that you would think was from prison. I couldn't even tell what it was. It just looked like a gooey gray slop with a stale piece of bread and a glass of water. Once I got my food, I walked to a table that had an opening for me to sit. But the students moved to block the seat so I couldn't sit. Each time I found a spot, they did the same thing.
I finally gave up and walked to the empty table in the back. Before I got to the table, someone put their leg out as I tripped over them and fell face first into my food and onto the ground. Everyone laughed as it echoed throughout the mess hall. I was covered in this slop. I stood up and tried to wipe it away from my shirt but it wasn't coming out.
The laughing came to a hault as sister Agatha walked in behind me...