This is an assignment I did for my fiction workshop. We had to take a story from the news and turn it into a creative piece. Obviously, I had to do the clown sightings in two different states. It was originally going to be a lot longer than it is, but I figured eight pages was enough. So, yeah, fair warning: there's a cliff hanger.
Billy Cartwright had been missing for approximately 32 days. No one had really noticed at first; Billy was not a very likeable person. Since the third grade, he had bullied nearly every kid in school (except for Michael Dunbar, who he had deemed worthy of immunity for some reason). The first week, everyone had assumed he was sick. The second week, rumors of him being suspended began to circle the school. By the third week, everyone had forgotten about poor Billy. That is, until the police arrived.
Jamie Ruben had been utterly indifferent towards Billy’s absence, so when Officer Davis stopped by his class one dreary Tuesday morning, he was slightly disappointed, if not a little intrigued, by the news.
“We want to talk to each of you individually about Billy Cartwright. There’s no need for you to worry; we just want as much information as possible,” Davis was saying over the poor attempts at whispering within the classroom. Mrs. Green beckoned for the first student to follow the officer to an empty classroom across the hall.
“Don’t you think,” Hayden asked as he turned around in his chair, “that it’s a bit odd that they are just now asking us about this?”
“What do you mean?” Jamie asked, uninterested again as he absentmindedly doodled in his notebook.
“Well, doesn’t it make sense to go to the school first when looking for information on a missing thirteen-year-old boy?” Hayden asked, then thought for a moment. “I mean, after interrogating the family and friends, of course.”
“Billy doesn’t have any friends,” Jamie quipped. Well, except for maybe Mike. But even he didn’t seem all too thrilled to be around him. Hayden snapped his fingers and pointed at Jamie.
“Exactly. And the officer said that he was filed missing a little over a month ago. Seems a little suspicious if you ask me.”
“James! Officer Davis is ready for you,” Mrs. Green called as the last student to be questioned excitedly talked to her friends.
Jamie stood and trudged over to the door, looking back at his friend. Hayden was repeating his conspiracy to another kid beside him, his curls bouncing with every excited movement. With a sigh, Jamie continued to the other room. Officer Davis was sitting at an abandoned teacher’s desk with a file sitting in front of him.
“Hey there, sport. Have a seat. This’ll only take a moment or two,” Davis grunted, scratching at his stubbly chin and tapping the desk impatiently with a pen. “Can I get your name, son?”
“James Ruben. Everyone calls me Jamie,” he replied, watching as the officer made note.
“Alright, Jamie. How well do you know Billy?” Jamie thought about his answer for a moment.
“Not…well,” he drawled, unsure of how to answer. The officer folded his stubby hands in front of him.
“Would you like to elaborate?” he asked, tripping over the last word as if he were unused to such large vocabulary.
“Billy doesn’t really get along with anybody. He’s kind of bullied every kid in school. Except for Michael Dunbar,” Jamie added as an afterthought. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen Mike in a while either. Officer Davis retrieved something from his folder. He slid a photograph towards Jamie.
“Would you say that’s Michael?” Davis asked. Jamie squinted his eyes at the fuzzy picture. It looked like it had been taken from a street light at least a block away from the two figures huddled together. Looking closely, Jamie could make out Mike’s mousy frame and round glasses.
“Yeah, I guess,” Jamie said in a bored tone. Officer Davis pursed his lips.
“When was the last time you saw Billy and Michael?” he asked. Jamie raised an eyebrow.
“Is Mike missing too?”
“Just answer the question, boy.” Jamie narrowed his eyes.
“About a month ago, I guess.”
After a while, the officer had apparently had enough with Jamie’s obvious lack of knowledge and sent him on his way. Jamie returned to class and waited for Hayden to be through with his interview before they started talking. The bell rang just as Hayden returned.
“Did he show you the picture?” Hayden asked as they headed to lunch. Jamie adjusted his backpack.
“The really grainy one?”
“Yes! That was obviously Billy and Mike!” Jamie didn’t bother to mention that the picture was really too blurry to tell for sure who was in it. “And did you see where they were standing?” Hayden asked excitedly. Jamie shook his head.
“In an unintelligible location not disclosed to the public?” Jamie suggested. Hayden rolled his eyes at his best friend, either at his sardonic tone or his unusually mature vernacular.
“No. They were standing in front of Manor Trail,” Hayden whispered mysteriously.
“So? Mike lives in Fleetwood. They were probably going over to his place,” Jamie reasoned. Fleetwood Manor Apartments sat in front of the woods at the edge of town, and a man-made trail leading to the middle of the woods sat close by. Hayden rolled his eyes again.
“First of all, they were facing away from the apartments. Second of all, don’t you remember where Manor Trail leads to?” Jamie shook his head and Hayden nearly collapsed from his excitement. “The abandoned Cabin on the Pond.”
Jamie stopped in his tracks, interest blooming in his chest for the first time.
“You mean-”
“Yes! The haunted cabin that all of the older kids talk about. The one where Ashley Sander said she heard chains rattling that one time she went camping!” Hayden finished for him. Jamie felt a chill go through him.
“What does that have to do with Billy?” Jamie asked, already seeing where Hayden was going with this.
“I think that Billy and Mike tried to go to the cabin and-” Hayden looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. “-and something took them.” His eyes sparkled at the thought of such an abduction. Jamie shook his head.
“Why would they even go there?”
“I don’t know. Adventure?” Hayden shrugged. “But it would explain why the police haven’t been to the school until now. They’ve probably been searching the woods and trying to keep it quiet. You know, so that they don’t ruin the town’s reputation.”
This was ridiculous. Everything Hayden said was way too far-fetched to be true. Why would they keep a missing child a secret? Sure, the town was known for being low on crime and served as a great tourist trap during the fall due to its beautiful landscape. But surely that alone couldn’t serve as purpose to keep all of this quiet.
“Stop being stupid. Nothing took Mike and Billy. Mike isn’t even missing,” Jamie argued. Hayden grinned at him.
“Then where is he?” he inquired triumphantly. Jamie didn’t say anything. “Exactly. Something took them, and the police want to stay quiet about it. Which is why I want to go there tonight.”
Jamie had started to walk again, only to stop abruptly again. A girl slammed into him from behind, glaring at him as he gave a poorly executed apology.
“Why would you want to go to the place you think people are being kidnapped?” Jamie nearly hissed.
“Because I want to solve this mystery. Don’t you? I mean, what could possibly make the police keep this case a secret?” Hayden said, sitting down with his lunch at the closest table when they finally made it to the cafeteria.
“Not really. Not if there’s a chance that a ghost is going to kill me,” Jamie worried.
“Well now you’re just being ridiculous,” Hayden said around a bit of bologna sandwich.
After school, the boys waited at Jamie’s house for it to become dark, sure that the police would be watching the area like a hawk during the day. As soon as the sun set, the boys rode their bikes to Fleetwood Apartments, giving Jamie’s mom a half-assed excuse of going over to Hayden’s. When they arrived at the apartment building, Jamie pedaled to a stop, not wanting to go further. Hayden rode a few more feet before realizing.
“What’s wrong with you?” Hayden said impatiently as he circled back. Jamie looked uncertainly past the complex at the just-visible trees on the other side. Hayden’s words from earlier began repeating in his head almost like a mantra. Something took them.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Jamie said slowly. Hayden huffed.
“Since when are you so boring? Come on!” Hayden took off again, and Jamie tried to keep up.
“What if there are more cops?” he called. His friend looked back in disbelief.
“I doubt that they’d be out here still. And even if they were, it’s not illegal to be here.” Jamie couldn’t find a plausible argument for that. But as they neared the woods, he began to think of nearly a million new arguments as to why they shouldn’t go any further.
The woods were completely dark; all light was sucked up by of darkness. Mist was spread out in front of the trees, swirling and dancing around the boys as they ventured into it. Jamie could have sworn he saw something red wink at him near a tree as they braked in front of the path opening. In other words, this creepy place was telling them to stay away.
“This is close to where Billy and Mike were standing,” Hayden observed and Jamie swallowed.
“So? Now what?” Jamie asked.
“Now we search for clues,” Hayden said, setting his bike down and looking around his feet as if a clue would magically pop up.
“How? You can’t see anything in this weird fog.” Hayden clicked his tongue at Jamie’s tone.
“It’s like you don’t even want to find Billy.” Jamie furrowed his brow. Of course he didn’t want to find Billy. In fact, he would be quite happy in bed, reading a book at the moment. “Come on. You search down that way, and I’ll search over here.” Hayden indicated that Jamie search closer to the apartments while he began to walk in the other direction. Jamie protested only slightly before setting down his bike and doing as he was told.
He looked down around him at the obscured ground, not entirely sure about what he was looking for. A shoe? A misplaced backpack? Billy’s lifeless corpse? Jamie shuddered at that last thought. These woods were definitely messing with his mind. For a moment when he glanced up, he even thought that he saw a clown sitting under a tree.
Wait, what? Jamie’s head whipped back up. There was nothing there. His frightened mind was starting to see things. Feeling uneasy, he took a few steps away from the trees, his friend’s name on the tip of his tongue. He continued a little farther before giving up. Looking up at the building, he could see that almost all of the windows were dark now except for one on the first floor.
The wind picked up suddenly and Jamie began to shiver. He wrapped his arms around himself as the cool autumn air started to register with him. Jamie turned around to yell at Hayden to get their bikes and flee, but when he looked behind him, he finally realized that the mist had turned into swirling white fog that expanded above Jamie’s head and hid anything outside of a two-yard radius. Shaking not only because he was cold, Jamie began to walk back to where they had started.
“Hayden?” he called out into the fog. No one answered. It was eerily quiet. Not even the crickets chirped.
“Hayden?” he tried again, but still no answer. Tree branches suddenly swaying caused him to jump. He listened closely for any signs of life near him. The light from the apartment complex was nowhere to be seen now. He continued a few steps but stopped suddenly. The sound of footsteps crunching through the grass didn’t stop immediately with him. Jamie held his breath, fear gripping his heart.
“Hayden, if that’s you, this isn’t funny!” he yelled and immediately regretted it. No one answered. Jamie’s breathing picked up. He began to hurry to wear he thought his bike was. He called again for his friend, but still there was no answer. A twig snapped behind him and that was the final straw. Jamie broke out into a full sprint, only making it a couple feet before tripping over something and falling face-first into the cold ground. He scrambled to right himself, sitting back and desperately trying to see what he had fallen over. His bike.
With a sigh of relief, Jamie grabbed the handles and got to his knees, readying himself to start calling for his friend again. Before he could however, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Something red was winking at him again. Dread filled his stomach, and his lungs refused to fill with air. Slowly turning his head, Jamie looked to see what was hiding next to him in the fog. His heavy stomach finally dropped to his feet.
A bone-thin clown with a blinking red nose stood staring at him only a couple of feet away. Its eyes were painted with black smudges, and its red hair hung in strands around his shoulders. Red lips sat on an expressionless pale face. It was dressed in faded, torn circus attire, and red paint splattered the front of his pants. At least Jamie hoped that it was paint. A scream seemed to be lodged in his throat, and he couldn’t get his feet to move. The terrifying creature before him continued to stare unblinkingly at him, its nose reflecting off of the fog and causing the air around him to have a red glow.
It raised a hand towards Jamie and Jamie felt the urge to throw up his bologna sandwich. Something was in his hand. He couldn’t tell what it was. He didn’t want to find out. Finally gaining control of his legs, Jamie took a shaky step back. The clown didn’t move. Jamie took another step back. Still, the clown just continued to hold out its steady hand. Jamie stumbled as he took another step back, and something about that jarred his brain into action. A scream still stuck in his throat, Jamie turned his back on the creature and ran towards the apartment complex, all thoughts of Billy far from his mind. He didn’t dare to look back, afraid to find a skeleton like figure sprinting after him. As soon as he reached the first door he banged against it, calling for anyone inside to let him in. It wasn’t until a light turned on beside him that he realized he had left Hayden. Right when he was about to turn back, the door opened.
Standing in the doorway was none other than Michael Dunbar, his tawny brown hair disheveled and his glasses nowhere to be seen.
“Mike?!” Jamie exclaimed. “What- I thought-”
“James? What are you doing here?” Mike asked hesitantly. Jamie shook his head frantically.
“There’s no time to explain. We have to go save-” Jamie spun around to run back to Hayden, but stopped dead.
The fog was gone. The clown was gone. Hayden was gone. All that stood there was an innocent expanse of woods.
