Tompkin's School (For The Extraordinarily Talented Book 1) (12 page)

“Izzy,” Kia said, coming into the room, “the buses are here. It’s time to go!”

“Okay,” I sighed.

“You’re the one who wanted to go to this thing,” she pointed out, “I don’t even know anything about the game.”

“I’m coming," I replied.

“I‘ll meet you out there,” Kia said, heading back out the door.

I gathered my purse and shoes, taking my time before heading to the school’s parking lot.

We filed onto the bus and I took the seat next to Kia.

“Hey, girlie,” she smiled.

“Hey,” I replied.

“I’m excited about watching the team play,” she commented.

“Huh,” I smirked, “weren’t you complaining not too long ago how I was dragging you along?”

“Well,” Kia shrugged, “once I realized we would be seeing tons of hot sweaty guys getting competitive I changed my mind.”

We both laughed at that.

Once everyone had made it onto the buses, we headed down the road and away from the school.

“So, how are things with you and Kain?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

“He’s officially not talking to me,” Kia replied, “I don’t blame him, either.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, “but I think he’s avoiding everyone right now.”

“You know, I’d rather not talk about it,” she added, “it’s a bit awkward, if ya know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “so why’d you do it? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Izzy, just don’t, okay?" She said in frustration, “I told you the truth that night.”

“For what it’s worth,” I said, “I believe you, now.”

She looked at me for a moment, her eyes seemed a bit guarded. I didn’t want our friendship to be jeopardized by something like this.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Friends?” I asked.

“Friends," she laughed.

We soon arrived in Pauls Valley and pulled into the school’s packed parking lot. We were dropped off and shown to the basketball court. The stadium was already crowded.

We headed to the guest’s side of the court and found our seats. The guys were already making their way into the locker rooms. I spotted Lee and waved. He winked before following the rest of the team.

“You and Lee seem to be hitting it off,” Kia smiled.

“Maybe,” I replied.

“Second thoughts?" She asked.

“Not really,” I said, “he’s just…sweet.”

“And that’s a bad thing?" She enquired.

“Well, no,” I gave, “just maybe a bit
too
perfect.”

“Iz,” she said, “don’t look for flaws when things are going great.”

“Good advice,” I laughed, “where’d that come from?”

“Experience,” she replied.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer began, calling everyone’s attention, “welcome to Pauls Valley high-school!”

The music coming from the band became inaudible as the stadium rang out with cheers from the stands.

“Please give it up for the Pauls Valley Panthers!” the announcer called.

Suddenly, the Pauls Valley team burst through the large banner that the cheerleaders were holding. The crowd went wild, cheerleaders cheered, and the band played their war song.

“And here to try their best are the Tompkin’s Siberians!” the announcer added.

All those who came to support our team burst into cheers as the Siberians ran out onto the court.

“Let’s go Siberians!” we all cheered.

Soon the referees made their way to the court, indicating that the game would soon begin. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Kain. I hoped he wasn’t mad at me. But then again, I really hadn’t done anything. He probably was just as frustrated as I was about the whole Amadeus thing. Hopefully that wouldn’t mess up his game tonight though.

Laurent, Duran, Lee, Kain, and Amadeus all joined the huddle around Coach Webber before joining the Panthers on the court. The referee blew the whistle as he threw the ball up into the air. Both posts flew into the air, Duran tapping the ball back giving us possession of the ball.

“Whoa, go Duran!” I cheered.

I watched anxiously as Lee dribbled the ball down the court and passed it to Kain. He laid the ball up for Duran who flew up into the air so quickly I almost didn‘t see the ball go through the hoop!

“And the Siberians score!” the announcer called, “we’re now 0 to 2, ladies and gentlemen.”

Yes!

All the Siberian fans jumped up from their seats, cheering with excitement.

“Defense!” We all shouted along with the cheerleaders, "Defense!”

The team quickly ran to their positions as the Panthers took possession of the ball. Their point guard dribbled down the court, motioning for someone to get open. The ball was passed to their shooting guard who shot the ball. Hitting the rim, Laurent caught the rebound and passed it to Lee who dribbled down the court for a fast break.

“You can’t shoot! You can’t score!” the cheerleaders shouted, “You should just get off this court!”

The ball was passed to Amadeus who lined up for a three pointer. The ball glided through the air and we all held our breath. It arched toward the net to go through the hoop when it suddenly got caught in between the hoop and backboard. I saw Kain give Amadeus a glaring look as the other team threw the ball in.

“What was that, moron?” I heard Kain hiss at him.

He was getting mad and that was not a good sign. The other team scored and we were down by one. I could see that Kain was getting even angrier as the first quarter ended and we were down sixteen to twelve.

“Kain,” I called as he passed by.

He just ignored me as he followed his teammates to the bench.

“What’s wrong, Iz?” Kia whispered.

“Kain’s pissing me off," I replied, not wanting to get into the details.

The game was getting pretty intense and during the second quarter we got ahead by two. The Panthers had possession of the ball and their point guard drove the ball down the court. He looked around for a break in our defense and suddenly Kain and Lee double teamed him. I could tell that he didn’t like that. Without warning he slammed into Kain, who tumbled backwards as the referee blew the whistle.

“Well, folks,” the announcer called, “it looks like the referee is calling a foul on the Siberians’ number thirty-three, Kain Torvic!”

I stopped in shock.

“What the
hell
?” Kain roared at the referee.

Kain’s anger was getting out of control as he continued to shout at the referee.

“Coach,” the ref called, “get control of your boy, here.”

Coach Webber motioned for Kain, who reluctantly backed away from the ref. I saw the dark look in his eyes as he purposefully bumped into the other team’s point guard on his way to the coach.

“If you show that kind of display again,” the coach warned, “I’ll have you out of the game.”

What was going on with him?

The boys lined up as the Panthers’ point guard took his position at the free throw line. I saw Lee talking to Kain, hopefully calming him down. If he got thrown out of the game it would probably send him over the edge if he wasn’t there already.

It was halftime now and we were all tied at twenty-two to twenty-two. I decided to go get some water and stood up.

“Want anything?” I asked Kia.

“No, thanks,” she replied.

I shrugged and headed out of the gym, towards the concession stands.

“They’re doing great, right?” Leslie said as I joined the line.

It looked as though a smile was permanently engraved on her face.

“Yeah,” I laughed, “but they’re tied right now.”

After hanging out for a few minutes, we headed back into the stadium as the second half began.

‡‡‡

The game was soon over with us winning fifty-three to fifty-two due to Amadeus’ miracle three pointer in the final two seconds.

Kia and I followed the rest of the rushing students out of the stadium. Once outside I scanned the crowded parking lot for the team. It seemed like they had all disappeared.

“Hey, I’ll catch up with you later, okay?” I said to Kia after spotting Kain in the crowd

“Where are you going?” Kia asked.

“I’ll be back,” I waved as I headed to where I last saw Kain.

It seemed like he had suddenly disappeared. Where did he go?

“He’s making me insane,” a voice behind me whispered.

I turned to find Kain standing there, his bag slung over his shoulder and a very nervous expression on his face.

“Your eyes,” I exclaimed.

“What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

His eyes were seriously dilated.

“Are you high?” I asked.

“No,” he replied.

“Huh, your eyes look like it,” I shrugged, “anyways, who’s making you insane?”

“Amadeus,” he spat, “whenever I look at him he just…he just makes me furious!”

I could tell that he was struggling through his anger that was building.

“You shouldn’t be so easily annoyed,” I said.

“It’s not that,” he said, defensively, “it’s like I can’t help but be angry whenever I look at him. Even if I‘m in a perfectly good mood. But that’s insane, right?”

“Maybe not,” I sighed.

“What do you mean?" He asked.

“When I first met him,” I began, “and looked into his eyes it caused me to get these intense migraines. Now I can’t even look at him without doubling over in pain. Does that happen to you?”

“No,” he replied.

"I think I'm going crazy," I said.

“Probably,” he agreed.

“Shut up,” I laughed as the buses pulled up.

We took our seats and soon we were on our way back to the Academy.

“We definitely have our work cut out for us,” I said.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about what Amadeus said," I replied.

“Right,” he laughed, “you’re
actually
considering doing that?”

“Yes,” I answered, “why, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” he shrugged, “I don’t know. Researching the school just seems pointless.”

“Listen,” I said, “it couldn’t hurt to find out a bit more about this place.”

He rolled his eyes. It was apparent that he didn’t want to be apart of a conspiracy theory and think about all the strange stuff that had been happening!

“If it can get us some answers,” I added, “then what’s the harm in that?”

“Nothing,” he sighed, “but maybe I just don’t really want to know.”

“Being naive can hurt worse,” I said, turning to the window.

I was glad he was so easily persuaded on this. We needed to find out why we were here and why we were having these dreams. We had to decipher what was true from what was just simply our own imagination.

“I’m sick and tired of reading about this nonsense in the paper,” Edwin stated, throwing the paper away while on a stroll with his older brother, Lawrence, “if it was up to the rest of the world we’d all be dry Republicans.”

“Good thing Davis is different,” Lawrence laughed.

“I’d say,” Edwin agreed.

It was the year 1910 and the founding of the new boarding academy Tompkin’s Academy had brought many young newcomers to the small town of Davis. The brothers, Lawrence and Edwin Bartholomew, were amongst these new students who came to attend this school.

“Have you heard about Hennepin?” Lawrence asked, “They’ve just started this ridiculous “moral” league to stop bootlegging.”

“Ha!” Edwin scoffed, “Good luck.”

Edwin and Lawrence had moved to Davis, Oklahoma at the beginning of the school year from Missouri, where their father owned a wealthy brewery. These two boys would have inherited all of it had it not been for Lawren
c
e’s rebellious nature and violent tendencies that had started occurring shortly after his sixteenth birthday. He had had many outbursts at his previous academy which finally got him expelled. In addition, Edwin started rebelling. After nearly a year of counselling their parents couldn’t take any more and so they sent them off to Tompkin’s Academy, hoping that some distance and structure would help them straighten up.

“Come on,” Lawrence said, “it’s getting late. We should get back to the school.”

They quickly hopped into their Overland automobile and headed deep into the Arbuckle Mountains. While driving, Edwin noticed dark black lines crawling up the inside of his brother's clenched fists. It was as if there were worms under his skin!

“Lawrence!” Edwin exclaimed.

“What…” Lawrence hissed.

“Your hands,” he gasped.

“It’s nothing!” his older brother growled, finally pulling up to the school, “Go to your room.”

“But-” Edwin complained.

“Just go!” Lawrence insisted, shoving him out of the car, “I’ll join you in a minute.”

Edwin shrugged and headed down the path to the dorms, wondering the whole time what that was all about.

Lawrence ran deep into the woods, hoping that the school’s dorm monitors wouldn’t notice that he was past curfew. The beating of his heart grew so loud that it seemed to echo throughout the forest. Then he began to feel another heartbeat that was not his own. He reached for his chest and felt yet another heartbeat and was sure more would come. Darkness seemed to crawl up his hands and suddenly sharp claws pierced his skin and he howled in pain. He fell to his knees as images flooded his vision. He saw the blood and felt the pain, the pain of his future victims that he knew he couldn’t save. A part of him wished he could prevent their fate, but the other part of him desired their blood more than anything. His eyes burned in agony as they focused uncontrollably at all that surrounded him. He looked ahead for miles seeing everything in greater detail than he could have ever imagined. He looked down at the ground and his vision bounced back almost like a rubber band. Not only could he see the greenery of the plants, but he could also see every little cell of even the smallest organism. It was indeed the most amazing thing he had ever experienced.

Suddenly, he felt something sharp slither up his spine and his back arched as the thing in his back tore through both of his shoulderblades. He looked over his shoulder to find two giant black wings and he smiled as he stood. He could already smell the blood type of his victim and he knew what he needed to do. He leapt into the air and soared towards the school. There was nothing he couldn’t see. Not even distance or time could stop him. He knew the future as clear as he could see what was right in front of him. He flew over the school and looked towards the dorms. He could see the students sleeping soundly in their beds. He could hear them breathe and could pick out the one that was his. He landed effortlessly on the trimmed grass and gazed through the closed door, seeing the empty foyer of the girl's dormitory. He inhaled deeply, shimmering into nothingness so as to not be disturbed by any sleepwalkers. He glided to the front door, the lock braking as he turned the handle, and he immediately made his way to the second floor. He knew exactly where to go because he had seen it all before. He finally stopped in front of the door leading to room
S12
. He gasped as he smelt the decadent scent of his future victim’s blood and he couldn’t take it any longer. He opened the door as quietly as possible and drifted in. His eyes rested on the bed closest to the window where the student slept.

Now for the messy part
, he thought to himself as he let out a chuckle.

The girl stirred as he hovered above, his claws ready.

The scream filled the air has the young girl took her last breath. The roommate sat up with a start, not knowing what she was seeing. Through the shadows cascading the room from the night sky she could see dripping blood from something that looked like a heart floating in the air and she let out an earsplitting wail.

Lawrence quickly opened the window and flew out into the night, taking the heart with him.

‡‡‡

I woke up with a start. It took me a minute to fully wake up from my dream and realize that I was in my dorm room. The dream was so vivid as if...as if I had actually been there walking right next to those brothers. Were they real? No, that would be a ridiculous coincidence. I rolled out of bed and grabbed my toiletry bag before heading to the showers. I opened the door to our room and froze when I saw our door number. Number S12. This was definitely not a coincidence. I quickly got ready and headed to the library, determined to find out if those brothers were real and had truly gone to this school. I didn’t know what it would mean if it was true, but I just had to know.

I walked up to the large library and entered the dark building. It was very dreary due to the lack of light, tall ceilings, and the smell of old rotting books. I walked up to the front desk and rang the little bell. It took a few minutes before I heard movement, but soon I heard someone move from behind a row of books.

“Hello?” I called.

“Yesssssss,” the creepy stutter of Professor Valkyrien replied as he emerged with an armful of papers.

Every single time I saw him he startled me with how tall and freakishly alien like he was.

“How c-c-c-can I heeeelp you?" He asked.

“Um, yes” I replied, “I was wondering if you kept copies of the school’s yearbooks and, if so, do you know where I might find them?”

He stared blankly back at me for a moment making me wonder if he had heard me...or even understood what I asking.

“ Yessssss…” he squealed as he took a sticky note from the desk and scribbled something down, "Here y-y-you are.”

“Thanks,” I said, rolling my eyes as I took the paper.

What was his problem?

I made my way through the maze of books. The whole place was nearly deserted which didn’t surprise me one bit. Not only was it incredibly dusty in here, but it also reeked of mold and quite frankly it was
way
too dark. Who could possibly read in this lighting?

I kept walking aimlessly through the library, trying to find the stupid row Professor Veal had written down in his chicken scratch.

“B twenty-one, B twenty-two…”I muttered out loud, “what was it?”

I glanced at the paper. C-54. Where the hell was C-54? I was just about ready to give up on my search when I stormed passed a row that looked different. I took a few steps back and looked down the row of books. There was a staircase at the far end with a sign reading
Floor C
.

“Gotcha,” I smiled, heading towards the staircase.

As I made my way down the winding staircase, it began to feel as though I had entered a time capsule. There were tons of old black and white photographs of the school and faculty dated all the way back to the early nineteen hundreds. When I got to the basement the smell of mold intensified and it was obvious that this was where all of the books went to die.

Jeez! Couldn’t they ventilate this place once in awhile?

I weaved through the rows and rows of old books and finally found C-54. I scrolled through the line of old yearbooks, slowly but surely making my way back through time from 2009. This was going to take a while. I glanced at the year printed on the side of the books trying to make the process as efficient as possible. It was hard to believe that they kept these books for that long. Most of them looked as if they had never even been opened and just thrown down here.

“Gotcha!” I exclaimed, grabbing the yearbook labeled 1910.

I walked to a nearby desk and sat down, carefully opening it to the first page. I had a hard time believing that they would be able to keep their hands on something like this for that long.

It was strange looking through the pages with lists of teachers and the groups of students who were a part of various extracurricular groups. There wasn’t a table of contents or a dedicated section with pictures of all the students with their names neatly placed next to the photo. This was going to make it a bit more difficult than I had originally anticipated. But I was determined and soon recognized one of the names in the section for the school’s Mandolin Club. I saw the name Bartholomew in the list of members which I recognized from my dream and I took a closer look.

Edwin C. Bartholomew

Lawrence C. Bartholomew

There names were listed on the second row, third from the right and I soon found them in the group picture. They looked exactly how I had pictured them. Lawrence was tall and had long wavy hair that I could tell was blond. His younger brother had darker hair that was short and slicked to the side.

I couldn’t believe it! They were actually real. I had to show Kain so I grabbed my phone and took a picture before putting the book back where I had found it. I texted Kain to meet me at the cafeteria and made my way out of the library. What did this mean? Were we somehow connected to these two brothers? And what
were
we anyway? Vampires with wings?

I made my way to the cafeteria and found Kain in the food line with Laurent. I ignored the disgusted looks I was getting as I cut everyone to get to Kain.

“Hey, I texted you," I said.

“What, no time to eat?" He asked, sarcastically, “What’s so important anyway?”

“I’ll tell you outside,” I sighed, “just get your food.”

I made my way through the back door of the cafeteria and waited. I wondered if he was going to believe me or think I was crazy.

“So, what’s going on?” Kain asked, sitting next to me on the path.

“Okay, so I know this is going to sound ridiculous,” I began, “but before you say anything just hear me out, okay?”

He shrugged.

“So, last night I had this crazy dream that was so real,” I started, “it couldn’t have been just a dream. I dreamt about these two brothers who went to this school. I went to the library to check it out and it turns out they actually did go here!”

He just looked at me like I was stupid.

“I’m being serious!” I promised, "Come on I’ll show you.”

I guess he decided to humor me and so I showed him the photo I had taken. I explained the dream more in detail and how it reminded me of the dream I had about how the businessman was murdered.

“He mentioned something about blood type,” I added, “that he could smell it. That he knew which one was the one he needed.”

“We should look for that news article,” Kain replied, heading towards the library.

“So, you believe me?” I asked.

“Well, something’s going on,” he shrugged, “and I know you wouldn’t go to the library just randomly.”

I laughed.

We entered the library and made our way over to the ancient computer stations. There was no wait because no one wanted to come to the library on a Saturday, so we sat down at the first computer we found.

“What date was it?” I asked.

“Just type in Oklahoma Bradshaw murder,” he suggested.

I did a quick search which pulled up quite a few articles. The top one looked promising and so we scrolled through the contents.

“So, what am I looking for?” I asked.

“If he was murdered in a similar way,” Kain hypothesized, “and if there is a connection then perhaps Bradshaw also had a similar bloodtype.”

“Gotcha,” I replied, “but I’m not seeing anything about that here.”

“Go back to the search results,” he said.

I hit return and scrolled through a bit more pages.

“Wait,” he stopped me, “what’s that one?”

I stopped on the link Kain pointed to which was a blog titled
Raven Mockers Roam Again
by a blogger named Ama Adsila. The page apparently contained the target word “Bradshaw” in it.

“Strange,” I whispered.

“It looks like this lady thinks Bradshaw was killed by these beings called Raven Mockers,” Kain replied.

              “What are Raven Mockers?” I asked, typing it in a new search, “Here we go.”