Dead End High

Adam’s parents didn’t come home that night either. He started to give up hope they would ever return. There was plenty of food to last for a few weeks, but he wasn’t sure what he’d do after that, as he had no way of getting access to his family’s money.

He felt helpless.

With a bag of potato chips in hand, Adam sat on the couch and racked his brains for a solution, but nothing came to mind. He picked up the phone to ring the local police station. He would talk to Constable Clements and perhaps get some peace of mind.

The phone rang and rang. They weren’t answering.

Adam put the phone down and stared at it for a few moments. He considered ringing 111, but dared not just in case his fears became reality and the police too had disappeared.

He tried to tell himself the police were simply busy. They were out investigating the disappearances, which is why they weren’t answering the phone. They likely had one officer manning the desk and he was probably busy with someone.

He feared going to sleep, but went to his room and climbed into bed anyway. He’d try ringing the police again tomorrow, if his parents didn’t show.

As he lay there, unable to sleep, his mind drifted on to other things. He worried about Robyn. Sure, there was the possibility she might not be trustworthy, but what if she was ok after all? Her parents might have disappeared like his had. He would feel terrible if the kidnappers had turned up after he left and taken her away. It would be his fault for leaving her there alone.

His thoughts returned to his parents, then on to Doug and his other classmates who had disappeared. Then back to his parents again. And so it continued, until morning.

Tired from lack of sleep, he left the house, planning on stopping by Robyn’s house on the way to school. On reaching her doorstep, he knocked. But there was no reply. He knocked again, louder this time, but nobody came to the door.

Adam knocked at the back door and peered through a gap in the curtains into an empty kitchen. Unpacked grocery bags lined the countertops. For a moment, he stood there, not sure what to do, then tested the door. It was unlocked.

‘Robyn?’ He stepped in part way. ‘Is anyone here?’ He crept through the house, peeking into each room as he went. Groceries unpacked, nobody home. Adam didn’t like the looks of it.

He walked into the lounge and saw photographs of a young couple... The Mortlocks. He’d seen them around town. None of the bedrooms were set up for a teenager.

This was not Robyn’s house.

It bamboozled him. Why would she lie? Was she not who she said she was? Could it be she really was in league with Miss Crazy. If so then of course, she had no key for this house – it wasn’t her house. He thought back to the first time he had left her on the doorstep. She had asked him to guess which house was hers; obviously a ploy to help her avoid picking a house of someone he knew.

There was one last place to check – the garage. Just as he feared, the car was still there – keys in the ignition. It seemed a common pattern, keys in cars, doors unlocked. But then Adam figured kidnappers would not likely bother locking up after them.

He wanted to believe Robyn was good and honest, that she wasn’t tied up in all this mess. He had hoped she was just a girl in the wrong place at the wrong time, but now he wasn’t so sure.

Adam sighed and headed towards school. He would catch up with her there and he would find out once and for all what she was up to.

He threw his schoolbag into the locker bay and had no sooner done that when Scott put in an appearance. ‘Hey, monkey man, seen Darren this morning?’

‘Nah just got here. Seen Todd?’

‘No. With a bit of luck he’s gone for good, frood.’

‘Seen Dora?’ he decided to add. Maybe if he was casual enough about it, Scott might just take it as a joke.

‘Thank Zarquon, I haven’t.’ Scott snickered. ‘But you never know, kid, she might turn up by first period. Ah, here’s Dougie...’

‘Yeah, you just never…’ Adam stood bolt upright.

‘Hey guys!’ Doug, their previously missing friend smiled and joined them by the lockers.

All Adam could do was blink, trying to make out whether he was seeing an illusion or not.

‘Heyyyy, Doug, good buddy, what’s up?’ Scott greeted him cheerfully and slapped him on the back. ‘Catch the rugby game on TV last night? Good to see the ABs didn’t choke like they normally do in the big games.’

‘That’s for sure!’

The person was definitely Doug; same short, curly, brown hair, same playful, green eyes, same skinny arms and legs, long fingers and pointy nose. No doubts about it.

‘What’s the matter, buddy?’ Doug asked. ‘You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.’

‘Doug...’ Adam continued to stare. ‘Where have you been? We haven’t seen you all week.’

‘Huh?’ Doug delivered him a weird expression. ‘Gee, I wish I didn’t have to be here, but you know how it is, we’ve gotta learn shit so we can get some dead-end job when we’re adults, right?’

Scott chuckled. ‘And in a town like this one, that’s all we can hope for, baby.’ They both cracked up. ‘Hey monkey man, you’re acting as if he’s been away or something.’

Adam scratched his head. ‘But Scott... he’s been gone. His whole family disappeared. Come on, this isn’t funny.’

Both boys stared at him as if he had just grown a second head.

‘Hey kid, I think you’re starting to lose it, yeah. Ah, I get it. Nice one, this is some kind of Earth humour we’re unaware of? Making us think you’ve lost your towel or something.’

’Earth humour?’ Now Adam really did begin to doubt his own sanity. It was one thing to hallucinate, but it was another thing to hallucinate someone hallucinating - as in the case of his friend, Scott. Adam grabbed Doug’s arm, expecting his hand to pass through, but he grasped solid flesh.

‘Hey bud, personal space.’ Doug pulled his arm away, ‘What’s up with you?’

Adam seized Scott’s arm next, getting the same result. These two were no hallucinations.

’Zarking Fardwarks, what’s the matter? You look spooked, dude.’

‘Something is seriously wrong here.’

‘Yeah, your brain.’ Doug chuckled. ‘Come on guys. Bell’s about to go.’

Scott and Doug strolled towards the first class of the day. Adam followed, his mind still wrestling for his sanity. He thought about a movie he had seen about aliens abducting people in the town one by one. They would plant some kind of alien parasite in their victim’s minds and send him back, slowly taking over the entire town. The notion seemed to tie him up in a full nelson and it was impossible to break free from it.

‘Adam?’ Doug turned and waited.

‘Come on, monkey man, we haven’t got all day!’

‘Uh… sorry,’ Adam considered challenging them, but at the last moment decided to play it safe. ‘I was just daydreaming.’

‘Ahha! I bet I know about who.’ Doug grinned. ‘Daisy Kendrick right? Since Drake’s disappeared you two seem to have really hit it off.’

‘That’s for sure,’ Scott added.

‘Who would have thought it, huh? Our buddy, Adam, scoring the attention of one of the hottest babes in school. It’s amazing what a few million smackaroos will do, right?’

’Frood.’ Scott nodded.

‘All these disappearances have worked in your favour,’ Doug continued. ‘Let’s hope she shows up today, because you never know who’s gonna disappear next.’

Adam knew that Doug couldn’t possibly have known all that stuff. Scott might have told him, but Adam always came back to the same conclusion – that Doug had been brainwashed somehow. Thoughts of alien abductions now had him in a stranglehold.

There were only a handful of students when he arrived to his first class and no one seemed surprised to see Doug. Dora wasn’t there, thank God, and neither was Todd. Adam glanced around at the small class. Those whose eyes he could see appeared vacant. He began to wish he was anywhere but there. How sensible could it be to sit in a classroom of kids controlled by aliens? Nevertheless, he couldn’t just walk out of class for no good reason. Or school for that matter.

Miss Bailey, the music teacher, entered the room. Adam checked for the glazed look in her eyes, but she seemed normal. Maybe the aliens hadn’t got to her yet.

She scanned the room, a look of concern on her face. ‘So few of you today. I really am beginning to wonder whether it’s wise for any of us to be here. But then again, I dare say you are safer here than hanging around at home - especially if your parents are working.’

Miss Bailey turned her eyes to Doug and for a split second, Adam prayed she would be on his side and question Doug about his absence.

‘Doug,’ said Miss Bailey in a neutral tone. ‘You’re the instrument monitor, so why don’t you go to the cupboard and help everyone pick out an instrument to play?’ She turned to the class. ‘I want you all to see if you can come up with a tune. Any tune, as long as it’s recognisable. That’s your assignment this period.’

She went over to her desk and shuffled some papers and books around. Adam’s closed his eyes and sighed. Oh how he wished that someone would open their eyes and recognise that Doug shouldn’t be there. He hoped that maybe Daisy would, but she hadn’t turned up to class yet. Her absence began to worry him

Robyn entered the room as students began to make their way up to the instrument cupboard. She smiled when seeing Adam and he forced a smile back. He would speak to her as soon as he had the opportunity. Even if she was an alien, he doubted she could physically get the better of him. Unless she had some kind of alien weapon.

Jack stood in the line ahead of him and asked for a saxophone. Doug wrote his name in the registry and handed one over. Adam played along, chose the same instrument and wandered back to his desk.

Robyn stopped by his desk. ‘What are we doing?’

‘Playing a tune. It’s up to you, as long as the tune is identifiable.’

‘Oh ok.’ She continued on to the instrument cupboard.

Jack, who sat in the chair behind him, reached over and tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Hey Adam,’ he whispered. ‘What the hell happened to Doug? I thought he’d been ... you know - abducted.’

Adam spun his head around and stared at Jack. ‘What? You know he disappeared?’

‘Of course! He’s been gone for the last week. Was he on holiday after all?’

Adam searched Jack’s face for any sign of alien presence, just in case he was trying to trick him into trusting him. His eyes seemed alive and he wasn’t like a lot of his other classmates. ‘It’s weird, Jack,’ he said under his voice. ‘Something’s going on. No one else seems to realise he’s been missing.’

‘I know.’ Jack ran his fingers through his hair. ‘What do you think’s happening?’

‘I’m not sure. You’d probably think I was crazy if I told you what I was thinking.’

‘I think I can guess.’ Jack fiddled with the buttons on the saxophone. He peered around hesitantly. ’They’re possessed aren’t they? By demons.’

‘Well… I guess it could be demonic. Might explain why Darren and Scott seem to be acting weird too. I was thinking more along the lines of Alien possession though.’

Jack paused for a few seconds and then spoke again. ‘We gotta get out of here, man. We could be next.’

Adam nodded. He wished he had a different ally than Jack, but he was willing to accept anyone right now. ‘Leaving town completely might be our best bet. How much money do you have?’

‘None. I thought you had all the bucks.’

‘I can’t get hold of any of it right now.’

‘We have to make everything look casual. If they think we’re on to them, we’re dead.’

Adam agreed. ‘Well, let’s play it cool for now. Nothing should happen here and we’ll see how things look at interval.’

‘Good idea.’

Miss Bailey cleared her throat and studied them intently. Adam held his breath as he turned back around in his chair. He made a show of fiddling with the reed. There was something evil about the look in his teacher’s eye. Maybe Jack was right and demons were involved. He put the saxophone to his lips and attempted to play.