The Academy (Moving In Series Book 6) by Ron Ripley

Author:Ron Ripley [Ripley, Ron]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: ScareStreet.com
Published: 2016-08-03T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33: A Curious Darkness

Bruce and Maureen Ricard walked along the same route they had followed for twenty-seven years. Their nightly stroll carried them down past the Rose Garden, along Franklin Street, and over to Washington. They would pass directly by Northfield Free Academy where they each had taught for over thirty years.

Their time at the school had been enjoyable, for the most part. The shooting which had taken place in 1989, still haunted them both. The murderous rampage had sickened them both.

Bruce even had Charlie Roy the class before. Every time he thought about the event, which was usually once a week, he wished he hadn’t given Charlie a difficult time. The boy hadn’t turned in his homework, Bruce distinctly remembered it had been on the New Deal, and Bruce had insisted it be handed in the next day.

Nothing out of the ordinary, Bruce thought, turning his attention to the Academy as they passed by it. But the day had turned out to be anything but ordinary.

Bruce had led the charge into Adrienne Hall. A few other teachers and a pair of seniors had followed him. Halfway up the stairs they had heard a single shot, and Bruce had known it was the shooter.

Coward had killed himself, Bruce thought, frowning.

“Bruce,” Maureen said softly.

He turned his attention away from the school and looked at her. “Yes?”

“Stop it,” she said.

Bruce nodded.

They followed the sidewalk as it turned to the right, cutting across the last section of the Academy’s property. The cement path ran behind Deer Stag House, and it marked the apex of their nightly walk. From then on, they would loop back towards the house.

The two of them had heard about the destruction of the toilets, and rumors about strange events happening afterwards. A quick glance at the back of Deer Stag revealed yellow caution tape which was strung up, cordoning off the building. Bruce shook his head turned to speak to Maureen and realized she had come to a stop.

His wife stood perfectly still, her attention fixed firmly on the house.

“Everything okay?” Bruce asked.

Maureen didn’t answer. Instead, she reached up, adjusted a stray lock of her gray hair and smiled absently.

“Maureen?”

She ignored him. The smile was replaced by a frown and he heard her whisper, “Are you sure?”

A panic flashed through Bruce’s thoughts. Is she having a stroke? Is she sick?

Before he could answer his own question, Maureen bent down and picked up a discarded beer bottle that someone had thrown into an azalea bush. When Maureen straightened up, she was holding the brown glass firmly by the long neck. Only traces of the label remained, the bottle obscenely large in her small hand.

“Maureen,” Bruce said, his anxiety increasing. “Are you okay?”

She turned to face him. Her expression was one of outrage.

“I know what you’ve been doing,” she said coldly.

Bruce couldn’t even respond.

“I know you’ve been carrying on with Christine McCartney,” she said, her voice sinking low, a dangerous, angry tone Bruce had heard her use only a handful of times.

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