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[Here it is! The last chapter of Ghost! ENJOY! <3]

Chapter Ten

In light of the fact the janitor lived close to Jacob Smithes, or Ghost, the boys decide it is time to investigate the man further. 

One day, while Sean and Quinn held a free period, they notice the Janitor leaving the basement.  Quinn had seen him coming from that door many times before.  When he brought that up to Sean they knew what needed to be done.  Sean thought perhaps the reason they found nothing in the Janitor’s Closet might be because it’s all in the basement, another place frequented solely by the custodial staff. 

Sean entered first, followed quickly by Quinn.  They started down a long, creaking metal staircase.  Quinn caught sight of numerous cobwebs.  How is a Janitors space this dirty?

The pipes clinked and clanged, covered with years of rust.  The smell was damp and dusty.  Lights flickered overhead, throwing shadows across their path, creating creepy images in the spaces around them.

“What are you boys doing down here?”

Both boys jumped as the voice, sounding so loud in the silence, erupted for nowhere. They turned around slowly, only to come face to face with the one man they hoped to avoid.  The janitor.

“U-ummm….” Quinn was shaking, what were they going to do?!

“We, uh, we were just curious about the basement of a school.  Thought we’d check it out.” Sean thought quickly.  Maybe they can plead ignorance and nothing will happen.

“Shouldn’t you be in class.” He asked lowly.

“Free period.” Quinn said.  Not wanting to get into trouble even if the situation may be on the dangerous side.

“Ah, so no one is expecting you?”

“YES!”  Sean said loudly, “We have another class in an hour, the teacher will be expecting us to be there….for a uhhh….for a test!”  Both boys cringed as the stated sounded false even to their ears.  Would they make it out of this?

“An hour? That’s plenty of time.”  The janitor responded, “sit.”

Quinn gulped. “Plenty of time for what?”

“To talk. Now sit.”  He said a little forcefully.

Talk, they could do that, if they keep the man talking then maybe someone will notice their absence and come looking.  Or maybe they’ll brush it off as skipping class and not do a thing.  Quinn felt his stomach twist at the thought, will anyone notice their missing?

They sat with the janitor at a rickety table in the middle of a random room.  Cement blocks made up the walls and a single bulb hung from the ceiling, providing just enough light to see the man in front of them.

“I’ve seen you boys around the school, heard you talking to the teachers.”

“About-about what?”  Sean asked, knowing the answer but hoping to keep him busy for the same reasons as Quinn.

“Asking about a missing kid, I knew someone who has been gone for a long time, Jacob.”  He said the name as though it was familiar to him, as though he knew it well.

“You know about him, Jacob Smithes?” Quinn asked softly, taking the leap that it was the same boy.  Fearing the answer but still hoping to find out the truth.

“Yes, I knew him.”  Their heart skipped a beat, this was the first they’ve come across someone who recognized the name and remembered the boy, although possibly for the wrong reasons.  The Janitor continued on his own, “He was such a quiet kid, always sat by himself.  We lived close to eachother.  I would try to talk to him sometimes, when he look particularly lonely.  We even walked to school together once.  Jacob, he-he was the only one who believed me.”

The janitor grew silent. He looked as though lost in his memories.

“Believed you about what?”  Sean risked asking.

“Believed me about my stupid assault charges.”  He looked angry now, Quinn was growing more fearful by the minute.

“What, um, what happened?”

“I was caught in a crappy situation.  Someone I was dating used me.  They got into a fight with their father and I was the retaliation.  I was older than them you see, so when the dad found out he got mad.  Started threatening me and pushing me around.  One night at their house it got so bad that I got angry and pushed back.  But I pushed just a touch too hard and the guy fell.  He hit his head on the wall and busted his head open.  Nothing deadly just bleed a little, but that was enough.  It didn’t matter how much I apologized,” He glared at the floor, “person I was dating clung to their dad and got mad at me.  They called cops. When I tried to apologize once more they claimed I was harassing.”  The janitor sighed. “I had only went back to the house once, but they claimed I was there constantly, stalking.  It was two against one, so you can guess who they believed.”

“Why would they do that?”  This was a whole different story then the boys originally though when they first saw the arrest records.  Amazing how one can jump to conclusions so quickly.

He shrugged, “I don’t know, I guess for them family was the most important, when they were in trouble you took their side no matter what.”

Sean looked to him in a new light.  Could it be he wasn’t the one responsible for Ghosts disappearance?

“Jacob asked why I was so upset one day, and when I told him the story he believed me without a doubt.  He was such a nice kid, I….We weren't friends, but if he would have stayed, I think we might have been."  He looked so sad.

“Did you know anything about his disappearance?”  Quinn asked, no longer getting the feeling of fear from this man.

“No, I wondered what happened to him when he didn’t show up to school for a few days.  It was very rare that I didn’t see him there.  I started to worry when it continued, so I stopped by his house and talked to his mom.  She was not concerned to say the least.  Said he ran away and to quit bugging her.”

He stood up, “Anyway, I just wanted to talk to you boys about him, see if you know anything.  I mean it’s been years, but I’d still like to know where he was, how he is doing.  If he remembers me.”  The janitor gave a small smile, but his eyes still had sadness in them.  Could the janitor have felt more then friendship for their young friend?

Quinn looked to Sean, asking a silent question, ‘should they?’  Sean shook his head, the janitor wouldn’t be able to see ghost, it would do him no good to tell the older man about him.  It’s likely that he wouldn’t believe him anyway.   

“Well we don’t know much, pretty much everything we’ve found out is the same as what you’ve told us.  He was quiet kept to himself, and thought to have ran away.”

The man sighed, “well, one can hope.  Alright then, you boys better get to class, you don’t want to be late for that test.”  He smiled and winked at them, indicating he caught on to their lie but didn’t care much.

Sean gave a somewhat shaky, but relieved laugh, “Yea, and uh, if we find out more, we’ll let you know ok?”

“Yes, that would be great.”  The janitor looked grateful as he turned and lead them out of the creepy basement. 

It seemed they were back to the beginning.  The one man the suspected all along was probably the only person who really cared what happened to Jacob Smithes all those years ago.

***

In between classes they decided to ask a few teachers about Jacob specifically, maybe now that they had a name someone else will remember him.  They got the same brush off as before.

“Sorry, I’ve had so many children come through my class, the name doesn’t ring a bell.”

The boys were so busy asking around that neither noticed the man watching them quickly turn around and rush down the hallway. 

They hurried to class as the bell rang, taking his seat quietly, Quinn was a little shocked when Mr. Wallace came up to him.  He usually didn’t warrant the attention of the teachers, keeping his grades in good standing and not disrupting classes. 

“Mr. Fredricks,  I was thinking on that question you asked me, about missing children, I had an idea for the paper you are working on, stop by after school and we’ll go over it."  He gave his typical charming smile, but something felt different about it. 

After class he rushed to Sean and filled him in, Sean had similar feelings, but they needed more help, maybe Mr. Wallace would have something for them.  So in the end curiosity won out.

It was a Friday, so as the last bell rang, students and teachers all rushed out of the school, ready to start the weekend. The halls seemed deserted as they made their way to Mr. Wallace’s room. 

Ghost had come now that school was through, when they informed him of the Janitor he smiled greatly; he knew that man would not have hurt him.  The thought of going to the teacher’s room however, made him very apprehensive.

They came to his door and Quinn knocked lightly and looked inside.  “Mr. Wallace?”

“Oh Mr. Fredricks, and Mr. Hopple! Glad you could make it.  Why don’t you boys have a seat.”  He came to the door and waved them both in.  As the boys took their seats, Mr. Wallace closed the door. 

Sharing a questioning look the boys tried to focus their attention back on the teacher.  He moved to his own desk, standing in front, leaning in a seemingly relaxed position.

“So,” he began, why don’t you tell me a little more about this ‘paper’ you both are writing?” The way he formed the word ‘paper’ gave the boys a sneaking suspicion they had been found out.  He began speaking again before either could start to talk, “Because I asked around and none of the senior teachers seem to of assigned that type of research paper.”

The look of shock and guilt that crossed the boys’ faces confirmed the teacher’s thoughts.  “So the paper was fake.  I’m guessing you used this ‘paper’ as a way to convince your other teachers that you had too much work on your plate, to get them to let you slide on your other work?”  Mr. Wallace accused.

Thinking this as a way out of the truth, Sean and Quinn quickly agree that they were just getting out of their work.

“Ah-ha, I thought as much.”

“We’ll stop lying and start working harder on our other school work,” Quinn promised.

Mr. Wallace studied Quinn and then Sean quietly, “Tell you what, I won’t tell a sole…” His face turned to one of sinister intent as he smirked wickedly, “if you do me the favor of providing some relief.”

Sean’s heart dropped to his stomach; did he mean what he thought he did? “What, what do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said Sean,” The way he said Sean’s name sent a shiver down their spines.  “You both can give me a little help, and I won’t tell your teachers you’ve been getting out of your work on a lie.”  He said it so casually, but the look he gave them was heated, and when he said ‘help’ it was accompanied with a slight grope of his lower regains. 

"But….You’re our TEACHER.”  Quinn expressed his disapproval adamantly.

The teacher’s eyes flashed with Quinn’s statement.  It was clear the boys would be less than willing.

“That’s exactly what he said!”  Mr. Wallace said viciously.

“W-who?” Sean asked, though he felt he knew already.

“That unwanted loner!  Smithes!”  He spat, “He refused me!”  Mr. Wallace said, appalled by the fact. “And when I threatened to fail him, he claimed he would tell the principle! Ruin my career.  I couldn’t have that now could I?” He defended.  “He had to be stopped.”

“What did you do?” Quinn whispered.  They were so wrong all along. The last person they thought was the world’s favorite teacher.

“Ha, what did I do? Got rid of him of course.  Squeezed his neck so hard he’d never talk again.  Couldn’t tell anyone. Had to get rid of the body too though, that was a little trickier, but the woods behind our school made for a good hidden spot.”  He said it all so calmly, not an ounce of guilt in his voice or actions.

Mr. Wallace sigh, “But, now that you both know the truth, I’ll have to do the same for you.” 

Anticipating the threat, Sean rocketed out of his seat, grabbing Quinn and rushing for the door.  The teacher moved to stop the boys, but wasn’t expecting the body slam Sean delivered.  He feel backwards giving Sean and Quinn enough time to make it out the door. 

They ran as quickly as possible to the nearest exit.  What they weren’t expecting was for it to be locked.  They forgot the school would be on lock down for the night and weekend.

“Sean the broken door!” Ghost yelled quickly as he followed his only friends.  He didn’t want them to suffer the same fate as he did.

With the new destination in mind the boys doubled their efforts.  They turned the corner and made it to the hall just before the door, but stopped in their tracks as a huffing Mr. Wallace blocked their exit.

“You thought you could get away that easily? I’ve been around longer then you boys, I know more about this school then you ever will.”  He approached them, herding them into the corner.

“You can’t get away with this!” Sean said venomously, yet still scared out of his mind.

“Oh, yes, yes I will.  You see, I do my research well.  No one will miss you, no one will notice youre gone.  Just like no one noticed Jacob Smithes absence.  It does me such a great assistance to pick the unwanted ones.  Jacob always sat alone, so do you Quinn.  Mothers and parents who dont want their children, who don’t notice their children when alive, well they just don’t seem to care when they go missing either.  As with Smithes mother, claiming her kid ran away, it just made it that much easier for me.”

And that was it, the thing that connected all the boys, their lack of a loving caring family.  Quinn felt his eyes prick as the tears began to form.  He was right no one would miss them, no one would even notice.

Mr. Wallace reached for Quinn, who seemed to be the least resistant.  Sean pushed him away trying to keep Quinn safe, only to receive a hard blow to the chest, knocking him to the ground and stealing the breath from his body.  The teacher grabbed the neck of the boy in his arms, slowly squeezing as Quinn struggled. 

Just when Quinn felt the blackness creep into his vision, a loud bang erupted in the room.  Mr. Wallace grunted, spinning around quickly.  Another chair flung at him, this one missing by inches and slamming into the wall.

“Who is that!?”

What the teacher didn’t see was a very angered Ghost lifting and throwing items from across the room.

Quinn quickly moved to Sean to see if he was all right.  Sean enveloped Quinn protectively, holding him tight, as they watched in awe. 

When Ghost ran out of things to throw, Mr. Wallace turned back to them, “I don’t know what kind of trick that was but you’ve got nothing left, you’re mine now, one way or another.”  They tensed as the older man reach for Quinn once more.

"Leave them alone!”  The voice boomed down the hallway. They turned to see a man at the end of the hall.

“Mr. Dumle, this is none of your concern, go back to cleaning your toilets.”  Mr. Wallace sneered.

The janitor took one look at the boys and lifted his hand, it was then they noticed the phone.  When the teacher realized he had called the cops, he launched himself at the Janitor. The janitor was ready for it though and he spun quickly, grabbing the man by the back of the neck as his stumbled pasted.  Before their very eyes Quinn and Sean witnessed the crazy man get taken to the ground and restrained with ease.  

They continued to watch Mr. Wallace struggle futilely for what felt like hours until the police came.  The crazed teacher was put in cuffs and statements were taken. 

They were brought to the hospital for testing, although both of the boys were fine thanks to the janitor, they police felt the need to be thorough.

 It was later that night, almost morning when the boys were informed of the body found behind the school, about half a mile into the woods. It wasn’t confirmed yet, but with Wallace’s confession and the boys’ statements, it was assumed to be Jacob Smithes’. It was over.

 "You found me" Ghost said once the police left the hospital ER. He looked to the boys with awe, and love. Smiling gratefully as he slowly disappeared.

That's the last they ever saw of Ghost. Quinn was devastated, losing his best and only friend for so many years.  It was tough, but with Sean there to pick up the pieces he could cope.

The End

[I hope you loved this story as much if not more then I did! Thank you all so much for reading and for your many comments and votes.  It was all so very much appreciated! Love you all! May<3]

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