Desolately located at the end of the hallway on the fourth floor, the bathroom at Harbor Hill High School had been closed for years. No one ever knew why; the door was always locked, the lights were always out, a thin film of cobwebs and dust covered the entire doorway. Many disregarded the bathroom, never knowing it was actually occupied.
Junior Jason Somerson was considered to be a stereotypical, football-playing jock of the school. Coming from an elite upper-class family, he was known to brag about his money often and abuse his wealth. Making varsity football early in high school, he considered himself to be the best of the best. The various aspects of his life made him feel overly powerful, and these lead him to become more and more arrogant and selfish. He often bullied those who he thought he took precedent over, believing he was the king of Harbor Hill. Jason believed he was living the best life possible, despite being cruel on several levels.
The next day at school was a particularly normal one for Jason. He woke up, worked out, and went to school— the usual. During lunch, he and his teammates decided to play a prank on some of the “nerds” of the school. They planned to set their trap off on the third floor, in the main hallway, so that a majority of the students could see.
The trap was set; in two minutes a bucket of slimy syrup would descend on the innocent students’ heads. Waiting and waiting, the three kids slowly made their way down the hallway, and SPLAT: the syrup poured everywhere.
“Dude, best prank ever!” yelled one of Jason’s friends.
“HAHAHA what losers!” exclaimed another.
Within a minute, the entire hallway was silent. Some of Jason’s friends were smirking and let out a few laughs; everyone else had an intense glare shot in Jason’s direction. Nobody found the prank funny, only rude and harsh.
“Somerson!” cried a distant voice. Everyone knew that rasp voice, it was no one but the principal’s.
Jason and his friends needed an escape before Principal Tate emerged through the crowd. They spotted the staircase to the fourth floor and sprinted up as fast as possible.
The fourth floor was an entirely foreign place to the boys; the classrooms up there hadn’t been used since the 1970s. The hallway contained only a few dim, flickering lights, and the entire length of it was covered in dust and cobwebs. All doors were sealed shut with the shades down, covered in the thin dusty film.
“Dude, this is kinda creepy,” said one of the guys.
“I know man, let’s get out of here,” replied the other, voice echoing deep down the dark corridor.
As the boys rushed away, Jason tripped on a fairly large stack of books before reaching the stairs. He picked the stack up, assuming it belonged at least in front of one of the classrooms. Staring at the top book, its cover read “Look behind you.” Jumping to face the other way, he suddenly saw words slowly being engraved into the wall, yet no one was present to write them. As the sentence finished, the message read: Jason, do you like the life you’re living?
“Wh—wha—who’s there?!” yelled Jason.
The words began to engrave themselves again. This time the message read: It doesn’t matter for now. Now answer the question, do you like the life you’re living?
“A—uh—ah—yes?”
The words yet again engraved themselves into the dusty cold marble. Good. Come up here, tonight at midnight. Don’t bring anyone, I promise you it will be worth it. Your life depends on it.
And out of nowhere fell a key to the school onto Jason’s palm. He was definitely puzzled by the messages, but he disregarded them. He figured it was one of the nerds’ plans to scare him back. He confidently walked down the stairs to the third floor, and went on with his day.
Throughout the rest of the school day, Jason was receiving more and more of these strange messages. Words began to appear on chalkboards, in textbooks, in workbooks, on bulletin boards, on computers, and in all of his notebooks. Many of them read the same threat: You better show up tonight. I’m watching you. As Jason kept disregarding the messages, they began to get creepier and creepier. They exposed some of his deepest secrets, saying they’d be released if he didn’t come. The threats continued the entire day, and finally, Jason had had it. He made his decision—he would show up, beat whoever was doing this to him, and go on with his arrogant lifestyle.
Midnight. Pitch black surroundings, the only light was coming from the distant crescent moon in the sky. Jason stealthily crept up to the school entrance, and as he expected, it was locked. He whipped out the bronze key and entered in a breeze. The school was so dark it sent chills down his spine. A surge of cold air hit him, and suddenly, the fluorescent light he was standing under flickered on. Startled, Jason sprinted ahead, and as he crossed under each light, they flickered on, and then off. He rushed up to the second floor, then the third, and there stood the fourth floor entrance. Taking a deep breath, Jason slowly but confidently paced up the steps.
Reaching the stair landing, the same rush of cold air and flickering of lights hit him. Looking around, he noticed a similar message being written out on the wall. This time it was a large red arrow, pointing towards the end of the hall. Suddenly, the end of the hallway lights shot on, and the door under these lights slowly creaked open. A wind so brisk and strong came up behind him, thrusting him all the way down to the lit area. Jason confidently strove into the room, cracking his knuckles, preparing to beat the person up. The lights behind him quickly flickered off.
As he emerged through the doorway, he realized it was a desolate men’s bathroom. It was pitch black, yet once again, the dim lights flickered on. The mirrors above the sink were cracked and dusty, the urinals were covered with thick spider webs, and the stalls were sealed shut. Out of all the dustiness occupying the entire space, the only word Jason could make out on the stall doorways was HELL, written on each door in a bold red. Quickly, the end of the bathroom, previously dark, lit up in the same flickering fashion. Hanging from the ceiling by thick beige rope were hundreds of doll heads at several different levels. Some were touching the ceiling, others were five inches from the floor, others descending halfway between. What amazed Jason was the amount of doll heads on the floor, piles and piles scattered all over. To his surprise, a cloud of smoke blasted from one of the shattered mirrors. He ran over to see.
“Hello, Jason,” said a deep, dark voice.
The mirror burst into flames, and right in front of him a larger-than-life demon appeared. The creature was at least ten feet tall, beady eyes midnight black, deep brown horns protruding from his head, dark hooves protruding from his feet. A dark maroon tint covered his entire muscular body. Flames surrounded the demon; sparked and cackled as his dominant figure stood over Jason.
“Uh, you are…?” said Jason.
“Are you that stupid?” roared the devil.
“Who do you think I am?” replied Jason. “I’m Jason Somerson, of course I’m not stupid.”
“ENOUGH!” shouted the devil. “As you can see, I am mighty and have the greatest powers of all. Now, as I asked you before, do you like the life you are living?”
“Uh, yeah…” replied Jason.
“Good. Now would you like to keep living the way you are, or have everything change for you for the worse?”
“Obviously keep the life I am living.”
“That’s what I thought. Now, let’s make a deal. I’ll leave your life be and make it even better under one provision: stop with the pranks and rudeness. Get over it, you’re not seven. You do as said, you keep your life. If not, you get to come and help me. Deal?”
Jason’s eyes were wandering around the bathroom, barely glancing at the devil.
“Yeah. Of course, my life depends on my perfection. Deal,” proclaimed Jason.
They shook hands, and once again, the lights dimmed and the devil disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Jason confidently walked out of the bathroom, down the stairs, outdoors, and back home.
Jason continued to live his life in the same “perfect,” selfish fashion. He had received a few detentions for the syrup incident, so he decided to not think of anything else for a while. His life progressed, and thankfully, the demon that appeared in the fourth floor bathroom had not contacted him in any way, shape, or form.
High school was almost over for Jason, and what he and the football team had been anticipating was quickly approaching: the day to set off the Senior prank. The plan had been devised since sophomore year; he and the guys had always hoped the prank would go down as the best in Harbor Hill history. The team met late at night the next day to set the entire prank up.
Eggs, feathers, water balloons, syrup—you name it; it was probably part of the plan. While setting up, Jason looked constantly worried and regretful.
“What’s wrong with you, man? You’re like the mastermind of this prank and you don’t look excited at all,” said one of the teammates.
That demon said something about pranking. What was it…? If I pranked again I’d have to come with him or something? Do him a favor? Whatever. Get over it Jason, he hasn’t done anything to you in a year, thought Jason.
“What? Oh yeah, yeah I’m fine. You know what? I’m awesome. I feel great. This prank is about to be the best this school’s ever seen. Who CARES what trouble we get into? It’s our senior year, I’m already accepted to Dartmouth, I’m the most perfect guy; my life is good. Now let’s cause some trouble!” exclaimed Jason.
Right then and there, the PA system went off.
“Could Jason Somerson please come to the fourth floor?” said a high-pitched voice, something that sounded like a man impersonating a girl’s voice.
The guys all laughed, thinking it was one of the guys joking over the PA system. Jason walked up to the fourth floor, knowing most of the props for the prank were going to be stored there. As he reached the stairs’ landing, the same gust of wind sent Jason flying forward.
When Jason was nowhere to be found by his teammates, they called the police. The rest of the night was vague for many; the only thing the boys seemed to report to the police was the simultaneous flush of all of the toilets in the school around the time of Jason’s disappearance. Through months of investigating the fourth floor, the bathroom was finally unlocked after several tries. The police reported the scene as confusing. The only things mentioned were a wide open stall, and on the door, written above the word “hell” were the words “gone to.” Additionally, while investigating, the doll head arrangement was especially perplexing. Their presence is still under investigation, but the police know it had to do with someone’s plan. At their first arrival on the scene, as they opened the door, they heard a loud snapping sound; a doll head, only an inch from the floor, with the initials J.S. written on the back suddenly fell to the floor.
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