AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Hello once more faithful reader! I just want to take this time to inform you of some changes and explain to you a brief history of this story. You may discover that this story is written FAR better then stories that have come after. Well that’s because the original version was written in 2000, but just recently, at the end of 2008, I updated the writing in it. I didn’t add or remove a single scene, or changed much at all. Unlike my previous School Day updates however, I did change some of the names. I figured School Day used names of Alberta friends, School Day used names of Newfoundland friends, so for my update, I decided to use friends from British Columbia for the source of names for School Day 3. I also fixed up the dialogue and made the writing better. I still want it to be the exact same story, complete with its crappyness, however I wanted to still be able to read it without tearing my hair out at the bad writing. I plan on doing that for all my old original stories, so depending on when you read this, the others may or may not have been updated yet.
Now, here’s a bit of background info on the story. I’ll be doing this with all my re-writes on my older stories, explaining a brief history behind them.
Unlike the first School Day, when I wrote the second I wrote it knowing I wanted to do another entry in the series, to end it as a trilogy, hence the way I ended School Day 2. The characters think Dillon is dead and their lives are safe, but the reader knew better. For the third time around though, I knew I had to change things up – getting trapped in a school just wouldn't do for a third time. I didn't want the reader to get bored with the story, but I still wanted it related to school in some way. That's when I came up with the idea for a Summer School camp, based off of the layout of a camp I used to go to for Music Camp every summer. I then included Jeff and Ryan as teachers teaching at this Summer School Camp as a way to include two of the surviving characters. While I had wanted to also include Allison, I felt that it was more realistic that she went on to go into a separate profession then Jeff and Ryan as she had different classes in University then them, and thus drifted apart from them over the years. I was worried that my readers would miss her character, but to my surprise, most didn't even notice until they were finished reading it, that Allison hadn't even been in it, so I guess I did something right.
Like with most horror trilogies, there are even more characters then in the previous two outings, which means the highest body count so far, and much more carnage. While I don't have any kills that can top the Toilet Seat of Doom from School Day 2, I don't disappoint either. Also like with most horror trilogies, I set the tone very early on that all bets are off this time around, and that anyone can be a victim.
So without any further waiting, I'd like to introduce you to:
SCHOOL DAY 3
By: Jeff Long
Deep thunder boomed through the midnight sky as torrential rains pounded the forest trees below. High winds whipped the thick rain right into the face of a mid-thirties Ryan Miller, who ran down a dirt trail through the thick forest, his shirt and pants completely soaked to his skin.
When Ryan reached a fork in the trail – one end going deeper into the thick forest, the other heading out toward the beach, he stopped to decide which way to go and he wiped some of the rushing water from out of his eyes. Two other people around his age – the muscular Aaron Wittcopf and the short Robert Pierce caught up to him, both running low on breath and just as soaked as Ryan.
Lightning lit up the sky, followed by the loudest boom of thunder yet.
"Which way?" Robert yelled above the deafening muffle of the high winds.
"I'm heading back to the camp," Aaron also yelled to be heard. "We've been out here long enough! We're going to catch our deaths if we stay out in this any longer!" The drenched Aaron turned around and ran back down the narrow trail, getting whipped in the face by all the close branches. Within seconds he was out of view.
"What do we do?" Robert asked.
Ryan glanced at the two trails ahead, then back the way they had come. After they finished University, he and Jeff had gone on to become teachers at different schools though they both applied for summer jobs at this one Summer School Camp and had gotten accepted. It was only a few weeks in however, when two students went missing and never returned – hence why the three teachers were out in such crappy weather.
"You go down that path," Ryan pointed to the path leading down to the beach. "I'll go this way. They might be hurt or lost, and if they're stuck out here in this weather, I don't want to leave them stranded."
Robert nodded, lightning lighting up his head movement, and the two teachers rushed down the separate trails.
As Robert got further down his trail and the trees started to thin, he began calling the two teens by name, but realized it was useless as he could hardly hear himself about the wind and thunder, he doubted very much anyone else could.
Robert screeched to a stop when he felt his sock on one foot get instantly soaked. He looked down, and with a moan, noticed he had stepped into a pretty deep mud puddle. Swearing, he took his foot out of the puddle and did his best to shake all the excess water off.
Just when Robert was about to move again, in the amount of time it took for a flash of lightning to briefly light up the sky, a thick scythe blade swung out from the dark forest and slashed open Robert's side, spilling blood into the deep puddle below him.
Robert's scream was droned out by the boom of thunder, and the scythe blade retracted back into the forest. Robert crumpled to his knees as his hands instantly shot for his side. He looked up at the sky and shut in eyes in pain, letting out another long, loud scream. When he opened his eyes, he saw someone wearing a dark grey Grim Reaper suit, which was still partly burned in spots due to the bomb thrown at it in the previous story, walk out from the shadows of the forest and onto the rain-drenched narrow trail.
"Who the **** are you?" Robert spat blood out of his mouth as tears mixed with the rain water. "What do you want?"
Grim Reaper answered by raising the scythe high in the air and swinging it down during the next lightning blast, slicing open the teacher's chest.
***
Ryan wiped gathering rain water from his eyes and pushed some overhanging branches out of his way as a loud boom of thunder came. This part of the path was so narrow and so overhung with branches from the trees, he made a mental note to suggest the camp caretaker do some work on it.
As more lightning lit up the sky, Ryan instantly forgot about his mental note as a loud scream carried through the air and reached his ears.
"Robert?" he called out as loud as he could, but was made inaudible due to the thunder. He waited for the loud rumble to pass, and shouted out his co-worker's name once more, only to wait in silence for an answer that never came.
When he called out for him one more time and still received no answer, Ryan turned back down the trail and ran as quickly as he could, getting swatted all over his body and face with wet branches. It wasn't long before he reached the fork in the road and he turned on to Robert's trail and quickly made his way down it.
Ryan suddenly stopped in his tracks when a flash of lightning lit up the area in front of him, showing him Robert's dead body with Grim Reaper standing over it.
"No!" Ryan gasped. "Not again!"
Grim Reaper suddenly swung his hooded head up and looked directly at Ryan, but it was too dark to see under the hood. Ryan immediately turned and ran away back down the trail, away from a past he thought was far behind him.
Ryan instantly stopped in his tracks however, when thunder boomed and lightning lit up a second Grim Reaper, this one in the exact same dark gray costume but without the scorch marks on it. Confused, Ryan glanced back behind and saw the first Grim Reaper walking quickly up the trail toward him. He looked back ahead and the second Grim Reaper made a move toward him. He took out a bar hardly taller then his hand. But when he pushed a button, the bottom extended out and the top also extended, releasing a thick scythe blade from inside of it as it swung out from on a hinge. The small bar was now a tall scythe.
In an attempt to dodge around the attacking Grim Reaper, Ryan slipped on a loose wet stone and went flying to the ground, quickly rolling onto his back just in time to get the scythe blade dug deep into his stomach. Ryan's eyes shot open and he gargled up blood, as blood seeped out of his stomach around the embedded blade and rolled down Ryan’s side.
The first Grim Reaper joined the second, and together they raised their scythes and swung them down into Ryan's body over and over.
***
The following morning was the calm after the storm – despite the damp grass, the sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing loudly in the soft breeze.
A group of four teenagers tossed a football back and forth across a large grassy field located next to the long and narrow Dinning Hall building and a couple bench-swing sets. One of the teens, a short, chubby kid with glasses named Karsen Gauthier, caught the football and tossed it high and far toward his taller blond-haired friend Dane Lucas.
"Over to me!" The overweight girl, Melissa Reed, shouted across the field. "Pass it over to me!"
Dane, wanting to be a jerk, acted like he was going to toss it to Melissa, but at the last second changed directions and threw it toward the beautiful Ashley Briltz instead.
"Hey, not fair!" Melissa shouted. Dane smiled as he shrugged and Melissa stuck her tongue out at him. If she hadn't been so preoccupied with complaining to Dane, she would have seen that Ashley instantly threw the football to her, but as it was, she didn't and the ball smacked her right in the head.
Laughing and rubbing her head at the same time, Melissa chased after the football and grabbed it, tossing it back to Karsen. Aaron Wittcopf walked out onto one end of the field and started walking across it to get to one of the many Class Cabins.
"Good morning," he called out to the students playing catch. "Make sure you're not late for class."
"We won't be, Mr. Wittcopf," Karsen assured him. "Are we ever?"
Aaron glanced at him with a squinted eye look and all of them broke out laughing, including Aaron. The kids resumed their game of catch as Aaron made his way to his Class Cabin.
***
The consisted buzzing of an alarm clock forced a pair of eyes to open and a mouth to let out a tired moan, begging for more sleep. A 30-year old Jeffrey Long yawned and tiredly turned his head to see the time.
As if zapped with an electrical shock, he immediately jumped out of bed upon seeing the time and proceeded to shower, trim his goatee, and get dressed in record time. After brushing his teeth and combing his hair, he grabbed his black leather briefcase and ran out of his small one-bedroom cabin and into the bright sunny morning.
Once outside his green-painted cabin and on one of the rocky trails, he slowed his pace to a quick walk. He made his way down various trails and paths, passing other small cabins and bunkhouses, and various other students along the way, returning the gesture to those that greeted him.
Once he reached the top of one of the hills, he emerged out into the main part of the camp grounds where many of the Class Cabins were located, as well as the Dinning Hall, swings, and giant grassy field where Karsen, Melissa, Dane, and Ashley were playing catch.
As Jeff passed by them quickly, they also greeted him, and he returned the greeting, warning them much like Aaron already had, that they better be on time for class. They gave him the same assurances, despite the fact that they hadn't quite decided yet if they were actually going to go to class at all or not on such a nice day.
Jeff made his way to one of the Class Cabins and up the wooden stairs, unlocking the door and stepping inside, flipping the lights on. He made his way to his giant desk and laid his briefcase on the floor as he took his seat and straightened his tie.
He let out a long sigh as he stared at the pile of unmarked papers on his desk that he had meant to do the night before, but decided to call it an early night when the storm started.
Well, I better get started, he thought to himself as he took out a pen and began marking the top sheet on the tall pile. Within only a few minutes, he got his first interruption of the morning as his door opened and Aaron walked in.
"Good morning, Jeff," Aaron greeted.
"Mornin'," Jeff greeted back. "Do you know where what cabin Ryan's in this morning for his first class? I have a question about the curriculum to ask him, and I know he does this course all year round."
"Sorry," Aaron asked. "I haven't seen him since last night. I was actually just coming in here to ask if you've seen Robert at all this morning. I can't find him anywhere and I have something to talk to him about."
"I just woke up actually and rushed straight here to get this marking done before class starts and the students start a riot over not having their assignments marked yet," Jeff and Aaron chuckled. "But if I see him, I'll let him know you're looking for him."
"Thanks," Aaron replied. "I'll do likewise with Ryan."
The two teachers said their good-byes, and Aaron left Jeff to his marking.
***
About an hour later, after the Catch students decided that they would go to their classes after all, Ashley and Dane sat in one of the Class Cabins with a room full of other students, all impatient that their teacher, Mr. Pierce, couldn't even be on time yet was always so strict about the students never being late.
"What's taking him so long?" one of the students in the class asked out loud.
"Yeah," another agreed. "With all the **** he gives us if we're late, and here he is taking longer then anyone else has ever taken."
Ashley turned in her seat and leaned in to face Dane, who sat next to her. "First Charlene and Darrell go missing, now Mr. Pierce. Doesn't that seem strange to you? Maybe the same thing that happened to Charlene and Darrell happened to Mr. Pierce."
"Please," Dane shrugged. "Charlene and Darrell just ran away from this Hellhole."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Ashley agreed, although silently wasn't sure if she bought that.
"Besides," Dane added on. "If Mr. Pierce is much later, it'll mean we can't have class and we'll get to go back outside."
That news put a smile on Ashley's face, but that smile quickly disappeared as the door opened and an old dark-skinned teacher with a gray beard that the students had seen around from time to time, walked in.
"Hello class," he said in a thick Jamaican accent. "I am Mr. Jordeen, and I will be teaching your class today."
The class let out a unified moan, their hopes of getting out early destroyed.
***
Jeff marked some grammar problems on the blackboard, and asked his small English class if anyone could point out the errors in the sentences. A few kids raised their hands, and Jeff pointed at one of them.
"Seth," he called out the student's name and the student got to his feet. While he did his best to point out all the errors, the door quietly opened and a tall balding skinny man with a face that earned him the nickname of 'Birdman' by the students, walked into the cabin and stood by the door, watching Jeff and his class.
When the student finished, Jeff told him he could sit down and then corrected his mistakes, during which he noticed the man standing by the door. The man pointed to the door and Jeff nodded.
"Ok class," Jeff finished. "Turn to page 152 of your text books and read that entire chapter while I take care of some business with Mr. Tilly here."
As his class started opening their text books, Jeff and Eugene Tilly, the Principal of the Summer School Camp, walked outside onto the patio of the cabin and Jeff closed the door behind them.
"What's going on, Eugene?" Jeff asked his boss, squinting his eyes in the bright sunlight.
"Both Ryan and Robert are missing now as well," Eugene said with a sigh. "They never returned from their search last night."
"What?" Jeff asked, shocked. "Where could they have gone? They couldn't have gotten lost – Ryan comes here every summer."
"We don't know," Eugene said regretfully. "We just don't know what happened to them, but that's now two students and two teachers who have gone missing without a trace."
As Eugene said that, Jeff's eyes narrowed as gears turned in his head. He didn't like the sound of this one bit, and it brought horrible past memories to the forefront of his mind.
"If people continue to go missing, we're going to have no choice but to send everyone home and shut the camp down," Eugene informed Jeff with sadness in his voice.
"What would happen to the students' Grades?" Jeff asked, feeling concerned for his class. "This is their only saving grace between going on to the next Grade or staying back another year."
Eugene sighed again and said, "They'll have to end up staying behind a Grade after all."
Jeff nodded his head solemnly and patted Eugene on the shoulder. As Eugene walked down the stairs to make his way to the next teacher, Jeff turned around and headed back to his class, now with much more on his mind then he had when he first went outside. Despite the beautiful day, Jeff had nothing now except very grim thoughts – both for his students and for his own well-being.