(Edited with Grammarly on 1/1/26)
The sound of evening traffic buzzed from all around, honking horns and tires screeching as they sped past on their attempt to hurry home before the massive influx of cars jammed up the main street. But above all else, the sound of children's happy squeals could be heard.
An endless tide of children were flooding out of a large building, spilling out from multiple doors and either being greeted by an older relative who quickly grabbed them up in a protective embrace or ushered into cars that didn't take much time at all to join the near endless tide of vehicles. From behind the building, yellow behemoths rumbled out of a hidden road and joined the sea of exhaust and fatigue.
Standing far back, Albert observed the heavily active building. His trench coat nowhere to be seen and instead was replaced by a simple brown sweater and a pair of dark jeans. Gloved hands shoved into his pockets, trying to appear 'normal'...well as normal as a person could be staking out an elementary school building as he was.
The building itself was a pretty massive thing, being around four stories tall with a pair of wings stretching out from the main body to form an 'C' formation. Multiple windows, covered in blinds or stickers, aligned the exterior neatly. The semi-fresh layer of blue paint instantly made it standout from the majority of the city, but to be fair, the neighborhood around the school seemed to be more cared for. With greener, healthier grass and sidewalks that didn't have massive pieces of cement bulging out of the ground. But frankly, if most people had a choice they would probably prefer the area around a school to be better taken care of than anywhere. Especially if they had children themselves.
And from all around, a tall, metal chain linked fence surrounded both the building and the allotted field in the back.
'One.' His eyes flickered to the first post, finding a small camera tilted towards the entrance of the building before moving on to the others. 'Four in total.'
They weren't even hidden, being bulky, they hung at an angle that should allow security to easily capture everything that went on outside.
'They must've caught something.'
That's what nagged at him the most in this case, Jacqueline had disappeared while on school grounds and with the way these camera's were angled, it should've been easy to at least catch her leaving the building.
But going in with already preconceived notions was exactly how confirmation bias could completely blind him to the truth, so with a steadying breathe, he took his first step towards the building in question. Shifting those scales, a skin flowed atop his own. An older sibling, annoyed and huffy. Tired from an all day shift at work and now he needed to come pick up some annoying brat. And to make things worse, they were too goddamned busy chatting with their snot nosed friends to come out so they both can go home. Every minute they so callously wasted, was yet another minute he couldn't spend relaxing until sleep claimed him once and the day started all over again.
Brows furrowed, eyes growing stern and back hunched as a string of grumbles slipped out from his mouth like dripping venom.
Pushing through the crowd, a few dared to meet his annoyed gaze before sliding away without a second guest. Even a few passing parents, from their cars and the sidewalk, had a visible look of recognition. Not like they knew him personally but could see someone they knew overlap atop him. That moment of distracted thought was enough for him to walk along the metal chain-linked fence before turning onto the school grounds itself.
Sliding past an endless tied of happily chattering children, his gaze was firmly locked ahead, the annoyance only an older sibling can produce practically emanating from him like a bubble as the miniature crowd split around him. Deeper into the crowd, hiding was impossible as he figured towered over mostly everyone from all around. Besides the occasional parent or teacher, it was he was a giant amongst goblins.
Scanning around, he quickly locked gazes with a rather tired looking adult, wearing simple brown dress parents and a tucked in white polo. A marker stains dabbed at his sides and a clear badge over his right breast made it clear who had drawn the short end of the stick to watch all the kids get picked up. Appearing to be in his late thirties to early forties, his blonde hair was beginning to look a bit thin on top, deep smiles lines along the corner of his mouth and brown eyes that took one look at the fuming teen before visibly deflating. But none the less, he tried to smile, a forced thing.
"Hell-"
"Which room is Mrs. Mcbrown in?"
"Mcbrown?" The teacher looked visibly confused, not even allowing the rude interruption to phase him in the slightest. Raising a hand to his shock of blonde stumble, the bits of paint under his fingernails probably pointed towards him being an art teacher. Befuddlement soon faded as he responded. "You mean Mrs. McBride?"
"Yeah that sounds familiar."
"Well, she's in room two-o-seve-"
"Thanks." Albert did feel an inkling of guilt welling up from within him, he could very vividly remember having some issues with teachers in the pass. But art teachers and school librarians certainly weren't on that list. But now here he was doing exactly that. Quickly brushing past the man, both to capitalize on the confusion and escape from the object of his shame.
After that, it didn't take anything at all to move against the tide of humanity and fully step forth into the building. The sound of rattling lockers, squeaking shoes and chatter met him. Roaming teachers waved fondly at the exiting students, some taking notice of him with suspicious eyes. Which quickly faded as they took in his annoyed expression and quickly looked the other way but not fully, their attention weighed heavy on him as he mingled amongst the crowd. Like mother hens, they stood ready to protect their flock without a single hint of hesitation.
That was surprising, most of them looked overworked both physically and mentally but they still possessed enough energy to so zealously guard their students from the unknown. It didn't fit. None of them appeared to be the sort to be apathetic or uncaring. Then why were they so blase when Jacqueline went missing? Could his client's recounting be skewed?
'Of course it is.' The man had been distraught from the moment his daughter hadn't come out of those doors, any attention to detail or context clues would've been completely ignored during a tragedy like that. Moving to the side, he extricated himself from the crowd and just like that, his prescene no longer mattered to the teachers on watch. With that, he edged around them until he finally noticed a faded placard above the first hallway.
Zero-to-ninety-nine.
Properly labeled room numbers, something that would surely help narrow things down. With that in mind, he quickly crossed during a small gap of opportunity and continued deeper into the building. Passing a multitude of framed photos with smiling children and adults, some holding trophies, others standing before a relatively massive dinosaur fossil. It brought back memories of his own childhood, those rosy tint glasses blinding past him as though to shield his mind from the harsh truths of reality. He remembered his lunch coming up missing in the middle of a field trip, a simple ham sand-which. He remembered the kindness a teach showed by buying him lunch and while at the time his childish brain was just happy to not go hungry that trip, his older self knew more. As no matter how far he dug around in his own memories, he never, never recalled that particular teacher eating anything but a simple bag of peanuts.
He'd probably forked out the last ten bucks in his wallet just to help some random kid that probably hadn't hit that consciousness 'wall'.
Shaking his head, those shackles of guilt slipped back into the darkness. Just in time too, as he finally turned down one white bricked wall and continued on his way. Eyes flicking over numbers above green doors, it didn't take long for him to find the classroom in question.
Door still left fully opened, he subtly poked his head in to get a better look of the place. The room wasn't particularly large, with enough space to comfortable fit about twenty desks with an attached blur chair. All along the walls, colorful posters filled with cartoon characters frozen mid dance. A nice area, something that was quickly disproven by the absolute chaos littered across the floor. Pencils laid strewn, paper left forgotten, crayons half chewed remains and picture books left wide open without a care in the world.
A small figure, appearing no older than eight or nine years old with a curly blonde hair and wearing a simple but expensive looking blazer and skirt. Like one would wear in a strict boarding school, an oddity to be sure. She seemed to be rummaging through her basket sized backpack, stuffing folders neatly into place, but moving far too slowly for anyone to believe it wasn't purposeful.
Craning his neck, he finally got a look at the lone adult in the room. Who still sat hunched over stacks of papers with a red pen in hand, moving lethargically and automatically. The women appeared to be in her early twenties, with burgundy brown hair that ended right above her angled jaw. Skin pale enough to show the heavy bags beneath her sunken in dark eyes. Wearing a conservative long sleeve green dress with a thin yellow cardigan over the top of it, a single wedding band was the only bit of jewelry he could see.
Gold, fake too if the light shade of green hidden around her finger was anything to go by. But at least the diamond appeared real, small but it did possess some monetary value.
'A hundred and thirty bucks?'
A rough estimate but it wasn't like he was judging. It made perfect sense not to wear something so valuable around kids with sticky fingers, besides most people spent a lot less money of the actual wedding bands than engagement rings. A common practice really.
Knocking, he made his presence known. Both heads up shot up immediately at the noise, silent confusion spreading across their faces as they took in his appearance. And probably taking note of his completely out of place age, being neither student or teacher assistant.
"Yes?" The woman asked hesitantly, pushing herself back and out of the swivel office chair. She wasn't very tall, being just a few inches taller than he was. Weariness was clear in her body language and while she wore opened-toed sandals, he didn't think for a second that wouldn't try her damnedest to leap across the space between them if he tried anything to her student. "What can I help you with?"
"Ah yes," He put on a sheepish smile, eyes wandering off to just over her shoulder. Flickering back and forth between her eyes and off to the wall. Those ethereal scales shifting in place, a previously annoyed expression turned more bashful. Becoming like that of a clearly smitten boy. To the side, he subtlety checked to make sure his long black wig was in place. "Are you Mrs. McBride?"
"Yes, yes I am...How did you get in the building? You don't look like a student."
"Well uh," He dropped his head to the ground, scratching just behind the wig to stuff a few loose brown strands back in place. Before taking an exaggerated breathe and looked her directly in the eyes for a moment before shifting off to the side. "I just walked right in, no one really stopped me and with school hours closing out I didn't see the harm. I'm here to ask a few questions."
"Young man." Mrs. McBride crossed her arms, a warning and authoritative tone entering her voice. Scolding in a way only a teacher could. "You cannot just 'walk' into an elementary school building like that. I don't know which staff member allowed to just stroll in here but I must ask you to leave. Any questions or requests can be handled via email or mail."
"…" Good, now that she had completely dropped her guard and considered herself in a position of power Psychology told him to strike. It whispered, no hissed into his ear. She was young and from how much effort she clearly put into her job, this must be her first year out of college actually teacher. The giant binder nearly spilling over with post-it notes, and heavily annotated laminated notes. A box of cheap stickers laid open besides her bag and of course a framed photo sitting on her desk of a her in a wedding dress besides a handsome man. Her voice spoke with strength, but her body language spoke otherwise. Unsure wringing hidden in her crossed arms, shifting from side to side and from the way her gaze kept flicking over to the frozen student in their midst. If he walked out of there now, bowed out without anything more than an apology, there wouldn't be another chance. And so with a low voice, he 'struggled' to put on a professional face. "I'm here for Jacqueline."
A vicious strike to her solar plexus, shock spreading across her pretty but exhausted visage. A series of emotions zoomed past. Fear. Guilt. Helplessness. Before she glanced over at both her student and the picture down at her desk, and some resistance welled up visibly in her.
"Run along now dear." She spoke to her blonde student, who looked like deer caught in headlights. Her tone soft and soothing but brooking no argument. "Make sure to do your math homework tonight, even if it's wrong just try your best."
"…." The girl looked annoyed anything but willing, visibly pleading to be let in on the juicy drama about to be set up but she probably knew better than to try and push the envelope too much. And with a quiet voice, she bowed her head and picked up her crisp, black backpack. "Okay, Mrs. McBride, I will see you tomorrow."
"Have a good day, dear." She smiled softly at the girl as she departed, Albert stepping fully into the room to allow her clear passage. Catching only a few steps before they stopped all together but worrying about that was for later. Especially when a narrowed teacher was trying to burrow a hole right through his torso like he owed her money or had been caught red handed doing something worthy of a scolding. "And you can leave as well, I have already spoken to the police and I will tell you what I told them, I don't know where Jacky went...Maybe she just wandered off somewhere."
Her voice had dropped an octave, voice flat like it was yet another line to be spewed out.
"Of course, she just 'wandered' off. But just to put your worries to rest, I'm not with the police. So while you're not really obligated to answer any of my questions it would appreciated."
"In that case, I don't wish to speak to you any more. Leave, now."
It was a shaky command holding no real conviction, maybe those heavy bags under her eyes was from more than just being overworked. A weakness, an opening he wouldn't miss out on. Sliding forward, he spoke loud enough just for the 'two' of them to hear.
"Of course, you don't need to speak to me...But even you can tell how flimsy of an excuse that is. I don't know why you're so fixated on spewing this tale, but I can tell it's eating you up inside. You're tired...maybe haven't been getting enough sleep at night? Been a bit snappy or short tempered?" From the way she flinched, he had struck gold. Stepping closer, he spoke in a soothing way. Understanding dripping from every word. "It's just us here, no one will ever know that you told me. You must've heard something, seen something. It's a little girl missing, eight years old. Far too young to be separated from her parents. Far, far too young to be exposed to the evils of this world."
[Persuade: 5%]
'Dammit.'
Mentally, he slurped back that forked tongue into the abyss from which in came, silently cursing himself. The target too visible, moment too perfect and the cause was just. Excuses, that he knew. Justification that led to an increasingly steeper slippery slope. But what was done was done, he could berate himself later.
"…." Maybe she normally possessed more willpower than this, otherwise she would be handing out those stickers like they were free to every child that ever sent her a pleading look. But as it was now, she nearly completely crumpled in on herself. Swaying, she gripped her desk in a white knuckled grip before falling into her chair with a hollow expression. "I know...I know dam-darnit! It's shady as heck, I get it...But I was being truthful, I really don't know what happened to Jacky! The last time I saw her was when I sent my class off to lunch! When she didn't come back, I called up to the office to look for her but they said they didn't find anything!"
"Why do you think she just wandered off? Or why did you tell the police that if you knew that wasn't the case?"
"...Jacky's...spirited. She finds ways to slip off unnoticed all the time. I could turn my back for a few seconds and she would sneak off, only to be found in the cabinet doodling!"
"But not this time?"
"This time, it felt different. She likes to sneak off to the supply room out back, she's been told multiple times not to go there because you know, power tools and other dangerous stuff is in there, and usually it's the janitor that is always able to find her back there. So when even he hadn't seen anything, that's when I knew something had gone terrible wrong."
"But Curtis said he would handle things and told us to get back to work. At that time, I had thought the school had already contacted both Russel and the police." She looked up just then, almost pleading with tears at the corner of her eyes. Real ones, he could tell. Before shame soon filled them as well. "But...when he came in here, he was screaming and yelling and I just...froze. He's...he's a big man so I told him the truth. Told him I had no idea where Jacky was. That's when Curtis came in and tried to calm him down, tried to tell him his daughter was known to slip away unnoticed but Russel wasn't having it and broke his nose. It took three near by teachers to hold him back from swinging again and when we finally got him out of the building, Curtis got up and told us to corporate with the police but tell them she'd recently gone missing, even though she'd been missing for several hours at that point. Told us in the lounge and sent a school wide email to every staff member to make sure they were all on the same page."
'You gave whoever got at least a two hour head start.'
"I didn't have a choice!" Maybe he allowed some of his inner thoughts to slip to the surface, because she was quick to defend herself. "He threatened to put a black mark on anyone's record who tried to say otherwise...I have students loans and rent to worry about...I really, really can't afford to have five years be completely useless for the rest of my life."
"I see." A neutral response, but nonetheless he filed all of it away to pack away for later. She didn't need to know how much less he thought of her in that moment. The issue shouldn't have been a gray situation, as a teacher when she knew a student was in potential danger she should've known the right thing to do then. In fact, every teacher and staff member knew better than to bow to a threat like that when a child was in danger. But what did they do instead? Capitulate to what seemed to be the principle in fear of their own jobs. Sacrificing Jacqueline on the altar of their own futures. "Thank you for...shedding some light on the situation. I know it must've been difficult to step forward...but I do have a few questions."
As much as he wanted to spit up the bile welling up in his mouth, it was quickly swallowed with a mental grimace. Just leaving now would be a waste, it was better to squeeze this asset dry first. Seeing her nod, more disgust welled up in him as he saw her look significantly more at peace.
"First, what time is lunch? Is there recess afterwards, if so what time does it begin and end? Who runs both?"
"My class goes to lunch starting at eleven-thirty and they usually get done by noon. After that, they get thirty minutes of recess." She started, before her nose scrunched up disdainfully. Venom dripping from every word. "Both are ran by the gym teacher, soccer coach...and a massive pig by the name of Brandon. One of the most lecherous and inappropriate men I have ever had the displeasure of knowing."
"Thank you for your time." He turned slowly, hearing the sound of tiny feet rapidly retreating down the hall. Not even sparing the teacher a second glance.
"For all it's worth...I hope she is found. Well and whole."
***
When Albert first slid through those massive gymnasium doors, the first thing that hit him was the sound of giggling children and squeaking sneakers against the hardwood floor. In a near flood, twenty or thirty kids could see doing some agility drills with bright orange cones as they tried to expertly dribble a soccer ball between them. They all looked exhausted but happy enough to be burning off all that extra energy.
In the center of them all, a man around thirty-five stood tall. Standing heads and shoulders above the teen, he possessed a relativity athletic physique. Blonde hair framed a handsome face with a square jaw, covered in a light layer of stubble, and heavy smile lines at the corner of his brown eyes. Wearing a fitted white button up shirt and a pair of tanned cargo shorts, a whistle hanging from his neck was all that was needed to complete the generic gym teacher look.
Hands on his hips, he watched his students closely, occasionally letting out a massive boom of encouraging words when one of them fumbled. Clapping loudly, his gaze soon rose up to meet the investigator's. Blowing his whistle, he waved a finger in a circle.
"Alright everyone! Give me a few laps, it's not a race!" At that, they all excitedly hopped up and began to drop into a light jog. Some breaking out into full sprints to be the head of the pack. Coming over, the man positively devoured the space between them into only a few steps. Casual confidence oozing off him waves, glancing at the teen's tiny arms and bulky clothing. "What do you want kid? And how the hell did you get in here?"
"I have a few question-"
"Let me stop you there, kid." He held up a massive hand to cut him off, coming in close to completely block him from the sight of the jogging young-lings. "I don't have time for any questions, if you can't see I'm trying to train these kids up into an actual tea-"
"Not for free, of course." Albert held up a folded twenty before the man's nose, making sure he could clearly see Andrew Jackson's face. Greed flashed in the coach's eyes, before the bill was plucked free and stuffed into his pocket.
"Andy!" He called out and instantly, an athletic but awkward looking young man appearing to be around twenty dressed in brightly colored clothes.
"Yes coach?"
"Keep watch of the sprouts while I handle this." He motioned the teen to the side of the bleacher, out of sight and listening range of even the most gifted of eavesdroppers. "I won't be long."
"Yes sir!" Andy saluted stiffly, before turning and clapping loudly. "I saw that Jeremy! Shove someone like that again and you won't be playing this weekend!"
With that, the young man completely ignored them.
Stepping far enough away, the man leaned up against the metal bars.
"He's a good guy, just a bit enthusiastic. Military family from he's told me." The gym coach smiled before turning his full attention away. "Now, what can I help you with?"
"Just to make sure, you're Brandon, right?"
"Damn straight."
"How long have you been working as a gym teacher?"
"Five years give or take." Brandon grinned cockily. "Best damn years of my life honestly. Get paid to work out and teach some kids how to stay in shape. Help keep the fatty population down. Plus, this jobs comes with some pretty nice perks."
"Like what?"
If the man wanted to idly chat, then who was he to stop him?
"The women of course." That grin grew wider. "Honestly, if you don't know what you want to do with your life, become a gym teacher. You can't even imagine how much woman have been throwing themselves at me since I took this job up."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, just think of it. Most of these kid's moms and aunts are within my age group. Old enough to not have those ridiculously high standards while still being young enough to be attractive. And to them, I'm a handsome man whose good with children. I got my own place, own car, a job and a full head of hair. You do the man." He looked him over before frowning pityingly. "You're like what, fifteen? If you want my advice, don't start dating now. Woman have some insanely high standard all the way up to till their twenty-five. That's when they'll begin to cross of requirements with every year. By the time they get to my age, they just want someone they won't need to take care of. But for you now? I'm sorry, but I don't think you're gonna be finding anyone. And that's fine, you just gotta play the waiting game."
'Now see why she called him a pig.'
At first, it really hard to connect Mrs. McBride's vitriol to the man but them more he spoke, the easier it was to connect the dots. It was like watching a pick up artist content creator trying to sell him an a couple hundred dollar online course.
"Ah yes, thanks. I'll certainly keep that in mind."
But it looked like the man wasn't ready to drop the topic anytime soon.
"Take for instance that new teacher, Mrs. McBride." Brandon continued, a satisfied and wan grin on his face. "A real pretty thing, twenty-three and one of the most stuck women I've ever met in my life. But that's fine, her standards too high and her husband in young. But what about in five years? Ten? She'll come to me, eventually. They always do, especially when they look at themselves in the mirror and wonder where the time went."
"Very insightful." He imagined Ivy would not like this man in the slightest and could easily see why that teacher wanted nothing to do with him. But there was work to be done, so handing the teacher another twenty, he finally asked his actual question. "Do you remember a girl by the name of Jacqueline?"
"Yeah I know her! She use skip my class all the time, apparently she would rather spend it hiding in the supply closet out back. Weird girl but whatever. Heard she went missing or something."
"When do you last remember seeing her?"
Another twenty was passed over that too was devoured in a meaty hand.
"Well, I remember seeing her that morning." He scratched his stubble covered jaw. "But… I don't recall seeing her at lunch. I saw her class come in for lunch, but not her."
Nothing about the man said he was lying, not even a tingle of dishonesty in his voice in the slightest. Albert could feel his shoulders slump in defeat as he handed over yet another twenty. He'd expected to get more than after spending sixty bucks but that was the risk of bribing someone, it was possible they were just as clueless as everyone else.
"Now let's get back to what we were talking earlier, none of that sad shit. Let me tell you what you need to do to be able to pull just as much a I do. Write this down, this is pure gold!"