Jake was an antisocial kid, he never liked to hang out with people, and found himself terrified of the idea of making friends, making him the perfect candidate for today’s Haunting Hour. You see Jake and his mom have moved from a quiet peaceful town, to the city, after Jake’s Mom finally found a place that would hire her. Jake’s new school, Saint Michaels High School, is a towering gothic church built in 1804, that was later turned into a school in 1959. The school is now stranger to ghost stories, from the headless nun walking around the halls, or a priest with a burned face and clothes riding on the elevator, but today our focus is on room 213. No one knows what happened that day on February 13th, 1970, all that is known for sure is one teacher, and twelve of her students disappeared from their classroom, without a trace. Now, shall we begin the story?
The day was February 13th, 2018, and Jake felt the weight of his new backpack and nerves pressing down on him. The school, an imposing gothic structure, loomed larger than he remembered from the orientation, he walked towards school, making the school seem more and more imposing. Walking inside, he was greeted by a sign saying “Main office on right hand side” with an arrow pointing to the right. Going into the main office, this very sweet elderly lady, maybe late sixties, called out, “Can I help you young man?”. Jake walking towards her said “Um hi I am Jake Holloway, I am new here, and I was”. “Here is your schedule Jake” the elderly woman cut him off, “When you have been doing this job for as long as me, you can always guess what someone is looking for” she said with a smile on her face. “It looks like have Ms. Blackwood is in room 214, that is on the second flo”, the bell started ringing, cutting her off. “That was the first bell, you should start heading to class” she said, still with that friendly smile on her face. As he wandered through the crowded hallways trying to find room 214, a sense of unease crept over him. He could explain what it was, it was just this feeling of dread, but he just brushed it aside as nerves. Finally after what felt like hours walking, and the bell ringing aging, officially making him late for class, he finally found room 214. But the door had the name “Mr Dunmore” wroten on it, looking at the door confused he saw a janitor walking down the hallway towards him. “Excuse me, he shot down the hall, do you know where Ms. Blackwood’s room is?”. The janitor without leaving his head pointed to behind where Jake was standing, Jake turned around seeing a door he swore was not there before. The door had written on it, “Room 213 Ms. Blackwood”, Jake reached to open the door. As Jake entered, the room felt oddly cold. The students, who seemed friendly enough at first, eyed him with a mixture of curiosity and something darker—almost predatory. His new teacher, Ms. Blackwood, had a demeanor that was almost too calm, too welcoming. She motioned him to sit at the back of the room, where an old desk creaked under his weight. As the lesson began, if you could even call it that, Ms. Blackwood just sat there, with directions to read page 50-55 in the textbook. Jake noticed the clock on the wall. Its hands moved in jerky, unnatural motions, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that time was stretching painfully. Suddenly, the lights flickered, and Jake’s vision darkened. He glanced around and saw Ms. Blackwood and the students’ faces melting into grotesque, contorted expressions, their eyes hollow and glowing. He tried to stand, but his legs wouldn’t move. He heard screams coming from his distorted classmates, a mix of, “help us”, “Ms. Blackwood what’s happening?”, and “stay calm class”. The bell rang, signaling the end of class. As Jake opened his eyes, he realized with horror that he was alone—completely alone. The classroom was empty, leaving behind only the faint echoes of laughter and the creeping darkness. Jake sprinted out of that classroom, to the crowded hallway, and turned around only to see the door for 213 missing.
And that ends today Haunting Hour, the mysterious class of 213, what happened that day, we will never know, but if you want to know the whole story, I am sure Ms. Blackwood is always looking for new students.
**ChatGPT was used to help make the rough draft of this story**
