The next day, I let John go early at 2pm. The Kids were back
on the Monday and there was nothing to do. Giles was back sometime in the
afternoon, with someone else, so nothing was really required. John had said
earlier that he had a call at home from Darren Mendez, about a cleaning
supervisor job at the Technical College in East Ham and he was going to ask me
if he could leave earlier. This Darren wanted to speak to him in person. I knew
it wouldn’t be as cushy as working here but hopefully, a less terrifying
experience! I wished him well and never told him I had arranged it with the
caretaker of the College saying he needed a change, having seen how stressed he
really was yesterday, and gave him a glowing reference and he went for the job
after speaking to Darren, the caretaker, on the phone that morning. Darren had
called and gave some story of hearing that he needed a change from working here
and said he should come over that afternoon and have a chat. Darren was well
aware of what was happening at this school as I used to see him in the Boleyn
Pub at West Ham home games as well as at ‘the Pyramid, the council offices in
Stratford at the end of the road this school sat in. He was so interested in
what was happening he should have worked here himself. Darren understood that
he needed a change of scene and he was becoming withdrawn, so I waved John off,
and wished him luck. He left and walked over to his old banger of a car and
drove off not knowing that he already had the job at the College in the bag. I
had done my bit. John was, and still is, a great guy and a real family man.
These events really turned his mind though.
I would get a new assistant arriving on Monday from a pool
of ‘floating’ assistants who went to any school they were needed at. John would
also be there for a while that day to show him his routine. He was Derek, a man
in his early 60’s who always brought his Jack Russell with him on a late shift.
He also had a revolting habit of making his own Jellied Eels and eating them
for breakfast in the office at 7am. He knew about the issues at the school but
had declared them a ‘load of old rubbish’ saying he wasn’t bothered. I knew it
was going to be interesting, especially for him.
No sooner had I sat back in my chair in my office when I
heard a noise out in the hallway and waited. I couldn’t hear a thing. Then,
another noise, like a rustle of clothing. I put the newspaper down as quietly
as I could and, stood up and took a step to the door and peered around the
frame. Giles had arrived with another man who turned out to be a chap called
Mark. He was carrying all the paraphernalia in.
“Sorry we’re late,” Giles apologised.
“I didn’t know you were late?” I told him, “I just expected
you sometime.”
“Mark, this is Dave...Dave Moore.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said shaking his hand. He went for the
one quick shake and done. “Not DaveDave Moore though! Just the one ‘Dave’ will do Mark,” we all laughed.
I stepped back into the office and boiled the kettle as
Giles and Mark immediately grabbed the comfy chairs. Tea made and handed out,
we discussed a plan.
“It will start getting dark in a couple of hours, I wondered
if you would permit a night vigil?” Giles asked, making Mark nod frantically to
emphasize the point.
“Do you want me in attendance?” I asked horrified he would
say yes.
“Yes,” they both nodded, “It would be best for verification
if anything happens. Not overnight, just a vigil in various areas of the
school. The hot spots, as it where.”
“I can stay until 8 if that’s all right? I have other plans
that I can’t get out of. Council business”
I was actually meeting my Girlfiend and having a meal at the
Phoenix Apollo Steak House in Stratford.
“Can I suggest we work until 8 and then call it quits? We
could come back next week for an all nighter?” Giles suggested and we all
agreed.
“Excellent.” Giles replied. “It’ll be good if we get a feel
of the atmosphere and see if we can make any contact.”
“Giles told me about yesterday and the shadow figure you
both saw.” Mark said.
“Yes,” I nodded.
I confirmed Giles description and also the events with John
who they seemed to be happy had now left. He was an ‘easy target’ they thought
and was suffering mentally from the events. He would be better elsewhere away
from this. I knew that to be true.
“Is anyone else here Dave?” Mark asked.
I shook my head, “No, there was supposed to be a delivery
but they are coming on Monday.”
Mark looked to his left again.
“I keep seeing something on my left out of the corner of my
eye at the bottom of the corridor.”
“That’s where we were standing yesterday!” Giles whispered.
“I know,” I whispered, “Why are we whispering?”
Mark was concentrating on the far end of the corridor.
“There’s a noise, like something being dragged on the floor.
It’s in the distance.” Mark said tilting his head.
I could hear it but it suddenly stopped.
We got up and walked slowly down the corridor, trying to
make no sound as we got nearer to the end where a corridor crossed it. Nothing.
The sound had stopped.
Giles suggested that it could have been the entity making
its presence known.
“This could turn out to be a very fruitful endeavour!” he
said sounding like he relished the challenge. Mark had a puzzled look on his
face. I looked at my watch. It was 4pm and the sky was darkening. A storm
started to rumble as the rain began.
“It’s 4 o’clock!” I said loudly. I was a little shocked. “I
didn’t realise it was so late.”
“May I suggest that we convene at an appropriate place, say
the base of the old school stairs and see what we can pick up?
“Great idea” I said, not liking that bloody idea one bit.
“We could stay here as we saw the shadow Man down there to
our left yesterday but as you said the Piano Tuner was at the base of those
stairs down there.” He pointed down the linkway corridor, “And you waited for
something that was chasing you down the stairs in the same place as that, it
could be a real hotspot. Mark, get the equipment please. Is every external door
closed and locked?
I nodded, “Yes, I locked them all earlier and the one you
came through at the front.”
“Then let’s begin.”
When Mark returned with the bag and the small suitcase,
Giles suggested we go down the corridor, locking the doors behind us and sit on
the bottom flight of stairs. Mark started to unpack the bag. There were a
couple of expensive looking Pentax cameras and a folding tripod. There was also
a large wooden box with dials and a meter on it that Giles called a portable
voice scanner, and quite revolutionary for 1988. It didn’t look all that
portable to me but all I had to keep remembering was that these guys knew their
stuff, and they were here to help.
Giles had set up the cameras on small tripods and they faced
all directions. Mark had set up the recorder and had a switch in his hand that
went from the microphones on his and Giles’ collar and the main microphone on
the box. There were wires all over the place. If we panicked and had to run, we
would probably still be tied up here in the morning from the confusion!
“We need to sit here in silence, listening to the thunder
and the rain and for ANYTHING we hear that may come from any angle. Any
direction. We can call out to try to If we talk we must immediately stop if
another noise becomes apparent. We have a tape recorder going and the cameras
will take photographs should we need to. I can trigger them remotely. But they
do have a sensor of sort that picks up motion hence they are all facing away
from us. Hopefully we will make some form of contact or experience something
unusual. We may be very lucky. The Shadowman may manifest himself!”
“He won’t be the only one” I thought!
“Lets open our minds and wait.” Giles stared at the small
monitor that was showing sound waves. We waited. We didn't wait long.....
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