Billy couldn’t see much in the dimly lit classroom. He felt groggy, and looked around. His classmates were looking straight forward, toward the teacher. But Billy couldn’t see that far. He saw only his row and the row in front. He had sat himself down in the last row for some reason. Usually he was closer to the teacher. He couldn’t even remember coming to school. But he was here, and it was time to do some studying. But something was different. The smell… usually it smelled of crayons, paper, and a fresh pine scent on most days. Now it smelled of… cleaning products? It smelled of weird cleaning products. He just couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.

Billy looked up, trying to be more focused. The teacher was taking attendance, calling each name out loud. But his voice sounded… wrong, somehow. It was more deep and guttural. And the names… he didn’t recognize any of them. “Tomlinson, Cindy,” the teacher said.

There was a reply, but it came from somewhere behind him. Billy turned his head, and stared at a blank wall. He was now getting confused, and was getting a strange, bad feeling in his tummy. How could the sound from Cindy’s voice come from behind him? Was the ac…ak…ak-ooze-stick so bad in this room? He had heard his dad say that word about the TV, and when he asked his dad what it meant, he had just said sound. Maybe he was using it wrong, but that didn’t matter. He used a big word. And big words make you smart. He chuckled to himself. “Silence!” The teacher boomed.

Billy froze. He couldn’t see the teacher, but he didn’t sound like old Benjamin. He remembered the first time he saw Mr. Benjamin. Mr. Benjamin had said to the class, “Hello all, I am your new teacher, Mr. Timothy Benjamin. You can call me Mr. Benjamin. I am lucky enough to have two first names.”

The whole class giggled at that comment. Billy liked Mr. Benjamin. He was kind and helpful. This other voice didn’t sound kind, nor helpful. It sounded… bad. The feeling in Billy’s stomach was getting very bad. He looked around. There was an empty seat in the corner to his left. “Wharton, William,” the teacher said.

“You can just call me Billy,” He said.

“Silence!” The teacher boomed. “Are you present or not?”

Billy was now terrified. He could feel tears running down his cheek. “Y..Yes,” He stammered out, in a weak voice.

“Speak up!” The teacher boomed yet again.

“I… I’m here. Uhm, can I be excused, sir?” Billy managed to say.

“Not without a hall pass,” the teacher replied.

“Uhm…can I have a hall pass, sir?” Billy asked.

“No.” Was the cold reply from the teacher.

Billy felt a tear running down his cheek. He was terrified of the booming voice, and was also confused at how this new teacher was handling things. Mr. Benjamin always let them go to the bathroom when they needed. This new teacher was definitely not one of Billy’s favorites.

Billy made a decision. He was going to the bathroom, no matter what that voice said. He tried sneakily getting up from his seat, but the chair made a noise as it slid across the wooden floor. “Silence!” The voice boomed again.

Billy froze. For a second he contemplated if he should go on with his plan, or just sit down and see how things went. But the bad feeling in his stomach was overwhelming now. He took a deep breath, and made his way toward the door, trying to be as sneaky as he could. When he got to the door, he let out a sigh of relief. He reached out for the handle, and just as his fingers touched it, the booming voice could be heard. “And where do you think you are going?”

Billy’s lips trembled. His eyes were wide. He felt he couldn’t move. At last he whimpered, “I… I told you, I need to go to the bathroom.”

The voice replied, “And I told you. NOT. WITHOUT. HALL. PASS.”

Billy cowered at each word. After the final one, he straightened up, got a firm grip on the handle and said, “I won’t be long, Sir!”

The voice starting laughing, then said, “All right. Leave at your own risk.” Followed by more laughter from the voice.

Billy felt a chill run down his spine. What on earth did he mean by that? Billy carefully opened the door, and took a cautious peek outside. Even the hallway was dimly lit. He could barely see the stairway at the end. This wasn’t how he remembered the school. It was always so bright. Also, as he peered out the window, all he could see was darkness. But it was almost summer. How could this be?

Billy took a deep breath, and walked out into the hallway. Even the smell was wrong. He remembered how it used to smell, of shoes, jackets and sweat. This smell was… different. The same, strange smell of cleaning supplies. Loads of cleaning supplies.

Billy carefully made his way down the hall, heading for what he thought was the bathroom. He went past so many closed doors. And he still couldn’t see the stairway. Odd. It was always so well lit. Maybe they spent too much money on cleaning supplies, so they couldn’t afford to keep the lights on.

As Billy was walking down the hallway, he could hear a voice coming from ahead of him. From what he was sure was the stairway. It was a raspy, low voice. A scary voice. It said, “Hall pass?”

Billy froze. But he could see the bathroom. He mustered up some courage, and bolted for it. He closed the door behind him as he got in. He found a stall, and got in, closed the door and locked it. His eyes were wide with fear, and he could feel sweat on his brow. He tried to contain his breath, but could hear it clearly. He just wanted to have a moment’s peace in the bathroom.

He heard the door to the bathroom creak open. Someone, or something, was outside his stall. Billy looked under the stall door, and to his horror, he did not see two feet belonging to a person. Instead, what he saw, resembled thick, black sticks. Round and black, with a surface that reminded him of charred wood. He wanted to scream, but he knew if he did, he would be caught. He needed to be silent, and hope for the best. The presence walked slowly past each stall, speaking in the raspy voice, “Hall pass?”

Billy tried to hold his breath. Tears ran down his cheeks. He wanted mommy. He wanted to be home. He wanted to be safe. The presence outside sniffed a few times. What was going on? Billy’s head was spinning, he was terrified of this… presence. What was it, and why was it… sniffing?

After a moment of pure terror for Billy, the thing outside turned and left. When the door was closed, Billy let out a sigh of relief. He cautiously opened the door, and peered out. The coast was clear. He carefully made his way to the sink. He turned the cold water on, and splashed his face a few times. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. What had he just witnessed? He splashed his face again a few times. He needed to muster up some courage. He needed to get back to class before that… stick thing caught him.

Billy got to the door, and cautiously opened it. He peered out into the darkened hallway. He couldn’t see the end of either direction. He could see a few doors, then it just went dark. He didn’t like that. Darkness made him scared. He took a deep breath, and made his way back to the hallway. He turned left, and intended to make his way back, when he heard it. Behind him. The low, raspy voice of that thing. “Hall pass?”

When Billy heard the voice, he started to panic. He did not want this stick thing to catch him. He sprinted down the hall. What room did he come from? He couldn’t remember, and he could hear the thing behind him, running after him.

He decided to go for the nearest door. He grabbed the handle, but fumbled for a second. Finally he managed to open the door. He ran in. And he found himself in… another hallway? How was this possible? He continued running, then found a door on his right. He opened it and ran into yet another hallway. Who designed this? He could hear the thing behind him, closing in.

Billy decided that he had to do something. He made a plan. A plan that made perfect sense in his mind. It was something he had done often when playing with the other kids in the class, when they were chasing each other. He made a quick dart for the nearest door on his right. He got through it, into another hallway. He went for the nearest door to the right, again, opened it, got through, then hid himself behind it. He prayed that this trick would pay off.

He hid, and heard the thing coming through the doorway. He tried his best to stay silent. As it moved down the hallway, he got a better look at it. He almost screamed, but managed to keep quiet. The thing he saw, the best way to describe it would be a charred roast.

It had a thicker body, kind of like a log, except it was all black and blistery, reminding him of a charred tree. It had two thin legs, that reminded him somewhat of burned-out matches. Very thin, very… blistery. It had four arms, same as the legs. Thin, match-like arms. He could not see a proper head though. It moved down the hallway, into the darkness, saying, “Hall pass!” Every few seconds. Billy regretted not having got one from the teacher.

Once the creature was gone, Billy returned through the door, trying to retrace his steps. What room had he come from? Where was the bathroom? If he could find it again, maybe he would have a better chance of getting back to the classroom. Billy looked around cautiously, took a deep breath and tried to retrace his steps. He had dodged right twice, so he went back through the door to his left, and then the next door to his left. He found himself in a similar hallway, again, but this time, something didn’t feel right. Somehow it looked… narrower. What was going on? Had he completely lost track in this absurd maze?

Billy’s stomach fell, and he slowly got down, curled up in a ball, planted his face in his knees, and started crying. He couldn’t understand what was happening. Why was the teacher so mean? Why was that stick thing trying to find him? Why did it smell of cleaning supplies?

Then he had a sudden realization. The smell wasn’t of cleaning supplies. It was of a hospital. Why did the school smell like a hospital? Slowly, he got up. He wiped the tears of his face. He was determined to find the way back. As he made his first step, he found something gripping his left shoulder. Then his right. His heart started pounding. He screamed. Then he found himself being lifted from the ground, and turned around. He was face to face with the stick thing. He screamed again. “Hall pass?” The thing said.

Billy squirmed and flailed, but the thing had firm grip on his shoulders with two of its hands. One hand then had a grip on his chest. The fourth hand though… it came up to his face. It was wielding a knife. Billy’s eyes widened, and he screamed a scream of pure terror. The thing started cutting into his scalp. Billy tried to move his head, but the hand that held his chest let go, then held his head in place. And it cut deeper into his scalp. He could feel every slice and every little incision. He could feel it poking at his brain and cutting. He screamed and screamed. His eyes went from looking at the faceless stick thing to look at the end of the hallway.

The end of the hallway started beaming up. A bright light shone from there. It was so bright, he couldn’t see anything in there. But he focused on the light as he screamed. The light came closer and closer, and soon it enveloped both Billy and the stick thing. As he could feel the stick thing slicing some more into his brain, everything went dark again.

Exhausted, Billy woke up. His mommy was sitting in a chair, crying. She had her face in her hands. Billy said in a low voice, “Mommy?”

She looked up, saw him, then jumped up and yelled, “Oh Billy, sweetie! It is so good to see you awake. I thought we had lost you.”

She ran to him and gave him a big, hearty hug, and loads of kisses. Usually Billy hated those, but today, he didn’t mind. Then the dream came back to him. “Mommy, can I change schools?” He said in a low voice.

His mom looked at him, surprised. “What, why? Don’t you like Mr. Benjamin? Your classmates?”

“Well, it’s just this new guy I don’t like.” He said.

“What new guy?” His mom asked.

“I… I don’t know. He sounded mean. And a big, stick thingy started cutting me up.” He said, in a trembling voice.

“Oh honey, honey. You have just had surgery. They removed the tumor. They want to monitor you for a few days, to make sure it is all gone. But they said you were a fighter. So you should be OK now. And it will all be over.”

“Oh,” Billy said. “Does that mean I can have ice cream?”

His mom laughed and said, “Yes, it definitely means you can have ice cream.