Glowpeak Academy- Chapter Five

Charles was called to the office during seventh period. He wasn't sure why, but he thought it could have something to do with the lockdown. Maybe Senora Gonzales had reported him to the principal for looking out the window. He hoped not. The principal didn't seem too friendly. He'd seen him handle such incidents before and he sure didn't want to be on the receiving end. The last kid he'd seen leaving the principal's office had been an emotional wreck and had disappeared to In-School-Suspension for five days. The principal could make bullies cry, so what could he do to Charles?

The secretary saw him as he approached and met him at the door. She explained that a couple of detectives wanted to interview him. Something about the lockdown. She led him to a conference room and seated him just outside the door, instructing him to wait until they asked for him. The secretary had given him a seat, but he stood looking into the conference room. He could see Veronica speaking to two men inside and wondered what they were talking about. Veronica glanced at the window and smiled at him, then pointed him out to the men. One of them, a tall dark man with black hair and a mustache stood and opened the door.

“Thank you Veronica,” said the other man. He had graying hair and soft, fatherly eyes. “You can go back to class now.”

Veronica stood up and walked to the door, patting Charles's shoulder as she passed him. From the way Veronica was acting, Charles guessed that they weren't being punished for their actions during the lockdown, but for what other reason would they be called down to the office? Charles was just confused. The man who had opened the door introduced himself as Detective Marco Nunez and offered Charles a seat. Charles sat down cautiously and wondered what would happen next.

“I'm Detective Portman,” said the fatherly man, “and you must be Charles Brooks.”

Charles was curious to see how they'd react if he said no. “Yes,” he said.

“We have a few questions for you, about the lockdown. We hear from your teacher that you were peeking through the window during the lockdown.”

Oh, great, thought Charles. Veronica had thrown him under the bus and pinned it all on him. That's why she'd looked so relaxed. Senora Gonzales hadn't noticed her looking out the window. Detective Nunez saw the look on his face and rushed to reassure him.

“You're not in trouble,” he said. “It was wrong of you to look out the window; you could have endangered your whole class in doing so. But we aren't here to lecture you, though I can't promise you that your principal won't later.”

“Why am I here then?” asked Charles.

“You're here because we heard you saw something,” said Portman. He raised his eyebrows.

“Veronica told you that?”

“Not exactly. Your mother called the school. She said you and your sister had seen a couple of high schoolers dressed up as zombies. Is that true?”

Charles paused. “Are you one of those people who can tell when someone is lying?”

“Sure,” said Nunez. He cracked a smile. “Are you thinking about lying?”

Charles shook his head. “Not anymore. It's good to know whether or not someone will believe you, though. Before you say something stupid.”

Nunez frowned and nodded. “Well, go on then.”

“I did look out the window during the lockdown, but I didn't see any high schoolers. Halloween is still a month away, so no one would just walk around wearing a costume and no one did. We told our mom we saw a zombie and that's exactly what we saw.”

“You're sure?” asked Nunez, looking less surprised than Charles expected him to.

“Like Veronica told our mom. Their eyes were too real to doubt.”

“And both you and your sister saw the zombie?”

“Yes,” said Charles.

The detectives thanked Charles for answering their questions and told him he could go back to class. When Charles had left the room they turned towards each other.

“You believe them?” asked Portman.

“I do,” said Nunez. “It would be too much of a coincidence. You?”

Portman shrugged. “What eleven year-old kid would lie to Police about seeing a zombie?”

“You know,” said Nunez. “They're eleven. School has only been going for a month. Do you think we could get permission to bring them in? They're not going to forget this.”

“ They're smart kids. We just might be able to get approval,” agreed Portman.

“I think that's just about it for the day. We just need to check in with the UN and see if we can't get those kids into the academy. Then we can set up an appointment with the family to tell them.”

Portman stood up and followed Nunez out the door. Portman left his car at the school so he could drive straight home after they visited the Brooks family and hitched a ride with Detective Nunez. The drive to the UN building wasn't too long, only about half an hour. Portman picked up some things from his office and Nunez stopped by his boss's office.

***

Lieutenant Merwin was a fair man. He was a big, friendly man with blond hair and bright blue eyes. He had served in the military and had climbed the ranks easily due to his vigorous training at Glowpeak Academy. He'd climbed the ranks of the Flesheater Investigative Services in a similar manner. He had an excessive fondness for soft peppermints. The melt in mouth sensation he experienced while consuming them put him in a good mood. Among his close friends he had acquired the nickname “Pepper.”

It was a stroke of luck that brought canister to Lieutenant Merwin's office merely minutes before Detective Nunez arrived. If this had not been so, Merwin probably would have denied Nunez's request on the grounds of lateness.

Hearing a knock on the door, Merwin stuffed the canister of peppermints into a drawer in his desk and began filling out some paperwork. He waited for another knock, which came along swiftly. He scribbled a quick note and shouted “come in.” He scribbled furiously as the door opened and Detective Nunez walked in.

“I'm a little busy, Nunez. Do you need something?” he asked, barely glancing up.

“Yes, sir,” said Nunez. “I have a request. I've been investigating that lockdown in Pelham and there was a kid who saw the zombie. A couple of kids, in fact. It's only a month into the school year and I heard the Durands are sending their son this weekend. They have an extra test session for latecomers. I think these kids would do really well at Glowpeak and since Alexandre is sending his kid and their running the test anyway, we might as add a couple more.”

“Nunez, it's kind of late for this,” said Merwin.

“Yes, I know. But like I said, their testing Durand, these kids are eleven, the right age, and they know about zombies now. Their the type that aren't gonna forget.”

“How do you know the academy will accept them? They might be full.”

“If they are, they can send him home, but that's very unlikely. I've heard they're a few short.”

Merwin glared. “You better be glad I'm in a good mood, Nunez. Call Headmaster Percival first to make sure. If he gives the okay, you can send him up.”

“Of course, sir,” said Nunez.

“Now get out of my office. I have a lot of paperwork to get through.”

Lieutenant Merwin waited for the door to close, then slipped his hand into the desk drawer and pulled out another peppermint.

***

The Brooks family was spread out all over their flat. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks were watching TV in their bedroom, Jared was doing his homework in his bedroom, and Charles and Veronica were doing their homework in the dining room. Frank and Zoe were playing with Judith in the living room. The three youngest kids heard a knock on the door from where they were playing and Charles and Veronica, who were having trouble focusing on their homework, heard the knock from the dining room.

“Mom,” Frank called.

Charles stood up and walked out into the hallway to answer the door. He found a surprise on the doorstep. Standing in the dim light we're detectives Nunez and Portman. Charles looked behind him down the hallway and saw his mom on her way.

“Hello, Charles,” said Portman. “Are your parents home?”

“Yeah,” said Charles.

“Can we come in?” Portman asked.

“Umm…” said Charles. His mom arrived at the door and he retreated back into the dining room.

“Oh,” said Mrs. Brooks. “Can we do something for you?”

“You remember me and my partner?” asked Nunez. “We were here earlier today.”

“Right,” said Mrs. Brooks. “Come in.”

The detectives followed her into the house and through the hallway. Charles had gone back to his homework. He looked up as they passed by.

“Can we talk to you and your husband?” asked Portman.

Mrs. Brooks nodded as they entered the living room. “Kids, get out. Have a seat. I'll go get him.”

Mrs. Brooks coaxed her children out of the living room and followed them out. The detectives sat down on one of the couches and said nothing until Mrs. Brooks returned with her husband. Mr. Brooks, whom neither of them had met before, was a tall brown haired man with big glasses. He was clean shaven and presentable, as coincided with his profession as an office worker. He shook hands with the men and they introduced themselves, then all of them say and began to discuss the reason for the visit.

“I assume your wife told you about our visit earlier today?” said Nunez.

“She did,” said Mr. Brooks.

“We're here now to follow up. We wanted to let you know that the circumstances behind the lockdown have been investigated and discovered.”

“What happened?” asked Mrs. Brooks.

“Mrs. Brooks, your children were telling you the truth. They really saw a zombie. We can prove it if you don't believe us,” said Portman.

“What?” she asked. “That's impossible. How… what?”

Detective Nunez showed her his badge again. It said “FIS” in large letters and “Flesheater Investigative Services” in small letters. An insignia displayed a glowing torch on top of a mountain. Mrs. Brooks confusion only deepened.

“What is this?” she asked.

“We work for a branch of the UN called the Flesheater Defense Division. It's a well-protected secret. Flesheater is the word we use for “zombie.” Zombies weren't really a thing when all of this started. We're detectives with the Flesheater Investigative Services and we have been investigating the lockdown because a zombie was sighted in the area by another individual and reported to the Flesheater Location offices. It seems impossible, but it's true and most of the world still doesn't know zombies exist. I guess we're doing our job.

“The history is much too long to summarize it all now, but we do have more proof is you need it. We need you to know this because there have been too many incidents like this that have resulted in someone being shipped off to an mental institution or hospital. We wouldn't even be telling you any of this if your children hadn't witnessed a zombie.”

An uneasy silence descended on them. Mr. Brooks rubbed his wife's shoulders and cleared his throat.

“Can we see that other proof you mentioned?” he asked. “This is just so hard to believe.”

Portman pulled a file out of his briefcase and passed it to Mr. Brooks. An insignia matching the one displayed on Detective Nunez' ID was stamped onto the file in a heavy black ink. It was a thick file containing a large stack of paper. Mr. Brooks thumbed through it and looked back up at the detectives.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's the complete Corban file. Just about everyone who works for the Flesheater Defense Division has read some part of this file, if not the whole thing. It's probably our most interesting and most famous case, both within the flesheater world and without. It's also the most confusing case and remains unsolved to this day. The Corbans are the oldest surviving zombie fighting family and the last of them disappeared about a decade ago.

“You may have read about their disappearance in the newspaper. A clipping is somewhere in the file. It mentions a school called Glowpeak Academy. The Corbans' daughter Rebecca was enrolled there. I went to school there too. Glowpeak Village was the location of the first battle in the Great Flesheater War and the first major zombie attack. The school was founded soon after the attack occurred as a safeguards for future zombie attacks. It's a training school. Students learn what they need to know to succeed in everyday life in addition to training to fight and defend themselves against zombies."

Mr. Brooks had flipped through the pages of the file and found the newspaper clipping.

"Yeah, I remember this. It was broadcast on national news programs. It was a strange case. The family went missing, but the daughter's body was found wasn't it? Killed by the family dog or something?"

"That was the story. But Rebecca wasn't killed by the family dog. She was killed by a flesheater. Rebecca had left the school, wandered outside the grounds and her training somehow failed her. She had only been at school for a few months, but she had already learned the basics. Needless to say, the school has heightened the security system since then. However, to this day, no one really knows what happened to the rest of the Corban family. They disappeared shortly after recovering her body. There have been scattered reports of sightings, but none of them could be proved it explained and David, Amy, and Charles never returned."

Mrs. Brooks' face suddenly went pale. She stood up and clasped her hands together. Mr. Brooks shot up next to her and grabbed her hands.

"Natalie!" he exclaimed. "Are you alright, darling?"

"I believe you. It must be true," she told Nunez, then after a pause, "There's something you need to see."

She left the room and the men stared out into the hallway, dumbstruck. She returned moments later with a sheet of paper in her hands. Her eyes were lit up and her face was still white. Recognition dawned on her husband's face and he watched as she passed the paper to Detective Nunez, who read it out loud. It was a letter and this is what it said:"Dear Melanie,

It's been a while and I feel bad coming to you like this. It all feels wrong, but I guess that's how it'll feel no matter what. By the time you read this, if everything works out, we'll be far away. You may have already heard about our disappearance at work, if not in the newspaper. Then again, news from small towns in Indiana could hardly make it into a New York newspaper.

If you haven't heard, I haven't much time to explain, so suffice it to say, we're on the run. Charles will only be more vulnerable with us. If he is to have any chance of survival, we know we must leave him behind. It'll give us all a greater chance of survival, and if we make it, we can keep our cause alive too. Please keep him safe. We hope to someday return, but for now that is impossible. The flesheaters cannot prevail as long as there are good, strong men and women willing to stand against them, no matter the cost. Be safe. I love you. Love, Amy.”

Nunez looked up when he'd finished and stared at Mrs. Brooks in amazement. This was not what he'd expected, but it was fantastic and it was what they needed.

“Mrs. Brooks, where did you get this letter?” he asked.

“Charles. He's not really our son. We found him on our doorstep one night when Veronica was a baby. This letter was left with him. We didn't know what to do, so we took him in. Pretended he was ours, Veronica's twin brother. Lucky, they actually look quite similar. We don't know anyone named Melanie. We’ve done what the letter says though. We've kept him safe. I never read the article myself and everyone just referred to the missing family as “the Corbans,” never mentioning first names. I never considered that Amy could be a Corban. But Charles must be Charles Corban, right?”

Portman and Nunez glanced at each other in disbelief.

“I think so,” said Portman. “And Amy, Amy Corban.”

“Does Charles know?” asked Nunez.

“No one knows,” said Mrs. Brooks, “except our nearest friends and family. Jared knows too, if he remembers. He was four. But none of the other children know. We were going to tell him when he was older. Does this mean we have to let him go? He's our son.”

“Until we know for sure whether or not this letter is genuine, it would be best not to create a fuss. If it turns out that the letter is genuine, I'm sure Charles's family will be willing to work something out. Charles will have to know, though.”

Mrs. Brooks sobbed. “Can we at least tell him ourselves, when we're ready?”

“I suppose,” said Portman sympathetically. “But we do need to tell him he was right about the zombies. Him and Veronica.”

“Okay,” said Mrs. Brooks, wiping her tears away. “Just be careful.”

“There is one other thing we'd like to ask you,” said Nunez.

“What is it?” asked Mr. Brooks.

“Regarding the school we were telling you about, Glowpeak Academy. If your son is Charles Corban, he is going to need to train himself as a zombie fighter. Like I said before, the Corban family is the oldest surviving zombie fighting family. The zombies were created by a single man. We don't know his name, but we know he exists and he is known to us as Údar. He has had a personal vendetta against all of the old families, the Butlers and the Corbans in particular.

“Someday Charles will have to find out who he is, and when that day comes, he could find himself in terrible danger. He needs to learn how to fight, and it just so happens he's right on time. There are two openings at Glowpeak Academy and it's only a month into the school year. Charles and Veronica can fill those places, as long as they go up this weekend. Three school is in Vermont, less than five hours away, and they'll be able to come back every holiday. Christmas break, Thanksgiving break, Spring break, summer, and you can go up and visit them if you wish. It's also funded by the UN sand the Phillip Corban Foundation, so you won't have to pay a dime. They'll be safe and they'll learn to defend themselves.”

“If what you say is true,” said Mr. Brooks uncertainly, “it’s best for Charles to go to this school. If he wants to go he can.”

Mrs. Brooks nodded. “They can both go.”

Charles and Veronica were called into the room shortly after this and were told about the existence of zombies. The detectives explained how the Flesheater Defense Division worked and told them all about Glowpeak Academy. Charles and Veronica sat in a stunned but excited silence. Then they were asked if they would like to attend the academy and Charles was ecstatic.

“I want to go,” he said. Then, turning to his parents, “I can go, can't I?”

Mr. and Mrs. Brooks nodded. Charles turned to his twin sister.

“Veronica?”

Veronica stood up. She couldn't stop thinking about the overheard conversation. She didn't want to room this for Charles, but she felt deeply that this was something he needed to do on his own. It was a feeling she could neither describe not explain.

“Charles, you need to go to this school. I think it's important. But you'll have to do it alone. I'm sorry,” she took a deep breath before continuing. “I'm not going.”