Five petrifying Richardson stories

*These stories are underneath my folder titled “Town of Richardson”. Gacha Club character designs are under this forum: https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=117842&start=105. Enjoy!*

1.Going to school

“You’re the circus boys, aren’t you?” Mrs. Mae asked. There was a sharp tone of annoyance in her voice that made Gabriel flinch.

He and William missed quite a number of school days performing at the circus. Mr. Ladouceur, the owner, wouldn’t negotiate with them. Gabriel’s parents were persuaded by Mr. Ladouceur that it wasn’t that much big of a deal. Mr. Ladouceur was William’s own father, so William was pretty much locked in.

Gabriel didn’t mean to miss so much schoolwork. The way the teacher spoke made him sound like someone who didn’t care about his own future.

It almost brought tears to his eyes…

“Yes, why?” William asked.

Gabriel blinked away tears. People spoke in cruel tones all the time, it was nothing to cry about. William wasn’t upset, which meant that he wasn’t supposed to be upset about it either.

Mrs. Mae hauled a hefty pile of papers on her desk, a cold, strong look in her gray eyes.

“This is only the first pile of homework that you’ve missed. Do you think that you’re big shots because you’re performers? Do you think that you can just skip school days?” 

Her tone was getting louder, she was almost shouting at them. Gabriel felt the tears come again, his heart racing. He wanted to talk, to tell her that he didn’t mean to miss school, but he was afraid of breaking down right then and there, in front of the entire class.

“With all due respect, Mrs. Mae, we’re not purposely skipping school. We have a job to do. We’re here now. Isn’t that what matters?” William asked.

Thank goodness William was around to do the talking, Gabriel didn’t think that he would get the words right.

Mrs. Mae’s eyes flickered with surprise for a moment, then they smoothed over and she said, with a small hint of anger:

“Get to work.”

Gabriel swallowed back sobs. He didn’t want to cry, not when everyone, including Denise, was watching. He felt Mrs. Mae’s disdain like toxic radiation, but he wouldn’t cry.

William held his hand as they walked to their seats.

The rapid beating of his heart slowed. William knew how he felt. Gabriel could sense it, just as he could sense how Mrs. Mae felt.

Everything would be okay.

2.Lost and gone Gabriel

Isabella didn’t agree with Gabriel that haunting and harming Denise would make the pain go away. She could see that William thought the same, from how he tried to persuade Gabriel to change his mind.

But the decision was set. Gabriel was ignoring the pleas of Isabella and William. She feared that he detached himself from the world completely and gave in to his broken, bloodied heart.

All Isabella could do was love and protect him, do her best to keep him from an ending worst than death. The poor kid had been through so much, he didn’t know how to respond other than with hatred.

Isabella prayed that he would change his mind one day…

3.An apology

William took a deep breath. Leona and Amelia stared at him, lingering impatience in their eyes. He called them over for a reason, he should just get on with it.

“You see Gabriel every day, right? The clown who doesn’t talk?” William asked.

“Yeah, the creepy clown! We know him.” Leona said.

So he was just the “creepy clown” to them and nothing more? Not someone with a heart and soul?

He supposed that was to be expected with mindless little children like themselves, but still, it hurt him to hear them talk in such a way.

“I know that you are young. You didn’t understand. You threw popcorn at him and called him names. You went along with the public. But you still hurt his feelings. You have no idea how much pain he was in, how much it really destroyed him every day to wake up to a crowd that did nothing but yell and scream at him.”

The girls were quiet, stunned into silence.

“It’s been a long time, but it would be nice. Please apologize to him. I’ll come with you.”

Gabriel never heard an apology in his life. William would make sure that it didn’t happen in death.

“O-okay.” Leona said. She was unsure, but that was alright. William would be there to watch them both.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Gabriel? They have something to say to you.” William said. The three of them were in Gabriel’s tent, where Gabriel sat on the dirt ground, his head hung down in sadness.

He lifted his head up at the sound of William’s voice.

“We’re sorry about making you upset. We didn’t know.” The girls said. They shuffled their feet and held each other’s hand, nervous of what was to come.

But Gabriel simply shrugged and looked down again.

“You can go now.” William said.

The little girls all too eager to leave, ran off.

William joined Gabriel at the ground.  Sometimes, sitting together in silence was the best thing a friend could do.

4.The maggots 

Gabriel scratched the back of his neck. Why was he itching so much?

He attempted to scream when he saw what was on his hand, but those blasted stitches wouldn’t let a sound come out.

Crawling around and eating greedily at his flesh were white, meaty, maggots.

Gabriel looked down, just to be sure. They were everywhere. Worming their way through his skin, feasting on what covered his bones.

It made sense. He was dead, he should have expected them to come. But still, why? Why couldn’t they leave him? He didn’t want to be a skeleton. His flesh was all that he had left.

No matter how much Gabriel tried to swat them away, the little parasites stayed firmly latched on.

They wouldn’t leave.

5.A lesson

Lucas watched Gabriel as he waved to the guests, a wide grin on the boy’s face.

Why did I hire him? Why did I let him in? Lucas thought.

He knew that Gabriel liked talking to people, that he wanted nothing more than to spread cheer. That’s why he picked Gabriel to be the clown at his circus. It wasn’t like there were others who wanted it, but still, the boy was perfect.

That was just the problem, too. He was in his own heart and soul too much. William was a good kid, but he wasn’t incredibly sensitive.

Gabriel was too much like Lucas once was. He let people into his heart too easily, without a care in the world. He went on life with a smile, despite the circumstances.

The boy did not yet understand how horrible the world could be. How much of a nightmare the world could be.

All Lucas ever wanted to do was drill it into Gabriel that everyone was to be judged, to be watched closely. He wasn’t “cruel” like Gabriel believed, but simply helping.

That’s why, despite Gabriel’s pleas, Lucas wouldn’t let him quit. He had to teach Gabriel.

If he didn’t, then he wouldn’t be a responsible adult.