Part 3

After three hours, or three days, lunch break arrived. Standing outside the canteen, three of the boys in the gang stood, scanning the crowd for the boy. They rushed forward once they saw him stop in the hall, standing out among the throng of moving schoolkids. One of them was the leader. His immediate thought was to run, but there was nowhere to go, and they were next to him in seconds. Taking him by the shoulders, they led him to an empty classroom, standing in a semi-circle around him next to the wall.

“We need you to do something for us, then you can hang around with us, if you want.”

“What is it?” asked the boy, completely confused by what he expected to be a beating up of some sort. He knew these weren't the kind of people he should be friends with, but also knew the problems that arose once you made an enemy of them.

“We want to know whats behind the door, and i want you to find out for us. If you do it, you can join our gang.”

The boy thought about the door, for the first time in weeks. There was an air of mystery about the door. It was well known in the school, mainly because it was the only place no school kid had ever been inside in the history of the school. The door was used once a week, by the rector and janitor, only ever at the same time, and only ever on a Thursday. The kids weren't supposed to know about this semi-regular use, but toilet breaks seemed to occur with worrying regularity as kids strived to watch the men open, then enter the room the door protected.

What the children never seemed to notice was the white van which arrived fifteen minutes before the door was opened, around the back of the school, driving through unmarked doors into part of the school which was never used. A pair of vigilant eyes would have seen the van leaving the school an hour later, sitting lower on the road, and struggling to get up the school drive. If that vigilant pair of eyes were connected to a sharp mind, a further thought would occur. How did the van manage to enter the school driving forwards, then leave it an hour later, also driving forwards. Where would it have found the room to turn? These questions however, had never been asked, which attributed to the death later that day.

“How will i get in? The boy asked.

“Is that a yes?”

“I guess so” replied the boy.

“Good. Don't worry about getting in, John here will meet you at 3pm. Just make sure you get out of class at that time. He'll take care about you getting in.”

“Ok, sure” said the boy. Even if caught, the teachers could hardly punish him any worse that these boys could.