Free Shades by Brian Keene, Geoff Cooper Page A

alarm.
    “Oh my,” she gasped. “What happened?”
    “Not now, Grace,” the Principal said. “Hold my calls.”
    He steered the three kids into his office, made them sit down, and slammed the door behind him. The room was quiet, except for Val’s sobs. Outside, Grace began typing again. Mr. Sarandos sat down behind his desk and glared at them. After a moment, he took a deep breath and asked, “What happened?”
    All three began talking at once.
    “She told me I could,” Matt said.
    Val held her ruined blouse together with one hand and choked back tears. “I told you to keep your hands off me.”
    The Principal looked at Danny. “What did you see?”
    Danny glanced at Matt. They were friends. They stuck together. But what he’d done…Danny’s stomach sank. He looked down at his shoes. His voice was very low.
    “I heard Val screaming in the janitor’s closet. I opened the door and…” He took a deep breath. “Matt was on top of her. He had his pants down. He was going to…rape her.”
    Danny glanced at his friend. Matt’s expression remained neutral, almost like he didn’t care. That was weird. Wasn’t he afraid of what his father would do to him this time?
    “Matt,” the Principal said, “is this true?”
    “He’s lying, sir. Val was the one who led me into the closet. She wanted to make out.”
    Val burst into tears again. “That’s not true! You tried to rape me…”
    Mr. Sarandos picked up the telephone. He stared at Matt while he spoke. “Grace, please call the police.” He glanced at Val, and his expression softened. “And we’ll need paramedics, too. Who’s free this period? Bedrik? Good. Please have him come down here, as well.”
    He hung up the phone and sighed.
    Matt glared at Danny.
    Danny shook his head, looked down at his hands, and tried not to cry.
     
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    “You stupid little shit.”
    Bedrik kept his voice low, his expression neutral. Sarandos and Danny were busy giving an account to the police. Val was with the paramedics. Since he had no classes this period, the Principal had asked Bedrik to watch Matt while they spoke to the police.
    “I’m sorry,” Timothy Wells said through Matt’s mouth. “I couldn’t help it. She was warm and it’s cold where I was. It’s been so long.”
    “Shut up.” Bedrik leaned closer, whispering into Matt’s ear. “You were warned to curb your old desires. I didn’t set you free so that you could return to a lifestyle of rape and sadism. You were to find out if Danny was being tutored by Gustav. If he was, you were to let me know. That is all. And now you’ve fucked it up.”
    The office door opened and the police came out, followed by Principal Sarandos. Bedrik straightened up and did his best to look solemn. He caught a glimpse of Danny through the open door. The boy appeared distraught.
    The policemen were both under Bedrik’s control, their bodies inhabited by shades, but they kept up the appearance of normalcy. They handcuffed Matt and read him his rights. Then, while the faculty and students watched from the windows, they led him to the patrol car and put him in the back seat. Bedrik did not accompany them. He stayed inside the office and watched Danny.
    Danny was too upset to notice.
     
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    When the final bell rang, Danny didn’t stick around to use the school library. For the first time since his agreement with Gustav, he couldn’t wait to get out of school. The halls echoed with the ghost of Val’s screams.
    The walk home had never seemed longer. It hurt to think. Hurt to feel. What good was magic when it couldn’t change what had happened, or erase the memories from his mind? He’d never felt worse. He’d ratted on a friend, an unforgivable sin. But Matt’s sin was greater. Matt wasn’t just in trouble this time. This was more than detention or a beating from his old man. Matt was in deep shit. And Val—Danny thought about how he’d felt when she touched his arm. Somehow, that made what had