Beyond the Redwood Boarding School

A black car pulled up to a large, brick building. Dust rose into the air, trailing behind the car. The vehicle came into a sudden stop. A teenage boy slowly trudged out of the car and hoisted a backpack onto his back. "It's only for a few months honey. Just to try it out. We will see you after Thanksgiving! We love you!" A woman called out of the window.

He walked forward, ignoring his parent. The gravel under his feet crunched as he slowly approached the two, elegant doors that stood tall in front of him. The large doors opened as he stepped up the stairs leading to it and a Woman, wearing a dark blue dress stepped out and greeted him. "Ah, you must be Dean Perez. Welcome to the Redwood Boarding School for Young Men and Women! My name is Ms. Caroline Merrit. Please, come right this way and I will show you to your dorm."

She turned around and walked into the building. Dean proceeded in after her. The inside of the school was coated with red velvet furniture and old wood. It smelled of pumpkin spice and dust. Dean looked around in awe. He wasn't expecting the school to be this nice.

They walked into a large, ball room. It had quartz pillars standing tall around the room and a very pretty, golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The floor was decorated with several different patterns. Waltz music echoed throughout the school. The woman ushered Dean to follow her. They walked through several hallways before Ms. Caroline Merrit stopped in front of a large staircase. "We're almost there." She said, smiling.

So, they continued up the stairs. "Here we are!" She said as she opened a door. Dean walked in and examined the room. It had a large window on the far side and it was covered with soft, velvet curtains. The bed was like the bed you would see in the Harry Potter movie. It had wooden poles supporting a wooden overhead and had red curtains on the front and back end of it. Two nightstands stood on each side of the bed and at the end there was a chest that was padded with black leather. Bronze sconces were on the walls and a mini chandelier hung from the ceiling. Dean opened the curtains and sunlight poured into the room, illuminating it with a fall feeling. "How do you like it?" Said Ms. Caroline Merrit.

Dean opened his mouth, but nothing came out. She laughed and said, "You hate it that much, huh? I can find a basement room if you'd like."

Dean shook his head. "N-no, I love it!"

She smiled and backed out of the doorway. "This is not the boarding school you were expecting, I can tell. But trust me, this is not all the surprises. She walked out of his view. He set down his backpack and his suitcase and jumped onto his bed. Unexpectedly, he dozed off. He woke up to the sound of music playing in the halls. It was faint so it was probably coming from the first floor. He creaked open his door. The hallways were dark. Only lit up by the moonlight shining through the windows. He remembered that it was Halloween night. Dean silently crept through the hallway and down the stairs. As he descended the music became louder. Finally, he reached the bottom of the stairs and followed the sound of the music. He followed it until he came to the entrance of the Ball Room. Dean stepped back in surprise. Several skeletons were waltzing in the middle of the room. An ominous, dark green light illuminated the corridor. Dean wiped his eyes and looked again. They were still there. He walked into the room and saw a large table, covered in Halloween decorations and snacks and punch. Ghosts danced in the air and witches waddled together. Vampires and Mummies and Ghouls and every creature you could think of were gathered in the ball room. "I must be dreaming!" Dean said to himself.

Suddenly, Ms. Caroline Merrit appeared next to him. He looked at her in disbelief. She was dressed in a jet black gown. She looked at him with a smile on her face. "I told you there were more surprises."

"Is this a dream?" Dean asked her.

"You tell me." She said, laughing.

He looked around at all the creatures. "Where are all the students?" Dean asked noticing he hadn't seen a living soul besides Ms. Caroline Merrit.

"They're over there!"

She pointed at a group of 6 kids kids that looked about his age. The girls were wearing a blue jacket with skirts and the guys were wearing the same thing but with pants. They were all grouped up in a circle. Dean walked for a second, and looked back at Ms. Caroline. She motioned at him and he kept walking. The group turned around and looked at him. They looked as human as him, so he proceeded to walk towards them. "Hello! We heard that you're new here!" Said one of the girls.

Dean shook his head. "Sorry about all of this. We only do a party like this on Halloween. I know you're probably confused. I was when I first came here too. But it's as real as it gets." One of the guys piped in.

Dean didn't know what to say. He just looked around the room. "So, what's your name? They asked.

"Dean." He said, still gazing around the Ball Room.

"Nice to meet you Dean. I'm Katie, this is Annie, that's Amie, Marco, Nathan, and Zach."

They all raised their hands and waved at him. "Let's go get some punch." Amie said.

The other students agreed and walked over to the table. "Are you coming, Dean?" Nathan asked, looking back at Dean.

Dean shook his head and followed after them. They talked and talked for what felt like hours. Dean felt like he was at home now. Besides all of the creatures and ghosts, of course. They walked outside and immediately the chilly air of fall blanketed them. They were in a garden. Lanterns lit up the dark of the night. Pumpkins were scattered around the area. The moon was ironically full. Leaves were piled on the grass and the trees were bare. "I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm tired." Annie said.

The other students agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow Dean!" She said. They walked back into the building, leaving Dean all alone. He walked deeper into the garden and sat on a bench. The breeze blew leaves into the air. Dean felt tired as well, so he finally got up and walked into the school.

The next morning he got up and walked down to the Ball Room. In the middle of the room was a long table, that was covered with food. Dean walked in and saw all the students he had met yesterday sitting at the table next to each other. "Good morning." Dean said, as he pulled back a chair and sat next to Marco.

"Good morning!" They all said in unison.

The table was unnecessarily large, for a group of 7, including Ms. Caroline. It had several empty seats across the table. "Why is there so much extra food? We won't be able to eat that." Dean asked, staring at the chicken and the bread and the salad across the table.

"We're not the only ones in here. We have to feed the ghosts and the ghouls and the mummies and the vampires. But we can only see them on Halloween night. And they come out on Thanksgiving for the feast. That's why it looks empty." Annie explained.

Then, he noticed that a piece of some chicken was missing from the other side of the table. Dean wasn't as scared of the creatures as he was last night, but he still had an unsettling feeling of mystery. His head was still trying to wrap around what happened. After they ate breakfast, they went up to their rooms to study. (Yes, they had to study) After they studied, they all went outside and hung out. That was their daily schedule for the whole month. Then, Thanksgiving rolled around. Dean woke up and walked down to the Ball Room. His friends were setting up decorations on the walls, and he saw Ghosts and Vampires and Ghouls helping too. The Witches were using magic to help set up the table. Ghosts were flying around setting up decorations on the ceiling. Fake cobwebs hung from the chandelier and all the sconces on the wall. Zombies were mopping the floor (Though it wasn't doing much since they just drooled over it again).

Dean was motioned over to come and help and he did. Soon enough the room was filled with delicious food. It smelled like Thanksgiving. All the decorations were up, and the food was neatly placed on the long table. Ms. Caroline sat at the very end of the table. She was wearing an orange dress now. All of the students and the monsters sat down at the table. The mouth watering smell of Gravy and stuffing and Pumpkin Pie and Cornbread and Turkey and Mashed Potatoes and Cranberry sauce filled Deans nose. Ms. Caroline stood up and tapped a spoon on a metal goblet. The chattering stopped and everyone set their attention to her. "Welcome, everyone. Whether you're a ghost, a ghoul, a mummy, a witch, a vampire, a human, we are glad you're hear. Thank you all for helping with the food and the decorations. Enjoy the food!"

She sat back down and everyone started talking and eating. Then, Dean remembered something. His parents were picking him up this evening. He had wished he had not remembered that. Annie looked at him and noticed he was down. "Are you okay Dean?"

Dean looked up at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... my mom is picking me up tonight."

Annie looked at him with sorrowful eyes. "I'm sorry about that."

"It's ok. Don't worry about it." He said, eating a bite of Mashed potatoes. After the feast, they all spent time cleaning it up until the ball room was back to normal. Everyone left the room, except for Ms. Caroline. "Your mother should be arriving in a little bit."

Dean shook his head. "I know."

"Your things are already at the door." They walked to the front of the school and opened the front door. The cold air washed into the room like a cold wave. Just as the door opened, a black car pulled into the gravel driveway of the school. "There she is." Ms. Caroline said.

Dean grabbed his backpack and his suitcase and walked down the stairs. "Don't worry Dean, this won't be the last time you see us."

She winked and the doors closed. Dean turned back around and walked towards the car. He opened the door and set his stuff in the trunk. "So, how was it?" His mother asked.

Dean said, "I loved it. I really want to go back after Christmas! And for more than a month this time."

"You really liked it that much?" His mom asked.

Dean shook his head. "Well, I suppose we can send you back after Christmas." She said.

Dean smiled and sat back in his chair. He closed the door and the black car pulled away from the Redwood Boarding School for Young Men and Woman. Dust rose up in the air, as they drove away from the brick building.