The Spectre

Chapter 1: The Attack

Background Song: Yes I'm A Mess- AJR

On November 28th 2023, a student of a local high school was attacked by a group of wannabe gangsters , people only watched, and the student was dragged away by them.Among those watching was George Cauldway, who despite his parents being wealthy, was unhappy with his life, unhappy with his looks, unhappy with his weight, unhappy about how his parents were always either gone or spending time with his younger brother, unhappy how his parents just gave him money instead of love, unhappy about every part of him. There was one plus to being ignored by his family however, no one looked at what he was doing, what he was spending on, not even where he went all the time. See. George loved the idea of comic book heroes, the romantic idea of becoming a costumed vigilante consumed him, so he hired someone to make him a custom suit. A black and gray body armor, light but decently protective, certainly not bulletproof, hell it wasn't even knife proof, gloves, gripped ones, padded shoes, a gas mask, covered the face and looked cool, so he used it. Finally a cloak, it was a hood with a cape, he had his costume, but he never would have dared to use it, Until the 29th, the day after a student was beaten and taken into the school in front of dozens of others, this student, Adam Jackson, was like the others who had been taken, a student no one cared for, no one would look for, that the police would probably mislabel as a runaway and any death labeled a suicide. He donned his outfit and climbed out his window, he walked to the school under the cover of darkness, making sure not to be seen, a costumed vigilante in the small town would be big news, he wasn't here for news, he was here to figure this out, and report it to the police. He had brought gear with him too, in his pockets and a bag, pepper spray, in case he had to deal with anyone at the school, a taser, for the same reason, non lethal obviously, he would never kill anyone, not because of a code of heroism or something corny like that, but because he would always feel that guilt, and he would be a serious criminal. He brought a battery powered flashlight, for obvious reasons, a journal, where he would write his findings and thoughts, a camera, for pictures of evidence, and finally, chewing caramels, because of his sweet tooth. He entered the school from a slightly open window, he had to be careful to avoid the janitors and school security, it was only 5:30. He found the spot, school cafeteria, still uncleaned from the day prior, drops of blood stained the floor, darkened and dried, beaten from Adam during the scuffle, he examined it and followed the trail of blood drops, he saw a janitor in a classroom, and ran by the door, the janitor didn't even notice, thinking the footsteps being from a simple guard. He saw the blood led to a door, but it was locked, he would have to find the key another time, he started making his way to his entry way, he was spotted by a guard but he escaped the guard by quickly ducking and diving through rooms, he knew the ins and outs of the school, and he got out of there. He walked home as it started raining, he had made progress, not a lot of it, but still progress, he would find out the truth about his fellow students soon enough, he would not let others stop him. He climbed back in through the window, the room was left undisturbed, his room was furthest from the rest, and it was unlikely they would check on him for anything other than holidays or important things, he took off the whole outfit and put it back in the secret part of his closet, he climbed into bed and had to head to sleep, tomorrow was sunday, a chance to find the key, the guards take sunday morning off, and the janitors take the whole day off. He would find it tomorrow, he had to.