The Mysterious Methods of the Roderick Bellsford School of Obedience and Discipline

By D.K. Deavers

Standing outside the creepiest building he has ever seen, Joshua Newman hesitates to walk through the gate. It is his first day at The Roderick Bellsford School of Obedience and Discipline. The school is recognized for effective punishment and successfully turning problem children into excellent students. But Joshua can see it is more than that. The faculty is scary, the building has a mind of its own and the kids that go to detention, never come back the same.

He’s been in a little trouble, a smart-mouthed prankster that likes to have a good time. So what? Don’t all kids hate school? Aren’t all kids looking for fun? Joshua fights resentment and anger toward his mother for sending him to this place while he tries to fit in and behave. He meets a quirky girl named Ashley, who proves to be an important sidekick when the weird get weirder and the scary get scarier.

Joshua has always had a special gift of discerning things that escape the notice of most people and he has dreams that seem to come true. With a little investigation and reliance on his gift, Joshua sees that the school’s success is not the result of proper disciplinary methods, but something more sinister and dangerous.

Can Joshua figure out the school’s secrets before he is sent to detention? Can he find a way to fight it? Or will he become a victim of the mysterious methods of the Roderick Bellsford School of Obedience and Discipline?

• Language: English
• Publisher: D.K. Deavers
• Release date: Sep 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463300336

D.K. Deavers

Scary stories have always fascinated Deanna. It started with The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson and has continued for decades in all formats like books, movies, ghost stories around a campfire and haunted tours. She’s a life-long reader which ramped up with her first job in high school at a B. Dalton Bookseller. This interest, combined with a love of writing led to her first young adult thriller that combines small-town horror and young love. She has two middle grade mystery and adventure novels that will be published soon along with a young adult paranormal trilogy. Deanna lives in WV with the love of her life, sharing their home with several reptiles and their fat cat, Heavy P. When not writing, she is reading, enjoying decades of music, watching college sports and working as an auditor in the insurance industry.

Book preview

The Mysterious Methods

of the

Roderick Bellsford School of Obedience and Discipline

D.K. Deavers

Copyright 2019 D.K.Deavers

Published by D.K. Deavers at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

I would like to thank Moose, for his love and unwavering support. He makes me feel like I can accomplish anything. Thanks to my son, Zachary for being the inspiration for Joshua. Thanks to my daughter Sydney for her editing and design input. Love and appreciation to my mother for her unconditional faith, and the rest of my family and friends for their encouragement. Finally, I wish my aunt, Ginger were here to read this book. I am grateful to her for many things but I believe my love of books and writing started with her.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

EPILOGUE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

OTHER BOOKS by D.K. DEAVERS

CHAPTER 1

PERCEVAL GRIMM

Joshua’s stare was returned by blazing, red eyes. He stepped back and looked away from the dark window. His stupid imagination again. Gravel crunched beneath his feet as he paced beside the rusty fence at the entrance of the Roderick Bellsford School of Obedience and Discipline. Students passed him by unaware of the anger that burned deep within his bones. He watched them jog up the sidewalk through the skeletal shadows of the trees, bare from the winter season. Resentment furrowed his brow but obligation forced him to follow.

As he reached the first step of the building entrance, Joshua allowed one last glance at the attic window and found the same red eyes staring back. A chill started at the base of his spine and burrowed up his back to leave the hairs on his neck standing on end. With a shiver, he stepped into his new school. Joshua scanned the hall then shoved through the crowd to the office. He pushed the door open to the man standing just behind it. Surrounded by pale, sagging skin, his squinty eyes sucked every ounce of courage from Joshua’s body. Beneath the old face was a dark suit and red bow tie. His head was topped with a thinning patch of gray hair.

Young man, where do you think you are going? May I remind you that the classrooms are the other way? the man said as his frown deepened.

I’m, uh, looking for the, um, principal. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the floor.

What is your business with him? he asked shifting his cold gaze to Joshua’s hands fumbling in his pocket. Stand up straight young man and speak clearly.

Joshua forced his mouth to form words. I’m new here.

The man focused his gaze as he raised his bushy eyebrows then said, Your name is Joshua Newman.

How did you––

The man laughed as he stepped aside. He pointed to his left and said, That way. Wait for me and do not disturb anything.

Joshua was reluctant to move until the man pointed his bony finger again. Walking past the secretary’s desk, he noticed her furry hat. He swore that he saw it wiggle as she smiled and told him Mr. Grimm wouldn’t bite. Joshua wasn’t convinced as he walked in cadence with the ticking of a clock toward the office at the end of the hall. The door hung partially open with the words MR. PERCEVAL GRIMM across it. He slipped through the door to the light of a dim lamp in the corner and spotted the loud clock right away. It hung next to a portrait of the man he just met. Pale and stern, the face in the portrait was young.

Moving closer, Joshua noticed a date scrawled at the bottom of the canvas that read 1872. Must be his great grandfather, Joshua thought. The man in the portrait was holding a rope, tied to a goat, lying on the ground. Looking closer, Joshua realized the goat was not lying down, but dead. A pool of blood surrounded the goat’s head and the longer he stared at the portrait, the bigger the pool grew. Unable to pull his eyes away, he slowly backed up until he stumbled over a rug on the floor. Catching the arm of the chair behind him, he finally looked down to see the rug was a bear-skin rug. A head. He tripped over a head? He looked closer to see it was more like a Bigfoot than a bear. Joshua looked back up at the portrait to find the goat standing beside its master and the pool of blood gone.

What the? he said as he blinked several times.

Gripping the arm of the chair, the smooth wood drew him away from the picture. He needed to sit down but found a stack of books on the seat. The title of the one on top caught his eye and his breath as he read, Torture of the Middle Grade Child. His heartbeat quickened as he stepped behind the chair. Out of here, I need to get out of here, he thought. He looked back to the portrait to find the goat dead again and decided it had to be a joke, a trick painting. Maybe there was a camera planted somewhere in the room. It was a sick joke. The faculty would laugh at him in the teachers’ lounge later.

Considering it all a joke made him feel better until the man appeared in the door with no warning. Standing there blocking the hallway light, Perceval Grimm looked as tall and menacing as the first time he had seen him. The man took two long strides and stood within two feet of Joshua. It was at this point that he looked into the man’s eyes. They weren't dark as he previously thought but a bright, electric blue. Like piercing a hole through Joshua’s head, the man peered into his thoughts. A sickness flowed through his body leaving him dizzy and weak. He let his eyes drop back to the book setting in the chair. It was thicker than he originally thought.

The principal grabbed the stack of books and set them on a table by the slaughtered goat portrait. Sit, Mr. Grimm said as Joshua fought the man’s odor of mildew and decay. He sat down in the chair facing the desk as the principal continued, Young man, do you have your transcripts from your previous school? He moved behind the desk and sat down. He then picked up a book from his desk and shoved it into a drawer to his left. Joshua caught a glimpse of the black book cover and saw a white five-point star enclosed by a circle.

Yes, Joshua said as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a yellow folder. This is stuff from my school. Joshua handed him the folder as his leg bounced up and down.

Be still boy, Grimm said and took the folder. He sat it down on his desk beside a giant paperweight that looked like an eyeball. Opening the folder, his eyes quickly scanned the first page. Appears you are a pest. Lazy, defiant and dishonest. He flipped to the next page. Things to cause your poor mother grief, to be sure.

Joshua rubbed his palms together between his knees and gritted his teeth as Mr. Grimm continued, Let me guess. You are always right? The teachers are always wrong and all this treatment is unfair? Nothing has been your fault?

Well–– Joshua stared into the eyeball paperweight.

And you are much smarter than everyone else around you? He looked up and set his glare on Joshua’s evading eyes. Am I correct Mr. Newman? Is that your story?

Um. Joshua moved his gaze to the file on the desk. Some of it was my fault but…you know…the teachers were trying to make it hard on me. And my mom just doesn’t get it.

Mr. Grimm’s mouth turned up slightly at the corners as he flipped another page. That is what they all say, Mr. Newman.

Joshua sighed and sat back in the chair preparing for a very familiar lecture as Mr. Grimm read the rest of the paperwork in silence. He scanned the office focusing on the odd portrait when the loud clock stopped ticking. The air was sucked from the room and dread replaced it. The clock hands stopped and the pendulum stalled to one side. The sickness in his stomach grew stronger as the hair on his arms raised like soldiers standing at attention. With the silence came voices from the office behind the wall where he was sitting. It was a welcome distraction from the man across the desk.

But Miss Moody, since the after-school detention, Trevor will hardly speak, he is pale and will not eat, the woman in the other office said.

Is he getting his homework done? Miss Moody asked.

Well, yes.

Is he treating you respectfully and did he discontinue the bullying of his little sister?

Well, yes. However, I am concerned about his appearance. The woman’s voice cracked with tears as she continued, He is not himself.

Is that not the point, Mrs. Malcolm? Miss Moody said and continued as Joshua turned slightly toward the wall. You enrolled him seeking assistance with discipline, academic achievement and behavior modification. We were successful in attaining those goals.

Mr. Grimm cleared his throat with a growl that started in his stomach. I understand your father was killed in a car accident last year? He said as he scribbled something on a piece of paper.

Pulled from the conversation behind the wall, Joshua turned back around then said, Uh-huh.

Excuse me? Grimm said.

Yes, Joshua said.

So, it is just you and your mother now?

Yes.

I suggest you do your best to behave in my school, or do not. But know, I will not tolerate disobedience, laziness or dishonesty, regardless of the cause. There will be consequences, Mr. Newman. You can be certain of that. Am I understood?

Yes.

Yes, what? Mr. Grimm said.

Yes, sir, Joshua said, head drooped, talking to the Bigfoot skin on the floor.

Very well. Report to Mrs. Perkins for your textbooks and schedule of classes, he said as the clock started ticking again.

Walking from the room, Joshua chanced one last look over his shoulder and saw Perceval Grimm remove the black book from the drawer and open it to the first page. Fear gripped his gut as he watched the man fold the paper he had been writing on and place it in the book. As he walked down the hall, he sensed someone watching, if not walking right behind him. He quickened his steps until he reached the end and stood before Mrs. Perkins and her furry hat. She smiled at him revealing a set of green teeth as she handed him a stack of books and his schedule.

Good luck, child, she replied while petting her hat. You’re going to need it.

PLAIN Ol' JOSH

The glass fogged up with Joshua’s breath. He grasped his backpack strap and stared through the windowpane of the old wooden door. The moisture evaporated allowing him a glimpse of the short, round man. Dark hair topped a face dominated by a long nose with black framed glasses on the tip. Joshua strained to hear his voice as the teacher moved to the back of the room. To be sure, he looked at the schedule one last time.

7th Grade Language Arts – Mr. Shortbottom – Room 111

He glanced at the 111 on the wooden door in front of him as he reached for the knob.

The squeak of the hinges alerted the class to his intrusion. Joshua searched the room for an empty seat as Mr. Shortbottom turned in an aisle, bumping the students with his generous girth. His eyes found the boy at the front of the room as he waddled forward.

Who are you and why are you interrupting my class? Shortbottom said.

I'm new, Joshua said as all those eyes watched him.

Name?

J-Joshua.

OK, J-Joshua. Find a seat. Quiet giggles erupted in the room.

Joshua slid into a seat at the very back of the room and swallowed the lump in his throat. He heard Shortbottom reviewing verb conjugation as he removed a notebook and pen from his backpack. Of all the eyes still focused on him, it was the bright blue pair directly in front of him that he noticed. A smile played around the lips beneath the eyes as the girl they belonged to whispered, Welcome.

I don't feel it, Joshua said.

What? she said.

Welcomed.

No one does. Let me see your schedule, she said reaching back. He took the folded piece of paper and passed it to her.

She unfolded his schedule and read it quickly. She smiled again then folded the paper and handed it back. We have four classes together.

Lucky me, Joshua said and put it in his pocket.

The girl rolled her eyes as she whispered, Yeah, you are.

Thumbing through his textbook for the correct page, Joshua heard the teacher but couldn't see him. Leaning to the side to look down the aisle, he realized the man was barely taller than the bottom of the blackboard. He got out paper wrote the date at the top of the page as he fought to swallow the lump that had returned. The class couldn’t end