The madness all started on a dark and stormy night at our beloved C-G High.

Waiting for the now-canceled homecoming soccer game, my friend Tommy Holczyski and I were watching the freshman volleyball game against Huntley.

Things were going just swell. People were laughing, we were cheering our Trojans on loudly, and concessions were running normally.

The peace and normalcy would not last.

After the game, we proceeded to the front lobby smiling with joy. We lost the game, but it was a lot of fun, and we all definitely had some laughs between us.

All of a sudden, we saw a winged creature flap in front of us.

Soon, the night became a different kind to remember.

Others exiting the game were among us during the commotion. People started screaming, and heads were ducking away from the enormous bat that flew in our midst.

To help out, my friend and I, along with most of the freshman ball boys who were meant to be on the field during the soccer game rushed to the front doors, holding them open as much as we could. Doing so, we could only hope that the creature flapped its way to our direction.

While we were doing this, some other ball boys and even some brave bystanders also tried to help get rid of the bat by tossing their belongings, such as rain coats and other personal items, up in the air at the creature as a means of moving the intruder out the door.

The creature, as hard as we tried, did not cooperate much.

Darting through the main lobby in a frantic frenzy, the large beast flew all over, eventually flying to and fro across senior hallway. It seemed that the creature could not be stopped on its rampage.

At the scene, I tried photographing the huge bat, but, instead, the beast almost made a run into my phone, so all I could take was a blurry shot of it winging away down the hall like a demon.

Running in order to get some aid, I missed the ending of this dastardly conflict. After interviewing eyewitnesses afterwards, however, I got a glimpse into the resolution.

“A janitor threw an umbrella at it,” said Luca Bajramovic, freshman soccer player and foiled ball boy. “It died.”

Apparently, after the long, hard struggle, a janitor with excellent aim hit the beast dead on and it succumbed to its death. The body was then extracted from the scene, leading the crowd to continue with what was left of their night. How they could continue on afterwards can only be imagined.

“It was pretty scary,” admitted freshman ball boy Colin McAlpine.

Looking back on the invasion, the bat is believed to have come in through an open doors in one of the gym locker rooms, though the theory is one of many. No matter the type of entrance it made, however, one thing is for sure: the bat certainly did cause a stir.

“I, for one, found it really entertaining,” Holczyski said after we walked away unscathed.

Thoughts on this experience certainly varied, but everyone can agree upon one thing: this truly was a night to remember.