v2.0, C11.3

I’m so sorry that I forgot to post this yesterday.

And to Katherine: I’m really really sorry that I have to put you thorough this.

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In C11.2:

“Why are you asking, anyway? Is it…”

“STOP MOVING, for heaven’s sake.” The nurse glared at him. “Are you ADHD or something?”

-

Anyway, here it is!

-

I slammed my locker shut and stretched, sighing in relief. Cleaning it had been an extremely arduous task, what with the honey mixing with ink and making everything look like it’d been submerged into a vat of fleeing octopi.

Then I realised that the hall was completely deserted. Where had everyone gone? I looked at my watch. Oh heck, I was late for AP Art. I bit my lip. Fortunately, it wasn’t maths, or Mr Thompson would flay me alive. He hadn’t taken my frequent absenteeism very well.

Soft footsteps echoed from the stairwell beside me. Oh no. That had better not be a teacher. I rushed off in the opposite direction, towards the art block.

As I passed an alcove, something glinted in my peripheral vision. Before I could process that, someone bashed into my side, knocking me into the wall. I heard my shoulder crunch under the force of hitting the wall. Oh, this was going to hurt really bad.

He came at me again. I swayed, pretending to faint. Then I dropped down as he slammed into the wall. He grunted. Something hard and metallic fell onto the ground beside me. A knife?

My mind caught up to me then and I ran. God. How had he come into the school? Was he the same attacker…

A hand grabbed a shoulder, twisting me around. I twirled away and ran in the opposite direction. Crap. The stairs. I needed to lose him. Thankfully, I knew the school compound better than some of my friends from my explorations. Right. Go down, turn right, then left… that should get me to the art department? Yes. I hurtled down the stairs, the assailant hard on my heels. Come on, put some distance between yourself and that man. Longer strides now…

*

“You don’t want to kill the bunny?” There was a slight pause as the grey man flicked his eyes towards the window. “Well, more lessons for you, then.”

The girl stared at the ground resolutely, biting her lip. Her expression was carefully composed, her face completely devoid of emotion as she glanced outside the window.

Then something flickered in her eyes.

The grey man seemed to notice the change in her. Now his voice took on a sweet honeyed quality. “I’ll give you a choice this time.”

She started almost imperceptibly. Slowly, she lifted her face to regard the grey man. Shock radiated from her still figure. He smiled. “Would you like knife-throwing or combat skills?”

The girl seemed to steel herself. “Can… may I choose Language?”

The grey man smiled mirthlessly. “Of course you may. I’ll have a word with…” He glanced at the window momentarily. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

The girl glanced fleetingly at the window behind the grey man.

“You know what will happen if you touch anything that’s forbidden, yes?” He smiled thinly, walking out of the room briskly. The door slid closed with a soft whoosh that sent a gust of cold air up the girl’s white cotton trousers.

But she did not shiver.

Instead, she stayed perfectly still for a few moments. After ten seconds, she stood up and began walking towards the window. The Blue Giants didn’t seem to be patrolling out there today. Turning back to the room, she glared at its interiors. The wooden chair that she had been sitting on withered under her gaze. Sauntering to one side of the room, she looked at the labels on the cabinets lining the wall with curiosity. Then with one hand, she reached out tentatively to touch the first drawer. She stayed completely still for a few heartbeats. Her fingers quivered in anticipation. But nothing happened. All was silent. There was an obvious absence of the tingling sensation that had surged through her body once.

All the tension in her body dissolved. Straining to contain her excitement, she reached out again to grab hold of the handle. Then she pulled the drawer towards her. She winced as a sharp squeal punctuated the omnipresent silence that hung like a cumulonimbus cloud in the room. Then she looked into the drawer. What she saw inside baffled her. But this couldn’t be… he said… who’s he? What was I supposed to do? Ah, right. Retrieve the… Wait. What was I supposed to…

My head throbbed painfully. Blackness dissolved into various shades of grey and pale blue. Grey? Wasn’t that in my… dream? No. Nightmare? Not quite. What had I been experiencing?

Then I became aware of the amount of noise around me. By the sounds of it, dozens of herds of elephants were trumpeting their heads off while trampling on dry ground, with parrots cawing madly in the background because…

“… I’m serious, Geoff. What did you do to her?”

It made my head hurt even more badly.

“Hell, I don’t care if you don’t believe me. I did nothing. I told you. I was…”

I groaned.

The cacophony ceased at once. Only then did I realise that it was so silent that I could hear the hum of the air-conditioning over my ragged breathing. Ragged breathing?

“Katherine, can you hear me?” Someone knelt beside me, smoothing my hair from my face.

“Obviously she…”

“Shut the hell up, Geoff,” the person snapped.

I blinked rapidly. Bright light seared my retina. I shut my eyes immediately.

“Kath!” Another person exclaimed. “Thank goodness you…”

“I told you there wasn’t anything wrong…”

“I told you to shut up,” the first person growled.

I sensed someone bending over me. I closed my eyes. Why was the wall red? Was I in the art department? No, that couldn’t be. Wasn’t I getting paint from my locker when I had that dream… no, wait, I was being chased by that… assailant? Assassin? Who the hell was he and what was he doing in the school? Then I managed to get my eyes open without them tearing up.

The walls were red. How did I come to be in the art block?

“Are you…” Anne turned to me, frowning.

There was a sharp intake of breath a few feet away. I heard someone take a step towards me.

“Stay away!” Now I recognised Rachel’s voice as she moved in front of us.

“Oh please,” Anne huffed. “You’re so skinny you won’t be able to fend him off.” She glanced in concern at me when I opened my eyes again.

“Katherine, please, tell them…” Geoff began.

“Did you not hear me when I told you to shut the hell up?” Anne glared at him.

Utterly dumbfounded, Geoff spoke again. “But I did not..”

I felt Anne tensing. Oh no. This might just turn out to be a full-blown war.

“Let him speak,” I interceded.

“But he…” Rachel began.

“I’ve been trying to tell you two goons what happened this past five minutes, but will you listen?” Geoff drawled.

I looked at Anne warningly as she tensed again.

He continued, “I did not do anything to her. She was…”

“Is he telling the truth?” Rachel interrupted.

“Of course I’m telling the truth. Like I said, I came along…” Geoff blustered. His voice faltered as Anne turned her striking hazel eyes upon him.

I muttered, “He didn’t do anything…”

“Don’t stand up for him, Katherine. Come on, you have to see the nurse.” Rachel put her arm around my shoulders carefully.

“There you are, Katherine! Mr Grimm was just wondering where you’d…” Erica’s small slim figure appeared at the end of the corridor. I looked at her. She stared open-mouthed back at me. Then she looked at Geoff and cold, terrible fury ravaged her sweet, innocent face. I closed my eyes in disbelief.

“You’re so not going to get away with this!”

Then I heard a resounding slap. It echoed in the empty hallway. I opened my eyes in shock as I saw Geoff stagger backwards.

“You… you’re disgusting! How can you…”

Oh flipping heck. “Listen, he didn’t do anything to me.” I sat up shakily. Damn that splitting headache. “He wasn’t even there when…” When what had happened?

“Then how did…” Erica winced as she looked at me.

Suddenly I had a hunch that the headache wasn’t all that I’d been plagued with. Had I knocked myself badly on the way here? But I mustn’t have bled, else Rachel would have been a lot paler. Or had I? She did look a bit paler than usual.

“Look. I couldn’t have done that even if I wanted to. And I don’t. I… I may be a bully but I’m not a monster.” Geoff held up his hands in a placating gesture as Erica and Anne glared at him.

Rachel frowned. “He’s right. Look. There are no bruises, no… no marks at all.”

“Oh yeah, right. I forgot. You’re not at all monstrous, are you, Geoff?” Anne looked at him coldly.

“I’m not…”

“How dare you! You ***king…” Erica began.

A door opened and someone stuck her head out of the dark room. “Will you please keep quiet? We’re having digital… Oh…”

There was a thud as the petite blond fainted in the doorway. Someone parted the black cloth that covered the doorway. “Bren… Oh my god!” The dark-haired girl stared straight into my eyes. “Ms Vaughn!” she screamed.

It seemed to me that the girls in the whole class began screaming together then. My head began to pound from all the drama around me. “Will someone please just tell me what…”

“What do you mean, my sister…” Another person poked his head out of the door. “Sis!” Bro rushed over to my side. “What happened… You.” He turned an accusing gaze onto Geoff. “What did you do to…”

I closed my eyes tight. Oh, why did everyone accuse Geoff of what ’s wrong with me? What was wrong with me anyway?

“Stop accusing him. He didn’t do anything!” I closed my eyes.

“I told you…”

“What do you mean, he didn’t do anything?” Bro shouted.

“SILENCE!” Ms Vaughn commanded.

The ringing in my ears ceased. Ah, bliss.

“Stacey, Clara – get Brenda to the sick bay. The rest of you,” she paused, consulting her watch. “You’re dismissed early. Alright. Get going now. No crowding around Ms Brown.”

As she made her way towards me, I realised that there was no way that she would be able to carry me to the sick bay. Tucking my legs under me, I reached out to place my hand on the floor.

Then I realised that my whole arm was soaked.

I watched in fascination as a drop of bright red liquid rolled down my wrist and dripped onto the floor. Then pain exploded in my mind, and I was oblivious to everything else.

-

The characters list is up (click the tab beside “note.”)