Let Me Carry You (Carry You Home)

19: Under Attack

It was a quiet spring day in Seattle, and the windows were cracked open, letting the cool breeze dance around the room, gently ruffling Sarah's hair. 

From the guidance counsellor's office, Sarah could hear the birds singing melodies to one another outside, and feel the rays of sun spilling in through the curtains.

Sarah shook herself out of her trance and realized that she had left her math textbook in her locker. She sighed, frustrated at her mistake that would cost her five flights of stairs each way. Sarah let the counsellor know, and assured that she would be back in five minutes. 

While Sarah ascended the stairs, she despised how pathetic and weak she felt. The mental and physical exhaustion of being tormented and targeted like she had been was indescribable.  It seemed to eat away at her heart, leaving behind a husk, a shell of herself. 

Sarah finally reached her locker, panting after all the stairs, grabbed the book and then began the journey back down the stairs.

Each step felt like an eternity. 

As Sarah was walking down to the third floor, she felt a foot on her back, kicking her down the stairs. Sarah yelled, falling down the concrete stairs and slamming into the wall. Stars flooded her vision as she attempted to collect herself. She looked up, and saw Colin and his gang laughing as they came up to her. 

Horrified, she tried to crawl away, but one of his friends snagged her by the ponytail and pulled her upright.

"You didn't say anything, did you, you little bitch?" Colin demanded, glaring at her with hatred.

"I didn't! I swear!" Sarah pleaded, and Colin scoffed with disgust. "Then how come you're hiding in the guidance counsellors office all day now? You're hiding from me. You told," he insisted.

"No, I didn't! I didn't say anything!" Sarah insisted louder this time.

Colin shook his head. "You're lying. I say we teach her a lesson. This is what happens when you lie to us!" Colin declared, and his cronies cheered.

The gang of teenaged boys kicked Sarah down another flight of stairs and before she could scramble away, dragged her into the teacher's bathroom, where they began to beat her. She felt their punches leave their mark, but several in particular were done with the intention to break. Sarah screamed as one stomped on her ankle, wrenching it at angle with so much power that she could feel the bone dislocate itself from the socket. She was their punching bag, their guinea pig...

She was nothing to them. Less than dirt. Punch after punch, and kick after kick, Sarah's spirit broke.

Why did everything seem to happen to her? What did she do wrong to offend Colin?

And this attack was nothing like she'd ever known. The boys had targetted her a handful of times ever since the initial threat just for a couple of punches, yet what was happening right now, her ankle so painfully out of the socket, her ribs feeling cracked, was not comparable in the least to what she'd faced before. As Sarah laid on the floor, bleeding, broken and already bruised, she was waiting for the attacks to be over, waiting for the moment she could finally breathe. She was terrified that they'd kill her.

Then, there was a rock hitting the bathroom window, the impact making a popping noise, and everyone seemed to pause. Just as the boys went to continue with the assault, there was another cracking of stone against glass, confusing the group enough for them to turn around. With the disruption, Colin and his cronies stopped and looked for the source of the noise.

"What was that?" Colin demanded. Sarah had an overwhelming feeling that she'd never had before, one that told her that this was her chance. She could almost hear a whisper in her head, saying for her to get ready to run.