upon our land • s. kalivoda

five

"she's here! she's here, we saw her!" simon yells in a panic. "she was terrifying and fucking crazy! she was doing it, following the blood trails!" he exclaims as we skid to a stop before the others.

"it's working."

"freak, three o'clock," i say, pointing towards tommy slater. all of these people deserved better than what they got. but i guess nobody really ever gets happy endings, and i'm bound to find that out.

"they're all here." i feel simon push me closer against the wall to make sure i don't even get a scratch. i hold in my breath, praying nothing distracts them and they stay clear to their mission. once they all pass, i let out a shaky breath before moving from the wall to grab a fire extinguisher as sam kicks the vent out and climbs down.

deena lights a match and throws it at the door before running back down the hallway with us before flames erupt from the door. i grab simon's hand, squeezing it as my mind races with anxiety. what if this doesn't work? what if the whole school explodes? what if i die? what if he dies?

he gives it a light squeeze back before smiling at me, giving me a kiss on the top of my head and pulling me in front of him.

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"let's see you come back from that, motherfuckers!" simon yells, full of confidence. it was over! we made it. i was going out with simon. i could finally tell him those three words i've been waiting to say.

"oh my gosh, we did it! simon-" i turn to him with a smile but we were all distracted by a pile on the floor moving. then the walls. "what the fuck..?" i move my line of vision to the same thing josh is looking at. a hand forming out of the ground.

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"nevermind, shit did NOT work," i say as we all barge into a random classroom, simon immediately locking the door. deena starts pushing the desk in front of the door, and i try to think of a plan.

"help us! come on, they're coming!" deena yells.

'and they're gonna keep coming!" kate yells and everyone stops.

"we are fucked!" simon shouts.

"no! no, we are not fucked. she's fucked." kate motions to sam.

"yeah. they are coming for her." i agree, frantically nodding. "we put sam in the hall, we end this now." and kate nods along with me.

"you guys are monsters." deena says walking up to us.

"we are being reasonable," i argue.

"we can't run anymore. sure, a bullet won't stop them, fine. they're really strong. but we just tried to goddamn explode them, and that didn't work!" kate screeched.

"you're suggesting killing her." she replies.

"you would sacrifice your best friends, your brother, for a high school girlfriend. you might love her now, but there will be plenty of others in the future! you would sacrifice four other people just to save one, and it might not even work! you'd let us all die to protect her. sounds about right." i yell.

"selfish deena, as always," i mutter before rolling my eyes and walking over to where simon was standing.

"this is the way." kate starts. "it's the only way, sam's got to go."

"are you kidding me?" deena yells at us and i scoff. god, she is so selfish.

"no. they're right." sam says, holding back tears. "i don't want you guys to die for me. i'm going. i'm ending this." she finishes, looking over at deena.

"thank you, sam."

"shut up, tatum! no you're not, are you crazy?" she replies walking over to sam, pressing their foreheads against one another.

"i'm sorry," she whispers before walking over to the door. deena yells for sam but for some reason my hearing is fuzzy, and my heart was thudding in my chest, echoing into my ears.

blood was pounding in my ears, breath increasing quickly. my chest started growing tight, tears forming and hands shaking. this was all gonna go to shit, i could feel it in my heart. it felt as if my blood was running faster, and my heart was going to explode.

"what's going- i don't.." i slid down a wall, curling myself into a ball.

third person pov

tatum was trying to make herself feel as small as possible. her mouth was dry and it felt as if someone had their hands wrapped around her neck. she scratched at the area gasping for air but couldn't seem to find any. this only made her tears fall harder and she started squirming.

"please, i don't.. what's happening?" she said in between coughs and cries. simon immediately went to sit right next to her, grabbing her and pulling her into his lap. they had been through this before. she had regular panic and anxiety attacks, he knew how to deal with them.

"get off of me! get off, get off, get off!" she screamed, it felt as if her whole world was spinning around her and she was looking through a fish-eye lens. tatum kicked and screamed, scratching at her wrists and throat.

"hold the door!" simon yelled, but all she could hear was the pounding in her ears and chest. he held her back with all of his strength, trying to make sure she couldn't hurt herself.

"please. please, let me go." tatum stopped straining and was now only sobbing in simon's arms.

"breathe. breathe for me, tatum." he held her face and looked into her eyes. he had never seen so much emotion. so much fear. despair. anger. fire.

"please. i can't- i can't breathe." the world was quiet. time was paused. it was just simon and her. she scratched at her throat, mouth open, gasping for air. she focused on simon, his breathing, his eyes. at once she was calm, catching her breath, calming down. one last tear fell before she wiped them away. they both nodded and stood up.

first person pov

"i'm fine." i say. "oh, shit!" i run to go help block the door.

"the rhyme! guys, the rhyme!" deena yells.

"she'll take your blood, she'll take your head." simon starts.

"she'll follow you until your dead..." i finish.

"what are you saying/" kate asks.

"fuck it. I'm dying tonight one way or another." sam replies.