The Girl Who Couldn't Kill

Chapter 19-Person in Balaclava

Dressed in black from head to toe, the figure had a Balaclava over their head with two holes showing cold green eyes. The hilt of a blade stuck out of their hand like a sore throat, the silver of the blade reflecting off the dim light. The walls felt like they were narrowing when the figure started to move in closer. Rory held up her switchblade, just as Ms. Ku grabbed a chair to shield her.

"Stay away, don't touch the kids." Even though she was around 65 years old, her voice was rigid and her stance showed many years of life experiences.

The figure took a few steps back, not expecting the librarian's outstanding tone of voice. Most of the students had run back the other way and now it was just the three of them standing face to face.

Rory's hands were trembling but she held firmly on her own blade.

A dark shape illuminated in front of her ironically, it was faceless with empty sockets and a stitched mouth. Blood trickled from her fingertips and seeped into the open cracks of her palm. One drop, two drops, three drops, until a puddle started to form into a pond of vermilion.

Her dream resurfaced in her mind, she started to panic, her breath picking up speed.

No. She couldn't possibly kill.

She forced the memory out of her mind.

The figure lunged forward to swing at Ms. Ku, knocking her off balance for a split second before she bounced back to throw the chair in the direction of their feet. They tripped over the metal chair and plunged face-first towards the ground. Rory ran to stand in front of Ms. Ku, now that the shield was gone.

In one full swing, Rory kicked the knife out of the figures' hand, planting her feet on their lower back. Even though Rory wasn't tall, she had a black belt in Taekwondo, so naturally, the strength in her feet was enough to minimize their movements. She bent down in a flash to pinch the nerves in their arms to temporarily numb their nerves. Their body went limp on the floor.

Just as Rory was about to rip the balaclava off the intruder's face, a voice shouted, "Who's there??"

Rory jumped at the sound of the illuminating voice and lost her grip and pressure on the figure, they momentarily squirmed but pried themselves away from Rory's grasp. She yelped as they pushed her to the floor and started bolting out the nearest door.

"No!" Rory yelled. She chased the figure down the hallway until a hand flew up her shoulder to a halt. It was Mr. Volkov, he had a baseball bat in his hand. Rory had forgotten that she had messaged him for help when she had discovered the note that Autumn left for her.

"Rory! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Mr. Volkov was in casual clothing. It seemed like he had rushed over from his home.

"Yeah I'm fine," said a little annoyed. "But they got away." She looked out the glass doors as the shadow disappeared into the darkness with a neon green bike. Paddling away she analyzed the body shape of the person. Possibly a teenage boy. Around five foot eight, a fragile build, and a slightly slouched posture; surely, it could be anyone, but it was hard to tell.

Rory knew it was unsafe to go after a killer but Volkov interrupted her from discovering the identity of the killer.

Something she had been dreaming to find out.

"Don't be so worked up, it's dangerous to chase after a killer. I'm glad I came by just in time. You guys could've been seriously hurt." He gestured towards the librarian who had grabbed the thrown chair and was leaning on it. Rory was surprised that it didn't break in half with all the force she had given it.

"But you saw, I was this close to finding out who the killer is." Rory made a small indication with her fingers."

"Was it worth getting hurt though?" He said softly, trying to maintain harmony.

"I had kicked the knife out of their hand. The most was probably a punch in the face or something." Rory started to argue and fluster.

"Rory, you should leave that to the adults, this isn't an argument." Mr. Volkov said sternly. "I get that you are trying to help."

Volkov gave a small pat on the arm and stalked over to the traumatized lady and started to comfort her, in return, she started to speak at full speed while thanking and bowing to him continually.

Rory was left in a daze. This was probably the worst-case timing for Volkov to show up. She wanted to be the one to reveal the identity of that coward. But instead, she let them get away, and possibly hurt more people in the future.

She was angry at herself and the bad timing but she was too drained to do anything about it and surely arguing with Volkov won't prove her point. So she thanked the two of them and was assured that everything that had happened would be reported to the board immediately and that Volkov was going to suggest a quarantine for the time being, at least until whoever was under the balaclava was found. He announced that he wasn't going to risk another student being hurt.

"This is insane. I thought they had already caught the student behind all the shenanigans." Rory heard Volkov say to himself as Ms. Ku insisted that she escort back her back to her dorm in case the intruder came back.

When Rory reached the lonely dorm that now belonged to her, she said good night and unlocked her door, using the keycard from her lanyard.

She lay in her bed until all the energy she had released this following week was replaced with thoughts of reminiscence and drifted into a deep dream of nostalgia. She was transported back to a time when laughter filled the void instead of sorrow and grief.