Undead (Alisa Rose #1)[COMPLETED]

-Six-

I was sitting in my classroom, trying to pay attention to whatever Mr. Cruz was droning on about when the scream hit. It was faint, muffled by the walls, but I knew that voice anywhere.

Bryce.

Without thinking, I was out of my chair and halfway to the door before anyone could stop me. Mr. Cruz barely got a word out before I bolted into the hallway, heart pounding. The scream had come from Bryce's classroom, and every nerve in my body was on high alert. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

As I skidded to a stop outside his room, the door was ajar. The other students were in a hushed, awkward silence, some of them staring at Bryce. He was frozen by his desk, wide-eyed, clutching a piece of paper so hard his knuckles had turned white.

I pushed through the doorway, ignoring the looks. "Bryce?"

He didn't answer, just kept staring at the paper like it might bite him.

"Hey!" I tried again, louder this time, walking up to him. I grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn toward me. His face was pale, his usual snark gone, replaced by something raw and terrified.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

He blinked, finally noticing me there, and with trembling hands, he thrust the paper at me. I took it from him, glancing down—and my stomach dropped.

The paper was stained with dark, dried blood. At first glance, it looked like some twisted artwork, but the message was clear, written in jagged letters that seemed to scream off the page:

"YOU DON'T BELONG HERE."

I swallowed hard, the rage already bubbling beneath my skin. "Who the hell did this?"

Bryce shook his head. "I don't know... I found it in my bag after break. Alisa... I think someone's following me."

The urge to punch something—anything—was overwhelming. My fingers twitched with the desire to burn this whole school down if that's what it would take to find whoever thought they could threaten Bryce like this.

"Alright, we're not staying here," I said, my voice low, the anger barely restrained. "We're going to the office, we're telling the staff, and we're gonna find out who did this. Now."

Bryce looked up at me, the fear slowly fading into exhaustion. "What if they don't believe us?"

I scoffed. "They'll believe me."

By the time we left the office, the faculty had made all the right noises—concerned faces, empty promises of 'we'll investigate,' and the usual round of 'we take these matters seriously.' But I knew better. They wouldn't do anything. Not really. The school was too focused on maintaining its shiny reputation to admit there might be a problem like this on campus.

I had Bryce's back. I always would.

But it wasn't over. I knew it wasn't.

Later that day, I spotted them. Lydia and Eddie, leaning against the lockers, laughing. Laughing as if they hadn't just made my best friend's life hell. As if everything was one big joke. I felt the fury rise in me again, faster this time, hotter.

Bryce had been so quiet since we left the office, but the second he saw them, his whole demeanor changed. His fists clenched, his jaw tightened, and before I could stop him, he was marching toward them, eyes blazing.

"Bryce!" I called after him, but he didn't stop.

Lydia's smirk grew the second she saw him, and Eddie just leaned back, waiting for whatever drama was about to unfold. I could feel the tension building as I caught up to Bryce, his hand already halfway to Eddie's collar.