Suspension

Chapter 2

My heart beat hard against my chest and I breathed with shallow breaths. Everyone seemed to be frozen.

"What the...." I heard and I jumped. Alex was standing up behind me, poking his mates. I shook my head at him and glanced over at Reece. He was still writing. I cleared my throat trying to get his attention and he jerked his head up.

"Wow...what?" He muttered. We all turned to look at Elizabeth Rose, seconds before she whimpered and crumpled to the ground.

*

Within ten minutes, we had assessed the situation. Almost everyone, except for the four of us, had been frozen solid. Although they did not look cold, they had stopped moving. It was as though they were in some kind of suspension- frozen in time. But the only problem with that was that there were four of us who were still alive and well.

Whether everyone else would ever wake up again was a mystery. I felt around in my bag until I found what I was looking for.

"Aha!" I said, holding up my Swiss army knife in success.

"Dude..." Reece mumbled in awe. "Do they not search you for that? I thought you could get suspended for having a knife."

"Technically, it's not a knife. It has a screwdriver and a spoon in there too- it's multipurpose. Besides, I'm a good student. No one would ever search me for a knife. Also, when I walk home, I like to have protection- just in case." I trailed off. I did use it for protection when I walked home, but I had a secret that; knowing the circumstances we were in, I might have to give up.

I rolled my eyes at Alex. He was cradling Elizabeth Rose's body in his lap. I heard a crash from the room next door and stood up. It hadn't occurred to me that there would be other survivors.

"Stay here with Alex, Reece. I don't want him taking advantage of the situation. She isn't Sleeping Beauty but I'm not too sure he knows that." I ordered.

"I'm not letting you go out there alone, Lia. I think I should go." Reece said. I laughed silently and shook my head.

"I'll be fine, trust me." I wasn't going to tell him about my martial arts skills just yet. "Plus, I know the school better than you. I know the other kids better than you. Please. I'll be fine."

I opened the door to the classroom and stepped out silently. I looked left and then right. The crash had come from the left. I opened the door and gave a sigh of relief.

There in the corner, trembling and cowering, was Carolyn. I ran to her and picked her up. I swung her around, ignoring the frozen bodies around me. She clung on to me.

"Oh, Lia, I'm so glad you're alive. I'm so happy you're here. Where is my brother? Is he ok?" She hugged me and I put her down. She trembled, expecting bad news.

"He's busy playing Prince Charming to Sleeping Beauty, next door." I pointed and shook my head. She hugged me again in glee.

"Oh, I'm so glad that he's ok. I was so scared, Lia, you know? But now that I know you and Alex are ok, I'm not scared anymore. Actually, I'm very scared; what the hell is happening, Lia?"

Carolyn was one of those overly spoken types. She spoke her thoughts and barely shut up. She was bubbly. She used to be the annoying little sister of your boyfriend that always wanted to be included in everything that you and him did but after a while you realised that it was just because she didn't have many friends of her own. But she was probably my best friend.

"Why has this happened to everyone? Why not us? Is there anyone else? Is it just our school or is it everywhere? Lia, please tell me you have some answers because I am honestly.....Oh....My....God....Lia-" Carolyn squeaked. She backed away from me into the corner again and I heard a growl. I pivoted around slowly.

"Carolyn, don't make another sound. I've got this."

Carolyn obliged by closing her eyes. I knew she was imagining her happy place. Her happy place, as she had told me many times before, was a paradise beach. Only the most important people were with her in that happy place, she had said.

I was scared out of my wits but I swallowed it down and stalked forward. I winced as I brushed past a frozen person. There, chewing on the arm of who I knew to be Delta was a black creature that resembled a shadow.

It looked to be a mix of human and animal, with huge, sharp teeth which first broke off Delta's frozen arm and then gnawed at it like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn.

It was quite disturbing to watch and I knew that although Delta had picked on Carolyn quite a bit, she didn't deserve this. I picked up the nearest pencil case and threw it at the creature. I was surprised to see the impact.

I don't know what I was expecting. I think that because it looked like a shadow, I expected for the pencil case to fall to the floor. I pulled my school dress off, revealing a black singlet and black shorts. They were pretty revealing but what with my secret and all, I thought I'd be fine.

"Hey," I shouted at the creature. It left its meal and started towards me. I smiled, "bring it on."

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I wrote this a while back, so I have quite a few chapters, I'll just upload them all now. I had a huge spout of writers block and haven't continued it but if ig et enough reads, i'll definitely try.

-b3nn3tt