Chapter 5: Pieces of a Puzzle
Meanwhile, my history teacher runs into the main gymnasium. He tells story in his point of view:
“I hung up on the third (Tibby) and ran to the gym. Ammut was there. I could feel her coming there. Her majesty erupted onto the on looking eyes of the sixth graders in the gym. The ceiling was raining debris. They shield their heads and duck under anything they can. I look back to Ammut. She is enormous – at least four times the size of any human. I burst in fell to my knees. I was in complete shock. I was in her presence. She yelled and began speaking to me – ‘You, my servant, have done me well.’ I began chanting spells. ‘What can I do for you, my queen?’ I ask. ‘Bring me more! More souls! Then the Endless Storm will begin!’ she replied. Then suddenly her hands erupt in lightning into the children’s eyes. Their eyes turned white – neon white - and then, like a light, just went out. Their eyes, they did. Then the students fell. ‘They shall not remember this moment.’ She says. ‘I shall grant my army the power of sinning. They can sin whoever they want.’ ‘Thank you, my queen.’ I reply. I change the subject. ‘Where shall you hide?’ I ask. ‘Below this place! In an abandoned hole (the infamous pool underneath the gym).’ ‘Yes, my queen. Go there. I shall tend to you later.’ I reply. Then her body sweeps into the gym floor and disappears. I stand and watch the sixth graders come back to life. I quickly exit the room.”
I remember the first time that my history teacher told me that story. I realized then that my sister was in the gym at the time. Even though she doesn’t remember Ammut, she will definitely know her true ruler once I corner my sister for anger.
Brielle's, my crush, look sweeps over me when I unhook from Victoria. She glares. She has cuts and bruises, but nothing too serious. I don’t say anything; I just help others from nearby tables.
I hear groans and screams coming from rubble all over the room. I try not to think about it. I just lift more debris from my table and move on to an adjacent table. I pull off debris on top and around the table. A hand jets out from under the table. I pull and outcomes a girl. She isn’t injured. She stands well and helps me. We say nothing to each other. I pull more girls and a couple of boys from under the table. The majority is uninjured. They run out of the cafeteria. I choose to ignore them and move on to another table.
The first thing I see when I approach the ‘jocks’ table is a hand – bloody as hell and obviously mangled. I decide not to pull it and just lift a heavy light off their table. More debris lies under the light and I pull that away too. I lift one last piece of debris blocking the view to the people underneath the table.
I see one person, on top of everyone else. He is missing a hand. I gag and step back. I start to feel my lunch coming back. I can’t help but throw up. I feel better, but not completely. I take a few more moments before I look again. When I take a second look, it’s clear the kid is dead. His eyes are not moving; I don’t see a pulse. I cringe. But I have to figure out if there are people under this one. So, I painfully pull the dead boy out from under the table. He has sandy blonde hair. His head bounces around as I pull him out. Tears shed down from my face. He’s in my art class. He’s the funny one.
But not anymore.
His body flops on the ground. I go down to his neck. He’s not breathing. No pulse. He is really dead.
“Hurry up.” A voice says from under the table. I shoot my tearful eyes under the table. Eyes blink. “Daren.”
I grab his big hand and pull him out. His head is bloody.
“Hey, slow down. You’re bleeding.” I say.
“No I’m not.” He replies, touching his head.
“Yes, you are.”
“What? I don’t feel anything.”
“Wait, if it’s not your blood, who’s is it…’’
I turn to the dead boy. Daren gasps. I realize whose blood is on Jack’s head.
“Luke.” He says, going for him.
“Don’t bother.” I choke. “He’s dead.” My eyes begin showering tears again.
I turn again to the table. More male athletes lie on top of each other under the table. I help them out. They all have blood stained clothes. They turn away, puke, and cry when they see Luke. Never I thought I would see the Defensive Linebacker on the Varsity football team cry.
“Thank you, Gavin.” Daren says. I don’t know why I forgive him; he’s a bully. But I don’t say anything. I just turn away and begin with other tables.
More and more people emerge from under their tables. Luke so far is the only death. I find Bailey in the Northeast corner of the cafeteria. I help her lift lights and debris. Piles of rubble are forming by each table. More people come out. Some injured, some aren’t. More people are going into shock like Victoria. But wait –Victoria.
I rush to where I left her. She lies where I left her still shaking. Clara, my friend, holds her down and tries to communicate with her.
“Clara, do you know anything about shock?”
“Yeah – you need a shot of adrenaline to calm her down.”
My jaw drops.
“Adrenaline? Where are we going to find that?” I ask.
“When the fire department shows up.” She replies.
“At least a two hour wait! We live in freaking no where!”
“Well they better get here fast.”
Tibby and Zoey were smart – hide under adjacent computer tables. They were apparently uninjured. So, as they said, got marks on their hands in which they can sin from. Ammut’s gift. All they need is more. They were the border pieces to the puzzle. No they need to fill up the rest of the puzzle. And they are going to choose me.
Thank you,Tibby.
