TAINTED ROSE

Chapter 16

Peeking out the front door cautiously, Helen and Sherry found their enemies handing upside down, groaning in agony. Helen went out and walked around to see what had happened as Sherry sealed the door again and went to sit down in the circle the class had formed.

“Guys?” Crystal started.

“Yeah Crystal?” Pearlyn replied, looking curiously at Crystal.

“Do you think that someone is spying on us? I mean, wherever we go, we seem to be attacked.” Crystal paused for a moment to let this sink in, and then rose to her feet. “Think about it, all of us know each other well, we’ve been through terms of classes together. Except, one of us…” Crystal left her classmates to come to their own conclusions.

“Could it be Adolpha?”

“She certainly doesn’t talk much”

“Scored so well on the F.A.S.T test…. Could squish us like bugs…”

“Stop it! Stop!” Sherry put her hands to her ears, tears streaming out of her eyes.

“AHHH!” The class was shocked by yet another scream. Yet, this one was familiar. Ducking outside, they saw Helen, hanging upside down like the other victims of the traps, cussing in anger and pain. Emerging from her hiding place, Adolpha dropped down from a crevice in the ceiling and started to free Helen. “I spent an hour on that! Now you have to fix it with me, you ass!” Adolpha said with a snarl. Helen was shocked by the emotion the usually pokerfaced girl expressed.

After a while, Helen and Adolpha patrolled the level, pulling dead bodies out of Adolpha’s traps and resetting them for future victims. Adolpha walked in front while Helen lagged behind.  Then, a gruesome scream reverberated through the silent corridor.

 “Oh man… Helen? Did you get stuck in one of my traps again?” Adolpha stepped out of the light where she was dismantling a wire.  “I may be a bit woozy from hanging upside down, but I'm not stupid enough to fall into the same trap again!” Helen called back.

 Silently, Adolpha stepped towards the sight as dawn illuminated her victim's features. “Oh, it's you, Princess. I don’t think you’ll survive very long, but I guess I should help you down…” Adolpha began tugging at the mechanism, stone-faced. Slapping her hand away, Princess spat angrily and shouted, “I don’t need your help! Go away!” The pair shrugged and walked back to class as Princess tugged at the ropes in vain.

They returned to Madge doing a headcount of everyone. “Helen and Adolpha.” She finished as the two of them walked in. “That’s only 20 people.” She looked at her classmates sadly. Helen frowned; she hadn’t seen Natasha since the start of the battle. The television in their classroom suddenly came alive. There was a broadcast from the Principal. The surviving students watched as the death toll was shown on the screen.

2/1: 35 left. 8 died.

2/2: 28 left. 11 died.

2/3: 19 left. 20 died.

2/4: 23 left. 21 died.

2/5: 36 left. 7 died.

Ahem. 32 left. 11 died. The television corrected the numbers

2/6: 10 left. 30 died.

2/7: 32 left. 8 died.

“Shit.” Helen exclaimed. “We only have twenty-three people left! But, Natasha might be alive!”

“Shut up!” Crystal said. “Do you want to others to find out where we are hiding?”

“You’re the Principal’s daughter. They won’t kill you.” Helen narrowed her eyes at Crystal. Crystal glared at back at Helen.

-

Natasha saw the broadcast, swearing silently. How could they have so many casualties? What were their chances of survival in this test? What are her chances of survival in this test? She mentally calculated over and over again. This was not good. 

She went to the sleeping bag she found in the Assasin Scouts Room, which was where she was hiding. When the Principal announced that The Day had come, she immediately went into hiding till the coast was clear. Then, she broke open the lock of the Assasin Scouts room and locked it back when she was inside. “Luckily those locks were in the door.” She thought to herself. The room was covered with blinds and it was always locked during normal school days. There were also food supplies, sleeping bags, pillows and a portable television that she could use. It was a perfect hide out, as long as she did not make any noise and that no one suspected she was there.

She sighed. She pull the covers over her head as stared into the empty darkness.

2/4 went to sleep on the second day of The Day, hoping for the best.