Broken Silence

Chapter 20: Bang

I could feel every muscle in my body tense. I was scared to even blink, the possibility that I could die growing stronger inside of me every second. He slowly crossed his arms over his chest confidently, tilting his head slightly as he spoke again; his voice deeper, clearly not working anymore to hide a foreign accent.

"Don't run, Noelle. I'll catch you this time." And he continued speaking in another language that sounded like German. Did he think I understood him? Seeing my non-responding face, he frowned. "Did they never teach you, sweet girl? Did he never teach you his native tongue?"

Was he talking about my father?

"Did he never say anything about his family? About me?" He said suddenly angry. I think I moved too fast for him to even comprehend what I had done. He struggled taking my backpack off his face for a second, giving me a chance to slam the door of his office closed.

I ran.

I ran as fast as I could without looking back.

"Little girl, you ran from me once. I will not let it happen again." Mr. Bauer's deep voice echoed furiously throughout the gym. My blood ran cold and tears sprang in my eyes as my legs pumped with surprising strength out of the gym. I could hear his thunderous steps behind me.

Furiously wiping them away, I focused.

I had to outrun him.

Get to the exit.

Don't look back.

Get to the exit.

Don't look back.

I slammed into the school's back entrance, shaking the what-I-was-finding-to-be locked doors.

Hide.

Now, hide!

I could hear his footsteps coming closer, as I changed direction and ran into an open classroom. I quickly locked the door, and found myself surrounded by tall laboratory desks. I jogged to the furthest one from the door and crawled beside it, taking the ruler from the board with me.

The Killer was Mr. Bauer.

He was after me.

I was alone.

I could feel every part of my body shaking. I almost couldn't hold on to the wooden ruler in my hands. I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, which meant either he was far away or he had gone quiet. Either way, my safest option at the moment was to stay put and not make a sound.

"Noelle?!" In the silence of the school, I heard a very familiar voice yell my name from the other side of school. The front entrance.

Gabriel?

Why was he here?

For whatever the reason he had shown up in my time of need, again. This man was my guardian angel. I felt happiness burst in me and a weak smile fell upon my face. But a sudden burst of adrenaline made me frown as I realized Gabriel was here with the killer on the loose.

I had to warn him!

I felt my heart pound faster in my chest as thoughts of what could happen filled my mind. I couldn't control my breathing, my head was light and every hair on my body was standing up. I slowly got up from my hiding place and peeked out the door's window, in case He was there. And, in seeing that he was not, I opened the door and moved towards Gabriel's voice.

"Noelle? Where are you?" Gabriel's voice once again echoed.

A metal sound filled the hallways with a harsh 'pang'.