Through The Cheerleader's Eyes

I Hate Useless Cell Phones

I mentally braced myself and saw my companion do the same. We shared a look and I stepped away from the door.

He took a few steps back and rushed at the door with all his might. The door tore open and we burst in, ready to deal with whatever was happening inside. But we could never have predicted what we'd see in there.

Blood. Dark red blood, deep in contrast with the pristine white surroundings of the Chemistry lab. It stained the floor, the glass equipments, the very air. I hoped fervently that it were some red - pigmented chemical. But no, its unmistakable sickly sweet smell banished any little hope that I had. Glass was strewn everywhere, shattered in bits and pieces, coated in sticky blood.

Then, I saw him. A man lying on the floor amidst the many shards of glass, breathing slowly and painfully. His uniform was stained in a ghastly blooded fashion. I had never seen him before but his uniform gave away his identity. Mr. Jenkins.

But he wasn't alone.

Another man hovered over him, stabbing him with a knife. The man with the knife was dressed in a dark blue hoodie. When we'd burst in through the door, the intruder froze and spun his head around, but not before we saw the heinous act he was indulged in. As soon as he saw us, he immediately left Mr. Jenkins and stood up, facing us, his hoodie obscuring his face. He quickly took out a face mask from his jeans pocket and put it on.

I glanced at the janitor. He was thankfully alive, but grievously hurt. We had to get him to a hospital. And fast.

The intruder wanted to get out as quickly as possible and tried to dodge us in order to get to the door. But my companion (I can't believe I still didn't know his name!) lunged at the intruder, tackling him to the floor, making his knife fall out of his hands to the floor with a clatter. They struggled for a minute until the intruder pushed Nameless Companion away and bent down to reach for the fallen knife. Nameless Companion was hurled against a table, where he lay, clutching his head in pain.

Quick Steph, do something!

The words of my inner voice spurred me to action. I felt pure adrenaline rush through me as I kicked the knife far away out of the intruder's reach. The intruder looked up, enraged and reached out to grab me instead. I retreated and as I looked for something - ANYTHING that I could use for defence, two large beakers caught my eye. I grabbed the two beakers off their table and smashed both of them together on either side of the intruder's head.

Atta girl! Wow. Seriously, I didn't think that you had it in you to do something like this.

Yeah. Damn, I didn't think that either.

I watched, my chest heaving, as the intruder, caught completely off - guard, growled and took a couple of steps back, stumbling and falling in the process.

As he cradled his injured head in his hands, I noticed a tatoo at the back of his hand. It was small, nestling beneath the knuckle of his middle finger. The tattoo consisted of a heart. A small and vulnerable heart with 'L & T' written in it.

So, our deadly killer had a love life too, eh?

Thank you for reminding me once again how lonely I was.

What the hell am I thinking? Focus girl. Focus.

I knew he would be back soon so I grabbed the knife and was ready for him when he came back. I raised the knife in front of me in a threatening position, warning him to not advance towards me any further. Then, I heard a loud, painful groan behind me. I turned around reflexively, momentarily distracted.

Taking advantage of the situation, the intruder kicked the knife out of my hand and tackled me to the floor, amidst all the shattered pieces of glass. My head hit the floor hard and instant pain shot through me, making me cry out in agony. I tried to wriggle out from underneath him but he was too heavy, too strong. I could see his piercing blue eyes and feel his malignant smile from under the mask.