Bane Academy: To Run From Fear

Chapter 22

Alex

(Earlier that day)

It's not unusual to not see Shae in class, but it is unusual to not see Becca. I haven't seen either of them in the last few days, come to think about it, I haven't seen Fade around either, but again we hardly hang out anymore.
  Ever since Liam's death, I think everyone has at least subconsciously noticed that Becca's turned into this careless, wreckless, I-don't-give-a-shit girl, while Shae has turned into this panicky, anti-social mess. Polar opposites.
  Since Shae and I broke up, I haven't been able to focus much in class, I'm now at the bottom of the rankings. Katniss and Peeta (and even dad) have talked to me about this. But not mum - she's the only one who knows about the break up. Can't get anything past her, she can sense a problem even before its there.
  When the clock strikes four o'clock and my weekend catch-up session with Peeta is over, I get out of there as quickly as possible before he gives me another "after class lecture". I run to the secret garden to find no one here. I know none of us have really hung out here for ages, but a small part of me was hoping someone would be here. The only person that hangs out here now is Skia; I call for her, but she doesn't come.
Something catches my eye, a soaking wet mattress and a blown over shelter in the far left corner of the garden. Must be for Skia, couldn't imagine this being for anyone else.
  On the way back to my dorm, I walk past the maze. On the door leading to Alby's office is a sign in capital letters saying 'DANGEROUS. KEEP OUT. TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES.'. I find myself staring at this sign for a while, suddenly feeling uneasy and even angry. And sad. A whole heap of emotions come to me as the darkness from the half open door crawls out to me, drawing me in. The aura of this place is bleak and fearful. How did I end up here? What is this place?
  I snap out of my trance-like state and look around. I'm inside the office. I run out the door and keep running until I get to the dorms. By then, all the anger and fear has left my body.

                       *       *       *

  Half an hour later, I get a text from my mate, Nate, from the Slytherin Quidditch team.
   'Wanna go to a party? My place at 11.' It reads.
   'No thanks, maybe next time.' I reply.
   'You sure? There'll be heaps of hot girls.'
  I contemplate going before replying. If I go, it'll feel like I'm cheating on Shae or something. But I wouldn't be, we're not dating. A million other excuses enter my mind but I just as easily find arguments for all of them. Eh, fuck it. 'See ya there.' I send.

   "Hey! Glad you made it." Nate greets me with a side hug and two slaps to the back. As usual, I arrive to the party over an hour later than it started.
   "Yeah, me too!" I smile, having to yell over the noise.
  The smell of the alcohol is intoxicating alone. Everyone is pushed up against each other, dancing to the blaring music. The memory of the office is still tainted into my brain, I want to know why those emotions overcame me but at the same time I don't.
  I mix into the crowd of people with a cup of beer in my hand, but in a matter of seconds, the cup is already half empty from everyone bumping into me.
   "Hey." A girl approaches me. She has olive skin, dark hair and piercing blue eyes. She's showing off her slim body in a low cut tank top and short shorts and her breath has a tinge of alcohol in it.
   "Hi, I'm-"
   "I know who you are." She cuts me off and throws her body onto me. She's got me backed up against a wall and starts making out with me. And I let her. Her mouth moves quickly against mine.
 

Shae

After half a minute of confused darkness, air suddenly materialises and an agitated surface is lapping against my neck. The others surface around me.
   "HELP!" Becca shouts, her lips are pressed up to a glass ceiling. Suddenly six clear black walls are within reach, and the water is quickly rising. And beginning to go cold. I take one last breath before the cube fills with water with us four in it. Becca panics and screams, letting all the air escape from her lungs. The look in her eye indicates that she immediately regrets doing so and she struggles for breath quickly. Her pupils are wide and are full of fear. The glass becomes frosted and the water starts to freeze. Fade is tired and exhausted. I know he just wants it to end, wants its to all be over and done with. He has absolutely no more energy to fight for his life and he sinks to the bottom the the box, eyes still open. He has given up. Dale looks around all corners and edges of the glass tank, looking for a crack. He's the most calm out of all of us for once.
  We try punch, hit and kick our way out, but it all ends in one big failed attempt. The water freezes us into place like statues. Suddenly, water and sharp shards of ice explode from the glass box, sending us with it. We all tumble onto the concrete floor, rolling over several times harshly as we're thrown out. Becca and Fade cough up water then gasp for air. They crawl towards each other quickly and wrap their arms around one another.
   "Is it over?" Dale whispers.
   "Dale, Dale, me, Shae, Fade, me..." Becca mumbles. "No, we still have two more, at best guess." Becca says sadly. Fade and I look at each other grimly.
  The room bulks and shifts as it usually does in a fear landscape.
   "Shae?" Dale asks.
   "Yeah?" I reply.
   "When you're in a normal, small room, does it actually feel like the walls are coming towards you?"
   "Yes." I gulp. "It does."
  For a change, the ceiling doesn't move at all, only two opposite walls do, not all four. We all form into a line, and push up against one of the two moving walls, trying to stop it in any way, but again, it doesn't work. Soon, the walls become within arms length of each other. Dale leans against one wall and pushing his legs up onto the other, Becca and Fade follow his lead while my eye sight goes slightly fuzzy.
   "It's no use." Fade says, standing upright again. "It'll be over soon."
  As the wall gets closer and closer, I feel more and more faint, I want to keep fighting but I can't. Soon I can't hear anything except my hyperventilating and heartbeat. Now I can't breath.
   "Help!" I try to scream, but it turns out soft and croaky. "We're gonna-gonna die."
  I want to crawl up into a ball but there isn't enough room. I'm being forced to literally face my fear. We all start shifting our feet sideways so they don't get crushed. I can now feel the two walls, one on my back, the other on the end of my nose. We turn our heads sideways and I'm forced to face Becca and she's forced to look at me.
   "Becca!" My scream shrills and she winces.
   "It's going to be okay." She mouths, her eyes wide, full of fear.
  The walls press up on my back, gut and chest, building up tension. I uncontrollably let out a deep sob, overwhelmed by everything and scared for my life.
  Suddenly, Dale lets out an ear piercing scream which makes everyone jump, like we're not uneasy enough. The scream is continuous. I try to look around as much as my eyes will let me and I see dark red on the floor. The puddle slowly gets bigger and as it gets bigger, Dale's scream becomes more intense, more terrifying. Soon the walls meet either side of my head so I can't move at all. The walls don't stop moving though, they push together, trying to meet but our bodies are in the way. There's no way to escape this, all we can do is join Dale's scream until this torture ends as two concrete walls push against either side of our heads.

  Suddenly the walls disappear. The four of us are flung into dark, open space. I look around at the others floating bodies and everyone's passed out but me. Dale floats past me and his mouth is wide open, blood stains around his ears, lips and chin. The skin at the bottom of his face is wrinkled and bunched up together, just under that you can see parts of his bare jaw bone. I shudder and look away. It's at this moment, I realise Skia is missing and in a way I'm glad she is, otherwise she would've had to go through what we went through. I wonder if she's experiencing her fears.
  A bright reddish-orange light shines below me, and it starts to get bigger and brighter. No, the light isn't getting bigger, we're racing towards it.