Terror By Night

Chapter 7

I whip my head so fast my hair flies around to obscure my face. "What was that?" I ask breathlessly, hastily brushing my face clear.

"I don't know, and I don't want to stick around to find out. You good?" Xavier's eyeing the hall suspiciously.

I jerk my bag over my shoulder. "Yeah, let's go."

Before I've turned in the direction to race back to the gym, I catch sight of the darkening sky through the large hallway window overlooking the courtyard. It's the shade of deep amethyst. I've never seen the sky this color before. "Xavier, are you seeing this?"

I'm drawn to the sight. I step to the window before he has the chance to pull me back. Before my own eyes, the purple hues are quickly growing blacker, swirling and turning the view into a kaleidoscope of lavender, blue and eggplant. It's the most bizarrely beautiful thing I've ever seen.

"Yes, I see it. That's the signal for us to get out of here, now," Xavier almost yells as he snatches my hand to tug me away.

Maybe time has slowed. I'm suspended in motion, transfixed by the feel of his hand in mine. No way am I holding hands with Xavier Ross! This has to be the most shocking thing to happen to me today. Considering we're in the middle of an alien invasion, that's saying something. As if on que, as though summoned by my thoughts, an unearthly noise emerges from the courtyard below. A mix of a screech and hiss; if a snake had nails to scrape against a chalkboard while it slithered, that's the sound it would make. It's bizarre and frightening and it's coming from just a few feet below. My gaze is drawn down from the second story window in time to see a shadow the size of my Aunt's Fiat slink across the cement. The scream never leaves my mouth. Xavier has given up being patient and is jerking me away.

Hand in hand, his being softly calloused (which my mind registers as weirdly paradoxical), we race down the hallway with our feet pounding on the white linoleum. It's in this moment I realize I'm capable of experiencing several emotions at once. I'm slightly in awe over the fact that it took a crisis of this magnitude for Xavier to notice me. I'm almost giddy over the feeling of his hand clasped tightly around mine. All the while I'm barely holding in the screams. Are we really being chased by aliens?! My heart is pounding with the horror of it.

I can barely keep up with his longer strides. He's practically dragging me down the corridor. I try desperately not to trip over my own feet. Our raged breaths bounce off the lockers in time with our steps. I did not just see that, I tell myself. I did not just watch a creature emerge from the school's shadows.

We sprint all the way back to the gym. Out of shape or not, I'm not anxious to see the body that belongs to the dark image imprinted in my mind. The thing had been huge. I'd never seen anything that size move like that. Stealthily. Sneaking. It was just too creepy. We take the last corner and I almost lose his grip on me. Finally reaching the gym, we plow into doors that don't immediately open upon Xavier's quirk jerks on the handle. I attempt to inhale lungfuls of air. I'm slightly lightheaded, but I watch Xavier pull and push on the gym doors, rattling the chains on the other side. I begin to feel the first flickers of panic squeezing around my chest. I give a furtive glance over my shoulder. The lights in the hall are on, but dim. We need to hurry. Xavier continues to pound and now is yelling for the guard to open the door. I keep listening, trying to hear that inhuman noise again over the sound of Xavier's yells. I hear a frantic undertone to his voice, something I never dreamed would come out of him of all people. We're definitely in trouble.  

This can't be happening. I am not going to be eaten by some nasty space creature. That's not my fate. I will break the door down if I have to. I'm preparing to use my body as a battering ram when the door jerks open and we fall inside. The security guard slams the door closed and quickly puts the padlock back in place.