Tragedy ✔️

Chapter 24

A pounding sound, like a herd of elephants, follows me down the hall. I hear the wild mammals getting nearer and nearer as I run away from death. Even though I'm running for it. It's all around me no matter where or how fast I run. This is death itself.

I rush down the hallways of the White Box, my brain still trying to process the situation. It all happened too quickly. The pictures flash through my mind like an old slide show projector.

Ms. Pudge destroyed. An announcement over the intercom that the building was on lock down. Guards yelling outside the room. Fleeing the room. And that leads up to this moment; elephants on my heels.

I guess my mind has been overwhelmed with the fact that Ms. Pudge, my teacher, and my best friend that I just forgave minutes ago, is dead. Yes, dead.

The king made up the stupid word destroyed to feel like this was a whole different world, having nothing to do with Earth. He wanted to make this hell. All he was trying to do was to make a place he could call his own and make his own rules and principles when it was actually the same as the living. This world, dimension, realm, whatever it is, didn't have to be this way. There is no living world. There is no dead world. It's just another life.

I trip and fall to the ground, bringing me back to reality. The guards are still behind me, and my guess is they don't want to invite me to a party.

Quickly getting up, I take a sharp right turn. There is no person in sight. The main lights have been turned off, leaving the emergency lights on the walls to illuminate my path.

One of Ms. Pudge's final statements resonates in my mind as I open the first door I encounter when I turn the hall.

"Don't trust him. It isn't what it seems. Find Charlotte. Save the world."

I lock the door and crouch in the farthest corner. The lights of the room are turned off and it has the smell of an old library. I notice I'm holding my breath, so I take a big breath of air. That only manages to scare me when I realize how loud I breathed so I decide to close my eyes and hope for the best.

I'm still thinking about it though, under my closed eyes. Who was Ms. Pudge referring as him? Why can't he be trusted? Did Ms. Pudge know she was going to be killed and that urged her to warn me?

There's a knock on the door.

I've never felt so scared in my life. The one before and this one, too. I don't know why, but I fear that knock on the door is the sound of my second death. It's hard not to give into fear. Sometimes fear feels like the easier way than bravery, but there are only so many chances in life, in this case the afterlife, to be brave.

I cover myself with empty boxes that were lying around the room and stay crouched down in the corner. I have created a mini fort to conceal myself, but to the eye of another, it would look like a random pile of boxes.

Closing my eyes and letting my heartbeat settle to a mortous state, I wait. I'm not exactly sure what it is I'm waiting for, but I know this could be my end.

A buzzing sound can be heard from outside the room. Then, the sound of a laser building up energy, getting higher in pitch every second until a loud zap blasts the door into many tiny pieces.

I know this is happening because I could hear it raining on my boxes and I can see more light under my fort. Slow footsteps approach me, making me feel like I'm living a scene from a horror movie. It also feels like I'm playing hide-and-seek like I did with Annie when we were kids.

I can't take this anymore. I won't let a psycho that killed my friends kill me as well. I got to protect all those special souls that have the power to save Earth. They won't be left astray to fight against fate on their own. Not like I was.

It's now or never, Colin West. Beat the bitch.

I jump out to beat the bitch.

Adrenaline pumps through me like a wildfire does on a dry plain in the hottest day of the year. Once my eyes lock with the silhouette, I pounce on them. I punch, kick, punch again, and bite at this figure. I see the red of the uniform and I don't know why, but I know it's the same man that killed Ms. Pudge. I just know it.

He throws me off of him with a surprising force and I land on the pile of boxes. It knocks the wind out of me but I quickly stand up, the ember still red inside me.

"You killed her," I say because I can't contain myself anymore, "You bastard!"

The man just stands there like a mannequin. I would've been more calm if he smiled, mocked me, or even hit me, but he just stands motionless, no expression in his covered up face. I can't.

I blast him with my magic, feeling it burn out of my palms like I've never felt it burn before. I let my anger and sadness flow out with my magic. The blast is hitting him right on the heart, but he still stands undefeated.

I lower my hands and run, I just run. I lunge myself like a cougar, and tackle him down like a football player. He falls down face first, making his helmet crack and break off from his head. Something else falls from him; a zapper.

He quickly stands up but he is facing away from me. I see a tattoo on the back of his neck. It is a skeleton key in a key hole. The key hole is in a heart shape.

Before he turns around, I leap for the zapper and press the button without thinking any longer. I see the man start to turn his head, but I can't see his face yet. I feel a tingling sensation in my entire body, head to toe, and everything goes black.