Unchained

Chapter Twenty Three

He was waiting for me.

And I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking, Ooh, some boy is waiting for Avaley and now she's all excited because she can socialize and hang out... But no, this is not that boy you imagined to be waiting for me. Yes, I figured you'd think Sean Radke or David Pearson was waiting for me in front of school this chilly morning.

It was Mr. Hauge.

Right in front of my locker, across from the cafeteria, there he stood, arms folded, eyes glaring at me, raking up and down my body like he didn't care who watched him. As I sauntered over towards my locker to claim my textbooks, I realized the one and only horrible teacher was standing there, puppy-guarding it, waiting for me.

I gulped.

Unfortunately, Tamara and Shayline weren't here with me, since they were still ignoring me. Normally, if they were by my side, I'd laugh the fact off that Mr. Hauge was a dangerous man and head over to my locker but now I was alone, like a vulnerable little sheep. And Mr. Hauge was the prey - who looked like he was ready to bite my head off. Literally.

I felt exhaused from yesterday's experiences and using my levitation powers or super strength or whatnot didn't seem like a good idea in my head. I skipped breakfast this morning just so I didn't have to deal with the awkwardness of my two parents, who still weren't ripping each other's throats out (yet?) of their anger with each other. Honestly, I just didn't want to risk it. 

I was several feet away from my locker. Mr. Hauge just stared at me, and I wondered if I should just go to class and come back later, when he was gone. But my materials were in there for my first period - I couldn't just ignore it! And I couldn't show Mr. Hauge that I was afraid of him. If he saw me look at him and turn in the other direction, he might take that as a weakness from me and try and corner me where I couldn't escape... And then what might happen next is something my imagination didn't want to conjure up at the moment. Or any moment in my life, for that matter.

Underneath my new black jacket, I squeezed my palms so hard I felt blood. Or maybe that was my sweat. I literally never felt this afraid of a teacher. My heart began to pound and as I moved through the foam of students, I felt like it was just me and Mr. Hauge alone in a room... And he was out for blood. Or something else. But now I figured out what he thought about me... And it was something I didn't want to go into debt in. 

"Avaley!" Mr. Hauge cried happily (yeah, right!) as I approached him. "I've been looking for you all morning!" he held out his arms, like he was going to hug me, and I suddenly remembered I had stabbed him in the shoulder with a pencil yesterday. Did he even remember?

"What are you doing in front of my locker?" I summoned in my strongest voice, only to come out small and shredded.

He grinned, licking his lips, staring at me with those eyes full of... Ugh. "Avaley, will you come with me to my classroom, please?" he asked. "There's some things I would like to talk to you about." and then he placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezed it, and then turned me around and pushed me forward, towards the stairs and up towards his room. 

What was he going to do with me?

As we passed several of my classrooms, I stared at them, pleading with my eyes, HELP ME but only one girl saw my look and snickered and said, "Ooh, Avaley's in trouble!" and Mr. Hauge replied, "Nope, not with Avaley!" and squeezed my shoulder tighter. I vowed if I got out of this alive, I would make more friends.

We entered the classroom, and the first thing I noticed was the overflowing tissues stained with blood in the trash can. Then, the slam of the door startled me and then I was whirled around, and Mr. Hauge had me by the throat and he slammed me into a desk and I was sent tumbling to the ground. I tried to regain myself but Mr. Hauge ripped my bag from my hands and threw it to the side.

He swore at me and said, "You like playing it difficult, huh, girl?" he shoved a desk away and it crashed loudly, as he reached down for my chest, towards the zipper of my jacket.

I screamed loudly, "HELP!!!!" and kicked his hand away. He grabbed my ankle with his hand and reached for my chest again with another hand.

"I think it's time to face your punishments," he growled, his eyes full of evil and his tongue licking his lips way too much. 

Self defense time.

Like lightning, my hand shot towards his desk and then his coffee mug, full of steaming hot coffee, soared into my hand. I hurled it at Mr. Hauge - the hot liquid spraying his face - and he screamed loudly, stepping back and bringing his hands to his face. I stood up, positioning myself, fists in front of my face, and threw one to his stomach. He doubled over, and I kicked him in the head and he fell backwards. 

Now it was time for me to get out of here. I scrambled to the door, jiggling at the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. It was like cement was around it... It... It was locked!

"Ha, you!!" he swore at the last part. His face was red and a hysterical laugh escaped him. "You'll never get away from me, and you don't want to, either!"

"You're sick!" I yelled and hurled a textbook at him. He managed to duck and I stared around the room. How could I escape? The door was locked, and I wasn't sure where this madman stuck the keys.

I saw the window.

I could go out there. And I could fly, right? Simple.

I started to run, but then something hit my head and I yelled in agony. I saw something hit the floor... It was the textbook! Mr. Hauge threw the freaking textbook at me!

My dizzy blurred, I leaned against a desk to straighten myself. What if I got a concussion? That would be...

Mr. Hauge rammed into me and down to the floor we went. He was a heavy man - he started to pin down my arms with his hands but I was stronger than him. I threw my right arm (his left) to my left and I heard a crack. He yelled loudly. He reached out with his other hand, slowly and weakly and I grabbed it and squeezed as hard as I could. It cracked.

"How can you... Do that?" he moaned in agony.

I was already at the window. I rammed my fist into it - it shattered, and didn't feel any pain in my hand. I looked one last time and saw Mr. Hauge attempting to stand up - he was too weak.

But then I saw something else.

The door was open - and David was there, running towards me.

I was going to ask what he was doing, but it was too late. 

I jumped out the window.