The Bad Boy, Cupid And Me

chapter#26

With a whimper, Chloe tore out of the meat locker.

Pounding down the corridor,he heard voice form below.

She realized that Greg was still with the others,so he hadn't bothered to chase her very far? Because he knows there's no way out of here? She thought. What am I going to do?

I'll go to the break room, Chloe decided. . .maybe I can see what he's doing from there.

"No! Don't touch her! " Chloe heard Allie's shout when she cracked open the door to the break room. "You-you promised not to hurt us if we finished the cheer perfectly!"

"But you didn't," Greg said in an eerie matter-of-fact tone.

"None of us missed a step."

"But Allie limped and you both lacked spirit. Then again that wasn't entirely your fault. One girl ran away. You can blame her for what's going to happen to you."

"What is he going to do to them?" Chloe whispered.

Her hands pulled into fists. What could she do? Chloe glanced around t small room. She spotted the cigarette machine . Then she gazed up at the ceiling.

Yes!
A smoke detector!

Sliding her hand along the basket of the cigarette machine ,she found an old book of matches. It was worth a try.

She stood on top of the vending machine and  reached the smoke alarm. Balancing gingerly,she  lit a match and held it up to the alarm.

Nothing.

She lit the entire pack of matches and held it against the smoke detector. She held it until it burned down to her fingers!

"Ouch!" The charred matchbook fell to the floor.

There was no noise,no sign that the matches triggered the alarm. It probably doesn't even work, she thought.

Feeling discouraged, Chloe climbed down from the cigarette machine. Maybe the building had a silent alarm.

Maybe not.

A muffled cry echoed into the room.

What was Greg doing to her friends?

Chloe crept back to the warehouse floor , hugging the shadows.

She saw Allie on the floor,running her sprained ankle. Dana was tied to a table,squirming against her bindings ,wailing.

Greg worked nearby at a metal table, grinding something.

Moving closer, Chloe saw that he was sharpening a knife.

"It's not like I didn't warn you," he said. "You were brought here to cheer and you can't even do that right." The butcher knife gleamed as he checked the blade.

"No!" Dana screamed , thrashing on the table.

Chloe couldn't hang back in the shadows .

"Wait, Greg!" She shouted at him, stepping inside the room.

He wheeled around to see the knife slicing through the air. "Chloe! Welcome back!"

"You have to stop this madness!" Chloe's voice was strong that surprised him.

"Only if you do another cheer?" He asked her. "Your friends have no spirit at all."

I have to hold his attention, Chloe thought.

"You're wrong!" She saw Allie hobble to her feet and sneak behind him.

"Oh yeah? Then how you explain what happened to Jade? Why did she mess up if she has the spirit? Make that had the spirit. I had to let her go I cause she lacked spirit." He chuckled.

Numb, Chloe found herself unable to speak another word.
But she didn't have to.

He cried out as Allie tackled him from behind . The knife fell from his hands , skittering across the floor. He tottered but stayed on his feet.

Desperately, Allie dug her fingers into his face .

Scratching. Tearing.
Chloe rushed to Dana,untied her and helped her off the table.

Greg growled.

Chloe turned. Greg was still trying to shake Allie lose.

He wrestled her hands away then hurled her off his back. "Allie!" Chloe screamed as the girl hit the concrete floor.

Allie didn't move .

Terror filled Chloe.

"Allie!" She rushed to her side and squeezed her fingers. Allie squeezed back weakly and Chloe breathed an enormous sigh of relief . She touched the blood that trickled from her friend's head.

"Just hang on," Chloe begged. "Hang on. You're going to be all right!"

"I wouldn't count on that," Greg commented, looking above them,holding the knife again.

Chloe glared at him. "You said you weren't going to kill us!" She shouted.

"I liked." He adjusted his grip on the butcher knife, then took a few swipes in the air.

"But this was all just a warm up," he added . " Now it's time for the real prize."

A thunderous crash exploded from the loading docks.

Greg spun around.

Something broke though one of the garage doors,ripping if off it's hinges. The door buckled, revealing the gleam of a fire truck.

"The fire alarm!" Chloe cried." It worked!"

Two firefighters crawled through the opening and ran into the warehouse, quickly taking in the whole scene.

"What do you think you're doing?" One firefighter said as he grabbed Greg from behind .

The butcher knife dropped ,clattering against the tile floor.

Greg froze,wild eyed and bewildered.

More firefighters rushed into the building.

"Please. Help my friend," Chloe begged ,crouched beside Allie, who was moaning softly.

A fireman rushed to Allie's side.

Chloe's knees gave out and she collapsed to the floor. The tiles felt cool against her hot cheeks as she sobbed.

There was way too much pain,too much horror.

"It's okay," Dana whispered in her ear. She patted Chloe's back gently.

The way a friend would.

"We're okay," Dana said . "Everything's okay now." She hugged Chloe and repeated those words over and over.

"Everything's okay! Everything's okay. . ."

She must have said it a hundred times but Chloe couldn't stop crying.

Because she knew it wasn't true.

Jade was dead.

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