The Haven Project

Chapter 7

Sydney screamed as the man rolled Mr. Henry's head down the hall towards us. It came to a stop not two feet away, creating a pool of blood and leaving a trail. I looked back up, and the three goons were making their way towards us.

"Get inside the room!" I yelled as I pushed Mackenzie and Sydney through the doorway. I slammed the door shut behind me and locked it, although I knew it wouldn't hold for long. The girls in the room all seemed confused at why we were panicking, that is until they saw the gun through the small window on the door.

"Everybody help me make a barricade!"

We all began to stack up things in front of the door: desks, chairs, bookshelves, even a globe or two. We backed away as the three men pounded on the door, trying to use force to get in. So far, it was holding firm. They continued to push and yell, making little to no headway, but it seemed like they weren't trying as hard. That's when I realized there were only two men on the other side of the door.

I spun towards the window and realized too late what had happened. The two men were creating a diversion, as the third man was now right outside the window, his gun aimed right at it.

"Get down now!"

Everyone hit the ground just as the glass exploded with a deafening "POP!" Glass showered over all of the girls, sending them into a frenzy. They were crying and screaming, huddling together in a corner. The man advanced towards the window, climbing through the shards that were left. He cut his arm but didn't seem to notice; his eyes were trained right on me.

Sydney ran behind me and held on like she was trying not to fall off the face of the earth. While the man got closer, his two friends finally broke through the door. We were surrounded. They enclosed Sydney and I in a circle, making it impossible to escape.

"What do you want?" I tried to say boldly, but my voice quavered with fear.

"All we want is to talk to you, Bryson. We don't want to hurt you or your little friend here."

"Why did you kill Mr. Henry?" Sydney asked, seeming more confidant than me at the moment.

"We had to find out more about you," said the lead goon. "When he wouldn't cooperate, we had to take more.. drastic measures to get him to comply."

They continued to inch closer until they were only a foot or two away. The goon to my left pulled out two pieces of rope, while the one to my right pulled out two syringes filled with some kind of blue liquid.

"Now Bryson," he started, "you can make this easy on yourself and come with us, or you can make it more difficult and try to get away. Either way, you will be coming with us. It's just a matter of whether you will be conscious and in the back seat, or knocked out and tied up in the trunk. It's your choice."

Sydney basically read my mind and spoke for me, spitting at his shoes.

"Alright then, let's get this over with."

The goon with the ropes tackled me and Sydney to the floor. We struggled to push him away, kicking him in multiple places, but the goon with the syringes was quick to act. He stabbed me in the shoulder and injected me with whatever was inside, doing the same to Sydney with his other hand. I instantly felt dizzy, like the entire world was spinning and I couldn't find anything to hold on to. I looked over to Sydney, and she looked as bad as I felt. For a brief moment we locked eyes, silently communicating what cannot be said through words, then I rolled on my back as my eyes rolled up into my head, plunging me into the black abyss of my unconscious mind.