Retribution

Chapter Eleven

The school hallway was empty. In fact, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. However, it was an eerie kind of quiet. It was in the middle of the day, which made this atmosphere so mysterious. The only audible thing heard was my breathing. A majority of the lockers were ajar and the sunlight from the front doors were so bright that the dust particals aimlessly floating about were almost visible.

I looked ahead at the desolate hallway. Not a sign of living life wandered about, conducting business as usual. There was a sudden drop of temperature and the lights weren't on. I stepped into a nearby bathroom to see if the hand dryers worked. I pressed the button and nothing happened. The thought had crossed my mind.

The power was out.

To make sure my theory worked, I flicked a switch in one of the classrooms. Unsurprisingly, the lights refused to illuminate. I sighed hopelessly and continued to walk around some more.

As I neared the cafeteria, I heard a faint voice. Relieved to finally find a living and breathing person, I followed the voice, for it continued on for some time. As I got closer, the voice became louder and more distinct. It was crying for help. Eventually, it led me to one of the support beams.

I rounded the support beam to see that it was someone with a burlap sack over their head, hands tied behind their back. I saw hair flow from beneath the sack and noticed that it was a girl. The pleas were also way too high to be a male, anyway. I approached the captive in an attempt to rescue her, but she whipped her head toward me as if she was going to bite at me. I found this peculiar, since their vision was impaired by the sack, so I backed away and only observed from a safe distance near one of round tables. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but the way she snarled at me told me otherwise. Or she could have mistaken me for one of her assailants. I noticed another figure by the stairs leading down to the main floor, watching from a safe distance. I wasn't sure what to make of it, so I left it alone.

A dark and tall figure emerged from the kitchen, with a gun in his hand. I could barely recognize the figure, but his structure was lanky yet muscular. He aimed the gun at the helpless victim, and without hesitation, blew the poor girl's brains out, making a mess on the support beam, the tables behind it, and some of the floor. She sank, blood oozing from the newly blown hole in her head. I must have gasped loudly during the gunfire because the figure pointed his gun straight at me. I ran as quickly as he fired, but it was too late. A burning sensation shot through my ribcage, spreading to my diaphragm.

He shot me in the lung.

I collapsed on the floor, barely getting air. My vision was becoming blurry and the only thing I could do was wheeze. Before everything faded to black, I heard a voice growl that ran chills down my spine:

"Remember that everything is your fault."

I awoke with butterflies in my stomach. A ceiling fan stared back at me. I looked to my left. It was my digital clock, the time 3:04 glowing red in the darkness. To my right was Nate sleeping peacefully. I checked my ribcage to see if there was a bullet hole or anything. I sighed heavily with relief that there was nothing unusual. This dream must have stimulated a full blatter, because I had to go.

As I made my way to the bathroom, the door was closed. I reached for the knob, but it turned on its own. My distraught mother was the first thing I saw and it made me jump.

"Mom, is everything all right?" I asked groggily, squinting my eyes from the bathroom light.

"I just had a bad dream, honey," Mom answered, rubbing her eyes.

"I did too."

"What was yours about?"

"It was strange. I was at the high school. It was empty. The only people I saw there was a tall figure, this girl with a burlap sack over her head, and another person. I couldn't make out who it was though."

"That sounds a lot like my dream--"

She stopped there. We stood there, dumbfounded. Was my mom in my dream?

"Have a nice night Felicia." With that, she headed back to bed.

Like a mindless zombie, I too made my way back to bed. I had completely forgoteen why I was there. Maybe I'll remember in the morning.

The day was slow as it usually was. During the five minutes between classes, I overheard a students' conversation.

"That Vanessa girl's been acting really weird," one of the students remarked.

"Yeah," the other student replied, "She's been looking at her phone constantly."

"Ooh, she's gonna get in trouble!"

"Haha, wait till Principle Davidson finds out! She's so fucked!"

"Totally!"

"Watch your language!" I snapped at them. Seeing me, they dispersed immediately.

Part of me wanted to take Vanessa's phone away from her and report her to Principle Davidson, but the other was concerned and wanted to wait until after class. Neither idea sounded great, so I just stuck with going with the flow.

About twenty five minutes during fourth hour, Vanessa raised her hand. It was the first time I had ever seen her do that in a long time. It made me suspicious, but I acknowledged her anyway.

"Can I go to the bathroom?" she asked.

"Take a pass," I said.

She got out of her seat, clinging to the desk as if the desk was going to come alive and run away. She shakily took the pass and fumbled with it as she went. One of the students, Clyde, saw her strange behavior.

"She's so frickin' weird," he retorted.

Reyna stole my idea by giving him a glare before going back to her worksheet. I went back to checking the computer. A thumping noise distrubed the silence. Some students noticed, even Reyna. I checked the door, but no one was there.

"Someone must have tripped," Monica, the girl who sat behind Reyna commented.

I got up and approached the door. I made an attempt to see through the slim foggy glass on the door. Nothing unusual was out there, so the other thing left to do was to hear anything out of the ordinary. I pressed my ear against the glass. Someone was shouting. It was very vague, but it didn't sound good.

"We migh be staying here for more than fifty-two minutes," I announced, "Something's going on out there and it's definitely not a drill."