“Anyhoo. Goodbye girls and goodlu…” She never finished her sentence because I jump up and punch her in the mouth, her head flying back as she lands on the dirty floor.
“Run. Now,” I snap at Piper, climbing on top of Deena and punching her again to keep her from screaming. I have no clue how many others there are, but I hope Piper can make it far enough.
Deena scratches at my arm where I hold her by the t-shirt, my fist pounding into her blow after blow. An animalistic anger takes over my body as Piper runs past me and through the doorway.
I don’t stop until her arm falls limp by her side. I grin down at my handy work as blood trickles down my face from where it has splattered. I notice a cut on her upper cheek, three on her lips and a missing tooth. I stand above her.
“Anyhoo, goodbye bitch,”
I edge into the darkened hallway. One lightbulb flickers weakly before the staircase, the brief flashes casting long, jittering shadows along the walls. I have no weapons, Piper took my knife, but my eyes catch a glint on the floor: a hand-sized shard of glass among the tiny fragments. I scoop it up, fingers trembling, and hold it ready. If they want me, they’ll get me swinging, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll take a few of them with me.
I climb the stairs slowly, each footfall deliberate, my back pressed to the cold wall. The silence above is suffocating. Every shallow breath feels loud enough to betray me, echoing softly in the hollow space.
At the top, a door stands slightly ajar, a sliver of light spilling through the gap. I press my face close, straining to see without giving myself away. The room beyond is empty, yet alive with shadow. Dark wooden pews sit in rigid rows, dust-coated and broken in places, facing the left where the altar would have been. Stone walls, long surrendered to time, are pierced with foliage; roots snake across the floor, climbing as if the building itself is being devoured by the forest.
I edge closer, every step careful, until I can see the source of the light. Moonlight pours through a massive stained-glass window, scattering shards of colour across the ruined interior. The colours dance like restless spirits over the cracked floorboards, painting everything in fractured beauty.
And then I recognize it. That window. Relief washes over me in a quiet, trembling wave. We’re still on academy grounds.
I jump when I see a darkened figure crouched down behind a pew at the far other side of the room, the one closest to the large wooden doors that are slightly askew but still standing.
I grab the shard tight as I silently push through the doorway and into the main of the church. I crouch down as the figure, sneaking up to it as I once again scan the area for anyone else.
I am one pew away when Pipers terrified face turns back at me. The figure is Piper, she’s still in here. I go to move near her when another side door opens, and two male voices start to talk. I turn to her and mouthrun.
She shakes her head. “Not without you,” She whispers and I grimace checking if the men heard, but their voices still bounce back and forth.
“You go. We are still on the grounds. If you run straight and keep going without turning in either direction, you will hit the side of the Academy on Hastings house,”
“But,”
“No buts Piper. Just do it,” I wince at the echo around the church.
“What was that?” One male voice shouts out. “Is that you Deena?”
“I’m gunna check on the girls before he gets here,” Footsteps head straight for us and I try my hardest to push Piper as close to the door as possible. As she reaches for the handle, a male form in a hooded mask covering his whole face steps behind me.
“Well, this has never happened before,” He sounds surprised but happy that he gets to do something new.
I don’t give him a chance; I ram my elbow into his face as I scream at Piper to run. This time she listens as I turn to face the man I just hit, only now there is two. The second one gets on his walkie talkie and orders the others to go searching in the forest for a runner and my heart drops.
“No!” I scream and lunge myself at him, my hands aiming for the space in his hood where his eyes would be. I know I hit my mark when he squeals like a pig and my thumbs slip into his warm and wet eye socket.
The other man grabs me by my hair and rips me from the other as he writhes around on the ground. My neck snaps back with a backhand to the cheek and I land in a heap on the floor.
“Fucking Psycho bitch,” He shouts as I kick my legs out and heel him in the crotch, when he bends down, clutching between his thighs, I jump on his back, wrap my arm around his neck, making sure his Adams apple fits into the crook of my elbow and pull towards my body. The sounds of him chocking makes me pull impossibly tighter.
Even when he drops to the floor and my back hits the cold stone, I hold my position, aiming to kill.
“I’d let go now if I was you,” the snap of a safety clicking off. “I think he’s done for,” My head tilts back and I follow the academy sports trainers, up the cargo pants, black hoodie and up to a face I have looked at all term.
“You,”
He grins showing teeth. “Me,”
His gun shakes in front of my face as he tells me to move. I quickly let go and scramble to stand before him.
“Mr. Chapman,” I greet him with a snarl. Two more men stand behind him, guns at their waist.
