I freeze, watching my ex-headmaster, who’s moments away from shooting Chiamaka.
I shakily step toward the thick curtain, trying to draw it back without him noticing. If I act quickly, maybe I can push him off, grab the gun, stop him from doing anything.
A part of me wonders if this is what happened to Dianna Walker. The first girl Aces targeted, back in 1965. What if… they killed her?
Ward starts saying something to Chiamaka, but I only make out the wordsclassroomandmove. Chiamaka looks terrified. I have to stop him. He moves her toward the door, his hands gripping her arm tightly.
I swallow, pushing the curtain a little, only stepping through halfway. Chiamaka looks at me briefly.
He backs her up a little more, then reaches out to touch the door handle but quickly jolts back.
I take this moment to charge toward Ward, barging into him, hoping it makes him tumble. Only I didn’t expect him to be this strong. He stumbles but doesn’t fall.
He turns to look at me, disgust written across his features. There are screams in the background and people chanting.
I notice Chiamaka edging toward Ward.
“What did you do to Dianna?” I ask, breathing hard. “Did you guys kill her?”
Chiamaka takes something out from her bag.
Ward raises an eyebrow. “Why don’t we see for ourselves?” he says, raising his gun to me now, just as Chiamaka sticks something in Ward’s neck. He freezes up and falls to the ground, the gun dropping with him.
Chiamaka grabs his gun with a handkerchief and slides it away from him.
I’m breathless.
In her hand she’s holding some kind of stun gun.
“Are you okay?” I ask, partly wondering where she got that from.
She wipes her eyes. “Yeah. We need to get out of here.”
I nod and we walk through the curtains, jumping back when a loud boom sounds.
I look up. Smoke spills from the ceiling.
Wait… smoke?
People are looking around too, searching for where it came from.
My heart beats fast, and just as I grab Chiamaka’s hand, there is another explosion.
I instinctively duck.
Then, as if we are in some disaster movie, parts of the ceiling break apart, wood falling from the sky.
Holy shit.
Screams start to fill the air. Chiamaka grabs my arm, pulling me toward the exit. We push through crowds as everyone attempts to escape, the smoke wrapping around the ballroom.
When we finally stumble through the doors at the front of the room, there is even more smoke in the hallway. People are covering their mouths, coughing, running, desperate for any escape.
We’re running so fast, I almost fall a few times, tripping over Chiamaka’s long dress. More explosions sound as we burst out through the entrance to the school, racing down the steps and into the cold fresh air of the evening. I cough, feeling out of breath and disoriented.
My breath looks like a ghost as wisps swirl out of my mouth, before disintegrating into the air.
I look up at Niveus, once this tall, looming building, now crumbling before me, scorched by angry red flames.
