Ted Saves the World

by Bryan Cohen

  Chapter 36

  Jennifer hadn't taken an acting class just to get an easy A, like some of her peers. She genuinely had interest in getting on the stage. She'd played sports since she was a young girl, but there was a nagging feeling that made her wonder what it would be like to be on TV. Mr. Faraday, the drama instructor, was rumored as one of the best teachers in school. He was warm and gentle, and he had his arm underneath Jennifer's chin and around her throat.

  It had seemed like any normal class at first. Mr. Faraday's former student, Sandra, who Jennifer recognized from Page's, was running an improvisation workshop. She seemed particularly happy for someone who was almost killed a few days earlier. Jennifer supposed some people were more resilient than others.

  Jennifer was on stage, pretending to be a high-powered CEO about to fire one of her employees, when she noticed the Torellos sneaking to the back of the auditorium. She figured they were just headed to the bathroom, though it was weird to see two guys going together. Jennifer did her best to stay in the scene until she noticed her two classmates letting a large European man inside before locking the doors.

  "Mr. Faraday, I'm sorry, but what are they doing?" she asked.

  Before he could answer, the Torellos held their ground in the middle of the aisle. The man they let inside sat down in the back row and put his feet up on the chairs in front of him.

  "Jason. Phil. Please unlock those doors and go back to your seats. And sir, you aren't authorized to be here."

  The man laughed a boisterous, Russian-accented laugh.

  "I'm here to see show," he said. "I'm sure it's no Chekhov, but it will do."

  The Torellos stood like statues in the middle of the aisle, as if they were guarding the doors. Jennifer knew the twins were jerks, but she had no idea what they were up to.

  "Fine," Mr. Faraday said. "I'll unlock the doors myself."

  Jennifer watched as Mr. Faraday left his front row vantage point and walked toward the back of the auditorium. When he reached the Torellos, Phil grabbed Faraday by the shirt.

  "What do you think you're doing?" Faraday asked.

  "In this scene, I'm gonna be a superhero."

  Phil lifted Faraday high above his head, making it look easy. Faraday shrieked. The entire class stood up to get a better view.

  "Hey!" Jennifer said. "Put him down."

  "Jennifer's right," Sandra said. "Why don't we all take a seat and listen up for a moment?"

  The kids complied with Sandra as Phil tossed his teacher to the ground. Jennifer yelped as Mr. Faraday landed. She locked eyes with the former waitress.

  "Sandra," Jennifer said, "they just assaulted Mr. Faraday. We need to call the office."

  When Jennifer attempted to walk to the intercom button, Sandra took a running leap and landed ahead of her.

  "I'm afraid there's no chance any of you are getting out of here. In fact–"

  Sandra grabbed Jennifer by the hair. It was too swift for Jennifer to avoid and any effort to pull away resulted in sharp pain on her scalp.

  "Let go of me!"

  "I will, if Mr. Faraday comes up here and lets me do a little bit of artwork."

  "Hold on a minute, Sandra," Faraday said as he got up off the ground. "Don't do anything rash."

  Faraday tried his best to calm the students, who were now all sitting in their original seats, minus the Torellos, who were blocking the aisles like bouncers. When Faraday reached the stage, Sandra tossed Jennifer to the side with ease.

  "What's gotten into you, Sandra?" Faraday said. "Is this about the diner?"

  Sandra laughed.

  "Mr. Faraday, you always were kind of slow. Sandra's dead. Long live Sandra."

  Sandra spun around as if she was revealing a completely new person. She looked the same, but it was obvious now that everything she'd done during the class period had been a lie.

  "Sandra, this isn't funny."

  "Oh, Mr. Faraday, comedy always suited you better than drama, so let's play a little game," she said. "You roll up your sleeve and let me paint a little picture, or me and my friends here will kill one of your students for each minute you resist me."

  Jennifer looked her teacher in the eyes. Faraday didn't hesitate. He rolled up his sleeve and walked over to his former student.

  "You're insane."

  Sandra cackled.

  "I'd say it was my high school education that made me that way. But no, that just made me unemployable."

  She took Faraday's arm and said an incantation in a language Jennifer didn't recognize. An image appeared where there was none before. The Russian man got out of his seat and walked toward the stage.

  "Mr. Faraday, I don't think this is a good idea," Jennifer said.

  "It's going to be fine, Jennifer. We'll let Sandra have her fun for now, and we'll all get out of here safe and sound."

  "Just keep telling yourself that," Sandra said.

  She finished up the chant over Faraday's arm. It glowed with a blue light.

  "Are we done?" Faraday asked.

  "He's all yours," Sandra said as the Russian pulled himself up onto the stage.

  Yarrick grabbed the drama teacher by the head.

  "Wait!" Faraday said. "What are you–"

  Yarrick twisted Faraday's head before he could finish his thought. Faraday dropped to the ground motionless.

  "No!" Jennifer dove to the ground beside her instructor.

  Several other students screamed, while at least two girls in the room began sobbing. A blue beam of light shot in from above and struck Faraday's body. Jennifer put some distance between her and her teacher. A few seconds later, she saw his eyes open.

  "Mr. Faraday?"

  Sandra offered her former teacher a hand, which he took. As he stood up, she put her arm around him.

  "Welcome home."

  Jason Torello coughed.

  "Who's next?"

  That's when Jennifer felt herself attempt to run. One of the backstage doors had a glass window on the top. She knew that if she could break it and open the door through the window, there might be enough time to open it and warn somebody. Anybody. She was a few feet away when Faraday leapt and landed between her and the door.

  "And you call yourself a student athlete," Faraday said.

  Faraday grabbed Jennifer in a headlock. His arm was so tight around her neck, she thought it might burst from the pressure.

  "Stop!"

  He didn't listen, dragging her back to the front of the stage.

  "Mr. Faraday, you don't have to do this. Whatever they did to you, it's not you."

  Jennifer got most of the words out, though she wasn't exactly in top speaking condition.

  "You're right," Faraday said. "I can do whatever I want."

  Faraday released the headlock and proceeded to rip Jennifer's shoulder out of its socket. She screamed as the sharp sensation took over. Faraday let her go, sending her writhing in agony on the ground. The pain was more than she'd ever experienced on the field.

  "Why? Why'd you–"

  Jennifer could feel herself starting to tear up. She was dead and there was nothing she could do about it.

  "Don't worry, honey," Sandra said, grabbing Jennifer's arm. "The pain will all be gone after you cross over."

  Faraday and the others got to work, speaking the incantation to get the symbol on the arms of all the students in the room. Jennifer's shoulder began to hurt a little less, though she imagined it was more from the shock than anything else. When all the symbols were all in place, Faraday ascended the stage and put his arm around Jennifer's throat once again.

  "Are you ready?" he asked. "To become a god?"

  Jennifer wasn't sure why, but she thought of Dhiraj. She hoped he wouldn't see her if she became a monster. As Faraday started to squeeze, a noise crackled over the loudspeaker.

  "We're about to begin," a man said over the intercom. "Hold in place until we're ready."

  Sandra walked over to the button to reply.

  "We're in place. Go
for it."

  She walked toward the backstage door.

  "That's my cue, everybody. We'll be back soon. Don't miss us too much."

  When Jennifer glanced back up, Sandra and the Russian were gone.

  Jennifer could barely hear the threat the man on the intercom made to the school over the beating of her heart. A couple of minutes later, the doors to the auditorium opened with a burst.

  Faraday dropped her to the ground. Jennifer recognized the man immediately. His mugshot had been all over the TV and her father had referred to him by name.

  "I see we have a few new recruits," Nigel said. "Hold off momentarily. We have bigger fish to fry."

  He walked to the stage and flipped the intercom switch. Everything he said went over the loudspeaker for the entire school.

  "Ted and Erica, report to the auditorium. Ted and Erica to the auditorium."

  Jennifer wondered if Ted even had a chance against Nigel. She hoped the answer was yes.