Ryan was taking good care of Sam. Susan went back to comforting Jake. The classroom quieted, the silence broken only by stifled sobbing and the murmuring of friends trying to reassure one another.
A resonant voice from directly outside the door startled them all into a fluttering flurry of hope. “This is the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.” Alex fired a bullet straight into the chest of a red-haired girl in the front row. She fell limply to the floor, and there was silence from outside.
Fourteen
AMY STIFLED HER millionth yawn. Her first day of university had begun with an 8 A.M. English lecture. Her professor, a stern-faced woman in her mid-fifties, had droned on and on for nearly an hour. It felt as though she and Jessie had been sitting there for days. Jessie jotted down notes like a professional college student and nudged Amy every few minutes to keep her awake. Amy glued her eyes to the clock and silently willed class to end early so she could nap before her next lecture.
She had had a restless sleep. Her mind had spun wild theories of what Alex might do next and kept her awake until predawn light had begun filtering through the curtains. She was holding herself together by clinging to the hope that Alex would disappear. Unease coiled in her stomach and wrapped her heart in tendrils of doubt. Disappearing wasn’t his style. Alex wanted revenge. He was biding his time until he figured out how best to get it.
Their professor wrapped up a rant on no cell phone use and switched to a slide on course grading. A surfer blond student a few rows in front of Amy interrupted her mid-sentence. “You guys have to see this!” He held up his Samsung.
“What did I just say about no cell phones?” The professor’s nostrils flared. Amy nodded in sympathy. This was a university classroom for God’s sake.
“I’m sorry, but this is insane!” The blond guy held out his phone to the brunette next to him. She stared at it, mouth agape.
“Oh my God!” She passed the phone off to her redheaded friend.
“There’s an armed gunman holding an entire class of sixth graders for ransom.”
Students all around the room pulled phones from pockets and bags. Hushed whispers turned into a buzz of conversation. Their professor flapped a hand in flustered dismay. “This is highly irregular.” She squared her shoulders and pulled herself together. “Put your phones away or kindly leave this lecture hall. The news will still be there in 20 minutes.”
Amy Googled the words armed gunman school classroom sixth graders expecting the search to produce a news article. Instead, it pulled up a personal website. She clicked the link and clapped a hand to her mouth. Blurry footage showed a class of terrified students, Chris and Susan among them. A rock settled in her stomach. An iron vice crushed her heart. She struggled to breathe. Her chest was too tight.
“She said to put away our phones.” A dark-haired girl behind Amy tapped her on the shoulder, her eyebrows drawn together in an angry line.
“Her sister is in that class,” Raquel hissed with a healthy dollop of mean girl spite. She was sitting a few rows behind Amy and Jessie.
Amy rose from her seat and crept from the room in a dim, foggy haze. She blinked like a vampire as she emerged into the sunlight. Alex had locked Susan, Chris, Sarah, Jake, and so many others in a room alone with him. He would kill them all. He was about to get his revenge. Cold certainty froze her insides.
“Amy?” Jessie and Raquel had followed her outside. Both girls clutched their phones with identical looks of dread.
“He has my sister!” Amy screeched, her terror bubbling over. Several passersby stopped to stare.
“He’s trying to raise money.” Jessie took Amy’s arm and led her to a bench in the shade. “There’s a message that flashes up next to the video. Look.”
Raquel hovered by the bench, near them but not with them.
“Go find Zack and Charles,” Jessie ordered without making eye contact.
Raquel took off at a run. Had she memorized Charles’s schedule? Amy gave Jessie’s phone a fearful peek. Fuzzy footage showed the body of a man lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. The view panned around the room. Amy glimpsed Susan beneath a desk with her arms around Jake.
Amy stifled a sob. “I never should have left her! I shouldn’t have moved so far away.”
“You couldn’t have stopped this from happening even if you were still in Toronto.” Jessie had an arm tight around her shoulders. Her voice was firm, her words calm and logical. She was pushing Amy back from the precipice of guilt as only a best friend could. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Jessie jabbed an angry finger at the group of gawking students. They scattered like leaves on a strong fall breeze. Amy’s face burned with shame at her public display of white-girl crazy.
She took a deep, steadying breath and looked back at Jessie’s phone. The video had been replaced with a screen full of text.
Hello friends, family, and loved ones of the students of Hilltop Middle,
I am writing today to inform you of a change in the students’ education. From now on, instead of focusing on trivial subjects such as math and English, we will stress the importance of science and psychology. Topics of study may include: How Many Nonfatal Bullet Wounds Does It Take to Kill a Sixth Grader, Just How Long Are an Eleven-Year-Old’s Intestines, and What Will It Take to Make Someone Murder Their Best Friend.
If you do not feel these subjects are relevant to a particular student’s education, please contact the school board and file your complaints with them. Or you can write me directly at [email protected]. The best way to get my attention is by making a donation in the student’s name. To do this, simply complete an email money transfer and make the student’s first and last name your password. No spaces or additional punctuation, please. Password example: SamanthaWilliams. Be sure to specify the password in the body of your message so I am able to receive your donation and recognize the well-looked-after student.
Please join me in one hour’s time for an armed duel between friends. Until then, ladies and gentlemen, good day.
“He’s not going to kill them,” Amy murmured faintly. “He’s going to torture them for money.”
Zack, Raquel, and Charles ran toward them. Amy clutched at her waist, barely holding herself together. The world warped, dipped, twisted, and righted itself. She had to keep it together for Zack. She hugged him tight and explained Alex’s message in a sickening rush of words. While Zack reeled from the news and stared at Jessie’s phone, Amy called the Vancouver police department and demanded to speak with Officer Kimmy Wolf. Kimmy had gone up against Alex before. She might know how to stop him.
“You saw it.” Kimmy’s tone was deadpan and clipped. Thank God she never wasted time on pleasantries.
“What are you doing about it?”
“I’m working with a former member of Assassin’s Honor. We were monitoring Alex’s younger sister in case he contacted her. It seems he skipped a few steps.”
“You mean he’s way ahead of you.” Contempt leaked into Amy’s voice.
“I’m afraid it’s worse than that. You and I both know Alex is the only person crazy enough to do this and understand it’s no coincidence that Susan and Chris are in that class. But the Toronto police have no proof he’s the one shooting people or holding the students for ransom. He has neither given his name in his message, nor shown his face on camera. Until he does, I’m not even allowed to work on his case.”
Anger exploded within Amy like a violent winter storm. “That’s crap and you know it! You need to be on this case! You’re our best chance at helping them. You know Alex. You understand what he’s capable of.” Amy paced away from the group to avoid stressing Zack.
“I have one idea of how you could assist me. It’s a little unconventional, though.”
“I want to help. Just tell me how.” She had to do something. She refused to sit back while her sister and others were tortured.
“If you were able to contact Alex via email and get proof in writing of his identity, I would be
allowed on the case due to my previous experience with him.”
“I’m on it.”
“Okay, here’s my direct number.” Amy scribbled it in her English notebook. “Be careful.”
Amy jabbed the end icon and stared straight ahead. She was about to have a conversation with the guy who wanted to kill her and everyone she loved. Kimmy was right. She would have to choose her words with extreme care.
“What’s going on?” Damien was standing feet from her. Amy narrowed her eyes. Had he been eavesdropping on her conversation with the police?
“You haven’t heard?” Amy filled him in.
Damien gave her a look of deepest, soul-touching empathy. “What can I do to help?”
“You could distract Zack. His brother is in that class, too.” And I can’t have him staring at me while I talk to Alex. She had to stay calm and keep a level head. Zack was not known for either trait.
“You got it.” Damien joined the group on the bench.
Charles sprang to his feet the moment Damien sat down. He bade Zack a quick goodbye and hurried off with Raquel. Amy stared. Charles’s reaction to Damien had been weirder than usual, and he acted weird on the regular.
She ambled a distance away from the others and sat on the grass in a patch of sunshine. She clicked on Alex’s stupid email address and put an X as her subject line. That ought to catch his attention. It was how Assassin’s Honor used to sign their threats in writing. Amy typed a brief message and read it out loud as she imagined what Alex might make of it. The last thing she needed was to cause a mass shooting.
Alex,
I’m listening. What is it you want?
-Amy Evans.
She refreshed her email and got a reply within seconds. Amy made a derisive noise. Alex must be scouring his email for juicy donations. She opened his message, and a shock electrocuted her heart. His reply was one single word.
Zack.
Fifteen
NAUSEA SWIRLED IN Chris’s stomach as he gazed across the room at Nova. How could the cute, funny girl he had shared his milkshake with be related to the psycho who wanted Zack dead? How could she help the psycho who wanted Zack dead? Betrayal clenched his insides and curdled his blood with the truth. He clung to one single shred of hope. Nova hadn’t told her brother who he, Chris, was. She was pretending she had never met him. It was hard to pretend he had never known her. He had liked Nova. She was fun and cool. A thought crossed his mind and slit open his heart. Had she known what Alex had been planning? Why else would she have forgotten to mention her brother? Chris stared at the floor, shame burning his cheeks. Was Zack right? Did he only see the best in people?
Several hours had passed since Alex had shot Maria Lawson, the red-haired student from the front row. The rest of the class had bunched up at the back of the room to get as far away from Alex as possible. Jake was still crying quietly on Susan’s shoulder, and Chris, Ryan, and José were huddled in a cluster nearby with Sam.
Ryan looked at Chris and spoke in an undertone. “What do you think he will do next?”
Chris pressed his lips together in a tense frown. People were looking to him for answers because everyone knew him. They ought to be looking to Susan. She was the one keeping Jake calm, and she had hidden Chris’s identity from Alex. She was good under pressure. Chris was only following her example.
Ryan eyed him expectantly. He gave a half-shrug, the weight of responsibility pressing heavy upon his shoulders. “It’s bad we haven’t heard from the police since Maria. That means they know we’re in here but can’t get us out.”
Jake whimpered and clung more tightly to Susan. She patted his shoulder and threw the boys a frustrated scowl. “Shut up. Jake, it’s going to be fine. The police are good at their jobs. They’re outside right now finding another way in.”
Alex got to his feet and passed Nova his phone. “Hit record when I say.” He stalked up to Jake and yanked him away from Susan. Jake trembled limply like an overcooked noodle. Alex studied the faces of the students around them. “Who’s your best friend?” He fixed Jake with an emotionless stare.
Jake gestured to Chris with a shaking hand. Chris stood up before Alex could drag him to his feet. Nova caught his eye, her face taut with fear.
“Both of you, over there.” Alex pointed to the center of the classroom. He held the gun to the back of Jake’s head and herded him after Chris. Alex produced two long knives from a backpack beneath Mr. Zellner’s desk and handed one to each of them. “Here’s how this is gonna go down. You two will fight each other, to the death if you want. The fight ends when one of you winds up unconscious. Begin!”
Chris made a derisive noise in his throat. “Like we’d actually⸻” Jake gave an earsplitting shriek and lunged for him, knife in hand. Chris leapt aside in the nick of time. “What the hell, man!”
“Unconscious is better than dead.” Jake came at him again. He slashed Chris’s arm and left a crimson streak across his skin. Chris cradled his bleeding arm to his chest and gritted his teeth against the pain.
Susan and Nova stared in horror from opposite sides of the classroom. Nova clutched an expensive-looking camera to her chest and followed the fight with a nauseous expression. Ryan, José, and the others watched with varying degrees of alarm. Alex grinned from ear to ear like a manic fighting pit owner. Chris’s thoughts tumbled over one another, fueled by panic and sustained by adrenalin. One of them had to get knocked unconscious for the fight to end, and doing that with Alex’s weapons would get ugly fast.
Chris dropped his knife with a jarring clatter and neatly sidestepped Jake’s flailing blade. “This is crazy! I’ve known you for years. I’m not going to stab you!”
“Are you getting this?” Alex was basically bouncing with glee.
Nova nodded. Alex showed his teeth in a feral smile. Chris backed away from Jake’s wildly swinging blade. Jake lunged with purpose, his face a mask of horror. Chris spun away and slipped.
He landed face-first in Maria Lawson’s blood. He fought his gag reflex and struggled to stand through a lurching wave of vertigo. Red streaked his hands. Cold liquid ran down his forehead. Horror unfurled within him, flooding his chest and accelerating his heart. Something cold pierced his skin. His back caught fire, the agony wiping out everything else.
“Jake, stop it! Stop it now!” Susan’s screams were drowned by a group of boys who were cheering at the action.
Chris stumbled backward and collided painfully with Mr. Zellner’s desk. Splotches of red were everywhere. His hands, the floor, Jake’s eyes. Survival instinct, born out of carnal desperation, sent him summersaulting backward over his teacher’s desk. A small, hard something clattered to the floor beside him, a turtle-shaped paperweight. He clutched it in his fist and rose up in self-defense. Jake charged. Chris smashed the paperweight into his skull. Jake crumpled, his head hitting the floor with a sickening crack. Relief wrapped its cloying fingers around Chris’s heart. What kind of person was he, knocking his friend unconscious just to save himself?
“Excellent.” Alex threw his hands into the air. “You can turn the camera off.” Nova flicked the switch with her face pale and her eyes glazed. Alex held out his hand to Chris. “Well done!”
Chris half carried, half dragged Jake back to Susan. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, unable to meet anyone’s eyes.
“Not your fault.” Susan took his hand and squeezed. Her fingers were warm; his were ice-cold. “Are you okay?”
Ryan inspected the cut on his back. “That looks bad.”
“I don’t think it is. Most of the blood isn’t mine.”
Ryan averted his eyes and dropped the subject.
“Daniel.” It took Chris a second to remember his new name. He scowled up at Alex. “Next time use the weapon I give you, or it’ll be your blood your classmates are rolling around in.” Chris shivered. Alex crafted his threats specifically to freak people out. He still meant every word. “And some advice for the rest of you. Everyone in this room is now your enemy. Trust n
o one, unless you wish to die.” He sauntered back to the front with his attention fixed on his phone.
He startled the class by whooping in delight. “Ryan Rivera! Stand up.”
Ryan held perfectly still. His expression was calm, his posture relaxed. His eyes darted from face to face, the only indication he was worried. Anxiety swirled in Chris’s stomach. Nothing good could come from Alex shrieking your name in delight like that.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” Alex looked insane as he beamed at the class with bloody bodies behind him.
Ryan got to his feet. “What is it?”
“You, my man, are my favorite student in this room.” Alex trained the camera on him. “Say thank you to your parents for their generous donation to our cause.”
Ryan stammered out a thank you and took a seat amidst a wave of confused murmuring.
Alex turned the video off and slapped a blue nametag to Ryan’s shirt. Chris leaned over to read it and stared at the word: EXEMPT!
“I’m exempt?” Ryan’s eyes circled the group. “What does that mean?”
Nova cut him an icy glare that rivaled her brother’s hostility. “It means you can’t be tortured. Shut up before we change our minds.”
Sixteen
AMY STARED AT her phone, her insides paralyzed with dread. Alex wanted Zack? Sweet, caring, love of her life Zack? The guy who had saved her in every way possible was facing down the fury of their worst enemy, alone. Her stomach twisted with guilt. She texted the news to Kimmy with shaking hands and drafted another email to Alex. Confirming his identity was the best way to help.
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