Chapter Twenty-Two
“I’m calling it the apocalypse party because graduation is the final showdown between us and the senior Eldritch Club.” Tillie reached across the table to grab a piece of bacon from my plate. The meat crunched between her teeth.
“Hey, I wanted that.” I stuck out my lower lip. “You can’t even taste it.”
“Ghost bacon is better than no bacon.” Tillie took another bite. “Students are going all-out. My body is ready for all the booze, all the drugs, all the wanton debauchery I haven’t yet partaken in – it’s happening in the pleasure garden on Friday night. If this is gonna be the end of life as we know it, I’m going out with a bang.”
“Good. I just need your enthusiasm to rub off on everyone else. Every single student needs to be at this party, and they need to listen to me.”
“On it.” Tillie bounced off to chat with a group of students on the next table over. They darted glances at me, and this time it didn’t look as though they were afraid of me. Ayaz’s arm casually draped over my shoulders might’ve helped with that.
It was weird, going from standing at the sidelines while the students avoided me like the plague to being the one instigating the biggest party of the decade. As Tillie continued her rounds, word of what to expect at the party passed in whispers. No one wanted to be responsible for the teachers finding out.
Of course, the teachers knew. They were planning a party of their own, which was about to be thoroughly crashed.
Friday, last period.
The note landed on my desk, folded into an elaborate origami dragon. When Dr. Atwood turned away to write something on the board, I unfolded it, my heart hammering as I read three words in Andre’s neat script.
SADIE DID IT.
Between classes, the teachers all rushed back to the faculty lounge to refill their coffee cups from the barista machine. Sadie was the one responsible for making the coffees and cleaning the machine, so all she had to do was spike the beans and all the teachers would be singing lullabies. I’d worried that she’d get caught or wimp out at the last minute, but my fears were unfounded – Sadie was made of strong stuff. She had to be, to survive Miskatonic Prep.
All we had to do was wait.
We didn’t have to wait long. Midway through a discussion of essay topic prep for finals, Dr. Atwood lurched forward. His eyes widened. He grabbed at his desk to steady himself, but his legs collapsed beneath him and he slid off to the side.
“Mmmmmmmf.” He tried to make a noise, but his lips had stopped working. His fingers jerked the air. A few more moans and twitches, and then he lay still, the only sound he made faint, labored breathing.
I leaped from my seat to bend over him, slapping both his cheeks in turn. He didn’t move or open his eyes or acknowledge me in any way. I turned back to Trey and gave a thumbs up.
“School’s out!” Trey yelled. Students whooped and tossed their papers to the floor. They streamed into the hallway, heading for the dorms to prepare for tonight’s party. John Hyde-Jones kicked Atwood in the head as he walked out.
Trey ran to the door and peered down the hall.
“Quick.” Trey slammed the door shut and leaned against it. “Dr. Halsey just walked past. She’s trying to herd the students back to class. I don’t think everyone is out yet.”
I fished in Atwood’s pockets, pulling out a set of keys on an old-fashioned brass ring. One of the keys was shinier than the others – brand new. The key to the new lock on the weight room.
I dropped the entire loop in my pocket and stood up. “Ready.”
Trey shoved the door open. I followed him into the hall. The place was chaos – Dr. Halsey had succumbed to the drug and lay across the corridor while students decorated her prone body with rolls of toilet paper. Paul and Nancy drew matching dicks on her cheeks with a Sharpie. Someone had a boom box pumping sweet 90s jams while Courtney and Amber did some kind of sexy hip-hop dance. Barclay had lit a joint under the smoke alarm, so that was buzzing. A few teachers who were still standing tried in vain to contain them. As I watched, Mr. Dexter’s legs collapsed from beneath him and he toppled against the lockers.
Another one bites the dust.
At the top of the gymnasium stairs, we met up with Quinn and Ayaz. “I came from Mrs. West’s office,” Ayaz said. “She’s unconscious.” He thrust her key ring into my hands.
“What were you doing in her office?” He wasn’t supposed to be there – we were going to go straight to her chambers from class.
“She called me from class.” Ayaz’s dark eyes were unreadable. “Luckily, she passed out just in the nick of time.”
I shuddered at the thought of the Deadmistress laying her hands on my Ayaz again. She must have believed that she still controlled him. But I had to push aside the overwhelming desire to head to her office and kick her in the face myself – Ayaz had bought us some extra time, and we couldn’t waste it.
“Even Morgan is out cold,” Quinn said. “I saw her sleeping on a sofa in the faculty lounge. I guess she wanted to cover her tracks. Smart woman.”
“Good.” I held up both keys. “Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
A shrill voice stopped me in my tracks.
I whirled around. Courtney stood opposite us, flanked by Tillie and Amber, her hands on her hips and fire in her eyes. She jabbed a manicured nail in the direction of the pleasure garden. “The party is that way. Or is there some other reason you’ve knocked all the teachers out so we finished class early?”
I don’t have time for this. “There is another reason. We’re going to tell you all about it tonight. In the meantime, you gotta trust us. Can you do that?”
“Don’t worry, Courts. It’s not a real party until I show up,” Quinn blew her a kiss. I expected Courtney to demand to know what was happening, or to come with us, but she only laughed and flounced away.
The keys jangled in my hand as we turned back to the gym. Down, down, down, we crept into the darkened hallway, past the rusting old lockers and dusty storage closet that led down to the god’s cavern. His presence hung thick in the air, and I sensed the edges of his mind tugging at me. He watched us in his dreams. In the darkness, his shadows lurked – commanded by me now, they were ready to leap out at anyone who tried to stop us.
I braced myself for the horrific odor leaking from the gym, but it wasn’t as bad as I remembered. The rotting scent still clung to my throat as we walked, but it no longer choked out everything else. As we approached the rolling door to the gym, I heard fans whirring from inside. The teachers must be trying to clear out the stench of their evil before the dance.
I sucked in a deep breath and shoved the door.
It rolled back just enough to allow us entry. I slipped in first, followed by the guys. I clicked on my phone’s flashlight function and swung the pale beam around the vast space. The place wasn’t nearly as oppressive as last time we visited. Someone had swept the court, so dust no longer swirled in tall columns around us as we walked. Some of the bleachers had been dismantled, and the wood was stacked in neat piles beside the outer door. Extractor fans worked to clear their air of the noxious odor of death.
As we stalked across the court toward the weight room, a scritching noise started at the top of the bleachers and rolled toward us. Even though I’d heard the approach of the rats enough times now to know they were on our side, I couldn’t help the tightness in my chest. Those tiny feet and sharp claws scratch-scratch-scratching… it never failed to incite terror.
Rats bounded across the court to circle us. They faced away from us, watching the doors, their little noses twitching with nervous anticipation. Our guards. They would alert us if any teachers woke from their stupor and came after us.
A lock that looked like it would be more at home on the safe from a spaceship had been installed on the rolling door. I slid Atwood’s key into one of the locks and tried to turn it, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Try both at once,” Trey suggested.
I shoved Ms. West’s key into the other lock and turned both at the same time. The lock clicked open. I hurled up the roller door, revealing a darkened room beyond.
The first thing that hit me was the smell. Now that much of the dead stench had disappeared, I was able to articulate the unique odor of this prison. It reeked of human filth – blood, shit, piss, sweat clinging to an unwashed body, tears left to dry on parched cheeks. I clamped my hand over my mouth as bile rose in my throat.
My flashlight beam swung around the room, leaping over dusty equipment, the laboratory benches along the center of the room, the closed door of the sauna. Where is she—
“Took you long enough,” a voice croaked.
Zehra.
She clung to a steel weight rack that had been bolted to the floor. Beside her, a filthy mattress and bucket containing I didn’t want to know were stacked by the wall. Her eyes bugged from her haggard face as she recognized us.
“Brother?”
Before I could stop him, Ayaz barreled across the room and scooped her into his arms. Her tiny figure was lost in his broad shoulders as he smothered her in his embrace. She collapsed against him, clinging to his neck as if he were the only thing holding her upright. I noticed dried blood on the end of her fingers from where her nails had been pulled off.
Ayaz let out a sob that rent my soul. “What’s that witch done to you?” He cupped Zehra’s face in his hands, tracing the cuts that crisscrossed her cheeks and the blistering burns on her earlobes.
She shook her head. “The important thing is that you’re here now. And you’ve brought reinforcements. Hi, Hazel.”
I knelt down beside her. “Let’s get you out of here.”
We didn’t have keys for the locks that bound Zehra’s chains, but they were old and malleable. Ms. West didn’t expect anyone to get past her new lock. I held the chains in my hand, calling up the righteous anger inside me until a flame burned in my palms. The metal bubbled between my fingers, and a moment later, the shackles fell away from Zehra’s wrists.
She rubbed her wrists, wincing as her fingers traced red welts. Trey stepped forward, sliding his arm under her shoulders. Ayaz went to the other side and hauled her up. She couldn’t stand under her own weight, but with the two of them guiding her, she staggered toward the door.
“Wait. Aren’t you going to help her?” Zehra gasped.
“Help who?” Quinn whipped his head around the room. His eyes widened as he fixed on a shape in the far corner. I followed his gaze.
A woman slumped in a leg curl machine, her wrists and ankles chained down, her eyes bound and a gag stuffed in her throat. Her head lulled to the side. She moaned and tried to lift her head, but she couldn’t seem to do it.
Even with her hair silver from age and streaked with filth, her skin wrinkled, and her clothes torn and bloody, I recognized her.
Courtney’s mother, Gloria Haynes.
“I don’t have time to explain, but we can’t take her.” I made to turn away, but the fire inside me flared to life. Inside my head, the god whispered.
I see your mind. I see what you desire.
The rage burned like magma in my veins. In front of me was a parent who had given her child to the god in exchange for power. Gloria Haynes jerked her head up, and a muffled sob came from behind the gag. It sounded like she was crying for help.
I’ll help you, Gloria.
I stepped toward her. Trey grabbed my arm. “Forget about her. We don’t have time.”
I jerked my arm from his grasp and stalked across the room, yanking the gap from her mouth. Gloria snapped her jaw. “Help me,” she croaked. “I’m being tortured. There must be a mistake. I don’t deserve this…”
I tugged down the blindfold. Gloria’s eyes watered as she struggled to focus. When my features came into view, she shrunk away, her body spasming with fear. Watching her jerk her head away, her limbs brittle sticks inside her bonds…
I liked it.
No, I loved it.
I loved the terror in her eyes.
I relished the acrid scent of urine soaking through her ruined dress.
I gorged myself on the sight of her silvery-grey hair and crinkling skin.
I gloried in the power I held over her.
Yessss, the god hissed in my head.
“No… not you…” she whimpered.
“Why not me?” I leaned in close, letting my gutter whore breath caress her cheek. “Why should I not be the one to take your life, as you took the lives of your children? Tell me, has it all been worth it? Has watching Courtney remain a teenager for two decades, trapped forever between these walls, been worth the heights of your career and the admission to the Eldritch Club?”
Even as tears streamed down her cheeks, Gloria stuck out her jaw in defiance. “You want the truth?” she spat. “It was a relief to get rid of that brat. While she was in our house, my husband had no time for me. He was too busy doting on his perfect little girl. He only supported my company because he thought I was building it for her. Well, I showed him, didn’t I? I sent his perfect girl to Ms. West and she turned into her someone he feared. Courtney will never take what’s mine.”
“Oh, won’t she?” I slapped her cheek. Gloria cried out, and I noticed a fresh burn reddening her skin. I held my palms in front of her face, letting her watch the fire leap between them. “You’re right – you turned your daughter into a monster. Well, it takes a monster to defeat one, and you and the rest of the Eldritch Club will reap what you sow.”
“Hazel, come on.” Quinn tugged my arm. He sounded frantic now. “We have to get Zehra away, remember?”
I shoved him away and turned back to Gloria. Her cheeks glowed with wet tears. Her jaw trembled, and her face collapsed in terror. I pressed my hand against her chest, between her breasts, over her heart. I felt it race beneath my fingers, the beat speeding so fast it seemed ready to burst through her chest.
Yessss. What is sunken will again rise. You are the conduit, my star-twin.
The god cried with triumph as the fire flowed through me. Flames leaped from my palm, and I pressed them into her skin. She screamed, her body jerking. A warm joy spread through me at the pain I caused.
This is who I am – the biggest monster of all.
Someone tackled me from behind, dragging me back, tearing my hand from her chest. The flame flared across the room before sinking back into my skin. Gloria’s screech pierced my ears as fire tore through the ruined fabric of her dress, wreathing her face in an orange glow. My breath caught as I looked into her eyes and saw my mother. The god yelled in protest, but the connection had broken. The rage within me turned cold.
Quinn held me while Trey rushed over and smothered the flames. I buried my face in his shoulder, gripping his shirt, begging him silently not to let me go.
I can’t believe I did that. It was so fucking stupid. I hadn’t come here with murder on my mind. We were getting Zehra out. We needed to leave the pillar beneath the gym, and we needed Gloria alive for now, or the parents wouldn’t come to graduation.
But when I’d ignited the fire inside me, I wanted Gloria to burn. I’d relished the anticipation of her suffering. How much of that was me, and how much was the god’s influence calling me, begging me to become his conduit once more?
“Fuck,” I whispered. “The god… he got inside my head. He wanted me to burn her. I wanted to burn her.”
Quinn’s arms held me steady. This time, he wasn’t going anywhere. “We all want her to burn. It’s not your fault, Hazy.”
“He was trying to raise the pillar,” I mumbled as Quinn dragged me toward the door. A wild thought occurred to me. I dug my phone from my pocket and snapped a picture of Gloria’s slumped body, just in case I needed it as evidence or for blackmail.
“Of course he was. His influence is stronger here than anywhere else.” I leaned into Quinn as Trey shut and bolted it behind me, muffling Gloria’s pain-soaked cries. Ayaz was already halfway back across the gym, carrying his preciou
s load. The rats scurried out of our path as we scrambled for the exit and tore up the stairs.
As soon as I stepped into the first-floor corridor, the god’s hold on me broke, leaving my body and mind bereft. Quinn squeezed me and smiled his easy-going smile, and for a flicker of a moment, I believed that everything would be okay.
Quinn’s still here. He saw the worst in me, and he’s still here.
As quickly as we could, we carried Zehra through the deserted school and across the field into the trees. As we walked, Trey and I filled her in on everything that had happened since we last saw her and our plan for graduation, with Quinn interrupting to ‘dramatically re-enact’ his favorite parts. His impression of Trey was particularly entertaining, and despite myself, I laughed until my ribs hurt.
I found the tree where we’d hidden supplies earlier. Ayaz set Zehra down, steadying her as she stood shakily on her own legs. I handed Zehra a backpack.
“There’s food, water, and cash in here, and some other things you might need. I’ve put a note with my mobile number in the front pocket. As soon as you buy a phone, text me so we can stay in contact. You’re going to the Arkham Grand Hotel – around the back is a motel unit. Deborah has left her back window open. She’s in number three. Don’t let anyone see you crawl inside. She’ll get you cleaned up and move you somewhere safer.”
Zehra nodded. Ayaz held her close, locking his arms around her, pressing his cheek to hers.
“She doesn’t have to go,” he whispered. “We could keep her with us.”
I got it. He’d just got her back. He didn’t want to send her away into the great unknown again.
I shook my head. “We can’t hide her in the school.”
Ayaz locked his arms around his sister and stared at me with defiant eyes. “You stayed hidden for an entire quarter.”
“That was before we had a crazy plan to free you all from this curse.”
Zehra wriggled out of her brother’s arms. She hoisted the backpack onto her shoulders. “Listen to your girl, big brother. We’ll have plenty of time to catch up on two decades of shenanigans once you have your life back.”
Ignited: a reverse harem bully romance (Kings of Miskatonic Prep Book 4) Page 15