by Katie May
“This is serious,” she hissed, for once sounding coherent.
I nodded, properly chastised.
And then…I heard it.
There were no words to describe it. The scuttling of thousands of beetles, perhaps. The lightest click click click coming closer. The sound of mechanical spiders filling the walls, trying to claw their way out.
I froze, only my eyes moving to meet Kelly’s wide-eyed stare. She, once again, put a single finger to her lips.
The clacking was growing closer, just outside my dorm room door, before continuing down the hallway. It felt like an eternity instead of a few minutes as I held myself still. Waiting.
My breaths sawed in and out, but I managed to keep my gaze fixed on Kelly. She didn’t seem surprised by the strange, eerie sound reverberating through my room, nor did she seem upset.
“What the hell was that?” I whispered. It felt like it was hours later, but I knew it had only been a few minutes.
Her voice was soft when she answered me. “The monster.”
She spoke with such sincerity, such earnestness, that I wanted to believe her. I honestly did.
But then I thought of Aiden, Tanner, and Kace. Three boys who thought they ruled the school and everyone in it. Three men who I didn’t entirely understand. Who I both feared and revered.
Those assholes had no doubt put her up to this. A prank to scare me.
Shaking my head, I flashed Kelly a cold smile.
“This isn’t fucking funny. And you can tell the three assholes to leave me alone. I tried switching rooms. I tried talking to them. I tried everything, and I’m done. I’m done being their punching bag. If they fuck with me one more time, they’ll live to regret it.” My jaw clenched so tightly I was afraid it would break.
Kelly, for her part, looked nonplussed.
“Between,” she whispered.
“This again?”
Perhaps Kelly did theater or something. Either way, she nearly had me convinced.
Monsters didn’t exist. At least, not the monsters we read about in books and saw in movies. The real monsters were ten times worse. They looked like humans, walked like humans, talked like humans, but they were anything but.
Without another word, Kelly grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. I just barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
I had read numerous bully novels. This was the part where they lured me to some abandoned warehouse or whatever and dumped punch on my head. Or stole my clothes. Or ridiculed me in a public shaming.
Despite knowing this, I allowed Kelly to pull me out of my room and into the darkened hall.
I felt a brief stab of irrational fear. I kept hearing the strange clicking noise, replaying on a loop like a song on repeat. It had felt so…authentic. Totally monster movie-worthy.
“Where are we going?” I asked Kelly. The only response I got was the single damn finger to her lips reminding me to be silent.
Darkness clung to me, surrounded me, clogged my lungs, but I still followed Kelly. We reached a fork in the hallway, and she veered to the right. I had never been in this particular section of the school, and even with the lights off, I found myself gaping at the numerous paintings on the wall. A bunch of portraits of stuffy white men. A few landscapes. A couple abstract pieces, which were my personal favorite.
Too soon, Kelly reached an unassuming wooden door with a broken handle. Despite the darkness, I could clearly make out the words NO STUDENTS PERMITTED engraved onto a golden plaque.
“Um…” I stuttered, anxiously glancing up and down the hall. The last thing I wanted to do was get in trouble. Was that the point of this prank? Make me get caught in a place I wasn’t allowed to be? Have the teachers administered the punishment the guys were too scared to do themselves?
This door only led to a staircase. The distressed wood creaked beneath my feet as I inched myself upward. My hand feebly gripped the splintered railing. Kelly remained in front of me, her dark silhouette only broken apart by the intermittent flashes of light from cracks in the wall.
Finally, we reached what looked like a balcony. Surprisingly, it was empty, but voices carried to me from down below.
Kelly spun on her heel and placed her hand on my mouth before I could even think to comment. Warning me with her eyes to remain silent, she crouched down and peered through the wooden bars. After a moment of mindless staring, I reluctantly crawled up beside her, finally focusing on the scene below.
My breath left me, and my heart, which had been beating steadily, sped up.
I had thought I would see the guys. Perhaps hear them talk about their master plan to eliminate me or whatever men did nowadays. Maybe even witness a mass orgy.
I didn’t expect to see the masked professors standing in a semi-circle around a trembling, familiar female. Ali. Her face was tear-stained, red and blotchy, and she was stripped down to her bra and panties.
The professors were silent, staring at her through their white masks and pinprick black orbs for eyes. It wasn’t them that I heard. No, it was Ali’s pathetic whimpers and cries. Her screams for help.
I instinctively lurched to my feet before Kelly pulled me back down, eyes frantic. They pleaded with me to remain silent and calm, to watch and not intervene.
How could she expect me to keep my voice down? These teachers…
Disgust filled me. What did they plan to do to her? Rape her? Assault her? Millions of scenarios ran through my mind, each one more damning than the last. My hands were trembling by my side, a product of both my fear and anger.
I didn’t consider myself a social justice warrior, but I also needed to take a stand for those who were wronged. Those who were suppressed. It was ingrained within me to fight for the people who couldn’t fight for themselves. This poor, defenseless girl was one of those people.
I didn’t know what I could do, but I knew I had to do something. Anything.
I reached into my pocket to grab my cell phone, grateful that I hadn’t changed into my pajamas. Fortunately, it hadn’t fallen out during my restless sleep. Unfortunately, it was dead.
Cursing mentally, I estimated how long it would take me to run back down the staircase, through the hallway, and to the dorm rooms once more. Someone there would have a phone, of that I had no doubt. The only doubt I had was whether or not someone would be inclined to call. The school couldn’t all be made up of monsters, could it?
My train of thought was cut off by a familiar clicking sound.
Kelly’s hand gripped mine, fingernails digging into my skin. I didn’t mind the pain.
I had once welcomed that exact sensation, after all.
All I could do was watch, helpless and afraid. Confused.
Terrified.
The stomach-churning, hands clenching, face whitening type of fear. The fear you could never articulate unless you had lived through it yourself. The fear that made people understand the distinct difference between empathy and sympathy: you could never really understand something unless you had experienced it.
The room wasn’t large by any means—the size of two classrooms put together. Numerous candles were placed in handles on the walls, bright flames flickering in the cavernous room. The carpeting was blood-red, and the walls were gray slates. Behind Ali, who was facing the professors, was what appeared to be a dark cave. Room was too crude of a term. It was a gaping opening in the wall, the size of a crescent moon, and seemed to be made entirely of darkness.
It was from that darkness that the hand emerged. Black, with veins running down the length of its scaled arm. Claws extended from the fingertips, a russet brown color. The hand itself was the size of Ali’s body.
Ali screamed, a horrified, helpless sound, just as the hand gripped her waist and pulled her into the cave.
It was there and gone in less than a second.
The professors stared a moment longer, the silence deafening, before exiting out of the two doors on either side of the room. Away from the cave.
I stared.<
br />
That was all I could do. Stare and gape.
My hands were trembling, and I felt something salty touch my lips. Tears, I realized dumbly. My tears.
Kelly turned her cherubic face toward mine. She, too, had unshed tears in her grassy green eyes.
Voice subdued, she whispered, “They need to feed the monster.”
11
Bianaca
I woke up in a cold sweat, my heart pounding and mind racing. Fear doused me like a bucket of cold water being poured over my head.
My dream…it had felt so realistic. So real. I could still hear the whimpers escaping Ali’s parted lips. See the fear emanating from her eyes.
I scrubbed a hand down my face, willing the images away. I knew, without a doubt, that they would haunt me. It was only a dream, only a nightmare, but it had felt so damn real.
The time on the alarm clock showed it was a little after eight. Breakfast would’ve already started, and Beau would no doubt be looking for me.
The remnants of my dreams suffocated me, a cotton ball being shoved into my throat. I forked my fingers through my blond tresses as if that gesture could somehow bleach my mind of what it had conjured up last night. It wasn’t unusual for me to have nightmares, but this was unlike any that I had ever had before. Who knew my thoughts could be so twisted and deprived? One thing was abundantly clear: the school, or the boys and their drugs, was messing with my mind.
Quickly, I dressed in a tank top and shorts combination, combing my hair with my fingers. When that didn’t work, I tossed it into a tight ponytail. I was desperate to release some of my energy. It ran rampant within me, a coiled snake seconds from striking.
There were a few students still clustered in the hallway, and I gave them a nod as I walked by.
It didn’t take long for me to reach the gym I had visited the other day.
Dropping to my butt, I began to stretch my taut muscles, the dream replaying in my head. Over and over and over again. I saw it all. It remained etched on my eyelids like a tattoo I couldn’t remove.
Why had I dreamt that? What could my subconscious possibly be trying to tell me?
Or…
Was it real?
As soon as I thought that, I shook my head vehemently.
I didn’t want to even start going down that road. It would lead to a place I wasn’t sure I could get back from.
It was a dream. I had to believe that, had to hold onto that, or else I would truly lose my mind.
“You look to be deep in thought,” a soft voice said, startling me. I glanced up, not at all surprised to see Tanner leaning against the doorframe. He was dressed in a pair of low-slung sweatpants and a white shirt. The pants showed a dusting of blond hair and glorious tanned skin.
He was an asshole, yes, but he was a sexy one. There was no denying that.
“What do you want?” I snapped, turning back to focus on my stretches. I lowered myself to the splits, leaning over one of my legs.
“To talk,” he answered evenly.
“I’m busy.”
“B…” He took a step closer, eyes earnest. “We really need to talk.”
“About what?” I retorted. “About how you claimed you drugged me?”
My hands trembled at just the thought. The violation.
I had the sudden, irrational urge to slam my fingers into his eyeballs. Watch him bleed.
Or cut off his nuts.
That could be quite painful, I would imagine.
Tanner seemed undeterred by my snark.
“About this school. About our place in it.” He stepped farther into the room, hands shoved into his pockets. It only served to make his pants fall farther down.
Damn. That golden skin…
Down girl, I chastised myself. I blamed it on my vagina. The vagina was always the answer.
“Don’t you have a class to be at?” I asked, moving to my feet. “Or a breakfast to be eating? Or a girl to be fucking? Anything besides bothering me?”
He chuckled.
“It’s Sunday, my little gymnast. No classes on Sunday.”
I squinted at him, sure he was fucking with me.
“I’m not stupid. Yesterday was Sunday. Today is Monday.”
The smile on his face, the smile I was beginning to believe was his signature facial expression, grew ever so slightly.
“That brings us to the problem I would like to discuss.” He spoke so diplomatically, so sincerely, that my damn heart wanted to believe him. But he was rotten, through and through, and I knew I couldn’t believe one word that came out of his stupid mouth. He wanted to confuse me, wanted to destroy me, wanted to belittle me until I was nothing but a pile of bones and skin.
He could try all he wanted, but he would never break me.
Confuse me, yes, but not break.
And this? This confused the shit out of me.
“Look, I don’t have time for these fucking games—”
“No games.” He sat directly across from me on the blue mat, watching me as I lifted my leg behind my back. His movements were indolent, relaxed, as he perched himself onto his elbows. “You’re right. Technically, it should be Monday, but the rules are different here.”
“And how’s that?” I asked, humoring him.
“The rest of the students believe that it’s always the weekend. Always Saturday and Sunday. It may be a boarding school, but you’ll never have to go to class.”
I snorted. Actually snorted. Sometimes, I wondered if he could hear himself. I wondered if he understood the nonsense he was spewing. The idiocy.
“Okay, big man.”
Rolling my eyes, I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my newly charged phone out of my pocket and scanned my music playlist. I needed something upbeat for my workout. Something I could dance to. I needed to practice and perfect my layout full. Competition season may have been on hold until I was able to leave that stupid ass school, but I would be damned if I didn’t train daily. Gymnastics was the only thing I had besides Beau.
I didn’t have a family that loved me unconditionally or a boyfriend or anything like that. Their love, the love my family gave me, was conditional. It relied heavily on expectations I couldn’t meet and conditions that I would never grant. Gymnastics was my one escape, my way out of this horrible world I had found myself trapped in, if only for a moment.
“You don’t believe me?” Tanner asked, oblivious to my thoughts. He moved to his feet as well.
I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t know what I believe, but it sure as hell isn’t you. I mean, you did confess to drugging me.”
I couldn’t hide the anger in my voice. The bitterness.
“We did,” Tanner said softly. “Drug you, that is.”
His confession brought about a surge of anger, white-hot. Before I could stop myself, I lunged the short distance to him, punching him firmly in the face. He let out a startled cry, hand gripping his cheek.
My knuckles ached, no doubt bruising, but I had never felt so fucking satisfied before. The asshole deserved that…and a lot more.
Tanner lifted his head, eyes widening in shock.
“Did you just…?” He shook his head, dazed. “Did you just punch me?”
“I’ll do a lot more than that,” I warned, advancing on him like a lion preying on a gazelle. He took an automatic step back.
There was no anger on his face. Instead, he seemed sort of awed.
And if the heat in his eyes was any indication? A little turned on.
Sick, twisted asshole.
“Do you think you can go around drugging girls?” I asked, shoving his chest. This time, he barely staggered back a step. “Hurting people? You think that this is a fucking game you’re allowed to play?”
“If you would let me explain,” he began, irritated.
Still, I did not relent in my pursuit, venturing another step closer. This close, I could see a scatter of dark freckles across his tanned face. His hair was a light brown, longer than most men’s,
with golden highlights streaked throughout. He was so fucking handsome that my heart hurt.
Why did all the hot ones have to be assholes?
“We did what we did to protect you,” he blurted. His eyes locked with mine. “We did drug you, yes, but we did it for a reason. We didn’t cause the hallucination. We wanted you to see.”
“See what?” I hissed, jamming a finger into his firm, muscular chest.
“The food.” His voice was calm. Soothing.
“You wanted me to see the food?” I quipped, raising an eyebrow.
“The food is what makes you live in a happy, little bubble where everything is safe and fine and dandy. Unicorns and rainbows and all that happy shit. It’s what makes you believe that every day is the weekend, that students aren’t going missing, that this is just another fucking school.”
I gripped my hair that had escaped its bindings, pulling at the strands.
“I don’t get what you’re fucking saying. Is that what you’re trying to do? Confuse me? Because it’s working.”
Tanner, abruptly, grabbed at my shoulder, pulling me even closer to him. We were nose to nose, both of our breaths sawing in and out. His eyes traced my features, moving from my eyes to my lips before meeting my gaze once more.
“This school isn’t like the others. I was telling the truth about that. We don’t know everything, but one thing we do know is that they are drugging us. Every time you eat the food in the cafeteria, the drug is going into your system. It makes you believe things that aren’t true. It makes you believe that everything is normal. Those kids that were pulled out of the cafeteria? No one remembers. And if they remember, they believe that it is normal.” His warm breath caressed my face, eliciting goosebumps on my skin. “That was what Josie discovered before she went missing. She was…well…she didn’t like to eat.” His face tightened at the memory. “When she didn’t eat, she could see things with vivid clarity.”
Despite how bogus his story sounded, I held on to every word, filing them away for a later date. I would dissect his story in full when he wasn’t staring at me with wide, earnest eyes. Teeth glinting in the artificial gym lighting.