"You mean we just risked ourselves for nothing?" Matt shouted.
"Calm down guys, it's not gonna help getting all wound up- we have to think logically," Gwen said, trying to calm the mood.
"We're gonna have to think quickly, my guess is she's gonna change soon, but we don't know when. Unfortunately I don't have a plan this time, didn't think we'd been dealing with something like this so soon…" I explained, disappointed with myself.
"Don't worry 'bout it," Leigh reassured me. "Look, we gotta think of something fast, like Erin said, we don't know when she's gonna become infected. Everyone's gonna have to pull together on this one." She finished.
I checked the time.
9:37 PM.
"Can't we just… Let her go?" Carrie asked, trying to make herself useful.
"Do you really wanna take that chance?" I replied rhetorically.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Becky from the other group asked.
"It means," Gwen began, "That she will know we're in here. If we dump her outside, chances are she'll guess we're in here. If we take her further, we could risk ourselves even more." She looked to me for approval, maybe this was her idea of an apology?
"Exactly," I smiled, acknowledging her explanation.
"I say we…" Cass began, trailing off. "Well, we gotta do what we gotta do, right?" She proposed awkwardly.
"A little more insight to your plan would be helpful," Connie said bitterly.
"Don't play dumb, Connie, you know exactly what she means," Leigh said, turning against her friend.
"We have to kill her." Sian announced, sure of herself.
A few gasps erupted around the room. I felt a few of the group shuffle uncomfortably.
"We're talking about murder here," Rainey said, coming over all self righteous again.
"Self-defence is more the vibe I'm getting," Jo claimed.
"That's right. It's either kill or be killed," I put it to them straight. "Right?"
There was a moment before anyone said anything. An uncomfortable tension filled the room. I swear, it was as if one of those things could burst through the room right now.
"I agree," Esmé said. "It's pretty clear what we have to do."
"We should do it," Rory agreed. "Kill, or be killed."
"How are we going to do it?" Charlie asked innocently.
"The quickest, most painless way possible," Lisa said.
"I don't mean to make fun of the situation folks, but slicing her open with a ruler doesn't seem like the most humane way," Cass proposed.
"Nope. But we have scissors." Carrie suggested, sounding pleased with herself.
"So, across the neck, or in the heart?" I asked.
"Shit. This is sick stuff. Discussing how to kill someone…" Sian said, repulsed.
"Has to be done. Personally, I'd say the neck. It's the quickest way… I think," Leigh suggested.
"I'd say the most humane way is straight through the heart… The one who does it has to be really strong… If we want it to penetrate deep enough," Jo explained, the biology student in her coming out.
"OK then. The heart it is. Now the question is… Who's gonna do it?" I asked, cringing. "Don't all volunteer at once…"
"Sorry Erin, risking ourselves to get her and the food was one thing, but this is something else." Rainey said, rubbing her forehead.
"Screw this. I'll do it myself." I said, putting myself forward.
"Erin- are you sure you can handle this?" Esmé asked, actually sounding
caring for once.
"I'm not gonna risk everyone getting killed including myself, this one is just too damn risky. If she turns now, we're all done for. She'll be going beserk, and others will hear her. It will be the death of us. It's for her own good…" I said, trying to sound strong.
"Hello…? My shoulder- it hurts…" Came the draining voice of Mrs Robinson in the bathroom.
"You'll need someone to hold her down, and cover her eyes, I'll help with that," Kyle put himself forward.
"I'll help too," Gwen agreed.
"Me too," Leigh said.
"And me," Rory said.
Just then, Jo handed us a cloth and a towel. "You'll need this for her eyes and this for her to bite down on," She said helpfully.
"Wait, just wait a second," Said Rina "How do we know for sure that she's gonna change? We don't know exactly what causes it," She claimed.
"Can't take that chance," Leigh said, with an all guns blazing kind of attitude.
Jo checked the bathroom, then shut the door again.
"Oh, she's definitely going to change. And soon. We gotta do this now." She warned.
"How do you know that?" Rina asked, not giving up.
"Her skin has gone pale, it's turning grey- and her eyes have become bloodshot." Jo explained.
"We're going in now." I announced.
Me, Gwen, Leigh, Rory and Kyle made our way into the bathroom with the largest pair of scissors we could find. We also brought in some rulers just in case she turned suddenly.
"What, what are you doing?" Mrs Robinson asked, scared. My stomach lurched. I felt disgusted with myself- This may be self defence, but I didn't think I could do it myself.
"It's OK Miss, we're just gonna take a look at your shoulder. We have a first aid kit here, it'd probably be best if you didn't see what we're gonna do in case it makes you more ill… and just in case it hurts, you can bite down on this," Leigh explained, the teacher's pet side coming out in her that every teacher is familiar with from her.
"Why? What is going to happen?" Mrs Robinson asked, getting restless.
"Just relax, OK? You're safe now," She reassured her.
As she said this, she tied the towel around her eyes, and rolled the cloth up into a ball, placing it in her mouth. Then Rory and Kyle held down her legs, whilst Gwen and Leigh held down her arms. I raised the scissors above my head, and took a few deep breaths.
"Do it now, Erin," Leigh demanded.
"Do what? Do what?" Mrs Robinson yelled, her words muffled from the cloth.
I plunged the scissors down, but stopped before it pierced her.
"Fuck!" I yelled.
I hesitated, and tried to psych myself up for a second attempt.
"If she isn't killed she'll kill us, you're doing nothing wrong," Rory tried to persuade me.
Pacing around the bathroom back and forth, I placed my hands against the wall, shaking.
"You can do this, Erin, you got this. Everyone is with you on this one," Gwen reassured me.
Mrs Robinson began to struggle within their grasp.
"You silly children! I demand that you let go of me this instant!" Came her protests.
"Can't do that I'm afraid, sorry Miss," Kyle informed her.
I raised the scissors for a second attempt, regaining my stance, focusing on what had to be done.
We will all die if you don't do this Erin. Your conscience will never be clear if you let that happen. This is going to save everyone.
"Erin, do it!" Leigh and Rory yelled.
"Oh for fuck sake!" The bathroom door shot open and Cass barged in. She grabbed the scissors from me and plunged them into Mrs Robinson's chest without a second thought.
"You stupid fuck you missed her heart!" Gwen yelled at her.
Mrs Robinson let out a piercing scream. It struck me hard, the sweat was now pouring off my forehead and my mind was buzzing.
"H- help m- me…" Mrs Robinson cried, blood now guzzling from her mouth, choking her words.
Panic consumed my brain, the voices in the room overlapped each other and fought to be heard. Suddenly, I couldn't take it anymore, and snatched the scissors straight from Cass' hands, then plunged them into Mrs Robinson's heart, and once more. I left the scissors in her chest, and they moved with her chest as it took it's last breath. Everyone panted heavily, adrenaline consumed their breathing.
Gwen and Leigh placed Mrs Robinson's arms on the floor gently, and grabbed me just as my knees buckeled below me.
"Let's get her out of here," They said, their voices drowned out by my mind shutting down.
We left the bathroom, where a pool of eyes fixated on me, staring at the blood on my shirt and hands.
"What happened in there?" Emily asked Kyle, concerned.
"It was intense," He replied, wiping the sweat off his hands, and upon noticing the specs of blood on his shirt, ran to the bin and vomited.
"Cass, what'd you do?" Rainey asked, dumbfounded.
Cass ignored her as she leant her back against the bathroom door, and slid down it, sitting with her arms pulled up to her chest, with her head buried in them.
"Gwen…?" Jo asked, trying to get some information on what happened.
Gwen and Leigh sat me down on the chair by the window, where I rested my head against it, staring out with my blank eyes. My body was slumped on the chair uncomfortably, but I didn't care. I had frozen: my mind stopped working. It had shut down completely.