And noooooow, drumroll please, the long awaited seventh chapter! So, the reason it took forever to get this chapter out was partly because of writer's block. The other part is because of the stress of senior year. I hope you understand! Please enjoy!
"Chapter 7 - Something to Watch"
Fiona and Anya scream while everyone else stares in shock at Dave's dead body hanging above the ground. "Someone get him down from there!" Clare screams. Eli and Sav run up to Dave and pull the nails from his hands, his lifeless body falling on them. The both of them catch him and set him down on the ground. Eli takes off his jacket and covers Dave with it.
On cue, Bianca starts her suspicions again. "Why are you doing this?" she shouts to Angelina. Angelina looks to her in angered shock. "Are you serious?" she shouts back. "How could I possibly have done this? I was with everyone else when he died!" Fitz and Owen surround Angelina. "How can we be so sure you didn't do this?" Fitz asks. He stares her down. "The way I see it, you and Dave went off on your own and you came back upset. Maybe he said something to you that you didn't like and you offed him. Then you came back and pretended like everything was okay so we'd find him and think someone else is doing all this."
Angelina gasps. "I wouldn't kill anyone!" she shouts adamantly. "I could never hurt anyone!" Clare rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "You hurt me," she points out. Everyone looks to Clare, hoping she'll say more. "Why don't you tell them what happened in elementary school, Angelina?" Angelina crosses her arms. "I don't know what you're talking about," she denies.
"Enough already!" Bianca shouts. She turns to Angelina. "Everyone here knows you're behind this," she accuses. "Obviously you're hiding something!" Angelina's hands subconsciously shoot to her arms, worrying about her scars. She looks to the ground. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," she stutters out. Bianca laughs sarcastically. "Yes you do!" she retorts. "First you were hiding how you were cheating with KC and now you're apparently hiding something that happened between you and Clare." Bianca looks to Angelina's arms. "And now that I mention it," she continues, "You never show your arms at school. What are you hiding under those sleeves, Freak?"
"Bianca stop it!" Sav shouts, but Bianca doesn't listen. "Why don't you just leave me alone?" Angelina questions. She turns to walk away, but Owen and Fitz grab her tightly, holding her in place. No one moves to stop them. "You're hiding something," Bianca repeats a little quieter, walking closer to Angelina. She then rips away the sleeves of Angelina's shirts, exposing the cuts and round markings of heroin scars. Bianca's hand shoots to her mouth and she starts laughing. "Are those...heroin scars?" she asks. "That's so pathetic!" Soon Fitz and Owen join in the laughter and Owen calls her a "white trash junkie."
"Maybe they're right," Drew pipes in, "Maybe you really are behind this. I heard people tend to get a little crazy when they don't get their fix; sometimes they get really anxious."
Suddenly, Angelina starts having flashing backs, starting with the first time she got into dealing with heroin.
Angelina was barely ten when a seventh grade girl threw her against the fourth grade lockers. "Everyone knows your mom's a junkie," she accused. "She is not!" Angelina defended. The girl chuckled sardonically. "It's so cute you're sticking up for her," the girl mocked. "Now I got a deal for you: you get me some of that good stuff and I won't rearrange your face." Fearing for her little fourth grade life, Angelina went home and waited until her mother was passed out on her drugs before she slipped into her mother's room, quiet as a mouse, and snagged the first capped syringe full of the white demon. The next day she handed over the drugs to the seventh grader and went about her way.
Soon after, she was confronted by another seventh grader who had bad news written all over her face. "I saw you make that trade off," the girl announced after pulling Angelina off to the side. Angelina looked sheepishly to the girl. "What about it?" she asked timidly. The seventh grader smirked. "I'm just saying that if you can keep supplying," she began, "Then you just might have a business on your hands. That is, if you let me help you out. You could be making a lot of money."
From then on, Angelina was pressured into stealing some of her mother's drugs to sell them at school. Each month, a quota was put out by her seventh grade leader-who she was forced to call Big Mama-and if she didn't bring in a certain amount of money, there was going to be hell to pay. Sometimes, she ended up taking money from her mom's purse but the thing she would never forget was stealing from Clare, her former best friend.
It started with stealing Clare's lunch money when she wasn't looking, then progressed to stealing her binders and notebooks to sell as well. And during that time, Angelina decided she wanted to sample her product, to see why everyone liked it so much and payed so much money for it. She ended up becoming addicted, destructive, and reckless. Clare soon became worried and wanted to help her, but when she tried, Angelina lashed out at her verbally...and physically. When Clare wound up with a black eye, she never forgave Angelina; her first act of revenge was ratting Angelina out about the drugs to her teacher.
That's how she ended up in rehab.
Yup, Angelina was a fourth grade heroin addict stuck in rehab. She didn't stay long though, because deep down she was a good child who had enough will power to stay away from what made her bad. But when she got back home, her social life diminished and her mother never really showed Angelina much affection, which ultimately led to her relapse and return to rehab. Over the course of six years, Angelina was sent to rehab six times after six destructive relapses.
But the last rehab session was where she met Fiona, the girl who quickly became her best friend. If it wasn't for Fiona-who she frequently video chatted and texted-Angelina would have had a seventh, maybe eighth, relapse.
But right now, she desperately wishes to be back in rehab. She needs her fix.
Angelina's breathing becomes shallow and her face starts to turn red. Hearing her breathing, Fitz and Owen let go of her, backing away from her and Angelina grabs her head, hunching over to steady her breathing; she's having a panic attack, one of the symptoms of heroin withdrawal that could potentially be life-long. Still, Bianca mocks her. "Heroin addicts are crazy," she informs the group, agreeing with Drew, "We need to lock the freak up somewhere until the police get here so we can stay alive and they can lock her up for good!"
Then, Angelina shoves Bianca once her breathing steadies, almost knocking her to the floor. "You don't know anything about me!" she shouts. "I don't have anything to do with what's going on here!" She falls to her knees, holding her head again, tears falling softly. "I just wanted the chance at a normal life." The tears bring more shallow breathing and her face turns a deep red. Angelina falls to the ground, passed out, and Fiona rushes to her side, shouting her name; she'd seen Angelina have a panic attack before and knew what to do, but it still scared her to death.
But before she can do anything to help her fallen best friend, the lights go out.
Everyone screams, but a deafening clap of thunder drowns them out. "I can't see!" Jenna shouts. "What happened to the lights?" Alli calls out. Soon everyone starts yelling over each other as they begin to panic. "Everyone calm down!" Sav shouts above their troubled voices. "Everyone pull out your cells and use them as flashlights." Quickly, everyone reaches into pockets, shirts, and boots for their cell phones, opening them or pressing buttons that will illuminate the darkened cafeteria.
"Where's Drew?" Bianca questions as she looks around with the dim light of the phones. Everyone else looks around too, calling his name but getting nothing in return. "He's gotta be here somewhere," Eli states. "Maybe he's the one behind this!" Alli shouts with her arms crossed.
"Someone help me!" Drew's voice calls from down the hall. Sav, Bianca, and Eli are the first to race out of the cafeteria into the hall to find more darkness and no sign of anyone ten feet away from them. From the hall, they hear a sickening crack, followed by one of Drew's screams. With the light of her phone, Bianca runs deeper into the darkness to find Drew lying on the ground, clenching his left leg and letting out small, pained noises. "Drew!" she shrieks. She kneels beside him and holds his head in her lap. "The bastard broke my leg," he strains. Bianca runs her hand against his cheek and looks back down the hall. "Someone find a first aid kit!" she shouts into darkness.
Bianca looks back down to Drew and sets it down, screen first, so the two are blanketed by darkness. "Everything's gonna be fine," she whispers softly. Tears are forming in her eyes, slowly trailing down her cheek. One hits Drew's face and he chuckles softly. "I'm not dying, Bee," he tells her weakly. "My leg's just broken okay?" Bianca sniffles but says nothing else. Slowly, Drew reaches his hand up to gently grab the back of her head. In the dark, he leans up to her and kisses her lightly on the lips. She kisses him back and they stay there for a moment, kissing in the dark.
Then, the lights explode back on.
"What the hell do you think you're doing with my girl?" Fitz shouts. Drew and Bianca break their kiss and Drew tries to move away from her, a move that sends pain shooting up his leg. He lets out another pained scream and grabs his leg. "It's not what it looks like," Bianca lies. "Not what it looks like?" Fitz repeats angrily. "How else do you explain his tongue down your throat?"
Drew struggles to sit up. "It wasn't her fault," he defends. Fitz chuckles sardonically and kicks Drew in his side. "Of course it wasn't her fault!" he shouts. "It's always been you!" He kicks Drew again and Drew lets out another pained scream. Sav runs up to Fitz and grabs him, pulling him away from Drew. "Cut it out!" he orders. "We have enough problems as it is. Three people are dead and he's hurt. Calm down or we'll have to lock you up somewhere. Got it?"
Fitz yanks out of Sav's grasp and walks away, back to the cafeteria, just as Eli is coming back with a first aid kit for Drew. Fitz bumps Eli as he walks away. "Who pissed him off?" he asks as he kneels down to Drew. "Don't ask," Bianca hisses as she sits with her arms crossed. Eli quickly bandages Drew up and he, along with Bianca and Sav, helps him back to the cafeteria.
"Drew!" Adam exclaims, running up to his brother. He helps Bianca, Sav, and Eli get him in a chair and steadily lift his leg to elevate it on a chair. "Did you see who did this to you?" With a strained face, Drew shakes his head. "It...was too dark," he answers. "Whoever it was was wearing a big hoodie though. T-then they...they broke my leg with a bat. Then they said they would come back for me..."
"We gotta get outta here!" Connor exclaims. "No shit," Bianca spits. "But there's no way out." Eli speaks up. "But did anyone find anything?" he asks. "The last time we went looking was before Chantay was murdered, and that wasn't a long time to go looking." Everyone mutters under their breath, trying to remember if they found anything that would help them get out.
"I don't want to leave the cafeteria," Alli mutters softly. Everyone looks to her. "I didn't find anything when we looked, but I don't want to go back looking; I'm scared." Anya walks over to Alli and sits by her. "I don't want to go either," she agrees. Sav looks at his sister and ex-girlfriend. "You two and anyone else who wants to can stay here," he allows. Wesley and Connor move to the girls; Bianca moves too so she can stay with Drew, but Fitz grabs her arm and keeps her with him. She snatches away from him and moves to Drew, Fitz glaring darkly at both of them. Only eight people who stay back from the group; Fiona and Angelina sit away from them as Fiona tries to wake Angelina up.
Then the others go off to search for a way out.
"I never realized how much I hated this school," Bianca mutters under her breath when the majority of the students is gone. Drew chuckles weakly. "Sometimes I wish I never came here," he adds. Bianca frowns. "But then I never would have met you," she whispers. Drew reaches his hand up and brushes her cheek with his fingertips and smiles warmly. "And sometimes I'm glad I came here," he whispers back. Bianca smiles back down to him and kisses him gently.
Alli groans and rolls her eyes. She opens her mouth to speak, but Anya stops her, knowing Alli will cause an unnecessary problem if she speaks.
From another part of the cafeteria, Connor and Wesley sit by their fallen friend, Eli's jacket still covering the bloody corpse. "I can't believe he's gone," Wesley mutters quietly. Connor hugs his knees. "Who do you think's gonna be next?" he asks calmly. Wesley looks to his last remaining friend. "Why would you want to think about that?" he asks harshly. Connor's mood turns sour. "Because maybe I want to know so I don't die next."
"Will you two stop?" Anya shouts from her place in the cafeteria. All eyes shoot to her. "It's bad enough people are dying, so shut up about 'who's next.' We don't need any more suspicion being thrown around." The boys sigh and go back to looking at Dave's body on the floor, wondering who killed him and why they did it. The question of 'who's next' still floated in their minds.
Suddenly, Angelina's eyes flutter open and she sees Fiona staring down at her. A weak smile spreads across Angelina's face. "I had the weirdest dream, Fifi," she whispers. "I dreamt you and I went to the same school and we were trapped there with this killer and everyone thought it was my fault." Angelina sits up and looks around, noticing her dream is real, and curses quietly under her breath. "Why couldn't this be a dream," she mutters.
Bianca hears Angelina speak and her head shoots to Angelina. "The freak's awake," she announces. She lets go of Drew and walks over to her and Fiona. "If I had one," she begins, "I'd give you an award; you're such a good actress. You almost had me fooled when you fainted. I still say you need to be locked up." Angelina shoots to her feet. "Why don't you shove it?" she shouts. She points a finger at Bianca. "You seem to hate everyone here. How do any of us know you're not the one behind all this?" A dominant smirk spreads across Bianca's face. "Because I'm not a deranged heroin addict like you," she answers, pushing Angelina backwards.
"Shut up!" Connor shouts at the bickering girls. Everyone looks over to see him standing and facing them, a cold look on his face. "It doesn't matter who did it! But if we all keep fighting each other, then we'll all get killed." Anya crosses her arms. "He's right," she agrees. "If you keep acting like animals, you'll be nothing but sitting ducks."
Bianca rolls her eyes and goes back to sitting by Drew. "I'm tired of talking to you losers anyway," she mumbles. She grabs his hand and kisses it lightly. She waits until only his eyes are on her before she speaks. "I've missed you," she whispers quietly. Drew smiles to her and brushes her cheek with his fingertips. "I've missed you too," he responds quietly. "I still love you, Bee." Bianca leans in and kisses him. "I still love you too," she tells him.
"I think I liked her better when she was fighting," Alli groans to Anya. Anya giggles softly as she sits beside Alli. "How long do you think it's going to take for them to find an exit?" she asks, changing the subject. Alli shrugs. "I doubt they'll find an exit," she states bluntly. "We're probably gonna be stuck here until the fire department gets here."
"We're all gonna die in here," Connor mutters distantly. He's loud enough for everyone to hear. Bianca rushes over to Connor and slaps him hard across the face. "Stop saying that!" she demands. "You're the one who's gonna die if you don't shut your goddamn mouth!" Connor opens his mouth to speak when the deafening thunder sounds again and knocks out the power. Fiona, Anya, Alli, and Wesley scream and a loud shuffling, along with a muffled voice, is heard. The lights come back on a moment later, and Connor is nowhere to be found.
~*Minutes Earlier*~
"I don't want to leave the cafeteria," Alli mutters softly. Everyone looks to her. "I didn't find anything when we looked, but I don't want to go back looking; I'm scared." Anya walks over to Alli and sits by her. "I don't want to go either," she agrees. Sav looks at his sister and ex-girlfriend. "You two and anyone else who wants to can stay here," he allows. Wesley and Connor move to the girls; Bianca moves too so she can stay with Drew, but Fitz grabs her arm and keeps her with him. She snatches away from him and moves to Drew, Fitz glaring darkly at both of them. Only eight people stay back from the group; Fiona and Angelina sit away from them as Fiona tries to wake Angelina up.
Obviously, Sav is the leader of this little cavalcade of students and they wander the halls aimlessly, searching for a way out. "Maybe this is pointless," Clare suggests quietly as the group of eight travel through the hallway. She grabs Eli's hand and he brings it to his lips to kiss it as they walk; she gives him a small smile and he returns it with a smirk. I love you, he mouths to her. I love you too, she mouths back. He kisses her hand again.
"Maybe it is," Sav agrees as he leads the group, "But maybe it isn't. We won't find out until we look." He turns around and counts off the students. "So there are nine of us," he states. "It'd be better if we had three groups of two and one group of three; we can cover more ground that way." With snickers, Owen and Fitz break away from the group and stand off to the side. Clare wants to break away with Eli, but she realizes Sav and Holly J. will stick together in a group and Adam is more than likely to be the third wheel in her group, so she grabs Jenna's arm gently and they break away. That leaves Eli, KC, and Adam in a group to themselves.
"Alright," Sav announces once everyone is off in a group, "Everyone split up and search for a way out of here. Yell if you find anything."
With that, the groups take off in search for salvation.
~*With Clare and Jenna*~
"How could you forgive her so easily?" Clare asks as they rumble through a science lab. "What are you talking about?" Jenna questions as she checks the latch on a window. Clare rolls her eyes. "I'm talking about Angelina," she reiterates as she checks another window. "How could you forgive her in a heartbeat? She's just as guilty as KC."
That hits a nerve.
"Comparing my cousin to my ex-boyfriend are two totally different things," Jenna states adamantly, staring Clare down. "For one thing, Angie's my cousin, which means we share the same blood. You know just as well as I do that she's been through a lot of crap, even if it was through her own choices. But no matter what's happened to her, she's always been nice to me, so I'll be nice to her. No matter what's happened, I love her and we'll always be closer than I could ever be with a man-or in this case a boy. For another thing, you and I both know KC has wandering eyes." She crosses her arms. "I was just dumb enough to think they'd stay with me."
Clare sighs and looks at her feet. She realizes she's gone too far, with Jenna and with her disdain for Angelina's past. She sees that Jenna, someone who isn't as devout as herself, can learn to forgive someone that she can't find the courage to forgive. "I…I," Clare stutters out. "I'm sorry. I guess I just can't let go of the past."
Jenna smiles, but Clare doesn't see. "If you live in the past," she begins, "You'll never have a future. Everyone makes mistakes, some more than others, but we have to move on from those mistakes. If we don't, we'll just be a bunch of hate filled people and no one will ever like us again. We won't have any friends either because we'll be focusing so much on their faults and mistakes that we can't see all the good they have inside them." Clare looks up at her friend and smiles weakly. "You're right," she agrees quietly. "I should probably go apologize to Angelina."
Clare turns to leave but Jenna's hand shoots out and grabs her arm. Clare turns around in shock to a wide-eyed Jenna. "Don't leave me here by myself," she pleads. "Can it wait until we check a few more rooms?" Clare hesitates before speaking. "I guess it-"
And explosion of thunder drowns Clare out and the lights go out. Both girls scream.
~*With Adam, Eli, and KC*~
The boys hardly speak as they search classrooms on the second floor; they all stick together, but all is quiet. The rain steadily falls as the boys move to an English room. Hopefully they'll find some left over props they can use to make ropes with if they can find an open window.
"I can't take it anymore!" Eli exclaims suddenly, frightening the other two boys. They both look to him in confusion. "I can't take how quiet you two are!" Eli explains. "I understand you two aren't on the best of terms but damn, it's too quiet!" Adam turns away and goes to check the large standing cabinet. "Excuse me for not wanting to talk to someone who stole my girl," he mumbles. "Well maybe if you had a big enough package she would've stayed," KC spits. He smirks at his own words. "Oh wait, I forgot you don't have a package."
Adam lets out a loud, angered noise and runs toward KC. His fist locks with KC's face and Eli watches as KC falls into a desk. "You think you can talk shit?" Adam shouts. "Get up! You want to talk fighting words then we'll fight! Get up and fight me." KC chuckles from the floor and wipes a bit of blood from his mouth. He doesn't look at Adam. "You know I can't fight a girl," he says in a calm, taunting voice. Adam screams in anger once more and kicks KC as hard as he can in the stomach, causing KC to cough up some blood.
Then Eli steps in.
He grabs Adam and pulls him far from KC, to the other side of the room. "Stop it!" he orders. "You two were better off quiet!" KC shakily rises to his feet. "It's not my fault the transgender freak can't get the girl," he taunts. Adam thrashes in Eli's arms, trying to break free so he can attack KC again. "That's enough, KC!" Eli shouts. "If you're gonna be such a dick then go find Fitz and Owen; I'm sure you'll fit right in."
KC rolls his eyes. "I don't know why I bothered with you idiots anyway," he says. He turns to leave when the roaring thunder rattles the windows of the second floor. The lights go out and they hear the screams of Clare and Jenna, as well as a few more screams from the cafeteria. When the lights come back on, KC is nowhere to be found.
~*When the lights come back on*~
Everyone but Fitz and Owen runs back down to the cafeteria to see why there were screams. Adam and Eli are the first to arrive, and they see everyone huddled together, wide eyed and frightened. Clare and Jenna arrive a moment later, and Jenna and Angelina rush to each others arms once each girl sees the other. "I'm glad you're okay!" Jenna exclaims, holding her cousin tightly. Small tears fall from her clenched eye-lids, but no one sees them. "I'm glad you're okay," Angelina breathes. It's easy to see Angelina was more frightened for the safety of her cousin.
Sav and Holly J. arrive moments after the girls' embrace. "What happened?" Sav asks from the cafeteria doorway, a breathless Holly J. at his side. "Someone grabbed Connor," Alli answers in a frightened tone. Eli's eyes widen. "KC's gone too," he adds. Everyone looks to Jenna, to see the fear in her eyes, but are surprised to find she doesn't care. She and Angelina stand off to the side, Fiona and Anya with them as well.
"That's it!" Sav states. "No more splitting up. We'll all stay together so we know where everyone is." Bianca looks around Sav and Holly J. "Where are Fitz and Owen?" she asks. Everyone else looks around as well, and sees nothing. "Should we go find them?" Anya suggests.
"Don't bother," Fitz calls from the cafeteria doorway. Everyone watches as he and Owen emerge from the library with reddened eyes and goofy smiles. The faint smell of smoke lingers in the air. "Thank God the potheads are still alive," Fiona says with a roll of her eyes. The boys snicker; they actually think her sarcasm is funny. They then stumble into the room, laughing loudly as the others look on with disdain and sneers. Even Bianca doesn't find them funny.
Once everyone is in the cafeteria and clear of the doors, the doors slam shut, sealing everyone inside. Fitz and Owen fall over from the shock and laugh uncontrollably as they hit the floor. "No!" Bianca shouts as she rushes from Drew's side to the doors. She pulls at them and pushes on them, but they do not open.
Suddenly, the lights go out again and everyone screams. A loud smash emerges, followed by sparks and the glittering sound of falling glass. In the darkness, every can see the silhouette of a body convulsing high above the ground. "Who is that?" Jenna cries. "What happened?" Wesley questions above the deafening rain.
Before questions can be answered, the lights crackle on.
Through the dim, flickering lights, everyone sees a body hanging from the overhead TV, blood dripping down the sides. The body is wide and long, so everyone assumes it's a boy. The coat he wears-it's unknown whether or not it's a hoodie-is a light gray and his jeans are too blood-stained to determine the color. Like flipping a switch, everyone realize whose corpse dangles above the cafeteria ground.
Before anymore words can be said, a loud cracking is heard and the TV falls to the ground, shattering more atop the body.
This was the death of Connor DeLauriers.
