I think this story is much better than my old one... I wish more people would tell me their opinion.
Anyway, enjoy! The death toll rises!
Bradford Thompson (Boy #9) rose his head at the screams, and, uncaring of any possible dangers, rushed out of the room labeled Classroom #11 on the third floor, to check out what was happening.
When the "game" began, he immediately ran up the stairs, until he reached the top floor of the school, to study the school plans in peace and quiet, and formulate a plan. Not a plan to kill off his classmates, but one to find Amanda Archer (Girl #1), or "Mandy". For Bradford would never have the courage to look into his brother Andrew's eyes if he didn't at least make an attempt to protect his beautiful girlfriend.
Yes, like that. Bradford somehow was sure he was going to walk home, leading Amanda to Andrew, and that they would live happily ever after – it didn't really occur to him yet that this was a killing game, a merciless struggle for mere survival.
Just as he turned the corner, though, he ran into someone running in the opposite direction, and they both fell.
"Don't kill me! I'll die anyway! No! Please!" Darren Nelson (Boy #5) crouched on the floor, not even looking at who was sitting opposite of him.
Bradford slowly stood up, his taser in hand.
"No!" Darren still covered his head, without checking the other boy.
"Calm down" Bradford said extremely slowly, putting the taser back in his belt, but keeping his hand on it nonetheless.
"No!" the brown-haired boy refused to look at him.
Bradford leant down, hesitating, and touched his shoulder.
"Aaah!" Darren startled, and fell flat on his back "you're going to kill me!"
"Nobody's going to kill you!" the blonde boy still formulated the words very slowly.
"You are… that's a gun… you're gonna shoot me…" Darren sat up and finally looked at his opponent.
"Not with this taser" sighed Bradford.
"Taser…?" Darren glanced around confused. He didn't seem capable of thinking coherently.
"Calm down" Bradford kept his hand on the taser.
Maybe he's got a gun and is just waiting to pull it on me?
Bradford bitterly realized that he was already expecting the worst.
They weren't especially close with Darren, but got along fairly well. Bradford never bullied him for his clumsiness, but could not help but laugh at him a couple of times. Like when the teacher asked him to deliver a bucket of modelling clay to class, and he obviously tripped on the corridor and walked inside covered in the grey substance. He had also heard tales of him setting fire to the test papers and burning the teacher's desk with sulfuric acid – which he found hard to believe, until he saw the state of the desk in question.
"I'm going to smash my own head!" Darren's terrified voice brought Bradford back to present.
"Why?" if someone wanted to commit suicide, that didn't seem the most obvious option.
"Look!" Darren, still sitting on the floor, reached in his backpack and pulled out a spiked mace. Like one of those in medieval films.
"Whoa! Hold it!" Bradford stepped back and tightened his grip on the taser.
"I'm gonna die!" Darren seemed on the verge of tears.
Ever since that day in chemistry class, Darren had been haunted by his clumsiness. Yes, he always knew he wasn't very careful and almost always let his attention wander, constantly dropped things, seemed to trip over every pebble, lost balance and fell off his bike at the most inopportune moments and managed to cut himself repeatedly with the can opener, but all this wasn't anything he could not live with. He got accustomed to being laughed at, and quickly learned to laugh at himself – laugh with the others.
Until that fateful day…
Darren was quite good at chemistry – obviously, he always declined to be the one to light the match or hold the test-tube during experiments.
Then one day the teacher, Mr Gardner, prepared the equipment for that day's experiments on the desk.
"Today we're going to see most of which we learned about in the past months. So there'll be quite a lot of different experiments."
There was a Bunsen-burner, a bowl of water, test-tubes full of various liquids and so on.
"Oh, Darren!"
"Yes?" he prayed to God Mr Gardner woul not ask him to switch the Bunsen-burner on.
"Here's the key to my office. Please bring in the test papers, they're right on my desk – I'll start preparing for the first experiment."
"Okay" Darren took the key and walked out.
He managed to get to the office, take the papers, close the door and get back to class without tripping or dropping anything. This moment of glory wasn't going to last, however – it took only a split second for the disaster to happen. For Mr Gardner had already lit the Bunsen-burner.
"I'm back."
"Very well, Darren… now…"
Darren held the test papers in one hand, and looked at the class smiling.
"What are you doing?!"
"AAAH!"
Mr Gardner jumped back as Darren, his attention once again elsewhere, held the test papers a bit too close to the flame…
It took only a split second for the flames to engulf them.
The teacher went white as Darren, scared as hell, dropped the burning stack on the desk, then… he made it even worse.
"I'll extinguish them! Just a moment!" thus the boy picked up the test-tube nearest to him, full of transparent liquid…
H2SO4. Sulfuric acid.
Darren would never forget what he got from Mr Gardner, the chairman and his parents that day. Not to mention him becoming the perfect target for all bullies, even the ones that were not present. Also, the certainty he would fail his favourite subject.
But worst of all, the humiliation.
He was sure that whatever weapon he was given, he would kill himself with it in a matter of hours, if not minutes. At least the mace wasn't a firearm, but that didn't make it any less dangerous – for someone like him, at least.
"Wait… let's see who that was!" Bradford, his hand still on the taser, pointed towards the corner, from over which Lukas's screams came.
"Are you crazy?! We're gonna die!"
Bradford rolled his eyes.
"Just…"
"It's Luke."
"How do you know?!"
"He's my classmate."
To be honest, Lukas' odd behavior kinda spooked Darren.
Bradford walked to the window and looked out.
"Oh dear…"
"What's there?"
"Look…"
It was like a horror scene from the videogames with which Bradford liked to play… and it seemed so surreal: a girl's bloody upper body hanging out the window a few floors below them, on the wall to their left. Blood flowing down the wall.
The two boys just stared for a few seconds, in silence, then they turned their attention to the schoolyard. The two figures in the snow appeared to be just as small as LEGOs – however, what they were doing was no game by any means.
"Rach?" Janice Blackwood (Girl #2), wearing her baby blue coat lined with white fur, called out to the Rachel Ferris (Girl #5), having spotted her sitting behind a bush – perfectly visible from a corridor window.
"Uh?" the "vampire" looked up "oh."
Janice approached cautiously.
"Aren't you cold? I'm freezing."
Rachel eyed her with suspicion. She did not forget being called an asocial freak, and well… Janice generally acting all high and mighty with pretty much everyone. Also, their art and personality could not differ more even if they wanted it to. The teacher always said Rachel's dark atmospheres and expressive, emotional pictures were sure signs of talent and never praised Janice's pictures in front of everyone. However, the Blackwood girl always sat at her desk like some sort of Miss Perfection, with her drawings having perfectly straight lines and clean angles, no colours going over edges or anything out of the ordinary. It didn't take a medium to feel an aura of snobbish superiority constantly emanating from her, especially after seeing how her "friend" (more likely servant) Jessica Pauls (Girl #9) crouched and almost didn't dare saying anything other than praise to her.
Loon, thought Janice, obviously unfazed by Rachel's spectral red eyes and her fangs.
"No… I'm not cold."
"Oh, yes, I forgot… vampires are never cold."
"It's not that!" Rachel just wanted Janice to leave her be "I have this coat on."
She didn't want to attack Janice or anything – on the other hand, she wasn't sure of the other girl's intent, but the short, blonde one killing her? Unless she had a firearm… in that case, why didn't she pull it out yet?
"Tina is dead" said Rachel, holding on to the vain hope this will frighten Janice or at least make her leave "she's there…"
"I know… I have seen her from inside… horrible, just horrible…"
Janice had noticed the bloody body before she walked out to the yard – she wasn't shocked, more likely… surprised. Killing sounded easy enough for her, doing it… not so much. But she wasn't going to die, and Christina's demise definitely meant there were people playing. Janice would never lose at such a game.
The two girls stayed silent for a short while.
"Go" said Rachel suddenly.
"Why should I?"
"It's cold."
"I have a coat on, and you're outside too. Maybe we should both go inside?"
Rachel sighed, then left the small circle of bushes to enter the larger open area.
Hmm… a little taller than me… but so thin… pondered Janice.
True, Rachel was very skinny. This, coupled with her black clothes and vampiric accessories was what made her stand out definitely.
Janice followed her, taking a quick look at the bag Rachel had left under the bushes.
Too bad…
Janice soon arrived beside Rachel; the other girl kept an eye on her, not letting her out of her sight for a second.
"Poor Tina…" said Janice "such a horrible end… I can't even bear to look…"
"True" Rachel turned away from her to look up at the body.
That was all it took.
Just like a magician, Janice pulled the silk scarf out of her sleeve; a second later it was already around Rachel's neck.
Fuck, I'm too weak for this!
Rachel snarled and rattled like an injured dog.
Bitch! Why did I turn away?!
The battle was still even.
Rachel rose her hands to her neck, when suddenly Janice jumped and shoved her down in the snow, kneeling on her back, not letting the scarf go for a single second. Pulling harder and harder.
Rachel began to see slightly red, but managed to raise her head and turn to the side.
"Aah!" Janice's grip loosened for a second as Rachel's fangs tore at the sleeve of her white shirt, popping out of the arm of the coat.
But, before the other girl could do anything more, the scarf tightened around her neck again.
Freak! Loon! Idiot! Asocial fool! You will pay!
Janice pressed one knee hard to Rachel's back, propped herself up on her other foot and pulled even harder.
Die! Die, already!
She kicked the nape of Rachel's neck. The other girl still struggled, but this seemed to slow and weaken her.
Rachel's vision was blurring, then the kick made her slightly dizzy.
"No…" she only formed the words, her face buried in the snow. One of her contact lenses dislodged.
She couldn't fight any more.
"I thought vampires didn't need to breathe…"
This was the last thing Rachel heard.
Girl #5 Ferris, Rachel – eliminated
21 contestants remaining
"What… was… that?!" Darren breathed hard, as he slipped to the floor.
"I hope… oh…" Bradford backed away too.
"No!"
Bradford looked down. Only then he noticed his hand was on the taser's handle.
"Darren, I…"
"No!"
The mace already back in his bag, Darren stood up and rushed towards the stairs. He disappeared before Bradford could say another word.
"Fuck!" Janice stood in front of one of the bathroom mirrors.
She looked at the shirt with the ripped sleeve and the slight scratch on her skin. No blood was drawn, but still…
Luckily she had a change of clothes. She pulled out another neat, well-creased blouse, and put it on, tossing the old one in the trash can. Then she adjusted her ribbon, and, as a last touch, combed her slightly messy hair.
"All done."