Chapter 8
Thursday
Stephanie sat quietly in her Chemistry class as she watched, but didn't pay much attention to, the experiment being performed by the teacher. Normally, she would pay attention to something as exciting as bubbling liquids, but then again, it wasn't a normal day. Her gaze slowly worked its way to the window of the door. There was something black, almost cloth-like, covering it. Weird, it wasn't normally there. But once again, this wasn't a normal day.
The door crept open, and in the room came what she had feared all week, the shadow-like grim reaper. The man inside the wraps, Tom, glided over to Stephanie, grabbed her arm, and forced her out of the room. He clasped his hand over her mouth as he dragged her down the hall and into the gym, near the bleachers. He drew out a knife, and Stephanie had the very first glimpse of his face. He had claw-like scratches on his cheeks and forehead. What startled her was his stunningly blue eyes. Eyes that she stared deep into, eyes that she could get lost in...
He lifted the knife over her head, and her gaze broke. She hollered, "Wait! I thought that...the message...what about your message?"
"Messeeg?" he looked at the ceiling, "Oh, that messeeg." He gave a chuckle and sighed, "Well let's jest say that s'more...erm...sacrifices...needed to be made. Heh, heh..."
"Damn you, Tom!" she shouted, "Damn you!"
His grin faded as she spat at his feet, "Well if'm that's how yew feel..." He ran his fingers through her long, chestnut hair. "I shor would hate to keel some'n perty as yew, though." His thick southern accent was somewhat hard to understand.
He held the shining blade in his hand, stared at it, swung it, and delivered a blow that left a horizontal gash in Stephanie's forehead. Luckily, she survived the blow, but only just. She barely felt the blood running into her nose, her mouth, her eyes. The pain searing through her head was too great. The blood, coating her eyes, turned her blurred vision red. Her mouth hung open, her breath bubbling from the blood she had swallowed. Blood also bubbled from her nose, and filled her ears, muffling her hearing. The only sound she heard was laughter. He was laughing. Laughing at her, a bloody mass, clinging onto a thin strand of life. Barely living.
She saw a distant figure, Allison, running across the floor. Watched as her friend swiped the knife from Tom's hands, and watched as she plunged it deep into his chest. He collapsed, immediately dead. He didn't have to suffer, not like her. Her sight of Allison grew redder, to the point where she thought Alli was also covered in blood. She saw Allison run over to her, her redness turning blacker, until she could see no longer. Smell, hear, taste nothing. The pain, so intense, but she felt nothing. A white void surrounded her, then the thin string of her life, that had kept her alive till then, was snapped...
Thursday
Stephanie sat quietly in her Chemistry class as she watched, but didn't pay much attention to, the experiment being performed by the teacher. Normally, she would pay attention to something as exciting as bubbling liquids, but then again, it wasn't a normal day. Her gaze slowly worked its way to the window of the door. There was something black, almost cloth-like, covering it. Weird, it wasn't normally there. But once again, this wasn't a normal day.
The door crept open, and in the room came what she had feared all week, the shadow-like grim reaper. The man inside the wraps, Tom, glided over to Stephanie, grabbed her arm, and forced her out of the room. He clasped his hand over her mouth as he dragged her down the hall and into the gym, near the bleachers. He drew out a knife, and Stephanie had the very first glimpse of his face. He had claw-like scratches on his cheeks and forehead. What startled her was his stunningly blue eyes. Eyes that she stared deep into, eyes that she could get lost in...
He lifted the knife over her head, and her gaze broke. She hollered, "Wait! I thought that...the message...what about your message?"
"Messeeg?" he looked at the ceiling, "Oh, that messeeg." He gave a chuckle and sighed, "Well let's jest say that s'more...erm...sacrifices...needed to be made. Heh, heh..."
"Damn you, Tom!" she shouted, "Damn you!"
His grin faded as she spat at his feet, "Well if'm that's how yew feel..." He ran his fingers through her long, chestnut hair. "I shor would hate to keel some'n perty as yew, though." His thick southern accent was somewhat hard to understand.
He held the shining blade in his hand, stared at it, swung it, and delivered a blow that left a horizontal gash in Stephanie's forehead. Luckily, she survived the blow, but only just. She barely felt the blood running into her nose, her mouth, her eyes. The pain searing through her head was too great. The blood, coating her eyes, turned her blurred vision red. Her mouth hung open, her breath bubbling from the blood she had swallowed. Blood also bubbled from her nose, and filled her ears, muffling her hearing. The only sound she heard was laughter. He was laughing. Laughing at her, a bloody mass, clinging onto a thin strand of life. Barely living.
She saw a distant figure, Allison, running across the floor. Watched as her friend swiped the knife from Tom's hands, and watched as she plunged it deep into his chest. He collapsed, immediately dead. He didn't have to suffer, not like her. Her sight of Allison grew redder, to the point where she thought Alli was also covered in blood. She saw Allison run over to her, her redness turning blacker, until she could see no longer. Smell, hear, taste nothing. The pain, so intense, but she felt nothing. A white void surrounded her, then the thin string of her life, that had kept her alive till then, was snapped...