“I’ll stay with him and try to get help.”
“Come on, I want to get the hell out of here,” Simon—one of the boys who had laughed earlier at Misty—said, eyes wide with fear.
He was far from laughing now.
She hesitated a moment longer, tears rolling down her cheeks as she stared at her brother, then motioned for the students to follow her.
As their footsteps faded, the banging intensified.
Behind me, I heard Jerry begin to vomit.
And I knew—absolutely knew—that this day wasn’t going to end with all of my students alive.
Jerry started seizing.
At first, I thought he was in shock. His shoulders jerked once, then again, and his teeth chattered so hard I heard them click. His fingers curled inward as if his hands were locking around something invisible.
“Jerry,” I dropped to one knee beside him. “Hey. Look at me.”
His eyes rolled back—then snapped forward again.
They hadn't turned gray yet, but they were cloudy.
“It hurts,” he whispered. His voice sounded stretched thin, wrong. “It burns.” He repeated.
“I know,” I said, even though I didn’t. “Stay with me.”
His spine bowed violently, and a sound tore from his throat that wasn’t a cry of pain. It was more like a growl. His hand shot out and clamped around my wrist.
His grip was too strong, much stronger than it should’ve been.
“Jerry—let go.”
He didn’t.
His mouth opened—not to speak—but tobite.
I yanked my arm free and stumbled backward just as his teeth snapped shut inches from my skin. He lunged again, scrambling to his feet with a movement that didn’t match what his body should’ve been capable of.
“Jerry,stop!” I shouted.
He slammed into the wall, rebounded, and came at me again.
That’s when the screaming started.
Not from me, but in the direction of the gym.
I turned and sprinted, just ahead of Jerry, out of the classroom and slammed the door in his face. I locked it, watching him snarl and slobber through the window in fascination.
The screaming coming from the gym grew in intensity, as did the noise in the hallway from Misty throwing herself at the door.
It broke me out of my trance.
My head was whirling with chaotic thoughts as I headed in that direction.
What the hell had caused this? How far had it spread?
As I approached the gym, the doors burst open.
