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“What the hell was that?” I whispered. It felt like it was hours later, but I knew it had only been a few minutes.
Her voice was soft when she answered me. “The monster.”
She spoke with such sincerity, such earnestness, that I wanted to believe her. I honestly did.
But then I thought of Aiden, Tanner, and Kace. Three boys who thought they ruled the school and everyone in it. Three men who I didn’t entirely understand. Who I both feared and revered.
Those assholes had no doubt put her up to this. A prank to scare me.
Shaking my head, I flashed Kelly a cold smile.
“This isn’t fucking funny. And you can tell the three assholes to leave me alone. I tried switching rooms. I tried talking to them. I tried everything, and I’m done. I’m done being their punching bag. If they fuck with me one more time, they’ll live to regret it.” My jaw clenched so tightly I was afraid it would break.
Kelly, for her part, looked nonplussed.
“Between,” she whispered.
“This again?”
Perhaps Kelly did theater or something. Either way, she nearly had me convinced.
Monsters didn’t exist. At least, not the monsters we read about in books and saw in movies. The real monsters were ten times worse. They looked like humans, walked like humans, talked like humans, but they were anything but.
Without another word, Kelly grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. I just barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
I had read numerous bully novels. This was the part where they lured me to some abandoned warehouse or whatever and dumped punch on my head. Or stole my clothes. Or ridiculed me in a public shaming.
Despite knowing this, I allowed Kelly to pull me out of my room and into the darkened hall.
I felt a brief stab of irrational fear. I kept hearing the strange clicking noise, replaying on a loop like a song on repeat. It had felt so…authentic. Totally monster movie-worthy.
“Where are we going?” I asked Kelly. The only response I got was the single damn finger to her lips reminding me to be silent.
Darkness clung to me, surrounded me, clogged my lungs, but I still followed Kelly. We reached a fork in the hallway, and she veered to the right. I had never been in this particular section of the school, and even with the lights off, I found myself gaping at the numerous paintings on the wall. A bunch of portraits of stuffy white men. A few landscapes. A couple abstract pieces, which were my personal favorite.
Too soon, Kelly reached an unassuming wooden door with a broken handle. Despite the darkness, I could clearly make out the wordsNO STUDENTS PERMITTEDengraved onto a golden plaque.
“Um…” I stuttered, anxiously glancing up and down the hall. The last thing I wanted to do was get in trouble. Was that the point of this prank? Make me get caught in a place I wasn’t allowed to be? Have the teachers administered the punishment the guys were too scared to do themselves?
This door only led to a staircase. The distressed wood creaked beneath my feet as I inched myself upward. My hand feebly gripped the splintered railing. Kelly remained in front of me, her dark silhouette only broken apart by the intermittent flashes of light from cracks in the wall.
Finally, we reached what looked like a balcony. Surprisingly, it was empty, but voices carried to me from down below.
Kelly spun on her heel and placed her hand on my mouth before I could even think to comment. Warning me with her eyes to remain silent, she crouched down and peered through the wooden bars. After a moment of mindless staring, I reluctantly crawled up beside her, finally focusing on the scene below.
My breath left me, and my heart, which had been beating steadily, sped up.
I had thought I would see the guys. Perhaps hear them talk about their master plan to eliminate me or whatever men did nowadays. Maybe even witness a mass orgy.
I didn’t expect to see the masked professors standing in a semi-circle around a trembling, familiar female. Ali. Her face was tear-stained, red and blotchy, and she was stripped down to her bra and panties.
The professors were silent, staring at her through their white masks and pinprick black orbs for eyes. It wasn’t them that I heard. No, it was Ali’s pathetic whimpers and cries. Her screams for help.
I instinctively lurched to my feet before Kelly pulled me back down, eyes frantic. They pleaded with me to remain silent and calm, to watch and not intervene.
How could she expect me to keep my voice down? These teachers…
Disgust filled me. What did they plan to do to her? Rape her? Assault her? Millions of scenarios ran through my mind, each one more damning than the last. My hands were trembling by my side, a product of both my fear and anger.
