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My eyes focus on the swirling black smoke—tendrils floating off the tornado of darkness one at a time. Slowly, the figure comes into focus. A pungent sulfur smell permeates the room, singeing my nostrils.
I muffle a startled screech, as a hand grips my shirt in a fist, and pulls me under the desk along with the rest of the students. I throw out my hands, catching myself before I faceplant. My hands and knees screaming in protest at the impact.
My mouth opens, about to voice my protest, when my eyes catch Kali’s. She puts her finger to her lips, motioning me to stay quiet. Eyes narrowing on me as though daring me to disobey. I almost chuckle in surprise, the look is so different from any I’ve seen on her before.
A screech pierces through the room. The sound sends a jolt through me, and I whip my head back to the front of the room. The last tendrils of smoke float up, leaving only the figure standing in front of the room. The creature’s mouth opens, revealing yellow teeth shaped into points like daggers. His mouth is full of vile lime green fluid which runs down his chin and drips onto the floor. The room grows silent save for his labored breaths and the splat of liquid slapping against the marble floor. His black eyes move about the room, scanning his surroundings—the light orbs gleaming off his green-scaled skin.
The creature cranes its head at an unnatural angle, causing Kali to let loose a gasp beside me. His ears cock, registering the noise, eyes slowly roving around to investigate. Her challenging look is now replaced with one of utter shock and fear. I slide my hand over, quietly clasping hers. Lending her some of my strength. She shoots me a grateful glance, squeezing her lips together once more. I jerk my gaze back to the monster towering over the room, standing at least seven feet tall.
A breeze flutters through the air, growing in intensity, picking up papers and debris. The stream of air tightens into a funnel. The creature looses a sickening laugh, raising his clawed hands to direct the growing tornado. It moves to the right, picking up a desk, followed by the student under it.
The student swirls around and around in the air, colliding against the other objects launched into the tornado’s trajectory. His mouth opens, but no sound escapes, stolen by the rushing air. The creature laughs, amused by the student’s pain.
Professor Gabris bolts from underneath her desk, arms outstretched towards him, her lips move quickly, yet not a word reaches my ears, all sound is swallowed by the raging wind. It must be working since a moment later, the wind dies out, the student sliding across the floor, crashing into the desks at the far side.
He collides with Katrina, knocking her over onto her side. I guffaw in shock and disgust as she slaps the student rather than checking to see if he’s okay. Luckily, he groans, sliding back away from her flying palms.
My attention is jerked back to the creature as a high-pitched whine echoes around the room. I would almost say the expression is close to a pout. His mouth is drawn into a frown and his eyes tilt downwards.
His face looks as though Gabris had just pissed in its cheerios. The sad expression lifts a moment later, eyes calculating as he sizes up the professor. A mischievous gleam lights up his midnight eyes as snowflakes dance around the professor.
Frost crawls up her skin and her eyes grow wide, mouth popping open. She rushes out another incantation before the ice forms around her. She closes her eyes tight, mouth still moving as the ice climbs up her legs.
Cries and screams sound around the room. Everyone is frozen in shock. I mean, when I woke up this morning, the teacher being frozen alive was definitely not on the list of possibilities.
Her forehead creases in concentration as the ice moves upwards, covering her shoulders. The creature laughs with glee as the ice continues its path, covering her face, freezing her in a solid block of ice. Fear grips my chest, at the scene before me.
A whimpering sound comes from beside me, and I clasp Kali’s hand tighter. The creature dances gleefully around the professor, clapping his hands in delight. He slows his gallop, grinning sadistically, jagged teeth gleaming. He taps his chin in thought, probably thinking of his next method of torture.
“What the fuck is a gremlin doing here? Did someone feed their furby after midnight?” I muse quietly, sure my voice won’t carry over the cries and screams from other students. Kali’s hand still trembles in mine, despite my attempt to lighten the mood.
“That’s obviously not a gremlin, and they don’t come from furbies,” Lucas speaks up in front of me, picking up on my words. His tone, hitching up in a know-it-all manner.
“That is so not the point right now, Lucas,” I scoff, bewildered by the fact that he would choose now of all time to correct my movie reference. “I obviously know that,” I decide to add, my lips quirking downwards. At least the interaction has the desired effect. Kali now looks over at me in confusion rather than fear, hands calming and losing some of that nervous energy.
I focus my attention back on the creature when his hissing laugh slithers around the room. The creature moves to the closest student, dragging her out by her leg, her flats falling to the ground. I grit my teeth, her scream piercing through the room. Unperturbed by her terror, he continues, lifting her into the air. He grabs her ankle as though she weighs nothing, raising her up to face him and smiling his jagged teeth at her.
Her face pales as their eyes meet and she opens her mouth, screaming into his face. He closes his eyes against the onslaught of her breath rushing at him and his face contorts in disgust as he wipes the moisture from his cheeks.
He spares one last glance at her before throwing her like a rag doll. Her body crashes off the unyielding ice surrounding Gabris and limply falls to the floor. He moves towards a male student this time, to do the same thing to him, playing his sick games—which he’s obviously taking immense enjoyment from. I grit my teeth, the hot flame of anger replacing the fear chilling my bones.
The creature shows no sign of stopping and I’m terrified that he will continue to pick through each student until none are conscious. Many may not survive if he’s left unchecked. I glance at Gabris, the only person in the room that may have been able to do anything, now frozen solid. Having no idea what her frantic incantations were, I have no idea if anyone is on their way to help us or not.
My gaze slides to the girl sprawled on the floor. Hoping she has only passed out and hasn’t been killed by the impact. How many others will end up like her? To the credit of the male student held tightly in the monster’s grasp, he is attempting to swipe out at the beast. Unable to connect any blows since he’s being held out at arm’s length. The monster laughs, clearly entertained by the student’s attempts. The creature’s claws dig into his ankle, wrenching a scream of pain from his lips.
I carefully crawl out from under the desk, silently shuffling backward. My hands slipping from Kali’s pulls her gaze to me, her eyes popping open in shock at my movement. Her face pales even further, panic freezing her. I catch Domenic’s gaze. He hurriedly shakes his head no, willing me to stay put.
I ignore both of their pleas. Scooting back to the shelves behind me, I gather as many books as possible, along with some decorative metal pieces. Anything that looks like it has some weight to it. I push it all back towards my desk and place the items up one by one as quietly as possible, so as to not draw his attention prematurely.
I take a deep breath, steeling myself before I do possibly the dumbest thing I’ve ever thought of. I raise on shaky legs, willing my fear down, and pick up a crystal, testing its weight in my hand. The creature is still oblivious to my presence. I take a sideways stance, aiming the crystal towards its head before swinging my arm forward and letting it loose. It wizzes by him, merely clipping his ear.
Enough to at least distract his attention from his current target. His beady black eyes lock on to me with intrigue. I heft another crystal into my palm, launching it at his head again. He easily maneuvers away—his smile widening at the challenge.
He glances away, tossing the student to the ground—the man lands in a heap to the floor, chest heaving in deep breaths. I heft a book at him, hoping to catch him off guard with his distraction. At least I distracted him enough that he released his previous target, leaving him alive.
His head swivels around, arm snatching out to catch my missile this time. Grinning maniacally, he throws it back towards me. I barely duck out of the way in time leaving the rush of air from the book against my forehead. I peek above the desk, making sure he isn’t preparing to throw something else my way.
Instead, he stalks back towards the male student, apparently bored with the game of catch. I grit my teeth, raising again. I grip a small bronze statue, and taking aim at the back of his head, I release the heavy metal, sending it careening through the air. The bronze finds its target, crashing against the back of his green scaly scalp.
