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"I have to put my stuff in my locker. Save me a seat," Hazel says, stopping in front of her locker.
"Yeah. Me too. Sit in the back, though, if you can." I wince, thinking of being front and center during this thing. What a fucking nightmare.
Blaire laughs. "Sure thing."
I speed to my locker, tossing my bag inside and slamming it shut. Turning around, I don't even hear the squeaky shoes of students at this point. It's just… complete silence.
The temperature in the room drops, and the hairs on my arm raise.
"Fuck this," I whisper, rushing off toward Mass. I hear a cackle in my ear, an old, nasty-sounding woman rasping. I jump, looking over my shoulder and seeing nothing.
"Get away from me," I growl.
It feels like someone grabs my ankle, cold, rough fingers wrapping completely around my skin and pulling.
My hands go out in front of me, and I can feel it happening, but nothing can prepare me for falling flat on my face. My eyebrow slams against the ground, and my palms make a loud clap against the tiles.
I groan, rolling over and staring up at the ceiling.
Lying above me, directly horizontal from my own form, is the woman from the mausoleum. Her face stares down at me, one dark eye and one boney eye socket. Her face transforms halfway across from decayed skin to bones, tinged brown from age and dirt. Her dress is white, it looks like it could be a wedding dress. Or maybe a nightgown. It's ripped, torn, dirty, and in shreds.
I press myself into the floor as much as I can, for once wishing a sister would come and find me. A student, anyone. Even Malik would be a blessing as this woman levitates above me. I feel like I can't breathe. I can't blink. I can't do anything besides stare at her and hope this is all just a dream. Just like everything else.
She opens her mouth, a dark pit of absolutely nothing. It opens wider than it should, like there are no jaw bones or hinges as her mouth engulfs her entire face.
And she screams.
I let out a blood-curdling scream and roll over, getting up and running as fast as I can to my friends. I refuse to look over my shoulder as I sprint to the door. I reach out before I'm even close enough to the door, and breathe out a sigh of relief as my fingers touch the handle. Yanking open the double door, I stumble inside.
To complete silence.
I bend over, my hands on my knees as I stare at the ground. My breaths come out in heaving pants. The sound of people shifting hits my ears, and I can suddenly feel the burning of eyes—so many damn eyes—on the back of my head.
I cringe as I go to stand. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is staring at me. Every single student, all the sisters, and the priest, who I've never met, stands at the alter in the front, with a Bible in his hands as he frowns at me.
I glance to my left, seeing Blaire, Hazel, and Piper watching me in shock from the back row.
I shift to the side. "I'm sorry, I-I… I'm sorry," I mumble, ducking my head and sliding onto the bench, sitting down next to Piper.
Everyone continues staring at me for a few moments, though it feels like hours, and then the priest clears his throat at the front of the room and continues on with his prayer.
Piper nudges me. "What happened?" she whispers.
I shake my head, not sure if what I saw was even real. Maybe I'm just losing my mind. That has to be it, right? I couldn't possibly be seeing all this… death around me, all the time. Right?
Fucking right?
Everyone moves to their knees, a small table on the back of the bench in front of them where they rest their elbows as they get into a prayer stance. I swallow down the lump in my throat as I follow suit, watching everyone.
Some hold their Bibles, others clutch their crucifixes around their necks.
All I can do is gawk.
Is this really happening right now?
Suddenly, the priest quiets down again once shuffling starts up, only this time it’s in the front of the room. My eyes widen as I see Malik stand in the aisle.
My jaw drops when I see how pale he looks. He looks sick. Like he has the flu or something. His face is damp, his dark shirt splotched with sweat as he stumbles back and forth down the aisle, walking toward the exit.
