My Sister's a Guardian (RotG Fanfiction)

Chapter 16: The Encounter Among

(Content/trigger warnings for this chapter: self-hatred, Ranya is very mean™)

--Ranya--

Now how was I supposed to get back inside, or even search the area? So many Fear Angels prowled the place!

I glanced around for a possible weapon to at least knock them back with, but couldn't find anything.

Skeletal creatures marched along the school's perimeter at full towering height, swiveling their skulls back and forth. What were they doing?

A few bricks fell off the building and thumped onto the snow, and the nearby Fear Angels' gazes snapped toward the sound. But then they saw the bricks, and relaxed and kept marching forward.

I had to find Dakota and get her on my side. She'd seemed pretty intent on killing the Fear Angels for some reason. Maybe she had gone back inside to kill more? Or maybe she would investigate the mist, too.

I almost considered whether she had been the one to soothe Jack—it seemed she could control people, after all. But he had never said anything about a purple bolt slamming into his head, and Dakota didn't have a motive.

Darting from tree to tree, I made it close to the nearest door. Ten Fear Angels marched past me and clambered through the doorway inside. I waited a minute, then darted to the entrance myself.

I opened the door and peered into the building. There was still no sign of the mist, though the hairs on my back prickled as if it were about to seep from the large cracks in the chipped walls. The peels of green paint gaped. Paralyzed bodies still sprawled across the floor; the mist had attacked nothing but the Fear Angels and me and maybe Dakota, at least in this area. Many different sources of clattering—too many to guess this time—sounded through the building. I narrowed my eyes and gritted my teeth as I shut the door behind me. At least it was warm in here.

Clattering grew close, and I ducked into a classroom just as a Fear Angel turned the corner into my hall. I almost slipped on the purple water running across the room, dripping down the whiteboard over the red marker paths. I ducked underneath the teacher's desk and its broken-off, jagged points. Water puddled underneath it; it soaked cold through my shoes. My legs immediately ached from the uncomfortable position.

The Fear Angel's clattered grew louder. Then it stopped in front of the classroom. I listened for the creaking of its bones, or rustle of its feathers—movement. Silence. Then, the clattering retreated.

I must have waited maybe 15 minutes for the coast to be completely clear after that—so many Fear Angels patrolled these halls now. I carefully crept, my legs half-numb and aching, back to the classroom door and peered out. Looked left. Right. Left again. I listened to see if I could hear Dakota, but I couldn't. I would just have to check around.

Which I was about to do, but I finally did slip on the water as I tried to step into the hall. I crashed to the ground, hitting my knees and hands hard as I tried to catch myself.

The nearby clatters paused, then resumed and grew louder. I cursed myself.

I burst out of the classroom and raced down the hall. I had to run somewhere away from where I'd fallen and hide. If I found Dakota instead, maybe she could help, too. Where had she even come back in? Where had she gone out in the first place? I slowed as I took some creaky stairs two at a time.

That was when I heard a voice again. No, two voices, both low. Who else was in here? Someone else who could help?

As a few sources of clattering grew too close, I was forced to dive into an open janitor's closet and close the door. It was a small room and reeked of bleach, and quite a few of the white containers stood on shelvesabout to fall off the wall. The mops clipped to one corner smelled musty.