The Only Thing We Have To Fear

Retitled Part 23.

Frieda stared at the spider toying with the two children in the room for precisely three seconds before coming to two conclusions: One, that her life was more important than her cellular device; and two, that her parents didn't need to be warned about her early departure so long as they understood she wouldn't be returning to school on Monday.

She turned on her heel to run but slammed into Roman instead. As he couldn't stand properly on one leg, she knocked him over quite easily and he fell backward into the doorframe.

A small yelp escaped Roman's lips as his shoulder slammed into the sharp corner.

"Roman!" Pepper squeaked from where she was lying on the floor. She reached out an arm to him, but as a ninth grader's corpse had been flung at her, she was pinned down.

Roman growled as he stood up. His shoulder throbbed with the new pain, and he clutched the scissors in his hand a little tighter.

Frieda made another attempt at escape, and she only succeeded in shoving Roman through the door. A burst of pain shot through his right side as he stumbled backward. Before Frieda could register anything, he shoved her into the classroom and limped in after.

"Roman," Frieda gasped. In her state of shock, she had forgotten that she was angry with him and went back to being infatuated. "I'm sorry," she sputtered in the hopes that he wouldn't get mad at her, but it was already too late.

Roman shoved her again. She stumbled backward into a table.

The spider creature hissed and shoved a tenth grader toward Frieda. He fell at Roman's feet, catching his attention.

Roman turned towards the spider and adjusted his grip on the scissors once more.

"Are you going to kill me?" he asked it.

The ex-teacher eyed him for a moment. His pink pants dripped with his own red blood, but his shirt was practically drenched in blue spider blood. The only thing left unstained and untouched was the white face of Hello Kitty that was made of a material that made the blood slide right off. Although the spiders didn't look human, they were just as smart as one. She took one look at Roman and instantly knew that he had been killing spiders. Feeling afraid, she backed up into the corner. Roman, who didn't particularly care, took one look at her, bared his teeth, and turned back towards Pepper.

Roman limped around the desk towards Pepper, stepping right on the body because it was elevated and meant he could put less pressure on his leg when stepping on it. "Get up," he snapped, kicking the body with his injured leg just hard enough to move it just enough for Pepper to pull herself free.

Pepper already knew about the spider people, thus when they started to attack, she was already aware of their monstrous other forms and did not go into shock. She was shaken, but she picked up Frieda's backpack and slid it to her across the table.

She was shaken, but she picked up Frieda's backpack and slid it to her across the table.

Frieda stared at it for a moment. She glanced at Roman, taking in his distant expression. Then she lunged for her bag. She tore it open and began searching for her phone. It was lodged under her binder in the innermost pocket of her backpack, but in her distress, she couldn't remember the pocket, and neglected to look under the binder.

Frieda let out a scream. She screamed as loud as she could until her lungs ran out of air, which wasn't very long as she did not have the same breath support as someone who had done choir, such as Roman.

Pepper and Roman bared their teeth at her, but Frieda didn't notice. She started pulling at the bag, hoping it would rip. When it didn't, she screamed again. The bag flung from her hands, crashing hard against the wall.