Shifters

Chapter 25

THEA

The restraints on our chairs clicked open. I turned to see Luke sleepily lift his head. I stood up and stepped over to his chair to help him up. He pushed away my offered hand and stood on his own. He swayed, but managed to stay standing.

The others stood too. Ivy and James walked over, whispering to each other. I wondered what they were saying, but I didn't ask.

The cat-girl wandered over and stood, almost hiding, behind James. I guess her instincts told her he could provide the best protection. He was the largest and strongest of us, as far as I could tell, so it seemed likely. Ivy glanced at her curiously but made no comment.

"So, where do you all want to go?" Ms. Merriweather asked. "Oh wait! Silly me! You haven't had breakfast yet! Follow me. We'll go to the cafeteria and I'll see if I can get them to whip up something nice for all you great listeners." She turned on her heel and practically skipped toward the doors. She quickly tapped a code into the pin pad before I had time to tell which numbers she used, never mind memorize them.

The doors clicked, and the noise echoed around the room. It echoed again and again and I began to realize that it was no longer just that click echoing. It was more of a cracking sound, coming from the walls themselves, not echoing off them.

I hadn't taken a step before the cracks begin to show up in the walls. I broke into a run. Luke was nearest to me, so I grabbed his shirt to drag him along.

I bumped into Ms. Merriweather in my sprint to the door. She was tapping furiously on her small tablet device. My shoulder hit hers and the tablet went flying. She whipped around, her usual smile twisted into a grimace of fear and anger. She lunged toward me, but at that second, the top of the doorway and the surrounding ceiling fell.

There wasn't even time for her expression to change. The ceiling fell, catching her in the back of the head first, and crushing the rest of her body a fraction of a second later.

The hall Luke and I had escaped into was shaking and the walls there were cracking, too. I tightened my hold on his collar and ran, thinking of nothing but escaping. In my terror in that moment, I didn't even think of Ivy, James, and the cat-girl, still inside that room.

A/N: Commenter of the chapter: @alaskanheat (thanks!)