Within These Walls

Chapter 26

"Let's go," Alec growls, tugging on my arm again.

People pound up the stairs and race down the hallways on either end of the cafeteria. Some are still inside the cafeteria, including Marcus, who breaks through the crowd near the kitchen hallway and takes in the scene. I'm relieved when, upon seeing the cause of the violence, he backs away slowly.

"Come on!" Alec says.

I let him drag me toward the gym, but I don't see the point. Where would we go? We're trapped in this place with a killer. Even if we hide in the remotest of corners, it's a matter of time before he comes for us. A matter of time before he kills everyone.

The only way to survive is to stop him.

Through the shouts around me, I hear a scream and then a clatter. I look back to see a boy lying next to a chair that's been ripped out of the floor. Several feet away from him is the first victim, her throat slashed. 

The killer turns to his next victim, and my blood goes cold. "Alec." I stop running and try to pull my arm free. "Alec, stop."

"No! No, we're not stopping. We can't be anywhere near that thing."

"It's Camille!" I scream.

The boy has her by the throat, holding her off the ground. His blank eyes watch her. Her legs pinwheel in the air as she struggles to free herself, but he doesn't budge. He pulls back his arm, his fingers curled around the metal pipe.

Swearing, Alec races past me and shoves through the crowd. He stumbles to a stop when the boy drives his weapon into Camille's gut, stabbing through skin and flesh. Vivid red blood splashes on the concrete floor as the pipe comes out.

"Oh, God," I exhale, knees buckled.

She falls to the ground. Her hands go to her stomach, but she can't stop the blood pumping out of her. She's wheezing for breath, choking on her pain and her fear, and through the insanity all around me, I hear the sound. In my ears, in my heart, everywhere.

Alec charges the boy and uses momentum to deliver a kick to his chest, knocking him to the floor. He rushes over to Camille's side and grabs her under the arms, pulling her down an aisle between the tables and away from the center of the cafeteria.

It's not enough. The boy is already on his feet and stalking toward them with calculated steps. The fuzzy-white emptiness in his gaze gets to me. Run away, the terrified part of me screams at me. Being in the same room with this teenage boy is suicide. It goes against every self-preserving instinct I have. But I can't run and hide while he continues to kill people. There has to be a limit to my cowardice.

I race over to Alec. "Let me help!" I say, grabbing one of Camille's arms. Together, we pull her farther away, leaving a trail of wet blood along the stone. It's a futile move; if no one else intervenes, no amount of space will save us.

Marcus rushes forward. My stomach dives when the boy spins around, but he ducks low and tackles him around the waist. They both fall to the ground. Marcus scrambles on top of him and hits him in the face, one hard punch after the other.

There's no superhuman strength behind the blows. The boy grabs ahold of Marcus's arm and twists it, throwing him to the floor. He rolls to his feet and circles Marcus's prone body with his unnatural measured movements.

Buzzcut materializes between them. He crouches defensively and holds out his hands like he's pushing an invisible wall. The boy takes a swipe at him with his pipe—but the attack doesn't reach him. It glances off what might actually be an invisible wall.

The boy swings out again. And again. Each time the pipe makes a harsh sound like it's slamming into a concrete wall. On the fourth strike, the barrier between them fails, and the boy catches Buzzcut across the temple.