A Mystery of the Ages: Ohm's Reveal [Book 1]

Chapter 13

Everyone starts letting out shouts of refusal. "Everyone, stop!" I shout. They quiet down. "I'm going after Zach and that's final. For now I need you guys to help Cartoonz. He's sitting in a room slowly bleeding to death. If he doesn't get help, He. Will. Die." They look at me with shock and realization. "Let's go." Mini says. The rest nod and Moo leads the way to the room Cartoonz is in. Delirious is the last to leave. He pauses and looks back at me. "Stay safe, Wrecker. We need you. Everyone needs you." I nod and watch as he follows the others. "Del, wait!" I call out. He stops and turns toward me. "You don't need to be afraid of showing people your face. You look fine." I notice him tense up, then he gives me a shy smile. "Thanks, Ohm. No homo though, right?" I laugh and shake my head. He laughs as well and turns back around. I watch him run after the others, then I turn towards the hallway Vanoss had been chased down.

I take a deep breath and take off at a slow jog. All of the doors I pass are locked tight, and the floor is littered with chunks of debris. I step carefully over a big pile of crumbled wall, when I start to notice bullet holes in the wall. "Evan, where are you?" I mumble out loud. Soon after, I hear faint voices from down the hall. I start to slowly creep forward, until I can make out what they're saying.

"There's nowhere else to run, Owl." I stop in shock. 'That was Zach!' I hear a faint reply, but I can't make out the words. I go a little further down the hallway until I'm next to an open door. The voices are coming from inside it. "Oh really?" Zach says. "You think I won't take them out when I'm done with you?" Since I'm closer to the door I can now hear Vanoss' response. "You will never hurt them. They'll be long gone by the time you finish me." I slowly peek around the doorframe to see Vanoss with his back against a wall and Zach pointing a gun at him.

I curse softly, and reach into my pocket for my last smoke grenade. However, I went into the wrong pocket and feel something else. Confused, I pull it out. My eyes widen as I see the pistol Vanoss had given to me before we left Town Red. I had forgotten it was in my pocket. I keep a hold of the gun and peek around the corner again. Vanoss is now pressed tightly against the wall, with fear in his eyes. Zach is inching closer and closer to him, slowly tightening his grip on the trigger with each step.

I step around the door frame and enter the room. I raise the pistol and aim it at Zach's head. Vanoss sees me and his eyes widen. Taking notice of this, Zach turns around and sees me. He chuckles and says, "Well, what do we have here? Ryan to the rescue I see." He changes his aim to my head instead. "To bad you'll be dead." I tighten my grip on the trigger and look him dead in the eye. "You're the one who'll be dead, Zach. You mess with my friends," I pause and glare at him with complete and utter hatred. "You mess with me." I reach my hand up and take off my bandana from around my face. "You wanted a face reveal? Well here ya go." I then pull the trigger.

The bullet flys through the air and slams into his forehead. He drops to the floor, instantly dead. I start shaking and drop the pistol and bandana. I faintly notice Vanoss walk up to me and place his hand on my shoulder. He bends down and picks up the items I dropped. He puts the pistol into his own pocket, but he slips the bandana around my head. "You might be wanting this." I look at him and shake my head. "I'm done with hiding my face from you guys." I pull it off and throw it on the ground. He steps back with wide eyes. "You sure?" I nod. "Let's go to the others."

I walk out of the room and head towards the front of the school. I hear Vanoss follow slowly behind me. As we walk, I think about the memories I had in this place.

Flashback

It was lunchtime and I was sitting alone once again. No one wanted to be my friend, but I was okay with it. However, no friends meant that I got bullied. Bad. "Hey, you little punk. Look at me when I'm talking to you." Someone said from behind me. I turned around and saw my bully, George, with his two sidekicks, Mark and Steve. He was standing there with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "What do you want this time, George?" I asked him, slowly tensing up in fear of another beating.

He shook his head and said, "This time, just your lunch. I'm feeling generous today." Mark and Steve looked at each other confused. "But I thought---" George cuts Mark off. "You thought nothing. I'll take care of it. Don't worry." He glared at him, then turned back to me. "Lunch. Now. Or do you want another beatimg?" I shook my head vigourously. I slowly handed him my food, and winced when he whiped it out of my hands. He then toke it and threw it into a nearby garbage can. I looked at him with wide eyes. "What's the matter? You scared?" He snarled. I jumped up in fear. George started laughing. He then reached his hand into his pocket. I watched with fearful eyes as he pulls out a pocket knife. "You need to be taught a lesson, boy." They approached me and Mark and Steve held my arms, not allowing me to move. I tried to squirm away, but their grip was too tight.

George approached me and raised the knife. He slashed my face, creating a cut from the corner of my right eye, down to my chin. He did the same on the other side. I cried out in pain, and watched with tear filled eyes as they stood there laughing at me. They walked away, and yelled over their shoulders how much of a crybaby I was. I sat down and cried into my knees. "I can't help it if that's how I am!" I whispered to myself.

Flashback Ended

I'm brought out of my memory when Vanoss shakes my shoulder. "Hey. You okay?" He asks. I nod and see that we have made it outside. My car is still parked, but the others are gone. "Where did they go?" Vanoss questions, staring at the places where their cars were. "The hospital. They took Luke there while I went to find you." He nods and we walk over to my car. I hop into the driver's seat while Vanoss gets in the front passenger's seat. I start up the car, then hear my phone go off. I reach over and grab it off the dash, and see that it is a text from Delirious. I open it and my eyes go wide. "What is it? What's wrong?" Vanoss asks looking at me, then my phone. I turn and show him the screen.

Get here now. He's lost too much blood.

(A/N) ***Hero-of-Ghosts has left the storyroom***