The Shadow of Class 203 (Freedom Writers Fanfic)

Chapter 7

"Stupid piece of shit!" The man yelled in a deep raspy voice as he pinned Kianna to the wall. The stench of alcohol and cigarettes rolled out of his mouth as he breathed down on her. He growled before punching Kianna in the stomach. Kianna lurched forward in pain before getting kicked back, causing her to slam back against the wall and slowly slide down. The man smirked before crouching down and grabbing her chin.

"They would be alive if it wasn't for you. You are nothing but a burden," He said before yanking Kianna's head to the side and getting up. The light behind him, along with Kianna's hazy vision, only allowed her to see the outline of his figure. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw the figure of Desmond and of a woman behind him. Kianna closed her eyes.

A moment later, Kianna opened her eyes halfway and glanced up at the ceiling with her blurred vision. She stared at it blankly as she felt a hand crawl up around her neck and the side of her face. She continued to stare as a bronze hand covered her eyes. The hands then pulled her down, through the floor. It felt like Kianna was sinking into a body of water. Suddenly the hands let go and disappeared. Kianna's vision cleared as she saw a male figure above her in the water. It was Desmond, but he was bleeding from his chest. His blood turned the water red. Desmond reached out to her with a look of desperation. Kianna quickly reached out to grab his hand when suddenly the two bronze hands covered her neck and eyes again, bringing her back into the darkness.

"You are stuck here. You caused our death and now you suffer," A woman's voice said. Suddenly the water disappeared and Kianna was slammed into the ground.

Kianna's eyes snapped up and she jolted forward. She groaned as pain erupted from her stomach. She slowly got up and into bed. She glanced at the picture of Desmond. A sob erupted from her chest as she curled up on her bed, her body shaking as she let out another sob.

"I am sorry...I am sorry," Kianna chanted over and over again as if it was a spell that would end all of this. Eventually, it died down as Kianna fell asleep in pain.

Mrs.Gruwell sighed as no one showed up to her Parents' Night. She got up and saw parents piling out of Mr. Gelford's class across the hall. Gelford gave Mrs.Gruwell an annoyed look before going back into his room and closing the door. Mrs. Gruwell sighed and went to take down the poster she put up for the parents when she remembered the cabinet was full of journals. She stopped what she was doing and walked over to it. She opened it and smiled as she saw the two shelves fully stacked. She grabbed a couple of the journals and placed them on her desk before sitting down. Mrs. Gruwell mentally prepared herself before grabbing the first book. Brandy's name was on it. Suddenly, it seemed like Brandy was sitting in her seat talking to Mrs. Gruwell.

"In every war, there is an enemy," Brandy said as suddenly the words in her journal depicted a scene of her father strangling her mother. Brandy ran over to defend her mother, yelling for her father to stop, but her father yanked her away before grabbing her mother again. "I watched my mother being half beaten to death and watched as blood and tears streamed down her face. I felt useless and scared and furious at the same time. I can still feel the sting of the belt on my back and my legs."

"One time, he couldn't pay rent. And that night he stopped us on the street and pointed to the concrete. He said, 'Pick a spot.'" Brandy said before seeming to disappear. Mrs. Gruwell closed her journal before grabbing Marcus'. Marcus then suddenly appeared in his desk and his voice echoed through the air.

"Clive was my boy. He had my back many times. We was like one fist, me and him, one army." Marcus said before his words depicted a scene of a much younger him and his friend, Clive, checking out a gun he had brought.

"That's heavy," Marcus said as he held the gun.

"Yeah," Clive said as he took the gun back.