Chapter Thirty-One
J anice yanked me backward , her voice sharp. “Run!”
But my legs wouldn’t move. For a moment, I was back in the basement, tied to the chair, powerless to do anything.
“You have no idea what you’ve stumbled into,” Laurens said, his focus entirely on Janice. “This isn’t just a gang, Cadence. It’s bigger. And I can’t afford a loose end like little Janice here. She should have been handled a long time ago.”
Janice shoved me hard, finally snapping me out of my paralysis. “Go!” she shouted.
“No!” I cried, grabbing her arm as Laurens leveled the gun at us.
“Enough!” he barked. “Stop making this harder than it has to be. Janice, you’re a liability. You don’t get to walk away.”
Janice didn’t waste any time, lunging forward and grabbing the wrist holding the gun. She twisted it sharply. Laurens grunted, but he didn’t drop the gun, trying to pull away from her.
“Run, Cadence!” Janice yelled again, struggling to wrestle the gun away.
This time, I was able to move, but I didn’t obey her. I stumbled back and moved to the wall. My hands shook as I lifted the cover over the fire alarm and then pulled it.
The school came alive as it blared for an evacuation. Lights flashed, the alarm nearly deafening. It practically pounded inside of me.
Behind me, I heard a loud scuffle and a muffled shot. I turned to see Janice pushing Laurens against the wall, his gun scuttling to the ground. There was a broom leaning against the wall. I grabbed it and ran back toward them, adrenaline pushing my fear away.
With all my strength, I swung at Laurens, catching him off guard. He stumbled, giving Janice a chance to elbow him in the ribs. I dropped the broom, my hands shaking too hard to be able to properly hold on to it anymore.
Janice grabbed my arm, her voice frantic. “Come on, we have to go.”
We bolted down the hallway, our shoes pounding hard against the tile. The blaring fire alarm made it impossible to hear if Laurens was following or not and I didn’t dare look back. My luck, I’d do that and fall on my face.
“This way!” Janice pulled me sharply toward the science wing, making my shoulder scream in pain.
“It’s a dead end,” I gasped, my heart hammering in my chest.
She didn’t respond, still practically dragging me behind her.
We raced down the hallway, the lockers lining the walls flashing red from the reflection of the alarm lights. My lungs burned and panic clawed at my throat. Even when my body screamed to stop, I had to force myself to keep going.
There was an echo of Laurens’ voice behind us, his angry shouts nearly drowned out by the alarm.
We turned another corner, almost slipping on the floor in our haste. Janice steadied us and we kept running. The hallway felt like it stretched ten miles, eerily empty despite the chaos of the sounds and lights all around us.
The emptiness of the school pressed against me, terrifying me even more. No one was here. We were truly on our own. Classroom doors were shut. Classroom lights off. We had run the wrong way in our panic.
I tried a couple of doors despite Janice’s objection until one of them finally opened.
“Here,” I said, dragging her into a small computer room.
“We need to run.”
“No,” I gasped, yanking her behind a row of computers. The desks were solid so if we stayed low enough, he wouldn’t know we were in here. “This hallway is too long. All he needs to do is shoot us. When he passes us, we’ll go back. We need to get back to the side of the school, where everyone should still be.”
Janice crouched beside me, her breaths coming out in harsh gasps. “This is insane,” she whispered. “What if he checks in here?”
I pressed my trembling hands against the cool tile floor, willing my heartbeat to slow. He wouldn’t be able to hear it, would he? I felt like it was louder than the alarms at the moment. “He won’t. He’ll think we kept running. We just need to stay quiet and low. We need to leave as he gets to the next hallway. It’s a dead end.”
Footsteps echoed outside. Heavy, purposeful. “Where are you?” he screamed. Even he was beginning to sound desperate.
Janice’s hand clamped down on my wrist, her nails digging into my skin. I didn’t pull away. I needed the pain to keep my mind sharp.
The heavy fast footsteps got louder, closer. I held my breath, my body pressed tightly against the desk leg. Janice shifted slightly, her gaze darting to the door.
My heart nearly stopped when his shadowed figure flickered through the narrow window. It disappeared but then came back, stopping in front of the door.
Janice dug her nails harder into my skin. We both held our breaths, staring at the door.
Don’t come in. Don’t come in.
It became a mantra in my head. Over and over.
Don’t come in.
After what felt like an eternity, he moved away, his footsteps continuing down the hall.