WnW 6.1 – Bleed Quietly

The sounds of distress coming from the school were silenced by the Tree’s wave as whatever was going on inside was momentarily disrupted, like a crying child suddenly affronted by a new, unknown experience.

My body felt drawn to the Tree like a magnet. I wanted to turn and make a beeline straight to the Old Town. Nell is capable, I reminded myself. My friends would have no clue what was happening, they would need the help.

Richard had gotten out of the car and jogged over to where I was kneeling.

“Are you okay?” he asked, helping me rise to my feet.

“Yeah, you?”

He gave himself a quick once over. “I’m fine. What the fuck was that? It felt like I lost my mind for a second.”

Memories of Cathrow were fresh in my mind as I spoke, “You’ll get a bit used to it. The strength of the pulses will vary.” I didn’t look up to check, but I didn’t need to. I could feel the pressure of whatever those things were in the sky. It felt like being watched. A prickly weight on the back of my head.

“There’s going to be more?” Then Richard’s expression shifted. “This has happened to you before?”

I nodded. “Try to stay in control. Try to think of it like getting anger drunk. Your impulses will be harder to control, you’ll become violent more easily.”

Richard stared at the gun in his hand and then tucked it into his waistband. “I should come with you.”

“I want to reach Nell quickly after this. Guard the car. Make sure it doesn’t get wrecked or stolen while I’m in there. Plus the police might show up. Things might only get worse if they come.”

Richard didn’t seem satisfied with that answer. “Have you seen Alek in action before? Cause I have. He was a wrecking ball. Nothing stopped him. He’d break bones with his bare hands. Are you really gonna go toe-to-toe with that by yourself?”

I didn’t want to, but I didn’t see another choice. I would have to be smart. Nell wasn’t around to bail me out and my healing wasn’t nearly as effective without her.

“I have your number,” I said. “I’ll call if I need help. Let me know if any Rings show up.”

He gave me a solemn look and then motioned for me to go.

I patted his shoulder before running towards the school. The three story tall building sat ominously, the absence of the usual bustling crowd of students made the polished stone walls seem more like a mausoleum than a school. I bounded up the steps and to the main door. A quick test proved it to be locked.

The doors here were mostly made of glass so I could see the crowd of people inside. Once they noticed me, a few of them started to bang on the glass, trying to get out.

“Stand back,” I shouted and then kicked the glass, which immediately sent hundreds of cracks throughout the whole thing, yet it remained intact. Shatter safe. It took a few more stomps of my subtly reinforced heel until the glass gave way into small chunks instead of dangerous shards.

One student immediately tried to leave and tripped on the frame. I caught and steadied her. She held her head and groaned.

“What’s going on in there?” I asked.

Blinking rapidly, she looked up. “I… I don’t know. People are saying there’s a violent person inside the school, although I didn’t see them. We got put in lockdown after he started hurting people. Something happened just now… An explosion? My head hurts,” she said weakly.

“Don’t go into the city,” I warned her as she took a few more steps and sat down. “It isn’t safe. Wait for help to come.”

I left her and stepped inside. The main hall was filled with students in various states after the wave. Some were shaking their heads, as if trying to rid themselves of the invasive emotion by force. Others were sitting in a daze. There were those who had been less affected by the wave and were discussing what had happened.

I felt some relief that the Tree hadn’t sent every person into a murderous rage like what I had witnessed at Cathrow Farm. Either the Tree wasn’t as strong this far away or regular people didn’t feel the effects as powerfully as Shaped people did. Or maybe those farmers really wanted blood. I spotted a red-headed professor that I recognized.

“Professor Sheehan!” I shouted, causing some nearby students to flinch. He heard me and turned around. 

Then the Tree’s second wave slammed into us.

Anger seized my muscles and made me clench them painfully. I struggled to stay in control. Breathe. Focus. Antlers curled around my eyes. I willed them back, blinking quickly as if that would help. One student began to have a seizure. Two people were fighting each other, wrestling on the ground, shouting obscenities.

Nell felt so close whenever the wave hit. But there was a subtle difference from the Cathrow Tree. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.

Professor Sheehan hurriedly moved to the two fighting students. “Stop that!” he bellowed. “Have you lost your minds? Now is not the time!”

I moved through the crowd to reach him. “Professor!”

Sheehan was attempting to grab ahold of the clothes of the student on top. “In a moment, Nick.”

I reached past him and yanked the student, sending him sliding on his side across the floor. “Professor, I need you to listen. Someone here found a man in the janitor’s closet, right? And now I assume they’ve attacked people. Where is he?”

The professor looked at me with a quivering lip. “He was still in the east wing last I heard. The school was put into level one lockdown and security was sent to escort him out.”

“That isn’t going to work. He’s very dangerous. You need to get these students out of the building. But listen to me, don’t send anyone into Sillwood. If anything, go into the woods and hide. The city is going to be more dangerous than here.”

Professor Sheehan adjusted his glasses and regained some authority in his voice. “Nick, I respect the composure you are exhibiting in this situation, but we need to follow protocol-”

The intercom blared a loud note, cutting the professor short. “This is a Code Red Lockdown,” an automated voice spoke. “Code Red. Proceed to the nearest secure location. All doors will be automatically locked. Security shutters will close. Remain calm and await emergency services.”

I seized the professor by the shoulders, speaking loudly over the repeating message, “Professor, please. The threat is already inside. The students won’t be safe in a lockdown. Get as many outside while you still can.”

He looked at me discerningly for a moment, before coming to a decision. He turned to the crowd. “Alright everyone! Please exit the building calmly but swiftly! Follow me to the rally point.” He waved his arm, directing people towards the shattered window.

I did a quick scan but didn’t see Bailey, Kay, or Tom in the crowd. Taking out my phone, I tried to call Bailey. It rang three times before I heard a distorted sound and the call ended. I stared at my phone. The signal strength was fluctuating rapidly and the screen was flickering ever so slightly. Was that the Tree’s doing? I didn’t have time to wonder. I needed to find my friends and get them out.

I sprinted down the halls towards the east wing, passing a faculty member ushering students in a classroom. Panic rose in my throat. I didn’t have time to convince every one of these people that the classrooms wouldn’t be safe from Alek. I didn’t doubt he could tear a door off its hinges.

Screams and shouts bounced off the walls down the empty hall. Then a scraping sound joined in. Metal shutters had begun to lower down the tall windows that lined the walls. The sunlight moved along the floor, escaping to the windows. Shadows began to creep forward like the sun was setting.

I turned sharply at a corner, skidding on the waxed floor. The east hall was up ahead. But a large metal barrier was lowering into place, in sync with the window shutters. Light crept down the walls as I saw my point of entry slowly being cut off. I sped up, pouring more power into my legs. As the light became a sliver along the ground I dove, sliding on the tile floor. The barrier came down like a guillotine. I barely slipped by before it slammed loudly shut, cutting off the last bit of light, leaving me in total darkness.

The screams had been cut off too, leaving me in a sensationless limbo for a long moment. Then the emergency lighting came on, filling the hall with an orange tinge. Directly to my left was a male student. He viewed me with a single wide eye, his other being swollen shut. Blood dripped from a cut on his forehead and he was nursing his leg.

He raised a finger to his lips. I nodded and stood quietly. Remaining half-crouched, I moved down the hallway. Another student ran past me in the dimness. I could hear voices coming from behind a closed classroom door. As I made it further down the hall, more people lay strewn about in various states of injury. Some weren’t moving. I didn’t know if they were dead, unconscious, or just too afraid to move.

A person lay face down, motionless in a pool of blood. I stepped over them and saw that they were wearing a jacket that read “Security” in big white letters on the back. His head was covered in so much blood that I couldn’t see the extent of his injury.

Then a shriek cut through the dead silence. I could see motion at the far end of the hallway. Someone was pleading in fearful tones. They were getting closer. I readied myself.

A figure strode towards me. His pale skin stood out starkly in the orange light. He wore a pair of janitor overalls, the top half hanging loosely at his waist. His chest was bare. Black tattoos stood out on his arms, depicting the linking of numerous differently shaped rings into chains. 

The pleading voice I had heard came from the person he was casually dragging by their leg. The student was hysterical, babbling for him to let go. He tried in vain to find purchase on the floor, scraping his nails across it, but the man held the student effortlessly like a child holding a doll by the leg.

Alek stopped and raised his head to look at me.

There was murder in his eyes.