Tom lifted me to my feet with a huge grin on his face. As he squeezed my hand, I felt some of the tension leech out of my shoulders.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I said.
Tom chuckled and glanced nervously behind me. “Pretty badass, right? And I only peed myself a little.”
Peering out of the hole, I saw Alek lying spread-eagle on the stone bricks of the courtyard. He looked dazed, perhaps unconscious. I prayed he wouldn’t get back up.
“Nick.”
I turned. Relief flooded through me as I saw Bailey and Kay, along with several other students peering out from the classroom. Everyone looked scared but otherwise unharmed. Bailey, on the other hand, looked furious.
They stormed up to me and seized my shirt, dragging me close. “I remember having a talk with you about something,” they hissed. “Remember what it was? My one request?”
“We’re a little past that now.”
“Right, it was: don’t bring me friends into this. Because they’re going to want to help-”
“Damn straight,” Tom said, still staring down at Alek. “You seriously think I was just gonna sit still while we all get killed by that psycho? Who is he anyway? I heard you and him talking about something.”
Bailey shoved me away and held their head in their hands. “I can’t believe this is happening. Sillwood U is gonna be all over the news.”
“It isn’t just here,” I said flatly. “It’s all of Sillwood.”
The colour drained from Bailey’s face. “What do you mean?”
“The Rings have started shooting. The war has started. Sullivan sided with the Ghost Ring in exchange for Dice. And the Ghost Queen has released I don’t know how many clones of Alek, along with those waves we’re all feeling.”
Bailey slowly sank to the floor and Kay rushed to their side. Bailey waved her off. “Just… give me a minute.”
As if on cue, another wave from the Tree washed over us. Tom’s eyes widened and he steadied himself on my shoulder. “Woah, woah, woah. There are too many things I didn’t understand there. What are you guys talking about?”
The other students started to move out of the classroom tentatively. I met Kay’s eyes. She wasn’t wearing her glasses and that only served to make her look more scared, but she was holding together better than most of the students.
“You’re hurt. I’ll be right back,” she said and walked with purpose back into the classroom.
I turned back to Tom. “There’s too much to explain and we’re not out of danger yet, not by a long shot.”
“Give me the cliff notes. I’m pretty good at skipping the assigned reading and still passing.”
I breathed in deeply and nodded. “I’ll try. There are crime syndicates in Sillwood called the Rings. Tension has been building up and we’re at the bursting point. A full out war has started. One side has guns, the other side has… something else.”
Something cold and wet pressed against my cheek and I flinched. Kay withdrew the alcohol wipe and frowned at me. “Hold still. You have bits of stone stuck in your cheek.”
Alek had given me a solid beating, leaving me with broken pieces of my armour hammered into my body.
“It’s bone, actually,” I muttered as Kay worked on pulling out slivers of antler from my face.
Tom was staring at my hands, which were still gloved in antlers. “I was gonna ask about that. Why are you wearing that underneath your clothes? Are you actually some kind of superhero vigilante?”
Bailey snorted. “That’s a deep rabbit hole.”
Tom turned on them. “Why are you and Nick in on this? What sort of black magic shit are you guys into?”
“I never wanted to get you guys involved,” Bailey replied angrily. “It would be stupid to get involved in something so dangerous.”
Another wave of anger rippled through the students. Some were listening, some were trying their phones to no avail or assisting others who were hurt. I noted one young man with a backpack who was listening with excitement plastered across his face. The wave made everyone pause for a second and one student started to cry loudly. Kay pressed a handful of bandaids into my hand and went over to them.
“Consider us fucking involved,” Tom said. “Now can someone explain to me how that man was able to toss around three security guards like they were rowdy toddlers? I was there when he came out of that closet.” His voice shook with fright and awe all at once. “I was coming back from the gym when I saw the small crowd. The guards were trying to get him to leave. He threw them all around like toys and he punched one of them, right in the chest. That guy didn’t get back up. I’ve never seen someone with that kind of strength. Is he special forces? A government experiment?”
Tom’s face froze. “Is it actually superpowers?” he whispered, eyes shining. “Are they real?”
“They’re real,” a voice said quietly.
I turned to see the student with the backpack. He seemed to realize the attention he had just drawn to himself, cowering for a moment before mustering the nerve to speak louder, “They’re real. I’ve seen it. People take this drug, they call it Dice.”
Alarm bells were going off in my head.
“My brother… well, he’s a drug dealer. Been addicted to crystal for years. I don’t think he’s a good person but… he showed me. He got superpowers from taking Dice. He never went back to meth. It worked better than rehab.”
Tom spun on the spot. “We’re dealing with superpowers. Oh my God. That’s insane! You’re telling me that guy is bullet-proof? Faster than the speed of sound? And I just dropkicked him through a window? I think my life just peaked. It’s all downhill from here.”
“Tom, focus.” I eyed the torn up edges of the hole in the metal shutter. “He isn’t bullet-proof, but he can kill you with ease if he gets his hands on you. We can’t run, the city isn’t any safer. Which is why I’m going to stop him here.”
The student slung his backpack off his shoulder. “I have some. We can take it and fight back-”
I lunged and clamped an armoured hand over the student’s, stopping him from unzipping his bag. He looked up in terror at me. In that moment, my armour had completely reformed. I swept my visored gaze over the students. They were frozen like deer in the headlights. Tom’s mouth hung open. Kay’s legs were shaking. That hurt to see, even though I knew it was a natural reaction.
I spoke gently but loud enough that everyone could hear me. “Listen very closely. No one here is going to take Dice. This isn’t a miracle drug like in the movies. You aren’t going to become tall, strong, and beautiful. There’s a reason it’s called Dice. Maybe your legs fall off. Maybe you become a monster, forgetting everyone you know and living only to kill others. Maybe it works out and you get a cool power. But for every one of you that gets lucky, there’s someone else here who won’t. Focus on staying alive. Dice isn’t the solution or an escape from this. It’s a step deeper into a dark forest with no way back.”
Bailey stood up, their expression fierce. “Get back in the classroom and hide. All of you. Wait for help.”
The students slowly obliged. One person piped up. “My phone isn’t working. No one’s is. All I hear is this interference when I call 911. How do we know anyone is even coming?”
“They’ll come,” Kay spoke up, her hands full of used bandages. “We’re going to make it out of this.”
I made sure the students filtered back into the classroom. Giving one final warning glare to the student with the Dice, I shoved him towards the classroom. Perhaps I should have taken his backpack, but even with my speech I considered the chance that, in the future, rolling the Dice might become their only choice for survival.
Tom had recovered from his shock and clapped his hands together. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”
My stomach sank. “Tom, no. There’s no plan that involves you. Stay in the classroom. Lock the door. I’m a freak, just like that murderer. I’ll handle it.”
Tom made a face. “Typical hero talk.” He adopted an edgy cartoonish voice. “I work alone.” He smirked. “Let’s skip to the third act, where you realize that you need to work together to defeat the big bad villain.”
I gritted my teeth. “This isn’t a movie. You get caught, you get killed. Look at me.” I spread my hands and curled my armour a little tighter around myself. “I can take a hit. You can’t.”
Bailey glared at me. “I told you this would happen.”
Tom wheeled on them, pointing dramatically. “And you! You knew about all this and you kept it from me? I paid for your Fire Cape ticket and collectible cup. You know I love this shit.”
“Oh my God, Tom!” Bailey shouted. “Stop fucking running your mouth for one goddamn second! This isn’t a game. The Rings are criminals and murderers. You think I wanted you in on this? Be serious.”
Tom’s pointed finger drooped. “I am being serious. This is just how I cope with stress.” He narrowed his eyes. “Besides, you’re going to help Nick, aren’t you? What’s your superpower?”
“Having the most idiotic friends in the world,” Bailey retorted.
Tom crossed his arms and nodded sagely. “Ah. Thought so. You don’t have one. But you’re going to help anyway, because it’s the right thing to do. So, I’m going to ask again, what’s the plan? How do we stop this fucker?”
I shook my head. “You guys can’t. Unless one of you has a gun and I’m not even sure that would stop him. He’s stronger than you. He’s stronger than me. But if I can get him stuck or unconscious then I can suck the life out of him until he can’t move.”
“What are you, a vampire?” Bailey asked derisively.
“So we just need to trap him?” Tom asked excitedly. “Then I have an idea!”
“Guys?” Kay’s voice was panicked.
I turned. She was pointing down through the hole. “He’s gone.”