Chương 33: Exploding Glass

The school entrance crashes shut, rattling wildly on its hinges as Crimson and Churro cling to the handlebars with all their might.

"Lock it, lock it!" While gripping the handlebars, Churro peers through the doors at the bolt cutters resting against the wall outside.

"No. No, Churro, don't..." But he shoves past him, stepping out into the chilly breeze. Motionless, Churro gazes into the shadows. The only thing he spots is the mist escaping from his mouth. Then with swift steps, he dashes to the building's side where the bolt cutters are waiting. Snatching them up, he spins around to find Crimson staring through the glass doors. Struggling to speak. Trying to utter...

"Run." Churro slowly twists his head as a creature emerges from the dark, a fast-moving silhouette charging straight at him. He bolts back inside, bolt cutters in hand. Crimson seizes the opposite handle, and together they clumsily wedge both ends of the tool into the bars, forming a makeshift lock. When they glance up once more, the path leading to the doors is deserted. A handful of leaves drift over the pavement. They back away slowly, quickening each step until they're sprinting.

Crimson and Churro rush headlong into a dim classroom.

"The desk... the desk." They creep around the teacher's desk and shove it toward the door, only to wince as metal screeches loudly against the tile floor.

"Stop, stop!" Freezing in place, they talk quickly.

"The door won't be able to hold it back." He vanishes, and that creature shows up just ten seconds later, hurling Autzee twenty feet through the air. Isn't that suspiciously perfect timing?

"That's not him. Autzee is still alive. He can't be dead."

"Blood shot out from his mouth. That's hardly a minor scrape. He's gone. We're next. So, we reach my Jeep. We escape from here. You genuinely consider handing in your resignation. Sounds good?" Crimson nods. They swivel toward the windows, gazing out at the parking lot. With hushed steps, they move to the farthest pane and catch sight of Churro's Jeep resting in the lot, roughly twenty yards off. He rests his palms on the window ledge.

"They won't budge. The building's air is regulated. If we shatter it, there'll be a racket."

"Well then, we sprint like crazy." They steal another look at the Jeep. It suddenly feels far more distant.

"Like lightning." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. As Churro hunts for something to smash a window, Crimson edges nearer to the glass.

"Churro, what's up with your Jeep's hood? It's all bent." Crimson inquired.

"You mean dented?" He shields his eyes with cupped hands against the window. Strangely, the Jeep's hood curls upward toward the windshield, resembling a crushed tin can's top.

"What in the world happened to my..." Glass erupts near their heads, sending them shrieking to the ground. Crouched beneath the sill, they peer past lifted arms and watch something glide across the tile, crashing to a halt on the far side of the room amid a spray of shattered glass. It's the Jeep's battery, with wires dangling off it. Crimson and Churro remain motionless beneath the classroom window, their eyes locked on the Jeep's battery ahead.

"That's my battery." He gives a nod. They both stare at it, utterly stunned. Churro begins to rise, but Crimson pulls him back.

"Don't. He could be just outside." He holds him down, his hand firm on his friend's shoulder.

"Let me just peek outside." Stretching his neck to peer out the window, Crimson surveys the deserted, shadowy school lot.

"See anything?" Crimson shakes his head.

"Go now? They rise and dash across the tiled floor.

The classroom door creaks open a sliver. Crimson and Churro sneak out into the hallway. They peek down both ends of the corridor, edging forward with nervous energy.

"This way to somewhere with fewer windows. The locker room. The door swings open, and Crimson and Churro rush inside.

"Call your Dad. Tell him there's a gas leak, a fire, anything. If that thing sees the parking lot packed with police cars, it'll bolt. They've got guns."

"And Autzee needed a wolfsbane-laced bullet just to slow him down. Remember that? We can't run, there's nothing within half a mile of the school." But as Churro reaches for the door, Crimson grabs his arm.

"What?"

"I think I heard something. Quiet." Still holding Churro's arm, Crimson strains to listen, his breath rising nervously. He starts to pull his hand off the doorknob, but then squeezes Churro's arm, a silent command to stop. A shadow slides past the door's frosted glass window. Barely a few centimetres separate them. Crimson gently lets go of Churro's arm, retreating slowly.

"Hide." He pulls Churro back into the shadows with him. Both of them scan the area, frantic with fear. No hiding spot exists. Churro gazes at Crimson with a desperate look. Yet Crimson seems equally lost for a solution. So he grabs the handle of a locker door. And slips inside it.

"No, Churro... Churro." But an instant later, Crimson sneaks into the locker opposite Churro to conceal himself too. Within the locker, he freezes, attempting to steady his breath and silence his pounding heart. The locker room door swings open as a huge, shadowy figure steps in, accompanied by a strange clicking noise on the concrete floor. Crimson watches the silhouette glide past him. Through the vent holes, he spots Churro, eyes wide with terror.

In the adjacent locker, Churro clamps a hand over his mouth to muffle his breathing while Crimson stays completely motionless, only his eyes blinking rapidly in the gloom, when the locker door is yanked open to reveal the janitor. He shrieks in shock, stumbling backward. Just as he's about to speak, Churro stumbles out of the opposite locker.

"Son of a bitch!" Crimson grabs hold of him, doing his best to keep the panicked man upright.

"Quiet, quiet!"

"Quiet, my ass. Are you two trying to kill me tonight?" Gasping for air, the Janitor leans against the locker, appearing to be on the brink of a heart attack.

"Both of you. Get out. The door bursts open into the hallway, with Crimson and Churro shoved out by the enraged Janitor.

"Just one second to explain to you..."

"Shut up and go. I had enough from you students for one day" Then, with his hand still on the door, the Janitor abruptly spins back into the locker room, pulling the door shut behind him. The motion is so swift that Crimson and Churro are left staring in sheer bewilderment at the closed door. Until the janitor's face slams back against the door's window. He and Churro stumble back in horror as the Janitor's body lunges forward again, shaking the door in its frame.

He clutches at the door, attempting to wrench it open, striving to assist the man while Churro yanks him back. Both of them yelling, He and Crimson finally flee, sprinting down the corridor as the locker room door is torn from its hinges, crashing into the hallway and hitting the floor. The Janitor's lifeless body collapses onto the door and then, in a single fluid motion, is dragged back into the locker room's shadows.