“Wait!” Saint barked, marching forward and pointing at the screaming guy on the ground. “Take your trash with you. And if you even think about coming back here, the next swing of that bat will be aimed at your skull.”
“Okay!” the guy gasped, darting forward to drag his friend away from us as he continued to howl with pain.
My pulse pounded as I looked around and realised how far ahead the rest of those fuckers had gotten. They’d said that they were heading for a church and there was only one of those on campus. But how the fuck did they know about the food we’d stashed there?
“Danny!” I snapped, pointing at the footballer as he stood staring at us in shock alongside the rest of the team and the lingering Unspeakables. “You stay here and make sure no more of those fuckers get in. And that none of them leave with our shit. If they take our supplies then we’re all fucked.”
“Okay,” he agreed, though there wasn’t enough fire in his tone to convince me he’d do a good job.
“Let me rephrase that,” Saint said in a deadly growl. “If any of you do anything less than your absolute best to defend this place then you’ll be turned out of here right alongside those fucking assholes who came to rob us. Do I make myself clear?”
There was a chorus of agreement to that and I exchanged a glance with my friends as we prepared to go defend our home.
“Call the rest of the students and the staff too!” Kyan barked at the footballers and Unspeakables alike as we started moving away from them. “Tell them to bring weapons and come defend our school. That’s a fucking order!”
“And anyone who doesn’t show up will answer to us,” I snarled.
We turned away from them as one and started running down the hill towards The Temple as fast as we could.
“What’s the plan?” I asked as we ran.
“Simple. Those moneyless, trailer-trash pieces of shit are trespassing on our property and we have the right to bear arms and defend ourselves against them,” Saint growled.
“Basically, we’re going to fuck them up,” Kyan hollered and I gripped onto the excitement in his tone as we raced down the hill, making it my own.
I’d been waiting for the perfect outlet for all of this rage. One where I wouldn’t be forced to bear the consequences of unleashing the beast within me to its fullest capacity. And it looked like my wish had just been granted.
The route on my watch took me back towards The Temple, but then it was gonna make me run all the way out to Sycamore Beach and complete an entire lap of the lake. I was here for it though. I wasn’t even pushing myself so I could make the most of the two hour window Monroe had given us and enjoy the time away from the Night Keepers.
A scream carried to me somewhere across the lake and my breathing quickened for a moment before I remembered it was probably just some girl messing around with her friends. Ah friends. That must have been nice. My plans to live out a normal school year and make life-lasting connections with other students had gone so spectacularly to shit, that it was almost laughable. Like, funny in the way that it made you weep your heart out and bleed on the inside. That kind of funny.
I beat up the track beside the water, the looming shadow of The Temple’s steeple peeking through the trees ahead.
A flash of movement in my periphery made my head whip sideways and a frown pinched my brow as I spotted a line of people racing down the woodland track that joined the main path.
Ripped denim, leather, too many piercings and body tattoos made me think of the rough crowd from the bar Kyan had taken me to the other night. My heart stalled as I spotted weapons in some of their hands, even a couple of damn guns.
Holy shit!
I sprinted away from them as they spilled onto the path behind me, powering down the concrete toward The Temple. My pulse thundered against the inside of skull, my instincts screaming at me to get away.
“There!” a woman shouted and the stampede of footsteps rushed closer behind me.
I veered right down the path to The Temple, my heart pounding wildly as I made it to the door and threw it open. I turned fast, slamming it shut behind me and letting the latch fall down. I couldn’t lock it with a master key though, only the guys had those.
A weight slammed against the door and I gasped, throwing my shoulder against it to keep them out.
What the hell do they want??
That latch wasn’t gonna hold long and there was no way I was strong enough to hold it myself. I fumbled for my phone in my pocket, taking it out with trembling fingers as I brought up Monroe’s number and dialled.
I wedged the phone between my ear and shoulder as I pressed myself against the door and another loud thud sounded against it, making the latch shudder.
He answered on the fifth ring. “If you’re calling to try and sweet talk your way out of this run, princess, then-”
“Nash! I need your help,” I cut over him.
“What? Why, what’s happened?” His tone became deadly serious and that reassured me a fraction.
“I’m in The Temple, but there’s some crazy fucking people trying to get in. I can’t hold the door much longer!”
“Crazy people? What the hell are you talking about?”
“They’ve broken into the school!” I cried.
“Aren’t the Night Keepers with you?” he ask frantically.
“No, they gave me their stupid watches to wear and ran off. I’m on my own-”
More bodies slammed into the door and I was thrown backwards onto the ground as the latch broke, bruising my arms and back as I hit the ground with a scream of terror. My phone went skittering across the floor and I screamed as the crowd surged toward me. I scrambled backwards but wasn’t fast enough as boots slammed into my gut, my legs, sending pain splintering through my body.
“Stop!” I begged, throwing up a hand to shield my face as terror gnawed at my insides. I couldn’t get up, there were too many of them. Every time I made a move, another foot knocked me down.
A large hand suddenly closed around my wrist and yanked me upright and I released a ragged breath. My relief was short lived as I took in the huge man who had hold of me; he had dark sideburns and a thick moustache. A scar ran over his right eye, his teeth were yellow and he had on a stained wife beater with sweat patches under the arms. Disgust wound its way around my heart as I recognised the ass-pincher, Merl, from the fight club.
His mouth curled up into a smile as his gaze fixed on my cleavage. “Hey there sugar, aren’t you gonna show a little gratitude to your saviour? Or are you just gonna throat punch me again like a high and mighty whore?”
I tried to twist my wrist free of him, but his grip was iron.
“Let go,” I demanded, but he shook his head, puckering his lips up like a cartoon character. “Get the fuck away from me!”
Panic slid into my veins and I threw my fist out, delivering on his second guess as I caught him in the throat. He choked, releasing me as he stumbled back and I darted around him to try and get to the door. His fist slammed into my side and I was thrown into the couch from the sheer force of it, gasping for breath as pain ricocheted through my body.
Holy fuck.
“I’m gonna cut off pieces of you for that, you little whore,” he rasped, coming at me again as the crowd swept around him, grabbing as many packs of toilet paper from the throne as they could carry while others raided the fridge and the kitchen cupboards.