Hamilton Academy: He's Always Watching

Part Three ~ Chapter Sixteen

Fear was surrounding us at every angle, along with the pressure to make it out of this alive.

-Matt

I was moving swiftly, my legs looking like a pinwheel. The speed I was going at was much faster than the speeds of Johnny and Julia as we made our way deeper and deeper into a part of the forest that I didn't recognize. Where was Kyle when you really needed him?

My mind wasn't thinking straight, and I was pretty sure Julia and Johnny's weren't either. My feet weren't slowing, but Johnny and Julia looked as if they were getting a little tired. That wouldn't end well, and I couldn't let anything happen to them, so without thinking I grasped Johnny's waist and flung him over my shoulder. He screeched in surprise from the force but quickly calmed down. I pulled on Julia's arm, forcing her to match my pace. Farther and farther from the path we ran into the woods.

"Matt!" Johnny suddenly started pounding on my back, his voice holding angst and panic. "Matt! Matt! He's following us! He's gaining speed! Soon he'll reach us!"

The knot in my chest tightened and I tried to make my legs go faster, but I couldn't pick up any more speed. Same went for Julia, and I got a sinking feeling in my gut.

We were going to die.

But no, that probably wasn't true, because Mr. Grey said he wanted us to suffer. That was even worse though, because it meant all the more painful and lengthy. If there was any way I could save any one of us I would do it in a split second, and I think my friends knew that. I hoped that they knew that.

"Matt! What will we do?" Julia breathed out between gasps of air. "We don't have much of a chance."

"I know," I whispered. Quickly I lifted my spirits though, trying to keep us all energized and moving. “We’ll just take a lot of random turns to throw him off, okay?” I forced my voice to sound as if I knew exactly what we should do.

Still gripping Julia’s arm tightly, I started darting in different directions, praying it made at least some sort of an effect. Even if it was a small one it could buy us a small amount of time that later saved one of us.

“Is…it…helping?” I panted. Julia stumbled slightly on a root, but I quickly pulled her back up and in motion.

“Umm…he could be getting confused?”

“Good,” I wheezed. My lungs were burning and I was sure Julia’s felt even worse. My throat longed for a cold glass of ice water to soothe it and my calves would need to rest for a while to unwind.

“I…don’t…know…how…much…longer…I…can…take.” Almost entirely out of breath, Julia’s feet started stumbling as if she had no coordination.

“I’m going to put you down,” I told Johnny, sliding him off of my shoulders and pulling him along to run in one fluid motion. Hopefully I would have enough strength left in me to help Julia along, but I didn’t expect that to work. Fear was surrounding us at every angle, along with the pressure to make it out of this alive.

“Aaaaah!” Julia’s high pitched screech filled the air and I reflexively stopped running to see what was wrong.

“Julia? What is it?”

“No! No! Hurry!” She started up running again, barely able to move. “We… have…to…hurry! He threw a knife! It…missed…though.” She paused between each word for a breath. “But…it…was…really…close!”

“I…can’t…run…much…longer…though.” Johnny’s feet were having trouble gripping the ground as he stepped, sliding on leaves and tripping on every root.

“Push through. Think of Amy.” My motivation skills were definitely at their worst right now, my mind barely able to comprehend anything and most of my actions purely impulsive.

“You’ll have to stop at some point, children!” Mr. Grey’s teasing voice sang out. “And when you do I will be right nearby waiting! Don’t forget that!” The panic inside my chest rose as I started hearing heavy steps close by. He couldn’t be too far anymore.

My grip on the gun tightened, and I debated flicking the safety. I worried I might accidentally shoot at the wrong moment though, so I didn’t. I just held it closer to myself and prayed that we would all survive.

My prayers were short lived though, because we came to an unfortunate blocking in the woods that completely slowed us down. There was a large boulder in front of us, and trees were tightly packed along one side and there was a fallen tree on the other. We could get over the fallen tree; it would just take a lot more time. Any other direction and we would be facing Mr. Grey.

“Hello,” Mr. Grey smiled maliciously as he reached our tired forms. “Are you ready for your suffering to begin?”

“Not particularly,” Johnny muttered, squeezing my hand tightly. I lifted up my gun a little so that he could see it, hoping it would instill at least a little fear in him. He didn’t even bat an eye though.

“Matty has a gun! What would mother say?” He smirked, but it looked more like a grimace on him.

“She would be very glad that she isn’t with you if she knew why I needed the gun.” I shot back.

“Shut up,” he growled. “You aren’t helping yourself. Just digging yourself in deeper.”

Attempting to quench the fear that filled me every time I looked at him or heard his voice, I straightened my back and actually flicked the safety on the gun.

“You should be careful also. I could kill you at any moment.”

“Oh, really?” Mr. Grey laughed at me. “Like you would ever shoot someone.”

“I still h-have.” I paused, restarting at my stumble. “I still have a gun.”

“And I am still stronger than all of you combined.” His eyes flashed a piercing green, and suddenly he looked almost devious.

“What?” I spat out, my words short and sharp.

“Well…let’s make things a little interesting, shall we? You all just go on. I’ll be sure to catch up later.”

“What are you talking about?” Julia’s voice was barely above a whisper, confusion and fear laced in every word.

“Oh, nothing. Just go have fun with your trip. Don’t forget about me though, because I certainly won’t forget about you.”

__________________________________

I'M SUCH AN AWFUL PERSON I KNOW

but

to attempt to make up for it

(and finish this part before Watty Awards Deadline)

I will be aiming for TWICE a week uploads

what did you think of the chapter?

please NOMINATE FOR SPECIAL AWARDS ALSO!!! I'd love you oh so much for it!!

Sorry about the lateness of this! Highschool... -_-

xx

Ella

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