Academy for the Strange

Chapter 28: Attack

            “You bitch!” Mme. Fontaine screamed as she leapt at Fiona.

            Fiona was forced to duck and roll away from the woman, dropping he hole punch in the process. As she jumped to her feet, she realized that she’d gone to the wrong side. Now Mme. Fontaine was between her and the door.

            Her mouth went dry as she backed up a few more steps, wishing the two lamps that were beside the door weren’t on. It would be easier to escape in the dark. At least she thought it would be, her eyes locked onto her teacher.

            The blonde woman turned her hate filled gaze back towards her, faintly trembling, her hands fists that were slowly beginning to glow. Fiona had thought her heart was racing before. Now it was in a full on sprint as fear made her whole body go cold, even as she could feel sweat begin to bead up all over her skin.

            “I’m going to kill you,” Mme. Fontaine said, her voice scarier for how quiet it had gone even as the chaotic mass of her emotions bled through. Not a single word had sounded sane and the depths of hate and anger made Fiona go even colder.

            She knew there was no point in trying to reason with her and that letting her get close was a mistake, so Fiona did the only thing she could do. She ran backwards until she could get the corner of the table between her and her teacher.

            Mme. Fontaine tried to follow, but was forced to stop as Fiona shifted back. For a second, Fiona thought she could tire her out, maybe distract her with something and then make a break for the door. She just hoped her opponent didn’t think of locking it.

            But as the glow on the blonde woman’s hands grew brighter, Fiona realized that the door was the least of her problems. She edged backwards, eyes flickering all over the room as she tried to figure out some way out of this, some way to distract the crazy woman.

            There wasn’t much on the table that she could easily reach. Just some small metal objects, a paper with strange symbols on it, a few glass jars with liquid, and the dead girl. A heavy stapler lay farther along and Fiona thought if she could get that far down it’d be a good weapon.

            A liquid whisper drew her full attention back to Mme. Fontaine. She was chanting, her eyes still on Fiona. She swallowed hard and backed a few more steps up, which her teacher followed. Fiona kept her eyes on her teacher, alert to any movement from her.

            The sound of breaking glass behind her told Fiona she should have been keeping an eye out behind her as well. She jumped to the side, but not before the stream of ice-edged water slashed into her forearm. Fiona cried out, holding her arm tight to her body and trying to ignore the way blood was seeping into her shirt and pants. The pain brought with it the reality that Fiona might not get out of this, that she might be joining her mother sooner than she’d thought.

            She bit her lip as tears pricked her eyes, but she kept her head up. She wasn’t about to make it easy for Mme. Fontaine. She was going to fight for as long as she could with everything she had. Fiona clenched her hands into fists and backed a few more steps away, wondering if the door was close enough that she could make a break for it.

            The way her teacher’s gaze was riveted on her and alive to every tiny movement she made told her the answer to that. Noticing the way Mme. Fontaine’s eyes narrowed, Fiona ducked and moved to one side, narrowly avoiding another rush by the freezing water that had bene hovering near her teacher.

            Fiona looked around again, looking for something, anything, she could use to defend herself. She jumped up as the stream of liquid swiped at her feet, narrowly missing getting her ankles caught. She darted closer to the table and grabbed one of the odd metal pieces and hurled it at Mme. Fontaine.