Published || The Secret of Larimore High School

◽️ 15 ◽️

I turned my head and went to go wake the others while Nashita and Rowdy argued about what to do. Their words contained profanities that I often heard from one of them but not the other, but then again, this extremely stressful situation weighed on everyone's shoulders. I laid my hand on Melissa's shoulder and began to shake, but received no response. She slept in the most contorted position known to man. I wouldn't be surprised if she woke up with aches and pains. I rolled her over so that maybe she wouldn't feel in too much pain when she got up, but my breath hitched in my throat.

Now with her hair out of the way, I could see that her throat swelled almost to the size of her head, and her face looked like went through the same process. Her eyes looked swelled shut, and all over her body large, red, swollen patches stood out like rashes. She looked like she had an allergic reaction to something, and we definitely arrived too late to avoid losing her. I couldn't help the frightened sob that escaped my mouth.

"What?" Nashita started, but her words vanished when she turned her head and saw the no-longer breathing Melissa. Her dark brown eyes widened in terror and grief, and in a moment, she arrived at my side to check and see if Melissa still let out any sign of breath. The woman tried to convince herself that a rush of air would hit her fingers whenever she put them all under the ghost's nose.

"Does she have an EpiPen?" I called to Rowdy with my hands shaking, already trying to find it in her pockets. The boy strode over, awestruck. He shook his head no, fiddling with his shirt, and trying to figure out what to say. "No, she doesn't. She's allergic to halothane, so she doesn't need one. When else do you run into anesthetic except for in a hospital?" He choked out, and habitually reached for his phone to call the cops. Then, remembering the devices had been confiscated, he slammed his fist into his leg, frustrated.

"We have to get out of here and call the cops so she can be taken in." Nashita whispered, raising to her feet. I saw tears prick at her eyes, and my heart almost cracked. I didn't know Melissa too well, but she was their good friend. The news probably devastated them. I mean, it crushed me, and I barely knew her. I crawled over to Leighton to wake him up so we could get out of here. At first, I feared that he wouldn't wake either, and that I would lose another friend today. After a few shakes, however, he woke with a small hiss. His eyes locked onto Melissa first, unfortunately.

He let out a loud scream that could have collapsed the walls, getting to his feet as quickly as he could with the grogginess setting over his features. Now he'd seen her too, and it was too late to explain to him what happened. Then again, we didn't really have much to work with. We could only tell him what he knew- that she had a natural allergic reaction to the gas that put us all to sleep, and because we were asleep, we found ourselves unable to help her. Unfortunately, that meant whoever moved us in here knew that she was going through a reaction.

"Leighton, come on, we can't help her, she's dead," I whispered, my hands shaking as they clasped his shoulder. I tugged him towards the door as he just stared at her, trying to figure out what happened in his own head. He looked dazed and unable to put the pieces together. "We have to go out to tell the other students to call the cops and tell her parents. Who cares about this stupid game? It's not more important than someone's life." I prodded him with my hand, but I couldn't help feeling a twinge of regret leaving my world of pretend behind. A murmur of agreement came from Rowdy and Nashita, which made me feel a bit better and reinforce the side of me that wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. They cared more for their friend than this stupid game.

We walked out into the hallway and felt more dread echo into our hearts. The room's door held up our logo on the outside with a nail, and below that, in orange paint, someone painted 'base room' in girlish, curly handwriting. Small LED lights ran along the bottom of the walls with one being placed every foot or so. The devices probably worked off of batteries considering there weren't any visible wires. An orange light emitted out of them to change the color of the normally white wall so they could signify our floor.