Published || The Secret of Larimore High School

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His face turned a deep red color, and he removed his hand from Nashita's shoulder. At first I thought this allowed Nashita to attack Abigail like she wanted, but when I saw how tightly his hands gripped his belt loops, I knew it was so he could avoid hurting both Nashita and Abigail.

"And the rebellious girl." Her bright eyes dug into my skin, her confidence rising as if her studies planned out everything I did and would do perfectly. "On one hand, I'd love to have you on my team. If I could have you completely devoted to me, this wouldn't be happening right now. But on the other, you could turn against me from the inside and I wouldn't have made it this far. How great is your sense of justice?"

"Definitely better than yours." The response that she wanted and that made her set up this entire madhouse left my mouth without hesitation. She did it to watch us like lab rats, to examine what we would and wouldn't do in the face of terror, of love, of joy, of hopelessness. She did it because she wanted to research us, and I had a feeling her mother encouraged it and examined us, too. After all, our lovely Superintendent knew of all of this.

"There's that defiant fire I've come to expect from our harpy." The girl that looked so different in that gothic, Victorian dress versus her usual tank top, ponytail, and shorts grinned at me. From behind Taylor, she threw her arms around their neck to embrace them. The demon relaxed into her arms, seemingly feeling safer and more at home now more than ever. They closed their blue eyes and smiled lightly. That is, until her left arm wrapped around the demon's throat tightly and her right arm leapt towards their pants pocket.

"Abigail, no!" A stream of 'no' left their lips after the initial one, rapidly repeating in a train wreck of upset convergence. The sound came out strangled, like an effort to talk without the airflow that they needed. Their hands latched onto the arm around their throat, and they weakly tried to pull her arm off. She simply ignored this and pulled out a long lighter from the pants pocket of her brainwashed companion.

Abigail pulled Taylor with her as she confidently walked backwards; they stumbled over their own feet and the effort of trying to stop her as the cane they formerly held clattered to the floor. Our trio took off towards the stage, all screaming just as loud as Taylor should have been to show our rebellion.

"Take another step and I'll torch them instead." Abigail sternly warned when our hands touched the edge of the stage, flicking the flame of the lighter on with an elegant, practiced motion. Taylor's eyes filled with terror and tears, and they choked out a cry. We stopped, feeling upset and unsure how else to act. She leaned to where she could reach the velvet curtain and then tightened her arm around Taylor's neck. We needed to save Taylor, but any move we made put them in danger just as much as a move not made. Abigail had us in checkmate.

Taylor sputtered and coughed, desperately trying to breathe. Their face looked extremely pale, and they pulled harder at Abigail's arm while also trying not to injure her. The vampire woman lit the curtains on fire and shoved the demon forward after elbowing them in the stomach hard enough to down a full-grown man. The fire roared as it ate at the curtains and gasoline that coated everything in the room. Taylor tumbled to the wooden floor, wheezing as they tried to regain their breath.

Abigail kept her feet planted on the crackling stage and watched the flames climb higher until they nibbled at the ceiling. She spun, her dress flying, and watched all of us. She worried not about the danger of the crisp orange blades or the huffing Taylor on their hands and knees. No, her eyes pierced into us, as if daring us to act differently than what she expected in this situation. The starving fire spread to the walls as it roared and devoured the gasoline covered structures.

"Screw getting to her, we have to get out of here!" Rowdy yelled as he grabbed Nashita's arm and took a step towards the door. He stared in horror at the morbid planning needed to set off the bomb to take us all down.

"We can't just leave Taylor and Abigail here!" I yelled, looking at the distressed person on the stage that now struggled to get to their feet.

"Yes we can, Fey. Taylor will either follow us with Abigail or find another way out! We have to get something to get that door open!" Nashita grabbed my hand. Rowdy pulled us all in a chain towards the door and pushed on it. The door refused to move. That caused a surge of panic through all three of us. Rowdy fiddled with the lock on the door and tried to shove it again. It didn't move. He tried again and tears pooled in the edge of his eyes as the smoke started to gather on the ceiling.

The smoke alarms wailed, sending streams of water down from the ceiling in an attempt to extinguish the fire. Of course, considering the gasoline fueling it, the sprinklers futilely watered the roaring flames. The water soaked us, and the oil settled on top of the water as it hit the ground to keep fueling the flames.

Nashita banged on the door, screaming as the terror and hysteria from the thought of burning alive got to her, too. A voice screamed from the back of the room, tearing us out of our carnage.

Taylor began to form the words 'pull' with their lips, but before they could get it out, Abigail silenced them with a tackle. They both tumbled to the wooden floor, a loud bang adding to the cacophony of noises. The demon's cape caught fire and orange flames lapped up Taylor's body faster than anything I ever saw. Abigail soaked their cape in gasoline, too.

Nashita pushed on the door again, crying, saying a prayer under her breath with words I didn't understand. My whole body felt icy with the terror of no escape. We'd be stuck here, we'd burn to death, and the people on the lower floors couldn't get out, either. Then something occurred to me as a tiny shred of hope for this morose situation.

I shoved Nashita and Rowdy to the side, earning upset yelps and responses saying that they didn't understand what I was doing. Instead of shoving the door, I yanked on the handle. The door gave way, opening wide and providing an exit to the chaos. Smoke billowed out of the door, setting off alarms in the hallway. Without thinking, the three of us raced through the opening and didn't look back.

"We need to get to a Janitor's closet for bolt cutters. Otherwise we'll just be standing outside the main door with stupid looks on our faces and unable to get past those chains." I called to the people behind me as we rounded a corner.

"There's one on the next floor down that I've passed hundreds of times." Nashita answered, quick on her feet and in her mind. Only nodding, I took the next set of stairs I saw.

"We have to hurry," Rowdy hissed breathlessly. "That fire will eat that room and it will eat the rest of this building in no time. She purposely doused that room in gasoline to make sure water wouldn't put it out easily."

When we arrived at a room clearly marked as the Janitor's Closet, the three of us yanked the door open and began to throw things on the floor in a haphazard attempt to find a pair of bolt cutters. After what felt like hours, Rowdy let out a cry of triumph, thrusting the bright red handled item into the smoky, sprinkler-filled air when he found it. Scrambling out of the closet, our trio headed down the stairs again and desperately tried to make it to the first floor.

I swore that I heard sirens blaring outside the building, but I couldn't place them. My imagination and want for salvation that ran into the depths of my mind caused the hallucination of the sounds. Abigail cut the phone lines, Arthur couldn't get a reception, and Winnie died. None of us managed to get help. Tears ran down my face faster than my feet carried me down the checkered halls and stairs. Familiar faces soothed my soul only slightly when we finally made it to the door.

Miles, Shelby, and Rory stood nearby, holding Zeke, Jacy, and Dexter in their places so that they couldn't hurt anyone else. Zeke's face contorted with hatred and frustration. Justin, Harriet, Anita, and Arthur lingered by the door, glad to see us with the sound of the smoke alarms going off. They didn't want to be caught up in this, either. Avery arrived with Lark, Damian, and Michael trampling behind her. Leighton fidgeted near the chains and padlock, having tried to open it several times with no luck.

Rowdy shooed everyone away from the chains and went to snipping at them and the padlock with the pair of bolt cutters. They hissed and slithered as they slipped to the floor.

We could leave. We could go home.