(Content/trigger warnings for this chapter: self-hatred)
--Ranya--
I need a weapon.
That was my first thought. The clattering of the Fear Angels' bones grew closer. How much time did I have? Let's see... My thoughts were slow and jumbled since I couldn't speak this brainstorming out loud. I tried to force them as quickly as I could. There... isn't anything sharp enough to cut through bones in here. There are... dangerous things in the chemistry lab... but they're locked up, and messy. So I should... probably get something... hard? Textbooks... are too small... Desks... are too unwieldy. What about... one of the barbell bars in the weight room?
That place stood near the other end of the building by a particularly cracked wall. But I took off, running on the tips of my toes to try to be quiet as my footsteps echoed in the empty halls.
A flash of white appeared turning a corner, and I dashed into the nearest classroom and ducked under the grimy teacher's desk.
I watched through the many tiny holes speckled in its corner. The clattering grew louder, closer, until white clambered into view.
A human skeleton clattered and rattled against itself as it moved, and large black wings jutted out of its back. The stiff feathers rustled, but in an unnatural way. It sounded like groaning.
The creature—Fear Angel—was massive, maybe two and a half times my height. It hunched over to fit in the hall, but didn't seem restrained.
It peered into the room with empty, soulless pits, and I ducked lower under the desk. It took a step forward. Its long, spindly fingers tapped on the teacher's desk. It moved closer, and bent to look under it.
I jumped up, launching the nearby spinning chair at the Fear Angel. It fell back but quickly recovered and clambered toward me at a quicker speed than I thought possible. It reached for my hand—
A group of students dashed behind it, and it turned to face them. It gave chase.
Four other Fear Angels were on the students' tails. As I dashed out into the wide hall, two more Fear Angels appeared around a corner and charged. The students—three tall freshman girls with light freckled skin and red hair—triplets—skidded to a halt as Fear Angels rushed from all sides. They screamed. I tried to make it to them, not quite sure what I was going to do. The girls scattered and tried to dash around the Fear Angels, but the creatures were quick and caught them in their fingers. The girls collapsed to the already-dented floor.
Then the Fear Angels turned to me. I spun and ran.
Clack clack clack. They were easily gaining on me. I pumped my legs hard, almost slamming into a wall when I turned a corner. And I nearly came face-to-face with another that towered over me. I charged through the nearest classroom door, closing it and clenching its handle in my fists, using my weight to help keep the door shut.
Glancing behind me, I realized I stood in the band room. The raised white platforms leading to the back descended sharply at one end, making some of the heavily-taped chairs and twisting rusted stands gather along the far side. Along either end of the room shoved against the wall were wooden instrument cubbies fraying at the edges into splinter traps, and rusted closets with shut doors. More instruments sat precariously in chairs or, the largest ones, on the ground, but it was clear many owners had taken theirs when they fled.
A door to another hall stood open on the other side of the room. Clattering sounded nearby and grew louder.
In less than a second after I'd entered the room, the Fear Angels behind the door ripped the doorknob from my hands and wrenched the entrance open just as two more of the creatures appeared through the other doorway. No!
I burst up the platforms. All eight Fear Angels were able to stand at their full towering height in this high-ceilinged room. They chased in long, quick strides, and cut me off from the closet I was aiming for.
One Fear Angel stumbled, and the others looked to it as if to make sure it was okay. I slid through a gap in its legs in their distraction. It turned. I was near a closet and some cubbies.
As the Fear Angels spun toward me, with a heave, I sent a small set of cubbies crashing down. They leaped back. I wrenched open the doors of the closet and found colorful silks wrapped around hard metal poles. I yanked one out, the green unraveling, and swung it at the nearest Fear Angel's pelvis. It was too close to the other creatures to jump back.
It stood stock still when I hit. Unharmed. I swung again, but harder. The creatures grabbed the pole and wrenched it from my grasp. I yanked out a second one and swung one more time, as hard as I could.
The Fear Angels just stood. Watching my pathetic attempts. A couple tilted their heads to the side, as if they were innocently confused as to what I was doing. I cursed myself.
Then they launched themselves at me.
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