Fallen Crest Public (Fallen Crest High #3)(54)

Kate’s eyes turned feral. She lifted her top lip in a snarl. “This isn’t payback. This is your punishment.”

Parker sneered at me, her hands hung loose beside her. They were ready to harm someone.

I gulped.

They were ready to harm me.

Then she added, “This is the first wave.”

Kate grunted, taking a step closer. “You should’ve quit school today. I gave you one last out.”

Natalie spoke from the back, “Time’s up.”

The room plunged into darkness, and I had one second. The sounds dimmed like earlier that afternoon. My breathing was now deafening in my ears. My heart started to race, but the fear threatened to paralyze me.

I pushed from the sink and darted into a stall. Someone reached for me. They grabbed my shirt, but I didn’t stop. My sleeve ripped off, and I used that to my advantage. As they fell back with my sleeve, I punched at them. Someone cried out, I assumed it was Kate. The other three were behind her, but I got into the middle stall and locked the door. Before I had time to think, I dropped to the ground and flew underneath to the next stall.

A foot stepped on me. I heard, “She’s in this one.”

Fuck.

The foot lifted in the air. It was going to kick me, but I thrust a hand out blindly. I caught it, but there was too much force behind it. It crushed two of my fingers, and I clamped my mouth shut. A scream wanted to burst out of me, but I swallowed it. Good god, I swallowed it. No sound. No tears. No cries. They couldn’t hear anything from me. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. Pushing past that blinding pain, I threw my shoulder up and into the person. It was enough. She fell back, and I heard more cries.

“Get off me, Parker.”

“It was that bitch.”

“Let’s turn the lights on. This is stupid.”

“No, someone might see. If the door’s locked, they won’t come in here.”

“Shut up and get her,” Kate barked at them.

I heard the pain in her voice. I must’ve hit her harder than I thought, but then I heard someone fall to the ground. They were trying to crawl in like I had. Flipping around, I kicked at them instead.

“Ouch! Bitch!”

I kicked them again, and again, and again. I kept kicking them. It was working, but suddenly two hands grabbed my arm, and I was yanked from underneath the last stall. The exit door was right there. I pushed to my feet and reached for it. My fingers hit it, but then I was pulled back again. I made for one last reach. I grunted from the effort, but I got to it. The lock moved down.

I was thrown back to the floor after that. I couldn’t even turn over before fists were coming down on me.

They hit my jaw.

They hit my eyes.

They pulled my hair out.

They ripped my shirt.

They punched my stomach.

And then the kicks started.

To my side. Down on my ribs. On my head. To the side of my head. Then to my hips. They wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t keep going. My eyes were swollen shut by now. I lifted my hands, but only to ward off their attacks. I couldn’t fight anymore. The pain was too much and I couldn’t get through them. The door was less than five feet away, but it could’ve been five miles now.

“HEY!”

Oh, thank god, I thought for a brief second. There was a pause, and they stopped.

The door burst open and someone braked. Their sneakers screeched against the floor from their sudden stop. She choked out, “Oh my god.”

“You—” Kate started, her tone menacing.

They took off.

No one moved. The door shut behind whoever it had been. Then Kate screamed, “Stop her!”

Natalie was panting. “She’s gone. We should get gone, too.”

“We’re not done.”

“She can’t move. Let’s go.”

“NO.”

“Kate, you can’t kill her, and that freak saw us. We need to get to her before she tells anyone it was us.”

Jasmine spoke up, a tremor in her voice, “You think she’s going to tell?”

“Yes,” Natalie snapped at her. “Idiot. She’s going to get help for this cunt. Let’s go.”

She stepped over me, but kicked me one last time before shoving through the door. The rest lingered, and she roared from the hallway, “LET’S FUCKING GO!”

Each of them kicked me one last time on their way out. I couldn’t fight them. I knew it was coming, but the pain had paralyzed me. This wasn’t a pain that I could shut off. It didn’t take me away from my reality. I was here the whole time. I could hear, and I could think, but I couldn’t do a thing to stop them. When the door shut behind them, and I lay there alone, I finally gasped for breath. Even my mouth hurt. I could taste blood, and I felt its wetness all over me.

Please don’t let them get Mason. Or Logan. That was my one prayer. Whoever they were getting, whoever would come through those doors again, I didn’t want it to be either of them. They couldn’t see me like this. They’d lose control. They’d do something horrific, and I couldn’t lose them because of this.

“In there,” I heard someone yell from farther down the hallway. Their sneakers were pounding on the floor. I could feel their approach, and then their shapes blocked the light from under the door. They were right there, on the other side.