Bang! one of the toilet stall doors slammed off the wall.
"He's gotta be in here," Eddie said to the boys with him.
I sat on top of the closed toilet in the farthest stall from the bathroom door with my arms wrapped around my legs. I held my breath, scared they would hear me if I breathed too loud.
"He definitely came this way," another boy agreed.
Another stall door opened with a loud bang, causing the tiny wooden cubicle around me to shake violently. Eddie's shadow moved l beneath the stall doors, closer now. My body trembled uncontrollably as the stall door next to mine opened.
Why did I hide in a room with only a single exit?
This was the dumbest place I could have hidden. An isolated room with no supervision and only one exit. Now the only thing protecting me from another beat down was the metal slide holding the door shut. Eddie stopped in front of my stall. The door rattled violently as he tried to force it open. It didn't budge.
"I found him," Eddie announced to the others. There was a menacing tone in his voice.
Two sets of shoes squeaked across the dirty white linoleum floor as they gathered in front of my stall.
"Shit, shit, shit," I mouthed silently.
I wrapped arms around my legs as tightly as I could and leaned toward the back of the toilet. My heart pounded like thunder in my chest.
"Are you in here, Snakeface?" Eddie asked, shaking the door again.
I didn't say a word. Only an idiot would've spoken up.
Boom!
Someone slammed their body against the door to force it open. I slammed my eyes shut and clenched my jaw to keep from screaming.
"Hey Mike, lay down and peek under the door," Eddie directed.
Mike was huge. There was no way he would fit under the door. But what would happen once he looked in and saw me? Would they wait me out or force their way in? Thoughts of what would happen if I were seen started racing through my head. My eyes darted around the tiny space with every thought. Eventually, nausea churned in my gut and I stopped.
"I'm not laying on that nasty ass floor. You do it, Eddie!" Mike answered.
Relief briefly relieved the tightness in my chest and my stomach settled some. Then a bigger worry replaced it. Eddie was thin. He could definitely fit in the small space. If he decided to do it, I had to strike first. A swift kick to the nose might end the fight before it even started.The image of blood spurting out of Eddie's swollen nose made me smile for a second before I remembered I was still trapped.
"Hell no," Eddie responded.
"And don't even look this way," Kris, the last member of their group, said.
Boom! The stall shook as someone slammed into it again. I flinched so hard I had to brace myself against the wall with my right hand. A scream got caught in my throat as I forced myself to keep breathing.
"That's not gonna work, Mike," Eddie said.
Okay, so none of them were willing to crawl under and they weren't strong enough to just break through the door. Maybe this wouldn't end with me getting brutally beaten. I could just live in this stall until some help arrived. Even better, the bell rang for the start of the next class.
"Shit, we gotta go. Okay, you won this round Snakeface," Eddie said as they walked away from the stall door.
I felt my shoulders relax as the bathroom closed behind them. I stepped off the toilet. I took a deep breath and started for the door.
Splash!
Clear liquid came over the top of the stall from the one next to it and soaked my head and shoulders. The smell of old pee filled the air all around me. Someone ran out of the bathroom laughing. I gagged as I unlatched the door and ran to the closest sink and splashed water on my face. I stared into the mirror to see if I missed any of it. My pale skin and dark eyes and hair were all soaked. I was trembling all over again.
"You're a coward. They deserve to die for what they have done to you," A deep rumbling voice said inside my head.
I looked around to see who was talking to me. I was still alone in the room. What the hell was that? The voice had come from inside my head, but it definitely wasn't my voice. As I washed the urine off me as best I could, I waited for the voice to speak again. When It didn't speak again, I decided it was stress induced and ignored the voice. My stomach began churning again as I rushed out of the bathroom and headed to my locker to change clothes.
"Eww, Snakeface, did you piss yourself?" A girl asked with a giggle as I ran past her.
"Kill her!" The voice demanded.
I didn't look back at her. I didn't know what was going on, but I was in horrible pain and needed a change of clothes. That took priority. I could get a psychologist later to deal with the voice in my head. I was used to everyone calling me the nickname they gave me in middle school. I wished it hadn't stuck with me till tenth grade, but here I was.
"There he is, get him!" I heard Eddie yell from somewhere behind me.
Gripping my raging stomach, I bolted. I ran as fast as I could toward the stairs. The pain seemed to get stronger with every step I took. It felt like something was trying to claw its way out of me.
"Stop running and fight!" The voice demanded. It felt too real and strong to just be a voice. Someone was talking to me.
Everything was wrong. The voice, the pain and the group of guys chasing me. I needed this strange day to just end already. Before that could happen, though, I needed to get away from these goons. Eddie was the captain of the track team, so I couldn't outrun him for long. I just hoped the packed hall would slow him down enough to let me make it to a teacher or security guard. Zigging and zagging my way through the crowded corridor, I made it to the main hallway before a powerful hand gripped my collar and snatched me backward. The blur of color I saw as I unwillingly moved reversed course made whatever was in my gut boil up. My back hit the metal railing as the three of them surrounded me.
"Now is your chance. Slay them all at once!" the monstrous voice yelled in my head. The volume seemed to agitate my stomach even more.
"We caught ourselves a snake," Eddie said and poked me in the forehead.
I jerked my head away, getting a good glimpse of the space behind me. We were standing on the fourth floor in front of the trophy case. The only thing behind me was an open air drop leading to the main entrance.
I should throw Eddie over this railing while his friends watch. That time, I heard my own voice in my head. I honestly didn't hate the image of Eddie splattering all over the floor below that played in my head next.
"Are you sure it's a snake and not some other kinda lizard?" Eddie asked and smacked me, knocking the smile off my face.
"You're finally ready. No more hiding!" The deep voice rumbled in my head.
The sick feeling moved from my gut to my throat as my head rocked to the side. I was gonna vomit.
"Guys, I don't feel so good," I said and tried to walk away from them.
The churning in my stomach blocked out everything around me. Like a rushing wind, a tornado moving across the plains. The sound overpowered me and I doubled over dry heaving.
Eddie pushed me back against the railing just before I let out a loud burp. Green smoke wafted into the air between us.
"Eww that's fucking nasty!" Mike said and punched me in the stomach.
I didn't even feel the punch, as vomit spewed all over Mike's face. He clutched his hands over his eyes and screamed. Smoke wafted from under his hands as his skin sizzled loudly.
"It burns!" he screamed and stumbled forward.
Eddie and Kris both dove out of the way to avoid him as he slammed into me. We toppled over the edge, headed straight for the lobby. Mike held onto me, screaming, as we fell. I clawed at his baseball mitt sized hands trying to get him off me. I wasn't afraid of the fall. I just knew I needed to land on top.
He was too strong. All I could do was struggle against his grip as the ground rapidly approached. Just before we slammed into the picture of the school mascot that decorated the lobby floor, a feeling came over me. My entire body vibrated as a gust of wind came out of small holes all over my arms and legs. It was so powerful that it punched tiny holes through my shirt and pants. It formed a pillow of air beneath us that I landed on gently. Mike slammed directly into the floor with bone crunching force and lay motionless as his blood pooled beneath him. As I stared at the growing puddle of scarlet, I felt all the strength leave my body. Suddenly I was falling backward.
"The storm has awakened," the monstrous voice said, as the world around me darkened.