Page 74 of Revenge At Raleigh High
I can feel myself hitting a wall. I’m exhausted. Normally, I can run for hours without stopping, but it’s different when the ground’s covered in ice and snow, and the cold is pulling the heat out of you. You have to use every muscle in your body to stabilize. There’s no way to find a steady rhythm and settle into it. Plus, I’m not just running. I’m sprinting. Uphill.
“Come on, you worthless bastard. Put some effort into it.”This time it isn’t my mother’s voice in my ear. It’s another voice from my past. A voice I’d rather forget. Gary Quincy’s sneering tone has the same effect as a bucket of ice water being dumped over my head. I gasp, gulping down air, not breathing efficiently at all.
“You let your mother down. You were a constant source of disappointment to me. Now you’re going to let this girl down, too?”Gary snarls. “Fucking typical. You’re gonna prove me right tonight, aren’t you, boy? You’re gonna prove just how fucking worthless you really are.”
Fury digs its claws into my back. I hate him. I hate him so fucking much. I wish the monster was still alive so I could fucking kill him all over again. I wait for the surge of energy to hit me, fueled on by Gary’s cruel, vindictive words, but that sweeping wave of adrenalin never arrives. I’m still dog-tired. I’m still on the verge of collapsing. Gary’s vitriolic words have turned my blood into battery acid, though, and I somehow manage to dig deep and go faster.
Gary used to heckle me when I’d run as a kid. He’d follow me in his Pontiac, drinking a beer, his arm hanging out of the window, flicking a cigarette. The car’s engine would rumble at my back as my skinny legs forged forward, feet slapping against the blacktop.
“Forget it. Give up. You’re never gonna be fast enough. You’re never gonna make the cut.”
I hear the same words now and they spur me on, driving me up the frozen, frigid hill toward Raleigh High.
Iwillbe fast enough. Iwillmake it to Silver in time.
I growl with every exhalation, roaring as I power closer to my goal. I am a rabid wolf, chasing down its prey.
The school building is in sight now, little more than five hundred feet away. The windows are in darkness, the building bathed in moonlight. At first, I think the parking lot is empty, but as I draw closer I spot the black Ford F150 that’s tucked out of the way in the back, close to the pathway that leads down to the dell. The same dell where Cillian Dupris learned what it was like to crawl.
Jake drives a Tacoma, but I’m not the only one who can borrow a vehicle. He’s smart. Smart enough not to drive his own truck on a night like tonight. I know I should slash the fucker’s tires before I head inside the school, prevent him from making a run for it if he manages to give me the slip, but that would take precious seconds and I don’t know how many of those I have to spare.
The world is startlingly quiet as I finally reach the last leg of my run, speeding toward the school entrance. I’m surviving on adrenalin, my body shaking wildly as I reach the doorway, preparing to drive my clenched fist straight through the glass. I see I don’t need to, though. It isn’t even locked. The door’s been propped open with a rock.
Flying through the entrance, I haven’t planned where I’m going to look for Silver first, but I come to a screeching halt regardless. There, on the floor, a dark mass lays on the linoleum, not five feet away. I’m so hopped up, my nerves jangling, flooded with uncontrolled energy, that I have to fight exploding into a nervous rage. It’s clothes. A pile of mangled, torn clothing. The shreds of navy blue fabric are familiar, dotted with star constellations. They’re Silver’s pajamas, and they’re covered in blood. I take a step forward, my blood singing through my veins, and something crunches beneath my right foot. Something fragile. Something breakable. Something glass.
Gingerly, I lift my foot and find myself looking down at the shattered face of Silver’s Mickey Mouse watch.
31
SILVER
The noose creaks, the thick length of rope complaining as Jake takes hold of it, pulling it taut. His eyes are lit with a sick excitement that chills my blood to sub-zero temperatures. “Get up on the chair,” he commands.
I’ve never been more scared than this. I want to sob and cry, but instead I say, “Suicide? You think you’re gonna sell this assuicide?”
“There’s one way to make sure they can’t pin this on me,” he remarks icily. “I could just burn the entire school down once I’m done with you.”
I laugh. The derisive sound echoes around the gym. “Please. Do you know how long it’d take to rebuild this place? You’d get sent to Bellingham to finish out the school year. You’d have graduated by the time Raleigh opened again. That wouldn’t work for you, Jake. You’re a hero at Raleigh. Everyone worships the ground you walk on inside these walls. You’d never destroy the alter where people kneel to worship you. You’d be no one at Bellingham.No one.”
“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK! I’m done with you throwing up roadblocks, you stupid bitch. Get on your fucking feet.” He takes hold of my by the arm, pinning me to his chest as I try to thrash and kick, struggling to get free. My heart climbs up into my throat as he tries to dump me on the chair.
Holy fuck.Fuck, this is really happening. He’s not going to back down. The rope scrapes against my cheek as Jake attempts to loop it over my head.
I lose my fucking mind.
Kick.
Gouge.
Claw.
Bite.
Scream.
I will not go fucking quietly. I will not just fucking die because Jacob Weaving has decreed it so.
I will not.
