Post by silent.lullaby on May 8, 2009 14:53:56 GMT -5
Boot Camp For Terribly Twisted Teens [Chapter 21] Willing To Take That Chance
We disbanded considering we had gym in less than a half hour and we all had to get changed before the alarms went off. Inside my room I was still shaking, my hands wouldn’t still. My mind couldn’t get them to. I sat down on my bed and glanced at the clock. I knew I had to get ready. Ready to go to gym class, at least it was Monday so it wasn’t the obstacle course we would be doing. Though really it didn’t make me feel any better.
I stood up thinking about all that had happened. Daniel was around me, that was something, his spirit still lingered here, for now it would have to be enough. Still I knew I had to get him home. Get him back into his body.
Thought lately it had been quite quiet on the end of the burning man I knew he wasn’t done with me. I would have to deal with him too in time. I switched into black track pants with blue stripes down the sides, and a blue shirt that got tucked in, just incase.
Walking out of my room I still didn’t feel any better, I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. Robyn was already waiting by the door, her water bottle in hand. “Where is Nina?” I asked her softly, as I focussed all my energy into stopping my hand from shaking.
“In her room,” Robyn said as she looked at her watch, “Ni! Hurry up!”
“Yeah, I’m coming,” Nina shouted back grouchily.
“What’s your problem?” Robyn muttered under her breath but Nina still heard it as she stepped toward us from her room.
“My problem,” she muttered under her breath, “you won’t tell.”
“Not your business,” Robyn said her hands snapping into fists, I heard her knuckles crack, “none of their business, so keep out of it.” Robyn glared at me as if daring me to ask. I kept my mouth shut and just looked at her through wide frightened eyes.
The alarm saved me from a potentially scary situation. We all swiped our cards and were herded into the stairwell. Leon’s bare arm brushed against mine and I looked up at him, he smiled down at me. I smiled back, it was odd knowing I was the only one who knew his secret, also it made the butterflies in my stomach flap around even more.
Still the butterflies all died once I stepped in to the hell which is gym class. I froze as I seen the set up, volleyball. My head hung as I trudged in behind Nina and Scott. “It’s just volleyball,” Hiro said trying to cheer me up, “at least it isn’t the obstacle course, right?”
I nodded rather than answer, my voice would have surely come out a pitiful whine. The teacher picked out captains at random. Hiro, and Nina both got selected along with four other captains. They started picking out people for their teams (which we would be stuck with for the entire unit.) Nina chose Robyn first, Hiro chose Hawkeye.
“Does this mean we don’t have to do laps?” I asked Thayne quietly as he stood beside me, (Leon had been chose by a boy I didn’t know) I looked up at him inquisitively.
“They keep tally on the games, your group comes in first, then you get out of laps, everyone else gets laps descending on how you did. Two for second place, four for third place, six for fourth, you get it.”
Thayne was called onto a team with a female captain. Nina looked at me apologetically as she called someone else. I didn’t blame her, I wasn’t exactly up to athletic standard. I ended up getting called third to last, but I ended up on the same team as Anna so I wasn’t too horribly disappointed.
There were six people on each team. On mine there were four strong looking boys, then Anna and I (we were the last picks for the teams, only girls were left) and they didn’t look to pleased about us being on the team. We were titled team three.
One of the taller stronger guys grabbed both Anna and I by the arm as we walked toward the court we were assigned, “keep out of our way, we will deal with this.”
I rolled my eyes and Anna looked down right furious as he let us go and walked ahead of us. “I was on a volleyball team before I came here,” Anna said to me, “and they just assume I can’t play.”
“I can’t,” I admitted sheepishly, “but I still wish they weren’t so damned rude.”
“Unruly teens ring a bell?” Anna grinned at me, she was right of course still I rolled my eyes and took the position behind her on the far side.
The other side had Leon, Hiro and Mary all on it, along with three others. One of the people I didn’t know served and it was knocked by my corner, I threw up my arms and shrieked but it was hit over the net. I looked over at a lanky guy who had been in the back middle position. “Next time, don’t scream,” he said with a roll of his eyes before he moved quickly back to his spot to hit it up to the front where Anna ran forward taking over the other guys spike and doing it herself, obviously trying to prove herself. She smirked and the guys seemed a little more appreciative of her. Still they seen me as a liability.
It was mostly points back and forth till it got to my serve where I couldn’t even get it over the net, underhand nor overhand. I sighed in defeat and tried not to make eye contact with my team mates.
Over all we played all of the other five teams, and came in fifth which meant eight laps. It could have definitely been worse, not much, but it could have been. I felt bad that it was mostly my blunders that kept us back, everyone trying to make sure I didn’t screw up that a lot of the time they were trying to dash back to their own positions and fumbled.
Running the laps wouldn’t have been so terrible if it weren’t for the number of them, or the fact that it had decided to rain while we were in the nice hot gym, plus it was getting pretty cold and the rain had become wet snow.
My throat ached, my lungs wanted to give out, and my legs felt like jello, Anna kept to pace beside me, “go on ahead Anna,” I said to her though it came out straggled, “I’m just going to hold you back.”
“I don’t mind.”
“It’s getting awfully close to eight,” I said looking at her, she tried to mask her face with her hair but I seen her discontentment, “go ahead Anna, it’s bad enough one of us will have to suffer for this, I held you back in gym class, I’m not going to keep you from your room too.”
“Sorry,” Anna said softly as she kicked it up a notch. She ended up outlaping me, I was just too slow. Plain and simple, I wasn’t up to the standards of everyone else. Even the people who had two extra laps, only one of them was stuck pass the eight o’clock mark like me. I didn’t know the girl and she glared at me when I went to speak.
Inside the gym once more I showered but didn’t have an extra set of clothing so I was still stuck in my sweaty gym clothing. I let out a sigh and sat down against the wall. There weren’t too many, but there was a teacher, our angry anger management teacher. I rubbed my temples this was going to be one hell of a long night.
And it was. As soon as I’d fall asleep there would be a whistle and we’d all be made to run laps. Sometimes in the gym, sometimes out in the cold and wet night. There were lights, I didn’t talk to anyone, no one talked to anyone. It was strange, the silence. So complete. As soon as laps were done everyone would lay down and try to get some sleep before the teacher blew the whistle again.
When I awoke next, I was positive there must have been a bell and I started to climb to my feet. “Wait,” I looked up and saw Daniel, I quickly went back to laying down before I drew attention to myself. How was I to answer, I looked around quickly, it seemed everyone was asleep, including the teacher.
“What is it Danny?” I whispered quietly, “are you trying to get me locked up?”
“The burning man,” he responded, his voice panicked and a little loud, I half expected others to wake up. Still I was the only one who could hear him. “He’s in your apartment, I think he’s looking for you.”
“Well seems like he won’t find me,” I said back with a hint of a smirk.
“You need to check on Nina.”
“What!” I sat up quickly.
“Nina, she has a high mental awareness, her gift uses her mind, like yours does. She might not be able to see him, but I think he can harm her, her awareness is what matters.”
“Are you sure she’s in trouble?” I whispered hoarsely, “it’s dangerous, I don’t even know if my key card would let me in.”
“I’m not sure,” Daniel replied, “but are you willing to take that chance?”
Boot Camp For Terribly Twisted Teens [Chapter 22] The Final Destination
Once out the back door of the gym unnoticed, I ran for it. I tried to push myself, push my actions, my thoughts to Rick, and if I were lucky enough, maybe he’d have an idea of how I could get into my apartment with out using my keycard, which I had to use to put myself into the gym for the night.
I ran to the back side of the B building and found Hawkeye standing outside looking down, “Rick has a plan,” he said to me.
“A good one?”
“Oh... probably not,” Hawkeye responded.
I rolled my eyes, even though I was quite sure he was the only person who could see me doing it in this complete darkness. Suddenly sheets were being tossed over. “You’re kidding right?” I asked.
“It’ll work, trust me,” Rick responded, “tie yourself to it, I’m going to get Hiro to help.”
Rick disappeared and I started to wind the rope around me. I really hoped this worked.
I saw Hiro, and Rick emerge from Hawkeye’s room. They all started to tug on the rope. I might have felt self conscious if I didn’t start to hear screaming from down the line. “That’s my room,” I screamed.
Hawkeye grabbed my arm and pulled me up quickly. I seen Leon out on the balcony apparently he noticed Nina’s distinctive scream. “Claire?”
“Stay out!” I shouted as I started to climb from balcony to balcony.
“And let you go in?”
“I’m the only one who can stop it!”
“The burning man?”
“He’s got Nina, Danny thinks it’s higher mental awareness means you can be attacked even if you can’t see.”
I heard something break and my footing on my own balcony slipped, I let out a scream but Leon hand his hand around my wrist and heaved me up. Thayne and Scott had come out too, “what the heck is going on?” Scott asked.
I didn’t answer though I just burst into my room and whipped open the door and right to Nina’s room. Robyn was staring in disbelief as Nina was being pinned against the wall by the burning man. Of course to anyone else looking it would just be Nina kicking and screaming her body pinned against the wall.
To me I seen the man with burnt flesh pinning my friend against the wall by her neck.
He turned and smiled at me. “Let her go!” I shouted and I felt the shadows, a familiar and yet, still terrifying feeling.
The burning man looked shocked, “how...”
“Let her go!” I shouted louder and I threw him against the other wall with the shadows with an odd calm. I looked over to Robyn, “get Nina out of here.” Still she stood there, in fear or perhaps disbelief. “Robyn!”
Her name seemed to shock her out of it and she ran across the room and heaved up Nina’s limp body. Was she okay? I saw Nina start to respond, trying to walk on her own only her body seemed to heavy.
“I said I wanted to be rid of you!” I shouted at the burning man, “what right do you have to harm me! What right do you have to choke my friend.”
“I was just getting your attention.”
“Oh you got it all right.” I responded darkly, and the shadows started to buff up, become almost a dark fog that started to devour the burning man.
I heard his begs, his screams, his pleas, but I was deaf to them. When he was gone all I could see was darkness, all I could feel was death, all I knew was shadows, the taste on my tongue was ash.
I granted his greatest wish.
I put him where he belonged.
He wanted to be sent on.
He never said where.
“Have fun in hell you bastard,” I whispered as blood dripped from my eyes.
“Claire!”
I felt someone shaking me.
I heard alarms.
Screams.
“Claire, get up!”
“Scatter!”
“Run!”
“Oh god, Claire!”
“Clary!” Icy hands touched me and I knew they were Daniel’s, “Clary, come on get up! Get up.”
“Run! Run!”
“Thayne hold them off a second!”
“Then they will know!”
“I think they already do!”
“Aw hell.”
“We need to go!”
“I’m leaving.”
“No stop wait!”
“We don’t all have to go down for this!”
Such an array of voices, ice ran through my core, I could still taste the ashes. Feel the darkness, blanketed in shadows.
“Get them all!”
“No, don’t shoot!”
I heard things shatter, people-my friends scream in horror, in pain. I heard gasps, bodies fall.
“What about her?”
“Tranquillize her like the rest. Just to be sure.”
“Get them all out of here.”
We disbanded considering we had gym in less than a half hour and we all had to get changed before the alarms went off. Inside my room I was still shaking, my hands wouldn’t still. My mind couldn’t get them to. I sat down on my bed and glanced at the clock. I knew I had to get ready. Ready to go to gym class, at least it was Monday so it wasn’t the obstacle course we would be doing. Though really it didn’t make me feel any better.
I stood up thinking about all that had happened. Daniel was around me, that was something, his spirit still lingered here, for now it would have to be enough. Still I knew I had to get him home. Get him back into his body.
Thought lately it had been quite quiet on the end of the burning man I knew he wasn’t done with me. I would have to deal with him too in time. I switched into black track pants with blue stripes down the sides, and a blue shirt that got tucked in, just incase.
Walking out of my room I still didn’t feel any better, I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. Robyn was already waiting by the door, her water bottle in hand. “Where is Nina?” I asked her softly, as I focussed all my energy into stopping my hand from shaking.
“In her room,” Robyn said as she looked at her watch, “Ni! Hurry up!”
“Yeah, I’m coming,” Nina shouted back grouchily.
“What’s your problem?” Robyn muttered under her breath but Nina still heard it as she stepped toward us from her room.
“My problem,” she muttered under her breath, “you won’t tell.”
“Not your business,” Robyn said her hands snapping into fists, I heard her knuckles crack, “none of their business, so keep out of it.” Robyn glared at me as if daring me to ask. I kept my mouth shut and just looked at her through wide frightened eyes.
The alarm saved me from a potentially scary situation. We all swiped our cards and were herded into the stairwell. Leon’s bare arm brushed against mine and I looked up at him, he smiled down at me. I smiled back, it was odd knowing I was the only one who knew his secret, also it made the butterflies in my stomach flap around even more.
Still the butterflies all died once I stepped in to the hell which is gym class. I froze as I seen the set up, volleyball. My head hung as I trudged in behind Nina and Scott. “It’s just volleyball,” Hiro said trying to cheer me up, “at least it isn’t the obstacle course, right?”
I nodded rather than answer, my voice would have surely come out a pitiful whine. The teacher picked out captains at random. Hiro, and Nina both got selected along with four other captains. They started picking out people for their teams (which we would be stuck with for the entire unit.) Nina chose Robyn first, Hiro chose Hawkeye.
“Does this mean we don’t have to do laps?” I asked Thayne quietly as he stood beside me, (Leon had been chose by a boy I didn’t know) I looked up at him inquisitively.
“They keep tally on the games, your group comes in first, then you get out of laps, everyone else gets laps descending on how you did. Two for second place, four for third place, six for fourth, you get it.”
Thayne was called onto a team with a female captain. Nina looked at me apologetically as she called someone else. I didn’t blame her, I wasn’t exactly up to athletic standard. I ended up getting called third to last, but I ended up on the same team as Anna so I wasn’t too horribly disappointed.
There were six people on each team. On mine there were four strong looking boys, then Anna and I (we were the last picks for the teams, only girls were left) and they didn’t look to pleased about us being on the team. We were titled team three.
One of the taller stronger guys grabbed both Anna and I by the arm as we walked toward the court we were assigned, “keep out of our way, we will deal with this.”
I rolled my eyes and Anna looked down right furious as he let us go and walked ahead of us. “I was on a volleyball team before I came here,” Anna said to me, “and they just assume I can’t play.”
“I can’t,” I admitted sheepishly, “but I still wish they weren’t so damned rude.”
“Unruly teens ring a bell?” Anna grinned at me, she was right of course still I rolled my eyes and took the position behind her on the far side.
The other side had Leon, Hiro and Mary all on it, along with three others. One of the people I didn’t know served and it was knocked by my corner, I threw up my arms and shrieked but it was hit over the net. I looked over at a lanky guy who had been in the back middle position. “Next time, don’t scream,” he said with a roll of his eyes before he moved quickly back to his spot to hit it up to the front where Anna ran forward taking over the other guys spike and doing it herself, obviously trying to prove herself. She smirked and the guys seemed a little more appreciative of her. Still they seen me as a liability.
It was mostly points back and forth till it got to my serve where I couldn’t even get it over the net, underhand nor overhand. I sighed in defeat and tried not to make eye contact with my team mates.
Over all we played all of the other five teams, and came in fifth which meant eight laps. It could have definitely been worse, not much, but it could have been. I felt bad that it was mostly my blunders that kept us back, everyone trying to make sure I didn’t screw up that a lot of the time they were trying to dash back to their own positions and fumbled.
Running the laps wouldn’t have been so terrible if it weren’t for the number of them, or the fact that it had decided to rain while we were in the nice hot gym, plus it was getting pretty cold and the rain had become wet snow.
My throat ached, my lungs wanted to give out, and my legs felt like jello, Anna kept to pace beside me, “go on ahead Anna,” I said to her though it came out straggled, “I’m just going to hold you back.”
“I don’t mind.”
“It’s getting awfully close to eight,” I said looking at her, she tried to mask her face with her hair but I seen her discontentment, “go ahead Anna, it’s bad enough one of us will have to suffer for this, I held you back in gym class, I’m not going to keep you from your room too.”
“Sorry,” Anna said softly as she kicked it up a notch. She ended up outlaping me, I was just too slow. Plain and simple, I wasn’t up to the standards of everyone else. Even the people who had two extra laps, only one of them was stuck pass the eight o’clock mark like me. I didn’t know the girl and she glared at me when I went to speak.
Inside the gym once more I showered but didn’t have an extra set of clothing so I was still stuck in my sweaty gym clothing. I let out a sigh and sat down against the wall. There weren’t too many, but there was a teacher, our angry anger management teacher. I rubbed my temples this was going to be one hell of a long night.
And it was. As soon as I’d fall asleep there would be a whistle and we’d all be made to run laps. Sometimes in the gym, sometimes out in the cold and wet night. There were lights, I didn’t talk to anyone, no one talked to anyone. It was strange, the silence. So complete. As soon as laps were done everyone would lay down and try to get some sleep before the teacher blew the whistle again.
When I awoke next, I was positive there must have been a bell and I started to climb to my feet. “Wait,” I looked up and saw Daniel, I quickly went back to laying down before I drew attention to myself. How was I to answer, I looked around quickly, it seemed everyone was asleep, including the teacher.
“What is it Danny?” I whispered quietly, “are you trying to get me locked up?”
“The burning man,” he responded, his voice panicked and a little loud, I half expected others to wake up. Still I was the only one who could hear him. “He’s in your apartment, I think he’s looking for you.”
“Well seems like he won’t find me,” I said back with a hint of a smirk.
“You need to check on Nina.”
“What!” I sat up quickly.
“Nina, she has a high mental awareness, her gift uses her mind, like yours does. She might not be able to see him, but I think he can harm her, her awareness is what matters.”
“Are you sure she’s in trouble?” I whispered hoarsely, “it’s dangerous, I don’t even know if my key card would let me in.”
“I’m not sure,” Daniel replied, “but are you willing to take that chance?”
Boot Camp For Terribly Twisted Teens [Chapter 22] The Final Destination
Once out the back door of the gym unnoticed, I ran for it. I tried to push myself, push my actions, my thoughts to Rick, and if I were lucky enough, maybe he’d have an idea of how I could get into my apartment with out using my keycard, which I had to use to put myself into the gym for the night.
I ran to the back side of the B building and found Hawkeye standing outside looking down, “Rick has a plan,” he said to me.
“A good one?”
“Oh... probably not,” Hawkeye responded.
I rolled my eyes, even though I was quite sure he was the only person who could see me doing it in this complete darkness. Suddenly sheets were being tossed over. “You’re kidding right?” I asked.
“It’ll work, trust me,” Rick responded, “tie yourself to it, I’m going to get Hiro to help.”
Rick disappeared and I started to wind the rope around me. I really hoped this worked.
I saw Hiro, and Rick emerge from Hawkeye’s room. They all started to tug on the rope. I might have felt self conscious if I didn’t start to hear screaming from down the line. “That’s my room,” I screamed.
Hawkeye grabbed my arm and pulled me up quickly. I seen Leon out on the balcony apparently he noticed Nina’s distinctive scream. “Claire?”
“Stay out!” I shouted as I started to climb from balcony to balcony.
“And let you go in?”
“I’m the only one who can stop it!”
“The burning man?”
“He’s got Nina, Danny thinks it’s higher mental awareness means you can be attacked even if you can’t see.”
I heard something break and my footing on my own balcony slipped, I let out a scream but Leon hand his hand around my wrist and heaved me up. Thayne and Scott had come out too, “what the heck is going on?” Scott asked.
I didn’t answer though I just burst into my room and whipped open the door and right to Nina’s room. Robyn was staring in disbelief as Nina was being pinned against the wall by the burning man. Of course to anyone else looking it would just be Nina kicking and screaming her body pinned against the wall.
To me I seen the man with burnt flesh pinning my friend against the wall by her neck.
He turned and smiled at me. “Let her go!” I shouted and I felt the shadows, a familiar and yet, still terrifying feeling.
The burning man looked shocked, “how...”
“Let her go!” I shouted louder and I threw him against the other wall with the shadows with an odd calm. I looked over to Robyn, “get Nina out of here.” Still she stood there, in fear or perhaps disbelief. “Robyn!”
Her name seemed to shock her out of it and she ran across the room and heaved up Nina’s limp body. Was she okay? I saw Nina start to respond, trying to walk on her own only her body seemed to heavy.
“I said I wanted to be rid of you!” I shouted at the burning man, “what right do you have to harm me! What right do you have to choke my friend.”
“I was just getting your attention.”
“Oh you got it all right.” I responded darkly, and the shadows started to buff up, become almost a dark fog that started to devour the burning man.
I heard his begs, his screams, his pleas, but I was deaf to them. When he was gone all I could see was darkness, all I could feel was death, all I knew was shadows, the taste on my tongue was ash.
I granted his greatest wish.
I put him where he belonged.
He wanted to be sent on.
He never said where.
“Have fun in hell you bastard,” I whispered as blood dripped from my eyes.
“Claire!”
I felt someone shaking me.
I heard alarms.
Screams.
“Claire, get up!”
“Scatter!”
“Run!”
“Oh god, Claire!”
“Clary!” Icy hands touched me and I knew they were Daniel’s, “Clary, come on get up! Get up.”
“Run! Run!”
“Thayne hold them off a second!”
“Then they will know!”
“I think they already do!”
“Aw hell.”
“We need to go!”
“I’m leaving.”
“No stop wait!”
“We don’t all have to go down for this!”
Such an array of voices, ice ran through my core, I could still taste the ashes. Feel the darkness, blanketed in shadows.
“Get them all!”
“No, don’t shoot!”
I heard things shatter, people-my friends scream in horror, in pain. I heard gasps, bodies fall.
“What about her?”
“Tranquillize her like the rest. Just to be sure.”
“Get them all out of here.”