Chapter 1.5

I listened against the door before easing it open, first peering through a little slither, then quietly ushering Theo back into the hallway when I was sure it was clear. Shadow silently followed behind us. Having him watch my back again was a little comforting but it was a bit of a wake-up call to how serious our situation was.

Nearer the art room, we could hear shouting inside. There were quite a few voices, some of them Garlantian, but most of them children. I could hear a struggle going on and a couple of shots rung out. Theo and I froze.

"I've got it! I've got his gun!" I heard someone shout from amongst the chaos.

"Be careful it's loaded!" I hear someone else shout.

Then something else is shouted in Garlantian. Another shot. Screams. The sound of a stampede. Pushing. Shoving. Panic. Someone managed to open the door, but there were too many bodies and people all trying to squeeze out a gap too small. From the chaos, I think I saw Alex at the back, away from the crowd. His hands were up in surrender, fear flooded his expression. He said something, but I couldn't hear over the sounds of children yelling and screaming. Some of the kids broke free but tripped on the bodies in the hall and got trampled by their fellow students. A few more shots broke out. The Garlantian soldiers knew they'd lost control and were shooting randomly amongst the panic. Instead, some of the kids at the back, knew they wouldn't manage to escape turned around and decided to attack the Garlantian Soldiers in a last act of defiance. More chaos ensued. Then- BANG.

Theo and I were thrown back from the force of the explosion. We may have passed out if we hadn't landed on some of the dead lying in the corridor. Our ears rang, and the smell of smoke burnt in our lungs. Ahead, where the classroom used to be, was a hole.

Miscellaneous body parts scattered around us. Small fires licked up the walls, and an awful smell of burnt flesh curdled with the smoke.

Alex. Alex was in there…

A few moments later, ten or twenty Garlantian soldiers appeared from the other end, attracted by the sound of the explosion. They see the carnage, and they see us. They shout something. I see their lips move but I couldn't hear anything. They advance.

Numb turns to fury.

Words couldn't explain it. Raw emotion pushed everything else out, I couldn't think. Suddenly I'm standing, my vision turned red, and I was faced with such raw numbing rage and hurt that I couldn't experience anything else. I had to get this feeling out or I was going to explode. I felt Shadow next to me and he felt my rage. In retrospect, it was a strange sensation to share emotions so absolutely, but at the time it felt natural. While his senses started to flow into mine, and my emotions into his, I could see how they were going to move before they moved, and how they were going to react, like several after images.

My entire body vibrated with its knowledge, compelling my limbs into action, perfectly in synch with the being next to me, we ploughed down our adversaries. His cool, dark body moved like it was my own. Only separate as well. We were perfectly in synch. Separate beings, yet perfectly connected. We moved like a dance, weaving in and out of their movements before they'd even decided to move. Defending and reacting with brutal accuracy, driving back those that would kill us.

We moved without thought, driven by Shadows vision and my pain, we fought until there was nothing left. We'd massacred every single one of them.

After that, we stood amongst the dead and the carnage, we'd moved further down the corridor towards the art room. Or where the art room should have been. Now it was just rubble; bricks and paster with some broken equipment and ripped work

There was a little bit of fire left, but the sprinklers started working and water sprayed down on us, extinguishing most of what was left. I think I heard the fire alarm going but I couldn't be sure. I looked back at Theo. Shadow and I must have moved a long way, considering I was standing right next to her when the explosion happened. She was just standing there, watching us. The tears on her cheeks had dried, leaving rivers of grime behind. Her tears were replaced with the expression of shock and disbelief.

I couldn't speak, I was left with a pit in my stomach where the rage used to be, and I couldn't find the words or the motivation to break the silence. Surrounded by the dead, bodies almost up to my knees, I was simply empty.

I vaguely remember my knees giving away and stumbling forward. Then nothing again.