head. The glow of the storm outside caught the edge and for a moment it winked red, like the eye of some demonic creature.
Bang!
The deafening sound made my ears ring. It was followed by a scream of agony. Rachel’s face became a contorted O of pain and shock. A little puff of smoke slipped out of a hole in her arm. Gabriella was standing next to a shocked looking Tim, who was holding the smoking gun. He dropped it as if it were on fire and looked at me with wide eyes.
“I–I shot her,” he stammered.
“You shot me!” Rachel hissed. “You little bastard!”
Before I had a chance to react, she threw the blade at my best friend.
It whirled through the air, heading straight for his jugular. It stopped a fraction from his throat, suspended in mid-air, as if hanging from invisible strings.
“I can’t believe I ever loved you.”
We all spun around to see Delagio appear in the doorway, his arm outstretched and wearing a sad expression. “All this time I thought you cared about us.”
Rachel gave Delagio a pleading look. “Del, I love you. Please don’t-”
Delagio closed his eyes and jerked his arm to the right. The blade sliced through the air and buried itself into Rachel’s throat. Her eyes went wide and she closed her fingers around the handle. I winced as with a rough movement, she pulled the blade out and stared at it. A jet of blood squirted from the wound. Rachel gave a simple nod of her head as if everything finally made sense, then crumbled to the floor and fell still.
Delagio was silent. He seemed stunned by his actions, like he couldn’t work out whether he’d done it or not.
I was about to speak, but a sudden thump on the outside wall stopped me. It was followed by another and another. Dozens of thuds, which made the walls shake. A sound similar to hundreds of crickets started up, but louder and harsher.
“Depraved,” breathed Gabriella, “We need to go now.”
Something crawled over the fire escape door. The windows were blocked out by mottled pink flesh. A stench of decay pervaded the room. I gagged. Delagio lifted Tim off his feet. We all sprinted out of the Gymnasium. Straight into the path of The Sorrow. Gabriella let out a bloodcurdling scream so horrifying, I shivered all the way down to my soul.
My heart stalled from the sheer horror of what I was witnessing. The Sorrow was far, far worse than I’d been able to capture in my nightmares. The soul-eater towered over ten feet in height; arching horns that jutted from its head grazed the ceiling. Amour the shade of dried blood and marked with unknowable symbols encased the creature. Long urchin like spines poked out from in-between each joint. A gruesome iron mask covered its face. The edges were studded and deep vertical slits filled the mouth plate. There were no eyes behind the mask, just hollow pits of pure darkness. The decaying mask was kept in place only by a set of fraying straps that locked around The Sorrow’s head.
When it saw us it lifted a hand and pointed. Its joints squealed like a tortured animal. Then it reached the same arm behind its back and unsheathed a sword which was easily as big as Sophia. It smashed into the floor, spraying up splintered tiles. The Sorrow started to walk forwards, the blade edge squealing and sparking as it trailed behind.
Gabriella had curled into a ball on the floor, hands covering her eyes. The confident, strong woman had disappeared, replaced by the terrified little girl from all those years ago.
Tim’s face had gone chalk white. He looked like he was going to have a heart attack.
“Help me get them back into the gym!” I screamed at Delagio.
Together we dragged the weeping Gabriella and dazed Tim away from the advancing Sorrow, back into the Gymnasium. I pulled her arms away from her face. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her teeth clenched together. She must have bitten her tongue, because blood dribbled from between her lips. “Ella snap out of it!” I shouted. She didn’t react. I could hear the thunderous boom of footsteps as The Sorrow drew closer. “Please snap out of it!” She made no indication that she could hear me.
I leaned in close and pressed my mouth against her ear. “ Please Gabriella, If you don’t snap out of this, The Sorrow is going to kill us both. I need you.”
Something seemed to register. Her eyelids fluttered and opened. It only took one look for me to know that Gabriella was back with me.
“Come on,” I said dragging her to her feet.
Slap!
I turned to see Delagio backhand Tim across the face. A trickle of blood ran from his nose. My friend seemed in a fair amount of pain, but appeared to have come to his senses. Gabriella gathered up her dress and together we all sprinted for the fire exit. I ran straight at it, barging with all my strength. The door burst open, sending the creature on it flying. It landed on its back with an indignant squeal. I fell to the ground, soaking my suit. It was Gabriella’s turn to pick me up. I chanced a look around and saw with a wave of disgust that the entire gym was covered in Depraved. They all breathed in unison, which made it seem as if the building itself had come alive. One by one, they turned and saw us, thick black eyes widening. They let out excited shrieks and dropped off the building, landing with wet splashes on the ground.
Delagio and I grabbed Tim and hoisted him between us. We all ran as fast as we could. The swarm of Depraved chased after us, scuttling along the walls and leaping like demented frogs. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, they’re getting closer,” whimpered Tim. We sprinted around the front of the school. That was when I saw what could only have been a dream. A line of Guardians fronted by Scarlett.
They were armed to the teeth and aiming towards us. For a split second I thought we’d been tricked again. But then I felt a bullet whip past my head. I turned to see a Depraved crumple and roll along the ground. It was clambered over by its kin.
We broke through the barrier. The night was filled with the sounds of gunshots and the anguished screams of the Depraved. We reached the front entrance, where dozens of Alliance cars and bikes were scattered about. We set Tim down on his feet. There was a bag by one of the motorbikes. Delagio picked it up and flung it to me. I caught it one-handed and unzipped it. Inside were the Crimson Twins and a Kapre belt, loaded with guns. “I’m sorry, about Rachel,” I said, pulling the swords out of the bag. Gabriella fastened the belt around her waist. “Don’t worry ‘bout that now.” I pointed at Tim. “I need you to get him to safety.” Delagio nodded. “What are you gonna do?”
“I have the swords now. I’m going to lure The Sorrow away from here. I don’t want any more innocent people to die because of me.” Delagio’s eyes went wide. “Alex, that’s suicide!” “It’s here because of me. I have to try.” Gabriella threw me a set of bike keys. “Not without me you’re not.”
I went to argue, but could tell from her face it would be pointless. Instead I handed her one of the Crimson Twins. She used its sharp blade to cut the bottom part of her dress away, so that it now stopped above the knee. She dropped the material and slid the sword into a makeshift holder on the side of the bike. I ran to it — a sleek black Kawasaki — and used the keys to start it. Gabriella hugged her arms around my middle. I was reminded briefly of when she’d driven me to the underground station. I’d felt so weak and confused.
Things had come so far since then.
I looked over at Tim. He was staring at me with a dazed expression. “If I make it out of this alive, we’ll have a chat,” I promised.
He gave a slow nod.
I turned to Delagio. He gave a solemn tip of his hat. “Good luck,” he said. Then he piled Tim into a jeep. Jumped into the driver’s seat and roared off.
From somewhere amongst the roar of battle, I heard the shriek of the Sorrow’s demented steed.
“Go!” shouted Gabriella.
I twisted the accelerator and the bike squealed into action. I doubled back to where the Chosen were locked in combat with the depraved.
“Come on you ugly bastards,” I hollered. “We’re the ones you want!”
Their heads snapped to our direction. Scarlett looked up from the carcass of a fallen Depraved. “Alex what are you doing?” she yelled.
