The Phoenix

Fallon stared at the man standing before them rubbing her temples. He sat quietly at the teacher’s desk surveying the group in front of him. Their eyes caught for a second and she quickly glanced down afraid that he might hit her again.

She and her students sat on the floor in the back of the classroom, holding tightly onto each other. Some of the girls were crying softly, their eyes red and puffy and the others stared blankly into space evidently traumatised.

“I want to go home,” Sarah signed to her teacher, her anguish manifested in her large blue eyes.

“Me too,” Fallon signed back hoping that their captor couldn’t understand what they were saying. “We’ll get out soon.”

Sarah sighed and was pulled into her Fallon’s chest. She knew that her teacher was just trying to keep her calm. She closed her eyes forcing the tears that had threatened to spill back. She would not cry because of him. He did not deserve that right.

“Jack Tallis,” a loud voice boomed from a megaphone outside.

Instinctively, Fallon looked up at their captor. A look of horror and shock flashed over his face for just a second before he regained his composure then glared at the crying girls in front of him.

“I’m Detective James Sullivan. I would just like to speak to you,” the voice rang out again.

Their captor scoffed at this statement. Fallon listened to hear if the detective would say something else. His voice was surprisingly reassuring to her. She found herself aching to hear that voice again. But the detective said nothing and the silence swelled through the room as the other girls realized that something had happened. The tension in the air was so thick it was almost choking. No one dared to move and Fallon watched their captor listening for any sound which would tell him that the police where in the building.

Their captor looked around uneasily as if he expected the police to burst through the broken door at that moment. Fallon wished that the police would hurry up and get them out. She studied his face. He looked like he was fighting and internal battle with himself. His face went from a look of pure hatred to one of fear then back. He was confused and Fallon knew that. Maybe it wouldn’t be too hard to escape after all.

The man, finally making a decision, got up and walked to the door then peered cautiously down the hall. The school was small. There were five classrooms including the one they were in, a science lab, two bathrooms, the teachers’ lounge and office and a library. He smiled at the front door when he saw that the chains he had put up were still intact. He stared at the library door for a minute then remembered the emergency exit in there from the blueprints he had of the building. He looked at the students before him, then looked at their teacher and back to the library door and smiled.

“Come here,” he gestured to Fallon. She got up slowly and walked to him her legs shaking from fear. It took all her strength for her not to collapse.

“We are moving to the library,” he announced when she stood in front him. He then pointed to the twelve girls. “Now tell them what I just said.”

Fallon paused for a minute then relayed the information to the confused students. None of them complained as they got up and followed Fallon, who had the gun pointed at her head, to the library. The library was a lot bigger than the classroom but Fallon immediately knew why the man had brought them here. It was the furthest from the front door and he could secure the back exit. She watched as he pulled some chains and a padlock from a bag that she didn’t even notice he had and locked up the back door. He motioned for her to close the windows as she had done in the classroom. The room instantly got darker and it was a bit chilly. The fear in the students’ eyes was unmistakable. They were trapped in a room with a monster.

He ordered them to sit at a long table and they pulled chairs from all over the library and placed it around the table.

“Since we’re going to be here for a while,” the man started smirking, “I think we should get to know one another.”

They looked at him, some with confused looks others in horror. What have they gotten into?

“Translate what I just said,” He ordered Fallon and she did, reluctantly.

The students had a pained look on their faces when they realized that they were not going to leave anytime soon. What if he killed them? Or worse, what if he raped them then killed them?

“I’m Jack,” he announced. “What about you guys?”

Fallon translated again and one by one they were forced to give their names. The twelve girls sat there as if a part of their soul was missing now that the beast knew their name. Jack just stood there watching them and smiling that creepy smile of his.

“We’re going to play a little game.”

Fallon closed her eyes to wishing that she was somewhere else. She knew what he was going to do to them. She knew it from the start but she had only now started to believe it.

Then her cell phone rang.