Castle High's After School Horror

Chelsea's feet drag her along the linoleum slowly. She feels like gravity is picking on her, pulling her down extra hard. She doesn't know where to go, what to do with herself. Both Gerard and Bob told her to run so she fled, for their sake. But she wishes to confront Mikey and have him kill her to relieve her of the pain.

She is alone.

Just like she always is. Her parents are never home and when they are they're either meeting with clients, catching up on sleep, or catching up on something else they do in bed. Her friends don't like her, they tolerate her. She is as lonely as she's always been and it hurts. Only this time, the loneliness is magnified by the awareness of the corpses littering the halls and classrooms of her high school.

She sucks in a teary breath and stops, realizing which direction she'd taken. The only person that ever made her feel loved, the only person that gladly spent his time on her. The cure to her infinite loneliness. The only one who ever truly cared. Lying in a pool of acid, disappearing forever.

She can hear the sizzling coming from around the corner.

She stumbles forward and pitifully falls to her knees, unable to stand due to the weight of her despair. He's dead. Ray is dead, and so are the rest of them, because of her. Because of her pathetic jealousy. If she hadn't picked on Beth, none of this would've happened. They would've served their sentence and gone home. Chelsea would be at Ray's apartment, snuggling with him on the couch under a comfortable blanket. Maybe watching a movie. He'd whisper sweet things and she'd selfishly take the compliments and offer none in return. She wouldn't deserve him.

But he'd be alive! He'd be alive! And so would the rest of them! Beth...she's smart, pretty, and has so much potential. She would've been better for Ray than Chelsea. Mikey turned the poor girl into a murderer. He ruined everyone. It isn't fair. Ray deserves to be alive.

Chelsea is shaking as she uncontrollably sobs. She's on all fours and her tears are forming a puddle on the floor. She looks at the clear liquid and is reminded of what happened to Ray. She shakes her head and falls backward, inching away from the puddle. She hits the lockers and rolls herself into ball, sobbing loudly. Chest hurting. Imagining the dead bodies of all her classmates, dead because she couldn't shut the fuck up. Because the only way she could feel better was by making someone feel worse.

She does not deserve to be alive.

But what is she going to do? She cries for a little while longer but quickly realizes she can't drive herself crazy, sitting there. Hugging her knees to her chest, she looks around. What is she going to do? How is she going to escape the nightmare?

Then she sees it. Dangling on the wall, bright red. She still feels her nerves bouncing uncontrollably, permanently hexed by what had gone on so far that afternoon. But she pulls herself up and drags her wobbly legs over to it, lifting it from its base on the wall. It almost falls. It's a lot heavier than she'd thought.

A fire extinguisher.

She lifts it over her shoulders and slowly stumbles to a staircase exit. With a grunt, she smashes the glass with the fire extinguisher and drops it. The glass shatters easily. She steps carefully over the glass and gets up on the tips of her toes. She reaches into the square hole and tries to stretch her fingers to the knob on the other side. She hisses painfully as the leftover glass cuts into her underarm. She reaches farther, getting higher on the tips of her toes. She screams. Her fingers tap the knob and she furiously flicks at it. She hears the sound of the metal bar move out of its lock and pushes her finger against the knob with more force. The glass cuts deeper into her underarm and she moans. She pulls her arm out, holding it close to her body. She pushes open the door and lets out a sigh of relief. She moans painfully as her warm blood trickles down and slides across her burnt forearm. The raw flesh throbs and she sighs. She deserves the pain.

The sound of a gunshot comes from somewhere in the building. She stumbles down a step, gaping at the water sliding down the window. Bob had really done it. He’d gone after Mikey and Mikey had killed him. She is all alone in a school with a psycho. She starts to cry again and runs swiftly down the stairs, pushing the exit door fearfully.

Locked. The sound of screaming comes from somewhere out in the hall.

Chelsea pushes her fists against the red metal door. She stares back at the door leading to the hallway. She’s shaking from head to toe, fear gripping her heart. She falls to the floor sobbing. Bob is still alive. Mikey's going to torture him to death. He needs her help.

She swallows and sits thoughtfully for a moment. How long could she wait before something really bad happened? Suddenly, the image of Bob bleeding on the floor comes to her mind. It’s detailed and vivid, so much so that she knows it’s not simply her imagination. And, head hurting painfully, she hears two words echo menacingly in her head. In Mikey’s voice. They answer her mental question.

Not long.

Chelsea stands and bolts through the door, a strange determination washing away her despair. She isn’t alone. She doesn’t have to be.