The closet was tight and stuffy but I managed to breathe. I was wedged between two boys and the closet door, since I was the last to enter. Mrs. Creath stayed in the classroom to lock the doors and windows. I listened closely to her movements on the other side of the door. She sounded as if she was pacing back and forth in front of the closet door. She was mumbling something to herself too quietly for me to make out. It didn't help that I could hear that Anthony kid breathing from three feet away.
"Hey man, you think you can try breathing through your nose for me?" I asked trying to not seem like an asshole, but still stern with urgency.
"Sorry I have asthma, but my inhaler is in my bag." He coughed out quietly.
"Your fine Anthony just keep calm." Bethany said quietly to reassure him. He nodded a 'thank you' silently.
"Still if you could just tone it down a bit so I can hear what Creath is saying." I explained, trying my best not to make too much noise.
"Hey man he said he had breathing issues." One kid between us said in a normal tone.
"Yeah dude leave him alone." Said the kid closest to me a little louder than the last.
"Look I'm sorry, I just really need to listen." I whispered putting my ear to the door.
"Well then listen buddy, you should treat this guy with more respect." The guy closest to me said putting his hand on my shoulder.
"It's fine guys, really I think I can be a bit quieter." Anthony whispered to his defenders. They all nodded and the hand in my shoulder was removed.
"Thank you." I placed my ear on the door yet again. No words. No foot steps. I couldn't hear anything. Did Creath leave us? Was she hiding? I wondered to myself. I grabbed the handle gently and started to turn it, but was quickly stopped by the kid behind me.
"What the hell are you doing? What if the intruder is out there?" He asked quieter than I heard him speak so far.
"Creath stopped pacing. I just want to make sure she didn't freak out and leave us here." He nodded in confirmation and allowed me to crack the door open. I saw nothing but the wall. I opened it a few inches more. I could now see the door, it was closed but I couldn't tell if it was still locked. A few inches more. I saw something on the ground. Black and pointed upward. A shoe. A nice, feminine, black and shiny shoe. Another inch the door creaked. I saw the leg attached to the shoe. At this point I opened the door almost a foot more, not caring that it creaked really loud. There in the center of the room lay our teacher. I looked back at the students behind me, hoping someone could tell me what to do next. They were all staring in horror at the unconscious body of Mrs. Creath. I shuffled towards her, leaving my back pack where I was standing in the closet. I stood a foot away from her and leaned my face over hers to see if her eyes were open. Peering up at me were pitch grey eyes. Tear streaks drew from the outside corners of her eyes, past her temples, and over her ears. The tear streaks looked so defined on her pasty white skin. I realized that was because the tears were dark red. I finally saw the whole picture. Blood ran from her eyes and filled her mouth. I stared at the red stained teeth in her open mouth. I backed up slowly and stopped only a few feet from the closet. I had no words. Just fear. Just terror.
"Is she okay?" I heard a girl from the closet squeaked. I shook my head silently. My mouth wouldn't close. My jaw shook and I could feel cold tears forming in my eyes. We all stood there, staring at the corpse in horror. She had just dropped dead. No one shot her, we would've heard. It was almost like she laid on the floor and just died. The horrified look plastered permanently on her face suggested otherwise. Something did this to her. She saw what it was that killed her. I was still frozen and assumed the other students were too. I heard nothing, not even Anthony's breath behind me. We all stopped breathing in fear. I would've stood still forever, if not for one of the students behind me who took a deep breathe and walked around the perimeter of the room. He walked up to the side of the door and touched the nob, careful to stay out of the way of the door window.
"Door is still locked." He said backing up. "Whatever did this, didn't use the door." He turned and retraced his steps around the rooms wall back to the closet. I looked to the windows. I heard Mrs. Creath latch them from the closet, but decided to investigate anyway. I yanked the seal upward with no budge. I moved to the other three windows beside it.
"No dice." I said shrugging, trying to play off the fact I was sweating from stress.
"What the hell do you mean 'no dice'?" The same loud mouth from before asked, looking confused like an ape that stubbed it's toe.
"It's a saying. It means 'nothing'. As in I got nothing, the windows are locked."
"That's stupid." He said, taking a few steps out of the closet. I cocked my head at him. Before I could verbally question his intelligence, Bethany stepped out and crept up to the body on the floor. I hadn't even realized that a puddle of blood had formed around it. Bethany began to sob and fell to her knees. Another girl came up behind her and patted her back, shedding some sympathy tears for our dear teacher. I couldn't wrap my head around what was going on. One second my hands on the gun and the next someone else has set off the hard lock down alarm then murdered my teacher. It was as if fate was mocking me with intense irony. I dragged a chair to the back corner of the room, next to one of the windows, and held my bag on my lap.
"So the doors and windows are locked? How could anyone kill Creath?" One of the boys asked. I tried my best to blend into my surroundings. "Hunter?" The boy turned and found me in my open hiding place. I looked at him and didn't say anything. "Hunter, you were against the door, did you hear anything odd? A choking or anything that can help us figure it out?" I shrugged coldly. "What the fuck does that mean?" He said bluntly. I stared at him in silence. To be entirely honest I didn't want to open my mouth until I understood the situation. The boy walked over to me from across the room. I leaned back as he leaned forward to get close. "Listen Hunter, your the one person who might've heard something." His breath hit my face like a warm wind that had a strong scent of gravy. "I know you and I haven't gotten along over the years, but our teacher is dead and we gotta figure out how this shit happened so we know what to tell the police when we get escorted out."
Fuck. I thought to myself. I had an entirely new reason to be silent, this kids fucking name. Years? I thought. I usually spent my time in all classes sitting in the back and staying silent until it was time to leave. I found it funny how I could stay entirely silent for hours and sometimes even forget to breathe yet my grades were awful. I looked at the boy in front of me. I looked at his face. I saw nothing familiar. I shrugged again, more to myself than to the question he was asking. He must've not understood that it wasn't for him, because the next second I was on the floor with swollen eye. "Quit acting like your mute! Your not retarded so answer me with words, Hunter, words!" Before I could respond with few choice words of my own, Bethany grabbed his shoulder.
"Come on Elliot! Leave him be!" Her eyes were drenched in tears and as soon as he saw that, he hugged her tightly. Elliot! I realized. that's his fuckin name!
I lifted myself up to my feet with the help of the chair. I looked over to see him whispering something to her. Probably words of hope and strength. God knows these kids need them. I said to myself.