"Hey!" you shout. "Leave her alone!"
The headmaster ignores you. He might not even have heard you. He doesn't take his eyes off Grace or his hands off her throat.
You run forward, grasping hold of the headmaster's jacket. With all your strength, you heave backwards, managing to dislodge the snarling figure. The headmaster tumbles onto the ground, and you drag Grace to her feet.
"Go!" you shout, pushing her away from you. "Find Will! Find the others! Get out of here!"
You don't know if Grace has heard you, but she manages to stagger off into the forest. You turn—
—just in time for a fist to catch you across the face. It's a glancing blow, but even that is enough to make darkness explode in front of your eyes. You feel yourself collapse to the forest floor, the impact shuddering through you.
Before you can try to push yourself up, before you can even think about doing it, you feel the hands on your throat. They tighten, squeezing harder than anything you've felt before.
Your air goes away.
You thrash around underneath the headmaster, unable to rip his hands off your neck. You still can't breathe.
The forest goes dark around you. All you can hear, as it fills your entire world, are the wheezing gasps of the man strangling you.
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