'Run?' Les asked, and after a few seconds I agreed. One person handling a gun with no experience was one thing, two or more with combat experience? That would be like trying to wrestle a bull, it would be a suicide wish.
Without waiting much longer, I climbed up through the window and crawled out. Sirens cut out beside me, but I ignored them and hopped over a tall dark fence, crashing into a thick brush on the other side. 'YOU NEED TO HURRY!' Les screamed into my ear, tilting the chair to the left.
"If you want to run so badly, take over!" I shouted aloud, kicking up a cloud of grass as I sprinted through the yard, narrowly avoiding slamming into the other fence as I barrelled over it.
'Then scoot you insane moron!' She shouted, throwing me out of the chair and sitting down.
I continued the harsh sprint, my legs dragging behind me as I gained speed, putting as much distance as possible between me and the house. Liam was better for detective work, my brother, Volgar was more adept at fighting, and me? I was the best when it came to using my brain.
'three-hundred feet, jump over the gate and make it to the truck. It should be parked by the grocery store,' I reminded myself, increasing the speed of my sprint as I lurched forward.
The wind beat down on my face, staining my eyes with tears as the harsh cold whipped me repeatedly, but I didn't back down. 'This is it, come on!'
I leaped, throwing myself high into the air, and crashed down on the other side of the fence. My body slid, scraping my elbow against the cold, hard ground, but I managed to get myself back up and into a sprint faster than before.
I bit down on my tongue hard, barely holding back a scream, but I wouldn't fail here. My brother got us further than ever before, and left solid proof of the teacher's wrongdoings, at least the female one. I owed it to him to do this.
With a final stretch, I threw myself into the truck, turned the ignition, and sped off into the distance. Maybe we lost the flash drive, but Volgar snatched one thing, a picture of the teacher's computer.
'I'm covered in grass stains, but at least I have this,' I thought, looking at the picture, before puking out the window. 'I shouldn't have looked, shouldn't have looked.'
After I finally parked again, I looked out the window at the snow-covered field, the smell of coffee was thick in the air, and I couldn't hold back my smile. After everything, the descriptions, the endless torment from the school, I had enough evidence to at least spark an investigation.
'I should let Liam take over again, I'll just come back later to help him,' I decided, giving up control as I led Liam to the chair. If anyone was going to solve this properly, it was him.
The pain in my body wasn't there anymore as I opened my eyes and looked around. I was still in my truck, but something was different, there were snow-covered swings, a half-frozen lake, and the strong aroma of coffee beans filled my truck.
"What the hell is going on?" I questioned, before remembering this happened before, years ago. They were taking control again. "Dammit." I was about to try and recollect myself, but suddenly, two dings came from the girls' phone. Which lay in the passenger seat atop a gray pillow and blanket.
[New message from: Restricted]
"What in the..." I started to ask before cutting myself off. Asking a question about it would be pointless, there was nothing to go off of, it was just a message. As I checked the message, my eyes went wide and I smiled slightly. It was from someone named Emily, I had another lead.
I could feel something building within me, could this be it? More proof? Could I get everything I needed from this? I skipped through the phone, grabbed mine, and went to take a picture when I noticed something new in my camera roll.
'What the hell?' I thought, opening the image to remove the blur, and a chill ran up my spine. My stomach lurched, I could feel something churning within me, and I barely threw open the truck door to puke.
"First time with Emily." The caption, the title, was clear as day, followed by a picture of her fully unclothed and crying, blood leaking around what looked to be a white sheet.
"Oh fuck," I muttered, keeping my vomit in my throat. The number who texted this girl's phone was the same person in the image, but other than being victims of the teacher there had to be another connection, what was it?
'No way,' I thought, pulling up the police report on my phone and going to Jessica's comment, I had a hunch, one I truly hoped was wrong. In an instant, I scrolled through the messages with Emily on the girl's phone and found it, a chat with Jessica. What was odd, was both of their numbers said inactive.
"This is enough, it has to be. How come everyone who spoke against the teacher's accounts went inactive?" I asked, dialing the one number I could think of to call, the police department.
"Hello, you have reached the non-emergency police number. Please state what the issue is and we will connect you with the proper personnel to help. If this is an emergency, please hang up and dial 911."
I listened to the options and selected to report a crime, not an immediate crime, but one that would open a new case file. I explained what I had found up until this point, making sure to go into extra detail about finding the phone in the alley, and suddenly, she said something I didn't expect.
"What is your student ID and name?"
With that question, I felt my blood run cold, why would she need that if I was reporting a crime? 'The video, the video, that's right... After she reported the crime, she said the Dean slapped her, but how did the Dean know she... The police are on the school's payroll!' I realized with a start, and before continuing, I hung up quickly.
"Something's wrong, something is so wrong," I repeated, processing what had just happened. Why did she ask that? The only explanation I could come up with was they were working with the school. But what would they gain from that a few extra dollars?
'Liam, think for a second. If a school is hiding information from the police, yet the police are there every other day as guards, what do you think is going on?' I knew the voice, it was the sister of the insane guy.
She told me her name before, but why couldn't I remember it? What was she getting at? Just like before, it was as if she knew something I didn't.
After a few moments of silence, I finally replied, my voice trembling as I gripped my arm. "Does that mean the police are more than in on it?" There was silence, no answer came from my mind, and I just waited as a pit formed in my chest.
'That's the only reasonable answer.' She finally answered, her voice devoid of emotion. I sat still, not even able to think as my eyes stayed wide. A deafening silence enveloped me like a shadow. Even though the heat was on, it got eerily cold and I couldn't help but shiver.
"What do I even do from here? If the police are in on it that means...The school board is too," I mumbled, thinking aloud, doing my best to ignore the sickening feeling in my stomach, but I was failing. Almost like a crashing wave, I could feel my heartbeat speed up and strike my chest repeatedly.
'There's one person you can turn to, you have to find Alan Andrews, he'll help,' She responded, her voice still monotone.
Even after everything, was there much I could do? How was he supposed to help? All he did was call out the school, was survive a shooting, he had never done anything like this before, not even close. How was I supposed to ask him for help?
'Calm down, you have to bite the bullet hard here. Liam, if you want to win this, you have to travel to the next state over. If you want to win this, you have to be willing to go against the rules of the playing field. You don't make a change by following every rule.'
At that final sentence, although I wasn't certain, I started the car and pulled out of the park. Part of me believed every word she was saying, if I couldn't contact the other two students I knew of, I had to seek another form of help.
But Alan never showed up again after his interview. How was I supposed to find him, and how could I know if he would help me?
Who would help someone they don't know at all? As that question passed through, the corner of my lips fractured into a slight grin. Someone like me would, that was the whole point of this, to stand up for everyone else and become somebody willing to be destroyed if it meant the right thing is done.