The Phantom School

His eyes opened wide. He was frozen solid on the spot for the moment.

I swung the knife. He instinctively tried to protect himself with his arms.

*BANG*

The door between me and Mr. Kenan closed in an instant. My knife pierced through the door and got stuck there. There it was. The missing part of my plan... I knew I was forgetting about something. I have never thought about the possible intervention of The Community.

Mr. Kenan and I were now separated by the door. I was inside the small room where the operation was done, while Mr. Kenan was on the other side of the door, inside the actual lab. I was so close, yet my plan had failed from the very beginning. After my failed attempt, I would most probably be on my own in this struggle for survival.

My cellphone started ringing. With my hands trembling, I grabbed my phone and answered the call.

"Even when we can"t read your thoughts, we can still see you anywhere." the voice said.

I didn"t say anything in return. I had doomed myself.

"Are you stupid or did you suddenly have a change of mind?"

With little hope, I pushed the door. Unexpectedly, the door wasn"t locked. Mr. Kenan was standing there in fear, just behind the door. Without the intervention of The Community, the old man had little protection against me on his own.

I pulled the knife out of the hole I created on the door.

"No!" he said and started walking backwards, shaking his head. I started walking towards him. He finally turned around and ran outside the lab, into the hallway. Seconds later, an alarm started wailing. I wasn"t sure if Mr. Kenan did that himself, but it was surely a guaranteed way to quickly end the school day.

I didn"t follow Mr. Kenan out, instead, I got back to the small room at the back of the lab to see the status of my student. Mr. Kenan"s incompetence was clear. Some of her supposedly closed wounds were still bleeding, slowly. I had to get professional help. I had to take her to a hospital... I wouldn"t be able to explain the situation, but at least she would be safe. Maybe I could call it a lab accident if I couldn"t come up with anything better on my way there...

I softly poked her to wake her up, but it was not going to work. Whatever Mr. Kenan did to her was too strong. I covered her naked areas with her uniform and instead of trying to wake her up, I carefully lifted her up and began carrying her out of the lab.

When I finally got out to the hallway, most of the building was already empty. I started walking to the exit with my student over my shoulder.

While I was trying to make my way out, she started moving.

"Put me down, put me down!" she said.

I stopped walking and slowly put her on her feet. She coughed a few times and looked at me in the face. Our eyes met. She was in tears. It was the saddest look I"ve ever seen in my life. She suddenly looked away and started running.

"Hey!" I yelled behind her, but she didn"t even listen. She rushed into a restroom.

I walked up to the door of the restroom and shouted for her to hear.

"Are you okay?"

She didn"t respond. I could hear some water flowing down the taps. I put my ear on the door to listen more closely. I could hear her sobbing and crying silently.

"Calm down, please." I told her. Still no response...

After a while, she started coughing violently. I could hear her moaning in pain. I looked around the hallway to seek help, but there was no one left in the building by now. What a bad time to follow the regulations!

Without giving it a second thought, I entered the restroom.

She was on her knees, trying to vomit out a green substance I"ve seen earlier. Her clothes were covered in her blood. Some of her wounds were opened wide again, probably while she was running.

She heard me entering the restroom, and looked at me. She was trying to say something, but she couldn"t make any audible sounds.

I ran to help her, yet I didn"t know what to do. Just when I was trying to rotate and re-position her to help her vomit, she held me by my shirt and pulled herself closer to me.

"Teacher..." she managed to say. "It"s... not-"

She couldn"t finish her sentence. She was fluttering, trying to wave her arms and legs around. Her head slided down. She was feeling heavier. Finally, she stopped moving altogether. Her teary eyes were fixed on a random spot across the restroom.

I softly shook her. No movement.

I slowly put her down. She was no longer trying to breathe.

"No..." The word escaped my mouth.

Despite her horrendous situation, I decided to attempt artificial ventilation. There was nothing to lose just by trying.

I used up all my stamina trying to bring her back to life. But, after countless minutes of continuous CPR, I was out of power. I put my head on her chest and started crying.

"You won"t... touch... my... students!" I repeated a few times. My heart was filled with hate and anger. I wiped my tears and got up. I lifted the corpse up and headed out. But, at the door, I saw Mr. Kenan standing there, staring at me. When I noticed him, he didn"t do anything. The sad look on his face remained.

I slowly put the corpse down, keeping my eyes on him.

"The knife." he said.

"So... do you fear death?" I asked him. "This is your acheivement. You did this to her."

"I had no other choice, d.a.m.n it!" he yelled. "It was our best chance... yet, even that didn"t work. But, listen to me. I have important news. There is another way!" he walked into the restroom. I immediately reached for my knife.

My knife... wasn"t there.

"The knife..." I said.

"Yes, the knife." he said, and pulled my knife out which he has been hiding behind him.