Chapter 1
“Can you believe it we are finally in our second year of college?” Emily the school snob asked her wannabe Alainah. “I know right, McCall University is so fun! I’m having my birthday party next week and plan on asking Drew to be my date.” Alainah says while flipping her hair. I roll my eyes at them and pull out a notebook and pen and wait for Professor Larson to arrive. “Oh, em gee Alainah? Look at what Harper is wearing!” Emily states and I automatically look down at my attire, “Did she honestly agree to wear that in public?” she asks while pretending to shudder in disgust. They continue to bad mouth me until I can’t take their annoying voices anymore, “Oh, em gee, did you know that my lovely combat boots can straighten your teeth for free if you keep talking crap about me?” I ask with a friendly smile while Alainah uses her hand to hide her braces while other students chuckle.
“Good afternoon, class!” Professor Larson announces as she sets her bag on her desk and pulls out a folder. We begin class, and she starts talking about an essay she wants us to have finished by the end of the week. The intercom came on and we could hear heavy breathing then the hysterical voice of our dean “Attention everyone... No, stay back!” he screamed in a terrified tone. Everyone sat in a terror-stricken silence as his cries slowly fell silent, and you could hear a sound like a squishy, rotten melon falling on the floor. I could feel the bile slowly rising to my mouth as everyone began to panic and hurriedly pack up their belongings.
“Everyone, stay calm.” Professor Larson whispers, grabbing up her stuff and closing the blinds. “I think we should all stick together until we find out what is going on.” I offer the class as I put my stuff in my bag and stand up. “Why would we stay with a freak like you?” Emily asks as I walk up to the teacher, “Well, I am the class representative and plan on keeping us all alive.” I state as Emily and Alainah head for the door. Emily’s hand wrapped around the doorknob just as a hand smacked the rectangular window on the door and slid down, leaving a crimson smear. Professor Larson opens the door and a guy named Jake cries out, pushing past us and dropping to his knees.
“Julie? No! Baby, please, stay with me!” he wails pulling her to his chest, we start to hear a soft growling noise that grows slightly louder just before she sinks her teeth into his neck and biting out a large chunk. Blood begins to spray all over her face, as I and the Professor tries to drag him backward out of her grasp. The rest of the class screamed and ran past us to escape into the hall as Julie spun around and staggered after them. Jake laid still at my feet until he slowly began to growl, causing us to grab our bags and sneak into the hall, closing the classroom door. I turn to check our surroundings while she locks the door when two bodies run into us, causing us to shriek in fright.
I look up from where I had fallen to see two of my friends Sofia and Victoria panting and trying to catch their breath. “Sh... they go by noise. It started in the cafeteria when a guy tried attacking Mr. Jacobs, the lunch server. He bashed his brains out with a meat tenderizer killing it, but he turned twenty seconds after being bit.” Sofia explains holding up a stopwatch. “Do you always have a stopwatch?” I joke, and she shrugs, “I help with the girls’ track team.” she explains as we turn to the Professor who keeps calling someone on her phone but to no answer. The hall is eerily quiet as we slowly make our way to the next hall when we turn the corner I have to cover my mouth to stop myself from throwing up. Students, and staff, lay all over the floor, some were whole while others looked like they were mauled to bits and pieces.
Some things were eating their bodies, they had a pale complexion with dark blue veins showing through like glowing worms. Their eyes were solid black like onyx gemstones and glowed like an animal in the dark corners of the halls, teeth were pointed sharp like daggers and tearing through flesh like it was warm cheese. They all froze from enjoying their meal as some of the victims were reaching out sputtering “Help me” while they drowned on their blood and began to sniff the air all turning to look down the hall in front of us. I could barely make out Ethan’s face with the look of horror that had made his face it’s home “Psst...guys, over here.” Victoria whispered, trying to get their attention. These monsters all began to start to growl and slowly rise up and once I felt the fear wash over me and swallow me whole there came a loud crash from somewhere behind us and a couple of people screaming. It drew them to stagger right past us as if we weren’t even there and continue to head in the direction of its next food source.
I ran towards him just as Dante and Tristan showed up behind him and I threw myself into Dante’s arms hugging him tightly, he wrapped me in his arms and held me tight to his body. I could feel the terror slowly filling my body up when I heard a familiar scream come from the hallway to my right and I turned to run when I noticed the hall was littered with bloody handprints on the floor, walls, windows, even the lockers. I ran trying my hardest not to slip while the others tried to get me to stop, I came upon my cousin Torri and her fiance Angel being cornered by the girls track coach and three of their athletes. Angel was using his body to block the thing from touching Torri as she was huddled in a ball on the floor behind him. There was a rack with metal baseball bats that they must have been getting for today’s practice sitting off to the side so I snatched one up and crept up to the closest one and swung with all my strength cracking it in the back of the head painting the wall with brain matter and bone fragments.
