“What’s going on?” I asked quietly.
“Quinton is very protective of you,” Tyson told me.
I blinked at him. “What are you talking about?” I’d only met his Uncle twice before if you didn’t count my dream and him watching me from the woods, which I was most certainly not. For my own sanity.
Tyson shook his head. “I will explain it to you when we get home.”
Was he trying to say he thought his Uncle Quinton had something to do with what was happening to Chucky? Did Quinton do something to him? How would that even be possible?
More loud, wet coughing dragged my attention back to Chucky’s table. The Pretty Princess had been helped up to her feet and one of the teachers had an arm wrapped around her shoulders protectively. She bent over at the waist and threw up blood all over her feet and the feet of the teacher. The teacher screamed, dropped her arm and stumbled backwards. More people rushed out the door, faculty and students alike. I never understood the need to want to watch someone else at their worst. Like people who stop to gawk at the carnage left in the wake of a horrible, mangled car crash. Maybe normal people with nothing but good in their lives needed something to feel bad about. Not me, I already had enough bad in my life, I needed no more, thank you very much.
“We have to get out of here. Now.” I could never be sure which twin was speaking when I could not see them with my eyes. “It’s spreading. What the fuck? Please, please, Ty, tell me he did not do this.”
Tyson had his phone out and was talking quietly to someone. Did he really think his Uncle could have caused something like this? And how? Apparently, the twins thought Quinton might have been involved as well.
The onlookers screamed as Chucky threw up more blood. This time it sprayed grotesquely across the food spread out on the table. I wasn’t sure how much blood he had left to spew out of him, his clothes were drenched and there was a pool of the red liquid at his feet.
My stomach jumped and rolled at the sight of all that blood and I swallowed in hopes of keeping the nausea at bay. I would not throw up out here in front of all these people. I would not throw up. What if I did and blood came out of my mouth, too?
Oh my god. Yesterday I had worried about death by toilet water at the hands of my fellow classmates. Today I worried about death by blood loss after I spewed it all out of me while I covered not only myself in it but the people around me.
“Tyson,” I muttered frantically. “I need to get out of here.” Oh god, please, please don’t let me throw up.
His hand wrapped around mine tightly and heat shot up my arm. I ignored it and clung to his hand with both of mine. I was like a woman lost at sea in the middle of a dark and dangerous storm. He’d appeared out of the dark waves as if summoned by magic to save me and I clung to him. I’d surely drown if he let me go. I’d drift away and sink under the crash of a giant wave. My lungs would fill with water and I’d be lost to the sea. Tyson was my life preserver. I clung to him desperately.
“Everybody get back inside,” One of the teachers yelled. His eyes seemed too wide for his face and he stood further away from the bloody mess than the rest of the teachers. He wasn’t one of my teachers so I didn’t know his name. “In the cafeteria, all of you. Now.” I wondered if he’d come inside with us because he wasn’t brave enough to stay out here.
I wanted to run towards the door and away from all the blood and puking but the mob already fighting over who got inside first almost scared me more than the blood. Sometimes when people were afraid they could become frantic and panic and when that happened they have the potential to become dangerous, trampling everyone in their wake in order to reach safety themselves, not caring who they hurt in the process. I had no desire to be caught in the middle of that tragic shit show.
Tyson held on tight to my hand as we waited. The twins crowded around me. Abel at my side, Addison at my back. They didn’t touch me for which I was thankful. I didn’t think I could handle all their heat on top of everything else at the moment. Tyson’s heat crawling up my arm was more than enough. Any more and maybe I’d embarrass myself again by fainting for the second time in my life.
We waited towards the back of the mob and were last through the door because of it. Two students laid on the ground moaning. They’d been caught in the mob and had gotten hurt. One was the girl who’d tried to befriend me on the first day of school in creative writing. If I was a better person I’d have tried to help her, but Tyson tugged on my hand and I moved with him. The sound of retching echoed off of the walls in the brick corridor all around us. Fear kept me from looking back to see who else was now vomiting up blood. Fear of what was happening and fear of vomiting myself.
I swallowed convulsively. “I don’t want to puke,” I whispered to no one in particular.
Tyson squeezed my hand almost painfully. “If you vomit it won’t be blood, I promise.”
I didn’t believe him. “You can’t know that,” I insisted.
“Yeah, I can.”
“Tyson-”
“Later, sweetheart. I promise you I will explain everything later. Right now, we need to focus on getting the hell out of here before it spreads any further.”
I wanted an explanation now, not later. The look on his face stopped me from demanding one. He was angry. So very, very angry. I didn’t want him to direct his anger at me so I kept it to myself. He said later, he’d tell me everything later, and I planned on holding him to his promise.
Chapter Sixteen
The cafeteria was abuzz with noise. Girls were crying and huddled together, clutching at one another in a desperate attempt to gain some form of comfort. People were screaming. Teachers and staff had the exits blocked off and students were demanding to be let out. Very few had actually seen what had taken place out in the courtyard but word had spread like wildfire and no one wanted to be forced to stay locked inside the school and especially not in the cafeteria so close to the sick kids. I didn’t blame them, I wanted out of here, too.
Tyson dragged me along behind him with the twins glued as close to me as they could get without actually touching me. We moved to an empty space along the wall and Tyson let go of my hand. Immediately I wrapped my arms around my middle and hugged myself. I backed up until my back met the wall then I slid down it. My butt hit the floor and I drew my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them instead of my middle.
Addison crouched down beside me but he didn’t speak to me. With Tyson in front of me and Abel on the side Addison wasn’t I couldn’t see what was going on and maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.
I concentrated on breathing and not throwing up. I felt guilty about leaving the injured girl from creative writing class outside. I should have tried to help her. What if she was right this second throwing up blood because we’d walked right past her and left her there to her fate instead of trying to help her.
“What’s wrong?” Addison asked.