Flashback
I used to like Mr. Tanner. How foolish and blinded I was, thinking he was one of the cool teachers at school. He had busted me and Josey ditching class multiple times and always stuck up for us. Caught us smoking weed in the bathrooms, and defended us to the principal.
We thought he was one of the good ones, easy-going, friendly, always willing to bail us out when we got ourselves in trouble. If only I had known there was a price for it, if only I had known what he really was. If only I had never closed that classroom door. He was a predator, and we were too blind to see we were his prey.
“Lucy, can I have a word with you for a second?” I heard Mr. Tanner’s voice behind me as I packed up my school equipment.
Josey paused at the door looking at me. “I just need a word with her, Josey. Go to your next class. She will be there soon,” Mr. Tanner said to her. She smiled and nodded.
“I will see you in class then,” Josey said before walking out the door. I zipped my bag up after dumping my pencil case in it.
I then grabbed the strap and tossed the bag over my shoulder. Just as I was walking to the front of the classroom to see what he wanted, Mr. Tanner spoke.
“Shut the door, Lucy,” he said, and I furrowed my brows but did as he said, not thinking anything of it. It was Mr. Tanner. He was our friend;why shouldn’t I trust him? Not trusting him had never once occurred to me.
“Pull the blinds down, too,” he said, making me look over my shoulder at him.
“Excuse me, sir?” I asked, confused.
Suddenly, he was right beside me. “I said pull the blind down, Lucy,” he said before I heard the lock on the door click. I saw him pull his hand back, making me gulp.
Fear coursed through me as I stared at him.
“The blinds, Lucy,” he repeated, and I looked at the little blinds on the door that would cover the glass.
“I should go. I am going to be late for class,” I told him, becoming uncomfortable. I reached for the door handle only his hand gripped it.
“I told you I needed to speak to you. Now, pull down the blinds,” he said, smiling at me.
Terror made my blood run cold. Mr. Tanner was a demon, not just in a sense, but an actual demon, just like Aamon. Demons were perceived as bad, but most weren’t. Mr. Tanner was though, his eyes flickering black, and I saw my own fear-filled face reflect back at me.
I didn’t want to close the blinds, yet fear made me do it as my shaking hand gripped the cord, tugging it down. His hand was still on the doorknob, and my entire body started to shake, my stomach sinking when he moved his face closer to mine.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he said before leaning back. “Come, I want to show you something,” he said, smiling and waving me forward as he walked back toward his desk. He picked up some papers, and I felt relief flooding me. I was being irrational. He just wanted to show me some homework, I thought, trying to push the unease away. I saw him return to his normally bubbly self, making me wonder if I had just imagined it. I let out a breath, walking over to him as he stacked the papers in a pile.
“You okay, Lucy?” he asked, and I chuckled.
“Yes, sorry. I am not sure what came over me,” I told him, shaking my head as I approached his desk. “Is it about the assignment due on Friday?” I asked, recognizing the papers on his desk.
He grabbed them, dropping them in the drawer under his desk before closing it. He then moved his laptop, putting it on the table beside the desk, which I thought was odd as I watched him clear his desk without saying anything. He then patted his desk with his hand.
“What did you want to show me?” I asked him when I felt his hand run up my thigh and under my skirt. I jerked away from him, and his eyes flickered.
“I should go,” I told him, stepping back only for him to vanish in thin air before feeling his breath on the back of my neck, and I knew he was behind me. Knew my first instinct was right.
The hair on my neck stood up, his cold breath making me break out in a cold sweat, which chilled me to the bone. Leaving me paralyzed in my own fear. I couldn’t move, I was completely frozen.
The room was so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat and my shaky breath, along with that stupid song playing softly from the PA system in the halls. I felt his hands grip me, shoving me toward the desk as he tried to bend me over it. Only then, something snapped in me as I tried to struggle to get out from under him, my face jammed against the cold wooden desk as I thrashed trying to get out of his grip. His knees pressed between mine, forcing my legs open as he started ripping at my clothes.
My underwear ripped from my body painfully, his nails digging into my face as his hand pinned my head to the table. The smell of burned almonds permeated around me. My vision blurred with my tears as I begged him to stop. I felt my bra strap snap, the back of my shirt being ripped open as it fell down my arms. I tried pushing off the table with my hands, only to be forced back down before feeling something hard hit the back of my head. My teeth bit into my tongue from the force as the room spun violently, my head pounding, and my ears ringing as I clawed frantically at the desk.
My fingers came in contact with something made of glass that was wet, and I turned just enough to smash the glass on him. Yet, he didn’t stop as he pushed my skirt up. His hand went to my mouth, his thumb pinching my nose, making it difficult to breathe.
I felt his cock press against my ass and thigh, panic coursing through me, and I tried to reach behind me, clawing at anything I could. Trying to keep him away, when he gripped my hair, ripping my head back before slamming it into the desk. My head bounced off the wood, making me see black for a second. But his grip waivered, and I managed to turn, kicking my legs, trying to reach his laptop on the small table beside his desk. My fingertips grazed it as I struggled to keep him back before he pinned my legs to the desk just as I gripped the laptop. I swung it, smacking him in the side of the head, making him clutch his face. That momentary distraction was enough, and I jumped off the desk, racing for the door.
I didn’t get far before he misted in front of me. Adrenaline coursed through me, I was so close to the door. He grabbed my arms, ripping me toward him, my hands going to his face as I dug my thumbs into his eye sockets, feeling the gooeyness of his eyes, making him let go as he clutched his eyes, screaming. I shoved past him, fumbling with the door lock before opening it, and I ran, not looking back.
“Lucy?” I heard a muffled voice.