Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

When I come to—porcupines knows how long I was out for—the first thing I am able to register—aside from the dull, aching throb at the base of my neck—is the cold, hard marble of the school hallway floor. I groan in pain, and listen to footsteps quickly departing and the front doors of the school opening, and then slamming shut.

As my vision slowly returns to focus, I find myself staring across the floor back at Bethany, who is unconscious and lying in a pool of her own blood.

That image gets the adrenaline pumping, and I quickly peel myself off the floor. A little too quickly, I find, because the world starts spinning. But for Bethany’s sake, I fight the urge to succumb again to unconsciousness. I search for my handbag and—more importantly—my cell phone.

It must have skid across the floor after my collapse, for it is some ten feet away. There is no sign of our attacker, which does not surprise me since it pretty much had to be him that I heard leaving as I reluctantly re