Lockdown by Diane Tullson

Author:Diane Tullson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2008-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

As soon as I’m outside the washroom, I regret my decision. Every instinct is to hide from Josh, to run as fast as possible in the other direction. It’s exactly the feeling I get when I watch scary movies, like my bones have gone to mush. But this feeling is more. Way more. I’m so scared that I have to tell my feet to move.

The hallway is empty. People’s lunches are scattered around from before the lock-down. Locker doors swing open. Being in this hallway is like being in a dead place. I stay as close as I can to the wall—not that the wall gives me any cover. It’s just that, close to the wall, I know there’s one side he can’t get me from.

The second-floor theater door is down a smaller hallway off the main corridor. At the corner, I pause. I can’t see around the corner, of course, and I don’t want to walk straight into Josh. I feel ridiculous doing it, but I extend my arm around the corner and wave my hand. If Josh is taking aim, maybe he’ll shoot my hand before he shoots me in the head. I peer around the corner. No Josh. The hall is empty. With a jagged breath of relief, I make the turn.

At the theater door, I listen. I can’t hear anything from behind the door. If the door is locked, I’ll have no choice but to go back to Zoe and the others.

Please don’t open. Please don’t open.

I try the handle. It opens.

I step inside the theater and let the door close behind me. The theater is dark, lit only by the exit markers. The vast silence of the space greets me with the coolness of a cave. I’m aware of the sound of my breath, panting, as if I’d been running. I blink, trying to get used to the murky darkness of the theater. Finally, I can make out the rows of seats and the stage area, below.

I remember this from when Josh and I sat in here. If you sit still and don’t make a sound, it’s dark enough that someone could look in and not see you. It’s like the way a rabbit stays still, and its brown fur makes it disappear in the grass. The rabbit is there, but unless you know it’s there, you’ll never see it. So it’s like it’s not there.

If Josh is sitting quietly in the theater, he could be watching me right now and I wouldn’t know it. New sweat squirts under my arms. I scan the rows. If he’s crouched down between the seats, I’d never see him. Not until he jumped up and aimed his gun at my head. My feet freeze. I’m the rabbit. Josh is the hunter.

This morning, he was just Josh. Last night, when he brushed his teeth and said goodnight to his parents, he was just Josh. I met his parents last term, when the cooking class hosted the parents to a dinner.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.