Divine Vices (31 page)

Reentering
the gym from the front entrance, I quickly immersed myself into the crowds,
providing me with the gift of coverage as I scoured the space in search of
Gwen. There she was, climbing back down a ladder. I began to head towards her
when I noticed Jack in the corner of the gym. My hopes lifted a moment, until
dread rushed back over me the next. How did I know it was him?

“Can
I borrow this for a second?” I asked Trish, pointing to the camera set up at
the photographer’s station. I didn’t bother to wait for her response as I
detached it from the tripod.

“Help
yourself,” she chuckled as she walked away.

I
aimed the lens in Jack’s direction and zoomed it in as far as it could go.
SNAP!
The photo came up on the screen a few seconds later, and I nearly cried at the
sight of the black orbs covering Jack’s beautiful blue eyes. It wasn’t him. I
looked back up to where he had just been, and panic arose in me as a chill
prickled up my spine at his absence.

“Hey.”

A
hand fell onto my shoulder, and I spun around with obvious terror.

“H-Hi,”
I stammered, looking into a pair of glacial blue eyes.

“You
alright? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

This
Jack-imitator extended his hand back out when I shrugged it off and retracted.
He took notice to the camera in my hand before I could conceal it behind my
back.

“Not
exactly,” I snapped as Jack snatched hold of my wrist and pried the device from
my grasp.

He
refused to release his grip on me, using his other hand to pull up the last
photograph taken. I tried frantically to break free, but he was too strong
despite my best efforts at pounding my fist into the gauze wrapped around his
arm. What was I thinking? It wasn’t actually him!

“Cass-”

“Let
go of me, or I’ll scream out at full volume!” Despite my attempt at sounding
threatening, the declaration held nothing but sheer and utter terror.

Jack
exhaled roughly as he looked out into the crowds where several onlookers had
taken closer notice. “I really didn’t want to do this, but it seems you haven’t
given me much of a choice.”

All
the lights in the gym, from the large metal halide lamps to the countless
decorative bulbs, began flickering once he returned his attention to me. I gave
everything I had as I tried to thrash away from him with a violent yank, but
the effort only left me feeling like I had ripped my shoulder out of its
socket.

“Should’ve
left well enough alone,” he said, snapping his fingers.

In
that very instant, every bulb overhead exploded. I expected to hear screams
from others, but as sparks and bits of glass fell onto the crowds, I noticed
everyone looking suddenly weary.

“What
the hell are you doing?!” I cried.

He
dropped his hand, and with that, every last person in the gym collapsed
lifelessly onto the hardwood.

“Floor’s
yours. Although, I really shouldn’t say that. It’s a bit occupied at the
moment,” said Jack, looking amusingly down at the bodies dropped by his feet.

“Oh
my God,” I whimpered.

“Far
from it, honey.”

Without
the hope of someone coming to my aid, I had to think fast. Clearly, this game
of tug of war with my arm wasn’t playing out in my favor, but what else could I
do?

Then
it hit me. I had taken self-defense courses years ago with my sister. The
details were a bit fuzzy, although with no alternative, I figured it wouldn’t
hurt to at least try.

I
quickly rushed into Jack, driving my free hand over his opposing shoulder and
forced him forward to the left under my arm. With a swift wrench, I twisted his
wrist until its unnatural position became too much and he let go.
Unfortunately, he was now blocking the exit that led to the front of the
building, so I sped off to the other side of the gym where the duel doors would
head out to a singular corridor that ran perpendicular to the sports hall.
Strategically leaping between my fellow classmates, I made it to the entryway,
taking one last look behind me to see Jack still in the middle of the gym.

Just
as I whipped back around, I collided with another figure. The force knocked me
down, but the individual caught me just before I fell to the floor.

“Ian?!”
I jump backed, stupefied.

“What
the hell happened?” Ian demanded, looking out at the inconceivable spectacle.

“You
know, I underestimated you, Callaghan. I must say, you really have become a
perpetual pain in my ass,” called out the voice behind me.

I
turned around to see Jack sauntering towards the two of us, stepping
haphazardly over everyone incapacitated on the ground. Then I noticed it. His
arm. Blood began to seep through the cotton wrappings where I had beaten just a
moment before. The stitches had popped. It really was Jack.

“Cassie,
what is going on?” whispered Ian.

Jack
raised his hand with a fiendish grin, preparing to snap his fingers once again.
I grabbed hold of Ian and shoved him out into the hallway just as the crack
resonated.

A
harsh draft rushed over us as we fell to the ground, the gym doors belting shut
behind us. The doors at the end of the hall to the right fastened to a close as
well.

“Ian?”
I climbed up and shook his fallen frame, praying for a response.

At
last, he opened his eyes.

“Thank
God,” I said, pulling him upright. “We have to move, now!”

Without
warning, every single door down the right of the hallway began systemically
hammering shut.

“Go!”
I cried, yanking him to our left.

We
each took off down the corridor at such an unremittingly rapid pace that a
single misstep would discipline us with more than a mere face plant. Despite
our speed, we were only managing to beat the doors from bolting closed by
nothing more than a millisecond, so there wasn’t any hope of dodging into one
of the classrooms. There was no place left to go but through the doors at the
end of the hall leading up to the second story, if we could get there in time.

“We’re
not gonna make it!” I said.

It
was true. The doors were closing faster than we could run and there were waxing
signs positioned at the mouth of the entryway to the stairwell.

“Slide!”
demanded Ian.

“What?!”

“Slide,
on my count! One... two... three!”

We
both dropped to the floor and skimmed like bobsleds across the polished floors,
crashing into the foot of the first steps as we narrowly cleared the entrance
as the hinges pounded the iron doors shut behind us.

“You
okay?” asked Ian.

“Far
from it,” I panted. “You?”

“I’m
still breathing, so I can’t complain.”

He
lent me a hand and pulled me up from the ground. Exhaustedly scrambling up to
the top of the stairwell, we fell out into the second story entryway, trying
every single door down the hall without luck. They were all locked.

“The
library.”

“What?”

“The
back door is always unlocked from the outside,” I said. “It’s at least worth a
shot.”

Wedging
a display cart in front of the back door, Ian and I took refuge in the
manager’s station in the library. Neither of us could get service on our cells,
so we dialed 911 into the landlines after locking ourselves in the office.

“911
op... State your... Hello? Hel...”

“Can
you hear me?! Hello?” bellowed Ian. “Hello?”

Static
overwhelmed the call, and it cut out.

“Damn
it!” He slammed the receiver down. “Okay, we need a new plan. Clearly, help
isn’t on the way, and from Jack’s performance back there, I doubt that a rack
of magazines blocking the doorway is going to keep him out of here.
Suggestions?”

“Why
are you helping me?”

“What?”

“You
know what I’m talking about, Ian,” I said, hoping his bewildered reaction would
give way. “What happened to those girls, what happened to me last night-”

“Wait,
you honestly think I had something to do with that?” He practically barked the
words at me.

“You
tell me,” I said, trying best to not show just how truly terrified I really
was. “Clearly Jack didn’t fight himself last night, and those girls were
attacked by someone that could morph into the appearance of others.”

“Cassie,
you know me-”

I
immediately jumped back the moment he took a step towards me. “I don’t know
shit! But the videotapes and photographs don’t lie. Whatever that is downstairs
isn’t Jack. My camera proved that. His eyes registered in my lens with the same
freakish black orb effect that appeared on the footage of each of the suspects
when they were incapacitated.”

I
jumped again when Ian dug his hand into his pocket, only to see him pull out
his cell.

“The
signal’s still out,” I said as he tossed the phone at me.

“Close
your eyes.”

“What?
No!”

“You
want proof? Close ’em.”

I
hesitantly followed his instructions, my heart hammering faster and faster the
closer I heard him walking towards me.

“Open
your eyes.”

I
fell into the desk behind me and nearly screamed at the sight. It was Jack! He
quickly grabbed my shoulders, urging me to look him in the eyes.

“Take
a picture,” he said.

My
fingers trembled as I snapped a photo, waiting for the display image to appear
on the cell’s screen. Sure enough, it was Ian. Jack’s presence stood before me,
but the photograph told me with certainty that it was indeed Ian. And his eyes
were just as green as they had always been.

“What
the hell are you?” I bellowed, looking back up at him.

He
was himself again. “No clue.”

“What
is this?”

“An
illusion. I don’t take shape of someone else. It’s purely a manipulation of the
mind that tells you to see, hear, and feel what I project.”

“Like
hypnosis?”

He
nodded. “That’s why it’s me you’ll see on the image. The camera can’t be
influenced. It only shows the truth.”

“But
what is this? Voodoo? Black magic?”

“No,
it’s just something I’ve always been able to do. It can be a bit erratic at
times, so that’s why I do what I do, with the magic tricks and whatnot. It
provides me with cover from freaking people out when I have a slip-up.”

“So...
you had nothing to do with what’s been happening here?” I questioned
doubtingly.

“You
honestly think I’m capable of murder?”

“Well,
with the weird cult symbols popping up, it’s not exactly a detail I’m going to
overlook.”

He
stepped closer, leaving nothing but a mere inch of space between us. “If you
thought that I could have done it, then why did you save me back there?”

I
stood still and petrified. “I don’t know.”

“Get
down,” whispered Ian, yanking me to the floor the instant we heard the main
doors of the library kick open with an ear aching bang.

I
quietly crawled over to the office window and peeked my eyes up to see Jack
saunter inside.

“Now
what?” I whispered.

Ian
grabbed a small windup timer off the desk before unlocking the office door and
cracking it open. “We get the hell outta Dodge.”

“Where
ever could they be?” called out Jack amusingly, strolling through the front
departments. “Having trouble making a call? Can’t imagine why.”

Ian
and I barely managed to slither our way to the philosophy section when Jack
headed over to the checkout counter, not fifteen feet from us.

“Not
exactly the smartest place to barricade,” said Jack, looking at the magazine
stand in front of the back door. “Especially since you’ve just locked
yourselves in here.”

That
wasn’t true. Given Jack’s flashy entrance, the main doors were still wide open,
but we knew that scenario was fragile at best. With a flick of his hand, Jack
would have us at his mercy.

“Ready?”
mouthed Ian.

I
nodded.

We
both furtively raced down the aisle, ducking behind the crown end displays at
the other side as Jack rounded the corner to where we just were.

RING!!!

The
timer’s metallic bell clamored in the office, causing Jack to run in to
investigate.

Ian
and I took off running through the computer station and reading center, coming
just yards from the front entrance when the doors suddenly snapped off the
magnetic holders keeping them open.

“Not
so fast there, Dick and Jane!” called out Jack drolly.

Ian
ripped a book off the nearest shelf and skimmed it across the carpet, wedging
it perfectly between the door and frame just as it was about to shut.

“We
bid you adieu!” said Ian, hurtling the door back open.

He
motioned me through and we both darted out, racing down the hallways with no
other intent but to put as much distance between Jack and us as possible.

“Impressive,”
I said under a pant as we finally slowed down to a jog several hallways later.

“Hands
like magic,” said Ian, winded as well by the exertions.

“What
the hell is he?”

“Got
me, but nothing would surprise me anymore.”

We
turned the corner of the hall, and we both outwardly screamed.

“Fancy
running into you here,” laughed Jack, who was haughtily leaning against a
locker just around the bend.

“Then
again, that’s a new one,” declared Ian, taking notice to the black orbs in
Jack’s eye sockets.

“Unfortunately,
I’ve already been acquainted with that one,” I said, yanking Ian back down the
way we came.

Jack
laughed. “Oh, what’s the hurry?!”

Ian
and I sprinted down the hall, but an invisible force suddenly ripped between
the two of us. The pressure slid me over to the side and I clipped a couple of
lockers as I braked to a halt, but Ian was propelled all the way to the end of
the hall. He crashed full tilt into the lockers facing us from the connecting
perpendicular corridor, and his slight frame dropped limply to the floor.

“Ian!”
I bellowed.

“Sorry,
Callaghan, but I need a word with the young lady here,” said Jack, flicking his
finger forward.

A
nearby classroom door yanked open and Ian desperately tried to grab onto
anything he could, but the unseen force threw him effortlessly into the room
and bolted the door shut upon his clearing.

I
rushed over to the classroom and frantically hurled my weight into the door in
an attempt to pry it open again, but it was no use.

“Get
out of here!” Ian yelled, recovering to his feet.

“I’m
not leaving you!”

“Cassie,
listen to me! Go!” he demanded, looking over my shoulder through the laminated
glass window built into the door.

I
turned around to see all the lights in the hall bursting behind Jack as he
strutted towards us.

“Cass,
you’re the one he wants! Go!” yelled Ian.

I
looked back at him in desperation.

“I’ll
be fine,” he mouthed.

I
hesitated, but the sight of Jack was enough motivation for my body to overcome
my emotions. I charged through the corridor, leaping down and jumping up the
split level stairs of the third story.

Eventually,
I reentered a stairwell that took me to the second floor and I found myself
back in the west wing. All the classrooms were locked and the only windows in
the hall overlooked the parking lot, so the hope of jumping to safety was ruled
out.

A
pair of footsteps could be heard trampling down the stairs, so I ducked into
the adjoining hallway. Then I saw it. Locker 392. My answer was just twenty-six
lockers away. I scampered over to 418, quietly pulling up the faulty latch and
crouching down inside. I held the clip up on the interior and closed the door behind
me just as the footsteps entered the hallway.

“Cassssiiieee,
Cassssiiieee...” Jack teased in the most sadistic, raw tone. “There’s really no
use in hiding. I can sense you. I can smell your fear.” He took a deep inhale,
and paused before releasing the breath. “It’s intoxicating.”

Each
locker door on my side of the hall clanged as it sounded like they were being
pried open as Jack made his way deeper into the corridor and closer to me.
Then, just two lockers down, the noise stopped. I held my shallow, ridged
breaths, seeing a shadow cast upon the slats at the top of my door.

“Come
out, come out, wherever you are...”

He
remained in place for a moment, but then continued on with only his footsteps
resonating in the distance until even those became inaudible.

I
refused to move though. I didn’t have a course of action, and my mind continued
to conjure up all the worst case scenarios in regard to what would happen to
Ian.  

“Though
I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand
against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me,” I mouthed to
myself, finding only the verses from Sunday services left in me to find
comfort. “No weapon formed against me shall prosper... No weapon formed against
me shall prosper-”

A subtle
daft suddenly fell onto the back of my neck, and I froze.

“Oh,
if only you knew the irony of that,” laughed Jack, his voice igniting directly
behind my right ear.

I
fought to find the interior latch and yanked it up and forward, my body falling
out of the locker and onto the vinyl tiled floor. Looking back up at the empty
insides of 418, I hysterically scrambled to my feet and rocketed down the
hallway, noticing that every other locker as well was still intact.

Bolting
around the corner to the connecting corridor, I blindly crashed right into Jack
as I took the turn. He grabbed hold of me and tightened his grip, nailing my
arms to my sides. I couldn’t even muster the ability to verbalize my anguish. I
simply relinquished all the air inside my lungs, emitting it into a deafening
cry.

“That’s
a set of pipes you’ve got on you,” he laughed, still wincing from my
declaration. “You just couldn’t resist.”

“Yeah,
neither could I,” called out a voice from behind. “Cassie, duck!”

I
dropped my head down, and Jack abruptly let go of me as he slumped to the floor
following the sound of a heavy, metallic thump.

“You
okay?” said Ian, appearing behind him with a fire extinguisher wielded in his
grasp.

I
leapt over Jack and tackled Ian, wrapping my arms around him as tightly as I
could.

“I’m
fine,” I said, upon releasing my grip.

“Come
on.” Ian took my hand and we started running back down the hall as Jack
remained slouched on the ground.

I
suddenly stopped dead in my tracks. “Oh my God... Jack!”

“What?”
Ian tried to drag me further, despite his completely bewildered expression.

“Did
you just hit him in the back of the head?”

“Your
point being?”

“He
already injured it!” I ripped my hand out of his grasp and turned around.

“It’s
not him, Cassie!” shouted Ian as he grabbed my arm again to pull me away. “This
is the part where we’re supposed to run!”

“You
don’t get it,” I said, breaking free from his hold and returning to Jack’s
side. “The gauze on his arm! It’s from an injury he sustained last night. Look
at it! He popped the stitches just now. I thought whoever was behind this was
like a shape-shifter or something, but this is
actually
Jack’s body!”          

A
profuse stream of blood was coursing down the nap of Jack’s neck, the crimson
fluid matting the back of his hair. His whole body had slackened with the
exception of his hands that were pinned to his head as he grasped it aguishly.

“Cassie...
get out of here,” Jack muttered.

“What?”
I lifted up his head, seeing the unmistakable presence of dread in his eyes.
“Jack?”

“Go!”
he belted out, crumpling down on the floor.

A
tremor pulsated across the ground, all the lockers jittering from its
vibration.

“Ian,
get her out of here!” Jack yelped.

Suddenly,
the whole hallway rumbled, and I shot up to my feet as Ian took hold of my hand.
The ground began quivering, and we both sprinted down the hall. Taking a sharp
turn into the next corridor, we could see everybody still incapacitated below
in the gymnasium through the glass overlook.

“Watch
out!” demanded Ian, rushing between me and the locker doors that burst open to
our left.

Every
last item inside them came hurtling out at us, Ian taking the full brunt as he
shielded his body over mine. He pulled me away from the line of fire.

“Ian,
move!” I screamed, yanking him back just as we came to the entrance of a
classroom where a filing cabinet flew out through the doorway, crashing into
the wall on the other side of the hall.

We
bolted around it and charged down the corridor, hearing a splintering crackle
creep across the glass overlook to our right. Instinctively throwing our hands
up to shield our faces for protection, we dropped to the floor as countless
fractures pierced across every last plate in the hallway’s windowpanes. Nothing
more than a
pop!
and razor-sharp fragments of glass imploded through the
air, blasting just above our heads. The debris ricocheted off the lockers to
our left and rained down on us. Shaking ourselves out, we regained our footing
and continued running, until...

The
whole floor rumbled. Before I could process another thought, what felt like the
blast wave to an explosion rocketed through the corridor. My next footstep
didn’t even connect to the ground as Ian and I were catapulted down the
hallway, now completely airborne. Once the surge dissipated, our bodies crashed
back down to the floor with a violent blow.