BLOOD REPORT
By : André Grandier
The fire had consumed 10 thousand acres already. Hideous and thick, heavy clouds of ash and smoke stained the pale blue sky and threatened the morning sun which shone with a dull, reddish, bronze glow. The acidly sour smell of burned wood and ashes invaded Noemi Tovar’s lungs. She frowned and rushed inside the room. It was cold inside the classroom. She copied the agenda and went on to do the warm up. Although she tried to solve the problem her mind was somewhere else.
When she joined the Poly Optimist, the schools newspaper with the greatest prestige of the zone, she thought it would be fun. Noemi was a great writer. Throughout the semester she had established herself as one of the main writers, but she didn’t enjoy that kind of writing. That made her realize she actually hated journalism, so she decided to get out of the class. Besides she was also sick of Mr. Blau’s contemptuous attitude. Mr. Blau was a grumpy old man with straight white hair and mustache with deep expression lines marked on his forehead, around his eyes and mouth. When Noemi told Mr. Blau she was getting out of his journalism class she never thought the horror that this decision would bring upon her. At first Mr. Blau only freaked. There were not too many writers and he could not afford to loose another one. He tried to persuade her, but nothing worked. At last he accepted the inevitable, but he assigned her one last story.
“ This will be your last story” Mr. Blau said.
“ We need a story on the fires threatening the school”
Noemi didn’t know why she had agreed to do the story, perhaps she could have just said no, but didn‘t. At the end, she agreed reluctantly, out of an impulse to finally get over it.
The rest of the day went in a blur and Cross Country practice was as exhausting as always, they had to run to Sepulveda which was about ten miles away. Noemi knew it was weird that Mr. Blau had told her to meet him after her Cross Country practice, since the old man never cared about anybody’s life. She and Ivan talked it over after practice.
Ivan Escobedo was her teammate, sometimes something even more that that, sometimes he was the most trustworthy person you could find around. He was tall and slender, slightly muscular, with big emerald eyes that shone as if they had light of their own and which matched his white flesh. Noemi on the other hand was shorter and slender as well, with silky white skin, mischievously intense brown eyes, high cheeks and glossy shoulder-length hair.
“ I don’t want to go” Noemi complained
“ Then don’t “ responded Ivan
“ I have to, I have no choice. Besides I already told Blau I would go”. Ivan’s eyes grew wide.
“ Ohh… I know”. He said jubilantly as he pulled out from his back pocket a strange, green and rectangular object. She realized what it was then. It was a knife pocket. One of those kind of knifes of which the blade disappears inside the handle and with the right amount of pressure to a hidden compartment, the blade springs open. The silver blade gleamed gold in the sunlight. Noemi had not meant to laugh, but she did.
“ If they catch you with that you’ll get spelled for sure, you know”. Noemi scolded.
“ Only if they catch me” said Ivan
“ And what am I supposed to do with that?”
“ Protect yourself smartass” Ivan joked. Noemi laughed harder.
“ I was just joking okay” snapped Ivan, more embarrassed that offended, warmth rising up his cheeks. Just then Mr. Rivera arrived from behind and greeted everybody.
“ How’s my favorite team doing !” Rivera yelled. Ivan froze. The knife still on his hand. Instinctively Noemi took Ivan’s pocket knife from him and hid it in her own pocket before Mr. Rivera could see it.
“ Great” said Noemi with a little more enthusiasm than necessary, her voice creaking with patent nervousness.
“ I got to go. Later “ She grabbed her bags and walked away before anyone could say something, I‘ll give it to him latter. She thought.
The pinkish purple twilight was agonizing and darkness was creeping out from the shadows Noemi was feeling uneasy as she walked to room #14 but why do I feel so weird she wondered. Noemi got to room #14 , took a deep breath and knocked as an unexplainable icy thrill crept down her spine.
No answer.
She knocked again. Still no answer. Noemi sighed in relief feeling as if a great weigh was lifted over her shoulders. She turned around to leave but just then the door flew open violently slamming painfully against Noemi’s skull. The motion was extremely fast. Pain exploded and bulged from the back of her head, her knees betrayed her and bended unwillingly. She fell forward hitting her forehead hard, striking against the solid concrete sidewalk and she was knocked out.
*
When Noemi regained consciousness she was inside room #14. What had happened?. She couldn’t remember, slowly her mind was set to work again, then she remembered. She reached for her head which was still in faint pain and saw that she was tied by the wrists. It was so dark and obscure that she could see nothing before her, then the room was flooded with a bright white light that hurt her sight. Noemi opened her eyes adjusting to the light and discovered Mr. Blau in the door way smiling at her, it was then that she realized how she was. She was in the middle of the room lying over a wooden table her wrists were tied with tape and a rope attached to the ceiling hung down around her neck, the noose hanging loosely over her throat.
“ What is going on?” .Asked Noemi frantically
“ You wanted out didn’t you… well, now I am taking you out” said Mr. Blau coldly.
“ No…” she breathed. “ Mr. Blau you don’t want to do this-”
“ ohh, but I do, you traitor, there’s only one thing traitors like you deserve”. He walked toward Noemi. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“ But why.. I have done nothing wrong!!”. Mr. Blau just grinned pleasantly. Little by little Mr. Blau pushed the wooden table that stood between Noemi and death.
“Please don’t do this”. Noemi begged. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. He seemed to be enjoying the show, enjoying the horror in her eyes. At last, with a final shove the table was pushed away. Her body fell. The rope tightened, and she started to choke.
Aaaack… A dry cracking sound escaped from her mangled throat. The rope tightened more around Noemi’s neck cutting deep into her throat.“Help…please “she chocked as her feet spun from one side to the other. Mr. Blau just laughed at her, delighted obviously.
A sudden blast of energy swept over her and she broke free from the tape holding her wrists. Noemi reached to her now bleeding neck desperately trying to loose the noose with no luck. Her racing heart started to beat slower and slower and she was starting to loose her strength. At that instant a single drop of scarlet blood rolled down her chin and she lost hope. A sudden flash of an earlier memory flashed before her eyes.
The knife! She had forgotten she even had it. Blindly she reached out for her pockets patting swiftly her jeans and then felt its rectangular shape in the interior of her pocket. Noemi took the pocket knife out and pressed the interior of the handle. The blade sprang open. With no hesitation she slayed the blade against the rope which broke instantly with a clean snap. The knife fell form her hand and she slammed onto the floor with a loud thud. There she was, sprawled over the floor moaning and coughing in pain helplessly. She was alive! She had saved herself, but her joy didn’t last long. Mr. Blau didn’t hesitate. He picked up the knife and trudged toward Noemi. His heavy leather boots thudded over the floor, hesitating, his breathing increasing drastically.
“There’s only one thing traitors like you deserve” Mr. Blau kept saying in a sinister tone, broadly smiling in a diabolical way. What had been of that funny and kind Mr. Blau? There was no answer for that. He rose up the knife over his head as he stroke the blade down to Noemi. She looked up just in time. Because of the sudden burst of adrenaline Noemi could see now more clearly. It didn’t go slow motion like in the movies, instead her mind absorbed ever detail around her. What she did next was either extremely bold or stupid. Raising her arm to protect her face she climbed quickly to her feet and tucked , with all the strength left within her, her body against Mr. Blau just as a football player might do against a rival. To her surprise and to Mr. Blau’s, Noemi was stronger that she thought. Mr. Blau fell backward onto the floor and rolled to the side in pain. If Noemi was going to escape this was the right moment. She stormed and burst out the door. It was dark outside, except for some hideous yellowish-orange street lights outside campus . The sky, an inky black with blazing white stars studded in it, there was no moon which made the school look utterly black, as black as a cave with no possible exit. That’s how she felt now. With no exit to this nightmare. She whished she could just wake up, wake up warm in her bed. But that was impossible for this was no dream, and her nightmare was real.
Now what? she thought. Mr. Blau wasn’t going to stay there forever, he will surely come after her as soon as he recovered.
Where do I hide? Where do I run?. She could not think straight. It was then that she felt it, the sharp pain swelling in her arm. She took a look at it and realized Mr. Blau did get her. There was a deep cut in the side of her arm, bleeding freely. Now it started to burn. She had to make a decision, and fast. She took off running toward the track, the last place Mr. Blau would ever suspect she would be hiding. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps she could have been safe in the track. But such was her panic and horror that she didn’t notice the trail of blood she was leaving behind. When she reached the cafeteria she was exhausted. She ran and ran but couldn’t seem to move fast enough, She felt as if she were trapped in slow motion. The loss of blood was starting to make its effect on her.
I must not give up, not now, not ever.
Fortunately, someone had forgotten to close she gate that led to the track. The wind blew roughly on her face carrying dust and dirt to her eyes, as if the place rejected her.
That’s crazy talk.
Noemi weakly climbed up to the bleachers. She sat in a corner wrapping her arms around her legs and ducking her herd between them making a ball out of herself. It only took a few seconds before she began to doze, praying that Mr. Blau wouldn’t find her. Of course, Mr. Blau had already found the trace of blood she had left.
* * *
A loud noise woke Noemi up. It was still dark. She didn’t know how long had she been sleeping but she knew instantly she was in danger. She felt wet and realized she was sitting in a puddle of her own blood. She was still weak yet, her short nap had refilled her with a little more energy. What was the noise that awoke her? She held her breath and listened.
Thud
They were steps ! Mr. Blau had found her ! Frantically she started to cry, she didn’t want to die, there were lots of things she wanted to do and still had not achieved them, there was prom, Graduation, College, Her future, Her dreams, all gone.
“No” she whispered firmly. I will not die here, not now, not like this. Another step was heard, it sounded closer this time. Noemi was decisive.
God…please help me.
Another step. Closer. Closer. Noemi took a deep breath and waited. Then Mr. Blau appeared before her with the knife at hand. Noemi let out a cry of both, anger and horror, and she tucked Mr. Blau just as she had done moments earlier. Mr. Blau had predicted she would do that and moved grabbing Noemi by the hair. Noemi let out now a sharp cry of pain and instinctively threw a punch at his face. He let go of her and she ran down the bleachers, Noemi had expected him to go chasing after her, but no one came. She whirled around and saw Mr. Blau struggling to keep his balance. He looked at her vehemently as he slipped on the sticky red liquid. Mr. Blau let out a bloodcurdling scream and he fell straight down on the empty side of the bleachers. The loud sound of his body against the concrete was sickening, unnatural, It wasn’t the sound of something heavy breaking, but the sound of snapping bones. All of a sudden Noemi felt weak, and she was forced to lie on the ground as an unexplainable force overwhelmed her, dragging her into unconsciousness. She dreamed. Only now it wasn’t a nightmare.
The End.
