"Ali, let me protect you,” Lucas said, stepping in front of me. Tyler attempted to reposition the desks against the door, but it was useless. James was breaking down the barricade with his aggressive pounding.

“Lucas, really?” Robyn questioned. “We’re in danger and you’re putting her before me?”

He fired a stern glare at her before turning to me. “Babe, please, I wanted to tell you, but I don’t even remember when it happened or how. I don’t want this to be the last memory you have of me. I’m innocent.”

“Tell her the truth,” Robyn yelled.

“I am. You did something to me. I never had sex with you.”

“Guys,” Tyler shouted as he continued his efforts in keeping James out of the room. “Get through all that garbage after we survive this.”

“Don’t act like you’re not guilty of keeping the secret too,” Robyn spat out with a devious grin.

“You knew?” I asked Tyler, who remained silent. I feared his confirmation.

“Yes, alright? I wanted to tell you yesterday. I’m sorry. Can we please deal with what’s in front of us? We’re all about to die, dammit.”

With a hard crash, James rammed his way into the classroom. Tyler backed away as the mountain of desks tumbled down.

Candice cried out for help at James’s presence, who looked around the room until his eyes landed on Jerome.

“Leave him alone,” Tyler demanded. His words fell on deaf ears as James walked over to Jerome, who looked up from his crouched stance and pleaded for his life.

“Please, don’t kill me. I’m sorry.”

“It’s too late for forgiveness.”

Lucas balled a fist and prompted himself to attack James. He was ready to charge and swing had Robyn not yanked on to his arm and shook her head in disapproval.

James’s eyes returned to normal as he stared down at Jerome. “You punched me, kicked me around, and made everyone look at me as if I was weak. Like I was nobody. Now look at you. Tell me how it feels before you die, scum.”

Candice covered her eyes and turned away as we watched Jerome’s neck snap. His eyes popped out of their sockets, his tongue escaping his mouth. Blood oozed onto the floor from his eyelids and traveled to the back of the room where everyone except Robyn and I retreated.

James looked at us like we were nothing but a flock of sheep ready to be devoured. “You,” he said, pointing to Candice, “it’s your turn.”

“Stop,” I shouted, shielding her. “Enough is enough.”

“You never did anything to me. Go before I kill you too.”

“No.” I stood my ground. “I know these people hurt you in different ways, but taking their lives won’t make anything better.”

“You don’t know what will make me feel better,” he hollered, the demon behind him growing larger and more demented. “They all torment me and make my life even harder than it is. You can’t imagine what I go through mentally and physically because of them.”

He glanced over at Candice, making her jump in turmoil. “You and your friends always thought you were better than me. You called me a retard in class every single day because I couldn’t answer a simple question. You wanna know why I couldn’t answer it? Because I don’t have the knowledge. I don’t have the education because I can’t always make it to school. I’m afraid of walking outside my house and getting shot like my brother did. That’s the type of neighborhood I live in. That’s what I have to go through outside of this building.”

“I didn’t know,” Candice cried out, sobbing in despair. “I didn’t know.”

“No matter how much I try to better myself and do the right thing, you’re always gonna see me as the same kid who’s not on your level. You’ll judge me like I’m a lesser being, like I’m a different species. I have emotions, just like you do. But every damn day that I come here, I’m abused by those who think they’re above me.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“I’m sorry. Please, don’t kill me.”

“You think I wasn’t gonna reach my breaking point? That I wasn’t gonna wish death on all of you and get my revenge?”

“James,” I began, shifting his attention back to me, “I wish I had a solution to your problem, but killing everyone who made your life miserable isn’t it. Look around you. Look at what you’ve done. You’re either going to prison for life or you’re gonna die.”

He approached me and wrapped his hand around my throat. I could feel his grip tighten before Lucas rushed forward and threw a punch. His knuckles collided with James’s jaw, breaking the hold around my neck.

“Tyler, Lucas, take Candice and get out of here,” I coughed out. “Robyn and I will handle this.”

Lucas appeared puzzled by my words, but he chose not to argue. He and Tyler pulled Candice out of the room and let the battle between James and the two of us commence.

“You’re both going to die in her place,” he growled, his threat summoning multiple demons into the room.

“Now I can have some fun,” Robyn said with a smirk, raising her right arm to the side. A pole-like object shrouded in a dark aura began to take shape in her hand. A shockwave of black energy shook the room as it formed into an ebony scythe. In a flash, she took charge and cut through demon after demon with ease. I was astonished at how she could wield the weapon with such mastery, not to mention doing it while pregnant.

Or so she claimed.

“I don’t get it,” I said to her. “If you had this kind of power, why didn’t you use it against the demon in the hallway?”

“Because I would’ve had to explain myself afterward, obviously, and I hate talking. Only people with desires to stop evil can see Shade Crawlers and Shadows, so if I had manifested my scythe and started chopping these creatures in half, the only thing everyone else would’ve seen was me swinging my arms around like a cheap action figure. Not to mention I’m pregnant, remember? The only reason I’m fighting right now is because we have no other choice.”

Two Shade Crawlers appeared out of thin air, with one ready to strike me with its claw. Robyn quickly used her weapon to shred the demon’s body into pieces, leaving dusk particles in its wake before ripping into the torso of the other.

“Ugh. I can’t believe I just saved you,” she muttered. “I guess I hate demons more than having your weak ass around.”

“Whatever. I’m so not saying thank you.”

We both locked eyes with James, his demonic manipulator being the final challenge in the room.

“I’ll take it from here,” I told her.

“You’re still trying to save him? Fine, I’ll sit this one out, but don’t expect me to jump in when he goes nuts on you.”

She stepped back and leaned against the chalkboard with her arms crossed, giving me the opportunity to free him. “James, you don’t have to be like the people who bullied you. Punishing them feels like the right thing to do, I know, but it’s not. That temporary satisfaction of getting revenge isn’t worth the empty feeling that comes after. You have to fight against the urge for payback. Please.”

He backed away with his hands on the side of his head, groaning in what seemed to be excruciating agony. “Why do bad people live and good people die?” he begged to know as he scurried around the room, battling his thoughts. “Bad people need to die.”

“I know how you feel, trust me, but everyone should have a chance at redemption. This may sound crazy to you, James, but I can sense the emotions of every person who sets foot in this building, and I know for a fact we’re all the same. We all have our problems. We all do dumb things we regret later, and we all get bullied by society one way or the other, but we should all be given a chance to become better tomorrow than we are today. Keep striving to be better than the person they think you are. You’re stronger than that voice in your head telling you otherwise.”

The demon lurking around him whispered incoherent words in his ear. I watched him cry out and vent until I felt a tap on my shoulder. “I should slay the Shadow,” Robyn suggested. “There’s no hope for him. The only difference between your power and mine is, once I kill the monster, the person it controls dies as well.”

“Then no,” I declined. “He’s gonna get through this.”

James halted and roared in displeasure. “There are so many cruel people in this world who don’t deserve to live. They ruin the joys of life for everyone. I have to get rid of them.” He fell to his knees, looking up at the ceiling. “You’re trying to trick me. I…I should kill you now.”

“You won’t,” I argued. “’Cause you’re not evil. You’re a good person.”

“I-I want to be a good person. I don’t want to be a killer.”

The Shadow influencing James appeared thrown off by his resolve and twisted its massive body in an unorthodox motion. It began to react in a bizarre and unsteady nature, which intensified the darkness surrounding him.

“I can’t control my thoughts.”

As James screamed and struggled to exorcise his demon, heavy footsteps could be heard in the hallway marching toward the room. A squad of armed officers rushed inside.

“Everyone, get on the ground,” one of the officers demanded, his firearm pointed at us. James, however, refused to lay down.

“I said get on the ground.”

“Not until I get my revenge.”

I couldn’t help but feel disheartened by his reaction to the officer.

I had almost gotten through to him, but the negative influence of the demonic entity and James’s thirst for vengeance was too strong. He charged at the officers, his face contorted into a wrathful scowl.

“Take him out,” one of them ordered.

“No, wait,” I pleaded. “I can save him.”

My cry for restraint was silenced by ear-splitting gunshots. My body shook uncontrollably watching James collapse on the floor and cough out his last breath. There were no words to describe the overwhelming events that had unfolded.

I failed. Again.