Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

The three hurled themselves across the room. Zoe, always the fastest, reached him first, shooting in to aim a sharp, well-placed kick at his lower back, but he dodged her with ease, swatting her away.

As she realised what was happening, Eloise’s eyes widened.

‘Get back!’ she shouted.

Their presence had distracted her, and that gave Jerry a break. Moving fast, he lifted a nearby study table as if it weighed nothing at all then threw it at them with such force it splintered when it hit the ground.

They scattered. A small piece of flying wood hit Allie like shrapnel, slicing the skin on her thigh, but she ignored the sting and spun round, looking for the science teacher. He was nowhere to be seen.

‘This way!’ Eloise called, running towards the back of the room.

Behind her, Allie heard Sylvain speaking urgently.

‘In the library. Now! Now!’ Tension made his accent thicker and it took her a second to realise he was talking into his radio. She’d forgotten she had one.

Her heart hammered against her ribs as she ran through the stacks towards the sound of Eloise’s voice. She’d lost Zoe after the table was thrown, but there was no time to do anything except run.

As she spun out of the stacks to the open space at the back of the library she heard Eloise talking, her voice low and taut.

‘You stole everything I cared about,’ she said. ‘Everything that mattered. If it takes all my life I will make you pay for that.’

They were by the back door. Eloise was blocking Jerry’s escape with her body. Zoe buzzed around them like a fly, looking for a moment of weakness to get a blow in. They both ignored her.

Sylvain stood in the shadows across from Allie, watching intently.

Eloise was their teacher. A Night School instructor. This was her play.

Jerry’s attention was focused on Eloise. He didn’t look angry or bitter. He looked regretful.

‘I’m so sorry, Ellie,’ he said. ‘I never meant for this to happen.’

‘Bollocks.’ Eloise spat the word at him. ‘You chose Nathaniel over me. You never loved me. Every word you ever said was a lie.’

The science teacher shook his head hard, no longer trying to get to the door. ‘No, no, no. I did love you. I do. I meant everything—’

At that moment, seeing him distracted, Zoe launched into a whirling kick, aimed at the back of his head.

But Jerry was the one who taught them that move. And he was also the one who taught them how to defend themselves against it.

Spinning, he knocked her back with a strong counter-kick and, before she could regain her balance, swung a punch at her jaw. The blow made an awful cracking sound.

Zoe’s body flew through the air, crashing into a table, before crumpling to the floor, where she lay horribly still.





26





Twenty-six





As she watched Zoe fall, Allie couldn’t seem to move. Her legs felt heavy. The world turned hazy. Around her, everything blurred together. Eloise turning to Zoe. Jerry fumbling with the door. Sylvain shooting past in pursuit of him.

Then she was running to Zoe’s side, her steps heavy and slow. Eloise was already there, fingers pressed against Zoe’s neck, whispering to herself as she searched for a pulse.

‘Come on, Eloise. Find it. Find it…’

Behind them, footsteps pounded the floor. Guards stormed into the room shouting orders and commands.

‘Where is he?’ one of them shouted.

A cool evening breeze blew through the open door leading out on to the grounds.

Jerry was gone and Allie couldn’t seem to care.

‘Zoe,’ she whispered, stroking her face with tentative fingers. Her skin was cool and pale as marble. Her eyelashes lay on her cheeks like dark feathers.

Unconscious, she looked like a little girl.

‘Zoe,’ she whispered again, her voice breaking. ‘You have to wake up.’

But she didn’t move.

All Allie could think was: Dead like Jo. She kept hearing the sound Jerry’s fist had made against Zoe’s chin. Seeing the way the blow had twisted her head to one side. And she felt herself dragged again towards the pit of despair, which it had taken her so long to escape last winter. It was some time before she understood what Eloise was saying to her.

‘She’s alive, Allie.’ The librarian gripped her by the shoulders and Allie wondered how long she’d been saying it. ‘She’s alive.’

But Zoe was so still, so pale, Allie couldn’t believe it. Jerking free of Eloise’s hands, she shook her head stubbornly, biting back a sob.

‘Her neck,’ she said. ‘It could be broken.’

Eloise’s lips were tight. ‘Stay with her. I’ll be back.’

After the librarian left, Allie became more aware of the activity around her. Guards ran in and out of the door, their booted feet like muffled thunder on the thick, Persian rugs.