The Culling (Book 1): Splinter Skill

by Bell, A. C.

  Raiden’s features softened and he held my shoulders. “What matters is that you know now. You can tell the police what he did to you. He won’t hurt either of you again,” he said. A fire truck and an ambulance screamed onto the block outside, drawing Raiden’s attention. “You should be checked out,” he said.

  A gaggle of students had gathered across the block at the front of the building. By the number of cell phones in the air to film the event, you would think Emma Watson was visiting. Raiden called to a paramedic and explained that I might have a concussion. She patiently instructed for me to sit on the back of the ambulance and began asking me questions similar to the ones Raiden had asked as she inspected my wound. She kept her face passive every time I hesitated on an answer.

  “You do have a concussion, but it seems minor. Based on your injury, however, it could worsen over the next few hours.” She handed me an ice pack and picked up an equipment bag. “Will you be alright for a few minutes?”

  I nodded and she ventured around the massive fire truck toward the crowd down the road, probably to check with the other paramedic to see if anyone else was hurt. Raiden kept looking around, shifting on his feet.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Campus police is here. Someone needs to tell them what happened.”

  I nodded. “Go bring them over.” He looked at me uncertainty. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

  After a moment, he nodded and marched off. Down the street on the other side of the fire truck, I watched the mass of students looking my direction and wondered if any of them could recognize me. I hoped not. Their pity wouldn’t solve this problem. I shifted on the uncomfortable metal frame of the door and was finally able to settle enough to relax when a hand squeezed my arm and yanked me to my feet. Before I got my complaint out something sharp pressed against my side.

  Justin’s venomous whisper snaked through my hair. “Scream or signal anyone and I cut you open.”

  10 Thicker Than Water

  Even if I intended to, the words to call for help probably wouldn’t come. If I were watching a movie, I would be yelling at the girl to scream anyway. Any damage Justin could do with the knife before help arrived would be nothing compared to what would happen once we were alone. But somehow, I couldn’t make myself yell for Raiden or the firemen, knowing that a dagger would slip into my intestines if I did. Despite everything that had happened, he was still Justin. Maybe I could talk him down. I took solace in knowing that I wasn’t defenseless. I could probably take him down if he wouldn’t see reason.

  I let Justin lead me in the opposite direction of the crowd of curious and concerned onlookers watching the building. We rounded the corner of the street, cutting through the grass when we reached a vacant area.

  “If you’d just minded your own business, none of this would’ve had to happen.” His words were as sharp as the knife he kept pressed against my side. I scanned the edges of the buildings, hoping for any cameras, but no such luck. Maybe all the sneaking around he’d done lately had made him familiar with where they were located.

  “You don’t want to do this. Do you really think Nikki will forgive you if you hurt me?” My voice was shaking as badly as the hand Justin was gripping my arm with. I took some solace in knowing that he wasn’t getting off on my fear.

  “She doesn’t need to know.”

  I couldn’t suppress a laugh. It came out manic. “She already does, Justin. She called to warn me before you pushed my car into the lake.”

  His breathing was shaky. “I didn’t mean to push you in, the railing shouldn’t have broken. I just wanted to scare you.”

  “But now you think you can kill me? Please, Justin, I’ve known you for years. We can talk about this.”

  “No, no more talking!” Justin shook me. He sounded desperate. The tip of the knife bit into my skin and I inhaled sharply. It would be too risky to try again, just yet.

  The art buildings were a cluster across from the history building, like a little colony of artists-united. He led me to the biggest in the middle. Finding the door he seemed to be looking for, he gave the metal handle a heave and shoved me inside. My eyesight managed to adjust quickly and I recognized the large burgundy curtain. We were backstage of the auditorium; His turf. This was the end of the line.

  Justin flipped on the overhead lights, which were slightly dimmed because the bulbs needing to be changed. A myriad of colors of dried paint spackled the floor back here as if a rainbow had been murdered, from years of painting sets. A neat stack of white pine boards and planks were set against the wall and the potent fetor of sawdust and paint fumes filled the dusty air. The backdrops and props for their play took up most of the space, painted brick walls, a flower garden, a lavish, kingly bedroom, and anything else they needed for Shakespeare's Hamlet. As I looked around at what he intended to be my dying place my fear began to seethe into an anger I’d never felt before.

  “You know, I always assumed you just joined drama to spend time with Nikki, but you really are a phenomenal actor,” I spat. “This charade you’ve been playing of the caring friend and loving boyfriend? Amazing performance. You may have even had yourself convinced.”

  His fingers wove into my hair and he pulled my head back roughly, holding the knife against my neck. I winced as pain shot through the bump on my head.

  “She’s been drifting away from me for a long time now. Everything I’ve done has been to keep her. I do love her. You have no idea how much. But you. You couldn’t leave it alone, could you?” Venom dripped from his words.

  I laughed cynically again, unable to stop myself. He gave my hair another yank and, despite myself, I yelped. “Can’t help throwing your weight around, can you?”

  “Shut up! You don’t know anything about me; What I’ve had to put up with. The way she flirts with other guys when she thinks I won’t hear, the excuses she makes. You wouldn’t understand,” he spat.

  Rage burned in my chest. “You’re right. I’ll never understand why you felt you had to beat her into submission. But I’ll tell you what I do know. You don’t deserve her and she knows it. She doesn’t love you anymore. Nothing you do to me is ever going to change that.”

  “Shut up!” Spittle flew from his mouth as he yelled.

  “Want to know what else I know?” I snarled. “You’re a coward. For weeks you’ve been terrorizing me behind my back because you didn’t have the balls to confront me. Even today you left me for the fire to finish because you’re too weak to do it with your own hands.” I winced at a sting at my neck. “And don’t even get me started on the knife. I mean, I know you’re frustrated that she’s not interested anymore, but talk about impotent substitution. It’s either that or you really do need a weapon to control one girl.”

  Finally, he snapped. In a fit of outrage, Justin gripped my throat with his free hand and spun me to face him, clenching tight to cut off my airway and stop me from talking. But I didn’t need to. Before he could spit whatever lies he was about to, I threw my fist into his jaw. My strength surprised him and he released my throat and stumbled back, but he recovered quickly and swung his unarmed hand out to backhand me. I snatched his arm and twisted his wrist. As he cried out, I couldn’t help but wonder; Had he ever backhanded Nikki? A kick to the side of his knee knocked him to his knees and then I delivered my own harsh backhand.

  The distant sound of my name caught my attention. It was Nikki. It wasn’t much, but the distraction was enough. Justin tackled me to the spackled floor. Fortunately, the knife in his hand skidded across the hardwood when we landed, but his weight lent to his strength. Grappling for anything in reach, my fingers wrapped around a two-by-four and I swung it at his skull. He howled in pain and rolled off of me so I scrambled to my feet.

  Anger boiled in my chest. The edges of the plank bit into my skin as I gripped it tighter. With a shriek of rage, I swung it downward at him. It struck his leg and he screamed again, but he rolled out of the way for the next few swings. The plank star
ted to crack and splinter against the floor and I lifted to swing again as he pulled something from his pocket.

  “Not another step,” He glared, directing a gun at me. Where had he gotten that? Was it Nikki’s? He stumbled to his feet, wincing and gripping his leg where I’d hit him. I froze, eyes glued to the gun. A twinge of panic for my life brought back all the helpless fear I’d been feeling.

  Someone called my name somewhere outside the auditorium again, but I couldn’t place who it was. Justin was startled and looked around me to the door. I swung and the heavy plank connected with his right hand and he dropped the gun with a shout. I swung at the knee I’d kicked before. He crumpled involuntarily. My hands were trembling so badly that I had to grip harder so I wouldn’t drop it and I felt blood break free of the skin. I swung again and again. He barely rolled out of the way, cradling his hand. I continued swinging until the plank snapped with a loud crack across his back. Justin screamed.

  I heard my name shouted again and this time I recognized who was with Nikki. I turned to face the door so he would hear me. “Slade!”

  Before I could verify if he’d heard me, Justin tackled me to the floor again. The board flew from my grip and we hit the ground in scuffles. My elbow jabbed into his nose and his fist slammed into my ribs. I managed a groin kick as he punched me again and I pushed him off of me. Then I saw it, a gleam of bright metal. The knife. I crawled over and scooped it up, pushing myself to my feet. As I spun to face him, I was aware of several things: first, that he had retrieved the gun, and second, that Nikki was running toward us from the open backstage exit.

  Nikki lunged for me just as a loud crack erupted and the bullet pierced the left side of my collar, next to the shoulder. I felt something snap and cried out. Nikki’s tackle to get me out of the way was too late and a fresh wave of fire flared in my shoulder as we hit the floor. A burning sensation enveloped my shoulder, and then pain. More pain than I would have thought possible from such a small hole. I tried to reach for my collarbone, but my body seemed unable to respond for several moments.

  “Adeline!” Nikki’s voice broke through my cries and she bent over me. My glance was pulled to Justin looming behind her. She noticed my glance and her face contorted into a snarl. She spun on Justin with a hatred that stopped his advance. “Don’t you dare!”

  He hesitated, but the shock on his features twisted when he saw she was no longer on his side. He raised the gun in his uninjured hand and fixed it on her. I stared frozen, unable to make my body move to help her. She glared at him, unblinking.

  At the last moment, a hand gripped Justin’s arm and forced it away as the gun blasted. A palm connected painfully with Justin’s elbow and he released the weapon with a scream. Slade caught it before it could hit the floor and wrapped his other arm tight around Justin’s neck in a grip he couldn’t fight. He pocketed the gun and covered Justin’s mouth and nose. Raiden rushed to my side, his brows furrowed tightly. Shortly, Justin’s attempts to free himself stopped and Slade let him slump to the ground.

  “Adeline?” Nikki turned to me again, panic raising her voice an octave.

  “You’re okay, he can’t hurt you anymore,” I managed to say, unable to contain my relief. I made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. My body began to tremble badly.

  “Your body is going into shock,” Raiden explained.

  Slade handed a jacket to Nikki. “I’ll carry him,” he said pointing to Justin’s limp body. “Keep pressure on her shoulder and let's get outside,” he instructed. Though Raiden was careful when he lifted me, a fresh wave of pain exploded through my collar.

  “I’m sorry,” he muttered when I made a pained sound.

  Nikki rushed next to him, holding the wadded jacket against my shoulder. Slade ended up staying behind when Justin woke and started to struggle. Around Raiden’s shoulder, I saw Slade pin Justin to the ground and pull a phone from his pocket, probably to call campus police.

  “It’s okay, he can handle him,” Raiden assured me. Each step he took sent another pulse of agony through me, but we managed to get back to the ambulance eventually. As I was loaded onto a stretcher, the female medic from before put a mask over my mouth and nose that made it much easier to breathe. Nikki tried to follow as I was lifted into the ambulance, but the other paramedic stopped her.

  “Can’t I come with her? Please!” Nikki broke into frenetic sobs, a sound so heartbreaking that it made me start to cry. The medic attending me tried to soothe me, holding a hand to the top of my head as she pressed something to my wound.

  “I’m sorry, we can’t allow you to ride with us,” The other medic said to Nikki. She disappeared from sight as the metal doors of the ambulance closed.

  ***

  The gun hadn’t been Nikki’s. A 22 wouldn’t have done as much damage, but that was irrelevant now. The doctors were unable to put me under anesthesia due to the concussion I’d suffered. Instead, they used a numbing agent in my left shoulder. It felt as though I didn’t have a shoulder, that I just had a disembodied forearm and hand. It was disconcerting, but they were able to pull the bullet out. It had gotten lodged in my broken collarbone, so it hadn’t bounced around to cause more damage. There was apparently nothing they could do for my collarbone other than set it. Due to the damage, they said it would be highly unlikely I would ever regain full strength in my left arm. Did that mean I would no longer be able to join the academy? I was terrified to find out.

  Once again, I was in a sling. My other injuries were minor, mostly just cuts and bruises. The concussion had them worried the most at this point. I would have to stay for a few more hours at least, but now that my neurological exam was done, I was allowed visitors. I leaned back in my bed, glad that at least the pillows were fluffy. I'd heard people compare hospital pillows to sacks of flour. The door opened abruptly and Peter and Nikki peeked in. I ushered them forward.

  “Adeline, I’m so sorry,” Peter said rushing to the bed. His skin was pale and the rims of his eyes were red as if he’d been trying not to cry, which both warmed and broke my heart. “When the officers got word of the fire in your building, they hurried out to help evacuate students. They wouldn’t even hear me out.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I think Justin was counting on that. He pulled the alarm. You called Raiden? Oh, your knife is at the police station.” I opted not to tell him Justin had used it on me. He’d only blame himself even more.

  Peter gave a small nod and returned to my question. “After you and I talked. I knew you guys shared the class before.”

  My head continued to pulse and I slumped my head against the pillows. Little did Peter know that I’d actually yelled at Raiden to leave. Must have been why Raiden took so long to get there. I looked around Peter at Nikki. She’d hung back, glued to the door frame. Her skin was ashen and her eyes were red and puffy. When I met her eye, she cringed a little. Did she think I was angry with her? She kept her arms clutched tightly around herself and took a slow, uncertain step into the room. Her face was blotchy from crying and her lip trembled as if she were about to start again. She dug her teeth into her lip to stop herself.

  "Adeline." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I–" Her voice caught and she stopped to take a deep breath, steadying herself. I extended my right hand to her and she moved forward and grasped it in both of hers, sitting on the edge of the bed. Peter stepped back to give us a little privacy and watched her with an unreadable expression.

  Her hands were shaking. “I should have told you sooner. If I had, none of this would have happened! I just... I could barely even admit it to myself.”

  “I know,” I said. I squeezed her hand comfortingly. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course,” she said. She readjusted herself to get more comfortable and met my eyes with determination, eager to make up for a debt I didn’t believe she owed.

  “How long?”

  Nikki’s gaze shot down and I knew she didn’t need me to clarify. “It started last semester. We wer
e having lunch and this other guy smiled at me. When I smiled back…he started getting possessive. The first time he…” Nikki paused and took a deep breath to calm herself. “The first time he hit me, he caught me laughing with a waiter at dinner when he came back from the bathroom and was still mad when we got to the parking lot. That was the only time he slapped me. I think he was worried people would notice if my cheek was always red or bruised.”

  “All those extra rehearsals; Is that really where you were?”

  “Not usually…”

  Neither Peter nor I spoke. I think he was having as much trouble picturing Justin doing these things as I was. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking behind his chocolate eyes.

  “Peter,” Nikki turned to look at him leaning next to the door. She sounded like she might cry again. He straightened and appeared oddly nervous. “He hurt you, too. I’m so sorry. Is there any way you can forgive me?”

  Peter stepped to her side and extended his arms to offer a hug. Nikki accepted. “There’s nothing to forgive,” he muttered over the top of her head. When they parted, Nikki was calmer. I handed her a tissue for her face.

  “Whew,” she said wiping her cheeks with it. “What a roller coaster.”

  Peter grinned. “That’s something we should all do. Once Adeline can, that is.”

  “I’m not going on another roller coaster. Remember how well I handled it last time?”

  “Poor girl was shaking for an hour,” Nikki recollected with a wobbly chuckle.

  “You were fifteen,” Peter said. “And you only tried one.”

  I laughed. “Are you suggesting a different would be less terrifying?”

  “You were only terrified because you can’t stand not being in control,” Peter pointed out.

  “There’s nothing wrong with that,” I argued.

  “Oh, what about the one that goes through a second time backwards?” Nikki said.

  “I love that one,” Peter said.