Chapter 3: Surprise and Attack (EDITED)

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Two Days Later:

I was sitting in a bland beige-colored reception room, my mind churning on everything I'd heard about this morning before class. I'd been exhausted when Becca woke me and now that I was waiting it caught up with me.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked groggily, eyes barely open.

"I heard that Alyssa Lancaster and Reagan Smith are being expelled for cheating! I know how much you hate Alyssa so I had to tell you. Apparently somebody heard them talking about it and went to the dean! I can't believe those girls would cheat like that. If they can't make it through a class on their own, why didn't they just..."

Becca's voice drowned out as I felt blood rush from my face. They were both expelled? I thought the dean would make an exception for that girl. Did he believe Alyssa's story over mine? I had to find out what happened.

"...Are you listening?" Becca snapped at me, startling me.

"Sorry Becca, I actually have to get ready now." I said, getting out of bed and corralling her out of my room.

"But I wasn't..."

"Talk to you later!" I yelled shutting the door in her face. I needed to get dressed and talk to the dean.

"Annalise Bloom, the Dean is ready to see you now." The elderly receptionist's voice cut me out of my reverie. I stood out of the uncomfortably stiff armchair and walked across the room to the door leading to the dean's office. It was several hours after speaking to Becca that I'd managed to get here. I'd tried to get in to see him earlier, before my last finals but his secretary made me schedule an appointment. I walked into the main campus building and made my way to his office. When he finally let me in to his office, shutting the door behind him, I set my bag down and sat nervously.

"I heard both Alyssa and Reagan are being expelled." I began.

"Yes, that's correct."

"But what about giving her a chance to explain herself? When I overheard her she sounded really scared of Alyssa--" He held up his hand, cutting me off.

"Miss Bloom, I did give her a chance to explain. She informed me that she'd done it of her own free will and shared the answers to the test with Alyssa Lancaster willingly. I had no choice but to expel them both. We have a strict honor code here, you know that. I'm sorry if that's not the outcome you were hoping for, but there was nothing else I could do."

I stared at him wide-eyed. Why had she admitted that to him? I heard her talking privately about being scared. I felt it weighing on my chest, almost as if it was my fault she was being expelled. But if she didn't tell the dean the truth, that was on her, right?

"...there is one more thing." His lined, aged face suddenly seemed older, more weary. "This isn't common knowledge yet, but since it has to do with what happened I think you ought to know. Reagan Smith killed herself yesterday."

I took a beat, unable to understand his words. "She...killed herself? How?" My mouth dropped open.

"Well, she left a note explaining that since she'd been expelled she couldn't live with herself. She shot herself. I'm sorry to break the news to you like this." He apologized.

My head was swimming. How was I supposed to handle that? She killed herself because of me. "Did she know I was the one who turned her in?" I suddenly had to know. I didn't want to handle her family hating me for this as much as I hated myself for it.

"No. Per privacy policy, your name hasn't been mentioned anywhere."

I sighed in relief before feeling even more hatred settling in. I can't believe I'd worry about that at a time like this! I had to get out of there, get away from this guilt. I hastily said goodbye, thanking the dean for his time.

After I nearly ran out of there, I meandered toward the alleyways behind the college. I needed to walk for a minute and clear my brain of the guilt. After a minute, I glanced around. I had no idea where I was, in a narrow concrete walkway between dingy red brick buildings. I tried to turn back, but there was just more narrow alley leading from building to building. I just kept walking, hoping I'd run into somebody who'd tell me where to go.

I kept looking for familiar walls, but it felt like one alley that was always the same no matter what direction I went. I sighed in frustration. Suddenly I saw a shadow flit around a corner.

"Hey! Wait! Can you help me? I'm lost!" I called out in relief. Whoever the shadow was, they didn't respond or turn around. I started walking toward them curiously.

"Hey, are you okay? Did you hear me? Do you know how to get out of here?" About two feet away from them I stopped. I was suddenly overcome with a bad feeling. I turned to walk away, but they reached out to stop me, grabbing my arm roughly.

"Let go! Help!" I screamed, but nobody was around to hear me except for another person in a hoodie and mask, who just stood by watching. They spun me around so I came face to face with someone in a mask with a blank white face. I screamed again, but they punched me in the mouth.

I tried to push them away. They just spun me around until my back was against the brick wall and punched me again, this time in the gut. I keeled over, winded. I felt a series of hits and kicks that I couldn't stop, until I was in so much pain that I fell over. They just kept kicking harder and harder and suddenly I felt them grab my hair and lift my head up to look at me. A second person in a mask appeared and despite the agony I was feeling I mustered enough willpower to snap out a quick jab. I felt my fist connect with the mask and I was satisfied for only a minute until I got a particularly nasty kick to the ribs. I coughed up blood and the person holding the mask finally let me go.

My world began to slow as my heartbeat got weaker. They kept kicking me and one landed on my head so I blacked out for a second, then woke up. Blood was falling from my head in waves and I was no longer able to wonder if it would ever stop. All I could do was stare with unseeing eyes into the distance and accept the complete surrender of my body; I wanted to fight back but my limbs were no longer my own. I couldn't control them.

One of the attackers twisted my arm until I heard a grinding noise and it exploded into fiery pain. I screamed with what little control over my body I had left and I heard a deep chuckle. Then suddenly they lifted my head again, this time to brandish a knife so I could see it. I glared into the holes of their masks defiantly, refusing to be cowed. I spit in their direction with disgust, thinking if I was going to be stabbed then at least I could go out with swinging.

They immediately dropped my head and I felt searing pain in my stomach. It burned like I had never felt before and I cried animally, no longer able to form words. My heartbeat weakened yet again. I couldn't quite breathe right, and through tunnel vision I saw them running away, black hoodies seeming to swirl in my sight. After a few moments, I don't know how long-it could have been hours or minutes, I no longer felt pain. Or cold, or the asphalt on my skin, or anything really. My eyes are so heavy, I thought, why don't I just let them close again? No, stay awake. But I'm so tired. Finally the drunk-with-blood-loss part of my mind won and the very last thing I saw was a man running toward me before everything turned black and my heart stopped beating.

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