Free Project Aquarius (The Sensitives Series Book 1) by Colleen Jordan Page B

he was in the hallway with Ms. Harding’s voice calling after him, “Darnell, wait!”
    Instead of going to the nearest exit, his feet steered him toward the gymnasium. The doorway to the gym had a halo around it that drew him in. It didn’t make logical sense, but he was compelled to go that way. Maybe he wanted to say goodbye or see his classmates one last time. Whatever the reason, Darnell always answered the glowing halo.
    The gym held the slight stench of sweaty socks and kickball rubber that pervaded all grade schools. The old tilt-pane windows were open near the ceiling, making a feeble attempt to air out the staleness. The aged and peeling basketball hoops were cranked up out of the way, making room for the balance beam and the pull-up bar. Blue gym mats were stacked in the corner, waiting to be used for the grueling sit up and push up drills mandated by the state fitness test.
    Darnell wasn’t even one step inside, when he saw the mess. The bodies of his classmates were strewn like garbage all over the floor. They had stopped in the middle of their warm up stretches, some frozen mid-bend reaching for their toes. There was no movement and no sound at all. Darnell felt nothing but the presence of a vacuum, an unfillable hole. Like the night they took his father away in handcuffs–– nothing would ever be the same. This was the tipping point.
    Darnell stared at the body closest to him. Small streaks of blood trickled down Katie’s face, her eyes still open, wide with terror. She would never flip her hair at him again. Someone had killed Darnell’s classmate. He had killed her.
    His heart raced. It wasn’t his fault! He hadn’t meant to. He was only mad at what the lunch lady had said about him––
    “Darnell, get down! Go to the far wall! Get away from the windows!”
    Predictably, Ms. Harding had shown up again and started flipping out. But Darnell couldn’t move. He was stuck in the stillness of the sea of bodies, drowning in his own destruction.
    His teacher heaved the gymnasium’s double doors closed, kicking the doorstops out of the way.
    “Go in lockdown mode,” she shouted, “the shooter could still be in the building. Get down!”
    Ms. Harding ran toward him in slow motion, wild arms outstretched. Just as she was about to throw him to the ground, Darnell snapped and yelled, “Get away from me, you crazy bitch!”
    He easily anticipated Ms. Harding’s next move and sidestepped to avoid the tackle, causing his teacher to hit the ground hard and land on top of one of her other students. The crunch of her weight on Brayden’s tiny body echoed in the cavernous gym. Blue eyed with bleach blond hair, Brayden looked like a broken porcelain doll.
    Somehow, Ms. Harding recovered her balance quickly and got back to her feet.
    “Get down Darnell! You could be in danger. Get down behind the blue mats!” she urged.
    “Nah.”
    He wasn’t going to go down for this alone. Adrenaline was running the show now and it was time to take action. Time to get revenge. His fists curled into tight balls. Darnell knew what he needed to do.
    Man up.
    In his best gangsta voice he said, “We need to strap up and go after these bastards.” His face scrunched up tight. His muscles were taut, ready to spring an attack on anyone who came too close.
    “Go after who? Did you see someone? Tell me what you saw.”
    “Shut up,” Darnell said, fists hot with rage. Ms. Harding would be his next victim, if she didn’t watch herself.
    “What did you see? What happened?”
    She continued with the pointless questions.
    Darnell swallowed down the truth that he had done something terribly wrong.
    “I didn’t see squat. You ain’t figured it out yet?”
    “Figured what out? What is it?”
    “I ain’t gonna tell you. I’m no snitch. Snitches get stitches.”
    Ms. Harding made eye contact with him for the briefest moment before he took off running again.
    “Darnell, wait! Darnell! Where are you going?”
    “To mess these