Chapter 5

Amaris had no idea where the third man was but she was not going to waste time looking for him. She turned and started running up the path leading up the side of the hill away from the bridge. Amaris knew that there was a place about three quarters of a mile up where the path ran close to the road. She could take the road from there straight to her house. It was only a few miles away. Amaris was still running but now that she was fairly sure that there were no men close by that were chasing her, the adrenaline was running out and the reality of what happened both at the kickball field and the bridge was becoming more real and less like a bad dream. Amaris continued moving along the trail but at a slower still. She had tears running down her face in a constant stream and was having a hard time seeing. Mr.Clark was injured badly, Mrs. Bass was shot, was she dead? Heather, she was injured. Amaris had seen the man step away from her with a bloody knife. Was she dead too? Was all this her fault? Why did these people want her to go with them? Maybe it would have been better if she had. Then no one would have gotten hurt. They would all be safe, But would she? With this final thought, Amaris heard something. She lifted her head and realized that she could hear a car on the road. She had made it further than she had thought.

Hurrying to the edge of the road, Amaris stepped out and waved down the passing car. Giving no thought to who could be driving it or where they were going. The driver hit the breaks and the car came to a screeching halt. The driver’s door flew open and Mr. Bruce jumped out. “Amaris! Thank god your all right! Get in they are coming this way.”

Now Amaris was confused. What was Mr. Bruce doing out here looking for her. Why were the men in the suits already out on the road looking for her. Surely they could not have made it all the way back to the school yet.

“Mr. Bruce. What is going on? “

“I will explain on the way. Just get in! NOW!” Mr. Bruce said as he ducked back into the driver’s side and shut the door.

Amaris stood frozen. This was unbelievable. What was happening?

Amaris was brought back to reality by the honking of the horn. She slowly reached out to grab the door handle when it was suddenly flung open. “COME ON!” Mr. Bruce said anxiously.

She got in and sat down on the leather seat. Suddenly made conscious of the fact that she was in shorts and a sports bra by the cold feel of the seat. She looked down at herself and saw all the dirt and scrapes. There were a couple of small trickles of blood on her forearm and shins where she was bleeding. She said nothing, just stared. Mr. Bruce said “here”. And reached in back and handed her his sweat shirt from the back seat. It was dark blue and said Mountain University in white letters across the front. She took it from him with an unsure half smile and a small “thank you”.

Amaris pulled the sweat shirt over her head and covered herself. She also finally realized that she was shivering. Mr. Bruce had reached down and adjusted the temperature to help warm her.

“Are you hurt?” Their eyes met for the first time. Amaris suddenly realized that he did not look the same. The mild mannered but well muscled man that she saw everyday in school and had science class with was not the man in front of her. There was something wild and savage about him. He did not wear his blazer and his tie was gone and his button down shirt was unbuttoned and torn with blood around a hole at the shoulder. His other sleeve was torn too.

Amaris’ eyes returned to his and answered “No, but are you?”

“I’ll be fine just a scrape. “.

“How did you get hurt? And why is your shirt all torn up? Where are your glasses for that matter? Will you please tell me what is going on? Are the others okay? Heather, and Mrs. Bass, and Mr. Clark?”

Mr. Bruce took one hand off the steering wheel as he sighed and rubbed his neck. “There is a lot to explain. Why don’t we wait until we get to your Grandmother’s house and then we will explain. In the mean time I can tell you that help arrived at the school for those who were injured out on the field at the school before I left.”

“WE? Does Grandma know what is going on?” Amaris said with curiosity.

“Yes. But not now. There will be time for explanations when we get there and are relatively safe.” Mr. Bruce looked back at the road. He was tense and certainly not giving much away at the moment. Amaris sat back in the seat and looked out the window letting it all run through her mind one more time. None of this made sense. She did not recognize any of those people. Why did they just start hurting people like that. She was still so terrified and confused. Her Grandmother knew what was going on and maybe she would have some answers. Grandma always knew what to do. That was why the people of the town always turned to her when they were in trouble, why she was the one they went to for advice. It will be okay as soon as she got home to her grandmother.