️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️Content Warning; This chapter contains explicit language, sexual content, violence, and/or other mature themes that may be disturbing for some readers. Reader discretion is strongly advised.

Just as Brittany pushed her head down, the restroom door creaked open.

“What in God’s name is going on in here?” a rough voice boomed.

The girls instantly let go, scrambling back. Elara collapsed against the stall wall, gasping, her scalp burning.

It was Frank, the old janitor. He stood in the doorway, his kind, wrinkled face tight with anger.

He held his mop up, pointing it at them. “You girls get out of here! Now!” he barked. “Before I call security and have you all expelled for assault!”

The three girls, now pale, scurried past him without a word, not even looking back at her.

Frank rushed over to Elara. “Child? Are you alright?” He helped her to her feet. His rough callused hand held her gently.

She couldn’t speak. She just shook her head sobbing, her body trembling.

“I seen ’em,” he whispers softly, patting her shoulder awkwardly. “Bullies. Worse than rats. You don’t let ’em get to you, you hear? You’re better than that.”

She managed a shaky nod.

“You want me to call someone?” he asked.

“No,” she croaked. “No one.” She had no one to call anyway.

She left the bathroom for her home, her body still trembling, waiting for the hours to pass until her evening shift at the diner.

***

Work was her only escape. The greasy, noisy diner was just a few miles away from the university but it feels like another world.

Mr. Henderson grunted at her when she arrived, shoved an apron her way, and pointed to a stack of dirty dishes.

For the next few hours, she didn’t have to think. Just focus on scraping the food remains and stacking heavy plates. The heat from the industrial dishwasher steamed her face, but she could pretend the wetness on her cheeks was just condensation, not tears.

By the time her shift ended at 10 PM, she was more than tired.

Elara walked fast as the walk home was through a poorly lit part of the town. She had her keys poking through her fingers, the pen blade equipped with it already dull.

She was about two blocks from her apartment when she heard it a low whistle. Then a chuckle.

Her blood ran cold. She picked up her pace, not looking back.

“Hey, sweetheart. Slow down.” A voice called, grabbing her forearm. By instinct, she slashed the blade across his arm.

“Damn it” he groaned

“That bitch got you. You’re okay though?” Another guy asked him.

“Yeah, just a little scratch,” he snorted, showing the scratch. The dull knife really did nothing but a little scratch.

There were four of them. They fell into step around her, surrounding her. She recognized one of them, Mark, from her study group, his face was now twisted into an ugly smirk.

“Look who’s out all alone,” he said. “Heard you’re looking for some company, Elara.”

“Leave me alone, Mark,” she said, her voice shaking.

“Why would we do that?” another boy said, moving closer. “We saw the pictures. We know what you want.”

“That was a lie!” she cried out, desperation clawing at her throat. “It was all a lie!”

“Doesn’t look like a lie from where I’m standing,” Mark sneered, grabbing her arm. “But you know, your body’s really hot, we would love a taste

Panic exploded inside her. She tried to pull back, but another boy grabbed her other arm.

“No! Stop! Somebody help!” she screamed.

A hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her cries. They pushed her, and she fell hard onto the gravelly asphalt of a deserted parking lot. The impact jarred her whole body. A knee dug into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She could smell their sweat, their cheap cologne.

What is this? Is this the end? After everything—the betrayal, the bullying and all.

Fingers clawed at the waistband of her jeans, the sound of the button popping off.

She kicked relentlessly, her scream muffled against the palm on her mouth.

“Keep quiet whore, you’ll love this” the guy above her murmured, palming her breast through her thin singlet while another guy tried to dip his hand into her jeans..

Elara froze at their touch, she felt repulsive, goosebumps appearing on her skin.

“Fuck” the guy palming her mouth cursed. She had just bitten him.

The guy in between her legs barely looked up, his focus purely on her.

The guy she had just bitten slapped her hard. “Suck my dick” he smirked, bringing out his penis and forcing it on her face.

Elara bites hard on it, a piece of his meat almost cutting into her mouth, the guy screaming in agony.

Mark snickered, watching as the other two guys tried to deliver the guy’s chunk from her teeth.

Elara fought like a wild animal, her body twisting against their weight. The guy she’d bitten was howling, clutching his bloody crotch.

She spits out his blood, crawling away from them as the guy bent down in pain.

“You fucking bitch!” he shrieked, his voice cracking. “I’ll kill you!”

Mark, his smirk finally gone, replaced by a cold smile, backhanded her across the face. The blow snapping her head to the side, stars exploding in her vision.

“Hold her down!” he barked at the other two.

They pinned her shoulders and legs to the rough ground, the gravel digging into her back through her thin shirt. Steve, limping and furious, pounced on her, punching her with as much pain he could feel in between his legs.

The one between her legs fumbled with her jeans, trying to drag it down her legs.

This was it. There was no escape. No one to interrupt. No last-minute rescue. A sob caught in her throat, if she is going to be graped tonight, she might as well kill herself after this.

‘Or kill them.’

“NO.“ she screamed in pain as he tried to squeeze his full hand into her.

The world stopped, almost like everything else froze, Well except them

Then shadows emerged, mixing in with the boys' shadows. They began to swirl around the boys' feet

Noticing this, the boys looked at themselves in surprise, then fright.

Then came the vibration.

It didn't come from the ground. It seemed to come from her.

The boy pinning her left shoulder was the first. His eyes widened in confusion, then shock, as a jolt, like a powerful electric current, seized his body. He convulsed violently, a gurgle escaping his lips before he collapsed sideways, completely still.

The one holding her right shoulder looked down at his friend in disbelief, just in time before his own body went rigid. His back arched, his fingers spasming away from her arm before he too dropped like a stone.

Steve, who was about to run away from her, stumbled as the vibration hit him. He clutched his chest, his face a mask of confusion and sudden fear.

"Wha—?" he managed before his eyes rolled back and he crumpled to the ground.

Mark, who had been watching with anticipation, froze. The vibration hit him last. He stared at Elara, and for a second, their eyes met. She saw the anger vanish, replaced by terror and lots of questions. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. His body shuddered once, twice, and then he fell forward, landing heavily on the ground beside her, unconscious.

The pressure on her vanished.

Silence.

Except now, the only world seems to have returned to the way it was.

Elara lay on the ground, gasping, her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest.

What… what had just happened?