5 Throwing bats
As Tess sprinted away from the pursuing guards, she made a daring leap that resulted in a loud rip at the side of her favorite skirt. She cursed under her breath and glanced back to see Beater, his voice strained with anger, struggling to his knees far behind the others.
"You Mid-Sentry dogs are all dirtbags!" she yelled back at him, her voice cracking with emotion. But she quickly regained her composure and fought back the tears, knowing that showing vulnerability in battle was a sign of weakness.
Determined to stay ahead of the guards, Tess spotted a bat in her path and gave in to the temptation, kicking it behind her. It flew two times in the air before missing a guard's face, causing another section of her skirt to rip. She groaned in frustration, knowing that her expulsion was now inevitable.
She gritted her teeth, wanting the wind to dry the tears pooling in her eyes, blurring her vision. As she ran, the fabric of her skirt fluttered around her legs, the torn edge brushing against her skin.
Finally, she reached the gate that was completely shut with two guards standing in front of it.
As Tess ran towards the gate, the shorter guard yelled at her to stop. Ignoring his command, she swerved towards the high fence and made a powerful leap, her gut dropping with the force of the jump. Her fingers gripped the loops in the fence as she began to climb, the metal rattling noisily. She could hear the guards behind her, their breaths ragged and angry, and the sound of their swinging bats.
As she climbed, she felt a sharp tug on one of her legs, and her grip faltered. Looking down, she saw two guards climbing after her, one still holding onto her leg. Worse, twelve more were still running towards them.
Panic flooded her body as she kicked the guard in the head, her foot making contact with his rock-solid skull. The metal handle of a bat hit her side, then another across her head.
"Auch!" she cried out in pain, but she knew she couldn't let them catch her. These were just more of their stupid games. Suddenly, smoke filled the air, and the tugging on her legs stopped. Tess turned to look behind her, her heart beating loudly in her chest. The MS offs had crowded together, forming a line and watching her intently. Some of them had wide grins on their faces, while others stood with their arms folded, but all of them had their gazes fixed on her.
Why did they stop? They're so close.
"Smells like something's burning," commented one of the guards below her.
A burning smell wafted up to her nostrils. She couldn't ignore the guard's comment below her. She looked down when sparks of static started moving up the fence towards her. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks - it was an electrocution defense. Her hands and feet moved frantically as she climbed the fence with urgency. It rattled and shook with every edge, making her heart race in her chest.
Electrocution defense. That was real? As if another being took over her body, her hands and feet moved hurriedly to climb the fence like a maniac. It rattled to every edge.
"What the hell are you guys thinking?" yelled one of the climbing guards.
Tess couldn't answer. She was too focused on getting to the other side without getting shocked. Was this real life or just a terrible nightmare? The throbbing pain on her face reminded her that it was, in fact, real.
Her hands slapped onto the horizontal metal pole at the top. She pulled herself up with both her arms until it reached below her waist. She swung her left leg over to the other side of the fence.
Her heart pounded with every second as her body trembled uncontrollably. It was like the feeling of racing against time during an exam while trying to stay focused and not miss any steps. One misstep and it was game over.
Tess heard one of the guards below her yell, "Hey, she's gonna make it!" The other two guards let go of the fence and dropped to the ground. But just as she was about to jump down, another guard's angry voice echoed through the air, "No, she isn't!"
As Tess struggled to climb over the fence, the guards below continued their assault with the bats. One after another, they rained down on her, hitting the pole and whizzing past her head. A sharp pain shot through her back as one connected solidly, and another smashed into her knuckles making her lift her hand from the pole.
"Auch!" She shook her hand from the stinging pain.
At that moment she felt something hard whack into the side of her head. Her body began to lean to the other side of the fence. Her other hand slipped from the metal pole. Green grass and parts of the fence swapped with the wide blue sky as she began to fall.
"Aaah!"
She shut her eyes and accepted the end. Her back hit something soft and spiky, like millions of faint hairs. They began to pierce through the fabric on her back before bending into a soft layer. Once she hit something hard and flat a shock of pain zipped up her spine.
Her legs twitched. Parts all over her body began to hurt making it hard to breathe. It sounded like two hearts were beating inside of her. It was either that, or something was wrong with her right ear.
But as she lay there, the pain in her body grew more intense, and millions of tiny creatures buzzed around her. Streaks of light and the faint greens that peeked through her closing eyes began to blur. Petra…
She closed her eyes to shut everything out in the darkness when she heard a harsh voice nearby. "Child, arise!" it bellowed, jolting her back to consciousness.
Tess opened her eyes circling all corners of her socket for the person near her. But there was only tall grass and no sign of a person.
She leaned up painfully and blink to nothing but bush around her. Who was that?
The grass around her was about the height of her desk. Somebody had forgotten to mow the lawn outside the fence. She thought it was luck. Landing onto low-cut grass would have been more painful. But that voice. She couldn't recognize it.
The sound of buzzing grew louder, and she realized that it was not just in her head. The air was filled with the hum of insects, the whirring of wings, and the chirping of crickets.
Tess lay there, staring up at the sky, her mind reeling with pain and confusion. What felt like an hour was only a minute. Thoughts of the mystery person left her mind. The sound of insects began to sharpen into something else.
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