“Well, too bad. I want to go, now,” Spencer yelled.
“Okay, later today, we will hunt, just you and I.”
“No, Greg,” Spencer commanded slamming his fist down on the table, “I am not hunting with you.”
Greg humped his shoulders and said, “Fine. But, may I suggest that you will find my game more merciful than Irving’s.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Decipher it in your own way, but you will play. This will be one of the greatest and most challenging games, yet. Your strong will against my strong mind and hunting abilities.”
“And if I win?”
“If you win, I will guarantee that you will be safely escorted off this land.” Spencer looked doubtful and Greg answered, “You can trust me. But, you must agree to not say anything about this if you do get out.”
“I promise not to say anything to anybody,” lies Spencer with his most compelling and earnest face.
“Okay, Irving will supply you with the proper tools. When you go out, I suggest that you avoid the staircase entrance at the end of the hall on the west. As soon as he gives you all of your tools, the game begins. You are free to hide anywhere on the land or in the school.”
Spencer went back to the nurse’s office to think.
* * *
A few hours passed and Irving came into the room with a bag of food, what looked like a hunting knife, and a bag of tools. Spencer looked into the bag and saw a hammer, some nails, some rope, and a few other tools that could be of use to him. As soon as Irving was out of sight, Spencer darted down the hallway to the left of the office. He decided that the best idea was to confuse Greg. So, he ran downstairs using the stairs that were located on the left side of the gym. He purposely dropped crumbs of food in different directions to throw Greg off. As soon as he was done he ran into the massive gymnasium. On both sides, there were a large set of blue and brown bleachers with open sides. Spencer took advantage of this opportunity and decided to hide underneath the set on the right side.
A few hours passed and he finally heard signs of Greg. He heard him walking on top of the bleachers. Spencer tried his best to hold his breath. When he heard that the steps had stopped he had the impulse to run, but suddenly he heard them again.
Greg was standing unpleased on top of the bleacher. Out loud he said, “Maybe I have chosen a weak prey. It seems as though he has made an obvious mistake that most also make.” He laughed to himself.
Spencer heard the footsteps fade into the distance and let out a gust of wind. He thought for sure that Greg was going to catch him, seeing as he knew where he was. He decided that it was safe to go out and he continued on with the game. He peeked into the hallway and saw that Greg was nowhere to be found. He walked a short distance down the hall and turned into a small area that led to the school’s band room. He began to set up some sort of trap for Greg.
* * *
Spencer was asleep in one of the four small rooms located in the back of the band room. He was dreaming about his family. Like him, they two were trapped inside the school being hunted by Greg. Greg caught and killed everyone in his family, but when he was just about to kill him, he woke up. He heard footsteps approaching and sneaked over to one of the small windows in the tiny room. Greg was so intent on finding Spencer that he accidently stepped on the trigger to the trap that Spencer set up. He sensed his danger and quickly leapt backward, but it was too late. A chair struck him on the shoulder. He swayed, but did not fall, or drop his weapon from his hand.
“Spencer, if you are can hear me, I want to congratulate you. Not many men have the ability or sense to use traps. You are becoming quite the target, Mr. Rainsford. Now, I am going to attend to my shoulder, but I promise to come back.”
Spencer saw Greg leave and as soon as he was out of sight, he sprinted for an exit. He chose another door in the room, which led outside of the school. Spencer searched the back of the school for any usable materials, but found none. He then ran up one of the outside staircases on the backside of the gym and back into the school. When he entered, he was standing on a balcony of the upstairs portion of the gym. Over the railing he saw Greg and Irving hunting downstairs. He quickly jumped down and began to crawl to the doors at the front of the gym’s upper floor. He opened the door, which let out a loud creaking noise. This signaled Greg and Irving, who began sprinting towards a staircase to get upstairs.
Without thinking, Spencer got up and began to run. He proceeded, hurriedly, to the cafeteria where he set up another trap. He then ran for the door at the back of the cafeteria. This door led to another hall that wrapped around to some small classrooms. He bolted out the door and hid there. He heard a loud inarticulate scream and peeked back in. He saw Irving lying there on the ground with Greg looking over him. Spencer thought to himself that though his target was Greg, one is better than two. He then ran off and hid for the rest of the day. Greg was getting tired and decided to end the game for the day.
Chapter 4
Spencer woke up that afternoon in a janitor’s closet. He peeked out and saw no sign of Greg and decided to go out. He was walking down the hall on the west side of the building when he heard footsteps on the east side. Suddenly, he began to run to the end of the hall, which led him to another stairwell. He entered into the stairwell and skipped down the steps quickly. Greg heard the doors slam shut and hurried after him. It wasn’t until Spencer got to the bottom of the stairs that he realized what Greg had warned him about. He wondered what he was talking about.
He quickly found the answer to his question. On the bottom floor he pressed down on the bar trigger of the door but nothing happened. The door was immovable. Suddenly he heard the sound of the door upstairs opening. It did not close. Spencer looked over and saw that that the staircase had no underside and hid under it.
Suddenly, Greg shouted, “I know you are down there. There is no escape for you. Just come out and face reality. You lost the game.” There was no response, and finally Greg left. He left the door open to ensure that Spencer could get out.
Spencer began to panic. He did not know if he should just go out or if he should stay. He decided to stay in there for a few hours. Hopefully, Greg would get tired of waiting for him and end the game.
A few hours passed and Spencer crept up the stairs to the door. He was hoping that Greg was not standing out there. He slowly opened the door and peeked out. To his amazement, Greg was gone. He crept out into the hallway. He tiptoed down the hall to the cafeteria. He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He decided that the best idea was to go around to the side of the cafeteria that had the windows.
So, he tiptoed out of the front door to the side of the cafeteria and peeked in. Not surprised, he saw Greg sitting at the table eating. He saw that he was not armed and decided to knock on the window. Greg looked around and saw him. He quickly got up and ran to the door and let him in.
“I have to say you are quite the challenge, Mr. Rainsford. Unfortunately, they all lose.”
Spencer did not respond to his coming demise but said, “Here’s the deal. You never caught me, and that means that you didn’t win, yet. So, we are gonna fight to the death.” Spencer took out his knife and held it out ready to fight.
Greg was surprised. He did not have a weapon on him at the time. He had never been so vulnerable a day in his entire life. Though he slowly stepped backwards, he put on a brave face, showing Spencer that he was not scared. Out of the blue, Spencer ran up on him and stabbed him in the stomach, taking Greg by surprise. Greg fell to the floor holding his wound. Blood gushed out all over the floor.
Spencer stooped down beside the bewildered Greg, “Before you die, you are gonna tell me where the cutoff switch is for the fence.”
Greg raised his finger and murmured, “It’s on the wall behind the stage.”
“Thanks, a lot.” He raised up the knife and stabbed Greg in the chest through to his heart. Greg took his last breath and died. He left the knife in his chest and walked
over and found the switch to turn off the fence.
Spencer walked out of the building a stronger man. He thought of himself as a beast, but nevertheless stronger. Greg’s words echoed in Spencer’s mind: Life is for and to be lived by the strong. The weak are put here for the pleasure of the strong. I am strong and I wish to hunt to weak. A smile then spread across his face.
Epilogue
It’s been a year since the incident. It came as a shock to a lot of people, and it helped solve many missing persons’ cases at the police department. Once they invaded the school, the men that were trapped there, were released to their families. Because the town didn’t want the school to be remembered for such grotesque events, they decided to bulldoze the entire thing. I was kinda happy. At least I knew that the monster that terrorized me had gone down with it. Even though I went through so much, I still decided to move back home with my family. I continue to have nightmares about my traumatic experience as anyone would if put into a situation like that. I could only imagine the lives of those men who were freed, who never knew if they would ever get to see their families again. I still miss Walter, but in the end, he has moved on to a better. So, I must move on with my life, too. Though he devastated so many lives, I can’t help but to hear that infamous sentence over and over again in my mind. At the end of the day, I learned that I, along with everyone else, resided in the population of the strong. Only the people who think like him are the weak.
Spencer Rainsford
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