I wake up the next morning to the sun streaming through the windows and my phone buzzing like crazy. A few are notifications, but the rest are texts. 'Bella, stay away from Ross. Please. He's out of control.' 'Bella? How's everything going?'

I look at the clock and gasp, throwing on jeans and a T-shirt before grabbing my backpack and rushing to school.

The first thing I notice when I get to school is the hallway. It's completely trashed. Lockers torn open, books and papers scattered on the ground...

I walk towards the lockers and all the colour drains from my face as I see the message on them written in dried blood. 'Pity. You could've avoided this so easily. Instead, you fall in with the wrong crowd. Oh, well. At least it ends well for me.'

"Bella!" I whirl around and see Zach rushing towards me, fear in his gaze. "We need to hide. Now. Come on." I want to question him, but the look in his eyes stops me as we rush to an empty classroom and slam the door.

I see Tara inside the classroom and a sigh of relief escapes me as I rush over to her. "What's going on?" I ask, my voice edged with panic.

The look in Tara's eyes terrifies me: raw, naked fear. "It's Dad. He... he snapped." I open my mouth to respond but am cut off by a loud bang. My heart thumps in my chest as I take a deep breath, carefully walking to the door.

After listening for a minute, I quietly ease the door open and peek out into the hallway. I hear loud panting and turn around, coming face-to-face with Ross. A crazed expression is on his face, eyes searching my face hungrily.

I open my mouth, but before I can speak, he grabs me, throwing me hard against the lockers. Crying out in pain, I stand up, walking towards him.

The look in his eyes momentarily paralyses me, but I quickly snap out of it, grabbing his hands. "Ross, listen to me," I tell him, not a trace of fear in my voice. "This isn't you. You're stronger than this. You need to fight it. I know you can hear me. Follow my voice. Fight it." A second later, the light returns to his eyes.

My head begins to pound and I touch the back of it, wincing as it comes back bloody. "Bella?" Tara's voice comes from inside the classroom.

My head spins as I walk to the classroom and open the door. Tara rushes to me as my legs give out and I collapse into her. Zach walks over to us, but I shake my head, motioning to Ross. "Help him. Please."

He hesitates before nodding and rushing out of the classroom. I close my eyes, forcing myself to stay awake.

Tara wraps my arm around her shoulder, taking me home. As soon as we get inside, I walk to my room and collapse on the bed, falling asleep in minutes.

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