The sickening, hollow echo of the loud pop reverberated throughout the empty classroom, and every person present instinctively winced, feeling the phantom surge of agony that was currently tearing through Sylan's nervous system. Before the senior could even draw enough breath to let out a guttural scream that would have alerted the entire hallway, Max moved with a terrifying, mechanical efficiency. He reached out, ripped a jagged strip of fabric from Sylan's own shirt, and shoved it deep into the athlete's mouth, effectively gagging him and stifling his voice to a series of frantic, muffled whimpers.
Max looked toward the door. Having more people stumble into the room now would be incredibly troublesome for his undercover mission. Although, he mused privately, if a particular "janitor" happened to be patrolling the hallway outside right now, the situation would be handled before a single student could even think of calling campus security.
