Humanity

Gunshots

(A/N this is not how I planned this to turn out. If you are sensitive to things like suicide or death, I advise you not to read further than this sentence. I planned this to be about bullying. Not about what follows.)

Click. Click. Click. The sound of footsteps drawing nearer and nearer makes me want to scream. It makes me want to hide, or disappear forever. 

But I can't do that. I must survive, and the only way to survive is to keep silent. 

They draw nearer still, pulling me closer to paralysis, closer to the arms of the devil that wants to make this more of a hell than it already is. They threaten to take me into a world that is nowhere close to unknown, into a world that is equivalent to falling onto a bed of nails and hot coals.

I suddenly find my overthinking HAS paralyzed me with fear. I am no longer able to put on the brave facade that peple usually see. I have no shield, as it was torn down the moment I opened up my mind and let myself fall into the danger zone that has one exit; that exit is through the belly of the beast itself.

The footsteps stop suddenly, louder than ever before. The abrupt stop makes me want to sigh with relief, when I know I'll soon be shivering from fear and wishing for the time before I heard those retched footsteps.

"What do we have here?" Lucifer himself in the form of a tall, somewhat lanky boy- no, man- dressed in black, will receive no reply.

He almost growls when I am unresponsive, but if there is anything I have learned from my parents and teachers and peers from the drills, it's to keep silent and don't break down. Breaking down results in the unthinkable.

"Look at me." I do. I have no choice. I have to turn around to see him, and while doing so I see that I am in no way safe- not that I thought I was before.

"Such a pretty face. It'd be a shame to waste it." My eyes travel to his weapon of choice that he currently grips in his hand. Looking back up, I can practically see the gears turning. To kill or not to kill? It's a simple question to him. To him, it's practically equivalent to wondering what he's going to eat for dinner.

"Now, I can either kill you, or I can take you. I'll give you a few minutes to decide." The decision is one I never thought I'd ever have to make in my life. Most girls my age only have to go through the trouble of not knowing who they like, or which prom dress they like the most. Now it is his turn to see the gears in my own head turning, and the smirk on his face is so evil that it takes bravery to glance at it for a millisecond.

He looks away when his phone starts to ring. It's his friend, his partner, the other man involved in this catastrophe. It's a risk. It's a chance.

I run.

One step. One glance up.

Two steps. One hand reaches for his belt.

Three steps. Click.

Four steps. 

BANG.