Rachel Stanton and The Darkest Night

CHAPTER 24: CHANGED

24. CHANGED

RACHEL STANTON

“Come on, Rachel!” Justin yelled at me, his voice panicky. “We have to go to the exit!”

“Where’s Jared?” I asked.

“He’s going to catch up.”

“What?” I said, shocked. I stopped from running but he continued to pull me. I tried to remove my hand from his but it was locked on my wrist. “I have to save him! He’s going to die!”

“I don’t care! We have to get out of here now!” Justin tightened his gripped, pulling me harder though the crowd.

“Where is he then?” I asked.

“I don’t know. But he’s probably behind us.”

When we reached the main entrance, hundreds of people were swarmed. Nobody could get out unless you try to push yourself into the crowd. The horrible screeching made by the wing of the plane became louder. The plane was almost near to hit the building now. Then . . .

BANG!

Everyone in the place stumbled. Rubble showered at us but missed me. My head hit the floor instead and it caused my forehead to bleed. I looked behind me. Fire had begun to explode everywhere, but it didn’t reach us.

“Justin?!” I called out. I didn’t know where he was now. His hand wasn’t on my wrist anymore; I could no longer feel his tight grip. “Justin!” My voice was louder enough to let him hear.

For a second, there was another bang—it was louder and stronger than the first one when the plane hit the airport. People screamed in every direction. And I hit the floor with my head once again.

In the next few seconds, I felt weak, and my eyes began to close. Blood trickled down my face as I tried to get myself up. I didn’t know how much blood had lost in me. My t-shirt was soaked with it though. So I thought I had lost too much. I couldn’t stand on my own. I fell as I struggled to push myself from the floor. My eyes felt numb; everything around me was blurred, and the whole place was filled with dark smoke.

I rolled around. I didn’t know what was exactly happening on the place. I heard distant screams and explosion, but they had become muffled before they reached my ears. For a moment, I struggled to straighten up, my arms supporting my body.

Before I realized, I was back on my feet; my legs crossed with each other. I pressed the painful part of my head and turned around to the exit. I started to walk—slowly and wobbly—toward the door.

Few seconds passed. I become weaker and weaker. I felt as if I were about to fell on these dead bodies lying on the floor. I had to get to the exit. I had to get there before the whole building would explode.

Suddenly, I could no longer feel my feet. I was no longer walking to the exit. Why? I thought.

Then I fell on my knees. Someone caught me on my back as I fell, and then I recognized I was lying on my boyfriend’s lap.

JARED TYLER

Rachel’s eyes closed, and I felt very nervous what had happened to her. “Rachel?” I said, shaking her hardly, making sure she was still alive. “Rachel?” She did not open her eyes.

The blood on her forehead trickled down her face. I covered the wound with my palm to prevent the bleeding. I called her name many more times. But she was lying like dead.

I put her on the floor to give her a CPR. I also noticed that her heart had already stopped beating. What happened to her? Was she dead? I blew air in her mouth to fill her lungs with air, then pumped on her chest to make her heart beat. She didn’t wake up; her heartbeat was faint; she was lying dead.