Break Free

The Beginning

I walked through the heavy glass doors of Stephen Decatur High School. The entire front wall was made of glass, allowing the front room to be filled with sunlight. There are staircases on both sides of the room leading to the second floor. It was hard to believe that in two short months, I would be leaving behind this town, all I've ever known, to go to the huge and unfamiliar state of California. It felt exciting, but terrifying at the same time.

I went to go join my friends near the West Staircase, when I heard commotion behind me. My heart dropped when I heard one of my peers scream, "Gun!". We all hit the floor, and began to panic. I lifted my head as much as I dared to. I was able to see a hooded man near the door, standing above all of us. I couldn't see his face, so I slowly put my head back down. He began to herd us like sheep near the corner underneath the West Staircase. I tried to crawl as unnoticeable as possible to my friends. Finally reaching them, we are also joined by other peers. They looked just as terrified as we probably did. The gunman was pushing us closer and closer together, forcing us to sit up as opposed to laying down. Everything was happening so fast, and it honestly didn't even seem real. You never think it's going to happen to you. It was all a blur of actions and emotions, yet seemed so far from reality.

Just then, lights started going out. One... Two... Three... Four... Five... The only light left was that of the sunlight. All of the hallway lights were out. This created a gray light on our faces, making it hard to see.

The hooded man had us grouped together like a school of fish. He weaved his way to the center of the group and began to speak.

"No one leaves. No one tries to escape. No one tries to be a hero. Nothing can save you. If any of you so much as sneeze... Bang! That's all she wrote. Understood?"

We all reluctantly nodded, still focused on the man, fear in our eyes. No one dared to move more than that.

Just then, a hot-shot Junior jumped up and tried to sprint. My guess is he was going to go find help. Before he could even take a step, there was an ear-splitting pop, and he fell to the floor. We all let out a shriek. The first fatality, that we know of, just happened right in front of us. That scene will now be engraved in our memory. It will be ready to haunt us for the rest of our lives, however long or short they may be.

"Anyone else? Anyone else that didn't believe me when I said no one leaves?" the man was yelling now. I still couldn't see his face, but he seemed familiar. I racked my brain trying to figure out who it could be. Nothing came to mind.

Still in the center of the group, he started walking in a circle, looking at all of our faces. It was almost as if he was looking for someone specific. As if this specific school was targeted for one person. His gaze got closer to my direction, and my heart dropped. I knew exactly who it was.

The last time I saw him was 10 years ago. He was the reason for over half of my life to be haunted by nightmares. I never expected any of them to become reality. I don't think anyone ever does.

During his circling, the gun was in his hand and swinging around. Each time it would come near me, I would cringe and look away. I could feel his eyes on me, so I slowly looked up and saw him staring at me with a smug smile on his face, and everyone else was staring. They were probably really confused and I don't blame them.

"Well, well, well. I thought I'd never find you after you and your mother ran out on me ten years ago." He said as he began to step closer to me. Tears began to pour down my face. Why was he doing this? Am I the reason that kid got shot? I'm the reason all of this happened. Guilt began to consume me and I felt sick.

"How did you find me?" I said through gritted teeth. He remained silent and just looked at me. I know he heard me, but I decided to repeat it anyways, "I said," I began to get to my feet, "How did you find me?!" The last part came out as a scream, but not full of fear. It was full of pure and intense anger and hatred. He grabbed me by my hair and yanked me the rest of the way to my feet. He pulled me close and put the gun to my head.

"You want to know how I found you? Facebook, Twitter, your blog. Social networking is a real bitch, isn't it?"

"It must be easy for you to try to act in a position of power. After all, it was taken away from you because you gave me these," I said as I lifted up my shirt to reveal my lower back and stomach. The group full of my peers stared in shock. There were scars everywhere. Some were from being thrown into glass objects, others were from fighting back. "You think putting a gun to my head will scare me? Well news flash motherfucker. I'm not afraid of you anymore! Go ahead! Pull the trigger! End this! You'll win!" I turned to face him, and pressed the gun harder against my head, "Go! Do it!"

He began to push me out of the center of the crowd and towards the door. The gun was still at my head. I knew he wouldn't do it. He's crazy, but not stupid. I'm now his hostage and if the police try to shoot him, he will threaten to shoot me. It's his own sick way of saving his ass.

There were screams and gasps as I'm rushed out of the building and into his truck parked on the front curb, still running. Many tried to call the police, but it wouldn't be any use right now. I'll be gone in less than 30 seconds, and you need at least 5 minutes for the police. I was going to have to fight this battle on my own, and I knew that. That doesn't mean I wanted to believe it.