Shadowsnow

Chapter 1: Nightmare

You never expect that it'll happen to you or to anyone you care about, but when it does, it's life-changing. There's instantly a "pre-the incident" and "post-incident" period. Your life is never the same. EVER. It doesn't matter how long it has been since it happened. You are a different person from who you were before it happened.

The worst day of my life happened on the first day of my senior year of high school. The day of the school year that's supposed to be filled with promise about the year. And also, boring syllabus review. My two best friends, Carter Michaels and Veronica Yu, were sitting in our homeroom talking about what we were doing after school when my crush since sixth grade, Xander Matthews, walked by, a huge grin on his face.

"If you guys wanna make a plan for after school, come see me play at Aidan's tonight. It's my first real gig," Xander suggested. Veronica, or Ronnie, as Carter and I called her, nudged me subtly. I bit my lip, hiding a smile, as I nodded.

"Sure. We'll be there to support you," I answered.

I should also point out that Xander was another of my close friends, which made asking him out even harder. I didn't want to screw up our great friendship by making it awkward if he didn't feel the same way. Carter and Ronnie kept trying to convince me to go for it, but I was too afraid to try. Just in case I ruined our friendship.

"Cool. Guess I'll see you guys there tonight, then," Xander said, grinning a little more.

Then he headed over to a seat near a couple of his other friends. I glanced at Carter and Ronnie and saw them flashing me knowing looks. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, facing forward.

"Do not say it, guys. Not right now," I told them.

"But Allie!" Ronnie exclaimed, flashing a look at Xander.

Before I could say anything else, the bell rang for first period. Everyone not in College-Level French got up and left. Which doesn't include Xander, it seems, I thought to myself as I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. Looks like I get to spend an entire year with one of my favorite people. After a surprisingly productive first period, Ronnie, Carter, Xander, and I headed to the library for second period. He's in our study hall, too?

"Psst! Allie!" Ronnie whispered as we walked in.

I glanced at her as Xander split off from our group to go talk to some other friends of his. I smiled at him as he walked away. It really is no wonder why he has so many friends. He's kind, smart, good-looking, musically inclined, athletic, and loyal. I felt someone nudge me and looked at Ronnie and Carter.

"Now's your chance to ask him out, Allie," Carter hissed. "Especially since he asked you to come to his gig tonight." I rolled my eyes.

"I'm his friend, Carter. There's nothing else there. We're just friends. Why would he wanna go out with me?" I answered skeptically. Before Carter could reply, the shooter alarms went off. The head librarian, a kindly older lady named Mrs. Schmidt, RAN out of the library office and hissed at all of us.

"Get into the computer lab! Now! Lock the door and do NOT come out! Ms. Glen and I will lock the outer doors! Go!"

Ms. Glen, a younger woman, probably in her twenties or thirties, rushed out of the library office and immediately started locking the set of doors right near the office. Mrs. Schmidt practically sprinted to the other set of doors and threw them shut as fast as she could. Meanwhile, all the students in the library shuffled into the computer lab in the library, with me and Xander at the back.

"Get in. I'll shut the door behind us," Xander whispered. I shook my head and opened my mouth to speak. "We don't have time to argue about this, Allie! This school isn't that big and we don't know where the shooter is right now! Go!"

I heard a scream and whipped my head toward Mrs. Schmidt. She collapsed to the floor as a guy, maybe around the same age as Carter, Ronnie, Xander, and I, stalked in through the broken glass of the doors. He raised his gun and I tackled Xander to the ground.

I heard a really loud bang and looked up. As I'd tackled Xander, I'd somehow also managed to kick the door shut. I got off Xander, staying low, and crawled over to the door, locking it. When I pulled my hand away, the knob was covered in ice. I didn't have time to think about it as there was a bang on the door and the knob jiggled.

"Let me in, you little brats! You can't keep me out forever!" The guy barked.

I heard a soft cry and looked around. Ronnie was covering her mouth with tears running down her cheeks as Carter held her close, trying to comfort her. I glanced around the room quickly and saw the windows that faced the front parking lot. I flashed Xander a look and gestured toward the windows. He instantly understood and crawled with me over to them. We quietly got them open and looked out, hoping someone would see us. I froze the moment I saw the body bags being carried out of the school. Oh, God. Please tell me those aren't people I know. Please tell me that they aren't people I know. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked at Xander.

"We'll be okay, Allie. We'll be okay."

I wanted to agree with him, but I was so scared that I could barely think. Xander came up with the idea to wave our arms to get the attention of the police officers below us. Somehow, even from this distance, I heard one of the officers speak into her radio, but I only was able to hear her side of the conversation.

"The shooter has moved to the south wing. Got it. We're moving in." I glanced at Xander as I whispered.

"They're sending officers in, Xander. We need to get everybody out of here fast."

Xander flashed me a look that seemed almost confused. We didn't have time to talk about it as there was a loud sound outside the door as if the shooter had kicked the door. Then I could hear his footsteps recede.

The first officer looked up at us and gestured to the officer beside her. Then she waved up at us without speaking. The second officer nodded and jogged over to the nearby fire truck.

"I need your ladder to get those kids down." The firewoman standing at the truck nodded.

"Let's get those kids to safety," she said.

There was a clicking sound and suddenly, the ladder on the truck began to rise toward the windows.  I looked around at my friends and schoolmates sitting in the small computer lab near me and looking terrified.  Something shifted in me and I pushed down my own feelings of fear.  I waved my hands at everyone.

"Come on.  Let's get out of here," I whispered, almost hissing.

Slowly, Carter and Ronnie got up, crawling over to the windows.  As soon as the ladder touched the windowsill, Xander and I helped them out.  One by one, we helped get everyone out until it was just the two of us left.  I looked at Xander and nodded my head toward the window.

"Go.  I'll be right behind you."

Xander reluctantly started down the ladder.  When he got about halfway down, another series of shots went off nearby.  I looked around frantically, trying to see if the shooter had come outside, but I didn't see him.  Xander looked up at me, his eyes wide.

"Go!  Go!" I hissed.

I quickly climbed out and started down the ladder after Xander.  As soon as we were on the ground, I saw the shooter being dragged out of the school by multiple police officers.  My heart pounded as I watched the guy get shoved into a police car.  I looked around for my mom, who was the principal of my school, but I didn't see her anywhere.

"Mom?  Mom?" I yelled shakily.

"Al?"  I whirled around and saw my dad, wearing his full police uniform, walking up from his car.

"Dad?"  I ran over to him, my hands shaking, and hugged him tightly.  "Wh...what the hell is going on?  Where's mom?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone being wheeled out on a stretcher.  They were in a body bag that wasn't zipped all the way up.  I turned my head to see who it was and suddenly, everything went black.