Can I lay Here?

Who's There?

"Run." Nicky doesn't shout. His voice is calm and in it's demand Sam finds solace. 

When Sam spins to dive out of the line of sight it's Nicky who creates a scene. The poster board on the wall is pried down by his aggressive hand and the bullet that flies their way shatters it to pieces beside Nicky who's got a glare on his brow. 

He's swift on his feet moving fast and uncoordinated as he makes his way back the way they came. The shooters is surrounded by confused students who'd been in the hallway and they're all running too. A bullet takes out Amelia Hamelton; one of the two girls who had been in the Lofireflies last year. 

Her sister was next to her when she died. Her pink dress is now stained and she stands there with her books held close to her chest staring down at the lifeless body of her hateful and talented sibling. They fought a lot but the bond they had was just as strong as any of the Harpers had with each other. 

She looks up with a mousy face; her cheeks red and warm beneath the freckles. She's shaking. There's a bead of sweat on her brow. Then the killer holds the gun up to the notebooks she's clutching and fires through them. 

Nicky catches a glimpse of her falling as he presses his back to the wall of the corner here in the next hall. He's running on adrenaline, ready to run, ready to fight if he has too. His mind is spinning and he'd go back out there. Everything in his skin has him feeling like he should turn around and face this guy. He's mad. His inner voice is shouting at him about how weak he is. Then somethings wrapping around his wrist and he's holding his breath because fear now has him frozen. 

He's pulled into a classroom and he turns to his assailant only to find Sam. 

The boy is frantic, "You're fucking crazy, Harper! You could have died. You would have died." He gets quieter and little tears bead in his big blue eyes, "You put yourself in danger like an ass. You're so stupid. I'm not worth that. Why would you do that?" 

"Shut the fuck up, Sam." Nicky's glare is cold, "You shouldn't say such awful things about yourself." 

They're still clutching each other. Sam has hands on Nicky's neck and lower back. Nicky's fists are clinging to the fabric of the shirt around Sam's pecks. There's warmth here. That, and adrenaline, might be the reason behind such an unexpected kiss. So wet and so terrified. So real. So needed. 

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Out in the parking lot, and down on his knees in the mess he's made with all his paper work and a ripped bag, he's frozen. He hears the sounds of the screaming coming from inside. He'd watched Miss Beaker walk inside and he'd grown up in a very poor district so he knew exactly what those sounds were. 

The wind swirls in the air and his essay floats up past his face. He lets out a breath and it pushes away from him back to the pavement with the rest of the fallen leaves turned orange in the change of the season. A chill down his spine. 

Near him a bus of impatient kindergartners yell and holler but no matter how much noise they made he would not mistake that sound. Someone is inside his new school. Someone is hurting these people he could call friend. He's been in situations like this before and like an absolute idiot he decides to walk back inside. 

Castel had only sat through two days of classes here at FalconTrudge. Why on Earth would he go back in when there's a live shooter on the scene. He pushes open the door and steps inside on broken glass and a puddle of blood. Miss Beaker, dead before him. He looks down the hall at the others who just couldn't run fast enough. 

His pale skin catches the light cutting in from the hole in the door behind him and swirls of dust swish through the beam until he steps away and walks towards the east wing. Several of the lights have been shot out. Those still on are damaged by the system and flickering. Doors are shut and locked along each corridor. A young man lies outside a bathroom choking on his own blood but he's dead before Castel can run to his side. The killer is close. 

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She's not alone but it sure feels that way. Dawn Harper sits on the back of the toilet here in the stall and the little girl she'd been helping is passed out from anaphalectic shock in her arms. She desperately needs an epi. 

She's surprisingly light in Dawns arms. Her little face is so peaceful in sleep when just before she slipped away from consciousness she'd been panicking and trying to be quiet at the same time. Now Dawn trembles as she holds her and cries with little droplets falling down to Everlee's swollen cheeks. 

It's still a few hours till sundown. The day gives off the illusion of safety. She can still hear traffic on the highway outside. There are no sirens yet. No one's shouting out in the parking lot. It would appear there's no reason to be afraid but there's a student with a gun killing off her peers and she's holding a dying child in her arms. She's pretty fucking scared. 

Chimes wave through her ears and into her head. It's not a sound that actually happening now. It's from a time before. A memory takes her eyes away from here...

Here she was cold. Here she was quiet. It was a place with no character. Halls are bare and white. The sheets are a pale blue. Skin the same hue. Her mother on the table with eyes shut so softly. Barely breathing. That gown she wore so drab and thin. Dawn sat next to her holding her hand but there was no press back. Mrs. Harper didn't even know her only daughter was there. 

The silver glint of the framework on the bare gurney was giving Dawn headaches. The beeping of the heart machine was drastically slow. The window to the world outside showed only darkness. There's not really any fear here. It's just sadness and acceptance. There's no hope for her mother. Death is coming with wings and a final kiss. 

The door opens and in walks a plainly dressed doctor with a plain face. She's not cruel or fixed. She's not cocky or arrogant. She's not remorseful  or emotional. She's tall and plain. She strides over cautiously as to not spook Dawn. 

"The time has come, child." She says, "Your father signed the papers. She'll be saving a lot of lives. We need to take her now." 

Dawn stood and backed away from the bed as four nurses came in and wheeled her mother out to one final surgery. The one that would harvest her organs and put them into other, dying people. It was an act of heroism in Dawn's eyes. It was the ultimate way to say goodbye. 

The memory fades. She's wiping away her tears with one hand while holding tightly to the young girl and then the scuffle happens. Someone's foot along the bathroom floor. She holds her breath. The person gets closer and she feels something lurch in her stomach. This is it. 

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