When the Clock Strikes Midnight

10:25 p.m

A/N: Another chapter, just like I promised. This was a very sad chapter for me. I cried a lot. But I hope that you all enjoy. This story is quickly reaching its end. Thank you for all that have stuck around for this process.  Appreciate y'all. 

Hailey and I are on the playground. It's our first day of second grade, and we only know each other. We are both on the swings, not talking with one another but sitting in each other's presence. We aren't really friends. We sat next to each other last year for English, but that's it. As I'm swinging a kid walks up to me. I think that his name is Brady. He grabs the chain on my swing, bringing it to a forceful stop. I get thrown forward as the swing stops, almost making me fall off. Brady grabs my arm and throws me off of the swing. I fall to the ground, my hands scraping against the wood chips on the ground. I wince, trying my best to get back up. He towers over me, scowling down at me.

"This is my swing. You better not get on it again you little redhead." My eyes fill with tears, and right as I'm about to get up Hailey appears. She doesn't waste any time, moving over to Brady and throwing a punch into his face. Brady stumbles backward, holding his nose and looking at Hailey with tears in his eyes. She walks over to him, grabbing the front of his jacket.

"That's my friend there. Don't you ever shove her again. Or else you are gonna have much worse than a bloody nose." Brady nods quickly and runs away, holding his nose as he runs off to the teacher. Hailey turns and extends her hand, helping me up. I smile at her, still holding her hand.

"Thank you. You didn't need to do that." She smiles, squeezing my hand gently.

"Of course I did. Friends always help each other out."

I bolt upright, my breath catching in my throat as I look around. No, no no no no no no no. You dreamed it. You dreamed it. Hailey's fine. Hailey's fine. But as I look around my friends, I don't see her. I start to panic, taking quick breaths. My eyes move to the center of the room and my eyes fall on the bodies. Anthony and Hailey. I suck in a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut tightly as I try to forget about what I just saw. It didn't happen. It didn't happen. They are just in the middle because the men in black didn't want to put them over here. It was a dream. It's okay. I open my eyes again, working up the courage to walk over to them. I kneel down beside them, taking a deep swallow as I look them over. There is no mistaking the bullet marks on their foreheads. It becomes too much and I gag, barely making it to a trashcan before emptying my stomach's content. Which isn't a lot, saying that I've barely eaten for the past two hours. After I'm finished I take some deep breaths with my eyes closed. I turn around, preparing myself for the goodbye. I hear a scream ring throughout the room and my eyes shoot open, looking in the direction that the noise came from. Jack is sitting there, a hand clamped over his mouth as he looks towards the middle of the room. I start taking deep breaths as I walk over to him, tears already running down my face. I reach him and I kneel in front of him, forcing him to turn his attention towards me. His hands dart out and grab mine, squeezing them tightly. I wince slightly but I don't pull away, knowing that he's gonna need to have something to hold onto. He starts taking deep breaths, tears gathering in his eyes.

"Tell me it's not true Peach. Tell me that it didn't happen." I shake my head, the emotions clogging up my throat. He looks past me again, his eyes on Anthony. I pull him gently to his feet, making him look at me.

"Jack. Honey. It did happen. They are gone hun. We need to go and say goodbye. Come on." He lets me bring us over to the bodies. I kneel down next to Hailey, bringing Jack down with me. He turns his attention to Anthony while I turn mine to Hailey. I open my mouth to say my goodbye but notice Jack first. He is hyperventilating while starting to perform CPR on Anthony. I quickly intervene, grabbing Jack's wrists and holding them tightly against my chest. He starts crying, desperately trying to get to Anthony.