Secrets

Chapter Fifthteen

WHAM! Something happened to Turner, making him collapse on the floor, unconscious. Soon, I'm picked up and I'm off running again.

"Anna! Are you okay! I saw Parker yanking you!" I looked.

"Jayson?" I slapped his shoulder very hard.

"Ow! Seriously! I just saved you-"

"THAT WAS TURNER!" All of a sudden, he stopped.

"...What?" He said, angry. "But he is a jerk that shouldn't be here!"

"Well, he is a jerk! But he showed up! We can't just leave him there!"

"Fine, stay here. I'll get him." He raised me to a tree, and I grabbed the branches. He put his hand under my foot, boosting me up higher. Jane started to run back to the factory. Turner's not there? Where is he? Jane seems confused, and so am I.

"Well well," I hear a man say far off in the distance. I brush some leaves out of my face, and see a man in front of Jayson. I scoot closer. Mr. Joelton? He walks back where he came from. A few seconds later, he's back with a boy. His wrists are tied and mouth taped shut. I can't tell, but it looks like Turner. Mr. Joelton reaches into his suit and pulls out a gun. He loads it and points it at Turner.

"Don't do this!" I hear Jayson yell.

"If you come stay here with us, then I'll let this young man go. Deal?" Mr. Joelton says. Soon, the gun is facing Turner's head.

"Please, let him go! If you want me, you got me!" Jayson pleads. I hear Turner yelling, "Mleeme! Met me mo! My do youm meed Maymm?" If he said what I think he said, then it would be; Please! Let me go! Why do you need Jayson? I couldn't tell for sure because of the tape over his mouth.

That's right! Turner is a newbie in all of this! He knows nothing about this!

"Or, instead of you, how about you?" Mr. Joelton yells. The gun moved from Turner to Jayson. No! I can't let this happen! I jump out of the tree, twisting my ankle. Without a care, I dash to Jayson. I jump in front of him and-

BAM!

White. Black? White again... In half of a second, my vision comes back. I'm fine. Then, my legs give out. I look down.

Red.

My shirt is spilled with red. Blood. I see Jayson, and he runs to Joelton and jumps to the right, avoiding his gunshot. Jayson lifts his hand, and Mr. Joelton is out in a flash. Jayson kicks his gun, and takes the tape off of Turner's mouth.

"Oh shoot, dude... Look." Turner says, I think. I can't hear well. Jayson is silent. He cuffs his mouth and stares at me. Not my face, my stomach.

I'm dying.

I can feel things shutting down. My breathing is picking up, then slowing down. Then racing again, then soft. I try to breath, but it's hard. I don't know what to do. It was either Jayson, or me. Me. Me. That's all I can say. Me. I couldn't live through the thought of my best friends shot. With me doing nothing. Being hopeless. Sitting in a tree, by standing all of this. Me. I'm the one getting shot. I'm the one bleeding. I'm the one sitting here, halfway dead. Me.

"Shoot! Anna! NO! Why! Why! Why-" Jane kept repeating.

"Why?" I coughed out, "Why? Because I love you too much to watch you die. Just," I coughed, "Just... Sitting in that dumb tree..." I weep.

"Woah, Anna. I'm so sorry for everything I did to you. I didn't know how tough your life is. I'm sorry. So sorry. Wait till all the others here about this-" I cut Turner off.

"No! Nobody's hearing about this! Nobody will know I'm shot. NO ONE!"

"Anna, let's just go-" Jayson says.

"Yes, let's get out of this dump." Turner cuts in.

"I don't care. I want my mom... I miss her... I want to go to school... I want to get out of this-"

"Shhh, Anna. You are bleeding. Don't stress. Let me help you," Jayson says, picking me up. He runs with me in his arms, Turner trailing behind us. He says calm down. I just can't hear. I can't help it. I'm bleeding... All over Jayson... I'm sorry...

"Don't be..." He says. I forgot all about his powers... Woah, that's why I'm here. I can't believe that! Ha. I'm stupid...

"No, you're not." Jayson says again. Turner has the face saying, Stop talking to yourself. I would laugh, but I'm bleeding too much. Surprisingly, I don't have much pain. Even more surprising, I'm still alive!

I feel struggle now. Jayson is holding me too hard. I want him to keep running, but... Ow! Okay, keep calm... Pain is only a thought... Ow!

Jayson suddenly picks up the pace. I can't tell why, because my vision is getting blurry. I hear a car stop, then Jayson stops. I hear a reversing-car noise, then Jayson begins to walk again. When I look up, I see a man, a blurred man, looking down at me. I can't hear well, but I see Jayson talking to him. They talk for a while, and I get put on a bed. One of those hospital beds. I get put into a van, with Jayson looking into my eyes. Everything blurs up. My eyes start to shut, and I see black.

Mom?

Sophie?

I see Mom waving at me. Sophie giving me her deadly look, as always. Then... All I hear are alarms. Bells ringing. Not like choir bells. More like tornado alarms. Am I dead? Did I faint? Mom is still waving at me. But what's that sound? I look down. My toes. Fingers. Where am I?