Shadows

Chapter 3 - The Attack

As I arrived near the elementary my heart began to pound. Would he be there when I got there? When the school was in my sight I seen cop cars and ambulances. All I could think is please don't let that be Aaron. I parked my car and headed toward the entrance.

When I arrived a police officer was talking to some teachers. I was inside the school and didn't see Aaron anywhere, I really didn't see anyone in the halls. I continued to head towards his classroom.

I peaked into the classroom and there was nobody there. my heart started racing faster and I continued to pray for everything to be okay. as I continued down the hallway some more I started hearing the voices of kids coming from the gym.

Once I reached the gym, I could hear Aaron talking and he sounded happy. I began to walk into the gym when one of the teachers stopped me.

"I'm sorry miss we can not let anyone into the gym for the safety of the children"

"I was just coming by to get my brother. Is everything OK? What happen?"

"Well we were having a normal day today and then some weird guy bursted into the school shooting everywhere. He looked like he was searching for something or someone but no one really knows."

"Oh my god! Was there anyone injured? Do you think he's still here?"

"We are not sure if he is still here. he bolted as soon as he heard the police sirens." He stopped for a moment just staring at the floor. "As for injuries, there was only one, one of our 5th grade teachers. She was taking some papers to be copied when he came in, we do not know her state at the moment though."

I stood there for a min in shock. I couldn't think of who in their right mind would ever attack an elementary school, its terrible.

"So does this mean I'm not able to take my little brother yet?"

"I'm not quite sure, let me talk to the principal and superintendent and see what they say and I'll get back to you."

He walked away making sure the door was shut securely and began talking to a group of people, but from what I could tell they were not going to give me the news I hoped for. As I waited all I could think about is who would attack an elementary school and what they were looking for. Then I remembered about this morning and also with the way Aaron was acting in the car before school, could this be that same person that I seen and the same person that seems to have Aaron scared?

The latch on the gym door made me jump and snapped be back to reality.

"I am very sorry miss but the principal as well as the superintendent have agreed that it is not yet safe for the kids to evacuate the building until we have a report from the police that the grounds are clear and no danger is lurking, if you could please wait in your car we will send your brother out as soon as we know something."

He closed the door once again and went back to tend with the children who were starting to get to loud. What was I suppose to do while I waited for him and how long could it possibly take, I needed and wanted to get back home soon just in case this was the person I seen this morning because that means he's after us and could possibly be making his way to our house to hope to catch us on our way home.

As I walked back to my car, I debated what I should do. Should I call the police? Should I call my mom? Should I find somewhere else to stay in the meantime? What am I suppose to do, my family may be in danger and I have no idea how and who it may be trying to harm us.

I reached the car and got in, I sat there for what seem to be almost thirty minutes and then finally just dozed off, when I woke up it was about five and I didn't see anyone outside still. I got out of my car to walk back into the school, there were many other cars sitting in the parking lot but all of them seem to be empty, there didn't seem to be any parents or teachers standing around anywhere. I no longer seen cops standing outside the building questioning anyone, maybe that was a good sign that they may have finished, it has been like 2 hours since the time of the incident so they couldn't possibly still be searching the area because the school is not that big.

I got inside the building and there did not seem to be anyone in the hallways, so I began to make my way back down the hall to where the gym is. Everything was very quite compared to how it was early when I was approaching the gym which seemed very odd because it was filled with every kid that went to the school as well as the teachers and faculty. I got to the gym doors and peaked in and couldn't see anyone in sight, I began to panic. What if someone came to the school while they were releasing the children and pretended to be related to Aaron and took him right from underneath me, how could I fall asleep knowing that the cops would not be that long with searching the perimeter.

I opened the door and looked in the gym a little better and all of the kids were gone, there was no one there. I began to think of other places that the teachers may have taken some of the students who had not yet gone home, maybe the office. I walked my way back to the entrance of the school and made my way into the office, I didn't see anybody there. Maybe they were in the back or something. "Hello, is there anyone here who could maybe help me locate my brother?". No answer, nobody was there, where could they have gone? There were cars that were still parked ouside so there has to be someone here.

I began to think of other places that they might be or might have kids waiting for their ride home, the cafeteria. This was my last hope and I prayed that I would find Aaron there, and if I didn't then I know that someone else had to have taken him. As I drew closer to the cafeteria it seemed pretty quite, there was some talking here and there but it wasn't very loud talking but it still gave me hopes and that was all I needed.

I walked into the cafeteria and there were some people talking back and forth carrying on a conversation. I looked around and I seen some other kids who were sitting down having a bite to eat from whatever the cafeteria had left over from lunch. I look around and found Aaron sitting with some friends, talking and having a good time. Before making my way to him I stopped to talk to one of the teachers, I wanted to make sure that I could take him home.

"Excuse me ma'am, I am Aaron McMillens' sister and I was curious if i have the permission to take him home now?"

"Oh, hello there ma'am, we were beginning to wonder what happened to you."

"I've been here the whole time I just ended up falling asleep while waiting. Is everything fine now?"

"Well according to the police, they couldn't find anyone outside so everything seems to be okay. We have been advising that all students and their parents be very careful when driving home and be very cautious about your surroundings."

"Well I'm glad to hear that the school seems safe again, I wouldn't want anyone else to get hurt. Thank you for the information, I am going to grab Aaron so we can head home before it gets too dark."

"Please drive safe and we hoped to see Aaron back tomorrow."

I walk away and the teachers begin talking amongst each other again. As I approach Aaron I noticed is very cheerful and laughing with his friends, definitely looking better than what he did earlier this morning.

"Heya Aaron, you ready to get home?"

"Hey Steph, everything OK? I noticed you weren't here for when we were cleared to leave."

"Yeah everything is perfectly fine I was just extremely tired so I ended up falling asleep."

"Have the teachers gave the okay for me to leave?"

"Yep they said that everything seems to be okay, so I say we get home and get some dinner, yeah?"

We gathered up his things and headed to the car. The drive home was quite and safe, we hadn't seen anything unusual which was a good thing considering what went on today. The one thing that did bother me is that no one knew exactly what this guy was after, what could anyone want inside of an elementary school there are only children within the school, unless he didn't want something but someone, but who?