Sam: Imprisoned (Book 3)

The Alarm

  The alarms rang in my ear as lights flashed above our heads. The noise was intoxicating as it caused my brain to almost completely shut off in panic. The flashing lights beckoned for attention as the warning screamed to anyone that would listen. My fifth class was just about over when the safety drill had to occur. The curious students peered over at the teacher as the room started to fill with the hum of conversations.
  "Ms. Combs, is this a fire drill? Or a tornado drill?" Kate asked, raising her hand in the front row.
  Ms. Combs narrowed her eyebrows, "No, this sounds like a lockdown drill."
  "What are we supposed to do?" Luke inquired from the back of the class.
  Although, the teacher seemed to freeze up in hesitation. Something flickered in her eyes as she spaced out into her own thoughts. Something was going through her mind but it was hard to read what she was thinking. 
  So, I stepped in, "Ms. Combs, what's wrong?"
  "We aren't supposed to have a drill today..." she admitted, getting more concerned as the minutes dragged on. 
  "So there is actually an intruder?!" someone screamed over the robotic noise that came from the intercoms. 
  Officially, panic began to set in the classroom like a contagious gas that affected everyone. The noise got louder as people began to stand up in anticipation. The expressions held on everyone's face varied from concern to confusion to fear.
  In determination to calm everyone down and have something done, I pressed the question to the teacher, "What do we do?"
  Eventually, Ms. Combs snapped back into reality as she pointed toward the back of the small classroom. My gaze followed her motion as I noticed the closet door. 
  "Everyone, huddle in the closet!" Ms. Combs demanded, finally taking charge of her frantic students.
  Luckily, everyone listened to the teacher as people began to stand up and head toward the closet. The panic wasn't bad - yet - because everyone was so shocked that they kept quiet. While the kids went toward the closet, however, I turned to face a corner.
  My fingers slid to the metal bracelet around my wrist, then I pressed the button. The hollow voice rang, "Command."
  "Call Tony," I ordered under my breath.
  So the robotic voice replied, "Calling Tony Stark."
  There were long moments of the bracelet ringing and I realized that my teacher was still trying to huddle everyone back into the closet but she hadn't noticed me yet. Time seemed to slow down which made the wait for an answer feel like a lifetime. With each prolonged second, my heart seemed to be faster and my mind suffocated me with doubts.
  Finally, a voice rang out, "Hello?"
  "Hey, Tony-," I whispered but the busy voice cut me off.
  "Sam, is this important? I'm at a meeting..." he admitted.
  "Sam! Get in the closet," a voice came from behind me.
  Which made me snap my head back to look at my teacher but I replied quickly, "Tony, I think there's an intruder at the school."
  There was a split pause as if to process what I had just said, "Seriously?"
  "No, it just suddenly became April 1st," I commented, sarcastically. "Yes! I'm being serious!" I hissed which laced my voice in desperation and urgency.
  "I'll be there in a minute," Tony stated.
  "Please make it faster," I begged then hung up the conversation from the bracelet and turned around back toward the teacher who was staring at me like I had grown two heads. "Sorry... was... looking for my phone," I lied then jogged toward the closet.
  Unfortunately, before I could get to the closet there was a loud thump which was the slamming sound of the classroom door as it swung open. 
  "EVERYONE OUT HERE NOW!" a man with a gun demanded in a dominating voice. 
  There were panicked screams from the students but they complied and slipped out of the closet. It wasn't hard to notice that the teenager's shoulders were shaking with fear. Some students had their jaws wide open in shock that this was happening to them while others had blank stares like they were still trying to process what was going on. 
  The man looked like a normal guy except for the fact that he had a gun in his hands. He was dressed pretty casually and didn't have any obvious - psychotic - traits about him like a ski mask covering his face. The only thing that really stood out against the dangerous man was the gleam of force and persistence in his hazel eyes. The buff, broadened shoulders man grabbed the nearest kid and held the weapon against the kid's head, "I'm looking for someone here named Sam Hadley! Where is she?"
  At the sound of my name, my body froze and my face turned as pale as an immortal vampire but I tried to shake the fear away as I decided to keep quiet. Maybe I could stall until Tony got here. However, the scrawny kid in the guy's grasp looked like he was about to wet himself as his face flushed. I even noticed the hostage kid's eyes were darting around until they stopped and connected with mine. It was like a silent plea for me to say something.
  The man was obviously impatient, "I will shoot this kid's brains out if you don't show yourself, NOW!"
  "You're always about the 'now', aren't you?" I snapped, sassily while stepping forward. 
  The criminal shot his head towards me then smirked with excitement, "Who are you? Are you Sam?"
  Although I paused and pursed my lips, "Well, it depends. If we're in philosophy class then this subject is debatable. If this class were debate then it would be irrefutable. But if this class were psychology then-" 
  "Enough!" he shouted. Luckily, the man let the kid go as he stepped toward me, making my body freeze up in anticipation. But he snarled, "It's a simple question." 
  "What do you want?" I hissed as I crossed my arms to show how defiant I was at his requests, refusing to answer any of this cruel man's questions.
  "Like I said, I'm looking for a girl named Sam," the intruder explained while he tilted his head curiously.
  "Why?" I didn't give up on asking the questions and getting under his skin. 
  The guy huffed, "I don't have time for this," then the man brushed the gun up toward the side of my head.
  Instinctively, I flinched and froze, completely stopping myself from breathing. It felt like my body was just going to give out from the cold, empty touch of the threatening weapon and I was going to pass out, but instead, I started shaking. It showed that I was scared so I tried to stop and not show weakness but I was terrified and couldn't cease the trembles. 
  The criminal leaned forward, his face inches from mine, "So, are you Sam?"
  My breathing was shaky but I started, "I-."
  Before I could finish the sentence, the glass window that led outside broke and I felt the wind brush against my skin. I blinked and noticed that the guy wasn't in front of me anymore. There was a thump so I turned my head and saw the man was being pressed against the wall by a red suit of armor.  
  Even though I was still shaken up, my body relaxed slightly now that the gun was nowhere near me. Everyone was frozen as they stared at the suit of iron. 
  Tony turned his head and looked at the kids, "Everyone, get outside!"
  They listened to the new man in charge and bolted out of the classroom. While I was still standing in the same spot I was before. I tried to tell myself to move but I felt like I couldn't even blink.
  Soon enough, the police came into the classroom and glanced over at the man pinned against the wall. The officers got behind Tony then grabbed the criminal so Stark let him go. The police officers cuffed the guy and started dragging him outside. Tony held the gun out towards the police so one of the officers grabbed it and left. Leaving me and Tony in the classroom. 
  "Sam?" Tony started.
  Instead of answering, I closed my eyes and shook my head. So, my uncle stepped toward me and wrapped his metal arms around me, squeezing me tight. I hid my face in Tony's shoulder and held onto him to feel safer. 
  "Are you okay?" Stark broke the deafening silence.
  In response, I nodded slowly then pulled away, "Yeah. Thank you, Tony." After taking a deep breath, I forced my face to become straight with no emotion as I finally asked, "Can we get out of here?"

(First chapter starting out with a bang! Hope y'all enjoy :) and thank you everyone for the support!)